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no stars = This movie will actually leech the life from you
1/2 * = Never mind the money - I want my two hours back! * = Just plain bad * 1/2 = Bad but with some redeeming qualities ** = So-so ** 1/2 = Almost good but doesn't quite get there *** = A good, solid movie *** 1/2 = Good, approaching great **** = A classic for the ages ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Igor: *** Rated: PG Stars: (voices of) John Cusack, Steve Buscemi, Sean Hayes, Molly Shannon, John Cleese, Jay Leno This is an oddball movie that initially left me wondering if I had made a terrible mistake in purchasing a ticket. At no point is it particularly funny or original. Neither is it all that creepy or Halloween-ish. Yet against all odds, it got to me. The characters endeared themselves, and I found myself truly caring about what happened to them. In the end, this is a surprisingly sweet little film filled with subtle bits of humor aimed mainly at older children and adults. For example, call me a compulsive editor, but I never got tired of the running joke involving the character “Brain” who had somehow managed to misspell his own name as “Brian”. Or the acerbic, suicidal-yet-immortal rabbit “Scamper”. Cusack as the titular character strikes a gentle chord, even in moments that would seem to call for something more – but it works – as do the scenes involving Shannon’s decidedly good-hearted monster-turned-aspiring actress “Eva”. I believe that if something works, it works. Never mind why. This may not be a great film, and goodness knows it is light-years from the brilliance of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, but it is an enjoyable tale when all is said and done. [color=#ccffff][u][font=Times New Roman]IGOR -- Official Theatrical Trailer[/font][/u][/color] (2:29) Tropic Thunder: ** ½ Rated: R Stars: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Matthew McConaughey, Nick Nolte, Tom Cruise When it comes to movies, this has to be one of the most gleefully ruthless Hollywood in-jokes ever made. And as an inside joke at the expense of the film industry, it works brilliantly. Unfortunately, anyone expecting a story that comes together seamlessly with characters who are more than just industry caricatures may be disappointed. And be warned that the “R” rating is well deserved for the gore. This was actually the first movie in quite some time that made my stomach threaten a revolt. Why? As a movie within a movie, the gore is fake. So when the actors find themselves caught up in real violence, they continue to believe it is fake. Then their director is blown up by a landmine. Unimpressed, Stiller handles his severed head as if though it is fake. Which of course it is. But in the movie, it isn’t. Got that? No wonder my stomach was gurgling. Amidst all the irreverence and bad taste, two actors truly shine – Jack Black as the spoiled, drug-addicted mega-star and Tom Cruise as a studio boss who might very well be the anti-Christ. But as wickedly funny as various elements of the film are, they remain little more than a series of Hollywood-skewering in-jokes that were never intended to tell a coherent story. The Longshots: ** ½ Rated: PG Stars: Ice Cube, Keke Palmer, Jill Marie Jones, Matt Craven, Dash Mihok On the surface, this film may appear to be little more than a re-hash of countless other football flicks. But wait. Not so fast. This movie cannot be dismissed so easily. It was inspired by the true story of Jasmine Plummer, the first girl to quarterback a pee-wee football team all the way to the Pop Warner Super Bowl. And generally speaking, that is what it is about. The story itself is inoffensive, mild, and annoyingly anticlimactic. I never felt the urge to stand up and cheer, which did strike me as peculiar given the subject matter. I blame the direction. It feels more “real-world” when it should have had at least moments of “larger-than-life”. Additionally, several underlying elements of the story didn’t seem to fit until I did some research on the real Jasmine Plummer. In the movie, Jasmine is a pretty young girl with no interest in football until her uncle pesters her into playing. The real Jasmine needed no such convincing. Being something of a tomboy, she started playing football at an early age. The movie Jasmine dreams of becoming a model and signs up for fashion club. The real Jasmine aspires to be a mathematician and couldn’t wait to change into some jeans after attending The Longshots premiere. You get the picture. Apparently the filmmakers chose to make her character more “girly” for cinematic reasons, but it seems a shame to portray her as anything but what she really is – a strong, remarkable young lady who followed her heart instead of the crowd. |
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