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Abandon Bourne Identity; AMC Van Ness; with Jenny; 6.20.02, 4:30, $4.50. Better than your avg summer actioner. Actually quite good in that respect. Not quite as good as director Doug Liman's two previous films, Swingers and Go. Minority Report; Presidio; 6.22.02, 3:35; $9.00; popcorn (m); coke (m). Routine overblown, underdeveloped Spielberg film. Obviously hugely expensive to make, cliches and unoriginality, and what's worse, terrible "plot" involving "bad guys." July 15: I thought The Road to Perdition was just okay. Click here for the full review and a graphic I made! The Piano Teacher. This is the best film of the year so far. It won a lot of awards at Cannes -- including the great Isabelle Huppert winning for Best Actress. This movie is shocking and disturbing, but not in a graphic or over-the-top way. It has to do with this woman's really fucked up sexual issues. But this film is not an erotic French drama. It's not erotic, it is fascinating. I saw this at the Castro. My Wife Is An Actress at the Clay in early August or late July. Charlotte Gainsbourg has been growing on me. She is the daughter of French music legend Serge Gainsbourg and the greatest 60s European sex kitten actress of all time, Jane Birkin. I used to think she was ugly, Charlotte I mean. But now I don't. I saw her in La Buche last year. In the film she pretty much plays herself -- a famous French actress named Charlotte -- whose husband is wildly jealous, obsessive and paranoid. But played for laughs. The film stars her husband Yvan Attal, as Yvan, Charlotte's husband. It is unknown whether Yvan Attal is as jealous over Charlotte Gainsbourg as Yvan is over Charlotte. The film is light, but entertaining, but at times Attal is a bit frightening. Terence Stamp co-stars. Lovely & Amazing stars the lovely and amazing Catherine Keener, who I love. I love her loveliness. Catherine Keener; b. March 26, 1960, Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami, Florida. She grew up in Hialeah, Florida and attended Monsignor Edward Pace High School -- a Catholic high school -- in Miami. Graduated from Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts in 1983. She's been married to Dermot Mulroney since 1990, and in 1999, their son Clyde was born. That's about all I know. Catherine's first film role was as Cocktail Waitress in 1986's About Last Night... I saw this film in Kentucky with my cousin Andy. I was 15. Catherine was 26. But the first time I remember noticing CK was in Living in Oblivion (1995). Tom DiCillo's indie film about indie filmmaking, with Steve Buscemi, Dermot Mulroney and James LeGros. Then she was in a cult fav, Walking and Talking (1996) which a couple of people I know love. I need to rent this one. Then she was really good in the lead role in The Real Blonde (1997), another indie from Tom DiCillo. In 1998 she was in Your Friends & Neighbors (1998), and she was wonderful in a small role as George Clooney's ex-wife in the crime masterpiece, Out of Sight (1998). After phoning in her lines in the dreadful big-budget Nic Cage film, 8MM (1999), she got an Oscar nomination for her superb and hilarious role in Being John Malkovich (1999). She has a part in Soderbergh's experimental Full Frontal (2002), in theatres currently and Simone (2002) opening soon. She played Nina in "The Letter" episode (# 3.20; 3/25/92) of Seinfeld in 1992. In Lovely and Amazing Keener and Emily Mortimer are sisters. Their mother, Brenda Blethyn has adopted an African American teenager, Raven Goodwin. Oh, screw this. I don't feel like trying to come up with a synopsis right now. Here's something I found online (Cineman Syndicate), which says pretty much what I want to: "Three neurotic Los Angeles women undergo crises in an incisive comedy-drama. Brenda Blethyn is a middle-aged gal desperate to recapture her physical prime, while her two daughters (Catherine Keener and Emily Mortimer) struggle with languishing careers and parched marriages. A third, adopted daughter is eight years old and African-American (Raven Goodwin); she just wants to fit in. These obsessive, appearance-fixated women are annoying, yet the performers are engaging and the scene in which one daughter forces her lover to critique her body is unforgettable." I agree with that last part. Emily Mortimer should get an Oscar nom for that scene alone. Of over 20 films for the cinema and TV only a handful are noteworthy (and even then...): as the cute, darling love interest for Bruce Willis in The Kid (2000); a mentally off-balance actress in Scream 3 (2000); Kenneth Branagh's pretentious and embarrassing romantic-comedy-musical, Love's Labour's Lost (2000); the Perfect Girl in Notting Hill (1999); Kat Ashley in Elizabeth (1998); and Woman on Plane in The Saint (1997). Austin Powers Goldmember. Austin Powers 2 Spy Who Shagged Me is the funniest movie I've ever seen. It's not like a great movie. I mean it's technically flawed. Some plot points are glossed over, not all the jokes work. But the first time I saw it, I couldn't stop laughing. I ended up seeing it three times in the theatre -- a rarity. So Goldmember was made to be a disappointment. It's funny, and I laughed a lot, but not as much as in the first two. There're are too many characters with not enough to do. Bringing in Michael Caine as Austin's father is a good idea, but he just kind of shows up when the plot wants him to. He's underused, but his presence, plus 4 Myers characters, leave Robert Wagner and Michael York with little more than cameos. Verne Troyer's Mini-Me (so hilarious in 2) is good, Beyonce Knowles as Foxy Cleopatra is very good, and it's a funny idea, but she's not given enough to do. The film feels unfinished, plus there's too much stuff going on and too many characters. Nothing against the characters of Fat Bastard and Goldmember, but they shouldn't have been in this film. Myers as Austin and the wonderful Dr. Evil is just right. I saw Signs at the coronet; 10pm; sat 8.3.2. Click on the link that is the word signs to be taken to the review and graphic! The Kid Stays In the Picture -- I saw this with Pete at the Embarcadero. Robert Evans is a nut. This is a documentary about the infamous film producer. It's entertaining, and he is really out of touch with everyone and everything. XXX -- Silly, mindless action film, but not altogether bad. Vin Diesel is a good actor who started off doing more interesting projects (very average Joe and human in Saving Private Ryan [1998], he gave a strong performance in the otherwise so-so Boiler Room [2000], and he's commanding in the underrated apocalyptic sci-fier Pitch Black [2000]), now he seems happy to wisecrack his way through routine action films. Like he wants to be the new Steven Seagal or something. International film critics and directors named "Citizen Kane" the best movie ever in surveys published by the British Film Institute on Friday, the 9th of Aug. CRITICS'
TOP TEN FILMS DIRECTORS'
TOP TEN FILMS On the Net: http://www.bfi.org.uk. MEANWHILE, I SAY: I think it's possible for someone to have a favorite film. I don't have ONE favorite. But I understand that, and how, some people do. And I think that's cool. In a way I'm envious. But, I think it's very, very hard to say what you think is the greatest film ever. Or to say that Kane is not. Because, you have to ask what is meant by "greatest." The first film, because it was the first and sort of lit the fuse? The first feature length film? Birth of a Nation? We want to say no, because seen today this film is very racist -- even at the time (1915), it's attitudes were questionable. But as far as influencing so many elements of modern cinema, it's number one. Time length of a shot, distance length of a shot, continuity, so much. Or The Jazz Singer (first sound feature)? Or Becky Sharp (first Technicolor feature)? Or Gone with the Wind? Or Kane? Or The Big Sleep or The Searchers or Vertigo, La Regle du Jeu, The Godfather/Part II, Tokyo Story, 2001, Sunrise, Battleship Potemkin, 8 1/2, or even Singin' in the Rain? Asking what is the best or greatest is like saying: what's the best thing? Your child? Your lover? Chocolate? Plastic? The wheel? Fire? Oxygen? What is our criteria? It's impossible to make a case for there being one movie that is "the greatest" -- the best ever. It would be at least more plausible to try to work out what may have been the most influential film ever. Or the most socially important. And you can totally say that Bigger Than Life is better than Dr. Detroit. I'm not saying that movies can't be rated and ranked and compared to a point. But when you're dealing with say, even the 50 best films ever, how do you really go about ranking them? Although, if you just have a bunch of people list their five favorite, or what they consider the five greatest, films ever, and then you average that consensus, that works to a certain extent, I suppose... ••••• Full Frontal (2002) is Steven Soderbergh's low-budget, avant garde, very personal film. All the critics hated it and none of the public saw it anyway. Tagline: Everybody Needs A Release. It was about a bunch of people and their dealings with other people. Shot on film for part and digital camera for part. It shows a film being made and it just films what some of the people do in their off-time, intersecting lives, some funny parts. Interesting. I'm going thumbs up. Runtime: 101 Cast
includes: Here's a little info I found on San Francisco's Lumiere Theatre: 3 Screens. Built in 1967. Operated by Landmark since 1991. Located one block east of Van Ness, bordering San Francisco's Russian Hill District, the Lumiere Theatre features some of the city's most adventurous independent film, foreign language cinema and documentaries. Programming for one of the theatre's three screens is featured in the Lumiere Filmcalendar, which is published quarterly and available city-wide. From downtown San Francisco or Union Square the Lumiere is only a short, scenic cable car ride over Nob Hill, traveling west down California Street. The theatre can also be reached from the Civic Center Bart station by traveling north on the Muni 19 bus. 1572 California Street at Polk; San Francisco, CA 94109; (415) 352-0810. http://www.landmarktheatres.com/market/SanFrancisco/LumiereTheatre.htm Simone. Vogue. 7pm. 9.2.2. -- Running out of time. This movie is unimportant. No, actually it's worse than that. Totally ridiculous, I couldn't suspend my disbelief, or my belief, for a second in this film because there were way too many plot holes, and things that didn't make any sense, and characters acting in a way they never would. This movie was trying to make some clever point about cloning people/robots taking over the world from humans/etc, which has already been done to death anyway, and here it's super cliched. Winona Ryder has an extended cameo. She also took the thankless role of cute girl in this summer's Sandler turd (although I am looking forward to Punch Drunk Love), she had a cameo in Zoolander. What is she doing? I mean, we know about the shoplifting and the prescription pills, and I guess we're seeing the effect it's having on her career/film choices? Good Girl. Empire 3. 5:15pm. 8.30.2. This movie was good; but not great. The cast, especially Jennifer Aniston and Zooey Deschanel were great. It's about this bored unhappy housewife who works at a midwestern drugstore/market. She decides to have an affair with a coworker -- an unbalanced young man (Jake Gyllenhaul). Is that spelled right? Gyllenhaul? I do know one thing, it's pronounced with a soft g. Like: Jill En Hall. The movie does have a neat characterization of the main character (Aniston). She's very morally uncertain, and the film -- somewhat frighteningly -- makes us see/believe that she's the norm. Recommended. 8 Women. Clay. 09.??.02. Okay, this and The Piano Teacher are the two best films of the year so far. True, I am a fan of French cinema and Isabelle Huppert and these films are both. But, as it turns out, they are the two best films. This film is getting wildly mixed reviews. Some critics think it's so much fun and others think it sucks. The ones who think it suck mainly seem to say they don't think it's funny, they think it's dumb, and they make a point of saying that they get the references director Francois Ozon is making to films, but they don't care -- referencing films doesn't make a film good. Of course, that last part is true. And the film does reference other films (I noticed a similar style of music to some Hitchcock films + loads of other things). But it doesn't matter. You can have seen no movies ever and go see this and love it. I can't explain much more. I don't want to give too much away, because I went in to this knowing very little (which is the way I like to go into movies) about it, and I just so thoroughly enjoyed it. I haven't been in a film like this in so long, where I just was so happy sitting there watching this. The film stars some of France's greatest actresses of all time: Isabelle Huppert, Catherine Deneuve, Emmanuelle Béart, Virginie Ledoyen, Danielle Darrieux, Ludivine Sagnier, Fanny Ardant, Firmine Richard. Especially good are Huppert, who is very funny as a bitter spinster type; and 23-year-old film veteran Sagnier, who is charming and so delightful and sparkling playing a girl of about 16. Apparently her first film appearance was in Alain Resnais' I Want to Go Home (1989). Her other films include: The Children of the Century (1999) with Juliette Binoche; Ozon's Water Drops On Burning Rocks (1999); My Wife Is an Actress (2001), and a third film for Ozon the upcoming Swimming Pool (2003). Danielle Darrieux is amazing because she's 85, and I remember seeing Douglas Fairbanks Jr speak at the Stanford Theatre several years ago, and they showed three of his films. One, I believe, was The Rage of Paris from 1938 with Fairbanks and Darrieux. She's been making films for over 70 years. Is that some kind of record? She's also very funny and sharp in 8 Women. See this film today! Sweet Home Alabama. Presidio; 10.12.02; 7:25pm; $9 + M. P-corn, M. Soda. Popcorn disappointing. Movie was too. Saying "this movie gets by on the charm of Reese Witherspoon" is like saying" eating a fresh turd from your own anus while Reese Witherspoon sits across the table from you, gets by on the charm of Reese Witherspoon." Which is to say, you're still eating shit. This movie is routine, cliched, dull. It was so nothing, that I just sat there looking at the screen and visualizing the PA's going around lighting the candles for the scene where Patrick Dempsey is supposed to have gone into Reese's house and put roses all around and lit like 200 candles. I never believed in this movie or the characters for a second. I didn't think, oh it was nice of him to light all those candles and spread roses around, I just thought about 4 PA's with walkie talkies tramped around the set lighting all the candles, while everyone waited, and then as soon as the cleared off the set, the director said "action." This is the kind of movie that makes me not want to see movies. It's not that it's bad. It's that it's nothing, it's totally 100% unoriginal and, what's worse, it's the norm. Secretary. Bridge 10.13.02; 4:45pm; $9.25 + M. P-corn, M. Soda. People with emotional and sexual problems meet, sort of by chance, and they get together and try to make it work in this offbeat comedy/drama/romance. The film ends very... interestingly. It's like: Is this a happy ending? James Spader and Maggie Gyllenhaul (Jake's sister) star. The movie is somewhat different, but not totally successful. But I know one person named Julie who really liked it; and I know another person named Julie who thought the ending ruined the movie. My friend P.C. Rooks thought I would love it because it was about sex. My friend P.C. Rooks can be rather annoying. Like, saying stuff like, "oh you have to see this movie you will love it!" and I'm like: "oh, so you loved it?" and he's like, "oh, I thought it was okay, but you'll love it" and I'm like, "what? shut up dude," or something, and he's like, "it's all about sex and you like that stuff right?" And I'm like, "dude, I like westerns, that doesn't mean I like every western ever made." I think his condescension is part joke, to irritate me. P.C. Rooks loves to play that game. But don't get my wrong, I love my friend P.C. Rooks. Hi P.C. Rooks! I stole that gif from some site, I forget what. I saw The Ring at the Orinda Theatre in Orinda on Friday, October 18 with Pete and Jenny. I got popcorn and a Coke. There were a lot of rowdy, noisy, rude kids in the theatre, which I chalked up partially to being in the suburbs. After the movie Jenny had to go home and pack for another one of her famous international trips. Pete and I don't go on many international trips, so we went to Nations and got a slice of pie. Or rather we each got a slice of pie. I had custard; and Pete had coconut cream. The Ring is a remake of a pretty recent Japanese film. It's a horror film. Pretty effective and scary, but not quite as good as The Others. I compare it to The Others because they are similar types of films (even though the actual plots are nothing alike). Plus this film stars the amazing actress Naomi Watts, who is famously best friends with Nicole Kidman -- star of The Others. What happens is you watch a videotape. Immediately after you get a phone call -- someone tells you you have 7 days to live. Then, of course, you die. So Naomi hears about this and tries to figure out what's going on (she's a journalist). There are plot holes; but the film has a neat, cold look and atmosphere. Naomi Watts is remarkable. I still think that her performance in Mulholland Drive is, like, one of the greatest film performances of all time. This film isn't as deep, or important, cinematically, and it doesn't quite require the same workout of our star. But she is outstanding here. There are a couple of times when she screams, and I swear, bone-chilling, heart-breaking screams. The film is worth seeing for them alone. You see a little of that in the trailer, but you should see it within the context of the story.
This is the fourth film from director Paul Thomas Anderson. The first three being Hard Eight, Boogie Nights and Magnolia. Hard Eight is a great movie. And Boogie Nights is better than that. And Magnolia is better than that. Punch Drunk Love is definitely in fourth place, but it's still quite good. Actually it was very sad and made me uncomfortable for much of it while I was there. The Sandler character reminds me of a cross between my slightly unbalanced brother, and myself at my most socially anxious. Adam Sandler is very good in the film, as is Emily Watson as the love interest. One problem I had was that I felt we needed more backstory on her character. Why she was interested in Sandler. What had happened to her in her life that set it up so that she'd need and want him as much as he her. Or is that he she? He her. Two of today's greatest character actors (and P.T. Anderson regulars) appear in support: Luis Guzmán as Sandler's friend and employee, Lance; and Philip Seymour Hoffman as a dangerous and sleazy small-business owner. Robert Smigel has a small role as Walter the Dentist. Mary Lynn Rajskub (pronounced RAY-skub) is very funny as Sandler's sister, Elizabeth. From the hollywood.com site: "A dark-haired performer who has made a her name in the industry with an original take on high-concept comedic stage productions as well as notable TV and film acting skills, Mary Lynn Rajskub proved a versatile and dynamic player. Appearing in extensive productions on stage in California, Rajskub started out as a San Francisco Art Institute student who found her comic side in performance pieces that played upon her skewed sense of humor and knack for bringing out the laughs in uncomfortable situations. Noticed by comedians Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, Rajskub was cast on their HBO concept comedy sketch series "Mr. Show with Bob and David" in 1995 and remained with the program until 1996 when she switched to the network's "The Larry Sanders Show", replacing friend Janeane Garofalo's character as the show within a show's new eager to please and often inappropriate booker.
"Her film work has included a small role in the 1996 romantic comedy "The Truth About Cats and Dogs" and a part in "Man on the Moon" (1999), Milos Forman's biopic of Andy Kaufman, another concept comedian to whom Rajskub has been likened. A small part in "Magnolia" (1999) and a relationship with score composer Jon Brion allied the actress with Paul Thomas Anderson... Rajskub would also have memorable scenes in the comedies "Road Trip" and "Dude, Where's My Car" (both 2000) as well as appearing as a guest at "The Anniversary Party" (2001), co-scripted and co-directed by Alan Cumming and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Rajskub got her most prominent film role yet in her friend P.T. Anderson's dark romantic comedy "Punch-Drunk Love," playing one of Adam Sandler's overbearing sisters, who sets him up with his eventual love (Emily Watson)." Rajskub is also one half of The Girls Guitar Club. She "and Karen Kilgariff -- both exiles of HBO's cult-favorite comedy hour Mr.Show -- are making a splash via stand-up. Rajskub is known for her dementedly funny act, which sometimes leaves audiences a tad perplexed, but most definitely entertained. Meanwhile, Kilgariff has earned a reputation as a solid laugh-getter with her wry brand of self-deprecating stand-up. Girls Guitar Club couples Rajskub and Kilgariff in a "Tenacious D" - style musical comedy which lampoons that most deserving of targets: the simpering chick-rocker. Both have appeared in numerous sitcoms and films, including Veronica's Closet, Shasta McNasty, and Magnolia." -- from www.kennedy-center.org. To see a Kennedy Center performance: http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium/artist_detail.cfm?artist_id=GRLGTRCLUB To see The Girls Guitar Club official site: http://girlsguitarclub.com/ To see a rather comprehensive fan site on her: http://www.geocities.com/jinky0u812/MLEntry.html Mary Lynn was born in Michigan. Her complete
filmography: She has also had regular recurring appearances on "Mr. Show" (1995-1996), "The Larry Sanders Show" (1996-1998), "The Army Show" (1998), "Veronica's Closet" (1999) and "The Downer Channel" (2001). She has made guest appearances on "NewsRadio", "Tracey Takes On...", "Shasta McNasty", "Late Friday", "Just Shoot Me", "Gilmore Girls" and "The King of Queens". All of this info -- and so much more! -- is available at http://us.imdb.com/Name?Rajskub,%20Mary%20Lynn Abandon; tagline: Watch who you leave behind. PG13; 10.26.02; 10.25pm; $7.00; Blackhawk Cinemas, Danville, CA. This film wasn't bad. It was a lot, lot better than say, Soul Survivors. Plot Summary: A senior at an elite college (Katie Holmes), already under severe pressure to complete her thesis and land a prestigious job. The cast is very good, and the film evokes a certain shadowy, ominous atmosphere, but it's a bit ho-hum. It's kind of interesting for while, but at the end you're kind of like, "oh... clever... next movie please!" Turning in "top-notch" performances are Katie Holmes, Benjamin Bratt, the wonderful Zooey Deschanel, Fred Ward, the delightful Gabrielle Union from Bring It On, Tony Goldwyn as questionable therapist and Philip Bosco, who has been spending way too much time doing TV commercial voice-overs, when he should be turning in at least 3 quality supporting roles in films per year. Bosco was born September 26, 1930, in Jersey City, New Jersey. His films include: Bosco has made many TV guest appearances including playing "Gordon Schell" on three episodes of Law & Order, between 1990 and 1994. On an episode in 1998 he was back, but this time as "Dobbs." He was "Dobbs" again in 1999. In October of 2002 Bosco played "Prof. Winthrop" on an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, who won several best adapted screenplay awards for Traffic (2000), including the Academy Award, the BAFTA, Golden Globe, and the Writers Guild of America award. Drama / Thriller; rated PG-13 for drug and alcohol content, sexuality, some violence and language; 99 min. White Oleander; 9:45pm; Mon 10.21.02; PG13; Student $7; UA Metro; Union St. I thought this would be terrible, but actually it was kind of entertaining (but too long) in a garish, melodrama sort of way. I thought it would be sappier, but it's pretty outrageous. Directed by Peter Kosminsky (who has directed several TV movies and one feature, Wuthering Heights (1992) with Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes. Screenplay by Mary Agnes Donoghue, based on the Janet Fitch novel. Cast Monday, 11.04.02; Empire 3; 1:55 pm; $6.00. Auto Focus was okay. Director Paul Schrader really missed an opportunity here. The film was really nothing more than what we already knew about Crane's life and tragic end -- which is a wild and dark and deviant tale. But nothing was fleshed out here. Surface = barely scratched. Kinnear and Dafoe were good; so were Maria Bello and Rita Wilson, but the guy who played Richard Dawson was not right. The film was pretty pedestrian. Schrader is a dull director and this film is strictly by the numbers. The costumes, set design and Angelo Badalamenti's score were good. Nothing really happened, no surprises, no involvement. 11.05.02; 5:00pm; $5.75; Merci Pour Le Chocolat is a quiet and entertaining Claude Chabrol thriller starring the great Isabelle Huppert, Jacques Dutronc (looking like Hell warmed over) and the attractive young Anna Mouglalis. Huppert has married her ex-husband, Dutronc, after his second wife has died in a car accident. Dutronc is a composer, and he has a son. Huppert's character makes hot chocolate for her stepson every night. She is Mika Muller, French chocolate heiress. She's rather cold. She does so much without seeming to do anything. She's just amazing. I can't really say any more about the plot without giving too much away. Keep this film in mind, one day maybe rent it if you think of it. Wonderful end credits sequence. I actually saw this film a year or so ago. A video copy found it's way to me. It's not available on video in the US, I think I got an early Canadian copy on Ebay or something. Co-starring Rodolphe Pauly, Brigitte Catillon, Michel Robin and Mathieu Simonet. Screenplay by Chabrol and Caroline Eliacheff based on Charlotte Armstrong's novel The Chocolate Cobweb. Original Music by Matthieu Chabrol. The English translation of this film is Thank You for the Chocolate. The Spanish title is the Spanish translation of the French title, Gracias por el chocolate. The film has been given the title of Nightcap in the US. Stupid. Saw 8 Women again on my birthday. My parents came in to SF and took me to lunch. At Absinthe. I really wanted my mom to see 8 Women, so we did that. She liked it. I still liked it a lot. I had even already bought the soundtrack -- available only through the French Amazon site, Amazon.fr. I'm not going to say any more about this film. I went in knowing very little and I loved it. "Jeff" sold us the tickets for $6 each, at the Clay Theatre on Fillmore and Clay. We saw the 1:45pm show on 11.06.02. I was 32. We did not have popcorn or anything because we had just had lunch. Did I have a dessert? It was my birthday after all... No, I don't think I did. I've been eating a lot less lately. Lost those unwanted lbs. Good times, good times... Femme Fatale; UA Metro; 11.07.02; Student $7; 9:45pm; Rated R. This film has a lot of flaws, but it's one of the most cinematically watchable films this year. Antonio Banderas is fine, Rebecca Romijn Stamos is gorgeous. Some very sumptuous camera work. This film kind of sucks you into it's world. It's not just beautiful to look at, it's almost hypnotizing. The plot is a bit messy and sort of non-existent, but it really doesn't seem to matter. Just go in to the theater and sit down and watch. De Palma at his most De Palma. My Big Fat Greek Wedding; Coronet; PG; Monday 11.11.02; 4:15pm; bargain matinee, $6.75. I saw this amazing crowdpleaser and sleeper smash today, it was okay. Passable family entertainment. Barely. The kind of movie you can go to with your mom AND her mom. There are a few very minor spoilers in the rest of this paragraph. I thought Michael Constantine as the father had a couple of funny moments. The Windex joke was kind of funny. There was one part that was really funny -- oh yes, when Andrea Martin was telling John Corbett's parents about that growth on her neck. That was so out of nowhere -- very funny -- "It had teeth and a spinal column -- it was my twin!" The film really didn't show us anything about the John Corbett character. Like, why is he in love with this girl. I'm not saying it's not possible, but you need to show us why. Maybe his having that Michael Bolton haircut was what was keeping him from getting other girls? The film's "conflict" seemed so lame anyway. Like, anyone who wouldn't marry someone they were in love with because his/her parents were from a different cultural background than the would-be spouse, is just too stupid to care about.
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"Her
often frenzied and daring portrayals proved Rajskub an energetic and
versatile performer, a reputation she would further prove with stage
appearances including the one-woman show "The Littlest Angel", performed
at Santa Monica's Powerhouse Theater in 1996. A guest role on the
failed sitcom "The Army Show" (The WB) marked one of the actress'
few television appearances until her offbeat comedy met its match
in "The Downer Channel" (2001), a Steve Martin-produced sketch series
on NBC.
