Change Your Image
RandySavage
Reviews
Dorm Life (2008)
Funniest "web show" out there...
"Dorm Life" deserves - and hopefully will receive - much wider attention. It is a hilariously accurate, relatable take on College Life. It's style follows that of The Office, but episodes are only 5 minutes long and the characters are more appealing. The psycho RA Marshall and the pitiable Steph are the scene-stealers, but the entire cast acquits themselves very well. Although, the cast and creators of this show are from UCLA, the characters and stories are universal.
I stumbled on this show by accident and now can't wait for Season 2 to start in October. Congrats to all the actors, writers and directors for their superlative effort. www.dorm-life.com
Life as We Know It (2004)
Great Writing, Great Cast
The Yankees weren't playing, so I was flipping around and caught this show. Now, there have been many films/shows about hormone-driven high school boys.
What sets "life as we know it" apart is the writing. The dialogue and story lines are both funny (the one guy whose parents accuse of being chronic masturbator) and heartfelt (Dino's mother's affair). The performances from the three leads are top-notch: Foster is much improved from his brooding turn in "Door in the Floor," and Faris, who looks like Tom Cruise, Jr., is also a fine actor. With his looks and acting ability he is probably poised for superstardom.
The friendship that the three boys share is really at the center of this show. While on the surface it may seem like it is only about sex, most viewers will be able to see that this show is really about surviving adolescence in America and "getting by with a little help from your friends."
Highest Recommendation
A Separate Peace (2004)
Great casting, but fails to tell Knowles' story.
"A Separate Peace" is one of my favorite books. An absolutely horrible film version was made of it in 1974, so I knew Showtime's updated version was virtually guaranteed to be an improvement. An improvement it is... but it could - and should - have been much better.
First the Good: Finny has got to be one of the hardest parts out there to cast. The part calls for natural athleticism and tremendous charisma - a truly rare combination (especially in actors). Toby Moore was inspired casting. I have no idea who he is or where he came from. He had an almost impossible task, and he nailed it. The actors who played Gene and Brinker also performed admirably. If it had a script that stuck to the actual Knowles' story, this film might have been something very special.
Now to the Bad: Knowles' story is much more than a story about adolescent friendship and betrayal. It is about how a person can only find peace within himself when he is forced to face his own darkness. Finny, who knows only love and forgiveness, seems to be the only exception to this rule - and because of that, he is destroyed by his best friend. By the end, Gene makes peace with Finny and finally finds peace within. The writer and director missed much of these key elements. Important scenes are brought to life beautifully, but we never really get inside Gene's head, so we can't understand how or why he achieves a 'separate peace.'
The writers also decided to omit the other key theme of the book: Finny as a representation of peace in world at war. While Finny talks like he was rearing to go to war, he in fact is unable to do so - because of his leg, but also because it is not possible for him to hate (as Gene describes in the final 'you'd be terrible in a war, Finny!' dialogue). Alas, none of it makes it into the film.
All in all, it was great to see a terrific performance by Moore as Finny, as well as some great scenes from the book brought to life (The Headmaster's Tea, The Winter Olympics, The Trial). However, I will still have to wait for a film to be made that is true to the spirit of this American classic.