Don't forget -- besides being an actor, director and producer, Jer was a writer too. And not just of hilariously self-aggrandizing books, either. The man wrote THE NUTTY PROFESSOR and THE DAY THE CLOWN CRIED, so let's show a little respect, OK? OK!
Like it? Want to see more of the same in your children's school? Just vote for the GOP candidate of your choice. And tell 'em Jack sent you!
Update: Except McCain (maybe) and Romney (shockingly). Details here.
Another two-movies-at-the-theater month? Do we see the beginning of a trend? (Answer: No.) THE SIMPSONS MOVIE didn't quite hit the same heights as SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER AND UNCUT did back in 1999, but it was funny and well-done, at least as good as any episode from the show's prime. And some of the scenes -- Homer and Bart riding the inside of the dome or the nuke launch in "Itchy and Scratchy" -- looked damned good on the big screen. Biggest laugh for me? Homer putting "Please return to Homer -- No Reward!" on his giant container of pig manure. It's just so perfectly Homer.
And here’s where we begin to see the dramatic influence of the next generation of Pfeifer on the movie list. As you might have guessed, I didn’t watch POOH’S HEFFALUMP MOVIE because it looked like a groundbreaking piece of cutting-edge cinema. I watched it because I thought it might keep my daughter, Allison, occupied for an hour or so. Truth is, it wasn’t bad. A very low-key, very nice (in the best sense of the word) cartoon with a lesson about tolerance skillfully inserted into the fun (as opposed to ham-handedly jammed in, which is what most cartoons do). And as for NEMO, that’s one Amy and I caught in the theaters long before Allison was around . I liked it then, but I’ve really come to appreciate it now. It became Allison’s obsession this year, and thankfully, it stands up to multiple viewings. Everyone praises Pixar -- and rightly so -- for how beautiful their movies look (and NEMO, with its colorful undersea vistas, might be the studio's most beautiful film), but what impresses me is how strong the scripts are. All that eye candy would become unbearable after several viewings unless there was a solid story underneath it all, and NEMO scores highly in that area, with a complex plot, conflicted characters and lots and lots of jokes. Great stuff — and believe me, I’d know otherwise. (Look more NEMO -- a lot more -- in the months to come.)
THE PRESTIGE was the movie I’d hoped THE ILLUSIONIST would be, a genuinely mesmerizing look at a battle between two stage magicians that addressed some powerful themes and constantly kept me guessing. Once you’ve seen the film — and learned how Hugh Jackman’s big trick is done — you want to rewatch it because, just like in a great magic trick, you weren’t seeing what you thought you saw. All those top hats shown during the opening credits, for example, take on a whole other meaning by the end of the film. Bonus points for casting ahead-of-his-time genius David Bowie as ahead-of-his-time genius Nikolai Tesla.
And then there's GRINDHOUSE. Ah, GRINDHOUSE, how I awaited your arrival. I saw the movie opening night in a packed house and, though my butt was a tad sore by the time the credits on DEATH PROOF rolled, I had a fine old time. I prefered Robert Rodriguez' PLANET TERROR to Quentin's DEATH PROOF, because as much as I admired what Quentin was doing, I enjoyed what Rodriguez was doing a hell of a lot more. It was faster, nastier and not weighed down with all that yakkety yak yak. (Sure, there was a lot of dialogue in PULP FICTION and RESERVOIR DOGS, but with one crucial difference: It was interesting!) Still, aside from a time machine and a couple of tickets to a Times Square sleaze pit, it's unlikely I'll have a moviemaking experience quite like this again, so, as a fan of this disreputable genre, I'm grateful for the effort.
Warner Bros. DVDs occupied plenty of viewing time this month, with the crime dramas STRAIGHT TIME and PRINCE OF THE CITY making their debuts on disc. I loved STRAIGHT TIME and liked PRINCE OF THE CITY just a bit less, mostly because it’s a tad too long. COMMAND DECISION and 36 HOURS were both included in WB's "Heroes Fight For Freedom" boxed set, and, as it turns out, were two of the weaker movies. COMMAND DECISION, which was based on a play, remained too stagebound and coasted on Clark Gable’s charisma. 36 HOURS had a truly great premise -- James Garner plays a guy who knows when the D-Day invasion will occur, but he’s abducted by Nazis and re-awakened in a fake U.S. Army hospital and told the war has been over for years. That premise was wasted, though, with lackluster execution and that most cliche of plot devices, the Nazi who’s really a decent guy at heart. Could’ve been chilling, ends up being disappointing. Still, John Banner (aka Sgt. Schultz from HOGAN’S HEROES) shows up at the end. That's gotta count for something, right?
KNOCKED UP was one of the few excursions Amy and I made to the theaters this year, and though I liked it, it was definitely a notch below its predecessor, THE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN, and its successor, SUPERBAD. HOLLYWOOD AFTER DARK was the first release from The Film Crew, a group of ex-MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER guys once again riffing on old movies. Funny stuff, and if it didn’t match MST3K at its peak (really, what does?), HOLLYWOOD AFTER DARK was worth a look if only for the startling sight of a young Rue McClanahan starring in a sleazy piece of no-budget noir.
