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NicholasVargo
Reviews
Analyze That (2002)
Ranks up there with 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' as one of the funniest films of the year
I remember over two years ago, when my father took me to see 'Analyze This' in an almost empty auditorium in Las Vegas. Although I had enjoyed it, it was a film that was not as funny as it should have been. Thanks to a special sneak preview in Camp Pendleton, California, I got to see an early screening of 'Analyze That', the sequel to 'Analyze This' and it is easily ranks right up there with the original. It is one very fun movie.
As the movie opens, mobster Paul Vitti (Robert DeNiro) is having new problems. He has, for no reason, started to sing songs from "West Side Story" and nobody knows what's wrong with him. Not even his psychiatrist Ben Sobel (Billy Crystal) knows what is wrong, and he could care less at the moment. His father has just died and he's not easily getting over it. ("I'm greiving. It's a process.") Anyway, Paul ends up under the custody of Dr. Sobel, and promises the doctor that he will try to go straight. However, when people like Lou the Wrench start stalking him, chaos ensues.
It's hard to believe that 'Analyze That' works just as well as the original, but it does. Hey, there are even some stronger laughs in the sequel than in the original. There are also some very funny one-liners that I will not reveal her, and the direction by Harold Ramis is just as deft as it was in the original.
Are there flaws? Probably, but there are enough laughs to make us forget them. The climax is the only area where flaws show. This part of the movie seems too much like a rip-off on 'Ocean's 11', but it's just my opinion.
Anyway, if you're looking for a funny adult comedy to see this year that ranks right up there with 'Death to Smoochy', 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' and 'Austin Powers in Goldmember', than 'Analyze That' should be your cup of tea for the end of the year.
My rating: ***1/2 out of ****
The Battle of Brazil: A Video History (1996)
Very good documentary, but the book was better and more in-depth
After reading Jack Mathews book 'The Battle of Brazil', I was anxious to see how the Criterion documentary measured up. After buying the 3-disc DVD edition of 'Brazil', it was the first thing I watched on the DVD set. Although the book was better and more in-depth, that doesn't mean the documentary is bad. It is still interesting and made even more interesting by actually hearing what these players actually said. A fabulous documentary.
The documentary opens with us hearing a piece of what Sid Sheinberg, then head of MCA-Universal, said during his interview conducted by Jack Mathews, then we hear Terry Gilliam saying his full and uncut Telex transmission he sent in August 1985. Revealing any more of the documentary in detail from this moment on would make it kind of confusing and would be wrong. The only thing I'll say from this moment on is that the documentary is about Terry Gilliam pressuring Universal to release his full version of 'Brazil'. That's all I will say.
The documentary is top notch, thankfully because Jack Mathews is the one responsible for bringing his book to a full-fledged documentary. My only bone to pick about it is that the book edges it out by a margin, but it still ranks a 10/10. This is a wonderful documentary.
P.S.: If you're tired, don't watch it. You need energy to watch this documentary. JUST A WARNING!!!