Review: Loose Cannons

Loose Cannons (1990) ***
Director: Bob Clark (A Christmas Story, Porky's series)
Starring: Dan Aykroyd, Gene Hackman

Buddy cop comedy with Aykroyd in top comedic form. Not a great movie by any means, but Aykroyd's performance is amusing enough (also supported by the comic talents of the late Dom DeLuise) that it's at least worth the rental if you're a fan of his work.

Review: Penny Dreadful

Penny Dreadful (2006) - not even worth half an asterisk
Director/Writer: Richard Brandes (who also wrote/directed/produced/acted in several other low-budget B-movie thrillers)
Starring: Rachel Miner, Mimi Rogers

"Dreadful" describes this flick perfectly. It's a boring mess of a horror movie about a teen who's trapped in a car and terrorized by... something, I guess. It's difficult to decipher what the heck's going on: the plot is awkward and nonsensical, and you spend most of the movie waiting for something to happen. But the suspense never pays off. In the behind-the-scenes featurette, the director says he wanted to give the audience "the sense of being inside the car." Well, if I'd wanted to experience that, I'd have just gone out and sat in my car for 90 minutes instead of watching this movie.

Review: A Simple Plan

A Simple Plan (1998) **** (out of 5 asterisks)
Director: Sam Raimi (Evil Dead trilogy, Spider-Man trilogy)
Starring: Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton

Fascinating moral tale about greed and how it can corrupt even good,
decent people. Great thriller. Highly recommended.

Review: Still Breathing

Continuing my series of recommended Valentine's Day romantic movies...

- Still Breathing (1997) ****1/2
Director/Writer: James F. Robinson
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Joanna Going

At the risk of sounding dangerously un-masculine, I'm not ashamed to admit I loved this movie. It's a beautiful modern fairytale about how a truly odd couple -- a con artist and a puppeteer -- find "true love." Yes, it's sheer romantic fantasy but it's presented in a way that's refreshing and hopeful without being cliché. Highly recommended for helpless romantics.

Additional thoughts:

I'm expanding on this capsule review since this is both a very watchable film and a great DVD package too.

There's something very calming, peaceful and comforting about this film. And it's intelligent, well-performed and full of nuance -- subtle details, symbolism, foreshadowing and a color palette all deliberately and strategically placed in the film that you might not even pick up on them during the first viewing. So if you love films I suggest watching it more than once.

And the director's audio commentary is hands-down the most insightful presentation I have ever heard for a film on the careful thought, effort, and painstaking attention to detail that went into crafting this genuine gem of a film.

I loved this movie so much, I ended up buying the soundtrack too.

It's disappointing that writer/director James F. Robinson has only this solitary film to his credit on IMDb.com. I'd love to see more from him. Where the heck are you, James? Please, Mr. Robinson, give us more films like this one.

Review: Happy Accidents

Continuing my series of recommended Valentine's Day romantic movies...

- Happy Accidents (2000) ***
Director/Writer: Brad Anderson (Session 9, Fringe, Transsiberian)
Starring: Vincent D'Onofrio, Marissa Tomei

Offbeat romantic drama with a sci-fi twist, and Tomei and D'Onofrio are convincing enough in their roles and relationship to make you want to believe. Worth watching for a "date night" with you and someone special.

Review: Every Time We Say Goodbye

I'm not ashamed to admit I enjoy the occasional romantic movie provided it's well-acted and produced and not too predictable.

In light of Valentine's Day, I thought it appropriate to recommend some romantic films I have personally enjoyed. This is the first of three I'll be posting consecutively.

- Every Time We Say Goodbye (1986) **1/2 (out of 5 asterisks)
Director/Writer: Moshé Mizrahi
Starring: Tom Hanks, Cristina Marsillach

This is a little like Fiddler On The Roof, only without the singing. It's the ol' Jews-must-not-marry-Gentiles cliché of forbidden love. (Forbidden!) As a romantic drama it's fairly average and I can understand why some might rate it lower even than I did because it's fairly slow and predictable. However, Tom Hank's performance is solid as always, and Cristina Marsillach is just plain adorable and charming. Recommended for you incurable romantics out there. Good date movie.

Political Transformers

GMANews.TV reports:

Two days before the start of the campaign period, posters of candidates running for national and local posts have begun to litter parts of Metro Manila.

In Manila and Quezon City, posters of a presidential bet and his running mate [Richard Gordon and running mate Bayani Fernando] sprouted in several areas, including parts of main thoroughfares such as España Avenue and Quezon Avenue.

While the posters did not tell people to "vote" for the candidates, the images of the presidential bet and his running mate, along with their nickname "The Transformers," were prominent in the posters.

It makes one wonder if they really thought through that campaign slogan. Such an easy target for parody. What a fun presidential race that will be.

So which one is Bumblebee?