Change Your Image
plee4139-1
Reviews
Cadillac Records (2008)
Good at first, then not so.
I enjoyed the early part of the film, but then, after about halfway through, things about it started to annoy me. First, even though it may be historically correct, everybody smokes all the time. Second, the cars never seem to be from the decade from which they're supposed to be. Fifties cars during the forties, etc. If a studio has to rent cars for period pictures, why not get the correct ones? Lastly, some of the characters, such as Howling wolf, who just glares at everyone all the time, did not ring true. The character who takes off the doors of his '58 Caddy (it was probably 1955 in the story), then sasses the police is way over the top. I turned it off when Leonard Chess is dealing with some woman who appears to be having a meltdown, apparently over nothing. Probably the best thing about the film is the music.
In the Loop (2009)
A contemporary version of "Duck Soup"
"In the Loop" reminds me of the Marx Bros' famous anarchic film, "Duck Soup" in which the fictional country "Fredonia" goes to war on the most spurious and superficial pretext. It's really going to war for the sake of going to war. Of course, total insanity prevails, as the four (including Zeppo) Marx Bros. make total chaos rule. If you enjoyed "in the Loop" you should make it your business to see "Duck Soup". It should be readily available at your local library or from Netflix. The Marx Brothers, whose films were very popular from the early 1930's to the mid-forties, specialized in deflating the pompous and rigid authority figures, i.e: the opera manager, head doctor or professor. With the wonderful supporting actors they used, especially Margtaret Dumont as Groucho's main foil, sheer madness always prevailed.
Coach Carter (2005)
O.K. if you like the same old same-old in a new wrapping
This is not really a bad film and, given today's level of quality(or, more accurately, lack of it) of most big-studio films, it is certainly better than most. That, however does not excuse it from being another endless remake-of-a remake originally made back in 1962 or whenever. I've seen this same story too many damn times as "Hoosiers", or pick whatever sport you wish vehicle. I only saw it because my cinematically-unadventurous friend got it from Netflix without any research other than the minimal blurb provided by them. What a waste of a Netflix subscription! Originality and creativity have not been hallmarks of Hollywood studio films for a long time. It's become common knowledge that films made and distributed by them are made primarily for adolescents and "Asian mouth-breathers". The less discriminating the audience, the more the studios love it. Do your homework! Be adventurous! Use IMDb or Leonard Maltins Film Guide, or whatever reviewer you trust and reject the mindless product of the Hollywood assembly line.