Starring: Gene Wilder, Cleavon Little, Slim Pickins, Liam Dunn
This Western spoof follows the new Sheriff, Bart (Little) and his deputy, Jim (Wilder), in their attempts to foil the railroad-building scheme of the despicable Hedley Lamarr. The simple plot is just an excuse for a steady stream of gags, many of them blatantly tasteless, that Mel Brooks and his wacky cast pull off with side-splitting success. The humor is juvenile and crude, but you still find yourself laughing out loud at it. All in all, it is a spoof of the classic western we know from the likes of John Wayne and others.
My grade: B
Blues Brothers and Blues Brothers 2000:
Starring: John Belushi, Dan Ackroyd, John Goodman, J. Evan Bonifant, Joe Morton
In the first of the two films, Jake and Elwood (Belushi and Ackroyd) try to get their band back together as "a mission from God" to save the orphanage where they grew up, and in the second (made after Belushi is deceased) is Elwood recruiting a bartender named Mack (Goodman), a 10-year-old orphan named Buster (Bonifant), and eventually a cop who is part of the squad after Elwood for kidnapping Buster, which he actually didn't do. They all end up at Queen Mousette's (Erykah Badu) Battle of the Bands, at which they go up against some great blues legends. Good acting, lots of blues music, and a ton of car chases, crashes, and pile-ups.
My grade: A-
Braveheart:
Starring: Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, Sean Lawlor, Sandy Nelson, Patrick McGoohan
This movie tells the story of William Wallace (Gibson) and his revolt against the tyrannical leader of England, Edward I (McGoohan), who at the time (13th century), controlled Wallace's land of Scotland. I don't understand the hoorah over this movie, seeing as it is not only poorly acted but also flawed and inaccurate. For example, the 'prima nocta' (legislation allowing English overlords to sleep with Scottish women on their wedding night) just did not exist. Perhaps the most ludicrous suggestion is that Princess Isobelle's child (the future Edward III) was sired by Wallace. Not very likely unless she was impregnated at about the age of four and had a twenty year long pregnancy. I can even forgive the fact that Robert The Bruce (Scotland's greatest ever king and much more famous Scottish hero) is portrayed here as quite a weak, indecisive and possibly even cowardly character. If you cannot tell, this is one of the most inaccurate, untrue, not even close to Scottish origin movies possible. Not to mention the horrible casting. Mel Gibson, though a respected actor, in no way resembles Wallace, being a foot shorter and the fact that he is not Scottish helps a great deal. The movie was poorly researched, and the Scottish accents were nowhere near reality. Whoever regarded this as a "good movie" needs help and someone Scottish to explain the real story to them. Some may find the battles entertaining, and I agree that they were well portrayed and directed, and I can also forgive that they were filmed in Ireland. The musical score, however, was excellent, nothing to complain about there. I would love to say this is a great movie, but as a patriotic Scot, I simply cannot. If you want a real Scottish movie, I recommend Rob Roy, which is historically accurate.
My grade: C-/D+
Bride of Chucky:
Starring: Jennifer Tilly, Brad Dourif, Katherine Heigl, Nick Stabile, Alexis Arquette
A sequel to the Child's Play series, Bride of Chucky attempts to be a funny horror film. Needless to say, it fail horribly. The plot is focused on a serial killer in a doll's body, Chucky (Dourif's voice), and his human lover, Tiffany (Tilly). Chucky puts Tiffany in a doll's body so that they may find a magic amulet and two new bodies to inhabit. In doing so, they sneak in on two teenage lovers, running away to be married (Heigl and Stabile). The doll couple manages to murder and create mayhem without suspicion. The only good things about this movie are the top notch special effects and the appearance of John Ritter as Heigl's overprotective uncle. Everything else is below bad and the plot has no substance whatsoever. Though it claims to be a horror film, you could watch this at midnight in the pitch dark during a thunderstorm and still sleep well after.
My grade: D
Bring It On:
Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku, Jesse Bradford, Gabrielle Union, Lindsay Sloane
Torrance (Dunst) becomes the new leader of the Rancho Carne Toro's cheerleading squad following the graduation of the previous leader, Big Red (Sloane). Torrance is shocked when everything starts going wrong, a member of the team breaks her leg for the season, she discovers her college boyfriend is sleeping around, and worst of all, she finds out her predecessor was stealing cheers from the East Compton Clover's. She must find a new squad member soon, and ends up with the spunky, girl with attitude, Missy, whom she befriends. She is still heart broken over ex-boyfriend Aaron, but finds consolences in Missy's brother, Cliff. And when the Clover's leader, Isis (Union) comes up with enough money to go to national's she must work to come up with a winning routine. I have always loved Kirsten Dunst's work, and this is certainly no exception. They dialogue is witty, the situation is comical, and the acting is superb. Though this film should not be rated up with Billy Elliot and An Ideal Husband, it still deserves a passing grade.
My grade: B-
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