Critic's Corner

Monday, August 29, 2005

The 40 Year Old Virgin

This weekend, we went to see this movie and it was really very funny. Aside from the fact that I actually know a 40 year old virgin (okay- he's 36, but still...) - who, I imagine, is probably the same as the character that Steve Carrell plays, I doubt that the one I know's life is half as funny as this movie. Although, he'd like to think so, as is evident by the thousands of joke emails he sends me a month.

Anyway- the movie was clever, and for once the trailer didn't spoil all of the good scenes. I would think that this is mostly due to the good scenes being WAY too racy for trailers. And, of course, there were the gross parts too- vomiting and whatnot, and parts that were funny as well as gross- like the part where he pees on himself.

Even though The Office's Steve Carrell was the star, Romany Malco and Paul Rudd really stole the show. Paul Rudd with his obsessive demeanor about his ex and almost every line Romany Malco had left me in tears.

Although the movie got a little slow for a bit there, it was worth it in all. A good mindless comedy.

Friday, August 19, 2005

Medley of Movies

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been increasingly bored, sitting on my couch, looking for a way to relax before the big back-to-school push on August 29 of this year… (Statistics and Greek/Roman Humanities this semester.) Either through renting them at my neighborhood Blockbuster (because I’m still a sucker for "FREE" coupons), or while flipping through the channels, I have watched one or two movies that I feel are deserving of a comment or two from yours truly. Therefore, I have decided to bunch them all into a medley-like review.

Joan of Arc:
Leelee Sobieski plays St Joan in this made for tv movie. I guess the thing is about 3 hours long. It's a pretty accurate depiction from what I know of what she went through. It's nothing compared to Dreyer's silent masterpiece with Renee Falconetti (which I watched once again not too long ago) but it's still entertaining enough to sit through. I still don't know if I buy Neil Patrick Harris (Doogie Hauser) as the Dauphan. But it was a pretty good movie.

The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc:
Now THIS movie had a much better cast: John Malkovich as the Dauphan (SO much more convincing), Mila Jovovich as Joan, Dustin Hoffman, and Faye Dunaway. But the movie itself fell short in so many ways. St Joan has become sort of a topic of interest for me, and when someone as well- renowned as Luc Besson makes a movie about her life, that's motivation enough to watch it. But Besson, even though the battle scenes were close to flawless, made one crucial mistake- he almost made Joan seem like she was mad in her latter days. It seemed like he took a story about a woman who believed in her faith so much and threw in the Dustin Hoffman character to show how insane she was for believing. It was quite disheartening.

Wild at Heart:
Reunited Twin Peaks cast members do something different. Grace Zabriske (Sarah Palmer), Sheryl Lee (Laura Palmer/Madeline), Sherilyn Fenn (Audrey Horne), and David Patrick Kelley (Jerry Horne) all appear in this David Lynch about Sailor (Nicolas Cage) and Lula (Laura Dern), a crazy couple who try to get away from Lula's mother's (Diane Ladd- Laura Dern's real mother) vast array of hitmen that she sends to kill Sailor so that her beloved Lula can return home. The movie is very typical early 90's Lynch- and even spans as far as Mulholland Drive with its similarities. Ladd was nominated for an Oscar for her role, and she didn't disappoint. It wasn't without its share of cheese-factor scenes, like when Sheryl Lee shows up as the Good Witch of the North, but it was an enjoyable experience.

Chung King Express:
I searched 4 different stores to find this movie because the director is coming out with 2046 which I am dying to see. I finally found it, not too far away, drove out there and realized that I had seen it before. I didn't remember it, though, so I took it home anyway. It was a good movie. It's the story of a few lonesome people and how they go through life trying to get the attention of certain members of the opposite sex. One thing I did take away from it- I'll never look at another expiration date the same way again.

Mystery Men:
This may very well be one of those movies that I would watch over and over for the sheer mindless humor of it. Ben Stiller, Janeane Garofolo, William H Macy, Hank Azaria (whom I adore), and Paul "Pee-Wee Herman" Reubens are wanna-be superheroes who have to take down the evil villian after Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear) is captured. It is very funny, with no shortage of mindless humor, very much like Stiller's other comedies (Dodgeball, Zoolander, Cable Guy). It's a very fun movie to watch when you don't want to have to think about what you're watching.

The Ice Storm:
Once again, I watched this movie- I hadn't seen it in so long. I remembered Kevin Kline being married to Joan Allen and having an affair with Sigourney Weaver, and I remembered that there was a key party, but that was the extent of it. I did not realize that Allison Janney was the hostess of the key party, or that Adam "Little Man Tate" Hann-Byrd was Christina Ricci's boy toy. I especially didn't remember that Katie Holmes was in it. (bleugh) Luckily, her part was not as meaty as everyone else's. It's a very sad movie with some wonderful acting in it. I missed the first 1/2 hour of it, so I'm hoping to catch it again while WE is still playing it this month. Otherwise, I'm going to have to rent it.

Book of Shadows: Blair Witch II:
Let me start by saying how innovative I felt the Blair Witch Project was. Heather Donohue had a wonderful idea. I really enjoyed The Blair Witch Project because it felt so real. The first time that I saw it, I didn’t know that it was a ruse. I think I saw it 4 days after it opened nationwide. And in a world of cookie-cutter horror movies, CGI’s, and unoriginal plots, it was a welcome change. I saw it in the theater 2 more times after that.

I hesitated seeing the "sequel" for fear that the commercialism of it would really diminish my appreciation for the 1st. I should have abstained altogether. The Blair Witch movie fans go out to Coffin Rock, trying to make a movie about debunking the Blair Witch legend, and end up not debunking it at all. Science Fiction and horror, generally, are about suspension of disbelief- the only thing I cannot believe is how Hollywood executives thought that it would be a good idea to put a goth chick, a tree-hugging wiccan hippie and 3 yuppies together to make this pile of shit into a "movie". If you're forced to see this movie at gunpoint, tell them to take their aim.

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Top Hat

Last night I was flipping through the channels- Monday night television is such crap lately. I flipped the through the channels until I got to AMC. What was on, but a movie I had never seen before- Top Hat with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. They were showing it with the other 3 movies that are coming out in the box set this morning.

How can anyone not love this movie?? It has everything- humor, music, dancing, witty dialogue, a fun plot, and a happy ending.

Ginger Rogers meets Fred Astaire when she is staying in the hotel room below his and is kept awake by his dancing. She goes upstairs to ask him to stop and he falls in love with her at first sight. Then, after a case of mistaken identity, hilarity ensues.

How much fun this movie must have been to make. And the dress Ginger Rogers got to wear during the “I’m In Heaven” routine. (I want that dress!!)

For the woman- the kiss; for the man, the sword!!

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

I needed to go into this movie and tell myself that this movie is NOT Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Willy Wonka is a beautiful movie. This one had its own merits. There were parts of Charlie that I didn’t enjoy half as much as I did Willy, like when Grandpa Joe gets up and starts to dance or the oompa-loompa songs, but like I said, it was not a remake. This film was based on the book, and there were some great parts.

Johnny Depp was great. He treated the children with such contempt it became almost comical. His thing with Mike Teevee “MUMBLING!!!” made me laugh more than once. I have been in Wonka’s shoes more than once- trying to be nice to a bunch of spoiled little brats. (Granted, I am not the biggest fan of bratty kids. I believe that kids are young people who are being shaped by their parents. And as the oompa loompas say in Willy Wonka, if the kid is a brat, it’s not the kid who is at fault.)

The film itself SCREAMED Tim Burton. It had that same dark feel of Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. ( btw, Nightmare is one of my favorites, and we saw a trailer before the feature for a movie called “Corpse Bride” by the same stop-animation team, which I am REALLY looking forward to!!!!)

I have never read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but I have read Dahl stories before (Lamb to the Slaughter, James and the Giant Peach) and I do believe that Tim Burton and Dahl are a good match- almost as good as Dahl and Hitchcock. Burton did a good job adapting what I imagine the book consists of.