Review of Harvey
“Here, let me give you one of my cards. If you should ever want to call me, call me at this number, don’t call me at that one. That’s the old one. If you happen to lose the card, don’t worry, I have plenty more.”
If you have ever met Elwood P. Dowd, then he’s already told you this. He offers everyone he meets his card and invites them to dinner with him and his friend, Harvey. Doctors, ex-cons, gatekeepers, he doesn’t mind anyone’s company. You will never find a more congenital, gracious person. His sister and niece, however, are intent on having him institutionalized.
You see, Elwood’s friend is a six-foot three (and a half) tall white rabbit. Veta and Myrtle only want Elwood to get better and stop going on about Harvey as if he exists. There’s only one problem: Harvey does exist.
Review of Freaks
They were known as “God’s mistakes.” They were an embarrassment to their families and hidden away. The only job they could have is one where people could gawk and laugh at them. They were “Freaks.”
It’s rare to find a movie that becomes more offensive and controversial over the years. Tod Browning’s Freaks shocked audiences across the globe in its honest depiction of the deformed. The United Kingdom even went so far as to ban the film for thirty years.
The ongoing question seventy years later is whether Freaks intended to exploit circus performers or enlighten viewers of their humanity. Regardless, it’s an experiment in filmmaking that no production company would touch with a ten foot pole today.