Weekend Movie Review
I decided that because I have absolutely no life outside of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children this 5 week block, I'm going to take a leaf out of Mandy's book and write a review of my film viewing this weekend. They are as follows:
on DVD and video
1) PIECES OF APRIL - starring Katie Holmes, Patricia Clarkson, Oliver Platt, a girl with a really annoying upturned nose, and a lot of gritty documentary style camera work
2) PHANTOM OF THE OPERA - starring Emma 'what's with her teeth and where do her visceral organs fit?' Rossum, yummy Gerard 'I scream because I can't sing' Butler (he tried really, and he's Scottish and played Dracula once and so he's not all bad), Patrick 'could I be any blander' Wilson, Miranda 'weird French accent despite the fact that my daughter is a cockney rebel' Richardson, Simon 'always perfect in every role' Callow, Minnie 'HaHa' Driver (absolutely stole the show), and my personal favourite Jennifer 'I've had a boob job, released a naff single, was a soap star and now think I can make it in Hollywood' Ellison
on The Big Screen
1)MONSTER-IN-LAW - starring Jane 'I'm supposedly smart and political, but got bored and thought I'd try my hand at schlocky romance' Fonda, J. 'always play the same character, but still a better actress than singer' Lo, Michael 'I'm fluent in French and completely edible' Vartan, and the rest of the cast: obligatory gay neighbour/friend, plucky best friend who made successful independent career move (catering/interior design/salon owner/alternative therapies provider), ethnic minority assistant with attitude
2) LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN: APOCALYPSE - starring the cast of League of Gentlemen (Reese 'why am I so attractive' Shearsmith, Mark 'why don't my characters get better plots' Gatiss, Steve 'I'm always the woman' Pemberton) and a couple other funny guys whose names have escaped me.
Yes it was a busy weekend, folks, as you can see. I'm not going to go into too much detail since there are 4 to get through.
Pieces of April was suprisingly decent considering the protagonist was annoying Joey Potter. Patricia Clarkson was on form as usual, playing a cancer-riddled mother traveling with her over-achieving daughter, over-attentive husband, demented mother, and shaggy haired slightly irrelevant son to share her last Thanksgiving with her '1st Pancake' daughter for whom she does not possess a single happy memory. It was better than I expected and shorter than I expected a character piece to be. Perhaps it was my weepy mood, but I blubbered like a baby. I found each character quite entertaining, even the cheap 'who are you' jokes from the geriatric.
Phantom I'd already seen twice in the theatre (not because of it's spectacularness, but because like all big movies more than one person asked me to go and I felt guilty turning either down). It was cheesy, and to be fair it was meant to be. The best bit was the beginning when the old dusty condemned Opera Populaire is magically restored into its former glory with brilliant CGI, something unachievable in a stage production. Minnie Driver rocked and was hilarious. Emily Rossum was a bit boring and her voice was not Sarah Brightman's, but she was delicate and eensy and it took no stretch of the imagination to see why someone with a horrible disfigurement might find her beguiling. Gerard, oh Gerard, I want so badly for you to be a big Hollywood star, but I think perhaps small budget films with meaty characters is the way to go babe, you garnered no dazzling press from this endeavor.
Monster-in-law was entertaining, but typical and I really have no great praise for it. Everyone was really pretty and fun to look at. The outfits, especially the wedding dress (you know me) were fun to look at too. Every woman is looking for a Michael Vartan, but let me assure you that surgeons are nothing like him. Humility is not generally in their vocabulary, let alone genetic makeup. And most of them do not have his toned physique.
League of Gentlemen - you definitely have to be a fan of the show to enjoy this. It was good, but their most famous characters Papa Lazerou, Tubs and Edward, Pauline, etc... Made small contributions or were absent entirely, which may disappoint some fans. It was clever and not too overdone and I rather enjoyed the 'Protestant pretender' storyline. And of course it was lovely to see Her Lipp develop into such a warm fuzzy. The tone that was set with the minister's crude pontification on the filthiness of female self-pleasure was not sustained for long and it was difficult to tell whether this was an intentional humanisation of the characters or if they ran out of filthy jokes and word-play. It was the best movie of the weekend if only for it originality and for the mostly graceful putting to bed of a much loved cult classic.
I'm not nearly as articulate as Mandy when it comes to films, but I feel certain that she will not be writing a a review of any of these films, and I therefore pose no threat to her reign, nor do I risk feeling like smoo when she outdoes me.
on DVD and video
1) PIECES OF APRIL - starring Katie Holmes, Patricia Clarkson, Oliver Platt, a girl with a really annoying upturned nose, and a lot of gritty documentary style camera work
2) PHANTOM OF THE OPERA - starring Emma 'what's with her teeth and where do her visceral organs fit?' Rossum, yummy Gerard 'I scream because I can't sing' Butler (he tried really, and he's Scottish and played Dracula once and so he's not all bad), Patrick 'could I be any blander' Wilson, Miranda 'weird French accent despite the fact that my daughter is a cockney rebel' Richardson, Simon 'always perfect in every role' Callow, Minnie 'HaHa' Driver (absolutely stole the show), and my personal favourite Jennifer 'I've had a boob job, released a naff single, was a soap star and now think I can make it in Hollywood' Ellison
on The Big Screen
1)MONSTER-IN-LAW - starring Jane 'I'm supposedly smart and political, but got bored and thought I'd try my hand at schlocky romance' Fonda, J. 'always play the same character, but still a better actress than singer' Lo, Michael 'I'm fluent in French and completely edible' Vartan, and the rest of the cast: obligatory gay neighbour/friend, plucky best friend who made successful independent career move (catering/interior design/salon owner/alternative therapies provider), ethnic minority assistant with attitude
2) LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN: APOCALYPSE - starring the cast of League of Gentlemen (Reese 'why am I so attractive' Shearsmith, Mark 'why don't my characters get better plots' Gatiss, Steve 'I'm always the woman' Pemberton) and a couple other funny guys whose names have escaped me.
Yes it was a busy weekend, folks, as you can see. I'm not going to go into too much detail since there are 4 to get through.
Pieces of April was suprisingly decent considering the protagonist was annoying Joey Potter. Patricia Clarkson was on form as usual, playing a cancer-riddled mother traveling with her over-achieving daughter, over-attentive husband, demented mother, and shaggy haired slightly irrelevant son to share her last Thanksgiving with her '1st Pancake' daughter for whom she does not possess a single happy memory. It was better than I expected and shorter than I expected a character piece to be. Perhaps it was my weepy mood, but I blubbered like a baby. I found each character quite entertaining, even the cheap 'who are you' jokes from the geriatric.
Phantom I'd already seen twice in the theatre (not because of it's spectacularness, but because like all big movies more than one person asked me to go and I felt guilty turning either down). It was cheesy, and to be fair it was meant to be. The best bit was the beginning when the old dusty condemned Opera Populaire is magically restored into its former glory with brilliant CGI, something unachievable in a stage production. Minnie Driver rocked and was hilarious. Emily Rossum was a bit boring and her voice was not Sarah Brightman's, but she was delicate and eensy and it took no stretch of the imagination to see why someone with a horrible disfigurement might find her beguiling. Gerard, oh Gerard, I want so badly for you to be a big Hollywood star, but I think perhaps small budget films with meaty characters is the way to go babe, you garnered no dazzling press from this endeavor.
Monster-in-law was entertaining, but typical and I really have no great praise for it. Everyone was really pretty and fun to look at. The outfits, especially the wedding dress (you know me) were fun to look at too. Every woman is looking for a Michael Vartan, but let me assure you that surgeons are nothing like him. Humility is not generally in their vocabulary, let alone genetic makeup. And most of them do not have his toned physique.
League of Gentlemen - you definitely have to be a fan of the show to enjoy this. It was good, but their most famous characters Papa Lazerou, Tubs and Edward, Pauline, etc... Made small contributions or were absent entirely, which may disappoint some fans. It was clever and not too overdone and I rather enjoyed the 'Protestant pretender' storyline. And of course it was lovely to see Her Lipp develop into such a warm fuzzy. The tone that was set with the minister's crude pontification on the filthiness of female self-pleasure was not sustained for long and it was difficult to tell whether this was an intentional humanisation of the characters or if they ran out of filthy jokes and word-play. It was the best movie of the weekend if only for it originality and for the mostly graceful putting to bed of a much loved cult classic.
I'm not nearly as articulate as Mandy when it comes to films, but I feel certain that she will not be writing a a review of any of these films, and I therefore pose no threat to her reign, nor do I risk feeling like smoo when she outdoes me.
posted by Sarah Donahue at 11:03 AM
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