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Reviews
I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown (2003)
Awful attempt at squeezing out a few more dollars
This is awful. There is no real story line here. Instead, it is a series of jump cuts from one joke to another. You can almost picture the four panel strips that the jokes were originally presented in. While some of the material is funny, the scattered nature of the "plot" really detracts from your enjoyment. Yes, I know it is a "cartoon", so my disparaging of a lack of a plot may seem overblown. However, I challenge you to compare this to "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and I believe you will understand my point.
I am not sure what the running time is, but the network managed to cram in a lot of commercials over the hour.
Fever Pitch (1997)
Excellent
A very well-made and very entertaining movie. Highly recommended.
Look for Stephen Rea in a small part which is hilarious.
Also, this movie has more Subbuteo in it than any other film I can recall.
20 Dates (1998)
A Good Time
I enjoyed this movie a great deal. I assume your average hardcore film school types will find it pretentious (on the part of Berkowitz), but I found it to be fun. Some may also quibble at the "mockumentary" concept and wish for a clearer delineation of fact to fiction, but it has an interesting story to tell either way.
Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)
Fun!
I really enjoyed this film. It is definitely a little twisted and some of it is not PC. Also, the last bit of the plot feels like it was tacked on to make the film a certain length, but the jokes still work. Certainly, beauty contests are an easy target for satire, but this film works to fly above that low hurdle.
Armageddon (1998)
Awful, Awful, Awful
This movie is just bad. If you have to see one movie from 1998 about large celestial objects crashing into Earth, see Deep Impact. Armageddon offers every bad "big movie" cliche that you can imagine. Big name actors cashing big paychecks. A big name band with an overwrought tune for the soundtrack. Big special effects trying to cover a thin plot. Worst of all, this movie is far too long, and as an added bonus, its pacing is very slow at times. I would rather beat my head into a wall than watch this again.
Rudy (1993)
Football "Hoosiers"
A very good movie, but it has two problems that cause my score to be lower: 1. Some rather obvious continuity problems that I found to be quite distracting. 2. The movie doesn't do a very convincing job of explaining why Rudy wants to go to Notre Dame. It's just kind of assumed that this is incredibly important to him. More build-up in this area would have helped.
Vegas Vacation (1997)
This series needs to be sent on a "permanent" vacation
Two things about this movie surprised me. First, as of April 1999, IMDB says it rates a 5.7. The original "Vacation" flick rates a 7.0. Trust me when I say that this ratings difference does not nearly describe the difference in entertainment value. Second, I was quite surprised that anyone would want to do yet another "Vacation" movie. How long will this series drag out? I suppose we should expect a weekly syndicated sitcom soon. I had the "pleasure" of catching this movie on a cable movie channel. The only reason it keeps your attention is because you can't believe how lame it is. Only the scenes with Randy Quaid approach funny. The scene with Christie Brinkley is cute, but how many people will get the reference outside of the hardcore "Vacation" fans (if there is such a group). Do you remember when the USA network alternated Gilbert Gottfried and Rhonda (?) on "Up All Night"? This movie is not good enough to be shown in that format. The only reason that I can imagine someone watching this movie is because it is being broadcast on television, and you like to have some noise in the room.