- BLAST FROM THE PAST (DVD MOVIE)
The Devil's never been so hot or hilarious! Brendan Fraser is a hapless, love-starved computer technician who falls prey to sinfully sexy Elizabeth Hurley when he agress to sell her his soul in exchange for seven wishes. But the sly Princess of Darkness has more than a few tricks up her... sleeve. And before you can say Fire and Brimstone, Elliot's life becomes a hysterical hell on earth.Stanley (Moore) is a hapless short-order cook who is hopelessly in love with a waitress named Margaret (Eleanor Bron) - although she barely knows he's alive. Enter George Spiggott (Cook), a.k.a. Satan, who grants Stanley seven wishes in order to win Margaret over, but his efforts are hilariously hampered by the Seven Deadly Sins - including the insatiable Lilian Lust (Raquel Welch)!When the Devil (Peter Cook) offers suicidal short-order cook Stanley (Dudley Moore) seven wish! es, Stanley easily surrenders his soul. All of his wishes are granted, to the letter. Unfortunately, as each wish comes to life, the Devil--cheeky sod!--manages to slip some unexpected problem into the mix, ruining everything in a deliciously funny way.
Bedazzled was made long before
10 and
Arthur made Dudley Moore an unlikely movie star. It's a much purer expression of the off-kilter British humor that Moore and his writing partner Cook pioneered, humor that would lead to
Monty Python's Flying Circus and other absurdist goofballs. Moore is charming enough, but what really makes
Bedazzled work is Cook, who combines upper-class arrogance with a cheerful, even casual lunacy. Though he played character roles in movies like
The Princess Bride and
Black Beauty, he was never able to parlay his sneaky sense of humor into starring roles.
Bedazzled is his outstanding triumph. Not only does the movie offer some sly commentary on! Christian morality, it has a cameo with Raquel Welch as the e! mbodimen t of Lust. A classic.
--Bret FetzerDisc 1: BEDAZZLED '67 Disc 2: BEDAZZLED '00Director/co-writer Harold Ramis' witty updating of the 1967 Dudley Moore/Peter Cook comedy stars Brendan Fraser as a nerdish office wonk in love with co-worker Frances O'Connor. Enter delectable devil Elizabeth Hurley, who purchases Fraser's soul in exchange for seven wishes that allow him to become everything from a Latin American drug lord to an NBA superstar...but come packed with hilarious consequences. With Orlando Jones, Miriam Shor. 93 min. Widescreen; Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital Surround, French Dolby Digital Surround; Subtitles: English, Spanish; deleted scenes; audio commentary by Hurley, Ramis; featurettes; photo gallery.When the Devil (Peter Cook) offers suicidal short-order cook Stanley (Dudley Moore) seven wishes, Stanley easily surrenders his soul. All of his wishes are granted, to the letter. Unfortunately, as each wish comes to life, the Devil--chee! ky sod!--manages to slip some unexpected problem into the mix, ruining everything in a deliciously funny way.
Bedazzled was made long before
10 and
Arthur made Dudley Moore an unlikely movie star. It's a much purer expression of the off-kilter British humor that Moore and his writing partner Cook pioneered, humor that would lead to
Monty Python's Flying Circus and other absurdist goofballs. Moore is charming enough, but what really makes
Bedazzled work is Cook, who combines upper-class arrogance with a cheerful, even casual lunacy. Though he played character roles in movies like
The Princess Bride and
Black Beauty, he was never able to parlay his sneaky sense of humor into starring roles.
Bedazzled is his outstanding triumph. Not only does the movie offer some sly commentary on Christian morality, it has a cameo with Raquel Welch as the embodiment of Lust. A classic.
--Bret FetzerUnited Kingdom released, PAL/Reg! ion 0 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You nee! d multi- region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN (2.35:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Behind the scenes, Cast/Crew Interview(s), Interactive Menu, SYNOPSIS: Stanley is a short order cook, infatuated with Margaret, the statuesque waitress who works at Whimpy Burger with him. Despondent, he prepares to end it all when he meets George Spiggott AKA the devil. Selling his soul for 7 wishes, Stanley tries to make Margaret his own first as an intellectual, then as a rock star, then as a wealthy industrialist. As each fails, he becomes more aware of how empty his life had been and how much more he has to live for. He also meets the seven deadly sins who try and advise him. ...BedazzledWhen the Devil (Peter Cook) offers suicidal short-order cook Stanley (Dudley Moore) seven wishes, Stanley easily surrenders his soul. All of his wishes are granted, to the letter. Unfortunately, as each wish comes to life, the Devil--cheeky sod! !--manages to slip some unexpected problem into the mix, ruining everything in a deliciously funny way.
Bedazzled was made long before
10 and
Arthur made Dudley Moore an unlikely movie star. It's a much purer expression of the off-kilter British humor that Moore and his writing partner Cook pioneered, humor that would lead to
Monty Python's Flying Circus and other absurdist goofballs. Moore is charming enough, but what really makes
Bedazzled work is Cook, who combines upper-class arrogance with a cheerful, even casual lunacy. Though he played character roles in movies like
The Princess Bride and
Black Beauty, he was never able to parlay his sneaky sense of humor into starring roles.
Bedazzled is his outstanding triumph. Not only does the movie offer some sly commentary on Christian morality, it has a cameo with Raquel Welch as the embodiment of Lust. A classic.
--Bret FetzerBrendan Fraser (The Mummy) stars in th! is comedy as a man raised in bomb shelter emerging 35 years la! ter to f ind love in modern L.A. Alicia Silverstone (Clueless) also stars in this lighthearted fish-out-of-water romance.Coasting on the successes of
Gods and Monsters and
George of the Jungle, Brendan Fraser turns in yet another winning performance in this fish-out-of-water comedy in which Pleasantville meets modern-day Los Angeles, with predictably funny results. Fraser stars as Adam, who was born in the bomb shelter of his paranoid inventor dad (a less-manic-than-usual Christopher Walken), who spirited his pregnant wife (Sissy Spacek, in fine comic form) underground when he thought the Communists dropped the bomb (actually, it was a plane crash). Armed with enough supplies to last 35 years, the parents bring up Adam in
Leave It to Beaver style with nary any exposure to the outside world. When the supplies run out, and dad suffers a heart attack, Fraser goes up to modern-day L.A. for some shopping and long-awaited culture shock. More of a cute premise with lots! of clever ideas attached than a fully fleshed out story,
Blast from the Past is also supposed to be part romantic comedy, as the hunky Adam hooks up with his jaded Eve (Alicia Silverstone) and tries to convince her to marry him and go underground. The sparks don't fly, though, because Silverstone is saddled with the triple whammy of being miscast, playing an underwritten character, and suffering a very bad hairdo. Fraser, however, carries the film lightly and easily on his broad, goofy shoulders, mixing Adam's gee-whiz innocence with genuine emotion and curiosity; only Fraser could pull off Adam's first glimpse of a sunrise or the ocean with both humor and pathos. Also winning is Dave Foley as Silverstone's gay best friend, who manages to make the most innocuous statements sound like comic gems.
--Mark Englehart
