Two Words, One Answer.
Efren Ramirez
 Napoleon Dynamite (+ Digital Copy) $14.98 I love the movie but when i opened the case the code to activate the digital copy was not there! I was told to fax a copy of my recipt to fox and they'd get a code to me. I did that still no code.  Employee of the Month $2.99 Meant to be a feel good, nice, nice, nice comedy, it oozes with cuteness and it should really improve the public image of employers such as B.J.'s, Sam's Club and CostCo. It's THAT cute. It's a heartwarming and, indeed, therapeutic viewing experience, watching these young, super-dedicated employees, competing for the employee of the month designation - and the winner gets the car and he could get the girl too. There is no violence, there is lots of friendship and team work all-over, because both the good guys and the bad guys are team players. The bosses are a little bit demanding but fair and the few illegalities or immoral activities are so mild, they should make us laugh rather than outrage us. In the end, the good guy wins, of course and the not so good guy is humiliated and properly but not severely punished. We are led to believe that all the personal dramas the good guys were experiencing are solved or on their path toward solving and some of those who did not fall asleep or did not walk away might end the viewing with a little smile on their faces. This shouldn't be on anyone's must-have movies shopping list but those interested to see what might be going behind the scenes inside those mysterious big-box shopping clubs that charge members annual fees for the privilege of being allowed to buy super-family-sized snack boxes and a discount may find the viewing experience tolerable.  Rave $19.99 When they made RAVE, the producers probably hoped it'd seem so cutting edge, hip to the latest in youth culture. Yet for all those cutting edge aspirations, the film follows the template of hundreds of other films, a template set by AMERICAN GRAFFITI. You begin with a diverse group of teens. Racially and socially diverse. Some are close to their parents, others don't get along with well-meaning parents, still others have horrid parents. Some of the teens are nerds, some are bad, some are flaky. One girl's pregnant and doesn't know how to tell her boyfriend. There's a gangsta boy, a boy who's never kissed a girl, and the obligatory gay boy. It's a large ensemble cast. The teens are introduced, their lives weave in and out amid each other without colliding, and then they all end up at the rave. Where (predictably) everything that can happen, does happen. People O.D. Vomit. Beat each other up. Con their way past security. Make racist remarks. Engage in inter-racial flirting. There's over-crowding. A riot. A shoot-out. Then the usual wrap-up. Survivors comfort each other at the hospital, or at home. Worried parents are relieved to see their kids come home. Other parents cry when the police arrive to announce their kid is dead. There's a candlelight vigil. RAVE is an okay film, though nowhere near as great as AMERICAN GRAFFITI. Partially, I think it's because, unlike AMERICAN GRAFFITI, RAVE doesn't capture any large social zeitgeist. AMERICAN GRAFFITI reflected a significant historical transition, from the more innocent early 1960s, to the post-JFK assassination, rebellious 1960s. We knew what lay ahead for those kids after their last innocent summer. RAVE is about a tiny, brief subculture, one that didn't have much impact, even on ravers. Raving was not part of, or swept away by, any larger historical movement, or on an historical cusp. Raving came and went in a blink. It left no large music stars in its wake (unlike grunge, which at least had Nirvana). Nor are RAVE's actors/characters especially interesting. Tamara Mello is prominently featured on the DVD box, but hers is one of the smaller roles in this ensemble film. I guess she's gotten to be one of the more famous actors since RAVE was released, so the marketing people have re-released it prominently featuring Mello's name. But she's not so prominently featured on the opening credits, which means the filmmakers themselves didn't consider Mello's a significant role. Mello's name comes after the title (the bigger roles are pre-title) and Mello shares the credit placement with two other names (unlike the larger roles which have a sole credit placement page -- these things matter in Hollywood.) So if you're a Mello fan, you might be disappointed. She's in the film, she's good in it, but it's a small role. RAVE is a short film. An hour and 17 minutes (not including over 6 minutes of end credits). |
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