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American Graffiti (DVD)
by GentleGenius
RELEASED: 1973, Cert. AA
RUNNING TIME: Approx. 110 mins
DIRECTOR: George Lucas
PRODUCER: Francis Ford Coppola
SCREENPLAY: George Lucas, Gloria Katz & Willard Huyck
MUSIC: Various original classic rock & roll and doo-wop oldies
MAIN CAST:-
Richard ... Dreyfuss as Curt Henderson
Ron Howard as Steve
Charlie Martin Smith as Terry The Toad
Paul Le Mat as John Milner
Mackenzie Phillips as Carol
Cindy Williams as Laurie
Candy Clark as Debbie
Wolfman Jack as himself
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FILM ONLY REVIEW
Set in small town America in 1962, American Graffiti is a film which concentrates on one single night's activities of a group of four high school graduates, spending their last night having some fun before they go their separate ways.
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American Graffiti was doing the rounds at the cinemas in the UK at the same time as its British counterpart, That'll Be The Day. I'm not sure if the films were made without reference to each other, or whether one was made first and the second - whichever that would have been - was deliberately created as a transatlantic twinning process.
This film, as can be judged by its title, is primarily geared towards an American audience, especially appealing to nostalgia freaks, but it also gave great enjoyment to British cinema-goers.
Basically, it is a fun film with a couple of serious bits around the edges which happen more towards the end. The humour is very much American in flavour, but not to the point where it alienates itself from a British audience. Although I do find parts of it amusing, especially John Milner's description of the colour of somebody's car, it has never caused me to roll in the aisles with mirth. The humour is present, but it is very light.
The acting is admirably good by the whole of the main cast, it being all but impossible to pick a single favourite.....and, what absolutely wonderful music (that's if, like me, you are a devout fan of 1950s and very early 1960s rock'n'roll and doo-wop). There is no specially written score to American Graffiti, as the whole of the soundtrack is made up of late 1950s/early 1960s chart music as it was during those times in the USA. As the individual tracks are spread across the film, many of them are punctuated with some rather crazy announcements and voice overs by the wonderful Wolfman Jack, who star guested, playing himself. Some may find this a tad distracting, but I personally find little snippets of what he says to be moderately amusing.
I suppose American Graffiti could almost be described as a whacky road movie of sorts, in that pretty much all of it takes place outside, on a hot summer's night, drag-racing through the streets of the small town in classic American cars and riding motor bikes, plus there are some wonderful moments when clean-cut Curt Henderson tries to endear himself to a gang of leather-clad pseudo tough boy bikers. Another few good stretches involve Steve's and girlfriend Laurie's romance becoming problematic when Steve makes a suggestion that Laurie doesn't like, and geeky Terry The Toad is surprised when he has the night of his life.
There is no definite, firm storyline as such, but that doesn't really matter as this is a kind of a romp on wheels, with its essence concentrating on personalities, teenage activities and how each of the characters who are spending their last night of freedom, slightly change their inner perspective through what happens to them.
During the early part of American Graffiti, sometimes my interest levels can lapse just a tiny bit, but they soon make a comeback as the film progresses. This isn't because it is a slow-moving film...quite the opposite, as the pace is generally fast and racy. It may be due to having seen it so often that I know what is coming. Once John Milner is manipulated by his girlfriend into carting her irritating young sister Carol around for the remainder of the evening, I then pick up the threads and become more absorbed, fascinated and a little amused by the way Milner treats this 12-year-old who has been thrust upon him against his will....yet, there is more to her than initially appears.
Although American Graffiti is completely fictitious, I'd urge anybody who chooses to watch it, to keep a careful eye on the closing credits, as the way they are presented nicely seals off the film, grounding it and giving it a sense of meaning which isn't always present during the earlier parts.
Overall and for me, American Graffiti typically and very atmospherically captures the mood of what it must have been like to be a teenager during the very early 1960s in the USA. Great care appears to have been taken to create scenery and fashions which are historically accurate, with the wonderful music complimenting it superbly, culminating in a mostly heartwarming, sometimes amusing and rather whacky piece of cinematic history. The presence of Wolfman Jack in his usual profession as radio DJ adds the perfect touch down the road of atmospheric quality.
My recommendation is.....if you are interested in that era and adore the music, watch American Graffiti! It isn't the most profound or thought-provoking film ever made, but it's not supposed to be. It is an enjoyable, very well put together romp where spirits run high and things do get a bit crazy, but in some ways, that will appeal rather than bore.
NB: There was also (on vinyl) a double album of the music from American Graffiti released to coincide with the film....this is still available for purchase.
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At the time of writing, American Graffiti can be purchased from Amazon as follows:-
New: from £4.32 to £21.98
Used: from £2.42 to £10.45
Some items on Amazon are available for free delivery within the UK, but where this doesn't apply, a £1.26 charge should be added to the above figures.
Thanks for reading!
~~ Also published on Ciao under my CelticSoulSister user name ~~
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Russell Peters - Outsourced (DVD)
by julwhite
This review is of the Russell Peters - Outsourced stand-up comedy. Although I watched this on Netflix, the DVD contains the same material.
I hadn't heard of Russell Peters before watching this, but he is a Canadian comedian who is of Indian descent. This is important because Peters's humour is based on different cultures and ... races from around the world, and I discovered that Peters has a substantial international audience.
The humour which Peters uses is very much observational, and in this stand-up he inter-acts frequently with the audience, often at their expense, although with a mischievous rather than nasty edge. Peters is quick-witted and does very well threading the interactions with the audience into his observational stories.
Peters can do a wide range of accents, and is able to switch to and from them with great speed. He seemed to have stories from many countries, depending on who he was interacting with in the audience, and he seemed very fast on his feet. Although the humour is never overly offensive, there is reasonably frequent swearing and some sexual references, so the DVD wouldn't be suitable for children.
Without giving too many of the jokes away, he mixes a series of stories from around the world with stories based on what his audience says. One piece was how he was with an African woman in KFC in China, and the comedy is based on a mis-understood word which is frequently spoken in Chinese. Other jokes based around wordplay and misunderstandings are his pieces on travelling in Vietnam and his "someone is gonna get a hurt" joke.
At first sight the material might seem quite edgy and controversial, but Peters tries to unite people by identifying characteristics in a culture, but also recognising that everyone is really the same. There are some clips on Youtube of this performance, so it's a good way to see if this style of humour will appeal.
This particular stand-up performance was recorded from a gig in 2006 and was recorded in San Francisco. Although some of the humour is a little American orientated in this particular performance, I didn't feel that it made it any less relevant. There is also another performance, also available both on DVD on Netflix, by Peters which was filmed in the O2 in London front of 30,000 people in 2010, which is worth looking out for.
The DVD is currently available for 7 pounds on Amazon including postage, although is sometimes on eBay for a little less. Alternatively the show can also be seen on the UK version of Netflix. The DVD and Netflix version of the stand-up last for 74 minutes.
Overall I felt this was an excellent performance which was received very well by the audience. Peters has a quick wit and is well traveled, and engages well with his audience rather than just trying to insult them for the sake of a quick laugh. By being able to imitate various accents and with a wealth of stories from different countries, I felt that this made for a really clever and different style of humour. I will be looking for more stand-up performances from Peters.
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Labour Pains (DVD)
by xxfoxyredxx
When it comes to some films I am left thinking why did I just sit through that and not just stare at a wall?! I am sorry to say this was one of those films!
I bought this from Amazon on a whim, looking for films I hadn't seen. I bought it used and in very condition for just £1.26 (including post and packaging) so felt I had ... nothing to lose.....just my time it turned out!
Film Only Review:
Thea (Lindsay Lohan) is a secretary at a publishing company and with the threat from the boss about getting the sack she quickly remembers that on a programme she recently had seen that you can't sack a pregnant woman....so voila it seems a good idea to tell him on the spot that she is indeed pregnant which she isn't. She does get to keep her job and thinks that maybe she can get out out of the situation at a later date of her whoping lie however soon the whole company knows, her little sister catches on about the lie as does her boyfriend who she is tiring of but for the time being she has to pretend to be engaged to him.
With the help of her mate/co-worker at the firm Lisa (Tracee Ellis Ross) who isn't in agreement with Thea's tall story they hatch a plan to make it look like Thea really is pregnant with Thea seeming to start to quite enjoy being 'pregnant'. However when her boss goes out of town his younger and cuter brother Nick (Luke Kirby) comes in to take the reigns and a spark develops between him and Thea with her getting a promotion in the firm to be Editor of the parenting division regarding books and him and Thea spend alot of time together to try to gain new authors, pregnant women in the main to allow them to publish the books.
Of course this isn't without its issues for Thea, not actually being pregnant and never having been and with her and Nick growing closer how the heck can she get out of the lies she's told, keep her job and manage the man she wants?
Well...My Thoughts (For What They Are Worth):
Ok this is meant to be a farcical comedy and indeed you do get one as the plot of this is so unbelievable and silly yet you know the ending about ten minutes into it there is no surprises with this film at all!
There were no outstanding performance's apart from the boss's dog who stole the limelight for me in all its scenes, the story though as a whole is totally unmemorable, daft and I never laughed out loud once. Lindsay Lohan and the rest of the cast bumbled through this nightmare, seriously I only watched the ending just so I could write the review about it.
Its rated 12, which is right in my humble opinion but I wouldn't advise anyone to bother with this, I really wouldn't!
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