Basements

I am the first one to SPIT upon....really, I cannot stand pretentious crud -- spit upon art that pretends to be art...

Paintings of green with a yellow spot and selling for $250,000 (seriously), or boring movies and plays that border on insanity...BUT...Pinter's MASterpiece, The Dumb Waiter is indeed an 'absurdist' piece, but one that has a beginning, a middle and an end, and truly carries the viewer (or reader) through a psychological dialogue that ranks with Terry Gilliam's 'Brazil,' and Mamet's The Spanish Prisoner,' as films that take the absurdist and surreal genre and actually make films truly art-worthy.

I love the Dumb Waiter -- and ironically, fell in love with it during a college drama class -- I wrote at length about it because I had been one to rant about stupid wannabe pretentious theatre, art, music, etc. and realized that Pinter is truly an artist. Truly. Other pretenders do minimalistic work because they can't do more, but this is great -- and the best acting Travolta has done besides Pulp Fiction... ...oh, and Battlefield Earth...(just kidding)

I had to watch this movie for a college drama course, and the parts that I actually bothered to stay awake for were not worth it. The movie, which is based on a short drama, is just as bad on television as it is if you read it. There is no point to the entire story and I would rather bang my head against a wall for an hour than take the time to sit through it.

Okay - the other review of this show is for the birds - the person hasn't even seen it - so why comment on it - to this day I remember the segment called THE ROOM - Annie Lennox and Linda Hunt are brilliant together, dark and moody, I wish I could see this show again to bring out all the details that I remember from it.

Given that it was made for TV - it will probably never surface again - but someone, somewhere has to have this on tape or DVD by now - and when/if they release it - I will be one of the ones in line to add it to my collection to watch again and again.

John Travolta was in a career slump - but that was of his own doing - he should have read the scripts and not cashed the check during this point in his life, but he's since recovered from this point and done well indeed.

But it's always going to be the segment with Annie that strikes my memory - she's not just a truly gifted signer/songwriter/performer - she can act. Given that each of her videos from the Eurythmics is a bit of acting - it's nice to see her spread her wings and soar!

This very weird short demonstrates the fine line to be drawn between talking and communicating.

All of the characters in this piece are not capable of communicating with one another. As a result, there is the expected confusion, and ultimate mayhem.

There is very little plot. It has something to do with a nervous chattering woman who may or may not have a hidden history with the man who lives in the basement.

Worth the time, but this is no slight diversion. Don't watch it if you can't devote your attention.

Altman really hit on a good thing with his short films written by Harold Pinter. The film effectively contrasts Conti's brilliant acting skills with the non-existent skills of John Travolta. Travolta's awful british accent is worth the price of admission alone! (I am sure this is all intentional - a real Altman touch) Travolta plays a hitman! And we all thought the Tarantino was the original one with that idea. A genius story that is excellently paced. For a great time, view this wonderful artistic piece.