Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 14th, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 14th, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 13th, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 8th, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 7th, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 5th, 2004
As a music lover, the phrase, “written by Paul McCartney” almost always signifies excellence in the performance to come. For a movie lover, this is not necessarily the case. Sure, A Hard Day’s Night is a great film, Help! is better than average, and Yellow Submarine is a fun departure from mainstream animation. Heck, even Magical Mystery Tour has a campy sort of charm to it.
Apparently, the same rule that applies to music also applies to cinema; without the rest of The Beatles, P...ul McCartney’s talent is just not the same. Sure, he can act fairly well, and the music is way above average, but taken as a whole, this film just plain stinks. The plot here is extremely thin. I have seen many _ hour sitcoms with more plot lines than this film. If you were to take out all of the musical numbers, you would probably have about 40 minutes of actual dialog. The rest of the film is filled with musical breaks.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 28th, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 27th, 2004
Ahh, those funny little Kids from Canada. I’m not sure exactly when it happened, but at some point in the 90’s, The Kids in the Hall became North America’s answer to Monty Python. Now, that’s not to say that the Kids are as classically funny as the Pythons, but the similarities run rampant nonetheless. Both troupes had a very successful sketch comedy television series, in which many of the all-male cast dressed in drag. Following the success of their respective shows, they both explored what feature films might conta...n. Following this exploration, they both performed some of their classic material before a live audience. The last part of the puzzle is the emergence of one of the cast members as a serious Director; for the Pythons, it was Gilliam, and for the Kids, it’s Bruce MuCulloch.
Just to make this clear yet again, I am certainly not saying that Gilliam and MuCulloch are equals in the world of film… far from it. I can say, however, that McCulloch is off to a good start, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him evolve into a talented comedy director in the future. Dog Park is a basic romantic comedy, with indie sensibilities and a twisted view of dog owners. Think Best in Show meets When Harry Met Sally.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 26th, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 22nd, 2004
Universal got it right a few years ago when they adapted The Grinch who Stole Christmas. Jim Carrey was perfectly cast as the heartless Grinch, the costumes and set design were excellent and the mild deviations from Dr. Seuss’ classic were appropriate and added more heart to the story. The most important aspect that was captured was the moral of the story – that being angry and miserable leads to a unsatisfying life of loneliness and that an act of kindness can fill the world with joy.
Now take all...of the above things that were done right, remove them, mix in crude humor and double-entendres (that are way above the level of the intended audience) and you have The Cat in The Hat.
