elicopperman

So the moral of the story is that you shouldn't worry if people don't want to be your friend as long as your parents love you? I don't know, but that whole concept seems woefully misguided.

Outside of one pretty cool swinging shot, this one is such a chore to get through. Seriously, why did the filmmakers insist on making their shorts longer than needed? It just makes the already paper thin story more unengaging. Plus, the short's antagonist was unnecessary and is more annoying than threatening.

Can we PLEASE have at least ONE story involving a skunk where their stench is not the primary focus? That would be nice.

Of all the movies to have gone from critical disasters to reevaluated gems, Ishtar stands the test of time. What was once a critical and commercial failure that lead to Elaine May's directorial career coming to an end has garnered far more appreciation in the years onward. While I do understand part of the hate at the time given how insane the production history was, the movie itself is actually pretty decent for what it's going for.

The main story revolving around a mediocre songwriting duo traveling to Morocco for a gig only to stumble into a four-party Cold War standoff does have the right comedic inspiration in tact, and the team up of actors Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty work well in execution. Hoffman plays the womanizing Chuck Clarke quite smoothly and Beatty pulls off the slightly unconfident Lyle Rodgers humorously enough. Even at the film's weakest moments, the two actors bounce off each other with stark charisma enough that you end up rooting for them. In addition, their trite songs written by Paul Williams add into the humor of misguided passion, although they are charming to listen to on their own accord. Despite all the hurdles, one could picture themselves in the lead's shoes of wanting to succeed with their work, and maybe it's thanks to Dave Grusin's accompanying score, but it's nice to hear their work brought to life overall.

If nothing else, the film's biggest issue isn't so much the humor as it is the tonally confused plot. While there are some notably fun sequences when Clarke and Rodgers get to Morocco, the primary framework of a political revolution feels a little too dark for what's set up as a seemingly oddball comedy. The film feels like it's trying to pay homage to the "Road to" movies sequence by sequence while intertwining the horrific political subtext, and it doesn't really work as a whole, especially in regards to Isabelle Adjani's character, Shirra Assel. The commentary on America trying to seize control of a small North African feels like a completely different story in the final cut, and Assel is too tragic of a character to fit into this type of premise. Admittedly, Charles Grodin makes for a humorously sophisticated CIA agent, but even his grounded performance further adds into the tonal whiplash.

Beyond the story and characters, one can tell how gorgeously crafted the film was at the time. While there was initially several hours of footage shot for the film, the final result being put together into a cohesive narrative worked out ok in spite of the film's story problems. The trimmed editing is perhaps most obvious whenever a flashback or padded comedic moment occur, some of which come off as more offensive than funny by today's standards. That said, Vittorio Storaro's impressive cinematography shows off the beauty of the Moroccan peninsula in flying colors, and despite the conflicts he and May shared during production, his work is refreshing for comedy fans. Although part of me wonders how the film would've turned out with a slightly longer runtime, as well as a less abrupt ending, I think the final result works well enough with the finishing touches intact.

At the end of the day, I think Ishtar is a lot more enjoyable than it was initially perceived to be. While admittedly a bit too ambitious for its own good given how muddled the film's story can be, the pairing of Hoffman and Beatty, the gorgeous cinematography and Paul Williams' contributions more than make up for its shortcomings. I would recommend this to anyone curious about hidden movies and May's filmography, and while I wouldn't go as far as to call this film a masterpiece, it's certainly worth a watch for what it is.

In 1984, filmmaker Martin Bell made a documentary focusing on homeless youth in the streets of Seattle, Washington called Streetwise. What initially spawned from a 1983 Life magazine article called "Streets of the Lost" went on to earn a Best Documentary Feature at the 57th Academy Awards. In the past 40 years, this film has been chronicled for its endearing empathetic view on its subjects at a time when homeless adolescence were hardly acknowledged.

Looking at the feature today, what intrigued me the most about its subject matter is how sober and earnest it is in showcasing the nine teenagers it focuses on. These include Rat (a dumpster diver), Tiny (a teen prostitute) Shellie (a baby-faced rebel) and DeWayne, an emaciated hustler. While some kids get more focus than others, Bell manages to showcase their individual livelihoods with proper care and attention. Tiny in particular is shown to prefer staying out on the streets over staying home with her unfazed alcoholic mother, Pat. Each kid has their own distinct reason for sticking to street life, whether due to unstable home lives, poor financial situations, familial prejudice and tension, or general personal problems. As hard hitting as the content can be, at no point does Bell fall to saccharine exploitation and instead shows how the kids live in their lives one day at a time.

In addition to being well photographed, many of the daily escapades that the youth go through like food struggles, protection from street criminals, their physical appearances and familial drama are as gripping as they are fascinating. When you look into how different some of the kids ended up as they got older since this film, seeing their adolescent hardships hits home a lot more since one can see just how seemingly hopeless their futures appeared to be then. No one knows where life will take them, homeless or not, so seeing the depicted teenagers make the most out of their struggles in any way shape or form could hit home to anyone, regardless of their social status. After all, we are witnessing sporadic real life stories through the subjects.

Streetwise not only works as a haunting time capsule of a specific era in teen culture, but it also highlights poverty and humanity from people who might not have gotten the light of day beyond these documentations. While still not a highly known film, it is one that must be seen by the public empathetic enough to fully grasp how real and sincere impoverished youth truly is. You might weep at points, but its inner beauty lies within a tremendous respect to those who simply need to be heard.