"Deep in the Forest" is Saban Films’ new action thriller, written and directed by Jeremy Dylan Lanni, starring Ursula Brooks, Derwin Jordan, Stuart Pankin, Peter Jason, P.J. Ochlan, Wendy Worthington, Eva Abramian, Will Bradley, Jedidia Dyer, Larry Cedar, Keith Stevenson, Spencer Martin, Cela Scott, Ross Frasier, Duane Johnson, and Roger M. Maye, releasing May 31, 2022, on digital and on demand:
"...as violent civil unrest sweeps the nation, a diverse group of stranger’s battle outsiders and in-fighting at a remote hideout.
"Shortly after arrival, divisions among the group become apparent. and as time ticks by, supplies dwindle and fear escalates. But when armed intruders arrive, the group vows to stick together to survive..."
Click the images to enlarge...
"...as violent civil unrest sweeps the nation, a diverse group of stranger’s battle outsiders and in-fighting at a remote hideout.
"Shortly after arrival, divisions among the group become apparent. and as time ticks by, supplies dwindle and fear escalates. But when armed intruders arrive, the group vows to stick together to survive..."
Click the images to enlarge...
- 4/21/2022
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
Stars in the House continues tonight 8pm with the New Works Virtual Festival with Marc Kudisch, Miguel Cervantes, Shuler Hensley, Michael Leon-Wooley, Brenda Braxton, Andy Karl, Orfeh, Ted Louis Levy, Glenn Morshower, Megan Cavanagh, Joely Fisher, Marsha Mason, Adam Jacobs, John Rubinstein, Judy Kuhn, Liz Larsen, Stuart Pankin, George Wendt, Vincent Rodriguez III, Bruce Vilanch, Leigh Ann Larkin, Carmen Cusack and Christina Bianco.
- 12/4/2020
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Do you remember Dinosaurs? Star Bill Barretta and his brother Gene are hosting a virtual reunion of the ABC TV show, reports ToughPigs.
The family sitcom follows the Sinclair family, a group of dinosaurs (portrayed by performers in puppets) living and working in Pangaea around 60,000,000 BC. The cast (both voice and body) includes Stuart Pankin, Bill Barretta, Jessica Walter, Mitchel Young Evans, Tony Sabin Prince, Jason Willinger, Leif Tilden, Sally Struthers, Kevin Clash, and more. The show ran on from 1991 to 1994.
Read More…...
The family sitcom follows the Sinclair family, a group of dinosaurs (portrayed by performers in puppets) living and working in Pangaea around 60,000,000 BC. The cast (both voice and body) includes Stuart Pankin, Bill Barretta, Jessica Walter, Mitchel Young Evans, Tony Sabin Prince, Jason Willinger, Leif Tilden, Sally Struthers, Kevin Clash, and more. The show ran on from 1991 to 1994.
Read More…...
- 6/6/2020
- by TVSeriesFinale.com
- TVSeriesFinale.com
In today’s Horror Highlights, we have release details for Sugar Skull Girls, The Binding, and Sickhouse, as well as a Mother’s Day card from Bates Motel and a new Blade-inspired music video.
Sugar Skull Girls 2017 Release Details and Trailer: Press Release: “Sgl Entertainment is pleased to announce that they will be releasing “Sugar Skull Girls” the Teenage Comedy Adventure Movie and TV Series on Blu-ray, DVD, Cable TV and VOD in early 2017. The film is Written and Directed by Christian Grillo, Produced by Christian Grillo, John Kent, David Gechman, and Carmela Hayslett.
And Stars: Addy Miller, Carmela Hayslett, Cece Hagen, Anika Buchanan, Isabella Sobejano, Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes), John Amplas (Day of the Dead) and Leslie Easterbrook (The Devil’s Rejects).
Synopsis: Three demonic sisters who resemble neo-goth voodoo dolls are accidentally conjured from the other side during a failed attempt to raise a little girl from the dead.
Sugar Skull Girls 2017 Release Details and Trailer: Press Release: “Sgl Entertainment is pleased to announce that they will be releasing “Sugar Skull Girls” the Teenage Comedy Adventure Movie and TV Series on Blu-ray, DVD, Cable TV and VOD in early 2017. The film is Written and Directed by Christian Grillo, Produced by Christian Grillo, John Kent, David Gechman, and Carmela Hayslett.
And Stars: Addy Miller, Carmela Hayslett, Cece Hagen, Anika Buchanan, Isabella Sobejano, Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes), John Amplas (Day of the Dead) and Leslie Easterbrook (The Devil’s Rejects).
Synopsis: Three demonic sisters who resemble neo-goth voodoo dolls are accidentally conjured from the other side during a failed attempt to raise a little girl from the dead.
- 5/6/2016
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
‘Tis the season for original Christmas-themed TV movies. We’ve already spotlighted the five Hallmark Channel offerings you’ll be watching this year, whether or not you’ll admit it. Now, let’s examine Ion Television’s slate, which offers more truly inspired casting and amazing synopses.
On a Scale of So Insane You Need to See It to Wait, That’s All You Got?:
Defending Santa (Sun., November 24, at 9 p.m. Et)
Cast: Dean Cain, Jud Tylor, Bill Lewis, Jamie McRae, Cooper Barnes, Jodie Sweetin, Seth Menachem, John Savage
Synopsis: Scott Hanson, a ski resort sheriff, inadvertently arrests...
On a Scale of So Insane You Need to See It to Wait, That’s All You Got?:
Defending Santa (Sun., November 24, at 9 p.m. Et)
Cast: Dean Cain, Jud Tylor, Bill Lewis, Jamie McRae, Cooper Barnes, Jodie Sweetin, Seth Menachem, John Savage
Synopsis: Scott Hanson, a ski resort sheriff, inadvertently arrests...
- 11/8/2013
- by Mandi Bierly
- EW.com - PopWatch
Another Friday has passed and that means two titles never before released on DVD have been announced by the Scream Factory. You may not remember The Vagrant but odds are you remember The Horror Show and have been wondering if it would ever see the light of day again.
The big title of this week’s Scream Factory announcement is unquestionably The Horror Show, or as it is known in some foreign circles, House III. I never understood how anyone came to the conclusion that film could be released as a third installment of the House franchise, but then I also have never understood how a movie about killer radioactive tree roots could be marketed as Troll 3.
In much the same way Hollywood gave us dueling volcano films (Volcano and Dante’s Peak) and dueling celestial doomsday flicks (Armageddon and Deep Impact), 1989 saw the release of dueling fright flicks about...
The big title of this week’s Scream Factory announcement is unquestionably The Horror Show, or as it is known in some foreign circles, House III. I never understood how anyone came to the conclusion that film could be released as a third installment of the House franchise, but then I also have never understood how a movie about killer radioactive tree roots could be marketed as Troll 3.
In much the same way Hollywood gave us dueling volcano films (Volcano and Dante’s Peak) and dueling celestial doomsday flicks (Armageddon and Deep Impact), 1989 saw the release of dueling fright flicks about...
- 11/11/2012
- by Foywonder
- DreadCentral.com
Arachnophobia will soon arrive on Blu-ray for the first time since it's theatrical release in 1990 from Disney. The release is part of Disney's recent deluge of catalog releases on Blu-ray. It was directed by Frank Marshall and executive produced by Steven Spielberg. What sets this horror thriller apart from other films in it's genre is the great cast. Arachnophobia stars Jeff Daniels, Harley Jane Kozak, Julian Sands, John Goodman, Stuart Pankin, and Henry Jones.
Don Jakoby wrote the screenplay, which tells the story of a vicious spider from the South American rain forest who hitches a ride to a small California town in the casket with a dead body. Soon after arriving, the large spider mates with a local spider. Not long after, the small town is infested with venomous spiders and the population begins to die off one-by-one. The doctor and bumbling police chief are aided by an insect...
Don Jakoby wrote the screenplay, which tells the story of a vicious spider from the South American rain forest who hitches a ride to a small California town in the casket with a dead body. Soon after arriving, the large spider mates with a local spider. Not long after, the small town is infested with venomous spiders and the population begins to die off one-by-one. The doctor and bumbling police chief are aided by an insect...
- 9/23/2012
- by Jim Napier
- GeekTyrant
One of the great features over at the Internet Movie Database is the Bottom 100. Based on ratings viewers of the site give to various films, the worst of the worst films get put on this list. Some of them are on and off in a matter of days. Others stick around for the long haul, showing just how much suckage they truly emit.
It’s time to look at these movies and determine where they stand. Do they deserve to be on the Bottom 100 list? Are they not as bad as everyone says? Will they be off the list any time soon?
Here’s the breakdown for this week’s film:
Title: ‘Miss Cast Away’
Release Date: July 26th, 2005
Ranking on Bottom 100 (as of 7/7/2009): #84 (based on 1260 votes)
Why It’s Here: It actually means something, speaks volumes, in fact, when ones of these “Pop Culture” comedies, as they are called,...
It’s time to look at these movies and determine where they stand. Do they deserve to be on the Bottom 100 list? Are they not as bad as everyone says? Will they be off the list any time soon?
Here’s the breakdown for this week’s film:
Title: ‘Miss Cast Away’
Release Date: July 26th, 2005
Ranking on Bottom 100 (as of 7/7/2009): #84 (based on 1260 votes)
Why It’s Here: It actually means something, speaks volumes, in fact, when ones of these “Pop Culture” comedies, as they are called,...
- 7/8/2009
- by Kirk
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Film review: 'Third Dimension'
A spectacular new large-format 3-D film, "Encounter in the Third Dimension" has the deserved distinction of opening Friday in all three local Imax theaters (Edwards' Imax 3-D Theatres in Irvine and Ontario, Calif., and the California Science Center in Los Angeles), a first in this increasingly well-attended and adventuresome form of moviegoing.
Produced and distributed by independent nWave Pictures (1997's 2-D "Thrill ride: The Science of Fun"), the 40-minute sci-fi extravaganza is destined to enjoy long runs and worldwide success.
"Encounter" is ostensibly a demonstration film, packed with seat belt-required sequences that showcase the thrills of large-format 3-D, which is best known to audiences through Sony Pictures Classics' "Wings of Courage". It's wildly imaginative, silly and breathtaking, zipping through the history of 3-D in art, photography and movies with an irreverent attitude.
With a 1950s-meets-the-21st-century premise and visual scheme, the "docucoaster" centers on a goofy Professor (Stuart Pankin) at the fanciful Institute of 3-D Technology who keeps promising the audience a demonstration of his Real-O-Vision contraption, with a virtual performance of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, singing "Haunted House". But the Real-O-Vision generator keeps malfunctioning, and it's up to the professor's winged robot M.A.X. (voice by Pankin) to keep the audience occupied while the Professor fusses.
The main set -- a huge laboratory with countless mechanical things -- is a wondrous, digitally created introduction to the format, with the crowd-pleasing title sequence involving a mounted ray gun shooting the explosive letters onto the screen. But that's only the start of a mind-blowing, occasionally incomprehensible rush of sensational encounters with dinosaurs, a bully re-creation of the Lumiere Brothers' 1903 "L'Arrivee du Train", a rollercoaster-like journey through the Earth's interior and the astounding finale with Elvira topping all that's come before.
Using excerpts from Universal Studios' Terminator 2: 3-D ride, historical stereo photographs and scenes from such vintage 3-D flicks as "Flight to Tangier" and the Dean Martin-Jerry Lewis gangster comedy "Money From Home", "Encounter" is always an eye-popping experience as it charges through many a complicated detail about optics. Alas, many viewers will give up trying to grasp the finer points of such issues as increasing or decreasing interocular distance. "Encounter" also doesn't always hit its marks humor-wise, but Harry Shearer's mock-pompous narration in several scenes is a hoot.
nWave co-founder Ben Stassen, a Belgian, directs "Encounter" with more than the usual attention to every detail -- scenes with the Professor, M.A.X. and Elvira have 37 layers of images, for instance. A team of 14 CGI animators worked for a year on the film, while such sequences as Iwerks' Journey Through the Center of the Earth and excerpts from Dino Island II-3D are unforgettable on the big big screen.
ENCOUNTER IN THE THIRD DIMENSION
nWave Pictures Distribution
nWave Pictures in association with Iwerks Entertainment, Movida, Luminair
Director/executive producer: Ben Stassen
Producer: Charlotte Clay Huggins
Screenwriters: Kurt Frey, Ben Stassen
Co-producer: Kim Nelson-Frey
Co-producer/director of photography: Sean MacLeod Phillips
Production designer: Anthony Huerta
CGI producer: Caroline Van Iseghem
Music: Louis Vyncke
Casting: Judy Taylor
Color/stereo
Cast:
The Professor/Voice of M.A.X.: Stuart Pankin
Elvira: Herself
Narrator: Harry Shearer
Ruth in the Booth: Andrea Thompson
Running time -- 40 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Produced and distributed by independent nWave Pictures (1997's 2-D "Thrill ride: The Science of Fun"), the 40-minute sci-fi extravaganza is destined to enjoy long runs and worldwide success.
"Encounter" is ostensibly a demonstration film, packed with seat belt-required sequences that showcase the thrills of large-format 3-D, which is best known to audiences through Sony Pictures Classics' "Wings of Courage". It's wildly imaginative, silly and breathtaking, zipping through the history of 3-D in art, photography and movies with an irreverent attitude.
With a 1950s-meets-the-21st-century premise and visual scheme, the "docucoaster" centers on a goofy Professor (Stuart Pankin) at the fanciful Institute of 3-D Technology who keeps promising the audience a demonstration of his Real-O-Vision contraption, with a virtual performance of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, singing "Haunted House". But the Real-O-Vision generator keeps malfunctioning, and it's up to the professor's winged robot M.A.X. (voice by Pankin) to keep the audience occupied while the Professor fusses.
The main set -- a huge laboratory with countless mechanical things -- is a wondrous, digitally created introduction to the format, with the crowd-pleasing title sequence involving a mounted ray gun shooting the explosive letters onto the screen. But that's only the start of a mind-blowing, occasionally incomprehensible rush of sensational encounters with dinosaurs, a bully re-creation of the Lumiere Brothers' 1903 "L'Arrivee du Train", a rollercoaster-like journey through the Earth's interior and the astounding finale with Elvira topping all that's come before.
Using excerpts from Universal Studios' Terminator 2: 3-D ride, historical stereo photographs and scenes from such vintage 3-D flicks as "Flight to Tangier" and the Dean Martin-Jerry Lewis gangster comedy "Money From Home", "Encounter" is always an eye-popping experience as it charges through many a complicated detail about optics. Alas, many viewers will give up trying to grasp the finer points of such issues as increasing or decreasing interocular distance. "Encounter" also doesn't always hit its marks humor-wise, but Harry Shearer's mock-pompous narration in several scenes is a hoot.
nWave co-founder Ben Stassen, a Belgian, directs "Encounter" with more than the usual attention to every detail -- scenes with the Professor, M.A.X. and Elvira have 37 layers of images, for instance. A team of 14 CGI animators worked for a year on the film, while such sequences as Iwerks' Journey Through the Center of the Earth and excerpts from Dino Island II-3D are unforgettable on the big big screen.
ENCOUNTER IN THE THIRD DIMENSION
nWave Pictures Distribution
nWave Pictures in association with Iwerks Entertainment, Movida, Luminair
Director/executive producer: Ben Stassen
Producer: Charlotte Clay Huggins
Screenwriters: Kurt Frey, Ben Stassen
Co-producer: Kim Nelson-Frey
Co-producer/director of photography: Sean MacLeod Phillips
Production designer: Anthony Huerta
CGI producer: Caroline Van Iseghem
Music: Louis Vyncke
Casting: Judy Taylor
Color/stereo
Cast:
The Professor/Voice of M.A.X.: Stuart Pankin
Elvira: Herself
Narrator: Harry Shearer
Ruth in the Booth: Andrea Thompson
Running time -- 40 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 2/25/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Film review: 'Napoleon'
The latest addition to the talking pooch genre, "Napoleon" is no bone apart.
A "Babe" wannabe, this live action Aussie import offers colorful nature footage, but the clumsy storytelling, ill-fitting dialogue and shrill voice characterizations leave it in the doghouse.
While clearly aimed at the kiddies, the story is fraught with peril and references to death and killing, while much of the humor is surprisingly mean-spirited.
A cuddly golden retriever puppy, Napoleon (called Muffin by his mom) yearns to leave the domestic life behind and heed the call of his wild brethren.
He gets his wish when a makeshift hot-air balloon carries him from his suburban backyard home out to the Australian bush, where he befriends a talkative Galah (a native Australian migratory bird) called Birdo Lucci.
Napoleon picks up a few quick pointers in survival skills during bouts with a feral cat, not to mention stampeding horses, a sugar cane blaze and flash flooding. Ultimately the frisky pup learns, like many screen creatures before him, that there's no place like home.
Writer-director Mario Andreacchio and director of photography Roger Dowling offer up an exotic menagerie of co-stars, including wallabies, wombats, lorikeets, and dingos in addition to the obligatory kangaroo.
But the accompanying story and dialogue have a slapped-together, after-the-fact feel and the inclusion of a handful of banal songs, credited to score composer Bill Conti and lyricist Mark Saltzman, do nothing to infuse the film with some much-needed charm.
NAPOLEON
MGM Distribution
Australian Film Finance Corp.,
Herald Ace Inc., Goldwyn Entertainment Co. present in association with Nippon Herald Films,
Fuji Television & Pony Canyon
a Film Australia, Herald Ace
and Furry Feature Films production
Director Mario Andreacchio
Screenwriters Michael Bourchier,
Mario Andreacchio, Mark Saltzman
Producers Michael Bourchier,
Mario Andreacchio
Executive producers Masato Hara,
Ron Saunders
Director of photography Roger Dowling
Production designer Vicki Niehus
Editor Edward McQueen-Mason
Music Bill Conti
Lyrics Mark Saltzman
Color/stereo
Voices:
Napoleon Jamie Croft
Birdo Philip Quast
Conan Casey Siemaszko
Mother Penguin Joan Rivers
Parenti Lizard/Father Penguin Stuart Pankin
Kangaroo Dame Edna Everage
Running time - 81 minutes
MPAA rating: G...
A "Babe" wannabe, this live action Aussie import offers colorful nature footage, but the clumsy storytelling, ill-fitting dialogue and shrill voice characterizations leave it in the doghouse.
While clearly aimed at the kiddies, the story is fraught with peril and references to death and killing, while much of the humor is surprisingly mean-spirited.
A cuddly golden retriever puppy, Napoleon (called Muffin by his mom) yearns to leave the domestic life behind and heed the call of his wild brethren.
He gets his wish when a makeshift hot-air balloon carries him from his suburban backyard home out to the Australian bush, where he befriends a talkative Galah (a native Australian migratory bird) called Birdo Lucci.
Napoleon picks up a few quick pointers in survival skills during bouts with a feral cat, not to mention stampeding horses, a sugar cane blaze and flash flooding. Ultimately the frisky pup learns, like many screen creatures before him, that there's no place like home.
Writer-director Mario Andreacchio and director of photography Roger Dowling offer up an exotic menagerie of co-stars, including wallabies, wombats, lorikeets, and dingos in addition to the obligatory kangaroo.
But the accompanying story and dialogue have a slapped-together, after-the-fact feel and the inclusion of a handful of banal songs, credited to score composer Bill Conti and lyricist Mark Saltzman, do nothing to infuse the film with some much-needed charm.
NAPOLEON
MGM Distribution
Australian Film Finance Corp.,
Herald Ace Inc., Goldwyn Entertainment Co. present in association with Nippon Herald Films,
Fuji Television & Pony Canyon
a Film Australia, Herald Ace
and Furry Feature Films production
Director Mario Andreacchio
Screenwriters Michael Bourchier,
Mario Andreacchio, Mark Saltzman
Producers Michael Bourchier,
Mario Andreacchio
Executive producers Masato Hara,
Ron Saunders
Director of photography Roger Dowling
Production designer Vicki Niehus
Editor Edward McQueen-Mason
Music Bill Conti
Lyrics Mark Saltzman
Color/stereo
Voices:
Napoleon Jamie Croft
Birdo Philip Quast
Conan Casey Siemaszko
Mother Penguin Joan Rivers
Parenti Lizard/Father Penguin Stuart Pankin
Kangaroo Dame Edna Everage
Running time - 81 minutes
MPAA rating: G...
- 10/13/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Film review - 'Mannequin Two'
Tinny comedy pounded flat marks ''Mannequin Two: On the Move,'' the follow-up to 1987's ''Mannequin.''
Obviously aimed at the early teen masses of the coast-to-coast suburban sprawl, this modestly budgeted feature may well find enough bubble gum chewers to turn a buck or two. Forget breakout business of any kind, though, and the film's real profits probably await it in video rentals on babysitter nights.
Adopting the basic plot but only one of the original characters, ''Mannequin Two'' opens with a medieval setup scene during which beautiful young peasant Jessie (Kristy Swanson) is put under a spell by an evil magician (Terry Kiser) at the behest of a queen mom (Cynthia Harris) who doesn't want her prince of a lovesick son (William Ragsdale) polluting his royal blood with common stock.
Cut to 1,000 years later when Philadelphia department store employee and all-around nice guy Jason Williamson (Ragsdale again) is working on a display from the European kingdom of Hauptmann-Koenig that includes the wooden body of the self-same enchanted peasant girl.
Jason accidently removes the necklace that enforces the spell, and Jessie, giddily happy to be alive in a century in which she can go disco dancing in a stretch minidress, falls in love with her apparently reincarnated prince. Jason, who is not blind, reciprocates.
However, the descendant of the evil sorcerer, Count Spretzle (Kiser again) is after the reawakened lass himself, and with a trio of wooden-headed body builders, ends up chasing and dueling (literally) with Jason for her possession.
The thin action is filled out with hit-or-mostly miss comedy schtick from the usually more reliable Kiser, Stuart Pankin as a huffily officious store manager, Harris reincarnated as Jason's dating service-owner mom, and especially from Meshach Taylor as Jason's boss, Hollywood Montrose, a gay display artist who is the only character held over from the original film (Taylor also doubles in a small role as a nightclub doorman).
Taylor gives forth with every gay designer cliche ever imagined, clearly trading on Middle America's stereotypes, but on the other hand, his character is also courageous and ingenious at key moments.
Although the period opening displays some flair and the ending picks up some much-needed steam, the movie's middle is a vast wasteland of tired jokes and ersatz romance. The cast appears to be making game stabs at humor, and director Stewart Raffill pumps up a few scenes, but there are far too many script misfires and built-in flat tires (every time the bodybuilding trio shows up the film dies) to overcome.
The film was shot partly at John Wanamaker Department Store in Philadelphia, a setting that lends helpful doses of atmosphere.
MANNEQUIN: TWO ON THE MOVE
Gladden Entertainment
20th Century Fox
Producer Edward Rugoff
Director Stewart Raffill
Writers Edward Rugoff, David Isaacs,
Ken Levine, Betsy Israel
Director of photographyLarry Pizer
Production design William J. Creber
Editor John Rosenberg, Joan Chapman
Music David McHugh
Color/Dolby
Cast:
Jessie Kristy Swanson
Jason/Prince William Ragsdale
Hollywood/doorman Meshach Taylor
Count Spretzle/Sorcerer Terry Kiser
Mr. James Stuart Pankin
Mrs. Williamson/Queen Cynthia Harris
Running time -- 95 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
Obviously aimed at the early teen masses of the coast-to-coast suburban sprawl, this modestly budgeted feature may well find enough bubble gum chewers to turn a buck or two. Forget breakout business of any kind, though, and the film's real profits probably await it in video rentals on babysitter nights.
Adopting the basic plot but only one of the original characters, ''Mannequin Two'' opens with a medieval setup scene during which beautiful young peasant Jessie (Kristy Swanson) is put under a spell by an evil magician (Terry Kiser) at the behest of a queen mom (Cynthia Harris) who doesn't want her prince of a lovesick son (William Ragsdale) polluting his royal blood with common stock.
Cut to 1,000 years later when Philadelphia department store employee and all-around nice guy Jason Williamson (Ragsdale again) is working on a display from the European kingdom of Hauptmann-Koenig that includes the wooden body of the self-same enchanted peasant girl.
Jason accidently removes the necklace that enforces the spell, and Jessie, giddily happy to be alive in a century in which she can go disco dancing in a stretch minidress, falls in love with her apparently reincarnated prince. Jason, who is not blind, reciprocates.
However, the descendant of the evil sorcerer, Count Spretzle (Kiser again) is after the reawakened lass himself, and with a trio of wooden-headed body builders, ends up chasing and dueling (literally) with Jason for her possession.
The thin action is filled out with hit-or-mostly miss comedy schtick from the usually more reliable Kiser, Stuart Pankin as a huffily officious store manager, Harris reincarnated as Jason's dating service-owner mom, and especially from Meshach Taylor as Jason's boss, Hollywood Montrose, a gay display artist who is the only character held over from the original film (Taylor also doubles in a small role as a nightclub doorman).
Taylor gives forth with every gay designer cliche ever imagined, clearly trading on Middle America's stereotypes, but on the other hand, his character is also courageous and ingenious at key moments.
Although the period opening displays some flair and the ending picks up some much-needed steam, the movie's middle is a vast wasteland of tired jokes and ersatz romance. The cast appears to be making game stabs at humor, and director Stewart Raffill pumps up a few scenes, but there are far too many script misfires and built-in flat tires (every time the bodybuilding trio shows up the film dies) to overcome.
The film was shot partly at John Wanamaker Department Store in Philadelphia, a setting that lends helpful doses of atmosphere.
MANNEQUIN: TWO ON THE MOVE
Gladden Entertainment
20th Century Fox
Producer Edward Rugoff
Director Stewart Raffill
Writers Edward Rugoff, David Isaacs,
Ken Levine, Betsy Israel
Director of photographyLarry Pizer
Production design William J. Creber
Editor John Rosenberg, Joan Chapman
Music David McHugh
Color/Dolby
Cast:
Jessie Kristy Swanson
Jason/Prince William Ragsdale
Hollywood/doorman Meshach Taylor
Count Spretzle/Sorcerer Terry Kiser
Mr. James Stuart Pankin
Mrs. Williamson/Queen Cynthia Harris
Running time -- 95 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
- 5/17/1991
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Film reviews -'Life Stinks'
CANNES -- Mel Brooks tackles a virtually impossible objective in ''Life Stinks,'' shown here Wednesday as an out-of-competition festival ''film surprise.'' As director, co-writer, producer and star, Brooks tries to get guffaws out of such unfunny topics as the homeless, poverty, hunger and street life, and the result is as unamusing as the goal was unwise.
In lieu of the anticipated outcome, Brooks can expect many to use at least one portion of the title when passing out word-of-mouth about the film. Business at best will be light, most of it coming from those attracted to a good, rollicking time based on Brooks' past reputation for movie tomfoolery. And those are the very people who'll be most disappointed.
As with any Brooks movie, all is not a waste by any means. Brooks' penchant for grand fun and silliness shows up several times, and delightfully so, especially in a slap-for-slap scene with Rudy De Luca, the latter playing a vagrant who claims to be J. Paul Getty. There are also choice moments such as one in which Brooks gets accidentally swept into a garbage dumpster, also when he attempts to tap dance for coins and/or clean windshields with a greasy rag, not to mention several other isolated moments of inspired lunacy.
But even when the funnybone is being tickled with a masterful touch, it's hard to find much genuine merriment in the subject matter covered here. Cowboys can be satirized, so can producers, Frankenstein, ''Star Wars, '' ''Vertigo'' and the history of the world. But homelessness and hopelessness are nothing to giggle about. Especially not with the amount of it surrounding us these days.
The film begins as if it's going to be a crackerjack. Brooks (Goddard Bolt) is established as a financial wheeler-dealer, so cold and ruthless he's more than willing to rip out acres of Brazilian rain forests or tear down a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., nursing home, anything if it'll add to his bank balance ($6.4 billion and growing). He owns half of a 2 1/2-mile stretch of downtown Los Angeles slum and wants to buy the other half from crafty rival Jeffrey Tambor (Vance Crasswell). The problem is that Tambor also wants to own 100 percent of the property.
Tambor tricks Brooks into a bet: If the latter can survive in the slums for 30 days without any resources or credit cards, Tambor agrees to forfeit his half of the property. Should Brooks fail, Tambor is to get the deed.
Once the bet is on, the film becomes increasingly serious in spite of itself. Even when situations are sketched with a light touch, things seems much too heavy for the laughs to be more than intermittent at best, since the majority of the scenes are set in such sobering locales as a mission soup kitchen, a rat-infested side street, an overcrowded hospital corridor and other grim dead-ends.
If it was Brooks' desire to let ''Life'' get cynical at times, then that doesn't work either, since too much of the film is done with tongue-in-cheek for the audience to believe there's an underlying message.
As a performer, Brooks is as good as writer Brooks and director Brooks allow him to be. Leslie Ann Warren (Molly) has some nice moments as a hostile vagrant who eventually mellows. She ends up as Brooks' wife. Warren is particularly shining in a golden routine with Brooks, dancing in a warehouse, a la Fred and Ginger, to the tune of Cole Porter's ''Easy to Love.'' (Her terpsing comes as a vivid reminder that Warren began her career as a dancer; she's obviously kept up her training.)
The rest of the cast delivers well in formula roles, especially Tambor as the villain of the piece, Stuart Pankin (Pritchard) as an unreliable lawyer, Teddy Wilson (Fumes) and Howard Morris (Sailor) as down-and-outers and De Luca as the loony.
Peter Larkin's production design is uncomfortably convincing -- you wouldn't want to live there -- and Mary Malin's costumes are also just right -- you wouldn't want to wear 'em. Music by John Morris and editing by David Rawlins properly support the subject.
Bottom line: Tough sledding ahead. ''Life'' is set for a July 26 release in the U.S. via MGM/Pathe; 20th Century Fox is distributing the Brooksfilm overseas.
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
In lieu of the anticipated outcome, Brooks can expect many to use at least one portion of the title when passing out word-of-mouth about the film. Business at best will be light, most of it coming from those attracted to a good, rollicking time based on Brooks' past reputation for movie tomfoolery. And those are the very people who'll be most disappointed.
As with any Brooks movie, all is not a waste by any means. Brooks' penchant for grand fun and silliness shows up several times, and delightfully so, especially in a slap-for-slap scene with Rudy De Luca, the latter playing a vagrant who claims to be J. Paul Getty. There are also choice moments such as one in which Brooks gets accidentally swept into a garbage dumpster, also when he attempts to tap dance for coins and/or clean windshields with a greasy rag, not to mention several other isolated moments of inspired lunacy.
But even when the funnybone is being tickled with a masterful touch, it's hard to find much genuine merriment in the subject matter covered here. Cowboys can be satirized, so can producers, Frankenstein, ''Star Wars, '' ''Vertigo'' and the history of the world. But homelessness and hopelessness are nothing to giggle about. Especially not with the amount of it surrounding us these days.
The film begins as if it's going to be a crackerjack. Brooks (Goddard Bolt) is established as a financial wheeler-dealer, so cold and ruthless he's more than willing to rip out acres of Brazilian rain forests or tear down a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., nursing home, anything if it'll add to his bank balance ($6.4 billion and growing). He owns half of a 2 1/2-mile stretch of downtown Los Angeles slum and wants to buy the other half from crafty rival Jeffrey Tambor (Vance Crasswell). The problem is that Tambor also wants to own 100 percent of the property.
Tambor tricks Brooks into a bet: If the latter can survive in the slums for 30 days without any resources or credit cards, Tambor agrees to forfeit his half of the property. Should Brooks fail, Tambor is to get the deed.
Once the bet is on, the film becomes increasingly serious in spite of itself. Even when situations are sketched with a light touch, things seems much too heavy for the laughs to be more than intermittent at best, since the majority of the scenes are set in such sobering locales as a mission soup kitchen, a rat-infested side street, an overcrowded hospital corridor and other grim dead-ends.
If it was Brooks' desire to let ''Life'' get cynical at times, then that doesn't work either, since too much of the film is done with tongue-in-cheek for the audience to believe there's an underlying message.
As a performer, Brooks is as good as writer Brooks and director Brooks allow him to be. Leslie Ann Warren (Molly) has some nice moments as a hostile vagrant who eventually mellows. She ends up as Brooks' wife. Warren is particularly shining in a golden routine with Brooks, dancing in a warehouse, a la Fred and Ginger, to the tune of Cole Porter's ''Easy to Love.'' (Her terpsing comes as a vivid reminder that Warren began her career as a dancer; she's obviously kept up her training.)
The rest of the cast delivers well in formula roles, especially Tambor as the villain of the piece, Stuart Pankin (Pritchard) as an unreliable lawyer, Teddy Wilson (Fumes) and Howard Morris (Sailor) as down-and-outers and De Luca as the loony.
Peter Larkin's production design is uncomfortably convincing -- you wouldn't want to live there -- and Mary Malin's costumes are also just right -- you wouldn't want to wear 'em. Music by John Morris and editing by David Rawlins properly support the subject.
Bottom line: Tough sledding ahead. ''Life'' is set for a July 26 release in the U.S. via MGM/Pathe; 20th Century Fox is distributing the Brooksfilm overseas.
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
- 5/16/1991
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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