Movie Night: North.

Review #363: North.

Cast
Elijah Wood (North), Jon Lovitz (Arthur Belt), Matthew McCurley (Winchell), Alan Arkin (Judge Buckle), Jason Alexander, Julie-Louis Dreyfus, Dan Aykroyd, Reba McEntire, John Ritter, Abe Vigoda, and Bruce Willis. Directed by Rob Reiner (#108 - This Is Spinal Tap, #180 - Stand by Me, #232 - The Princess Bride)

Review
It's sad, a cast that looks recognizable, and a director with a good record on the reviews all got together to make this. The only reason I know about this film is due to Roger Ebert and his review of the film, absolutely destroying this film. But does the film have ANY respectable thing going for it? Does it have anything that makes it any better than something like, say The Room? Well........No. Kind of expected, actually. But hey, it-No wait, it really can't be that worse. The film starts and ends...with Bruce Willis. Seriously, he pops up seven times, and not one of them makes any sense. Is he his guardian or does he really just pop up for no reason? It's sad that that this is my first review of Elijah Wood (Okay second counting 9, but first live action film.), and he actually does a decent job, not annoying. That goes to Matthew McCurley, who oddly enough reminds me of Macaulay Culkin, but he's actually worse, not having one degree of subtleness or even a smudge of actual character.  What's sadder for me is that Rob Reiner directed this, a director who's last three films reviewed here got scores of 8, 9, and 10 respectively, and he churns out a painfully unfunny film. I wondered who they made this for, who would possibly like this. Kids? Maybe, but then they would grow older and hate this film and tell others to stay away. I figured this would be easy to watch, given it's scant 88 minute run time. I was wrong. While the film does boast showing locations from Alaska to...South Dakota, it practically has a checklist of what things to make "fun" of, none of them working. What's even stranger is that this was based off a novel named "North: The Tale of a 9-Year-Old Boy Who Becomes a Free Agent and Travels the World in Search of the Perfect Parents" by Alan Zweibel, and this film was even co-produced and screenwriten by the author. Clearly, this isn't a case of "Bad novel adaptation", this is a rare case of "Bad movie coming from possible bad novel", which is extremely rare. Clearly this film was made for the sole purpose of having exotic film locations to film in more for vacationing than actual good movie making. But to close this review, I will let a definite judgement of the film come from someone else more experienced for over 45 years sum it up: "I hated this movie. Hated, hated, hated, hated, hated this movie. I hated it. Hated every simpering stupid vacant audience-insulting moment of it. Hated the sensibility that thought anyone would like it. Hated the implied insult to the audience by its belief that anyone would be entertained by it." Roger Ebert, everyone.

Overall, I give it 2 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.

Review #269: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.

Cast
Kevin Conroy (Bruce Wayne/Batman), Dana Delany (Andrea Beaumont), Mark Hamill (The Joker), Hart Bochner (Arthur Reeves), Stacy Keach (Carl Beaumont and Voice of the Phantasm), Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. (Alfred Pennyworth), Abe Vigoda (Salvatore Valestra), Dick Miller (Charles "Chuckie" Sol), John P. Ryan (Buzz Bronski), Bob Hastings (Commissioner James Gordon), and Robert Costanzo (Harvey Bullock) Directed by Eric Radomski and Bruce Timm.

Review
This was directed by the creators of Batman: The Animated Series, which was a very well acclaimed show in the 1990's that would get a movie, which is this. This was the third (or fourth if you count the 1966 Batman film) Batman film released, though it was different from the first two (though released one year after Batman Returns and two years before Batman Forever.) Anyway, the film has a lot going for it, with a beautiful opening sequence showing Gotham City. The plot is alright, but I find that it is a bit hampered by the flashbacks in the beginning that while it gives important info for the rest of the film, it feels like a distraction. But the animation is good, with the animation of the show a bit improved to make it more like a film. The middle to the end get interesting as the Joker comes in. And he is...really good. Out of the 4 actors that have played him, he might just tie Nicholson and Ledger's performances for best Joker (although Romero isn't a bad Joker by any means) The rest of the actors including Conroy, are good. I wish the film could had been longer, as the run time is only 76 minutes. In the end, it's a good film that while not better then Batman or The Dark Knight, certainly beats the two films that followed this (Batman Forever and Batman & Robin) by a long shot.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: Good Burger.

Review #221: Good Burger.

Cast
Kel Mitchell (Ed), Kenan Thompson (Dexter Reed), Jan Schweiterman (Kurt Bozwell), Abe Vigoda (Otis), Shar Jackson (Monique), and Sinbad (Mr. Wheat) Directed by Brian Robbins (#147 - Norbit)

Review
This film is apparently base off a sketch off a television show (named All That) on Nickelodeon. I say apparently because I've never heard of it (Sadly it sounds less stupid then the modern Nickelodeon) Anyway, the film is...Weird. The beginning sequence is weird, with talking burgers with eyes. The characters are introduced soon after, with varying results. Mitchell and Thompson are good, given what they have to deal with. The film has a giant load of energy, resulting in odd actions (You'd never think an exploding burger would ever happen in a film) It's weird at times with some jokes that misfire but others that do make you at least chuckle. And because I'm a stickler for anniversaries, this film is 15 years old. I don't know whether to celebrate or cringe. The rating might be weird, but given the last film reviewed here...yeah.

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.