While comic book movies are shooting to audiences in theaters at an almost rapid fire pace, very rarely does the film medium examine the person behind the superhero, the true human and “The Incredibles” does that. Few films such as the underrated “Unbreakable”, “Spider-Man 2” and “The Hulk” have taken the time to examine the psyche and basic mundane aspects of being a superhero and living with the persona as a human too. As a comic book geek since childhood I always relish the chance to catch my superheroes on the big screen despite the fact that rarely is the transference ever satisfying, but few films create their own heroes and then work from the ground up, and instead of focusing on the superhero aspect and then the human, films such as Shyamalan’s “Unbreakable” and this, work on focusing on the humanity and then the hero which is more secondary.
Tag Archives: Comedy
13 Going On 30 (2004)
“13 Going on 30” is fluff, and it knows it’s fluff, it’s embedded within the screenplay, and what makes this such a surprisingly enjoyable movie, is that the writer’s do not try to deny it and approach the situations with a humorless approach, but instead take it simply for what it is, and it works here. For a film basically compared to “Big”, being a basic remake and or sequel, it was marketed more for the female crowd along with a bit of a bittersweet approach to it that’s hard to find but is nonetheless fun once you get down to the seams.
Porco Rosso (Kurenai no buta) (1992)
When the hacks at Disney decided to release Hiyao Miyazaki’s works on DVD, I was intrigued. I admit I’ve heard very little about Miyazaki and his works, but I was intrigued nonetheless. I’ve seen both “Kiki’s Delivery Service”, and “Princess Mononoke”, but little did I know with these movies were an actual legacy and fan following, so when I heard his films were being released on DVD, I stopped at the store and stocked up on a few of his films. The one I did hear most about though was this, and I was once again intrigued and very fascinated with what the cartoon looked like, and it’s a truly good film.
Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004)
“Barbershop 2” is really disappointing with the gloss of a bigger budget and less heart, less character emphasis, and a plot that is so hokey, I could barely get over how I would have rather been watching the first film than this. Like right out of an old fashioned sitcom, Calvin’s barbershop is met with new competition from Nappy Cutz, a larger chain of barbershops that just moved in from across the street. Now, the writers could have gone for the more conventional and cliche and have them compete with the beauty shop, but then that would be a battle of the sexes and we wouldn’t want to get all predictable, now would we? Now as you can guess, Nappy Cutz is a better barbershop with a fancier design and Calvin is looking for a way to compete with their growing number of customers.
50 First Dates (2004)
The Terminal (2004)
Anyone who knows me or has even an inkling of what my reviews are like know I love almost everything Spielberg does, and Spielberg manages, through “The Terminal” to create a sense of something that all comedies lack: humanity, and through its humanity, comedy that is all so amusing and likable (I laughed aloud whenever Navorski looked into the surveillance cameras). Spielberg creates a film in the Capra-esque sensibility and it creates human characters that people can love and or feel sorry for in the process. Viktor Navorski is now a man without a country after his beloved country of Krakozhia engages in a coup and war breaks loose. His passport, visa, and anything else he owns are now deemed confederate dollar rendered basically useless. The problem is he can not step foot in America, and he can not go back home, so now he’s marooned in the airport.
Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! (2004)
Tad Hamilton is a big star with the ladies, and after he’s caught doing some naughty things with a lady friend, he’s pressured into re-invigorating his career with a contest for a lucky girl. Rosalee just happens to be that girl. A young wide-eyed fan, she and Tad for an instant friendship, but her friend Pete doesn’t trust him. Ah, the old “Sixteen Candles” formula that has undoubtedly been used before over and over again, and this time around it’s a good variation. Bosworth, a beautiful girl who literally glows whenever she’s on-screen plays Rosalee with much affection and is a great leading character here. She’s someone to root for. While “Win a Date!” doesn’t proceed with originality it accomplishes great characters.