Ice Age came out in 2002 giving me no real inspiration to go check it out. Of course I finally did and found it to be well voiced and scripted. So, when Ice Age 2: The Meltdown debuted, I had a bit more interest in seeing it, even though the idea of sequels usually doesn’t hold much clout in my eyes. To my surprise the film kept most of what worked from the original. The performances from Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, and Denis Leary are all humorous and heartfelt. The…
Read MoreDay: June 16, 2006
REVIEW: Clay Pigeons [1998]
Before striking gold by teaming with Vince Vaughn in last year’s Wedding Crashers, director David Dobkin tabbed him for his debut Clay Pigeons. The movie had some buzz behind it upon its release in 1998, however I never got around to checking it out. A few months ago, while listening to my podcast of choice, the movie review show Cinecast (recently renamed as Filmspotting), Pigeons was brought back into my consciousness. It is a well-made effort—dark subject matter mixed with pitch black humor. This is vintage Vaughn who really lights…
Read MoreREVIEW: A Prairie Home Companion [2006]
Being a huge fan of the movie whose name I stole for this post’s title and his more recent Gosford Park, I was ecstatic to see that Robert Altman had gone back to his layered dialogue and fly on the wall storytelling style with the new A Prairie Home Companion, (I haven’t seen The Company but it just didn’t strike me as the Altman I love). The film is a nice, poignant tale about the final show from Garrison Keillor’s ragtag band of misfits. What a crew they were: Keillor…
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