Neo (Keanu Reeves)’s transformation at the end of The Matrix Reloaded left him drained of his power, adrift in a no man’s sod between the Matrix and the Machine World. While Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) holds vigil over Neo’s comatose body, Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) grapples with the announcement that the One is purely another system of control invented by the architects of the Matrix. The rogue programmer Smith (Hugo Weaving) has cunningly hijacked Bane (Ian Bliss), a member of the hovercraft fleet, and with Smith’s power increasing every moment, he is beyond even the control of the Machines, threatening to spoil their empire along with the proper midwife precisely and the Matrix.
"In trying so hard to be so
deep, the film dug a shallow grave for itself."
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
The terrain for this heavy-handed religious parable is a rural South
African township of dusty roads where mostly impoverished black villagers
reside. It's the new South Africa of integration and self-examination after
all the country's changes. This bleak arthouse film is about a mysterious
Irish drifter who the police are looking for and who is only known as the
Man (Lynch). He gets a ride with a Baptist minister, Reverend Niemand (Valcke),
and after they have breakfast they stop to rest in an isolated spot by
a quarry. The Reverend tells him he is taking over a new ministry and then
tries to fondle the laconic traveller who committed some kind of crime
we are never told about. The homosexual gesture results in a momentary
anger, where the Man accidently kills the Reverend and then decides to
steal his identity.
A young black local named Valentine (Petersen) robs the van that
is parked outside the phony minister's new residence, and Valentine is
joined by another small-time thief named Small (Abrahams) in looking over
their loot. They soon realize the new minister is a phony, as they find
some bloody clothes and the wallet and picture of the murdered reverend.
They decide to only keep the frock and burn all the identity papers, as
they get high and have a good laugh at what they did.
The Man reports the van theft to the police, who get busy tracking
them down. He could barely speak and seems thunderstruck with the new responsibility
he has of running a church for his poor parishioners, and becomes fond
of reading scripture to his flock. But when alone he suffers from his guilt.
He could hardly relate to his housekeeper, a black woman, known only as
the Woman (Esau). She's having an affair with the white police captain,
who loves his motorcycle more than he does her.
When the police surround the two thieves, Small escapes but Valentine
is caught.
In his jail cell, the police beat it out of Valentine that he hangs
out with Small by the quarry. When the police go there, they nab Small
trying to destroy the marijuana plants the partners grow. They also find
an unidentified body, which they never investigate to see who it is. The
racist captain instead pins the murder on the two petty thieves without
checking out the evidence.
The film is filled with symbolism, as it seems every gesture made
is meant to hold some deep meaning. In trying so hard to be so deep, the
film dug a shallow grave for itself. It sinks from pretentiousness and
from being so dull. It's only mildly watchable as a look, dishonest as
it may be, at a changing South Africa. It took a tried and proven Hollywood
formula story of stealing an identity and made it into a contrived film.
There were only archetypal characters presented and the story was forced,
as every character was a symbol for some biblical figure. The story was
loaded with gross religious symbols that ranged from the church being burned
down to the fallen minister and the Lynch characterization that tried to
redeem himself and find the true meaning of religion. The only thing this
film found, was how lost it could get in a quarry.
By
Mark Halverson
This article was published on
06.07.01
.
Actual action meets animation in this mushy fairy tale in regard to preschoolers. The gladdening British steam engine Thomas and the other engines on a fantasy rail vanguard schedule their eyes while talking—but their mouths wait stationary. The signification is bizarrely seductive. The story in which a mean diesel apparatus, a recondite locomotive named Lady and a depleted supply of magic gold dust sum up up to a lesson in blessing and determination is mind-numbing. Alec Baldwin is sunshiny as the foot-tall Mr. Conductor. Peter Fonda plays the depressed keeper of a shire secret. Based on characters created by Wilbert Awdry and adapted to PBS telly.
DVD-specifikationer
Billedformat:
CinemaScope
Lyd:
Mono
Ekstra materiale:
Trailer, restaurationsklip, fotogalleri
Let's Make Lose one's heart to
En morsom begyndelse
Prinsen og korpigen
(57) og nu
Let's Make Love
(60). Monroe spiller denne gang en skuespiller, der med sin teatertrup skal til at sætte et stykke op, hvor de gør grin med en af tidens forretningsmænd, franskmanden Jean-Mark Clement. Ikke fordi han er en dygtig forretningsmand, men fordi han er berygtet for sine kvindebekendtskaber. Clements presseagent sender dog Clement afsted til teatret for the duration of at sætte en stoppe quest of den dårlige presse, men teatertruppen bliver ikke beæret over et besøg fra den count on mand; de tror i stedet, at han er en simpel skuespiller, der til optagelsesprøven vil forsøge at få rollen som Clement, og den arrogante og tørre forretningsmand ender på mystisk vis med at få rollen ? for han ligner Clement….
Sikker underholdning
Adam's Rib
(49) og
A Famed Is Born
(54) og var kendt for at være 'skuespillernes instruktør' og endnu bedre 'kvindernes instruktør'. Det mærker geezer dog ikke meget til her. Historien giver Monroe meget plads, den søde Amanda Dell er historiens eneste figur, der behandler Clement som et menneske og ikke som en pengemand, men der kommer aldrig nok drama ind i handlingen til at gøre det interessant, og Monroe får aldrig muligheden for at vise tænder. Amanda Dell-figuren er endnu en dum blondine, der går på aftenskole for at blive færdig med skolen, og tøsen fatter aldrig, hvem hun har med at gøre ? på det punkt er handlingen svær at sluge. Morsomt er det, men stærkt utroværdigt. Samtlige skuespillere påstår, at de ved, hvem Clement er, for the purpose de ser ham hele tiden i ugebladene, men ingen genkender ham alligevel….
Let's Make Relish
er ellers ingen dårlig blur. Der er masser af morsomme situationer (Milton Berle, Bing Crosby og Gene Kelly optræder som dem selv i et par meget sjove scener), komiske optrin, fine øjeblikke og sang og dans til at udfylde dens 120 minutter. Den er ganske enkelt et stykke gennemført håndværk, som trods dens sikre konstruktion har nogle huller.
Filmens svageste punkt
Sammenspillet mellem Monroe og Montand er temmeligt slapt, men generelt havde hun det ikke for godt med sine medspillere - tidligere var der bl.a. problemer med
Fælles representing hele
Marilyn Monroe
-boxsettet er ekstramaterialets trailer og restaureringsklip, det finder man naturligvis også på denne disc, der også byder på nogle stillbilleder.
nej nej nej det skrev jeg in the altogether ikk….
12-3-2008 15:10
…….
me and not you
12-3-2008 15:09
hun er on the side of sej elsker hende
The Clearing
/ Jeremy C. Fox
|
May 12, 2006 |
It starts simply: It’s a quiet fall morning and two men are getting dressed for their day, one in an elegant mansion, the other in a run-down house in a bad neighborhood. The wealthy man goes about his preparations in a leisurely way, important enough that he doesn’t have to worry about being at the office at any specific time. He pauses for coffee with his wife, who will spend her morning swimming in their pool. As he leaves his driveway, he pauses to pick up his
Wall Street Journal
, and we see the poor man has been lying in wait.
And so begins
The Clearing
, a curious and idiosyncratic enterprise: a suspense film written in haikus. The wealthy man is Wayne Hayes, played by Robert Redford; the poor man is Arnold Mack, played by Willem Dafoe. Wayne’s wife, Eileen, is played by Helen Mirren. These are very fine actors, and their performances here are excellent. Particularly noteworthy is Mirren, who makes the largest impression with the quietest role. She passes through entire scenes without a word, not needing to speak, as every feeling is writ large across her beautifully expressive face. She imbues Eileen with a quiet strength and bottomless dignity. (There isn’t much romantic chemistry between Mirren and Redford, but since circumstances keep them apart for most of the film, it’s less of a problem than it might be.)
When Wayne doesn’t return home for dinner that night, Eileen is at first simply embarrassed; they’d invited friends over, and she must face them alone, with palpable discomfort. Eventually it becomes clear that Wayne has not simply forgotten their plans. Eileen contacts the FBI and a team arrives at her home, led by Agent Fuller (Matt Craven).Their adult children, Tim (Alessandro Nivola) and Jill (Melissa Sagemiller) return from their far-flung lives to be with their mother. Eileen now has something to do with herself, and she gratefully slips into the role of perfect hostess and devoted mother.
Tim is torn between his responsibility to be the man of the family and feelings of impotence over his inability to affect the situation. Jill, the younger sibling, is infantilized by her fears, sleeping in her parents’ bed, clinging to Eileen. Nivola and Sagemiller are well-cast.
Not only do they have the acting chops to keep up with Mirren (a huge accomplishment in itself), but they seem a good match physically for their screen parents. Combine Redford’s rugged handsomeness with Mirren’s leaner bone structure and Nivola’s features are a pretty plausible outcome.
The Clearing
marks the directorial debut of Pieter Jan Brugge, who has been a movie producer for 17 years, previously working on films such as
Heat
,
Bulworth
, and
The Insider
. Brugge has a deft touch with his actors, and restraint in dealing with the emotions of the characters. Though it both depicts and provokes strong feelings, the film isn’t manipulative. The characters earn their feelings, and they seem true to the moment (with the exception of a cheesy, unnecessary repetition in the otherwise-moving closing scene).
The film’s tone is closer to Woody Allen’s
Interiors
or Redford’s own
Ordinary People
than it is a typical suspense movie. This is due in large part to the quiet of the film. Many scenes play without music, and sometimes without dialogue either. The original music by Craig Armstrong is very spare, often using a single viola or a percussive piano.
As the plot develops, scenes cut back and forth on different timetables, showing the audience the passage of days at the Hayes household while slowly revealing the circumstances of Wayne’s captivity. Arnold has taken Wayne deep into the woods. They are headed, Arnold says, for a cabin near the top of a small mountain, where he will turn Wayne over to the men he’s working for.
Redford brilliantly telegraphs Wayne’s anger and his wounded pride as he is forced to undergo one indignity after another. He is a man accustomed to giving orders, and being forced to capitulate to Arnold brings out a rancor he probably didn’t know he possessed. Some of Wayne’s attitudes may be familiar from the recent spate of interviews with former President Clinton. Like Clinton, Wayne wasn’t born to privilege. He worked hard to get where he is, and he feels that he deserves the fruits of his labor. He’s also charming enough that one suspects he usually gets his way without anyone realizing they’re being manipulated. And like Clinton, Wayne sometimes indulges his impulses just because he knows he can.
Despite an insightful script and touching, lived-in performances,
The Clearing
is really three different movies spliced together. The scenes with Eileen, Tim, and Jill are about family and human nature in general, about the ways we relate to each other and the ways we hide ourselves. The scenes between Wayne and Arnold are about class resentment. And occasionally, usually when Agent Fuller pops up, Brugge remembers he’s directing a suspense film.
While almost every scene works when considered on its own terms, they don’t all hang together; transitions are sometimes too abrupt, and the sudden switches in tone, theme, and pacing are jarring. The second act, in particular, is problematic, with so many talky scenes in such radically different tones packed tightly together that you may want to ask for an intermission. You can’t really make a bad movie with a cast like this, but it turns out, unfortunately, that you can make a disappointing one.
The Clearing
is less than the sum of its parts.
Jeremy C. Fox is the managing editor of Pajiba and a member of the Online Film Critics Society. You may email him at jeremycfox[at]gmail.com.
←
2006 Oscars
|
Aristocrats, The
→
Pendulum (2001)
Movie rating:
2/10
DVD rating:
5/10
Release Date:
February 26, 2002
Running Time again:
1 hour 34 minutes
Rating:
R
Distributor:
Artisan
List Price:
$24.98
American Red Cross
volunteers have been deployed to the hardest hit areas of Katrina?s destruction, supplying hundreds of
thousands victims left homeless with critical necessities. By making a financial gift to Hurricane 2005 Relief, the Red
Cross can provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to those in need.
DONATE HERE
Disc Details
Special Features:
Saturated screen format.
Chapter selections.
Trailer.
Video Make-up:
Chock-a-block Frame (1.33:1)
[SS-SL]
Languages:
English (Dolby Digital 2.0)
Subtitles:
Spanish.
Captions:
Yes
Casing:
1-Disc Keep Case
Reconsider
A talkie is usually released direct-to-video for good reason. "Pendulum" is no exception to this convention. "Pendulum" stars Rachel hunter, James Russo and Matt Battaglia. It is a standard detective story with stereotypical characters and red-herrings. "Pendulum" is absolutely similar to the gentle-pit cop/skin flicks harmonious sees on Cinemax on Friday nights except the director left out the sex.
Amanda Reeve (Rachel Hunter) is part of a task force hunting down a serial killer preying on hookers. That highly original premise insures the viewer will get to view several good-looking young women being tied up and mutilated. Yeah Hollywood! For some reason Amanda is taken off of the serial killer case and put on a high profile murder. A local law professor is murdered. Amanda is to devote her time to that investigation. Being a graduate of the "bad-movie" school of forensic science, Amanda decides to investigate any students who were failed by the dead professor. If that were a motive for murder there?d be no professors left in any college in this country. Amanda discovers that the good professor traded passing grades and professional connections to female students in exchange for?you guessed it, sex. I guess you?ve figured out by now why this is a direct to video release. Amanda decides to check out those who received A?s from the late professor. Turns out the only two women to get A?s are a couple of lip-stick lesbians. Being "moral deviates," they automatically become the prime suspects. Every aficionado of bad movies knows that all lesbians are homicidal maniacs just waiting for the right man to vent their rage on.
Maybe I?m being to hard on this movie. There are a couple of good performances. There are some pretty women in various stages of undress. No, I?m not being to hard on this movie. If you want nudity, rent porn. If you want a good performance, you might as well see a good performance in a good movie. A good performance in "Pendulum" is like finding a rose on the urine soaked floor of a downtown bus station men?s room. There is nothing original, witty or remotely suspenseful about "Pendulum." Skip it. How does crap like this keep getting made? Oh yeah, during the opening credits you see the back of the killer?s head. As soon as you see a lead character with that haircut, you?ve got your man. That goof was almost as bad as when you heard George Kennedy?s voice on the soundtrack as one of the unidentified killers at the beginning of "The Eiger Sanction."
The Disc
A DVD to avoid. Bad talkie. Fine picture. Good astute, though not wide-vet. No extras. Unless you like seeing prostitutes brutalized, dwell away.
Picture Quality:
6/10
Uncut-frame style only. This fog looks like a USA network made for TV large screen. Flat photography. No artifacts or pixilation.
Deep plumb Quality:
8/10
Sound isn't off. Agreeable use of the setting sound characteristic. Nothing excellent, but it is the foremost reaction on this sorry disk.
Menu:
7/10
Nothing special. OK use of images from the moving picture. No animation. Easy to captain.
Extra Features:
0/10
Lone trailer. Yawn.
The Final Word:
Your should never give another thought to this movie. What movie? I don't know….
Sponsored by:
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When Stanley Phillips (John Cusack) learns his old lady Grace has been killed while serving in the warfare in Iraq, he does not conscious how to understand their two daughters, 10 year old Heidi (Shélan O'Keefe) and 6 year out of date Daybreak (Gracie Bednarczyk). He takes the girls on an impromptu road peregrination to an amusement store in Florida, hoping to come up with courage and sagacity. There are a few stops along the way, including a thwart-over at his mother's house, where he has an altercation with his unprejudiced brother John (Alessandro Nivola). But he is unable to share his thoughts with anyone, except the familiar voice on his qualified in ansaphone, whose message is verbal by his beloved wife.
When Edgar Mudge (Richard Jenkins) takes his 14-year-old son to church, a
neighbor in their tiny farm community comments on how the boy, Duncan (Emile
Hirsch), is the spitting image of his mom. While the mother — dead at the
start of “The Mudge Boy” but shown in a photograph — was quite lovely, the
resemblance is not advantageous for Duncan. He’s soft in a girly way that
inspires the town’s tough guys to mock him and question his sexuality,
something he’s already anguished over.
Duncan’s dead mother is a powerful presence in this disturbing but
ultimately touching family drama. Her sudden death — never explained, but
surely connected to the booze Edgar finds stashed away in her sewing kit — has
had an enormous impact on her only child, who was brought up to be a mama’s
boy. Duncan continues to carry out her quirky practices, such as keeping her
favorite chicken as a pet and sucking its head because his mother told him it
has a calming effect — sort of Valium for fowl.
Duncan is the one who needs consoling. But his taciturn father is
clueless about how to help him. When he catches Duncan in his mother’s wedding
dress (not the first time he has put on her clothes), his unfeeling response
is to destroy her possessions in a bonfire, as if the boy’s problems will go
up in smoke as well.
Duncan’s sole friend is Perry (Tom Guiry), a town tough who likes to brag
about his sexual conquests. Perry’s bravado is a coverup for his scary
feelings toward Duncan, and it’s only a matter of time before their
relationship reaches a crisis.
Writer-director Michael Burke brings something fresh to a story that
Tennessee Williams and William Inge told often, about the fate of those
constitutionally unable to conform to small-town life. One reason it seems new
is that the number of these stories has dwindled with population shifts to the
city. Cinematographer Vanja Cernjul does a splendid job of capturing the
lonely expanse of Vermont farmland. “The Mudge Boy” is a little picture — the
names of the entire cast would fit on half a sheet of paper — but it’s more
heartfelt than movies with 50 times the budget.
Jenkins, the dead parent in “Six Feet Under,” underplays the live one
here to chilling effect. Edgar holds his own emotions in check and
unrealistically thinks that a teenager is capable of doing the same. Guiry
shows a keen understanding of how Perry’s desire to be honorable is negated by
his lack of maturity. Only Hirsch is miscast. Part of the problem is that he
looks as if he should be attending prep school (as he did in “The Emperor’s
Club’’) instead of hanging out in a barn. Hirsch isn’t a strong enough actor
to make us see past his highfalutin appearance and believe he’s doing anything
except slumming on a farm.
“The Mudge Boy” overcomes the lack of a persuasive lead performance to
draw you into the lives of these troubled souls. The film, which showed to
acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival a year and a half ago, has been slow
making its way to theaters. It was worth the wait.
– Advisory: This film contains explicit sexual situations.
— Ruthe Stein
‘The Corporation’
Documentary. Directed by Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott and Joel Bakan. (PG.
145 minutes. At Bay Area theaters.)
At first, “The Corporation” seems as if it might be a filmed diatribe
against corporations as some vaguely defined symbol of monolithic power.
Instead it’s coolheaded and incisive, a thorough and informative study of
corporations, their origins and their place in the modern world. Evenhanded in
its methods, it nonetheless leaves audiences with a cold shiver. Viewers come
away with the uneasy sense that the defeat of communism may very well have
cleared the way for another form of heartless, godless totalitarianism to
threaten freedom — governments of the corporations, by the corporations and
for the corporations.
Directed by Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott and Joel Bakan, the picture
discusses the early days of our republic, when corporations were consortiums
sanctioned and limited by the government to perform a specific task (such as
building a bridge). Permission to grow freely came in the latter part of the
19th century when, in a series of bizarre decisions, the Supreme Court ruled
that corporations were legally a kind of person and therefore subject to equal-
protection provisions under the 14th Amendment.
If a corporation can be considered a person, what kind of person would a
corporation be? The movie explores the question by illustrating the tendencies
of the modern corporation — the placing of money ahead of human health and
safety, the ruthless pursuit of profit, the disregard for the community, the
environment and animal life, etc. — and shows an FBI psychiatrist who says
that the typical corporation, if human, would be a psychopath.
A host of personalities appear, each, with the exception of Noam Chomsky,
talking directly into the camera, thus producing an immediacy not usually
found in documentaries. The talking heads come from all sides of the debate.
On the left, Chomsky gets an assist from filmmaker Michael Moore, while the
business world is ably represented by various suited characters who are
remarkably willing to confirm the audiences’ worst nightmares. A smiling woman
talks about how she uses scientific marketing methods to persuade children to
nag their parents for toys. A jovial young man talks about how he uses
guerrilla marketing techniques, hiring actors to talk loudly in public places,
about the virtues of a particular product. An older executive says that the
solution to all the world’s problems is for all the land, air and water to be
privately owned. The movie goes on to demonstrate that we’re beyond that
already. Today, even genes are being patented, along with entire species.
One especially disturbing sequence features two former reporters for Fox
News in Florida, who tell a harrowing tale of TV news censorship. The two
broke a story about the use of antibiotics in dairy farming and its hazards to
both cows and people. The station tried to kill the story and buy their
silence. Then it tried to sit on the story. Then it tried to soften it,
replacing the word “cancer,” for example, with the more benign phrase “human
health problems.”
As Ken Burns demonstrated in “The Civil War,” every documentary could use
a Shelby Foote. “The Corporation” gets one in Ray Anderson, the chief
executive officer of Interface, the world’s largest carpet manufacturer. A
soft-spoken Southerner with a lilting accent, Anderson, a convert to
environmentalism, says he and his fellow magnates are plunderers wreaking
“generational tyranny” — destroying the planet without the consent of the
unborn who will have to live here, generations down the line.
– Advisory: Some images of human and animal deformity will upset
sensitive viewers.
— Mick LaSalle
‘The Butterfly’
Comedy-drama. Directed by Philippe Muyl. With Michel Serrault, Claire
Bouanich, Nade Dieu. (Not rated. 79 minutes. At the Rafael Film Center, San
Rafael.)
A movie about the meeting of a crusty old man and a brash, emotionally
needy youngster can be heartwarming in the worst possible way. “The Butterfly,
” however, pulls it off — the film has a sweetness that stops short of
sentimentality.
This low-key French offering focuses on the relationship between Julien
(Michel Serrault of “La Cage aux Folles”), an elderly butterfly collector who
lives with his cat in an apartment, and his upstairs neighbor, Elsa (Claire
Bouanich), the 8-year-old daughter of a seldom-seen working mother (Nade Dieu).
For the old man, the girl has two strikes against her: At night, she
regularly bangs a ball on the floor above his bedroom, and during a visit she
defies his express order and opens the door to the room where he raises
butterflies.
Julien is also appalled by Elsa’s educational lapses — she has no idea,
for instance, what a haystack is. She’s quite bright but spends too much time
by herself (her mother is young and single). Julien sees her one day sitting
alone in a cafe; her mother won’t give her a key to their apartment. Out of
pity, he shows her his butterfly collection.
When Julien leaves for the backcountry in search of an especially rare
butterfly specimen, Elsa hides in his car. He drags the stowaway to the police
station, but she works on his sympathies and soon he’s buying her hiking boots.
A cell phone problem prevents Elsa from calling home, and when she finally
does get through, she only increases her mother’s sense of panic. Meanwhile,
Julien can’t reach the concierge at his building to explain the situation.
Trekking through fields and mountains (all new to her; she says the
scenery looks like a calendar illustration), the two develop a bond, which is
more delicately and quirkily depicted than in some other films with the same
theme. In a particularly touching sequence, Julien makes up a somber story for
the girl about why things are the way they are in this sad world, and
illustrates it with hand shadows.
Writer-director Philippe Muyl works with two simple sources of tension —
early on, we wonder if Julien will get so annoyed with the girl that he’ll
break off contact, and later, when the police begin investigating the child’s
disappearance, the film hints that things might end badly for Julien.
There are other disturbing undertones — the mother’s sense of guilt, the
comment from a hotel clerk that “there are no more parents,” the obnoxious
yuppies encountered at a country shelter, observation of some poachers at work.
Why, the girl asks, are some people rich and some poor? By the end, both
parties have learned something. Meanwhile, Muyl quietly criticizes a society
that tolerates loneliness, selfishness, broken families and similar ills.
The film is serenely shot (by Nicolas Herdt), and the rapport between the
veteran Serrault and young Bouanich is enjoyable. Cynics may object that
Muyl’s central metaphor — the rare butterfly with its suggestion of transience,
transformation, beauty and fragility — is too obvious, but ? don’t listen to
them.
– Advisory: Brief use of harsh and sexual language.
— Walter Addiego
‘A Day Without a Mexican’
Comedy. Directed by Sergio Arau. (Rated R. 97 minutes. At AMC Van Ness.)
As Nigel Tufnel so eloquently put it in “This Is Spinal Tap,” there’s a
fine line between clever and stupid. It’s a distinction that has eluded the
filmmakers of “A Day Without a Mexican,” who are hoping to ride on “Tap’s”
long coattails by applying the overused label “mockumentary” to their film.
But “A Day Without a Mexican” doesn’t know what it wants to be: either a
goofball satire or a heavy-handed social-message movie.
The story line could have yielded something more satisfying. It imagines
what would happen if California’s Latinos suddenly disappeared — and the rest
of the state had to fend for itself. There are a couple of mildly amusing
moments — the Los Angeles Dodgers, for instance, must cancel a game because of
a shortage of players — but the tone is often that of a preachy after-school
special, down to the instructional messages that regularly flash across the
screen. “Agriculture is California’s # 1 industry … not Hollywood,” reads one.
Got that, class?
For a movie that tries so earnestly to foster understanding of others, it
offers numerous unimaginative, one-dimensional stereotypes, among them a
buttoned-down and heartless WASP senator, a wild-eyed Christian who’s obsessed
with the Rapture, a geeky Asian American scientist, and a queeny and pushy
restaurateur.
“A Day Without a Mexican” has its heart in the right place, but that’s
about all that can be said for it.
– Advisory: Adult language.
— John McMurtrie
Jawbreaker
wri./dir. 26 yr-passe darren stein
st. courtney shane, julie freeman, marcie fox, lizz purr, judy greer
USA 86 mins rated M
released by columbia tristar films
I love teen flicks and teen tv.
You just can't have too much crap.
Teen films cast the cheapness, shallowness and sordidness of life so
well. Life is on touching getting laid and scarcely more, is it not?
The dialect birth b deliver needs more high school based films and in consequence of the gods that
Hollywood can pump them loophole at a tight-fisted obscene rate. Jawbreaker is a statement
of the gorgeous people, those that scarceness to be the pleasant people and
those that don't want to be the radiant people.
The film starts with footage of the four girls who are the elite of the
school. They are beautiful, they are popular, they are what we aspire to
be. But one of the girls (Elizabeth) is just that bit more popular than the
others, because she has compassion. When Elizabeth is kidnapped by the
others as part of her birthday celebrations, things turn nasty. Rose
McGowan stuffs an oversized confectionary item in Elizabeth's mouth to keep
her quiet, then dumps her in the boot of her car. When the girls stop for
breakfast, they open the boot to find their friend is dead.
Confusion and panic ensues as they plan what to do with the body. Confess
or hide the corpse? Rose takes control and they return the body to her
bedroom and arrange the carcass to make it appear she had been raped and
murdered. Their effort is interrupted by Fern, the classic geek, and a deal
is struck. Fern will be converted into one of the beautiful people and
welcomed into the inner circle of the school's elite.
Fern is transformed into Violet and goes power crazy with her new
popularity, leading to confrontations with Rose who now sees herself as the
most popular girl in school, and a certainty for prom queen. The group
itself is falling apart. Foxy decides she has had enough and leaves the
circle of cool to hang out with the sexiest boy in school (an actor) to
whom she confesses the truth of their deed. Meanwhile, the police are on
the case, and Pam Grier plays the detective leading the investigation.
As personalities clash, Rose sets about to frame some poor dupe (Marilyn
Manson, her real life squeeze) just in case the police suspect her of any
foul play. Rose's coverup of the murder is pathetic and unconvincing from the
start of the film, and in reality the police would have to be more stupid
and inept than ever be fooled by her clumsy efforts.
The holes in her coverup are huge and plentiful, but for the sake of plot
convenience, the police are fooled, and it comes down to Foxy (the bad girl
gone good) and her pretty boyfriend to expose Rose for the devious
murderess that she is. The school prom is the place for the showdown, and
after the obligatory
Carrie
reference
, good triumphs over bad.
There is not much to like about this film, which covers the subject
material seen in
Heathers, Massacre at Central High
, and a hundred other
films. Even at only 86 minutes running time, the director found it
necessary to pad out the film with musical interludes. There were an
unsettling number of low angle shots of the girls in short skirts which
seemed exploitive and out of place. On the positive side, Marilyn Manson's
role was funny, and The Donnas (American all girl Ramonesish band) were
playing at the prom. Marilyn plays a guy in a bar
who Rose picks up, fucks in Elizabeths bed so the police will suspect him
of the murder. He doesn't speak, but looks suitably sleazy.
sebastian niemand
comments? email the author
Warner Bros. has gathered together seven classic animated holiday TV favorites and repackaged them in the attractive box set, Christmas Television Favorites. Included here are Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, The Year Without Santa Claus, Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, Rudolph's Shiny New Year, Frosty's Winter Wonderland, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, and Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey. If you have any or all of these titles already on disc, there's no need to purchase Christmas Television Favorites, as all the transfers and extras are exactly the same as previous releases. However, if you're looking for a great Christmas gift for someone special, the Christmas Television Favorites box set is a perfect choice.
The collection is certainly appropriately titled - Television Favorites - because my generation only knew these through repeated, once-a-year airings at Christmastime. Back during the Stone Age, you had to make sure you cleared it with your old man for him to miss the first half-hour of Ironside, before you could catch one of these classics, or that was it for Rudolph until the next year. Of course today, most kids and even those in their 20s have grown up watching these gems anytime they please, courtesy of those bulky old videotapes and now DVD. I'm quite sure I'm not alone in feeling there was something special in that commonality we all shared before VCRs and DVD players. An upcoming airing of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! was something discussed days before, and talked about and laughed over, as a group, days later. To my little kids, although they love the Grinch, ultimately, it's just another title in their DVD pile, one which they can play at a moment's whim, in an essentially solitary experience.
The Christmas Television Favorites box set contains four discs in a sturdy, book-like, fold-out case, so let's look at the individual shorts on each disc:
DISC ONE:
DR. SEUSS' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS!
By this point, what else can be said about this timeless, thoroughly brilliant classic? The solitary rival to the Rankin/Bass monopoly on Christmas TV favorites, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is that exceedingly rare example of a "kiddie" short that is equally satisfying to adults. Facing the daunting task of adapting Dr. Seuss' primal, almost scary children's book (didn't you used to just get lost in those oversized pages, with the spidery, shadowy black and white illustrations from his books?), Looney Tunes genius Chuck Jones puts his own personal stamp on the source material, creating a twisted, perverse riff on Seuss' character that plays like a very mean, very cruel (and very funny) Daffy Duck take-off. Watching Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! now, it's fun to spot all the Looney Tunes visual references, as well as the surprisingly nasty humor (listen to little Max yip every time the Grinch cracks that whip - and he just keeps snapping him).
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is also that children's rarity where the visuals are matched by the vocal performances - in this case, Boris Karloff's virtuoso take on the narration, and Thurl Ravenscroft singing You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch. When you realize that it's going to be the Boris Karloff doing the narration, it seems like such an odd choice at first; his distinctive lisp and British lilt would seem outsized for the project, throwing the balance off for the viewer who may be distracted by the odd mix of Looney Tunes cruelty and Universal horror. But as we know now, one can't imagine Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! without Karloff (a fact that many purists held against the live-action version). A natural born storyteller, Karloff is so ingenious with his little verbal twists and turns, that one can just listen to the short, without actually watching it, and get an enormous amount of pleasure out of it. While Rankin/Bass' equally brilliant (for entirely different reasons) Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer may be the all-time sentimental favorite of animated holiday classics, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is certain to remain the over-all most popular one.
The DVD:
The Video:
The full frame, 1.33:1 video transfer used for Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is the exact same one used for the previous 50th anniversary release. Restored to pristine perfection (I didn't see one screen anomaly), the electric, primary color scheme jumps right out at you.
The Audio:
The Dolby Digital English mono is big and fat, with crystal clear dialogue heard throughout. French and Spanish mono versions are also available. Close-captioning is offered, but no subtitles.
The Extras:
As with the 50th anniversary edition, the 1970 Chuck Jones/Dr. Seuss effort, Horton Hears a Who is included (which is skillfully animated, but which doesn't pack the self-contained punch of The Grinch). As well, all the extras included in that anniversary DVD release are here, including Dr. Suess and the Grinch - from Whoville to Hollywood, a brief but informative take on the short's production; Songs in the Key of Grinch, which looks at the scoring of the short; a Making of… featurette that TNT produced some years back, hosted by the late Phil Hartman; some Pencil Tests that may be off interest to animation buffs; text bios on the cast and crew, and some trailers for other Warner kiddie shows.
Final Thoughts:
Still the single most popular animated holiday offering, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is a brilliant mixture of Dr. Seuss' wonderfully playful storytelling, and Looney Tunes cruelty, courtesy of Chuck Jones. I don't see how it will ever dim in popularity, and the presentation here on DVD is flawless.
DISC TWO:
THE YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS
Certainly among the three shorts gathered together on this particular disc, The Year Without Santa Clause is best remembered today (it even inspired an execrable live-action remake last year), with its two main supporting characters, Heat Miser and Snow Miser, becoming genuine icons of young children's Christmas memories. As I'm sure you remember, in The Year Without a Santa Claus, Santa (voice of Mickey Rooney) wakes up one morning with a cold, and after listening to his crotchety doctor, agrees that there's no longer any Christmas spirit, and decides to cancel the holiday. After tucking the depressed Santa back into bed, Mrs. Claus (voice of Shirley Booth) instructs elves Jingle and Jangle (voices of Bob McFadden and Bradley Bolke) to travel to Southtown, U.S.A. to try and find some evidence of Christmas spirit to bring back, to convince Santa he's still loved and needed. Baby reindeer Vixen is called into service to ferry them down south.
Mrs. Claus spills the beans to Santa about her plan, and he immediately sets off to rescue the group, knowing that the Heat Miser and Snow Miser (voices of George S. Irving and Dick Shawn), who guard the way back between the North Pole and the rest of the world, can be formidable obstacles. Down in Dixie, the trio run into trouble. The children don't believe in Santa any longer, and Vixen is locked up in the dog pound. It's up to Santa to rescue Vixen, and it's up to Mrs. Claus to persuade Mother Nature (voice of Rhoda Mann) to convince her two quarreling boys to let it snow in Southtown, while having a nice spring day at the North Pole (why, you may ask? Well…watch and find out).
The Year Without a Santa Claus always seemed like a near-miss Rankin/Bass effort to me. Based in part on the celebrated short story by Phyllis McGinley, The Year Without a Santa Claus has all the ingredients of the traditional Rankin/Bass holiday special: clever, sweet songs, charming stop-motion "animagic" animation, a simple, clear storyline, and some top-flight voice work from veteran pros. It all comes together quite well, but somehow I always feel that the center is diffused by too many characters going off on their own missions. Santa comes to Southtown; Mrs. Claus visits the Miser Brothers and Mother Nature, Jingle and Jangle travel also to Southtown, and non-believer Ignatius (voice of Colin Duffy) follows them all around. It's not that any of the individual parts don't work; it just never feels like a single, whole, contained piece. Perhaps that's why the Miser Brothers are so well remembered from the show, but the remaining characters and story elements, as well as the title song, aren't. Still, The Year Without a Santa Claus is entertaining, with a sweet story that young children still respond to over thirty years after its original broadcast.
RUDOLPH'S SHINY NEW YEAR
For Rudolph's Shiny New Year, Red Skelton is heard as old Father Time, who sends a message to Santa (voice of Paul Frees) that the Baby New Year is missing. Santa, seeing how dark and snowy and foggy it is outside, decides that Rudolph (voice of Billie Mae Richards) is the only one who can go to Father Time, and find out how to track down Baby New Year. Clued in by Father Time that the Baby New Year ran away because everyone was laughing at his enormous ears, Rudolph goes to the Archipelago of Last Years to find the runaway, aided by various friends including knight Sir Ten-to-Three (voice of Frank Gorshin), caveman One Million (voice of Morey Amsterdam), "Big" Ben Franklin (voice of Harold Peaky), and General Ticker (voice of Paul Frees). But can the group get past the evil Eon (voice of Paul Frees), the vicious buzzard who hopes to live forever by kidnapping the Baby New Year?
Much like the similarly structured Here Comes Peter Cottontail, Rudolph's Shiny New Year relies on the lead character, Rudolph (cannily worked into this non-Christmas story), going on a journey through time to correct an upcoming event. It may champion a holiday that doesn't mean much to young children ("Um…no presents? I'll pass."), but Rudolph's Shiny New Year is suitably low-level surreal to keep your interest through its running time, even if some of the songs are too depressingly morbid and contemplative (Turn Back the Years) for a fun, upbeat holiday "animagic" special.
NESTOR, THE LONG-EARED CHRISTMAS DONKEY
Speaking of depressing, don't let your kids watch Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey if they cried during Bambi or Dumbo. Telling the story of the little donkey who carried Mary to Bethlehem, Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey starts out marvelously, with the dolefully-voiced Roger Miller perfectly suited to voicing Speiltoe, Santa's donkey (yes - Santa has a donkey, apparently). Recounting his ancestor Nestor's part in the Nativity scene, Speiltoe flashes us back to those ancient times when Nestor was the butt of jokes in Olaf the donkey breeder's stable. Evidently, Nestor's extra-long ears puts him in company with Rudolph's shiny nose and Baby New Year's huge ears, engendering the mocking cruelty of his fellow animals.
When the rest of the donkey's are taken away by Roman soldiers, Nestor is thrown out of the stables in a snowstorm, with his mother escaping to help him. She shields him through snowstorm, but dies of exposure the next morning, leaving little Nestor all alone. A cherub named Tilly (Brenda Vaccaro) inspires Nestor to follow a star, informing Nestor that his life is meant for a very special purpose. Soon, Nestor is chosen by Mary and Joseph to carry her to Bethlehem, and Nestor becomes a hero to the other animals.
Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey is a fairly violent little Rankin/Bass production (watch how many times Nestor gets tossed around by Olaf), and a rather sad one, too, with the death of Nestor's mother a big downer for kids who just wanted to see some puppets walking around. Miller is particularly funny in the opening scenes, shaking his head and rolling his eyes when he mournfully intones, "But you know them elves," when he's describing how they won't fix the donkey toy in the stable manager set-up. It's a speedy entry, running only about 23 minutes, but with so many elements lifted from other stories, along with the sometimes downbeat story elements, it's not surprising that Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey is one of the less popular Rankin/Bass Christmas offerings.
The DVD:
The Video:
The full screen, 1.33:1 video transfers for the three films included on this disc show absolutely no differences in color, image clarity, or evidence of any digital clean-up of screen anomalies, from previous DVD releases. The films do look very good, though, with bold, true color values and no compression issues to speak of.
The Audio:
The Dolby Digital English mono audio mix accurately recreates the original broadcast presentations of the three shorts. English subtitles are available.
The Extras:
Two new featurettes are included here on the The Year Without a Santa Claus: Deluxe Edition disc. First up is a 16:27 minute documentary, We Are Santa's Elves, which gives a brief, affectionate look at the Rankin/Bass producers and their work. Interviewees include historian Rick Goldschmidt, artists Don Duga and Paul Coker, Jr., actors Rhoda Mann and Bradley Bolke, composer Maury Laws, and Arthur Rankin, Jr. himself. Next, we have Stop Motion 101, which features legend Ray Harryhausen (who never specifically refers to the Rankin/Bass productions being discussed) and effects artists Charles, Stephen, and Edward Chiodo, who give some info on the "animagic" process. It runs 9:32, and there's not much in it that the average movie fan doesn't already know about stop-motion.
Final Thoughts:
A near-miss for Rankin/Bass, The Year Without a Santa Claus still has plenty going for it - the Miser brothers are still pretty cool - while the additional two films on this disc are sure to please the kids.
DISC THREE:
FROSTY'S WINTER WONDERLAND
When I saw the title of this Rankin/Bass animated sequel to the classic Frosty the Snowman, I admit I drew a blank. Fearful that it might be that horrific Frosty issue I suffered through once (with John Goodman as the give utterance of Frosty), I was most pleasantly surprised to find this try came from 1976, and starred the voice talents of Andy Griffith, Shelley Winters, Paul Frees and Irish tenor Dennis Light of day. I must have missed this one when I was kid (or I didn't catch it passably times in reruns for it to stick), but it's a delightful, nimble development to its more famed ancestor.
Narrated by Andy Griffith, Frosty's Winter Wonderland tells the story of Frosty's (Jackie Vernon) return to all his friends south of the North Pole, once the first big snowstorm of the season arrives. There, he still enjoys playing with his friends, but soon, Frosty becomes sad because he's often left alone, particularly at night, when all the kids return home. Hoping to solve the problem, the children promise they'll make Frosty a wife, creating Crystal (Shelley Winters) out of the newly fallen snow. But she's lifeless without a little bit of magic, which Frosty provides with a gift of love: a bouquet of snow flowers he quickly makes. When Frosty asks Crystal to marry him, Parson Brown (Dennis Day), a snowman himself, is made to marry the chilly couple. But danger looms for Frosty and Crystal, because Jack Frost (Paul Frees) is jealous of Frosty's fame and the love he receives from all the children. And so he decides to steal Frosty's magic hat, and return him to just a plain, ordinary, inert snowman.
Of course it's great to have the gentle-voiced Jackie Vernon back as Frosty, and Dennis Day adds a touch of Yuletide cheer with his sterling voice, but I was most pleased with Andy Griffith's inclusion in the Rankin/Bass world. He's a perfect choice for this kind of voice work. Griffith, a natural-born storyteller who first shot to fame doing comic monologues, is marvelously free and easy with his narration, bringing a lot of oomph and energy to his line readings. He also gets to sing a few songs, and if you've ever heard him sing on The Andy Griffith Show, you know what a pleasant voice he has. Shelley Winters - if you can believe it - is actually subdued here. As a huge fan of this underrated actress, I'm not sure I want a subdued Shelley Winters, but she does manage a girlish, sweet delivery that fits the character. The story is logically set out, and it moves swiftly from song to song, while the animation is wonderfully evocative of that later Rankin/Bass house style (I love the heavy outlines on the characters). A charming, effective sequel.
'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
Another Rankin/Bass traditional animation short that often gets overlooked, 1974's 'Twas the Night Before Christmas takes just a kernel of an idea from the famous poem by Clement Clarke Moore ("'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse."), and expands it into a charming little story of Father Mouse (George Gobel) and Joshua Trundle (Joel Grey), a clockmaker, who must find a way to bring Christmas and Santa back to Junctionville. Evidently, someone wrote a letter to the town paper, denouncing Santa as a fake, which got back to Santa, who returned all of the town's letters to him, unopened. Father Mouse figures out that his egg-head son Albert (Tammy Grimes) is the culprit, and, with Joshua, devises a plan for the clockmaker to fashion a huge clock which will play a song to Santa, letting him know that the town still cares about him. But Albert inadvertently messes up the clockworks, and no one knows for sure if Santa will arrive Christmas Eve night.
While the animation for 'Twas the Night Before Christmas may not be the best example of Rankin/Bass' art, the simple, effective songs included in the short are entirely in keeping with their successful track record. Maury Laws' Give Your Heart a Try and Even a Miracle Needs a Hand are lovely, and help put this minor effort over. The story may not be as artfully constructed as others in their canon, but the voice work is quite good (it's nice to hear Gobel's singing voice again), and the simple message - believe, and do what your heart tells you to do - won't hurt any child who hears it.
The DVD:
The Video:
The full-frame, 1.33:1 video transfers for both films are quite good here, although print damage is noticeable in both, particularly in 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (which at times looks a bit rough, with numerous scratches and print anomalies). Still, these look quite good, with correct color values and no compression issues.
The Audio:
The Dolby Digital English mono track accurately reflects the original broadcast presentation. Close-captioning is available.
The Extras:
There are no extras for this particular disc.
Final Thoughts:
Frosty's Winter Wonderland and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, two Rankin/Bass traditional animation shorts that often get overlooked, are quite charming and light, with excellent vocal work and some lovely songs, to put them over nicely.
DISC FOUR:
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July
The only clunker in the Christmas Television Favorites collection, 1979's Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July is a largely unsuccessful attempt to mix two beloved Rankin/Bass holiday fixtures - Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman - and graft them onto a Fourth of July storyline that's as convoluted as it is unpleasant. Apparently, Rudolph got his shiny nose from Lady Boreal, who ruled over the North Pole before Santa came, and in opposition to the evil Winterbolt (Paul Frees). Rudolph was given his magical nose to aid Santa through one of Winterbolt's evil schemes; for his crime, he was put into a deep sleep by Lady Boreal. But he has now awakened, and he plans on taking out Rudolph (Billie Mae Richards) and Santa (Mickey Rooney), and he's going to use Frosty (Jackie Vernon) as the patsy.
Knowing that Frosty wants to help out Milton (Red Buttons) the ice cream salesman, marry Laine Lorraine (Shelby Flint), Winterbolt offers to give Frosty, his wife Crystal (Shelley Winters) and their children special crystals that will stave off melting. You see, Frosty wants to take Rudolph down to Laine's mother's circus, where a big draw is needed to keep the circus in Lily Loraine's (Ethel Merman) hands. But Winterbolt has no intention of letting Frosty or his family stay frozen. He rigs it so they'll stay past the July Fourth fireworks (when the crystals wear off), and gets Scratcher (Alan Sues), a mangy reindeer fired by Santa, to implicate Rudolph in a crime (stealing the circus' receipts), so his noselight will go out forever. Will our heroes save the day?
You can't really blame Rankin/Bass for trying to branch out and hit the other holidays with their stop-motion efforts, but the obvious, clumsy grafting of Christmas favorites Rudolph and Frosty, onto the Fourth of July just doesn't work. The plot is entirely too clunky and busy for little kids to appreciate, and most of the characters sound and act like rip-offs from other Rankin/Bass efforts (Winterbolt is Winter Warlock; Milton is Fred Astaire's postman from Santa Claus is Comin' to Town). What's more, the basic notion of not only adding a totally superfluous back story to Rudolph's red nose (hey - I thought he was just born with it?), along with the scurrilous notion of Rudolph committing a crime (I know he didn't, but little kids don't get that subtly), is really beyond the pale. Worst of all, the songs are sub-par (not to mention some of the celebrity warbling, as well. I love the Merm, but she's way off her game, here). Justly obscure, this later Rankin/Bass effort is a big misfire.
The DVD:
The Video:
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July looks quite bad here, with a seemingly second or third generation transfer that mutes the color, ups the video noise, and creates a soft picture.
The Audio:
The Dolby Digital English mono audio track is thin and unremarkable, but accurately recreates the original broadcast presentation. Captioning is available.
The Extras:
There are no extras for Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July.
Final Thoughts:
A misfire from the get-go, Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July pairs up two Christmas favorites for a fizzle of a Fourth of July celebration. The story is too complex for little kids, and the notion that Rudolph's magic nose has to be explained - as well as showing him as a criminal (even though he didn't do it), is something no kid needs to see.
Final Thoughts on the Box Set:
If you don't already have these terrific holiday animated classics on DVD, the Christmas Television Favorites is an excellent way to start your collection. With its sturdy, nicely turned-out package, it would also make a terrific Christmas gift for someone special. But if you already have these favorites on DVD, you don't need to double-dip here; all the transfers and extras are carried over from previous releases. I highly recommend the Christmas Television Favorites collection.
Paul Mavis is an internationally published film and idiot box historian, a member of the Online Film Critics Society, and the author of The Espionage Filmography.
Carrie Jiminez