Month: January 2008

Worst In Show: Review for "Plan 9 from Outer Space"

Posted on

The movie that was helmed as the worst film ever made is truly that. Ed Wood’s Citizen Cane of bad movies, Plan 9 from Outer Space, is the worst film I have ever seen. Yes, that includes The Dukes of Hazzard. Aliens from outer space (duh!) have come to Earth to rase dead bodies to get our attention (and with the look of Vampira and a wrestler, they did). Bela Lugosi, friend of Wood, played the old man zombie, tough he died two days into filming. They hired another person to play his part and hold a cape over his face. At the end, some cops get into the alien ship and the alien commander gives a speech that sounds like Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth on crack. The settings are dreadful (the graveyard building where they have the coffin of the dead body is so squalid, it looks like a bookshelf), the special effects horrible (the flying saucers are merely miniatures attached to string swinging in front of the camera, the aliens’ planet looks obscene), and the dialogue benine (“The flying saucer looked like a giant cigar.”). The acting is terrible, but looking at all this evidence, I think to myself, “I guesse that’s what you get with Ed Wood.” The faces of the wrestler zombie looks hysterical, as if he is in mighty pain, and Vampira arms are as stiff and huge as a tree stump. But the atrocities are very funny, looking back then and now and all the progress we’ve made from that in film making (even though this was made in the 1950s).  I think the saddest fact is that Wood was trying to be serious.

Grade: F

Crune Struck: Review for "Music and Lyrics"

Posted on

PoP! band mate Alex Fletcher (Hugh Grant) is little hard on his luck. While his ex-partner from the band, who co-wrote the songs, is a huge star, Alex is stuck performing for parties and reunions, etc. When a very Britney Agulaira-esque pop star, Cora, asks him to write a song for her, he knows he can come up with the melody, but all he needs is the lyrics. His flower girl, Sophie (charming Drew Barrymore) is really a nobody, but is an excellent lyricist. Together the create a ditty that’s sweet and cute. Sure, it’s not exactly Best Picture material, but it’s very charming and Grant and Barrymore light the screen with their charisma. The songs are a little cliche, but are altogether fun. Cora, however, is a Buddhist with an overactive sexual imagination for her songs (“Buddha’s Delight”? It’s far dirtier than it already sounds.) A little risque if you ask me, but no matter. It’s cute and frilly, the perfect date movie. Hugh Grant is great as an English pop star, and Drew Barrymore is cute. Her smile just lights up the screen. Though not Best Picture material, it is good for what it is. It has very good songs such has “Love Autopsy” and “A WAt Back Into Love”.

Grade: B+


And the Winners Are…: The Golden Globe Winners

Posted on

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Cate Blanchett, I’m Not There

Best Supporting TV Actor
Jeremy Piven, Entourage

Best Actress in a TV Drama Series
Glenn Close, Damages

Best Supporting TV Actress
Samantha Morton, Longford

Best Actor in a TV Drama Series
Jon Hamm, Mad Men

Best Animated Feature
Ratatouille

Best Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical
Marion Cotilliard, La Vie en Rose

Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men

Best Actress in a Mini Series or TV Movie
Queen Latifah, Life Support

Best Actor in a TV Comedy
David Duchovny, Californication

Best Comedy Series
Extras

Best Actress in a TV Comedy Series
Tina Fey, 30 Rock

Best Director
Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical Motion Picture
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Best Motion Picture Comedy or Musical
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Best TV Drama Series
Mad Men

Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama
Julie Christie, Away From Her

Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood

Best Motion Picture Drama
Atonement

There are the winners for the 65th Golden Globe Awards.

Surreal Killer: Review for "Mr. Brooks"

Posted on

This film, Mr. Brooks, is quite similar to American Psycho. Mr. Brooks (a very evil Kevin Costner) is an all American man, with a wife a nice daughter. But he hides something. He is a notorious serial killer, named the Thumb Print Killer, famous for p;utting the thumbprint of his victimes somewhere obvious. His alter ego, Marshall (William Hurt), controlls his urge to kill. He has an unstoppable obsession and arousel from killing. He has not been active until recently, when he kills a young couple. But a man (a misscast Dane Cook) witnesses the murders and blackmails him. He doesn’t ask for money…he asks to watch Mr. Brooks kill again. Now, the alter ego thing in this film does not work. He talks with Hurt as if no one were there. He talks out loud to him. Unconvincing, but if he either only imagined him in certain areas or if when he spoke with Marshall and someone looks at him and he says something like “It’s nothing.”. Dane Cook is really odd and his personality would, at first glace, work perfectly with the character, but just bombs. The cop tracking Mr. Brooks is played by Demi Moore. She is insignificant to the story, other than she’s been on the case before. The rest of what she does in the film is have arguments with her ex-husband, who she is divorcing, and get kidnapped by a completely different killer. I wonder why she’s in the film at all, or why she’s been given such a big credit. Mr. Brooks’ daughter (Disney princess Danielle Panabaker) is following in the footsteps of her father. She likes killing. A lot. This is an unconvincing “reality-is-not-really-reality” or “the-killer-next-door” film.

Grade: C

Sautee Mix: Review for "Ratatouille"

Posted on

Pixar has been taking home rave reviews and awards since their first success, 1994’s Toy Story. The animation since then has gotten more precise and intricate. The latest in the Pixar lineup is the story of a rat who can cook. Now, if this were not a talking, friendly rat, I imagine a movie about cooking would be a bit harder to sell than super heroes (The Incredibles), race cars (Cars), or fish (Finding Nemo). But what you will find may surprise you. Remy (voiced wonderfully by The King of Queen‘s Patton Oswald) is a misfit rat who enjoys the rich and tasty world of fine dining. His problem is that he can’t really communicate well with humans. His idol is an Emeril-esque cook, Geustau (Brad Garret, Everybody Loves Raymond), who, now dead, accompanies Remy through his imagination. Linguini is Geustau’s unknown son and he needs a job. So, while working at his father’s restaurant, he becomes a mistaken celebrity chef, only helped by Remy. He gets “lessons” from Collette (Janine Garfalo). Like all Pixar films, this is mostly kid orientated. Brad Bird, who directed The Incredibles, writes and directs a great animated film. The animation is spectacular, every minute detail is stunning. Though not perfect, this film is a tasty dish.
Grade: B+