Lean Across the Universe -- and Gag!

"Across the Universe" has a wonderful title. It really is good. It is short enough to remember. It is catchy. And it makes you think that this film will present a wonderful vision of how good life can be. Unfortunately, the film does no such thing. In fact, the title is maybe the only redeeming part of the entire movie!
Remember when a guy named Peter Frampton starred in a movie based on the Beatles album Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band. It was downright horrible. I would rather discuss life insurance options with a team of agents than sit through that garbage. Now, "Across the Universe" makes Frampton's folly look like a nice venue for a date!
Here is the concept: Every line of dialogue is from a Beatle's song. Every character (yes, even Jo-Jo and Prudence) are from Beatle's songs. That's it. That's the whole idea. No, there is no in depth plot. No character development. Just people singing Beatle's songs. Has Hollywood really run out of better ideas?
Don't get me wrong. I love Beatles songs. I just like them when they are sung by the Beatles! I really am not that busy, but I do not have 2 hours to sit and be disgusted. Actually, the film is more than two hours. Someone thought that the movie would not be complete unless every single Beatles song was mentioned!
Now, I need to go rent "Help" or "A Hard Day's Night" just so that my Beatles memories are not completely sullied by this movie.

#10: Arthur

We will take a short break from reviewing all the Summer's movies because A) We have already reviewed all the good ones, and B) I have something in mind which will be much more fun. Today, we start counting down the ten funniest movies of all time. The films are ranked according to.... well, according to me to be honest!

Coming in at #10 is the classic (of course, all ten of these movies will by definition be considered "classic") comedy, Arthur. Now when I first heard about the movie, my reaction was to skip it. I mean who would write a comedy that is based on the drunken rambling of an alcoholic. It's cheap comedy. I mean by nature, everything a drunk guy does is both funny and pathetic.

But Arthur is written so strongly that you can't help but laugh. For sure, they took a chance that people would be disgusted. The famous scene at Tavern on the Green between Arthur and Gloria, the prostitute could have turned the whole audience off. Yet because of Dudley Moore's skill, he pulls it off and has us all rolling in the aisles. "You're a hooker? Jesus, I forgot! I just thought I was doing GREAT with you!" I could watch that scene over and over again and still laugh. How about when Burt Johnson tells Artur that he never drinks and Arthur response is "That's great! You probably never run out of ice your whole life!"

Let's not forget another stunning performance by Liza Minnelli and Barney Martin has a down and out family that has no money but has a lot of love to go around. It's cheesy, predictable, and fantastic. I like to see film makers taking chances, and they certainly did take a risk with Arthur. It paid off for them. Now, if only I could say anything nice about the two dismal sequels. Those films should still be in rehab!