Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on May 29th, 2012
"This Martius is grown from man to dragon. He has wings. He's more than a creeping thing. There is no more mercy in him than there is milk in a male tiger."
There's a certain hierarchy when it comes to the amount of cinematic interpretations of William Shakespeare's plays. At the top tier, we have the endlessly adapted Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello and Macbeth the Scottish Play. A step below that, you've probably got your King Lear, As You Like It, A Midsummer Night's Dream and a few more. And about a dozen tiers below that, we finally come across Coriolanus.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on May 28th, 2012
"It's Memorial Day. What am I supposed to remember?"
Happy Memorial Day, everyone! When I saw that I would be reviewing a movie called Memorial Day, I was afraid Garry Marshall had made another one of his awful ensemble romantic comedies — ala Valentine's Day and New Year's Eve — that stars everyone in Hollywood...and Hector Elizondo. Thankfully, this film is simply an (overly) earnest dedication to the men and women who have served in the Armed Forces, as well as their families.
Posted in: The Reel World by J C on May 16th, 2012
There's obviously nothing funny about the atrocities committed by some of history's most notorious tyrants. So why have these men proven to be such a surprisingly fertile source of comedy? Whether it's (Puppet) Kim Jong-il crooning forlornly about being lonely (actually "ronery") in Team America: World Police or Adolf Hitler being saluted by a chorus line of high-stepping stormtroopers in The Producers, there's certainly a precedent for mocking these reviled figures. With The Dictator, Sacha Baron Cohen appears to be taking his patented inappropriateness to a new level.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on May 15th, 2012
"...So when I walked into the hair cutting place, I was taking a leap. But I wasn't doing it for a guy — I was doing it for me."
Season 2 of Felicity features Keri Russell getting one of the most infamous haircuts in TV history. When people think of super-producer J.J. Abrams and his television projects, images from Alias, Fringe and a little show called Lost probably spring to mind. On the other hand, a significantly smaller portion of weirdos the TV-watching population may think of the relationship dramedies Abrams has produced, such as What About Brian, Six Degrees and Felicity, by far the best of this latter group.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on May 7th, 2012
When people think of super-producer J.J. Abrams and his television projects, images from Alias, Fringe and a little show called Lost probably spring to mind. On the other hand, a significantly smaller portion of weirdos the TV-watching population may think of the relationship dramedies Abrams has produced, such as What About Brian, Six Degrees and Felicity, by far the best of this latter group. (Then again, Felicity — co-created by Abrams and Matt Reeves — resorted to time travel towards the end of its run, so it probably has more in common with the producer's genre shows than you think.)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on May 3rd, 2012
In terms of major conflicts involving the United States, the Korean War has sort of gotten the short end of the cinematic stick with American audiences. Most people can easily rattle off their favorite movies dealing with World War II, the Vietnam War or the U.S. Civil War, but when it comes to the Korean War the options are comparatively more limited. Off the top of my head, there's M*A*S*H, the original Manchurian Candidate, and Don Draper suffering one of the most famous cases of identity theft. (I realize Mad Men is a TV show, so forgive me for reaching.)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on April 25th, 2012
"One must never let the public behind the scenes for they are easily disillusioned, and then they're angry with you for it is the illusion they love."
Sure, this quote is spoken by a very minor character and awkwardly shoehorned into the story, but it still makes its point. I realize it's almost impossible to imagine now, but there was a time we didn't have to capitalize the words "Real Housewives" and people were actually ashamed if they came off badly in front of a camera. HBO's Cinema Verite tells the behind-the-scenes story of the creation of An American Family, the PBS documentary widely considered to be the first reality television show.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on April 24th, 2012
At the very least, London River deserves credit for exposing audiences to a different side of English life beyond "upstairs, downstairs" period drama (Gosford Park, Downton Abbey), twee stories in a small-town setting (Waking Ned Devine, Calendar Girls) or the rich white people problems of Woody Allen's contemporary London (Match Point, Scoop).
Posted in: The Reel World by J C on April 20th, 2012
More than any other genre — except maybe "M. Night Shyamalan movies" — romantic comedies really take a beating. We've all heard the complaints: "They're safe." "They're predictable." "The apartments are unrealistically amazing." "They all star Jennifer Aniston or Katherine Heigl." Of course, these complaints also double as the reasons why lots of people love them. (Ok, maybe not so much the part about Aniston and Heigl.) Either way, I think we can all agree that rom-coms as a whole could benefit from some sort of fresh twist or wrinkle. Think Like a Man, despite the efforts of a likable cast, is not here to provide that freshness.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on April 18th, 2012
"I love this country. So I had this idea to find out all the things that make this country great: the people, the history, the way we do things! Only in America."
To put it mildly, I'm not exactly in Larry the Cable Guy's target demographic. Before sitting down to watch this DVD set, my exposure to him was limited to hearing his voice in the Cars movies and recoiling in horror whenever I stumbled onto any of his straight-to-DVD "films" at Movie Stop. Heck, I don't think I'd ever seen him with sleeves or without his trademark camo hat.
