Video Reviews

8/23/99

Celebrity
The latest Woody Allen movie, starring, well, pretty much everyone alive, including Leo. Usually, Woody chooses to play himself in his films, a decision which I am not in favor of, but in this movie, cast Kenneth Brannaugh in the role. This was much better, as Brannaugh could almost attract women, which is all any Woody Allen move is about. The basic jist of Celebrity was to play on the ridiculousness of celebrities in general. Why are these people more interesting than anyone else? Although the film had it's moments which left me with pains in my side from laughing so hard, it also had some slow points. This movie is worth watching, but you probably won't make it through the whole thing late at night.

20 Dates
To follow the trend of Mockumentaries that I've been watching lately (Blair Witch, Drop Dead Gorgeous) I decided to watch what I assume is a real one. Myles Berkowitz has decided to go on 20 Dates, filming each one to later be turned into a movie. The catch is he must find love in 20 dates. At first, Myles's sardonic wit is nothing but amusing. You really can't help but laugh at his lack of skills on the dates, but also his inability to get the dates in the first place. However, comedy takes a backseat to boredom around date #14, when you realize you're still watching this guy screw up with women. The funder of the film provides releif from these doldroms, but over all, after a strong beginning, the movie lags into a so-so ending.

EDTv
It can be assumed that the second movie in a similar set will receive critisicm because of it. Everyone saw the Truman Show, and although it was hailed as a masterpiece, the public's reaction was not all the friendly. To be completely frank, EDTv was much more watchable than Truman. Because Ed knows he's being filmed, he becomes a showman, and the screen writers were able to use this to actually have him say amusing things. To continue to compare the films, they were not even that alike. The general premise (film some guy 24 hours a day) were the same, but the similarities stopped there. If you didn't like the Truman Show, then you'll probably enjoy EDTv, and if you did like it, then you might like EDTv, too. It was actually a pretty funny movie.