BB (out of 5) Boring, uneventful adaptation of the popular Jay Roach cartoon. Brendan Fraser is a hoot as the bumbling Mountie who is stuck with trying to stop evil villain Snidely (Alfred Molina) all on his own when the town of Semi-Happy Valley abandons him. At stake is the preservation of the law as well…
Tag: Eric Idle
Hollywood Homicide
BB (out of 5) Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett play an oddly matched team of homicide detectives, both of whom also have other jobs on the side. Ford is a real estate agent, while Hartnett is a yoga instructor and aspiring actor. The two of them have their lives swept into a whirlwind when they…
The Aristocrats
BB.5 (out of 5) Paul Provenza interviews dozens of comedians about a famous joke, loved among comedians, that provides a sort of jazzy opportunity for performers to really shine. Each interview subject gives their own take on the anecdote, allowing for much variation in its interpretation before the purposely anticlimactic punch line. What’s most shocking,…
Nuns On The Run
BBB (out of 5) Fans of British comedy will get a great kick out of this hilarious caper, especially those who love Monty Python. Eric Idle and Robbie Coltrane play two goons who decide to leave their mob boss and take off with the spoils of their last robbery. When their employer learns of this and tries…
102 Dalmatians
BBBB (out of 5) The smarmy, overlong and annoying 101 Dalmatians directed by Stephen Herek gets a huge lift from a highly superior sequel, this time directed by Tarzan‘s Kevin Lima. More faithful to the original animated version of the 60s than its predecessor, Lima keeps the pace going and keeps the action lively. This…
The Life Of Brian
BBBB (out of 5) Monty Python’s best film is this delightfully irreverent poke at religious obsession and, in particular, the bloated Bible movies that audiences have always found so irresistible. Considered controversial at the time of its release for insulting religion (which it doesn’t do, and only includes Jesus Christ peripherally), it features Python cast…
The Meaning Of Life
BBB.5 (out of 5) A collection of skits that further show how Monty Python’s flair for hilarity have made British comedy popular the world over. The various skits all deal with popular and controversial viewpoints on the matter of reproduction and the stages of life that follow, with musical numbers being thrown in for good…
Shrek The Third
BBB.5 (out of 5) You’d think that the pop culture references and jabs at traditional childhood fairy tales would have gotten old by the third installment, but this second sequel to the surprise 2001 hit (which was the highest critically rated film of its year) turns out be another fresh, if inevitably familiar, helping of…
The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen
BB.5 (out of 5) The visual splendour of this gargantuan movie can be the only reason that anyone would want to put themselves through it; other than the sumptuous costumes by Gabriella Pescucci and mesmerizing sets by Dante Ferretti, the whole ordeal is a tedious mess. John Neville plays the famed nobleman of Teutonic myth…
Monty Python And The Holy Grail
BBB (out of 5) The Monty Python team takes a stab at the conventions of pompous historical dramas in this often ribald comedy. King Arthur and his knights (and his servant Patsy, don’t forget) travel the countryside of England trading insults with rude French soldiers, slaying foes and winning over fair wenches in an effort…
Quest For Camelot (The Magic Sword)
0 (out of 5) Painfully awful, this is probably the worst big-budget animated feature ever made. It features, for your enjoyment, bad voice acting, lame animation (sometimes the characters lag, as if the animators’ computers crashed halfway through their work and they never noticed), and a senseless story concerning a wronged woman out to restore…
South Park: Bigger, Longer And Uncut
BBBB (out of 5) Cartman, Stan, Kyle and perpetual murder victim Kenny cuss up an electrical storm in this brilliantly hilarious spoof of both Hollywood movie musicals and the self-sanctifying moral indignation that frequently overpowers North Americans. When Canadian comic pranksters Terrance and Phillip release their classic film ‘Asses of Fire’ to theatres across the…
