Miss Congeniality

Miss Congeniality
December 22, 2000
Castle Rock etc.
Comedy, Action
VHS
B-

I don't enjoy this movie as much as I did at the time, but it remains entertaining, due mostly to the title character, AKA Gracie Hart, as played by 36-year-old Sandra Bullock.  It is very much a product of its time, from the clumsy coming out of a character on live TV, to Gracie's makeover and subsequent winning over of her cute but unkind boss (Benjamin Bratt).  I'm not using the "romance" tag though because their relationship is almost an afterthought compared to her father-daughter-like bonding with her stylist, Michael Caine as Victor Melling, and all the female bonding with sloppy, butch (but soft-hearted) Gracie and the other beauty contestants.  William Shatner and Candice Bergen have some nice moments as pageant veterans who are being forced into retirement.  But mostly this is Bullock's show, whether she's dressed for playing musical glasses or dressed figuratively and literally to kill.  I have seen the sequel (which drops the Bratt character) and found it pretty good, but I probably won't buy it.

Steve Monroe, who plays Frank Tobin, was one of the sons in the father-son therapy group in Austin Powers.  Heather Burns, who's sweet and funny as Cheryl (Miss Rhode Island), would also be in Bullock's Two Weeks Notice, which would be not only written but directed by one of the co-writers here, Marc Lawrence.  (Not to be confused with the older actor who played a villain in Goin' Coconuts, Foul Play, and Super Fuzz.)

Dude, Where's My Car?

Dude, Where's My Car?
December 15, 2000
Fox
Comedy, Sci-Fi
DVD
B-

In the sub-sub-genre of bonehead stoners saving the Earth/universe, I'd put this on a level with Spirit of '76 and slightly above Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.  The two dudes in this (the extremely typecast Ashton "Kelso" Kutcher and Sean William "Stifler" Scott) are actually more moronic than any buddies I've seen in any movies.  (Admittedly, I haven't seen Dumb & Dumber among other others.)  There's a scene that is like the most basic version of "Who's on First" you've ever heard, consisting as it does with the guys reading the tattoos on each other's backs, "Dude" and "Sweet," and then asking what their own tattoos say.  And there's a scene where Kutcher's character is enraged by the woman working the drive-through microphone at a Chinese fast-food place.  And then....

Anyway, it's stupid.  There's never really a sense that the film was made by or for anyone much brighter than the protagonists.  But I can't help it, I find the movie funny.  Maybe not as funny as I did almost 15 years ago, but obviously funny enough to get the DVD (with commentary no less).  And, yes, the movie is sci-fi.  Its convoluted and not completely resolved plot-- you never actually see the car tracked down-- involves two sets of aliens and a cult of bubble-wrapped geeks who want to be abducted.  It's tempting to analyze this film as a dream/nightmare of young white men, with their fears and desires about different genders and races all mixed together, with a special section on how instead of hugging each other and then calling each other "fag," as Bill and Ted did more than a decade earlier, Jesse and Chester nonchalantly beat Fabio and his girlfriend in a kissing contest.  But basically it's a stupid, kind of fun movie and I don't feel like spending that much time on it.

Geoffrey Gould, who was an Audience Member in In & Out, is a Cult Member here.  The actor known as Turtle, who plays Cult Member Jeff, would have an uncredited role as a Beatnik in Down With Love.  And Jennifer Garner would have a much serious role in Juno than she does here as one of the dudes' very much not identical twin girlfriends.

The movie that may have the longest title to be frequently dropped.

High Fidelity

High Fidelity
March 31, 2000
Touchstone
Comedy, Romance
DVD
A

As I said in my review of the book, http://rereadingeverybookiown.blogspot.com/2013/09/high-fidelity.html, this is an example of how sometimes the movie is better than the book.  I have seen this movie in a revival theater with a very appreciative crowd and I have seen it by myself, and I think I've seen it with one or two boyfriends.  It remains wise, silly, romantic, cynical, and endlessly quotable.  ("Kathleen Turner Overdrive" is funnier in itself than the average full-length comedy, and that's just one throwaway gag.)  Now that I have my own (failing) business, I can appreciate the film on yet another level.  The performances are great, not just those I tagged but just about everyone in the movie.  But, yes, John Cusack, who also co-wrote and co-produced the film, manages to be Everyman and a music geek at the same time.  His sister Joan is perfect as his sort of ex's friend Liz.  Jack Black gives a tour de force (and force of nature) performance as over-the-top Barry (one of the "musical moron twins" who work in Rob's store).  And Tim Robbins, in a ponytail, hits just the right notes as Ian/Ray.

In fact, the film is so wonderful I really don't know what to add except that I thoroughly enjoyed it.  As with the other two A's (Some Like It Hot and Groundhog Day), I don't know what would make it into an A+.  Maybe if the ending were a little tighter (or rather the lead-up to it), since it feels like the movie is going to have a neat Hollywood ending, but then it changes gears to give a more complex and happier ending.  This is a quibble though, and I could make others, but if the film teaches us anything it's that things don't have to be perfect to be wonderful.

Marilyn Dodds Frank plays Alison's Mom and would be Woman Who Bought Television in The 40-Year-Old Virgin.  Penny Marshall allegedly is one of the people at the funeral.

Note, as with my book blog, I'm using "2000s" to mean anything from Y2K onward, because I honestly haven't even seen that many new movies in the last few years, so I understandably don't own many from the current decade.

Dogma

Dogma
November 12, 1999
View Askew
Comedy, Horror, Fantasy
DVD
C+

I said of Chasing Amy that it was a weaker film than Clerks, in part because it attempted more.  Well, this entry, which Kevin Smith spent years on, attempts even more, no less than an examination of Christianity, specifically Catholicism, but with, yes, a comedy/horror/fantasy slant.  And it just doesn't work.  It's not without interest and it does have some nice cameos, notably Janeane Garofalo as Liz and George Carlin as Cardinal Glick, but the leads are too given to speechifying, and mixing this with jokes about shit and acts of bloody slaughter does not help.  The best of the major characters is Jason Lee as Azrael.  Yes, he's doing his Banky thing, but it works for an annoyed demon.  Alan Rickman, as Metratron (the Voice of God) looks like he'd rather be somewhere else, and I can't tell how much of this is just the character and how much of it is Rickman.  (He is well cast though in the sense that in the following decade his voice would sway a fandom.)  It's always nice to see Bud Cort, but the plot renders him immobile for most of the movie.  Ben Affleck as Bartleby and Matt Damon as Loki, yes, once again besties playing besties, speechify and commit the aforementioned acts of bloody slaughter.  And Kevin Smith manages to pull a Thalberg on himself and "hetero life-mate" Jason Mewes, since Jay and Silent Bob are supposed to be heroes in this one, while still being low-lifes.  In fact, there are scenes where Bob is so MGM-Harpo-ized that he starts communicating in pantomime (though he can actually talk in this and other movies).

Verdict: I'm unlikely to buy any more K. Smith movies, but if someone gave me one, I'd probably keep it.

Among the View Askew regulars are Dwight Ewell (Kane), Walter Flanagan (Protestor #2), John Launder (Priest with Buddy Christ #1), Kimberly Loughran (Woman in Elevator), Scott Mosier (Smooching Seaman), Ernest O'Donnell (Reporter), Vincent Pereira (unknown character), Ethan Suplee (Voice of Noman), Guinevere Turner (Bus Station Attendant).  Also Jeff Anderson and Brian O'Halloran, Randal and Dante of Clerks, here play respectively Gun Salesman and Grant Hicks.  Joe Shelby, who was a doctor in Bob Roberts, is a Bus Rider here.

So, wait, you're smart enough to cast me and then you drop me from the rest of the movie?

Better Than Chocolate

Better Than Chocolate
April 22, 1999
British Columbia Film etc.
Comedy, Romance
DVD
B

This Canadian movie, with an appealing cast that has no overlap with any other movie in my collection, remains a little gem.  I don't want to oversell it because I think the writing is a little weak.  Even by the U-haul standards of some lesbians*, Kim and Maggie get involved and "in love" very fast.  And the ending is a bit rushed, although I suspect that the "Where are they nows" are somewhat tongue-in-cheek.  But the movie is undeniably chocolate-like, in that it's sweet and likable.  It's also sexy in a non-exploitative way, unlike Different Strokes.  This film wasn't made for straight male porn-consumers, although it appeals to people of various sexes and sexualities.  It's also one of the few "queer" movies, particularly for its time period, to have a sympathetic trans character and a somewhat sympathetic bi character (well, Carla is "omnisexual," but close enough).  The soundtrack is good, especially the songs that are lip-synced, like "Sexy" and "Julie Christie Makes Me Go Misty."  Most of all, the film is funny, especially the character of Frances the bookstore owner.  And Karyn Dwyer as red-haired protagonist Maggie is absolutely adorable.

Better than chocolate?  Well, no, but better than a lot of its big-screen peers.

*The U-haul joke as told me by a gay male housemate, a few years before this movie was released:
Q: What do lesbians bring on a second date?
A:  A U-haul.
Q: What do gay men bring on a second date?
A: What second date?

Never Been Kissed

Never Been Kissed
April 9, 1999
Fox
Comedy, Romance
VHS
D

I liked this movie at the time.  Otherwise I wouldn't have bought it, admittedly for under $1.  But when I last watched it, I was very disappointed.  And this time it seemed even worse.  On the surface, it seems like my kind of movie: it's the '90s but with '80s nostalgia, it's got Drew Barrymore, and it's a rom-com mixed with a teen comedy.  But it is in fact the worst movie in my collection in almost 30 years (since George Hamilton's Togetherness from 1970).

It's hard to know where to start, but let's talk about Barrymore and her character of Josie Geller, and the glaring anachronisms.  Barrymore was 24 at this point, so watching the movie again (I'd blocked out a lot) I was surprised that Josie had flashbacks with an '83ish soundtrack (e.g. Lauper's "She Bop").  This would make her my generation or maybe a bit older.  But then late in the film we find out that Josie is supposed to be 25, in 1999.  This means she graduated in '91 or '92.  I can see fudging things a bit in The Wedding Singer and Romy & Michele, because, let's face it, pop music was better in '83 than in '85 or '87.  (I've maintained, since the time, that "Say Say Say" was the last great pop song until the B-52s made their comeback with "Love Shack" et al.)  But come on!  If the script had made Josie older, or if they had wanted to contrast the early '90s with the late '90s, that would've been interesting.  But it's just one among many signs that the writers have no clue about teens of any generation.

Now, I'm not going to argue that Romy & Michele or 10 Things I Hate have a documentary-like realism about them.  They are pop fluff, but they're intelligent pop fluff that gets at some level of relatable truth.  This film in contrast does not have a moment in it that is believable even within its own poorly constructed world.  This might be OK if there was a surreal campiness about it, like in Grease 2, but the movie just isn't fun.  It's not even occasionally enjoyably unfun, like Different Strokes sometimes was.  I can't even hate it because I feel too sorry for it.

10 Things I Dislike About This Movie

1. Garry Marshall, as the publisher who sends Josie on the assignment to pretend to be a high school student, shows he hasn't exactly grown as an actor in the three decades since How Sweet It Is!
2. There are a lot of other unfunny and unappealing staff at the Chicago Sun-Times.  (Roger Ebert gave the movie three stars, because he thought Barrymore was great.  Well, I guess I did, too, at the time.)
3. Josie is supposed to be a highly intelligent person but she does remarkably stupid things throughout.
4. Her "romance" with the teacher is generic and annoying, especially the big countdown to a public kiss.
5. The only other teacher featured is the subject of an unfunny menopause joke.
6. The popular kids are either forgettable or miscast, especially the interchangeable popular girls and the emo boy pretending to be the BMOC.
7. As in Zapped Again, there is a beautiful "plain" nerd-girl, but instead of getting her soulmate nerd-boy, she pines for the utterly unappealing B-emo-C.  (Lucy wouldn't put up with this shit!)
8. Josie's brother Rob (David Arquette in an almost likable performance) decides mid-movie to attend the same high school, even though he's 23, in order to help make her popular and win himself a baseball scholarship.  (The school has security check-in but anyone can enroll at any age.)
9. Everyone gets mad at Rob for lying to them, but they all forgive Josie when she writes a fawning, un-bitter article about how wonderful high school was this time around.  They even root for her to get with the teacher!
10. The soundtrack, whether oldies or then newbies, is tired and blah.

Molly Shannon as Josie's friend Anita would have better material to work with in Wet Hot American Summer.   Carmen Llywelyn plays Rob's Girlfriend and was Kim (the girl Alyssa kisses at the club) in Chasing Amy.  Pretty Brunette High School Student Priscilla Cory was Pretty Brunette Hostess in The Wedding Singer, although she was in fact 38 by this point.  Allen Covert, Roger in Op-Ed here, was Sammy there.  Derek Morgan was a CIA Agent in Wag the Dog and is Armcast Henson here.  Lucas MacFadden (of the band Ozomatli) plays himself here but would be Chemistry Teacher in the far superior teen comedy Juno.


(Any resemblance to high school is purely imaginary.)

10 Things I Hate About You

10 Things I Hate About You
March 31, 1999
Touchstone
Comedy, Romance
VHS
B

This is a very '90s teen rom-com, based on The Taming of the Shrew, and even that inspiration is very '90s.  (Cf. not only Clueless, but She's All That, She's the Man, etc.)  Because it's the '90s, the "shrew" is refreshingly the most sympathetic character and she's not so much tamed as gentled by being treated with respect and affection, as well as a marching-band-backed serenade.  It helps that "tamed" and "tamer" are played by a charismatic and intelligent pair, Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger (before he hit it big and then died young).  Also the dialogue and acting are above average for the genre.  (Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith would also co-write Legally Blonde.)  I would've of course liked to have seen more of Allison Janney as Ms. Perky, the guidance counselor who writes bodice-rippers on her office laptop.  The Seattle setting and the soundtrack are also uber-'90s, from the sight of the Space Needle and the sound of Bare Naked Ladies' "One Week" onward.  There are a lot of Renaissance/Shakespeare touches in the film, from sets to dialogue to last names.  If I can't rate the movie higher, it's that it never reaches the dizzy heights of Clueless or Romy & Michele.  However, it will look like, well, Shakespeare compared to the next movie....

Different Strokes

Misleading video box.  There is no threesome, despite Jack's hopes.  There is a picnic though.

Different Strokes
June 25, 1998
Coastline Films
Porn, Romance, Drama
VHS
C-

This was released less than a year before Dana Plato died tragically at 34.  And, yes, the title is a cash-in on her sitcom (which was "Diff'rent").  So, yes, even watching the movie feels like exploitation.  That said, it's not as terrible as you might think.  OK, the sound recording is awful, the budget is low, the acting ranges from godawful to passable (sometimes within one performance), and the writing is, well, porn-level.  But there's something almost endearing about the cheesiness of it all, whether it's Jill #1 and Jill #2 (Plato) cavorting naked like dolphins in the swimming pool, or Jill #1's boyfriend Jack setting photos on fire in the BBQ grill after she's rejected him for Jill #2  (no one even mentions the negatives), or Jack calling Jill #1 a "muff-diver" and her retorting, "Takes one to know one!"

You've probably noticed by now that my porn collection, such as it is, is not exactly based on eroticism, but I found the sex scenes, well, hotter than in the X-rated Pinocchio or Fairy Tales.  There's both straight and lesbian, including a totally gratuitous (as in its relationship to the plot) scene of Jill #2's girlfriend cheating on her.  There's also a lot of eye-sex (long lingering glances), as a substitute for character development.  We do learn that Jill #2 is a feminist and Jill #1 is shy, but that's about the extent of it.  I may have more to say about this movie when reviewing the authentically lesbian Better Than Chocolate, but then again, how much is there to say?

The Object of My Affection

The Object of My Affection
April 17, 1998
Fox
Romance, Comedy, Drama
VHS
B+

Based on a book, this is smarter and more complex than the average rom-com.  Yes, it has a happy ending (for just about everyone), but the journey there is different than you might expect, particularly in a mainstream film (even of the late '90s).

It's tempting to say that straight guys got Chasing Amy, and straight girls got this movie.  That is, in the former an apparent lesbian falls in love with and has sex with a man (only to have their romance threatened by his inability to deal with her bisexual past), while this film has a straight (and pregnant) woman get lots of ballroom dancing, talk, laughs, and cuddling, as well as a potential "mate" to raise her baby with that she gets along with much better than the baby's father.  Their romance is broken by the realization that he will never be sexually and romantically involved with her, although they love each other dearly.

The thing is, George is arguably bi as well, since he does seem aroused when he and Nina make out.  He may well be more oriented towards men, but it's not as if he doesn't have feelings for women, or at least Nina.  The issue is complicated by the undeniable chemistry between 29-year-old Jennifer Aniston  and Paul Rudd (a couple months younger).  The two would pair up again, as a married couple, many years later in the disappointing Wanderlust, but they remain a believable "couple" in this movie.

The script and direction never quite resolve this, but ambiguity is OK.  As for that happy ending, George is (six years later in the epilogue) a sort of uncle figure to Nina's daughter, and George and Nina are still good (maybe best) friends.  He's with the younger man he left Nina for, while she's with the sympathetic black cop she met after what has to be the mildest mugging in film history.  (The one in Clueless is more of a nail-biter to watch!)  True, the young man's sort of lover Rodney seems to be romantically alone, but he's still part of this "family."  (The daughter's father is happy, too, and not really villainized in the movie, which is refreshing.)  Rodney is well played by Nigel Hawthorne, who brings out the poignancy of what it's like when the Object of Your Affection cannot return that affection as you'd like.

Other notable supporting cast members are 38-year-old Allison Janney as Nina's stepsister Constance, the first of at least three does-amazing-stuff-with-this-role characters that Janney plays in my film collection  Her dry delivery is a treasure!  She's paired with Alan Alda, at 62 (and 20 years after Same Time, Next Year) too old for the role (especially since he's playing the father of Nina's six-year-old niece), but still fun in his name-dropping.  And there's a fairly early role for 30-year-old Steve Zahn as George's repeatedly engaged brother Frank.

Todd Stockman was an Audience Member in In & Out and plays a dad here.  Alba Albanese was a New Yorker in As Good as It Gets and is Woman in Central Park here.  School Child George Gearhart King III would be RV Son in Two Weeks Notice, while Iraida Polanco is Carmelita here and would be Rosario there.

The Wedding Singer

The Wedding Singer
February 13, 1998
New Line Cinema
Comedy, Romance, Historical
VHS
B

I'm not an Adam Sandler fan and I don't think this movie particularly captures the '80s, especially 1985.  (It's like they threw the decade into a blender, with JR's shooting here and Miami Vice there, and a soundtrack that sounds mostly like '83, admittedly not unlike Romy & Michele.)  And yet, this is one of the better rom-coms of its era, still holding up well, although more time has passed since '98 than there had between '98 and '85.

While not all the credit is due to 22-year-old but already very experienced Drew Barrymore (John's granddaughter), I do think the teaming of her and Sandler brings out his sweetness, which affects the whole movie.  By the time an entire planeload of strangers (including Billy Idol as himself) is rooting for Sandler's Robbie to win Barrymore's Julia away from her scummy fiance, you have to have a heart of stone (or at least an aversion to rom-coms) to not yourself tear up at the "Grow Old with You" song.

This is not to say that the movie doesn't have the usual tasteless Sandler humor.  (I could've done without the ass-grabbing slow-dance, especially since it includes pubescent-adult pairings.)  There are children (the youngest about four) and old people saying allegedly hilarious and outrageous things.  Many of the '80s jokes fall flat.  Still, there is enough to enjoy here that it's worth viewing, and re-viewing.

I want to give shout-outs to three supporting cast members.  Former Marcia Brady imitator Christine Taylor is almost unrecognizable but equally good as Julia's slutty but kind cousin Holly.  Alexis Arquette is fun as Robbie's friend and bandmate George (who idolizes Boy George).  Arquette was Dick in Threesome and in a way these films show part of the the queer timeline of his/her life, since the performer would transition to female around 2006.  The absolute best cameo in the movie is Steve Buscemi's  David Veltri, two scenes (one at the beginning and one at the end) that he absolutely steals.

Incredibly, 78-year-old Sid Newman, who plays Frank, was Boy on Trolley in 1944's Meet Me in St. Louis, so I guess he beats George Burns, Groucho Marx, and Debbie Reynolds for longevity, although he's nowhere near their level of fame.  Marc Lonow, who's the Father of the Bride (I think the one who beats up Robbie), was Dave (the uptight married guy) twenty years earlier, in Thank God It's Friday.   Carmen Filpi, who's Old Man at Bar, had a small but pivotal role as Old Man Withers in Wayne's World.  Angela Paton was much more memorable as Mrs. Lancaster in Groundhog Day than she is as Faye here. Jason Cottle and Jenna Byrne, who play Scott and Cindy Castellucucci here, were in Wag the Dog as A.D. and Sharon respectively.

Nearly all of Priscilla Cory's credits read "Pretty Brunette" something, so she's Pretty Brunette Hostess here and would be Pretty Brunette High School Student in Barrymore's Never Been Kissed.  Allen Covert, who plays Sammy (Robbie's friend who idolizes Fonzie and Michael Jackson), would appear there as Roger in Op-Ed.

I don't have any other credits for rapper Ellen Albertini Dow, but she just passed away, at 101!

Nice day for a white wedding.

Wag the Dog

Wag the Dog
January 9, 1998
New Line Cinema
Comedy
VHS
B-

This was released the same day as Good Will Hunting, but it has dated worse, partly because it became dated almost immediately.  Yes, the writers are not to blame that Clinton would be involved in a sex scandal (with an over-21 intern rather than a teenage Firefly Girl), but the timing could've been better.  The main problem is that the movie generally is never as incisive and clever, or for that matter as impressively outrageous, as it thinks it is.  2009's In the Loop would be better on all these counts, as well as have an actual war result within the film rather than a "pageant" of war.  That said, I think Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman work well together.  (They would later be in-laws in Meet the Fockers, which I've seen but don't own.)  Anne Heche isn't bad but makes less of an impression.  And the less said about Woody Harrelson's psycho rapist comic relief character, the better.

George Gaynes, who kept hitting on Hoffman in Tootsie, here has a much smaller role, as Senator Cole.  Kevin Furlong was Dennis Riday in Hot to Trot, and is Jockey #2 here.  Phillip V. Caruso is primarily a still photographer, but he played photographers in this and Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.  Jenna Byrne plays Sharon here and would be Cindy Castellucci in The Wedding Singer, while Jason Cottle is A.D. here and would play Byrne's husband Scott there.  Derrick Morgan is a CIA Agent here and would be Armcast Henson in Never Been Kissed.

As in In & Out, Jay Leno appears as himself.  Craig T. Nelson plays the President's opponent, Senator John Neal.  This time, Kirsten Dunst plays Tracy Lime, the young actress pretending to be Albanian.  Andrea Martin isn't given much to do as brainstormer Liz Butsky, but she does it flamboyantly of course.

At least it has a better title than "Good Will Hunting," even if it does need an explanation.

Good Will Hunting

Good Will Hunting
January 9, 1998
Miramax
Drama, Comedy, Romance
VHS
B

This is generally well-written and well-acted by real-life best friends Matt Damon (as the title character) and Ben Affleck (as Chuckie Sullivan).  They are ably supported by Minnie Driver as love interest Skylar, Ben's brother Casey as Morgan O'Mally (providing much of the comic relief), Stellan Skarsgård as Prof. Gerald Lambeau, and of course Robin Williams as Sean Maguire, the tough but kind therapist.  This film got much acclaim (including awards) on first release and it holds up well.  But there's just something missing that keeps it from crossing over into greatness.  Maybe it's the way that the therapy is presented as an act of both friendship and rescue.  Maybe it's that we're never actually shown the reunion between Will and Skylar.  Or maybe it's that awful title.  No, really, even at the time, I thought it was dumb, like it's about the hunt for goodwill, or Goodwill.  And do we need to be told that Will is good?  I guess if it was just Will Hunting, we'd think it was about an inheritance.

Daniel Olsen was a Wounded Soldier in Little Women and is an MIT Student here.  Steven Kozlowski is Carmine Friend #1 here and would be Lump in Holes.

Two guys from Southie