Reviews
Plain Clothes (1988)
No oscars, but fun
The first time I saw Plain Clothes was a coincidence. Changing channels on a Saturday night and finding (and sticking with) this movie. It is an eighties high school comedy with a funny little cross over to thriller.
Watching B-movies is fun and I do it lots. I have no high expectations and I don't pay a fee to go to the movies and end up wanting my money back. In the nineties there is a growing tendency of B-movies being etremely violent, groce and "bloody". Film makers are trying to be noticed among the hundreds of B-movies made every year by going over the top making their movie "special". My point? Well, not every movie will win an oscar or go into history as a classic, a box-office success or a cult-movie. My point is that this is fine! But people don't seem to understand that one can make a nice movie without having the greatest script or actors of all time, or the money to do Star Wars-like gimmicks. To me Plain Clothes is a perfect B-movie. A nice, simple story, nice actors, funny here and there and quite entertaining. I have watched it now a couple of times and it is still fun! With the cop entering the school as a "thug" (as his little brother calls him). His change into the cool guy. His methaphore-poetry. His romance with the teacher. George ("NORM!!!") Wendt as the insane teacher/bad guy. A good climax. I love the Godfather saga, One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. the Shawshank Redemption, Schindler's List, etc., but that doesn't mean that a movie that isn't in this category flunks. Plain Clothes is, plain and simple, a nice, ok movie. Average, may be, but fun average and that is more than I can say of zillions of movies (starring "stars" like Pamela Anderson or Arnold Schwarzenegger).
Crocodile Dundee (1986)
Cool cowboy
This is certainly not a very good movie, but it is certainly above average and entertaining! Even though I am very well aware of this movie's shortcomings I have seen it endlessly and have enjoyed myself every time. Paul Hogan has enough charisma to carry this movie through the slumps and it has quite a few funny moments too! I love it when he looks at the sky and tells his woman companion the time (he wows her with this, but checked the time previously on a watch). It even contains one of my all-time favorite scenes in the part where a robber sticks a knife in his face and demands his wallet. "What for" he wonders in his Australian accent. "He's got a knife" the woman says. "That's not a knife" Mick Dundee replies "THAT's a knife" and he pulls out his big "survival" knife and scares the "poor" robber to death. I love it!
I bet that lots of people would love to be a bit (or more) like this Australian macho cowboy that seems unbeatable. He is cool and he is hot (borrowing from "Big")!!! This thing wasn't a huge money maker for nothing! 13 years old and still cool!
Barb Wire (1996)
Historic bad movie
This movie is a perfect fit for Pamela Anderson. The acting, the story and all one can think of that has to do with making a movie is below the worst level possible. The "good" thing about that is that this level happens to be the level where Anderson usually performs, meaning that she was perfectly casted for this waste of time and money. I expected this to be a bad movie, but it exceeded my expectations. Anderson's performance is (I don't know how she manages it) sub par and seeing the-blind-guy-called-Charlie trying to act (being blind) made me realize that by watching Barb Wire I was watching a historic movie. One of the worst movies ever made! The movie kept reminding me of Madonna's "Shanghai Surprise". Ouch!
Henry Bos, Holland
Beau Hunks (1931)
One-two combination
Each short or longer Laurel & Hardy movie is a classic in my view. The Laurel & Hardy tandem is unmatched in movie-history and in my opinion the majority of today's movie makers and writers can learn lots from L & H. They don't have Charly Chaplin's brilliance, but they are good! And funny! Their gags, faces, fights, accidents and disasters are hilarious and bring a smile to my face each time I watch. This time Hardy drags Laurel into a Foreign Legion adventure, because of a heartache and that gives plenty of room for these two legendary comedians to move! My advice: don't underestimate L&H movies!