Shark Tale (2004)

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I’m as to Will Smith’s real appeal these days. Every role he’s in, he basically plays himself, and in “Shark Tale”, Will Smith plays Will Smith… as a fish; How incredibly original. Oscar, his character is very superficial. He has no real redeeming qualities, is more based on his personality than actually making him a three-dimensional character with traits, and never really convinces me that I should like him, and I ended up liking Lenny (Jack Black) much more. Every other character is just there to pop jokes in now and again.

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Pilots Reviews: CBS' "How I Met Your Mother," UPN's "Everybody Hates Chris"

So what the hell do both of these shows have to do with each other? Well, simply put: they flash back to a time that would lead to something big eventually, and both could either deliver to the audience what we want, or can drag on and on and on until the gimmicks are so tired, we beg for it to be cancelled. But surprisingly, one gimmick works better than the other. Sometimes flashback shows work (“Wonder Years”, My Beloved “American Dreams”), and sometimes they don’t (“Do Over”, “That Was Then”), and both shows rely on this gimmick to spawn an entire series. With “How I Met Your Mother”, we see an old man telling his two children how he met their mom, and it’s safe to say this show has a big gimmick that will only tell how long this show will last. I mean how long will these kids sit to listen to this story? More importantly how long will the audience?

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Cursed (2005)

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This is “Scream” werewolf style, with red herrings, a hip cast, endless pop culture references, jump scares and a leading lady who can actually act being forced in to a situation. She even has a spazoid sidekick. Plus there’s that “Scream” style ending with everyone running back and forth and the “Maybe it’s him, maybe it’s her, but no it’s this person!” gimmick. But more characteristically, “Cursed” is a jumbled mess filled with moments that will surely have you repeatedly declaring “That would have been a great sequence”, and I was doing the same thing. Werewolves in the mirror room? Would have been great. Changing in to a werewolf in a public bathroom? Would have been great. Silencing barking neighborhood dogs with a howl? Could have been great. But alas, none of it really is.

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Day of the Dead 2: Contagium (2005)

It’s hard to take a film like this seriously; as a matter of fact calling this a film is very funny in its assumption, but regardless, taking this seriously is a real stretch and requires somewhat of a straight face. My suggestion is to completely shut off any expectations, logic, and common sense and try to make it through the ninety minute crap fest, now there’s an endurance challenge. Be warned though, this is not a sequel in spite of its title; it seeks only to shamelessly market off of the name of Romero’s masterpiece, and it bears no connection other than the title alludes to. While Romero’s film was a brilliant dissection of military corruption and paranoia, this crap fest is just an endurance test of sheer taste and torment.

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Little Black Book (2004)

01Why must we sympathize with a stupid character? Not a “ha-ha” stupid character, but an “Oh my god what an idiot” stupid character? We can’t, so we don’t. But Murphy is so cute, you’ll say. Who gives a crap? She’s kind of goofy looking, but that’s not my point. Why should we give a crap about this character who is so utterly irritating and obnoxious we are forced to sit through a two hour (!) movie about her “adventures” to discover her boyfriend is a lying, cheating, shit-for-brains? Shit-for-brains, meet shit-for-brains, because that’s what this movie is after all is said and done.

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Dead End (2003)

DEAD-END-003The whole film goes about itself in a rather coy manner from beginning to end. The writers of this have this constant attitude to the audience telling us “Oh, we’re going somewhere with this! You just watch the magic happen!” But the problem is, there’s no magic and the film goes nowhere and beyond. “Dead End” is a title that has never been so proper of its story, before, because the film is a dead end from the very beginning. The entire film thinks its so clever leading us along these ridiculous sequences all for a “surprise” ending that is so utterly predictable, derivative, and yawn inducing, so the writers take us nowhere and bring us to this zero pay off moment all for the sake of camp.

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Coffee and Cigarettes (2004)

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As per Jim Jarmusch style, “Coffee and Cigarettes” is a study, not only of human nature, and conversation, but also on unbridled meandering within gestures and just conversation in general which prompt uncomfortably silences and really fascinating situations that are often very amusing and engrossing. Filmed in stark black and white, Jarmusch examines conversation and human interaction while prompting his fascination with Coffee and Cigarettes, an admittedly unhealthy diet that all of the characters use in their sketches. As a love of coffee and a sheer hater of cigarettes, the film did manage to make for some entertaining sketches that shows off the talents of its stars while inadvertently paying homage to “Waiting for Gidoux”.

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