The Couch Potato Report
This week in The Couch Potato Report, its the good, the bad and the ugly.
Lets start with the good.
If you like your movies to be a lot more entertaining than the majority of releases then you should spend some time with SCHOOL OF ROCK.
In SCHOOL OF ROCK a failed musician masquerading as a substitute teacher who creates a band out of a 4th grade class.
The comedic force that is Jack Black has previously starred in HIGH FIDELITY and SHALLOW HAL. In those pictures he wasn’t meant to be all things to all people. In fact, he would best be described as “an acquired taste.”
But in SCHOOL OF ROCK he rises above what could have been a silly and formulaic family film. That comes courtesy of director Richard Linklater – who also made the rock and roll film DAZED AND CONFUSED.
The director and star infuse the “will he learn from his mistakes” formula with such a passion – and a respect for the rock music of the 1970’s – that SCHOOL OF ROCK is an above average slice of irresistible fun.
Last November 22nd a group of former and current National Hockey League stars had fun on an outdoor hockey pond in front of over 50,000 people.
Now you can relive one of the most memorable events in Canadian sports history with the the two disc HERITAGE CLASSIC DVD set.
This once in a lifetime event featured Wayne Gretzky, Guy Lafleur, Mark Messier and Larry Robinson taking to the ice, together, once again.
With the HERITAGE CLASSIC DVD you get to go behind the scenes, inside the dressing rooms and on to the ice.
You also get both games that were played at Commonwealth Stadium that day in their entirety.
The HERITAGE CLASSIC DVD is a great way to enjoy a great day in hockey history. Just go to shopcbc.ca to get yours. Or you can wait another month before its available in stores.
COLD CREEK MANOR is available at a store near you right now, but it’s a bad movie.
In the movie a family moves to the country from New York city and renovates an old mansion. But all is not well at COLD CREEK MANOR and eventually the family discovers its secrets.
Starring Dennis Quaid, Sharon Stone, Stephen Dorff and Juliette Lewis I suspect that COLD CREEK MANOR was supposed to be a shocking thriller with a great cast.
It wasn’t. It isn’t. It will never be.
The movie has no thrills, no chills. Nothing.
Simply put, COLD CREEK MANOR was one of the worst movies of 2003.
One of the worst. But it wasn’t the absolute worst. Nope, the honour of the worst film of 2003 goes to DUPLEX.
Yes DUPLEX is the worst film released in 2003. Worse than COLD CREEK MANOR and much worse than GIGLI.
DUPLEX is about a couple who are new homeowners forced to deal with a little old lady who lives in a rent controlled apartment upstairs.
But instead of taking advantage of a very funny premise DUPLEX is an ugly, unfunny, thoroughly unmemorable film.
I couldn’t be more disappointed to say that as the picture stars Ben Stiller of MEET THE PARENTS, the luminescent Drew Barrymore from THE WEDDING SINGER and it was directed with the same vengeful tongue that Danny DeVito used when he made THE WAR OF THE ROSES.
But every comedic opportunity in DUPLEX is squandered.
In the end I found myself just angry at the movie as there is absolutely no payoff whatsoever.
In a week with some good, some bad and the ugly DUPLEX is just an ugly, ugly movie.
The good SCHOOL OF ROCK, the bad COLD CREEK MANOR and the ugly DUPLEX are available at a store near you. The HERITAGE CLASSIC DVD is available online at shopcbc.ca. It will be in stores on March 23rd.
COMING NEXT WEEK IN THE COUCH POTATO REPORT
Steven Spielberg’s Academy Award winning classic film SCHINDLER’S LIST finally debuts on DVD.
Julia Roberts stars in MONA LISA SMILE as a professor at a women’s college who fights the school’s old beliefs system. Julia Stiles, Kirsten Dunst and Maggie Gyllenhaal also star in what isn’t a LITTLE WOMEN for a new generation.
FUTURAMA – VOLUME 3 features 22 episodes of the underappreciated animated television series from Matt Groening, the creator of THE SIMPSONS.
Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here next week on The Couch.
Categories