Vibes
August. 05,1988 PGMedium Sylvia Pickel and psychometrist Nick Deezy meet at a psychic research facility in New York. Not long after, they're contacted by Harry Buscafusco, who offers them $50,000 to find his lost son in South America, in the heart of Incan territory where they discover an ancient mystical secret, and each other.
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Reviews
The Worst Film Ever
Such a frustrating disappointment
Good start, but then it gets ruined
Don't listen to the negative reviews
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and The Fly play two psychics hired by Columbo to find his long lost son in a foreign country. When they get there they discover he's really hired them to help find a hidden temple in the mountains where all the psychic energy in the world comes from.....The sad thing about vibes is that it has such a wonderful concept to it. If it focused more on the characters psychic powers, rather than turning into a pseudo Indiana Jones wannabe halfway through the film, it could have been something.The actors are not to blame, the writing is terrible, and Goldblum does his best bumbling fool act he mastered in the eighties before he became Mister Frost.Lauper has screen presence, but my gosh, her voice is so grating, I was desperately seeking Susan toward the end.It's a real shame, because the first twenty minutes is really entertaining and quite funny when we meet the psychics and their own brand of kooky powers.But then the film tries too hard to be clever, and it loses any momentum that it had to begin with.If your an eighties aficionado, it's firmly stuck in the eighties, with the music and clothing, but that's all there is to recommend.
I know its a cheesy movie, but overall it was entertaining and fun. I'm also Ecuadorian and I come from the place where they shoot the film, Cojitambo (Cañar, Ecuador). This movie brings good memories for me, since I can see some known people from my village and my elementary school.daria84 says "they showed an awesome footage of Ambato (a City located in the highlands) in the end of the movie when Sylvia is out in the balcony", let me tell you that's not Ambato, but that's Cojitambo's Hill shot from Azogues. If you don't believe me, search online for "Cojitambo" and you will see.
I do not like many rock-pop stars especially of the '80s and '90s because of the violent nihilism and eroticism of their music. But I liked Cindy Lauper ever since she sang Time After Time. If one simply ignores the naughty entendre of some her songs like Girls Wanna Have Fun, you can feel that she exudes the aura and exuberance of the teenybop, bubblegum crowd which formed the base of her fans at the zenith of her popularity in the '80s despite the fact that she belongs to another age group altogether.Cyndi is funny and can definitely act. Pity that up to now comedic actresses are still under-appreciated. However, we can look to the past and take solace in the fact that actresses like Fanny Brice, Myrna Loy, Barbra Streisand and Goldie Hawn all enjoy sizeable cult followers.Full of witty and hilarious repartees, Vibes is worth viewing over and over. Just looking at Cyndi's cutely expressive rubber face a la Goldie Hawn is enough to drive away all ennui.
Every time I see this film I find it hilarious. The film-makers have great resumes, much of them in TV. The cast includes comic masters Falk and Goldblum, and Lauper does a great job in one of her first roles; these are little gems of comic performances. Peter Falk is nearly as funny here as he is in _The In-Laws_. Sands and Gress are great as well.The plot moves along briskly and the action/adventure/travel side of the film works on its own as well as framing the humor. The romance is like something from screwball comedy.So why did the film get such a cold reception? I think this film has done so poorly because the humor depends on being familiar with new-age religion, psychics, channels, ESP, magic, etc. The script lampoons the kind of new-age/psychic phenomena popular in Hollywood. The target audience- those who are familiar with such things and at the same time don't take them too seriously- must only include the three writers.Although the film appears cynical and pessimistic about people, it cheers me way up. It has the same uplifting effect as another under-rated comedy masterpiece, _Into The Night_, also featuring Jeff Goldblum.Films like _The Matrix_ and _Star Wars_ are sometimes praised for communicating a philosophical and spiritual message. While those films certainly wear philosophical robes, I suspect they are actually driven by motives of greed, violence and melodrama. On the other hand, _Vibes_ and _Into the Night_ are both low-key, pessimistic, even cynical films that paradoxically seem to be driven by an inner engine of warmth and insight that can give viewers a real lift instead of hollow thrills.If you like _Vibes_ try another way-out-there under-rated comedy, _Simon_ (1980) with Alan Arkin.