My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The beginning of it all. Unpolished as all first novels, it is a great read and it’s easy to see how the phenomenon got started. All the pieces are here to set up a foundation for a franchise, and if this is a fairly simple story it is to leave room for you to get a good look at the character. Vesper is hugely underwritten and only illustrates just how amazing of an adaptation Neal Purvis, Robert Wade & Paul Haggis wrote for the 2006 film.
Totally over-the-top satire, subtle as shovel to face. But it’s funny. Would have enjoyed more if I saw it 14years ago when it came out…
Another day, another over-obvious satire. Oh well. At least this one is pretty good, even if it suffers from John Waters envy.
For her feature film debut, director Jamie Babbitt came up with the story based partly on articles she read and partly on observing her mother’s work at a drug treatment program for teens. Changing the focus of these treatment camps to homosexuality is an inspired idea for a film, and would be much funnier if these places didn’t actually exist. The story was turned over to Brian Wayne Peterson, a writer/producer on the tv series Smallville, for his only film screenwriting credit to date.
The movie delights in being loud and blatant, freely acknowledging its inspirations from John Waters & Edward Scissorhands. It’s been done before, but that doesn’t mean the garish colors and sterile superficiality of the camp work any less well.
The only thing this really suffers from is time, since I’m seeing it for a first viewing nearly 15 years after release. I’ve seen better since, but it isn’t fair to knock a movie for that. It was a game changer for gay films at the time and deserves recognition.
Pass
(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)
| Main Cast | Natasha Lyonne Megan, Clea DuVall Graham, Michelle Williams Kimberly, Brandt Wille Jared |
| Rating | R |
| Release Date | Thu 16 Nov 2000 UTC |
| Director | Jamie Babbit |
| Genres | Comedy, Drama |
| Plot | A naive teenager is sent to rehab camp when her straitlaced parents and friends suspect her of being a lesbian. |
| Poster |  |
| Runtime | 85 |
| Tagline | A Comedy Of Sexual Disorientation |
| Writers | Brian Wayne Peterson (screenplay), Jamie Babbit (story) |
| Year | 1999 |
Odd little indie movie within a movie. Felt like a student film. I think it must have been a vanity project. Kept waiting for it to start…
I stumbled upon this and gave it a shot. It would have made a boring one hour tv show. At 90 minutes I was damn near asleep.
There’s nothing wrong with quirky little love stories. This wasn’t one, though. It wasn’t quirky and there was no real love. This just felt like a film student’s first project unexpectedly got financing and populated with real actors.
The casting is near perfect, which is another backhanded compliment. Jay Baruchel & Alexis Bleidel are given nothing to work with but that’s ok, as that’s more or less what they bring with them. It’s like a deadpan delivery contest. I’ve liked each of them separately in other projects before, but putting them together is a non-starter.
Pass
(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)
| Main Cast | Jay Baruchel Reed Fish, Alexis Bledel Kate, Victor Rasuk Frank Cortez, Schuyler Fisk Jill |
| Rating | PG-13 |
| Release Date | 2006 |
| Director | Zackary Adler |
| Genres | Comedy, Drama, Romance |
| Plot | Reed Fish’s life turns into chaos when a high school crush returns to Mud Meadows on the eve of his marriage to the small town’s sweetheart. |
| Poster |  |
| Runtime | 93 |
| Tagline | |
| Writers | Reed Fish (story), Reed Fish (written by) … |
| Year | 2006 |
I don’t know what’s the bigger surprise: Hugh Grant being likable or the American Pie guys making a great movie. Great acting in this one…
Chose to review this one today to recognize the 20th anniversary of the death of Kurt Cobain. This is a bit of a stretch, as the film completely ignores the numerous Cobain references that were so prominent in the book. Author Nick Hornby titled his novel “About A Boy” after the Nirvana song “About A Girl” and had several plot points based off of the musician’s cultural influence. I get that they wanted to update the timeframe of the story to match the movie’s release date, but they really cut out a big piece of the book’s heart.
This movie may be notable partly because it was the first thing with Hugh Grant that wasn’t intolerable. (Caveat: I didn’t see Four Weddings and a Funeral until after seeing this, and that’s a great movie. Although, to be fair, it is also directly responsible for the crap movies that Grant made afterwards.)
Will Freeman (Grant) is a lazy, jobless, bird-dogging island of a man who inadvertently stumbles upon the world of single mothers as an untapped resource of future liaisons. He even invents a young son to gain entry into a single parent support group. This plan goes awry when Fiona (Toni Collette), one of the single parents, attempts suicide and Will finds himself shadowed by her teenage child Marcus (Nicholas Hoult), desperate to form a connection.
About A Boy was written for film by Peter Hedges and directors Chris & Paul Weitz, and received an Oscar nomination for the adapted screenplay. It’s a great adaptation and the writing is whip-smart.
The movie is so good because it isn’t afraid to show life as the messy, sometimes frustrating and never simple son of a bitch it is. There are no clean moments here, no easy relationships. That’s not to say that it’s depressing or anything, it’s just a very realistic depiction of life.
The music for the film by artist Badly Drawn Boy is quite good, with the poppy “Something to Talk About” a particular standout; you’ll know it, they play it about 30 times.
The acting is stellar. In addition to Grant’s career best performance, Rachel Weisz and especially Toni Collette are marvelous, and newcomer Nicholas Hoult in his film debut is captivating.
Poster:
Pass
(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)
| Main Cast | Hugh Grant Will Freeman, Nicholas Hoult Marcus Brewer, Toni Collette Fiona Brewer, Sharon Small Christine |
| Rating | TV-14 |
| Release Date | Fri 17 May 2002 UTC |
| Director | Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz |
| Genres | Comedy, Drama, Romance |
| Plot | Based on Nick Hornby’s best-selling novel, About A Boy is the story of a cynical, immature young man who is taught how to act like a grown-up by a little boy |
| Poster |  |
| Runtime | 101 |
| Tagline | Growing up has nothing to do with age. |
| Writers | Nick Hornby (novel), Peter Hedges (screenplay) … |
| Year | 2002 |
Ben Stiller PLUS Robin Williams peg the overacting meter in the red, but it’s not a deal-breaker, because this is such a fun family film…
When this film was promoted I was very hopeful, simply because this story reminds me of the kind of book I read when I was a kid, like From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Makes sense, since it’s based on a 1993 children’s book of the same name by Milan Trenc. It’s a fantastic premise, simple though it is.
The big worry, of course, was the double threat of Ben Stiller & Robin Williams, two of the most shameless overactors of all time. But where Williams is funny if overbearing, I’ve never particularly cared for Stiller. Add in Owen Wilson & Steve Coogan, and this could have been a really unpleasant experience.
So no one was more pleased than I at how this turned out. Yes, Stiller is Stiller – a smug clown over-amused at himself – but his role as a struggling divorced father is a perfect vessel for him. He has an opportunity to show a quiet humanity and it suits him well. His interactions with his son are really sweet and make the picture.
Williams as Teddy Roosevelt is great casting; the blustery overbearing thing is actually well met here. Wilson is his usual whiny self – I completely miss the appeal of him – but Coogan is kinda fun.
A real pleasure here is Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney & Bill Cobbs as the museum’s former night guards. So great to see these old farmhands practice their craft.
(Note: this review was written on 4/7/2014 – word that Mickey Rooney passed away broke this morning. What an amazing talent we’ve lost.)
The effects are mostly good, although a few extra bucks of production value wouldn’t have gone amiss. Director Shawn Levy acquits himself nicely on his first big fx picture. It’s a really fun and not too stupid family movie and that’s not a bad thing at all. We need more of them…
Pass
(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)
| Main Cast | Ben Stiller Larry Daley, Carla Gugino Rebecca, Ricky Gervais Dr. McPhee, Dick Van Dyke Cecil |
| Rating | PG |
| Release Date | Fri 22 Dec 2006 UTC |
| Director | Shawn Levy |
| Genres | Action, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy |
| Plot | A newly recruited night security guard at the Museum of Natural History discovers that an ancient curse causes the animals and exhibits on display to come to life and wreak havoc. |
| Poster |  |
| Runtime | 108 |
| Tagline | This Christmas, it won’t be a silent night. |
| Writers | Robert Ben Garant (screenplay) &, Thomas Lennon (screenplay) … |
| Year | 2006 |
