Category: Movies (Page 388 of 498)

Get Smart’s Bruce and Lloyd Out of Control

Warner Premiere describes “Bruce and Lloyd Out of Control” as “an industry first, offering consumers and fans of the theatrical release of ‘Get Smart’ the opportunity to enjoy parallel content, an original side story featuring characters from the film, just days after the film’s theatrical release,” but let’s call a spade a spade: even with a token scene or two to indicate that it’s taking place simultaneous to the real film, it’s still just another glorified straight-to-video sequel. Bruce (Masi Oka, “Heroes”) and Lloyd (Nate Torrence, “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip”), two of CONTROL’s tech guys, find themselves on assignment to retrieve a missing piece of camouflage technology, getting into lots of wacky and zany misadventures along the way. “Heroes” fans will be psyched to see Jayma Mays playing Bruce’s love interest (Hiro and Charlie, together again!), Larry Miller gets to play identical twins (one of them is evil, naturally), and there are entertaining cameos by a couple of characters from “Get Smart” (Terry Crews as Agent 91, Patrick Warburton as Hymie), but while Oka and Torrence are both funny guys, the level of humor rarely rises about slapstick shenanigans and a running gag about how nobody can remember which one is Bruce and which one is Lloyd. Granted, it was a clever, cost-saving maneuver to film “Bruce and Lloyd” simultaneous to ‘Get Smart,’ utilizing many of the same sets, but no one’s going to mistake this for anything that’d ever be released theatrically.

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Diva

This very Parisian suspense comedy-drama was a sensation on the American art house scene during the early 1980s and helped launch a wave of more stylish, genre-oriented, French directors, action-meister Luc Besson included. (It also earned its own palindrome: “Avid was I, ere I saw Diva.”) It’s still fun, and very sexy in a demure, PG-13 way, if also kind of silly and lackadaisical.

Based on a novel by the pseudonymous Delacorta, writer-director Jean-Jacque Beiniex’s feature debut tells the story of a twentyish, scooter-driving postman (Frédéric Andréi) obsessed with a beautiful African-American opera singer (real opera star Wilhelmina Wiggins Fernandez) who, for artistic and philosophical reasons, refuses to allow herself to be recorded. The young man sneaks a high-end recorder into a performance and, after meeting his idol, steals her dress. He soon finds himself pursued by Asian audio pirates, but also by local assassins seeking an incriminating cassette. At the same time, he pursues a light flirtation/friendship with a larcenous Vietnamese teen orphan (Thuy An Luu) – and, shyly, but a lot more earnestly, romances the diva. He’s definitely one lucky celebrity stalker. Among other bits of good fortune, his less famous, underage gal-pal is under the possibly fatherly, possibly not-so fatherly, protection of a mysterious former Special Forces type (Richard Bohringer), who proves to be helpful in his tight spot.

“Diva” is really not about story but primarily about style, music (lots of opera, so be warned), and only then about its characters. While it doesn’t impress me today the way it did when I was the same age as its young postman, it’s still a nifty bauble with one really great foot/scooter chase through the Paris metro and lots of beauty — though buyers should be aware that the Lionsgate/Meridian Collection DVD has taken some hits for its technical quality. The print could probably be better.

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Holy Blu-Ray, Batman!

There are some movies that beg to be viewed in glorious high definition, but “Batman: The Movie” isn’t one of them. It isn’t for lack of trying, however. The special edition Blu-ray release of the 1966 cult classic looks amazing when compared to its DVD counterpart, and it even includes an exclusive extra that tracks the film’s location shooting via an onscreen map. As some people may have noticed with Paramount’s recent release of “Face/Off,” however, HD video transfer isn’t always a good thing. Fishing line can be spotted during Batman’s early run-in with the shark, and Cesar Romero’s under-the-makeup mustache is more evident than ever.

Of course, that only makes watching “Batman: The Movie” even more fun, and so in honor of its grand debut on Blu-ray, here’s a look back at some of the film’s more ridiculous moments. And when you’re done, head on over to Bullz-Eye.com for your chance to win your own copy!

Commissioner Gordon: It could be any one of them. But which one? Which ones?
Batman: Pretty fishy what happened to me on that ladder…
Commissioner Gordon: You mean where there’s a fish there could be a Penguin?
Robin: But wait! It happened at sea… Sea. C for Catwoman!
Batman: That exploding shark was pulling my leg…
Commissioner Gordon: The Joker!
Chief O’Hara: All adds up to a sinister riddle… Riddle-r. Riddler!
Commissioner Gordon: A thought strikes me… So dreadful I scarcely dare give it utterance…
Batman: The four of them… Their forces combined…
Robin: Holy nightmare!

Robin: That crazy missile! It wrote two more riddles before it blew up!
Batman: What goes up white and comes down yellow and white?
Robin: An egg!
Batman: How do you divide seventeen apples among sixteen people?”
Robin: Make apple sauce!
Batman: Apples into applesauce… A unification into one smooth mixture. An egg… Nature’s perfect container. The container of all our hopes for the future.
Robin: A unification and a container of hope? United World Organization!
Batman: Precisely, Robin! And there’s a special meeting of the Security Council today. If what I fear is true…
Robin: Wow! Let’s commandeer a taxi!
Batman: No, Robin. Not at this time of day. Luckily, we’re in tip-top condition. It’ll be faster if we run. Let’s go!

Batman: Listen to these riddles. Tell me if you interrupt them as I do. One: What has yellow skin and writes?
Robin: A ballpoint banana!
Batman: Right. Two: What people are always in a hurry?
Robin: Rushing people… Russians!
Batman: Right again. Now what would you say that means?
Robin: Banana… Russian? I’ve got it. Someone Russian is going to slip on a banana and break their neck!
Batman: Precisely, Robin! The only possible meaning.

Batman: Look at this pair of joking riddles.
Chief O’Hara: What does a turkey do when he flies upside down?
Robin: He gobbles up!
Chief O’Hara: Of course.
Batman: And number two…
Commissioner Gordon: What weighs six ounces, sits in a tree, and is very dangerous?
Robin: A sparrow with a machine gun!
Commissioner Gordon: Yes, of course.

Five Reasons to Mourn George Carlin That Aren’t Stand-Up Related

5. Herbie Fleck (“With Six You Get Eggroll“)
4. Eddie Detreville (“The Prince of Tides“)
3. Frank Madras (“Outrageous Fortune“)
2. Cardinal Ignatius Glick (“Dogma“)
1. Rufus (“Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” “Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey“)

I also remember enjoying “Justin Case,” a TV movie that was written and directed by Blake Edwards, where he played the ghost of a private detective who attempts to solve his own murder…but it’s been 20 years since I’ve seen it, so I might be giving it too much credit.

So long, George.

The Red Violin



Samuel L. Jackson
might be the top-billed actor in this award-winning, Oscar-nominated arthouse flick from 1998, but you’ll be sorely disappointed if you’re expecting him to point an AK at some poor schmo’s head and bellow words to the effect of “All I want from you, motherf**ker, is to give me the motherf**king red violin!” This isn’t that kind of a movie. Crafted with care by the team responsible for the musically inspired 1994 indie hit, “32 Short Films About Glenn Gould,” this Canadian production is filmed in five languages and follows the career of a very special instrument, starting with its creation in 17th century Italy, to Vienna at the height of the classical period, and then to England and the hands of a sex-crazed rock star of a romantic era composer (Jason Flemyng) and his entranced lover (Greta Scacchi). It then moves on to mid-20th century China during the Cultural Revolution, and finally to contemporary Montreal, where a high-end auction house retains an American expert (Jackson, uttering nary a curse word), who finds himself in possession of the perfectly crafted and now legendary instrument.

Each of the tales is visually sumptuous, engagingly melodramatic, extremely well-acted, and not too much more, though a story about a sickly Viennese child prodigy and his conflicted mentor threatens to become poignant. By the time the final tale of possible musical skulduggery is complete, the point is either ridiculously self-evident (“beautiful music and fine workmanship are very powerful and make people do things they otherwise might not”) or something so high-flown I couldn’t quite grasp it. Writer-director Francois Girard and cowriter Don McKeller, who also plays Jackson’s geeky cohort, are a highly talented team, but in this case their work says less about music or the joy and power of craft, than it does about a certain kind of safely entertaining style of tony film-making.

Click to buy “The Red Violin”

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