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PapaBear1
Reviews
Love Stinks (1999)
A lot funnier than it looks like it would be
Okay, I'm giving it a solid 7 out of 10, since I missed a few spots in between. It could be an 8 or a 9, if those are as good as the rest of what I saw.
There are a million things going against this movie: Tyra Banks, the fact that your main character is played by French Stewart, or just that it was being played on the TVGuide Network above the listings (that's one way to make letterboxing look more natural!).
Without giving too much away, Stewart and a marriage-obsessed Wilson fall in love, move too fast, and then when the ring doesn't come, things get ugly in a comical way. Someone likened this to "War of the Roses", but that movie was much darker, and was not nearly as playful. Plus, French Stewart really has some fantastic lines in this film; I frankly didn't think he had this in him. Both play their parts over-the-top, and that's what makes it work. Bill Bellamy is pretty solid as the best-friend, and Tyra Banks does her best "Robin Givens" in looking like a complete control-freak golddigger.
I'd like to see the "unedited" version, to catch more of the angry commentary between the two combatants. And the good news is, it has an unbelievably happy ending.
I'm not saying this ranks up there with a truly great film, but it's better than 90% of what's out there (that you probably didn't already see in the theatre). I'd recommend you see this, but it's definitely NOT a date film. Unless you want to break up, that is....
The Dark Knight (2008)
Oscar!
***MILD SPOILERS***** What a fantastic film. Let's start by saying, this isn't the Batman from the TV series, and it isn't even quite the Tim Burton Batman from the 80s/90s. Burton created a dark, dreary world, creepy, somewhat real and somewhat surreal.
Instead, what we have here is Batman existing in 2008, with cell phones, globalization, terrorism - things that are all too real. This movie feels like it could happen in Chicago or New York or Los Angeles, not some fictional place like Gotham City. That's makes for at least a portion of the freakiness.
But the most freaky thing in this film, bar none, is Heath Ledger as the Joker. NEVER have I seen a villain that nuanced, that detailed, that meticulously crafted. Was it the screenplay, or was it Ledger's acting, or was it the synergy of those 2 things combined? Whatever brought it out, Heath Ledger's Joker was beyond creepy. They didn't waste any effort on his back-story, like Burton did with Nicholson's character (who was a pretty solid Joker, but nothing like THIS). There were moments where I felt that the Joker was a sympathetic figure, only to realize 45 minutes later that I had been duped. I can't say anymore without some serious spoilers, and I have no desire to ruin this movie for anyone. I am certain that Ledger will get a posthumous Oscar for his performance. I almost cried when I got home, over the tragedy that the guy didn't live to hear the raves about his phenomenal portrayal. His death was sad already, but his Joker was simultaneously a thespian triumph and tragedy.
I wasn't super-impressed by Bale, but I guess that's the new Batman. He's still very misunderstood, even by those closest to him. At points, it seems he doesn't even seem to understand himself, who he is, and what he should be doing. Maybe like the rest of us. Not a cocksure hero like we see in other Batmans, but a guy who strives to do the right thing, yet doubting his own actions. And he takes things too far - truly a flawed character in many ways. Maybe that's what makes this a great movie. I will say this - if you're expecting 2 hours of screen time for Bale, forget it. He gets less time than Harvey Dent or Commissioner Gordon.
Eckhardt as Dent is really good. A wonderful, nuanced performance. Likable, yet cocky. I thought his "transformation" seemed a shade rushed, and the fact that his villainy is limited to pretty much one event is unfortunate. I was hoping that he would have been milked for more plot development in the future - his character's story is somewhat compelling, and the part was well-played.
While I liked Oldman as Gordon, I couldn't escape thinking "that mustache is fake". Still, he looked like a desperate honest cop, which was the role. Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine were very good as Bruce's/Batman's "aides" (Freeman plays the equivalent of "Q" in a Bond film, while Caine is Alfred). Alfred was well written, and isn't just some old "yes-man" butler like we've seen him in past Batmans - he's got some conscience, and even (righteously) objects to some of the things the Dark Knight is doing. I liked Maggie G. as Rachel Dawes...VERY adorable. But the surprise role, to me, is Eric Roberts as the crime boss. Genius.
What a great film. Even if you don't like the Batman narrative, this film stands on its own, and the acting is superb. Go see it if you haven't, if for nothing else, just to see Ledger's Joker.
Wizards (1977)
A thorough piece of crap
I saw this when it came out 30 years ago. There was nothing memorable about the film, other than the suggestion that Nazi war propaganda was good at motivating an army.
Maybe this was all part of some deeper message, as many here have suggested. The plot moved slowly, there was no "wisdom" in the alleged good wizard's viewpoint. The bad wizard was easy to hate (I suppose that's a good thing). And the animation wasn't very good, in my opinion...it makes Southpark look sophisticated. Heck, Eric Cartman would have been a vast improvement over any of the characters in this movie.
To be honest, it just seemed like 2 wasted hours, punctuated by 10 minutes of horror during the Nazi scenes. I wonder what holocaust survivors must think of this "film".
Fear of a Black Hat (1993)
More than just The 'Tap of Rap
Okay, my title is kinda lame, and almost sells this flick short. I remember watching Siskel & Ebert in '94 talking about this movie, and then playing a clip or two. Not being a rap-conscious guy (although I could identify Snoop Dogg, Vanilla Ice, and MC Hammer music), I wasn't much interested when they started talking about the film. But then, S&E showed the scene where the band explains how they picked their name (using some "shady" logic and a bunch of "made up" facts), and then another scene where the band, and their rival band, both visit a school to promote getting involved (and, of course, NWH comes up with some "info" about how the rival band leader is a loser because he got good grades in school and was on the yearbook committee). So I filed it away that I should see this movie.
A couple of years later, this thing shows up on HBO and I recorded it, only to laugh my butt off for hours. Yes, it has a "Spinal Tap" kind of rhythm to it...even the documentarist takes essentially the same "tone" in setting up the clips, and the band follows a similar path (what I now call the "Behind the Music" phenomenon - smalltime band has good chemistry, gets famous, too much money too fast, squabbling, drugs, some type of death, band breaks up, then reconciles, finishing with a hope for more albums in the future, and fade to black). The one thing that is true is that in Spinal Tap, you catch the band perhaps with a little more success in their past. But Tap drags at some points, and in my mind is reduced to laughs that are set up by specific scenes. Oh, this is his rant about the backstage food, this is spot where he wants the amp to go to "ELEVEN", this is the spot where the guy makes the pint-sized stonehenge, etc...
Contrasting to FoaBH, which seems to have more "unexpected" humor. You can see some of it coming, but there isn't a big setup for every joke. Sometimes, the jokes just kinda flow. Cundieff and the other actors in the band had a real chemistry that worked. Also, the direct references to Vanilla Ice, Hammer, and a bunch of other caricature-type rappers really worked well. This strikes me as a film you watch once to get the main story and laughs, and then go back and watch to catch the subtle jokes. And the songs. Is "My Peanuts" better than "Big Bottom" (from Spinal Tap)? I don't know - but they're both damn funny. Tone Def's awful video during his "awakening" phase is so bizarre, yet so funny.
I could go on awhile, but save your time and don't waste it on CB4. I watched the first half hour, and got bored. You don't get bored on FoaBH. There are slightly less funny moments, but you can never tell when something good is about to happen. Perhaps my favorite scene is when Ice Cold and Tastey Taste (name ripoffs if I've ever heard any) discover they've been sharing the same girl....at one point, you've got those two pointing guns at each other, and the next thing you know, the manager, the photographer, the girl, and I think even Tone Def are in the room pointing guns at each other, switching targets back and forth. And, of course, someone does get shot.
I did find it odd that NWH's managers suffered similar fates to Spinal Tap's drummers (although none spontaneously combusted, I don't think). There were enough similarities that I cannot ignore the likelihood that Cundieff saw "Spinal Tap" prior to writing this film, although this is clearly much more the Spinal Tap of hip-hop. While some similarities exist, the humor is different, and the movie seems more like a real documentary (maybe because we don't recognize a single actor in this thing, even the guy who played "Lamar" from "Revenge of the Nerds"). All in all, this movie has, in my opinion, "street cred". Kinda like NWH.