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Just saw John Waters' latest movie, "A Dirty Shame," on DVD and while Waters has certainly made funnier movies ("Serial Mom," "Cry Baby"); dirtier movies ("Pink Flamingoes," "Female Trouble") and better movies ("Hairspray," "Pecker") he certainly hasn't made a worse one than this (though "Cecil B. Demented" was pretty bad). The "story" (and I use the word very loosely) of a woman who endures a concussion-induced sex-addiction, "A Dirty Shame" stars the usually brilliant Tracey Ullman, the always sexy Chris Isaac, the perpetually stupid Johnny Knoxville and what-the-hell-is-she-doing-in-this-movie-? Selma Blair.
Ullman is Sylvia Stickle, who runs a convenience store with her husband, Vaughn (Isaac) while watching over her daughter, Caprice (Blair) who is under house arrest for public lewdness. Blair wears outrageously over-sized prosthetic breasts and dances in bars under the screamingly unfunny pseudonym of Ursula Udders. When Sylvia is hit in the head by a passing lawn-mower handle in the single most contrived scene ever filmed, her inner libido is unleashed and she suddenly becomes the 12th Apostle in Knoxville's sexual "church" (this after Knoxville performs oral sex on her in the middle of a busy intersection). Other than coming up with some funny new phrases for various sex acts ("yodeling in the canyon" was my favorite and the funniest), Waters just gives us a one-joke movie that wears very thin about halfway through. Waters regulars Mink Stole and Patty Hearst appear, as well as the very funny woman who played "Mee Maw" in "Pecker." But even the CGI animated sex-addicted squirrels (yes, you read that correctly) seem nothing more than a car-insurance commercial rip-off. Occasionally, Waters literally states the obvious by super-imposing words like "W-H-O-R-E" or "E-R-E-C-T" over the action, which served no real purpose, other than to shout "gimmick!" over and over. Sadly, commercial success seems to have severely dulled Waters' edge, and that's the biggest dirty shame of all. |
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Forget all the nonsense about Tom Cruise's antics of late and see this movie! After less than 10 minutes of set up, "War of the Worlds" takes off running and never lets up. Super-realistic, seamless special effects, excellent performances all around and respect for the source material, make for Spielberg's best roller-coaster movie since "Jurassic Park." And like "J.P." this movie is definitely NOT for the little ones.
With plenty to say about 9/11; parenting; fighting for survival and the human spirit, Spielberg puts the audience in the middle of the action, often letting what's happening just out of our line of sight be as terrifying as what we can see. And what we can see is astounding. It's hard believe that this film went from "green light" to screen in just seven months. The most fun I've had at the movies in a very long time, and that's saying something. This is a movie that must be seen in a theatre with a huge screen and a great sound system. I will very interested to see the British version which was filming at the same time, but set in the novel's original 19th century period. |
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