The Producers
Mel Brook’s comedic masterpiece is back on the big screen after a long hiatus on Broadway. Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick reprise their Broadway roles and team up with an uber-sexy Uma Thurman to bring laughs along with a little song and dance – to our screens. Hang on: make that a lot of song and dance.
After the disastrous performance of his last Broadway show, a producer discovers he could potentially make more money with a flop than with a hit. He teams up with a naive accountant to find the worst script ever written, and make a fortune out of it.
In the true spirit of Broadway productions, The Producers brings in a slew of catchy songs, with impressive choreographies. The movie turns out to be one of the most hilarious productions to have hit the screens in 2005. A must-see for anyone with a musical ear… or an itching for a laugh.
The Family Stone
The star-studded cast of The Family Stone does nothing but set the viewers up for disappointment as the movie fails to reach its own expectations. It provides a few laughs, but feels like painting by numbers; the result is polished, but lacks essence and personality.
A man’s plan bringing his new girlfriend home to meet his parents during the holidays doesn’t go exactly as planned. From frictions between the new in-laws to relationships rekindling, the movie fails to exploit the real drama that lies underneath the surface. A moving subplot drowns under an impossibly thick layer of sugar coating, leaving a disapointingly sour after-taste.
The acting is what you would expect from such a light-hearted holiday movie, although Diane Keaton and Rachel McAdams deliver standout performances. The casting of Sarah Jessica Parker in one of the leads seems awkward, as she lacks the charisma the other two forementionned ooze to make the character lively.
Wolf Creek
A horror movie opening on Christmas day…bad taste or bold marketing decision? After viewing the movie, viewers no longer care about the motivations behind releasing the movie on such a date; they are left wondering what the motivations were to make this movie in the first place. Wolf Creek takes what seems like forever to get somewhere, and when it finally does, it turns out to be nowhere good at all.
Loosely inspired by the Backpack Murders, a series of killings that happened in Australia several years ago, Wolf Creek follows three friends as they embark on a road trip that was set to bring them all around the land down under, but ultimately brings them straight to hell.
The movie most likely counts on the M-Rating to have thrill-seeking teenagers flood theatres with fake I.D.s, but even the most squirmish will unblinkingly sit through these 100 dreadful minutes. A few gunshots and less victims than you can count on one hand are not exactly my definition of a gruesome experience. The camera tricks
