A Chump at Oxford (1940) Movie Review

A Chump at Oxford (1940) (IMDB)

A Chump at Oxford movie poster

I never thought I would be reviewing a Laurel & Hardy movie or this website, but I was pleased to find that this movie might contain a maze in it. This is a typical Laurel & Hardy movie where they have an uncanny ability to escalate the simplest of situations into chaotic disasters. You get tons of gags, physical comedy, and misunderstandings. The comedy is more timeless than you would think for such an old movie.

As far as the maze scene, I can confirm that this is a maze movie. Once at Oxford, about 20 minutes into the film a student gives them directions (long directions) through a hedge maze to get to the deans house. It goes about as well as you think it would for these 2. Here is a screenshot of the maze.

A Chump at Oxford hedge scene

I give it a 7/10.

Land of the Pharaohs (1955) Movie Review

Land of the Pharaohs (1955) (IMDB)

Land of the Pharaohs movie poster

This movie is about a pharaoh, Pharaoh Khufu who is planning for his second life after his death. He wants to be buried in a pyramid, surrounded by his many treasures, that is grave robber proof. So this is an estate planning movie. Can you imagine if in modern times when a person passed away they were buried with all of their valuable things instead of leaving an inheritance. The pharaoh has a captured architect design a pyramid that uses a labyrinth combined with blocked passageways to trap and block grave robbers. Now you just need to build the pyramid ! And that is the bulk of the movie, the building of the pyramid. There are thousands of extras, great orchestral music, huge sets, and dramatic acting - everything you would expect from this type of movie except the 3+ hour runtime (it is only 1 hour, 46 minutes). Overall it was a solid movie.

I give it a 6.4/10.

The Actors (2003) Movie Review

The Actors (2003) (IMDB)

The Actors movie poster

This is one of those Michael Caine movies that somehow slipped through the cracks for me. The story revolves around 2 failed actors (one of them played by Caine) who run a con to intercept a payment between gangsters. It works, but complications arise when the gangsters realize what happened. Can the actors continue the ruse and get away with the heist ?

About 50 minutes into the movie there is a short scene with a hedge maze in the movie that takes place at Humewood Castle in Ireland. During my research I couldn’t find the hedge maze in the gardens (Aerial view, searches) so either the hedge were replaced or the filming took place in another location.

The movie is fun, and worth a watch but not something to seek out unless you love Michael Caine.

I give it a 6/10.

In Praise of Nothing (2017) Movie Review

In Praise of Nothing (2017) (IMDB)

How do you feel about slice of life documentaries ? Where you see a short video of a small scene, typically beautiful or meaningful in some way, with narration on top of it. This particular documentary is just that with narration by Iggy Pop whose voice I did not not know I liked until now. You get lots of cool scenes of life being lived, vistas, attractions, and nature to name a few. And a little over 17 minutes in you get a first person view of someone walking through a hedge maze ! Relaxing to watch and listen to, I enjoyed this slice.

I give it a 7/10.