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American Pie - ***1/2 - Were you as obsessed with getting laid when you were in high school as the kids in this movie? Never mind that: there are some genuinely hilarious moments in this movie. But, losing one's virginity - by any means possble - before graduation is basically the plot. By far, the most hysterical moments are provided by Eugene Levy, who attempts several times to be the "cool dad" to his nerdy son, teaching him the "birds and the bees".
The American President: ***1/2; (review to be provided as time permits)
Analyze This **** - A Mafioso (Robert DeNiro) finds himself breaking down and crying at sentimental commercials on TV. Since any sign of weakness could be disastrous to his standing as a mob leader, he hires a psychiatrist (Billy Crystal) to help straighten him out. While this sounds like annoying hyjinks and hilarity, what results is actually a believable look at life with the mob. In other words, it can be extremely violent, but there are also moments of great comedy. Crystal, thankfully, only rarely lapses into his standup comedy shtick. The supporting roles are excellent, particularly Lisa Kudrow, who's showing that there is indeed life beyond "Friends."
Austin Powers: Man of Mystery: ****; This hilariously
goofy spoof of shows like
"The Avengers" is a real treat for people who remember
the
peace/love/grooviness of the 60s. Mike Meyers plays both
Austin Powers and his
arch nemesis, Dr. Evil. There's a funny bit about every
15 seconds throughout
the movie, and the moments with Dr. Evil and his sinister
henchmen are
hysterical. I can see where some might think this is
a stupid movie; of course,
to me, that was part of the charm.
Beavis and Butthead Do America: **1/2; Uh....huh-huh...this
movie's cool.
Actually, this is an easy one to figure out. If you like
Beavis and Butthead,
you'll like the movie, because this is basically a 90
minute Beavis and
Butthead episode. If you don't like Beavis and Butthead,
and you rent the movie
anyway, then you're no smarter than they are.
Beverly Hills Ninja: ***; Chris Farley is about as goofy
as you'd expect:
trying to be stealthy and mysterious like a real Ninja,
but coming across as a
total buffoon. The plot, as usual, is thin, but Farley
is probably the best
around at pratfalls and other assorted slapstick.
Being John Malkovich - **** - A thoroughly strange movie about a man (John Kusak) who takes a job on the 7-1/2th floor of a building and inadvertently finds a portal to the mind of John Malkovich. People who use the portal to "become" Malkovich for 15 minutes, and are then deposited beside the New Jersey Turnpike. Things get interesting (and stranger) once the object of Kusak's affection (Catherine Keener) finds out and decides to start charging people admission to the portal. Kusak's wife (played by a surprisingly ugly-looking Cameron Diaz) also gets involved, with interesting repercussions. A strange but enjoyable movie.
The Big Kahuna - ****
Big Daddy ***1/2 - Now, this is more like it: Adam Sandler
playing a human
being. Of course, he's not a particularly admirable human
being: he's a slob
who manages to work only one day a week because he's
living off an injury
settlement. Sandler - who refuses to grow up while all
his friends have gone on
with their lives - is the last one you'd want to be a
father. Into this den of
childishness drops a 5-year-old kid, who Sandler ends
up having to watch. Of
course, Sandler proceeds to teach the kid important things,
like the fine art
of public urination and how to trip rollerbladers. The
scenes with Sandler and
the kid are hysterical. The rest of the movie, though,
is silly and
predictable, with a ridiculous courtroom scene. A "must
see" for anyone who has
- or contemplates having - kids.
Black Sheep: ***; The 90's Abbott and Costello - David
Spade and Chris Farley
-turn in enjoyable, slapstick performances as a political
campaign manager
(Spade) and the governor's goofy brother (Farley).
Blast from the Past ***1/2 - Cute story about a family
(Christopher Walken,
Sissy Spacek) who seals themselves up in a bomb shelter
for 35 years, thinking
that World War III has just happened (in reality, a plane
has crashed on their
house). During this time, a son is born, and raised in
the early-60s traditions
that they knew. They stay, thinking that nuclear contamination
would render the
world unsafe. The initial look at what has happened to
the world after 35 years
is not a pretty one, so the family resolves to stay in
the safety of their
shelter. The boy - who grows up to be Brendan Fraser
- sets out to secure
additional supplies. He soon meets the one truly annoying
character in the
whole movie, played by Alicia Silverstone. Fraser is
engaging as the naive man
who acts like a kid stuck in the early 60s, but Silverstone
isn't the least bit
interested. That is, she isn't until the script tells
her that she's supposed
to be. She isn't quite as annoying as Jar-Jar was in
the new Star Wars movie,
but the effect was nearly as bad: her appearance in any
scene had the effect of
breaking the mood of an otherwise charming movie. Seriously,
every other
character in the movie is great. Walken and Spacek are
wonderful as Fraser's
stuck-in-the-60s parents. Silverstone's brother
in the movie - played by the
guy from News Radio who used to be on Kids in the Hall
- is likewise terrific.
And Fraser was a treat to watch. Too bad Silverstone
was so Clueless.
Bottle Rocket: ***; (review to be provided as time permits)
But I'm a Cheerleader - ****
The Cable Guy: ***1/2; Well, I finally decided to plunk down my $3.35 on this movie, which I had heard was such a bomb. Having seen it, I know why everyone hated it so much: this is *not* Ace Ventura moonlighting as a cable installer. Instead of a living cartoon character, Jim Carrey plays a real creep who decides to become best pals with Matthew Broderick after installing his cable. Rather than seeing a goofy slapstick bit every 6 seconds, we see a seriously demented individual who will not listen to Broderick's insistence that they shouldn't be friends. As it happens, there *are* several moments of extreme comedy as we see just how embarrassing Carrey can be in trying to "show what a friend he is" to Broderick. This is a refreshingly realistic turn for Carrey. Then again, I couldn't take more than 5 minutes at a time of Ace Ventura (the length of a typical comedy sketch on In Living Color), so that might give you an idea of *why* I liked this movie.
Celebrity *** - Kenneth Branagh does his best Woody Allen
imitation in this
dark comedy that looks at unpleasant side of being a
star. This should come as
little surprise, since Woody Allen did in fact write
this movie. However,
rather than being charming with their kvetching, these
characters are far less
enjoyable to watch. I'm sure that was the intent, however.
Leonardo DeCaprio,
as a narcissistic prick, leads a list of celebrity guest
stars.
Citizen Ruth: ****; (review to be provided as time permits)
Clerks: ***1/2; (review to be provided as time permits)
The Coca-Cola Kid: ****; (review to be provided as time permits)
Cruel Intentions - ***1/2 - What this movie lacks in substance, it makes up for in style. Sarah Michelle Gellar plays coke-snorting, mean-spirited Kathryn who enlists the talents of her pouty stepbrother and frequent co-conspirator Sebastian (Ryan Phillippe) to help her seek revenge on an ex-boyfriend, who unceremoniously dumped her for sweet and innocent Cecile. Kathryn asks Sebastian, an accomplished sexual predator, to deflower Cecile, thus ruining her reputation. Sebastian agrees, but has his sights set on a girl who just wrote an article for Seventeen magazine about saving herself for her one true love. You'll probably find yourself saying "that bitch!" and "that bastard!" more than once as you observe their diabolical exploits, but you'll have fun doing it.
Dave: ****; (review to be provided as time permits)
Dear God: **; Remember those sappy, good-natured, rated-G Disney movies from the 60s and 70s? You know the kind I'm talking about: where the good guys have something great going until the bad guys try to stop them. Then, after initially thinking they were going to be defeated, the good guys all band together to save the day? That's what kind of movie this is. Greg Kinnear is a con man who is busted by the police while trying to pull a con. His sentence? To maintain a legitimate job for a full year. Otherwise, he goes to prison. He ends up working in the dead letter office of the postal service, and quite by accident ends up answering a letter addressed to God. The recipient thinks it really is an answer from God, which inspires the whole office to actively do good deeds by answering other such letters. We just know that someone's going to try to put a stop to this practice, and that it will all work out in the end...and, in that sense, we are not disappointed. If you like that sort of light-weight "heartwarming" story, then by all means rent this movie.
Dog Park - * - I can think of a variety of dog-related puns to decribe how bad this movie is, and I'd still be too kind. Let's just say that they showed too much of the people and not enough of the dogs...and the dogs didn't do anything special.
Dogma - ***** - One of the first hints that you're in for 2 hours of blasphemy is when you see George Carlin playing a Catholic bishop. If you can get past that, however, this is a brilliantly inventive take on the "true story" of the Bible. The story centers around two fallen angels (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon) who have been expelled from Heaven for good reason, but who want to get back in. They find a "loophole" that will allow them back in, but in the process destroy all of creation. What ensues is a race by Damon and Affleck to reach the place where the loophole exists, and at the same time by others who attempt to stop them. There are side-splitting laughs throughout, but also a fair amount of violence as Damon (who is the Angel of Death) wreaks some vengeance on the evil people of the world along the way. Directed by the people who brought us "Clerks" and "Chasing Amy".
Don Juan DeMarco: ****1/2; A surprisingly entertaining
story of a young man
(Johnny Depp) who believes he's Don Juan, the greatest
lover of all time.
Marlon Brando plays the psychiatrist who agrees to treat
him, and soon finds his
own love life rekindled by his patient's stories of passion.
Don Juan's unique
appeal is in his romantic view of the world: if you love
life and seethe beauty
in everything, then are you truly insane? His amazing
power over every woman he encounters, and his idealistic charm and magnetism,
makes us want to believe
that he is who he says he is. An excellent romantic comedy
from beginning to
end; highly recommended for anyone who has ever been
in love.
Dracula: Dead and Loving It: *; (review to be provided as time permits)
Drowning Mona - ***** - the best black comedy I've seen in ages. In a small town in upstate New York, Bette Midler is the infamous Mona, who everyone hated. When she ends up dead, everyone is a suspect. Danny DeVito, as the sheriff, aims to find the killer.
Ed TV ***1/2 - I know, you've already seen this in "The
Truman Show" and "The
Real World". But, for those who haven't seen either of
the predecessors, here's
a snapshot: a network decides to have TV cameras follow
everything that a
regular guy (Matthew McConaughay) does, including how
he crosses paths with his
brother (Woody Harrelson) and his brother's girlfriend
(Jenna Elfman). The
little daily melodramas that happen in their lives aren't
any different than
what might happen to any of us, but that could be why
it's still interesting to
watch. While the on-screen characters are entertaining,
the concept of network
TV as a soulless evil empire is overplayed to the extreme
(especially the
strictness with which McConaughay is forced to
adhere to his contract seems
like something a first year law school student could
challenge). But, overall,
the movie's a good time waster.
Election - ****1/2 - Matthew Broderick is a respected teacher who likes working with students so much that he serves as the student council advisor to the school. Troubles start when a hypermotivated overachiever played by Reese Witherspoon runs unopposed for president. Broderick has reasons for disliking her, and decides that she must be stopped! Witherspoon, when she starts to see competition (arranged secretly by Broderick) for the presidency, engages in a vicious smear campaign. In the process, Broderick finds his marriage and his professional life starting to unravel. This is a wickedly brilliant black comedy of a high school student council election gone terribly wrong.
Emma: ****; (review to be provided as time permits)
Everybody Says I Love You: ****; (review to be provided as time permits)
A Fish Called Wanda: *****; (review to be provided as time permits)
Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas - ****
Flirting With Disaster: ***1/2; I was surprised Nicholas
Cage wasn't in this
movie. Or, should I say, the Nicholas Cage of a few years
ago, before be became
a big box office megastar. By that, I mean that it's
hilarious, strange, and
very entertaining. It doesn't hurt that the movie's loaded
with talent. Ben
Stiller, who was adopted by the neurotic, constantly
bickering Mary Tyler Moore
and George Segal, uses an agency to locate his real parents.
So, he, his
wife (Patricia Arquette), and their baby fly from New
York to San Diego to see
his mother. Accompanying them is Tea Leoni, the agency
rep who is videotaping
the experience for psychological study, in exchange for
the agency paying air
fare and expenses. His mother welcomes Stiller with open
arms, and the two
remark on their similarity. Then, Leoni calls the agency
and discovers that -
oops! -this isn't his real mom. However, they've located
his father in
Michigan. So, off they go to Michigan. Along the way,
the sexual tension
between Leoni and Stiller starts to build; not surprisingly,
Arquette is a bit
jealous. That is, until they run into an FBI agent who
went to school with
Arquette, and who seems interested in rekindling the
flames of an old romance.
As wild as all this seems, it's nothing compared to what
happens when they
finally locate Stiller's real parents (Alan Alda and
Lily Tomlin). Nicholas
Cage probably would like to do a movie like this again.
Fools Rush In: ***1/2; As usual, Hollywood misrepresented
itself with the
trailers for this movie. The fact is, most of the punch
lines for "Fools Rush In"
were seen in the commercials on TV. What's left, luckily,
is a charming
romantic comedy, starring Matthew Perry - who's not nearly
as annoying as he is
as Chandler on "Friends" - and Salma Hayek. Perry plays
the quintessential
single guy, who's not quite sure of what he wants from
life, except that he
wants to have fun and advance in his career. Hayek plays
a Mexican-American who
wants to hang onto her heritage, but who also wants to
raise the baby that she
accidentally bears after a one night encounter with Perry.
The inter cultural
issues are handled refreshingly well, as Perry's WASPy
parents - who he rarely
talks to - finally discover that he's suddenly married
a Latino. Very
enjoyable, but not the "yuckfest" it was made out to
be.
Galaxy Quest - ****1/2 - whether you're a Trekkie or not, you'll appreciate this spoof. Tim Allen plays the Captain Kirk-type role with hilarious bravado.
Green Card: ***1/2; (review to be provided as time permits)
Grumpier Old Men: ***1/2; (review to be provided as time permits)
Half-Baked - **1/2 - Stoners do lots of goofy things that I can't completely remember now because I was so pretty messed up myself when I watched it.
Happy Gilmore: ****1/2; the goofy Adam Sandler stars as
a guy who wants to be a
pro hockey player, but ends up on the Pro Golf tour.
If you like silly,
slapstick humor, you'll love this movie. Sandler actually
plays a real person
in this one, rather than a Saturday Night Live character,
which helps
immensely.
Happy, Texas - ****1/2 - two escaped convicts steal a mobile home belonging to a dance choreography team. Through a complex and hilarious set of circumstances, they end up putting on the local junior girl's dance recital in order to avoid blowing their cover.
High Fidelity - ****1/2 - John Kusack is a record store owner who weaves in his love for making "mix" tapes with his many failed relationships. Supporting characters, especially Jack Black, are hysterical.
High School High: **; I rented this one because, basically,
my wife is a
teacher. She has a general interest in any movie about
teaching, and is always
willing to see something that makes a very difficult
job humorous. I also
happen to be a fan of Jon Lovitz. This is the baggage
I took with me when I
watched this movie. However, I think I can still safely
say that this is a
fairly harmless, totally predictable, and occasionally
funny movie. Lovitz
plays a teacher totally out of his element who tries
to win over a group of
inner city kids who have no interest in learning. This
movie is a cross between
"Dangerous Minds" and out-takes from "Naked Gun"...which
isn't surprising,
since David Zucker - of "Naked Gun" fame - was one of
the writers.
Howard Stern's Private Parts: **1/2; (review to be provided as time permits)
An Ideal Husband - ***1/2 - complex maneuverings among turn-of-the-century England's upper crust.
Il Postino (The Postman): ****; a wonderful tale of a
shy young man who longs
to be a poet, though his lot in life seems destined to
be no more than a postal
carrier in a tiny Italian island. When he meets an internationally
famous
poet, his sees a way to finally realize his ambitions.
This movie is in Italian
with subtitles.
Jabberwocky: ***1/2; I've intentionally excluded the usual
Monty Python movies,
because most people I know have seen them a dozen times
already. This one is a
bit of a rarity, as it features only (if I remember correctly)
Michael Palin
and Eric Idle. It's about the hunt for the dreaded beast,
the Jaberwocky, in
that favorite Monty Python era, the Middle Ages. It's
not quite up to the
brilliance of the "true" Monty Python movies, but it's
definitely worth a look
if you're a fan.
Jack: **1/2; (review to be provided as time permits)
Keeping the Faith - ****
Kingpin: ***; Hardly the slapstick farce that I was led
to believe, this movie
is actually pretty realistic and even moving at times.
Of course, every 15
minutes or so, it was necessary to include something
totally unrealistic, just
to please the "Dumb and Dumber" crowd. Woody Harrelson
is a former hotshot
bowler who convinces another bowler to enter a highs
takes bowling tournament,
with Harrelson as the mentor. Since the man (one of the
Quaid boys...can't
remember which) is Amish, there are the obvious jokes.
Bill Murray plays a
despicable partner-turned-rival of Harrelson's. Not bad.
L.A. Story: ***1/2; (review to be provided as time permits)
Las Vegas Vacation: **1/2; (review to be provided as time permits)
Liar Liar: ****; Jim Carrey's son wishes that his dad
could go a full day
without telling a lie...with hilarious consequences.
Living Out Loud ** - After her wealthy husband abandons
her for a younger
woman, Holly Hunter is left to figure out what exactly
her life is all about.
This leads to an unlikely friendship with her hotel's
elevator operator (Danny
DiVito), and a singer at a nightclub (Queen Latifa, who
happens to have a
spectacular voice for crooning tunes from the '40s).
A lot of the scene
switching (between Hunter's life and DiVito's, as well
as scenes they have in
common) is so rapid that there seems little connection
between them. Maybe this
should have been called "Laughing Out Loud"?
Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels **** - Four London
con artists have their
latest scam go terribly wrong, and find themselves owing
500,000 pounds to a
crime lord. To pay it back, they decide to attempt to
steal a huge sum of cash
from a group of local thugs as soon as those thugs rob
it. Along the way, they
encounter another local gang, big time pot dealers, and
other assorted
lowlifes. If it sounds confusing, it is, especially in
the first few minutes,
when we meet the dozen or so characters who go zipping
by. It also can be
difficult for those unfamiliar with the "language" to
follow: these lads speak
in a broken street English, not is a refined dialect
that you hear from, say,
Emma Thompson. A noticeable lack of police means that
there is an incredible
amount violence taking place. As I read once, this sort
of a cross between
"Trainspotting" and "Pulp Fiction". And, as in those
films, there is not only
considerable action, but also a definite sense of humor
to much of the
goings-on.
Loser - ***
Matilda: ****; (review to be provided as time permits)
Michael: *****; (review to be provided as time permits)
Mother: ****; A writer (Albert Brooks) decides to move
back in with his
mother(Debbie Reynolds) after his recent divorce. His
reason: to discover why
he has problems with women, and to see if perhaps these
problems all stem from
his strained relations with his mother. As unpleasant
as things must be between
the two, they are hilarious to watch. The dialogue in
"Mother" is some of the
best I've seen in a movie. It's like seeing, perhaps,
your own family at their
worst, miscommunicating and not getting along, but never
escalating to the
point of screaming. The mother insists on buying only
the cheapest products,
and thinks that they will keep indefinitely in the freezer;
the son, meanwhile,
tries to get her to see the joy in spending an extra
dollar. This sort of
diametric opposition might not be as "significant" as
trying to save the world
from a terrorist group with a nuclear weapon, but it
certainly is fun to watch.
The only flaw in the movie is the way things seemed to
work themselves out a
little bit too perfectly. Still, it's well worth seeing.
Multiplicity: ***; (review to be provided as time permits)
Mumford - ***1/2
The Muse - ***1/2
My Best Friend's Wedding:
**1/2; About an hour before I saw this movie, I read
a review of Jackie Chan's latest movie. The reviewer
had given it 2 stars out
of 4, and went on and on about how there was no plot;
well of *course* there
was no plot: it's a martial arts movie! I decided to
look at the top of the
article to see who the misguided reviewer was: sure enough,
it was a
woman...someone who had no business reviewing this genre.
Not that women
inherently can't appreciate martial arts movies...but
this reviewer was
certainly the wrong person for the job if her main concern
was the plot and the
totally unbelievable turns in the story. I've spent all
this time talking about
the other review because I, like the reviewer, am not
the right person for the
genre presented by this movie. However, the reviewer
of Jackie's latest didn't
do a total disservice: she provided a viewpoint that
most women can appreciate.
In the same way, I can provide a perspective that would
be worthless to most
women, but probably useful to the men who are likely
to be dragged to this
movie by these same women. With the opening credits,
during which a bride and
bridesmaids sing "Wishing and Hoping" (not a 30 second
song fragment - the
entire 3-minute song), my worst fears about a possible
estrogen overdose seemed
to have been confirmed. This feeling was reinforced by
the frequent "everyone
joining in singing" segments of Roberta Flack songs (with
the obligatory Big
Guy Surprising Everyone By Singing A Portion Of The Song
Solo). At some points,
I could swear I was lactating. But, in fairness, the
movie is not without
merit. Julia Roberts makes a surprising turn as a thoroughly
despicable,
selfish, shallow person who decides to break up the wedding
of her best
(guy)friend and his 20-year-old fiancee (Cameron Diaz).
Never mind that she had
no interest in the guy as anything but friends until
she heard he was getting
married. Cameron Diaz is hysterical as a bubbly, naive
college girl. She's so
naive that she doesn't hesitate - nor feel more than
a fleeting moment of
jealosy, and not until later - in making Julia Roberts
Maid of Honor within 5
minutes of meeting her, even though she knows that she
had a month-long fling
with her soon-to-be hubby. Seeing the fallout of Roberts'
underhanded actions -
and her eventual feelings of guilt - help to bring some
sense of reality to
the movie. Certainly the most enjoyable character was
that of George (Rupert
Everett), who is sort of the moral center of the movie.
As a friend of Julia's,
he constantly councils her to be honest about her feelings
about the guy she
once dumped. The hilariously debonair Everett steals
every scene. My overall
impression? Take away all the singing and include more
sports scenes (the groom
had the honorable profession of sports writer), and the
guys would have enjoyed
it more. That, and let Jackie Chan write the sequel.
My Fellow Americans: **; should have been subtitled "Grumpy
Old Presidents,"
since Jack Lemmon (as a former President) plays the same
curmudgeon here that
he does in the "Grumpy Old Men" movies. Unfortunately,
James Garner (as another
former President) doesn't have to comic touch or the
natural rapport with
Lemmon that Walter Matheau has. Some cute moments, but
nothing spectacular.
Mystery Men ****1/2 - Champion City is virtually crime
free due to the efforts
of Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear), but that's exactly
the problem: the
corporations who advertise on his outfit are pulling
their endorsements because
he's run out of heroic, high publicity things to do.
So, Amazing arranges the
release of supervillain Casanova Frankenstein (Geoffry
Rush), with the hope
that a good menace will bring those endorsements back.
Unfortunately,
Frankenstein is too good a menace, and he lures Amazing
his lair and captures
him. The Mystery Men see that it's their duty to save
the day, despite their
laughable "powers": Mr. Furious (Ben Stiller) has the
ability to fly into a
rage, though he never seems to do anything; The Shoveler
(William Macy) is a
married guy who wacks criminals with his shovel; the
Blue Raja (Hank Azaria)
speaks with a British accent and hurls forks at his foes.
They are later joined
by Invisible Boy (Kel Mitchell), who's only invisible
when no one is looking,
The Bowler (Jeannie Garaffalo), who throws a bowling
ball with her talkative
dead father's head in it, and The Spleen (Paul Ruebens),
who can aim his gas at
a distance. The villainous gangs that Frankenstein controls,
while deadlier,
are likewise comical, most notably The Disco Boys - who
are straight from the
Saturday Night Fever set - and The Frat Boys - who want
to get drunk and party.
An old superhero, Sphynx (Wes Studi), serves are their
mentor, and is the only
member of the team with real powers, but he spends most
of his time speaking
Words of Wisdom like, "If you do not control your anger,
your anger will
control you." The plot is not unlike the plot of any
superhero movie, like
Superman or Batman, but the results are far more comical
because the "heroes"
are so inept. One of the best movies I've seen at the
theater in a long time.
The Next Best Thing - * - Madonna plays a woman who's life is falling apart, so she spends time with her gay friend (the usually excellent Rupert Everett). This closeness causes a the accidental conception of a child (oh, God....I just realized as I'm typing: that makes it "Madonna and child"...AAAAAGGHHH!!) Madonna seems to think she's royalty now, as she's adopted this affected accent that slips in and out of a sort of quasi uppercrust British. Maybe it's because of being in a movie with the actually British Everett, who's forced (by the script) to do numerous ludicrous "outrageous gay" things in order to get cheap laughs. All the supporting characters are annoying. There's no one in this movie that I cared even the slightest about, except for the poor baby that was born into it. If this is the "next best thing", what would be worse: watching it and Wild Wild West as a double-header?
Next Friday - **
Next Stop, Wonderland - ***1/2 - This romantic comedy
is generally about
two people who are destined to meet, though they keep
missing each
other. But, that tired old premise alone doesn't do justice
to the movie
itself. In reality, this is about two people who don't
want to get into
a relationship, but people in their lives keep trying
to fix them up. It
was interesting, for example, to see how some of the
man's friends
happened to meet or already know some of the woman's
friends. There is a
LOT of comedy in this one, even if you aren't the romantic
comedy type.
Nine Months: **1/2; an uneven portrayal of a man (Hugh
Grant) who can't decide
whether his girlfriend (and their newly-conceived baby)
or his life as a
bachelor is more important. Tom Arnold is hilarious as
the annoying guy who
Grant keeps bumping into. Robin Williams has some good
lines as the nutty
foreign doctor, but he's completely unrealistic. The
director, like Grant, also
couldn't seem to make a decision: whether the movie was
a realistic comedy or a
slapstick farce. The slapstick moments seemed to have
been haphazardly thrown
in for the simple purpose of getting a laugh; to me,
they were irritatingly
out-of-place. However, judging by the laughter, a lot
of people in the movie
theater didn't seem to care, and enjoyed the movie, anyway.
Switch off your
brain, and maybe you will, too.
Notting Hill - **** - Julia Roberts plays an American mega-movie star (what a stretch!) who becomes romantically entangled with an unassuming bookstore owner (Hugh Grant). Of course, the price of fame is that one can't simply start having relationships with just anyone: the tabloids, at least, will want to know about it. Both the leads are very well suited to their roles, and the supporting roles are excellent. Good fun.
Nurse Betty - **** - a soap opera-addicted housewife goes into shock when she witnesses the gruesome murder of her drug dealer husband, and starts believing her favorite soap opera to be real. As she goes from Kansas to Hollywood in pursuit of a doctor on her favorite soap (who she believes to be her former fiance), the killers pursue her and a large amount of drugs that they believe she may have. A sometimes violent but mostly offbeat story that is best classified as a comedy, even if there aren't loads of yucks.
One Fine Day: **1/2; On the surface, this is a movie about
two people (Michelle
Pfeiffer and George Clooney) who start out hating each
other, but you just know
that they're going to fall in love at the end. Pfeiffer's
intense hatred for
Clooney from the very moment they meet is far too overblown
for any
otherresult. Pfeiffer and Clooney both have children
from a previous marriage,
and both have ex-spouses who inconsiderately dump their
kids on them at the
most inconvenient times. It's the children, and not Clooney's
crinkled eyebrow,
that creates the charm in the movie. The children constantly
get into all sorts
of trouble that the Pfeiffer and Clooney have to remedy....for
great comic
effect. The ending is predictable, but the little side
trips along the way keep
things interesting.
The Opposite of Sex **** - Dedee (Cristina Ricci) is a
selfish bitch. Those
aren't my words: those are her own. In fact, as Dedee
narrates us through her
betrayals, felonies, and other fun in the name of "me
first", she will be sure
to tell you that she has no problem with who she is.
The narration is
hysterical, with comments like "I'll give you broad brushstrokes
here". In
fact, she sometimes backtracks while she tells us the
story, and even points
out the "movie making technique" that we're seeing in
a particular scene.
Dialogue between the characters is terrific, with some
of the best lines said
by Lisa Kudrow (the prissy friend of the family). This
is a terrific, vicious
black comedy that might not be for everyone, but will
still have you laughing
out loud.
Outside Providence - ***1/2
The Pallbearer: ***1/2; (review to be provided as time permits)
Picture Perfect: ***1/2; If it seems that Jennifer Anniston
is going to be a
star based on the fact that she's cute, there's a very
good reason for that:
she's *really* cute. Of course, cuteness can only go
so far. Fortunately, in
this movie, there's also an interesting story. Anniston
plays a nice girl who
keeps meeting the wrong guy. She also wants to advance
in her career. She is
also attracted to the REALLY wrong guy (Kevin Bacon),
one who represents the
"bad boy" image that so many women seem to find attractive.
The problem is,
he's not interested in her because she's too nice. That
all changes when
Anniston is left off a team for an ad campaign, despite
the fact that she
conceived the campaign. Her boss tells her that she's
still living her lifelike
she's in college, rather than being deeply in debt with
a family. When a friend
lies and tells the boss that Anniston is engaged to a
guy she was photographed
with at a wedding (Jay Mohr), that changes everything
in his mind: she's
welcomed back on the team. Of course, this leads to further
complications when
the boss wants to meet her "future husband." Mohr, as
it turns out, is a
wonderful, caring guy; Anniston is blinded to that because
his part in her life
was simply an invention to further he career. In fact,
he's such a great guy
that he agrees to help her with the deception, even when
he finds himself
falling for her. Of course, since Anniston is now "engaged",
Bacon suddenly
finds her attractive (when he seduces her, he says very
approvingly, "you're a
*bad* girl!"). The complications resulting from all this
are alternately
hysterical and engaging. The real appeal of this movie
is that it's believable.
Who hasn't been in a situation of being attracted to
the wrong person, having
to compromise yourself in order to further a career,
or missing a good thing
when it was right in front of you? Am I the only one?
Pleasantville - ****
Prelude to a Kiss: ****; (review to be provided as time permits)
The Purple Rose of Cairo: ****; Mai Farrow is a good woman
in a bad marriage
during the Great Depression who seeks escape in movies.
One adventure yarn,
staring Jeff Daniels as the dashing hero, becomes a particular
favorite. Then,
one day, the character Daniels plays steps off the screen
and runs away with
Farrow, leaving the rest of the characters in the movie
looking out into the
audience and wondering what the hell is going in. Things
become even more
complicated when Daniels, as the actor who played the
character in the movie,
vies with his own character for Farrow's affection. This
movie is loaded with
comedy as the real world intermingles with the (movie)
reel world in several
surprising ways. If the ending was "...and they all lived
happily ever after,
"then this would be a terrific "feel good" movie. But,
with Farrow having to
choose between the actor and the character, it's inevitable
that some people
might feel a slight let down at the ending.
Restoration: ****; Robert Downey Jr. plays a doctor during
the time of the
Plague in England. While he has a gift for healing, he
shows far more interest
in wine, women, and song. His big break comes when he
does a cure for the King,
who rewards him by making him Court Physician. This position
provides him with
even more opportunities for carousing. Things get even
more interesting when
the King chooses him to "marry" his mistress, to divert
suspicions of his
affair. Downey falls in love with the mistress, further
complicating things.
Hugh Grant plays a snide court artist hilariously, and
Meg Ryan is fascinating
as the insane Irishwoman that Downey meets in a sanitarium.
The rest of the
cast - who's names escape me - are also tremendous. This
often hysterical and
bawdy romp also takes serious turns in the course of
Downey becoming a wiser,
more mature person. The costuming and set design are
breathtaking, and
rightfully won Oscars (for at least one...can't remember
which). This has been
aptly grouped with "Amadeus" as a "hip period piece.
Return to Me - ***1/2
Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion: *1/2; Lisa Kudrow
plays her familiar
"Friends" character convincingly, but Mira Sorvino seemed
to be playing a
character in a college acting class. It's almost as if
she said, 'I don't want
to be typecast with the ditz that won me the Oscar, so
I'll do a less genuine
ditz instead'. There were also many extended flashbacks
to high school.
Flashbacks aren't inherently bad; but when the 'flashback'
ends up lasting so
long that you wonder if that's how the rest of the movie's
going to be, then
you've got a problem. I'm talking 15-20 minutes for a
flashback here. Maybe
some people will appreciate the apparent tongue-in-cheek
nature of the movie,
where the girls acted like elitists, but were in fact
pretty unpopular. To me,
it seemed that the movie was written by two high school
girls...with the same
level of sophistocation.
Rushmore **** - An alternately hilarious and disturbing
comedy about a
15-year-old who spends so much time with extra-curricular
activities that he
has no time for school work. No, I'm not talking about
the standard "teen
flick" activities (like partying): Max Fischer is an
officer in every club at
the Rushmore Academy (chess club, skeet shooting club,
etc) who also finds time
to write brilliant plays. Max also takes enjoyment in
messing with The
Establishment, and is the personal bane of the school's
administrator. Yet, at
the same time, Max would just as soon stay at Rushmore
for the rest of his
life: Rushmore is his world. Blume (Bill Murray) enters
the scene, and
impresses Max with his similarly iconoclastic attitude.
Their friendship turns
to bitter rivalry, however, as both fall in love with
a pretty 1st grade
teacher at the academy. The lengths to which young Max
goes to "win the girl"
(who obviously has no interest in him) are sometimes
comical, sometimes
disturbing. Murray gets to play a full range of moods,
from his trademark
wiseguy to a regular guy who just wants to be happy.
This is sort of a "Ferris
Bueller's Day Off", if Beuller were a nerd (in fact,
Max looks sort of like a
nerdy Tom Cruise).
Secrets and Lies: ****; A charming tale of a white English
woman who is shocked
to discover that her long-lost daughter is black.
Sgt. Bilko: **; (review to be provided as time permits)
She's All That *** - You've probably seen this story before:
a high school hunk
(Freddy Prinze Jr.) decides to show how studly he is
by turning a loser (Rachel
Leigh Cook) into the Homecoming Queen. This happens because
- horror of horrors
- Prinze's girlfriend dumps him for a "Real World" cast
member (Matthew
Lillard). Sure enough, the simple fact that she's seen
dating Prinze makes her
incredibly popular. So, the story is nothing new. This
modern "My Fair Lady"
lacks any real personality in the leads. But, what saves
it - and in fact makes
it fun - is the supporting roles. Cook's dad - the simple
pool man who gets
every Jeopardy question wrong - is a hoot. And Lillard
steals every scene,
acting like the celebrity that he thinks MTV has made
him (the clips from "The
Real World" are truely hysterical).
Small Time Crooks - ****
Space Jam: ***1/2; (review to be provided as time permits)
Stuart Smalley Saves His Family: **; Before you ask "Why
the hell would you
even want to watch that movie?", let me say that my sister-in-law
rented it,
and it wasn't due back yet, so she let us borrow it.
She said it was really
funny. After having watched it myself, I can only conclude
that she was really
drunk when she watched it. Not that it was that bad a
movie. The whole idea of
taking a recurring character on Saturday Night Live and
creating a movie around
it is an idiotic concept to begin with. Hollywood must
really be starved for
ideas if they have to stoop to this, especially since
the characters usually
wear out their welcome by the second time you see them.
Stuart Smalley is the
"Daily Affirmations" guy, the one who always breaks down
into a deep depression
while trying to give positive messages to the viewers.
In this case, the task
of creating a story around this 5-minute sketch works
very well. The whole
business of him having an alcoholic father and brother,
and a generally
unsupportive and uncommunicative family, is a very touching
subject. The main
problem with it is that the only unbelievable character
in the whole movie is
Smalley himself. While his father is a horrible person,
there is some depth to
him that makes him real. Smalley is a caricature. Also,
having spent much of
the movie talking about alcohol abuse, where's the supposed
comedy? There are
some laughs, but they're all clustered together, mainly
at the beginning and
the end. In between, there are long stretches of wondering
what there might be
to eat in the refrigerator.
Sweet and Lowdown - ****1/2 - the always excellent Sean Penn plays the SECOND greatest guitarist of the 1920s in this hilarious, and frequently touching, tale.
Swingers: ****; A hilarious story
of a guy who has spent the past 6 months
trying to get over being dumped by a girlfriend of 6
years. His friends all do
what they can to get him to go to parties and clubs with
them, hoping that
he'll meet another woman that will make him forget about
his past relationship.
If you enjoy movies like "Diner" and "The Brothers McMullen,"
you'll probably
enjoy this movie, which is funny because of it's keen
sense of how the
real world works. The cast full of no-name actors is
uniformly excellent.
That Thing You Do: ***1/2; (review to be provided as time permits)
This is Spinal Tap: ****1/2; (review to be provided as time permits)
Three To Tango - ***
Tommy Boy: ***; In this goofy physical comedy, Chris Farley
is (surprise!) the
bumbling son of a parts manufacturer, while David Spade
is, believe it or not,
the level-headed one who tries to keep Farley from screwing
up. Rob Lowe is the
sleazy bad guy who tries to get the family inheritance.
While they keep on
playing the same basic characters, Spade and Farley have
a chemistry that
definitely works.
A Very Brady Sequel: ***; (review to be provided as time permits)
The Waterboy **1/2 - When Adam Sandler did "Happy Gilmore",
I was impressed: he
showed that he could be funny without having to turn
the movie into a Saturday
Night Live sketch. He seems to have forgotten about that
here. Since they live
on the Looziana bayou, Mama (Kathy Bates) cooks up alligators
on the grill
while a horse lives in the house as a family pet. His
science teacher looks
exactly like Colonel Sanders. Sandler talks with
that goofy "Herlihy Boy"
voice as he plays the dopey waterboy for a college football
team. The coach
(Henry Winkler) is able to harness Sandler's fits of
rage and focus them,
turning him into the most feared linebacker in college
football. Still, despite
all the dumb, unrealistic things that happen, there are
moments that are
hysterical.
While You Were Sleeping: ***1/2; (review to be provided as time permits)
Wild, Wild West - * - Will Smith isn't charming. Kevin
Klein isn't funny. Salma Hayak isn't sexy. All that, and they took one
of the favorite shows from my childhood and turned it into a mess. I should
give it extra credit for accomplishing so many things that I didn't think
possible. Come to think of it, the rating I gave it does account
for that. Blech.