who liked to take me to movies she thought were

significant.

Mostly, they weren't.

"Ishtar" is, though. The performances of Hoffmann and Beatty
in the midst of a stupid plot, sloppy production values and aimless direction are magnificent. Elaine May created the first comedy that was so dire that even MAD magazine could only improve it through parody.

"The Witches of Eastwick", on the other hand, is a bad joke. I hope the author of the novel it was based on found his name spelled
correctly on the check they sent him before they tossed his book and gave the scriptwriter a list of names and the general location.

Up to a point, it is kind of fun watching the three feminist icons running around looking stupid, but Jack Nicholson as a satanic love interest, come on, that is a slap in the face to the devil, isn't it?

I suppose at some point there was a subplot or basement text about feminist empowerment, pagan morals and the role of the Devil in modern New England, but whatever it was supposed to be, it sinks beneath the special effects and overacting and visual cheesecake and only gurgling bubbles surface before this mess slides to a disgusting finish.

I know that people might think me mad, preferring "Ishtar" over "TWOE". Given a choice, I would have preferred neither had been made in the first place. I mean, they are not exactly "Spaceballs".