For the penultimate movie in my review of the Mel Brooks Collection, I selected the classic Spaceballs, Mr. Brooks’ send up of science fiction movies.  Although I thought I had watched this movie previously, I was surprised to discover that I had only watched it in parts and not as a whole.

When viewing the film previously, I had been struck by its obvious wink to Star Wars, emphasized through characters such as Barf, Dot, Yogurt, Pizza the Hutt, and Dark Helmet.  As a long-term lover of science fiction films, Spaceballs was treading dangerous ground.  My question was, was this film sublime satire, or pure farce. Read the full story

When I was asked if I wanted a review copy of the film $5 A Day, I initially thought no as I had never heard of the film before. Then I looked into the film a bit and saw that it had some buzz at some independent film festivals. The story seemed interesting and the cast excellent. Given all of this and the fact that the film was directed by Nigel Cole, I thought, what the heck, give it a look. I am glad I did. Read the full story

Although I have developed a greater appreciation of Mel Brooks’ work through my reviews of The Mel Brooks Collection, I am also suffering from a bit of Mel Brooks fatigue.  I have also seen all three remaining movies I need to review, and am now deprived of the joy of discovery I had with films like To Be Or Not To Be and Silent Movie.

Next up was Robin Hood: Men in Tights, chronologically the last of the films included in the collection.  I had seen this shortly after its release on VHS (yes, you read that correctly), but had little remembrance of it.  I did remember that Cary Elwes’ referred to Kevin Costner losing his English accent shortly into his Robin Hood epic, but that was about it.  Was this a forgotten gem? Read the full story

Of the top three baseball based films of all time, only 2 have made their way to Blu-ray, Field of Dreams and The Natural, at least until now. While I love both of these films, the very best baseball themed film is Bull Durham, which fortunately, was finally released on Blu-ray this week. While I was more than pleased with the look and sound of The Natural, Field of Dreams was another matter altogether and was a disappointment in the video department. Would Bull Durham prove to be more like The Natural or more like Field of Dreams. Unfortunately, the Blu-ray release of Bull Durham is as disappointing as Field of Dreams. Read the full story

After reviewing the five Mel Brooks films in the collection I had not yet viewed, it was now time to revisit some old friends.  And first up was History of the World – Part I, a movie that I had first seen long before I was old enough to understand most of the jokes.

Before watching the collection, this film fully defined what I thought a Mel Brooks film was.  A musical number, genital-oriented humor, and an overall irrelevance for its subject matter would be what I thought of when I heard the words “Mel Brooks”.  However, after watching such treats as To Be Or Not to Be, Silent Movie, and even High Anxiety, I was curious to see if I remembered the movie correctly, and if it was truly as good as I thought it was. Read the full story

To say that I was not looking forward to the April 16^th theatrical release date of Kick-Ass would be like saying that I would rather watch a DVD of my favorite film over its superior Blu-ray counterpart.  It’s just not going to happen.  And now that my number four film of the year is coming out on Blu-ray August 3^rd, I have even more reason to celebrate.  My obsession with this film happened way back on the magical date of July 24, 2009.  It was on that very day, within Hall H at Comic-Con 2009 in San Diego, that I was introduced to the world of Kick-Ass. I never wore a grin so large in life as compared to when we, the captive audience within Hall H, were treated to not only the film’s Red Band trailer, but also exclusive clips highlighting the mayhem and action of the eccentric cast.  Weird thing is, the film had no distribution deal as of yet.  It was shown first at Comic-Con to gauge the public’s interest.  And if memory serves me correct, the panel even got a standing ovation by the end of its time slot.  Not long after, Lionsgate, one of my favorite movie studios sealed the deal to distribute Kick-Ass nationwide.  And that was a great day indeed.  Sadly, Nicolas Cage was absent from the 2009 Comic-Con panel, but this girl (see below), Chloe Moretz (aka Hit-Girl), won the audience over with not only her youth and innocence, but also her, for lack of a better term, “kick-ass” action sequences.  I’m a firm believer that Kick-Ass would not be half the film it is without Hit-Girl.  I think she will be an actress people will need to pay close attention to over the next few years.  Trust me on that (Let Me In). Read the full story

Movie trailers can be very deceiving. Far too often, you see a trailer at the theater and think, wow, that looks like an interesting film, only to find that the film sucks. Every now and then, a great trailer turns into a great film. The converse is also often true, a bad trailer proceeds a bad film.  Such is the case with the subject of today’s review… Cop Out. Read the full story

For my fifth movie in my review of the Mel Brooks Collection, I selected The Twelve Chairs, Mr. Brooks’ movie adaptation of an Old Russian folk tale.  This is a fairly obscure film, and one I likely would not have watched if it had not been a part of this collection.

As Mr. Brooks’ second directing effort (his first being the conspicuously absent The Producers), it would be interesting to see what his later work evolved from, and how much his early work was influenced by others.  Did the movie deserve its obscure status, or was it worthy of more attention as part of the Mel Brooks legacy? Read the full story

For my fourth movie in my review of the Mel Brooks Collection, I selected High Anxiety, Mr. Brooks’ loving spoof of Alfred Hitchcock movies.  Although I admire Mr. Hitchcock’s work, I can honestly admit it has been a few decades since I last saw one of his films (The Birds).

One challenge I anticipated with High Anxiety is that certain subjects like murder and suspense do not work well in comedy (like in Have you Heard About the Morgans).  Truly, the only way to make a thriller work with humour is to go way, way, way over the top, much like in the Police Squad series of movies.

However, my pleasant surprise at the quality of To Be Or Not To Be left me with some anticipation that this movie may also surprise me with its wit and charm. Read the full story

 After reviewing both Silent Movie and Young Frankenstein, I was extremely curious to see which of the remaining seven discs in the Mel Brooks Collection would fit into the categories of “underrated comedy” or “overhyped disappointment”.  For this third movie, I selected another Mel Brooks film I had not seen before, To Be or Not to Be, Mr. Brooks’ 1983 remake of Ernest Lubitsch’s 1942 original.

Mr. Brooks has never struck me as a subtle humorist, and I had some worry that a comedy-musical-drama about World War II and Nazism could be taken from funny to farcical under his guidance.  Perplexingly, I also had high expectations at the same time – with such rich subject matter, and a stellar cast, this movie had the potential to be really good.  And in short, this movie was really good, the type of comedy I grew up on, and the type that seems to have fallen out of favor with the viewing public. Read the full story

As mentioned in my review for Silent Movie it is a formidable task reviewing all nine (yes, nine!) movies in the Mel Brooks Collection box set, so again I beg for the reader’s patience as I soldier through the movies.  For my second review, I continued to focus on the Mel Brooks movies I had missed.

Second up for review was 1974’s Young Frankenstein, a film from which I had seen various scenes, but never sat through the whole film.  Of all the Mel Brooks movies, this one appears to have the most loyal following, and I was intrigued again by Mr. Brooks making an atypical movie (a horror movie throwback in black and white) in the 1970’s. Read the full story

As a 10-year old boy, I loved Mel Brooks movies.  To this day, I vividly remember seeing History of the World: Part 1 during its release week and thinking it was about the best movie ever made.  However, as we get older, our tastes mature.  And as viewers, North American audiences are now much, much more cynical about comedy than their counterparts were in the 70’s and 80’s.

Therefore, when The Mel Brooks Collection showed up in my docket for review, I was quite intrigued.  Not only did it contain the Mel Brooks movies I had missed, it also contained movies that I had loved when younger.  However, this is also a formidable task reviewing nine (yes, nine!) movies, so I beg the reader’s patience as I wander through this box set.

First up for review was 1976’s Silent Movie, a film I had never seen before, and one that had intrigued me.  As a boy, I loved both Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy silent shorts, and I was curious to see how well Mr. Brooks could deliver a modern version of this art form. Read the full story

The packaging for a home video release can often be very telling, especially the movie reviewer quotes that are on the package. Generally, the few the quotes, the worse the film. Another rule of thumb is whether you have ever heard of the reviewers before. When there are only one or two short quotes from reviewers who are not exactly household names, well, look out. Even worse is when one of the actors in the film is not listed in the credits. Well all are in play with the release that is the subject of this review, When in Rome. Would it prove to be an exception to these rules of thumb? Read the full story

The first Alvin & the Chipmunks film was a surprise blockbuster, especially to me. I remembered watching the cartoon as a child and then when they announced a live action film, I immediately thought that it was way too late. Who would want to watch these archaic characters? Flash forward to today, where I received copy of the blockbuster ‘s ‘squeakquel’… I decided to give it a shot, was I wrong to immediately put down the chipmunk trio?

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It had been a very long time since this author saw The African Queen for the first time, 29 years to be exact.  So going into the review of this Blu-ray, it was like seeing the movie again for the first time.

The African Queen also has an intimidating pedigree.  Nominated for four Academy Awards, it has become legendary for the danger and hardships director John Huston exposed the cast and crew to.  Filming in wild parts of the Belgian Congo, legend has it that Bogart and Huston avoided the sicknesses that afflicted all other cast and crew by drinking only Scotch.  Legend also has it that Huston stalled production in his obsession with hunting an elephant, later fictionalized into “White Hunter, Black Heart”.

As a film, The African Queen continually appears on AFI’s “100 years, 100 movies” list, has been selected for preservation in the U.S. Film Registry, and was the source of Humphrey Bogart’s only Academy Award.  How well does it survive its restoration to Blu-ray?  Read the full story

As I may have mentioned in previous reviews, I feel chills up and down my spine when the official wife of this movie reviewer picks up a disc and says “This looks good!”  As an eternal lover of formulatic movies (especially rom-coms), the official wife’s tastes are diametrically different than mine. 

Worst part is, this movie stars two of my least favourite actors in the world.  Sarah Jessica Parker (she of the huge head) always seems to play high strung, loud and needy characters.  I avoid these people like the plague in real life.  And although Hugh Grant appears to be a genial sort, is there any discernable difference between any of the different characters he has played in a number of different rom-coms?

So, in reviewing this movie, I had a few challenges in front of me.  I needed to watch the whole movie, stay awake, go in to it with an open mind, and not loudly predict what was going to happen (or face censure from the official wife). Read the full story

I guess with the economy being what it is, I can’t begrudge anyone for taking any job they can get to get by. The difference between Hollywood and the rest of us is that when actors take whatever is offered irrespective of quality, millions of dollars are involved. There is nothing like cashing in on your name in Hollywood to fatten up the old bank account. Exhibit A of such a practice is the subject of today’s review, a mildly humorous and forgettable comedy starring Robin Williams and John Travolta, Old Dogs. Read the full story