Yosef

Recently I had the displeasure of renting "Joysticks" from my local video store and let me tell you, it is absolutely godawful!! I was reading my "Psychotronic Video Guide" when I came across this title. I read the synopsis, and being a fan of '80s nostalgia, I couldn't pass it up. Well I guess I better change my opinion on eighties movies. Don't get me wrong. I love a ton of them but this piece of crap shouldn't have been released. Joe Don Baker stars as a typical stuck-up father to a teenage daughter who spends most of her day at this seedy arcade. His ultimate goal in life is to shut the video game parlour down because nothing but filth inhabits this building. The characters are so stupid that it is unbearable to watch. I wanted to put myself in the director's head and ask myself, "WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS I THINKING!!!!" This film is filled with fart jokes and unnecessary nudity. I'm no prude, but I was embarrassed for the cast and the studio after watching this crud.

Going into "Teaching Mr. Tingle", I had high hopes for it. For some reason I'm attracted to teen films. I don't think I've ever missed one. Well to put it nicely I wish I could have made this one the only one to miss. The film never picked up. About twenty five minutes into it, I was looking at my watch and struggling to sit still in my uncomfortable theatre seat. The characters, with the exception of Mirren, were horribly bland. Unfortunately I don't even know the name of the lead male actor, but you can tell I was bored stiff with him. Just your typical long haired "rebellious type". I won't give it away, but then ending is absolutely terrible. "Teaching Mrs. Tingle" struggles to find an identity. When I first read about "Killing Mrs. Tingle" I assumed it was a horror film. Then I watched an interview with Kevin Williamson and he said that it was a dark comedy. Well, it was neither. I didn't laugh once and I was never frightened. I don't know what to make of this film!! I don't care if Kevin Williamson wrote "Scream". These movies (especially his) are becoming bland and just plain dumb. He needs to find a new genre. I didn't mind "The Faculty" but I have to admit the dialogue was awful. I think "Scream 3" will be the final film of the Dimension Films teen series. Thank God!!!

"Outside Providence" will always be compared to "Something About Mary" because the Farelly Brothers produced "Providence" and Peter Farelly wrote the novel over ten years ago. I think that it is unfair to hear opinions such as, "Well, 'Something About Mary' was better!" and "This film has nothing on 'Mary'!" It will be pretty hard to top "Mary" and we can't expect this film to accomplish that feat. Don't get me wrong, "Providence" isn't horrible but it just isn't that funny. They changed the storyline of the movie when you compare it to the novel. The novel was extremely dark and funny but the good people at the MPAA would have slapped a NC-17 rating on it as fast as Chris Farley reaching for a bottle of whiskey. There are a few good chuckles here and there but it's not rolling in the aisles funny. There was too much teen pot smoking and drinking, a quality that is ever so slowly wearing itself out. No matter what teen film you see, with the exception of maybe that piece of crap "Teaching Mrs. Tingle", drugs and alcohol play a large role in them. I'm not a stuck up prude but after you see "Providence", you'll see what I mean.