Conference bookie::movies

It may be previewing the weekend before that, but the buzz on this has been
so hot they probably won't bother.  Rated PG-13 for "some stylized
violence".  Effects by ILM.

    
    Roger Rabbit meets Ace Ventura

_The Mask_ was an absolute hilllllllarious movie.  I would highly recommend it.
You might have to be in the right mood to enjoy the stupidity of Carrey... but if
you are, it's a riot!  Unfortunately Carrey's one-lines were bland (it doesn't
provide the same delivery like in the commercials)... and the special effects 
really carried (no punintended) the movie.  Also, Cameron Dias and Milo the dog 
really stole the show.


Bevan

    I really enjoyed "The Mask," although I found it pretty slow in the
    beginning - the framing story was extremely predictable and the setup 
    was rather dull until the Mask got going. But if you make it through
    the opening, the rest is a very funny ride, with great special effects
    (many of which are probably just Jim Carrey himself - the guy _is_
    Elastic Man) and a lot of surprises as well. (I was pleased by the
    surprises because I'd feared the previews had given away all the best
    bits. Not to worry!) There were even outbursts of spontaneous applause
    from the audience, which is pretty rare in movies these days...
    
    It's a very silly movie with next to no redeeming social value. I
    laughed a lot. I recommend it.
    
    -b

    Last night on the news, there was a teaser that said something like,
    "Next on News 7, who came out on top?  Forrest Gump, Arnold, or Jim
    Carrey in 'The Mask'?"
    
    Does anybody know if "The Mask" took the number 1 spot for the 
    weekend?
    
    Mike

    Yes ... it went like this ...
    
    1)  The Mask
    2)  Forrest Gump
    3)  True Lies
    4)  The Client
    5)  The Lion King
    
    Holly
    

	and these are the rough prelim. box office figures to put things
	into even more perspective.  Gump has been out longer than Arnie's
	film, yet Arnie's revenues are dropping off fast ....

>     1)  The Mask
		- $23Million

>     2)  Forrest Gump
		- $18Million

>     3)  True Lies
		- $13Million

    The first 20 minutes or so were excruciating - I was ready to duck out
    of the theatre, but after that the film took off.  Totally silly,
    laughing out loud fun.  Jim Carrey and Max were tied for top honors.

    I agree with some previous notes:  "The Mask" was slow in parts (like,
    about the first hour, but I wouldn't call it excruciating. Just uneven
    and a bit slow), but once it got rolling, it rolled, right to the end.
    
    For those who don't know, the movie concerns a mild-mannered banking
    clerk (Jim Carrey) who just doesn't get to have anything go his way. 
    His boss yells at him, his landlady's a landlady-nightmare, his Honda
    Civic went in for an oil change and suddenly needs a few thousand
    dollars of work, etc. etc.  Nothing's going right, at least until a
    babe (some woman with a wide mouth -- Cameron Diaz, I think) walks in
    to his bank and picks HIM to help her with a "new account".  Alas,
    she's just fronting for a crime boss who wants to rob the bank.... 
    
    Still, nothing going right.  Except he has a really cute dog, Milo, who
    likes him.
    
    Then, our mild-mannered hero stumbles across a strange mask.  And when
    he puts it on -- well, let us say things change for the weirder.
    
    "The Mask" is a cross between Roger Rabbit and any "Nerd gets his
    revenge" film.  I believe this is the one of the first films were the
    computer effects were achieved with "off the shelf" software, rather
    than having the effects houses develop something specific for the
    movie.  They are used (mostly) to good effect (no pun intended) -- Jim
    Carrey, sort of a living cartoon anyway, becomes, well, a living
    cartoon.  
    
    As I stated, the first two thirds of the movie range from unevenly
    funny to downright slow.  I was sitting there thinking on what should
    be edited out, and didn't arrive at any outstanding conclusions.  I
    noticed that some of the gags seemed to work better in the "out of
    context" snippets of a trailer preview, rather than in the film itself,
    but I'm not sure if that's because there's just something about
    live-action cartoons (ala 'The Flintstones' movie) that just doesn't
    "work" so well as an animated cartoon, no matter how well done.  Or
    maybe it was just the pacing.  Or the script.  You really can't blame
    the effects.  
    
    Whatever the movie lacked in the first hour or so, it picked up in it's
    last half hour and made up for the rest (well, almost).   Pretty funny
    stuff.  Without giving anything away, the thing with the dog pretty
    much made the movie for me.   :)
    
    Certainly worth it, as long as you've been forewarned that "The Mask"
    takes a while to get going.
    
    
    **.75 out of ****
    
    
    kim

    
    Hey, anyone remember the old saturday morning cartoon - Plastic Man ??
    
    	I think they oughtta do a live action movie of it and star Jim
    Carrey, he'd be *perfect*.  
    
    	( for those of you who don't remember, Plastic Man was, well,
    plastic.  And he always had great ( well, great to an 11 year old )
    wise cracks. )
    
    						- Jimbo

    The previews made me think of _Who Framed Roger Rabbit?_, with the
    blend of animation.  _The Mask_ isn't that good, but it does have a
    strong cartoon sensibility and lots of goofy humor.  An enjoyable
    movie, especially if you're in a silly mood.
    
    Milo is a _great_ dog.  Consider what kind of talent is required to
    steal scenes from Jim Carrey.

    
    We went to see it this past weekend, mostly to go someplace cool. We
    took our almost 5 year old. We figured we would make him close his eyes
    if anything got too violent. Only had to do this once.
    
    I never saw Roger Rabbit, but I guess this would kind of be like that. 
    Although the movie is rated PG13, I think it will mostly appeal to the 
    6-10 crowd. There is very little violence that kids will not see in
    their normal TV watching. Milo the dog is great! (Is he the Barkley
    everyone owas talking about recently?) The special effects are good,
    the plot was inane.
    
    IMHO the best scene was the "Cuban Pete, the king of the Rhumba beat",
    the Jim Carrey parts only.
    
    Only pay matinee prices on this one. Take a kid, they'll enjoy it more
    than you.
    
    
    Marilyn

    Well I guess I'm the only person out there who HATED this movie.  Well,
    hated is a pretty strong word but I love Jim Carey and I wanted to see
    him be his wacky-crazy-quirky-zany self.  I don't care about
    animated/computer graphics.  If I wanted that I'd rent R Rabbitt.
    
    Also, this movie was packed with some of the worst acting I have ever
    seen.  The female reporter and the bad guy were horrendous, the main
    cop was horribly mis-cast and, Ladies and Gentlemen, meet the poor man's
    Tom Arnold: Richard Jeni (who couldn't have played the cliched sidekick 
    any more predictably then he did).  He made my skin crawl.  
    
    Do take a close look at Jim Doughan (as the side-kick cop) and Tim
    Bagley (as the coke-bottle-glasses wearing mechanic) two fabulous
    character actors who are part of the Groundlings in Los Angeles.  They
    are really fun to watch.
    
    I blame the director for most of the flaws in this film.  If you're
    really a Jim Carrey fan (which I whole-heartedly am) rent Ace Ventura
    with someone you love to laugh with...cause you will.
    
    Mary Jo
    

    Different strokes, I guess. *My* favorite Jim Carrey movie prior to
    "The Mask" was "Once Bitten," wherein he plays the last male virgin in
    L.A., and becomes the victim of Lauren Hutton, who's a hedonistic (is
    there any other kind?) vampire. It got panned by just about everybody,
    but I thought it was kinda cute.
    
    -b

    Re: .13
    
    >the main cop was horribly mis-cast
    
    Any criticism of Peter Riegert is heresy, you know.

    
>>    Any criticism of Peter Riegert is heresy, you know.

	Indeed.  Incredibly attractive in "Crossing Delancey".

An enjoyable film, with an electric, intriguing performance by Jim Carrey.
On the negative side - there was poor continuity between the Jekyll/Hyde
story and a gangster plot tie-in. Plus some mildly disturbing psycho-pathology.
(example for those who've seen it - the car shop revenge scene).  
The two song&dance numbers were wonderful.  The film came close to
"Pennies from Heaven", the Steve Martin/Bernadette Peters classic.

The kids in the audience loved this film.  But they seemed crazed, and
were problably a half pound crazier by the end.  Previous noters complained
that the movied dragged initially.  The whole film clocks in around 
105 minutes, so you don't even wait too long for it to end, if that's your
preference.

Brian

  I rented the Mask this weekend and we watched it during the blizzard. While
it was fun, I have to say I was a bit disappointed. It came across as a poor
man's Roger Rabbit. Perhaps my expectations were a bit too high. 

  The effects were good and Jim Carrey did a fine job, especially with his
impersonations. The cartoon plot was really bad and the fact that it was a put
up of cartoons is no excuse, especially after Roger Rabbit showed us that you
can be a movie "toon" and still tell a good story. 

  I wasn't impressed at all by the dog. Eddie on Fraiser has him beat by a mile.
The cops were pretty good, probably the best part of the movie after Carrey's
impersonations.

  It's nice to see that Hollywood is only a decade behind the times and that
abusive boy friends are now the formula bad guys.

  The Jim Carrey shtick, the dancing cops, the lovely maiden in distress and
the blizzard making any other diversion impossible earn this movie a mild
thumbs up, especially for TV.

  *** out of 5,
  George

    .15> Any criticism of Peter Riegert is heresy, you know.
    .16> Indeed.  Incredibly attractive in "Crossing Delancey".
    
    Oh yah - *that's* where I've seen him.  I can't say he was mis-cast
    but he Kinda did stand out as kind of an "Oliver Douglas" in
    Hooterville.  I liked "There's your man - Grab Him! C'mon - Snap
    out of it" during the rhumba scene!
    
    I *finally* rented this and absolutely loved it.  We watched it 
    three times in the last week.
    
    Fraiser's dog Eddie doesn't even compare to TICK on Milo's butt :-))
    
    (Sorry - I don't know what that means either)
    

    Hi all,
    
    	Does anyone know what *kind* of dog Milo was?  As in, what breed he
    is?  I think he's also in the new Rold Gold commercial with Jason
    Alexander and also Clean Slate with Dana Carvey . . .
    
    					Thanks,
    
    					Jimbo

    Jack Russell terrier?
    
    Sue

    
    I believe .21 is correct and do these dogs 
    make a good apartment pet. Seriously.
    
    Anyone know where they can be found ?
    
    Rick A

    Jack Russell terriers as a breed are unpredictable in their looks and
    personality. Last I knew they aren't officially recognized in the UK 
    as a breed because of the range of features. They're a mix of a few 
    terrier breeds. I've known a few of them. One was several years old 
    and never did get the knack of being trained. Two live next door to me. 
    Jack used to like me but now doesn't. He's epileptic and his personality 
    has changed, so I attribute it to the drugs. Mickey is a darling, but the 
    boys don't get along with each other. (Well, Mickey loves Jack but Jack 
    loves his human parents.)

    They're small but high-strung. Exercise helps. They'd make good
    apartment dogs if your neighbors don't mind occasional barking.

    They're a handful. I'd choose a different, more predictable breed
    especially if I had kids. Look in the CANINE conference for more info.
    Cairn terriers can look quite a bit like Jack Russells and are
    excellent with kids.

    Lisa