My tweet: The Twelve Chairs-Mel Brooks made a movie between “The Producers” and “Blazing Saddles” that no one ever talks about. This is it. 5.5 (out of 10) I never heard of this movie before. But even Brooks’ less successful films are usually a good time. “The Twelve Chairs” certainly opens on a good note. It’s post-revolutionary Russia and an old lady, a one-time member of the aristocracy, makes a death-bed confession to hiding a fortune in jewelry inside an old dining room chair (one of 12) that has since been lost. That sends orthodox priest Father Fyodor (Dom Deluise) and her son-in-law, Ippolit Vorobyaninov, (Ron Moody) on a race to find the chairs and ultimately the jewels. I was expecting a madcap treasure hunt akin to “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.” But “The Twelve Chairs” never rises to that film’s level of slapstick and certainly not to the inspired lunacy of “The Producers” or Blazing Saddles.” It’s not all bad though. Frank Langella, as a larcenous beggar who teams up with Vorobyaninov, is a dashing presence. And both Dom Deluise and Ron Moody have their moments. But unless you’re a hardcore Mel Brooks fan who wants to see everything in his catalog, I think you can better than “The Twelve Chairs.” Brooks certainly did.
“The Twelve Chairs”
Released: 1970
Rating: NR
Length: 94 minutes
Cast: Ron Moody, Frank Langella, Dom DeLuise, Mel Brooks
I recently saw the trailer for the remake with Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith. So I thought I’d take another look at the original. “The Karate Kid,” for those who haven’t seen it, is a teenage version of “Rocky.” And for those who haven’t seen “Rocky,” it’s a story about an athlete who overcomes great odds because of his heart. (Director John Avildsen was behind both.) In “The Karate Kid,” Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) is a New Jersey native who relocates to the suburbs of L.A. and is almost immediately an outcast. He also makes the mistake of falling for a cute blond (Elisabeth Shue) who happens to be the girlfriend of the local teen karate champ, Johnny (William Zabka). As a result, Daniel ends up on the wrong side of Johnny and his buddies from the Cobra Kai dojo. Daniel’s luck changes when, after a particularly bad beating at the hands of Johnny, Mr. Miyagi, (Noriyuki “Pat” Morita) his building’s handyman, agrees to teach him karate. Unknown to Daniel, his first lessons involve performing maintenance work around Miyagi’s house, like waxing the cars and painting the fence. Miyagi never lets on that these chores are about building character as much as muscle memory. And once Miyagi reveals that these slow, laborious tasks have a purpose, Daniel’s attitude, and the pace of the movie picks up. We move onto the obligatory training scene (accompanied by mystical Asian-style music) followed by the main event – a face-off between Daniel and Johnny in the final round of a karate competition (accompanied by a power-rock anthem). Now I must confess that everything I know about karate comes from movies, so I could be wrong. But I wonder how far Daniel would actually get in a competition. I can see how the simple motions (like “wax on, wax off”) can translate into defensive moves. But how effective would they really be? And how, in a matter of weeks, could Daniel be ready to compete at such a level? In the end, though, reality doesn’t really matter because you’re along for the ride. “The Karate Kid” also benefits from the believable (surrogate) father-son relationship between Daniel and Miyagi, and a message about learning coming from unexpected places. (Which inspired my tweet: The Karate Kid-Teenager learns karate by performing household chores. And all I mastered with my Sensei was “mow lawn” & “take out trash.” 8 (out of 10) “The Karate Kid” is a good feel-good movie, especially for family viewing. For nostalgia fans, it’s also a bit of a mid-’80s time capsule. Look for Johnny in his Michael Jackson “Beat It” red leather jacket and the Cindy Lauper “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” hairstyles. Those two things alone could have been the reason for greenlighting the remake.
“The Karate Kid”
Released: 1984
Rating: PG
Length: 126 minutes
Cast: Ralph Macchio, Noriyuki “Pat” Morita, Elisabeth Shue, Martin Kove
My tweet: Nothing but the Truth-Reporter Kate Beckinsale outs a CIA agent and is jailed for not revealing her source. Like that would ever happen. 7.5 (out of 10) Well, it actually happened. But not the way it does in this “ripped from the headlines” political/courtroom drama. Inspired by the real story of Judith Miller, the New York Times reporter who spent three months in jail for refusing to reveal the source of a CIA leak, Rod Lurie, the maker of political dramas like “The Contender” spins a much larger story. Reporter Rachel Armstrong (Kate Beckinsale) spends more than a year in jail as each of her attorney’s (Alan Alda, who seems to be making a career of playing high-powered lawyers) legal manuevers is deftly blocked by the government’s special prosecutor (Matt Dillion). In the meantime, lives fall apart for now-exposed CIA operative Erica Van Doren (Vera Farmiga) and Armstrong herself, as her husband (David Schwimmer, who seems to be getting whinier with each performance) deserts her and her cause. While there are high-minded questions about principle and motive in “Nothing But the Truth,” the identity of the source is the real question we want answered. So after a few plot twists and teases, you’ll learn where Armstrong got her tip. And it’s not a source I would have ever considered. So maybe it’s possible that Scooter Libby wasn’t the one who outed Valerie Plame.
“Nothing But the Truth”
Released: 2008
Rating: R
Length: 107 minutes
Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Matt Dillon, Vera Farmiga, Alan Alda, David Schwimmer
