#79: The Cable Guy (1996) December 3, 2008
Posted by badblokebob in : Editorials, Comedy, 2 stars, 1990s, 2008 , add a comment1996 | Ben Stiller | 88 mins | download | 12 / PG-13
The best thing I have to say about The Cable Guy is that the opening titles were very well done.
The second-best thing I have to say is that a subplot featuring director Ben Stiller as a faded-child-star twin-killer is very neatly integrated into the film, seeming utterly pointless until it has a near-vital role in the climax. That’s a pleasing piece of writing/editing right there. Unfortunately, the point this seems to be aiming at — that TV rules our life too much, that we’re too addicted to it, etc etc — is not only old hat, but also rendered meaningless in this instance by the lack of impact: TV goes off for the night, and one guy picks up a book. Oh, wow. And to top it off, thanks to an unnecessary final beat, it seems Jim Carrey’s titular character hasn’t actually learnt the lesson we thought he had.
Incidentally, The Cable Guy is a comedy, though at times it seems to wish you’d forget that so it could be a psychological stalker thriller. Perhaps that’s what it had wanted to be — for one thing, there are surprisingly accurate predictions for the future of telecommunications, although their coming true may simply have killed another joke (”play Mortal Kombat with a friend in Vietnam!”) — until someone realised the idea was too silly to be taken completely seriously. How funny you find the end product will depend on whether you like the style of comedy Carrey employed in the early & mid-’90s, and whether you can stomach pointless asides that don’t do anything for the plot (final act freaky nightmare, step forward). There’s little else to engage interest — Matthew Broderick’s pseudo-protagonist is, perhaps, too nice and too eager to please, and the go-nowhere romantic subplot — his main action aside from being Carrey’s straight man — has all the depth and shape of something from a cookie cutter.
More fun than the jokes, actually, is playing Spot The Pre-Fame Comedy Star. Eyes open for young-looking turns from (in ease-of-identification order) Jack Black, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Janeane Garofalo and Kyle Gass. And Eric Roberts randomly shows his face too, not that that’s relevant to anything.
The Cable Guy is rated 12, or PG-13 in the US, which may also be the last ages you’d enjoy it at.
In case anyone’s wondering what’s happened to #77 & #78… Despite spending 23 months carefully posting reviews in order (well, the first two months are actually a bit of a muddle), it’s now December and I’m a few behind, so I’ve decided to throw numerical sequence to the wind and just post reviews as & when I get round to completing them. The main reason for this is to help drive things forward so that I can actually end 2008’s posting by December 31st, rather than having it drag on into 2009 and overlap with Year 3. I’m sure no one will really mind. Or care.
Eternal laziness of the dreamless blogger December 1, 2008
Posted by badblokebob in : Editorials, 2008, progress reports , add a comment11 months down, 1 to go… 81 films down — it should’ve been at least 92.
It’s fair to say 100 Films hasn’t gone quite as smoothly this year as it did last, where I made it to 100 by the start of September and meandered on to a final total of 129. Rather than being in the luxurious position of just watching as much as I like to see how far I can get, I have 31 days to see 19 more films to even hit my basic target.
“Oops.”
I could reel off a list of excuses — the effort I’ve tried to put into writing much longer reviews, having an undergraduate degree to complete, starting work on a postgraduate degree, actually getting a job over the summer… but there’s also plain old laziness — yeah, isn’t watching a film such a lot of effort?
…no?
Of course, as the old adage favoured by so many teachers goes, “you’ve only let yourself down.” (I may be paraphrasing for effect.)
Still, 31 days! And 19 of them holiday-days! The end is in sight, and I might still make it.
Though, don’t be surprised the reviews get shorter — it would be nice to complete 2008 within 2008 after all — and, if I do well, I may even get the final lists (see here and here for last year’s [links will be update for this blog when I move them here]) online for December 31st.
Hey, a blogger can dream.
Not-so-silent night November 26, 2008
Posted by badblokebob in : Editorials, 2007 , add a commentThings have gone a little topsy-turvy here at 100 Films. This 2007 update was promised to be a selection of silent films but, for reasons too complex — and dull — to go into, here instead is what was intended to be the penultimate update, featuring reviews of the last few films I saw in 2007.
Of note in this selection: many people’s (and magazine’s) Best Film Of 2007, The Bourne Ultimatum; a film that was sequelized this year, Hellboy; and an appropriately Christmassy flick as we near the festive season (likely to be spotted in the TV schedules before long, just as it was when I saw it last year), While You Were Sleeping.
- The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
- Hellboy: Director’s Cut (2004)
- On the Town (1949)
- Piglet’s Big Movie (2003)
- Play Time (1967)
- While You Were Sleeping (1995)
- Wild at Heart (1990)
And finally, the last-but-two thing I saw in 2007 (a dubious honour if ever there was one), Simon Ellis’ short film Telling Lies. It’s rather good.
Next time, those silent films I mentioned. Promise.
Quantum of Solace: Initial Thoughts (no spoilers) November 1, 2008
Posted by badblokebob in : Editorials, Action, James Bond, Thriller, 2000s, British films, 2008, Marc Forster, 'initial thoughts' , 2 commentsQuantum of Solace isn’t as good as Casino Royale; though I should immediately qualify that statement by saying that the previous Bond movie is not only one of my favourites of the series, but also one of the best action-thrillers ever made. It would’ve been some feat indeed for QoS to top it.
As it is, director Marc Forster doesn’t really try. Casino Royale was about a poker game; QoS is about bringing down a significant player in a worldwide Secret Evil Organisation — but it’s the former that’s more epic. Bond rattles around the world, from action sequence to action sequence, at a rate of knots. There’s a sense that Forster, who has never made an action film before and was initially reluctant to take this one on, has treated this as the time he tried an Action/Spy Movie and so thrown everything at it. There’s a car chase, a bike chase, a roof-top chase, a foot chase, a plane chase/fight, gunfights, fist fights, knife fights, sneaking around, going in all guns blazing, betrayals, reversals, having to be a maverick agent because Bond’s right while his superiors refuse to trust him… And all this squeezed into the shortest Bond film yet made.
In truth, the running time isn’t really a problem. The film doesn’t come up for air until quite far in, but if one pays attention (and can remember Casino Royale — this really is a direct sequel) the plot can be followed well enough and you’re not likely to get bored. It’s a tad ironic that Forster was chosen because of his Oscar-nominated ability to do Character Drama and the like, and yet has wound up crafting such a relentlessly action-packed entry in the series. QoS is perhaps at its best when getting stuck into the meatier scenes between Bond and M, or Bond and Camille, or Bond and a returning character from the last film. The action scenes occasionally had too much of a Bourne vibe for my taste. I love the Bourne films, but the Bond films are different, and I don’t want a handheld camera shoved so close you can barely see anything, and even when you can the next cut is only 0.4 seconds away.
There are other flaws. I don’t mind Bond being light on humour, and it does at least mean when the jokes come they’re all the more welcome, but I think Casino Royale’s torture scene exemplified the overall mix the rebooted Bond should aim at: dark, gritty, nasty, real… but the scene also got the biggest laughs of any part when I saw it at the cinema. Bond doesn’t need the campness of Moore or Brosnan, or even as much humour as Connery injected, but I think it could do with more than Dalton had, and The Craig Era has now reached that level of humour-dearth. On the flipside of that argument, this is a darker story all round… but I’ll have to save the end of that argument for my spoilery review at a later date.
My other main complaint is probably the title sequence. I like the song, personally, but MK12’s titles are bland, generic, and too colourful for either the film or the song. They’d look fine on a tie-in video game (in fact, they do — I saw it on YouTube), but in the film itself I almost began to wonder what they were thinking. I may have some residual distaste for the dropping of Daniel Kleinman here — certainly, I haven’t seen anyone else write about them; but then Proper Critics tend to have other things on their mind — especially after he created one of the best main titles ever for Casino Royale, but I sincerely hope they bring him back for the next film.
As for the next film, I think QoS will leave some with a feeling of, “well that’s that out of the way — next!” In truth, it’s not that bad. It suffers by following the exceptional quality of Casino Royale, and also being so tied to the former’s story, but despite that pulls a well-above-average action-thriller out of the bag. I expect it will continue to receive a mixed response from critics and audiences, which is more due to people’s expectations than the film’s inherent quality, but that’s the way things go. As far as I’m concerned, Bond’s back, and that’s always a good thing.
A fuller review of Quantum of Solace — I have a lot more to say! — will appear as #73 in the next few weeks, following my reviews of After the Sunset, Stay, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Hitman, St. Trinian’s, The Invasion, and Casino Royale.
My Quantum of Solace Film Season October 27, 2008
Posted by badblokebob in : Editorials, James Bond, 2000s, British films, 2008, Marc Forster , add a commentIn case you’ve somehow failed to notice, Quantum of Solace, the 22nd official James Bond film, hits UK cinemas this Friday. I’m more than a tad excited (and considerably annoyed that I won’t be able to make it to the first screening in my area thanks to a seminar), and to celebrate I’m having myself a sort-of mini-ish film season-thing. Which I have dubbed My Quantum of Solace Film Season. You might’ve guessed that from the post’s title.
The selection process is quite simple: one film a day, each representing a different key member of QoS’s cast, plus one for director Marc Forster; and, to comply with this blog’s normal rules, all films I’ve never seen before. Well, that was the idea, but as with any good plan some changes have had to be made — there’s no film for Judi Dench, for example (well, other than a certain already-seen previous entry in the franchise), and I initially forgot Daniel Craig. Ha! Luckily I could switch him in for Jeffrey Wright by virtue of the fact they both appeared in The Invasion. Then there’s a double bill to try to get (almost) everyone in, and a film I’ve seen before too. “Oops.” (It was also entirely unintentional that all but the first and last films are from 2007.) Naturally, things come to a close with QoS itself on Friday, so thanks to only having thought of this plan yesterday my time to watch things is rather limited.
Anyway, you don’t really care about all that. Here’s the schedule:
Marc Forster’s Stay.
Mathieu Amalric (’Dominic Greene’) stars in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
A double bill for Bond’s two new women. Gemma Arterton (’Agent Fields’) stars in St. Trinian’s followed by Olga Kurylenko (’Camille’) in Hitman.
Daniel Craig (’James Bond’, donchaknow) stars — with support from Jeffrey Wright (’Felix Leiter’) — in The Invasion.
As has been (very) widely reported, QoS is the first Bond-sequel, starting within an hour of Casino Royale’s climax. As such, it seems only appropriate to watch the preceding film the night before. (I’ve seen CR several times but will be reviewing it anyway, in light of having seen QoS, if that makes any difference.)
Ba-da, dum… ba-da, dum… ba-da ba-da-da! Phonetic renderings of iconic theme tunes aside, Bond is back! Hurray!
The exact order is subject to change depending on how readily I can get hold of the films (I only own two of the six), but that’s the plan. Last time I tried to watch a film a day I failed miserably, so we’ll see how this goes. (Incidentally, reviews won’t appear on the said days, or even follow shortly behind — check out my coming soon page to see how backed up I am with reviews.)
To 100 films… and beyond! October 14, 2008
Posted by badblokebob in : Editorials, 2007 , add a commentTo misquote the immortal words of a certain plastic space policeman — “To 100 films… and beyond!”
In case you can’t decipher the complex meanings of that modified reference, with this 2007 update we reach #100 — not for 2008, obviously, but for 2007. I think I chose a pretty momentous film for the occasion. But the viewing didn’t stop there, oh no (it was only early September for one thing), and this update contains #101-104 as well. Plus there’s still a couple more updates to come…
Regular readers may remember I had a riddle (that’s being generous) in my last ‘07 update, which contained references to all the films in this one. I repeat it here for your deciphering pleasure — or annoyance… or 10-second distraction…
“Following a starter for ten you’ll be transported twice to Linklater’s Europe, where 300 Spartans face a final fantasy and there are great expectations of Welles’ first — though miracles will be needed for De Palma’s Ellroy adaptation to get a good score.”
- 300 (2006)
- Before Sunrise (1995)
- Before Sunset (2005)
- The Black Dahlia (2006)
- Citizen Kane (1941)
- Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005)
- Great Expectations (1946)
- Miracles (1989)
- Starter For Ten (2006)
- Transporter 2 (2005)
It’s all gone a bit quiet next time on 100 Films in a Year, as I review five silent features and a couple of silent shorts. Just to round things out a bit, there’s two films from the same year: a film noir… and a Bob Hope comedy. Who says variety’s dead?
An uneventful update October 2, 2008
Posted by badblokebob in : Editorials, 2007 , 1 comment so far2007 reaches #93 with this little lot (plus a little jump ahead to #107). There’s little else especially noteworthy here, other than reviews of the first two Neon Genesis Evangelion movies. “Disappointing” sums them up succinctly and adequately.
- Alfie (1966)
- The Cat’s Meow (2001)
- Gone With the Wind (1939)
- An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
- Mrs Brown (1997)
- Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth (1997)
- Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (1997)
- Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)
- Point Break (1991)
- Wilde (1997)
On the next 2007 update… Following a Starter For Ten you’ll be Transported twice to Linklater’s Europe, where 300 Spartans face a Final Fantasy and there are Great Expectations of Welles’ first — though Miracles will be needed for De Palma’s Ellroy adaptation to get a good score.
Well, that wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be.