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Reviews
Shrek 2 (2004)
Cultural in-gags galore
This sequel to "Shrek" is not quite as endearing as the original, which is to be expected. Stories of first love touch the heart more deeply compared to stories of people trying to make the love work. Those stories take much more inventiveness, which "Shrek 2" has, but not quite enough.
The filmmakers try to make up for it by up loading up with scores and scores of fairy tale and pop culture references, too much to grasp in first viewing. The latter are mainly Disney versions of fairy tales. They're hilarious, but in time they become excessive. I wonder how comprehensible they will be 30 or 50 years from now. The visuals often are extraordinary. Many times they justify computer animation.
I don't understand why the animators in the "how they did it" extra, want to be so realistic. What's the point?
An add-on short, in which some of the main characters do their version of "American Idol" is cute and enjoyable, but not exceptional.
Shallow Hal (2001)
Surprisingly good
The Farrelly brothers eschew grossness for a gentle, kind and even insightful comedy about the superficiality of men and women. Excellent performances throughout, especially Jack Black's; and the fat make-up truly is convincing. Sure, the original idea turns predictable, but that's okay in this kind of movie.
Monsoon Wedding (2001)
Shining bright
This joyous, character-rich, family-based romance and melodrama also has comic aspects. It might remind you of Robert Altman but with better singing and dancing. It's laced with cultural, social and psychological edges -- including some dark ones. Overall, a well-made pleasure.
Three Ages (1923)
For Keaton fans, worth renting
Buster Keaton was finding his feature length voice in "Three Ages." There are some fine sequences, but it doesn't quite hang together. The "chariot race" in "Three Ages" is hilarious. Included are 2 shorts, one of which, "The Goat," is excellent.
The Saphead (1920)
"Saphead" stinks, but two shorts are outstanding!
Buster Keaton's first feature -- an awful romantic melodrama -- is straight acting, little comedy. Opening titles say the film, a remake of a pre-WWI Douglas Fairbanks movies version of a popular stage play, made Keaton a star. Hard to imagine considering how he's so different in this than in his shorts.
But the two 1921 shorts included on this disk --"The High Sign" and "One Week" -- are worth the rental. Both show the Keaton character we know: eager but initially less than effectual. The gags mix complicated settings (trap doors, house walls falling on the stars (which presage later films) and Keaton's amazing physical dexterity and risk-taking. You'll laugh out loud at the shorts.
The Saphead (1920)
"Saphead" stinks, but two shorts are outstanding!
Buster Keaton's first feature -- an awful romantic melodrama -- is straight acting, little comedy. Opening titles say the film, a remake of a pre-WWI Douglas Fairbanks movies version of a popular stage play, made Keaton a star. Hard to imagine considering how he's so different in this than in his shorts.
But the two 1921 shorts included on this disk --"The High Sign" and "One Week" -- are worth the rental. Both show the Keaton character we know: eager but initially less than effectual. The gags mix complicated settings (trap doors, house walls falling on the stars (which presage later films) and Keaton's amazing physical dexterity and risk-taking. You'll laugh out loud at the shorts.
Seven Chances (1925)
Sorry, but this doesn't work
You can see why MGM ruined Buster Keaton. In "Seven Chances," they stick him in a Broadway romantic comedy, for which he's totally unsuited. He even is well dressed, with slicked-up hair. The last third is a familiar chase sequence, totally out of character with the rest of the movie and below Keaton's standards.
However, what's worth seeing is one of two shorts tacked on the end of the DVD, "Neighbors." A character-based comedy (Buster's in love with the girl across the city fence; their parents try to keep them apart), it's sidesplitting and brilliant. Note: There are racial gags, some at white people's expense, others (sadly) at black's expense. At least Keaton used blacks in "Neighbors," not the whites in blackface in "Seven Chances."
The DVD is worth renting just for "Neighbors." Good music score, too.
Seven Chances (1925)
Sorry, but this doesn't work
You can see why MGM ruined Buster Keaton. In "Seven Chances," they stick him in a Broadway romantic comedy, for which he's totally unsuited. He even is well dressed, with slicked-up hair. The last third is a familiar chase sequence, totally out of character with the rest of the movie and below Keaton's standards.
However, what's worth seeing is one of two shorts tacked on the end of the DVD, "Neighbors." A character-based comedy (Buster's in love with the girl across the city fence; their parents try to keep them apart), it's sidesplitting and brilliant. Note: There are racial gags, some at white people's expense, others (sadly) at black's expense. At least Keaton used blacks in "Neighbors," not the whites in blackface in "Seven Chances."
The DVD is worth renting just for "Neighbors." Good music score, too.
A Knight's Tale (2001)
Fun.
When it works, this is a clever mix of medieval jousting and modern sensibilities. After a cute start, a slow middle, it builds to a decent, though predictable, ending. Attractive cast helps a lot, especially Paul Bettany as Chaucer (who'd do fine announcing for the WWF). Lovely women in cast, too. Fun movie (7 out of 10), only don't think too much about it, as movie wears thin an hour later.
Amos & Andrew (1993)
Satiric, silly and worth a look
The reviews for `Amos & Andrew' are all over the place, from Leonard Maltin's `BOMB' to The Washington Post Style section critic's rave (though the Post's Weekend section reviewer gave it a devastating pan).
Any movie that gets this range of reaction is not all bad, and `Amos & Andrew' has a number of redeeming values.
Its racial satire (which can be serious as well as slapstick, often in the same minute) seems a natural extension of Stanley Kramer's `The Defiant Ones' (1958). In both films, a white and a black man are handcuffed together and escaping from the law.
The differences between the films are telling, however. In `Defiant,' both men are racists. They know little about each other's race, except what they think is the bad stuff (if I remember the film correctly). But both are poor and, as the film reveals, have much more in common than they thought.
In `A&A,' the black man is a third generation, college-educated upper middleclass professional. He has succeeded in a white world (Pulitzer-prize; well-paid for his books and screenplays; a celebrity and a college professor; and more). But he still dislikes and distrusts whites, with reason.
The white man is a drifter and petty thief, but he doesn't dislike blacks; indeed, he probably knows them better than the black man. And he's as much an outsider as the black man.
These ideas, and the comedy evolving from them, make `A&A' fascinating and, sometimes in a simplistic way, thought-provoking. The humor often is sharp and funny, though it can become too silly and off the point. So the film is both clever and stupid, original and cliché.
I often found myself laughing out loud as the film piled on smart gag after smart gag, slowing down only at the obvious, familiar and overplayed ones.
Some may find the basic premise, a black man thought to be a burglar only because he's seen in a house in an exclusive white neighborhood, as tasteless and offensive, or at least not played out with sufficient outrage.
Others may be grateful that such a pointed idea was dramatized without self-righteous anger and superiority. To them, this modest, light touch conveyed the message much more effectively, especially to those who needed to hear it, than a harder-edged film might have.
Overall, there's enough good stuff in 'A&A,' including the acting by Nicholas Cage (when he still was good) and Samuel L. Jackson to push the film to a 2 ½ to 3-star rating. It's worth a look.