Halloween Has Come Early! "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" Review

Last year I was in a movie theatre with 3 friends of mine, 2 of them were girls and one was a guy. We were watching “Les Miserables” and towards the end the situation was as follows; I was contemplating suicide because of boredom, one girl was singing along quietly while a bit choked up, the other girl was crying like a little baby, and the other guy was asleep (lucky bastard). However that movie did have a silver lining, it taught me something that I had been wondering for years, why do I like musicals so much? The answer came to me because that movie was missing the one variable that I like about musicals, fun!

So with my new way of understanding musicals let’s talk about “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”. For a movie that stars cross dressers, features a song called “Sweet Transvestite”, and has a large gay following, the movie is surprisingly masculine. A lot of people tend to dislike musicals just because they are musicals “People don’t spontaneously break into song” they tend to say while at the same time enjoying films with characters who are willing to risk their lives to save a building full of people they don’t know. Musicals are good as long as the music is good and Rocky Horror has got one of the best soundtracks I have heard from a musical. Songs like “Time Warp” “Hot Patootie” and “Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch Me” hit my ears wonderfully.

Tim Curry, And Susan Sarandon (the only two actors in the film worth mentioning) do a pretty fantastic job with the hard material. Not only do they have to act out incredibly complicated and weird roles but they have to sing too and they both do it well. Also worth noting is a funny cameo by Meat Loaf who I believe to actually be a good actor after seeing him in this film and “Fight Club”.

The film takes place mostly in one or two rooms of a scary house, evidence of its origins in theater, so that gives the audience time to get to know the surroundings as if they were another character. Everything is iconic in the film which may account for the enormous cult following this film has. Speaking of the cult following I have heard great things about Halloween midnight showings of this film so it might be worth going to one when Halloween comes along.

The plot might be simple but it is hard to understand through all the singing and dancing which makes for a very awkward experience. Janet and her Fiancé get stranded and go to a very creepy house where a crazy drag queen plays Frankenstein. There is not much to go on after that.  It is almost as if you are watching a concert because you are enjoying the music and you like the show but there isn’t much of a plot. It is a forgivable flaw in an otherwise very well made film.

8/10

What is your favorite musical? Remember animated films count. Mine would have to be “The Wizard of Oz” but I am a fan of musicals so many many movies come to mind when I think of that question.

I got in a car crash! "Death Proof" Review.

So I got into a car crash yesterday and to be honest I got pretty scared even though it wasn’t really a huge one. I was pretty shaken all day and felt upset even though I should have been happy I was able to walk away from it. So being the twisted cinefile that I am that got me thinking of what film I could review next that has to do with car crashes? I think I ended up with a splendid choice. Now remember do not watch this movie if you want to feel safe in a car ever again but if you like the idea then give this movie a go. You see “Death Proof” is one segment of the double feature “Grindhouse” and it stars Kurt Russell, Rose McGowan, Rosario Dawson, Zoe Bell, and many others. My favorite director of all time Quentin Tarantino directed the movie which is kinda poetic in a weird way if you think that if I had died in my accident I would have at least died in a way that Tarantino would find fascinating, because he clearly does by the looks of this film.

Like a lot of my reviews recently I won’t tell you the plot because that would spoil most of it. What I will tell you is that only one character ties the first half to the second half, because if you saw the two halves separately you might have thought that the second was a great remake of the first one with a small but critical change to the ending. Confused? I know I don’t blame you, but if you are into movies that look like they have been directed by Charles Manson then this is for you.

Even though it contains some heart pounding, hair rising, nail biting, edge of your seat, action set pieces, it is about 70% Tarantino-Style dialogue. Perhaps that number is too much though because the film does definitely get boring at some points. For anyone who hasn’t gotten the memo yet, Quentin is my favorite movie director so I wouldn’t say anything negative about his films unless I really meant it. The good news is that he apparently found his number and scaled it down for his next films.

This is the only movie of Tarantino’s which doesn’t get full marks for me because it is the one that went too far. Not with the violence, or the swearing, but with the self indulgence. It almost feels like he made this film so that he can watch it alone with the volume all the way up and his pants all the way down. It’s not for the faint of heart but shit if you are an adrenaline junkie, a car enthusiast, a B movie expert, or just a Tarantino fan like me then grab yourself a DVD, send any (straight) women to bed and then pop it on and you are in for a treat.

8/10

Who is your favorite director? Do you even have one? Let me know in the comments.