Day 97 - 4/7/09 - Movie #95
BEFORE: Well, the Red Sox got rained out on Opening Day (April 6), so today is the REAL first day of baseball season. Yes, this is a Red Sox-themed movie, but it's really a relationship drama, with the Sox's 2004 championship season as a backdrop.
THE PLOT: When relaxed Ben Wrightman meets workaholic Lindsey Meeks she finds him sweet and charming, they hit it off - but when spring comes around, Lindsey discovers Ben's obsession with the Boston Red Sox.
AFTER: This was probably pitched to some marketing executive as a romance movie AND a sports movie - so theoretically it would have appeal for both men and women, a double audience! Too bad, guys - it's not that easy! But there's something more beneath the surface, in a very Mars/Venus kind of way - about a man's obsession, and how it can get in the way of having a relationship. Or, put another way, how a relationship can really mess up a guy's sports schedule...take it however you choose. This is the first time I've been able to tolerate Jimmy Fallon acting in anything, though. But it's too bad that most of the baseball action is either stock footage or takes place off-camera (SHOW, don't tell, guys...) But the real interesting thing is that the filmmakers set out to use a typical Red Sox losing season as a framework, and then had to change the ending when the Sox improbably won the whole enchilada. Extra points for capturing the magic of October 2004, and including authentic Boston music like "Whammer Jammer" by the J. Geils Band and the Standells' "Dirty Water".
RATING: A very biased 8 out of 10 (extra) innings
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
The Bad News Bears (2005)
Day 96 - 4/6/09 - Movie #94
BEFORE: It's MLB's Opening Day, so I'm making the transition to baseball films - this remake was directed by Richard Linklater, known for "Slackers" and "Dazed and Confused"...
THE PLOT: A grizzled little league coach tries to turn his team of misfits into champs.
AFTER: It's funny that the soundtrack contains cover versions of songs like "Wipeout" and "Bad Reputation", because this movie is essentially LIKE a cover song. It has the same story beats as the original, but it puts a new spin on them - like adding a kid in a wheelchair, and making the star female pitcher the estranged daughter of Coach Buttermaker (so it's endearing, not icky when an older man spends time hanging out with her). Billy Bob Thornton takes over for Walter Matthau, and Greg Kinnear plays the rival coach. Though Buttermaker manages to find motivation for himself, and eventually the team, the moral lessons about fair play and dignity on the field get a little muddled. Still, the movie made me laugh and smile a few times.
RATING: 7 out of 10 pop flies
BEFORE: It's MLB's Opening Day, so I'm making the transition to baseball films - this remake was directed by Richard Linklater, known for "Slackers" and "Dazed and Confused"...
THE PLOT: A grizzled little league coach tries to turn his team of misfits into champs.
AFTER: It's funny that the soundtrack contains cover versions of songs like "Wipeout" and "Bad Reputation", because this movie is essentially LIKE a cover song. It has the same story beats as the original, but it puts a new spin on them - like adding a kid in a wheelchair, and making the star female pitcher the estranged daughter of Coach Buttermaker (so it's endearing, not icky when an older man spends time hanging out with her). Billy Bob Thornton takes over for Walter Matthau, and Greg Kinnear plays the rival coach. Though Buttermaker manages to find motivation for himself, and eventually the team, the moral lessons about fair play and dignity on the field get a little muddled. Still, the movie made me laugh and smile a few times.
RATING: 7 out of 10 pop flies
The Astronaut Farmer
Day 95 - 4/5/09 - Movie #93
BEFORE: Back to Billy Bob Thornton films (this strategy will make sense soon, I promise...)
THE PLOT: A NASA astronaut, forced to retire years earlier, has never give up his dream of space travel and looks to build his own rocket, despite the government's threats to stop him.
AFTER: It's an inspiring film, probably completely implausible (as far as I know...) but still endearing. The guys on "Mythbusters" could probably get a month's worth of shows out of explaining why a guy probably can't launch into space with a rocket built in his barn. Billy Bob is pretty emotionless, but there's a reason for it, to contrast with events later in the film. Good supporting cast of Bruce Willis, Bruce Dern, Tim Blake Nelson and J.K. Simmons.
RATING: 8 out of 10 orbits
BEFORE: Back to Billy Bob Thornton films (this strategy will make sense soon, I promise...)
THE PLOT: A NASA astronaut, forced to retire years earlier, has never give up his dream of space travel and looks to build his own rocket, despite the government's threats to stop him.
AFTER: It's an inspiring film, probably completely implausible (as far as I know...) but still endearing. The guys on "Mythbusters" could probably get a month's worth of shows out of explaining why a guy probably can't launch into space with a rocket built in his barn. Billy Bob is pretty emotionless, but there's a reason for it, to contrast with events later in the film. Good supporting cast of Bruce Willis, Bruce Dern, Tim Blake Nelson and J.K. Simmons.
RATING: 8 out of 10 orbits
The Phantom Tollbooth
Day 94 - 4/4/09 - Movie #92
BEFORE: I'm going to take a quick break from my Billy Bob festival - TCM ran a tribute to Chuck Jones that included the animated version of one of my favorite childhood books - I've tried to watch it before but lost interest...
THE PLOT: Milo is a boy who is bored with life. One day he comes home to find a toll booth in his room. Having nothing better to do, he gets in his toy car and drives through - only to emerge in a world full of adventure.
AFTER: It's not just that a movie has difficulty living up to a book, but if it doesn't follow the TONE of the book, it can bother me. The book version of this story was clever, like a more modern "Alice in Wonderland" - but this animated version manages to be preachy and talk down to kids as well. In the late 1960's, it seems like it was important to teach kids how to learn "properly", not waste their time, eat their vegetables, love all races, blah blah. Ask a kid, I never needed adults to tell me HOW to learn, I just did it. The parts of this film that aren't preachy are just silly, with hyper sound effects and stupid nonsense, and the book's message got lost in the shuffle. The movie ends up being entertaining, something of a cross between "The Wizard of Oz" and "Yellow Submarine" - but let's not fool kids into thinking that if they do their homework or use their imagination to entertain themselves on a boring day, that it will end up changing the world in a noticable way.
RATING: 5 out of 10 digits (or letters)
BEFORE: I'm going to take a quick break from my Billy Bob festival - TCM ran a tribute to Chuck Jones that included the animated version of one of my favorite childhood books - I've tried to watch it before but lost interest...
THE PLOT: Milo is a boy who is bored with life. One day he comes home to find a toll booth in his room. Having nothing better to do, he gets in his toy car and drives through - only to emerge in a world full of adventure.
AFTER: It's not just that a movie has difficulty living up to a book, but if it doesn't follow the TONE of the book, it can bother me. The book version of this story was clever, like a more modern "Alice in Wonderland" - but this animated version manages to be preachy and talk down to kids as well. In the late 1960's, it seems like it was important to teach kids how to learn "properly", not waste their time, eat their vegetables, love all races, blah blah. Ask a kid, I never needed adults to tell me HOW to learn, I just did it. The parts of this film that aren't preachy are just silly, with hyper sound effects and stupid nonsense, and the book's message got lost in the shuffle. The movie ends up being entertaining, something of a cross between "The Wizard of Oz" and "Yellow Submarine" - but let's not fool kids into thinking that if they do their homework or use their imagination to entertain themselves on a boring day, that it will end up changing the world in a noticable way.
RATING: 5 out of 10 digits (or letters)
Mr. Woodcock
Day 94 - 4/4/09 - Movie #91
BEFORE: This may seem like an odd choice - considering that I've got some Oscar-winning movies I should watch, plus some animated classics and some movies about time-travel - but I'm in a Billy Bob Thornton groove, and a plan for next week... I like having a method to my madness, but I also want to insure that there is some madness to the method as well.
THE PLOT: a young man returns home in an effort to stop his mother from marrying his old gym teacher, a man who made school hell for generations of students.
AFTER: I'm quite surprised by how much I enjoyed this movie - I thought at first it would be just a stupid, throwaway comedy. I didn't care too much for gym teachers when I was a kid - P.E. was my least favorite part of school (I was a bookworm AND a fat kid, so I got a double-dose of misery...) But doesn't a gym teacher also have a personal life? Maybe they're only perceived as "evil" by the under-achievers? Billy Bob plays a quiet evil here (as opposed to the obvious evil in the last film) and it suits him. The movie strikes a middle-ground - the gym teacher is just portrayed as a tough man who is incapable of expressing emotions, and a gym class is a necessary evil, to prepare weak kids for the harsh realities of life. I may not have been able to do a chin-up in gym class, but in a weird way, I'm glad someone tried to make me do one.
RATING: 7 out of 10 corn cobs
BEFORE: This may seem like an odd choice - considering that I've got some Oscar-winning movies I should watch, plus some animated classics and some movies about time-travel - but I'm in a Billy Bob Thornton groove, and a plan for next week... I like having a method to my madness, but I also want to insure that there is some madness to the method as well.
THE PLOT: a young man returns home in an effort to stop his mother from marrying his old gym teacher, a man who made school hell for generations of students.
AFTER: I'm quite surprised by how much I enjoyed this movie - I thought at first it would be just a stupid, throwaway comedy. I didn't care too much for gym teachers when I was a kid - P.E. was my least favorite part of school (I was a bookworm AND a fat kid, so I got a double-dose of misery...) But doesn't a gym teacher also have a personal life? Maybe they're only perceived as "evil" by the under-achievers? Billy Bob plays a quiet evil here (as opposed to the obvious evil in the last film) and it suits him. The movie strikes a middle-ground - the gym teacher is just portrayed as a tough man who is incapable of expressing emotions, and a gym class is a necessary evil, to prepare weak kids for the harsh realities of life. I may not have been able to do a chin-up in gym class, but in a weird way, I'm glad someone tried to make me do one.
RATING: 7 out of 10 corn cobs
School For Scoundrels
Day 93 - 4/3/09 - Movie #90
BEFORE: I couldn't resist watching these two films back-to-back, based on the titles. You see, there is a method to my madness. I'm transitioning from Steve Martin films to Billy Bob Thornton films, with a master plan for the next week...
THE PLOT: A young guy short on luck, enrolls in a class to build confidence to help win over the girl of his dreams, which becomes complicated when his teacher has the same agenda.
AFTER: Poor, poor Jon Heder - just as his character in this film can't break out of his loser patterns, as an actor he can't break out of these "Napoleon Dynamite"-like roles. And I usually love Billy Bob - playing a slimeball self-help coach should have been a slam-dunk for him, but this story is so far-fetched that "ridiculous" would be too much of a compliment.
RATING: 3 out of 10 parking tickets
BEFORE: I couldn't resist watching these two films back-to-back, based on the titles. You see, there is a method to my madness. I'm transitioning from Steve Martin films to Billy Bob Thornton films, with a master plan for the next week...
THE PLOT: A young guy short on luck, enrolls in a class to build confidence to help win over the girl of his dreams, which becomes complicated when his teacher has the same agenda.
AFTER: Poor, poor Jon Heder - just as his character in this film can't break out of his loser patterns, as an actor he can't break out of these "Napoleon Dynamite"-like roles. And I usually love Billy Bob - playing a slimeball self-help coach should have been a slam-dunk for him, but this story is so far-fetched that "ridiculous" would be too much of a compliment.
RATING: 3 out of 10 parking tickets
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Day 92 - 4/2/09 - Movie #89
BEFORE: And tonight we cross off the last Steve Martin movie off my list - since I have no interest in seeing him in the "Pink Panther" remake, or the "Father of the Bride" or "Cheaper By the Dozen" franchises. I know he only took those jobs to pay the bills...
THE PLOT: Lawrence and Freddie are con-men; big-time and small time respectively. They unsuccessfully attempt to work together only to find that this town (on the French Mediterranean coast) aint big enough for the two of them.
AFTER: I do love a good "scam" movie - and perhaps I should have watched THIS movie on April Fool's Day. But in a good scam movie, there are plots within plots, and twists you may not see coming - like in "House of Games" or "The Spanish Prisoner" - but in this film, we see behind the curtain, and the audience is in on the ruses, which lessens the element of surprise. The scams here are pretty ridiculous, but are designed to show off Steve Martin's skills as a physical comic, and Michael Caine's slick demeanor. There is a satisfying payoff at the end, though, and it's also interesting to see Ian McDiarmid in a bit part as the butler, in a movie directed by Frank Oz - years before they would play rivals in the Star Wars prequels...
RATING: 6 out of 10 wheelchairs
BEFORE: And tonight we cross off the last Steve Martin movie off my list - since I have no interest in seeing him in the "Pink Panther" remake, or the "Father of the Bride" or "Cheaper By the Dozen" franchises. I know he only took those jobs to pay the bills...
THE PLOT: Lawrence and Freddie are con-men; big-time and small time respectively. They unsuccessfully attempt to work together only to find that this town (on the French Mediterranean coast) aint big enough for the two of them.
AFTER: I do love a good "scam" movie - and perhaps I should have watched THIS movie on April Fool's Day. But in a good scam movie, there are plots within plots, and twists you may not see coming - like in "House of Games" or "The Spanish Prisoner" - but in this film, we see behind the curtain, and the audience is in on the ruses, which lessens the element of surprise. The scams here are pretty ridiculous, but are designed to show off Steve Martin's skills as a physical comic, and Michael Caine's slick demeanor. There is a satisfying payoff at the end, though, and it's also interesting to see Ian McDiarmid in a bit part as the butler, in a movie directed by Frank Oz - years before they would play rivals in the Star Wars prequels...
RATING: 6 out of 10 wheelchairs
The Jerk
Day 91 - 4/1/09 - Movie #88
BEFORE: Happy April - the part of the "Fool" this year will be played by Mr. Steve Martin - now I know I've seen this film before, but it was probably 25 years ago, edited for TV - and any adult humor that slipped by the censors was probably over my head. So, I'm bending the rules a little bit to watch this movie for the first time as an adult.
THE PLOT: A complete imbecile struggles to make it through life on his own, until a strange invention makes him unbelievably wealthy.
AFTER: Yes, I have more life experience now, and I get more of the relationship humor - both clean and crude. But I seem to recall this movie being extremely funny, and tonight it just seemed mostly funny - I don't know if I changed, or the world changed, or if humor changed. But it just seems so raw and unfiltered compared to some of Martin's later films like "L.A. Story" and "Bowfinger". Still, for his first film role, it's pretty darn good. Who knew then that he'd end up slumming as Inspector Clouseau in the "Pink Panther" remake? I'm a fan of Steve Martin, but I just don't know if this film has aged well. I did notice that the story structure has a lot in common with parts of "Forrest Gump" - a simpleton comes from a poor Southern family, travels, gets rich, sends money back home to a black family - very different films, ultimately, but with some common elements.
RATING: 7 out of 10 motor oil cans
BEFORE: Happy April - the part of the "Fool" this year will be played by Mr. Steve Martin - now I know I've seen this film before, but it was probably 25 years ago, edited for TV - and any adult humor that slipped by the censors was probably over my head. So, I'm bending the rules a little bit to watch this movie for the first time as an adult.
THE PLOT: A complete imbecile struggles to make it through life on his own, until a strange invention makes him unbelievably wealthy.
AFTER: Yes, I have more life experience now, and I get more of the relationship humor - both clean and crude. But I seem to recall this movie being extremely funny, and tonight it just seemed mostly funny - I don't know if I changed, or the world changed, or if humor changed. But it just seems so raw and unfiltered compared to some of Martin's later films like "L.A. Story" and "Bowfinger". Still, for his first film role, it's pretty darn good. Who knew then that he'd end up slumming as Inspector Clouseau in the "Pink Panther" remake? I'm a fan of Steve Martin, but I just don't know if this film has aged well. I did notice that the story structure has a lot in common with parts of "Forrest Gump" - a simpleton comes from a poor Southern family, travels, gets rich, sends money back home to a black family - very different films, ultimately, but with some common elements.
RATING: 7 out of 10 motor oil cans
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