Saw Illuminata last night, the new John Turturro movie. I
like the cast and it seemed like it might be clever.
I was very disappointed. It was a movie version for drama-types
of what TPWWDMA has become for journalists. The movie was a mish
mash of gags and one liners dressed up in a mish mash of accents.
As a result, no character really comes through. They might have
been good--Christopher Walken's critic, Susan Sarandon's ageing
belle, Beverly D'Angelo's theater manager. Instead, what came
through was, "HEY! Well known people are acting funny. LAUGH!"
The least enojoyable part, however, was the audience. Every time
some joke was cracked, 3/4 of the audience felt compelled to give
that "I'm laughing because I get it" laugh,
whilst looking knowingly at fellow moviegoers. Lines like "some
actors will do anything for a good review" got laughs only
for this reason.
Wish I had something good to say about it. (...) No, nothing.
