flovece Reviews

Doogal (2006)

Moral challenges??

[9/10 · 27 February 2006]

How anyone could see "moral challenges" in this sweet, big-hearted film about friendship, loyalty and doing what's right is just mind-boggling. A clue to the above comment may be the comparison to the Christian-themed "Veggie Tales" movie. An example would have been useful. I have no idea WHAT could have that prompted that WAY-out-of-left-field comment, but it's certainly not fair to judge the movie through a religious-fundamentalist lens. This is about as moral and upstanding a kid's movie as any ever made, even addressing the dog Doogal's seeming addition to candy (which is just like the Cookie Monster's addiction to cookies, on the utterly wholesome "Sesame Street").

The 100 Scariest Movie Moments (2004)

Rollicking romp through thrillers

[9/10 · 29 March 2005]

It's amazing that something this smart/insightful can be so much fun. The producers took a gaggle of talking heads and had them comment on a clip filled countdown of scary/suspenseful movie moments — in everything from horror/SF movies to things like Wait Until Dark. (The full list is at Bravo.com.) Rerun a few times a year, it stays watchable even after you've seen bits and pieces of it already. (It's five hours.)

Basically it's like those VH1 music countdowns, and the fun is in the variety of who they picked to comment. These include big-name filmmakers and authors, offbeat fans like the Swedish Bikini Team (or the St. Pauli Girls or whoever the hell those blond twins are), and film experts such as my favorite, the ever-fabulous MAITLAND McDONAGH, whose books, such as "Filmmaking on the Fringe," "The 50 Most Erotic Films of All Time" and the definitive Dario Argento bio, "Broken Mirrors, Broken Minds," are damn good readin'.