Change Your Image
PhlickPhan
Reviews
Surviving Christmas (2004)
Trite and predictable
May contain spoilers.
I say that, but anyone savvy enough to be reading this can probably figure out every plot turn right from the start.
This is not a movie that I liked. I didn't hate it in the way of some movies that insult your intelligence, but it all felt too predictable on its trudge to the requisite happy ending. There were funny bits along the way to be sure, but few were original. At least it didn't go for the gutter.
Christina Applegate looks fresh, and Ben Affleck works hard. Their scenes together are actually the only redeeming feature. Everyone else is a cardboard cutout, including, surprisingly, James Gandolfini, who must have made this as a favor to someone.
All in all, it's a harmless, but not inspiring, 90 minutes.
Real Genius (1985)
So much more than "revenge of the Nerds"
I love this movie
always have, always will, and I could never understand why it didn't find its audience when it was released. Perhaps because it came out simultaneously with such dreck as "Weird Science", people never caught on.
I was reminded of this film while watching "School of Rock". Jack Black's light manic energy is the perfect doppelganger to William Atherton's dark malevolent sleaze. Also, there was the young cast that, aside from Val Kilmer, virtually never acted again. It gave me the feel of catching lightning in a bottle.
You actually get two movies here. The coming of age story of Mitch, and the comeuppance for Hathaway. The movie takes its time getting to these points, with lots of vignettes along the way, but that only makes the payoff sweeter because we know these people by the end of the flick. The resolution feels right. The science also feels right. Despite some reliance on movie science syndrome, where the "Eureka!" moment instantly produces a working result, the portrayal and terminology is accurate enough to keep me from wincing. No small feat. Throw in the soundtrack, and it all works.
Check out this movie. Be patient with it (I meant what I said about the pace), and you will be rewarded.