"Ripping Yarns" (BBC, 1975)

"Cinderella Man" (Universal, 2005)
I liked this movie, and was surprised to learn mid-rental that it had sparked some sort of I-want-my-money-back consumer rebellion, back when it was in the theaters. Either viewers are getting really uppity, or some rival studio head probably paid "audience members" to do that, 'cause this movie is just plain old Hollywood epic material. Corny in some ways but gripping overall. Paul Giamatti is note-perfect in his performance as a feisty, unsentimental boxing manager; Russell Crowe doesn't go anywhere new in his role as a smouldering, angry, macho underdog, but he's pretty perfect in the part; their chemistry together bursts through in scene after scene. After that, director Ron Howard is the main "actor," and I gotta say, while I have found previous works of his to be cloying or precious, here he's top form. Like Steven Spielberg, Howard has become a master of unapologetically commercial filmmaking, and like Spielberg, he's learned to shed much of what doesn't work in that formula (the cutesy stuff) in favor of simple, taut storytelling. The fight scenes are particularly well directed, especially the climactic bout between Braddock and Max Baer: I was glad that I didn't know anything about boxing history, so that the ending was a complete surprise to me. One off note is that Renee Zellweger, who plays Braddock's wife, seemed to be in another movie at times -- it's not that she sucked or anything, just that she and Crowe had no chemistry together and her role was pretty flat, so she seemed kind of checked out for much of the movie. Other than that, this was a good, entertaining Hollywood blockbuster. We could stand to have a few dozen more mainstream movies made that were as competently made and entertaining as this one.

"Land Of The Dead" (Universal, 2005)
Like a lot of folks, I'm a longtime fan of George Romero's zombie flicks... I first saw Night Of The Living Dead in 1975, and have been a devoted enthusiast ever since. I think the sequels are good, too, and each followed up on the subversive political satire of the original. However, I also have to count myself among those who found this fourth Romero flick to be a bit, well, "dead." I really wanted to like it, and rented it despite the well-reasoned, well-balanced reviews by numerous Amazon customers who panned it... Sadly, it's true: the script is weak, the action is flat, and the theme -- that the zombies, having proved capable of learning and adaptive behavior in the previous film, are now able to organize themselves as a coherent social force -- isn't explored in a terribly interesting way. Much of the dramatic heft is given over to two terrible hams, Dennis Hopper and John Leguziamo, and although the "good" good guys have some likeable characters, there's still not much in the way of compelling character development. Perhaps in another five years Romero will come back yet again with a film in which the zombies have established a new civilization and become a political force to be reckoned with, and that could be a cool story... But Romero might do well to hire an outside writer (Joss Whedon, perhaps?) who could bring a little more life into the series. This film was the first real dud.

"Serenity" (Universal, 2005)
I'm such a geek. I kinda watched this twice, and it was kinda totally worth it. I'm not sure how much a viewer who hadn't already watched the Firefly TV series would get out of this, but if you get the Firefly box set and this feature film together, then you will be in for one helluva good time. The film looks good, the actors are all in fine form, the fight choreography is spectacular, and that good old Joss Whedon sense of humor is right there, great as it ever was. Plus, it's not just a recap of the TV plot, but rather a lively, smart coda to that great storyline. I wish all pop culture could be this intelligent and this much fun.

Yay, Joss. Keep up the good work.

"March Of The Penguins" (Warner/National Geographic, 2005)

"Johnny Carson & The Tonight Show, v.1" (2005)

"Inspector Lynley Mysteries: " (BBC, 2001)
We'd run out of Foyle's War episodes and Prime Suspect, so we checked this one out, purely from desperation. It was okay, although not as great as those two.

"A Touch Of Frost, Season One" (BBC)
Ditto with this one... sort of a British Hill Street Blues.

"Stand By Me" (Sony, 1986)
Sadly, this pre-teen, coming-of-age drama doesn't quite hold up... I saw it in the theatres, back when it came out, but didn't remember much about it, so when I saw a glowing retrospective of director Rob Reiner's work, I thought, oh yeah... maybe I should check that out again... Set in 1958, the story aims at puncturing the myth of the squeaky-clean, white picket fence Eisenhower era, showing in rural Oregon kids who are aimless and alienated, who swore and smoked and did everything they could to act tough and hide their true vulnerabilities... In many respects, the film is successful, but looking back at it twenty years after it came out, it seems a bit rickety and awkward, particularly in regards to the brat-packish actors. Will Wheaton is good, River Phoenix was okay -- the other kids are pretty weak, including Keifer Sutherland, who hams his way through the role of an older juvenile delinquent who torments the younger protagonists. It's an okay film... not really worth revisiting, though.

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