Posted: April 08, 2000 at 00:31:20: by Michael Martinez
: The adventures of Baron MunchhausenI can agree with Aelmer's suggestion of "The Thief of Baghdad", but I cannot agree with Baron Munchausen. I saw that movie and it just lacked. I don't know what was wrong with it, but it's not a classic. It appeals to a certain fandom but it doesn't appeal to a broad audience. The purpose of a movie -- especially a fantasy movie -- is to entertain. It's a form of story-telling. If a large part of the audience doesn't get the story, or doesn't enjoy it, then it's not a Good Fantasy Film (tm). We all have our favorite films. I love "Island at the top of the world", for example. I wouldn't put it forth as a classic, as a Good fantasy film. It's not that good. I could say that "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" is at least worthy of honorable mention, but "Mary Poppins" is a great movie -- it's a Good Fantasy Film (tm). What's the chief difference between the two? Hard to say. Poppins is just the better movie (and I love them both). It's like the difference between "The Great Race" and "Boing Boing". Both are Tony Curtis comedies. The first one is a great movie. The other one, well, it's a movie. I think the original "Miracle on 34th Street" is also worthy of honorable mention as a fantasy film. It IS fantasy. And it's a hundred times better than "Ernest Saves Christmas". Jim Varney is a good actor, but his talent was wasted in most of the movies he has done.
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