Move over, sparkly vampires. There’s a new game in town. The latest book-to-big-money screen epic, The Hunger Games trumps Twilight as a slam bang slice of entertainment, big time. Part Wizard Of Oz, part Running Man and Lord Of The Flies, this is inspired stuff – taking the mushy soap opera element that pre-teens love and fusing it with the kind of adrenaline we can all dig. The film, like the novel, is set in the near-future in a war-scarred North America now called Panem.
If you're a diehard fan of the '21 Jump Street' TV series...that late eighties, poofy-haired, ultra-slick cop show....and you've seen the promo's surrounding the brand new big screen adaptation, you're likely stressed by the possibility that Hollywood is messin' with your baby. Making a mawkish lampoon of the show you love. Hammering into a gooey pulp of slapstick and self-parody
I dig science fiction movies, I really do. But am I the only one who thinks certain sci-fi concepts get a bit of a hall pass on sheer silliness?
The 1971 Dr. Seuss classic, ‘The Lorax', isn't a very big book. Oh, it's GOOD...it's just awfully thin. The kind of material that Mom and Dad still appreciate to this day, not only because it's fun to read, but with a peppy pace, that bedtime story can be squeezed into an average commercial break during your favourite show.
A hockey enforcer knows his role. He clearly understands what he's there for, and what his job is. Isn't it a wee bit ironic, therefore, that the movie ‘Goon' is suffering from a severe identity crisis?
Mostly slapstick comedy with a sliver of a heartfelt character study evident, ‘Goon' could've been a Canadian classic. Unfortunately, it's much too raw (what's the cinematic record for f-bomb usage in a single film, anyway?) and outright cartoonish to be embraced by hockey purists...while, at the same time, it's too good-natured to rest on the shelf next to ‘Slap Shot'. I'm sure if you were to get down to the heart of this thing you'd find all-star intentions - but, no thanks to writer and inescapably annoying co-star Jay Baruchel, the finished product is strictly minor league.
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