Park City's Flick Chick by Jill Adler
October 2004 - Movie Reviews in a Nutshell
Team America: World
Police
Film Rating: R
If
you love South Park, no-holds-barred tasteless humor, a style
that offends every segment of the populace equally, then this
puppet show about a group of vigilantes paid by big corporations
to fight world terrorism will have you shaking our head and
laughing it off at the same time. You'd expect nothing less
from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Puppets
fornicating, Paris burning, our hero projectile vomiting for
a solid five minutes. I'm about to see Team America for the
third time. Need we say more?
Shark Tale
Film Rating: PG
This
latest Pixar-animated, Finding Nemo wannabe is below sea level
literally. Not even a B-movie, despite the all-star vocal line-up,
this tale of a smartass fish, Oscar (Will Smith), who befriends
a friendly, vegetarian shark, Lenny (Jack Black) who’s defecting
from the Shark Mob (headed by Robert De Niro) stinks or shall
I say sinks. To the bottom. Oscar devises a plan to fake Lenny’s
death, then pretends to be the ‘sharkslayer’ so no
one will come looking for either of them and he will get the bling
for saving the city. I kept waiting for something important to
happen or something to tug at my heart like little lost Nemo.
Nope. And the fishification puns only float so far. (Katie Couric
is Katie Current, The Gap is The Gup, etc.) Kids 7-10 will like
the bright colors and goofy voices, babies will scream in terror
from the giant shark teeth and the rest of you will be bored.
Wait for the video.
Shaun of the Dead
Film Rating: R
If
you were ever a fan of Monty Python or those Dawn of the Dead
Horror flicks; and Chucky made you laugh all the way home from
the theater, then Shaun of the Dead will not disappoint. This
movie stinks of Park City humor. Shaun (Simon Pegg) shares a
flat with his fat slob of a roommate Ed, who sells pot and plays
video games. As he begins to realize that his life is a complete
waste (via girlfriend Liz, who dumps him because his idea of
romance is hanging at the Irish pub getting blitzed with her
and his roommate) right around the time his neighbors begin
to die and reawaken as zombies. It’s up to Shaun to save
the city. The movie is hysterical from the start and filled
with subtle little gems like when Shaun and Ed meet their first
zombie. They think she’s just a really drunk chick and
taunt her. They soon learn that the only way to stay alive is
to bash in the zombies’ heads. Maximum gore ensues. This
isn’t a spoof of those George A. Romero cult classics
but rather an ode to them. I’m a sucker for slapstick
and good horror films. This one had me at “uuuuhhhh.”
Friday Night Lights
Film Rating: PG-13
1988.
Odessa, Tex., is obsessed with their high school football team.
The four-time state champions have yet another shot at number
one and the entire town’s focus is on courting and subsequently
squeezing the boys to kick ass. Game on. Based on a true story,
and the nonfiction book of the same name, "Friday Night
Lights" follows the Permian High School Panthers as they
bust a move for an unprecedented fifth state championship in
the town’s 30-year history. You can feel the tension from
your theater seat. Peter Berg’s nimble direction of the
group of relatively unknown actors (except for Billy Bob Thornton
who plays the Panthers’ coach) creates a film that’s
edgy, beautiful and painful throughout. The handheld camera
work, jumpy edits and grainy look of the film lend that documentary
air. The acting and the screenplay are the bomb. Finally, Billy
Bob is more than a Bad Santa. He’s understated and therefore
completely believable. Whether you’re a football fan or
can’t tell the endzone from a tightend, Friday Night Lights
transcends the typical sports underdog flick that should hit
a home run with just about everyone.
