Reviews
Sleeping with Strangers (1994)
Bed and Breakfast Rock-n-Roll Treat!
Sleeping With Strangers is one of those cuddle up in bed with a big bowl of popcorn, kinda movies. It's not heavy on the brain and keeps the laughs coming.
The film stars Adrienne Shelly as the looking for love in all the wrong places movie star, Jenny, Neil Duncan as super proper bed and breakfast owner, Daniel, Kim Huff as Teri, Daniel's fiancée and secret sweetheart of Daniel's rival, Shawn Thompson as Mark, Daniel's somewhat more modern and rival B&B owner and Scott McNeil, as Todd Warren, The Rock Star.
Guys beware; there are places in the movie where it gets a little heavy on the romance. What makes it a cool movie and keeps it from getting too sugary sweet has to be Scott McNeil's Todd Warren. Rock star Todd, pushes the movie right off the cliff.
Todd is the essence of the hyperactive; garage band stoner dude-next-door-who got saved by Rock & Roll. His light bulb doesn't shine too bright, but he's got a good heart...somewhere under the hair and through the haze.
It was almost scary to watch Scott McNeil channel David Lee Roth, but it was just the right touch. Eye candy for the ladies with a nice set of pipes to boot! Oh yes, most memorable songs, "How Does it Feel" and "Rip My Clothes Off Baby!"
This film also had a bunch of Canadian in-jokes, like Daniel's B&B serving macaroni and cheese. There were paparazzi/tabloid jokes and real people vs. star jokes. At one point, one of the star struck characters talks about Jenny, the movie star to her daughter... from two feet away, much in the same manner, as you'd talk about a zoo exhibit.
I liked this movie because it was not only fun, but also it ends well too. The characters are allowed to improve...even Todd. Enjoy!
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer & the Island of Misfit Toys (2001)
This time they got it RIGHT!
Three animated children's shows mark the beginning of my personal Christmas season. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer is one of them. So when I found out that my old standard had been re-done in computer generated animation, I was curious and scared at the same time.
Finding out that my favorite voice actor, Scott McNeil, was featured in it, helped. But would the CGI stand up to the old, tried and true animation I'd grown up with and drank hot chocolate to? Hmmmm..
I decided to give it a try and in the holiday spirit bought a copy of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys.
To my utter delight, this Christmas sequel did not disappoint in any way. The CGI was slick, but didn't rankle too much. Jamie Lee Curtis was a riot as Queen Camilla and Richard Dreyfuss steps in as the Snowman reporter in a fitting homage to the late Burl Ives.
Scott McNeil does a superb job in multiple roles as Hermey, the Dentist, Yukon Cornelius and Coach Comet. Kathleen Barr and Gary Chalk, Rudolph and Santa, respectively, are "dead on" blasts from the past. For all of the old timers like myself, McNeil, Barr and Chalk tap into the vocal styles of the original cast making the whole experience easy on the senses. Hermey sounds like Hermey! Rudolph sounds like Rudolph and Dreyfuss is as close to Burl Ives as you can get, yet still retains a touch of his own distinctive voice.
The story itself is a true sequel with the main characters moving on with their lives in a completely new tale.
So definitely see this one! It's a real winner and perfect addition to the Christmas holidays!
Sleeping Dogs (1997)
Citizen Kane of Bad Movies
If you like bad movies, this is like the Citizen Kane of bad movies. It's sci-fi meets Miami Vice meets Plan 9 from Outer Space. It stars Scott McNeil, Canadian Voice Actor, as Harry Maxwell, an aging jewel-thief who actually looks about 20 years old and C. Thomas Howell who had a great time chewing the scenery as Sanchez Boon, the Emerald lord (drugs are so 5 minutes ago in the future).
There are lots of seedy characters, buxom women, some gratuitous nudity and buckets of bullets that fly freely in close quarters and miss their intended targets. The dialogue is well.. really bad. The acting, aside from the lead characters, is well.. really, really bad. Plan 9 had better acting. Best scene: Harry Maxwell knocks out buxom blond heroine, aptly named, Pandora to save her life. The plot undulates like a belly dancer. Just when you're sure what's going on, it slithers somewhere else. The story ends but the movie keeps rolling. There is one more, then one more scene tacked on like a bad toupee. It's a real treat for those who like to wince.
I would highly recommend renting it. It's funny, it's awful, it's got lots of eye candy for all and some things you just gotta see once!