The Bellboy
1960  NR  COMEDY  1h 12min
CAST— Jerry Lewis, Alex Gerry, Bob Clayton, Sonny Sands
MUSIC— Walter Scharf  DIRECTOR— Jerry Lewis

     In his directorial debut Jerry Lewis stars in this series of barely connected sketches chronicling a few weeks in the life of a goofball. Lewis plays Stanley, a loony bellhop at a prestigious Miami hotel, whose average day is spent screwing up everyone else’s day. In his daily doings he encounters models, celebrities, even a few doppelgangers. Lots of zany shenanigans are thrown into the mix… the only thing missing is the funny. As Lewis is doing his thing the audience may wanna forget this bland mess.
OUR RATING— * ½

     Be Kind Rewind
2008  PG-13  COMEDY  1h 38min
CAST— Jack Black, Mos Def
MUSIC— Jean-Michel Bernard, Melissa Manchester  DIRECTOR— Michel Gondry

     On the surface the film centers on two inept filmmakers, while beneath the crust lies a story of community and kindness. Mos Def works as a clerk at a video rental store where friend Jack Black likes to hang out. After being electrocuted Black becomes magnetized, erasing every video in the store. The two remedy the situation by recreating the films, shooting the films themselves, using bottom of the barrel props, talent, you name it. But get this: the videos are a hit. Soon they have their entire neighborhood rallying behind them, assisting them in their celluloid creations. At times funny and oddly touching the film provides some genuine laughs for movie buffs. Nevertheless, the final emotion is one strangely akin to melancholy. Even so, it’s better than Envy (2004).
OUR RATING— **

     Behind Enemy Lines
2001  PG-13  ACTION  1h 46min
CAST— Owen Wilson, Gene Hackman, Gabriel Macht, Charles Malik Whitfield, Joaquim de Almeida, David Keith, Olek Krupa, Vladimir Mashkov
MUSIC— Ryan Adams, Don Davis  DIRECTOR— John Moore

     In Behind Enemy Lines, Owen Wilson plays a cocky Naval navigator who gets shot down— you guessed it— behind enemy lines in Bosnia. He was on a normal patrol/test run for a new recon camera. He steered his pilot in the wrong direction at the wrong time (read as: he saw something he wasn’t supposed to), they were shot down by SAMs, his pilot was killed by the bad guys, they start hunting for him, and his struggle for survival becomes paramount. Meanwhile, his commanding officer, played by Gene Hackman, tries to cut through the bureaucratic red tape of the peace treaty between the two countries so that he can bring his soldier back home. With lots of action and suspense, this one doesn’t disappoint, but it can be gritty at times and it does deal with war crimes such as genocide, so heed the PG-13 rating.
OUR RATING— ** ½
FOLLOWED BY— Behind Enemy Lines II: Axis of Evil (2006), Behind Enemy Lines: Columbia (2009), SEAL Team 8: Behind Enemy Lines (2014)

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     Before I Hang
1940  NR  SCIENCE FICTION  1h 2min
CAST— Boris Karloff, Evelyn Keyes, Bruce Bennett, Pedro de Cordova, Edward Van Sloan
MUSIC— Moris Stoloff  DIRECTOR— Nick Grinde

     Another Karloffian quickie. Boris Karloff stars as the “mercy killer”, a doctor who offered a painless death to a suffering patient. Now condemned to hang his days are spent with the prison doctor perfecting an anti-aging formula. Using the blood of a violent murderer in his formula Karloff uses the serum on himself. Now he has the occasional blackout and commits the occasional murder. All in the name of science. An entertaining hour’s worth of silly SF.
OUR RATING— ** ½

     Beetlejuice
1988  PG  COMEDY  1h 32min
CAST— Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O’Hara, Winona Ryder, Sylvia Sidney, Robert Goulet, Glenn Shadix, Dick Cavett, Annie McEnroe
MUSIC— Danny Elfman  DIRECTOR— Tim Burton

     It’s show time. A hilariously spooky comedy from Tim Burton, you know, the guy who brought you Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (1985) and would later become one of Hollywood’s favorite directors? A happily married couple are enjoying life when death comes knocking. Now the newly deads must sit back and helplessly watch as their beloved home is gutted by obnoxious yuppies. What is the couple to do? In an act of desperation they hire Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton), a self-proclaimed bio-exorcist whose antics are the stuff of legend. As sinister as he is funny, Betelgeuse plans to escape from his ghostly confines… by any means necessary. A unique blend of chills and laughs that is oh-so Burton. Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice! Oscar-winner for Best Makeup. Followed by an animated series.
OUR RATING— ***

     Bee Movie
2007  PG  ANIMATED  1h 31min
CAST— Jerry Seinfeld, Renée Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, Patrick Warburton, John Goodman, Chris
Rock, Kathy Bates, Barry Levinson, Ray Liotta, Sting, Oprah Winfrey, Larry Miller, Megan Mullally, Rip
Torn, Michael Richards
MUSIC— Rupert Gregson-Williams  DIRECTORS— Steve Hickner, Simon J. Smith

     To bee or not to bee… That’s right, this film is abuzz with the afore mentioned honeys. Jerry Seinfeld voices Barry B. Benson, an ambitious young honeybee, who is soon to join the workforce. But he’s shocked to discover that once you find your forte that’s where you stay until death. That route’s not for Barry. He wants adventure and excitement, which he finds outside the hive on the bustling streets of NYC. There he begins a forbidden friendship with a human woman who teaches him all about our ways… including the shocking discovery that humans have been stealing honey right from under bees’ noses. So begins a moral and legal battle with humankind over honey rights. Really. The film has a tenuous start but really finds its groove with its absurdist view of the legal system. Funny, sweet (but never cloying), just dripping with humor for young and old alike. Bee there or bee square.
OUR RATING— ***

     Bedtime Stories
2008  PG  COMEDY  1h 39min
CAST— Adam Sandler, Keri Russell, Guy Pearce, Russell Brand, Richard Griffiths, Jonathan Pryce, Courtney Cox, Lucy Lawless, Teresa Palmer
MUSIC— Rupert Gregson-Williams  DIRECTOR— Adam Shankman

     Adam Sandler brings his juvenile antics to the screen once again in this family-friendly fantasy/comedy. When hotel repairman Sandler agrees to babysit his niece and nephew he gets suckered into telling them a bedtime story each night. Rather than rely upon books that teach a moral he decides to invent his own stories, with the kids adding crucial plot points when needed. These fantastic tales entertain, sure, but something odd begins to happen; events in his life begin to mirror those in the stories. Soon he begins twisting the stories to meet his own desires… but will the kids play along? Interesting enough premise, but Sandler’s “lovable loser” image has pretty much lost its momentum. Pretty much kid’s stuff.
OUR RATING— **