popular thinking

LOOKING FOR A CHRISTMAS DAY MOVIE?

Among the many new movies this week, three are worth noting because you may have questions about them (no, you're not going to see Fun With Dick And Jane or Rumor Has It, because they're not even worth your time). Here is a quick rundown of the other newbies.

The Producers: Not at all like the 1968 original, because it's an adaptation of the 2001 Broadway hit musical rendition, complete with most of that cast and its director, who, not being Mel Brooks, decided to make the film look exactly like a Broadway musical -- only bigger. Because Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick reprise the roles they've known so well, their performances onscreen come across like a giant in-joke, as if they're constantly winking at the audience and saying, isn't this so much fun? Well, sort of. But it makes for a completely different interpretation than when Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder first discovered the roles. On the other hand, Will Ferrell is hysterical as the misguided neo-Nazi playwright, Uma Thurman gets much more to do (and does it well) and everyone else involved hams it up. To sum up, fun, but not extraordinary fun.
Related...Official movie site.

The Ringer: Much has been made of the fact that the Special Olympics agreed to go along with a Farrelly Brothers production that stars the "Jackass" trying to fake his way through the Special Olympics. But reflect upon it for more than a moment. If the Special Olympics is on board, do you think the resulting film will be an outrageous 1990s Farrelly Brothers movie? Or, do you think it'll turn out like a heartwarming Afterschool Special? Um, if you're still wondering, 'tis the latter. Family-friendly fun. But laugh-out-loud funny-ha-ha? Not really. And there is a deeper irony to ponder...Johnny Knoxville plays a nice guy doing a bad thing by faking intellectual disabilities, and gets found out by the Special Olympians, and yet, some of the other Special Olympians in the movie are, in fact, actors faking their own intellectual disabilities.
Related...official movie site.

Wolf Creek: I've already talked about some of the misleading ads for this Christmas Day horror flick. But it's still a good film, and for those really looking for something un-Christmasy, this is that film. Takes 1970s psychological horrors such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Deliverance and translates them to the Australian Outback.
Related...official movie site.

Movies currently playing in a local cinema that I've seen and would recommend: King Kong, Syriana, Walk The Line.