I have written movie reviews for Bostonist.com. I consider myself a film buff, and I've written previews of special series and midnight events at the Brattle Theatre, the Coolidge Corner Theatre, and the Harvard Film Archive. Writing about movies comes easy to me after spending so much time working on previews and trailers for AOL. I know the history, and I developed a strong critical focus while working on my MA in English at the University of California, Irvine. The following include several of my recent reviews:
I have also written DVD reviews for The Trades. While I originally joined the staff as a reality-TV writer, I have pitched in on DVD reviews, and I am planning to add more reviews to my current portfolio. Given my writing for AOL, I acquired a reputation for knowing a little something about music. Hence, my reviews have always involved rock 'n' roll. Each title will provide a link to the original article.
Sicko
Let's have a little fun- let's try to review Sicko and leave Michael Moore out of it. Sure, cutting him out of the review would leave a gaping, man-sized hole, but why not?
Sicko will make anyone who hasn't gotten sick feel very, very lucky. The movie follows several people who actually had insurance, but their insurance providers tried to weasel out of paying for their care. Several individuals suffer from cancer, and their insurance providers won't cover care that might save them because they classify it as "experimental."
The situations of these people might seem like isolated cases. Or maybe they didn't read the fine print. But people who worked for insurance companies in the past volunteered to go on film for the documentary - and they describe the for-profit insurance enterprise as a truly shady business. One woman who worked for Humana says before Congress, "I know how managed care maims and kills patients."
Some stories presented in Sicko are truly absurd. They would be funny if they weren't true. In theory, you couldn't make up a story about an insurance company that says it will cover only one cochlear implant for a little girl who is going deaf - and who happens to be insured. You couldn't make up a story about an insurance company that dropped a woman from their plan because she had one measly yeast infection. But it's all true.
The worst situation presented in Sicko involves the plight of 9/11 rescue workers who tried to rescue victims from the rubble. They suffered terrible respiratory ailments from being around Ground Zero, but the guv'mint wouldn't pay for their care because they were volunteers. Hence, they weren't on the guv'mint payroll.
To get medical care, the sick 9/11 rescue workers travel to Cuba thanks to the efforts of a certain unnamed filmmaker - and they are finally able to get the care that they need. This part of the movie rubs the wrong way somewhat because it smacks of a blatant publicity stunt - How can we be sure these people would have gotten such great care if a camera wasn't around? But it asks the audience one important question: "If these people could have gotten the care they needed, then would they have to resort to care from other countries?"
Sicko also compares the American medical system to those of Canada, England, and France. The movie presents these medical systems as a little too perfect - anyone who has dealt with socialized health care will tell you that it isn't as rosy as it appears in the movie. However, what Canada, England, and France have is far better than what the USA is offering.
As far as movies go, Sicko is ham-fisted, pounding the audience over the head and shouting, "Didja get it? Didja get it yet, huh?" It's one-sided. It offers very little in the way of counterargument. Sometimes, it's flat-out sloppy. It never offers a concrete plan how the United States can make a successful transition from a for-profit healthcare system to a socialized system. But, when you step back and look at what insured Americans have to go through to get any care, it's amazing that people haven't awakened and started agitating for the care that they deserve.
The Hoax
The Hoax could have been a terrific movie. Whether or not you know anything about Howard "The Aviator" Hughes or Clifford Irving, the man who tried to pass off a fake autobiography of Hughes, the plot is riveting and familiar. In the light of recent publishing and journalism faux-pas, ranging from Jayson Blair to the sudden squelching of OJ Simpson's "confession," Clifford Irving's desperate drive for fame makes sense.
Richard Gere stars as Clifford Irving, who tried to pass off a fake autobiography of Howard Hughes during the early 1970s. With the help of his friend Dick Susskind and his wife, Edith Irving, he almost got away with it, and made some serious bucks, too. He certainly made fools of everyone who went along with the scheme, and TIME named him "Con Man of the Year."
Some compulsive liars are more successful than others, but they have one trait in common - once they hoodwink one person, they just can't stop, and Irving was no exception. A prosthetic-nose-wearing Richard Gere portrays author Clifford Irving as addicted to praise. Irving wants the money that will come from publishing a bestseller about the reclusive Howard Hughes, sure, but he laps up the praise and attention. As Irving, Gere wants to be loved by everyone - his wife, his mistress, his publishing company, and even Howard Hughes.
This is Gere's movie. He's wonderful, and he's backed by an excellent sidekick, Alfred Molina, who portrays Irving's cowardly partner in crime, Dick Susskind. Molina is often too sweaty and occasionally looks like he's ready to snack on some scenery, but he turns out to be the perfect loyal schlep to Gere's smooth talker.
Unfortunately, the movie stalls when it tries to roast the publishing business. Other than a single good line - "We need anger, which I think will help us in Germany" - the satire is one-note and heavy-handed. The McGraw Hill team is portrayed as a crew of gullible dolts, and neither the actors nor the script can make the audience believe that anyone could be so dumb as to buy Irving's story. Hope Davis, as Gere's link to these bumbling idiots, wears a single constipated expression throughout the movie.
The publishing scenes are only one example of director Lasse Hallstrom and screenwriter William Wheeler trying to pack in too much. Hallstrom throws in gratuitous, easily recognizable songs of the 60s and 70s to remind us - over and over again - that the Vietnam War, during which time The Hoax is set was a rocky time for the States. The message is that people just wanted to believe in something, even if it was a liar who claimed he had a direct line to Howard Hughes - and Hallstrom doesn't stop until the audience screams, "We get it! We get it!"
Hallstrom and Wheeler might both be responsible for the movie's other flaw. They can't decide when to end the movie. Multiple endings come up, and just when you think you're done, it keeps going. Irving runs through several nightmare and daymare scenarios, and some of them don't seem to fit in with the overall trajectory of the movie.
At one point Hallstrom may have thought he was Tim Burton when the movie suddenly changes color and Gere is reveling in Hughes-esque glory. Yes, yes, we get it - Irving flying high, in so deep he thinks he's Hughes!
Despite all Gere and Molina's hard work, The Hoax winds up with an average score simply because the movie could have used some pruning shears and a little more restraint.
Image of Gere and his nose from the Internet Movie Database.
Blades of Glory
Blades of Glory fills a specific comedy niche - the nuts 'n' butts genre. There's nut jokes, butt jokes, and body-part jokes galore. Despite the emphasis on the pratfall and the gross-out joke, Will Ferrell and Jon Heder's brand of physical comedy pulls the sloppy script up a few notches.
Even though all sports have been satirized to death, figure skating truly deserves mockery. As Chazz Michael Michaels, a male Tonya Harding, Will Ferrell resembles a slab of beef sliding across the ice. No amount of special effects makes that greasy, hot mess of a man look graceful. But Chazz makes up for his failings with supposed sexual potency. He's the kind of skater who can also star in a porn opus named - wait for it - "The Iceman Cometh."
Jon Heder is Chazz's prissy rival, Jimmy MacElroy, and Heder plays the character like a mashup of Brian Boitano and Owen Wilson. His upstanding, clean-living skater is the perfect foil to Ferrell's "ice-skating back-door lover."
As is to be expected in all these movies, the two get into a public brawl and are swiftly banned from skating for life. Humbled, they must struggle their way into the spotlight by overcoming their differences.
This plot could have been generated by a computer or a five-year-old. But Chazz' decline into ice-capade hell is hilarious because no one does self-pity and despair better than Will Ferrell. While skating for the bargain-basement "Grublets on Ice," helmed by Boston's beloved Rob Corddry, Chazz guzzles booze, fondles trampy wood nymphs, and vomits inside the head of his wizard costume.
A series of unlikely circumstances brings Chazz and Jimmy together to compete as the first all-male skating pair. Completely blind to the fact that figure skating already pushes gender boundaries to the limit, Chazz, Jimmy, and skating fans are revolted at the thought of two men skating together. One fan plops two hot dogs in a bun and asks the camera, "Does this look right to you?"
Adding to the gender confusion, a sexually ambiguous, mullet-sporting Craig T. Nelson and his equally sexually ambiguous partner (Romany Malco) eventually coach the two to greatness. Of course, nuts are crushed and cracked along the way as Chazz hoists Jimmy up in the air by the crotch and the two crash into each other in a painful scissor move.
In the parallel plot, rival figure skaters Stranz and Fairchild Van Waldenberg (Will Arnett and Amy Poehler) send their bullied sister Katie (Jenna Fischer) out to disrupt Chazz and Jimmy's relationship. This, of course, leads to romance between Katie and Jimmy. The evil-skater subplot is a throwaway, but Arnett and Poehler are at their coldest, meanest, and bitchiest. They give Ferrell a run for his money as they serve up two riotous skating spoofs - an interpretation of "urban culture" to the tune of Marky Mark's "Good Vibrations" and a dramatic re-enactment of JFK and Marilyn's relationship, complete with pills and a Heimlich maneuver.
Unfortunately, while the main four stars get all the good scenes, comedic talents like Fischer, Malco, and Corddry are wasted. That problem plagues the whole movie - it has a laserlike focus on Ferrell and Heder that everything else seems like an afterthought.
That said, Will Ferrell plus nuts 'n' butts jokes always equals a few laughs. Even if you can't distinguish Blades of Glory from any other dumb comedy, you won't feel too bad for plunking down your money for this. Just make sure you save a few bucks by seeing the matinee.
Promotional shot of Craig T. Nelson, Romany Malco, Will Ferrell, Jon Heder, and a nut joke waiting to happen from IMDB.
Reno 911!: The Movie
Bostonist caught the Reno 911!: Miami sneak preview a few days ago and fully intended to write about it sooner if it weren't for another unmentionable movie based on a TV show. Overall, the audience was pleased with the big-screen version of the Comedy Central COPS spoof.
The audience was even happier when two actors from the movie came out as their characters. The ladies loved Cedric Yarbrough, who plays the self-described studmuffin cop "Jonesy." Yarbrough cut quite a swath through Boston, wowing the Track Girls and almost causing Billy Bob Thornton to surrender his underpants.
Not to be outdone, comedian Carlos Alazraqui, who voices just about every cartoon character you can think of and was once the voice of the Taco Bell Chihuahua, came out as the mustachioed Garcia.
Yarbrough and Alazraqui launched into comedy routines before and after the screening. They tried mightily to stay in character as they warned the audience that they had been duped into participating in a documentary. But most of the time the women were hooting at Yarbrough and trying to invite the actors out for post-movie drinks. On the subject of life in Boston, Yarbrough/Jones yelled, "Get the f*ck out!" and Alazraqui/Garcia said he'd consider doing a sequel in our fair city, but "Not durin' the f*ckin' winter!"
As far as comedies go, the movie pretty much what you'd expect of a long-form version of the Comedy Central show - just with more cussing, boobies, and self-pleasuring. One of the best scenes in the film shows different sets of characters trying to have sex with each other and failing miserably, only to wind up in their hotel rooms for what can only be described as a masturbation orchestra.
When they're not trying to get laid, Reno's finest are trying to earn respect when they attend a national police convention in Miami. But when they show up underdressed in awesomely trashy hot pants and loud prints, those organizing the convention "lose" their registration, and the Reno officers must stay in a shady motel.
Of course, hot pants are de rigeur for Lieutenant Dangle (Thomas Lennon). Without them, he wouldn't be able to "move like a cheetah."
That kind of flexibility is exactly what Miami needs when a mysterious crime figure unleashes a toxin that incapacitates all the acceptable police officers. As a result, the ragtag Reno crew must keep Miami safe.
The rest of the movie proves that Miami needs to be protected from the Reno police, not the other way around. For example, the officers fail miserably when called upon to immobilize an alligator in a swimming pool, and, in true Reno 911! style, they save the day by sheer accident.
Most of the gags are pretty funny, but don't expect any real plot. A few plot lines that could have been interesting, such as the trampy Clemmie's (Wendi McLendon-Covey) finding the love of her life and Dangle's yearning to join the Aspen Sheriff's department, ultimately fail. The script aims for instant gag gratification instead of more developed jokes that could have been funnier in the long run.
How much would this Bostonist pay to see Reno 911!: Miami in a theater? A few bucks, or about the cost of a DVD rental. How much would this Bostonist, the Track Girls, most of the preview audience, and Billy Bob Thornton pay to see Cedric Yarbrough in hot pants? That would be priceless.
Rock 'n' Roll High School: Rock On Edition
With the release of "End of the Century" and the deaths of Joey, Dee Dee, and Johnny Ramone, "Rock 'n' Roll High School" is now as much of a national treasure as it is a late-'70s, low-budget comedy.
For the uninitiated, "Rock 'n' Roll High School" isn't just another cornball sex romp. The movie captures how much of an impact punk had on American culture, especially as an antidote to disco. The story revolves around Riff Randall (horror queen PJ Soles), who would much rather write songs for her beloved Ramones than sit in her classroom at Vince Lombardi High. School gets worse when the tyrannical new principal Miss Togar (Mary Woronov, who has a hairdo as uptight as her character's behavior) shows up to crack down on the students.
When the Ramones come to town for a show, Riff must battle Miss Togar to get one of her songs to the Ramones. Of course, the entire plot is just an excuse for the Ramones to serenade Riff as she takes a shower, to blaze through their biggest hits in concert, to deliver some of the worst acting of all time, and to tear the roof off Vince Lombardi High.
The movie has been out on DVD, but the Rock On Edition has a new documentary and an extra audio commentary from Roger Corman and actress Dey Young, who plays Riff's nerdy sidekick.
It might seem that a documentary about "Rock 'n' Roll High School" would be less than spectacular given that three-fourths of the Ramones are dead. However, the last Ramone standing - Marky - represents the band well. PJ Soles doesn't participate in the documentary either, but Dey Young, Mary Woronov, and Clint Howard tell their on-set stories. Howard even shows his Ramones Pride with a tee-shirt. (Alas, Paul Bartel, who played the music teacher who discovers punk rock and strips off his clothes in the principal's office, died in 2000.)
The documentary is most entertaining when director Allan Arkush talks about what might have been. The movie was supposed to capitalize off the disco craze, and Roger Corman had an idea for a movie called "Disco High." Arkush, who is apparently something of a rock connoisseur, had to convince Roger Corman that disco wouldn't create an inferno in a high school. The Village People and the Bee Gees might cause a rebellion, but that wouldn't be because people liked their music.
Once the script moved from disco to rock 'n' roll, Arkush & Co. needed to choose the right band. At first, the top choices were Devo, Van Halen, and Cheap Trick. The scene in Riff's shower would have been way longer and would probably have upped the movie to an "R" rating if they picked Van Halen. Cheap Trick was the runner-up, but they cost way too much money (darn you, "Live From Bukodan"!). That's just as well. Somehow, "Surrender" doesn't inspire teenage rage as much as "I Wanna Be Sedated" does.
The directors and actors have nothing but nice things to say about the Ramones. Dey Young says they were shy, and Allan Arkush marvels at their discipline. He says the Ramones had a "drive that you don't see that much in rock 'n' roll bands" because they actually rehearsed before their shows. (If you've seen "End of the Century", you know that Johnny acted like a military leader when it came to running the band.) Clint Howard says, "God rest their souls, but Johnny and Joey could not act their way out of a paper bag." They muff their lines constantly, but their spirit fits right in with the movie's gleeful earnestness.
The new audio commentary isn't as enlightening as the documentary. Listening to Corman and Young talk seems like eavesdropping because it seems like they would rather catch up privately. They have some awkward moments in which they fill dead air talking about the bright colors of the movie. If you want to hear more about the making of the movie, listen to the original commentary by Allan Arkush, along with producer Michael Finnell and screenwriter Richard Whitley. If you want to hear Roger Corman's opinions about public school or are a die-hard Corman fan, then you might enjoy the new commentary.
Other than the new documentary, the DVD doesn't really offer anything new, but, if you know someone who is into today's new punk acts, give them this DVD so they can see the fathers of punk in their prime.
Pixies Sell Out Concert DVD
The key word for this DVD collection is "consistency." The DVD opens with a performance of "Bone Machine," only the performance is taken from several different concerts. Each cut flows seamlessly to make one song, and, if you were watching with your eyes closed, you might think that the song was taken from one show.
The opening proves that the Pixies began their reunion tour as tight and as organized as an army. The major concert is taken from their 2004 performance at the Eurockéennes Festival in Belfort, France, but the bonus clips are taken from a range of concerts, and they include songs that the band chose not to perform at Eurockéennes, along with a few repeats. The only major difference between all the shows is that Kim Deal and David Lovering appear to have undergone extreme makeovers along the way.
Pixies fans will love the DVD because it has a solid mix of songs from old and new records, with a heaping helping of tracks from older records like Come On Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa . Kim Deal fans in particular will also be pleased. The Pixies' breakup could be viewed as a divorce, with fans moving to the Frank Black camp or the Kim Deal camp. Throughout their career, the two butted heads over the fact that Frank Black didn't give Deal enough input in the band. Kim Deal has every right to demand her share of the spotlight given the success of her side project, the Breeders, and the DVD features her big song with the Pixies - "Gigantic" - along with the hypnotic "In Heaven" and "Into the White."
The major flaw with the DVD is the flaw that came with the Pixies reunion concerts in general. The band utterly lacked spontaneity. The musicianship, with special propers going to lead guitarist Joey Santiago, is excellent, and the songs are legendary, but the band itself rarely strays from the formula. Occasionally, they seem a tad bored. They get their paycheck, the audience is happy, and everyone is happy, but what makes a concert great instead of good is the possibility that something magical might happen.
The bonus tracks actually wind up exposing this flaw because several of the tracks were also on the set lists for the Eurockéennes Festival, such as "Here Comes Your Man" and "U-Mass." The crowd vibes are different, and the band plays the songs a little faster, but nothing changes. The bonus tracks should have featured completely different songs instead of letting the band repeat themselves.
Finally, the DVD extras, beyond extra concert clips, are disappointing. The extras include interviews with producers and roadies, but no insight from the band members themselves. Another extra, in which fans can watch a performance of "Monkey Gone to Heaven" from six different angles, seems unnecessary. If you're looking for a peek inside Frank Black's head (if you dare), then the DVD will be a waste of money. If you couldn't make it to one of the shows, though, then you will be thrilled with this set, which you can hear in stereo or surround sound. In general, the DVD is a great souvenir, but it doesn't add anything to the Pixies mystique.