Stuart Little 2
Adventure. Columbia. 2002.
D: Rob Minkoff.
P: Lucy Fisher, Douglas Wick
“Stuart and Snowbell set out across town to rescue a friend”.
It tries to replicate the charm of the original, but seems too forced. All it has going for it, then, is cuteness and special effects.
Significant production contribution: None.
Spirit: Stallion of the cimarron
Adventure. DreamWorks. 2002.
D: Kelly Asbury, Lorna Cook.
P: Jeffrey Katzenberg, Mireille Soria
“As a wild stallion travels across the frontiers of the Old West, he befriends a young human and finds true love with a mare”.
Flat, mediocre animation feature.
Significant production contribution: None.
Space jam
Adventure. Warner. 1996.
D: Joe Pytka.
P: Daniel Goldberg, Joe Medjuck, Ivan Reitman, Ron Tippe
“Michael Jordan agrees to help the Looney Toons play a basketball game vs. alien slavers to determine their freedom”.
Non-sensical vehicle for basketball superstar Michael Jordan, co-starring with Warner’s stock animation characters. Ludicrous.
Significant production contribution: None.
Soul survivor
Horror. Artisan. 2001.
D: Stephen Carpenter.
P: Neal Mortiz, Stokely Chaffin.
“A co-ed is caught between the world of the living and the dead”.
Uninteresting teen horror sub product.
Significant production contribution: None.
Possession
Drama. USA, Warner. 2002.
D: Neil LaBute.
P: Barry Levinson, Paula Weinstein.
“A pair of literary sleuths unearth the amorous secret of two Victorian poets only to find themselves falling under a passionate spell”.
Realization prefers attitude and provocation than artistry, literature or narrative value; a certain intellectual interest arises from this approach, but the film suffers a great deal for it. The material deserved a much better treatment.
Significant production contribution: Music (Gabriel Yared)
My life
Drama. Columbia. 1993.
D: Bruce Joel Rubin.
P: Hunt Lowry, Bruce Joel Rubin, Jerry Zucker.
“A terminally ill man prepares for his death”.
Unabashed weeper of the brainless kind. Tough luck for the ones looking for an Oscar with this.
Significant production contribution: None.
Little shop of horrors * *
Comedy. Warner, Geffen. 1986.
D: Frank Oz.
P: David Geffen.
“A nerdish florist finds his chance for success and romance with the help of a giant man-eating plant who demands to be fed”.
Extraordinary musical comedy, with a black, kitschy humour and an appropiate, biting collection of songs. Material is directed to its best effect.
Significant production contribution: Songs (Alan Menken, Howard Ashman), Direction
Lara Croft: Tomb raider
Adventure. Paramunt. 2001.
D: Simon West.
P: Lawrence Gordon, Lloyd Levin, Colin Wilson.
“Lara Croft races against time and villains to recover powerful ancient artifacts”.
Based on a famous video game, a humourless mish-mash of much lesser Indiana Jones set pieces, ugly pyrotechniques and acrobatic stunts. All of its as substitute for story and character.
Significant production contribution: None.
Key Largo *
Thriller. Warner. 1948.
D: John Huston.
P: Jerry Wald.
“A man visits his old friend’s hotel and finds a gangster running things. As a hurricane approaches, the two end up confronting each other”.
A worthy noir setting with a commendable direction of actors.
Significant production contribution: None.
Hot shots!
Comedy. Fox. 1991.
D: Jim Abrahams.
P: Bill Baladato.
“Parody of “Top Gun” in which a talented but unstable fighter pilot must overcome the ghosts of his father and save a mission sabotaged by greedy weapons manufacturers”.
Another “Airplane”-ish gag collection, probably the least bad among them.
Significant production contribution: None.
