Ticket to Paradise

This starts off quite well, at least. The editing is a bit annoying — overly rapid.

I wanted to watch this because I read a few really negative reviews of it that made it seem interesting. That is, all the things they mentioned as flaws seemed like positive elements to me — an old-fashioned romantic comedy, without any drama or the dreaded “character development” stuff.

It’s cute!

It’s very amiable and quite amusing, but the gags could have been better?

Without the charm of Roberts and Clooney (and they are indeed very charming), this movie would have been pretty pointless. As it is, it’s kinda boring in places? But it works. It would have been nice if it had more jokes…

Ticket to Paradise. Ol Parker. 2022. ⚃

The Sin of Harold Diddlebock

Huh. What a strange way to start a movie…

Anyway, this is a very unrestored DVD — I’m guessing the film is in the public domain? My DVD looks very er cheap.

But they’re not playing football!

And then we’re onto the modern footage? Huh. Harold Lloyd doesn’t look that different… was that er just a fib? I guess Wikipedia says it’s accurate.

Wow. The producer, Howard Hughes, pulled the film, and re-shot parts of it and released in as Mad Wednesday four years later. And:

Both versions of the film, as originally released and as altered by Hughes, still exist. According to All Movie Guide’s Hal Erikson, the shorter version plays better for audiences, while the original is richer in its comic invention and characterizations.

Er… Damn those audiences, who like the less rich film better!!!1!

Time passes…

I absolutely adore some of Sturges’ earlier movies, but this is his first after he was booted from the studio(s), and… it doesn’t have the same zip as those films. Things just seem a bit off? The cinematography is rather pedestrian, and the editing is positively plodding. I guess it lacks the professional sheen of the major studios?

It tries really hard, I guess? It’s aiming for hilarious schtick, but it lands at vaguely amusing instead. (But I think mileage will vary — it’s like an oldee tymey variety show skit.)

Now I changed my mind! This is pretty funny.

Nice kitten.

Geez. That cat seems a bit overly playful…

AAAAAA

This starts off a bit janky, but then it turns into something totally different — something hilarious. And then it turns into a hi-jinx thing with Lloyd (and a lion) hanging off of a tall building (and that scene is totally insane and exciting). And then we get a romance at the end!

It barely coheres into a movie, but it’s really fun. I’m not sure how to throw the die on this one… The start is a ⚂, and then it’s a ⚄. So let’s go with:

The Sin of Harold Diddlebock. Preston Sturges. 1947. ⚃

Bros

This is very Sex and the City.

Oh, yeah, this movie flopped big time, didn’t it? And I think I can see why already — I’ve read some of the press on this, and Eichner was going “finally, a gay rom com”. But it’s way zanier than that. It’s got a total screwball comedy vibe. The jokes come so fast and are so tight it makes your head swim.

This has so many good gags. But there’s something odd about the pacing or the edit or something. This goes gag, gag, gag, gag, emotional plot scene, gag, gag, gag, and it just doesn’t quite connect up.

I don’t mean to make totally unreasonable comparisons, but I rewatched Bringing Up Baby a few weeks back, and it’s also a gag-heavy film that’s also a romance, but they were able to mix the elements flawlessly. Here they sort of stop and signal “ok, this is the serious bit” and it’s a bit weird.