Well here are a couple of waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay in advance screenings of two films. The first film Mr. Iguana writes about is the Frank Oz directed, Steve Martin scripted BOFINGER'S BIG THING. Now this flick ain't coming out for quite some time, and this may have even been an assembly screening, where they test all the scenes spliced together in order, but before it gets honed in editing. Which... for a comedy.. is a very very rough stage to see it in. Frank Oz has consistently delivered for me, his films always hitting my mark, so I sincerly hope this advance look at that film is off the mark. And the second film is ISN'T SHE GREAT, a Bette Midler film. My mom loved Bette Midler. She made me watch THE ROSE 800 times. She made me watch some stand-up like stuff over and over and over. I don't like Bette Midler. She has appeared in some funny films... But I don't like her. But you may, so read on...
Hey Harry. Mr. Iguana here. I attended two screening this week and I figured I'd write up some reviews. The first screening was a movie called "Bofinger's Big Thing" and it's a big bugget hollywood piece of garbage staring Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy. The title is funny but the movie is not. It was directed by Frank Oz and writen by Steve Martin was said to be at the screening but wasn't seen by anyone. The plot is this, which sound funny but doesn't work: Steve Martin plays a man named Bofinger of "Bofinger Films" who is a out of work film maker who wants to direct a script called "Star Wars" (not funny when it is played as a joke 20 or so times) which is a science fiction movie with the catch phrase "Gotcha suckas" at the end. The only way that Bofinger can direct this movie is if he manages to cast the biggest star in Hollywood, Kit Ramsey who is played by Eddie Murphy. Kit is a deranged action star was goes to a company called MIND HEAD to find inner peace. Well to make a long story short Kit turns down the role and Bofinger has to film Kit without anyone knowing about it. The strangest thing about this movie is the it will be R-rated!?! Who is it aimed at? I kept asking myself that over and over. It's not funny for adults and kids won't want to see it. The screening ended with people saying that they're glad that they didn't have to pay for it. I'm glad too, but I doubt I would have. The second movie was a rather pleasent movie experence. It was called "Isn't She Great" and it is the story of Jacqueline Susann (writer of Vally of the Dolls") staring Bette Midler as Susann and Nathan Lane as her husband Irving Mansfield. Now, this movie could have been a hell of a lot better if it wasn't played as a slapstick comedy. It is funny, but about 40% of the film is unfunny. It just would have worked better as a drama with the occasional joke rather than silly all the way through. This is most enjoyable Bette Midler has ever been for me and he over acting actually works some of the times. Nathan Lane is very very sweet in this role and fun to watch. If you like Vally of the Dolls you'll probably be able to look past the unfunny parts because you get to see some of the Vally of the Dolls movie and listen to Bette make fun of it. It has a pretty basic plot because it is a life story, but the director makes it fun. The scenes when Susann is trying to get the book published are very funny. At one point a cleaning woman says "If the girls in Vally of the Pigs were my daughters I would kill them with my bare hands" And a publsher asks "So you didn't like it" and woman replys as the camera zooms in: "It is the finnest book I have ever read!" Jokes like that are jammed packed in this movie and sometimes they don't work like when an old woman admits to having sexual thoughts about girls when she was in school, it could be funny but by that point in the movie you know it's comming. Watching this movie is like commiting an unspeakable sex act, fun, but after a while you begin to wonder if there's a point to it all. - Mr. Iguana
