Archive for July, 2000

Best In Show

Someone once said that dying was easy, comedy was hard. If that’s true, then satire is a bitch. A female dog to be exact. Like the canines on display in Christopher Guest’s “Best In Show,” satire can be just as finicky. It takes someone with keen observation and a sharp ear to get it right. One slip and the illusion is broken. Read the rest of this entry »

Charade

“Charade” is such a smart, pleasant romp that it still holds up after 36 years. Written by Peter Stone and directed by Stanley Donen as an antidote to the then current super spy trend (James Bond), “Charade” plays like a combination between Alfred Hitchcock and Blake Edwards. Read the rest of this entry »

Red Planet

If indeed there is life on Mars, the last two films about colonizing the planet haven’t been able to find it. Like “Mission To Mars,” “Red Planet” is a lifeless spectacle. Pretty pictures valiantly trying to hide characters and direction that are as thin as air on the moon. Read the rest of this entry »

Red Dragon DVD

I’ve always admired television stars like Mary Tyler Moore, the cast of “M*A*S*H” and more recently Ray Romano, who would rather close up shop while at the top than beat their shows to death until they become an embarrassment. Read the rest of this entry »

Me, Myself And Irene

“Is that another chicken joke?” Not since Joanne Worley bellowed that line on “Laugh-In” has fowl been so chic. After roosting with the fine feathered friends of “Chicken Run” for an hour-and-a-half, you would assume that you’ve been subjected to every chicken joke and pun imaginable. Read the rest of this entry »

Films Review July

BEACH, THE (R)

Disappointing effort from director Danny Boyle, who has never been able to match the intensity of “Trainspotting.” “The Beach,” based on the popular novel by John Hodge, plays like “Apocalypse Light.” Read the rest of this entry »

Films Review July

70’S, THE (NR)

If you thought the real Seventies sucked, then prepare for more of the same. I really liked the television mini-series “The 60s.” It worked for me, even if some of the dialogue and acting was borderline at best. Read the rest of this entry »

The Castle

You learn two things during director Rob Sitch’s rib tickler “The Castle”: (1) A house is not a home; and (2) A man’s home is his castle. Words to live by, and that is exactly what Kerrigan patriarch Darryl (Michael Caton) does. Darryl believes that location is everything, and is perfectly happy with his spread that sits underneath high voltage power lines and next to a busy airport. Read the rest of this entry »

Salo – The 120 Days Of Sodom

My favorite screen credit of all time comes from the film “Poltergeist II.” There’s a scene where Craig T. Nelson downs a bottle of tequila, and accidentally swallows the worm. In true “Poltergeist” fashion, the worm takes on a life of its own, forcing Nelson to chuck it back up. The regurgitation then becomes an entity and crawls off. Read the rest of this entry »

Being John Malkovich

If one is to believe everything they see, then somewhere in a New York building on the 7 1/2 floor is an office that contains a passageway inside the mind of actor John Malkovich. Those who enter the passageway find themselves inside Malkovich for fifteen minutes before they are deposited on the shoulder of the New Jersey turnpike. Read the rest of this entry »