karmacoupe Reviews

On the Road (2012)

Sex, Drugs & Jazz

[9/10 · 21 August 2012]

"On The Road" is only the skeleton this film is fleshed out around. It is not simply the novel made into a movie. Director Walter Salles WAY expanded it. For starters, he used the scroll, not the '57 edition as the working blueprint. And a ton of the movie came from Neal, Jack & Allen's letters, Carolyn's book, the LuAnne interview, Jack's audio recordings … in other words, there's a lot of stuff that's not in the novel. But it's all based on accounts, not solely Jack's account as told in that one book, scroll or not.

It's not the novel On The Road as a linear film. It's an interpretation based strongly ON that novel, but it ain't a literal filming of the storyline. It's a work of art, its own work of art, a new work of art based on an old work of art.

There's lots of cool things about it. I don't want to "spoil" it for you, but many of the specific scenes in the novel that always stood out for me are in the film. And since it's so non-linear, you don't know what's coming next. And it's, "Oh wow! It's this scene! No way!" It's so funny-cool that way. Something that Jack might spend a few paragraphs on in a 300-page novel could be 3 minutes of the 137 minute movie. And things he might cover over 20 pages aren't included at all. It's kind of a series of choice scenes portrayed.

And the cameos by Terrence Howard and Steve Buscemi are to die for! That two of my favorite actors are in this in such weird and wonderful ways is just great.

And Viggo as Bill! Holy heck! Maybe the best part of the film.

And the music is GREAT. Yer gonna love it if ya love it.

There's loads of problems, big and small, but I'm not gonna mention 'em cuz maybe you won't even notice 'em. It's its own work of art, its own statement, its own piece. It's new and different and will stand (or fall) on its own. But the movie of "On The Road" now exists. And here it is — 2 hours and 17 minutes. It's more large than small. It's more new than old. It's more timeless than dated.

How this is gonna play for other people will be interesting to see.

There's gonna be the Beat world's reaction, and then the non-Beat world's. Beat people in general are gonna like it — cuz it's On The Road and so much more. People who have only read the one book and have it emblazoned in their brains may have trouble with how it's been expanded, or edited by the limitations of the medium. I have no idea how non-Beat-familiar people will respond. Not a clue. I think if you were predisposed this way, you'd already be there.

Oh, and there's a whole lotta sex in it. The things that are said and the things that are shown, for The Puritanical American Rating System, this is gonna be an "R" fer sure. I mean, there's hand-jobs, oral, gay, straight, three-ways, you name it — and f-bombs, which actually were not in the casual vernacular of the time the way they're used in this film, and certainly not in the novel. This is definitely an adult movie. Which, if you know your On The Road, was a very G-rated book, other than the subject — the sex is all off-page, and the language is clean. The movie — not so much.

I look forward to experiencing this many more times, under many different circumstances, in many different mindframes, with many different people, and how it'll continue to reveal new colors and angles with each new Road adventure. It's a memorable, expansive dramatization. It's a helluva party condensed into 2 hours. It's a road trip with old friends to familiar places. But you better leave the book at home and be ready for anything.

Run Granny Run (2007)

Inspiring doc about an inspiring woman

[7/10 · 4 July 2008]

This is an outstanding documentary about the American political process, as told through the story of a 94 year old woman from New Hampshire who ends up running for their U.S. Senate seat. It has echoes of The War Room about Bill Clinton's '92 campaign -- in that both are excellently made with rarely seen views behind the facade of a longshot campaign.

You'll love this film if you like The Candidate or Mr. Smith Goes To Washington or Primary Colors or Man Of The Year -- all fictional accounts of this same kinda story -- but this doesn't have the "happy" Hollywood ending -- just real life. But a real life inspiring story -- and any kind of whining you might have about your own diminishing abilities will be quickly wiped away when you see what this 90-something can still do. And the lady is a scream! Listen for her son's ".38 revolver" line! :-)

Watch for the Senate debate scene with her Simpsons-like cartoon character opponent Judd Gregg -- and also cameos by Russ Feingold, John McCain, Joe Trippi, Howard Dean and others!

Also, if you can find the smart Canadian TV sit-com called The Newsroom, they did a 2-part episode called "The Campaign" that's funny as heck about a grassroots no-budget campaign like Granny D's. But what's so great about this, after all the fabulous made-up stories of underdogs running, this is SO the real deal -- wrinkles, warts & all.

The Gates (2007)

Nature, Christo, Central Park and New York City!

[9/10 · 3 July 2008]

This is SUCH a great documentary about New York City -- to me, that's what this brought home. Yes, it's about Christo and history and art and Central Park (my home away from home) but really it's a love poem to NYC and her inhabitants. The cranky old (and young) people, the curious ones, the playful ones . . . it has all the New York types.

I had no idea it was by a Maysles until I heard one of the Christo's greet a "Brother Maysles!" And you can hear him talking to Christo at one point, making a joke about, "If someone manages to steal one and takes it on the subway, make sure I'm there with a camera." It's yet another of their masterpieces.

And I just loved all the old footage from '79 or so, then got total goosebumps with the footage of the morning it opened. ahh, dawn in Central Park! snow in Central Park! night in Central Park. Christo in Central Park! and all caught by a cinematic master!

Marilyn Monroe: The Final Days (2001 TV Movie)

transcendent

[9/10 · 30 October 2006]

wow! this is a mind-blowing documentary! up with the best ever IMHO -- particularly Let It Be in its portrait of a great artist's demise; Lost In La Mancha in the disaster caught on film; Swear To Tell The Truth (about Lenny Bruce) in its common era and tragic hero; and Festival Express in its unreal footage that you never thought existed of masters in their prime. and make no mistake, this girl was still in her prime! she could be in a parka reading the newspaper with a three-ring circus beside her and Nobody would notice the circus!

how it portrayed the final hours without a conspiracy theory undertone. and Sinatra singing the theme song to her lost last movie?! huh!? and that Wally Cox shot two of the final scenes ever with Marilyn Monroe!? and that Steve Allen was also in the last movie? was there anything he didn't do!?

I remember hearing about this when it came out, and I just went, "Oh, some other stupid documentary on Marilyn," like there's been A Million of these already. but this is so serious, and real, and complete, and not just whoring her name and figure. it made me choked up in both her final performance in "Something's Got To Give" (another freakily ominous title, like that Beatles farewell), and in the recreation of her last night.

she is So transcendent! there aren't many humans captured on film as captivating as her. and What a portrait this is of her final reel!

The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001)

I can't wait to see it again.

[9/10 · 6 August 2006]

i've seen this about 7 or 8 times, could see it a lot more.

Movies are SO subjective, but i'm still surprised at the poo-pooers of this parody. Woody is perfect in the lead role, and for those who think he's too old, think about Grace Kelly's choice of men, or the much-lauded Vertigo, with an even more absurd male-female storyline.

a movie, like life, doesn't always make perfect sense. (it was Hitchcock who I first read say this) but if it's funny, there's love in the air, a babe, a great soundtrack, some hypnotic channeling, and a bit of a mystery, what the heck, eh? life's good. especially this two hour slice.

just about everything in this movie is on a 'masterpiece' level, IMHO.

the themes of: technology vs. intuition (or progress vs. tradition, modernity vs. classicism); plus the sexism, prejudice, and then role-reversal -- all fabulously and LOL explored.

and the music is to die for. all hail the banjo! best use EVER in a film. (see ya, Deliverance. -- like McCartney taking back Helter Skelter.)

the only casting i'm not crazy about is Aykroyd's bland toast, and I've never loved that guy from MASH, but this is my favorite single performance by Helen Hunt -- Mad About You with an edge -- over the top, laser-guided missile words. even Woody haters would have to love the scenes where she just rips his head off and spits it out. he's been put in his place by a lot of women in his 40-whatever movies, but i don't know if ever better than Hunt does it!

and the Woody character is just So over the top, and yet you know there were (are) men out there like C.W. and yet, he also has a good and honorable code despite his surface sleaziness. and funny!

I can't wait to see it again.

Witness to Murder (1954)

The Best non-Hitchcock Hitchcock! (spoilers)

[8/10 · 19 July 2006]

besides the obvious Rear Window storyline, all of the following in this movie are also signature Hitchcockian themes or devices . . . the sudden overhead shots during interiors for dialog transitions; the use of shadows (the darkness and the light); the wrongly persecuted (Stanwyck) trying to prove the truth; the inept police wanting to incarcerate the innocent person; the average working-class Joe (or Josephine) getting thrown into a sinister web by no fault of their own; the dramatically different stories within each rear window, i mean each door in the apt. building where the victim lived; the stair-climbing climax to the top of the cloister tower, i mean State of Liberty, i mean skyscraper.

not to mention fellow Brit George Sanders who features prominently in some of Hitch's biggest pre-50s films. and Then! there's even a cameo by Hitch himself! or at least an effective stand-in -- the super in Sanders building baring an obvious resemblance to Hitch's profile.

This is Bizarroworld Hitchcock.

it's The Woman Who Knew Too Much. . . . The Wrong Woman. . . . Saboteur-ess -- withthe opening scene being the crime, and the only person who knows the truth being committed / convicted by the police, with no 'authority' to turn to (except, perhaps, the highest one), and the climax up a long flight of stairs (and then a ladder!), and evil (the bad guy) falling off to his death (down to hell) with a nice direct overhead shot.

It's the Spellbound amnesia, but instead of Dali, the lead character is a surrealist painter. It's Shadow of a Doubt with Sanders playing the suave and 'angelic' Uncle Charlie / Joseph Cotton role.

not to mention the whole anti-fascism angle that ran through most of Hitch's '30s and '40s films.

this has gotta be one of the most Hitchcockian movies ever made that wasn't made by Hitchcock. almost like a "lost Hitchcock".

i'd love to know the backstory on this film -- whether it was a cash-grab rip-off, or a loving homage. the script directly acknowledges the TV show Dragnet at one point, which makes me hope the portly superintendent was a nod to Sir Alfred.

this is either a heck of a forgery, or a heck of a tribute. but either way, it's a heck of a film.

Luck (2003)

total beauty, eh?

[9/10 · 26 March 2006]

first caught snippets while flipping channels, each time watched a little more, knew i had to catch it from the start, and was just blown away when i did.

i loved the pacing, the development, the structure (especially how it starts as the Gamblers Anon meeting speech, which then catches up to itself mid-story). i loved the casting, the 4 buddies -- this is definitely "a guys movie" -- women were very secondary in the characters' lives -- that's why Shane doesn't have a clue what to do when he likes a girl. and the nerdy guy who keeps making the buzz-kill comments -- i love the way he was written into their crew. it always seemed like there was one of those guys around. and i love how the guys tell him to shut up & go away, but he keeps hanging around.

and Jed Rees! who is similarly great in Men With Brooms and the Chris Issac show -- i'm lovin' this guy more every time i see him. and he really goes for it in this one. he's got a Nicholson or Spader-like half-craziness in his characterizations -- but not sinister axe-murderer Jack, more self-destructive crazy, Canadian-crazy, half unhinged, but the worst thing he'll do is attack a table -- a Canadian crazy-Jack. love it. mesmerizing crazy eyes & face.

maybe it's cuz i lived thru that time, but it was all so real -- the first crummy house, typing in the kitchen, the ratty couch and TV, oh, and the stubbies!! props to the props peeps! and Shane's shyness around the girl. and all the twists at the end when Shane keeps losing it to this addiction of gambling, which i don't know much about, but this sure took me into that world -- how this non-gambling guy can fall so deep so quick.

and how the story is set around the '72 series -- i thought that was just great. somebody needed to do it. a real-world Shakespearian drama, and weaving all these different personalities into it.

it appears really low-budget/indi, but Real Well Done low-budget -- the way it should be.

Carny (1980)

The Last Waltz meets Paper Moon

[9/10 · 20 April 2005]

I saw this in the theater in winter/spring on 1980 -- haven't seen it since (geez, 25 years!) until these showings on the Canadian movie station. a lot more risqué than i remembered it!

it's sure captivating,engrossing, hypnotic, alluring, inviting. jodie's in her young hottie period, and robbie's the eye candy for the girls. he's sort of playing a sequel to The Last Waltz's "it's a god-damn impossible way of life." busey's fabulously enraged and possessed -- pre-wacko period. the music and soundtrack is superb. and GREAT casting. Fred Ward's a great surprise! never seen him give a bad performance.

seems like the most real circus movie i've even. i remember these traveling ferris-wheel freak-show ball-toss circus from my childhood, and it looks exactly as i remember it. (also, Movie Connection! this real traveling midwestern circus is captured briefly in Festival Express, a documentary about a 1970 train trip across Canada with Janis Joplin as Jodie Foster, Rick Danko as Gary Busey, and Robbie Robertson in his other role as a band-leader! :-) i'm certainly not bothered by the "lack of a plot" or whatever people seem to complain about -- a lot of my favorite art is not plot driven. say, Catcher in The Rye, for another young runaway story.

Pull a string! Enjoy the ride!

Without Warning: The James Brady Story (1991 TV Movie)

West Wing meets Almost Famous

[21 July 2004]

great film. surprised. well written, in a made-for-TV way. the bad-news TV report scene is particularly chilling.

good IL' Beau! funny prosthetic belly he sports! they make jim brady seem very lovable. i sure remember this. new york senator (than a representative) wrote the Brady Bill which is something good Congress has done.

the shooting occurs too early in the movie for me -- i was just getting into the life of the press secretary. it's kind of West Wing meets Almost Famous. except the characters and events are not fictional.

The Stepford Wives (2004)

total garbage

[1 July 2004]

i don't mean to be critical, and i tend not to post here when i don't like a movie, but this is the worst piece of crap i can remember sitting thru in years and years and years.

the acting makes daytime soap operas look like Shakespeare.

the plot is like a cartoon -- if you're over 4 years old, this will seem too stupid. i am just absolutely stunned that something like this could get made.

and what a cast! all of these major people -- bette midler!? how did she ever get involved in this?

and to think that this director made What About Bob?

i'm just speechless at how bad this is. in fact i'm angry that this was presented as a movie for adults and that they charged $10 or $15 to get into it.

just stunningly bad -- i didn't see that gigli, but from what i read, it must be it's stupid twin sister.

do NOT see this movie unless you are paid to, or have knocked unconscious.

0 out of 10

i want my money and two hours back.

movies like this make me not want to go to other movies.

Kaaterskill Falls (2001)

weird trip in the woods

[25 October 2003]

Being a hiker of the Catskills i had to see this. Real sleeper -- almost Put me to sleep, but something about the realism & anticipation kept me going. Anyone who's gone on a camping trip with more than their lover knows about the subtle tensions that arise and can eventually explode, and character qualities that get exaggerated in nature and a cabin.

I kept wondering when the terrorizing was gonna start. good twist.

the music is Fabulous, as is all the location shooting.

when dialog's heard but characters' mouths not moving -- haven't we all been talking about one thing but thinking something else? that's what i think's happening here, and it was very well done. she's staring at her husband just steaming, but some conversation-filler's coming out of her mouth.

as intended, i greatly disliked the husband, found the hitchhiker to be creepy, distant and opaque, and was rooting for the artist to find her wings -- so it worked, and it was weird. and that's life.

Happy Birthday, Wanda June (1971)

The Jungle Blunderbuss vs. The City Violinist

[28 September 2003]

I can't believe only one other person has commented on this movie! I guess it must be virtually pulled from circulation. I haven't seen it for years, but i've always remembered it and have been looking for it ever since one chance viewing on late night TV.

I just thought it was brilliant but have subsequently learned that critics thought it was horrible. oh well.

it felt like a drama by a great playwright. primal man vs. refined culture. outdoorsman vs. city folk. men vs. women.

and it's played to the hilt by Steiger and William Hickey. Hickey gives one of those most wonderful, funny, quirky, memorable performances i've ever seen in a film. and Steiger very effectively makes you hate him, playing this full-of-himself a*shole to the hilt -- but who can also appeal to any burgeoning Thoreauvian, or maybe even xtreme sports enthusiast.

there are some very funny scenes involving a violin that obviously symbolizes refined culture. There's almost something of a Simpsons in this -- an adult comedic violent film version of Homer vs. Lisa.

there's gotta be some reason this has been pulled from circulation cuz it's just too good and weird to not make more frequent appearances on the second-string movie channels. if you ever get a chance to see it, i say, email me and lemmi know when it's on! and don't miss it.

William Hickey: Thanks for being here!

Festival Express (2003)

Channeling the Big Guy under Big Sky

[10/10 · 16 September 2003]

Oh . . . My . . . God!

Yer gonna die! 33 years from filming to the screen. But here it is!

If you like The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band, and/or that era, A) you're gonna Love this, and B) as a documentary of the time this is rivaled only by Woodstock.

In fact, there's a quote by some musician in the film about: "Woodstock was a treat for the audience; the Festival Express was a treat for the performers." Apparently it was a non-stop jam session & party from beginning to end. Buddy Guy jokes, "I couldn't go to sleep cuz I thought I'd miss something!" The Grateful Dead's lyricist Robert Hunter later wrote a song about it -- "Never had such a good time in my life before / I'd like to have it one time more." And Janis says at the last show, "Next time you throw a train, man, call me."

This was a rock festival "tour" across Canada in the summer of 1970. The idea was to create Multiple mini-Woodstocks by having a train take all the bands to the next site. They ended up pulling off three of them - in Toronto, Winnipeg, and Calgary. But this being Canada in the last century, there's only like 5 or 10,000 people in the Peg and Cowtown!

The guy who was in charge of filming it back then told me they had 5 cameramen and a total crew of about 20. There was apparently a dispute over who owned the film, resulting in all this great footage never being seen, and reminding me of the similar squabbles over that other great cinema verite classic Pull My Daisy by Robert Frank. Both Daisy and this Express really document their respective peaks in creative history vibrantly & honestly, showing both the crazy drunken joyride and the brilliant peaks of pure channeled genius.

Other films in this chapter would include Monterey Pop, The Last Days of The Fillmore, Big Sur, then The Last Waltz a few years later. They sometimes use split-screens to show both the audience and the performers, and apparently the director who finally turned the footage into a film also did the Beatles Anthology, so it's kind of like that - all this historic footage interspersed with new interview snippets by the various participants, like Bob Weir remembering, "Most all of us were new to drinking at that point. We'd all been taking LSD or smoking pot or whatever, but this was a whole new experience for us!" Ah, Canada!

And talk about Big Railroad Booze -- there's a hilarious part where they run out in Saskatchewan: CN Conductor: They drank us dry! Promoter: When's the next stop? Conductor: We're not scheduled for a stop. Promoter: You are now.

Then Eric Andersen looking back, shakin his head, "I dunno, they just stopped in Saskatoon, the whole damn train stopped, like, In Front of a liquor store!"

It's one of those movies where you're laughing so hard you miss stuff, or you're so busy watching Rick Danko you forget Janis and Jerry are beside him. It's filled with so many glistening gold treasures you're gonna come away richer just watching it. Masters channeling some force beyond . . . makes me think of people I've met who don't believe there's a God of any kind, no larger spiritual anything. This movie sure reinforced for me that there's Some spirit force out there, and Rick Danko and Janis and Richard Manuel are channeling it right before your eyes!

And Deadheads are gonna freak! There are 3 songs by the original 6-member band, but more importantly, Jerry Garcia is really shown in his prime. Not only is he central to seemingly every train-car jam, but when there's trouble with the crowds in Toronto, it's Garcia who comes to the microphone to plead for "coolness". I believe it's the new Dennis McNally book on the Dead that says Garcia learned their eventual staple Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad from Delaney & Bonnie on this trip, and you actually see Delaney playing it on the train at one point.

Janis is so possessed & clearly channeling The Big Guy to close the final show of the tour and the film, it's so sad this lifeforce died accidentally just 2 months later. People were literally crying in the theater at her performance. I mean, the audience was so captivated, they broke out in applause Mid-song when she came back from her spontaneous stage rap to nail Cry Baby at the Winnipeg show.

And this is by far the loosest and rockingest original Band I've ever seen or heard. The Last Waltz is of course white hot, but they're polished to perfection. This is The Band of the Basement Tapes, except playing in their home country and even more electrified - they're hanging with the Dead on the road, not Dylan in a basement :-) It's the kind of stuff you always wished you saw or were there for. Now, Bing!

I caught it at the Toronto Film Festival (Sept. '03) and sure hope for everyone's sake this finds wide distribution, then an excellent DVD avec outtakes comes out!

Happy Accidents (2000)

Love, the future

[11 September 2003]

Wow! One of those great movies you stumble on half-way thru and go Oh My God, and then have to go on a quest to see it from top to bottom.

Blazing, creative, thought-provoking, want to get the script.

Talk about Men are from Mars and Women are from New York!

Love D'Onofrio in just about anything, and maybe best in this. or is he the best in everything? this is Marisa in the Cousin Vinnie crazy Italian love role, 15 years later.

Fabulous perfect real best-friend New Yorker played by Nadia Dajani.

And this Jose Zuniga as the pyschic friend is just great -- don't know where i saw him before, but he's perfect!

As a New Yorker, this movie is technicolor real. it's like After Hours, Desperately Seeking Susan, Smoke, Tree's Lounge -- not "Maid in Manhattan" perfectly-lit Hollywood New York, but rather downtown indi-film real-life New York. It's fast, sometimes sloppy, very verite, very street, beautifully unpolished. Incredible String Band-like music, flutes, ethereal court jester minstrels tootling the multitudes.

Back-travel, fate, causality, telepathy-scopes, herb smoking, Love. Blinovitch's 2nd Law of Temporal Inertia. :-) Cheeseman's Emotional Therapy Theory :-) not being able to afford an expensive back-story :-)

i think we can all relate to that -- and how there are poor people in the future is kinda funny and against type -- where we think everyone will Not be poor in the time-travel future. "Hey, I paid a lot of money for that back-story! What a rip-off!" van Gogh and Lewis Carroll connected to time travelers; nice homage to Kate Hepburn doin' the i'm-not-from-here gig; Free Bird in the background :-)

i was in this relationship -- i the crazy martian, and she the caring single New York Italian woman trying to understand the innocent, romantic martian-boy's weirdness and mid-western cluelessness. and you?

classic scene with Marisa & Vincent in a diner booth talking about time Not being a rigid line -- reminded me of Marisa's face & revelations in the witness stand in Cousin Vinnie.

Marisa character's father stopping drinking, but losing his passion.

"Since daddy stopped drinking, we have . . . lost our spark. I know it sounds weird saying it, but i miss your father the way he was."

"It won't last forever." Live and embrace Now.

Love from the future, in a wonderfully contemporary New York.

Bully (2001)

Manson Family eats American Pie

[14 August 2003]

To me, this is in a small group of movies that really distured me, but in a cinemagraphic way -- like Midnight Express and Rosemary's Baby.

Lead actress Rachel Miner is positively eerie! i'd love to know more about the real case this was based on, but as a dramatization of what happens when ruthless bullying in a group of amoral teens goes to the extreme, i think this is fabulously real for the 21st century.

The nudity and gratuitousness of sex is indicative of the characters & citizenry depicted. if you have a problem with this film, you have a problem with the high school on your corner.

Granted it's a 'movie' of what goes wrong in the extreme, but the bullying, clickishness and peer pressure sure rings true in the high school world i knew and the one i see today.

if you're sensitive and/or young i would avoid this. i couldn't watch movies like this (Natural Born Killers, Pulp Fiction) before -- i knew beforehand they were too violent. this is in that graphic league, tho of course not in other qualities.

if you're okay with watching evil, almost Manson-like violence, then check this out for the culture that birthed Columbine. if you have trouble sleeping at night, avoid this till symptoms subside.

1969 (1988)

the buddy road film meets the TV mini-series

[12 August 2003]

i can see why some people dislike this movie, but i enjoyed it.

good stuff: music (CSNY, Canned Heat, Creedence), costumes, subject, issues dealt with, cast! young Winona, Keifer & Robert Downey Jr., plus the van and cars, conflict btwn generations

bad stuff: melodramatic, simplistic, like a TV movie or Walt Disney.

there was a 1999 'mini-series' (2-part) on cbs i think that was a lot like this. ie; it's more a TV movie than an Easy Rider or Platoon. If you go in with the 'TV' mindset i'm sure you'll enjoy it if you like this subject and/or era -- the Vietnam War and its effects on American families.

i only knew of this era thru documentaries and books, but living in America in 2003, there are real war-tearing familial similarities that are only likely to get more exaggerated. seeing a portrayal, even a 'TV movie' version, just helps a little bit.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

Funny, exciting, swashbuckling joy

[8/10 · 3 August 2003]

Loved it! Just saw the Stones-stock in Toronto with Keith Richards, then Boom, there he is speaking thru time and depp space!

Keef!

How funny!

Heard it /saw it / felt it Before reading confirmation here and elsewhere that he Was being Keith as a pirate, and Yeah, it obviously wasn't just some arbitrary hip choice, like playing him as Bob Dylan or even John Lennon. It's great to know Keith is still living and breathing among us, and great to see him living and breathing on a pirate adventure in the 1800s through overlaid masks of Johnny's Hunter Thompson and Ichabod Crane and Don Juan -- like Ed McMahon becoming an axe-wielding maniac thru Jack Nicholson -- bizarre, but it works.

The choreography of all the many swordfighting scenes was great -- comical at times, theatrical & tense at others -- it was Errol Flynn with a little Fred Astaire, and maybe Eddie Murphy or Jim Carey.

This is Swiss Family Robinson, Kirk Douglas, swashbuckling swordfights, swinging from ship to ship -- except done in a real 21st century foxy way -- with explosions that shake your soda, and a surreal Star Wars bar scene in Pirateland, where Jack 'Han Solo' Sparrow goes back to recruit a crew.

The music was just great, swept you along with the swooshes of swords, as did the choreography. The sets take you there, the castles make me want to be there, and the living skeleton special effects bring out my own worst nightmares. The acting is typically melodramatic Disney comedy, but that's the genre, and its consistent and funny. The storyline is kind of convoluted and ridiculous, but the dialog is righteous (just look at all the quotes on this site after about one week in release). Finding faults in this is like complaining about Duck Soup; ignore the flies, and just fly with the parrots. This is a silly, wonderful, imaginative, transportive ride based on the coolest scary ride at Disneyland. How could it not have been made before? And I'd love to have a five bowl serial.