CheriOteri Tagged Articles at Cinematical

A week ago, I finally tore through Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' acclaimed graphic novel, Watchmen, which I'd only recently prompted myself to make the time for after years of recommendations (the recurring threat of ending spoilers for a movie that I'd inevitably see was a catalyst unto itself).

It really is a tremendous work, and I'm as curious as anyone else to see how Zack Snyder's film turns out, but the one comparison that I kept coming back to was how much Watchmen reminded me of Richard Kelly's much-maligned Southland Tales, with each being a sprawling tale of an alternate reality in which several narrative threads are building towards the threat of a looming apocalypse.

Between that and the news of Kelly's latest being pushed back, I find myself tempted to give it another look-see -- especially since my first viewing wasn't exactly held in the most proper of environments. I'm sure that there's a method to Kelly's madness, but it's an indulgent, unpredictable film whose very story density I enjoyed more in and of itself. I doubt that I'd share those sentiments if instead first subjected to the three-hour Cannes cut, but if that version were ever released, I wouldn't be against giving it a spin. (My overall sentiments fall closer to Jette's.)

So, what say you, the readers? Did you see it? Did you finish it? Love it? Hate it? Or maybe, just maybe, did some of you land somewhere in between? (And for bonus points, what don't pimps do?)

When I was in grade school, I always wanted to hang out at my friend's house because he had cable. And cable meant boobs. After his parents had gone to bed, we would stay up and flip through the channels looking for so much as a hint of nipple. So one night we're flipping around and we stumble upon a little picture called Boxing Helena. It looked promising, but it wound up being a cruel punishment for our lustful thoughts. If you're not familiar with the plot of Boxing Helena, allow me to share it with you. A surgeon, played by Julian Sands, has a one night stand with Sherilyn Fenn. He becomes obsessed with her, but she does not share the feeling. She has a car accident in front of his house. He brings her inside and... amputates her arms and legs so that he can control her. It is more ridiculous than it sounds, and the ludicrous ending (spoiler alert-- it was all a dream) is infuriating. Oh, we got our nudity that fateful Saturday night, but at what cost? At what cost?

If there is anything notable about Boxing Helena, it is that the film was directed by David Lynch's daughter, Jennifer Lynch. The film was so despised by critics and audiences (it's currently sporting a 16% average over at rottentomatoes.com), it is little surprise that Lynch hasn't directed a film since. Until now! Pell James, Bill Pullman, and Julia Ormond will star in Lynch's "indie supernatural thriller" Surveillance. Her old man will be executive producing and helping to finance the film, which co-stars former Saturday Night Live cast member Cheri Oteri and Squinty McGee -- French Stewart (!). The story "revolves around an FBI agent who goes to a small town, where everyone lies and no one is safe." Kinda sounds like Jennifer's been studying her father's Twin Peaks. Pullman and Ormond have worked with David Lynch before, in Lost Highway and Inland Empire, respectively. They must have owed him a huge favor.

There seem to be two distinct camps where the Shrek movies are concerned: The people who unabashedly love these sweetly silly revisionist fairy tales -- and the people who consider Shrek and Shrek 2 astonishingly overrated pieces of CGI goofiness that certainly didn't deserve their massive payouts. ($484 million and $920 million worldwide, respectively, and that doesn't include DVD sales.) Me, I fall firmly in the former camp: I'm a big fan of both Shrek flicks. I think they're light, witty, clever and stunningly animated family-style adventures -- but they're not over-scrubbed and ultra-sanitized like most of Disney's weaker attempts.

So obviously I'm pretty pumped to see Shrek the Third, and if this brand-new trailer is any indication, I'll probably be chuckling like a stoned monkey throughout most of this second sequel. The kids will go for the comedy, the characters and the colorful little adventures, but folks like me go for the cast: Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz have done some fine voice-work in the first two flicks, but I'm most fond of Eddie Murphy as Donkey, Antonio Banderas and Puss-in-Boots, and (of course) the immortal John Cleese as King Harold. (OK, so it's a small part, but just the sound of Cleese's voice makes me laugh.)

What I find most intriguing about Shrek the Third is its big list of newcomers: Ian McShane as Captain Hook? Eric Idle as Merlin the Wizard? John Krasinski as Sir Lancelot? Very cool! And get this line-up of prickly princesses: Cheri Oteri (Sleeping Beauty), Maya Rudolph (Rapunzel), Amy Poehler (Snow White) and Amy Sedaris (Cinderella)! How cool is that?! (Oh yeah, and Justin Timberlake as the young Prince Arthur, the only misstep that casting directors actually let Cameron Diaz talk them into made.) Anyway, fun stuff. New trailer here. The film opens May 18.

My pals and I were working hard at SXSW 2004 when we caught wind of a recently-added "on the down low" movie screening that sounded pretty cool. It was a comedy called Surviving Eden, and it was directed by Greg Pritikin, whom we already knew from his sadly underrated ventriliquism comedy Dummy. Prior to the screening, Greg asked that we not review the movie, positively or negatively, because it was still very much a work in progress.

Me and my two cohorts laughed a whole lot at Surviving Eden, and we left the theater a little bummed that we'd been asked not to review it. But we didn't.

Flash forward 2.5 years later, and here comes the flick's theatrical premiere! Cineville will be releasing Surviving Eden in NYC on August 25th, in Chicago on 9/1 and in Austin on 9/8. Most of us won't be able to check the movie out until it hits DVD, but it's basically a very amusing spoof on reality TV, and (more specifically) the "fake-celebrity" status that comes as part of the package. The colorful cast listing includes Michael Panes, Peter Dinklage, Cheri Oteri, Jane Lynch, Sam Robards, Illeana Douglas, Deep Roy and John Landis. Keep an eye out for it.