New On Video: 'Mighty Wind,' Daddy Day Care'
Also New: 'Holes'; MacFarlane Talks 'Family Guy'
POSTED: 8:00 p.m. EDT September 26, 2003
UPDATED: 4:39 p.m. EDT September 28, 2003
'A Mighty Wind' (PG-13) Backed by a wonderfully original premise, high-spirited performances and an infectious feel-good atmosphere, the documentary-style music-comedy "A Mighty Wind" not only blows away its comedy competitors of late, it's easily one of the best of all films this year.
It only makes sense. Not only is writer-director Christopher Guest one of the creative forces behind the docu-comedy classics "Waiting for Guffman" and "Best in Show," "A Mighty Wind" also reunites on screen the trio of arguably one of the funniest films ever -- the 1984 mock-rockumentary "This is Spinal Tap" -- and as a band of musicians, to boot.
In "A Mighty Wind," Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer reunite in the form of the Folksmen, a folk group that made a small dent in the folk music scene of the 1960s. After the death of their promoter Irving Steinbloom, his son (Bob Balaban) calls upon his father's favorite acts for a reunion concert in New York City.
In addition to the Folksmen, the younger Steinbloom manages to snare the bitterly divorced duo Mitch &Mickey (Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara) and the New Main Street Singers: a patchwork update of the original ensemble that includes Sissy Knox, the daughter (Parker Posey) of one of the group's founders; Terry Bohner (John Michael Higgins), who was force-fed the group's original music growing up, and his quirky wife (Jane Lynch). Fred Willard plays the group's idea-man manager, turning in perhaps his funniest performance to date.
Like "Waiting for Guffman" and "Best in Show," Guest and co-writer Levy provide the plot outline for the film, which consists of an introduction to the characters, the event that brings them together and an epilogue to find out where the characters are in the following months. Then they join the rest of the comedy troupe to flesh out the movie in all of its improvisational glory.
But while the loose format enabled the ensemble to turn in another set of insanely funny performances, perhaps what's most impressive about "A Mighty Wind" is its music. The groups performed their own vocals and performances (Guest, McKean and Shearer wrote most of the music, with other contributions from Levy, O'Hara and McKean's wife, actress Annette O'Toole), and the result is an amazing set of tunes that sound like they came straight out of the folk era. .
The detailed set-up for "A Mighty Wind" undoubtedly provides the film's funniest moments, as members of groups recall their roots. "Spinal Tap" aficionados will especially enjoy this stretch, as the preamble includes much of the same type of humor and music-related sight gags that made the heavy metal movie such of a blast.
With "A Mighty Wind," Guest has solidified his position as one of the most talented filmmakers of his generation. Like his prior films, Guest once again proves that you don't have to go far to find the greatest laughs in life, because they're all alive and well right there in those quirky people known as us.
In the end, we see ourselves in the film's characters, and you don't have to be a wannabe actor, a dog show exhibitor or folk singer to enjoy Guest's films; you just have somebody willing to admit that it's OK to be yourself, no matter how the rest of the world perceives how "odd" you are. If you're unwilling to admit your oddities, well, then you're missing out on a great joke.
DVD Features: While the deleted scenes gives a satisfying taste of the improvisation that didn't make it to the theatrical version, perhaps the highlight of the bonus features is the memorial concert presented in its entirety, with a video-taped look that makes you feel as if you're really watching it on public television.
Like the "Spinal Tap" disc, the "Mighty Wind" DVD also delves into the backstory of the groups by showing the group's appearances and interviews on "variety shows" from the "early days." Guest and Levy also provide audio commentary. (Warner Home Video)
'Daddy Day Care' (PG) Eddie Murphy is in rare form in "Daddy Day Care," a funny and sometimes poignant family comedy that's just as entertaining for adults as it is for kids.
Murphy and Jeff Garlin are hilarious as Charlie and Phil, two advertising executives who see their savings dwindle after they lose their jobs. With the options limited, the buddies open a day-care facility promoting their experience as good fathers.
The duo gets off to a rocky start with a group of uncontrollable toddlers, naturally, but their luck begins to change when their former office flunky named Marvin (Steve Zahn) -- an overgrown kid who spends half of his existence in the "Star Trek" universe -- joins their team. But when word gets out that their "Daddy Day Care" starts to click, an overbearing taskmistress (Angelica Huston) at a rival preschool plots to put the trio out of business.
If you've only caught 30-second television spots of the DVD release, you might be led to believe Murphy's latest comedy is a brainless run-of-the-mill romp, where smart-alecky kids run rampant over a trio of hapless adult child care providers.
And while that silly, predictable comedy is a given for this sort of movie setting, thankfully it doesn't dominate it. In fact, Murphy, Zahn and Garlin turn in a trio of inspired comic performances. Murphy, in particular, has priceless facial expressions and his body language is worth the price of rental alone. The great thing is, he allows Zahn ("Saving Silverman") and Garlin ("Curb Your Enthusiasm") enough time to strut their stuff.
Sure, the younger cast member's antics and dialogue scream predictability, their performances are for the most part solid and avoid being annoying -- even when it's their job to annoy the adults in the film.
Of course, predictability isn't going to matter to the film's younger audience members, who should be easily entertained. For adults, there are nice lessons about parenting layered within the movie that for the most part, avoids being preachy. It's a fun movie with a lot of heart.
DVD Features: Production featurettes spotlighting Murphy, child cast; games; blooper reel, animated film short, and more. (Columbia-TriStar Home Entertainment)
'Holes' (PG) If you dug Louis Sachar's mega-popular pre-teen book "Holes," you'll love his own feature film adaptation of the film -- a fresh coming-of-age tale that boasts a solid ensemble cast, wonderfully mysterious atmosphere and most importantly, an engaging story.
Disney Television's "Even Stevens" star Shia LeBeouf stars as Stanley Yelnats IV, a teen from a long line of "cursed" Yelnats (the last being his father, played by Henry Winkler), who is sentenced to a dusty, desolate juvenile work camp in Texas after being wrongfully convicted of stealing a basketball star's (L.A. Lakers star Rick Fox) sneakers. It's there where Stanley joins a band of rough-and-tumbling teen inmates with nifty nicknames (X-Ray, Zig-Zag and Magnet, among them), whose daily tasks are to dig holes and more holes in a dry lakebed.
Why? The camp's sunflower seed-spitting, squinty-eyed supervisor Mr. Sir (Jon Voight), his camp counselor flunkie Mr. Pendanski (Tim Blake Nelson) and their venomous superior, only known as the Warden (Sigourney Weaver), claim digging holes builds character -- but buried beneath their bull is a mysterious ulterior motive. We slowly find out what that is through a series of flashbacks that takes us to Latvia and the origin of Yelnats curse, as well as the Old West, where we follow the path of a notorious outlaw named Kissin' Kate Barlow (Patricia Arquette).
Director Andy Davis ("The Fugitive") masterfully interprets Sachar's script, which for the most part Sachar faithfully adapted from his novel. For audience members unfamiliar with the book, the rapid jumps back and forth between time periods may be a bit confusing at first, but as the mystery unravels, the story comes together beautifully. Sure, the story is offbeat at times, but that's half the fun.
What makes "Holes" a winner more than anything is the notion that good-old fashioned storytelling prevails over such cheap family film plot devices as body function humor, unnecessarily painful slapstick and misinformed adult characters that continually come off looking like buffoons.
The acting is first-rate, all the way from cast veterans Weaver, Voight and Winkler to newcomer LeBeouf -- who is at his best in wonderfully subtle scenes opposite Khleo Thomas -- an illiterate camp member nicknamed "Zero" whom Stanley takes a stand for.
While the book is aimed at pre-teens, "Holes" should appeal to all ages. It's a smart film that layers important lessons within its adventurous and entertaining premise. For the lack of better words, it's valuable family entertainment that comes at a dirt-cheap price.
DVD Features: Audio commentary with Davis, Sachar; cast commentary with LeBeouf, Thomas and others; deleted scenes; gag reel; "Dig It" music video; production featurette, and more. (Walt Disney Home Entertainment)
TV On DVD: 'Family Guy' Volume Two (NR)
The raucous Fox network comedy more daring than "The Simpsons" -- "Family Guy" -- is back with a second volume that features the show's third and final season on DVD (Fox Home Entertainment).
Like the first two years of the show, creator Seth MacFarlane (who voices the characters of Peter, baby Stewie and family dog Brian on the show) playfully skewers pop culture icons at a fast and furious pace. Among those targeted in the episodes are Keanu Reeves, Kevin Costner, Bill Cosby and Alyssa Milano (who pokes fun of herself in one of the episodes).
Surprisingly, as harsh as MacFarlane and creative partners have been on celebrities on the show, they haven't gotten any negative feedback from Hollywood.
"I'm trying to think of an instance in which somebody has complained," MacFarlane observed for me in a recent @ The Movies interview. "I think at this point celebrities are so used to having to take that kind of ribbing from many shows, not the least of which is, obviously, 'The Simpsons.' We've never gotten a nasty letter from anybody. Nothing's striking me offhand. We've had pretty good luck."
Of course, what propels "Family Guy" into the comic atmosphere are the continual references to pop culture and people who were in the news at the given time.
But not all of the jokes stand the test of time. One particular reference burned in MacFarlane's mind forever came in an episode he showed at his alma mater, the Rhode Island School of Design, on Sept. 10, 2001.
"The episode that I screened was 'The Road to Rhode Island,' which was the Brian and Stewie road episode," MacFarlane recalled. "We made it in 1999 or 2000, and there's a scene in the episode where Osama bin Laden is singing show tunes to distract airport security while he gets weapons through."
But what makes the screening of the episode the night of Sept. 10 all the more eerie, is that MacFarlane missed his flight from Boston's Logan Airport to Los Angeles the next day: American Airlines Flight 11 -- the plane that crashed into the north tower of New York's World Trade Center.
"It was a combination of things," MacFarlane said of missing the flight. "I had a little bit to drink the night before, I was running a little late, and also, my travel agent had written 8:15 on my itinerary and the flight left at 7:45. So when I got there about 7:30 and walked up to the desk, they said, "Hey, you know we're just closing the gate, you're too late." I was a little hungover, so I didn't really make a stink about it to try to get on."
Worse yet, his assistant didn't get MacFarlane's phone message about taking a later flight right away, which sent everybody he knew into a panic.
"He didn't get that message until 20 minutes after the planes hit," MacFarlane recalled. "My parents were freaking out. It was even worse for the people in the office, because they had my exact information, they knew which flight I was supposed to be on."
As for the episode that MacFarlane showed in Rhode Island, MacFarlane said the bin Laden scene has been cut out for the DVD release.
It only makes sense. Not only is writer-director Christopher Guest one of the creative forces behind the docu-comedy classics "Waiting for Guffman" and "Best in Show," "A Mighty Wind" also reunites on screen the trio of arguably one of the funniest films ever -- the 1984 mock-rockumentary "This is Spinal Tap" -- and as a band of musicians, to boot.
In "A Mighty Wind," Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer reunite in the form of the Folksmen, a folk group that made a small dent in the folk music scene of the 1960s. After the death of their promoter Irving Steinbloom, his son (Bob Balaban) calls upon his father's favorite acts for a reunion concert in New York City.
In addition to the Folksmen, the younger Steinbloom manages to snare the bitterly divorced duo Mitch &Mickey (Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara) and the New Main Street Singers: a patchwork update of the original ensemble that includes Sissy Knox, the daughter (Parker Posey) of one of the group's founders; Terry Bohner (John Michael Higgins), who was force-fed the group's original music growing up, and his quirky wife (Jane Lynch). Fred Willard plays the group's idea-man manager, turning in perhaps his funniest performance to date.
Like "Waiting for Guffman" and "Best in Show," Guest and co-writer Levy provide the plot outline for the film, which consists of an introduction to the characters, the event that brings them together and an epilogue to find out where the characters are in the following months. Then they join the rest of the comedy troupe to flesh out the movie in all of its improvisational glory.
But while the loose format enabled the ensemble to turn in another set of insanely funny performances, perhaps what's most impressive about "A Mighty Wind" is its music. The groups performed their own vocals and performances (Guest, McKean and Shearer wrote most of the music, with other contributions from Levy, O'Hara and McKean's wife, actress Annette O'Toole), and the result is an amazing set of tunes that sound like they came straight out of the folk era. .
The detailed set-up for "A Mighty Wind" undoubtedly provides the film's funniest moments, as members of groups recall their roots. "Spinal Tap" aficionados will especially enjoy this stretch, as the preamble includes much of the same type of humor and music-related sight gags that made the heavy metal movie such of a blast.
With "A Mighty Wind," Guest has solidified his position as one of the most talented filmmakers of his generation. Like his prior films, Guest once again proves that you don't have to go far to find the greatest laughs in life, because they're all alive and well right there in those quirky people known as us.
In the end, we see ourselves in the film's characters, and you don't have to be a wannabe actor, a dog show exhibitor or folk singer to enjoy Guest's films; you just have somebody willing to admit that it's OK to be yourself, no matter how the rest of the world perceives how "odd" you are. If you're unwilling to admit your oddities, well, then you're missing out on a great joke.
DVD Features: While the deleted scenes gives a satisfying taste of the improvisation that didn't make it to the theatrical version, perhaps the highlight of the bonus features is the memorial concert presented in its entirety, with a video-taped look that makes you feel as if you're really watching it on public television.
Like the "Spinal Tap" disc, the "Mighty Wind" DVD also delves into the backstory of the groups by showing the group's appearances and interviews on "variety shows" from the "early days." Guest and Levy also provide audio commentary. (Warner Home Video)
'Daddy Day Care' (PG) Eddie Murphy is in rare form in "Daddy Day Care," a funny and sometimes poignant family comedy that's just as entertaining for adults as it is for kids.
Murphy and Jeff Garlin are hilarious as Charlie and Phil, two advertising executives who see their savings dwindle after they lose their jobs. With the options limited, the buddies open a day-care facility promoting their experience as good fathers.
The duo gets off to a rocky start with a group of uncontrollable toddlers, naturally, but their luck begins to change when their former office flunky named Marvin (Steve Zahn) -- an overgrown kid who spends half of his existence in the "Star Trek" universe -- joins their team. But when word gets out that their "Daddy Day Care" starts to click, an overbearing taskmistress (Angelica Huston) at a rival preschool plots to put the trio out of business.
If you've only caught 30-second television spots of the DVD release, you might be led to believe Murphy's latest comedy is a brainless run-of-the-mill romp, where smart-alecky kids run rampant over a trio of hapless adult child care providers.
And while that silly, predictable comedy is a given for this sort of movie setting, thankfully it doesn't dominate it. In fact, Murphy, Zahn and Garlin turn in a trio of inspired comic performances. Murphy, in particular, has priceless facial expressions and his body language is worth the price of rental alone. The great thing is, he allows Zahn ("Saving Silverman") and Garlin ("Curb Your Enthusiasm") enough time to strut their stuff.
Sure, the younger cast member's antics and dialogue scream predictability, their performances are for the most part solid and avoid being annoying -- even when it's their job to annoy the adults in the film.
Of course, predictability isn't going to matter to the film's younger audience members, who should be easily entertained. For adults, there are nice lessons about parenting layered within the movie that for the most part, avoids being preachy. It's a fun movie with a lot of heart.
DVD Features: Production featurettes spotlighting Murphy, child cast; games; blooper reel, animated film short, and more. (Columbia-TriStar Home Entertainment)
'Holes' (PG) If you dug Louis Sachar's mega-popular pre-teen book "Holes," you'll love his own feature film adaptation of the film -- a fresh coming-of-age tale that boasts a solid ensemble cast, wonderfully mysterious atmosphere and most importantly, an engaging story.
Disney Television's "Even Stevens" star Shia LeBeouf stars as Stanley Yelnats IV, a teen from a long line of "cursed" Yelnats (the last being his father, played by Henry Winkler), who is sentenced to a dusty, desolate juvenile work camp in Texas after being wrongfully convicted of stealing a basketball star's (L.A. Lakers star Rick Fox) sneakers. It's there where Stanley joins a band of rough-and-tumbling teen inmates with nifty nicknames (X-Ray, Zig-Zag and Magnet, among them), whose daily tasks are to dig holes and more holes in a dry lakebed.
Why? The camp's sunflower seed-spitting, squinty-eyed supervisor Mr. Sir (Jon Voight), his camp counselor flunkie Mr. Pendanski (Tim Blake Nelson) and their venomous superior, only known as the Warden (Sigourney Weaver), claim digging holes builds character -- but buried beneath their bull is a mysterious ulterior motive. We slowly find out what that is through a series of flashbacks that takes us to Latvia and the origin of Yelnats curse, as well as the Old West, where we follow the path of a notorious outlaw named Kissin' Kate Barlow (Patricia Arquette).
Director Andy Davis ("The Fugitive") masterfully interprets Sachar's script, which for the most part Sachar faithfully adapted from his novel. For audience members unfamiliar with the book, the rapid jumps back and forth between time periods may be a bit confusing at first, but as the mystery unravels, the story comes together beautifully. Sure, the story is offbeat at times, but that's half the fun.
What makes "Holes" a winner more than anything is the notion that good-old fashioned storytelling prevails over such cheap family film plot devices as body function humor, unnecessarily painful slapstick and misinformed adult characters that continually come off looking like buffoons.
The acting is first-rate, all the way from cast veterans Weaver, Voight and Winkler to newcomer LeBeouf -- who is at his best in wonderfully subtle scenes opposite Khleo Thomas -- an illiterate camp member nicknamed "Zero" whom Stanley takes a stand for.
While the book is aimed at pre-teens, "Holes" should appeal to all ages. It's a smart film that layers important lessons within its adventurous and entertaining premise. For the lack of better words, it's valuable family entertainment that comes at a dirt-cheap price.
DVD Features: Audio commentary with Davis, Sachar; cast commentary with LeBeouf, Thomas and others; deleted scenes; gag reel; "Dig It" music video; production featurette, and more. (Walt Disney Home Entertainment)
TV On DVD: 'Family Guy' Volume Two (NR)
The raucous Fox network comedy more daring than "The Simpsons" -- "Family Guy" -- is back with a second volume that features the show's third and final season on DVD (Fox Home Entertainment).
Like the first two years of the show, creator Seth MacFarlane (who voices the characters of Peter, baby Stewie and family dog Brian on the show) playfully skewers pop culture icons at a fast and furious pace. Among those targeted in the episodes are Keanu Reeves, Kevin Costner, Bill Cosby and Alyssa Milano (who pokes fun of herself in one of the episodes).
Surprisingly, as harsh as MacFarlane and creative partners have been on celebrities on the show, they haven't gotten any negative feedback from Hollywood.
"I'm trying to think of an instance in which somebody has complained," MacFarlane observed for me in a recent @ The Movies interview. "I think at this point celebrities are so used to having to take that kind of ribbing from many shows, not the least of which is, obviously, 'The Simpsons.' We've never gotten a nasty letter from anybody. Nothing's striking me offhand. We've had pretty good luck."
Of course, what propels "Family Guy" into the comic atmosphere are the continual references to pop culture and people who were in the news at the given time.
But not all of the jokes stand the test of time. One particular reference burned in MacFarlane's mind forever came in an episode he showed at his alma mater, the Rhode Island School of Design, on Sept. 10, 2001.
"The episode that I screened was 'The Road to Rhode Island,' which was the Brian and Stewie road episode," MacFarlane recalled. "We made it in 1999 or 2000, and there's a scene in the episode where Osama bin Laden is singing show tunes to distract airport security while he gets weapons through."
But what makes the screening of the episode the night of Sept. 10 all the more eerie, is that MacFarlane missed his flight from Boston's Logan Airport to Los Angeles the next day: American Airlines Flight 11 -- the plane that crashed into the north tower of New York's World Trade Center.
"It was a combination of things," MacFarlane said of missing the flight. "I had a little bit to drink the night before, I was running a little late, and also, my travel agent had written 8:15 on my itinerary and the flight left at 7:45. So when I got there about 7:30 and walked up to the desk, they said, "Hey, you know we're just closing the gate, you're too late." I was a little hungover, so I didn't really make a stink about it to try to get on."
Worse yet, his assistant didn't get MacFarlane's phone message about taking a later flight right away, which sent everybody he knew into a panic.
"He didn't get that message until 20 minutes after the planes hit," MacFarlane recalled. "My parents were freaking out. It was even worse for the people in the office, because they had my exact information, they knew which flight I was supposed to be on."
As for the episode that MacFarlane showed in Rhode Island, MacFarlane said the bin Laden scene has been cut out for the DVD release.Copyright 2003 by Lifewhile.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
