|
All Reviews by Jason
Aaron
The
SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
Much to the chagrin of conservative Christians everywhere, this film
does not answer the lingering question of SpongeBob’s sexuality. But
then again who gives a rat’s ass?
The cartoon show that’s a hit with both kids and adults makes a seamless
transition to the big screen, providing plenty of laughs all around.
There are some big league actors contributing voices, including Alec
Baldwin, Scarlett Johansson and Jeffrey Tambor, and David Hasselhoff
makes a cameo in his Baywatch get-up, but thankfully filmmakers don’t
stray too far from the simple, quirky humor that got them here. (PG)
Rating: 4
Heat (Two-Disc
Special Edition)
Originally shot as a TV movie in the 1980s when director Michael
Mann was best known as the creator of the hit show Miami Vice, Heat
was remade in 1995 with an all-star cast, including Al Pacino, Robert
De Niro and Val Kilmer. The result was one of the greatest heist films
in movie history.
Pacino is the cop and De Niro the thief in this LA crime epic, and
the brilliant scene where the two men finally come face to face (in
a coffee shop, like a couple of joes talking shop) is one of the most
important scenes of the last ten years, in particular because it’s
the only time the two legendary actors have shared the screen. Heat
also boasts a 15-minute bank job getaway that ranks as one of the
cinema’s ten greatest shoot-outs.
This new two-disc Special Edition, which features Behind the Scenes
documentaries, a commentary track by Mann and deleted scenes, is a
dramatic improvement over the film's original, lackluster DVD release.
(R) Rating: 5
Raging
Bull
At last, the best film of the 1980s makes its way to DVD and boy
was it worth the wait. Director Martin Scorsese’s masterpiece is the
gorgeously gritty, black and white portrait of tormented boxer Jake
La Motta.
Robert De Niro’s unforgettable performance as the brutal La Motta
won the actor great acclaim, a place in movie lore (after he gained
60 pounds for the film’s finale) and an Oscar for best actor.
This new two-disc DVD Collector’s Set truly does justice to
a movie that ranks among the cinematic elite. There’s an all-new,
four-part Behind the Scenes documentary that features interviews with
all the major players as well as a feature that compares archival
footage of La Motta in the ring to the film’s meticulous recreations.
There are also four separate commentary tracks featuring Scorcese,
his long-time editor Thelma Schoonmaker, screenwriter Paul Schrader
and even La Motta himself. This is definitely the early favorite for
DVD of the year. (R) Rating: 5
The Grudge
Why have a movie set in Japan where all the main characters are American?
In this case, it was apparently the only way producers could persuade
Japanese director Takashi Shimizu to remake his horror film Ju-On.
The results didn’t warrant the effort.
While the 96-minuteThe Grudge can be boiled down to a pretty spooky
trailer, as a film it’s nothing more than an uneven sequence of PG-13
creepiness, unlikely to scare anyone for very long. Sarah Michelle
Gellar was more convincing as a butt-kicking vampire slayer than as
the terrified nurse she plays here, one who stumbles upon a cursed
house in Tokyo where the ghosts of murder victims (and their cat)
are knocking off anyone foolish enough to enter their domain.
The story is convoluted and the scares come few and far between,
making The Grudge a forgettable failure. (PG-13) Rating: 1
|
