Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. They just keep on coming. YEAR OF THE DOG Mike White, who wrote SCHOOL OF ROCK, CHUCK & BUCK and NACHO LIBRE, steps into the director's chair for this flick about a lonely middle aged woman who has no love in her life besides her love for her dog and her dog's love for her. The press screening was packed and there were many "Awwws" when Molly Shannon's little beagle does anything remotely cute. The tone of the film is a bit weird. Molly Shannon's character gets to a point halfway through where she begins going slightly insane, but they play up the reality of it rather than the comedy. I can respect that choice, but I can't say I liked it. Regina King steals this film as the bubbly and uncensored friend of Shannon's character. She had me gut-laughing a lot when riding Shannon to get a man. "Even retarded cripples get married!" The first half of the movie is pretty strong, with Shannon interacting with a glut of bizarre characters. You have her crazy hunter next door neighbor (John C. Reilly), her egotistical but weak-willed boss, her brother and his wife (Laura Dern), who are overly protective of their daughter and a Vegan animal lover/love interest (Peter Sarsgaard). I'm not a fan of how they spend the second half. I missed the laughs and didn't really find Shannon's insanity all that interesting without the humor, even though Shannon herself gives a strong performance all the way through. So, consider me mixed on this one. FINISHING THE GAME Get this... the idea is a group of documentary filmmakers follow the circus surrounding Bruce Lee's passing while filming GAME OF DEATH. The focus is on the recasting of Bruce Lee so the producers can finish the movie. You have all walks of life trying out, from well known knock-off martial arts stars to body builders to Vietnamese immigrants to starry-eyed youths... basically anybody that is Asian... or thinks they are. The premise is incredibly strong and the film is filled with enough kooky characters to make Christopher Guest proud. The director looks all of 19 years old and is completely controlled by everybody around him, including a bossy casting agent that makes that bitch on the last season of GREENLIGHT look like a saint. She has the worst taste in the world, but that just leads to more entertaining insanity. On the whole, Justin Lin's (BETTER LUCK TOMORROW and TOKYO DRIFT) film doesn't quite live up to the premise. It could use a good edit. There's a lot of worthy material in there and some great characters, my favorites being the white dude who claims to be half Asian and attends rallies and poetry readings where he emotionally reads out his painful poetry... saying he will overcome being called slanty-eyed and gook. You can't beat misplaced racism for top comedy value. There's another character, the semi-famous Bruce Lee knock-off actor. His name is Breeze Lu. By far my favorite part of the movie was seeing the fake footage of his starring vehicles. The one they focus on has him fighting a typical Asian baddie from a chop socky movie, but it's revealed that he's working for the Nazis (swastikas adorning his kimono). The movie is called FISTS OF THE FUHRER. They nailed the look of that kind of film, the fighting style and editing. Also throw in a great cameo by Ron Jeremy and you have many great pieces that need to be put together a little differently. The movie is in the "it's good" realm right now, not the "that's fucking great" realm the concept promises. It is a solid flick, though. It has a recommendation with some reservations from me. It might have just been my expectation level. I was hoping it'd be just as good or better than FISTFUL OF YEN from KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE. I know one's a spoof and one's a mockumentary, but I'm speaking in terms of comedy value. Okay, two more down. Got tons to get to. Be back soon. -Quint quint@aintitcool.com
