Gideon58's Reviews

I love movies that poke fun at the business of show business so I was instantly attracted to Mistress, a well-acted but unfocused comedy whose intriguing premise doesn't really deliver the reward the story initially promises.

Written and directed by veteran actor Barry Primus, the film stars Robert Wuhl as Marvin Landisman, a struggling writer and director who currently works as the director of instructional videos who gets a call from a second rate producer named Jack Roth (Martin Landau) who informs Marvin that he read a screenplay Marvin wrote years ago and that he wants to get it on the silver screen with Marvin as director, but they have to work together to finance the film. Roth arranges meetings with three different money men who have expressed interest in financing the film, but they all have one condition behind their money: Each of them wants their mistress to have a major role in the film.

Primus' story casts a pretty unflattering light on the inside machinations toward bringing Hollywood projects to fruition as it is revealed that two of the three potential investors didn't even read the screenplay and the third wants to make major changes and the reveal that the guys were willing to back this film, without knowing anything about it, for no other reason than to make the women in their lives happy, is kind of disturbing. I was really bothered by the idea of so much pimping being behind what we see on the big screen.

Eli Wallach plays the not-so-bright potential investor whose only concern is that his girl, played by Madonna look-alike Tuesday Knight, has the lead female role in the film, and really doesn't care about the fact that she can't act. Danny Aiello plays the deep-pocketed big shot with PTSD issues who wants a role for his girlfriend (Jean Smart) even if he's not thrilled with the idea that the main character in the film commits suicide. Robert De Niro plays the film-savvy backer who is not only inflexible about his girl, Beverly (Sheryl Lee Ralph) being in the movie, but that all of his changes to the screenplay be implemented. This web gets even more tangled when it is revealed that Beverly is also sleeping with Aiello's character and is not thrilled with Marvin as a director, even though Beverly appears to be the only one of the three mistresses who can actually act.

This story is most likely based on Primus' journey to get this film mounted and his personal bias comes through in his mean-spirited screenplay that casts Marvin as this Hollywood innocent being manipulated by these slimy Hollywood rats, but I seriously doubt if it's as black and white as Primus paints it here.

On the positive side, the cast is first rate, with standout work from De Niro and Landau. Landau is particularly effective as a Hollywood has-been whose every move and breath belie the fact that this guy has been screwed over multiple times by Hollywood bigwigs but hasn't given up on his dream yet. I also have to give a shout-out to Jean Smart, quite moving as the woman who is more interested in her man than being a movie star. Laurie Metcalf is also good in her scenes with Wuhl as his wife, who has her own agendas, but their scene together seemed to have very little to do with what goes on in the rest of the movie.

An interesting, if not altogether successful peek at inside Hollywood that true film buffs might find interesting. There are cameo appearances by Christopher Walken and Ernest Borgnine.

Disney Studios had a major triumph with 1991's Beauty and the Beast, an utterly enchanting and richly entertaining take on the classic fairy tale that made history by being the first animated film to be nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture.

This film has it all...humor, romance, giggles, adventure, music, and even scares. The classic story is mounted like a Broadway musical with a flawed but sympathetic hero, a charming heroine, a laugh-inducing villain, and some scene stealing supporting characters that serve the story instead of overpowering it.

I think one of the reasons this film was so successful was because of its heroine...despite her being a fairy tale character, Belle is a contemporary woman...she has a heart and brain and loves to read. When the arrogant Gaston insists on marrying her, she cleverly slithers out of the engagement by telling Gaston she's not good enough for him. Even once she agrees to stay with the Beast, she never lets him manipulate her yet when he saves her life, she does what she feels is right and returns to his home to nurse his wounds. The Beast is adorable in that scene, BTW, when he keeps screaming about how it hurts and she tells him to be still. This version has also taken an alternate tack with the character of the beast, who is not painted as a cardboard villain...he is presented as a spoiled child here who is bitter about the curse that was placed on him. This is also one of the few animated films that produces actual scares...the scene of Belle being attacked by the wolves is genuinely frightening as is the final showdown between Gaston and the Beast.

The voice work in this film is on the money...Paige O'Hara makes a lovely Belle and her singing is exquisite. I still find it hard to believe that Robby Benson is voicing the beast because he sounds NOTHING like the Robby Benson I grew up with. Also loved an unrecognizable David Ogden Stiers as Cogsworth the Clock, Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Potts, a teapot and especially the late Jerry Orbach as Lumiere, a candlestick, who helps to make the production number "Be Our Guest" so special, a number that conjures images of MGM and some of Busby Berkley's greatest choreography.

The song score by Alan Mencken and Howard Ashman is lush, melodic and serves the story perfectly. The title tune, flawlessly performed by Angela Lansbury, actually won the Oscar for Best Song of 1991.

I know it's an overused phrase, but this is truly entertainment for the entire family that ushered in a new and more sophisticated approach to animation as entertainment. 9/10

Russell Brand serves as Executive Producer and star of Arthur, the 2011 remake of the 1981 classic that garnered the late Dudley Moore an Oscar nomination. This is the story of a rich, drunken playboy named Arthur Bach, who stands to inherit millions if he marries a woman he hates, but falls in love with someone else instead. Brand's rethinking of the film is only partially successful and does not produce the belly laughs the original did, but smiles and fun can be found along the way (especially if you've never seen the original film).

Brand works hard in the title role, nailing Arthur's childishness, but missing his intelligence.I always thought the anchor of the original film was the relationship between Arthur and his manservant/best friend Hobson. Brand brings a new layer to the relationship by making Hobson a woman, flawlessly played by Helen Mirren. In the original, it was clear that John Gielgud's Hobson, though frowning on Arthur's behavior, still cared about him. In this version, Hobson just seems to think of Arthur as her job. Another gender change here is that Arthur is ordered by his mother to marry Susan, instead of his father, which makes the character seem even more pathetic. The powers to be also erred in the casting of virtual unknown Greta Gerwig as the object of Arthur's affections. Gerwig's performance is lifeless and makes you wonder what Arthur sees in her because, in one of the film's few improvements over the original, Jennifer Garner is having a ball as Susan Johnson, Arthur's fiancee who knows Arthur hates her, but doesn't give a damn. Nick Nolte is properly menacing as Susan's father and Luiz Guzman has a couple of funny moments as Arthur's chauffeur Bitterman.

Peter Baynham's screenplay is respectful to Steve Gordon's original story, lifting a lot of actual dialogue from the original film. I liked Arthur and Naomi's date in an empty Grand Central Station, but ending the film with Arthur actually going to AA and getting sober seemed a little contrived to me. One of the points of the original film is that Linda loved Arthur just the way he was, she never asks him to stop drinking and I just didn't buy this Arthur deciding for himself to get sober, but the film is an interesting watch if you love Russell Brand and if you've never seen the original film.

One of the 1982's biggest hits was Poltergeist, a supernatural thriller that brought something to the genre that hadn't really been seen before...a sense of humor.

The film was directed by Tobe Hooper, though a lot of people associate the film with Steven Spielberg, who was a producer and co-wrote the screenplay. This is the story of the Freeling family, who have just moved into a new California home, built by the company that Steve Freeling works for who are thrown when a series of strange events start occurring in the house, climaxed by younger daughter's Carol Anne's personal encounter with "the TV people" when she actually gets sucked into the television set and disappears.

Even though Tobe Hooper is credited as director, Spielberg's directorial hand is all over this, especially in the depiction of the Freeling family as an ordinary family involved in some extraordinary circumstance and reacting to it in a natural way, reactions that sometimes come off as humorous. We laugh at the duel of the remote controls, we laugh at Diane's joyous reaction to Carol Anne sliding across the kitchen floor for her daddy, we laugh when Steve and Diane almost get caught by their daughter smoking pot. These are the kinds of moments we don't associate with a horror film, but they are believable and acceptable.

On the other hand, another thing this film does so effortlessly is tap into those childhood nightmares that we experience but are afraid to talk to anyone about...the scary clown doll across the room that keeps staring at us...the big ugly tree outside the house that looks like it's going to attack, the big hole in the backyard that Mommy and Daddy told us to stay away from. Hooper and Spielberg slowly allow these nightmares to unfold before us without completely giving them away, even providing a couple of false starts to lull us into a false sense of security, the kind that gives us just enough time to stop holding are breath right when we should start.

Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams are wonderful as the Freelings. Williams has rarely been better, as Diane seems to take what has happened to her daughter very personally and seems to take responsibility for what has happened to Carol Ann. I love the moment when Diane is on the stairs and she feels Carol Anne's spirit pass through her and it is so real she can smell Carol Anne...easily one of my favorite moments in the film. Beatrice Straight is effective as the head of the paranormal investigative team and Zelda Rubinstein is a lot of fun as Tangina, the spiritualist brought in to "clean" the house.

Hollywood legend has it that this film is cursed, evidenced by, among other things, the fact that Dominique Dunne, who played older daughter Dana and Heather O'Rourke, who played Carol Anne, are no longer with us. Of course, Beatrice Straight and music composer Jerry Goldsmith are no longer with us either, but it does add a slight air of creepiness to the proceedings as you watch.

Hooper, Spielberg, a crack special effects team, and yes Jerry Goldsmith's music all help to make this instant classic worth checking out.

BULLETS OVER BROADWAY

Woody Allen scored another comedic bullseye with 1994's Bullets over Broadway, another delicious comic romp from the Woodmeister that takes the accustomed loopy characters that we are accustomed to from Woody and puts them in a more structured story and a period setting.

Set in Manhattan during the 1920's, the film follows a playwright named David Shayne (John Cusack), who is having trouble getting his latest work on Broadway until his agent (Jack Warden) informs he has found a backer for the show, a dim-witted mafioso (Joe Vitrelli) who has agreed to finance the show as long as his girlfriend, Olive (Jennifer Tilly) gets a role in the show. Things get complicated when the don sends a bodyguard named Cheech (Chazz Palminteri) to keep an eye on Olive, but he ends up making life for our hero even more complicated when he starts making suggestions regarding the play and they make it better.

This is another example of classic Woody, where Woody brings his own personality to the leading role and Cusack does an admirable job of channeling Woody (only Kenneth Branaugh did it better in Celebrity). Dianne Wiest won her second Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her over-the-top, but totally hilarious turn as Helen Sinclair, a melodramatic Broadway diva who pretends to be in love with Shayne in order to improve her role in the play. Palminteri and Tilly both deliver star-making performances that earned them both Oscar nominations as well. Jim Broadbent has some very funny moments as a hammy actor in the play who has a problem with overeating and Tracy Ullmann is funny as another cast member who is driving Helen crazy with her dog.

Woody's screenplay with Douglas McGrath provides all the fun twists and turns we expect from Woody and his sharp direction and flawless ear for music are also assets to a grandly entertaining comedy that Woody's fans will eat up.

Quentin Tarentino again displays his propensity for cinematic storytelling with Django Unchained, an engrossing and bloody epic that establishes new credentials for Tarentino in the fact that he utilizes a period setting and the fact that he actually tells his story mostly in sequential order, but manages to keep the viewer riveted to the screen completely to an extremely satisfying conclusion.

Set in pre-Civil War Texas, the story follows a dentist turned bounty hunter named Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) who purchases a slave named Django (Jamie Foxx), ensuring his freedom in exchange for his help in getting to his former employers, who are Schultz' latest bounty. This leads to a partnership where Schultz trains Django in the art of bounty hunting and eventually agrees to help Django retrieve his wife(Kerry Washington), who is still the slave of a wealthy plantation owner (Leonardo DiCaprio) who is obsessed with Mandingo slaves, slaves who are purchased in order to fight each other to the death purely for the white man's entertainment.

In addition to the unaccustomed period setting for Tarantino, this film even took a politically sensitive subject like slavery and put a twist on it by providing an insightful look into the difference between the slave and the black man who wasn't a slave. It was rather unsettling to see Django not really interested in helping the slaves he encounters and the resentment that the slaves seem to have for a black man who is actually free which, sadly, rang true. And even though the film does have a period setting, it does provide the accustomed losers, wannabes, and scumbags that we expect from a Tarantino movie.

As always, Tarantino's casting is on the money, led by Waltz, who won his second Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his charismatic and strikingly original King Schultz, Foxx's quiet intensity as the title character and DiCaprio, who has rarely been better in a very unsympathetic role. Mention should also be made of Samuel L. Jackson, who scores as DiCaprio's house man, a character you like one minute and hate the next. All of the actors somehow tap into the tongue in cheek aspect of Tarantino's Oscar winning screenplay in a way that keep the viewer riveted to the screen and not feeling the film's near three-hour length at all.

Tarantino's direction is just as compelling as his screenplay. His eye for cinematic carnage is startling...there is some inventive camera work here that includes a unique use of slow motion and the art of the zoom. His offbeat song score simultaneously conjures images of Sergio Leone and Tupac Shakur.

Tarantino fans should eat this up and for those who are not, you might want to consider this slightly more traditional story, told with the accustomed Tarentino cinematic pinache, that is right up there with Scorcese. 8.5/10

Woody Allen again struck gold with 1984's Broadway Danny Rose, an off-beat comic romp that earns its credentials through atmospheric period detail, Woody's infallible ear for comedic dialogue, and a couple of extremely memorable characters, brought to life from unexpected sources.

Woody stars as Danny Rose, a 3rd rate theatrical agent, whose clientele includes a one-legged tap dancer and a one-armed juggler. Our story focuses on one of Danny's most pathetic clients, a lounge lizard named Lou Canova, memorably portrayed by Nick Apollo Forte, who had one semi-hit record back in the 50's and whose career has been pretty much nonexistent ever since, but for some reason, Danny really believes in this guy and vice versa. Danny somehow manages to land a legitimate gig for Lou, which is complicated by the fact that he wants his mistress, a spitfire by the name of Tina Vitale (Mia Farrow) to come to the show. Danny's meeting with Tina turns ugly when the mobster with whom Tina is really involved, thinks Danny is involved with Tina, which gets Danny and Tina in some very hot water.

Woody's fast-paced direction is a big plus here, with a bit more physical comedy than you usual get from a Woody film....a great little scene where a couple of thugs try to force Danny into a car had me on the floor. Woody's black and white photography greatly enhances the 1960's period feel as do cameo appearances from Milton Berle, Sandy Baron, Corbett Monica and Will Jordan. But the real stand-out element of this comedy is the performances of Mia Farrow and Nick Apollo Forte. Farrow is a revelation here, creating a character unlike anything she has ever done before...a loud and fiercely independent woman covering up the vulnerable child inside. Forte found the one and only role of a lifetime here as Lou Canova...this is one of the saddest characters I have ever experienced in a movie...in complete denial about his nowhere career and his lack of talent and still convinced that he's a babe magnet. There's a scene where he appears on The Joe Franklin Show and you would think he's on David Letterman the way he gushes to Franklin about his show and his so-called career. Forte's sad but affecting portrayal should have earned him an Oscar nomination, though Woody's screenplay and directing did earn nods, as the film did for Best Picture.

A bit of a departure from the usual Woody fare, but his fans will not be disappointed. 8/10

Burlesque is a flashy and expensive 2010 musical that has a lot going for it except one essential ingredient...any semblance of originality.

Director and screenwriter Steve Antin's story borrows from a lot of musicals in the past, primarily, the 1972 classic Cabaret, though nods to Sweet Charity, All that Jazz,Chicago, and Moulin Rouge can also be gleaned in this film which seemed to have one objective: to make a movie star out of singer Christina Aguilera, who Antin clearly has a hard-on for.

Aguilera plays Ali, yet another small town girl fresh off the bus arriving in Los Angeles in order to be a singing star, but finds herself attracted to a burlesque club, owned by a former dancer (Cher) and her ex-husband (Peter Gallagher). After being briefly schooled on the difference between a burlesque club and a strip club and being a refused a job there, Ali picks up a tray and starts waiting on tables anyway and thirty minutes later is the star of the club with the whole show being built around her. She has also gotten the attention of Marcus (Eric Dane), a millionaire who is trying to buy the club to turn it into a skyscraper and Jack (Cam Gigandet), a bartender with pretty eyes who is engaged and wants to be a songwriter.

This movie is so corny and predictable that I could practically recite the dialogue along with the actors, despite some very flashy and well-staged production numbers, which conjured visions of Fosse and Rob Marshall. Another thing that bothered me is that a movie takes place in a burlesque house would be displaying a little more skin. For a movie set in a burlesque house, there is precious little skin on display here. It also seemed like this club was displaying very expensive and elaborate sets and costumes for a club that is supposed to be in so much financial trouble.

Antin's story forces the rest of the cast pretty much into Aguilera's shadow here. Her singing is first-rate, but her character is kind of a smart-ass and Aguilera doesn't really pull that off. lol Cher makes the most of what is a supporting role, even though she receives top billing. She is very effective in her two musical numbers though. Stanley Tucci is solid, as always, in a role which is pretty much a carbon copy of his role in The Devil Wears Prada. Dane and Gigandet are attractive leading men, but are fighting a cliched script. Kristen Bell fails to convince as the bitchy, alcoholic stripper whom Ali replaces (I kept picturing Zoe Saldana in this role). Alan Cumming, Julianne Hough, Glynn Turman, David Walton, and James Brolin are wasted in thankless roles.

If you love Christina Aguilera, you will be in heaven here, but all others should be warned that when the action of the movie leaves the stage of the club, the movie screeches to a dead halt and unfortunately, the story left the stage a little too much for my tastes. 5/10

Evocative direction by George Lucas, a soundtrack to die for, and some first rate performances combined to make 1973's American Graffti an instant classic that received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture and was the primary inspiration for the ABC series Happy Days.

The film takes place on one fateful night following a high school graduation in 1962 where we meet Curt (Richard Dreyfuss), who is leaving for college the next morning but gets involved in a dangerous initiation with a gang and becomes obsessed with a blonde in a convertible (Suzanne Somers). Ron Howard and Cindy Williams play Steve and Laurie, the couple who were just crowned prom king and queen but have now decided they want to see other people...or do they? Charlie Martin Smith plays Toad, Steve's best friend, who accidentally ends up on a date with Debbie (Candy Clark), the alleged town tramp. John Milne, clearly an inspiration for Fonzie on Happy Days finds his evening of cruising and drag racing sidetracked by an obnoxious pre-teen (Mackenzie Phillips).

Lucas' screenplay with Gloria Katz seamlessly weaves these multiple stories together in an entertaining manner and makes it hard to believe that the whole film takes place in one night.


The performances are first rate...this movie put Dreyfuss on the map and Candy Clark received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress, but I think the film's easily stolen by Charlie Martin Smith as Toad, a performance of impeccable comic timing. The film is also famous for introducing several future stars like Somers, Harrison Ford, Bo Hopkins, and Debralee Scott. The soundtrack was also one of the best selling movie soundtracks of all time. If you've never seen this one, you're in for a treat. 8.5/10

I watched American Graffiti just before I sent in my Seventies list, and I'm very happy that I did. A great film, full of style and a fantastic soundtrack that makes me want to be there at the time, cruising around in a cool car. I would agree with pretty much everything you've said with the performances too, and I'd probably give it the same rating

Edit: Just noticed your Django Unchained review as well, which I would also say is spot on. As a huge Tarantino fan myself, I enjoyed it immensely and have seen it quite a few times already since its release, really well written review too, I enjoyed reading it.

Thank you Daniel, glad you enjoyed my reviews and yes, I was immensely impressed by Django Unchained.

Director Peter Weir's cinematic resume has a dominating theme regarding the frailty of the human condition and he has never nailed that theme more effectively than in 1993's FEARLESS, a gripping and emotionally draining drama for the adult filmgoer who is looking for something different that will stay with you long after the credits roll.

This one of a kind cinematic experience stars Jeff Bridges as Max Klein, an architect who is permanently affected after surviving a horrific plane crash, where he lost his best friend and business partner. We watch as Max finds he can no longer connect with his own family and can only find a connection with a fellow survivor, a young woman named Carla, who lost her baby in the crash. This reveal is just the beginning of a multi-layered story that will engross, anger, frighten, and surprise.

As the story unfolds, we learn that not only did Max survive, but he was somewhat of a hero, leading several people to safety including a young boy, who now wants to forsake his family and be with Max. We now see that Max is now speaking and behaving without filters and that he also feels he has cheated death and is omnipotent, a feeling he desperately is hoping Carla can relate to, even if he has to force her to. We also see a therapy group for survivors of the crash, some of whom want to thank Max, but Max wants nothing to do with it. There is a heartbreaking encounter here between Carla and a stewardess who was on the plane. On another level, Max can't escape a sleazy attorney who is trying to convince Max to manipulate events of the crash in order to score a larger settlement for his business partner's widow. Throughout all of this, we also get to see glimpses of the crash that provide insight into Max's current psyche.

Raphael Yglesias' screenplay is based on his novel and seamlessly weaves these three stories together, anchored by the struggle for Max to connect with this young mother, a relationship that is mistaken as romantic by their respective spouses, but it really has nothing to do with romance. It is a little unsettling watching Max trying to force Carla to feel the way he does as well as watching Max and Carla trying to hold onto families they no longer feel connected too.

Peter Weir's direction is sensitive and detail-oriented and he has pulled first rate performances from his stars. Jeff Bridges delivers the gut-wrenching, Oscar-worthy performance of his career as Max, a man who can no longer connect with his old life and seems to have no problem with it. Isabella Rosellini has never been better as his wife, who is clueless as to how to save her marriage and Rosie Perez did receive a supporting actress nomination for her Carla, a woman whose complete devastation over her son's death has her suicidal until Max pulls her from the brink. Tom Hulce also scores as the greasy attorney trying to capitalize on Max's pain, as does John Turturro as the shrink running the therapy group and Benecio Del Toro as Carla's husband.

This a completely unique motion picture experience that will have you riveted from the beginning and will bring you to one of the most powerful climaxes to a movie I have ever seen. An amazing film for the serious film-goer. 9/10

With the recent passing of the legendary Lauren Bacall, I felt the urge to review one of my guilty pleasures...a slightly over the top potboiler from 1981 called The Fan.

Bacall plays an actress named Sally Ross, who is preparing to star in her first Broadway musical when she starts receiving creepy fan mail from one Douglas Breen (Michael Biehn), which she dismisses until strange things start happening to the important people in her life, thanks to Douglas, who is methodically clearing a path for him to get to Sally because he's a psychopath and is obsessed with her.

Priscilla Chapman and Bob Randall's screenplay, based on Randall's novel is not exactly stemmed in originality and does attempt to tell the story with some semblance of leisure, providing little clues into Douglas' personality early on. There is a very telling scene where Douglas gets a visit from his sister, part of a family he has completely blown off and the sister's treatment of Douglas during this scene makes it clear that this is guy is not the picture of mental health. Kaiulani Lee, playing Douglas' sister, is excellent in this brief but effective scene.

James Garner, Maureen Stapleton, and Hector Elizondo try to make something out of their roles as Bacall's boyfriend, assistant, and the police detective assigned to the case.

It's not a great film, but it has a great star and with Bacall, Stapleton, and Garner no longer with us, the film takes on a little more of an iconic status than it really deserves. 5.5/10

2009's The Proposal is an alleged romantic comedy that, despite an extremely likable cast, asks us to swallow a whole lot of story details that I was just incapable of swallowing.

The film stars Sandra Bullock as a no-nonsense businesswoman named Margaret Tate, who tricks her personal assistant, Andrew (Ryan Reynolds) into marrying her in order to avoid being deported to Canada.

God, I don't even know where to start...Canada? Does immigration really keep this kind of tabs on Canadian citizens? Does immigration really have that kind of time on their hands? Second, Margaret should be showing gratitude to Andrew for this sacrifice he is making but instead continues to treat him like an underling, which is why I truly enjoyed one moment where Andrew actually makes Margaret get on her knees in the middle of Manhattan and propose to him properly. I think we can all relate to someday wanting to be holding all the cards with our boss and making said boss do something really degrading.

The story than moves to Alaska, where Andrew was born and raised, where it is revealed that Andrew is from a wealthy family who owns half the town, which should have prompted a change in Margaret's attitude, but it does not. Margaret and Andrew are completely unconvincing as an engaged couple in love and it is obvious to anyone with eyes and a brain who watches them and their reluctance to kiss at their engagement party should have been a dead giveaway but we're supposed to believe that no one, not Andrew's mother (Mary Steenburgen), father (Craig T. Nelson), grandmother (Betty White) or ex-girlfriend (Malin Akerman) are even the least bit suspicious. And then we're supposed to believe that the immigration agent (Denis O'Hare), who interviewed the couple in New York, would fly all the way to Alaska to inform them the jig is up?

Bullock works very hard to make Margaret likable but is fighting the script all the way, including some really pointless scenes with Andrew's family dog that just pad the running time. Steenburgen is lovely, as always, and Nelson is quite sharp as Andrew's dad, with whom Andrew has a lot of unresolved issues. Betty White's purported scene-stealing turn as grandma was just kind of tiresome to me, but she got great reviews when the film was first released, so I guess it's a matter of taste. I think the scene of her and Bullock dancing in the woods was stupid.

There is some beautiful Alaskan scenery, but there just isn't enough going on in the foreground to really care. Clearly, a lot of money went into this film and there is a lot of talent involved, but it really doesn't pay off.

The 1999 comedy EDtv could be considered a bastard stepchild to The Truman Show, but this film just skims the surface of what Jim Carrey's classic did.

The film stars Matthew McConaughey as Ed Pekurny, an ordinary Joe who is chosen by a television producer (Ellen DeGeneres) as the subject of a 24-hour television show. Unlike The Truman Show, Ed is completely aware of what is going on and is even being paid handsomely for this complete intrusion into his life, but did not count on the endless complications involved in a 24-hour spotlight on his life, which includes resentment from his brother (Woody Harrelson), who is really pissed that Ed was chosen for the show and he wasn't and his budding romance with Shari (Jenna Elfman).

The screenplay by Emile Gaudreault and Sylvie Bouchard services the story and director Ron Howard has pulled some solid performances from his hand-picked cast. McConaughey lights up the screen in the title role and Harrelson is a lot of fun as his brother. Sally Kirkland and Martin Landau also score as Ed's mother and stepfather and there is a lovely cameo by Dennis Hopper as Ed's long lost father, who crawls out of the shadows to cash in on his son's newfound fame and fortune.

Ron Howard has mounted an entertaining story that is serviced by a winning cast, but when it's all said and done, it just seems like much to do about nothing. 6/10

Bobby and Peter Farrelly, the men behind Dumb and Dumber, a film whose appeal escaped me, had much better luck IMO with Me, Myself, & Irene, a raunchy action comedy that offers some of the same kind of smarmy comic elements that Dumb and Dumber did, but with a more structured story and a main character who generates laughs but is steeped in a little more reality than the boys from the other film.

The 2000 film stars Jim Carrey as Charley Baileygates, a sweet-natured trooper with the Rhode Island state police who has always been somewhat of a doormat in his personal life. He is currently raising three grown sons (who are all black) that his wife had with another man (Tony Cox) before running off with him. After years of being walked over by everyone in his life, we learn that somewhere along the way Charlie has developed dissociative identity disorder, a condition that, when provoked, not unlike the Incredible Hulk, Charley morphs into an alternate personality named Hank Evans, who is smart, sexist, rude, crude, and has superhuman strength. Charley is aware of Hank, but is in denial about his existence but can no longer be when Hank becomes a major part of Charlie's assignment to travel with a woman (Renee Zelwegger) who the police are trying to protect from her criminal ex-boyfriend.

As expected with a film from the Farrelly brothers, the film is generously peppered with more than its share of crude bathroom humor and cheap, easy laughs, but this time the screenplay by Peter Farrelly and Mike Cerrone provides a solid anchor for the humor not to mention a pair of principal characters who are human but still funny.

I think Jim Carrey's peformance in this film has always been severely underrated...his creation of two completely separate characters in Charlie and Hank is remarkable but always believable. Zelwegger is a good match for Carrey and never lets him overpower her onscreen. Robert Forster, Chris Cooper, and Richard Jenkins register in supporting roles and I LOVED Anthony Anderson, Mongo Brownlee, and Jerod Mixon as Charley's three sons.

If you've never seen it, I highly recommend this fast-paced action comedy that takes a minute to get going, but once it does, strap yourself in and let the Brothers Farrelly and Jim Carrey take care of the rest. 8/10

A truly underrated gem and one of the most pleasant surprises from 2010 was a breezy action comedy called Date Night, a film whose title doesn't even begin to cover what goes on here. I don't know why this film died at the box office, because I found it richly entertaining, thanks primarily to a clever story and a winning cast, led by two comic geniuses at the top of their form.

Steve Carell and Tina Fey knock it out of the park as Phil and Claire Foster, a professional New Jersey couple whose date night in Manhattan turns into a nightmare when, after stealing another couple's dinner reservations, find themselves at the mercy of a couple of dirty cops who are after a flash drive the real couple has and putting the Fosters in some serious danger.

This film has so much going for it, beginning with a funny and detail-oriented screenplay by Josh Klausner that seems to be moving in the direction of a domestic comedy about a forever married couple trying to spice up their marriage and takes a complete 180, mushrooming into a full blown comic adventure that we just don't see coming, expertly directed by Shawn Levy.

One thing about Levy's direction that works here is that he knows when he's working with quality actors. He clearly knows how to let them go when need be and he clearly knows when to rein them in and he seems to have found just the right balance of what to do with his stars here. Steve Carell and Tina Fey are absolutely magical together in this film and create one of the most believable married couples I have seen in a movie in a long time. They completely convey the sense of a couple who complete each other's sentences and know every move the other is going to make before they make it. I love the way the story references things in the Fosters' marriage as tools to help them out of their situation, but I also love the wonderfully human failings they present as a couple too, especially Phil's reaction to meeting one of Claire's former clients (Mark Wahlberg), who ends up being instrumental in helping the Fosters, and not only being jealous of Claire's girly flirty behavior around him, but his own distraction which he actually admits to being a bit of his own sexual attraction to the guy. I love that both Phil and Claire admit to same sex attraction at different points in the story, such a breath of fresh air for a movie couple. If the truth be told, this is the first character that Tina Fey has played in a movie who I actually believed was heterosexual.

There is a first rate supporting cast as well, some big stars who, for some reason, took relatively small roles in this film, probably just for the opportunity to work with Fey and Carell. James Franco and Mila Kunis are very funny as the couple whose dinner reservation the Fosters stole, William Fichtner is appropriately slimy as the DA and Ray Liotta does a brief but classy turn as a mafioso. Common and Jimmi Simpson were also impressive as the dirty cops. Taraji P. Henson is IMO miscast as a police detective, but it's the only misstep casting wise.

This comic adventure is filled with outrageous and over-the-top action sequences (the car and the cab attached to each other that won't come apart was a bit much) and some lapses in logic, like all of the shooting that the dirty cops do that no one in the city of Manhattan seems to hear or react to, I found myself just letting these things flow over me and going with it, because Carell and Fey made it all worth it. It's a bumpy ride and it takes a few minutes to get going, but hang in there, it's worth it. And make sure you stay tuned through the closing credits. 7/10

2006's A Prairie Home Companion is a surprisingly intimate backstage look at the world's most celebrated radio program that most likely will earn its footnote in cinema history as the final film directed by the legendary Robert Altman.

Altman has mounted a somewhat interesting story, based on a screenplay by the host and creator of the Prairie Home Companion, Garrison Keillor. A Prairie Home Companion is the longest running live radio show in history that presents a live variety show over the radio every Saturday night, somewhat in the tradition of the Grand Ol' Opry, where a live audience is entertained by various musical acts. Altman uses the show as a backdrop to present his accustomed varied characters in multiple storylines and connects them together by the thin story thread of a possible ghost being present in the theater and how the backstage death of a longtime performer might be connected to this spirit.

Altman has gathered an impressive all-star cast headed by Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin as a gospel-singing sister act, who are thrown by the appearance of Streep's long lost daughter (Lindsay Lohan), who seems to have show business aspirations of her own. John C. Reilly and Woody Harrelson are quite entertaining as a pair of singing cowboys as is Kevin Kline as Guy Noir, the possible spectre in question. Maya Rudolpn, Virginia Madsen, Tommy Lee Jones, Tim Russell, and Marylouise Burke also register in supporting roles. Garson Keillor does appear as himself, hosting the show.

Initially, this could be viewed as Altman's attempt to recapture the spirit of his masterpiece Nashville, and if that was Altman's intent, it does not succeed, but I don't think that was his intent. I believe Altman wanted to mount a valentine to an aspect of show business that is pretty much a dinosaur and his desire to respect fans of A Prairie Home Companion. It's a little slow and talky, but there are some effective musical highlights and as the final work of a celebrated director, it is definitely worth a look.

Rob Reiner had a major directorial triumph in 1987 with The Princess Bride, a lavish and entertaining version of a classic fairy tale that will entertain children with its action and adventure, but has an intelligence that will appeal to adults as well, not to mention an impressive, hand-picked cast that are all working at the top of their game.

Reiner cleverly frames the story around the gimmick of a grandfather (Peter Falk) telling his grandson (Fred Savage) a bedtime story, which the child initially resists but finds himself getting completely sucked in.

The story centers around a beautiful maiden named Buttercup (Robin Wright) and a manservant named Westley (Cary Elwes) who worked on her family farm and for whom she feigned disdain even though the two have been in love with each other from the moment they laid eyes on each other. Our hero and heroine are separated and she finds herself engaged to an evil prince (Chris Sarandon) and Westley makes it his personal mission to rescue his ladylove, with the aid of an adventurer named Ingo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin) and his sidekick Fezzik (Andre the Giant).

As a viewer of this story, I found myself initially wary of this fairy tale the same way the grandson in the movie is, but this grand adventure sucked me in too...this movie has it all...evil princes, sorcerers, swordplay, quicksand, enchanted forests, and an absolutely charming romance at the center of it all.

Cary Elwes found the role of his career as Westley, the most durable hero I have seen onscreen in years and definitely one of the most romantic and Robin Wright is enchanting as the title character. Christopher Guest is surprisingly bone-chilling as the villainous Count Tyrone (can't believe this is the same guy who played Nigel in This is Spinal Tap) and Patinkin is charismatic as Montoya. Billy Crystal and Carol Cane are very funny as an old wizard and his nagging wife as are Wallace Shawn and Peter Cook as other characters encountered along the way.

A treat for the young and the young at heart that was a triumph for director Rob Reiner and everyone else involved. 8.5/10

The Princess Bride is an absolute delight! I too had no idea what I was getting into when described the movie, but after the movie I thought it was great.

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Fear and Loathing in MoFo... The Gunslinger 45's Top 50 Favorite Films

In the 10 Ring: Gunslinger45's reviews