movie reviews, Volume 4 number 10, November/December 2002, © by Thela Clayton Video Dreamland Happy Holidays, my friends! Time is just about to enter the fast lane; do yourself a favor—let it go! This summer, I took time to smell the roses and this holiday season, I plan to smell each eggnog before I drink it. One of my top priorities, though, is to hand write a note, regardless of length, to each person I love. With fewer people hand-writing letters anymore, I really cherish and save each one I receive now. They hold a love energy that connects that person to me. Just a few sentences in their own handwriting brings a smile to my face, a warmth to my body, and joy to my spirit. For it is not the person with the most toys who wins when we die, it is the person who has given the most love. To love is to live and to live is to love. I guess I hit the video store at off times. Many movies I wanted to review are checked out. So here’s a scattering of odds and ends that you too might be stuck with sometime. The Royal Tenenbaums, R If you’re a person who adds some jalapeños to their potato soup like I do, you’ll enjoy this zany little story about the family of the patriarch, Royal Tenenbaum. Old Royal has gone broke, and needing a place to live, has declared he’s dying of cancer so he can move back into the family home after his twenty-year absence. This seems to be a good time for the three adult children to return home also and patch up their grievances with Dad, each other, and their eccentricities. It’s a wonderful parody about an American family full of genius talent that gets sideswiped by the emotional train of adulthood. You won’t recognize your or your neighbor’s life in this film, it’s played strictly for laughs. Every one of these fine actors do a first-rate, bang-up job. This movie tickles your funnybone more than eliciting lots of belly laughs. It’s one of my favorite ‘art films’—cartoon art, that is. Death to Smoochy, R This is one of three movies Robin Williams made this year to reestablish himself as a dramatic actor. Here he plays ‘Rainbow Randolph,’ the star of a kiddie show, who is accepting payola on the side. He is caught and replaced by a big purple rhino named ‘Smoochy,’ played by Ed Norton. Smoochy is stalked by a revengeful Rainbow, while learning the lesson that advertisers are the ones who rule and direct the content of his creative ideas. It’s a decent movie but it just didn’t work for me. Norton wears his purple rhino suit in most in most of the movie, and I was just too creeped out seeing a playful rhino stalked by a knife-wielding madman. Too dark, too goody-good, too mean, too naïve, too black and white. Eventually, William’s high energy made me squirm too much. For better drama, check out his Dead Poet’s Society. Italian for Beginners, R I only saw seven minutes of this movie. It was filmed with a video camcorder, has fast-moving subtitles, and when one character, playing a pastor, shows up in a medieval frilly white collar—well, that was all she wrote. Looks to me like your two dollars is better spent on a pull tab. I could be wrong—I doubt it. Panic Room, R This movie is ‘sort of’—sort of scary, sort of good, sort of suspenseful. It works until you think about it for too long, then those quarters start tumbling away. The old panic room is a three-inch-steel-plated room in a megamillion-dollar house in New York City. Jodie Foster (the mother) checks out the house, obtains it, moves herself and daughter into it, all in the same day—without the help of a housekeeping staff. Sure!!! Thinking the house empty, three guys break in to rob a safe full of money, located in the panic room. Wait! Someone leaves several million dollars in a house when they move out? Sure!!! So things happen, but have no fear—Hollywood would never let Jodie Foster die. There are a couple of violent scenes, but you can see them coming in time to hide your eyes. Forest Whitaker is excellent, as usual, and Dwight Yoakum is just downright scary. So—it’s O.K. But if you like that claustrophobic feeling, check out the old film Wait Until Dark. Watch it with all the lights off and experience what happened to the moviegoers twenty-five years ago when they turned off all the lights in the theatre for the film’s climax. Life or Something Like It, PG-13 Angelina Jolie is the star of this movie, playing a young newscaster who wants to be a star. It’s a good movie to finish up the last of the Halloween candy with, as I would call this a ‘lite’ romantic drama. Jolie interviews a homeless street person prophesying several things, including that Jolie has one week left to live. Several predictions come true and Jolie says that she is alarmed by this. However, I have seen people react to mosquito bites with more gusto than she has. Edward Burns and she are supposed to fall in love, but their screen chemistry together is like pouring sugar into water. It is a pleasant enough movie and one safe for the babysitter to watch. For me, I like Jolie as a tuff girl. That big, blonde hair she wears reminded me of Miss Texas vying for a rhinestone crown. Monsters, Inc., G I’ve always thought monsters lived in my closets. (At night, I keep shower curtains open and my closet door shut! ha.) Now I have proof. For all of us without kids, you’ll be sorry if you pass this little gem by. John Goodman is the voice of Sculley, the biggest, scariest monster of them all. Billy Crystal is his assistant at work. for the energy to power Montropolis is the captured screams of human children, caught as the monsters slip in and out of closet doors. All is well, until a human toddler follows Sculley back to Montropolis, resulting in much upheaval. Fun, fun, fun. Don’t miss the credits to see the movie’s bloopers, and the short film that follows is sweet. Dancer in the Dark, R This Scandinavian art film showcases the singing and acting talents of Bjørk. If her singing is not your cup of tea you’ll only have to suffer through about three songs. I sat through them—it wasn’t too bad. The story is set in Washington state in 1964. Bjørk is an immigrant mother from Warsaw who has a genetic eye disorder and is going blind. Her goal is to make enough money to pay for her son’s surgery before all sight is lost. This is not a warm, cuddly, uplifting movie. Mayhem enters the young woman’s life and tragedy soon follows. It is an interesting movie, something I didn’t quite expect. We get to see our society through a foreigner’s eyes and that may make you squirm a bit. But before you slam the film, give it another thought. Our American dream is not always reality for a whole lot of folks. Frailty, R Very dark. Very scary. Shocking. Excellent steady suspense. Not for the faint-hearted. This movie is about the making of a serial killer. Bill Paxton is the father, who has a vision and believes god has chosen him to kill the demons in our society. The movie is disturbing because he involves his two young sons in his killing spree. The story is told in flashback by Matthew McConaughey to a detective portrayed by Powers Booth. I can’t help but recommend this awful story because it is so well done. Each actor does an excellent portrayal of progressive character development. It rattled me so much I was tempted to turn off the movie several times. I suggest this as a double feature. Watch this one first, then a good comedy afterward. this is a haunting film, and who needs nightmares? Don forget. Rent two movies. I repeat. Rent two movies! Showtime, PG-13 This film is about a television production company making a reality series like Cops. Eddie Murphy is a traffic patrolman taking acting lessons. After a botched bust, Robert DeNiro, as the older, no-nonsense detective, is forced to star in the series with Murphy as his partner. DeNiro delivers a few really good belly laughs. Murphy is just too plain flaky. If not for DeNiro’s performance, I would say skip it. This is strictly a beer and popcorn movie with lots of loud action scenes.
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