Change Your Image
Darth Maligna
Reviews
Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
One of the funniest films ever made.
This movie is in my personal list of the most hilarious films of all time, along with movies like "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure," and "The Jerk." It is an absolute breath of fresh air the first time through, and every subsequent viewing is just as good as the last; many jokes get funnier, and there are side-splitting subtleties that only become apparent with time. The type of humour is varied but uniformly brilliant, from the camp counselors' hour-long descent into and return from a hellish nightmare of addiction and misery, to a character who is no longer necessary to the scene getting up and walking straight off the end of a pier, to a steamy love scene between two men being superimposed on the conversation two other characters are simultaneously having about setting one of the participants up with various girls named Debbie.
Performances in the film are uniformly brilliant. Janeane Garafalo particularly stands out with a performance that is oftentimes so perfectly and purposefully bad that it's incredibly good. Her stilted delivery of old romantic clichés, her occasional hilariously mistimed line of dialogue, and her obvious ad-libbing of a list of ridiculously Jewish-sounding campers are all brilliantly played. David Hyde Pierce is wonderful as a mild-mannered, somewhat high-strung astrophysicist whose occasional unexpected single-line outbursts ("I said NO!" "F*ck my c*ck!") are some of the funniest moments of the movie. Paul Rudd is utterly hilarious in the role of Andy, a shallow, studly sociopath who allows multiple campers to drown while busy cheating on his girlfriend. He nails every scene he is in in any capacity. His dialogue while disposing of the drowning witnesses is both shocking and hysterical, his tantrum scene in the mess hall is cramp-inducingly funny, and he consistently delivers on his more subtle moments, such as playing the air guitar during the climactic talent show scene. Michael Showalter is another standout, both for his writing and his hilarious dual portrayal of both Coop and Alan Shemper, and Chris Meloni is both unbelievably and unexpectedly funny; he'll certainly surprise people who know him from his work on shows like Law & Order: SVU. But really, there is not a bad performance in this film.
Certainly this film is not for everyone. The closest comedic comparisons I can draw would be to the films "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" and "Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter," but really all three movies are in classes by themselves. If you don't understand the humour of classic Python, especially Flying Circus, don't even bother. In any case, I can't guarantee that you'll enjoy this film, but the good news is that if you get it, you REALLY get it, and you'll be able to enjoy it for a very long time.
What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)
Absolute comic genius
What's Up Tiger Lily? is one of the absolute funniest movies I've ever seen, although I think I'm the only 14-year-old on the planet whose ever even heard of it. It's highly original, side-splittingly funny, and has a great soundtrack (from The Lovin' Spoonful, a band I'm sure I've never heard of but probably would've if I were older), although the only drawback is that the two five-minute dance scenes, while somewhat funny at first, drag on and on to the point of having to fast forward. And have the remote handy; you'll have to stop some of the scenes right in the middle because you'll be laughing too hard to hear them. A movie I'd highly recommend, especially to anyone who's ever seen MST3K.
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
A work of art
This is definitely one of the most visually stunning films I have ever seen. The set designs are absolutely breathtaking; Tim Burton is a genius. The plot itself is an excellent adaptation of the original story. I wouldn't expect to be too terribly frightened as the movie is more of a mystery than anything else, and the ending is completely unexpected. The acting is wonderful; Johnny Depp is excellent and Michael Gambon and Miranda Richardson are great, as are Christopher Walken and Ian McDiarmid. The Horseman, despite his lack of any lines whatsoever, is really brought to life very well thanks to Nick Gillard, Ray Park, and Rob Inch (hey, I'm *obligated* to give props...they all also worked on the fights for The Phantom Menace ^_~). Overall, Sleepy Hollow is a very worthwhile film to see (but if you're going to rent it, try to get it in widescreen. Pan & scan just cannot do justice to the visual nature of this movie).
X-Men (2000)
Surprisingly good
I'd been looking forward to this movie for months before it opened, due to the casting of Ray Park alone. And then one day I woke up and suddenly realized, "Holy crud, this is going to be a *comic book* movie!" and until opening day I had an uneasy lump in the pit of my stomach telling me that all comic book movies are doomed to suck. But X-Men actually succeeded in breaking the curse and turned out to be rather intelligent and extremely engrossing. The acting is excellent on all accounts but one (that means you, Halle Berry), and combined with good special effects and great directing on the part of Brian Singer, manages to overcome a fairly weak plot (Magneto's going to unwittingly kill the world's leaders? Oh no! Why not just ask him to postpone another year until Dubya's in office and everybody is subsequently happy?). Overall, a great movie that's even managed to get me started watching the cartoon and reading the comics.