Change Your Image
Brad Eleven
Reviews
The Loop (2006)
Yep, retooled beyond reason
I couldn't get enough of this when it first showed up. I can see how some people wouldn't like it, see it as predictable, etc. For me, it yielded at least one screaming fit of laughter per episode. I thought it was gone. Found it again the other night, and ... where'd the rest of the cast go--did FOX downsize the show??
It's still pretty funny, and I'm glad it's still being aired, but the only reason it's still on my TiVo is because of Philip Baker Hall. I literally passed food through my nose in the episode where he came walking in doing the Atlanta Braves' "tomahawk chop." It's the tiny moments that still make it great. As others have said, the plot is fairly predictable; it's in the way the script is played by the cast. Kind of like going to see a play that you studied in school: You know what's going to happen, so the execution is all that's left. This cast gets it right, over and over. I'm not giving up on it yet. And, yeah, I get paid to work in a corporate office, so I appreciate the satire.
Oh, well... it's not the first time FOX has tarnished something that was working perfectly well. Perhaps other FOX shows should take The Simpsons' approach: Declare openly that notes from executives will be ignored, and usually made fun of.
That's the thing about television: We're not the customers--the advertisers are.
Daredevil (2003)
way too obvious
In fairness, I'm rating the theatrical release. I've read how the director's cut is far superior, and I'd like to see it--but unless the wire work isn't SO BLOODY OBVIOUS, I can't see how it'd work.
There are just too many obvious actor-on-a-wire parts in every one of the action scenes. It's my preference to be able to suspend my disbelief, and I couldn't do it for more than two minutes at a time. Between the archetypes and the in-your-face Marvel Comics moments, it just doesn't fly for me.
It's not that I don't like Ben Affleck: I remember seeing the trailer and thinking that this would be so ultimate. It's the ultimate in shallowness for an action film.
Don't waste your time on the original. Get the director's cut, there's no way it can't be better than this steamer.
(off to the video store to rent the director's cut--film at eleven)
Empire Records (1995)
Suspend your disbelief and enjoy
From a cynical viewpoint, you could say that this is just "Friends" with great music, near-profanity, and sex. There's nothing wrong with that perspective, but you'd be missing out on a treat. An overly sugary treat (like the brownies in the film), but with some actual nutrition within. If nothing else, you get to see some now-successful actors in some of their earliest work.
I randomly found this film on the TV this morning, and I couldn't look away. The angle to this "I found family" film is that it starts with what most films take half of their time to get to: the failure that transforms the characters. Right off the bat, the misfit loner takes money that either belongs to the manager, the store, or both, and loses it gambling in Atlantic City. Here's one of the things that works: the manager doesn't turn him in, or beat him up (at least not until an hour into the film). He makes him sit on the couch!! Yes, there are stereotypes, and shallow ones at that, and still there is some character transformation during the course of the story. The saving grace is the music, which for 1995 was pretty daring. And everyone works their issues out somehow, i.e., we don't really get to see how, we just get the headlines. The exposition is predictable and predictably presented: for the most part, the characters announce to each other what's happened. A few times, they do it right to the camera.
It still works, somehow. Of course it has a happy ending. And there's a very Friends-like dance scene, but not in some fountain, it's on the roof of the store, and it's not at the beginning, it's at the end. Like refined sugar, this kind of treat isn't bad for you in moderation.
SpongeBob SquarePants (1999)
Masterful, perhaps mis-targeted, surreal stream-of-consciousnessparody
"SpongeBob SquarePants" is an hilarious and often unpredictable cartoon series aired at this writing on Nickelodeon. Its regular times are Saturday & Sunday mornings, with occasional marathons and a semi-regular feature on Nick's Friday evening U-Vote feature. The massive amount of hype surrounding its release in mid-1999 suggests that the Nickelodeon staff really likes the show.
The series is clearly for adults, in the same sense as "The Simpsons" and "Beavis and Butthead" are. The marketing, however, is quite child-oriented, and somehow, the series has become associated with other Nickelodeon features which actually offer redeeming social value for children, viz "Wild Thornberrys" and "Blue's Clues". I don't mind, personally--I enjoy watching SpongeBob with my toddler-age children, although I do find myself answering lots of interesting questions ("Why is Squidward dancing like that? It's scary.", "You can't put fake arms on like that, can you, Daddy?", "Why is Patrick so dumb?")
The show features the voice talents of Tom Kenny (a perennial supporting voice in cartoons) as SpongeBob, Rodger Bumpass (another voice talent veteran) as Squidward the, well, squid, Bill Fagerbakke ("Coach"s Dauber) as Patrick the Starfish, Carolyn Lawrence as Sandy Cheeks (SpongeBob's love interest, a squirrel with an air helmet), and Clancy Brown ("Buckaroo Banzai"s Rawhide) as SpongeBob's employer, the tight-clawed Mister Krabs. I have noticed in many features that "Mr. Lawrence" is credited as a writer; I suspect a husband-wife team, given that Sandy Cheeks gets some great dialogue--but that's pure conjecture, and I heartily welcome correction or corroboration alike. There have been several celebrity appearances, most notably Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway as the voices of fictional superheroes Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy.
I like the damn show. I was hooked on it for at least a year, from the Clutch-Cargo-flavored introduction to the United Plankton logo at the end of each episode. The plot lines' continuity is above average, with a well-developed cast of supporting characters who populate Bikini Bottom, SpongeBob's home. There are the obvious suspension-of-disbelief requirements, such as the watery environment's inexplicable tolerance for electricity and exhaled air, but this is easily counterbalanced by the whimsical misusage of jargon (SpongeBob, in a desperate moment says, "I'll use the Shell Phone!").
Classic episodes include "Bubbles", "Moon Rocket", and "Home Sweet Pineapple".
Tender Mercies (1983)
An oft-overlooked classic
I was first treated to this film in a "Film & Lit" class. The learning technique for the films was to first view the film all the way through, then discussion, then lecture on the film's technical merits.
The film is very enjoyable on a "pleasure-viewing" level, and it actually represents a turning point in Duvall's career, being the first of many films he's made in Texas and other parts of the US. Although it is a film professor's dream--in terms of easily recognizable film devices, and well-executed ones, at that--it's not so in-your-face as to be distracting.
Almost all of Duvall's later films owe something to this work, whether in plot, production values, or character. Most striking are the resemblances between this and his later works "Lonesome Dove", "Belizaire the Cajun", "Days of Thunder", and "The Apostle".
This was the film that turned me into a raving Robert Duvall fan. The range he demonstrates in this film, while portraying a quiet, introverted character is truly amazing. Other favorite moments are the scenes with an early-career Wilford Brimley, and the interaction between Duvall and the son of the boarding house owner (especially on the way home from a baptism).
The film itself is not exactly a tour-de-force, but it succeeds on every level that it approaches. The imagery is very well-placed and effective in supporting the plot and foreshadowing. The use of irregular shots is also extremely effective in drawing--no, yanking the viewer's attention in the right direction in ambivalent plot moments.
If you like Robert Duvall, or have any interest toward failure/redemption, the business side of Country music, rural Southern scenes, or enjoy a strong subject, subtly put, you should definitely see this film. It's a bittersweet drama with just the right amount of comic relief and endearing warmth.
The Jungle Book (1967)
A true classic for all ages
I saw TJB in the theater as a child, and as my own children reached the ages where they could enjoy Disney films, I started stocking up on videos. I'd forgotten all but 3 or 4 scenes, but as it rolled on the video player, I was literally awestruck at the vivid characterizations. This is a landmark film, in that it was the first to use established actors (with recognizable voices) for the vocal characterizations. There's also an excellent "making of" short after the film on the Disney video, with trivia, e.g., Sterling Holloway, the classic voice of Winnie-the-Pooh, was Kaa, the python in TJB.