Fuzzball Film Reviews!
The Upside of Anger: Kevin Costner, Joan Allen, Keri Russell, Alicia Witt, Erika Christensen, Evan Rachel Wood
To date this is one of the best films that Kevin Costner has ever done. This movie was honest and funny and heartwrenching...if any of you come from a family that puts the "fun" in dysfunctional then this movie is for you. Ladies, I guarantee that you will be able to identify with at least ONE of the daughters in Upside. For me it was Keri Russell's character. Parents want one thing, you want the other, you want to please parents, you end up in the hospital with stress-induced illnesses. Ah, family. ;) Seriously, though, I don't think that this film got the praise that it deserved. It's got a fantastic ensemble cast, young and not-so-young, and you should all rent it or catch it on HBO if you can.
Must Love Dogs: Diane Lane, (Fuzzball Favorite) John Cusack, Elizabeth Perkins, Christopher Plummer, Dermot Mulroney, Stockard Channing
First things first, the dreaded opening sentence: I read the book first. Yes yes, I read the book long before the movie came out, so I already had my own little movie in my head. Having said that, though, I thought that it was a decent cute little movie. It didn't really pretend to be anything other that a frothy light romantic comedy. I must admit that I liked Stockard Channing's Dolly even better than the book Dolly. Less obsessively crazy, you see. I also like that Diane Lane actually looks like a real woman at a real age. She's not some sort of hyper-botoxed sicone mama still trying to play 20-something roles. Snaps to you, Diane!
Grandma's Boy: Linda Cardellini, Alex Covert, Shirley Jones, Doris Roberts, Nick Swardson, Joel Moore
Okay okay let's just commence with the ridicule. Yes, I watched this movie. Yes, I laughed my ass off. No, I'm not ashamed of myself. This movie was produced by Adam Sandler's Happy Madison group and it stars a number of his co-star buddies like Alex Covert and Peter Dante. I LOVE THESE GUYS. Truth be told I like them more than Adam Sandler, so this movie was really perfect for me. If you know any gamers (or if you ARE a gamer) then you should see this movie. If you're a giant nerd (like ME, friends) then you should see this movie. If only for the pleasure of seeing Joel Moore talk like a robot while dressed like Neo. Oh man, I have a seriously weird sense of humor...
The 40-Year-Old Virgin: Steve Carell (squeal!), Catherine Keener, Paul Rudd
Do me a favor: if you haven't seen this movie then go look in a mirror. Stare at yourself intently. Now slap your face. Now go rent the movie and don't make me tell you that again.
Butterfield 8: Elizabeth Taylor, Laurence Harvey
I realized that I had never seen this movie and I was ashamed of myself. So I used my trusty iControl and tuned up the free TCM movie channel and there it was: commerical-free and full of violet-eyed goodness. Elizabeth Taylor is truly a force of nature. Butterfield 8 won her an Oscar but did you know that she HATES the film? She resented having to make it but she owed MGM one more film and if she didn't make it she would have had to back out of 20th Century Fox's Cleopatra. She wasn't about to do that since she would be receiving a million-dollar paycheck for eye-humping Richard Burton, so Butterfield 8 was made. For me, the movie was rather meh. I mean, Taylor is gorgeous and her acting was fantastic, but the story was pretty meh. I honestly prefer Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, but that might just be me.
and finally....
Bikini Round-Up: who cares?
Oh my goodness. Bikini Round-Up. What a flick. For kicks I looked this "movie" up on IMDB. I got a huge laugh because the movie page says
"If you like this title, we also recommend...The Muppets Valentine Show (1974)"
Hear that, folks? If you enjoy late-night-cable-only-softcore-lame-comedy-porn, then The Muppets are for YOU.
I wasn't impressed with 40 Year Old Virgin...I thought it was too long and the jokes were too predictable and slow to develop. My vote: Lame.
And I don't know if you have ever read Chuck Klosterman, but he wrote an entire essay that says Coldplay and John Cusack keep regular guys from scoring girls. Essentially he says that all girls want their men to be these fictional creations portrayed by Cusack on film and in words by Chris Martin. He's right, so to hell with Cusack, the king of romantic comedies.
Posted by: The Golden Child | July 17, 2006 at 10:11 AM
The above comment is coming from a Coldplay fan who just happens to have an awesome girlfriend. So...yeah. Not much to say there. :D
Posted by: Fuzzball | July 17, 2006 at 10:25 AM