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Reviews
Lucinda's Spell (1998)
I Got This Free and Still Feel Cheated
People at the San Diego Comicon were giving out free copies of this in 2000, and I believe turning down a freebie is a mortal sin. Yet, when I finally got around to watching this film I thought it must be Thanksgiving. How else to explain this rancid turkey? The acting is amateurish, the dialogue laughable except when trying to be funny, and the leading lady -- a prostitute/witch -- is offensive to prostitutes, wiccans and women everywhere.
I also hasten to point ouyt the bad music and the camera work that barely rises to the level of incompetence.
Anyone want a free copy?
Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)
A Comedy with (Vaseline-Coated) Teeth
If you liked Election or Spinal Tap, chances are you'll enjoy this dark comedy about a small town's third rate beauty pageant, which has virtually no redeeming characteristics except for a biting, straight-faced humor that spares no targets and takes no prisoners. Kirsten Dunbst and Denise Richards play the two top contenders for thew crown, the first a trailer trash near-Pollyanna and the second an amoral predator whose only saving grace is that she's not quite as bad as her mother, played with gusto by Kirstie Alley.
I had seen previews for the film which did not do it justice, making it seem like just another riff on She's All That or Cruel Intentions, but it is so much more. If you ever saw Michael Ritchie's Smile, this is its bastard child. I was hooting and chuckling uneasily throughout, as the filmmakers take a jaundiced view of a small Minnesota town and its inhabitants' obsession with winning a prize that is virtually worthless. Filmed in a pseudo-documentary style, it is full of surprises and telling details. Having just made its cable debut, it will now get a shot at the audience it never got in theatres.
If you don't have the right sense of humor, Drop Dead Gorgeous will doubtless offend you somewhere along the line, especially if you're from Minnesota (although the Fargo-style accents are far more muted here), or if you're gay, deaf, Jewish. Japanese or suffering from Down's Syndrome. And this is not a good movie to see if you're trying to quit smoking 00 the nicotine consumption in this film is enough to make Jeffrey Wigand pick up the habit again. But if you're the kind of movie fan who thinks "This is sick, twisted and wrong" with a smile on your lips, then by all means check this out.
Arlington Road (1999)
POSSIBLE SPOILERS Ahead
When a movie has a surprise in it, I often like to see it again to check for clues. I don't think I want to do that with Arlington Road, a mean-spirited and grim movie, which depends too heavily on the main character acting like a fool. Since Jeff Bridges plays a college professor who is an expert in the very field he's enmeshed in personally, that becomes hard to countenance.
In addition, there was little of the "Ah so" factor. In other words, certain things that made know sense before you knew the secret continue to make no sense after you know it. Furthermore, other things which seemed to make sense stopped making sense in the mnovie's greater context.
Finally, the basic plot was essentially ripped off from the Warren Beatty film "The Parallax View." Those who have seen both films should know what I mean.
My son hates movies with bad endings. I dislike movies with pretentions that can't live up to them. We both disliked Arlington Road.
Frequency (2000)
Don't miss this one - it's a keeper
Saw a sneak preview of this film with my son on April 15, and we were both totally taken by this surprising blend of suspense and heart. I felt the same way about Frequency as I did about two very disparate films: Field of Dreams and The Sixth Sense. All three manage to blend the fantastic with the sentimental, without getting either crazed or gooey.
The basic plot is that a father and son, separated by 30 years, can converse with each other over a ham radio due to synchronized atmospheric conditions. The son's knowledge of the past causes ripples throughout time, and requires father and son to work together to prevent an event that would never have occurred without their meddling with the time stream. That's all I'll tell you.
The script is clever but not smart-ass about it, and Dennis Quaid and Jim Caviezel are both excellent as father and son. It's a movie that adults and teens can both enjoy together. I hope word of mouth makes this the hit it deserves to be.