TheRetroCritic

A 1984 remake of French comedy Pardon Mon Affaire , The Woman In Red was directed by and starred Gene Wilder as a man struggling with a mid-life crisis who is tempted to have an affair with Kelly LeBrock's young model despite being happily married. The Woman In Red is a comedic look at the difference between love and lust as everyman Teddy Pierce (Wilder) first encounters the woman of his dreams as she spontaneously re-enacts that iconic Marilyn Monroe flowing dress moment and, from then on, he finds himself spiralling down into a succession of clumsy, embarrassing and very funny misjudged attempts at wooing Charlotte (LeBrock). In the vein of some earlier Woody Allen comedies or Steve Martin's The Lonely Guy , the main character's story is told to us through his eyes but we also get to step back and witness the absurdity of his actions through some enjoyably silly sequences. Gilda Radner also appears in the film as Teddy's colleague who mistakenly believes he is

Based on an absurdist play by Eugene Ionesco, it doesn't get much weirder than Rhinoceros , the 1974 film starring Zero Mostel as a man who slowly turns into a rhinoceros and Gene Wilder as his alcoholic friend who has to accept living in a world peopled with rhinos. If you went into this one expecting The Producers , then you might end up feeling slightly confused about what you've just witnessed. Rhinoceros is unapologetically surreal and abstract as characters talk about some kind of rhinoceros pandemic where people literally become rhinos until it becomes a worldwide event but you never actually see one of them. This certainly helps sell the fact that the world is going completely mad but it makes for a stagey film and some might feel almost claustrophobic watching it. It really is like sitting through an absurdist play but, since it's also directed with plenty of movement and energy by Tom O'Horgan, it's also like watching one insane whirlwind of a film.

Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner star in Hanky Panky , a comedy thriller from Sidney Poitier about a man on the run after being accused of a crime he didn't commit who meets a reporter before they both find themselves entangled in a web of top secret intrigue. Don't let the inexplicably silly title fool you, this is actually a fun, at times suspenseful film. It's really not the ridiculous farce it sounds like and it is, in fact, more akin to something like Silver Streak in that, while it does have some comedy elements, it's mostly a thriller. There's a Hitchcockian vibe to this one as Wilder plays a similar role to Cary Grant in North By Northwest : a desperate man trying to prove his innocence. The whole thing starts with Michael Jordon (Wilder) flirting with a woman in a cab and offering to mail an envelope for her. Unfortunately, he is spotted helping her and, when she is later murdered, he becomes the prime suspect and some shady parties start questioning him

Gothamized  is a completely unofficial guide to new series  Gotham  and a debate arena for all things Batman. DOWNLOAD THE EPISODE HERE In this 26th episode, I discuss episodes 7 and 8 of  Gotham  Season 2 and I continue to explore Roddy McDowall's  Batman  audiobook. (for my written review of the Gotham Pilot,  click here! ) Hope you enjoy it! You can also find us on podcast  The Big Rewind  (available on Soundcloud, iTunes, Stitcher and Player FM) and send us emails with your Bat-questions, Six Degrees challenges and riddles here:  gothamized@gmail.com (for the pilot episode  CLICK HERE )

Gene Wilder writes and directs The Adventure Of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother , a spoof comedy from 1975 starring Wilder himself as Sigerson Holmes, the iconic sleuth's lesser known younger brother, who is assigned to a case linked to Sherlock's arch-enemy Moriarty. Very much in the vein of Young Frankenstein , the film follows the goofier relative of a well known literary figure and a good old-fashioned farce ensues. Wilder reunites with slapstick legend Marty Feldman, a detective with a photographic memory who assists him, and their main lead is beautiful actress and compulsive liar Jenny Hill (a hilarious Madeline Kahn). The reliably great Dom DeLuise also appears near the end of the film as a shady opera singer with a cartoonish accent. The plot of the film pokes fun at the convoluted nature of Arthur Conan Doyle's novels and the clichés found in most Sherlock Holmes films but it's more of a loving homage than anything else. All the characters here are

Back in 2007, The Coen Brothers swept the Oscars with No Country For Old Men , the bleak tale of a man who finds a briefcase full of money only to then be hunted by a madman. Based on Cormac McCarthy's novel, this was a return to darker territory for the Coens after a couple of more light-hearted efforts. An exploration of young and old, good and evil, right and wrong, No Country For Old Men was maybe Ethan and Joel Coen's most serious and dense film since Miller's Crossing . It stood out mostly thanks to a chilling performance by Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh, the psychopath with twisted morals who toys with innocents and kills people with an oxygen tank. Tommy Lee Jones' Texas Sheriff Ed is our good guy who desperately tries to make sense of this new unpredictable brand of evil that has landed on his doorstep and Josh Brolin's everyman Llewelyn is the one in the middle of it all who meant well but doomed himself and others by taking something that didn't

Yesterday, we lost comedy legend Gene Wilder and the world instantly got a lot less funny. Wilder was one of my favourite actors and, although he rejected show-business some years back, this is a guy who did so much great work throughout his life that he pretty much cemented himself as a comedy god a long time ago and had nothing else to prove. Here are some of my favourite Gene Wilder moments. THE MEL BROOKS CLASSICS The pairing of Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks was an instant win. In 1967, Wilder starred as Leo Blum in The Producers alongside Zero Mostel and proved that, not only was he a remarkably talented actor but also one heck of a funny dude. Seeing him visibly turn red while clutching onto a blue blanket much to Max Bialystock's horror was quite a sight and his trademark mild-mannered yet secretly eccentric persona was born. The film was not only a masterpiece in its own right but, much later, it would give birth to a mega-hit musical adaptation and another m

Here's the video version of my K-PAX review.

With the 1986 movie Crocodile Dundee , Paul Hogan basically single-handedly gave Hollywood the irrefutable proof that Australia really does exist. The relatively low-budget comedy was a huge box-office hit and eventually spawned two sequels. Directed by Peter Faiman, the film sees Sue Charlton (Linda Kozlowski), the feature writer for a New York newspaper, travel to the Australian outback where she is meant to meet a bushman who reportedly fought with a crocodile and lived, minus one leg. She finds that the man in question, nicknamed Mick "Crocodile" Dundee, probably embellished that story a little seeing as he still has his two legs. He takes the disillusioned Sue on an expedition where she finally gets to understand why he's something of a local legend as he takes on kangaroo shooters, subdues large animals using an unusual technique and takes part in an aboriginal tribal dance. She decides to take him back to New York with her partly because she could expand her s

I rant and play along SNES hack Super Mario War . Enjoy the trip.