LAST CHRISTMAS is a lugubrious exercise in muddled storytelling. Billed as a romantic comedy, there is little humor to be found as the romance between a klutz who’s lost her way in life, and the handsome stranger who pops in and out of that life fails to ignite past the infamous friend zone. The klutz… Read More »
THE MAN WHO INVENTED CHRISTMAS
In an era when Christmas, or at the least the merchandising for it, begins sometime in late August, there is a certain charm in THE MAN WHO INVENTED CHRISTMAS, which looks back to a time when it barely registered as a blip on the cultural radar. And the the to origins of the story that… Read More »
BUSTER’S MAL HEART
It becomes clear early on that at some point in Jonas’ life, he has taken leave of his senses. Or, rather, his world has come apart at the seams, and his mind has done its poor best to reconstruct it using odds and ends. Told in the not necessarily linear way that the mind operates… Read More »
WHY HIM?
Long before he was mild-mannered chemistry teacher turned fearsome drug lord on Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston made his mark in television comedy by, among other things, keeping Malcolm in the middle, and tending to Seinfeld’s teeth. Those comedic chops stand him in good stead for WHY HIM?, an intermittently hilarious hybrid of the buddy film… Read More »
THE SANTA CLAUSE 2
You have to admire the folks behind THE SANTA CLAUSE II. In this sequel-happy world, they didn’t rush right out to cash in on the success of the original. Instead, they waited eight whole years for a good premise before venturing back, and when you consider that in kids’ years that’s a whole generation, it was a… Read More »
Joel Edgerton is on THE SQUARE
The most interesting bit of trivia that I discovered when talking with Joel Edgerton on February 9, 2010, wasnt anything to do with the film, THE SQUARE, which he co-wrote and in which he co-stars. It was how he was first introduced to the action figure of the character he played in STAR WARS: EPISODE… Read More »
Tim Allen & Michael Lembeck Invoke THE SANTA CLAUS 2
Though the result may be so much cinematic cotton candy, the process of making THE SANTA CLAUS II was anything but all sweetness and light for its star Tim Allen. Playing both Santa and his evil toy double required extensive prosthetic makeup that took hours to apply and didn’t last all that long under the… Read More »
Elizabeth Mitchell is THE SANTA CLAUS II
Elizabeth Mitchell brings a wonderfully savvy sweetness to her role as Santa’s love interest in THE SANTA CLAUS II. It was also evident when I talked with her on October 11, 2002. The conversation turned, naturally enough, to the holiday spirit. You have to admire the folks behind THE SANTA CLAUSE II. In this sequel-happy world, they didn’t… Read More »