Wednesday, September 24, 2014

So I Married an Axe Murderer (Special Edition + BD Live) (1993)

So I Married an Axe MurdererThe late great Phil Hartman is his typical fabulous self in this movie with a cameo as "Vicky," the Alcatraz tour guide. This movie has it all; a great soundtrack, an enjoyable and funny cast, infinitely quotable lines ("Mom, how can you call The Weekly World News 'the Paper'? Newspapers contain facts!" "This paper contains facts! 'Pregnant man gives birth.' That's a fact!") I could go on and on. Meyers is terrific as unlucky-in-love San Francisco beat poet Charlie MacKenzie. Nancy Travis is the love interest who may--or may not--be an axe murderer. The plot twists are clever, as is the relationship between Charlie's undercover cop buddy (played by the always-great Anthony LaPaglia) and his overly-understanding boss, played by Alan Arkin. You will laugh out loud at Meyers playing Charlie's father with a brogue as thick as pea soup (not vegetable beef!) and at Brenda Fricker as his randy mother. You can actually see LaPaglia break up as Meyers screams out "I'm no' kiddin'; that kid's go' a huuuuuge noggin!"

A great movie to watch again and again. If you grew up during the Seventies, you will totally groove on the Bay City Rollers snippets and LaPaglia dressed like Huggy Bear in "Starsky and Hutch."

Buyer Beware! I love this movie and give the movie five stars. However, this new re-release is NOT a special edition. There are no extras at all. Not even the trailer for the movie. It does offer several trailers for other movies and an anamorphic widescreen transfer, but that's nothing special and is standard on most DVDs. If this movie is a special or deluxe edition then every DVD is a special or deluxe edition and we need a new name for DVDs that include such things as audio commentary, documentaries, featurettes, still galleries and trailers. Calling this release of "So I Married an Axe Murderer" a special edition is false advertising and the marketing hustlers at Sony who are responsible for selling this hoax should be called on this and be held accountable. Their integrity is seriously called into question and they need to take a course on ethics. I'm returning my copy of this movie for a refund.

Buy So I Married an Axe Murderer (Special Edition + BD Live) (1993) Now

I admit I didn't like this movie at first; I've never been much a fan of watching Mike Myers mug his way through films. I dislike Wayne's World and despise Austin Powers.

This charming movie, however, Myers' fourth film outing, shows a subdued and sweet actor finding his way among a dozen equally-talented, incredible comedic actors. Other reviewers have focused on Myers' portrayal of the racy Scottish father, but to me that's just another example of him chewing up scenery like it was chocolate-covered graham crackers. Instead, take some time to watch him interact with Amanda Plummer or Anthony LaPaglia, his underappreciated costars. He is quiet, charming, vulnerable and funny, without being obnoxious.

The story is about Charlie McKenzie, a beat poet in San Francisco who has a history of dumping women for stupid reasons ("She smelled like soup...beef vegetable soup..." He meets Harriet, a lady butcher, with whom he falls in love. But wait! Is it possible she's the murderous Mrs. X, who marries men and kills them on their honeymoons? Charlie thinks so, and the ride is on from there.

Pay special attention to the hysterical interplay between Alan Arkin and LaPaglia who play a police captain and undercover detective, respectively. Also watch for the uncredited costar, the city of San Francisco, which is shot more beautifully here than I've seen in any other film.

This DVD deserves a lot of extras, commentaries, behind-the-scenes footage, outtakes, etc. With a stunning cast like this one, there must be treasures moldering in a vault somewhere, but you'll find none of them here. Aside from a soundtrack in Portuguese (? ) and subtitles in Korean, Thai and a host of other languages, you'll find none of that here. You'll just have to be satisfied with a wonderful movie.

Read Best Reviews of So I Married an Axe Murderer (Special Edition + BD Live) (1993) Here

First off let me say this is one of my favorite movies.

Hence the 4 star.

It does NOT get a five star because this is a huge SCAM!

I bought this movie because it said special edition. I was so excited thinking it would have interviews or something. I put it in my dvd player and to my surprise NOTHING.

How can this be called special edition. What a fool I am!

The only thing different from this one is that it has been remastered.

That is it! It also has a few previews which I dont think the original had but WHO CARES!

WHAT A SCAM!!!!!!!!!!

Want So I Married an Axe Murderer (Special Edition + BD Live) (1993) Discount?

Unfairly slammed by critics when it first came out, So I Married An Axe Murderer has become something of a cult film with a small, but dedicated following. I have always felt that this was Mike Myers' best (and most personal) film to date because he doesn't feel the need to hide behind tons of make-up as he does in the Austin Powers films and also the character of Charlie's dad and his insane love of all things Scottish seem to be an obvious reference to Myers' real-life dad. Everything about this film has an cozy, intimate vibe that is much more personal and engaging.

How can you go wrong with a killer cast like this one? First off, you've got Anthony LaPaglia who rarely does comedies and is just great as a frustrated cop who feels more like Fish from Barney Miller than Serpico; there's the kooky Amander Plummer playing yet another bizarro role (does she play any other kind?); the great Brenda Fricker as Charlie's very Scottish mom (another casting against type); and a whole slew of cameos ranging from Charles Grodin and Alan Arkin to Steven Wright and Phil Hartman.

What makes this film so good is the insanely quotable dialogue. Pretty much anything Myers says as his dad is classic ("HEAD! PANTS! NOW!") and the film really hits a groove when he's on-screen. There are a couple moments when you can see LaPaglia actually breaking character as he cracks up over Myers' Scottish rantings about the Pentavert! And then you've got Myers' dead-on homage/parody of Jack Kerouac-style Beat poetry that is so well done -especially if you're familiar with his style of prose and the way he speaks it.

I really hope that some day soon Myers revisits this movie with a lavish special edition DVD treatment it so richly deserves. He's obviously hip to the medium, judging by the extras-packed editions of his Austin Powers films. In the meantime, fans will have to be content with this bare bones DVD, which at least, restores the film's theatrical aspect ratio.

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