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High Anxiety, a review by Dragonfire

High Anxiety My Thoughts I'm not sure when I first saw this one.  I really enjoyed it then even though I hadn't seen all the Hitchcock movies that were being spoofed.  Until this last time I watched it, I had just noticed the references to Psycho, The Birds, and Vertigo.  I noticed a bunch of other references this time, even going back to The Lodger, one of Hitchcock's silent movies.  The story dealing with Dr. Thorndyke becoming the new head of the institute is interesting, though it could have been a bit stronger.  A lot of what happens does seem to be just done as an opportunity to poke fun at a Hitchcock movie.  That may disappoint some viewers, but I think it works overall and makes for a fun, entertaining movie.  There is something a bit darker about this one than the other Mel Brooks movies I've seen.  That darker tone works perfectly since the movie is spoofing Hitchcock movies, several of which get rather dark.  There is a good amount of humor to what is happening throughout the movie, though this isn't the funniest Mel Brooks movie that I've seen.  That may disappoint some people expecting the movie to be funnier. The movie uses some unique shots, something that Hitchcock did in most of his movies.  One scene is shot through a fish tank which gives a unique look to the scene.  The fish in the tank look like little sharks which fits considering one of the characters involved.  Another scene is shot up through a glass table.  That is very much like when a glass floor was used in The Lodger to show someone pacing back and forth upstairs.  Since that movie was silent, Hitchcock had to find a way other than hearing footsteps to show the pacing.  The scene in High Anxiety is a bit twisted though..the characters keep putting stuff down on the table, blocking the camera.  There is a funny, if somewhat gross, scene that is inspired by The Birds.  The recreation of the shower scene from Psycho is wonderful.  The characters are interesting and entertaining.  Nurse Diesel is very stern and a bit scary with the way she acts.  Cloris Leachman is wonderful in the part.  I do like Mel Brooks as Thorndyke.  The bellhop, played by Barry Levinson, is only in a few scenes, but he is very entertaining.  Madeline Kahn does really well as Victoria, the blonde who gets mixed up in what is going on. The Blu-ray has a very interesting featurette that has Brooks and some of the other people who worked on the movie talking about the movie.  Brooks talks about how much he loved Hitchcock movies. He sent Hitchcock the script and got suggestions back.  Hitchcock really liked the movie when he saw it.  His granddaughter is also shown, talking about how the family enjoyed the movie so much and finding all the references to her grandfather's movies in it.  The other extras are a trivia track and a test.  The test thing pops up silly questions while the movie plays.  I only saw a few of them, but it was kind of fun.  I really enjoyed this movie.  I do think it is worth watching, though it probably won't appeal to everyone. I did get a review posted on Epinions. High Anxiety

(From Dragonfire88's Alphabet Marathon on July 13th, 2010)

The Reader, a review by Eric

The Reader


Overview:My Thoughts: I didn't read the overview on this so I really had no idea what it was about.  I bought it as part of my signup with Columbia House and I only picked it because of Kate Winslet.  I had only seen "Titanic" and "The Life of David Gale" from her before and my feelings about here were 50/50.  I don't think much good of Titanic which is nothing more than an expensive chick flicks but she was good in "The Life of David Gale" so I wanted to see more of her.

For the first 45 minutes or so I thought it was another chick flicks about a 15 year old boy who falls for a 40+ year old woman who makes him discover love and blah blah blah...........as we've already seen way too many times in movies.  But then.................surprise...........................out of nowhere we see this woman in a trial for having been a SS and things related to auschwitz (note that I didn't mistype anything here, I don't use capital first letters for name of places built to kill people).  This was not only a nice and unexpected surprise (granted that all surprises are unexpected by their very nature  ) but it also takes the movie in a completely new direction in a snap.  Since I've always been extremely interested with everything related to the holocaust I drank every every scene from that point on all the way to the end.


My Score:


(From Eric's DVD watching. on October 10th, 2009)

Angel Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Cordelia wants out of the grabage can which she has to call her apartment. Doyle, who has financial problems, makes a deal with Angel: Doyle organizes a new apartment for Cordelia and Angel helps him with his problems. But the apartment Doyle found is not really uninhabited.

My Opinion: Cordelia doesn't change at all - at least not yet. But it was cool to see how she talked the ghost out of her apartment.

Synopsis: After Angel helped the cop Kate Lochley to bust a gangster, his attorney forces a senistivity training on the entrie police station. But the trainer has a very special teaching technique.

My Opinion: Angel on an emotional trip and he wants to express his feelings! Hard-ass cops who cry and hug each other. Liked it.

Synopsis: As it comes out, Doyle is married. But his marriage failed because Doyle coulnd't handle being half-demon. Now his wife wants the divorce to marry another man - who is also a demon. But this one has special plans for his bachelor party.

My Opinion: This entire episode was meant to let Cordelia find out that Doyle is a half-demon - only that she didn't. They managed to avoid it somehow. But that aside, it was interesting to see "culturally integrated" demons.

Synopsis: The second part of the "Buffy" (4x08)/"Angel" crossovers. After Angel helped Buffy in Sunnydale without revealing himself, Buffy comes to L.A. to confront him. But then something happens which neither expected: Angel becomes human again - and that opens a can of possebillities for both.

My Opinion: Since I've watched all episodes of "Buffy" I could anticipate what would happen. But it was nonetheless nice to see Buffy again even when it didn't last long.

(From Angel Marathon on February 13th, 2008)