90 Movies in 90 Days: A Goofy Movie (1995)

Every day until March 31, 2024 I will be watching and reviewing a movie that is 90 minutes or less.

Title: A Goofy Movie
Release Date: April 7, 1995
Director: Kevin Lima
Production Company: Walt Disney Pictures | Disney MovieToons | Walt Disney Television Animation
Summary/Review:

There have been numerous cultural touchstones of the Millennial Generation that I initially missed out on by being a Gen Xer that I discovered later were actually pretty good.  In the case of A Goofy Movie, though, I think only 90s kids will understand.  The sitcom-ish story involves Max finally getting a date with the girl of his dreams, but all of his plans are ruined when his father Goofy wants to go on a cross country trip.  The humor in this movie feels like the type of stuff that out-of-touch adults who don’t understand kids would write, at least to my jaded Gen X eyes.  There are some good parts with Goofy just trying to be a good single father and actually bonding with Max, but they come late in a film full of cringeworthy gags.  This is definitely a movie that was not for me.

Rating: **

 

 

90 Movies in 90 Days: Hospital (1970)

Every day until March 31, 2024 I will be watching and reviewing a movie that is 90 minutes or less.

Title: Hospital
Release Date: February 2, 1970
Director: Frederick Wiseman
Production Company: Osti Productions
Summary/Review:

“No one wants to stay here. No one wants to stay in a hospital!”

When someone is a patient at a hospital it is typically one of the worst times of their lives.  To deal with both the volume and individual trauma of patients, hospital staff fall back on bureaucratic procedures to deal with the uncertainty.  Frederick Wiseman’s Hospital deals with the tension that arises when bureaucratic practices don’t meet people on one of the worst days of their lives.

That said the hospital staff at the Metropolitan Hospital Center in East Harlem, New York are always compassionate.  We see them lose their cool only when having to deal with jumping through the hoops of insurance companies and other regulations.  It’s most frustrating when a doctor tries to get welfare for a LGBTQ child who has been abandoned by their parent. Perhaps the most infuriating thing about watching this movie 55 years after it was made is that despite advances in medicine, the American healthcare is still dealing with inequality  and an overwhelmed public health system.

But Wiseman’s camera typically focuses on the patients dealing with traumatic injuries, drug and alcohol overdoses, and possibly cancer. The little vignettes of these patients really capture human vulnerability.  It can be difficult to watch, not just because of the emotion, but also because the camera doesn’t shy away from the gore. We see surgery and an autopsy, we see blood and we see vomit – so much vomit.

This is the the third Wiseman documentary I’ve watched after Titicut Follies and High School, and I need to watch more (although his later films come nowhere close to qualifying for 90 movies in 90 days due to their extensive length).

Rating: ****