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DRAMA
I
have placed "sizzler ratings"
next to movies to give you an idea of how good they are
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ANALYZE
THIS (1998) |
Starring:
Robert De Niro, Billy Crystal, Lisa Kudrow
The plot: Paul Vitti,
Mafia boss, is having anxiety attacks in the weeks leading
up to a large meeting of mob bosses to discuss the future
of the Mafia. Separately, Dr. Sobol accidentally rear ends
Vitti's right hand man as he discusses his future with his
son. Suddenly, Sobol is being 'contacted' by Vitti to help
him recover his compusure.
Comment:
A
witty, fun movie with De Niro happily hamming it up as a mob
boss and Crystal finally cast in the role of what he does
best - playing an angst-ridden individual with long answers
for everything (the last time you saw Crystal this good was
in "When Harry met Sally"). The movie is very well written
with lots of gags highlighting the incompatible worlds of
psychiatry and mobsterdom. Word of warning, although this
movie will keep a smile on your face throughout, if you've
seen the shorts for it, you have seen the best gags.
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BEST
IN SHOW (2000) |
Starring:
Eugene Levy, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean
The plot: A mockumentary
following the lives of several people who have entered their
dogs into a dog show in Philadelphia. The people come froma
broad spectrum across the American populace, as do their dogs.
As the show gets closer, the tension heats up and the owners
go through all sorts of anxiety about their little precious
bundles of joy are about to go on display.
Comment:
A
fun movie focusing on the owners of the dogs andheir eccentricities
that appear under the pressure of the white lights. However,
the weirdness of the dog owners is not quite enough and more
could have been made with the dogs. However, its still a must
see movie for all dog-lovers and/or dog show particpators.
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BIG
DADDY (1999) |
Starring:
Adam Sandler, Jewel, Kristy Swanson
The plot: Sonny is a
law-firm dropout living off the profits of a weak lawsuit
and very happy with his life as a grown up kid not working
in the adult world. However, his girlfriend jolts him into
reality when she walks out on him. Suddenly he has the opportunity
to bring her back when his flatmate's kid is abandoned on
his doorstep - just as the flatmate flies to China on business.
What follows is a parent's nightmare as Sonny tries to raise
Julian the way he would want to be raised ' uninhibited
by parental ideals.
Comment:
If
anyone saw the shorts for this, you would be expecting a
corny movie reminiscent of Sandler's earlier efforts. Fortunately,
most of those scenes are quickly revealed at the start of
the movie and we move forwards into a suprisingly nice little
movie - albeit it has the obligatory Hollywood sappy ending.
Sandler is quite endearing as an overgrown child who suddenly
realises he has taken on a bit more than he bargained for
- but finds he can't live without the additional burden
either. Two twins, Cole and Dylan Sprouse, play Julian,
the abandoned child. One gets the impression they were just
on the threshold of understanding this acting lark and their
perfomance can be a bit stilted at times - but they were
only five!
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BIG
MOMMA'S HOUSE (2000) |
Starring:
Martin Lawrence, Nia Long
The plot: A dangerous
criminal just managed to escape prison and the LAPD want
him back before he kills someone else. Covering all bets,
they dispatch Malcolm and his partner to Georgia to keep
an eye out for the criminals ex-girlfriend, who is believed
to have several million dollars from a bank holdup. She
turns up in Georgia at her distant relative, Big Momma.
However, Big Momma has just left to aid a friend and Malcolm
sees his chance to jump in and try and not only protect
the girl but get the truth and unearth the money.
Comment:
And
for this one, no doubt a bunch of money makers sat around
the table and decided, "Hey! Lets cast Martin Lawrence
and his manic energy as a big, fat black lady! And to keep
it in line with his other performances, we'll make him an
undercover cop!" And that about sums up the plot of
this film. From there it is all the usual visual and audio
gags that go with a man pretending to be a large black woman
who of course, falls for the very person he is supposed
to be trying to find out the truth from. Mindless entertainment.
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BLAST
FROM THE PAST (1998) |
Starring:
Brendan Fraser, Alicia Silverstone, Dave Foley, Sissy Spacek,
Christopher Walken
The plot:
As
President Kennedy announces military action in Cuba in 1962,
Prof. Calvin Webber and his pregnant wife are holding a party.
With such grave news, Webber sends his friends home to contemplate
this sombre news. Minutes later, as he rushes his wife down
to check out their bomb shelter, a lone plane crashes on their
house. Thinking a nuclear war has broken out, Webber locks
them in the bomb shelter. 35 years later, the Webber family
merges into a changed world where only their naïve son, Adam
is capable of restocking their supplies.
Comment:
The
film started off very encouragingly with the Christopher Walken
and Sissy Spacek playing the eccentric couple raising their
son in the basement. The film even continues to be amusing
when they Adam volunteers to venture into the changed world
to buy supplies. But the ending kinda dribbled away like the
writers ran out of originality and resorted to plagiarising
the standard "feel good" ending Hollywood seems to think is
necessary for such films.
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BOWFINGER
(1999) |
Starring:
Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Heather Graham
The plot:
Robert
Bowfinger is a desperate film producer - desperate to produce
a hit before he turns 50 and disappears below Hollywood's
radar. His accountant/receptionist writes a super B-grade
film which Bowfinger believes will be THE one. He tries
to get someone to bankroll the movie, but they'll only consider
it if he gets Kit Ramsey, Hollywood's hottest - and most
paranoid - action filmstar. Ramsey declines and Bowfingert
decides to film anyway but without Ramsey knowing what is
happening.
Comment:
A
gentle, light film from Steve Martin, and probably one of
his better ones of recent years. There are some quite funny
scenes throughout which keeps you smiling all the way. But,
nothing serious to wrap your brain around. Certainly though,
this is Eddie Murphy at top form again (is it more is this
guy not ageing?!).
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CHOCOLAT
(2000) |
Starring:
Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp
The plot:
In
a quaint little French village in 1960, a sly north wind blows
in a single mother and her daughter. Together, they set up
a chocolate shop - in the middle of Lent - and proceed to
slowly tempt the village people with her 2000 year old Mayan
recipe for chocolates. However, the mayor, none other than
the Compte de Reynaud, one of the village founders, takes
a dislike to such a temptress coming to his village during
this religious period of fasting. To this end, he begins a
smear campaign to try and stop people visiting her store.
The problem heats up when some Irish boat people arrive and
Vienne befriends them...
Comment:
From
the re-opening scene, you know this is going to be a warm
and fuzzy little fantasy tale - and it is. The tale is charming
and sweet (if not a little similar to 'Like Water for Chocolate...)
and filled with mouthwatering chocolates ... sorry, moments.
Juliette Binoche is positively luminescent in the role as
the chocolatier temptress and Johnny Depp is equally affable
the Irish river rat - with a matching accent. It got a little
confusing though, with this thoroughly pure and historical
French touch - and everyone is speaking a range of accents
from French-accented to American and British English, but
it doesn't detract from the fact that this is a film to indulge
in!
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EDtv
(1999) |
Starring:
Matthew
McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Jenna Elfman, Ellen DeGeneres
The plot: Ray auditions
to have his life filmed 24 hours a day by a cable channel
with ailing ratings. However, it is his brother, Ed, that
wins over the staff of the TV channel. After a rough start,
Ed becomes an 'overnight sensation,' but problems do develop
when your life is on display 24 hours a day.
Comment:
A merry romp though the American obsession with the
lives of people on TV. Unlike 'The Truman Show' where the
lead character did not know he was being filmed, Ed does and
it makes it even more interesing as public polls spin his
life out of control. Ron Howard is at his directing best in
this film, extracting superb performances from all the cast
and kudos to the script writers, Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel,
for a tight and funny script.
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MEET
THE PARENTS (2000) |
Starring:
Ben
Stiller, Robert DeNiro, Teri Polo, Blythe Danne
The plot: Greg Focker
believes he has found the woman of his dreams but literally
just as he is about to propose to her, her phone rings and
he quickly learns that he better first ask her father for
permission instead. So begins an agonizing weekend at the
Byrnes place where Greg is subjected to the intimidating techniques
of Pam's father as both test eachother and 'the circle of
trust.'
Comment:
Alas, as per usual, most of the funny bits are hinted
at in the movie short. However, whereas one can expect this
movie to quickly sink down to the levels of Stiller's great
comedic effort in 'There's Something About Mary,' it actually
doesn't. Throughout the entire meeting with Pam's (Teri Polo)
WASPish parents, Stiller is marvelous as the poor besieged
lover who can do no right by the father. DeNiro, who of late
has refashioned himself as a great comedic actor is no less
brilliant in the role of Jack Byrnes, Pam's father. For a
bit of light entertainment, this film comes up (surprisingly)
smelling like roses and makes for a fun viewing.
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MOUSEHUNT
(1997) |
Starring:
Nathan
Lane, Lee Evans
The plot:
Lars
and Ernie inherit their fathers a ceramic egg, half a box
of cuban cigars, a string factory and a house. At the same
time as their fathers burial, Lars and Ernie - for different
reasons - end up on the streets, penniless. They discover
that the house is a lost wonder by a well-known architect.
However, the one hitch with the house is it has a mouse...
Comment: It would be nice
to say this film appeals to adults, but it's to slow for that.
It would also be nice to say that maybe this one appeals to
kids as it is decidedly slapstick, but it's probably too dark
for that. So, I guess it may not appeal to many people. I
saw it because Lee Evans is a great comic actor - but even
that wasn't demonstrated in this film...
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PUSHING
TIN (1999) |
Starring:
John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Cate Blanchett
The plot:
Nick
Falzone ("The Zone") is one of the best air traffic controllers
in New York. Suddenly his easy (but stressful) life is thrown
into a loop when enigmatic, quiet and reputedly crazy, Russell
Bell comes to New York.
Comment:
Well,
the movie starts off very good - fast pace, dark, humerous
and Thornton is seductive as the enigmatic renegade Bell.
And then, although the movie doesn't sink into true Hollywood
feel good endings, it does come mighty darn close there with
the enigma of Bell destroyed by some terrible 'touchy feely'
stuff. Just not in tune with the movie! For this movie to
have been considered great - it needed to keep to the dark
side and never, never reveal anything but contradictions from
the Bell character! Alas, this is Hollywood, and they deem
humour and suspense don't mix as that wouldn't produce a feel
good ending...
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SPACE
COWBOYS (2000) |
Starring:
Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, James Garner, Donald Sutherland
The plot: Frank
Corvin is a retired engineer who just happens to have designed
a satellite which whose design was sold to the Russians and
modified for a use h hadn't intended. When the orbit of said
satellite begins to decay, it is only Corvin and his retired
Team Dedalus are the only people who can really fix the problem.
Comment:
The
first 2/3s of this film are actually quite delightful and
fun with all of these experienced actors hamming it up and
having a blast as the elderly generation sent back into space.
Afterall, it has been proven that age does not matter in space.
However, the plot takes a dramatic nosedive once all the hurdles
have been overcome and the awesome foursome are back in space,
and becomes all rather weighed down with a bunch of unnecessary
cliche's. But, the film is worth seeing a I tip my hat to
Eastwood's directing and example of how a film with 'the oldies'
can still appeal to ALL the population!
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STATE
& MAIN (2001) |
Starring:
Sarah Jessica Parker, Alec Baldwin, William H. Macy, Philip
Seymour Hoffman
The plot:
A
fictional Hollywood film production crew invades small town
Waterford, Vermont to make a film entitled, "The Old
Mill." At first, they can't believe their luck after
investing much money in another town - only to be forced
out by the pedophile tendencies of their lead actor, to
have found another similar town. However, luck begins to
change pretty quickly when they discover that the Old Mill
burnt down several years earlier.
Comment:
Terribly,
terribly cliched film - except instead of doing a satirical
take on Hollywood in Hollywood (e.g.: The Player),
this time they remove the film company to the furthest point
away from Hollywood - small town Vermont. The plot is tightly
scripted with many jokes making fun of itself, the characters
and the whole filming procedure, and likely to induce a
smirk of guffaw from time to time, but there appears to
be no originality in the film which all rather detracts
from the overall atmosphere the director, David Mamet, is
probably trying to achieve. It doesn't fail on account of
the actors or the tight script - just the overall perception
of being one long line of predictable clichés piled
on top of eachother. But, each to their own - the critics
seem to have loved this film!
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THE
CASTLE (1998) |
Starring:
Michael Caton, Anne Tenney, Stephen Curry
The plot: "A
man's home is his castle" - and so sets the stage as one
aussie family is told by corporate Australia to move out
of their house adjacent to Sydney airport.
Comment:
There's
no doubt about it, the Aussies's are carving a niche in
the comedy market for dry, humurous films focusing slightly
on the unbelievable (Re: The adventures of Priscilla, Queen
of the Desert, Muriel's Wedding). Although not quite as
good as its predecessors, this film is still hilarious as
the father's son narrates the story with refreshing naivety
as his Dad takes on the Business Bozzo's who don't respect
a man's rights!
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THE
KID (2000) |
Starring:
Bruce Willis, Lily Tomlin
The plot: Ruthless
Image Consultant, Russ, is suddenly thrown for a loop when
a kid enters his life and hassles him. He discovers that
Rusty is actually himself at the age of 8. However, why
Rusty is suddenly haunting the nearly-40 year old Russ and
how to get 8- year old Rusty back to his correct time are
a mystery for both of them.
Comment:
I
was impressed with Willis's performance at the start of
the film as the unsympathetic and heartless Image Consultant.
He was mean, hard and quite funny. However, as one would
expect from the film's premise, he deteriorated down to
his usual role of 'man with tough exterior with marshmallow
interior'. Fortunately, the film trundled along at a fair
pace, with some truly funny moments to keep it alive and
entertaining.
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WAKING
NED DEVINE (1998) |
Starring:
Ian Bannen, David Kelly
The plot:
A
gentle British comedy about a small town (pop. 52) in Ireland
that discovers they have a lottery winner in their midst.
Jackie O'Shay and Michael Sullivan go about finding the
winner with wonderful small town charm. Upon the discovery
of the winner, a comical set of events keep the two conspiring
to get the money.
Comment:
A
gentle comedy somewhat typical of the many that come out
of the British Isles. The hallmarks of British production
are all there - a tightly written script, brilliant scenery
and a wonderful cast - which makes the adventures of villagers
of a sleepy rural village a pleasant escape from reality.
And, a clever pun in the title there...
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[
TOP ]
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An
absolute sizzler of a movie - A must see! |
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A
scorcher of a good movie; still capable of riveting
you to your seat |
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Low
flame burner; a pleasant piece of mindless brain candy |
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A
fizzler of a movie which will have you counting zzzzzz's... |
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