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Reviews
A Talking Cat!?! (2013)
This movie can cure cancer and heal the crippled
When I saw the ?!? in the title, I knew I was in for something truly epic. I mean, if it wasn't they wouldn't use exclamation marks, right? And I was not disappointed. Eric Roberts gives the performance of a lifetime as the titular talking cat, who brings a family together and helps a young man explore his sexuality. And the special effects! Puts George Lucas' best to shame...come on now, you can't say Duffy the cat is NOT better than Jar Jar Binks! Saying you hate this movie is worse than joining al-Qaeda. I hear people who admitted so much are on wanted posters in post offices. And I have never seen a prop I envied more than the half-a-car furniture the lead characters had. Where do I buy such couches? This should have become a nationwide fad the moment this film came out! And the cheese ball subplot...just scintillating stuff! This film has so many dimensions I could write a book about it. In fact, I think I will. I feel I will improve our society as a whole if only they knew about A Talking Cat?!? Anyway, go see this movie NOW. It is a modern classic.
A Christmas Story 2 (2012)
Let this be a warning to people who want to revive classics...are you listening, people who wanted It's A Wonderful Life 2????
Now we know the story of "A Christmas Story" by now. Not just the plot of the movie, but the story of the movie itself. Holiday movie based on Jean Shepherd's writings comes out in 1983, doesn't exactly set the world on fire. Then said movie hits cable and home video, and builds a following until it becomes a full-fledged Christmas icon and has its own 24-hour marathon. Not to mention tons of merchandising, and so what happened almost 3 decades later was probably more inevitable than Mrs. Parker asking Ralphie what he wanted for Christmas. Warner Premiere's direct to DVD "official" sequel, "A Christmas Story 2." Yes, without using any Jean Shepherd material, nor Shep being here to offer input or a role.
I've been a fan of "A Christmas Story" from the start, laughing at the commercials and going to the theater to see it when I was 6. I'd always watch it on HBO, and as I grew up, I bought the VHS and later DVD. I hope to one day take a trip to Cleveland to visit the Christmas Story House. So I guess I was compelled either way to give this sequel a look, no matter the potential for a train wreck.
"A Christmas Story 2" takes place six years after the original. Ralphie is now 15 years old and has a new Christmas wish: a new car. However, unlike his quest for the Red Ryder BB gun, this one takes a backseat to other wacky holiday time antics. The car is actually the means to another end, as Ralphie wants to impress dream girl Drucilla (not Esther Jane, his love interest in the Shepherd stories who did cameo in the first movie). And that too is overshadowed when Ralphie takes the car for a test drive and ends up wrecking it. Now he must earn $85 to pay for the damage. Can he do it, with the help of his ever-present friends Flick and Schwartz? Meanwhile, kid brother Randy lives out Buck Rogers fantasies, the Old Man is still battling the furnace and has developed a sudden frugality (what happened to the "Arab trader" who'd make deals to get the perfect tree?) as well as an interest in ice fishing, and we get some appearances by familiar places, things, and jokes.
And therein lays the first problem with this film. It comes off as a glorified ad for the first movie (and its merchandise too, perhaps?), "highlighted" by the return of its most famous item, the Leg Lamp. Other half-baked references include Ralphie's car being wrecked in slow motion, as an excuse to revisit his "Ohhh fudge" exclamation; Flick voluntarily sticking his tongue into a pneumatic tube (seriously, he does it on his own accord, did his original experience make him a masochist?); and Ralphie using his earned money to take a homeless family to the Chop-Suey diner, which is rendered useless due to political correctness, but hey, at least you're reminded to buy a figurine of the restaurant to complete your collection! Other than the shameless revisiting of the original, "A Christmas Story 2" also cannot shake the direct-to-DVD/borderline sitcom feel. Indeed, a teen's quest for a car, and having to raise money to make up for damage caused by some antic, are both hackneyed television tropes you would think would have been below Bob Clark's standards (then again, he did direct "Baby Geniuses"
). The movie's highest profile star, Daniel Stern, plays the Old Man like a gruff caricature of Darren McGavin. I am sure someone considered it "clever" casting because he was on a TV show where a narrator revisited his youth. The subtle and charming humor of the original film is missing here as well, as seen in young Randy's dropping of several S.O.B. bombs. Remember how much you loved Ralphie doing the same after being duped by Little Orphan Annie? You'll love it being repeated in clusters, in the first few minutes of the film! And where the original's department store Santa was mostly scary because, well, store Santas are scary, the sequel's Santa is a nasty man who can't stop complaining about his wife's affairs.
The people behind "A Christmas Story 2" may not shoot their eye out, but they sure shot themselves in the foot. This 90-minute ad/sitcom should serve as a warning that cashing in on nostalgia doesn't always work, without the organic elements that gave the originals their heart and entertainment value. The past is better revisited than recreated.
Footlight Serenade (1942)
Delightful Grable musical with a too quick ending
I just watched this last night...good songs, good enough story, and of course Betty being her sweet, charming self. I liked Jane Wyman's character too. Plus, as a male, I do confess that a number of outfits that take advantage of Betty's million dollar assets certainly could do no harm for me. My main complaint is that the ending is too abrupt, as the resolution comes out of nowhere. It is like, Bill just mentions what has gone on in one sentence and then Tommy changes his mind and all is forgiven. Didn't quite get that sequence of events myself. But as I said, this was a quite delightful way to spend an hour and a half...not the deepest thing, but movies that just allow you to have a good time are a very good thing.