While quite a number of critics, both professional and amateur, had a dislike for this comedy directed by Betty Thomas, with a few minor irritations, I found John Tucker Must Die mildly entertaining. See, the truth of it is that the audiences haven’t had a lot of teen/young adult prank-revenge type of picture in recent years. Sadly, despite the hijinks and the underlying messages of wanting to belong to a group of peers, Tucker fights with itself, not really knowing what kind of film it wishes to be.
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If there is anything great to say about One Night With The King, then there are several good things to say about it. The production value, the set design, costumes, and CGI landscapes are impressive a far as being a TBN backed production is concerned. Yes- TBN, as in the Trinity Broadcasting Network, who have come a long way from producing the horrid Omega Code films, although I will admit to liking some of gospel-pop entertainer Carman’s pictures. I also don’t mind faith/religious based films at all. In fact, I’m still waiting for a Gideon flick, or a film that shows the formation of the Gideon movement. Anything other than this dribble. What? Didn’t I just say Night has some terrific production value? Yes, I did. But the main problem with most ‘Christian’ backed films rears its ugly head all too quickly in the film.
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After watching Ghost Rider I have to say, yes, the postponing of the film to complete the visual effects was a wise choice. There are a number of visual effects in the picture that are really impressive. Writer-director Mark Steven Johnson, however, should have fined tuned the picture even more, not in the FX area, but in the story and characterization. Without the support of either, the eye candy that follows comes off as routine. Punch in the fragmented editing and poor choice of music, it appears sloppy.
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In the 1970’s, newly graduated Scottish doctor Nicholas Garrigan chooses to travel to Africa, rather than follow in his dominant father’s footsteps. He soon finds himself in Uganda and is cajoled into accepting the post of new president Idi Amin’s personal physician. As time progresses, so does Amin’s cruelty and unpredictability, and the question soon becomes: can Garrigan get out – and in one piece – before it is too late?
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With the new Harry Potter being delayed and the Lord of the Rings trilogy over, this movie was the only major fantasy movie to be released last holiday season. Especially the LOTR shoes are hard ones to fill, and I’d read nothing but poor reviews when I finally got to see it yesterday. And I’m afraid I agree with them.

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There are times when I really get hyped up and look forward to a movie. However, my patience has waned in recent times when Hollywood studios do not screen films for newspaper and magazine film critics in the United States. Granted, I don’t know the policy in the part of the world where most of my CoP friends reside, I suppose studios don’t have a problem with critics abroad, but over here in the States, it’s an epidemic. Imagine my shock when sites like Canmag and Cinematical pick up a little bit from the blog of The NY Post in that the upcoming fantasy-action comic book based film Ghost Rider will not be screened for critics. You know what sort of message that sends?
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There have been several early films which I remember in my pre-teen years, today some films I liked back then I sadly watch now in utter dread. The second “studio” film that featured action star Chuck Norris, Forced Vengeance is not one of them. Yes, there is that awful voice over in the beginning, but it’s short and sweet, unlike 1980′sThe Octagon which is best known for having a nice little fight between Norris and Richard Norton’s red hood ninja. In fact, up until recently, I had forgotten about Forced Vengeance, and upon rediscovery, in my point of view, have unearthed an underappriciated gem.
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All pictures courtesy of the International Film Festival RotterdamWith things drawing to an end, I still have some amazing films to discuss. I will focus on documentaries this time. Documentaries usually are a small part of the festival’s program. Besides the mockumentary Death of a President I reviewed in an earlier report there are some other docs really worth a ticket. I saw an amazing rough cut of Nina Davenport’s film Operation Filmmaker you should really see just to be amazed at what people are capable of. I also saw a biopic of Mark Chapman, the man who killed John Lennon over 25 years ago. This is not the Jared Leto film that is due for release (and I have heard is terrible) but a film by British director Andrew Piddington.
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So far, I have seen some amazing films at this year’s festival and there are still three days to go. I have little time to write, but here is another update. The press center has the amazing facilities to see films you have missed on video or dvd. This year they even have an online function. Pretty handy and kudos for this very good service! My perception tells me this year’s festival is a bit less crowded than other years. I don’t know if it is the program or the new way to order tickets (no reservations are possible, because in previous years visitors only picked up about 70% of their reservations).
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