p e n g u i n d e v i l

Well well… So I sat down to watch Once upon a Time in America. I am a fan of Leone, but hmm. His 4 westerns that I’ve seen are at the top of the genre and I will always say that The Good The Bad and The Ugly is one of the most satisfying, engrossing and well shot films I’ve seen. This one? Admittedly, I watched it following Godfather I & II and it just soo was not all that. The Music? Yes it was a Morricone score but it seemed to either be hokie music that was just too corny or Morricone music that didn’t seem to fit the action on the screen at all. Max’s ending scene was dumb and the last shot of the film was dumb too. It made me think though that Leone was trying to imply that the whole 1960’s part was just an opium dream, though even if that wasn’t the implication, I still didn’t like that shot. Anyway. It just didn’t grab me. It was convoluted and, while parts of it were interesting, at almost 4 hours it just wasn’t engrossing enough to make it worth the time.

Not to plagiarize, but I thought that DVD Savant really summed it up, “There is probably a point (3 viewings, 5?) where the film might click, and become a perceived masterpiece. I don’t think I have that much patience.”

Yeah, me neither.

On to other subjects. The new issue of Video Watchdog has piqued my interest in a Czech zombie movie, Choking Hazard. I may need to look that up. Of course, as a corny fun zombie move it appeals to me, but I also really like the screen shot they used. I’m a sucker for good images like that. They also developed in me a slight interest to see King Arthur. I know that it looks like one of those big hollywood extravaganzas that I love to hate but I read the rather lengthy review (being that Excalibur and Monty Python and the Holy Grail have long been my two favorite films, I just had to look) and it actually came across as maybe being ok. I should probably just rent it.