The Couch Potato Report – May 30th, 2006
This week The Couch Potato Report shines the spotlight on a small new Canadian film and a 29-year-old American one.
Have you ever found a film interesting that you couldn’t recommend?
The Canadian film WHOLE NEW THING fits that bill for me.
This made-in-Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia movie is about a thirteen year old boy who is enrolled in high school after years of being home schooled by his pseudo-hippie parents.
The boy is clever, intelligent and since he was raised in a household of casual nudity and openness about sex he is also androgynous.
We all know that kids can be cruel and the boyís transition from home to school doesnít go smoothly.
He does manage to get along well with the teachers, especially his English teacher.
However, this man has his own problems, including an ailing Mother.
The teacher’s problems increase once he realizes that the boy has developed a crush on him.
As I mentioned, I found WHOLE NEW THING interesting, and the Canadian cast featuring Rebecca Jenkins, Robert Joy, Daniel MacIvor, Callum Keith Rennie, and Aaron Webber as the boy are all superb, but I just didnít think the film was very good.
If you like small, interesting Canadian films, then I think you should see it. Otherwise don’t bother as the film isn’t very good.
The pace is slow, some of the secondary stories – especially the affair the boy’s Mother has – just seem added on because the filmmakers wanted to make the movie longer.
However, for some reason, maybe because it is a Canadian film, I found it interesting enough to watch right until the end.
I am glad I saw WHOLE NEW THING, as I really like small, interesting Canadian films, but I wonít ever need to see it again. Once was enough.
Yes, I like small, interesting Canadian films. I also like big huge American box office hits from the 1970s.
Films like SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT.
Burt Reynolds stars in this film as ìThe Banditî, a man who is hired to deliver a tractor trailer full of beer.
Along the way he is pursued by a relentless sheriff. Jackie Gleason plays Sheriff Buford T. Justice.
Sally Field is Reynoldís love interest and Jerry Reed is The Banditís truck driving buddy.
I have seen this film almost every year since it originally came out and one of the reasons that I am continually entertained by it is the fact that it doesn’t pretend to be anything more than it is.
It is just ninety minutes of pure cinematic fun.
And now the new SPECIAL EDITION DVD for SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT features a remastered version of the film, a new ìMaking `Smokey And The Bandit’î feature and a CB Radio Tutorial.
I always wondered if they thought they were making Shakespeare when they were filming, or if they were having as much fun as the audience did watching it, and this new DVD gave me the answer.
SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT was fun 29 years ago when it first came out, and it is fun now.
Wow, has it really been 29 years?!?!
Oh well, either way the SPECIAL EDITION of SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT and the interesting Canadian film WHOLE NEW THING are both available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
In the 4 disc set for ALF – SEASON THREE the former Gordon Shumway, refugee of the long-gone planet Melmac, continues to wreak hilarious havoc upon his adoptive Earth family the Tanners.
And the JOHN WAYNE – AN AMERICAN ICON COLLECTION is a two-disc set that features five of The Dukeís films.
I’m Dan Reynish. I’ll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.
For now, that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here next time on The Couch!
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