The Animation Show

THE ANIMATION SHOW (2003) - Jan. 31, 2004
An entertaining collection of short animated films. Some were better than others, but none were bad. The hilarious films by Don Hertzfeldt were definitely the highlight. "Mt. Head," by Koji Yamamura was also really good. And "Mars and Beyond," (1958) by Ward Kimball, featured some really interesting and original visions of what life on Mars could be like. ***

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning

SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING (1960) - Jan. 29, 2004
An interminably slow character-study about a lower-class lout. There isn't a trace of a plot, and the main character (played by a young Albert Finney) isn't anywhere nearly interesting enough to sustain a whole movie. The film mostly deals with Finney's attempts to juggle two girlfriends, one of whom is married. Three's Company-esque hijinks do not ensue. *1/2

Dirty Deeds

DIRTY DEEDS (2002) - Jan. 28, 2004
This was an alright, Guy Richie-esque gangster movie. Mostly entertaining, though a little bit too stylistically over-the-top. Sam Neill was good, as always, in a too-small part. Bryan Brown was also good, though not as good as he was in Two Hands (which was a far superior movie). As far as the recent wave of gangster movies are concerned, this certainly isn't up there, but my high expectations (I've been wanting to see it for a couple of years) may have been working against it. **1/2

Spring Forward

SPRING FORWARD (1999) - Jan. 27, 2004
An engaging drama about the friendship between two men who work for the parks service. Ned Beatty and Liev Schreiber are both excellent as the two men. The film, which almost entirely consists of conversations between Beatty and Schreiber, remains extremely entertaining throughout thanks to the excellent performances and a great screenplay by Tom Gilroy (who is also the director). ***1/2

Teacher's Pet

TEACHER'S PET (2004) - Jan. 24, 2004
A good cartoon, if a little on the kiddie side. Nathan Lane is good as the main character, and so is Kelsey Grammer as an over-the-top mad scientist. Visually the movie was unique, and at 70 minutes it's hard to get bored, but at the same time it didn't make much of an impact (I'm already starting to forget it). **1/2

Along Came Polly

ALONG CAME POLLY (2004)- Jan. 22, 2004
A routine, marginally entertaining romantic/gross-out comedy. Unfunny for the most part; partially redeemed by a hilarious supporting performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman. Alec Baldwin, Hank Azaria and Bryan Brown were also really good in supporting roles. However, Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston can't really say the same. Mediocre. **

The 39 Steps

THE 39 STEPS (1935) - Jan. 22, 2004 (S)
Another winner from Hitchcock! This was really good despite being so early in Hitchcock's career (1935). Another variation on his classic "wrong man" theme, with a normal man thrust into the world of espionage after a woman he has just met (a spy) confides in him and then is murdered. The whole sequence on the train (starting with a woman's scream turning into a train whistle) was really well done. In fact the movie is very fast-paced, particularly considering how old it is. It only slows down a little bit when the two main characters stop and spend the night in the hotel. The climax was good, and in fact a bit touching, when Mr. Memory is able to perform one last time, validating the main character's story by reciting the top secret plans for the airplane. I also like the final shot, with the two main characters holding hands. ***1/2

Cold Mountain

COLD MOUNTAIN (2003) - Jan. 20, 2004
It was pretty good -- better than the English Patient but not nearly as good as the Talented Mr. Ripley. Good performances by all, even the usually terrible Rene Zellweger. Perhaps too many celebrities -- it almost becomes distracting. ***