jccw27

I normally try to avoid TV movies. I certainly would not have watched this one if it wasn't for the fact that it was for a class and that I'm probably going to be tested on it in a couple of weeks. I've just gotten back from my Social Problems class, the professor had us watch this movie. As soon as it was over I had to come back here and comment on it. The movie may have been at B-level but the impact was pretty solid. It was rather shocking how quickly the students in that class conformed over to the Wave and how they began acting like the people of Germany when Hitler was in power, but probably what shocked me the most was at the end when they said that it was based on a true story! I have to admit I did learn from this movie. I learned how easily history can repeat itself, how not to just follow anybody, and to be an individual and not just go along with everybody else.

I've seen and heard many versions of fairy tales, but I doubt there are any as unique as this. To give a Louisiana twist to such a classic story, though very strange was pretty clever (although I seriously doubt that anybody celebrates Mardi Gras like that anymore). Despite the unusualness of the whole story, the new setting made it seem all the more enjoyable and fun to watch. The jazzy music also helped quite a bit.

Okay, this movie wasn't all that good; the plot was a little weak, many of the songs (with the exception of the Popeye theme) should never have seen the light of day, most Popeye purist would protest against how inaccurate the movie was to the comic strip, and I would've liked to have seen a better fight between Popeye and Bluto.

This doesn't mean, however that I didn't entirely hate the movie. I loved Ray Walston's perfomance as Poopdeck Pappy, he had that character figured out pretty well. And Shelley Duvall did an extraordinary (although at the same time downright creepy)job as Oilve Oyl. She even looked like her. It was kind of funny because one time in my cinema appreciaton class when our teacher was showing us "The Shining", he kept referring to Shelley Duvall as "Olive"!

Again the movie isn't great but Ray Walston and Shelley Duvall's performances almost save the movie (emphasis on the word "almost").

The concept of mocking a sitcom is a funny idea, but the problem is that it's only a one-show concept. I laughed till I cried during the first episode of "That's My Bush!", but the following episodes were just as stale and predictable as the shows it made fun of. And I cringed on President's Day when Comedy Central ran a day-long marathon of the show. This might have been funny as a one show special but an actual series? What were Trey Parker and Matt Stone thinking?!