I’m a fan of the “Hey Arnold!” television animated series. I grew up with it. It’s one of Nickelodeon’s banner television shows about growing up. Sadly, what we see in “the movie,” is just a glorified three part TV special that’s mashed in to a movie. And it’s a god awful closer for such a great show. What the animated series thrived on was the large cast of magnetic characters from the neighborhood, but this fails to bring anything truly magnetic to audiences to watch. “Hey Arnold! The Movie” is a half-assed effort that does no justice all around to a truly entertaining cartoon. What many of the executives at Nickelodeon do with their products when making them into feature films is completely take away what made the cartoon so likable to begin with.
Tag Archives: Adventure
Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat (2003)
We received an onslaught of merchandising and advertising once this bomb was released, and the cat in the hat was literally everywhere you looked, an obvious sign of studios spending too much money on a crappy film, when it could have been spent on a better film. The filmmakers don’t call it “The Cat in the Hat”, they call it “Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat”, just to assure everyone this definitely is the book their children and their children’s children read. This is not, however, Dr. Seuss. It’s an embarrassment.
Old School (2003)
What would happen if the guys from “Animal House” grew up into men with families and jobs but refused to grow up? Such is the rhetorical question posed to the audience in this charming frat house comedy intended for the young male audiences. Mitch Frank and Beanie are men who refuse to grow up and are terrified at the notion of moving forward in life and can’t deny the men they used to be despite the fact their wives try to change them into the men they used to be. Will Ferrell gives a hilarious yet subdued performance as Frank, once known as “Frank the Tank”; we never learn about their past exploits in college and whatnot, but somehow we get the sense of their past persona’s and it all comes out in the open as they open up a fake fraternity so Mitch can stay in his home due to new college campus laws.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
It’s been a turbulent and bittersweet three years with the good vs. evil “Lord of the Rings” trilogy making its way into theaters and creating a phenomenal and historic legacy. Director Peter Jackson has so skillfully created a trilogy that has been flawlessly taken from the pages of the legendary JRR Tolkien books and put it on the big screen for all to glimpse at the magic of Middle Earth. “The Return of the King” manages to come out of the first two with much individuality but fits into the first two films tightly coming together as an incredible whole. As individual movies, these are jaw-dropping stunners, and as a whole they’re truly an accomplishment only Peter Jackson could have constructed.
Catch Me If You Can (2002)
To those who have said in the past that Spielberg, my hero, has lost it as a filmmaker, here’s mud in your eye. With his two most recent films (the great “Minority Report” which received mixed reviews, and the sub-par “AI: Artificial Intelligence” which bombed at the box-office) that weren’t up to his quality Spielberg comes out swinging with this breezy and light dramedy based on the book about real life con man and bank robber Frank Abagnale Jr., a man who before he was 18 made his way forging checks from Pan Am airlines, worked as a pilot, worked as a doctor, and then a lawyer leaving the authorities one step behind him until he was caught. This isn’t a love child of Spielberg who usually takes a personal investment in his many films with his tailoring and presence in the background but the quality isn’t diminished. The quality is in fact plentiful and flourishes throughout the entire length of the film.
S.W.A.T. (2003)
Originally set in 1975, the iconic series “S.W.A.T.” is given a welcome modern spin with all the original characters back in tow. Director Clark Johnson does a good job selecting an all-star hip cast to portray the famous characters from the original series. What this movie manages to do that most modern action films don’t is successfully establish every character, their personality, and their background which is interesting and then pulls the audience into the action taking place with the story. It’s reported among the stars that they actually studied the real S.W.A.T. training sequences and also interacted in exercises which can be seen in the very realistic and steadfast depictions of the exercises used by the S.W.A.T. infantry.
The Greatest Store in the World (1999)
The Greatest Store in the World” is one of those films you can finish watching and look back on with a smile later on. What this film does is take a somewhat dramatic plot and turn it into a bittersweet tale with occasional laughs that a family can watch together. Like “A Miracle on 34th Street”, the film presents a large store so big it’s capable to house a small family. Dervla Kirwan plays Geraldine a basically free-spirited mother who uses the store as a home for her children and quite cleverly is able to dodge security guards, the doorman “Mr. Whiskers” and the stores snoopy Santa and his elf who swagger around the store bothering people.