Justin Long – RazorFine Review

The Great Films – Galaxy Quest

Alan Rapp / January 26, 2024 / Home Video

Title: Galaxy Quest
IMDb: link

Far from a flop, but not the box office family comedy smash the fledging DreamWorks Pictures was hoping for, Galaxy Quest came and went in the winter of 1999 and early 2000 with marginal success. Those lucky enough to see the film in the theaters were in for a treat that stayed around the top 10 of the box office for several weeks earning positive reviews from critics and earning back double its production costs. Without really knowing what they had on their hands, bungling the marketing of the film and hamstringing its release, DreamWorks had nevertheless produced the best Star Trek movie ever made.

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Goosebumps – Say Cheese and Die!

Alan Rapp / October 16, 2023 / Television Reviews

Title: Goosebumps – Say Cheese and Die!
IMDb: link

Inspired by the horror young adult novels from R. L. Stine, Disney+’s new series offers five stories of teens being haunted when a vengeful spirit is unleashed. Giving us boilerplate horror characters without much depth, our teens include the brash jock (Zack Morris), his mean girlfriend (Rhinnan Payne), his longtime female best friend (Isa Briones), and goofy sidekick (Miles McKenna). Taking advantage of a remodeled empty house for a party, one where their new English teacher (Justin Long) is about to move in and has unknowingly awakened the spirit of a high school student who died in the house 30 years earlier, our dumb kids are about to find themselves trapped in situations they can neither explain nor escape.

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Never Surrender

Alan Rapp / November 26, 2019 / Movie Reviews

Title: Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary
IMDb: link

For one night only the documentary looking back at Galaxy Quest played as part of Fathom Events. Just in time for the film’s 20th anniversary, Screen Junkies puts together a solid documentary with interviews from director Dean Parisot, screenwriter Robert Gordon, editor Don Zimmerman, producer Mark Johnson, fans (including a pair of notable Star Trek: The Next Generation stars), and the cast (Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, Daryl Mitchell, Justin Long, and others) of the 1999 film that examines the troubled history of bringing the film to screen and its enduring legacy as the best Star Trek movie ever made.

Both spoofing and honoring the original Star Trek, with a mix of humor, drama, and sci-fi, it’s not surprising to learn that the studio didn’t know quite what to make of Galaxy Quest. Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary is a loving look at the under-performing box office release that has found a rabid fan base over the years. There are some nice tidbits here, including Harold Ramis signing as the original director for the film, stories from the set, and the studio’s original choice for Jason Nesmith.

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2004 – DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story

Alan Rapp / June 21, 2014 / Home Video

Title: DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story
IMDb: link

“Nobody makes me bleed my own blood!”

On or around this date ten years ago DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story opened in theaters. Centered around a slacker gym owner (Vince Vaughn) and group of likable misfits (Justin Long, Stephen Root, Joel David Moore, Chris Williams, and Alan Tudyk a man who dresses as a modern-day pirate) fighting against a ridiculously over-the-top rival gym owner (Ben Stiller) by entering a dodgeball competition, it’s lightweight fare to be sure but surprisingly one of the more entertaining movies of either Vaughn or Stiller’s careers.

Throwing in Christine Taylor as a love interest for Vaughn, Rip Torn as an insane dodgeball coach, and Gary Cole and Jason Bateman as the tournament’s announcers, and camoes from the likes of David Hasselhoff, William Shatner, Chuck Norris, and Lance Armstrong, writer/director Rawson Marshall Thurber‘s first feature delivers its share of memorable scenes and lines which gets the most out of its premise and has aged fairly well over the past decade.

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The Conspirator

Alan Rapp / August 30, 2011 / Home Video

Title: The Conspirator
IMDB: link

Director Robert Redford examines the trial of the first woman put to death by the Unites States Government through the eyes of a reluctant young lawyer (James McAvoy) who ended up ruining his career with search for justice in a court that wanted nothing more than a quick conviction.

The story concerns Mary Surratt (Robin Wright) who was charged as a co-conspirator in the assassinations of President Abraham Lincoln (Gerald Bestrom) and Secretary of State William Seward and the attempted assassination of Vice President Andrew Johnson (Dennis Clark).

Redford assembles a first-rate cast to tell an engaging story, but it never reaches the level of storytelling you would expect. Although the screenplay by James D. Solomon showcases the how Suratt was railroaded into the gallows and strongly suggests her innocence, the film never takes a definitive stand on her guilt. This means we aren’t subject to Suratt’s experiences but only those filtered through those of her lawyer.

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