Roxanne (1987)

 'Roxanne' is another movie I watched for the podcast. Steve Martin stars in and penned this update of Edmond Rostand's 1897 work 'Cyrano de Bergerac'. Martin plays the soulful but comically large nosed fire chief of a Washington state resort community, Daryl Hannah a visiting astronomer and titular love interest, Rick Rossovich the handsome claude through whom Martin finds himself vicariously romancing his muse. 

This is a solid comedy and works as such, but excels through its subtleties and sense of mood, little extra bits of complexity to the lead characters, and being about something more then cheap laughs from a prosthetic nose. This surprised me, would be worth revisiting. ***1/2

Dangerous When Wet (1953)

 With 'Dangerous When Wet' I decided it was finally time for me to see one of Esther William's aquamusicals (think Scarlett Johansson in 'Hail, Caesar'). Energy drink (Lequipep) promotor Jack Carson is training Arkansas girl William's to swim The English Channel. She is romanced by Fernando Lamas and has a longish dream sequence with cartoon characters Tom & Jerry. William Demarest plays William's father and in this movie he has three girls, one which is played by Barbara Whiting, daughter of the late Hooray for Hollywood' composer Richard A. Whiting. The original songs in this movie are by Johnny Mercer, whose 'I Got Out of Bed on the Right Side' is overplayed. Interesting as novelty. **

The Arrangement (1969)

For 'The Arrangement' Elia Kazan adapted and directs from his own 1967 novel of the same name. Kirk Douglas is an advertising man whose affair with Faye Dunaway leaves him unhinged. So it's like 'Mad Men' only shitty. Pretentious and scattered, some good work from the two leads but this drag of a film is weighed down by the general unlikability of nearly every character, middling supporting work (I'm talking to you Deborah Karr) and Kazan's desperate need to be relevant, by far his worst film. A dull blade of a movie, mid-life crises drivel. It made me kind of mad. * 

Big Daddy (1999)

I watched 'Big Daddy' on assignment for one of the new 'homework' episodes we are doing for the podcast. I was surprised how much I enjoyed this 90's Adam Sandler comedy. There was a casualness to it that I found likable, movie wasn't trying too hard, was good hearted and everyone seemed to be having a good time making it. I'd say this is probably my favorite 1990's Sandler film. **1/2

Death Spa (1989)

 The exploration fair 'Death Spa' delivers on what it promises, supple bodies in various states of undress and gruesome deaths. The ghost of the jealous wife of the owner of prosperous LA fitness club, possesses her twin brother and proceeds to wreck the business and try to off any pretty woman who might attract her widowers attention.

Uneven, but still better then it should be, 'Death Spa' is a surprisingly competent production, but had a lot of distribution problems which accounts for the movie being attributed copyright/release dates for 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1990 (I went with the year of it's first theatrical release, which was in Japan). 

Since the plot involves a computerized system running amok, 1986's 'Chopping Mall' serves as a good point of reference. I would say this film is a little better put together then the earlier film, if a little less fun. Still the batshit ending leaves things on a high note, and solicited from me the coveted 'big grin'. **

CODA (2021)

 Short for 'Child of Death Adults', CODA's win for best picture was the second most shocking thing to happen at this years Oscar ceremony. A remake of a 2014 French/Belgian co-production, CODA is set in Gloucester, Massachusetts and concerns a family of deaf fisherman with one hearing member. Rubi Rossi (an endearing Emilia Jones) signs up for choir her senior year to be near a boy she likes, choir director Eugenio Derbez quickly discovers that she is a supremely talented singer, and offers to help her get into a prestigious music school. This up ends things for her family who have come to depend on her hearing ability, and are unable to apricate a talent they only vaguely understand. 

'CODA' treads some well worn coming of age territory, but offers a unique enough twist on things to avoid becoming too trite. The material is further elevated by strong central performances from Jones, Derbez, and Marlee Matlin, and Troy Kotsur, who earns his best supporting actor Oscar here. The film is funny, heart warming,  and perhaps surprisingly unpretentious. Your mom would like 'CODA'. ***1/2

The Ballad of Cable Hougue (1970)

'The Ballad of Cable Houge' was director Sam Peckinpah's follow up to his mega hit, the famously violent 1969 western 'The Wild Bunch'. This movie kept things in western territory but both slowed them down and lightened them up. Prospector Jason Robards is left for dead in the Nevada desert by his partners, he stumbles upon the only source of water in 40 miles and decides to make it a stage stop. He befriends a lovely proustite (Stella Stevens) and a lecherous preacher (David Warner). Part comedy, part revenge movie, part philosophical ramblings, this ideocentric film took me a bit to sync with, but once I did I thoroughly enjoyed it. ***1/2