ph: Ben Riggott
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Gothika (2003)
Ghost story in which a repressed female psychiatrist wakes up as a patient in the very asylum where she worked with no memory of why she is there and what she has done.
A horror thriller with a senseless plot and made like a fast-paced action movie, the stars are wasted amidst the mess.
Halliwell (no star): "Lurid, overblown horror with unconvincing supernatural trimmings."
Maltin *1/2: "Take an earnest Berry, add a senseless script and misguided direction, and you get this horror/suspense/supernatural thriller/murder mystery/SNAKE PIT hodgepdoge."
Friday, July 12, 2013
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A Chump at Oxford (1940)
As a reward for capturing a bank robber, Stan and Ollie get scholarship to Oxford, but are met with resentment by other students.
Entertaining romp due mainly to the stars' expertise, otherwise a patchwork of sketches recycled from previous shorts.
Halliwell **: "Patchy but endearing Laurel and Hardy romp, starting with an irrelevant two reels about their playing butler and maid, but later including Stan's burlesque impersonation of Lord Paddington."
Maltin **1/2: "So-called feature is more like a series of barely related shorts: film is nearly half over before L & H even get to Oxford. Still quite funny, especially when they settle down in the Dean's quarters. Peter Cushing plays one of the boys' tormentors."
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
First Lines: Anita Brookner - Hotel du Lac
From the window all that could be seen was a receding area of grey.
