Hercules (Disney)

This one starts off rough, frequently annoying and at times downright childish. One song is sung by Danny de Vito; that should tell you pretty much all you need to know. But hang in there -- it improves as the story unfolds. That story is, in certain respects, one of the film’s major weaknesses; the original myth of Hercules gets mangled in many ways, to some extent in order to bowdlerize a few of the more mature aspects of the tale. That makes this a difficult watch for anyone who takes their knowledge of the Greek myths seriously. (How fortunate then that to today -- and even upon first release in the mid ‘90s -- so many people know so little of the ancient stories.) As for this relatively modern take, the performance by James Woods as Hades is a strong point; he nails it, almost but not quite achieving the fast-talking, whip-smart and funny territory last achieved by Robin Williams’ Genie. The use of a gospel choir to serve as an almost literal Greek chorus is intriguing though uneven; the singing is fine, though slightly incongruous with the Hellenic roots of the story. (The device also introduces one of those grating mischaracterizations of the source material; there were nine muses, not five. It hardly would have damaged anything to just throw four more backup singers into the mix, for the visuals if nothing else.) Ultimately, the movie comes together, to the point where the viewer actually does root for Herc to become a real hero, and for his girlfriend Meg (one of the other highlights of the flick, not least because she is drawn to be smoking hot -- one of the most attractive animated characters in all the Disney canon). The rest of the animation is, like much of the production, uneven; some of the visuals are great, some so-so. While there are a few standout drawings here and there, some of the visuals show less attention to detail than the breathtaking graphics of earlier films. (The decision to make most of the gods look downright weird doesn’t come across as well-conceived.) Bottom line: this is hardly a classic, and it has obvious flaws, but the film gives its audience just enough good stuff to sneak in over the line into positive territory. The PURR is barely a whisper, but it sounds about right nevertheless.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Major problems face the viewer who watches this film in 2021, approaching 50 years after its release. Most prominent among those problems is the distraction factor that comes from having seen a great many of these actors in various other roles. You have to make an active effort to sink yourself into the time and place of this movie. When you lock in, you recognize that one of the key ingredients here is actually subtlety. If this film were made today, the strokes would be much broader; Nurse Ratched would be a Cruella-type villain and McMurphy would be a faultless hero. Neither applies to the presentation here; you can see both sides of this "argument" although ultimately, the movie's moral still comes through in the end. Another impression: it's entirely possible that Jack Nicholson has never played any character other than Jack Nicholson. I'm not sure what to make of that--just bringing it up here. All in all, this is a film worth seeing; not sure I would have made it Best Picture (though I don't have the perspective to compare it to all of its competition from that year), but this film's long-lasting influence has the ultimate say.

The Big Kahuna

Your classic "filmed play" kind of movie: tight, focused, to the point, and smartly done. The chief pleasure here is watching Kevin Spacey tear through the material, but there is enough depth and intelligence in the script to present some thought-provoking arguments, too. Nice work.

Man on the Moon

Andy Kaufman's career in all of its shining, tarnished, and shining glory. Jim Carrey's performance is dead on, and the classic bits are still howlingly funny. It may be another twenty years before someone pushes the envelope like Kaufman did; in the meantime, we have this to serve as a very good reminder of where the goal should be set.

Death to Smoochy

A printed chart of this movie's laugh meter would show a lot of spikes along the scroll; when the laughs come--and they do, frequently--they are high register indeed. Overall, it's a well-done black comedy, for the most part maintaining an acerbic tone that most movie comedies never even try to attain. Unfortunately, this one does pull its punches towards the end. Nevertheless, it's still a curmudgeonly hoot most of the way through. And its commentary on the commodification of children in this society and its attendant hatefulness--though couched in a heavily comedic and satirical presentation--is dead on.

Matilda

Hard to go wrong when your screenwriter is (for all practical purposes) Roald Dahl. This is based on one of his best, and they get it almost exactly right. Mara Wilson is great in the title role, and Danny Devito and Rhea Perlman do a fine job as her loathsome parents. Almost, but not quite, a Best Of All nominee.

Heist (2001)

This would probably get a worse rating but for writer-director David Mamet's touch. There's some typically clever Mamet dialogue here, in high enough quantities to crack just enough wise smiles throughout the proceedings. That pushes it over the hump.