I loved the original Chris Weitz dramedy “About A Boy.” It’s easily one of my favorite comedies of all time and one of the rare Hugh Grant performances I can stomach. It’s not a surprise that the US would seek to adapt it in to a television show, I’m just saddened it’s on NBC in America. I mean, could you have picked a more incompetent channel with no idea how to handle new series’? In either case, “About a Boy,” granted it lasts more than one season, is a decent adaptation of the movie, but doesn’t do anything with the concept at all. For some reason the writers have completely side stepped the narration, and have eliminated a ton of interesting supporting characters from the series.
Tag Archives: Romance
Boiler Room (2000)
It’s a shame to see a movie filled with so much talent all to add up to absolutely nothing. “Boiler Room” trots out a who’s who of really good actors, many of whom were in vogue performers that eventually got their due. I’m especially a fan of Nicky Katt. That said, “Boiler Room” is a crummy retread of “Glenngarry Glenn Ross” sans the plays on “Death of a Salesman.” Ben Affleck appears twice to give a really raucous and loud speech to perspective stock brokers, and really you can’t help but think that Alec Baldwin did it better.
Pacing the Cage (2014)
The moment Max Lyons steps out of prison and enters in to the world, not only is his life on the line, but his soul is too. He’s still a very weathered prisoner who is a victim to his drug addiction, and his grasp for a normal life is hopelessly out of his reach. Lyons is one of the many poor ex-convicts hanging on by a thread, and director E.B. Hughes’ crime drama about a man fighting for his soul is a brilliant take on what is typically a tired sub-genre of dramas.
Sparks (2013)
For me, “Sparks” was an easy sell. I’m someone who loves serials, and classic pulp heroes that used their fists and fell for dames while fighting crime. Though “Sparks” is obviously an indie production, it garners the spirit of classic pulp heroes through and through. From a murder mystery, hard boiled cops, masked heroes, and the like, “Sparks” is an entertaining throwback to pulp heroes that, while flawed, is still worth a watch. If only for the great cast. Directors Todd Burrows and Christopher Folino leave no stone unturned in their ode to classic forties comic books, even featuring characters that smoke like it’s going out of style.
Maniac (2012)
As a man who had absolutely no faith in the remake of William Lustig’s grindhouse classic, it’s quite telling that the opening of the film inspired a gasp out of me, followed by a “Holy crap.” Director Franck Khalfoun also wisely sidesteps the grit of New York (New York now no longer the wasteland is was in the eighties) entirely in favor of the more menacing and vast Los Angeles, all the while injecting an artistic gloss that makes the madness seem more surreal. “Maniac” is a gruesome and disturbing re-working of the classic horror film, that pays respect to the original, while also challenging its gore and violence, in the process. Elijah Wood’s performance is surprisingly unsettling and occasionally horrifying, since his character Frank Zito is a victim of his own madness.
Barefoot in the Park (1967)
The big screen adaptation of Neil Simon’s play is not only one of the best romance comedies I’ve ever seen, but is also one of the very few romance comedies to make me laugh hysterically. The pairing of Jane Fonda with Robert Redford is a master stroke, and the pair as lovelorn newlyweds reveal a hidden often underrated comedic timing that makes the movie as much of a slapstick comedy as it is a sweet tale of reality dawning on two just married lovers that find life rearing its head toward them slowly.
Say Anything… (1989)
Truly, “Say Anything” is one of the most iconic romance movies of all time. It’s a last gasp of the eighties and in many ways a very touching tale of two people finding one another. But one of the best things about it is the final scene. Much in the way “The Graduate” ended, “Say Anything” puts our characters through the ringer, and then throws everything up in the air leaving it there for the audience to figure out what will happen next. Like Benjamin and Elaine in “The Graduate,” our young couple sits on a plane awaiting their fate and look at one another pondering on what the future holds.