Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
It’s difficult for music fans to think of their idols as anything but hard-partying, wild rock stars. But take a look at Rev. Run (formerly of the rap group Run-DMC) and what you see today is a cool dad exasperated and amused by his children, who probably are much more tame than he was at their age.
In the sweet family drama “Aurora Borealis,” Joshua Jackson portrays Duncan, a twentysomething former hockey player who deals with the death of his father–10 years prior–by bonding with his grandfather Ronald (Donald Sutherland), whose own health is deteriorating due to the onset of dementia.
Few would have guessed that Yves Saint Laurent idolized beatniks, and even secretly desired to become one. But already known for his impeccable taste and proper upbringing, the fashion designer was reticent to change too much from what brought him fame–haute couture.
Take a pair of bumbling brothers and mix in a couple of hot female roommates, and you’ve got “The Loop,” a sitcom that hopefully isn’t representative of how immature the average twentysomething is these days. The seven episodes from the comedy’s debut mini season–which aired from March to April 2006–focuses on the haphazard life of Sam (Bret Harrison), a brilliant, young airline executive referred to by his boss as “Thesis” because of his uncanny ability to remember everything there is to know about airplanes and the airline industry.
Take “Animal House,” throw in a dose of television’s :Bosom Buddies” and you get the Phoebe Cates/Matthew Modine sex farce “Private School.” The 1983 film was shot one year after Cates won fame in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” (thanks primarily to her little red bikini), and two years before Modine won rave reviews for his work in “Vision Quest.”
A coming-of-age story starring a bunch of fiftysomething stars rather than teenage actors, “Wild Hogs” is a well-intentioned comedy starring John Travolta (Woody), Tim Allen (Doug), Martin Lawrence (Bobby), and William H. Macy (Dudley) as a group of Midwesterners facing their own versions of mid-life crises.
On the first season of “Girlfriends”–which aired during 2000-2001–we are introduced to a comely group of women. There’s Joan (Tracee Ellis Ross, daughter of Diana Ross), a sensible attorney who’s unlucky in love; her sassy assistant Maya (Golden Brooks); Joan’s happy-go-lucky roommate Lynn (Persia White); and their man-eating friend Toni (Jill Marie Jones).
When a movie title has the word “funny” in it, viewers have an expectation that the film will incite at least a few laughs. In Funny Money, mild-mannered white-collar accountant Henry Perkins (Chevy Chase) literally stumbles upon a bag full of money, through a series of improbable mishaps. Mayhem ensues when he finds himself the illegal recipient of a few million dollars.
Moody dialogue, drab lighting, and characters who aren’t quite who they say they are pepper the indie film z’A Little Trip To Heaven.” Starring Forest Whitaker as Holt (an insurance investigator looking into a man’s suspicious death), and Julia Stiles as Isolde (the frightened and sketchy sister of the deceased), A Little Trip’s destination actually is closer to hell than heaven.
Equal parts documentary, children’s story, and narrative drama, Cave of the Yellow Dog is a beautifully filmed adventure that the entire family will enjoy. It’s unique on many levels, the most notable being that the charismatic family portrayed in the film are an actual family, and none of them are professional actors. The eldest daughter (played by adorable Nansal Batchuluun) appears to be about 6 or 7 years old.
Fans of “Laguna Beach” will love the first season of The Hills, which follows Laguna’s Lauren Conrad as she attends fashion school in Los Angeles and works as an intern at Teen Vogue magazine. OK, so that’s the premise for this quasi-reality MTV series. But in reality, the show is an excuse to watch pretty young people make out, break up, get back together, and break up some more.
During her recent three-week trip to Vietnam, actress Jordana Spiro made do with just one backpack. “Really, there’s almost nothing you can’t buy there if you need it,” she says. “It’s a completely amazing place and I’d go back in a second.”
“Sparkle” tells the rags-to-riches (and rags again, for some of the characters) tale of three sisters with gorgeous voices. There’s Sister (Lonette McKee), Sparkle (Irene Cara, Fame), and Delores (Dwan Smith), who team up with a couple of players (including a very young Philip Michael Thomas, pre-Miami Vice) to form a singing group.
Equal parts Romeo and Juliet and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Shinobi offers breathtaking cinematography, appealing actors, and ninjas. What more could a movie fan ask for?
In Because I Said So, Diane Keaton outdoes any pushy parent trying to marry off their children. On the eve of her 60th birthday, Daphne (Keaton) decides that she will find a suitable suitor for her youngest daughter Milly (Mandy Moore). Never mind that Moore was barely into her 20’s when she shot the film and easily could pass as a high-school senior. The film asks us to believe that an otherwise smart, loving mother would push marriage on a young woman who obviously wasn’t ready for that kind of commitment.
By Jae-Ha Kim Amazon.com Utilizing aerial shots and a soundtrack that includes folktunes as well as classical masterpieces by Beethoven, Wagner, and Strauss, Visions of Germany is a feast for the eyes and ears. Broken […]
One of the few spin-offs that actually equals the original in terms of quality, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has another stellar season in its third year. Detectives Olivia Benson (Emmy winner Mariska Hargitay) and Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) continue to investigate sexually-based crimes with compassion and vigor.
A reality series in the loosest sense of the genre, “Jamie Kennedy’s Blowin’ Up” delves into the world of hip-hop by way of comedy. It’s not a bad effort either. The MTV series is equal parts ad-libbed and scripted, but the actors on the show are so good that you’d swear they were just a couple of clueless knuckleheads trying to become rap stars.
Flavor of Love goes through the motions of being a real reality show, but it doesn’t try that hard. It’s obvious Flav is taking advantage of his popularity while he can and that the women are hoping their participation will help launch their modeling/acting/singing careers. But no one in their right mind actually believes that Flav will marry any of these unusual women.
At its core, “Stomp the Yard” is a romantic drama disguised as a dance film. Or is it the other way around? DJ (Columbus Short) is a troubled teen from Los Angeles who gets a chance for a better life when he is admitted into Atlanta’s privileged Truth University. Just when he thought he had escaped a life of gangs, DJ finds himself in the middle of a “war” between two upper-crust fraternities where stepping (a popular dance form) is their weapon of choice.