DVD Review: Valley Girl (B)

Valley Girl (1983)
Directed by Martha Coolidge
Starring Nicolas Cage, Deborah Foreman, Elizabeth Daily, Michael Bowen, Heidi Holicker, Frederic Forrest and Cameron Dye
MPAA: R
Grade: B

Review by Bobby Nashville

The teen movie formula is given a bubble gum sweetness in Martha Coolidge's romantic comedy Valley Girl. Predictable but entertaining, this is a very good teen film that definitely deserves to be seen again.

Nicolas Cage stars as Randy a punk rocker from the streets of Hollywood that falls for a preppie from the Valley. The "Valley Girl" of Valley Girl is Deborah Foreman (Julie), a preppy that is torn between appearances and emotion. Her high class friends disapprove of the tough but loveable Randy, and she finds that she has to choose between her two worlds. Can true love reign over high school peer pressure? Valley Girl certainly says yes and its this sweet optimism that has certainly made this a fan classic over the years.

Reportedly the script was written in 10 days, an astonishing fact when you consider how well the story works and how crisp the dialogue is. Better than your average teen comedy, but not quite up to par with Fast Times At Ridgemeont High, Valley Girl is an excellent romantic comedy that brings back plenty of memories.

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DVD Review: Wasp Woman

The Wasp Woman (1960)
Directed by Roger Corman
Starring: Susan Cabot, Anthony Eisley, Barboura Morris, William Roerick, Michael Mark
MPAA: PG
Grade: B

Review by Ellyn Elm

"A beautiful woman by day - a lusting queen wasp by night!" so goes the tagline for Roger Corman's The Wasp Woman, a punchy little horror flick from one of the B-movie (ha ha) greats. This movie has all the right ingredients: a weird, old scientist, a power-hungry, aging star and a wisecracking underling determined to solve the mystery.

All this and the movie is set to a swinging jazz score daddy-o. Can you dig it?

Janet Starlin (Susan Cabot) is the owner of a cosmetics company seeing a downturn in its profits. In an effort to boost sales and regain her youthful good looks, she hooks up with Mr. Zinthrop (Michael Mark), a wasp expert who has been working on a youth serum made from the royal jelly of the queen wasp.

Suffice it to say that Zinthrop has not yet perfected the serum before trying on Janet and mayhem ensues. The wasp costume alone is worth the price of admission. If you rent nothing else this summer, I beesiege you - rent The Wasp Woman!

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DVD Review: Rachel Papers, The (B)

The Rachel Papers (1989)
Directed by Damian Harris
Starring Dexter Fletcher, Ione Skye, Jonathon Pryce, James Spader and Jared Harris
MPAA:R
Grade: B

Review by Scott Standish

Charles Highway is like the British Ferris Beuller. He exists on his wits and always gets what he wants. He keeps data files on his conquests and has a certain smugness that somehow comes off as charming.

Charles seems to have met his match in Rachel (played by Ione Skye). She's smart, sexy and completely unattainable. She is wise to his tricks and besides, she has a successful boyfriend (James Spader). The Rachel Papers is all about Charles' attempts to initially get her to make love to him, but eventually, he realizes that he loves her and wants more.

Charming and a little bit more intelligent than I was expecting, The Rachel Papers is a nice coming of age story. Highway is seriously ripping off Matthew Broderick in Ferris Beuller, but you can't blame him, that probably needs to fall on the shoulders of Damian Harris, the writer and director.

If you are fans of Ione Skye or James Spader, this is a must rent as they do excellent work here.

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DVD Review: Office Space (A-)

Office Space (1999)
Directed by Mike Judge
Starring Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston, David Herman and Ajay Naidu
MPAA: R
Grade: A-

Review by Scott Standish

At times Office Space borders on pure comedic genius. No other comedy has such a complete grasp of how office workers feel at their daily jobs. Whether it be filling out meaningless forms, having multiple bosses, dealing with "efficiency experts" that constantly make employees re-interview for their own jobs, let's face it, working in a cubicle for a soul sucking corporation can really be depressing (especially in today's economy). Office Space nails this atmosphere with such irony and accuracy that it's amazing and hilarious at the same time.

Based on an animated short by Mike Judge (creator of King of the Hill and Beavis and Butthead), the story revolves around the life of programmer Peter Gibbons. Peter (played by Ron Livingston) works for Initech, a mind-numbingly boring technology consulting company just like about every other technology consulting company you see littering the suburban landscapes of America today. Peter hates his job and can't seem to get past it. His girlfriend takes him to a occupational hypnotherapist that hypnotizes Peter into being completely happy and without worries. Unfortunately, the therapist dies before he can snap Peter out of this nirvana-like bliss.

Peter's outlook on life is completely changed, as shown in this exchange Peter has with Joanna, a cute girl (played by Jennifer Aniston) that he has since gotten up the nerve to ask out on a date:

Peter Gibbons: I don't like my job and I don't think I'll go anymore.
Joanna: You're just not gonna go?
Peter Gibbons: Yeah.
Joanna: Won't you get fired?
Peter Gibbons: I don't know. But I really don't like it and, uh, I'm not gonna go.
Joanna: So you're gonna quit?
Peter Gibbons: Uh-uh. Not really. I'm just gonna stop going.
Joanna: When did you decide all that?
Peter Gibbons: About an hour ago.
Joanna: So you're going to get another job?
Peter Gibbons: I don't think I'd like another job.
Joanna: Well what are you going to do about money? Bills?
Peter Gibbons: You know I never really liked paying bills, I don't think I'm going to do that either.

Peter's carefree attitude actually shakes up his world for the better. He spends more time fishing with his buddy Lawrence (instead of showing up for work). The efficiency experts at Initech find the new Peter a "straight shooter" that has "executive material written all over him". His evil girlfriend dumps him, and he even begins to date Joanna, the girl of his dreams. Unfortunately, Peter's friends do not undergo hypnosis, and are stuck back in the dreary, layoff filled world of time-burglaring, cubicle-farming, report laden corporations.

There are tons of in jokes throughout Office Space, that frankly, if you have never worked in an office, you probably won't get. But if you have ever worked at a job that you hated, whether it be as a waitress (at Chotchkie's or Flinger's) or as a coder (for Initech or Initrode) you will probably find Office Space as on target as I did.

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DVD Review: Smoke Signals

Smoke Signals (1998)
Directed by Chris Eyre
Starring Adam Beach, Evan Adams and Gary Farmer
MPAA: PG-13
Grade: D

Review by Scott Standish

I have to admit that I had high expectations for this movie and perhaps those unrealistic expectations contributed to my eventual disappointment. So I will shoulder some of the blame right off the bat here, but alas, I can't help but give this film a below average rating. According to the promotional material, Smoke Signals is the first feature film written, produced and starring Native Americans. Despite this admirable quality, the film just doesn't have the emotional punch necessary to be as effective a story as it should be.

The Smoke Signals plot involves a young boy named Thomas. He lives on an Indian reservation and his parents died in a fire when he was young. His friend's estranged father passes away so Thomas and Victor (his friend) go on a road trip to pick up the cremated ashes and some of the personal effects. As they travel, Thomas relays many stories about Victor's father, some true and some not.

The character of Thomas is supposed to be an annoying, nerdish sort that won't stop talking, and yes, they really drove that point home, in this case at the expense of the audience. The movie has some twists in the end, but I found them quite predictable.

The intentions of everyone involved here are good, and you can tell that there were some great ideas in the script. But, the story moves a bit slow, as the director's lack of style begins to wear on you after a while. The acting is surprisingly flat, and there are bit appearances by many stars of the hit tv series Northern Exposure. When these actors appear, one hopes that they will remain in the film to help prop up the actors around them, but alas, they quickly disappear after getting in their quick cameos.

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DVD Review: Storytelling (B)

Storytelling (2001)
Director: Todd Solondz
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Selma Blair, Mark Webber, Robert Wisdom, Leo Fitzpatrick, John Goodman, Julie Haggerty
MPAA: NR
Grade: B

Review by Ellyn Elm

Storytelling is a laconic film that explores ideas of exploitation in two separate installments. The first entitled, "Fiction", looks at race, privilege and power in a college writing class. The second installement is, "Nonfiction", and it examines the relationship between a filmmaker and his subject.

Like his previous films, Welcome to the Dollhouse and Happiness, director Todd Solondz shows no mercy for his characters. This sort of raw treatment garners the director either rave reviews or scathing critiques. Personally, I'm inclined to agree with Solondz's view of life as inherently flawed. Everyone, even those of us with the best intentions, are imperfect. How we deal with these imperfections in ourselves and in others is the real test of character.

"Fiction" features Selma Blair as "Vi" a socially conscious student who gets involved with her African American professor. After throwing herself at the feet of her teacher, Vi, guilt ridden and angry, submits to the class a story of her encounter with the professor, in which their recent sexual tryst is treated as rape.

"Nonfiction"has Paul Giamatti playing Toby, a shoe salesman-cum-filmmaker who finds success making a documentary on the life of high school teenagers. A thinly veiled critique of American Movie, Solondz's Toby garners cinematic accolades at the expense of his subjects. Solondz, too, has been criticized for making fun of his characters and thereby revealing his own smug superiority. In the end, Solondz illustrates that there are no victims, we are all willing participants in our own demise.

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