tim curry

 Clue – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 1985 film Clue.

Story

The story is fun, fast, and witty. Part of that is necessity to cover the dangling threads of story. As a mystery, it’s severely lacking. As a comedy, it’s pure gold.

I was happy to see they didn’t automatically paint the supposed gay character as evil. If anything, he was the least evil of the group. However, the “real” ending having him say he was going home to his wife sucked, although I know they had to do it for ratings reasons.

Score: 0.5

Characters

Using the Clue board game names with their own special zany character traits. Each is just silly enough to be likeable and murderous enough not to be.

The characters are quite boring, but the impressive actors manage to make them interesting.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

This has more banter, quips, and witty dialogue than an entire season of some sitcoms. Some are good, some are bad, and a lot of them fall flat, but the sheer quantity ensures that there’s something for everyone.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

The cinematography walks the line between camp and brilliance in the best possible way. The set is exquisite and the costumes are fantastic.

The music is simple but perfectly well used. Lots of nods to other mysteries and spy films.

Score: 1

Fun

This movie isn’t going to make you think super hard and it’s not so dumb it seems smart, it’s somewhere in the middle. Combined with the amazing cast and wonderful jokes, it’s a fun movie to watch. Everyone was enthralled except the 3 year old who was bored. The 6 year old did say she wished there was more time to try and guess the murderer.

Score: 1

Overall

Fast and funny this is a classic homage to the game and mystery films in general. It’s not a good mystery, but the comedy and the cinematography more than make up for it.

Final Score: 3.5 Stars out of 5

The Three Musketeers (1993) – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 1993 film The Three Musketeers.

Story

I’ll be honest I only vaguely remembered this and expected it to be a hammy comedy. I was pleasantly surprised. The story was the traditional Musketeers with lines very similar to the book. The beginning was a little slow but overall it was great.

The book is a classic and most movies and shows don’t do it justice.

It was very white, which is both historically inaccurate and frustrating for a work by a black man.

Score: 1

Characters

The characters are great and hold their own versus other versions. The actors are fantastic at what each needs to do. Tim Curry chews the scenery in a way that’s both hilarious and terrifying.

Score: 1

Dialogue

There are lines in it that are brilliant and picked from the books. (With a flick of my wrist I can change your religion.) and then there’s nearly everything Porthos says that is pure gold.

The dialogue manages to oscillate between drama, comedy, and gravitas in a way that is rarer than I like.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

I’ve watched this movie on VHS, DVD, and now Disney+. The scenery, sets, costumes, and shooting are fantastic. However, when this movie goes dark, it’s so dark that I can’t see it (I’m talking contrast not content. Also I hadn’t watched this in over 20 years and the frustration with the dark scenes was the only thing I remembered clearly). I missed 90% of what happened in the tunnels and darker scenes. It’s extremely annoying.

The music absolutely splendid. The ballad at the end is so completely 1990s.

Score: 0.5

Fun

I really like the balance of funny action adventure, with serious drama. It kept everyone in the family interested (except the toddler who only sat still for a few sword fights).

Score: 1

Overall

This is quite possibly my favourite adaptation of the story and I have nothing but nice things to say. I think it’s pretty good at adapting the material.

Final Score: 4.5 Stars