Hortense Vasucchi's movie reviews | home
Comedies
Fletch Can't tell you how many times I have watched this one. Chevy Chase before he was looking for a check and the next meal. Synopsis: Undercover reporter Irwin Fletcher(Chase), is a variety of characters. He is investigating a drug ring and gets propositioned by a stranger on the beach to make an easy 1000 dollars. The deal is, he wants Fletch to kill him so his Wife can inherit the insurance. Really funny! Fletch has a stinging comment for every situation. The movie also stars: Geena Davis and Tim Matheson.
Dead Man on Campus This is an MTV production. So I was relieved to hear that nobody got shot in a drive-by or took their clothes off in front of a group of college kids during the filming of this movie. Seriously, I was really surprised at how funny the movie turned out. Synopsis: Two college boys share a dorm room, one is a focused student with the goal of being a Doctor, the other boy wants the focused one to party and blow off his classes. They both are in jeopardy of being kicked out, until they find an obscure rule in the school's charter. The rule? If your roommate commits suicide, you get straight A's. Wait till you see the assortment of kooks they recruit from a nearby mental services hospital, I promise you will laugh till you cry.
The Big Lebowski This is more along the lines of an old Cheech and Chong movie. However, I don't think Jeff Bridges or the Cohen brothers used stunt dope. Lots of pot smoking and profanity in the movie, this isn't Raising Arizona. If you like to watch a hippie loser with a couple of weird friends and their views on how to approach life's problems, then rent it. Synopsis: Lebowski(Bridges) gets caught up in a kidnapping for ransom scheme, although he is not an active participant. Nihilists are after him, the law is after him, and all he wants to do is hang out with John Goodman and Steve Buscemi and bowl in League games.
Galaxy Quest Dream Works keeps cranking out great movies. Except for the Gladiator movie, I mean Meg Ryan took one look at Russell Crowe and left her husband and kids, I am not sure that qualifies for "family entertainment." This movie stars Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Tony Shalhoub, Alan Rickman and Enrico Colantoni. Synopsis: The first four actors are washed up has-beens, from a Sci-Fi show that was cancelled years ago. They are recruited by real Aliens to pilot a ship and fight a war to bring peace to the Galaxy. The only problem is that the Aliens think the show is something real, from intercepted TV transmissions. They build a ship to the specifications of the one on the show and want the actors to pilot it and well, you figured it out already, they are clueless. The movie makes fun of the Star Trek conventions and takes lots of shots at the old shows with their predictable plots.
Better Off Dead If you have murmured this to yourself, after a trying day, then this movie is for you! This is what I call a Cult classic. No, you don't have to dose out on Phenobarbital and wait for the Mother ship to arrive, to watch this movie. This was based on the experiences of "Savage" Steve Holland in his high school days. His girlfriend broke up with him and he was depressed and made a short film to show his friends how he felt about the situation. They thought it was hysterically funny. Years later he made this classic, to poke fun at all our shortcomings and embellish on the perceived notions of reality in High School. Synopsis: John Cusack plays the brokenhearted loser who can't seem to go on, after His girlfriend dumps him for the class ski jock. Through the movie he tries to end it all by various methods only to fail miserably and with funny consequences. Too many great parts in the movie to write about in this review. This is a definite buy- to own- movie. No matter how many times you watch it, the movie is still funny everytime.
Office Space This is a funny movie! The movie exaggerates the everyday work routine we all are accustomed to, for instance, "Did I remember to bring the gun?" and "Keep a straight face, your spouse doesn't need to know about US." No, the movie is about people who are screwed up in one way or another, and work at a software company. Synopsis: The lead character hates his predictable life style, until his unfaithful girl drags him to a hypnotherapist for a relationship workshop. After this encounter, he has a general state of apathy and takes it to the fullest extent, even to the point of embezzling from the company. This movie is based on the animated short "Milton", that Judge used to air on SNL. Milton is a tormented , twisted soul that exacts revenge in a humorous way. You will root for this guy. The lines in this movie are classic, we still talk about them at work. Don't pass this one by in the store.
A Fish called wanda This is another of those "Lifetime Network for Women" movies, or maybe a PBS fundraiser movie that features manly, female PE teachers. If you like people that have great chemistry and are also superb character actors, this is your movie. This is another cult classic and is well worth buying to watch over to infinity's end. The movie stars John Cleese, Kevin Kline, Eric Idle and Jamie Lee Curtis. They are all participating in a diamond heist, except they get greedy and are stabbing each other in the back to get the loot. Synopsis: Four mismatched people cooperate to pull off a multi-million dollar diamond robbery. Kevin Kline is the American Mercenary, John Cleese is a Barrister representing one of the culprits when he gets caught, Eric Idle is the weirdo, fish nut, that has the "Wanda" fish. Jamie Lee Curtis plays the woman accomplice sleeping her way to the top of the criminal conspiracy. This movie is very Monty Pythonesque Kevin Kline is my favorite character, he takes on different personas through the movie to try and get the loot. His base character is a mercenary that is completely clueless and quotes people through history to support his perceptions of reality. Here is an example... The main tenet of Buddhism is every man for himself. As you can see, he isn't to smart. This movie will double you over laughing. This is classic comedy on all levels.