stoobushblog

Wow, where the hell have I been?

Spider-Man 2: 3.5 Stars.

Shrek 2: 3.5 Stars.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: 3.25 Stars.

Man on Fire: 2.75 Stars. I'm out of steam...only stars from now on...

Along Came Polly: 2.5 Stars. To be honest, this was a better film than I thought it'd be. Most of that is because of Philip Seymour Hoffman, who's probably the best actor working today. He plays an all-growed up child actor from a Breakfast Club-type blockbuster, and works the angle to perfection. The rest of the film is your standard Ben Stiller catastrophe-ridden love story, which, come to think of it, is still better than most of the dreck in our theatres today. Special kudos to Hank Azaria, who makes all his money doing voice work, but still has a physique that'd put Brad Pitt to shame. He's also very funny.

Calendar Girls: 3 Stars. This is a cute little British farce, in the vein of Full Monty, and it roughly imitates the same charming formula, right down to the nakedness. My only complaint is that it was a little short. I'd've liked to see a bit more fleshed-out characters (no pun intended) rather than just focusing on the three or four main women and their varying quality of husband.

Starsky and Hutch: 2.5 Stars. This movie gets better in retrospect, but it's still more a bunch of funny, strung-together bits than a comedic tour-de-force. Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson are their lovable selves, but Vince Vaughn steals the film as a very Jewish drug dealer. Nice to see Jason Bateman getting some work, though. It makes me wonder when we're going to get another Stripes- or Ghostbusters-class comedy again. Do it.

The Big Bounce: 0 Stars. If there's a worse, more incoherent, more inexplicable waste of talent this year, I'll eat this computer.