Movie Review He's Just Not That Into You

He's Just Not That Into You (2009) 

Directed by Ken Kwapis 

Written by Abby Kohn, Marc Silverstein 

Starring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly Bradley Cooper, Justin Long 

Release Date February 6th, 2009 

Published February 5th, 2009

A book based on a line of dialogue from a TV show goes on to become a massive bestseller and adapted into a major motion picture. Shouldn't the TV writer get the credit? After all, Michael Patrick King, the Sex and the City writer and his staff, were the ones who came up with this bit of mini insight. Comedian 

Greg Behrendt merely filled in the margins around that line with banal generalizations, a few John Gray Mars and Venus cribs, and humor aimed at the lifeless Lifetime TV movie crowd. It was that episode of Sex and the City about Berger telling Miranda what men really think that had the 'He's Just Not That Into You' epiphany.

And let's be real here. There was more insight into relationships in that one 22 minute Sex and the City episode than there are in the 300 some pages of Greg Behrendt's book and the nearly 2 hour movie based on it. Skip the movie and the book, let's watch Sex and the City. Unfortunately, I had to see the movie and what a chore it is. Despite one of the most impressive casts this side of a Love Boat-Fantasy Island crossover episode, He's Just Not That Into is a brutal exercise in monotonous, whiny neuroses. If I wanted that I would tape my therapy sessions.

Ginnifer Goodwin is the ostensible lead of He's Just Not That Into You and the poor girl makes a sad, sad spectacle of herself as Gigi the whiniest and most neurotic of a cast full of whiny neurotics. Her Gigi can barely read street signs, forget the subtle signals of human interaction. When she goes out on a semi-decent date with Conor (Kevin Connelly) she seems normal, just a little clueless about the signs that he isn't really that into her. Later, as she waits for him to call for another date she spends endless, ear splitting minutes detailing exactly why she is certain he will call again, including a mind numbing dissertation on the banal phrase 'Nice meeting you'.

Needless to say, Conor doesn't call back. That however may or may not have anything to do with the supremely needy vibe that Gigi puts out, but because he is obsessed with Anna (Scarlett Johansson) a girl he slept with once and now hangs out with while not getting any anymore. He cannot understand why they aren't sleeping together anymore even though they still hang out. Anyone else want to wack this guy with a baseball bat? With his pal Alex (Justin Long) he rehashes a brief conversation he had with Anna over the phone, who he called right after his date with Gigi, and how she said she would call him right back but didn't.

Anna, you see, was at a grocery store and struck up a flirtation with Ben (Bradley Cooper) just as Conor was calling. She jumped off the phone with Conor despite the wedding ring on Ben's finger. Further, despite that ring, she pushes the flirting, getting his card ostensibly so he can pass it along to an agent friend of his, she's a singer. Ben is able to control himself for a little while though he and his wife Janine (Jennifer Connelly) have been arguing throughout the massive redecoration of their new home. She wants to talk tile patterns and whether he has actually quit smoking and he just wants to have sex with Anna.

All of these various troubled relationships are presented in the most general fashion with little character development and no really interesting dialogue. Director Ken Kwapis and writers Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein definitely do justice to Greg Behrendt's book but in so doing, they are left with the same lackluster, limp dating advice that populates that absurdly popular book. Kwapis is a terrific television director, he's done some fine work with The Office but in features, yeesh. His resume includes Beautician and the Beast and, ugh, License To Wed.

Then again, he also directed the original Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants which is a movie of great warmth, humor and empathy, all of which is absent from He's Just Not That Into You. Then again, Sisterhood is based on a much better book than He's Just Not That Into You. Not that I have read Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, I have read He's Just Not That Into You and I feel very comfortable making the assumption. Ken Kwapis has some talent, how he has made such terrible films, and one pretty good one, remains a mystery to me.

Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston and Drew Barrymore round out the all star cast of He's Just Not That Into You and they seem like they may be in entirely different movies. Affleck and Aniston actually escape the dreary humor free children mincing their way through this abyss of stupidity that is He's Just Not That Into You. As a couple who've been together for seven years without getting married they are saddled with the same mindless problems of the rest of the cast but they are onscreen so little and neither allows for any real whining about their problems, they miss out on the sad fates of the rest of the cast.

Poor Drew Barrymore arguably gets it the worst of anyone in arguably the smallest role in the movie. Shoehorned into the plot as Anna's best friend, Drew has a technology problem. With her MySpace page, her cellphone, her home phone, her work phone, her home email, her work email, she has to check every one every few minutes to get updates on her latest relationship. It's exhausting to be rejected in so many forms and she longs for the days of an answering machine. Ugh! Can someone just get this girl a blackberry? An IPhone? Something! Honestly, if modern tech is this hard for you, just give up. Go live in a cave somewhere.

And Drew's role is minuscule compared to Ginnifer Goodwin's Gigi who, if she were a real person, would likely have died from forgetting how to breathe. This is one of the most dull witted characters ever brought to the screen. I like Goodwin, she's an attractive girl who I know is not this mentally challenged. The character she is saddled with in He's Just Not That Into You is a flibbertigibbet moron who could barely read traffic signals, forget body language or even a direct answer from a guy telling her he is never going to call her.

Ladies, this movie is meant for you and the people who made it think that Gigi represents you. They think all of these ludicrous, brain-dead morons stand in for a type that you can relate to. This is what Hollywood thinks of you. If that is not a massive insult I don't know what is. Granted, the men in this movie don't get off easy, Kevin Connelly's Conor is pathetic beyond words, Bradley Cooper's Ben is pathetic and a jerk and Justin Long's Alex is arguably more clueless than anyone else in the film, likely because he is the stand in for Author Behrendt, as the advice giver of the group.

It is Alex who advises Gigi, regarding Conor, that 'He's Just Not That Into You' and fails to communicate that to her because he wasn't writing it on a brick and clubbing her with it repeatedly. His banal generalities about why men do what they do and why women don't get it are the thesis statement of He's Just Not That Into You and they boil down to nothing more insightful than that simpleminded title.

Movie Review The Black Dahlia

The Black Dahlia (2006) 

Directed by Brian De Palma 

Written by Josh Friedman 

Starring Josh Hartnett, Aaron Eckhart, Scarlett Johansson, Hilary Swank, Mia Kirschner, Fiona Shaw 

Release Date September 15, 2006 

Published September 14th, 2006 

Director Brian De Palma is one of the bravest filmmakers in the business. Each of his films are perilous high wire acts deftly treading the line between masterpiece and utter disaster. His last film, 2002's Femme Fatale, was a disaster of lurid exploitation in which the director became more enamored of his scenery than even his often nude starlet. On the flipside, his Untouchables, Dressed To Kill and Raising Cain are masterpieces, by De Palma standards, of trashy, entertaining, style.

De Palma's latest picture The Black Dahlia, based on the Elmore Leonard novel, again walks that razor's edge between masterpiece and disaster and finds De Palma once again on the side of the masterpiece. The Black Dahlia is a lurid, shocking, exciting noir mystery that uses real life brutality to tell a stunner of a fictional detective story, one worthy of the 30's and 40's noir that inspired it.

For anyone going into The Black Dahlia with ideas about learning more about the famed death of Elizabeth Short; be prepared, this is not her story. This story, based on Elmore Leonard's fictional take on Hollywood's most notorious unsolved murder, is more about the fictional L.A cops created by Leonard and the various shocking and devastating twists that Leonard smartly crafted and now De Palma and screenwriter Josh Friedman adapt.

Josh Hartnett leads an exceptional cast in The Black Dahlia as detective Dwight 'Bucky' Bleichert, a former boxing star turned L.A flatfoot. Bucky's partner is a fellow former boxer Leland 'Lee' Blanchard. Rising through the ranks together, using their boxing star status to impress superiors, the two end up partners in the robbery homicide division.

When the nude, bisected body of young Elizabeth Short is found, it is Bucky and Lee's celebrity that gets them on the Dahlia case, over Bucky's objections; he's concerned about a murder case they were already working and were nearly killed while investigating. The Black Dahlia case however is the department's top priority and they want their most high profile cops out front cracking the case.

On January 15th 1947 the body of Elizabeth Short (Mia Kirschner) was discovered on a side street by a woman with a stroller. Short was nude and her body bisected, cut at the waist. Her blood was drained and internal organs removed. There are other more gruesome details that even Elmore Leornard left out of his account of this real life murder that the papers called The Black Dahlia for the victims penchant for black clothes and flowers in her hair.

Who was Elizabeth Short? In the movie she is a wannabe starlet from a small town in Massachusetts who came to L.A, like so many young girls, with stars in her eyes. She was said, by friends, to have a number of gentlemen callers and was welcome in local lesbian bars as well. It is at one of these bars where Bucky follows a lead to a woman named Madeleine Linscott (Hillary Swank). A dead ringer for Dahlia, Madeleine was seen talking to Elizabeth and another woman not long before she disappeared.

Rather than arrest and interrogate Ms. Linscott, Bucky begins a dangerous affair with her and promises to keep her name out of the papers. The Linscott name is quite well known; Madeleine's father built much of the town. Finding daddy's little girl in a lesbian hangout and linking her to the Dahlia murder would be a media frenzy.

In parallel plot, Bucky and Lee share the attention of a beautiful former prostitute, Kay Lake (Scarlett Johansson). Kay is Lee's girl, he rescued her from a violent pimp, but it's clear she and Bucky have an attraction. When Lee becomes engrossed in the Dahlia case, Kay and Bucky come dangerously close to crossing a line.

Josh Hartnett continues to grow into one of the most interesting actors working today. His style is shy and understated but it's the inner strength that he reveals just when the character needs it that makes him so interesting. His reticence as Bucky belies the toughness of a character that is shown to be quite a good boxer. He is gentle even as he is an invasive interrogator and by the end of the film his horror at all he's seen brings his character around to being a classic noir character. Hartnett has alot to play in The Black Dahlia and he pulls it all off extremely well.

As good as Hartnett is, the true showstopper performance in The Black Dahlia is that of Fiona Shaw. To give any details of who her character is or reveal anything about her is to give away a little more than I want to of this clever plot. Nevertheless, I can tell you that Ms. Shaw delivers an Oscar worthy turn with a speech near the end of the film that would make Norma Desmond blush.

Brian De Palma's style could be called classy trash. Look closely at his resume and you can find a number of movies that fit that description or atleast have moments that fit that description. In Femme Fatale, De Palma crafts a number of gorgeous visuals, classy architecture and the like. It's a great looking film even when it dips into trashy lesbian trysts and gratuitous displays of flesh. And Femme Fatale is one De Palma's lesser works.

Applying his style to material he actually seems invested in, De Palma is invigorated and his excitement translates to the screen with great enthusiasm. The macabre fascination that the public had with the Black Dahlia murder is a subject that suits Brian De Palma's dark, lurid, some would say trashy personality. Indeed he is quite fond of the darker side and expresses that dark side with glee in The Black Dahlia.

And yet for all of its ghastly fascination with the lurid details of not only the life of Elizabeth Short but for those of the cop characters, the rich family and the prostitute, The Black Dahlia manages to be both engrossing and highly entertaining. De Palma invites you down the path of the lurid back streets and somehow; you willingly and wantonly follow him to the movie equivalent of the red light district known as The Black Dahlia.

When he's on his game Brian De Palma is one of the most skillful and talented directors in the business and The Black Dahlia is his best work in nearly a decade. Stylish, mysterious, trashy yet kinda classy, The Black Dahlia is a cinematic smorgasbord that offers something for all audiences, true crime, mystery, sex, graphic violence and great performances. The Black Dahlia will, no doubt, divide many and unite many others. For my money, it's one of the best films of the year.

Movie Review Empire Records

Empire Records (1995)

Directed by Allan Moyle 

Written by Carol Heikkinen 

Starring Liv Tyler, Renee Zellweger, Robin Tunney, Debi Mazar, Anthony LaPaglia, Rory Cochrane 

Release Date September 22nd, 1995 

Published September 21st, 2015

Sugar High

Sometimes you love a movie beyond any rational reasoning. This movie speaks to you in a way that it does not speak to anyone else. The film speaks to something personal for you and regardless of objective viewers that find flaw the film is strangely perfect in your mind. “Empire Records” is one of those movies for me; I love it beyond my ability to weigh its quality objectively.

“Empire Records” tells the story of nearly a dozen characters over one truly eventful day. We begin the night before the big day. Lucas (Rory Cochrane) has been given the rare honor of closing Empire Records for the day. It’s a simple task, count the money and don’t touch any of the boss’s beer, cigars or his drum kit. Lucas will violate each of these rules before absconding with the day’s take of more than 9 grand and heading off to Atlantic City.

Record Town

Lucas’s heart was in the right place. You see, Joe (Anthony La Paglia)  is being forced to give up the store and let it become a ‘Record Town;’ a lame chain store with rules that will likely mean the firing of all of Lucas’s friends and co-workers. He’d hoped that a good night in A.C would earn the money to buy the store and save everybody’s job. Instead, he loses everything and sets the table for a very long day.

The following morning Joe arrives at Empire to confused calls from his bank and an angry call from his boss Mitchell (Ben Bode) wondering where the money is. Meanwhile, Lucas has disappeared and A.J (Johnny Whitworth) is pestering Joe for advice about telling Corey (Liv Tyler) that, after 5 years working together, he’s in love with her.

Rex Manning Day

Corey meanwhile has other things on her mind than poor, heartsick A.J. Today is ‘Rex Manning Day’ at Empire Records and Corey intends on giving her virginity to the washed up pop star, played with oozing smarmy charisma by “Grease 2” star Maxwell Caulfield. Corey is egged on by her best friend Gina (Renee Zellweger) a girl who knows a little something about throwing herself at boys. Gina is the smutty yin to Corey’s innocent yang.

In another of the film’s subplots Robin Tunney plays goth goddess Debra who makes a splashy first impression arriving at work with a full head of hair before shaving herself bald in the bathroom. She also has a bandage on her wrist from a failed suicide attempt that may or may not have something to do with her relationship with Berko (Coyote Shivers) a fellow employee and wannabe rock star.

Special Appearance by 'Warren Beatty' 

Rounding out the cast is Debi Mazar as Rex Manning’s unhappy assistant, Ethan Embry as the gregarious metal head Mark, Kimo Willis as vinyl connoisseur Eddie and Brendon Sexton, now one of the stars of the stellar AMC mystery series “The Killing,” as a shoplifter who claims the name Warren Beatty after getting caught stealing. None of these characters has much of a character arc but each is given a moment and each takes full, entertaining advantage of it.

This wonderful ensemble gels perfectly under the direction of Allen Moyle who’s best remembered for the 1990 teen angst drama “Pump up the Volume” and the 1980 teen comedy “Times Square.” Moyle never had a real hit movie but his contribution in the world of movie soundtracks cannot be diminished.

Pump up the Volume

Moyle’s soundtrack for “Pump up the Volume” introduced a generation to the odd qualities of Leonard Cohen on the same soundtrack as Richard Hell, Bad Brains with Henry Rollins, the Beastie Boys and Sonic Youth. The soundtrack to Moyle’s “Times Square” may have been the reason that film was made at all. That soundtrack included Joe Jackson, The Cars and, most notably, the first U.S appearance by The Cure.

Naturally, the “Empire Records” soundtrack is also packed with great music. The Cranberries, Evan Dando, Gin Blossoms, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Edwin Collins and Cracker each contributed a song as did star Coyote Shivers whose song “Sugar High” is also performed in the film with additional vocals by Renee Zellweger.

A Musical Interlude

Not included on the soundtrack but in the film itself is music from The The, Dire Straits, Throwing Muses and AC/DC. There are times when Empire Records stops for a momentary musical interlude. The cast dances and sings along for a moment and then we are back into the story. It’s awkward at times but also appropriate, this is a record store after all, there had better be some great tunes.

I love the music and the musical interludes of “Empire Records.” As ridiculously indulgent as the music moments are, I am drawn to them because the cast is drawn to them. I want to be a part of their fun. That’s why I love “Empire Records,” it’s a harmless fantasy about what you wish work could be, friends listening to music, occasionally dancing, falling in love and generally having a good time.

Rock n' Roll Fantasy

Empire Records is my fantasy workplace filled with hot babes like Liv Tyler and Renee Zellweger and mentors like Rory Cochrane’s Zen weirdo and Anthony La Paglia’s inconceivably loyal boss. I want to work with these people and love with these people and join their independent family and listen to music with them.

My love for Empire Records is irrational from a critical perspective; I could find flaw with the filmmaking and storytelling if I wanted but I choose not to. It’s just one of those movies that slips past my guard and reaches a place in my heart that is beyond rationality. I’m sure you have an “Empire Records” of your own.

Movie Review Tin Cup

Tin Cup (1996) 

Directed by Ron Shelton 

Written by John Norville 

Starring Kevin Costner, Rene Russo, Cheech Marin, Don Johnson 

Release Date August 16th, 1996

Published August 15th, 2016

The game of golf is mysterious; it honors neither will nor skill. The game affords license to the talented but even talent will on occasion be humbled by the gods of the game, Mother Nature and Lady Luck. A squirrel runs across a perfectly good lie leaving a small dent and fates are changed forever. That is golf that is life.

Such a perfect thing as well struck golf shot 

For Roy McAvoy it’s not the gods or the squirrels, though he is a little nuts, rather it’s all in his head. Roy has the talent; he has in the past had favor of the gods but he simply cannot get out of his own way. Once when attempting to qualify for the PGA Tour he went for a seemingly impossible shot, missed, tried again and eventually cost himself a tour card. 

That was decades ago. Today, Roy or ‘Tin Cup’ to his friends, is a small time golf instructor at a beyond run down East Texas driving range marked by a sign announcing ‘Last chance to hit golf balls for 540 miles.’ That anyone has ever stopped at this establishment where Roy and his menagerie of friends bide their time betting on which bug will die first in the bug zapper, seems unlikely.

Waggle it 

Then, in walks a very beautiful woman. Her name is Dr. Molly Griswold and she is the new shrink in town and for some reason she wants golf lessons. Rene Russo plays Molly and her discomfort with comedy is evident in her stilted delivery and inability to punch a punch line, something about a saddle.

Despite the struggle, she and we, through her, meet the real Tin Cup, Kevin Costner’s unendingly charming, slightly drunken rogue. Irresistible to women and admired by men who can’t quite figure out why they admire him; this is the Kevin Costner of “Bull Durham,” of “Field of Dreams” and in moments from later films like “For Love of the Game” and “The Upside of Anger.”

Like a tuning fork in your heart  

That ridiculous grin, that floppy, fading hairline and the fact that he’s rarely seen the inside of a gym are just some of the reasons that Kevin Costner became an icon, an actor who will be forever marked in the memory of film fans. Before he gave up everything in favor of an inflated ego and the notion of being a respected ‘artist,’ Kevin Costner was an everyman who loved having a good time and inviting audiences to join him.

No director understood that side of Kevin Costner quite as well as “Tin Cup” director Ron Shelton. It was Shelton’s “Bull Durham” that delivered Costner to stardom in “Bull Durham” and in “Tin Cup” nearly rescued Costner from the excesses of his artistic tripe. Sadly, only flashes of that Costner remain while Shelton himself struggled to find other stars that could enliven his work in the way Costner had.

“Tin Cup” is a movie about a golfer but it’s also a time capsule of a movie moment, one when an actor and a director came together in an absolute understanding of how to entertain an audience. The cohesiveness of Shelton and Costner’s effort is evident in each wonderful scene of “Tin Cup” as Costner strides through Shelton’s scene setting in perfect pitch, striking each line and hitting each lopsided punch line not unlike a well struck tee shot.

The Shanks

Drawing out the metaphor to its farthest reaches, Kevin Costner is “Tin Cup.” Hindsight forces the film critic in me to see that as Roy chooses to pass on the chance to win the US Open in favor of trying to land one difficult shot that repeatedly eluded him that Costner’s “Waterworld” was one of those shots that landed short of the green. So were “The Postman” and “Message” in a Bottle attempts at greatness that courted failure and failed.

Thankfully, there is “Tin Cup” which, unknown to Costner in 1996 as he was making it, was that one perfectly struck shot that you feel in your loins that lands on the green, earning the roar of the crowd. As Roy says “You define the moment or the moment defines you.” For a moment, Kevin Costner was defined by Tin Cup and it was glorious. Today, he is defined in so many other ways, far less glorious. Such is the heroic quest for that one perfect shot.

Greatness courts failure Romeo

When people talk about golf and movies they think of “Caddyshack.” Nothing could ever take away from the comic genius of Caddyshack but, as golf movies go, for me and a growing cult, “Tin Cup” is the ultimate golf movie. Roy ‘Tin Cup’ McAvoy is both a guy all of us know and a representation of something in ourselves; that always striving, often failing part that takes comfort in the little things like a drink, good friends and a good woman. 

It’s golf season again and “Tin Cup” is out there on each and every course seeking the greatness in a single shot when par would have been good enough. Such is life.

Movie Review Dumbo (1941)

Dumbo (1941) 

Directed by Ben Sharpsteen

Written by Joe Grant, Dick Huerner 

Starring Edward Brophy, Verna Felton, Cliff Edwards, Herman Bing

Release Date October 31st, 1941

Published October 30th, 2011 

A bundle of joy

On a starry night a winged courier marks the sky, a round package hanging from his beak. Gently this very important package is delivered via parachute into the cages of a group of circus animals. One by one these tiny packages unfolds to reveal baby tigers, giraffes, hippos and even hyenas. All the while Mrs. Jumbo stares out at the stars hoping her bundle will be the next to arrive.

It's astonishing the way we feel for Mrs. Jumbo in this scene. Everyone has hoped for something and knows the crushing disappointment when something hoped for does not arrive. Even though Mrs. Jumbo is an elephant and though we are well aware that her bundle will indeed arrive, a very special bundle at that, our heart still goes out to her as she waits through the night and boards the train the following morning without her baby.

E-A-R-S

When the stork finally does catch up to the train Mrs. Jumbo, though briefly detained by a cleverly funny bit of bureaucracy and ceremony, excitedly welcomes a baby show dubs Jumbo Jr. The baby will not carry that name for long sadly. Just as soon as the bundle has been revealed as gorgeous baby boy, a sneeze reveals his large secret, giant, wing-like ears. The older, nasty elephants are quick to give the boy a name that does stick Dumbo.

Our sympathies are never in question in Dumbo and it is the lack of complexity, the purity of this story that sells it. No nuance, no doubt, Dumbo is us and we identify with him and his mother, their all to brief joy and the sorrow of the moment when Dumbo's mom defends him from bullies and is taken away and caged. If these moments don't move you then you need to have your soul checked.

Timothy T. Mouse

The emergence of Timothy Mouse is one of the genius creations of Dumbo. Though he is easy to compare to Jiminy Cricket and other sidekick characters from the Disney canon, Timothy doesn't fit neatly into the role. Indeed, Timothy is a leader and a friend to Dumbo. Without Timothy there is no story; he drives every element from tricking the Master of Ceremonies to put Dumbo in the show to reuniting Dumbo with his mother to finally convincing Dumbo to fly, Timothy is a catalyst not an observer, a live wire of good humor and deep heart and a uniquely Disney creation.

It's hard to talk about Dumbo without acknowledging a few of the more uncomfortable racial stereotypes that the film trades in. Keeping in mind that the film was made in 1941, before the Civil Rights era, the ignorant stereotypes featured in The Song of the Roustabouts sequence, African American workers singing about being unable to read or write or keep track of their pay that they throw away or the outlandish caricatures Jim Crow and his crow friends, the makers of Dumbo undoubtedly blighted the film's legacy.

Mother and Son

Race however, was not the subject of Dumbo and though being a product of its time is not a great defense, it is an understandable one. Audiences can still appreciate other aspects of Dumbo especially the glorious relationship between Jumbo and Dumbo that is as moving as any parent and child relationship in a live action movie with human actors.

There is also the mindblowingly beautiful animation of Dumbo. The scenery in the train early train sequence as the Casey Jr. train is rolling into some nameless Florida town is a work of art in motion. The driving rain of The Song of the Roustabouts sequence, despite the song and the stereotypes, is a stunning visual; as striking as any bit of animation before or after Dumbo.

 The Pink Elephant Dance

And you cannot talk about the animation of Dumbo without discussing The Pink Elephant Dance. This amazing sequence that proceeds from Dumbo and Timothy accidentally drinking water mixed with Champagne is one of the finest moments in animation history. It's daring, bold and dynamic even as it seems to have little to do with the story of Dumbo. It would be fair to call The Pink Elephant Dance indulgent on the part of the Disney animation team but the sequence is so remarkable you can forgive them for it.

Dumbo came along at a time when Disney Animation was struggling. Pinocchio and Fantasia are remembered today as classics but in 1941 they were twin box office failures plaguing the studio and causing Dumbo to be rushed through production so fast that Walt Disney's son Roy, according to an interview on the special edition Dumbo DVD, wasn't aware the film existed until it was completed.

Shortest film in Disney history

Dumbo is the shortest Disney film of all time due to that rush through production and the notion that, at a mere 65 minutes, it could be shown more often throughout the day in theaters and thus offer a bigger payback. Indeed it did, Dumbo became, for a time, the most profitable Disney film ever.

Filled to overflow with warmth and heart, Dumbo is a flawed but still remarkable Disney classic about family, friends, acceptance and overcoming the odds. Who can honestly say they never felt like Dumbo? Everyone has had a moment where they felt left out, where something about them felt seperated from society. Dumbo reminds us all that our limitations can be exceeded if we have love in our hearts and a determined friend to help along the way.

Movie Review Scream

Scream (1996)

Directed by Wes Craven

Written by Kevin Williamson 

Starring Neve Campbell, Skeet Ulrich, Drew Barrymore, Matthew Lillard, Courtney Cox, David Arquette

Release Date December 26th, 1996

Published December 25th, 2016

“This is life, it’s not a movie” says Sidney. “Sure it is Sid, it’s all one great big movie… you just don’t get to pick your genre” says Billy. Neve Campbell and Skeet Ulrich in the 1996 horror classic "Scream."

It's a Scream, Baby 

The quote above is a nod toward what made the original "Scream" such a…. well, a scream back in 1996. Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson’s acute study of how much movies have become part of everyday American life; and especially aware of the horror film’s place in the lives of the teens who are it’s core audience.

Casey Becker is the picture of white, suburban safety in the unspoiled splendor of upper middle class home when she receives an increasingly disturbing series of phone calls. The calls are coming from a man who wants to play a game. Casey will answer trivia questions about horror movies and whether or not she gets them right, she will be a horror movie victim.

A nod to Hitchcock 

This is the prologue to "Scream," a 13 minute mini-movie featuring a major movie star. Director Wes Craven ingeniously cast Drew Barrymore, just on the cusp of her comeback after years of personal troubles following her too much too soon rise to fame in her childhood.

Barrymore is cast in homage to Hitchcock’s use of Janet Leigh in "Psycho." Moviegoers in 1960 were blown away when Leigh was murdered half way into "Psycho" leaving the movie bereft of its star. In a nod to our growing culture of A.D.D, Wes Craven eliminated his star before the opening credits rolled.

Big breasted bimbos who run up the stairs when they should run out the front door

That’s just the beginning of the genius of "Scream" which turn horror movie conventions on their ear by allowing characters to be hyper-aware of said conventions and then almost comically at a loss when they are unable to escape the same fate as the characters they so richly mock.

Neve Campbell takes over for Barrymore as the star of "Scream" playing Sidney Prescott who, it just so happens, lost her mother to a brutal murder almost a year to the day that Casey Becker was murdered. Now, with the anniversary approaching, Sidney finds herself the target of a killer as the same masked man who tortured and murdered Casey sets his sights on Sidney.

A cast that is a cut above 

Campbell is exceptional in the role of Sidney combining virginal innocence with Jamie Lee Curtis’s flair for dramatics. Also well cast are Courtney Cox as an uber-bitch journalist, Rose McGowan as Tatum, Sidney’s protective best friend and David Arquette as Tatum’s doofusy brother Dewey, a police officer who never really acts like much of a police officer.

The suspects in "Scream" are equally well cast. There is the ultra-creepy Skeet Ulrich as Sidney’s boyfriend whose suspect timing makes him a prime suspect early on. Matthew Lillard as Tatum’s maladjusted boyfriend with a tendency for enjoying all of the carnage a little too much and, finally, there is Jamie Kennedy as Randy, the pseudo-narrator of the film. Randy is a movie nerd who works at a video store and knows all of the rules for surviving a horror movie.

Scream is actually scary 

All of these tremendously well cast roles combine with a terrific script and Wes Craven's ingenious direction to deliver darkly humorous moments of self awareness and honest to goodness frights that honor the best of the horror genre. Yes, "Scream" is something of a send up but when things get bloody, the laughs are replaced by very strong horror movie tensions.

Movie Review Romeo and Juliet (1996)

Romeo + Juliet (1996)

Directed by Baz Luhrmann 

Written by Craig Pearce, Baz Luhrmann 

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, John Leguizamo, Brian Dennehy, Paul Sorvino

Release Date November 1st, 1996 

Published November 1st, 2016 

It’s fair to call Baz Luhrmann’s modernized take on Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet a Romeo for the MTV generation. Though today such a pronouncement could seem insulting, in 1996 Luhrmann’s vision of the Bard’s work had everything that a great music video would including quick cut action, lots of colors, a pair of teen idol lead actors and an unbelievably good soundtrack.

Two Households at war 

It’s a tale told in fair Verona Beach or, in reality, Miami standing in for the Shakespearean city. Two households are at war, the Capulets lead by Fulgencio (Paul Sorvino) and the Montagues headed up by Ted (Brian Dennehy). No one seems exactly sure why there is war between them but as this story begins, thugs from both sides engage in a shootout that ends in a massive conflagration.

Captain Prince (Vondie Curtis Hall), the head of Verona law enforcement, has seen enough, he wants peace and is ready to take extreme measures. Meanwhile, young Romeo walks the beach in devastation, his beloved Rosalyne having forsaken him. Thankfully, his cousin Benvolio and best friend Mercutio (Harold Perrineau) have sport to cheer him.

What light through yonder window breaks

Mercutio has obtained tickets to a costume party at Capulet mansion and as long as everyone stays in their masks it should be a fine feast. At the party Romeo spies Juliet through the glass of a fish tank and is immediately smitten. He is already in love by the time he finds out that she is Juliet Capulet, the daughter of his family enemy. Juliet has also fallen for Romeo despite his name and the seal it with a dip in the Capulets pool and a kiss.

The following day the two decide to marry and Romeo’s friend Father Lawrence (Pete Postlethwaite thinks the wedding may be a chance to bring peace to the family and the un-civil war. He conducts the wedding but there is tragedy to come, one that will separate the young lovers and further complications involving a mislaid letter that could mean doom.

Stylistically jarring 

It’s a classic story and Baz Luhrmann’s telling it has a new, stylistically jarring life. The film begins with Shakespeare’s classic epilogue as told by a news reporter on TV. Then Pete Postlethwaite picks up the same dialogue in voice over and then in a bold move, the same words are incorporated into the film’s experimental score.

From there we are thrust down into the streets of Verona Beach where Shakespeare’s immortal words are spoken by common street thugs wielding Sword brand 9mm handguns. The Montagues and Capulets meet in combat in the urban setting of a Grand Theft Auto video game but all the while speaking with Shakespeare’s tongue.

Radiohead, Garbage and Prince 

It’s all quite jarring at first but when the music of Radiohead kicks in as we are introduced to Leonardo DiCaprio as Romeo, things begin to settle in and we are quickly invested in this highly unique retelling of a classic love story. There are times when the classic Shakespearean turns of phrase are incomprehensible to the modern ear but the meaning is well conveyed by the exemplary cast, as it would be if Luhrmann had not chosen to modernize the setting.

Leonardo DiCaprio had not yet become a global icon when he starred in Romeo +Juliet. He was less than a year from becoming ‘the King of the world’ as Jack Dawson in Titanic but his star was certainly on the rise. “Romeo + Juliet” was indeed the perfect table setter for his breakout in Titanic. Romeo offered just the right mix of serious acting and teen idol mooning needed for the establishment of global icon status.

Claire Danes has never found the stardom that DiCaprio has achieved since “Romeo + Juliet” but onscreen she is every bit the star DiCaprio is. With her wide expressive eyes, beautiful smile and delicate delivery, Danes was a marvelous Juliet and when Juliet takes hold of a gun as she does more than once during “Romeo + Juliet” it is a stunning counterpoint to her nuanced beauty.

The music of Romeo + Juliet acts as the third lead character in the film. Baz Luhrmann and his music team did yeoman’s work to mix movie score and pop songs in ways few had ever done before. While many will remember the hit song “Lovefool” by the Cardigans the stand out for me while watching the film this week was Des’ree’s haunting love theme “Kissing You.”

The hit soundtrack also includes music from popular 90’s rockers Everclear and Garbage and, as briefly mentioned earlier, experimental rockers Radiohead whose song “Talk Show Host” serves as Romeo’s theme. There are also, ever so brief, musical intrusions by Massive Attack and most famously a remix of Prince’s “When Doves Cry” sung beautifully by a church choir.

Romeo and Juliet for the MTV generation 

Yes, this was “Romeo + Juliet” for the MTV generation and as horrific as such pronouncement seems today; it was slightly less of an insult at the time. In 1996 MTV still had certain culture relevance then. In 1996 you could turn on MTV and actually watch a music video. It was before Britney and the Backstreet Boys took music back to the dark ages.

Connecting Shakespeare and the MTV generation was a stroke of genius on the part of Baz Luhrmann. He brought these two portions of world culture together in ways that no one thought possible. Baz Luhrmann made Shakespeare significant to an audience that otherwise might have thought his work was staid and dusty, something that teachers forced them to read but had no relevance to their lives.

A place in history lost

Baz Luhrmann’s “Romeo + Juliet” somehow never gained the mainstream acceptance it so richly deserved. Though it was a worldwide hit, earning more than 140 million dollars on a budget of a paltry 14 million dollars, its place in pop culture history was quickly consumed by another re-telling of Shakespeare’s doomed lovers’ tale, James Cameron’s “Titanic.”