Reviews

Surprisingly entertaining film for someone who never was a big fan of the stooges. Well acted by all, and well paced. Would've enjoyed more details about "the boys," but understand the time pressures of a TV movie. It made me want to read the book. Small bonus: after years of never being able to match the voice of HBO's Crypt Keeper to the face(John Kassir), this TV movie gives us a chance to see him as Shemp.

After watching this on video, I found the film even more disappointing than I did when I left the theater. Sure, it's great to use SFX to show how much technology has improved, but aren't story and character development equally important to a film's ability to entertain? In the end, I just wasn't entertained as much as I'd hoped I'd be. Most of the computer-generated characters are grating, though Watto and Sebulba at least had some semblance of personality (yet still they're no Yoda.) Jar-Jar and his fellow computer-generated residents of Naboo were even more disgraceful on video. That pod race was good, but no Ben-Hur chariot race (and not even as dramatic as the bicycle race in Breaking Away.) The final battle between the Gungans and the droids was just boring. Would've enjoyed more scenes with the humans (Darth Maul, Palpatine, Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, Mace Windu, Queen Amidala, and even Shmi Skywalker who should've been more interesting), though Jake Lloyd didn't quite make me envision Darth Vader, or even a future Jedi Knight. It ain't great when all I can take from this film is the clever light-saber duel (can't recall any other great movie duels where the characters get to pause and then stalk each other while separated by an invisible barrier, but that added to the impact of the scene for me), the all-too quick appearance by ET in the Senate chamber (a cameo that I missed when I saw it in the theater), and the desire to have seen more development of the human characters than we got. I enjoyed most of the first trilogy, but this one didn't quite measure up to those standards.

One of my all-time favorite movies. I remember seeing it as a 13-year old in 1963 and laughing so hard that the laughs turned to tears. The phrase "Buried under the Big W" always brings smiles. I'd always thought of it as a classic comedy, but after seeing it a year or two ago on the Encore cable network, I'm not sure that it has held up as well as I'd recalled it. Still, there are dozens of priceless moments from the time Smiler Grogan "kicks the bucket" to the destruction of the gas station until the final "slip on the banana peel" that make me nostalgic for the comedy of my youth. I've always hoped for a sequel, but now realize that a sequel might only be destined for failure -- just like most of the '60s TV-sitcom movies that we've seen over the past 10-15 years. And I wonder whether 36 years from now my children will still get the same laughs from "Animal House," "There's Something About Mary" and "Office Space" that they get from those films today.

Viewed this for the first time on HBO and found "Bulworth" to be a thought-provoking fantasy/comedy that makes me want to see it again with "Shampoo" and "The Parallax View" as part of a triple feature. Underlying the ironic and frequently laugh-out-loud humor is a message that Warren Beatty seems comfortable delivering -- "Our destinies may be in the hands of Big Business and Big Government, but that doesn't mean that we can't get out and enjoy life, and maybe even take a shot at improving those destinies." As I watched the end credits of "Bulworth," I remembered that I'd sat in the theater and felt mesmerized as I watched the end credits of the other two Beatty films. It was equally impressive for me on second viewing. Considering many of the negative comments I've read about "Bulworth" on IMDB, I'm left to wonder whether this is a great film or whether it helps to have a liberal bias to enjoy Beatty's filmmaking.

To American Graffiti, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Empire Records and (insert your own favorite here) add 10 Things I Hate About You to the list of the best teen-dilemma comedies. Clever, well-written, smartly-cast, always-engaging tribute to this past year's hottest author, Will Shakespeare. Upbeat, rockin' soundtrack. Even if you were in your teens before the stars of this film were born, don't be surprised if you easily find more than 10 things to love about this movie. And stay for the outtakes that roll through some of the credits.