80s Movie Review - A Fish Called Wanda

Director: Charles Crichton
Genre: Comedy/ Crime
Runtime: 103 minutes
Year: 1988
Starring: John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin

Description: In London, four very different people team up to commit armed robbery, then try to doublecross each other for the loot.

Review: John Cleese managed to write a British comedy that was even in the US a great success. “A Fish Called Wanda” is a fun crime comedy, with both British and American actors.
John Cleese plays lawyer Archie Leach, who is in a rut. He wants to live a more eventful life and Wanda is the one to make that happen. Wanda, played by Jamie Lee Curtis, is the central character of the film. Not only Archie falls for her charms, also Ken, Otto and George. Ken (Michael Palin) is a stuttering animal lover and even named one of his fish after Wanda. Otto, played by Kevin Kline who won an Oscar for this role, is a strange man. He hates everything and everyone, especially when they call him stupid. Michael Palin and Kevin Kline are the funniest actors in “A Fish Called Wanda”.
The story is pretty simple and not very original, but executed exceptionally well. The jokes are both in the dialogue and the situations. “A Fish Called Wanda” is an entertaining comedy, a joy to watch every time.

Rating: 4/ 5

90s Movie Review - Fierce Creatures

Director: Fred Schepisi, Robert Young
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 93 minutes
Year: 1997
Starring: John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin, Robert Lindsay, Ronnie Corbett, Carey Lowell, Bille Brown, Cynthia Cleese

Description: Zookeepers struggle to deal with the polices of changing directors.

Review: A British zoo bought by a billionaire who has the policy to put as much pressure on everyone as possible so that it will make a profit. Willa and Vince, two employees of this American multi-billionaire, are sent to the old-fashioned zoo where Rollo Lee is the director. At the next inspection the company has to make a 20% profit.
The first idea Rollo has is to remove all the cute animals from the zoo and only show life-threatening animals (fierce creatures, hence the title) because this is more spectacular and appealing to the visitors. When Willa and Vince arrive, they decide to intervene. They use different strategies to make the zoo more profitable. For instance telling people that the turtle belongs to Bruce Springsteen, place colorful billboards at every corner and make all the zookeepers wear silly animal costumes.
One absurd event after another is of course the result. When the billionaire Rob McCain himself comes to visit, things really get out of hand. “Fierce Creatures” is a very silly comedy that did make me laugh. It brings together the same four actors that starred in “A Fish Called Wanda”, them being of course John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline and Michael Palin. That was very obviously a much better movie, but this is also a comedy that I enjoyed and is an easy watch. Not as high of quality, but enough for an entertaining evening.

Rating: 3/ 5

Movie Reviews - The Death fo Stalin

Director: Armando Iannucci
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 106 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Steve Buscemi, Simon Russell Beale, Rupert Friend, Jason Isaacs, Jeffrey Tambor, Andrea Riseborogh, Olga Kurylenko, Paddy Considine, Michael Palin, Tom Brooke

Description: Follows the Soviet dictator's last days and depicts the chaos of the regime after his death.

Review: It’s a rather bizarre story, that probably a lot of people don’t even know, but it’s worth it: the death of Sovjet dictator Stalin. Under his command, hundred thousand political opponents were executed or send to the Goelag. It seems that six to nine million people lost their lives under the command of Stalin. No wonder that, when Stalin was found unconscious in his office, help didn’t come running. With this starting point, director Armando Iannucci brings us the somewhay genius “The Death of Stalin”. A tragic comedy.
After Stalin was founf, it took another three days before he was actually dead. The stories of how he was pronounced dead are legendary. But the fight for power after the dictator’s death is also very interesting. These two subjects center this story. Iannucci based his screenplay on a graphic novel by Fabien Nury. And the way this film is styled is pretty remarkable and interesting. All the dialogue is in English and all the actors speak in their own accents, British, American.
The film is also filled with beautiful observations and detail. And in a dark way, this makes the film funnier. Especially the fight for power, after Stalin’s death, were there is a lot of betrayal and stabbing each other in the back. “The Death of Stalin” is sometimes painfully funny. Because you realize that most of it actually happened. The absurd fight for power and they way some situations go.
It’s not a film everyone will see the humor of, but I think for people who enjoy learning about history, it’s a film to watch.

Rating: 4 / 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 158: Absolutely Anything

Director: Terry Jones

Genre: Comedy

Runtime: 85 minutes

Year: 2015

Starring: Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale, Rob Riggle, John Cleese, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin, Robin Williams, Eddie Izzard

Description: A group of eccentric aliens confer a human being with the power to do absolutely anything, as an experiment.

Review: Simon Pegg is one of the funniest actors of the moment and him being linked to the Monty Python group just sounds amazing. That’s what happens in “Absolutely Anything”. Pegg plays Neill, an everyday teacher who has a crush on the pretty lady downstairs and doesn’t really do anything noteworthy. One day he is gifted with the powers of doing absolutely anything, as a test by some eccentric aliens. Is Neil going to use these powers for good or bad?

It’s directory by Monty Python’s Terry Jones, his first directed film since 1996. And his Python friends John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam and Eric Idle join him as voices of the aliens. Robin Williams provided a voice too, for dog Dennis. This was his last film.

Simon Pegg stands strong, he is funny and does a good job as aspiring writer Neil. The film is funny, has some great jokes. But the animations and special effects are pretty bad. Pegg is actually the one saving this film, because he is such a talented comedian. I expected more from the Monty Python crew.

Rating: 2,5/ 5

Movie Favorites: Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Synopsis: King Arthur and his knights embark on a low-budget search for the Grail, encountering many very silly obstacles.

 

Unique Selling Point: The story about King Arthur and his knight, told the Monty Python way. Their humor is clever, intelligent and out of the ordinary. No one tells a joke like a Python does.

Most Valuable Player: Graham Chapman carries the film as the baffled but brave King Arthur.

Best Moment: Fighting the black knight. “It’s just a flesh wound”

Top 5 Thursday: Monty Python Members

I recently purchased the complete series of “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”. It’s hilarious, I love British humor. It’s sophisticated, smart and unpredictable. I decided to rank the members of this cast.

5. Eric Idle
I think his voice is the most recognizable of the group. Idle was great when it came to play a hysterical and over-the-top character.

4. Terry Jones
His humor was always a little bit timid, but boy can he give away a great striptease show. He often plays a woman and I love the spam sketch.

3. Michael Palin
Now he’s known for his travel stories, but back then he was funny as hell. He was the guy with the tape recorder up his nose and the lumberjack who was in touch with his feminine side. He also had this funny smile.

2. John Cleese
John Cleese is probably the tallest man ever and he does amazing things with that length. Remember the ministry of silly walks? How hilarious is that, nobody else could have done it that way. He’s the most famous of the group.

1. Graham Chapman
Unfortunately he’s no longer with us, I really would have wanted to enjoy his funny skills a little more. For some reason I always liked him the most. It especially cracks me up when he’s dressed like a woman or when he shrieks.

They Almost Made the Top 5: Terry Gilliam