Archive for September, 2006

Its kind of like what IJackassI would be if Johnny Knoxville and his boys had the brainpower necessary to become master satirists. Its insanity and discomfort on an epic level; its lunatic stunts and unbelievable assaults delivered with a purpose; its high-minded sarcasm and blistering social commentary wrapped up in a dirty brown, low-brow package. As a small part of Da Ali G show Borat was clever. Now as a movie, hes the funniest thing youll see this year.

Kevin Macdonald's queasily enjoyable fiction film creates a portrait of the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin from inside the palace walls.

IBabelI is a tough movie to pin down because though its not really about anything interesting, it has a lot happening in it. The films series of half-stories are all tied together by a convenient little plot device, in which a female American tourist is shot while on vacation in Morocco. Who shot her, how they got the gun that did it, and what happens to people connected to her has a result of her being shot is the impetus for writer Guillermo Arriagas script to get lost in a series of otherwise completely unconnected stories.

There are two ways you can evaluate a movie like IOpen SeasonI. The first is to simply judge it as a film. Is it any good? The second is to ask whether or not your kids will like it. This review and any review I write will approach it from the first perspective because lets face it, if the movie has talking animals in it your pint-sized terrors are going to love it. Children like anything, as long as its animated and theyve received enough sugar before viewing it. Thats great for parents, since it means they can plop them down in front of the television and entertain them for hours with discount straight-to-video DVDs, but its not so great for the rest of us since it gives Hollywood a license to print money without having to bother with earning it by making something good.

By now the formula has been so well established, it should be easy to implement it. Shrek movies are topical and now, a product of whatever is current in pop culture and comedy, blended into a big swampy bowl. Some people bash the films for that, but for me its part of why embrace them. Maybe thirty years from now it will leave them dated, but for now theres nothing wrong with having a movie thats plugged in to the immediacy of the world around you. Shrek will be, as always, more plugged in than any other family movie youre likely to see. Dont be surprised if for IShrek the ThirdI, Donkey discovers the iPod.

Dear Mick LaSalle: There are thousands of screenwriters out there in the world, and the best Hollywood can do is remake old films and TV shows, usually doing a very poor job. When are we going to see the remake of "The Maltese Falcon," I wonder? Aren't there...

In this contemporary motion picture adaptation of Mary OHaras beloved novel My Friend Flicka, 16-year-old Katy McLaughlin Alison Lohman dreams of fulfilling her family legacy by working on her fathers ranch in modern-day Wyoming. But Katys father wants more for her, insisting that Katy go to college. Katy finds a wild mustang, which she names Flicka, and sets out to make her a riding horse. But Flicka and Katy are more alike than she could have imagined. Like Katy, Flicka has a disdain for authority and is not about to give up her freedom without a fight.

IHavenI earned its title when I decided to check it out immediately after sitting through IThe Black DahliaI, which was so disappointing it would have made IJohn Tucker Must DieI seem like an Oscar contender. Despite suffering through Bill Paxtons cheesy I love you so much to his daughter, and constant plot shifts and scene cuts, I couldnt help but feel like the debut film from writerdirector Frank E. Flowers had ten times more to offer than the studio driven IDahliaI, despite the bad buzz surrounding it.

Theres been a lot of talk from Jet and from his PR people about how this will be his last Martial Arts film. As it turns out, thats not exactly true. Jet will continue to do action movies, but says this is the last movie hell do based on those specific Wushu philosophies which Huo Yuanjia held so dear. Actually, its almost a shame that this isnt his retirement film. As a way to go out, I cant imagine anything more beautifully appropriate.

IThe PrestigeI looks like its ready to blow the doors off with all the turn of the century tricks of the trade modern FX houses can muster. The film is Nolans tweener, wedged between his moderately successful 2005 franchise reboot IBatman BeginsI and its 2008 sequel IThe Dark KnightI, which will focus on Batmans first encounter with the Joker. IThe PrestigeI is the little film hes doing between blockbusters, and for a lot of big-budget movie directors it is the smaller projects like these that keeps them energized and going for the more grueling schedule of a major Hollywood blockbuster.