Krillian Reviews

The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

Meryl Streep is deliciously devilish

[8/10 · 1 July 2006]

Anne Hathaway plays a sweet person who finds herself employed in the fashion world, a place full of shallow, bitter, miserable, stuck-up, Machiavellian snobs. Why would she want to work there one day? Nevertheless, determined not to quit, she does a better and better job, while those around her accuse her of selling her soul. I thought the movie was pretty funny. Meryl Streep is such a powerful editrix she gets a laugh with a dry eyebrow-raise. Hathaway was a sympathetic protagonist. I kept rooting for her to wake up and realize she's better than everyone around her and needs to quit the magazine now, NOW! Stanley Tucci is really good as the sniping art director who eventually takes Hathaway under his wing so she can survive. I should mention my wife hated it. She said it was a movie about a good person who slowly loses her integrity while everyone around here is mean and gets away with it.

Hail to the Chief (1985)

Pretty funny 1980's sitcom

[3 March 2005]

I remember this show being pretty funny. It would air well on Trio or Bravo back-to-back with Soap, as the two are similar in style and humor. Patty Duke was a good lead as Pres. Mansfield, and I remember Dick Shawn (LSD from the movie The Producers) having a blast as the Russian premier. Richard Paul was also good as a reverend who thought it was blasphemy to have a female president. It gave him good practice for when he'd start playing Rev. Jerry Falwell. (He played Falweel in The People vs. Larry Flynt and also in the 1990 TV-movie Fall from Grace, starring Kevin Spacey and Bernadette Peters and Jim & Tammy Faye Bakker.) Hopefully someday a cable channel will tire of the usual sitcom reruns and give this one a shot.

Wicker Park (2004)

This is a movie that works in spite of itself

[6/10 · 7 October 2004]

WICKER PARK

Cast: Josh Hartnett, Rose Byrne, Matthew Lillard, Diane Kruger. Director: Paul McGuinan.

***

This is a movie that works in spite of itself. It was marketed as a Single White Female type thriller, but it's really more of a somber reflection on obsession. If the main characters had email, the movie would be over before it started, but the character study and emotional investment by the actors overcame the convoluted plot.

The movie goes back and forth in the timeline, cutting between present day and two years ago. Two years ago, Matt (Josh Hartnett) fell in love at first sight with Lisa (Diane Kruger), and he would follow her for a while before he had the courage to approach her. In the present, Matt is engaged to be married, but when he thinks he sees Lisa across a crowded room, he loses her, but he skips a business trip to try to track her down.

As we watch the two timelines, we're left wondering. Why did Lisa disappear on Matt the first time? When finally does find Lisa, it's a different woman. Have we entered Mulholland Drive territory?

Josh Hartnett, whom I can take or leave depending on the movie he's in (I took him in Black Hawk Down, I left him in Hollywood Homicide), brings a real sincerity to his character's inner struggle. Rose Byrne is also really good as the dark-haired Lisa. Matthew Lillard is effective as the wise-acre best-friend, showing subtleties the role of Shaggy would not permit. Diane Kruger, the blond Lisa, is about as forgettable as she was as Helen in Troy.

Once it was all over, I'd say a good 25% of the audience was laughing at the plot contrivances, but sometimes a movie can overcome obstacles as basic as its story. Rated PG-13 for sexual situations.

Wimbledon (2004)

So-So Romantic Comedy in the Tired Hugh Grant tradition

[5/10 · 23 September 2004]

I liked it as I watched it, but as it drew to its ultra-predictable conclusion, I realized just how shallow it was. Movies like this depend on the charm of their two leads, and Paul Bettany holds up his end, but Kirsten Dunst's underwritten, underperformed character as little more than "the girl" prevents the movie from achieving romantic magic. In fact, Kirsten Dunst is losing it for me.

Dunst was a wet blanket in Spider-Man 2, an ever-whiny Mary Jane who could not convincingly perform the tiny part in Broadway's Importance of Being Earnest revival. Here, there doesn't appear to be a soul to her free-spirit tennis pro. Dunst's eyes just look blank, like she's going through the motions to collect a paycheck.

The plot really centers around Bettany's character. He's a 30-something British tennis pro whose ranking has slipped to 118th in the world. He's decided to retire as a time when no one really notices, and he'll make Wimbledon his last tournament. While there, he starts to fall for a young American rising star.

We know at the beginning of every match who's going to win. We know when Bettany loses the girl, he's going to get her back. This is from the production company who brought us Love Actually, and this movie could've been the tenth subplot cut out of that movie. I heard a lot of the older people commenting on what a "cute" movie it was, but there's really nothing substantial here, nice as it is to see Bettany in a romantic leading-man role. Rated PG-13 for language and sexual situations.

Cellular (2004)

Solid fast-paced summer movie

[7/10 · 23 September 2004]

There are many mystery movies and mistaken-identity comedies that could be solved if someone would just pick up a cell phone to straighten everything out. How nice to see a movie that acknowledges we have this technology in our world.

Cellular starts quickly and doesn't let go. Kim Basinger plays a school teacher who gets kidnapped. While trapped in the attic, she repairs a smashed-up phone enough that she can dial a number. That number belongs to the cell of a beach kid named Ryan. Ryan thinks it's a prank, but the longer he stays on the line, the more he realizes it's real. He then has to jump through all sorts of hoops to stay on the line.

My favorite scene came from William H. Macy. Macy plays a cop who is slowly understanding what's going on. There's a scene where he calls the house and gets an answering machine, and when he hangs up, we get about twenty seconds where we just watch his face as his mind puts the pieces together. It's a great piece of work.

There was even a twist I didn't see coming. I literally gasped, to which my two friends turned to me like "You didn't see that coming?"

So Cellular was ultimately a satisfying experience. I liked the plot, I liked the pacing, and it had William H. Macy raise the bar for everyone else. Rated PG-13 for language and violence.

Mission: Impossible II (2000)

John Woo's direction almost makes up for cheesy choices

[5/10 · 24 May 2000]

Overall this wasn't that bad a movie, but there were just too many times I groaned or unintentionally laughed at something going on. It's about as good as the first one, even though it's not very similar to it. Dougray Scott tried too hard to be evil, and the script gave him some bad lines. I love seeing Anthony Hopkins in anything, but his screen time totaled probably five minutes. Ving Rhames had a lot less to do this time around than he did in the first one.

Wizards and Warriors (1983)

Short-lived but it was campy fun while it lasted

[10 June 1999]

I remember seeing this one episode where arch-enemies Jeff Conaway and Duncan Regehr had to rely on each other to get out of a cursed cave. Regehr tried to kill Conaway at every turn but Conaway kept reminding him he needed his help to escape alive. This came out when Dungeons & Dragons was peaking in popularity and Dragonslayer had just hit theaters. This was a predecessor to Hercules and Xena.

The Black Hole (1979)

Best left in the past

[14 April 1999]

I saw this movie for the first time recently (April 1999) and it was very odd. First of all, the woman communicates with the robot via telepathy. HUH? The robots look Ed Wood quality. Anthony Perkins is billed second but is hardly given anything to do. The post-Star Wars laser blasts look about as high-tech as those at the end of Rocky Horror.

The movie is boring since most of it takes place on one ship. If it were released today, the robots alone would get it laughed right out of the multiplexes. Still I can't say it was worse than Wing Commander.

Patch Adams (1998)

The comedy is funny, but the dramatics get manipulative.

[5/10 · 3 January 1999]

Robin Williams is still funny, though I tend to find him funnier on Letterman than in his movies. Patch Adams starts out funny, but as we progress, we have to get to the conflicts and "drama" of the story, and some of the plot devices feel borrowed from Good Morning Vietnam or Dead Poets Society, and the ending is right out of White Squall. And I didn't like it when White Squall did it either.

Tom Shadyac is a comedy director (Liar Liar) and the dramatics felt like button-pushing. Overall, it was still okay, but it didn't deserve any Golden Globe nominations.

Meet Joe Black (1998)

Would've been better if it was an hour shorter

[4/10 · 3 January 1999]

Counting previews, MJB was a three-hour movie. The story isn't really that complex. It felt like a giant ego-trip by the director to drag out every scene as though we are going to ponder the wisdom bestowed to us in every frame.

And yet, I spent most of the movie wondering why no one ever asked what the afterlife was like! Brad Pitt plays Death, he tells Anthony Hopkins he's going to die soon, and Hopkins doesn't ask about the afterlife or his dead wife or any of that. It's not like the movie didn't have enough time to explore these aspects. Despite the director's indulgence and Pitt's unbelievably portrayal of Death, Hopkins still pulls off some wonderful moments. The direction, the screenplay, the lack of editing and Pitt's performance all warrant this a thumbs-down.