Change Your Image
Born_Dead
Reviews
Happily N'Ever After (2006)
N'Ever Entertaining
I saw a screening of this film yesterday and I was disappointed. The film sports many stars but fails to capitalize on their strengths to make the film more entertaining. What you end up getting is the same old story taken down an already clichéd path that we have seen time and time again. Freddie Prinze Jr. stars as Rick as well as Narrator but his character is given very little to work with and his narration stinks because he fails to speak clearly. His wife Sarah Michelle Gellar is also given a role that is wanting but fails to entertain. Carlin, who plays the wizard, has a two second part and the dry wit genius of Patrick Warburton is heavily under used. This had to have been one of the most boring films I have seen to date slated for kids. Do not pay money to see this one.
The Break-Up (2006)
The Break Up
There was a film many years back called The Stroy of Us starring Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfiffer in which a married couple was on the brink of divorce. The film displayed the formula in which a relationship is easily unglued by mistakes and outside interference (mostly family and friends adding their two cents). The Break Up is essentially the same film aside from the fact that Vaughn and Anniston are not married.
Some of the biggest problems with this movie are that its advertised as a comedy but fails miserably. The theater was full of uncomfortable chuckles and forced laughter where genuine laughter came maybe one or twice. Another problem is the cast. Jon Faveru plays Vaughns buddy (no surprise there since they have featured in more then a few movies), Vincent D'Onofrio and Cole Hauser play unlikely siblings, then you have Joey Lauren Adams, Jason Bateman, Justin Long (Waiting), and Peter Billingsley (Elf, Christmas Story) whose celebrity and in some cases talent fall moot in this lacking script. Lastly the film feels incomplete when it abruptly ends and maybe thats giving it to much credit. It seemed to me and to other audience members that the writers of this film simply realized what a horrible mistake they have made penning this film and then just up and quit on it.
To describe this film would be all to easy. It is as if a couple you have known long enough to be considered friends invited you to their home and then began to argue making everything uncomfortable and then you realize their is no door in the room in which to escape the akwardness of it all. Make that last a little over an hour and you have this film. This could quite possibly be up for the lamest film of the year.
The Road to El Dorado (2000)
Parents Beware
Other then the fantastic villain of Armand Assante and the very brief reference to Aztec culture this film went where it shouldn't have. For me, taking the kids to see a film specifically made for children is the only safe haven I have from vulgarity and lude acts that seem to filter through on the television. This film had me second guessing the FCC and the sanity of the people at Dreamworks, who as of the last few years have really allowed a lot of innuendo's and straight forward adult oriented remarks into their kids films.In this film towards the end the sexuality of the film takes one gigantic leap where two title characters roll around on the ground in a make out session. The language was a bit heavy as well. Since then I have yet to take my kids to a Dreamworks film (especially after seeing Shrek). What could have been a great vehicle for exploring the ancient Aztec civilization turned into a sad excuse for a film that was an attempt to push the envelope and lost. Parents beware.
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004)
Harold and Kumar Do Nothing New
My brother told me this was a great flick, and I should have known better, so we went and grabbed it at the local video store. We popped it into the DVD player and I sat back expecting the worst. On that note, Kumar and Harold deliver. The film is just one of a million films about sex, drugs, and pop culture. Did I have a laugh or two in the process? Yes. Was it worth the money I spent to rent it? No. This film goes through the basic movements of your typical stoner flick. There's the hot girl that is interest to one of the characters while the second character is your basic horn dog. You have the stoner aspect where everyone is looking for the perfect high. And last but not least the world seems to form itself into a circus of freaks around the only two normal characters who just happen to be stoners with fart joke personalities. If your into American Pie, National Lampoon, or any of those cheesy wanna be Porkies flicks then by all means this film will make you laugh. For those of you who can't see yourself laughing at the mention of certain body parts then give this movie a pass.