Johnny Dangerously (1984)

This send-up of the gangster genre stars Michael Keaton as Johnny Dangerously, a New York crime boss. Growing up in the Great Depression, a young Johnny takes up a life of crime to finance his mother's medical bills and to put his little brother through law school. Upon graduation from law school, however, Johnny's brother joins the office of the District Attorney, vowing to stamp out organized crime in New York for good.

Filled with comedy ranging from slapstick to satire, Johnny Dangerously is a great light-hearted movie to relax with. The awkward English of Roman Moronie (Richard Dimitri), demented scheming of Danny Vermin (Joe Piscopo), and the always entertaining antics of Jocko Dundee (Peter Boyle) provide endless laughs. This is an easy comedy to get into and engaging throughout.

This is one of my favorite comedies, and I strongly recommend it. A classic comedy with great timing, this film makes you laugh out loud.

After Life

When you die you exist eternally in one memory. First, however, you have to choose that memory. This is the premise of After Life, a recent Japanese film that received positive reviews from many of the nation’s top critics. Set in a halfway station between heaven and earth, the characters (recently deceased) are coached by a few chosen people to wade through the moments of their lives to seek out their happiest memory. For some, the task is rather easy. For others, it is downright impossible. The movie tracks the travails of a few characters as they ransack their memories for something they are willing to relive for eternity. This premise is interesting and philosophical—a good movie could be made from this story line. Yet After life is not a good movie. It fails to produce any engaging characters to root for and leaves you overwhelmingly bored, dragging you on to the end if only for a few intermittent moments of intrigue. For all its artistic hoopla and rave reviews, After Life is not a movie I recommend for people to spend time watching.
Eiji Iki