GarethBeaumains Reviews

Ode to G.I. Joe (1990)

The Heart of Toy Story

[25 July 2017]

I loved this movie, especially the "In memory of all 12 inch G.I. Joes. 1964-1978." I remember seeing it at an animation film fest, and the whole theater going crazy with applause when it was done. I was full of nostalgia, and all the details were era-perfect.

In a way, this 1990 gem is the heart and soul of the later 1995 blockbuster "Toy Story." I always wondered if John Lasseter had seen it. I know there was a later 2000 lawsuit filed and settled in 2002 for the 1998 DreamWorks movie Small Soldiers.

Ironically, I don't believe Grant got permission from the Staple Sisters for "I'll Take You There," or from Hasbro for the use of G.I. Joe.

It was a genius bit of filmmaking, though. Shame that Grant never followed up with any other works.

Whip It (2009)

Whip It Into Shape!

[9/10 · 12 October 2009]

I saw this movie last week. I still thought it valuable to go back into the pages of the past and share my unequivocal endorsement.

It is a great coming-of-age romance. Ellen Page is entirely endearing as the lead character, Bliss Cavendar, a young woman seeking to escape the life of Texas beauty pageants. Instead, she seeks her freedom in a trip to Austin, where she joins the women's roller derby circuit and is given the ironic sobriquet of "Babe Ruthless." She's an utter cutie, shy and diminutive. In her particular role on the team -- to skate fast and score points -- she excels and blossoms.

Alia Shawkat, as her best friend Pash, plays convincingly as a small-town bright kid, wanting to get away to college. She shares much of a well-scripted subplot with Carlo Alban, who plays "Birdman," the manager of the pig-themed restaurant where they all work.

Ellen, through her experiences at the derby, skates on the edge of youth and maturity, and often crashes into the rails of her life's boundaries.

All the performances are well-done. Juliette Lewis as "Iron Maven" plays a great baddie with a smirk capable of defenestration. Or at least tossing someone out of the roller derby rink. Marcia Gay Harden as the chain-smoking pageant-obsessed mother, and Daniel Stern as the football-addicted father play convincingly as flawed yet sympathetic role models for their daughter. They gradually overcome their initial portrayals as caricatures to become realistic human characters.

Landon Pigg plays the love interest Oliver, a handsome, laid-back rocker in an up-and-coming band. His actual name would have been perfect for the movie's porcine restaurant setting. Indeed, he eventually he does make a soft landing at the restaurant, where he poetically finds his Bliss. The scenes between these two are mostly convincing, but for some reason I felt a reservation about them as a romantic couple. Maybe Landon was a bit too laid back for my tastes. A bit too disconnected. Indeed, the movie doesn't hinge on their romance so much as the derby circuit, and this entire subplot could actually have been cut from the movie and it would not have greatly changed the plot arc. Still, it is well done, and helps to highlight the alteration and maturation of Bliss during the course of the year.

Finally, it must be said Drew Barrymore does an excellent job both on-and-off the screen, as the constantly-brawling character Smashley Simpson and as the director and producer.

The movie has an excellent range of silly to sincere. It swings from drunken romance to suddenly sobering moments and back again with the ease of a well-working ensemble cast. Most notable of all, it looked like everyone on set was having a blast.

Rating: 9 of 10.

Couples Retreat (2009)

Couple of Laughs

[5/10 · 12 October 2009]

Went by myself. Ironic, neh? It wasn't Wedding Crashers or Dodgeball, but a mildly funny, watchable movie nonetheless. Don't go expecting Shakespeare.

Its take on modern romance is mostly positive: people have good and bad parts of them, but we can all learn to love our spouses better. Though the actors did fairly well with the material, the jokes needed more polish. A few of the best performances were from the couples' counselors and other members of the resort staff, including my favorite, "Chewbacca." The most ludicrous moment for me was the gifting of the animal spirits by Jean Reno. They were all rather unfunny until Vince Vaughan received his. He made a comment to his wife before he kisses her that was typical classic Vince.

However, the movie is a bit too lagging between its laughs to really be a great comedy, and lacked a true heart of pathos for you to really connect with any of the characters. It ends up a caricature of the couples getaway industry and our modern society.

In the film, one of the wives jumps out of her canoe to get away from her annoying husband. Ticked off, she swims to shore alone. Perhaps some fans might be tempted to do the same, and bail out of the movie.

This could easily have been a better movie. Better writing. Better cinematography. Better delivery by the cast. But as it was, I'd say it was marginally worth a matinée and the price of popcorn.

Scale of 1 to 10: 5.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)

Zack and Miri Make Love, Not Porno

[10/10 · 6 November 2008]

It was the best romantic comedy of the year for me.

A quirky modern love story of the best spirit. A "When Harry Met Sally" for the YouTube generation. Not as innocent. Very crude. Rough around the edges. A blue collar movie about the blue film industry. Yet also very sweet and lovable.

As my friend would say, and approve of, it was an off-beat romantic comedy... with a heart! It is a very humanistic, irreverent yet poignant tableau about how Americans, and people in general, are ever seeking love, yet ignoring the truth and beauty in their very midst.

The whole ensemble cast deserves great credit. The chemistry worked all around, and conveyed a sense of humor and whimsy to what might otherwise have been viewed as a tale most sad and desperate. The twists turn everything dull and downbeat to upbeat levity. And from mind-numbing happenstance of the day-to-day blooms a very rich and uplifting comedic story of a ludicrous love affair.

I love the informed slacker sensibilities infused throughout the movie. From the references to Dawn of the Dead in Monroeville, to the Star Wars spoof, to the modern coffeehouse-cum-porn-studio crossover. The show carries in it now decades of thought while remaining modern. People who are in their forties will feel like they are back in their teens. Young twenty-somethings who watch it may suddenly feel middle aged.

Hence why I think the movie can be summed up in one famous last wry word: "Grannypants!"

Hero (2002)

This was an opera of motion.

[10/10 · 7 September 2004]

I kept thinking this movie was staged like an opera. The Emperor's courtiers all spoke in unison like a chorus. The colors, the sets, the movements. It was dramatic, poetic, vivid.

The movie also kept one guessing through its retelling of the same tale at different layers. There were some parts of the movie telegraphed surely ahead of time. Moments when you knew how it would inexorably resolve. Yet one watched them to see the playing out of tragic demise, just as one might watch Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet. It was not that they were to die, but how.

The key to it was the periods of inaction. The pauses before the display of violence, or after. What was shown, and what was not shown.

It should give American directors some reason to reflect how good action movies can also be thoughtful and artistic movies as well.