Reviews
Centre Stage
- Details
- Written by Matthew Toomey
| Directed by: | Nicholas Hytner |
| Written by: | Carol Heikkinen |
| Starring: | Amanda Schull, Ethan Stiefel, Susan May Pratt, Shakiem Evans, Ilia Kulik, Sascha Radetsky, Peter Gallagher |
| Released: | September 14, 2000 |
| Grade: | B+ |
Jody Sawyer (Schull) has dreams of being a dancer and at a local tryout is given a wonderful opportunity -an offer to train at the American Ballet Academy. As teacher Jonathan Reeves (Gallagher) says to his students on the opening day, not all will go on to be a success. The training will culminate with a gala workshop presentation in four months and from there, only six lucky people will be offered a full-time position with the Academy.
From here the story follows the standard method. Jody struggles at first and is almost booted out of the Academy before finding her true self. There is the guy she lusts after, Cooper (Stiefel) and the guy who lusts after her, Charlie (Radetsky). There’s the gifted, yet uptight Maureen (Pratt) whose mother pushes her hard to get results. Throw in a few other notables - the foreign student, the gay student, the wild student and all stereotypes are covered.
Although this gives a negative impression, Centre Stage is a very entertaining film for one main reason - the musical numbers. There are many of them during the film with emphasis on the big finale and the choreography is reminiscent of classic musicals that these days are seldom seen. It must have taken weeks of effort to pull off the two wonderful stage productions prominent in the film’s final climax.
The producers have not succumbed to casting Hollywood big names and have selected their cast from Ballet schools across the United States. Schull is a member of the San Francisco Ballet and Radetsky hails from the American Ballet Company. In an even bigger surprise, Ilia Kulik, who won the men's figure skating gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympic Games in Nagano, plays Sergei the Russian student.
Having a cast with such a wide knowledge of the subject material helps the film immensely and creates passion for the characters. You get the impression they’ve all felt these pressures before and can strongly relate to what this film has to say.
Gossip
- Details
- Written by Matthew Toomey
| Directed by: | Davis Guggenheim |
| Written by: | Gregory Poirier |
| Starring: | Joshua Jackson, James Marsden, Sharon Lawrence, Kate Hudson, Edward James Olmos, Lena Headey, Norman Reedus |
| Released: | September 14, 2000 |
| Grade: | B+ |
Manipulation of the media is a favourite topic of mine that is interestingly explored in Gossip. Derrick (Marsden), Cathy (Headey) and Travis (Reedus) are roommates on campus at College. In a lecture they attend, a discussion evolves on the difference between news and gossip with Derrick on the losing end.
Determined to prove their lecturer wrong, the three set out to create a rumour and then monitor how far it goes and by how much it changes. Their victims are Naomi (Hudson) and Beau (Jackson) who are a well-known couple in college circles. Naomi has a fierce reputation of being a virgin and never “giving out”.
When Derrick spies both Naomi and Beau in a romantic moment at a party, Naomi, who is drunk, refuses Beau’s advances before passing out on the bed. Beau promptly leaves but gives the indication to his mates that he may have just scored. This gives Derrick’s his rumour to spread - that Naomi, despite all her ethical behaviour, “gave out”. The experiment becomes a fascinating insight at first but things start to get carried away with people’s lives being put on the line.
Lena Headey gives the film’s best performance and should score some great future roles. The young cast should be given high praise for all their performances that seem to gel much better than other “teen flicks”.
Director Davis Guggenheim is a newcomer to cinema having worked on TV shows such as Party Of Five, NYPD Blue and ER. He has created a very dark film right from the intriguing opening scenes in the bar. Greg Poirier should also be commended for his intelligent screenplay.
Gossip has a lot to say about modern day culture and the power of rumours, whether true or false. There are plenty of twists and turns and the illusion of what is real and what isn’t will have you guessing all the way to the end. Just like life.
Big Momma's House
- Details
- Written by Matthew Toomey
| Directed by: | Raja Gosnell |
| Written by: | Darryl Quarles, Don Rhymer |
| Starring: | Martin Lawrence, Nia Long, Paul Giamatti, Jascha Washington |
| Released: | September 7, 2000 |
| Grade: | C |
Malcolm (Lawrence) and John (Giamatti) are FBI agents on a routine case. Lester, a criminal convicted of robbery has just been released from jail and the word on the street is that he’s after former-flame, Sherry (Long), and her son who are rumoured to hold the $2m that was never recovered.
Malcolm and John have been asked to keep an eye on Sherry’s grandmother’s house in the hope of obtaining information as to the whereabouts of the money. However, when “Big Momma” goes on a sudden vacation and Sherry is soon approaching to stay at Big Momma’s House, there is only one solution - Malcolm impersonates Big Momma.
This film takes ludicrous to a new level. I’ve seen 30-second skits on Late Night With Conan O’Brien that have more substance this 98-minute endurance test. I can just imagine what was going through the minds of the screenwriters - “You know what would be funny - Martin Lawrence dressing up as a woman - let’s just come up with some zany story around it and the studios will love it.” I don’t know what’s more shocking - that someone wrote this or that someone approved it.
Martin Lawrence with make up looks nothing like the real Big Momma which again makes me wonder how nobody notices. Lawrence’s delivers a baby with no experience - how? The real Big Momma just jets off without telling anyone - why? It’s all too hard to believe that this sequence of coincidences could be pulled off.
The biggest failure with Big Momma’s House is its over-sentimentality. Despite the whole craziness of the movie, they try to create some touching “Kodak moments” that are noticeably out of place. If you’re going to play it silly then you may as well keep going. The final scene between Malcolm and Sherry in the Church had me close to knocking myself out.
I will not waste additional time describing my extreme dislike for this garbage. I had the luxury of seeing this film at the Chermside cinemas with the new luxury seating. The seating sure was great but unfortunately my seat was facing the screen rather than the exit.
Snow Day
- Details
- Written by Matthew Toomey
| Directed by: | Chris Koch |
| Written by: | Will McRobb,Chris Viscardi |
| Starring: | Chris Elliott, Mark Webber, Iggy Pop, Pam Grier, Chevy Chase, John Schneider |
| Released: | September 7, 2000 |
| Grade: | B- |
Snow Day is the third film is be created by Nickelodeon Pictures following Harriet The Spy (1996) and Good Burger (1997). When you see a Nickelodeon film you know what to expect - a G-rated family comedy and Snow Day fits the mould.
Hal Brandston (Webber) is a school kid with only one thing on his mind - Claire Bonner. He’s been dying to ask her out but just can’t conjure up the courage to do so. For Hal’s sister, Natalie, the winter has not gone so well. Spring has almost approached and still no snow. Every year she yearns for a “snow day” - that rarest of days that closes all schools. Snow days have a reputation as a special day in which anything can happen.
Sure enough, the snow day arrives and the story begins. Hal thinks it’s time to take a chance with Claire and Natalie sets out to stop the ploughman (Elliot) and help create a second snow day.
It’s all sweet with sugar on top. Chevy Chase and Pam Grier pop up in small cameo-like roles and I was surprised that neither was given any good lines nor screen time. The kids seem to take all the jokes but admittedly it is designed for a younger audience.
It’s hard to relate to a film like this in Brisbane given our climate but if you’re looking to offload the kids this school holidays, Snow Day could just be the ticket.
Scary Movie
- Details
- Written by Matthew Toomey
| Directed by: | Keenen Ivory Wayans |
| Written by: | Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Buddy Johnson, Phil Beauman, Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer |
| Starring: | Shannon Elizabeth, Regina Hall, Lochlyn Munro, Jon Abrahams, Marlon Wayans, Carmen Electra, Shawn Wayans |
| Released: | August 31, 2000 |
| Grade: | B |
Ever since Flying High, spoofs have been a successful part of cinema culture. They're not difficult to make - you find famous moments from a group of well-known, smash-hit films and take the piss out of them. I've bagged plenty of teen horror films of late - I Know What You Did Last Summer, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, Disturbing Behaviour, Urban Legend and despite being not yet released I think I will include Urban Legend 2. The time has come for someone to take these films to the cleaners.
Comedian Keenan Ivory Wayans is that someone. Scary Movie takes a "stab" at every film from Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer to The Usual Suspects and The Matrix. There’s no need to go into further detail because spoofs aren't about plots and storylines - if you've seen the above films, you'll understand all the jokes and have a jolly good laugh at their expense.
For once, overplaying of roles is required, which explains why I enjoyed the characters so much. Special mention has to go to newcomer Anna Faris who plays the lead (some sort of Katie Homes/Jennifer Love Hewitt mix). She has to play it straight when everyone around her is completely nuts and is the best character of the film.
Bottom line, when it comes to review a film like this, all that is important is the comedic factor and whether the jokes hit the mark? There were plenty of hilarious scenes (most of which you see in the trailer) but for each one there seemed to be an equal number of jokes that didn't work. For example, there was a lengthy scene taking-off I Know What You Did Last Summer that was too long with little laughter. I would have preferred to see the film use a few more original ideas than mimicking these films so closely.
Regardless, Scary Movie is worth seeing from an entertainment perspective. It's short, funny and contains plenty of really disgusting scenes. We're due for a new spoof and this film fills the gap nicely. The funniest scene came near the end when a cinema patron at Shakespeare In Love broke all the taboos - she talked, ate loudly and had her mobile phone ring during the movie. Just when the masked killer was about to slay her, the other moviegoers did it for him. If only...
On an interesting side note, the tagline for Scary Movie reads “No Mercy. No Shame. No Sequel.” Believe it or not, given the film’s worldwide success a sequel is in the works. How ironic it is that a film bagging others for releasing sequels succumbs to the same fate. I guess it goes to show that in Hollywood, there’s only one thing that’s truly important - money.
Tumbleweeds
- Details
- Written by Matthew Toomey
| Directed by: | Gavin O’Connor |
| Written by: | Gavin O’Connor, Angela Shelton |
| Starring: | Janet McTeer, Jay O. Sanders, Kimberly Brown, Gavin O’Connor, Laurel Holloman |
| Released: | September 7, 2000 |
| Grade: | A- |
Mary Jo Walker (McTeer) is an effervescent mother with a 12-year old daughter, Ava (Shelton) - named after Hollywood legend Ava Gardner. Mary’s been through four marriages and when things go bad, both her and Ava pack up there bags and travel somewhere else to create new start.
On Ava’s suggestion, they head off to San Diego, California to see the beach and find new opportunities. Ava enrols in a local school and starts making friends from day one. Mary makes her own friends when she finds a filing job to help pay the “bills that keep coming in”. Things look even rosier when Mary meets and falls for Jack (O’Connor) and the three move in together. However, given her past run of separations, is this romance going to be any different?
Delightfully told, Tumbleweeds will guarantee futures for most of its participants. Gavin O’Connor has left his options open. He co-wrote the screenplay, took on a major supporting role and was the film’s director - a lot of work!
From an acting perspective, Kimberly Brown has exploded onto the Hollywood scene with her portrayal as Ava. Her Southern accent, mixed with classic facial expressions, gives her character an edge that makes her perfect opposite McTeer. As for McTeer, what can be said? Where has she come from? Predominantly appearing in English films, Tumbleweeds earned her a Golden Globe Award, an Academy Award nomination and several other film critics’ awards along the way.
Playing Mary, McTeer is more than just a zany mother - her exuberant exterior hides a troubled interior that is evident from the outset. You always have a feeling where the film is going (especially after the introduction of workmate Dan) but there’s an instinct that tells you it may not all be so predictable and that’s a tribute to the acting abilities of the cast.
Mother-daughter bonding movies are becoming a common occurrence on film screens. Anywhere But Here with Susan Sarandon and Natalie Portman bears a striking resemblance to Tumbleweeds. In the wash up, Tumbleweeds gets the nod from me for in essence, the richness of it characters.