John Candy delivers one of his best performances in director-writer John Hughes’ outrageous comedy. As the carefree and irresponsible Uncle Buck, Candy finds a character who is both humorous and human. There’s a lot of guffaws and pathos when Buck gets stuck babysitting his brother’s three kids, including a rebellious teenage niece (Jean Kelly) and a sharp-as-a-nail young nephew (MacCaulay Culkin). Read the rest of this entry »

I was in college when “Animal House” opened, and I remember laughing so hard that it hurt. It doesn’t take a lot to make me laugh, yet “Animal House” spoke a language I knew all too well. It struck a chord with America, becoming one of the biggest grossing comedies of the 1970’s, and launched the career of it’s stars. It was the first film to sport the moniker of National Lampoon, the highly regarded satirical magazine that was popular with college students.
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DEAD MAN ON CAMPUS (R)

There is a good idea for a movie here (See “The Curve”), but the filmmakers behind “Dead Man on Campus” didn’t understand its potential. It’s a college comedy that is almost complete devoid of laughs. Read the rest of this entry »