Review Roundup: DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, DELGO
By Norm Schrager at December 13, 2008 | 10:38 pm | Print
Here at Meet In the Lobby we’ve already taken shots at the remake clowns for giving us an unneccesary reworking of The Day the Earth Stood Still. Look, if you have an original sci-fi idea about Earthlings deserving punishment, at least give it a fresh name. Of course, Allison made fun of Keanu Reeves, saying his role as an emotionless alien is the part of his life. (I actually like the guy.) Now all the critics have their say, along with the animated Delgo and Nothing Like the Holidays.
:: THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL
Rotten Tomatoes: 23 / 100
Metacritic: 40 / 100
filmcritic.com: 3.5 / 5
“Next question… Were you actually attracted to Diane Keaton when shooting Something’s Gotta Give?… “
One of the great elements of Robert Wise’s original The Day the Earth Stood Still is the film’s reliance on one-on-one relationships (Klaatu and the kid, most notably) and a storyline with a good dose of intellect. What a shame that most critics find story missing from the sequel. But more stuff explodes, so hey, that’s good, yeah?
Those who did enjoy The Day the Earth Stood Still say it’s a well-made, well-cast alien invasion movie with an update of important conversation (this time, it’s about ecology and environment.) It’s just that there aren’t many reviewers saying they enjoyed it…
:: NOTHING LIKE THE HOLIDAYS
Rotten Tomatoes: 49 / 100
Metacritic: 51 / 100
Too much egg nog after midnight mass!
Critics are divided evenly for this comedy, yet another Christmas tale of humorous familial dysfunction, but one with a lesser examined ethnic variety.
The half that speak well of the film dig the diversity, praise the performances — c’mon, John Leguizamo, Luis Guzman, Alfred Molina, Elizabeth Pena — and applaud the atmosphere. The other half think director Alfredo De Villa’s attempt plays like a painfully cliched rerun of other movies. I guess those folks are pretending not to acknowledge the family’s surname.
:: DELGO
Rotten Tomatoes: 13 / 100
Metacritic: 28 / 100
filmcritic.com: 1.5 / 5
“Chase your cares away… down at Fraggle Rock!”
After the hideous Brooklyn Rules, I was thinking we’d never hear from Freddie Prinze Jr. again. I was wrong. But, thankfully, we only have to hear him — and not see him — in this boring, unoriginal sci-fi CGI animated feature. The cast list is hysterical though, sort of a high-rent version of a John Waters roster: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Anne Bancroft (who left us in June 2005, too bad this appears to be her final credit), Chris Kattan and Louis Gossett Jr.
And, yeah, I know Prinze has been in a movie or two since Brooklyn Rules. But do you know anyone that’s actually seen them?
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