http://www.thelogbook.com/365films Reviews and commentary from a guy who watches too many movies. By Philip R. Frey. Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:59:00 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I haven't seen the original The Heartbreak Kid (starring Charles Grodin) in a long time, but I don't remember it being as irritating as this remake. This time Ben Stiller takes on the role of the newlywed who meets his true love on his honeymoon. The big problem: we ... http://www.thelogbook.com/365films/2009/09/06/h-is-for-the-heartbreak-kid-2007-film-236/ The Gnome-Mobile is one of three featuring child actors Matthew Garber and Karen Dotrice. When I point out that the other two are the excellent The Three Lives of Thomasina and Mary Poppins, it should be obvious that this one would be the weakest. But I wasn't prepared ... http://www.thelogbook.com/365films/2009/09/06/g-is-for-the-gnome-mobile-1967-film-235/ I had high hopes for this one. Johnny Depp in a Victorian-era murder mystery? Sounds great. Another take on Jack the Ripper? Not so great. Heather Graham in a period piece? A bad sign. And, sadly, that's the one that carries the film: the wrongheadedness ... http://www.thelogbook.com/365films/2009/09/04/f-is-for-from-hell-2001-film-234/ Equilibrium suffered mostly from the fact that it was released in the wake of The Matrix and much of its action and style was seen as a reflection of that film. It also suffers from the fact that many of its ideas have been expressed before. Anchored by a strong ... http://www.thelogbook.com/365films/2009/09/04/e-is-for-equilibrium-2002-film-233/ Okay, I don't know any way to say this except to just come out and say it. I thought Drive Me Crazy was a really good movie. It is a romantic comedy. A *teen* romantic comedy. And I still thought it was great. I put this down to one ... http://www.thelogbook.com/365films/2009/09/04/d-is-for-drive-me-crazy-1999-film-232/ Confessions of a Dangerous Mind had a lot going for it. An interesting story (Chuck Barris' life would be interesting even if you stuck to the verifiable television stuff), a good cast (Sam Rockwell is a chameleon and should be a bigger star than he is) and the celebrity ... http://www.thelogbook.com/365films/2009/08/29/c-is-for-confessions-of-a-dangerous-mind-2002-film-231/ Seriously, how did this film not work? You've got Elvis (Bruce Campbell) and JFK (Ossie Davis) teaming up to fight a mummy/zombie/killer terrorizing an old folks home. I think the real problem is that the film never quite decides if it wants to be a wacky over-the-top comedy or a ... http://www.thelogbook.com/365films/2009/08/27/b-is-for-bubba-ho-tep-2002-film-230/ The Aviator is a biopic about the life of Howard Hughes. Directed by Martin Scorcese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio (Scorcese's new golden boy) as Hughes, it's a vast, sweeping look at one of the most colorful people in American history. The problem is that the film demands a fairly decent ... http://www.thelogbook.com/365films/2009/08/27/a-is-for-the-aviator-2004-film-229/ I don't really have time to talk properly about The Blues Brothers. While not a perfect film, it was one of the most significant ones from my youth and if I start to really talk about it I'll go on for days. So instead, just a few points ... http://www.thelogbook.com/365films/2009/08/26/on-a-mission-from-god-film-228-the-blues-brothers-1980/ Oh, this one's a doozy. Spun off from one of the funnier sketches on Mr. Show, Run, Ronnie, Run fails to capture the manic spirit of the original, but also fails to tell a compelling story of its own. Still, there is Mandy Patinkin performing a song in "Ronnie: The ... http://www.thelogbook.com/365films/2009/08/25/film-227-run-ronnie-run-2002/