Movies
I had no clue what I was getting myself into, but when I noticed Cher and Cage in the opening credits I got strangely excited. Turns out I'd fooled myself immensely, this is by far one of the most irritating romcoms I've seen in a long time. If Jewison wanted this to be an exercise in being grating, he absolutely nailed it. Loretta is marrying Johnny, though it's clear her heart isn't really in it. Johnny is staying with his dying mom and asks Loretta to visit his brother Ronny to clear the bad blood between them. Loretta obliges, but after spending a little time with Ronny, they've fallen madly in love with each other. A tricky situation. How schmaltzy drama and a cast of irritating Italian-American stereotypes are to combine into a fun romcom is beyond me, but that's what Jewison attempted here. The performances are terrible, the drama is overdone, and the soundtrack is simply grotesque. Either this is the thickest pastiche I've ever laid eyes on, or it's just plain crap. I'm betting on the latter.Read all
A famous title, and some familiar songs. Fiddler on the Roof is a certified classic, but I had no clue what the film was about, nor what I could expect. It turned out to be a pretty drab and overlong musical, a three-hour-long ordeal about a poor Jewish Russian farmer who can't seem to get rid of his daughters. Tevye is a poor milk farmer. He has a big family, but the matchmaker of the family can't seem to land a proper husband for them. Tevye lives in an oldskool village governed by tradition, so when his daughters venture out to find boyfriends of their own, he has a hard time agreeing with their choices. The setting is extremely depressing, the songs are terrible and the plight of Tevye is not something I cared about (I'm just not very traditional myself). To be exposed to that for three hours was pretty unbearable, but at least it's another classic I'll never have to wonder about again. Not my cup of tea.Read all