One thing about comedy is that there are so many different dimensions of the art form to explore, and it takes a lot of time and patience to discover what’s right and what doesn’t work. “Harvey Daggit” is a new approach from directors Larry and Aaron Longstreth, more of a dark and demented comedy. About olives. You have to give to the Longstreth’s for taking such a ridiculous concept and adding a sense of menace, and utter confusion to it. It’s not often you see a crime mystery that revolves around gardening. Well, there’s “The Godfather,” but you get the picture.
Category Archives: Movie Reviews
Dracula – Masterpiece Theatre (2007)
It’s a requirement that anyone playing Lucy Westenra should possess a great deal of sexual allure, for the simple fact that it gives logic to Dracula’s hunt on her before going after Mina. And Sophia Myles hands the requirement like a pro. Myles is utterly ravishing in “Dracula” and she’s lusted after, for good reason, throughout much of the film, possessing her usual charm and likable charisma that makes her such a memorable actress. Myles also has a palpable chemistry with Leonidas, who manages to portray the charming innocence with Myles as the blonde siren that eventually gets bitey.
Forty Shades of Blue (2005)
Sachs’ love triangle a la Sundance is just more art house malarkey deemed important and groundbreaking, when it’s more soapy melodramatic fodder with a dull plot and a lackluster series of performances. I was severely disappointed as I was looking forward to “Forty Shades of Blue.” Mainly because the film looked to be an interesting take on the love triangle set to a life of a woman won by a man with a brutal ego.
Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing (2006)
I hate country music. In all of its forms. I think it’s a pro-conservative, right wing, antiquated form of music best suited for run down bars, filled with whiny, bitching, moaning, chaw chewing, cow poking “stars” who have no idea what good writing is (“Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue” is proof positive), and is a genre so disgusted with itself it’s lost touch with its roots and instead has turned into another form of adult contemporary pop. That being said I like the Dixie Chicks. Not because of their music, granted, they have great voices, but because one day in a concert, they decided to exercise their freedom of speech and tell their fans what they thought of our government. And the fans, the red state hicks they are, hated that, and turned on them.
Grandma's Boy (2006)
Rob Schneider, David Spade, I want you to get down on all fours and thank the stars you know Adam Sandler. Thank Sandler. Build an altar to him and thank him for helping your mere shreds you call careers. Where would you be without that douche bag? Nowhere and you know it. How else can you explain your cameos in “Grandma’s Boy,” an otherwise glorified custom made vehicle for all of Sandler’s pals? “Grandma’s Boy” is a vain film. Vain in the assumption that through endless sex jokes, and weed induced sight gags, that it’s making a commentary about ageism. Really, it’s nothing but a veil thrown over it to add a thin sense of non-existent intelligence.
Primer (2004)
When you can create a film under $7,000 dollars and end up with a pretty esoteric and elaborate science fiction film, that’s quite an achievement. “Primer” was a very low budget film that managed to achieve considerable critical acclaim, as well as respectable grosses, and it’s a film many have deemed difficult to watch. Which is a complaint that’s with merit. “Primer” is an often confusing film about a group of men attempting to build a machine. But what makes it such an entertaining and rather engrossing bit of independent cinema, is the dialogue. And Shane Carruth’s dialogue will suck you in because the characters are so natural.
Security (2006)
Hey Hollywood, it’s me Felix. You don’t know me, and possibly don’t care, but have you ever bothered to look up the word comedy in the dictionary? While you’re out there making “Epic Movie,” and “Dance Movie,” and anything else that involves fart jokes, there are people out there making honestly good comedies with a budget of a little over a hundred bucks. And you know what? They’re funnier than anything you can shit out in your room of Yes men, and monkeys on typewriters. Take for example, the nut jobs at Bullcrank. I’m a fan. Yes, I admit it, and yes, they’re kind folk, but I laughed more in “Zombies in My Neighborhood,” and “Batman’s Gonna Get Shot…” than in any piece of crap you have ever come up with.