Author: Village Vidiot

“Bye, Bye, Birdie,” December 15, 2004 (1995), video.  Whatever you do absolutely avoid this wretched remake of the charming 1960s (50s-style) romantic, neurotic comedy about the rock star, the mamma’s boy, and America. This turkey starring the very talented Jason Alexander (why is he stuck doing total trash since Seinfeld?), George Wendt, and a supporting…

“Intolerable Cruelty,” August 10, 004, DVD. George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones star in this Coen Brothers lightweight. Clooney plays a take no prisoners divorce lawyer, while Zeta-Jones is the gold digging former wife of one of his clients. Some pieces work, but as a whole the film is less than the sum of its parts….

“Spellbound.” April 15, 2004 (2002), video.   A very cool look at the national spelling bee with some truly geeky kids. Really worth seeing

  “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King,” February 15, 2004 (2003), theater. What can I say?. We really liked this huge and dramatic third episode in the trilogy. The film is exciting, although there are too many increasingly boring endings piled onto one another, and the Shire looks pretty boring to me as…

“Lost in Translation,” September 12, 2003, theater.  We loved this quirky intense vehicle for Bill Murray and Scarlett Johannson written and directed by Sophia Coppola, produced by her and her dad. It looks at the strange trips taken by Murray, a 50-ish actor, and Johannson, the 25-yo wife of a young photographer as they meet…

“Austin Powers in Goldmember,” January 15, 2003 (2002), DVD. Won’t I ever learn?. Oh well, hope springs eternal, I guess. I did not like this latest Austin Powers entry at all. I thought the writing was bad, the production boring, and the moralizing ridiculous. Still, I laughed a little at Mini Me and a set…

  “The Wild Thornberrys Movie,” 25 December 2002, theater.   I went with the kidlet to see this animated flick based on the TV show. It had the usual eco/environmental babble but was still fun. A lovely song by Paul Simon brightens the movie considerably. Nice subplot about family stuff. B- still enjoys this level of…

“Tampopo,” December 17, 2001, video.  I liked this 1987 film about food, culture, sex, and identity in Japan less than I did when it first came out. A trucker-cowboy helps a young widow master noodle culture and climb the ladder to meaning and success. Fun stuff about the Japanese/European connection. Zen through noodles, movies as a…

“Pollock,” August 15 2001 (2000), video, home. Wonderfully acted look at Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner starring Ed Harris. He seems to have the painter’s surly, non-verbal pain and alcoholism down perfectly. He also has clearly studied Pollack’s unique and exciting painting style. This is a depressing film. Marcia Gay Harden’s Krasner seems nicer than…

Yucky, confused comedy about religion with a fine cast, all of whom spout scads of platitudes about the Catholic Church, God, religion, and lots of other stuff. By the guy who did “Clerks” and “Chasing Amy”. The first had the wild craziness of the slacker, the second was cool and weird but then became sentimental….

“Jerry Maguire,” 24 February 2000 (1996),  video.  Unsatisfying Tom Cruise piece with fine work by Cuba Gooding. The film looks at a sports agent who comes to hate himself for the bullshit of his work. Disgusted, he dashes off a manifesto about the job and, shock of shocks, is fired. One admiring accountant (Renee Zelwenger—boy…

  “Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels,”  September 10, 1999 (1998),video.   Ok UK crime comedy, not the madcap romp it was touted as, but interesting for me. Bronwen was bored and fell asleep. Several guys get deep into debt when their rep is cheated at cards by the city thug. They plot a robbery to…

“This Is Spinal Tap,” July 15,  1999 (1984), video. Wow. This stands up sooooooooo well after all these years. A wonderful, goofy look at the fictional band. Great work by all, including Christopher Guest. A real secret pleasure. Even funnier when, while channel surfing, I stumbled across Howard Stern interviewing Iron Maiden with their one-armed…

“Henry Fool,” 27 February 1999 (1997), video.  Interesting, oddly humorous (often grossly so) and peculiar story of a young garbage-man transformed from tongue-tied sanitary engineer to Noble-laureate poet by a bizarre stranger who gets him to write. Well-acted piece by Hal Hartley. Owes more than a bow in style at first to “Eraserhead” but becomes…

“Love and Death on Long Island,” 26 February 1999 (1997), video.  Sly, witty and in the end, serious story of unrequited love. A reclusive and isolated British author and widower, Giles De’ath (hence the title) played by John Hurt, inadvertently goes into the wrong cinema and sees a young American actor (Jason Prilestly) in a…

“The Sweet Hereafter,” 2 October 1998 (1997), video. Wonderful, painful, fascinating film by Atom Egoyan, starring Ian Holm and an excellent ensemble cast. A tragic bus accident kills many of the children of a small town, and a big city lawyer goes to the town to bring the victims parents into a lucrative class action…

“Ulee’s Gold,” 18 July 1998 (1997), video.   Interesting, stately piece for Peter Fonda to shine in. About a Vietnam-vet bee-keeper, his dysfunctional family, crime, and love. A nicely written, slow but well acted film. Both B+ and I enjoyed it.

“Prisoner of the Mountains,” 20 December 1997 (1996), video. Wonderful, powerful, Russian film about two soldiers captured by Caucasian peasants. One villager hopes to trade the Russians for his son, a prisoner of the Russians. Are they Chechen?. Who knows for sure. Still, this is a superb, loving, and very brave Russian film that should…

    “Men in Black,” comedy, November 17, 1997, video.  What a shock, I really liked this tongue-in-cheek action-comedy about aliens on earth. Lots of good laughs, really funny, Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith are both quite fine, Tony Shaloub does a wonderful small bit, Vincent D’Norfrio is fun. The aliens are here among…

“L.A. Confidential,” 14 December 1997, theater. Good but very violent cop drama in neo-noir style about the unseen corruption in the city of the angels. Well acted with very nice work by Kevin Spacey and a cast of lesser known and very talented character actors. Good work by Kim Bassinger. The plot follows on a…

   “The People vs. Larry Flint,” biography, August 10, 1997 (1996), video.   Funny but problematic piece about Flint, the Hustler publisher. Woody Harrelson is good and Courtney Love as his wife Althea is even better. I just found I couldn’t believe the lawyer, the shift to Flint as true believer in the First Amendment, and…

“Ridicule,” drama, July 15, 1997, video, home. Wonderful French film about life in Louis the XVI’s court over issue of wit and verbal sparring as key to success. Sense of emptiness of the verbal as sport as young doctor goes to court to try to save his town from disease caused by the mosquitoes in…

“Braveheart,” March 15, 1996 (1995), VHS.   Predictable, unrealistic, ultra-violent yet satisfying old-style film by Mel Gibson about the Scots’ search for independence and freedom (whatever the hell that meant in the fourteenth century.)  Gibson stars.

“Country Life,” December 15, 1995 (1994), VHS, home.  Australian version of “Uncle Vanya,” with a nice job by Sam Neill, but essentially flat and not very interesting or exciting. Maybe I’ve just seen too many Vanya’s. (4) in one year.