Brian Levant
17 connections found
View:
Connections, in both directions
If this plot, concocted by Jonathan Bernstein, James Greer and Gregory Poirier, sounds vaguely familiar, it’s because they borrowed liberally from “The Pacifier” (2005), in which Vin Diesel played an undercover agent caring for five kids, along with bits from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Kindergarten Cop.”
‘The Spy Next Door’’ may be a Z-movie rip-off of “The Pacifier,’’ which was a B-movie rip-off of “Kindergarten Cop,’’ which wasn’t a grade-A idea to start with, but at the new movie’s center is a notion that’s charmingly, if not dementedly democratic: That a nerdy businessman/undercover super-agent played by action star Jackie Chan could build a loving, sustainable relationship with the suburban single mom next door played by supermodel Amber Valletta.
The Croods (2013)
Directed by Chris Sanders
influenced by The Flintstones (1994)
Themes Visuals Plot
The Croods evokes the memories of The Flintstones, in which gags transposed the post-war American life of cars, hair-dryers and phonographs onto the Stone Age.
There is a long and undistinguished tradition of comic-strips and films set in prehistoric times, including Stonehenge Kit the Ancient Brit in Knockout during the 1940s, The Flintstones on TV in the 1960s, the dire 1981 Hollywood feature film Caveman starring Ringo Starr and Barbara Bach, and now the animated The Croods .
Directors Kirk DeMicco and Chris Sanders seem hell-bent on avoiding "The Flintstones" comparisons, creating an environment that's closer to James Cameron 's "Avatar" world than the Paleolithic era audiences are used to.
Basically, it’s a mashup of “The Flintstones” and “The Land Before Time.”
Forget The Flintstones — this is more like Ice Age with humans.
For everyone who loved The Flintstones, but didn’t find it depressingly conventional and conservative enough.
I also remember seeing a preview for a new Arnold Schwarzenegger movie that didn't even dare put his name on it after him having been in the double-trouble combination of Eraser and Jingle all the Way .
That hardly tanks the latter, which is timely in a number of unfortunate ways, while also possibly reminding/informing some viewers that once upon a time, Ice Cube was not that guy from family-friendly stuff like "Are We There Yet?"
It's marginally better than the clunky 1994 adaptation of "The Flintstones," but is that much of a recommendation?
If they don’t send flowers, the filmmakers of 21 Jump Street should at least write heartfelt thank you notes to the creators of such television-to-film remakes as Bewitched, The Dukes of Hazzard and The Flintstones.
As a matter of fact, MacFarlane has parlayed said rebirth into a pair of additional franchises (American Dad! and The Cleveland Show), a proposed remake of The Flintstones, and now a full length feature film, Ted.
If you didn’t know already, one of MacFarlane’s next big projects is to redo “The Flintstones” on Fox as an animated family program, and there is understandably some concern as to how he’ll treat the established material to reintroduce it to a new generation.
Look what happened to "The Flintstones," "The Mod Squad," "Lost in Space," "The Avengers" and "Bewitched."
Few television comedies have successfully made the transition to the big screen, and with the exception of "The Flintstones," none has done it with the original cast intact.
See Home Alone, Jingle All the Way, A Christmas Story and A Charlie Brown's Christmas for examples of it.
In year's past, I've been disappointed by "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" "The Santa Claus 2," and "Jack Frost," but fortunately this year's "Elf" can be added to the fun list that includes such recent films as "The Santa Clause" and "Jingle All the Way," entertaining movies that make you laugh hysterically and can be watched over and over again without boredom.
Unlike other recent studio holiday films that try to appeal to both kids and adults -- think The Santa Clause or Jingle All the Way -- Elf nimbly straddles that fine line between silliness and sweetness.
But the story is so derivative that a couple of moderately savvy middle-schoolers could have written it after a quick review of formulaic movies such as The Santa Clause or Jingle All the Way.
The cracking, booming Reilly (“Step Brothers”) would have been right at home on “The Flintstones” or any Hanna Barbera cartoon of the Golden Age of TV cartoons.
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
Directed by Brad Bird
influenced by The Flintstones (1994)
The “Mission” is more Bond-like than “Casino Royale” or “Quantum of Solace,” brimming with gadgets that make the Sharper Edge catalog look like a stone tablet from “The Flintstones.”
From “Iron Will” to “Snow Dogs” to “Eight Below,” the studio’s executives clearly have a soft spot for rugged frontier tales of tough Arctic men and their canine companions.
Like the Kongs before him, this one is found on a remote island where man lives beside dinosaurs, thus altering the evolutionary timeline and adding weight to the historical veracity of The Flintstones.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
Directed by Peter Jackson
influenced by Are We There Yet? (2005)
Tolkien's fable, first published in 1937, carried the alternative title There and Back Again; the first installment of Jackson's expansive retelling might as easily be called Are We There Yet?
Written by the dread team of Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont (authors of such classics as “Made of Honor,” “Josie and the Pussycats” and “The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas”), “Leap Year” stars Amy Adams as Anna, a control freak from Boston who, in the early scenes, is disappointed when her drippy doctor boyfriend (Adam Scott) fails to propose marriage at a ripe moment.
Yes, the screenwriters of “Made of Honor,” “The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas,” and “Josie and the Pussycats” (which they also directed) are the masterminds behind “Leap Year,” and their special sludge of awful is called upon yet again to smother a routinely peaceful genre.
Finally, Billy Ray Cyrus (2009's " Hannah Montana: The Movie ") and George Lopez (2008's " Henry Poole Is Here ") cash paychecks as Bob's spy associates; it's hard to believe either one took these thankless roles because they were drawn to the characters.
The sad truth is that "Eyes Wide Shut" must enter that collection of over-inflated zeppelins full of hot air but otherwise rudderless and hopelessly adrift, like "Howard the Duck," "Ishtar" and "The Flintstones."