Clueless

See, this is how I like my Jane Austen: looking nothing like Jane Austen. There is an argument to be made that this film represents the pinnacle, the zenith, the high water mark of American culture. The amazing script by writer and director Amy Heckerling, with its gentle, loving skewering of California Culture (and by extension the greater American milieu that took its cues from the Golden State), simply bursts with clever lines and visual jokes that mock yet also admire the relative innocence of the country circa 1995, back before everything here began to turn to madness. The translation of that script into greatness is powered mostly by an astonishing, one of a kind performance by Alicia Silverstone as Cher; she is the perfect embodiment of everything that was shallow yet wholesome about the country back in those long gone days. Cast mates Paul Rudd, Stacey Dash, the dearly-missed Brittany Murphy, Breckin Meyer, Donald Faison, Dan Hedaya, and more provide note perfect accompaniment to Silverstone's tour de force. And a terrific soundtrack of perfectly chosen songs sets the mood all the way through this journey of laughs and delights. Without a doubt, this is a Best of All work, and is only not included in the Top 10 of all time simply because there are just too many great movies to fit within that numerical framing, but this flick stands behind few other works of cinema, especially as regards comedies. Is it even possible to call oneself a movie fan if you’ve never seen this masterpiece? As if!

Chicken Little

A disjointed effort. Most of the story in this movie is squarely focused on entertaining pre-10-year-old viewers, yet the music cues continually reference songs that were mostly decades old by this film’s release date--that is, they're tunes that were current long before the target audience’s dates of birth. So, these are songs for adults in a flick made mostly for kids--not exactly well-thought-out moviemaking. Where there are contemporary--that is, mid-aughts--references, they only serve to make the work seem that much more dated to today’s viewers. Add to all of that a plot that seems awfully thin, with a story that undergoes a jarring shift in tone midway through, and the end result is a film that just feels poorly constructed from beginning to end. Even a good voice cast could only produce a few good laughs out of this material. And the computer generated animation, while impressive in some respects, lacks any clear appeal for the audience beyond the basics of presentation. Bottom line: I think this movie had no real chance from birth. The sky didn’t fall on the studio with this one, but the atmosphere around Burbank was getting dicey once more right about then.

The Princess Bride

This may be the most superfluous review on this site. This film has long been a Best of All inductee; I simply wanted to add a review upon re-watching this classic. And in re-watching it, I approached it with as critical an eye as I could, looking to find the flaws instead of just rubber-stamping this flick's reputation. And guess what--there aren't any. This is as close to perfection as it's possible to get. Maybe one could quibble about the parts of the book that did not make it into the movie--but Goldman wrote both the novel and the screenplay, so those are his edits to his own work. Can't really complain about that. (And film is a different medium from books; some changes are absolutely necessary.) The re-watching was, all in all, an amazingly affirming experience: this movie is exactly as good, not just as you remember it, but as you dream it is. A monumental achievement, one of the best movies ever made, and worthy of its legendary status.

Toy Story 3

Yes, it is a tear-jerker. But at least it comes by its emotional impact honestly, unlike some other Pixar efforts. This presumed denouement of the series charts some of the same territory as the last chapters of The House at Pooh Corner--a rumination on growing up and leaving childhood behind, and how the echoes of those younger days stay with us while also being passed down to another generation at the same time. The movie is nuanced, complex, well-thought out and well-written, and it's hard to imagine anyone not liking this movie, or at least not finding it effective and entertaining. The hardcore cynic inside may nag at you, but his voice is weak compared with this film's loud and clear statements.

Melinda and Melinda

Two divergent and competing story lines feature smug, pretentious, rich New Yorkers vs....smug, pretentious, rich New Yorkers. Perhaps that wasn't the wisest choice. But this one has problems from the ground up. The movie presents a concept story, one that may have merit in its own right, but all concepts take place within a context, here that context really works against the tale(s). The Architectural Digest interiors, the profoundly elite lives and professions of the cast, the insular feel of the presented milieu--all are distracting and work to hamper the viewer's appreciation of the philosophical puzzle being put on display. Worse still, the stories have their own share of weaknesses: the dramatic events seems shallow and unimportant, the comedic turn comes across as bland, unfunny and lacking in true wit. Both threads suffer from weak, stilted writing, and feel artificial, flat, and too "inside" to appeal to most viewers. Top it all off with the violently unfunny Will Ferrell pretending to be Woody Allen--a tired act we've seen before, and done better by better actors--and the movie comes up short in every facet. This film would have been an inferior effort from a first timer; from writer/director Allen, it's a disaster.

Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle

Strange that a movie about Dorothy Parker and the other wittys of the Algonquin Round Table could be so boring...and yet, here's your proof.

My Dinner With Andre

An interesting idea for a movie: two guys just talking. A must see if you want to have all of your proper intellectual credentials in order. But it won't hold the attention of most people. It probably needs to be seen several times in order to digest everything (pun intended).

Radio Days

Maybe this is where the downward slide started. Woody Allen's self-indulgence, which served him well early on, began to pull him down with this bit of autobiography. A nice idea--life during Allen's childhood, in the "radio days"--arrives too disjointed, too hit or miss, too erratic to be called a success. The film is better during the family sequences than the inevitable, shoehorned-in Mia Farrow storyline (back when she and he were still tight). The overall cast is excellent, the presentation is sterling and accurate to the period, but that self-indulgence--and some heavy-handed "statement" scenes--do just enough to pull this movie down. Not awful, but not what could have been.