FilmRoar

“Who the fuck wrote this thing!” That single sentence could be heard coming from my mouth over and over as the plot of Adventures of Bob & Doug McKenzie: Strange Brew, The (1983) took one bizarre plot twist after another. Just as SCTV was, through the ’80s, a more immature, less funny version of Saturday Night Live, Strange Brew feels like an under-written SNL movie wannabe. Strange Brew is a complete contradiction in its writing and humor. One the one hand, you have constant beer drinking, farting, pissing and burping jokes as the main comedic content of the movie, on the other is an intricate plot that follows the story of Hamlet. On the one hand, you have the McKenzie brothers testing the line of how simply idiotic one can act without being committed to a mental institution, on the other is the superb Max von Sydow playing a brilliant villain with the finesse of one of the best actors the silver screen has ever seen. Strange Brew has some good laughs, and may have proved a better film if the audience was not forced to constantly wonder what drugs (or brews) the writers (Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas and Steve De Jarnatt) were on as they conceived this decidedly warped comedy.

Mega-studio Sony took a huge leap of faith in choosing B-movie master Sam Raimi to direct the blockbuster flick Spider-Man (2002). Best known for his zombie and blood trilogy The Evil Dead (1982), Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn (1987) and Army of Darkness (1993) most people forget Raimi’s failure with the blockbuster bust Darkman (1990). Sony seemed to take a further leap of faith casting Tobey Maguire in the title role. I was happy to see their bets pay off.
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Easily one of the movies on my top five list, The Princess Bride (1987) is beautiful and enchanting. Beautifully written, wonderfully directed and perfectly cast, The Princess Bride is one of those few rare films where nothing should be changed.

In a masterful improvement over his own fairy tale, screenwriter William Goldman offers us enchanting scene after quotable, enchanting scene. It is hard to guess at the formula that makes Princess Bride so enchanting, but I guess it is a fine balance between all the elements that go into making a movie good. If you know me, you should probably watch this movie just so you can understand where I get the quotes that I use daily.

Apple has posted a trailer for the League Of Extaordinary Gentlemen movie. The movie seems to be a victorian superhero action flick based on a comic starring Sean Connery.

Would you believe me if I told you someone made an exiting movie about playing chess? No? Then you have not seen Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993). This movie has heart, depth and one heck of a kick ass checkmate kind of finale.

A site has launched for the new movie Van Helsing with some very beautiful art. The movie, written and directed by Stephen Sommers (The Mummy), has Stroker’s famed vampire hunter played by Hugh Jackman (Wolverine in the X-Men movies) going up against Frankenstein?s monster, The Wolf Man and Dracula. Also on the cast are Kate Beckinsale, Richard Roxburgh (Moulin Rouge), David Wenham (Lord of the Rings), Will Kemp and Shuler Hensley. Production started in January and the movie is slated for a 2004 release.
More info:
Box Office Prophets: Van Helsing

Apple has posted an impressive new trailer for the movie X2 on it’s quicktime site. This is the trailer that is showing in front of Daredevil.