BBBB (out of 5) Surprisingly terrific adaptation of the comedy that originally starred Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris. Jamie Lee Curtis plays an overworked therapist and mother who is about to get married to her boyfriend (Mark Harmon), despite the emotional objections of her difficult teenaged daughter (Lindsay Lohan). The two fight about various mother-daughter conflict…
Tag: Stephen Tobolowsky
Radioland Murders
BB (out of 5) Painfully boring comedy from the usually more imaginative George Lucas tries to pay tribute to the “good old days” of moviemaking but falls flat on its face. It takes place at a radio station in the forties where a program executive (Mary Stuart Masterson) is trying desperately to keep everything in…
Robots
BBB (out of 5) In a world where mechanized robots are living creatures with hearts and souls, young Rodney Copperbottom (Ewan McGregor) dreams of making it as an inventor. Growing up in a small town and watching his favourite industrialist Bigweld (Mel Brooks) on TV, an ambitious Rodney travels to Robot City where he intends…
Groundhog Day
BBBB (out of 5) One of the most wonderful romantic comedies of the decade. Bill Murray plays a rude, cynical weatherman who is given the dull assignment of travelling to a nearby small town and reporting on the groundhog day festivity. He meets the people, films the little critter running back into his hole, tries to…
Sneakers (1992)
PHIL ALDEN ROBINSON Bil’s rating (out of 5): BBB. USA, 1992. Universal Pictures. Screenplay by Phil Alden Robinson, Lawrence Lasker, Walter F. Parkes. Cinematography by John Lindley. Produced by Lawrence Lasker, Walter F. Parkes. Music by James Horner. Production Design by Patrizia von Brandenstein. Costume Design by Bernie Pollack. Film Editing by Tom Rolf. Robert Redford stars as a computer hacker turned security expert who is…
Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax
BBB.5 (out of 5) Gorgeously animated comedy from the Dr. Seuss book, beginning in a town made entirely out of plastic where no nature exists and the most powerful citizen is a zillionaire who has learned to sell people the very air they breathe. One little boy (voiced by Zac Efron) finds out about trees…
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous
BB (out of 5) Three weeks after she prevented a murder from happening at the Miss America pageant, Gracie Hart (Sandra Bullock, returning to the role that brought her critical acclaim) finds her famous, high-profile image works against her efforts as an undercover FBI agent. She decides to follow the advice of her boss (Ernie…
Memento (2000)
CHRISTOPHER NOLAN Bil’s rating (out of 5): BBBB.5. USA, 2000. Newmarket Capital Group, Team Todd, I Remember Productions, Summit Entertainment. Screenplay by Christopher Nolan, based on the short story Memento Mori by Jonathan Nolan. Cinematography by Wally Pfister. Produced by Jennifer Todd, Suzanne Todd. Music by David Julyan. Production Design by Patti Podesta. Costume Design by Cindy Evans. Film Editing by Dody Dorn. Academy Awards 2001. Golden…
Great Balls Of Fire!
BBBB (out of 5) The charismatic music and performance style of fifties rocker Jerry Lee Lewis is captured in this energetic musical, particularly benefiting from the excellent lead performance by Dennis Quaid as Lewis. Rising to the top of the music charts, Lewis found himself beset by controversy when audiences were both delighted and enraged by…
Adaptation.
BBBB (out of 5) For writer Charlie Kaufman, the line between reality and fiction is a blurry, obscure dream that often escapes his grasp; his contribution to Spike Jonze’s latest comedy demonstrates this in the most clever and original ways possible. Originally hired to adapt Susan Orlean’s bestselling book The Orchid Thief, a non-fiction study…
Mississippi Burning
BBBB (out of 5) Alan Parker’s drama gets few points for truth, as most of his fact-based films generally do, but he gets high marks for telling an emotionally involving story. Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe play FBI agents on the trail of missing civil rights activists in the Klan-riddled Mississippi of the sixties. While Dafoe…
Basic Instinct
BB.5 (out of 5) Sharon Stone is so fantastic she makes a trashy film almost respectable, playing a femme fatale mystery writer who is the prime suspect when a rock star is murdered in bed with an ice pick. Michael Douglas plays the cop investigating the crime who can’t resist when he becomes sexually involved with…
