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unrated comedy

Sesame Street: Kids’ Favorite Songs $4.98 Elmo’s getting ready for his Top Ten Countdown on the radio and everyone on Sesame Street wants him to play their favorite songs! But with so many great songs to choose from, how will Elmo pick which ones to play? Maybe you can help him decide. Which of these favorites is your favorite song?Recommended Ages: 12 months & up…

Blue’s Clues – Blue’s Big Musical Movie $4.66 BLUE’S CLUES:BLUE’S BIG MUSICAL MOVIE – DVD Movie…

Sesame Street – Learning About Letters $5.45 With the help of his Sesame Street friends, Big Bird leads Snuffy on a fun-filled trip through the alphabet. Cookie Monster sings the praises of “C” (for “cookie,” of course), while Oscar loves “I” and “icky ice cream cones.” Special guest Lena Horne joins in on all the musical fun as well. Whether you have a favorite letter, or love’em from A to Z, you’ll find them all here in delightful alphabet…

The Complete Jean Vigo (A propos de Nice / Taris / Zero de conduite / L’atalante) (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray] $19.99 Story about a desperate gang of lowlifes led by a grim determined sterling hayden. Together they devise and execute a complex racetrack robbery but inner tensions and the iron fist of fate work against them. Studio: Image/sphe Release Date: 08/30/2011 Starring: Vince Edwards Sterling Hayden Run time: 161 minutes Director: Stanley Kubrick…

House (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray] $23.00 Infamous Japanese whatsit House is the ultimate 1970s artifact. The animated opening recalls The Rocky Horror Picture Show, while former ad man Nobuhiko Obayashi extends the anything-goes impression through freeze frames, painted backdrops, and old-timey flashbacks. He starts by introducing schoolgirls Fantasy (Kumiko Ohba) and Gorgeous (Kimiko Ikegami) to groovy H.R. Pufnstuf-style music. Then Go…

BAZOOKAS: THE MOVIE (Trailer 1 — Unrated DVD)

HAIRSPRAY

Directed and Choreographed by: Adam Shankman

Written by: Leslie Dixon

Starring: Nikki Blonsky, John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer and Christopher Walken

Running Time: 117 min.

Aspect Ratio: cinemascope3.jpg

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Given the amount of dirty looks this reporter has cast towards contemporary Hollywood musicals. it’s a wonder I even agreed to step into Hairspray.

The 1988 version of Hairspray marked a turning point in director John Waters’ scatalogically delicious career. He went from giving us an unrated Divine dinner of dog doody to a PG studio film aimed at Middle America. As a filmmaker, John Waters is nothing without shock.

So much has mortified and offended audiences since Pink Flamingos first hit the midnight circuit in 1972. Nowadays, fart humor has become de rigeur even in Disney films. When A Dirty Shame tried to return Waters to his rancid, ratings-bucking ways, he could barely muster enough filth to earn an NC-17.

Waters is the lecherous pervert with the Little Richard mustache who over the years has become a corporate spokesperson for armchair degenerates across America. (He appears briefly in the remake as a flasher, a concept that went out with Arte Johnson and Laugh In.) Perhaps the most shocking development in the director’s professional career was the transformation of one of his films into a mainstream Broadway musical. Even more outrageous, it was such a smash that it spawned another Hollywood rendition.

It is precisely because Waters sold out that I found much to abhor in his waste-free original. To make matters worse, as a director he ranks slightly above Kevin Smith and William Beaudine. No one in their right mind has ever attended a Waters show in search of mise-en-scene or other forms of cinematic enlightenment.

Add to all of this the promise of another big name actor on the skids (John Travolta) playing drag in a fat suit, and you may begin to understand my trepidation. After suffering through Moulin Rouge, Chicago, Rent and Dream Girls, it is once again safe to see a Hollywood musical.

Big girl Tracy Turnblad (newcomer Nikki Blonski) is in constant motion: she’s a Jell-O mold with a wave machine trapped inside. It’s 1962 and her dream is to mingle with the beautiful people by becoming a regular cast member on The Corny Collins Show, a daily televised dance party that features dangerous race music for clean cut white teenagers.

Her corpulent mother Edna (Travolta) wants to shelter her baby from the evils of the world. At least Edna practices what she preaches. Mom hasn’t set foot out of the house since the 50s. Given a chance to audition for Corny (James Marsden), Tracy lands a spot on the show and over night becomes it biggest star…in more ways than one.

While in detention, Tracy mingles with minorities and it isn’t long before she’s championing racial equality and trying to integrate the bandstand. Even her best friend Penny Pingleton (the bubbly, perfectly cast Amanda Bynes) senses that it won’t be long before the cherry lollipop in her mouth is replaced with a big black penis.

The first thing to catch the viewer’s eye is the strategy that went into planning each shot so the musical numbers would seamlessly cut together. This isn’t the Moulin Rouge Mixmaster approach to editing, nor does director/choreographer Adam Shankman incessantly keep his camera in close. With the exception of Bob Fosse, most Broadway choreographers don’t make an easy transition to Hollywood director. (Take his directing partner Stanley Donen out of the equation and you have every right to decline Gene Kelly’s Invitation to the Dance.) This is one of those rare instances where a choreographer envisions the way his scenes will play on the screen, not the stage.

At times, the period décor is responsible for as many laughs as the actors. From mechanical Charlie Weaver bartenders to a smoke-filled teacher’s lounge, production designer David Gropman works overtime to give the film its perfect 60s flavor. Bojan Bazelli’s bright, shadow-less, candy colored cinematography adds just the right amount of bounce that prohibits the proceedings from becoming dry and listless.

The second act wilts due in large part to a well intentioned civil rights subplot that seems out of place in this satirical environment. Waters’ tongue was firmly planted in his cheek when he tried to add a bit of social significance to his version. Queen Latifah parading her sisters through the streets of Baltimore bears an uncomfortable resemblance to Dream Girls.

The cast is wonderful. Ms. Blonski is a suitable Ricki Lake clone, a pudgy Connie Francis always poised to wow a crowd. Michelle Pfeiffer receives some of the film’s biggest laughs as the evil station manager bent on getting Tracy out and her daughter (Brittany Snow) in. As Baltimore’s answer to Dick Clark, James Marsden, with his Pepsodent smile and patented insincere sincerity, shows an unexpected flair for light comedy.

In addition to Mr. Waters, several participants from the original version show up to varying degrees of effectiveness. Jerry Stiller is a very funny man, but even he can’t out-shout his sportcoat. You will have to look quickly for Ricki Lake who pops up unheralded as a talent agent.

With the exception of an overly affected accent, Travolta does fine. For some reason this guy is fated to keep working. He has more lives than a hundred-year-old tabby. There’s even an anachronistic nod to Pulp Fiction, presumably thrown in so the younger demographic, lacking a proper historical perspective, will get at least one of the in-jokes.

Hairspray is a standout among this summer’s dumper crop of movies. As much as I hate to say it about anything even remotely related to John Waters, this is a perfect film to take the kids to, especially if they’ve already already been exposed to Divine getting raped by a lobster in Multiple Maniacs.

Scott Marks / http://emulsioncompulsion.com/

Scott Marks regularly deliver reviews on San Diego’s KPBS-Radio. [http://www.kpbs.org/radio/film_club_of_the_air]

“I must admit that even though I see upwards of 200 new releases each year, for all intents and purposes Hollywood abandoned making films for adults somewhere around the time of Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark. (Needless to say, Spielberg and Lucas are neither spoken or welcome here.) With the exception of the 15 or 20 films a year I find praiseworthy, if you’re looking for someone to back up your disappointment and disgust over a current release, I’m your man.”

USPTA certified instructor offers tennis clinics for kids, adults
Times staff Friday, August 20, 2010 Today USPTA -certified instructor Rob Delgado will teach beginning to intermediate players proper tennis technique and strategy. Classes will be held at 9 a.m. (ages 8 to 14) and 10 a.m. (ages 15 to adult). $5; recreation card holders free. Highland Recreation Complex and Family Aquatic Center, 400 Highland Ave. NE, Largo. (727) 518-3016; www …
The movie Bruno was just absolutely horrible? Anyone else agree?

After watching the movie Bruno in theaters, I figured that it might be a funny gay comedy movie much like Borat. Then after I went to see it I couldn’t believe my eyes.

THAT movie is horrible! HORRIBLE! It’s not even funny. It’s stupid, boring and extremely pointless.

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