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Reviews
The Boondock Saints (1999)
Vastly Overrated
The Boondock Saints is the epitome of an over-hyped movie that people will themselves into believing to be better than it actually is. And, on first glance, it does look like a decent movie. But when you look closer, it becomes extremely apparent that it's all flash and no substance. Duffy masks the contrived plot and silly, inexplicable motives for characters with violence. Characters become superheroes on a whim, no one is developed to the point where emotional development has zero impact. Instead, the film plays up the emotional moments as over-the-top as possible to cram that emotional value into your head.
There are very admirable performances in the film by Billy Connolly and Willam Dafoe, but the problem here is in the direction and the writing. Some of the most absurd moments come from the direction of the actors. For instance, the scene in which Willam Dafoe attempts to reenact the shootout between the Saints and the Duke doesn't pack the emotional punch that Duffy intends, it only comes off as silly and cliché. The best you can hope for in this film are some brief funny moments and a lot of nonsense that you'll have to wade through that it's really just not worth it.
Ultimately, the film can be summed up with a quote from the movie itself, "Movies. You see this in bad movies." Even if Miramax had picked the film up and set the budget at $15 million like the original plan, it still would have fallen to pieces due to Duffy's incompetence as a director.
As a big, stupid action movie, it's mediocre. As the movie that was supposed to save the industry, it's weak even by dumb action film standards. There are plenty of better movies, so why rally around this one?
Comedy Central Roasts: Comedy Central Roast of Jeff Foxworthy (2005)
A Colossal Disappointment
Ever since I first saw the Drew Carey roast that kicked off the tradition of airing the Friar's Club Roasts on television, I knew that no matter who was being roasted, the comedians could make it funny. And why not? They were people in a club dedicated to comedy. These were people who were legends like Freddie Roman and Alan King.
I carried this opinion until the Roast of Denis Leary aired, a roast which was not an official Friar's Club Roast and was actually produced by Denis Leary himself. It was a sick case of ego boosting, but even it had a few good laughs. However, with the Roast of Jeff Foxworthy, consider the horse flogged dead.
When we once were treated with comedic performances by some of the world's best comics, we've been downgraded to three people from Tough Crowd (a show so horrifically unfunny that not even spillover from The Daily Show could save it), the same Gilbert Gottfried plays an animal bit from Leary's roast and the same other three guys from the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. And, a hilarious video (note the sarcasm) of Denis Leary half-assedly calling the guests gay. Ground breaking stuff.
Though, it wasn't a total bust. Greg Giraldo did have some funny jokes and the Bush impersonator was pretty dead on. Unfortunately for the rest of the show, it came off as an obvious attempt at making a quick buck off a passing fad. Not to say that Jeff Foxworthy doesn't deserve the recognition of a roast because he does. It's too bad that this was so superficial that it's not really an honor.
A pale husk of what roasts formerly were, I just hope for the day when the Friar's Club and Comedy Central make up and let them do the roasts again instead of Denis Leary's company.
Spawn (1997)
In a word: Disappointing.
Spawn is one of those movies that you hope and pray that it'll turn out good. Everything is there to make one fine movie, interesting characters, a good story, the thing is already basically storyboarded in the comics. But, then the movie comes out and it doesn't utilize any part of it. The only think that could be considered good is the casting. John Leguizamo made the movie almost bearable, and you know your movie has problems when John Leguizamo is the highlight. The CG effects were poorly executed, Hell looked like something out of a cheaply made 100% CG cartoon. Satan was about as intimidating as a puppy, and the fight scene in Hell looked like it was made by a couple kids duking it out with their action figures. If I were a film critic, I would give this movie two thumbs way down. If the sequel gets made, maybe they'll do it right this time. But, I won't get my hopes up. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on you.