Keeping It Reel

All the Wrappings of a Comedy

When "Evil Dead" first came out, it was pretty clear it was meant to be a horror movie.  I didn't get a chance to catch it until it hit video stores and I can remember the first time I saw it, ironically enough, with all my cousins at a KC reunion.  It was scary enough to us.  Then something happened between that and "Evil Dead 2".  The original had become a cult classic and the sequel was destined for the same thing.  The reason being that director Sam Raimi had unintentionally created a comedic horror movie.  The sequel was stock full of unintentional moments of hilarity.

Once the Evil Dead franchise had established itself in the world of cult classics, its star Bruce Campbell inevitably became a cult figure.  His face used to be synonymous with horror until it became clear that he was meant for laughs, whether they be unintentional or not.

Bruce does it again in "Bubba Ho-Tep".  He blends in his comedic timing into a flick that should have a horror premise.  Only this time, it's pretty obvious they were going for laughs.  What else do you expect when the plot is Elvis and JFK are out to kill a mummy?

Another plus here is the appearance of the late great Ossie Davis as a dyed JFK.  Whereas Bruce does a dead-on Elvis, Ossie makes no attempt whatsoever to have any mannerisms, voice or even the presence of JFK.  That in itself is what makes it funny.

The movie is supposed to be about this mummy who terrorizes an old folks home to get their souls.  However, much of the focus is on Elvis.  We see that it deals primarily with his coming to grips with living his life in exile and whether it really was the right choice to make.  At least that's what I got out of it, but I tend to be a little analytical sometimes.

While watching this, I gained an even further misunderstanding of the MPAA rating system.  This movie got an "R" rating but I failed to see anything in it that was any worse than most of these "PG-13" movies that are out there.  I guess since it went straight to dvd, it's all besides the point.  Still, if "Meet the Fockers" is a PG-13 compared to this then something is seriously wrong.

Speaking of straight to dvd, this one turned out to be one of the rare instances when that's not such a bad thing.  Campbell does an awesome job here and it's always nice to see Ossie Davis in his twilight years as that seemed to be when he did his best work.  I'd almost consider this a modern day "Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy".  Of course I'm basing that on the title alone as I've never seen that movie.  Nevertheless, "Bubba Ho-Tep" is worth the rental.

My rating:  B

A River Runs Thru It

It's getting hard to find a good sci-fi movie these days.  The problem is that folks making them concentrate so much on the effects part of it that the story will suffer or even the character development.  Yes, I enjoy watching the special effects that make it look realistic.  However, that's only one portion of the appeal.  "Star Wars" was both a blessing and a curse when it came out because it had the effects that catapulted the imagination into new realms; at the same time, it also had an engaging storyline and characters that everyone was drawn to. 

When I was in Kansas City, Earl had asked me if I had a chance to check out "Serenity" yet.  It was another movie that I've had for some time but had never got around to watch.  He's an even bigger sci-fi addict than me so for him to tell me that I had to watch it, I knew it would be worth the effort.

"Serenity" is the story of a crew of renegades fleeing from the Big Brother of this movie known as The Alliance who are after their most treasured cargo, River.  River's a reader (which I've gathered is what they call mindreaders) who is also pretty lethal in combat.  The movie is based loosely on the television series "Firefly" that I've also never seen.  After watching this, I might have to give that show a second chance.

The first ten minutes of this movie alone are better than the entire body of most sci-fi movies that are out there.  We're introduced to The Operative character played brilliantly by Chiwetel Ejiofor, who's already proved his acting chops in "Inside Man".  For me, his presence makes this whole movie.

This flick reminded me of "Fifth Element" meets "Star Wars" meets "Land of the Dead".  Fifth Element in the sense that everyone's after this girl who supposedly has all the answers.  Stars Wars--meaning the first one, not the entire trilogy -- in the sense that there's the mighty power in the universe with rebels against it.  Land of the Dead by the race of creatures known as the Reavers who turn out to be a more integral part of the master plan than originally thought.

"Serenity" had the benefit of having amazing special effects that good sci-fi movies should have.  It had the plus of having characters that are worth watching, even though it may have been due largely in part that they were based on established characters from its television series.  It was an entertaining journey throughout.  For any other sci-fi fan out there, don't make the same mistake I did and put off watching this any longer than you already have.

My rating:  A-

The Closet with a Punch

My memory isn't very good to begin with and then when you consider trying to remember things from my childhood, it's even worse.  For some reason, I can clearly remember the classics that I've read.  I think that "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" would fall into that category.  The only problem is that I ONLY remember reading it.  I can't recall the specifics of the book or even the subsequent cartoon that they later made about it.

I would have liked to have seen "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" in theaters to get the full experience of it.  Unfortunately, I never got around to it so I had to settle for the dvd release.  Even then, I kept putting it off and I'm just now getting around to watching it after I've had it for a month now.

This movie had the unfair distinction of being compared to the "Lord of the Ring" series.  There are a lot of uncanny similarities.  Whoever came up with the concept to bring this set of books to the big screen deserves some credit too because in Hollywood, it's all about timing.  They capitalized at just the right moment with LOTR trilogy ending and that whole fantasy genre has proven itself as a moneymaker.

There were some things I didn't like about this one that were a little distracting for me.  The most obvious was the lack of effort CGI used in some of the scenes.  There were instances where the creatures' actions looked too cartoony to be real.  Also, although the scenery was amazing, there were some moments where the green screen effect in the background was obvious.  A little more work in post-production could have ironed these kinks out.

Also, I can't believe I didn't pick up on this when I was reading this as a shorty, but what's up with the children's quick allegiance?  They stumble into this fantasy world from their closet and they don't know it from Adam.  In no time at all, they feel inclined to defend it with their lives?! 

One last discrepancy was the Ice Queen and her sacrifice obsession.  She knew she was entitled to kill a traitor because of some jacked up law of the land.  She also knew that the children were part of a prophecy that would lead to her downfall.  Knowing that and knowing that she could have taken one of them out, why would she let Aslan talk her out of it? 

Speaking of Aslan, he made the movie all worth it.  They couldn't have found a better voice than Liam Neeson.  Well, they could have in James Earl Jones, but we all know that he'll always be Vader.  Aslan's presence appeared flawless in every scene.  Looking at him makes you overlook any other shortcomings this movie may have had.

People continue to dwell on the religious overtones that "Narnia" has throughout it.  I've even heard some people say they could use this movie to explain the story of Jesus to their children.  Sorry, but I find that a HUGE stretch to say the least.  I agree that it does teach about sacrifice, but to use this as a substitute for telling the true story of the Gospel is ludicrous.

The "Narnia" movies will do an excellent job in filling the void that the LOTR flicks have left us fantasy geeks.  I just hope that they put a little more effort into the special effects on the next one so I won't even have little things to pick at.  And this time, I'll try my best to actually catch it in theaters.

My rating:  B+

It's Okay to Be Special

Johnny Knoxville was due to finally get his time to shine in the spotlight.  He had done an admirable job in his bit roles given to him in "Men in Black II", "Deuces Wild" and even the terrible new "Walking Tall".  Not to mention that he was usually the best part of the show where he first got his start, "Jackass".  Too often I've seen bit actors get their chance to carry a movie and it's done with mixed results. 

In "The Ringer", Johnny plays a guy who's down on his luck and tries to come off as mentally challenged so he can compete in the Special Olympics.  I don't know about everyone else, but that premise alone was enough for me to want to check this one out.  Then add to it the fact that Knoxville is the guy doing it and I'm sold.

I couldn't figure out if the other main characters who were mentally challenged were people who really are or if they were just acting their butts off like Giovanni Ribisi in "The Other Sister".  There were a couple that I did recognize from seeing in other movies like the cat from "Galaxy Quest"; however, the others could have easily passed for the real thing.

What measures does the Special Olympics even put in place to assure that something like this really can't happen?  I mean what's to stop a regular person from just faking some documents and acting to compete in these?  True, they'd have to be pretty desperate for attention to try something like that.  Still, couldn't it happen?

They could have really gone off the deep end with this one and offended a lot of people by making fun of mentally challenged people.  Instead, they go the opposite direction and Knoxville's character realizes how they are all just regular people when he befriends them after they find out he's a fraud.

To add to the whole atmosphere that the Special Olympics are actually important, they had the nerve to show Steve Levy from ESPN commentating and even had the events televised.  In what bar in America would you EVER see the Special Olympics televised?  And I'm not talking about just "highlights"; I'm talking about ALL the events!  At least in "Dodgeball" they played it off by showing it was a tiny network like ESPN 8 that was televising the obscure sport. 

That small oversight wasn't enough to derail this one.  There may not have been tons of gutbusting laughter moments, but there were still enough funny moments to make it a nice flick.  It also helps that people think I'm a little touched myself.  So maybe that's why I was able to connect with this one.

My rating:  B

Stalkers Gone Wild

Most of the time when it comes to remakes, I've at least heard of the original and probably even seen it.  That doesn't mean that the remake is always better though.  Here is a case where I only remember the premise of the original and can't recall anything about the movie itself to compare it to the remake.  Maybe that's where this one caught a break in my eyes.

This new verison of "When a Stranger Calls" sees our victim being a babysitter alone in a house when she's stalked by an anonymous psycho.  A cute babysitter in a big house by herself...there's a fresh idea.

This flick annoyed me from the beginning.  Well not quite the very beginning.  The opening sequence wasn't bad as it set up this killer's MO.  However, after that is when it goes downhill.  The cops eventually come to the murder scene and the lead detective shows up.  He's an older guy that looks like he's been around for years.  Of course they never show the murder scene itself, but they show his reaction.  He's so repulsed that he looks like he wants to puke.  At his age, I find it hard to believe that whatever it was was so bad that even he couldn't stomach it.

Speaking of not showing anything, they did that all throughout this movie.  There were a few murders that take place but we never see any blood and they never show how the people were offed.  That's one good way to maintain a PG-13 rating.

Unlike other babysitter movies, the sitter's not totally alone in the house.  The live-in housekeeper was there also.  Until she was taken out, that is.  The first thing I was thinking is what was the purpose of the babysitter in the first place if they're already paying Alice?

They try their best to hit us with all the cliche suspenseful camera views and especially the typical horror movie music.  It's all good for effort; nevertheless, when you don't tread any new ground, you gets no props in my book.

Teandra had pointed out that what she didn't like about the movie is we never find out who the guy is.  I think what she meant is it would have been nice if the guy was somehow linked to the sitter in some way.  Why was he stalking her? Was he a psycho ex?  The troubled son of the family she was sitting for?  That's the one part of the movie I did like is that they don't expound on it.  He's just some random, psychotic stalker and I'm fine with that.  At any rate, I'm still thinking that the original was probably still better.

My rating:  C-

American Ghoulash

Whenever they talk about releasing a sequel to a movie straight to dvd, you know that can't be good.  They can try to use all the rationale they want talking about how it maximizes profits and it can get quicker distribution.  The fact is, it's going there because it's basically an inferior product.  Such is the case here.

The "American Pie" movies were credited with revitalizing the genre of the teen raunch movies.  "Porky's" made it famous when it hit the scene in the 80s, but then it pretty much died out.  Along came the first "American Pie" carving a niche that had been forgotten and could almost be considered a sleeper hit.  Its sequel was just as good.  The third was a stretch, but still not that bad.  They really should have quit while they were ahead.

"American Pie Presents Band Camp" tried to capitalize on its predecessors fame by using some of the ideas that made the others famous.  The only "stars" who returns in this one are Eugene Levy and Chris Owen, better known as Sherman. However, they attempt to keep the "one time at band camp" gag going with the premise of the title alone.  It could have been a good idea if it was done well.

Where they really screwed up is having the main character be a Stifler sibling.  It was no secret that Sean William Scott as Steve Stifler was the secret behind the success of the AP movies.  Sure, the pie bit in the first one didn't hurt, but it was Scott's wit that made the flicks what they were.  Having a flea market rip off of him in this one wasn't enough to cut it.  In fact, he was so over the top as a wannabe Sean William Scott that he only comes across as annoying.

I realize this is a comedy, but they could have at least tried to make it somewhat plausible.  What camp of ANY kind has counselors who look like they came straight out of the pages of Playboy? 

As I was watching this horrific excuse for a movie, I was sitting there trying to think of any straight to dvd sequel that I've ever seen that was worth watching.  I couldn't.  Bearing that in mind, I don't know why I thought this one would be any different.  Its only saving grace was it's somewhat clever ending.  Other than that, it was pretty much a waste of time.  This one might as well be known as the taint of the "American Pie" series.  And I mean that in more than one way.

My rating:  D-

Piling It on Thick

Some time ago, the Hollywood powers that be announced who would be taking over the reigns as the new James Bond.  Contrary to what a lot of people had figured, it wasn't Liam Neeson or even Jude Law.  They ended up going with this cat named Daniel Craig.  A lot of people had never heard of him and the only reason I had was because of a movie that I had caught a preview of and was really digging what I saw.

In "Layer Cake", Craig plays a very successful cocaine dealer who decides its time for him to get out of the game and he wants to retire.  The title comes from fact that there are several layers involved with a drug dealer trying to accomplish that feat.

I had actually had this movie for quite a while and had put off watching it for some reason.  I'm glad I finally got around to it because it was quite a welcomed surprise.  As it is, I have a real infatuation with gangster/mafia movies and this one was right down that alley.  I also had an added incentive because I wanted to see just what we'd be getting in the next Bond.

I have to say that I can see him pulling off a Bond role.  He was cooler than the other side of the pillow in this role.  Well he did have one mis-step that was more due to the writing than anythin else.  His character is supposed to be this extremely streetsmart and savvy dealer.  At one point, he realizes somebody's after him but doesn't know when they will track him down.  So he's in a hotel room and he falls for the oldest "room service" trick in the book to get snagged.  Maybe he wanted to get caught?  Not.

This movie was another one of those foreign imports.  Again, it was English they were speaking but it was all England's English.  Very thick accents so I did have to go with the subtitles here as well.  As of late, when that has been the case, the movie's have all been pretty much worth it.

What I especially like in this one was the "Carlito's Way" type ending they threw in.  There were a lot of twists and turns along the way, but they were all par for the course for your standard "gangster trying to pull one over on the top guy" type movie.  If anyone reading this has seen "Carlito's Way", they'll know exactly what I'm talking about.  I'm guessing my readers don't pay that much attention to these movie reviews anyway.  So since I pretty much cash these in for my own benefit, we're all good.  If you're one of the few that does read these AND knows the "Carlito's Way" reference, you'll still enjoy this movie anyway.

My rating:  B+

May-December Formula

Where did that phrase even come from?  If it's supposed to symbolize the cradle-robbing relationships, how is it that May was the month that was picked instead of an earlier month?  However it came about, those type of couples are becoming increasingly more popular.  It used to be that the older man-younger woman was the most well known but thanks to matches like Demi Moore and Ashton Kuchter, that's not the case anymore.

"Prime" is one of those stories that owes its origin to those romances.  It follows the formula of boy meets girl...well, let me rephrase that...boy meets woman, boy loses woman, boy almost gets woman back.  The twist here is that the older woman falls for her therapist's son and doesn't realize it until it's too late.

I thought there was such of thing as conflict of interest in the therapist profession?  When Meryl Streep's character finds out her patient is dating her son, in the real world, that would be the end of the patient/doctor relationship.  Not in the movies.  And the excuse she later gives for not terminating that relationship is flimsy at best.

Uma Thurman is a tremendous actress, but she's been doing something in all of her movies lately that has been annoying me.  For some reason, she always finds a way to show off her feet.  This wouldn't be an issue if she actually had cute feet.  In fact, she's probably got some of the ugliest feet I've ever seen.  Please stop doing that to us, Uma.

The boy toy in this movie, Bryan Greenberg, has a friend who has a routine that I became infatuated with.  After he dumps a girl, or has been dumped, he gets a cream pie and throws it in her face.  I realize they're in New York, but how is he not running into any of these females again in other places around town?  It only stands to reason since after the break up, Boy Toy and Uma are always running into one another.

This movie doesn't follow the typical romantic comedy formula to the end.  I was all ready to berate it since it was going down that path but they managed to go against the norm.  That and the fact that it's actually quite funny is what makes it very memorable. 

My rating:  B+

The Stupidest Joke in the World

Here we go again with another guilty pleasure.  This time, it's centered around comedy that, let's just say, is not intended for children.  According to some parts of this movie, it's not even intended for the feint of heart.  But as I've stated before, I have a demented sense of humor so I thought I would check this out to see what all the hubbub was about.

"The Aristocrats" bills itself as a documentary which I guess it technically could be.  Usually, I like my documentaries a bit more informative, but seeing how all the comedians in it are actually just being themselves to explain the joke, youl could call it a documentary.

The Aristocrats is supposedly the oldest joke in the comedy world that still goes on today.  The catch of it is that because it usually doesn't translate well to an audience, comedians will normally tell it to each other.  The one exception to this was when Gilbert Godfried told it at Hugh Hefner's Comedy Central roast to the audience there.  Naturally, the entire thing had to get edited out for regular television.

So it's basically the same joke it's just that each comedian will give it it's own twist to see if they can out do how it may have been told before.  Therein lies the problem.  The joke itself is not funny at all.  It's how they tell the joke that makes it funny.  And let's face it, there are some "comedians" out there whose delivery isn't the greatest.

There are two huge problems I had with this flick.  The first was that they had SEVERAL comedians in there that I just flat out didn't recognize.  And if I didn't and I watch tv/movies as much as I do, how many normal people would? Being that it was a documentary, they should have been showing the names below as they went along.  At the end, they went back and placed a name with each comedian but by then, you're already frustrated and could care less.

The other is that the editing in this movie was absolutely terrible.  In documentaries, that should be key.  It looked like they just threw this together at the last minute, got in a crunch for time and thought they'd leave it looking shoddy thinking that would also pass for funny since it's a documentary on comedy.

The best part about the dvd isn't even the actual movie itself.  Well to their credit, the movie has a few good parts.  Like the ventriloquist who tells his version of the joke and even when they enlist the South Park characters to do it.  However, the best part is the extra footage where they have comedians telling their other favorite jokes.  That would have actually made a better movie. This one leaves much to be desired.

My rating:  D-

Everyone's Big Momma

Martin Lawrence always seemed destined for greatness.  Anyone who remembers watching "House Party" will never forget that most of his scenes were all classics.  Even then, you could tell that he was going on to bigger and better things.  He left us with "Martin" that will forever be one of the best sitcoms of all times.  And it was there that he first showed his his ability to shift change into characters to broaden his horizon even more, much as in the mold of  a young Richard Pryor.

The first "Big Momma's House" couldn't quite be called a classic, but it was a very good movie.  It did have quite a few things going for it besides just Lawrence.  He didn't have to carry that movie alone because he was joined by brilliant performances from Anthony Anderson, Paul Giamatti, Terence Howard and especially Ella Mitchell who inspired the Big Momma character.  None of them returned for "Big Momma's House 2".  Nia Long is back but she was saddled with the problem of wearing a very poorly-made pregnant suit.

The one thing I really like about the Big Momma character is that the mannerisms remind me so much of my grandmother.  Lawrence brings some raunchiness to the character that is VERY much unlike my grandmother, but the other mannerisms are right on the money.  My guess is that a lot of brothas and sistas out there have someone in their family that they can also relate to Big Momma.

This sequel is filled with inconsistencies.  Any movie where the character has to dress in a fat suit (a la "Mrs. Doubtfire") is going to have that problem.  Namely, how they are able to change in and out of it so fast seamlessly and no one noticing.  Then again, it is supposed to be a comedy so you more or less have to overlook that issue.

The other thing is the conclusion in this one is just down right shabby.  Maybe it should be slightly absurd; nevertheless, this one was just too much so.  They try to make it up at the very end with a cheerleading scene that is somewhat amusing.  However, Martin's trademark "stank" dance can't save it and it was still done much better in the first movie.

They make it blatantly obvious that they are leaving the door open for yet another sequel in the "Big Momma" franchise.  I don't have any problem with that but they may want to get some better writers and a better supporting cast.  Martin makes a valiant effort to carry this one by himself but he can only do so much.

My rating:  C