B Family-friendly fantasy comedy Written by Bill Kelly Directed by Kevin Lima Howard Hawks’ famous criteria for a great film–three good scenes and no bad ones–almost applies to this family fantasy. It has more than three great scenes. But it also has a few that border on the edge of just plain bad, and some … Continue reading Enchanted
Category: Comedy
Romance and Cigarettes
Musical Written and directed by John Turturro To a radical non-smoker like myself--someone who finds the act of smoking about as sexy as Dick Cheney--the very term "Romance and Cigarettes" seems odd. That's appropriate. John Turturro's musical tragi-comedy about marriage and adultery is a very odd motion picture. The songs are familiar hits, and for … Continue reading Romance and Cigarettes
The Altered Charlie Chaplin Problem
If people know anything about Charlie Chaplin, they know he made silent movies. And if they know anything about silent movies, they want said movies to be accompanied by live music. And yet the upcoming Chaplin series at the Pacific Film Archive, screening nearly all of his features and all of his later shorts, has … Continue reading The Altered Charlie Chaplin Problem
Dan in Real Life
Romantic comedy Written by Pierce Gardner and Peter Hedges Directed by Peter Hedges Peter Hedges does something unusual here. He puts a major comedy star (Steve Carell) into a conventional comic plot (widower with adorable kids falls in love with his brother’s girlfriend), then plays it for real emotions without worrying much about laughs. Instead … Continue reading Dan in Real Life
Capra at the Stanford
The Stanford's new schedule is up, and the theme is Frank Capra. Of the 26 films they've announced, 18 are Capra's. Actually, they're starting off Saturday night with a Billy Wilder double bill--Sunset Boulevard and Some Like It Hot. Great movies, but obvious choices that any cinephile has seen countless times. Still, if it's been … Continue reading Capra at the Stanford
Death From Laughter
What makes British humor so damn funny? First we get Hot Fuzz, easily the funniest new comedy since, well, the equally British Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Now Death at a Funeral (directed by an American but still very stiff-upper-lip) passes them all on the laugh meter. To put it simply, … Continue reading Death From Laughter
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