Director Nora Ephron helms her first certified bomb with Mixed Nuts (D) which registers something south of North, east of Ishtar and beyond Heaven’s Gate. This holiday clunker starring Steve Martin is a hodgepodge of throwaway jokes and witless situations involving fruitcakes, touch-tone phone options for the suicide hotline and a Yuletide cross-dresser. This loose adaptation of the French Le Pere Noel Est Une Ordure may spark a ban on imports.
Tag Archives: Comedy
Both Funny and Foul, “Clerks” is a Great Time
You know the sensation: the feeling you get after gulping a slush drink too fast. The rush to your frozen noggin is unbearable for one brief, piercing moment. Then it stops. It’s a revelation, relief or rejuvenation. Writer/director Kevin Smith’s Clerks (A) is like that instant of peace when you regain your equilibrium and once again feel ready to take on the world. It’s a delightful slacker comedy about a day in the life of two friends who work in an adjoining video shop and convenience store. Through a farcical display of raunchy, raucous dialogue, the film captures the wacky world of life on minimum wage. The wisdom of these foul mouthed philosophers should give solace to anyone who has ever contained fury at a customer or secretly desired to break the rules. Smith employs a non-linear approach with quick camera jerks and slow promenades over the absurdist landscape to fashion a monochrome masterpiece. Despite the snark, there’s a certain sweetness to the central duo’s friendship and a perverse charm to their assortment of strange friends and customers. This is strictly for folks who don’t mind a little residual cheese puff dust on their hands.
“Ed Wood” a Triumphant Salute to B-Movies
Moviemaker Edward D. Wood, Jr. could have been the next Orson Welles. Both men hit their stride at an early age and possessed unswerving obsession for the films they created. There’s just one thing Ed Wood lacked: talent. Wood, infamous for dreck such as Plan 9 From Outer Space is biographically redeemed in director Tim Burton’s Ed Wood (B+). As portrayed by Johnny Depp, the title character plays out his passions and peccadilloes against a quaint black and white stock ensemble dramedy. Martin Landau is genius as legendary film star Bela Lugosi, who adds heft to the proceedings. The movie magic of rubber squids, aluminum foil robots and zombie body doubles creates a pleasant phantasmagoria that’s right at home in Burton’s oeuvre.
“Blankman” is Uninspired
Mike Binder’s Blankman (F) is a superhero spoof that just sits there like a bad chunk of Kryptonite. Damon Wayans, whose transition to the big screen from In Living Color has not quite soared, plays an inner-city superhero, and that conceit is intended to be funny in and of itself. This film has the power to move viewers to not a single laugh in a single bound.
“The Mask” (1994) a Good Match for Jim Carrey Persona
In Chuck Russell’s The Mask (B), comic actor Jim Carrey literally saves face from a few tepid film vehicles in a manic series of misadventures when a man puts on a mysterious green visage that has a life of its own. Cameron Diaz is great as the blond bombshell, and Max the puppy nearly steals the show in this mischievous good time. There’s actually a bit of subtext about man’s duality and very nice production design in this clever comedy.
“Forrest Gump” is Sentimental and Heartwarming
Approaching new opportunities with eternal optimism, The American Character has triumphed over incredible odds through a pastiche of history; and as presented by director Robert Zemeckis in his latest film, he is indeed Forrest Gump (A-), a simple bystander to history played by Tom Hanks who becomes a symbol for the struggle and sentiment of the past several decades of U.S. life. Spliced Zelig-like into archival footage of history and in fictional interactions with Gary Sinese, Robin Wright, Sally Field and others, our protagonist is alternately moving and misunderstood. It’s an epic, and you just have to give in to the stuff that’s poured on sweet. Folks are bound to find something to relate to in this fable of how a dude no one thought might amount to much went on to be a part of such a rich fabric.
“Fatal Instinct” Earns its “F”
If Basic Instinct and Body of Evidence weren’t laughably bad on their own terms, Carl Reiner’s Fatal Instinct (F) attempts to spoof this mini-genre and finds itself going commando in the laughs department. The presence of Sean Young, one of my least favorite performers, helps further sink an enterprise that seems to have been conceived by a bunch of third-graders.
“Heart and Souls” Features Good Ensemble Work
Though too complex at first, Ron Underwood’s Heart and Souls (B) generates a compelling story about completing unresolved lives. Robert Downney Jr. and Alfre Woodard are standouts in this feel-good comedy sleeper.
“Coneheads” is Pointless
Steve Barron’s Coneheads (D+), based on Saturday Night Live characters, is forgettable junk food for the mind, with a handful of funny gags. Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtain don’t especially look especially engaged in their opportunity to reprise their roles as these aliens on suburban safari. Ironically, the humor isn’t pointed enough to carry the story.
“Sleepless in Seattle” a Good Old-Fashioned Romance
Writer/director Nora Ephron’s Sleepless in Seattle (B+) is a hopelessly romantic look at how destiny shapes the loves of our lives. It’s quite an experiment to have your leads spend most of the film’s running time considering a fateful cross-country meet-up; and after lots of charming conversations, cajoling by friends and nostalgic soundtrack tunes, the “moment” is put into motion. Even with limited screen time together, Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks are irresistible in this charming mix of poignancy and laughs.
Schwarzenegger Uneasy in “The Last Action Hero”
Director John McTiernan serves up a straight-down-the-middle sentimental actioner and pleases no one in the summer flop Last Action Hero (C-) in which a young movie fan enters the screen, reverse Purple Rose of Cairo style, to pal around with Arnold Swarzenegger on some lame product placement laden adventures. A muddled tone, an uncertain target audience, flat action sequences, poor special effects and an absolute void of dramatic structure and human chemistry are but some of the hazards in the way between the movie and your entertainment. There are two pretty thrilling stunt sequences, but it’s hard to stay too thrilled when the cloying duo of protagonists is mugging and plugging.
“Matinee” is Loving Tribute to Theatrical Movie Experience
In a world on the brink, movies often provide the ultimate escape. In Matinee (B-), director Joe Dante explores a weekend during the Cold War Crisis in which a movie mogul (John Goodman) debuts his latest exploitation flick and accompanying in-theater stunts in a way that plays out in real-life adventures with young lovers, paranoid citizens and fascinated fans. A bit of a riff on the War of the Worlds radio play controversy, Matinee spools with a bit of a devil-may-care attitude, relatively unsure of its own target audience (film buffs? nostalgia nuts?) It’s not quite universal enough to be a shared experience, not quite funny enough to draw in the comedy fans. Goodman is nonetheless fantastic as the impresario, hawking an Atomo-Vision gimmick with the sales bravado of Willy Wonka meets Willy Loman. And Dante, of Gremlins and Innerspace fame, is perfect for this material and brings out his usual cast of cameos and in-jokes.