Very upbeat, very lively. Much better than I expected, to be honest... enjoyed the cast and surprisingly found nothing wrong with Travolta as Edna... except that he was heavily outshone by several others. Nikki Blonsky -- wow -- glued to her in every scene; she's that infectious. Amanda Bynes was a welcome sweetheart, Christopher Walken was spot-on, and most importantly, MICHELLE PFEIFFER IS AWESOME. I saw this the day after seeing Stardust (another 8-rating from me); she steals the whole movie in Stardust and plays a terrific villain here too. Such beauty (without even attempting to be 'younger' than she is -- take that, Hollywood!) and brilliant emphasis-without-over-acting on every facial gesture. Two movies out, two roles not-to-miss. Hollywood -- more Michelle Pfeiffer, please! For Hairspray, not only are the roles fun, but the music is so toe-tapping and up-tempo -- I was wrapped-up in this movie and left it humming "Can't Stop the Beat" -- who can ask for more than that from a film. Fun, oodles of fun!
Reviews
7 Reviews
Stardust
(2007)
Most original story this summer -- and enjoyable too!
10 August 2007
Very pleasantly surprised by the movie -- it has steady pacing that neither drags nor speeds, and I found the story engrossing even if it is a fairy tale of sorts. Set design and art direction are perfect, as are the key characters... and how great is it to finally have a movie worth seeing that isn't a sequel to something else?! I do fear they've mis-pitched this movie in recent weeks, as it's as much a movie for the pre-teen crowd as anything else pushed directly at them, but like all really good family movies (Princess Bride comes to mind), adults will find plenty to like in Stardust as well -- which probably explains the recent ads and their 'more-grown-up' feel about the film. Well worth the trip to the cinema -- I suspect at the end of the year I'll remember this movie more than any of the others I've seen this summer.
Spider-Man 3
(2007)
Heinously bad script and execution
26 April 2007
A jumble of poorly-conceived scenes and even more poorly-written scripting. Perhaps as bad a script as Star Wars Ep.3.... no, in fact I think it may be worse. A real pity; once again I left the theatre wondering how so many people could be involved in making something like this without someone somewhere within the process saying, "wow, this really sucks". Tremendously poor film-making, a tragedy for each of the actors within it -- let's hope their careers can recover from it. Sony -- time for some heads to roll over this one; talk about an "annus horriblus" for the one-time kings (and it's no accident that Spiderman uses the same font for the "3" as used for Playstation... Sony, ditch your marketers first, then cull the film division).
C.R.A.Z.Y.
(2005)
L.O.V.E.D. this film -- perhaps the best directing in our history?
19 November 2005
English Canada -- this is a must-see. A perfect period piece from a period when a whole country -- be it "Canada" or "Quebec" -- really came of age. Montreal was the centre of the country (Expo, Olympics... and the Quiet Revolution) yet that's barely in the background of what is instead an honest, vibrant, realistic portrayal of life back then. But enough of the setting, which alone was worth the price of admission... C.R.A.Z.Y. is potentially the best directed film I've ever seen from this country -- and that's including the likes of the amazing Arcand, the exciting Lauzon, Jewison, Egoyan and even Cronenburg. Jean-Marc Vallée has crafted a remarkable, riveting story that perfectly balances the life of one character within the scope of a large and diverse family. He easily melds time-lines and ages, fantasy sequences with harsher reality, and best of all a teenager's conflict between being himself and being who everybody else wants him to be (especially when everyone from your father to the girl that loves you to your brother to your mother want something & someone different). I came out of this film breathless -- I was so wrapped-up in these lives that I actually didn't want it to end... a credit that I think has to go to the director. More impressively, he didn't use a lot of tricks to keep the audience glued and the story flowing -- I don't recall any panning, swooping camera shots or goofy camera angles -- he instead focused on strong actors in focused roles, didn't overwrite or caricaturize them, and melded them into the feel of the time (washing cars, loving a particular vinyl LP, blowing smoke rings). Best of all, the use of music... wow, it's been a while since I recall a movie tying music -- both from the records and from family gathering karaoke -- so seamlessly and perfectly into the overall feel of the film... the "Major Tom" scene alone was perfection but it's just one of many in the film. Other period pieces will place the Stones over a scene to remind you that the setting is 1967; C.R.A.Z.Y. uses the music instead to remind you of how much music influenced your own character and personality in the same way that it's influencing the characters. There's also perfect use of repeated images and icons -- the film really is brilliantly crafted.
In an era where Hollywood Studios have gotten so boring that the notion of being riveted to the screen is a fleeting memory and the norm is looking at your watch to say "jeez, is this over yet" while wondering why they chose to tack three more endings onto the movie, it's way beyond refreshing to know that films from outside of Hollywood still know how to keep viewers involved. Jean-Marc Vallée has put together a timeless film that will appeal to many, crosses all cultural boundaries easily and is satisfying from opening scene to the end. I can't say enough good about the movie, but I will say that English Canada should run out to see it simply because we can -- apparently there may not be a distribution of the movie in the U.S., which I can only think is a pity for the Americans as they'll be missing what is easily the best family-life film in a long time and will rank for me as one of the best films of this year and perhaps even this decade.
In an era where Hollywood Studios have gotten so boring that the notion of being riveted to the screen is a fleeting memory and the norm is looking at your watch to say "jeez, is this over yet" while wondering why they chose to tack three more endings onto the movie, it's way beyond refreshing to know that films from outside of Hollywood still know how to keep viewers involved. Jean-Marc Vallée has put together a timeless film that will appeal to many, crosses all cultural boundaries easily and is satisfying from opening scene to the end. I can't say enough good about the movie, but I will say that English Canada should run out to see it simply because we can -- apparently there may not be a distribution of the movie in the U.S., which I can only think is a pity for the Americans as they'll be missing what is easily the best family-life film in a long time and will rank for me as one of the best films of this year and perhaps even this decade.
Sky High
(2005)
Fun Movie!
29 July 2005
It's like a new John Hughes movie, complete with '80s music (nicely covered). Sure it includes every cliché from teen/highschool/mutant movies, but it meshes in a surprisingly enjoyable film. More fun than anything else I've seen this summer (which normally wouldn't be saying a lot, but this movie really is worth the ticket price for a change). If you like "The Incredibles" (and lets face it, who didn't?!), you'll enjoy Sky High. Great cameos too -- Lynda Carter looks terrific in her role and is a really sharp casting choice (shame they didn't let her wear the bracelets!). Sky High -- one to see for sure and a good DVD too, I'd say.
Ummm... did I miss something? (Mild spoilers included)
21 May 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Blinding action? Relentless pace? Over-the-top crap to me. Whatever happened to the simple moments, the light-hearted breaks, the banter? Putting it into the over-done, over-long opening alone doesn't cut it. And how is it possible that TEAMS of filmmakers working on the layer-on-layer-on-multiple-layer of FX in every frick'n scene could stand to watch those pathetically bad dialogue passages without one of them saying "um, George -- this stuff is crap". "Love me like you did on Naboo..."? Vader going "NOOOOOOooooo!"? Crap, all of it. Holy cow, I'm at a loss here to see how anyone can call this a good film. What's presented is non-stop battle, which folks can argue was the point of the episode, but where within Ep.III was the exciting chase/race scene, the tension of "will the hyper-drive work", the visual break the eye needs where a solo villain character marches slowly, menacingly toward its prey with nothing whizzing around it? Every scene is deliberately set in front of a large window or moving landscape solely for the purpose of allowing more effects to whiz by -- well enough is enough!! Sometimes movies just need to focus on characters for a few minutes, you know -- have them set in front of a static wall or something so you look at them... and in this one all we get of that is a few moments with Anakin/Padme mouthing awful love lines to each other (AWFUL!) and then the Jedi Council deliberating about Anakin -- yet again with all of Coruscant's traffic buzzing outside the window. Dammit George -- all that visual clutter just ruins things... and it makes me sleepy watching it all. Sleepy ain't supposed to happen in an action movie, but by the time the end was finally approaching I was zoned out and wishing it all to be over. Disappointing, disappointing, disappointing... ...and don't even get me started about the weaknesses in how it links to Ep.IV (an 18-20 year build time for the Death Star that began construction with no political rebels established yet not a single eventual rebel EVER knew of it's development in 18-20 years? That was what I call a weak, WEAK (a.k.a. "crap") way of linking forward -- 15 seconds of silent shot?! -- where was the creativity??
Going the Distance
(2004)
Fun & silly with great Canadian scenery -- what more could you want?
6 March 2005
I was really pleased with this film -- sure, it's teen sex-comedy pap, but at least the actors are respectable, the dialogue believable and the scenery terrific. As the genre goes, it's right up there with the rest, and in some ways even better -- i.e., as much as we wanted it to happen, when did Stifler ever really literally get it in the end? Tyler did (and Shawn Roberts looked really, REALLY great in that role)and they never bowed to cheapening the joke by making it into something that a straight guy would never recover from -- they even went so far as to have him like it! Unlike the American comedies, where the macho guys pull pranks to have a laugh at the expense of their friends, the characters here were supportive of each other, and watched out for each other (very noble, very Canadian). And did I mention that Shawn Roberts is really HOT! This movie is worth seeing (shame it didn't do too well at the box office) -- and when was the last time we got a Canadian road movie that clearly was shot in Canada?! Well done MUCH -- I hope you continue with similar films that put a Canadian twist on American (Pie) movie styles, even if they are low-brow. And to those of you who think Canadians shouldn't be making or watching low-brow -- get over it! There's room out there for us to watch all movie types, and whereas sometimes you want a movie that moves you, other times you just wanna see some hotties put into positions the American movie-makers won't touch (thank you "Cougars" scene!).
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