Shirley Jones

Then & Now
$26.98

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
$2.99
The original "Bridget Jones Diary" is one of my favorite recent comedies . . . I can say that even though I'm a guy. Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth, and Hugh Grant led a stellar ensemble cast that was as committed to pitch-perfect little moments as it was to broad laughs and big romantic scenes. All in all, the original "BJD" is right up there with the most charming of English comedies.

But you know what happens with Hollywood and good ideas - if there's a nickel to be made, then nothing is sacred.

Somehow Zellweger, Firth and Grant let their "people" talk them into making this absolutely soulless shell of a sequel. On the Sequel Scale, with "Godfather II" at the top with an easy 10 and "Caddyshack 2" a zero, "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" rates about a 1.5. The concept is stupid - Bridget is still dizzily in love with Darcy (Firth), and he does nothing at all wrong except be just too darn perfect for words. But we must contrive some conflict, so Bridget concocts stupid sins on his part that even she realizes are stupid, but they are sufficient to create some distance between the two.

Look, in romantic comedies we expect a certain amount of cliche and coincidence - it comes with the territory. But this sequel just isn't true to Bridget. She learned in the first movie that Darcy really loved her, and she is a smart enough girl that she would never do the idiotic things she does in this movie. That's one of her most endearing qualities - Bridget is smarter than the thin people in her world realize. Stupid Bridget just ain't that interesting.

In this closed universe of profiteering, the filmmakers are so completely bereft of ideas that no sooner has Darcy left the stage in a semi-huff that Hugh Grant oozes back into Bridget's life, looking for a return to Bridget's arms. This makes absolutely no sense - here's Grant (it makes no sense to refer to his name - he's playing Hugh Grant), jet-setting around the world for a fun TV show, apparently still sleeping with supermodels, and yet his number one goal seems to be to seduce Bridget. Whaaaa? If Grant's purpose was to get revenge on Darcy, then perhaps the movie might have been funny. Not even Hugh Grant's charm can make this ridiculous character work.

We also get lots of contrived scenes demonstrating how the lovable Bridget gets herself into trouble. When Bridget thinks she's pregnant, not only are the filmmakers content to fall back on the old "Let's watch the terrible skier fly down the mountain at top speed, leaving a trail of destruction while narrowly escaping death and screaming 'Whoooo!'," but they have her glide into a pharmacy (yes, a pharmacy) at the bottom of the slope (pretty prime real estate for a pharmacy), where she requests a birth control test, only to realize that she is in the one store in a German tourist town where nobody speaks English. Hardy har nope. There's more exercise of similar "wit," including most tastelessly some completely shameless scenes in a Thai women's prison, where the filmmakers think the prisoners can be made to forget their cares and woes with a little Madonna sing-a-long and some lingerie. Nice.

Save your money - do not buy this film. At best, this movie should be seen by potential filmmakers and storytellers as a cautionary tale of the bad things that can happen to a great idea.

Biography - James Brown: The Godfather of Soul [VHS]
$14.95
Unlike so many biographical documentaries, this videocassette covers the artist's entire career to date. The typical presentation concentrates on "the hits". "James Brown - The Godfather Of Soul" provides insight into the development of his music in general, thanks in part to comments from Stevie Wonder, B.B. King, and biographer Bruce Tucker. For the already initiated the very rare stills which permeate the production, plus the c. 1969 live clips of "Please, Please, Please" and "Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud" should make it more than worthwhile. (Looka here - How about a future expanded edition with long excerpts from the 1968 TV Specials? Just kidding...).

Always in the Mood
$21.98
"Always In The Mood" is one of my favorite CDs from the 1980s. On her lone domestic solo release, Shirley shines on almost every track. Her strong points, however, are ballads, as witnessed on "Do You Get Enough Love", which became a number one song on The Billboard Black Singles (R&B) Chart. Jones gives another stellar performance on the second single, "Last Night I Needed It Somebody", which failed to pack the same punch on the charts. Other standouts include "Breaking Up" and the uptempo tunes "Surrender" and "Caught Me With My Guard Down". Jones was recording a follow-up album scheduled for release in the late 80's but it was never issued. Instead, a CD of all new material entitled "With You" was issued in the U.K. in 1994.