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Home (RE) Viewing: From screen to stage to screen
In a lackluster week for video releases, the best new pick is the third version of Mel Brooks’ big break.
The Producers: The classic story of two Broadway producers looking to make the biggest stage flop ever (showtunes and Nazis!) began life as a hilarious 1968 movie, changed into a mammoth 2001 Broadway hit, and now the combination of the two turns out to be …. just OK. Director Susan Stroman’s flat visual style rarely lets the big numbers take off like they should, but a spirited cast, including stage veterans Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane and a delightfully ditzy Uma Thurman, makes this Producers a good if not great time. Middletown native Debra Monk appears briefly as one of the little old ladies near the beginning. Grade: B-
Also out today
Doogal: CGI animated movie that’s strictly for the kids, if it’s even for them.
The Ringer: Johnny Knoxville plays a man who pretends to be mentally retarded so he can enter the Special Olympics. But does Knoxville really have to pretend?
Something New: Sanaa Lathan and Simon Baker strike up an interracial romance.
When a Stranger Calls: These teen horror flicks almost always do well in their first weekend, drop like a rock the second when everyone realizes they’re the same old thing — and then the crowds turn out again for the next flick! WHY??!!? It’s all stab, rinse, repeat. Zzzzzz.
The White Countess: The last Merchant/Ivory film, with Ralph Fiennes and Natasha Richardson. I dare anyone to see this as a double bill with When a Stranger Calls.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: On Video/DVD
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By SRCputt
May 20, 2006 12:16 PM | Link to this
Mad Magazine had a great line when it stated that Johnny Knoxville prepared for his role in The Ringer by acting as a retarded man from 1973-2004.