LITTLE NEMO: ADVENTURES IN SLUMBERLAND
RAPID FIRE
STAY TUNED
A film review by Frank Maloney
Copyright 1992 Frank Maloney
Following are three non-reviews:
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LITTLE NEMO: ADVENTURES IN SLUMBERLAND is an animated feature film, directed by Masami Hata and William Hurtz and written by Chris Columbus and Richard Outten. The voices are provided by Mickey Rooney, Rene Auberjonois, and Gabriel Damon. Rated G.
Little Nemo was the great, landmark creation of Winsor McCay, who was one the most popular, most influential cartoonists in American history. McCay can also be considered the father of animation due to his pioneering animated cartoon "Gertie the Dinosaur." "Little Nemo" ran in newspapers for two decades and was immensely popular. Today, we can only look at those strips in wonder and amazement and with no little sadness at the degradation of the medium in our niggardly times.
It was because of my admiration for McCay (who also authored the surreal strip "Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend") that I had to see this animated film. The film successfully recreates much of McCay's art style, eerie, monumental dream imagery full of surprise, wit, and irrational juxtapositions. Unfortunately, despite the presence of some important talent, the filmmakers hedged their bet with a number of non-McCay intrusions. Little Nemo himself is too cute; the mischief making trickster too nice; there's a flying squirrel buddy; there's a major steal from the "Night on Bare Mountain" sequence in FANTASIA; and there is a throw-away score of songs by the same Sherman Brothers who wrote the songs for MARY POPPINS. Unfortunately, the filmmakers ignored the Victor Herbert Broadway version of Little Nemo, a smash hit of the 1908 season.
Overall, I found the film charming and engaging, probably not entirely appropriate for the youngest children, and can recommend it to you at matinee prices or as a future video rental or purchase.
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RAPID FIRE is a film directed by Dwight Little and written by Alan McElroy. It stars Brandon Lee, Powers Boothe, Nick Mancuso. Rated R, for chopsocky violence. This is, of course, the vehicle meant to launch Brandon Lee, Bruce Lee's son, as a film star. While the film is never going to be the pet of filmschools, it does deliver its promise of a presentable action film. And it is less gross, less gruesome than most of the present generation of actions films, such as those of Van Damme or Seagal. In style and mood, it is closer to the older Lee's swashbuckling, kidding movies. The story is perfectly predictable, and the addition of Tienanmen Square and a call to political responsibility are not meant to be taken too seriously. However, McElroy's script does attempt to make the hero human and likeable. The character actors are fun to watch, too: Tzi Ma as an Asian godfather; Powers Boothe as the good cop; and especially, Nick Mancuso as the psycho heavy. I think Lee does have a future; he has presence and some competence as an actor; he is not so intense as his dad, but rather laid-back, slightly yuppified, non-arrogant.
I can recommend RAPID FIRE at matinee prices or as a winter video treat.
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STAY TUNED is a film directed by Peter Hyams and written by Tom S. Parker & Jim Jennewein. It stars John Ritter, Pam Dawber, Jeffrey Jones, and Eugene Levy. Rated PG. This is one of those supremely dumb movies that I am a sucker for. Of course, TV is too easy a target of satire. Of course, having former TV personalities in the cast is obvious. But then, again, why not, it's summertime and the living is easy. This is, obviously, not a film to take seriously, but it's fun enough while it lasts to justify a matinee ticket, especially if like me one has an irrational fondness for John Ritter, despite his willingness to appear to total dreck like the PROBLEM CHILD flicks; I concentrate on his other, better kind of films, the ones no one goes to, like THEY ALL LAUGHED and that theater farce he did with Carol Burnett et al. at the beginning of the summer. This is somewhere in between, mostly harmless, and that's high praise these days. Jeffry Jones is always fun to watch, too, and his track record is possibly even worse than Ritter's.
Probably, you should save this one for a really dreary winter day and rent the video.
-- Frank Richard Aloysius Jude Maloney
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