Celluloid Heroes

The original Ice Age is one of my favorite movies ever. I know, it's sappy. It's a kid's movie. The animation, while somewhat groundbreaking at the time, isn't so astonishing now. But it's just a good movie. A solid story, some good humor and a nice time.

The sequel? It matches up well in some areas (the humor), it's better in some areas (some of the animation), it's spotty in other areas (the rest of the animation) and the rest is pretty much a lesser film (the storyline).

The addition of Queen Latifah as Ellie the Mammoth (opossum) led to some great humorous bits, but the animation of Queen Latifah was priceless. While it wasn't exactly a mammoth, I'm sure, her personality came through and made the character shine. Meanwhile, the inimitable John Leguizamo did another great job with Sid the Sloth.

Read All of "Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006) Review" »
Posted by Chad Everett on March 31, 2006 in Family

This offering from MTV studios probably won't win too many awards. But it is fun. The animation of the cockroaches is really pretty good - especially when you consider that this was done ten years ago. And if that wasn't enough by itself, the musical numbers they put on aren't bad either.

Jerry O'Connell may not be your favorite actor, and it's not like the role of Joe is much out of the ordinary for him. But the movie does feature Megan Ward as naive politician's daughter Lily Dougherty who Joe is hoping to date if his, uh, roommates don't keep getting in the way.

Read All of "Joe's Apartment (1996) Review" »
Posted by Chad Everett on March 24, 2006 in Comedy

The acting in this drama was superb, especially from Kevin Bacon and Sean Penn. I find that as I watch more and more of Tim Robbins, I find that he has his characters nailed (he won an Oscar for his performance here) but they just don't vary a whole lot. They always have the same off-kilter look, and they each make you wonder what is going on underneath the surface, but there just isn't a lot of real depth. While I'm not the world's largest fan of Sean Penn, I was impressed by his role here (he won too, deservedly so).

The thug-like character played by Penn is matched by Bacon's police persona, and wouldn't you know it? They knew each other as kids. As it turns out, Tim Robbins rounds at the trio as one of the friends who was abducted and abused one fine day while they were in the middle of some mischief making.

Penn's character, Jimmy Markum, finds that his daughter is missing, and then that she is dead. Meanwhile, Bacon's detective, Sean Devine claims the job of trying to figure out who did it - or at least find a reasonable suspect - before Markum uses his contacts to bring someone to justice.

Read All of "Mystic River (2003) Review" »
Posted by Chad Everett on March 19, 2006 in Drama

Put-upon Alan tries to help out his dad (played by Kevin Dunn, a somewhat absentee father) by picking up a small batch of toys from his truck driver pal, so that he can sell them and make some money for their toy store before his dad returns from a trip.

It's only his luck that he gets this first batch out and activates them before they are supposed to be released - only to find out that over-achiever Larry (played by the great Jay Mohr) used the password of his buddy Irwin (David Cross) to order some defense department computer chips to bring the toys to life, give them a real kick. It looks like it may have been just a bit too much.

Read All of "Small Soldiers (1998) Review" »
Posted by Chad Everett on March 18, 2006 in Action

So it's not a hi-brow film. It didn't win any awards. It's still funny. A great ensemble cast - Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen, Wesley Snipes, Rene Russo and even some - or especially some - great one-liners from Mr. Baseball Himself, Bob Uecker, make this one a peach.

The Cleveland Indians are in the pits. They haven't won the pennant for decades. The long-time owner recently died, leaving the time to his ex-showgirl wife Rachel Phelps (played by Margaret Whitton). The widow Phelps, however, doesn't hold Cleveland in high esteem, and wants the team to fall below attendance minimums so she can accept an offer from Miami to move the team there, get a mansion in Boca Raton and a membership in the country club.

Read All of "Major League (1989) Review" »
Posted by Chad Everett on March 18, 2006 in Comedy

This, ahem, classic, stars Christina Applegate as Sue Ellen Crandell, the eldest of the five children Crandell siblings, left at home with a kindly, elderly, babysitter while their mother travels to Australia for an extended trip. Needless to say, they aren't happy about having someone keep an eye on them.

Luckily (for them), their keeper doesn't last long, expiring peacefully in a lounge chair one evening. Being the considerate kids that they are, they pack her in the trunk and drop her off at a funeral home - unknowingly including the money that their mom left the sitter to care for them for two months. This means someone (Sue Ellen draws the short straw) needs to get a job to buy the essentials.

Read All of "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991) Review" »
Posted by Chad Everett on March 17, 2006 in Comedy

The original Ice Age is one of my favorite movies ever. I know, it's sappy. It's a kid's movie. The animation, while somewhat groundbreaking at the time, isn't so astonishing now. But it's just a good movie. A solid story, some good humor and a nice time.

The sequel? It matches up well in some areas (the humor), it's better in some areas (some of the animation), it's spotty in other areas (the rest of the animation) and the rest is pretty much a lesser film (the storyline).

The addition of Queen Latifah as Ellie the Mammoth (opossum) led to some great humorous bits, but the animation of Queen Latifah was priceless. While it wasn't exactly a mammoth, I'm sure, her personality came through and made the character shine. Meanwhile, the inimitable John Leguizamo did another great job with Sid the Sloth.

Read All of "Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006) Review" »
Posted by Chad Everett on March 31, 2006 in Family

This offering from MTV studios probably won't win too many awards. But it is fun. The animation of the cockroaches is really pretty good - especially when you consider that this was done ten years ago. And if that wasn't enough by itself, the musical numbers they put on aren't bad either.

Jerry O'Connell may not be your favorite actor, and it's not like the role of Joe is much out of the ordinary for him. But the movie does feature Megan Ward as naive politician's daughter Lily Dougherty who Joe is hoping to date if his, uh, roommates don't keep getting in the way.

Read All of "Joe's Apartment (1996) Review" »
Posted by Chad Everett on March 24, 2006 in Comedy

The acting in this drama was superb, especially from Kevin Bacon and Sean Penn. I find that as I watch more and more of Tim Robbins, I find that he has his characters nailed (he won an Oscar for his performance here) but they just don't vary a whole lot. They always have the same off-kilter look, and they each make you wonder what is going on underneath the surface, but there just isn't a lot of real depth. While I'm not the world's largest fan of Sean Penn, I was impressed by his role here (he won too, deservedly so).

The thug-like character played by Penn is matched by Bacon's police persona, and wouldn't you know it? They knew each other as kids. As it turns out, Tim Robbins rounds at the trio as one of the friends who was abducted and abused one fine day while they were in the middle of some mischief making.

Penn's character, Jimmy Markum, finds that his daughter is missing, and then that she is dead. Meanwhile, Bacon's detective, Sean Devine claims the job of trying to figure out who did it - or at least find a reasonable suspect - before Markum uses his contacts to bring someone to justice.

Read All of "Mystic River (2003) Review" »
Posted by Chad Everett on March 19, 2006 in Drama

Put-upon Alan tries to help out his dad (played by Kevin Dunn, a somewhat absentee father) by picking up a small batch of toys from his truck driver pal, so that he can sell them and make some money for their toy store before his dad returns from a trip.

It's only his luck that he gets this first batch out and activates them before they are supposed to be released - only to find out that over-achiever Larry (played by the great Jay Mohr) used the password of his buddy Irwin (David Cross) to order some defense department computer chips to bring the toys to life, give them a real kick. It looks like it may have been just a bit too much.

Read All of "Small Soldiers (1998) Review" »
Posted by Chad Everett on March 18, 2006 in Action

So it's not a hi-brow film. It didn't win any awards. It's still funny. A great ensemble cast - Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen, Wesley Snipes, Rene Russo and even some - or especially some - great one-liners from Mr. Baseball Himself, Bob Uecker, make this one a peach.

The Cleveland Indians are in the pits. They haven't won the pennant for decades. The long-time owner recently died, leaving the time to his ex-showgirl wife Rachel Phelps (played by Margaret Whitton). The widow Phelps, however, doesn't hold Cleveland in high esteem, and wants the team to fall below attendance minimums so she can accept an offer from Miami to move the team there, get a mansion in Boca Raton and a membership in the country club.

Read All of "Major League (1989) Review" »
Posted by Chad Everett on March 18, 2006 in Comedy

This, ahem, classic, stars Christina Applegate as Sue Ellen Crandell, the eldest of the five children Crandell siblings, left at home with a kindly, elderly, babysitter while their mother travels to Australia for an extended trip. Needless to say, they aren't happy about having someone keep an eye on them.

Luckily (for them), their keeper doesn't last long, expiring peacefully in a lounge chair one evening. Being the considerate kids that they are, they pack her in the trunk and drop her off at a funeral home - unknowingly including the money that their mom left the sitter to care for them for two months. This means someone (Sue Ellen draws the short straw) needs to get a job to buy the essentials.

Read All of "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991) Review" »
Posted by Chad Everett on March 17, 2006 in Comedy