24 May 2012

Felicity Steals the Show

This is a cute movie that is entertaining enough to keep your interest, but not one that ranks among the great romantic comedies of our time. There are a number of lesser-known bit actors in it (how long has it been since you've seen Bill Dana in anything?), and Nick Mancuso is clearly enjoying himself as he overacts playing the lecherous, famous, and rich Hollywood photographer. But the beautiful Felicity Waterman steals the movie with her charismatic charm. I'm surprised she hasn't become a more famous actress, as her presence lights up every scene (even if her fake German accent gets annoying after a while). The widescreen transfer to DVD is decent, but not great. This movie is worth a viewing, and you may fall for Felicity Waterman, as I have, but it probably isn't one you'll add to your collection.

Pepper Anne

24 May 2012

The Absent Minded Tourist. (minor spoilers)

With the fall of the Berlin wall, East German, Lena (FelicityWaterman)goes on holiday in California. Except, only tours Los Angeles,and Lena is having the worst vacation, as nothing seems to go asplanned; she learns that reservations she made for a hotel turned outto be phony, a cab driver rips her off, and worst of all, her luggagehas conveniently been switched with that of a lady who suddenly windsup dead. Although, this is understandable, considering how gullibleLena is. You'd think she was new to the planet the way she fell for onestupid scam after the next.Only the scams look good when compared to the fact that she is beingpursued by hoods who have been watching her. When the dead lady's bagdoesn't contain what they want, they go after Lena, knowing she has thesame bag and was the last to see the other lady alive. They figure thatshe is in on the deal. Things seem to turn around when Lenaunexpectedly befriends a fast-talking cab driver named Mike (ChrisLemmon as a sometimes arrogant, sometimes sincere guy), who helps herin sporadically timed moments of emergency.'Lena's Holiday' is more of a dreamy love story and a comedysurrounding a vacation nightmare (but pretty soon only just love thestory) than it is a caper, which you're only reminded off at certainconvenient moments in the movie. I would say it is about 70% lovestory, 20% comedy about Lena's disastrous holiday misadventures (whichis pretty much the entire intro), and 10% caper. It is still anenjoyable comedy, nonetheless.