How to resolve AdBlock issue? Arts & Life
This column strives to stay current on new film releases, as long as the studios are cooperating by holding screenings for critics. That’s not always the case at the start of the year, when so much of the new product is nothing more than cinematic jetsam that studios are eager to dump.
Spoof movies, particularly the Scary Movie franchise, can be entertaining and erratically funny. So it seemed Meet the Spartans could be mildly diverting, and 20th Century Fox put me on a screening list after I made a request to see it. Yet, a day before the event the invite was unceremoniously snatched away when it dawned on somebody that a critic would get an advance peek.
The moral of this story is that any studio disdain for press coverage is the surest sign that the film in question is an unmitigated train wreck. The more charitable view is that certain films, perhaps the spoof movies more than ever, are immune to criticism.
So why bother spending money on promotions, other than the requisite advertising? Now, I could rush to the theater and pay good money to see Meet the Spartans, but that could be a fool’s errand, kind of like buying season tickets for the Arizona Cardinals.
Let’s move on to another film from 20th Century Fox, the formulaic 27 Dresses which is the kind of cute, predictable romantic comedy that practically every guy in the universe would wisely avoid seeing under any normal circumstance, unless of course his significant other insists on a date movie. What we have here is a sappy love story that would more likely appeal to the ladies, or at least that’s my educated guess.
27 Dresses is by no means dreadful, and if I can survive it, then maybe the smart play for the guy is to make this a date movie, as long as the relationship is secure. After all, guys, you don’t want to be compared unfavorably to the hunky, toothy-grinned James Marsden, who plays the cynical journalist so obviously destined to become the love interest for the hopelessly sentimental Katherine Heigl.
If you can’t see the romance brewing between Heigl and Marsden only minutes after they meet, then you should stay home and watch endless repeats of the formulaic movies running on the Lifetime Channel. Heigl’s Jane is the perennial bridesmaid, and she has 27 dresses in her closet to prove it.
One memorable evening, Jane manages to shuttle between wedding receptions in Manhattan and Brooklyn, a feat witnessed by Kevin, a newspaper reporter consigned to writing the bridal beat. Now he realizes that he’s got a potential big story about a wedding junkie that could land him on the front page.
When Jane and Kevin meet at a wedding, they lock horns as she is repulsed by his cynicism. Meanwhile, Jane is in love with her boss, George (Edward Burns), a colorless character who is seemingly oblivious.
Jane’s neatly-ordered life is upended when her flighty, flirtatious younger sister Tess (Malin Akerman) arrives in town and sets her sights on capturing the heart of George. Not surprisingly, Tess succeeds, in part due to her remarkably shallow ability to feign interest in whatever George happens to like.
A whirlwind romance follows, and Tess and George soon announce their nuptials, enlisting Jane of course to organize the whole affair, including locating a 28th dress. Meanwhile, when not sulking about this turn of events, Jane slowly becomes more attracted to the willing and available Kevin, at least until his ill-timed expose of the perpetual bridesmaid surfaces in the newspaper. Hey, what’s a romantic comedy without some conflict that will eventually be resolved in the most satisfactory manner?
Katherine Heigl and James Marsden are charming actors who have come off well in recent film roles. In 27 Dresses they display the right note of chemistry in their tangled relationship. It’s enough to make the film bearable for guys stuck in the date movie mode.
DVD RELEASE UPDATE
Chances are Meet the Spartans will hit the DVD shelves in short order. Meanwhile, another spoof movie you may have missed at the multiplex, The Comebacks, is now available in both unrated and theatrical DVD editions.
It holds some appeal, considering that it spoofs a wide range of inspirational sports films, ranging from Rocky to Field of Dreams to Remember the Titans, naming just a few.
David Koechner stars as out-of-luck coach Lambeau Fields, who is persuaded to take to the field one last time and drives a rag-tag team of misfits towards a football championship.
The Comebacks is the Scary Movie for the uplifting sports genre, and it packs a number of laughs.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
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LAKEPORT – Five of Lake County’s own have struggled their way through 4,500 bands competing for a $1 million recording contract from Bodog Music.
Faded At Four members Jon Foutch, Brian Kenner, Martin “Martan” Scheel and Chris “Pencil” Sanders played Sunday, Jan. 13 at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco to a sea of their fans who traveled over three hours to support their favorite rock band.
Faded At Four’s 22-minute set in the 12-band show included fan favorites from their soon to be released CD, “Collateral” such as “They” and “Unhero” after a special tribute to Iraq war veteran and band member Chris “Murph” Murphy, who was in the audience cheering on his fellow band members on.
The band arranged travel, food and entrance for three buses of their fans from Lake County, Mendocino County, Sonoma County and Sacramento to win their place in the competition through fan voting and ticket sales with their performance scored by judges from as far away as Texas.
This competition started as an online voting process with Faded At Four registering in July 2007 and quickly moving up the ranks to hold steady in the top five in the world and number one in the San Francisco Division.
The first live competition was held in October 2007 and eight of those bands advanced to the next round in December. Four bands from the December round moved on to the Semi-Regional Finals and from there, three bands move on to the Regional Finals in Hollywood.
The single band that wins the March competition in Hollywood will advance to the reality-based TV show “Bodog Battle of the Bands” in which eight bands will compete worldwide through touring and various music based competitions. Bands will be eliminated one at a time with the final band winning a one million dollar recording contract from Bodog Music.
Their fans will be able to design their own Faded At Four vacation in Hollywood for this round of competition with arrangements being made for travel to and from the city via air, train, or bus, group rates for hotel accommodations and various group activities leading up to the competition.
Faded At Four past accomplishments were to win the Uber grand prize in Ukiah’s first annual Bandslam Competition; the band also opened for Kid Rock at Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa.
For more information visit the band's Web site at www.fadedatfour.com.
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