Month: July 2002

Personality is what’s really missing in *I Am Trying* — frontman Jeff Tweedy is, like many creative people, introspective and tight-lipped about himself, which keeps the level of onscreen excitement to a bare minimum — while *24 Hour Party People* exudes a veritable surfeit of such. There’s nothing quite as amusing as watching the rise and fall of an arrogant prick whose both delusional and visionary, and that’s what *Party People* is all about.

I want to make a lame joke that ends with Does a bear crap in the woods?, but all the bear crap is up on the screen.

He’s back. And you either find him groovy, or you don’t. If you don’t, there’s not much point in checking out *Austin Powers in Goldmember,* because it’s all the same old stuff. But you dig his schtick, then yeah, baby!

The second outing with E.B. White’s beloved mouse pulls off the rare feat of surpassing its excellent predecessor in all aspects, though once again the story is simple enough for small children to grasp yet so delightful that adults can’t help but cheer, too. This time out, the CGI-animated Stuart (the voice of Michael J. … more…

The dusty Western town. The mysterious deaths. The creepy caves filled with unbreatheable air. The horny teenagers. The know-it-all science geek. The goofball sheriff’s deputy. The phone lines that go down. And the giant spider responsible for it all. Well, except for the teenagers, who are horny on their own. Oh, and, um, the geek and the goofball. They’ve got no one to blame, either.

What ‘Reign of Fire’ is, it turns out, is what happens when you throw Hollywood money at a 1950s English-style end-of-the-world science-fiction movie.

This is a movie conceived in a delirum by a madman. Probably by a madman who had never seen an actual movie, and yet still, upon receiving an explanation of the concept, thought he might have a go at it. And this is the real kicker: This madman succeeded, if only on his own lithium-addled terms. This isn’t a good movie; this isn’t a bad movie. This is a movie that dispenses with the whole good/bad paradigm and exists on its own plane of reality.

If there’s anything special about The Powerpuff Girls, those pint-sized superheroes in dresses, it’s that there’s nothing all that exaggerated about them. Sure, they fly and have superstrength, but the little-girl rage they tap into is real, even though most adults wouldn’t like to admit it. I’m not talking about the “mean girls” being denigrated by authors looking for hooks to sell their books — I’m talking about acknowledging girls as human, with the same range of emotions little boys are allowed.