Cinema Basement

 A retrospective by Brooks Rich Sheet music salesman Arthur Parker (Steve Martin) begins to have an affair with a schoolteacher in 1934. His wife does everything she can to win him back. When Arthur breaks off the affair, the schoolteacher becomes a prostitute. But fate may reunite her and Arthur. Life is tough in the depression. Sometimes the characters need an escape, even if it's into a fantasy music and dance number. Herbert Ross' Pennies From Heaven was a box office bomb in 1981, recouping just a fraction of it's 22 million dollar budget. The film was critically acclaimed and even gained an Oscar nomination for best adapted screenplay. But the audiences just didn't turn up for this one. It makes sense. Entering 1981 Steve Martin was a comedy all-star, whether it be guesting on Saturday Night Live, his standup, or the 1979 classic The Jerk. Audiences weren't ready to see him play a pretty unlikeable guy in a weird musical where the song and dance numbers are fan...

 A review by Brooks Rich This movie is weird. Very quirky and very indie. The basic premise is as follows. Keep in mind there is more going on but I don't want to spoil anything. In an alternate 1990s children in middle school who have not experienced their first kiss wear a collar around their neck. Wyrm is two weeks away from the end of middle school and in danger of being held back if he doesn't pop his collar. He is the only incoming freshman still with his collar on.  That's the basic idea of what's going on. Around that is a weird alternative '90s for technology is starting to take over. For example there's a scene where the move to email is signaled by someone removing everyone's mailboxes. A clever sight gag but the movie doesn't. shove it down our throat. I prefer when a comedy has gags that feel natural. This is a weird comparison when talking about a movie like Wyrm but I'm going to make it anyway. Wyrm is very far removed from being a c...