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Reviews
Buddy (1997)
I'm not sure why, but I stayed to the end
I was lucky (?) enough to receive free tickets to Buddy during its opening week. I stood in a line with other people who were too cheap or too bright to spend money on this bomb.
The question that came up in the movie most in my mind was, "Why?" Not, "Why did this woman try to raise a gorilla?" or, "Why did this woman dress chimpanzees in little outfits?" but rather, "Why was this movie released to the public?"
If you want a rampaging gorilla movie, there's always any of the King Kong movies. If you want beautiful people, check out anything on MTV. If you want a fish out of water movie, check out any of thousands of other movies from roughly 1900 through today.
Happy Feet (2006)
I wish there were a word worse than "abysmal" that wasn't obscene
Happy Feet had a strong message, which was, "Gee, what powerful rendering engines the filmmakers had." At the point the camera panned back to show North America, then the whole Earth, with a somber, percussive soundtrack, I leaned over to a friend and whispered, "The End." I realize that over-analyzing a film for children is a certain path to inanity, but you'd think the filmmakers could have done some analysis of how to avoid some of the sheer awfulness thrust upon an unsuspecting audience.
My 11-year-old son, a longtime fan of Spongebob Squarepants, told me that this film was, "really bad." And he liked Barnyard.
Just so it's clear, I believe strongly in biodiversity, conservation of natural resources, recycling, etc., so the political and moral message of the movie would have resonated with me if it hadn't been for the blatant penguinization of Elijah Wood, the sad, weird stereotype penguin ethnicities, and the jarring introduction of humans into the penguin world. Plus, Robin Williams has sort of declined since Dead Poets Society.
This isn't a movie to see. If a friend offers to show it to you for free with popcorn, feign illness.
Nochnoy dozor (2004)
Makes me want to learn Russian
I saw the trailer for this movie, and I was pretty impressed by the special effects. When I heard that a major weekly entertainment magazine had rated the movie with a very poor rating, I was ready to be disappointed. Night Watch exceeded all of my expectations. The story was a classic good versus evil plot, but the antihero elements and moral ambiguity of the Night Watch really put an interesting spin on what could have been a formulaic narrative. While I would have been better served by having been able to speak Russian fluently before entering the theater, the subtitles were certainly well done. I especially liked the creative way the subtitles were incorporated into the scenes, at least in the English language release. I'm anxiously looking forward to seeing Day Watch.
Cabin Boy (1994)
High brow, or low brow
Cabin Boy displays a type of humor that crosses several categories. There's some slapstick, there's some meanness, there's a lot of weirdness, and there's some slight naughtiness. It seems to be in the same vein as the late 90s/early 2000s TV show, Family Guy.
Family Guy (1999)
Extremely funny with good use of cartoon medium
The Family Guy makes great use of the cartoon medium to be able to match visual effects to the dialogue and story. The characters aren't as defined as the characters in other animated prime time comedies (The Simpsons, The Critic, The Flintstones), but they are great vehicles for the jokes. I laughed out loud for at least a full minute at a couple of the scenes in the episode where Peter meets his disabled neighbor. This is one to watch if you have a slightly eccentric sense of humor.