coco!!! Reviews

The Real St. Nick (2012 TV Movie)

Kenneth Choi MAKES this movie!

[8/10 · 24 December 2012]

Kenneth Choi makes this movie watchable. His character, Jack, is a mental patient who thinks he's Jack Nicholson in "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest." And he's really good. You don't see enough Asian actors in roles that aren't somewhat stereotypically "Asian" and this is a wonderful role for him. The rest of the movie? Eh...yes, your typical lame Lifetime holiday movie. Girl meets boy, other boy wants her but she doesn't want him, despite him being the "respectable" choice...but in the end, girl ends up with the boy who thinks he's Santa Claus. Corny, predictable, holiday fare. With, you know, mental patients to lend a little comedic relief.

But Kenneth Choi's Jack is pretty freakin' awesome.

Next Stop Wonderland (1998)

It felt real to me...

[12 July 2000]

If you read all the comments on this movie, you get the idea that people either love or hate it. It's that kind of movie. I really like it, I own it, I watch it when it comes on cable. Someone commented on Philip Seymour Hoffman's videotaping of his reasons for leaving Erin and then taking the VCR, and asked is life really that cold? Yes, it is. People are a part of it, and they can be that petty...and that's what this movie is about - people. Good, bad, honest, dishonest, charming and otherwise... And the characters all look and talk and act like real people, people you might know. Okay, the whole gangster thing could have been excised, and the fake Brazilian guy was annoying, but all in all it makes sense. I like the fact that Erin is, what, 31? and Alan is 35...I'm 35 and it seems like everyone these days in movies is about 26. Nice to see people "my age!"

And hey, any movie that can make the Blue Line look romantic and Revere Beach look beautiful has to have something going for it!

The Patriot (2000)

Wasn't ever into the Revolutionary War...

[5 July 2000]

CONTAINS SPOILERS

As far as history went, I was either 20th Century or Medieval. But moving to Boston, and seeing this movie, is starting to change all that. Ok, sure, it was hokey the whole thing with avenging Thomas' death with a bullet made from the melted lead of his last toy soldier..? Oh, how Perfect but it WAS pretty good (from what I know, anyway, since I just said I don't know much about this period) representation of what war was like, and what ordinary people had to put up with, while a war was going on. We don't get that with 20th Century wars -- they were all fought "over there" and not in our front yards (as was a battle in this film). This is like historical fiction - the period depiction is accurate, the people (aside from the obvious famous ones, like Cornwallis) aren't - though they may be based on real people, or reminiscent of real people.

It's not supposed to teach you the Battle for Independence, this movie. It's supposed to make you think about the costs and the rewards of going to war - any war. Sure, the whole race issue was sanitized (did you notice everyone expected the blacks to be able to read, which was illegal? but anyway), and did anyone notice any Native Americans? Because I sure didn't -- they were involved in this war, too. But hey, any movie that can make someone like me, who likes history but never got interested in this era, actually want to do things like follow the Freedom Trail and go to Bunker Hill and look at Paul Revere's house and Ben Franklin's grave, and the tree under which Geo. Washington gathered troops...and listen to the lectures at the monuments (!), that's gotta be a good thing. And really, if you have to have a major holiday blockbuster with action figures and all that...doesn't this beat something like ID4? If I had kids, I'd rather they had "Patriot" action figures...

Flower Drum Song (1961)

For a musical, it actually makes some good points...

[8 November 1999]

I am from San Francisco, and while not of Asian descent, I am familiar with the cultural difficulties of "East vs West" -- and every time I see this movie, I am impressed with how this is handled. Ok, granted, it's a fluff-and-sparkle R&H songfest, and not one of their best or most famous, but it does have some good commentary - as when the younger brother pops in and out with his completely modern slang...with the more common "generation gap" themes running rampant at this time (early 60's), it's even more interesting...and, as I say, I lived in SF very near Chinatown - it "feels" right, even tho it's an entirely fake set. Don't dismiss it out of hand - it's no "Joy Luck Club" or "Double Happiness" but it's not bad, either.

Blast from the Past (1999)

I wish *I* could live in the Webbers' shelter!

[3 February 1999]

I really enjoyed this movie - bearing in mind that I live in a 50's modern house and and trying to furnish it in period. I want every stick of furniture in the house, especially the turquoise fridge!

I have heard disparaging comments on the dancing scene from friends into swing music. It looked EXACTLY like the dancing I see in clubs here all the time. People DO dance that way. It looked REAL to me, not like Fred Astaire but the way I see people actually dance. Poor footwork

and all. But the aerials were dead on...for what I see on the floor in average, everyday, non competition situations.

Besides, following the premise, it was the first time he'd danced with anyone besides his mom. Does ANYONE dance perfectly the first time out with a new partner?

I've also heard comments from friends about Adam doing swing vs 60's dances...well, I was born in 1965 and MY parents didn't own any "rock and roll" either. They were older - my mom was 30 when I was born - and in fact a lot like Adam's parents. I got the Lettermen, Sinatra, the 4 Lads, the Kingston Trio, Lambert Hendricks and Ross, Tom Lehrer, a ton

of Broadway soundtracks and I think one lone Chubby Checker lp from their "when I born" collection. The Twist was a pretty radical modern dance in 62. It was also a "fad" and the subject of much lampooning at the time.

A friend of mine said: "Brendan Fraser's clothes were lame again ..."

They were SUPPOSED to be. His mom made them from old curtains and bedspreads and recycled other clothes. You COULD say, hey, why didn't they pack more clothes, but when they were outfitting the shelter, Mom never thought they'd need it, and Dad was more concerned with the geeky techno survival aspect to consider wardrobe. He was a GUY, after all, and he was thinking more about the bar and the TV than he was about what he was gonna wear in 30 years. If he had been thinking that, he would have packed a spare pair of glasses, too.

Of course, the minute Adam went above ground, he'd have caught a

dozen different cold and flu viruses, never having been exposed,

but that's another whole argument.

I still think it's a well-thought out, plausible scenario. And,

it IS a comedy, so the science slips a little. But it sure could

have been a lot more far fetched and silly.

It's very well done, amazing attention to detail (especially in the small details of the house), excellent period, well thought out and written and FUNNY!!! Just small things, like how 1998 LA could look like a nuclear holocaust to an uninformed onlooker...priceless.