Quickie: THE APARTMENT (1960)
The Apartment (1960)–**** Quickie Review In order to become more than a just another number in his insurance company, C.C. Baxter loans out his apartment for executive flings. When he falls for Fran the elevator girl, it’s the apartment arrangement that stands in the way of his own love life. Funny and touching, this classic romance starts with huge laughs, serves up a poignant drama halfway, and has it all by the end. Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine are fabulous as the unrequited lovers, but Fred MacMurray steals the picture as Fran’s sleazy executive lover. Oscars for Best Picture and Director, Billy...
Read MoreMovie Review: Superbad
Superbad (2007)–**1/2 Superbad is certainly funny, uproariously so at times. In fact, the first 15 minutes of the film are a pleasant surprise, with pop culture references that would make Kevin Smith salivate and just enough raunch to counteract the smart dialogue. Once those 15 minutes are over, however, it’s a long way to the end of the Judd Apatow-produced teen comedy. The film follows three teen misfits who have spent high school on the sidelines until finally deciding to get in the game during their last week as seniors. But Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) aren’t just looking to get a little bit of action. They are trying to start their summer on a high note, as it will be the last one they spend together before the longtime friends are separated by college. With the...
Read MoreMovie Review: Your Mommy Kills Animals
Your Mommy Kills Animals (2007)–***1/2 Near the end of Your Mommy Kills Animals, a stunning thing happens. A lobbyist who speaks on behalf of food companies agrees with grassroots animal activist groups. They both recognize that organizations like PETA and Humans Society of the United States are corrupt, dangerous and greedy money-making schemes. Sure, the rest of the time the lobbyist is calling groups like the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) a bunch of terrorists, but that moment of shared sanity elevates Curt Johnson’s unfortunately titled Your Mommy Kills Animals to an unexpected level. The documentary follows the history of the Animal Welfare and Animal Rights movements from their early beginnings in 1820s England to today, where new federal laws allow organizers and activists to be prosecuted under terrorism legislation. Mostly confronting the issues...
Read MoreQuickie: Hairspray
Hairspray (2007)–***1/2 Quickie Review Pleasantly plump teen Tracy Turnblad dances her way onto the Corny Collins Show and aids social change in 1960s Baltimore. A rousing and rebellious musical treat, this film adaptation of a Broadway production, in turn based on a 1988 John Waters’s film, captures the essence of the Hollywood musical for the first time since 2001’s Moulin Rouge. No performer is a disappointment, while director/choreographer Adam Shankman makes his best film to date. The musical does lose some of the John Waters spirit in the second half, but the film is always fun and inspiring. Starring Nikki Blonsky, Christopher Walken, Michelle Pfeiffer, Zac Efron, Amanda Bynes, Elijah Kelley and John Travolta as Edna...
Read MoreMovie Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)–**** The Prisoner of Azkaban, which is arguably the worst film in the Harry Potter series, was the third movie produced and the last one to have remnants of the original two films, Sorcerer’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets. It was the last film to feature John Williams’s original music and the last film with Chris Columbus, the franchise’s first director, attached to it in any way. I blame the transitional nature of that third film for its failure. With the exception of screenwriter Steven Kloves sticking around for Goblet of Fire, that fourth installment was a completely new vision for the series. Now audiences are treated to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which not only takes that new direction to a higher level, but also stands out...
Read MoreMovie Review: Transformers
Transformers (2007)–*1/2 I don’t know whether it’s better to be a fan of the original Transformers cartoon or a novice to the series, like I am. Having some sort of emotional investment in the robots may at least make this hulking, soulless Michael Bay epic worth sitting through, if only to finally get to the robots. Without the dire need to see CGI versions of the classic 80s cartoon characters, Transformers feels a lot like any other hollow Bay flick. Now, with Steven Spielberg hovering over the production, what could have been a sensationally bad B-movie turns into a hybrid Bay/Spielberg blunder. It’s War of the Worlds meets Armageddon, and for anyone who has seen either, that’s bad news times two. Shia LaBeouf plays Sam Witwicky, the descendent of American explorer Archibald Witwicky. Sam knows his great-great grandfather traveled...
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