Lulu's Movie Reviews 6.30.06
Sorry about yesterday's post. It would be too intimidating and deflating to others if I was brilliant ALL the time.
I watched "Rumor Has It..." last night. The cast was good--Jennifer Aniston, Mark Ruffalo, Shirley McClaine (sp?), and even Kevin Costner. The story was good--Pasadena girl finds out that her family is The Robinsons of The Graduate fame.
But it just did not work. It's odd when that happens to movies. What went wrong? When all the stars go to the premiere to see how the director pieced it all together, do they sit there and think "This just did not work."? It's a Rob Reiner movie, and he's usually pretty good about these lite romanomedies: American President, When Harry Met Sally, Sure Thing, Princess Bride. But he's gone wrong, too: EdTV, First Wives Club, Sleepless in Seattle. This movie fits with the latter group: I'll give it a D/D-.
Still, Rob Reiner himself gets an A+ from me for directing This is Spinal Tap. Top 5, baby, top 5.
And it's Two-For-One day here at the Fetish! Yes, that's right! TWO movie reviews for ONE click! This will hurt my count, to be sure, and I may never ever catch up with Burb's massive number, but I try to give my dear readers more for their effort. One day, my plan will take off.
The movie--documentary, really--is called Reel Paradise. I had high hopes for it. It's about a family who takes off to Fiji for a year, opens up the existing movie theater, and shows free movies to the locals. Having just finished a book about Captain Cook by a writer who went pretty much everywhere Cook went in order to guage his impact (bad, but inevitable, probably), I was looking forward to seeing some footage of one South Sea island that I had just read about.
Here's the problem. The family was obnoxious. The dad, John Pierson, is an independent film producer/guru who helped Spike Lee get started (She's Gotta Have It) and even helped produce several movies that film savvy readers will know: The Blair Witch Project, Chasing Amy, Crumb, Clerks, Slacker (woo hoo!), and Roger & Me. The mom was sweet, but kind of a doormat; the 16 year-old daughter was a prig who would spend some time in the brig if she was my daughter. The 13-year old boy was all right, I suppose. Still, as a whole, pretty obnoxious. And when I find nothing redeeming about the stars, I rarely like the movie. This comment has sparked controversy in the past among my lunchmates. Allow me to explain. Take Linda Fiorentino's character in The Last Seduction. There was nothing redeeming about her. EXCEPT that she was one of the best villains I've ever seen in the arts, completely without remorse, and did not make the big nicey turnaround that so many others fall victim to. This family did not have that kind of charisma.
Like Born Rich, the movie missed opportunities. I think. There was too much focus on the family's little drama--their computer got stolen and oh, woah, they just didn't know who to trust. There might have been more history of the islanders, their culture, and the interaction of cultures (though there was some of that).
The best thing about the film was the islander's reactions to the American movies. They went nuts for Queen Latifah's performance in Bringing Down the House. If you can find something funny about that movie, God love you. Their reactions were genuine and exuberant. When traveling American film students aired out their tired film school offerings, 200+ Fijians sat stone-faced . . . then left. Hilarious, but a little sad for the in-attendance film students!
Grade? D
'Til next time . . . keep your eyes on the screen and your hands in the bucket.
I watched "Rumor Has It..." last night. The cast was good--Jennifer Aniston, Mark Ruffalo, Shirley McClaine (sp?), and even Kevin Costner. The story was good--Pasadena girl finds out that her family is The Robinsons of The Graduate fame.
But it just did not work. It's odd when that happens to movies. What went wrong? When all the stars go to the premiere to see how the director pieced it all together, do they sit there and think "This just did not work."? It's a Rob Reiner movie, and he's usually pretty good about these lite romanomedies: American President, When Harry Met Sally, Sure Thing, Princess Bride. But he's gone wrong, too: EdTV, First Wives Club, Sleepless in Seattle. This movie fits with the latter group: I'll give it a D/D-.
Still, Rob Reiner himself gets an A+ from me for directing This is Spinal Tap. Top 5, baby, top 5.
And it's Two-For-One day here at the Fetish! Yes, that's right! TWO movie reviews for ONE click! This will hurt my count, to be sure, and I may never ever catch up with Burb's massive number, but I try to give my dear readers more for their effort. One day, my plan will take off.
The movie--documentary, really--is called Reel Paradise. I had high hopes for it. It's about a family who takes off to Fiji for a year, opens up the existing movie theater, and shows free movies to the locals. Having just finished a book about Captain Cook by a writer who went pretty much everywhere Cook went in order to guage his impact (bad, but inevitable, probably), I was looking forward to seeing some footage of one South Sea island that I had just read about.
Here's the problem. The family was obnoxious. The dad, John Pierson, is an independent film producer/guru who helped Spike Lee get started (She's Gotta Have It) and even helped produce several movies that film savvy readers will know: The Blair Witch Project, Chasing Amy, Crumb, Clerks, Slacker (woo hoo!), and Roger & Me. The mom was sweet, but kind of a doormat; the 16 year-old daughter was a prig who would spend some time in the brig if she was my daughter. The 13-year old boy was all right, I suppose. Still, as a whole, pretty obnoxious. And when I find nothing redeeming about the stars, I rarely like the movie. This comment has sparked controversy in the past among my lunchmates. Allow me to explain. Take Linda Fiorentino's character in The Last Seduction. There was nothing redeeming about her. EXCEPT that she was one of the best villains I've ever seen in the arts, completely without remorse, and did not make the big nicey turnaround that so many others fall victim to. This family did not have that kind of charisma.
Like Born Rich, the movie missed opportunities. I think. There was too much focus on the family's little drama--their computer got stolen and oh, woah, they just didn't know who to trust. There might have been more history of the islanders, their culture, and the interaction of cultures (though there was some of that).
The best thing about the film was the islander's reactions to the American movies. They went nuts for Queen Latifah's performance in Bringing Down the House. If you can find something funny about that movie, God love you. Their reactions were genuine and exuberant. When traveling American film students aired out their tired film school offerings, 200+ Fijians sat stone-faced . . . then left. Hilarious, but a little sad for the in-attendance film students!
Grade? D
'Til next time . . . keep your eyes on the screen and your hands in the bucket.
posted by lulu | 6:32 AM
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