DVD Review: Wet Hot American Summer (B-)

Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
Directed by David Wain
Starring Janeane Garafolo, David Hyde Pierce and Michael Showalter
MPAA: R
Grade: B-

Review by Bobby Nashville

I have to admit that I like goofy summer camp movies. Meatballs is my favorite but I also liked Up The Creek, a completely mindless movie starring Tim Matheson. The point is that I am up on all of the cliches of the genre: doomed summer romances, insecure counselors that gain confidence by end of summer, and of course, the one isolated kid that nobody likes at first, but ultimately becomes the camp hero. These are silly films targeted at preteens on summer vacation with nothing better to do than watch a movie about kids at summer camp. At the same time, summer camp flicks can be a great, light hearted diversion from the everyday.

But let's face it, they are also pretty darn stupid. That's probably why Wet Hot American Summer works so well as a parody film. There are so many clichés and stupid plotlines to make fun of in this genre that targets are wide open. Director David Wain takes a lot of comedic shots in Wet Hot American Summer (similar in style to the Airplane! series) and while not every joke worked for me, a couple of them did make me spit out my beer laughing.

It's the last day of summer camp at Camp Firewood, circa 1980, and everyone needs to wrap up the things they've been scared to do all summer. Coop, the king of nerds, is in love with Katie, and its his last chance to make her fall in love with him. Katie is in love with the mindless Andy, who is cheating on her, but she doesn't care. Beth (Janeane Garafolo) has a crush on scientist David Hyde Pierce. Just to make things really weird there's also Gene (played by Christopher Meloni), the camp cook who takes advice from a talking can of mixed vegetables. This goofiness is accentuated by soft-rock anthems (Loverboy, Journey, etc.) that make the summer camp movie even more camp, if you follow me here.

The reviews I have read for this are all over the map, either calling it mindless garbage or side-splittingly funny. Its actually both, so you will either find it hilarious or painful, based on your taste for silly parody films. Written, directed and starring the cast of the funny but failed TV show The State, Wet Hot American Summer is stupid funny. If you liked The State, stupid summer camp movies or the ubiquitous Janeane Garafolo, spend a couple hours at Camp Firewood, you might just have a few laughs.

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DVD Review: Next of Kin (B)

Next of Kin (1984)
Directed by Atom Egoyan
Starring Patrick Tierney, Arsine Khanjian, Thomas Tierney and Sirvart Fazlian
MPAA: UR
Grade: B

Review by Scott Standish

An early Atom Egoyan film (1984) that has recently been released on DVD, Next of Kin is worth seeking out. Exploring familiar Egoyan themes (family turmoil, voyeurism and video), Next of Kin shows the young filmmaker's talents at their rawest.

Peter Foster is 23 and lives at home. He has a lack of personality in general, and his parents do just about everything for him. The parents are concerned about his sheltered personality (even though they are the cause of this dysfunction) and take the boy to a counselor. While Peter is in counseling he discovers a video tape of a couple discussing their long lost son. Peter decides to impersonate the boy and ingratiate himself into their lives. He learns that all families have their own problems, but along the way he learns to be more independent and secure.

Next of Kin is never boring, even with the trademarked slow-pace style that Egoyan is known for. The camera work is a bit shallow and the art direction is minimal. However, the acting is quite good for such a low budget, independent film. Egoyan fans will not be disappointed.

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DVD Review: Willard (B+)

Willard (2003)
Directed by Glen Morgan
Starring Crispin Glover, R. Lee Ermey, Laura Harring, Jackie Burroughs and Kim McKamy
MPAA: PG-13
Grade: B+

Review by Bobby Nashville

As a fan of the original Willard (not to mention Crispin Glover) I was really looking forward to this. Thankfully this film lived up to its billing. Glover is creepy yet mesmerizing as Willard, the man who likes rats a little too much.

Willard tells the tale of Willard Stiles, a mama's boy that has no life whatsoever. He toils (rather unspectacularly) at the company that his late father Martin Stiles built. His nights are spent taking care of his elderly mother and hanging out with his rat friends in the basement. He has a favorite mouse named Socrates, but Ben, the largest of all the rodents, gets jealous and before you know it, there's some problems in Ratville. Reportedly Joaquin Phoenix and Macaulay Culkin both turned down the starring role for Willard. Either of those actors would have been acceptable, but Glover is really fantastic in this role (I have actually heard some buzz for Oscar consideration). Laura Harring (Rita from Mulholland Drive) also does a nice turn as Cathryn, a sympathetic co-worker that tries to reach out to the confused young man.

A subtle mix of creepy drama and dry comedy, Willard is one of those rare remakes that actually works. For fans of the original Willard or cult icon Crispin Glover, this is a must see.

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DVD Review: Lovely and Amazing (B+)

Lovely and Amazing (2002)
Directed by Nicole Holofcener
Starring: Brenda Blethyn, Catherine Keener, Emily Mortimer and Raven Goodwin
MPAA: R
Grade B+

Review by Ellyn Elm

In Lovely and Amazing, director Nicole Holofcener has created a really wonderful, perceptive film about women and self esteem. Her characters are smart, unpredictable and true to life. For those of you rolling your eyes at the thought of yet another "chick-flick" melodrama, relax, Lovely and Amazing refuses to pander to the heavy strings and Kleenex set.

Set in Los Angeles, the film follows the lives of matriarch Jane Marks (Brenda Blethyn) and her three daughters: Michelle (Catherine Keener) a struggling artist stuck in a boring marriage, followed by Elizabeth (Emily Mortimer), an aspiring actress and finally 8-year-old Annie (Raven Goodwin), a precocious African-American girl adopted into the family. After Jane's liposuction surgery goes awry, the sisters awkwardly come together even as their lives begin to spin out of control.

The beauty of this film lies in the subtlety of dialogue and body language. Holofcener does a superb job in expressing visually, the ineffable. We see how much these women love each other and we understand how their various insecurities keep them always at arm's length. Not heavy handed or depressing, Lovely and Amazing is a refreshingly low key look at a very familiar subject.

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DVD Review: Mighty Wind, A (B+)

Mighty Wind, A (2003)
Directed by Christopher Guest
Starring Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Parker Posey, Bob Balaban, Fred Willard, Ed Begley Jr.
MPAA: PG-13
Grade: B+

Review by Scott Standish

The Spinal Tap "mockumentary" tradition continues to be served well by director and actor Christopher Guest. The hilarious film A Mighty Wind is another well acted ensemble comedy that is highly recommended.

This time around, Guest's story concerns a reunion concert of some of the leading folk music acts, including The Folksmen (basically the Spinal Tap band as a folk group) and Mitch and Mickey (Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara). The quirky characters developed by Guest and the rest of the ensemble are fascinating. Levy's character has obviously done way too much acid, Parker Posey's character seems like a cheerleader on too much caffeine and Fred Willard's character (a washed up TV star) is obsessed with some obscure catch phrase that never was that popular to begin with (Wha' Happened?!).

Similar to the hilarious Best In Show and Waiting for Guffman, this ensemble comedy is a refreshing change of pace to the mindless comedies that the major studios keep foisting on the public. Guest is to be commended for A Mighty Wind, another fantastic indie comedy. Highly recommended.

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DVD Review: Careful (A)

Careful (1992)
Directed by Guy Maddin
Starring Kyle McCulloch, Gosia Dobrowolska, Paul Cox and Sarah Neville
MPAA: UR
Grade: A

Review by Scott Standish

A film of striking originality, Careful is in my opinion, Guy Maddin's best. Mysterious, hilarious, psychotic and beautiful, describing a movie of this type to someone who has not seen it is almost impossible. And so it goes when trying to review a Guy Maddin film.

In Tolzbad, a tiny city nestled in the high mountain region, people talk in whispers, for fear of setting of avalanches. The elders of the town urge restraint for all things. Repressed and psychotic, the people of Tolzbad have some serious incest issues. Johann lusts after his mother as does his brother. Johann's fiancé Klara lusts after her father. Her father lusts after Klara's sister, making her jealous and all the more desperate for attention. Just for added strangeness, most of the men of the village go to a "butler school", where they learn how to be humble, quiet, dedicated servants. Sounds normal, right?

Similar to Arch Angel, Guy Maddin shoots Careful in his trademark silent film of the twenties style complete with added graininess and scratches. Weird music loops in the background and the audio tracks are often distorted. Black and white footage is often tinted one solid color, and the color photography has an ethereal glow radiating throughout. The effect is mesmerizing.

Winner of the Telluride lifetime achievement award (1995), Guy Maddin makes some of the most bizarre feature films out there. They are also some of the most entertaining and thought provoking. If you are a fan of Luis Bunuel (The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie) or David Lynch (Mulholland Drive), then you owe it to yourself to seek out Careful, a surrealist film shot in a silent film/German expressionist style.

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DVD Review: School of Rock

School of Rock, The (2003)
Directed by Richard Linklater
Starring Jack Black, Adam Pascal, Mike White, Joan Cusack and Sara Silverman
MPAA: PG-13
Grade: B+ Review by Scott Standish

My review of Richard Linklater's film Waking Life generated the most e-mail (most of it negative) in site history. Those who were upset over my review of Waking Life should finally be happy with this one: I love School of Rock.

The premise to School of Rock is simple: Jack Black is a wanna-be rock star that hasn't made it yet. He also hasn't been able to come up with with half of the rent money, so his roommate (Mike White) gives him the ultimatumm: find a job or get out. When a private school mistakes him for a substitute teacher, he grabs the cushy job and decides to teach the kids "how to rock". He gives the kids guitars, drums and keyboards and teaches Classic Rock 101. We're talking Ramones, Van Halen, AC/DC, etc. The kids learn a little bit about the healing powers of rebellion, and he learns a little bit about responsibility.

Linklater is a pro at silly pop comedies (Dazed & Confused, Slacker) and I would to see him do more films like this. In this time in the US, we certainly can use a little more laughter, so keep them coming!

Reportedly, the idea for this film came to writer Mike White when Jack Black moved in next door. Black loved to blast his classic rock and run through the halls naked. Another trivia tidbit: High Fidelity director Stephen Frears was reportedly the first choice to direct.

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