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Reviews
Futurama (1999)
New Season, Hit and Miss
Since its return a few weeks ago, FUTURAMA has been hit and miss. Much of the humor falls flat or seems forced. It's not as bad as THE SIMPSONS has been for the last six or seven years, and the first two episodes were really quite good, but overall the new FUTURAMA has definitely lost much of its steam and a lot of its charm. Where are the old writers who made the show so great? The stories of late have been weak and choppy. If there is a story editor to the series, he or she is obviously asleep at the wheel. I hope it the series can return to the levels of excellence it reached when Fox stupidly canceled the show. But if these first few weeks are any indication, it still has a long way to go before it gets there.
The Concorde... Airport '79 (1979)
Not a Comedy
This movie is scary at times, perhaps no more so than when a naked George Kennedy tells his hooker girlfriend he wants a little more sugar. Thankfully his nakedness is covered by a blanket, but the image is still more horrifying than anything you're likely to find in, for example, Schindler's List.
The dialog in this film was inspiring; it inspired me to watch another movie. In one scene, when a stewardess remarks about male pilots, Kennedy asks, "Why do you think it's called a 'cock' pit?" Charming.
And yes, contrary to what some have written, this film is very, very bad.
Daredevil (2003)
Note Quite What I Was Expecting
Movies inspired by super-hero comic books have been hit and miss. Unfortunately, the Marvel Universe has had more misses than hits, and DAREDEVIL is a huge disappointment. Everything about this movie is wrong. It deviates way too much from the comic, and there is absolutely no chemistry between Daredevil and Elektra. It looks as if everyone simply phoned in their performances. Colin's performance is decent, but he's a far cry from the Bullseye of the comics. The direction is choppy, the action sequences are over-the-top in all the wrong places, and the soundtrack is trite. Daredevil's costume looks silly. In comic books, artists can really exaggerate the look of the character; it becomes stylized and slick or dark and moody. Miller, Mazzuchelli, and Sale are masters at this. Unfortunately, there isn't much you can do with the costume on film. It is what it is, and in the case of Daredevil, it just looks shiny and silly. If you're looking for an enjoyable super-hero movie, try BATMAN RETURNS, X-MEN 2, OR SPIDER-MAN 2. They all succeed so well. The DAREDEVIL film crew should have watched this movies a few times before the first day of shooting.
For Your Consideration (2006)
Not quite the best Guest
Fan's of Guest may be disappointed by the director's latest effort. The film suffers from a cast that is far too vast and spread much too thin. There is little rhythm to this film, as many of the players are underutilized (while a few, lamentably, oversaturate the film).
Additionally, it appears that Guest's films are starting to smell of formula. The "3 months later" endings have grown stale. Added to this is a genuine attempt to portray Marilyn Hack (Catherine O'Hara) and Victor Allan Miller (Harry Shearer) as tragic, sympathetic characters. The trouble is that one simply doesn't care about these characters or the tragedy that befalls them. Their fate is also quite unevenly handled given the overall levity of the film.
Parts of the plot that were ripe for satire are merely glazed over (the transition from "Home for Purim" to "Home for Thanksgiving" could have been remarkable but instead was done in one scene), and the end result is a sort of watered-down version of classic Guest films like GUFFMAN and BEST IN SHOW.
There are plenty of riffs on the film industry, the television industry, and Hollywood's obsession with rising and falling stars. No doubt Hollywood's players who get the "in" jokes and regard Guest as a brilliant satirist. But as a comedic venue for the masses, FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION ultimately fails to deliver the laughs. Bottom line...it's a few steps back for Guest. Still good, but could have been much, much better.