Brave

Brave; Pixar's fall continues as movie isn't more than quaint. Gorgeous Scottish setting plays host to slapstick story w/o emotional heft; B

Snow White & the Huntsman

Snow White & the Huntsman; Epic tale overreaches its 2 hours yet delivers high production value. Keeps a tone that pays off in long run; A-

Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey

Being Elmo; Who knew the amazing story behind the little red fuzzball was so inspiring? Kevin Clash's hopes & dreams will marvel viewers; A

The Dictator

The Dictator; Equal (Aladeen) parts witty satire, Airplane/Naked Gun send up and Tom Green depravity, SBC delivers a laugh a minute; B+

The Avengers

The Avengers; Gets the characters right (esp. Hulk) & amazingly finds a balance. Slow start is boosted by great final two acts. Go team!; A-

The Pirates! Band of Misfits

The Pirates! Band of Misfits; Seas devoid of highs & lows as film coasts along w/steady solid claymation and mild laughs. 3D pointless; B-

Mirror Mirror

Mirror Mirror; Take Tarsem Singh's exquisite visuals & shove into a studio fairy tale = a fantastic looking disjointed cloying bore; C+

How to Boil a Frog

How to Boil a Frog; Packs a lot of info in a fun way, not unlike a great teacher would in a classroom. More entertaining than frightening; B

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold; Morgan Spurlock is enjoyable to watch as he pimps himself out. Some neat insight but could use more impact; B

Dr. Seuss' The Lorax

Dr. Seuss' The Lorax; Sullies original w/lame songs & expanded story too far from heart of Seuss. Try this instead: http://tinyurl.com/3y3o42 ; B-

Puss in Boots

Puss in Boots; Instantly forgettable, too many flashback stop and starts, swashbuckling action w/bland characters devoid of humour; C

A Wormhole

From 1995 to mid 1999, before the Internet (okay, the Internet existed, if you call an AOL subscription and dial-up connection "the Internet"--more like, the Intermittenet), Joe James wrote reviews of films he saw in theatres, on VHS (snicker) and The Movie Network.  They were contained on "BOB", Microsoft's bizarre attempt at personalizing the home computer environment in a family friendly way.  Unfortunately, the program wasn't very user friendly, as there was no means to transfer the information out of the program.  No thought of copying, cutting and pasting, or saving to disk (not even floppy disk).  So, for a decade, it was presumed that those reviews were lost in time, or at least to Y2K.

UNTIL NOW!!

Here are the lost reviews, written under the alias King Lothar (don't ask--a combination of a Saturday Night Live character and BOB's requirement for identification), from a century ago.  They have been unwittingly placed upon this nefarious day, known as Feb. 29th, also known as the Leap Day.  ENJOY!

29th Street

Directed by:  George Gallo
Starring:  Danny Aiello, Anthony LaPaglia
Running Time:  1h 41min

The true story of the first New York State Lottery Winner is told with just the right mix of heart and comedy by Gallo.  Inspired performances by all the cast really give this movie its heart.  The relationship between the son and the father is very real.

The fact that he was a lotto winner is hardly the factor here, an an ordinary guy's life makes for interesting drama.  This movie seems so true to life that when a certain unbelievable incident occurs, it's hard to believe it really happened.

Gallo has a way of finding humour in situations, and is especially good with animals.  I feel kind of biased rating this movie [I met Gallo when I was a teenager and was invited to the set of Trapped in Paradise] but Gallo does have a talent at writing about real life drama, with the comedy that does come out of it.

Grade:  B

8mm

df

Directed by:  Joel Schumacher
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Catherine Keener, Joaquin Phoenix
Running Time: 2h 00min

Disturbing and not forgiving, this film looks at the seedy underworld of sick porn.  It's truly amazing how the lead and director slowly delve into this world and soon find themselves trapped, struggling hard to claw their way back to the surface.

The direction follows Cage well on his downward spiral, and the excitement is in not knowing just how far he'll sink, and if he'll ever come back.  Written by the same guy who wrote "Seven", we never know what to expect.

Unfortunately, I expected more, as the film seems to walk a fairly straightforward path towards its conclusion.  Phoenix is great in what could have been a thankless role.  Great to watch for its untouched subject matter and the performance of Cage.

Grade: B-

Addicted to Love

Directed by: Griffin Dunne
Starring:  Matthew Broderick, Meg Ryan, Kelly Preston, Tcheky Karyo
Running Time:  1h 40min

Well, it took many, many years and the same format but Meg Ryan managed to impress me again in this unique romantic comedy.  She's so good when she's not playing ditzy cute blond and has a backbone instead, making things happen instead of having things happen to her.  Broderick finds a grown up role that allows him to use the talents that made Ferris Bueler so funny.  The silliness of the film's premise is played straight and makes the suspension of disbelief a pleasure as we watch the heartbroken couple watch the heartbreakers.  The perfect blend of physical, situational. and spoken comedy is present, making it totally fresh and invigorating.  A one-of-a-kind original that demands repeat viewings.

Grade: A

Air Force One

Directed by: Wolfgang Peterson
Starring:  Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, Glenn Close, William H. Macy
Running Time: 2h 04min

This movie walks a tightrope.  Unfortunately it falls a few times only to get up and fall again.  At first an 'A' movie, it managed to throw everything out the window in the last half hour and plummet to a 'B'.  It was believable, fun, intriguing, and exciting right up until the jail scene.  Then it was just overboard!  Full of cliches, American propagandistic images, and absolutely no surprises.  It really disappointed once it took the movie out of the hands of such great actors as Oldman and Ford to give the action fans their fix.  With horrible supporting roles, especially the first family, no one cares about the outcome.  Close and Macy are wasted in limited roles, but the beauty is watching Oldman and Ford face off, a thespian lover's dream.

Grade: B

Alien Resurrection

Directed by:  Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Starring:  Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder, Ron Perlman, Brad Dourif
Running Time:  1h 49min

What is a very stylish fourth installment of the Alien series is really not necessary.  Sure, I enjoyed the visuals and Weaver in her role.  But it seems that there is absolutely no new developments, less than Batman and Robin even!

Diappointingly, it has a great cast which is capable of much more than a recreation of the first movie with more aliens that move like Jurassic Park's raptors.  A lot of money must have been put into the set design, which though appealing, offers a stagnant view of the action.

Why can't we get these aliens off spaceships and on to planets?  A Fifth Element syle of Earth or anything?  I see Alien 5 in the future and they'll probably go this route, but they may have bored the audience too early.

Grade: C+

American History X

Directed by: Humpty Dumpty
Starring:  Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Faruza Balk, Beverly D'Angelo
Running Time:  2h 20min

A hard hitting, devastating, emotionally wrenching piece of art.  Tony Kaye disowned this film over disputes about its ending and editing, which usually makes sense in the event of a poor unrealized film.  However, this is not the case.  This film is extremely powerful in performance and direction.  The use of black and white, effectively trimmed cutting and narration both fictional and documentary style all amount to a masterpiece of film.  Norton's performance is exquisite, subtle to explosive in a blink of an eye.  Kaye's advertising background shows as he trims the fat and leaves us with a lean, mean, raw and edgy look at the changing of one Neo-Nazi and the danger that the life brings his family.  A must see.

Grade: A

The Arrival

Directed by:  David Twohy
Starring:  Charlie Sheen, Ron Silver, Teri Polo, Lindsey Crouse
Running Time:  1h 55min

The surprisingly thing about this movie is how poorly it did in theatres.  Independence Day was good but you would think that it would only fuel more interest in this X-Files episode gone Hollywood.  Sheen is interesting and plays straight in a movie that can be taken two ways.  If yo feel like involving yourself, and truly believing in the government conspiracy/aliens among us idea you'll have a blast.  It will have its tense moments and nifty special effects that you're looking for.  On the other hand, if you get a laugh out of cheesy sci-fi movies, this movie will provide plenty of laughs.  With the dialogue offering some classic cheese and the appearance of Sheen only brings images of Hot Shots and other such Zucker fare.  Either way, it works!

Grade: B

As Good As It Gets

Directed by:  James L. Brooks
Starring:  Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear, Cuba Gooding Jr.
Running Time:  2h 18min

All the actors sink into their roles, really doing more with them than what they're given.  Kinnear especially shows his worth as a supporting actor who not only holds his own with the best in the biz (Ford, and now Nicholson) but sometimes upstaging them as is the case here.  Nicholson is great as the obsessive-compulsive writer and actually pulls off the sexiness needed to make Hunt's interest in him truly believable.  But the thing he doesn't do is satisfyingly pull off the transition from evil to good.  It shouldn't be so black and white, but the inbetweens aren't really there.  Which is a shame because the film is too long.  Scenes don't end when they should and start a little too early.  The changes of setting does little to alter that.  Blame Brooks.

Grade: B-