...and I actually paid to see Ice Pirates way back when. You could possibly make a movie with a bunch of unlikable characters IF there was a decent story--but that's not the case here. Two couples drive for hours to a beautiful vacation rental home on the Pacific Ocean, then go out of their way NOT to spend time together. Not a single plot point flows naturally--and the ending, holy cow, is utterly maddening.
Reviews
16 Reviews
Apostle
(2018)
Original, Haunting, Gory
27 September 2021
This is one of the better thrillers I've seen in a while. Great performances, original story, evocative cinematography, and confirmation that when it gets right down to it, every cult has a sadistic puke who gets off on torture and power.
The Open House
(2018)
Whoa
11 March 2019
Lazy scriptwriting, implausible time jumps, an incoherent plot, and no resolution. The only positive is that I could truly believe the mom and son were related, because neither one of them showed the slightest trace of a personality.
The House
(I) (2017)
Horrendous
10 July 2017
This is truly the worst movie I've paid to see since "The Ice Pirates" back in the '80s. Will and Amy are two of my favorite comedians, so I can't imagine how they agreed to do a script that had so few laughs in it. A comedy can get away with being implausible if it's also hilarious, but implausible and unfunny is a deadly combination--and the perfect description of "The House."
Taking Woodstock
(2009)
Highly Entertaining
30 August 2009
Taking Woodstock is a hilarious film, beautifully photographed and filled with performances that capture the idealism of the '60s. Ang Lee does a masterful job capturing the madness and chaos associated with trying to stage a major rock festival in a rural community, even to the point of borrowing split-screen techniques from the Woodstock documentary.
Demetri Martin plays Elliot Tiber (Teichberg) and does a fine job as the son torn between independence and duty to his aging parents, Imelda Staunton and Henry Goodman (five-star performances by both). Eugene Levy plays the shrewd Max Yasgur with a twinkle in his eye, and Liev Schrieber is unforgettable as the ex-Marine and transvestite who provides security for the Teichberg family's motel.
Taking Woodstock is a highly entertaining movie.
Demetri Martin plays Elliot Tiber (Teichberg) and does a fine job as the son torn between independence and duty to his aging parents, Imelda Staunton and Henry Goodman (five-star performances by both). Eugene Levy plays the shrewd Max Yasgur with a twinkle in his eye, and Liev Schrieber is unforgettable as the ex-Marine and transvestite who provides security for the Teichberg family's motel.
Taking Woodstock is a highly entertaining movie.
Likable Documentary About Two Likable Guys
5 November 2004
Nicely paced movie about two likable and talented friends whose band is the ultimate partnership. There's a reason the subtitle is "A Tale of Two Johns," as Linnell and Flansburgh are interlocking essential pieces of this quirky, inventive group. Director Schnack does an outstanding job capturing their relationship, their integrity, and their love for what they do.
I would like to have seen a little more Janeane Garafalo and a little less Sarah Vowell, but that's quibbling. The interviews with friends, fans, and fellow musicians were insightful and complimentary. I'm trying to think of good word for Syd Straw, though, and I keep coming back to "a little flaky."
I would like to have seen a little more Janeane Garafalo and a little less Sarah Vowell, but that's quibbling. The interviews with friends, fans, and fellow musicians were insightful and complimentary. I'm trying to think of good word for Syd Straw, though, and I keep coming back to "a little flaky."
The Original Kings of Comedy
(2000)
Laugh Out Loud Funny
15 August 2003
How is this, as one person commented, "disturbingly racist"? The comics in this film make light of differences between African-American culture and "white" culture, but not in a hateful or angry way. Bernie Mac is a master of the put-on, and I agree with an earlier poster who said his bit about his sister's kids was hilarious. Those who call this movie racist would do well to remember that the oppressor cannot be the oppressed, despite what folks like Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly want you to believe.
Space Jam
(1996)
Selling Out
16 December 2002
This movie combines the two most overexposed groups of sellouts in the world today: NBA players and the once-great Looney Tunes characters.
It would be impossible for anyone to dumb down Bugs and the gang more than they've been dumbed down here. I hope.
It would be impossible for anyone to dumb down Bugs and the gang more than they've been dumbed down here. I hope.
The Ice Pirates
(1984)
Horrible
10 December 2002
You want to know what the writers of this movie consider funny? A robot child sees his robot parents killed (beheaded, as I recall), and then moves between their bodies calling their names. Yeah--what a comic moment. This is the worst movie I ever paid to see.
The Nutty Professor
(1963)
Ham Alert
23 November 2002
I would like to see what a different director might have done with this movie. I like Lewis the actor in the title role, but the transformation scene goes on entirely too long and looks too much like Lewis the director couldn't bear to cut a single second of his screen time.
Fast Lane to Malibu
(2000)
Truly Wretched
15 November 2002
Basic plot of this movie: Two guys set out for Malibu to attend a party with "40 horny chicks--no reasonable offer refused." Their various rides break down, they get lost, they get arrested, they wind up in one one-horse town after another.
Basic plot of the sequel, FAST LANE TO VEGAS: Two guys set out for Vegas to attend a bachelor party with who knows how many horny strippers. They get lost, they get accosted by aliens, they get lost again, they somehow wind up in Mexico.
My question: How does a guy become a screenwriter without knowing that the United States has something called an interstate highway system?
Basic plot of the sequel, FAST LANE TO VEGAS: Two guys set out for Vegas to attend a bachelor party with who knows how many horny strippers. They get lost, they get accosted by aliens, they get lost again, they somehow wind up in Mexico.
My question: How does a guy become a screenwriter without knowing that the United States has something called an interstate highway system?
Hollywood Ending
(2002)
Woody Does It Again
4 May 2002
Woody Allen continues his string of laugh-out-loud comedies (Sweet and Lowdown, Small Time Crooks, and Curse of the Jade Scorpion), and reminds us that he's not only a great writer and director, but a very talented comic actor. His "man-to-man talk" with Treat Williams near the end of the movie is a gem.
Tea Leoni makes a great foil for Woody, and I hope to see her in some of his future films. Tiffani Thiessen has a small role as a sexy starlet, and gives it a nicely understated touch.
Bottom line: This is funny stuff.
Tea Leoni makes a great foil for Woody, and I hope to see her in some of his future films. Tiffani Thiessen has a small role as a sexy starlet, and gives it a nicely understated touch.
Bottom line: This is funny stuff.
Getting Away with Murder
(1996)
Ick
3 March 2002
Picked this up at Hollywood Video for four obvious reasons: Aykroyd, Tomlin, Lemmon, and the always lovely Bonnie Hunt. But holy cow, what a waste of talent. Lemmon is given nothing to do, Hunt's role is superfluous, and Tomlin's role isn't funny. Aykroyd is in virtually every scene, but since the writers didn't bother coming up with anything funny for him, he becomes tiresome after about fifteen minutes.
I have no idea why this movie was made.
I have no idea why this movie was made.
Roger Ramjet
(1965)
Cheaply made but funny
8 September 2001
Roger Ramjet, he's our man/Hero of our nation/For his adventures please stay tuned/To this same TV station...
Or something like that. It's been a while since I've heard the theme song, but it was sung to the tune of Yankee Doodle.
Roger Ramjet wasn't exactly a high-budget cartoon show. In fact, there's probably less actual *movement* in this show than any other cartoon ever made (with the possible exception of Clutch Cargo), so every episode looks as if it cost about 75 cents to produce. Still, it was a funny cartoon in the Dudley Do-Right vein--well-meaning but ineffectual hero bumbles his way to saving the day.
I used to work with a guy who was constantly quoting Ramjet's boss: "Ramjet, you always cease to amaze me."
Great Ramjet trivia: There was a classic Cold War villain named Noodles Romanoff.
Or something like that. It's been a while since I've heard the theme song, but it was sung to the tune of Yankee Doodle.
Roger Ramjet wasn't exactly a high-budget cartoon show. In fact, there's probably less actual *movement* in this show than any other cartoon ever made (with the possible exception of Clutch Cargo), so every episode looks as if it cost about 75 cents to produce. Still, it was a funny cartoon in the Dudley Do-Right vein--well-meaning but ineffectual hero bumbles his way to saving the day.
I used to work with a guy who was constantly quoting Ramjet's boss: "Ramjet, you always cease to amaze me."
Great Ramjet trivia: There was a classic Cold War villain named Noodles Romanoff.
The Scout
(1994)
Pretty good Brooks fare
29 August 2001
If I'm not mistaken, this movie was based on George Plimpton's SI article about the mythical pitcher Sidd Finch, which is why Fraser's character throws a perfect game with 81 strikes, etc. It wasn't meant to be a realistic baseball movie.
That said, it's hilarious in spots and a little frustrating in others. Brooks is well worth watching as usual.
That said, it's hilarious in spots and a little frustrating in others. Brooks is well worth watching as usual.
One laugh after another
25 August 2001
Gee, if the previous reviewer "loves" Woody, I'd hate to see the reviews he gives people he hates. Jade Scorpion captures the look and feel of the '40s the way Radio Days did the '30s, and it's hilarious from start to finish.
It's impossible not to see that Woody is poking fun at his own "leading man" image, since Helen Hunt's character has to be hypnotized to fall for him, and Charlize Theron's states repeatedly that she usually dates "taller, richer, more athletic, more attractive men." (Woody's response: "I'm sure there's a compliment in there somewhere.")
Woody Allen has created an impressive body of work in which an owlish neurotic character deals with a variety of absurd situations, sometimes triumphantly, always hilariously. You go see a Woody Allen movie expecting to see Woody Allen playing a Woody Allen character, and knowing he's going to support himself with a top-notch script, excellent actors, realistic sets, and everything else that makes a movie art. Jade Scorpion is another fine and funny example of that.
Kudos to Theron for a great "Veronica Lake" turn. Aykroyd and Hunt were well cast, and David Ogden Stiers' villain would not have been out of place in, say, one of The Falcon movies from the '40s. Wallace Shawn didn't have enough to do, but that's a minor point. "Curse" is a funny film, well worth seeing.
It's impossible not to see that Woody is poking fun at his own "leading man" image, since Helen Hunt's character has to be hypnotized to fall for him, and Charlize Theron's states repeatedly that she usually dates "taller, richer, more athletic, more attractive men." (Woody's response: "I'm sure there's a compliment in there somewhere.")
Woody Allen has created an impressive body of work in which an owlish neurotic character deals with a variety of absurd situations, sometimes triumphantly, always hilariously. You go see a Woody Allen movie expecting to see Woody Allen playing a Woody Allen character, and knowing he's going to support himself with a top-notch script, excellent actors, realistic sets, and everything else that makes a movie art. Jade Scorpion is another fine and funny example of that.
Kudos to Theron for a great "Veronica Lake" turn. Aykroyd and Hunt were well cast, and David Ogden Stiers' villain would not have been out of place in, say, one of The Falcon movies from the '40s. Wallace Shawn didn't have enough to do, but that's a minor point. "Curse" is a funny film, well worth seeing.
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