Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 30th, 2006
Written By Jeff Mardo
This is a Parker Posey film, which in itself is enough of a reason for me to check this film out. However, I was surprised to find that Josh Hamilton is here as well. While you may not know the name of Josh Hamilton right away, the two of them worked together in a brilliantly satirical film called The House of Yes; one of my personal favorites. In fact, there are several things that tie these two films together in my mind. While both are very funny and disturbing films, the charm in them both is the tension hi...ing just beneath the satire. The tension here is that uneasy feeling of just what to do once you have finished your years at college, and you are forced to go out into the real world. It is that depressing no man's land between knowledge and action.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 25th, 2006
Synopsis
Marilyn Monroe was THE blonde bombshell. Jayne Mansfield was the cartoon version of Monroe, bombshell become sex bomb, with proportions so improbable she could give Barbie an inferiority complex. Her cartoon figure makes it appropriate that two of the movies here are directed by a specialist in cartoons: Frank Tashlin. In fact, this set might almost be more appropriately called the Frank Tashlin Collection.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 22nd, 2006
Steve Martin plays a wacky TV weatherman, who develops a close friendship with an electronic freeway sign in the sleeper hit comedy L.A. Story. I found the critically acclaimed film to lack hilarity, but it does get marks for inventiveness. Martin is enjoyable in most anything he's in, even if the material is not-so-great. L.A. Story is one such example of an actor rising above said material. Most of the over-the-top silliness misses the mark, and Marilu Henner has little more to do than play the cliche...of snobbish socialite. The true love of the Martin character's life - played by Victoria Tennant - is so bland vanilla I would have much rather seen him end up with his free-spirited squeeze toy (Sarah Jessica Parker), though any such relationship would be doomed to fail. At least there would be some excitement.
With that said, I did enjoy the basic hook: Martin's interaction with the fun-loving freeway sign. The sign is just a series of bulbs lit to form questions, comments, and riddles, but there is a quirkiness to it that shows more character than any other supporting player in the film, save for Parker. Director Mick Jackson manages to make the most of this bizarre relationship, but he works from a script that lacks too many interesting additional characters to be a great film. Also, the happy ending feels tacked-on and abrupt, and if you're of my opinion, lacks the happiness part so desperately needed. Sure, things work out. It's a comedy. But at the end of the day, Martin's victory doesn't seem worth winning.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 20th, 2006
Synopsis
A Christmas Story featured a charming, old-fashioned story about Ralphie (Peter Billingsley, Elf), who wanted nothing more in life than to get a Red Ryder BB Gun. His parents (played by Darren McGavin (Raw Deal) and Melinda Dillon (Magnolia)) in the depression era-Midwest kept him in check as he pleaded with them to get it for Xmas.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 15th, 2006
Tristram Shandy is the oddest and most entertaining sort of film. It is a film about the making of the film that you are watching, hosted by the fictional main character. It is sort-of like American Splendor, and sort-of like Spinal Tap. The film is the story of the life of Tristram Shandy, an 18th century Englishman of particularly stately means. The man's life is of note and worthy of such a film because... well, now that I think of it... I don't really know. You see, there are so many interruptions and different takes during the film that the actors are trying to make, that the viewer never really learns anything. Herein lies the genius of the piece. For all of the efforts the cast makes to tell the story, they never really tell us anything at all. Instead, the film is full of false starts, tales told out of order, and tons of disturbingly enjoyable comedy.
When reviewers talk about the desire to find new and interesting films, this is just the kind of thing they are talking about. This is a film that defies explanation, except to say that it is very, very funny. It is a fictional documentary about the filming of an unfilmable book. That in and of itself should sell you on picking up this disc.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 14th, 2006
Today, anyone with a credit card and some free time can make a movie. But that doesn't mean it's always a good thing. Case in point is Kisses and Caroms, which sports a massive hard-on for Kevin Smith’s Clerks (it’s Clerks in a billiards store. Brilliant!), but its characters, dialogue and location fail to be funny or engaging. For one, how many oddball customers can a billiards store receive in one day? In Clerks, it was believable, since people from all walks of life need what is readily...available at the Quick Stop. In Kisses and Caroms, it feels forced. There are even multiple references to Smith’s films – none of which are funny. At one point in the film, a character refers to another as a “poser.” Maybe the comment was meant for the filmmakers.
Like Clerks, the plot is minimal. But what separates the two films is what they have to say. Whereas Clerks gave a voice to Generation X, K&C seems to exist simply to hold many boring conversations about various forms of sex -- threesomes, orgies and gang-bangs. The DVD cover promises many scantily clad women and lots of “Girls Gone Wild” type situations, but all the characters do is talk, talk, talk. Sure, there is some nudity and a light chuckle every 10-15 minutes, which may be enough for a desperate teenager, but those looking for Clerks-style enlightenment will only find themselves behind the 8-ball.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 10th, 2006
Tell me if you've heard this one before... a high school girl is not allowed to join a certain club because it is boys only, so she dresses up like a (transvestite) boy to sneak into the club and prove that she has girl power!
Seriously, how many times can Hollywood make the exact same movie, before somebody sues somebody for copyright infringement? I understand the argument that each new generation of teens will pay big bucks to see the same crappy movie that has been made every couple of years for generations, but come on. Does nobody have any artistic integrity left?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 4th, 2006
Synopsis
Robin Williams is struggling to keep his job, and struggling to keep his sanity in the face of his teenage children (particularly daughter Joanna “JoJo” Levesque). This all becomes more difficult when his boss forces him to cancel a trip to Hawaii and head off to Colorado instead. Williams rents an RV, packs his family in, and hits the road for misadventures and hijinx.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 28th, 2006
Synopsis
Benchwarmers at first glance appears to be a stupid comedy. Produced by Adam Sandler (Big Daddy) and starring Rob Schneider (Deuce Bigalow), the movie’s 85 minute existence appears to be an aberration in the space time continuum, something that should not be discussed or hinted at for all eternity. Now, I’m not in this to bash Schneider, God, every critic has done that already, and I can’t add any new material. But in his role as Gus, he just isn’t believable.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 25th, 2006
Synopsis
Tyler Perry once again dons multiple costumes to incarnate several characters, most prominently Madea, the no-nonsense but mischievous matriarch of a very fractious family. She is ordered by the court to take in a runaway as a foster child, and that project of reclamation joins that of helping out her nieces. They have a mother from hell. One sister is struggling to learn how to love again, while the other is being forced into marriage with the hideously abusive Blair Underwood.
