Movie Reviews
The Chumscrubber
I suppose it’s theoretically possible to interest me in a film about the problems of rich, spoiled, BMW-driving, pill-popping teenage sociopaths studying to be psychopaths—sort of like we used to move from being juniors to being seniors—and the empty, self-absorbed, egomaniacal suburban professionals who may or may not have molded them but certainly didn’t hinder their ... Read more »
A Chump at Oxford
“Chumps,” actually, since both Stan and Ollie go to Jolly Olde England. In their usual bumbling, accidental way, the boys foil a bank robbery. The grateful manager asks them what they would like as a reward, and they say they’d like an education, so they can be “illiterate.” Off they go to Oxford, where as Yanks they are mercilessly hazed by the students there. They spend almost a whole ... Read more »
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
More of the same … but I liked it a little better. No time is spent with the traveling to the country business, or the mysterious wardrobe. The children are whisked off to Narnia right smartly, where they discover that centuries have passed and everyone they knew is long dead and gone, except maybe for Aslan, the wise and powerful lion. The kids are older this time, and have experienced ... Read more »
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Somehow I had been under the impression that this hadn’t been a big hit. Turns out I was wrong. It made almost ¾ of a billion dollars, worldwide. Naturally there was a sequel, and a third is on the way. I never read the books, so I watched with no preconceptions. (I think I recall some sort of hoo-hah over religion, but I ignored it, and I didn’t see anything particularly religious about ... Read more »
Chronicle
Three teenage boys crawl into a hole and encounter some glowing thingamajig. (Who cares what it is? It’s just a plot device, as good as any other hocus-pocus.) When they come out they have picked up telekinetic ability. And here’s where it gets neat. Do they come up with some great plan to use these powers for good, or evil? No, they’re just guys. They pick up rocks with their minds and ... Read more »
Christmas in July
This trifle is Preston Sturges’ second film, after The Great McGinty, and before he really hit his stride with The Lady Eve. Preston Sturges wrote the play it was based on, “A Cup of Coffee,” in 1931, but it wasn’t produced off-Broadway in New York until 1988. Jimmy MacDonald (Dick Powell), major-league schmuck and loser, ... Read more »
A Christmas Tale
Families getting together for the holidays is a genre with a long tradition. It is pretty much a given that the family has issues, and this one sure does. The mother is ill and needs a bone marrow transplant, so they are all getting tested to see if anyone is a possible donor. There is huge enmity between one brother and sister. The pleasures to be had in a movie like this are provided by ... Read more »
A Christmas Story
It’s come to the point where we’re getting five or six new “Christmas” movies every year now. Most of them really, really suck. As for television specials, I don’t think anyone could even count them anymore. A few days ago I learned that none other than Kelsey Grammer was following in the footsteps of Alastair Sim, George C. Scott, and Albert Finney in the part of Ebenezer Scrooge. ... Read more »
Christine
There have been a lot of movies made from the books of Stephen King, ranging from wonderful to truly dreadful. This one falls somewhere in the middle range in terms of story, which can seem pretty silly at times and has a lot of plot holes and unexplained happenings, but I have always felt it is among the very best in terms of visual excitement and creepiness. Spooks and insane butchers ... Read more »
The Chorus
I guess I agreed with the vast majority of critics on this one, who gave it a relentlessly average 50% on whatever meters they use. You can’t dislike it because it does its job well. It’s just that the job is so routine and totally expected, without an ounce of originality. You’ve seen it a hundred times before. But how can you really dislike a story about a teacher who cares about his ... Read more »