Bad Taste
November 9, 2003
In 1987, filmmaker Peter Jackson made an impressive feature film debut with Bad Taste, a 90-minute “splatstick” spoof of alien invasion movies that became New Zealand’s answer to Sam Raimi. Shot on weekends over three years for only $11,000,...
Not Another Teen Movie
November 5, 2003
In the last ten years the genre of the teen movie grew to become one of the biggest and financially successful in film. The fact that the subject matter for these films seemed never to vary was irrelevant. Basically the same film was being produced...
The Royal Tenenbaums
November 2, 2003
Set to the same wistful, sentimental tone as A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), The Royal Tenenbaums begins with a hilariously edited montage (narrated dryly by Alec Baldwin) that introduces the Tenenbaum children at an early age. Chas (Stiller) is a financial...
Psycho Beach Party
October 27, 2003
Surf’s up all you hep cats and hep kitties! Psycho Beach Party (2001) is a crazy movie that parodies and celebrates those kitschy beach party movies of the’60s and sci-fi films of the’50s. The prelude sets the tone of the movie perfectly. Chicklet...
Men In Black II
October 27, 2003
The 1997 Barry Sonnenfeld movie Men in Black was something of a surprise hit. With its dark Batman-esque looks and quirky comedy it became one of the biggest grossing films of the year and won a legion of fans. The fact that it wasn’t actually very...
Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (Special Edition)
October 9, 2003
With the box office success of Legally Blonde (2001), a sequel was inevitable. Its star, Reese Witherspoon, has since become a major Hollywood player with the power and clout to create and control her own projects. As a result, the sequel is bigger and...
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
October 5, 2003
“Ah yes, Breakfast At Tiffany’s,” I hear you say. “Audrey Hepburn. A classic.” Well, you’d be half right, because while Hepburn is her usual luminous self (helped by Blake Edwards’ longing soft-focus close-ups),...
South West 9
September 12, 2003
South West 9 was made by the same company as Human Traffic, which although itself not really much of a movie is emerging as one of the better British flicks of recent times, which shows you just how bad most British films are. But Human Traffic, I feel,...
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
September 2, 2003
I fart in your general direction, your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries. Now that I’ve offended and scared off those that don’t know Python, the rest of us can divulge in some joviality and reminisce of times when...
Mad Dog Time
August 6, 2003
Mad Dog Time (1996) exists in a world where Frank Sinatra and his Rat Pack never went out of fashion. It’s a parallel universe stuck in the 1940s and populated by gangsters and femme fatales. To say that this film works on its own kooky internal...
