Repost: Galaxy Quest (August 15th at the Capitol Theatre)

[GALAXY QUEST screens Saturday August 15th at midnight at the Capitol Theatre.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

There's a stellar idea at the heart of this okay f/x-laden 1999 DreamWorks comedy-fantasy, back from the early years of the Spielberg-founded super-studio. For me GALAXY QUEST was a near-miss, what should have been a comedy gem riffing on "Star Trek" fanaticism comes off instead a bit like cubic zirconium instead. Still glitters from time to time.

The Adventures of the Penguin King (now on video)

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

Holy hoping-lightning-strikes-twice, Batman! Or...Penguin! Remember, it was just about ten years ago, wasn't it, when the Cleveland International Film Festival dropped me as a promo-writer. Yes, to commemorate the milestone you are all ordered to wear black, until I recover from the rejection, heartbreak and humiliation (and I never recover from rejection, heartbreak and humiliation, not really). But also on the subject of wearing black, it was about the same exact time that a sleeper-hit nature movie called MARCH OF THE PENGUINS came out

MARCH OF THE PENGUINS, a National Geographic release, was actually a French documentary on the seasonal lifestyle of the emperor penguins of Antarctica, whose title translated more accurately as THE EMPERORS' MARCH. With new, poetic English-language narration by Morgan Freeman (I heard the original French narration was pretty bad, but then again, Hollywood would spread that kind of rumor), MARCH OF THE PENGUINS became a genuine must-see nature documentary, of a kind seldom patronized since BORN FREE. It even inspired (under comic Bob Saget) an adults-only, profane comedy redub of penguin footage entitled FARCE OF THE PENGUINS, and no higher tribute can be paid.

Toy Story 2 (Feburary 15th at the CWRU Film Society, Strosacker Auditorium)

[TOY STORY 2 screens Saturday February 15th at 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm at the CWRU Film Society, Strosacker Auditorium.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

Someday, if and when entertainment historians contemplate how technology made human actors largely obsolete (and not a moment too soon), the TOY STORY movies will get their due. With TOY STORY 2, the sequel to the 1995 original sensation, Pixar's computer-generated characters based on household toys display more personality, charisma, emotion and finesse than their flesh-and-blood counterparts in most live-action Hollywood productions.

Of course, it's an unfair comparison. The digital thespians get consistently better scripts.

In TOY STORY 2 catastrophe befalls the once-durable cloth doll Cowboy Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks). A ripped seam in the toy's arm compels his owner Andy to leave Woody at home while he's off at summer camp. Woody and playroom cohorts Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles), Slinky Dog (the late, underrated Jim `Ernest' Varney) and Rex (Wallace Shawn) know what this portends; a broken toy is destined for the trash, or just as bad - the yard sale.

Galaxy Quest (October 14 at 7, 9 and 11 p.m. at the CWRU Film Society, Strosacker Auditorium)

[GALAXY QUEST screens October 14th at 7, 9 and 11 p.m. at the CWRU Film Society, Strosacker Auditorium.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

There's a stellar idea at the heart of this okay f/x-laden 1999 DreamWorks comedy-fantasy, back from the early years of the Spielberg-founded super-studio. For me GALAXY QUEST was a near-miss, what should have been a comedy gem riffing on "Star Trek" fanaticism comes off instead a bit like cubic zirconium instead. Still glitters from time to time.