Thursday, November 09, 2006

Quick Takes

Poseidon (2006) - The remake of the 1970s disaster flick, the film is enjoyable, but unbelievable in a Hollywood sort of way. The cast is solid, but unspectacular. Worth the time if you're looking to burn two hours on an above average action flick.





The Family Stone (2005) - This film is awful. It's supposed to be one of those quirky holiday films about a normal person entering the weird world of a wacky family. The problem? The family is full of people you actively dislike. The only person you identify with is the normal person who is the butt of all of their shallow, mean jokes. It's a film with conflicting messages and a horrid script. Avoid this film at all cost. I wish I did.



Silverado (1985) - Silverado is one of those great films that just never caught on upon its release. It's the ultimate homage to the classic Western, brought up to today's sensibilities without losing the texture of the original classics. The film holds up exceptionally well and is just good fun. Especially good is Kevin Costner as the excitable Jake. It's his best acting performance ever... unfortunately it was his first big film (excluding his cutting room floor performance in Big Chill). He's never been this good since.


Mean Girls (2004) - A clever, well written mature teen film about high school politics, bad parenting and the struggles of well meaning teachers. The film is written by Saturday Night Live writer Tina Fey, who also portrays one of the main teachers, and her script is inventive and very funny. We follow a new student (Lindsay Lohan) who comes from being home-schooled in Africa by her parents to the uber-important politics of today's high school arena. Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert and Lizzy Caplan play the popular girls who teach Lohan the ropes. Also nice was to see other SNL alum Tim Meadows and Amy Poehler in roles larger than their SNL skits, showing they can really act. It's PG-13 and earns it, so its not for some younger teens, but its a very funny flick.

War Games (1983) - War Games is interesting because it holds up well, especially considering the dramatic changes in both technology and global politics (fall of Soviet Union, growth of radical Islam). I watched this with my thirteen year old daughter and, despite the obvious technological differences (no cell phones, no internet, slow DOS-based computers, big-big floppy disks, etc.) and she was in it from the first time he typed "Let's play Global Thermonuclear War." A great jaunt back to my high school days and still a good time on the movie screen.


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