Thursday, June 20, 2013

Very Brief Film Reviews: The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship

The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship
Based on the Russian folk tale, adapted by John Hambley
1990


The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship: An animated short based on a Russian folktale, made for the show Long Ago and Far Away. The Tsar decrees that whoever brings him a flying ship shall marry his daughter; a naive young woodcutter sets out to find his good-for-nothing brothers and stumbles upon ship and a haphazard collection of very strange shipmates.

Stop-action claymation, absolutely gorgeously done; the story is a terrific folktale, the characters are kind and memorable, and it's wonderfully funny to boot. It used to be very hard to find but well-worth the search; now I think you can buy the DVD on Amazon. Highly recommended.

 IMDB: Fool of the World

Very Brief Film Reviews: Eddie Izzard

Eddie Izzard: The Definite Article (1996)
Eddie Izzard: Glorious (1997)


Eddie Izzard: The Definite Article: Eddie Izzard is wonderful...except when he's not. He's not very smooth. He'll have whole sections which just aren't very funny, and then in a heartbeat I'll be laughing so hard I'm crying and gasping for breath. In general, I love him, but I do wish he were a little more consistent. The nature of comedy, I guess.

Eddie Izzard: Glorious: Basically the same: parts were great, other parts were lame. I kept doing bad Sean Connery impersonations for a week. My wife was ready to kill me.

My favorite Eddie Izzard filmed routine is definitely Dress to Kill (1999); I would recommend that one above these other two routines. Otherwise, I would definitely recommend being in a relaxed, probably somewhat drunk, giggly mood already, and then you'll have a terrific time.


IMDB: Definite Article
IMDB: Glorious