daniel-j-doughty

This is a fun little show that I look forward to every week. I had my Tivo filled up with automatically scheduled shows, so I had to manually search for it each week. And I DID. Which is a sure sign that it's a good show. I'd never go out of my way that much if it wasn't.

The plot isn't overly complex and others comparisons to Northern Exposure and Gilmore Girls is apt. Except this family has a teenage boy and girl so the interaction is actually a bit more real and less Nancy Drewish. The kid's trying to get laid and the mom's trying to crack it down.

And the overtones of the world ending are actually interesting in a farsical sort of manner. There is a general fear of the world coming to end via pandemic or nukes or evil squeegies from planet x that we all live with today. Instead of ignoring that fear, this show sort of throws it all on it's head. It says, OK, so maybe the world is ending. Now what are you going to do? Which is a day by day sort of attitude I can get behind.

Great Canadian film. It's all about small town life and how you have to fight to get out if that life doesn't fit you. And it's about teenage catholic issues. Who's preggers, who's gotten an abortion, who's f^(*&ing who, why there's no space in the house for more kids, etc. The leading actress Liane Balaban did a really good job of it all. She reminds me of Natalie Portman. If you're not sentimental or need action then I wouldn't bother. But if you find humor in the daughter of an incarcerated boxer knocking out all the boys in town then you'll dig this fun little movie. And oh yeah, it deals with young women actually have physical desires...which seems to be taboo or something.

I love Penn and Walken. They both disappointed me. The plot was weak. The characters were weaker. No time is spent in defining characters and then the director attempted to develop them to some new state. It just doesn't work. And at a very basic level I'll tell you that having a rat be the centerpiece of a gangster film never works out too well.

OK, here's a HUGE point of contention with other reviews. Everyone raves about how great the soundtrack is. IT'S THE SAME BLOODY SONG AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN. Look, I like the damn Madonna song, but just playing it on repeat doesn't make it better and it certainly doesn't set a mood. Frequently I actually don't notice a soundtrack on a film. This one was so damn obnoxious that I couldn't ignore it.

So overall I think the movie sucked. It's the first Walken film I've ever given a thumbs down to. The plot has holes. The characters are boring and transparent. The music sucks. The cinematography is OK. Pretty much it's crap.