Fun In Acapulco

funny entertainment
There was a valid reason for why Elvis was called the king of rock; he was on top and he reigned the entire time he was live, and now, even in death, he manages to sell more and more albums and be enjoyed by new generations.

This Elvis movie is a personal favorite of mine. The on-location filming makes it spectacular and Elvis is truly in top form in this delightful movie. You can watch it with the whole family, and, with the exception of one pretty gruesome fist fight scene, with young children as well.

Elvis sings a number of Spanish-tinged numbers and does a great performance at the El Troubadour of "Bossa Nova Baby."

The plot works well, and the story is fun if you can imagine Elvis Presley being a singer in Mexico in the early '60's.

The four Beatles acutally went to see this movie when the came over to the states early in their career.

Elvis does his own stunts in this film, but does not do the cliff diving scene. The cliff diving scene is really spectacular and...

Elvis and that Bossa Nova Baby beat.
"Fun In Acapulco" might look like it on-screen, but it wasn't fun in Acapulco for Elvis or Ursula Andress. Both of them were learning new languages. Ursula Andress was just learning English (reason for her voiced being dubbed in "Dr. No"), and Elvis had to learn Spanish because some of the songs he sang have Spanish lyrics. So it was hard work for them. You have to hear Elvis sing in Spanish. It's so different. Here, he plays a former circus performer who comes to Acapulco to get away from his past. He's hired as a lifeguard at a hotel, and sings for the guests at night. Being a lifeguard wasn't easy, because when he was in the circus, he was in the acrobats. On one swing he missed his partner who fell to the ground and resulted in a terrible accident. When a rival lifeguard learns about it, he challenges him to dive again since now Elvis' character is afraid of heights. He's finally able to gain back his courage, beats up the rival Alejandro Rey in a great fight scene, and climbs to...

The BEST!
I am a big Elvis fan, and this movie is by far my favorite one! It has everything....catchy songs....Elvis chasing the girls....you name it!

If you are a fan and have not seen this movie, I highly recommend it!

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The Barbarian Invasions

Death of a bon vivant
Infrequently, if at all, does a film for general release revolve around normal, natural death, i.e. one not brought on by fanged space aliens, world-renting cataclysms, wild gunfights, or some other Tinseltown special FX. Hollywood script writers should walk though any cemetery sometime. Not since the 2001 tour de force, WIT, starring Emma Thompson, has the topic been intelligently portrayed. Now comes THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS, a powerful French Canadian film of albeit misleading title.

London investor Sebastien (Stephane Rousseau) is summoned home to Quebec by his mother, Louise (Dorothee Berryman) to attend the approaching death of his father, Remy (Remy Girard). Father and son have been long estranged - ever since Remy and Louise divorced. Remy, an outspoken Professor of History and a self-described "sensuous socialist", has spent his life indulging in wine, women, song, and learned conversation. Especially women. The reunion shows little promise of succeeding,...

The Decline and Fall of Quebecois Utopia
It was rather surprising to learn that this anti-socialist movie won a Foreign Film Oscar. Denys Arcand is well-know for his biting satire of Québécois society, against the clergy in Jésus of Montréal and against Québécois politics in this movie. Invasions Barbares is a sequel to the famous Le Déclin de l'Empire Américan (The Decline of the American Empire), where he philosophizes on the end of the American hegemony based on history and some fast-and-dirty sociology.

In this movie, the Fall of the American Empire is represented by the WTC attack, but the bulk of the movie is not concerned with the United States but with Quebec. In this, Rémy (Rémy Girard), the history professor with a high libido, is dying of cancer and his previous relationships give him no solace. Everyone from Déclin comes back to support him in his hard times, including his estrangled son Sébastien (Stéphane...

AMIDST IDEOLOGICAL CHITCHAT, A FULL-BODIED ODE TO LIFE
The Barbarian Invasions is nothing if not a chatty movie, almost every character is well developed and most of what is said is amusing without the self-satisfied piety or strenuous jokiness of garden variety Hollywood flicks.

A man on his death bed, Remy, invites all his friends and family hoping in such a reunion to pass on his pearls of wisdom, and to reconcile all that has remained undone or that shouldn't have been done.

Woven around this seemingly simple frame are many relationships, all explored richly and with fluid rhythm, and some fabulous dialogue veering around insightful ideologies.

For instance, Remy and his son wage what seems to be a lifelong argument, the young man defending his free-market values, faith in technological progress and ascetic lifestyle, and Remy extolling the virtues of socialism and epicurean excess. I was surprised to see some footage of 9/11 in support for the negatives that accompany American-style capitalism...

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Bad News Bears

Entertaining but Unnecessary
The original Bad News Bears is an absolute classic which has aged well. There was no need for a remake; the fact that this movie was made anyhow is a tribute to the lack of creativity and aversion to risk taking in Hollywood. That said, the remake is entertaining, and had it been an original film I would have rated it four rather than three stars.
The primary reason to see the new Bad News Bears is actor Billy Bob Thornton. He is the logical successor to Walter Matthau's mantle. Thornton owns the character of Coach Buttermaker - a lewd, gruff drunk with no socially redeeming traits who still manages to exude a sleazy charm. Had he created this role rather than just expertly imitated it, it would have been pure genius, and as it is, it stands as a homage to the original.
Oddly, the remake manages to be simultaneously both raunchier and more politically correct than the original. Where the original film had Buttermaker getting endorsements from a bail bondsman on the kid's...

Entertaining remake of Michael Ritche/Walter Matthau classic
Remakes good or bad dog our entertainment existence. Why? A good story needs to be retold. A good story needs to be told more than once. It's a waste otherwise. The movies represent our myths. We've seen two remakes and two sequels to "King Kong" and "Dracula" has been adapted many, many times (badly for the most part I might add) so why not the comedy about the team of baseball misfits who could? Billy Bob Thornton takes on the role that Walter Matthau essayed in the original 1976 film. The social misfits angle has been updated with kids that behave worse and have their own social stigmas. They still kick butt. Alcoholic pest worker Morris Buttermaker (Thornton) briefly played in the "big game" before washing out and using booze as his crutch. He's recruited to coach a kids baseball team that play so badly that they could be beat by a tree in the wind.

Michael Ritiche's ("Smile", "The Bad News Bears", "Downhill Racer", "The Candidate")original is a five star classic that...

Remake Stays True, but Fails to Deliver
The 2005 version of the Bad News Bears is the same story as the 1976 version, but it is far from the same movie.

The 1976 movie is a classic. The late Walther Matthau was perfectly cast as the lovable boozer, coach Buttermaker. Tatum O'Neil, who already had an Academy Award in her trophy case, brought comedy and tenderness to the movie as the tenacious, yet emotionally fragile pitcher, Amanda. While the movie was hilarious and a great social commentary on an American institution, it was the tender relationship between Matthau and O'Neal that made the movie work.

The remake is commendable for staying so true to the original; the few differences include an updated demographic mix of players and updated scenes- skateboard parks replaced pool halls and Hooters replaced Pizza Hut.

Despite the fidelity to the original, the remake fouls classic lines and the relationship between Amanda and Buttermaker strikes out. The cast of the remake turns in a minor...

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The Love Guru

"I Own You!" ~ Bollywood, Bar Fights, Ball Gazing And Stink Mop As Tools To Englightenment
When you sit down to watch a Mike Myers movie realize that you have made the conscious decision to view something totally inane, slapstick and crude. On the other hand, there is another valid line of thought that would argue anyone who would watch a Mike Myers film is incapable of rational, conscious thought. A point well taken I must admit. With that said, if you're still reading this review we know what camp you fall into.

In the '08 film `The Love Guru' Mr. Myers plays Guru Pitka, the second most popular spiritual teacher in the Occidental world, second to Deepak Chopra of course. Guru Pitka finally gets the opportunity to possibly move out of the number two position when he's hired by the owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team (Jessica Alba) to restore the broken marital relationship between their star player and his estranged wife who has moved in with the Los Angeles Kings well endowed goalie (Justin Timberlake). If he's successful he will not only be handed a...

A Karmic Komedy
Forget about Mike Myers for a minute. Let's begin with Ben Kingsley, the Oscar winning actor who actually appears in "The Love Guru"; he plays a cross-eyed spiritual advisor from India, and his name is not a double entendre so much as it's a blatant sexual reference smushed into a single word. The sight of this man is hilarious, and yet I didn't want to laugh because I know that Kingsley has made so many better choices than this film. What possessed him to act in a film this unashamedly juvenile? Did he find the idea of nonstop [...] gags appealing? I might as well be asking myself the same questions, because in all honesty, "The Love Guru" often had me giggling like a six-year-old who heard his first dirty joke. But to call this movie a comedic masterpiece would be an insult to the very concept of comedy.

The plot focuses on Pitka (Myers), an American-born, Indian-raised guru who was taught by Kingsley's character to become an expert in matters of love. How, I'm not...

Miserably, Wretchedly Awful
I remember the negative rumblings when this film was in production. The advance screening reviews did not treat it well, and most reviews once it opened also were not good, some of them downright brutal. Then it was in and out of my local megaplexes in less than a month. Now it's on DVD, right after the end of the summer, not even waiting for the holiday market, not even tying into some kind of wacky Halloween marketing-thing.

Through all of these increasingly negative omens I kept faith, figuring, "Hey, it's Mike Myers, the man who brought us "Sprockets" on Saturday Night Live, the Wayne's World guy, the Austin Powers guy." I like to watch So I Married an Axe Murderer when it's on...

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Road Trip- Beer Pong

Supplements are better than the movie...
No real surprises here, but I made sure to have no expectations as only two people came over from the first Road Trip (DJ Qualls and the tour mom). Story follows our college youth who compete in a nationals beer pong tournament and the troubles they go through in getting there. Along the way we get treated to some boring subplots, plenty of beautiful breasts, and lots of beer pong. I dig these kind of movies and they can rent/sell very well when it revolves around beer, but this was just below average in entertainment value.

The picture and sound were fine, but the supplements were funnier and more entertaining than the movie. Including:
* On The Road to Victory/Making Of - 25 minute featurette containing the cast/crew interviews; which had some funny insights like how stoked the writer was that he got the sequel director on board (this crew has made the Bring It On follow-ups, the American Pie and Slap Shot sequels) and how the director had cast the tour mom in this...

T&A
Poor plot and the usual fare of stupid college kids doing all the wrong things and coming up with utter nonsense.

Better than the original
This is what it is: a college movie that is made for laughs. It is not an Academy Award winning movie with great acting or great actors but it is great for its genre.
As someone who liked the original Road Trip, I preferred this movie.

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The Doors

"The Doors" Light Up the Screen.......
This review refers to the Artisan Special Edition(2disc)DVD of "The Doors".....

Become immersed in the wild ride that Oliver Stone takes you on in this legendary film of a legendary rocker.The extrordinary life story of Jim Morrison, played eeriley by Val Kilmer, will keep you mesmerized and stay with you long after the movie has ended.

The film explores "The Doors", from their beginnings in Venice Beach, California, where they exploded onto the rock scene,breaking the mold of music in the 60's, to their rise as superstars. Morrison's life is the main focus as a senstive poet type dropping out of film school, to becoming the Peyote addicted,culture shocking, philosphical rock idol.The LSD trips, the visions of this genius, his personal life and of course the famous controversial concerts are all told through Stone's unique cinematic magic.

You'll get lost not only in the time setting of the story but of course in the music as well. "The Doors"...

mostly reviewing the new features
"Pam joined him three years later . . ." is on my copy of the 15 Year Anniversary Edition; the movie is the same as the Special Edition.

The packaging and menus are updated and look great. Substantially better than the special edition.

On to the 2 new features.

The Doors in L.A. - 20 minute feature; Robbie Krieger, John Densmore, (yaaay!), Jimmy Greenspoon, and Pamela Des Barres are the prominent interviews on camera here. Nothing earth shattering, but it's nice to see/hear John Densmore's abridged opinions.

The Jim Morrison Phenomena in Paris - it's interesting. You've got a handful of people who met JDM in Paris and hung out; they describe his mood and what he was (arguably) saying at the time. There's a French librarian who breaks down a lot of the parallels in the subtleties of the lyrics w/Greek literature. There's a somewhat annoying 20 something saying Jim was done with music and The Doors and blah, blah, blah that isn't substantiated...

Similar contradictions and problems I have with most of Stone's movies...
The Doors suffers the same problems that Stone's other films about real people and events (JFK and Nixon) do; Stone uses the docu-drama format as a license to condense times and events, while simultaneously inventing composite characters and situations that never existed. All too often, these films, while containing exciting filmic and visual elements, ring a bit hollow.

The upside of The Doors is the performance of Val Kilmer, who threw himself into the role with ferocity and conviction; that he comes up short in the end isn't due to his acting abilities as much as the choice of episodes and Morrison's characteristics (both real and invented) that Stone chose to film. Simply put, Stone's Morrison comes across as little more than a sporatically gifted poet who sublimates his poetic callings to all the cliched rock star trappings. Perhaps this does describe some of Morrison's personality to a degree, but after seeing Morrison get stoned, drunk and act like a spoiled child...

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First Monday In October

SUPREMELY Left of Center ~ ~
Give me a break! a HEALING break with plenty of laughs, that is.

Hurrah for the comic relief brought to us in "The First Monday in October" - - This movie should be watched by all who have serious business with the Supreme Court: justices, law clerks, picketers among others. Even if this movie were meant to be an art film - or one that snobby critics could cleverly rip apart - Why not decide right now that it is a romantic comedy & perfectly appropriate to watch this "First (Week) of October" for some much-needed healing that laughter will bring?

It is hard to imagine more stressful days in 'our times.' Our sides need to ache from laughter instead of disgust over all the bungling of bureaucrats. The play on which this 1981 movie was based pre-dates the appointment of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor to the court, by the way. Who cares that Jill Clayburgh is younger than the current justice-candidate? She is a worthy foil for Walter Matthau who 'nails' the situation...

Great dialogue & subtle physical comedy
This is one film where Matthau doesn't go completely "over the top". He and Clayburgh make a great team; I'm surprised they weren't coupled in other projects later.Add Barnard Hughes as "Mr. Chief Justice" into the mix, and you have banter and badinage at its best!

A Treat for Smart People
It's always a pleasure to see a movie that presents both sides of a complex issue (in this case, liberals vs. conservatives) in an even-handed and enjoyable way. The characterization of First Monday is superb, particularly the antagonism between Matthau and Clayburgh. I chuckled numerous times over the dialog. Example: after hearing that the chief justice had flowers sent to the new female Supreme Court justice, Matthau muttered, "How come you don't send ME flowers anymore, CJ"? I hope this movie is released sometime in DVD, in letterbox, along with commentary.

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