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December 28, 2001
Monsters, Inc.
Peter Docter, Lee Unkrich, David Silverman, USA, 2001
Rating: 3.3
A clever twist on the classic "Monster in the Closet"
theme, with a young child (inadvertently) turning the tables on the assorted
creatures sent to scare her. The animation is peerless and the voice acting top
drawer. What holds the film back is a decided lack of spontaneity, that
wonderful feeling that anything can and will happen. While undeniably
well-crafted and entertaining, the magic lacks as the plot unfolds and it
becomes obvious everything will work out in the end, no matter the inventive route
selected in getting there.
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Laurence
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December 24, 2001
Not Another Teen Movie
Joel Gallen, USA, 2001
Rating: 1.5
Parody works best when it has a definite bulls-eye to
focus on. This Is Spinal Tap tackled bloated arena rockers perfectly,
while Scream skewered the teen slasher genre with hip, ironic flair. The
problem with Not Another Teen Movie is that it doesn't know exactly what
it wants to parody, and thus, attempts to make fun of everything and anything
that crosses its wildly-unfocused radar. From the '80s teen comedies of John
Hughes to multiple Oscar Winner American Beauty, everything is fair game,
and thus, rather than hitting one clearly defined target, the movie winds up
striking none.
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Laurence
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November 10, 2001
Heist
David Mamet, USA, 2001
Rating: 3.0
With a cast that includes the likes of Gene Hackman,
Danny De Vito and Delroy Lindo, there should have been more to love about this
homage to tough guy crime caper dramas of the '30s and '40s. Instead, despite a
solid setup, and reasonably well-executed heist, the move's final third
degenerates into a pedestrian cross-double cross betrayal piece that lacks, not
only a genuine emotional commitment on the part of the players involved, but
coherent logic as well. Considering the talent involved, a true disappointment.
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Laurence
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October 31, 2001
From Hell
Albert Hughes & Allen Hughes, USA, 2001
Rating: 2.0
An extremely liberal adaptation of the Alan Moore,
Eddie Campbell graphic novel, which took the most implausible but engaging
Ripper theory and utilized it to meticulously dissect the class system of late Victorian England. The film
jettisons such fascinating explorations in favor of slashing knives and bloody
crimes scenes. Worse, it lacks suspense, revealing its cards way too early for any tangible threat to be
established in the minds of the audience. The beautiful, "name" actors will be
safe, the people you can't recognize reduced to numberless victim status for Saucy
Jack to carve up. Too
garish and poorly constructed to leave -- unlike its infamous lead subject -- a lasting
impression.
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Laurence
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