|
|
||||||
|
|
50
FIRST DATES Click for the Official Site
For those who can
remember, "50 First Dates" sees Sandler reunited with his
"Wedding Singer" costar, Drew Barrymore. This time around Barrymore
plays Lucy, a damsel in distress plagued by an even greater evil than an
asshole boyfriend from the '80s. After surviving a dangerous car accident,
Barrymore's kind Hawaii local loses her short term memory - every day
transports her back to the day of her accident with no recollection of
anything that followed. This unfortunate fact becomes the cruelest joke for
Henry Roth (Sandler), a womanizing veterinarian who lives on the island and
falls hard for Lucy.
A former commitment-phobe
that made sure not to get involved with women who would be around for more
than a few days, Henry made it a habit to only sleep with tourists. When he
meets Lucy, he decides to devote his life to making her remember who he is.
Unlike "Groundhog Day," in which Bill Murray's fate to relive the same day over and over again forces his character to evolve through a series of hilarious episodes, "50 First Dates" is yet another template for Sandler to inject his hit and miss humor into a simple scenario.
Unfortunately the minor
characters - who include the overweight Hawaiian short order cook nicknamed
"Tattoo Face," the foulmouthed local sidekick (played by Rob
Schneider), the sexually ambiguous co-worker and Lucy's beefcake wannabe
brother (Sean Astin) - are more odd than funny.
Much of the comic punch
is finally left to Rob Schneider's quirky local making repeated comments about
his balls and Sandler snickering at his dikey German veterinary assistant.
In the end, the premise of "50 First Dates" is more heartbreaking than amusing. And, watching Drew Barrymore's Lucy repeatedly break down upon learning her fate (Henry shows her a video every day to explain the past), you can't help but feel that everyone - Lucy, Henry and us - would've been better off if none of our paths had crossed. GRADE: D
Click for the Official Site
Known for their talent at inserting
sketch comedy into a narrative structure, the five-person comedy troupe known
as Broken Lizard has made a name for themselves with such cult films as
"Puddle Cruiser" and "Super Troopers." Never heard of
them? Well, fear not, because you can see the irreverent group on screen now
in "Club Dread," an enjoyable spoof of slasher films and MTV Spring
Break marathons.
Club Dread, an island
paradise designed for hedonistic Spring Breakers, is the locale for Broken
Lizard's latest black comedy. Run by an aging rocker named Coconut Pete, the
resort is dominated by Pete's 'life is a party' mantra.
Too drunk to see anything
beyond the bikini-clad twenty-somethings who arrive on shore, Pete now trades
on his waning celebrity after a career of writing songs about Pina Coladas and
panties. But, when a serial killer shows up on the island and starts
decapitating the staff, the party comes to a halt-sort of.
As the staff members scrambles
to stay alive and keep up the façade that everything is ok (so as not to
frighten the guests), the suspicion mounts about who the masked man with the
machete might be. Is it Lars (Kevin Heffernan) the new massage therapist with
Vulcan-like powers of the hands? Or Juan (Steve Lemme) the dashing Latin
diving instructor who's slept with most of the staff and guests? What about
Putnam (Jay Chandrasekhar), the self-absorbed English tennis instructor who's
obsessed with the staff fitness instructor, Jenny (TK).
Written by, and starring,
the five members of Broken Lizard - Heffernan, Lemme, Chandrasekhar,
Paul Soter and Erik Stolhanske - the film was shot to look like a C-grade
horror flick you might catch on Cinemax after hours.
That said, "Club
Dread" features some unexpectedly wonderful and sly commentary on, well,
bad movies and horny teenagers.
Although he isn't
featured prominently enough, Paxton's Coconut Pete is the best running joke in
the film. As the boozed up host who sings his guests old hits about
cheeseburgers in paradise, Paxton is a perfect Jimmy Buffet foil. If frisky
teenagers usually get the ax in horror flicks - and plenty of frisky islanders
see the same fate here - it seems just as appropriate that a serial killer be
let loose on an island full of Parrotheads. After all, what's a more
unforgivable trespass than listening to "Margaritaville" over and
over again?
In one of the funnier
scenes in the film, Paxton tries to teach his remaining cooking staff - two
Mexicans -- how to make his signature jambalaya. The men, who speak no
English, look on as a crazed Coconut Pete asks them to say what the secret
ingredient might be. After the men look on in silence Pete yells, "Do you
think Eddie Money has to put up with this s*6t?"
Although it's not quite
as entertaining or irreverent, "Club Dread" is slightly reminiscent
of "Wet Hot American Summer," the underrated and under-seen 2001
send-up of eighties camp films.
Like "Wet Hot American Summer," which created hilarious stereotypes of all those offbeat characters you remember from summers away from home, "Club Dread" does almost as well with its take on hardbodied MTV-types.
Mocking the decadence and
stupidity of spring break (and all that comes with it) while celebrating it,
the Broken Lizard troupe's comedy is ideal for anyone who, like me, has winced
at MTV without ever turning it off.
GRADE: B-
The Holocaust was horrific
& undeniably one of the most hideous cries of all time. I cried during
Schindler's List and I'm German. The Holocaust did happen and I'm reminded of
it each day. There have been never ending litanies of TV documentaries &
movies for days, ranging from Anne Frank to the Judgement at Nuremberg.
Again, I'm not complaining because the Holocaust should not be repeated.
Roots
has been showing on TV every year since 1977. I don't believe white people are
going to start hanging black men from trees again in the South if they see
this TV series.
In the Godfather movies
the Mob killed men, women, children and a horse, but I don't walk in fear of
the Italians.
TV in your home today brings a
variety of entertainment ranging from Showtime on Friday nights with the 'L'
word series showing the life & times of Lesbians to Buffy the Vampire
Killer who weekly is driving wood stakes into the hearts of demented blood
thirsty monsters. Guess what? I'm not going to become a Lesbian or a Vampire.
So what is the problem with a
movie showing the historical fact of Jesus Christ's 12 hours of life before
being put to death on a cross?
Jesus did this to save sinners
in this troubled world. God knows we have enough of them. Go see the movie -
what are you afraid of?
If one were to look for
something offensive to bitch about, check these two out on TV and the Movies:
at the theatre there's the Monster with Charlize Theron who plays a grotesque
serial killing street whore who after giving blow-jobs to her customers, blows
their brains out. How's that for fun quality entertainment?
On T.V., while channel surfing,
I ran across the series The Surreal Life. I watched in amazement as
porn-king Ron Jeremy was completely nude eating dinner with Tammy Fay Baker.
What the hell is that all about? After seeing that I went directly to another
channel and watched as the one eyed Sister Angelica prayed the rosary to 30
chanting nuns.
I needed a little balance.
To see more info about these movies, and lots more, go to movies.yahoo.com |
|||||
|
|
Enable frames | |||||
