Thank You For Smoking
October 10, 2006
As more and more cities, states and countries ban smoking in public places (Philadelphia has been one of the latest) and the government tries to make us more conscious of our health, the more pressure is on the tobacco companies to find other, creative...
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective & When Nature Calls
October 9, 2006
It’s safe to say that Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) launched Jim Carrey’s career into the stratosphere. It provided the ideal vehicle for the comedian’s cartoonish antics, most notably his incredibly expressive face and wildly exaggerated body...
Bottom’s Up
October 2, 2006
Bottom’s Up (2006) is a cliché-ridden, fish-out-of-water comedy that parodies the bottom feeders who troll the often sleazy Hollywood scene. This isn’t the posh side you see glamourously portrayed in films like Pretty Woman (1990) but rather the...
Wildboyz: Seasons 3 & 4: Unrated
September 29, 2006
With the recent death of Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, Wildboyz, with its irreverent, childish humour, just doesn’t seem as funny anymore. Not to mention the show’s concept – Jackass meets Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom – seems, well, played...
Amarcord: Criterion Collection
September 21, 2006
For those of us who have watched washed out, faded prints of Federico Fellini’s Amarcord (1973) on public television, this new transfer, by the folks at the Criterion Collection, is a revelation. The colours have never looked more vibrant and Nino Rota’s...
Kinky Boots
September 20, 2006
Kinky Boots (2005) is very much in the tradition of Brassed Off (1996) and The Full Monty (1997): plucky, working class underdogs from a depressed English factory town that learn to think outside the box in order to survive economically – all under...
Amarcord
September 19, 2006
For those of us who have watched washed out, faded prints of Federico Fellini’s Amarcord (1973) on public television, this new transfer, by the folks at the Criterion Collection, is a revelation. The colours have never looked more vibrant and Nino Rota’s...
Radioland Murders
September 18, 2006
Radioland Murders (1994) was one of George Lucas’ rare forays outside of the Star Wars universe and like others (Willow and Howard the Duck) it was a critical and commercial failure. Lucas seemed to be following in the footsteps of Woody Allen’s Radio...
Arrested Development: Season 3
September 15, 2006
It’s really amazing that Arrested Development lasted as long as it did on network television. It featured idiosyncratic dialogue, intricately plotted seasons and wildly eccentric characters that were just too smart and too offbeat to garner the kind...
The Tick vs. Season One
September 13, 2006
The Tick was originally an independent comic book created by Ben Edlund back in 1987, but its popularity comes from an animated television series that aired Saturday mornings from 1994 to 1996 which he wrote and co-produced. The Tick and his sidekick...
