Bowling for Columbine

Bowling for Columbine
November 15, 2002
United Artists etc.
Documentary
DVD
B

Written, directed, and starring Michael Moore, this documentary is not what it seems.  Like the book Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man by Susan Faludi, it is as much about the literal and figurative journey to find answers to a complex question as it about the answers and the question.  Here the question begins with, "Why did the Columbine tragedy happen?" and then expands to raise questions about violence, fear, and racism, obviously overlapping categories.  The movie is often assumed to be anti-gun, but Moore is an NRA member and he points out that Canada is just as "gun-loving" as the US, but with much lower murder rates.

The movie is interesting and entertaining, if sometimes painful to watch.  It captures the way the late '90s led to the very early oughts.  My main complaint is that, while I recognize that this is propaganda, and doesn't really pretend not to be, the cards are very clearly stacked.  And not just with the issues.  Everyone that Moore dislikes, like Charlton Heston (coming off as even blinder than he did in Celluloid Closet, which is saying something), seems like an insensitive clod.  But everyone he likes is painted glowingly, himself most of all.  It is self-serving to show himself as either comforting the suffering or zinging the callous.  I understand that the persona of "Michael Moore" is a big part of his movies, but it is distracting.  I will probably revisit this issue when we look at Fahrenheit 9/11.  For now, I'll note that in a way that movie is a sequel to this one, in that the portions of this documentary set after September 11, 2001 obviously show where violence, fear, and racism can lead.

Chris Rock does a funny routine about bullets, showing how he could've been used more effectively in Dogma, making points without the heavy-handedness of that script.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
November 15, 2002
Warner Bros.
Children's, Comedy, Fantasy, Mystery, Horror
DVD
B

My review of the book is here:  http://rereadingeverybookiown.blogspot.com/2013/11/harry-potter-and-chamber-of-secrets.html.  I have somewhat changed my mind about the movie, but first I want to cover the regulars for this entry.  (Stars indicate newbies.)

1. Sean Biggerstaff as Oliver Wood
2. David Bradley as Argus Filch
3. John Cleese as Nearly Headless Nick
4. Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid
5. Eleanor Columbus as Susan Bones (still not speaking, since she's not British, but she does join Hermione in crushing on Lockhart)
6. Violet Columbus (another of the director's daughters) as Girl with Flowers in one of the moving portraits*
7. Emily Dale as Katie Bell
8. Warwick Davis as Professor Flitwick
9. Louis Doyle as Ernie MacMillan*
10. Alfred Enoch as Dean Thomas
11. Scott Fearn as Adrian Pucey (although Terence Higgs before)
12. Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy
13. Richard Griffiths as Uncle Vernon Dursley
14. Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley
15. Robert Hardy as Cornelius Fudge*
16. Richard Harris as Albus Dumbledore
17. Josh Herdman as Gregory Goyle
18. David Holmes as a Slytherin Beater (although specifically Adrian Pucey before)
19. Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy*
20. Toby Jones as the voice of Dobby the House Elf*
21. Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom
22. Harry Melling as Dudley Dursley
23. Devon Murray as Seamus Finnigan
24. James Phelps as Fred Weasley
25. Oliver Phelps as George Weasley
26. Leslie Phillips as the voice of the Sorting Hat
27. Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter
28. Chris Rankin as Percy Weasley
29. Adrian Rawlins as James Potter
30. Fiona Shaw as Aunt Petunia Dursley
31. Charlotte Skeoch as Hannah Abbott*
32. Geraldine Somerville as Lily Potter
33. Danielle Tabor as Angelina Johnson
34. Harry Taylor as the Station Guard
35. Emma Watson as Hermione Granger
36. Jamie Waylett as Vincent Crabbe
37. Mark Williams as Arthur Weasley*
38. Bonnie Wright as Ginny Weasley
39. Luke Youngblood as Lee Jordan

Also, Amy Puglia, who was a Quidditch Player last time, is just a Pupil this time.  Maria Coyne and Oliver Lavery-Farag again play unspecified students.  Ben Borowiecki is again a Diagon Alley Boy, here named Angus for no known reason.  (It's not like he has lines or anyone talks to him.)   Christopher O'Shea would again be an extra in Order of the Phoenix.  Jamie Dunlop makes another of his three uncredited appearances as a wizard.  

Shirley Henderson is the most in-jokily cast newbie, as Moaning Myrtle, soon after her appearance as another bathroom-weeper in the first Bridget Jones movie.  (She would return to both series.)  And Bridget's mother, an actual Ms. Jones, Gemma Jones, makes her first appearance as Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse.  Miriam Margolyes was in some of my other movies, and she first appears as Madam Sprout here.  (I had to limit tags, so Henderson and Margolyes are omitted.)

Alan Rickman and Maggie Smith both return (as Snape and McGonagall) and have their moments, although fewer than in the first movie.  Julie Walters, on the other hand, makes the most of the many more Weasley family scenes, in her role as matriarch Molly.

The main one-timer of note is Kenneth Branagh, as the vain Professor Lockhart.  Although not exactly handsome, he makes the role his own.  Along with Jason Isaacs, he shows that you don't have to be in the first movie to be impressive in the second.  (And of course there would be other later additions who would shine.)

I still have some gripes about this movie, yes, including "No Hogwarts without you," but I tried to be fair in my viewing this time.  Even with that scene, the line itself is OK.  It's the standing ovation that Hagrid gets that bugs me.  It is the first in a series of tone-deaf endings, and yet it is slightly balanced by the post-credit throw-away gag about Lockhart's latest book.  (The first movie's ending is just right though.)

The two main things I noticed this time were that the children's acting has generally improved (including Radcliffe's, who's less bland, although not at the level he'd attain later), and the movie is darker (although less than later of course).  I really do feel it is arguably both a mystery that we can solve along with Harry and friends (more so than the first movie), and a horror movie.  The latter is seen in the use of the spiders and the Basilisk.  At the same time, the movie is much more of a comedy than the first, especially in the first hour.  On the down-side, there's the beginning of the use of Ron for comic relief, which I don't resent as much as some in the fandom but it can be seen as a cheapening of his character.

There is less shiny wonder than in the first year, but this is compensated for by the general improvement.  Even the special effects and music are better than they were a year earlier.  (I like "Fawkes's Theme" best, capturing the healing and hope.)  I will admit that the pacing is not as good, but it's never dull.

So basically, it's a movie with growing pains, and good and bad mixed together, as suits the voice-changing twelve-year-old hero.

Near, far, in our motor car, oh, what a happy time we'll spend!

The Cat's Meow

The Cat's Meow
April 12, 2002
Lions Gate etc.
Historical, Mystery, Drama, Comedy
DVD
B-

I don't think it's just that this follows Gosford Park that makes me feel that it's a lesser film.  It doesn't quite work, although it's interesting.  Unlike Gosford, it's based on a real-life mystery, the death of producer Thomas Ince in 1924, possibly on board William Randolph Hearst's yacht.  The main characters are based on real people, notably Hearst, played by 59-year-old Edward Herrmann (who was one of the on-screen "swells" in Purple Rose of Cairo), and his long-term mistress Marion Davies, played quite well by Kirsten Dunst at 19.  Others in the cast include Eddie Izzard as Charlie Chaplin, Joanna Lumley as Elinor Glyn (who came up with the concept of "It" for sex appeal), and Jennifer Tilly as Louella Parsons.  I will say that the costumes, particularly "Lolly's," are much better than in Gosford, where they are either plain (for the servants) or genteelly bland.  The Hollywood setting helps.

Claudie Blakley is almost unrecognizable as Didi the flapper here, compared to her role of mousy but strong Mabel Nesbitt in Gosford.

Gosford Park

Gosford Park
January 18, 2002
USA Films etc.
Historical, Mystery, Drama, Comedy
DVD
B+

As with Monsoon Wedding, it takes awhile to sort out all the characters and their relationships in this movie, but fortunately this film holds up even better to repeat viewings.  Yes, it's a mystery, but the whodunnit is just one aspect of the intricate plot.  I also feel that the various threads are resolved satisfactorily, if usually not thoroughly.  The movie was directed and co-written by Robert Altman, so this "ensemble piece" aspect is not surprising.

The setting is a house party in 1932.  We get to know both "upstairs" and "downstairs," and how they sometimes overlap, sexually in particular.  I'm going to mostly just mention the people who are in other films of mine (some of them of course in the Harry Potter series), although they're by no means the only ones giving strong performances.  The closest to a heroine, and the one who solves the mystery, is Mary Maceachran, played by Kelly Macdonald with a soft Scottish burr and very observant eyes.

• Bob Balaban, who plays Morris Weissman, helped come up with the concept for the film and his character is the most an outsider, as a gay, Jewish Hollywood producer.
• Stephen Fry this time plays Inspector Thompson, the bumbling detective, who adds a more farcical element to the movie.  (Most of the rest of the humour is very dry.)
• Michael Gambon, as William McCordle, is very gruff, with none of the warmth or whimsy of his later role as Dumbledore #2.  (Of course, there are Potter fans who see him as just as gruff as Dumbledore.)
• Richard E. Grant, as George, spends a lot of the time sneering at people, but it works much better than when he was sneering at the Spice Girls as their manager.
• Tom Hollander, as Anthony Meredith, is the only happily married man in the movie, although he is worried about money throughout most of the story.  His role of the short and insecure man is not unlike his role in In the Loop at the other end of the decade.
• Jeremy Northam is understated but pivotal as Ivor Novello (the only real character), since he shows the importance of pop culture to "low-class" people, while the upper classes look down on him and it.  He also sings well as Novello.
• Maggie Smith, as Constance Trentham, not surprisingly comes closer to stealing the film than anyone does, making the most of her wonderful lines.  Yet there's a poignancy to her role, since she, too, worries about money.  (And, yes, there's a certain retroactive irony to McGonagall pleading with Dumbledore.)  She would of course go on to the television series Downton Abbey, which was created by one of the screenwriters here, Julian Fellowes.
• Geraldine Somerville as Louisa Stockbridge (the red-haired sister) is very different than in her saintly role as Harry Potter's dead mother.
• Sophie Thompson, as Dorothy, gives one of the messages of the movie, on the importance of loving someone, whether or not the love is returned.

Note:  John Atterbury, who plays Merriman, would be the portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

It's so exhausting training new servants.

The Royal Tenenbaums

The Royal Tenenbaums
January 4, 2002
Touchstone
Comedy
DVD
B

This is the only Wes Anderson movie I own, though I've seen others.  At that, this Criterion edition was a gift.  I liked the movie when it came out and I still like it.  I admire the attention to detail and the offbeat sense of humor, and sense of everything else.  But it's not really a movie I can warm up to.  In fact, I probably like it better in pieces-- from the game closet to individual lines-- more than I do as a whole.    Anderson wanted to make it a New York movie in a literary, almost fairytale, way, and so this is and is not the New York that was or was about to be shattered by September 11th.  It is a very visual, almost theatrical movie, and yet it also feels like J.D. Salinger and John Irving collaborated on a reboot of From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

Luke Wilson is almost unrecognizable here compared to in Legally Blonde, particularly when he's got long hair, a beard, and sunglasses.  Gwyneth Paltrow is much better here than she was as Emma, with a very deadpan delivery.  Bill Murray's role as Paltrow's husband, Raleigh St. Clair, is far from my favorite, but as always he adds something to the proceedings.  I don't have Owen Wilson in any of my other movies, but it is interesting how he (in a script he cowrote with Anderson) plays a family friend, while Ben Stiller (in a curly wig and red jumpsuit) plays the other Tenenbaum child.

William Sturgis was Elliot's Analyst in Hannah and Her Sisters and is Franklin Benedict here.  Andrew Wilson (older brother to Luke and Owen) was a School Guard in Never Been Kissed and plays both Farmer Father and Tex Hayward here.  Kevin Kean Murphy, who's an Archaeologist here, would be an Interview subject in Kinsey.  Lian Moy is a Patron here and would be a Student in School of Rock.  Amir Raissi, who's one of Eli's Egyptian Friends, would be a dancer in Enchanted.

The real star of the movie is the house.

Monsoon Wedding

Monsoon Wedding
January 4, 2002
Mirabai Films etc.
Comedy, Drama, Romance, Musical
VHS
B

This film was embraced internationally.  (The release date I chose is the one for the UK, on the theory that that is the first country it appeared in that I could've hypothetically seen it in, although it was actually a few months later that I traveled there.)   With all the code-switching between English and Hindi, the viewer has to both listen and read subtitles, as well as watch facial expressions.  And the music on the soundtrack weaves in and out, so although this is by no means "Bollywood," I think it is fair to describe it as a musical.  It is also visually dazzling, with bright colors on fabrics and flowers in particular.  (You may never think of marigolds the same way again.)

The story of an extended family in the days leading up to and including the wedding of the title, it can at times be a little overwhelming.  Once you sort out who's related to whom, you may find that not every plot thread is resolved, the main weakness of the movie.  That said, the blend of drama and humor (sometimes within one thread) is generally well done.  The movie is also interesting for its blend of modern (including email and cell phones) and traditional.

A kaleidoscopic film

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
November 16, 2001
Warner Bros.
Children's, Fantasy, Comedy
DVD
B

Since this series is known for a cast that is relatively consistent over the course of eight movies, we'd better start with a list of the performers.  And because the number of my tags is limited, I'm going to just use one tag of "Harry Potter regulars" for people who appear in at least two of the eight movies, although I'll note with each film who these regulars are for that time.  This will not include anyone who has made at least two non-Potter films I own, i.e., Alan Rickman and Maggie Smith, who play Professors Severus Snape and Minerva McGonagall.  Plus Julie Walters, who plays Mrs. Weasley, would have two later non-Potter appearances.  So here in Stone, we have (in mostly alphabetical order)

1. Sean Biggerstaff as Oliver Wood
2. David Bradley as Argus Filch
3. John Cleese as Nearly Headless Nick
4. Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid
5. Eleanor Columbus (the director's daughter) as Susan Bones
6. Emily Dale as Katie Bell
7. Warwick Davis as a Goblin Bank Teller and Professor Flitwick
8. Alfred Enoch as Dean Thomas
9. Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy
10. Scott Fern as Terence Higgs (but playing Adrian Pucey in Chamber of Secrets)
11. David Holmes as Adrian Pucey (but playing a Slytherin Beater in Chamber, no idea why the switch)
12. Richard Griffiths as Uncle Vernon Dursley
13. Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley
14. Richard Harris as Albus Dumbledore
15. Josh Herdman as Gregory Goyle
16. John Hurt as Mr. Ollivander
17. Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom
18. Harry Melling as Dudley Dursley
19. Devon Murray as Seamus Finnigan
20. James Phelps as Fred Weasley
21. Oliver Phelps as George Weasley
22. Leslie Philips as the voice of the Sorting Hat
23. Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter
24. Chris Rankin as Percy Weasley
25. Adrian Rawlins as James Potter
26. Fiona Shaw as Aunt Petunia Dursley
27. Geraldine Somerville as Lily Potter
28. Danielle Tabor as Angelina Johnson
29. Harry Taylor as the Station Guard
30. Julie Walters as Molly Weasley
31. Emma Watson as Hermione Granger
32. Jamie Waylett as Vincent Crabbe
33. Bonnie Wright as Ginny Weasley
34. Luke Youngblood as Lee Jordan

More obscurely, Ben Borowiecki would return in Chamber as Diagon Alley Boy; Maria Coyne and Oliver Lavery-Farag would be students again in Chamber; Lisa Osmond would be a Gringotts Goblin again in DH2, as well as a Quidditch Supporter in Goblet; Amy Puglia who's a Quidditch Player here, would be a pupil in Chamber.  

Elizabeth Spriggs, who was Mrs. Jennings in Sense and Sensibility, is typecast as the Fat Lady, while Zoe Wanamaker, who was Oscar's friend in Wilde, is Madam Hooch.  Neither of them would return to this franchise.

My review of the book is here:  http://rereadingeverybookiown.blogspot.com/2013/11/harry-potter-and-philosophers-sorcerers.html.  Note that I'm not using the alternate titles now, since I am reviewing just the American version of the movie (with everyone saying "Sorcerer's").  Less than two years later, I'm not sure I would describe myself as a huge fan per se.  I see flaws in the books and movies.

To some degree, I agree with those who say that Chris Columbus and Steve Kloves, as director and screenwriter respectively, made this too literal an adaptation of the book.  Furthermore, on this viewing, I'm really struck by what a kids' movie this is, in both good and bad ways.  Columbus did capture the wonder and, yes, magic of this world.  We see things through Harry's eyes and Radcliffe is definitely agog much of the time.  We're being introduced to every person, place, or thing that Rowling created.

There's no room for subtlety, and Columbus is not exactly getting nuanced performances out of the children, especially when they scream à la Home Alone.  But that's OK.  Not every children's movie has to be The Wizard of Oz.  That said, Grint and Watson impressed me even at the time, and they bicker like they've been doing that for forty years.  (Radcliffe gives a blander everyboy performance, but he'd come into his own later.)  It's funny to see the little quirks, like Felton's and Watson's over-enunciation, there from the get-go.

As for the adults, other than Smith and Rickman who are perfect out of the gate and would remain so for a decade, the main stand-out is Coltrane.  It's always a surprise to go back to this movie and see how prominent Hagrid is.  It's a natural, relaxed performance, full of warmth and humor, but also bite.  He becomes Harry's guide and surrogate uncle, far kinder than his relatives, who are also featured much more prominently than they would be later.

It would be easy to go on and on about the movie, but these are the main things I wanted to cover, other than John Williams's score, like so much of the film, is overdone but likable.

Legally Blonde

Legally Blonde
July 13, 2001
MGM
Comedy
DVD
B-

Fifteen years after a blackface C. Thomas Howell made it from an L.A. party school to Harvard Law School, Reese Witherspoon follows in his footsteps but strikes quite another blow for "diversity."  As Elle Woods, the blonde of the title, Witherspoon is sweet and bubbly, not to mention smarter and more determined than anyone gives her credit for.  The movie, like Soul Man, manages to both embrace and question stereotypes, although the script (by Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith of 10 Things I Hate About You) is much sharper and of course more plausible.  (Then again, there are moments when Plan Nine is more plausible than Soul Man.)  Blonde includes not just the juxtaposition of Elle's Cosmo Girl outlook with the seriousness of the law, but also little moments that bounce off its peers, like the Josie and the Pussycats references, and the moment when Elle, like Bridget Jones, mistakenly shows up at a party dressed as a Playboy bunny.

I came close to giving this movie a B, but in the end I decided that, like Bridget Jones's Diary and Miss Congeniality (the latter almost the funhouse mirror reflection of this movie), this is something I enjoyed more at the time, enough to see the sequel as well.  That I laughed harder at a couple moments on the commentary than anything in the actual movie is telling.  Similar to Elle herself, the movie is likable and pleasant to be around, but I can't see forming a lasting attachment.

I decided not to go with the "romance" tag, since, although 29-year-old Luke Wilson is also likable as Emmett, the movie is actually more about Elle forming and preserving friendships with all sorts of women.  Among them is Selma Blair as Vivian Kensington, initially her preppie rival, but won over by Elle's sweetness like almost everyone else.  Victor Garber, who plays Professor Callahan, had Goldie Hawn as his first wife in The First Wives Club, and this is another "bland sleazeball" role.

John Kapelos, who plays the punningly named Dewey Newcombe, was Chuck in Roxanne.  Alanna Ubach, as Elle's friend Serena, is almost unrecognizable compared to her role as Noreen, Marcia's lesbian friend, in The Brady Bunch Movie.  Ted Kairys, who's Gerard here, was an Eastern European Technician in the first Austin Powers movie.  Corrine Reilly was the Aquarium Tour Guide in Josie and the Pussycats and is a Reporter here.  Wayne Federman, who's an Admissions Guy, would be Smart Tech Customer in The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

Gemini vegetarians

Bridget Jones's Diary

Bridget Jones's Diary
April 13, 2001
Miramax/Univeral/etc.
Comedy, Romance
DVD
B-

My review of the book is here:  http://rereadingeverybookiown.blogspot.com/2013/10/bridget-joness-diary.html.  And, yes, I'm giving the movie the same grade, a B-.  Due to the time it took for adaptation, and the decision to put Bridget in her "32nd year" (actually, she turns 33 later that year), she is in this incarnation very close to the age I was at the time I first saw the movie.  (Well, first and second, since I went with two different sets of friends.)  So I am to some degree looking back at pre-middle-age and shaking my head.  That desperation to please is not exactly something I relate to anymore.  And even at the time, well, Helen Fielding's heroine was more of a screw-up than anyone I knew.  She's based on Lizzie Bennet, but Lizzie never fell off an exercise bike.

Renée Zellweger makes an appealing lead, yes, despite being the wrong weight and nationality.  She brings out Bridget's vulnerability, and the movie is much sweeter than the book.  To balance this, much of the entertaining cynicism, including against the Smug Marrieds, is lost.  I also found the soundtrack and some of the directing choices (as in the street-fighting scene) overly manipulative.  Like Bridget, the movie tries too hard to please, and ends up pleasing less than if it had relaxed more.

There's no question that you have to watch this one for the cast.  (And I had to pare down my tags due to space limitations.)  Whether it's spotting not only Salman Rushdie but J. K. Rowling at the literary party (Jo is in plaid and has no lines but it is unmistakably her, at a time when her face was not yet as internationally famous as it'd become), or savoring the Austensibly perfectly cast Colin Firth as a modern Mr. Darcy and the no-Edward-Ferrars Hugh Grant as his charming cad rival, there's always someone to watch in addition to Zellweger.  I would've liked more of Bridget's best friends:  James Callis as Tom, Shirley Henderson as Jude, and Sally Phillips as Shazza.  But they Zellweger, Firth, and Grant would return for the sequel, Edge of Reason, as would Gemma Jones and Jim Broadbent as Bridget's parents, and James Faulkner and Celia Imrie as Uncle Geoffrey and Aunt Una Alconbury.  Ms. Rowling aside, there are obviously some Harry Potter connections as well as Jane Austen connections, with the future Moaning Myrtle crying in the bathroom being the most notable.

Campbell Graham would also play Hamish in the sequel, as well as a Ministry Wizard in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.  Ray Donn, who's a Journalist here, would be a customer in the sequel, as well as a Limo Driver in Bride & Prejudice.  Donald Douglas, who plays Mark's father Mr. Darcy, would be promoted to Admiral Darcy for the sequel.  Neil Pearson would return as Bridget's boss at Sit Up Britain, Richard Finch, while Dominic McHale would be back as Bernard.  Crispin Bonham-Carter (distant cousin of Helena) isn't in any my other movies, but TV's Mr. Bingley can be spotted as one of the delighted office workers in the scene where Bridget tells off Daniel.

Fielding, Richard Curtis (who also wrote The Tall Guy), and Andrew Davies (of Firth's P & P) would all co-write the BJD sequel, but Sharon Maguire (the sort of inspiration for Shazzer) would be replaced as director.

Josie and the Pussycats

Josie and the Pussycats
April 11, 2001
Universal
Comedy, Musical
DVD
B+

This movie was much misunderstood at the time, but I found it delightful then and I find it delightful now.  In fact, I still laugh really hard at the opening scene of boy band Du Jour greeting the crowd at the airport, as they lip-sync to their hit "Backdoor Lover," which is about exactly what you think it's about.  Although the movie can't sustain this giddiness, the tone of slyness and irreverence has been set.  Based as this is on an Archie comics spin-off (and two '70s Saturday morning cartoons), this really shouldn't be any better than Spice World, but it includes-- along with very catchy pop music and brightly colored costumes and sets-- the following:

• A cute and charismatic trio as the leads: Rachel Leigh Cook as Josie, Rosario Dawson as Valerie, and Tara Reid as Melody
• A very nice sismance between Josie and Val
• The aforementioned Du Jour, with Seth Green and two guys from Clueless (Donald Faison and Breckin Meyer), one of whom has a monkey named Dr. Zaius.
• Parker Posey and Alan Cumming as the scene-chewing villains
• Missi Pyle coming close to stealing the movie, even if she's playing a character (Alexandra) who is only there because "I was in the comic."  Her delivery on the line accusing Josie of sleeping with Mr. Moviefone is classic.  (And now I guess it's one of the more dated jokes, since no one calls up to find movie times anymore.)
• Over-the-top product placement, which the film-makers didn't make a dime on
• A Eugene Levy cameo (as himself, "the actor") at a time when he seemed to be in every other movie out there
• A hip/nerd sensibility with music jokes for more than one generation, not just about then current pop but about the Captain & Tennille (and Chief)
• A subliminal-message message that is itself mocked
• A reference to Cumming's character in Romy and Michele 

Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan co-wrote A Very Brady Sequel as well, but this time they also direct.  Corinne Reilly, who's the Aquarium Tour guide here, would be a Reporter in Legally Blonde.

Wet Hot American Summer

Wet Hot American Summer
January 23, 2001
Eureka Pictures
Comedy, Historical, Romance
DVD
B

This is a parody/homage to the "summer camp" movies of the late '70s and early '80s, from Meatballs on out.  Some of the time it does feel like one of those movies, but one that just somehow didn't get released for two decades.  (It's set in 1981.)  And other times it feels like a dark comedy, as seen particularly in the "going to town" montage.  Then there are the very not '80s touches, like the gay wedding.  Not everything works in the movie, but enough does.  This go-round I was most impressed with the soundtrack, with no less than three title songs, although the best song is "Higher and Higher," which is used for the training montage.

The cast has many good performers, with the best of lot probably Paul Rudd, cast against "nice guy" type as Andy the good-looking "asshole."  Not only does he insult and cheat on his girlfriend, but he lets kids drown and throws witnesses out of a moving vehicle!  I was also of course quite fond of one couple, by then thirty-six-year-old Janeane Garfolo as Beth the camp director and forty-one-year-old David Hyde Pierce as Henry Newman the astrophysics professor.

Bradley Cooper, then 25, has an early role as Ben, the gay Drama counselor, while Amy Poehler (then 29) plays the overly critical Drama counselor Susie.  This time, Molly Shannon is Gail von Kleinenstein, the Arts & Crafts counselor going through a divorce.

Director/co-writer David Wain would also write and direct a couple other Paul Rudd movies I own, Wanderlust and They Came Together (the latter pairing Rudd with Poehler).  Co-writer Michael Showalter would also co-write TCT, but he doesn't seem to appear in it, as he does here, in the dual roles of Gerald "Coop" Cooperberg and Alan Shemper.  Peter Salett, who's Guitar Dude here, would be Manfreddie in Wanderlust.  Nina Hellman, who's Nancy here, would be a Protester there.  And Michael Ian Black, who plays Ben's boyfriend McKinley, would be Trevor in TCT.

Zak Orth was Mike in In & Out, is J.J. here, and would be David Newbert in Music and Lyrics.