American Underdog (2021)

★★★
There are three reasons why, in 1999, I was not aware of Kurt Warner or The Greatest Show on Turf. During that N.F.L. season, I was a senior in college and focused on finishing up my education. Secondly, going to the movies was my preferred form of entertainment, not least because 1999 was such a strong year for movies, enough that there’s a book dedicated to it—Brian Raftery’s excellent Best. Movie. Year. Ever.: How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen. Finally, as a native of Southwestern Pennsylvania, I was indifferent to whatever was going on that season when the Steelers lumbered to a 6-10 record. Warner’s first season with the St. Louis Rams was a remarkable achievement, and Warner himself has always come across as a stand-up guy. American Underdog tells the story of his rise to stardom through adversity. In that, it follows the standard underdog story arc. However, this movie has some things going for it. While it falls squarely in the Christian Film genre, it’s a polished presentation with experienced actors to give the narrative gravitas, which elevates it above the weaker entries in this genre.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)

★★½
I have not seen the 2016 reboot Ghostbusters, with its all-female cast a magnet for intense criticism, some of which is deserved if its infamous trailer is any indication. If I decide to see it, I'll be fair. Until then, we have this third official entry in the Ghostbusters canon, and though it neatly continues the narrative from the original movies, it still falls short of truly standing on its own. Too many callbacks to the first film, some genuinely funny, suggest that director and co-writer Jason Reitman was preoccupied with distancing his project from the reboot. It's not so much one step forward and two steps back—maybe one step forward and half a step back. Ghostbusters: Afterlife is clever, but once it was over, I felt like if another 30+ years went by without another entry, then I could just as well declare this series over.

Orgazmo (1998)

★★½
Trey Parker's Orgazmo has all the qualities of an amateur's film project. It is cheap, overacted and frequently goes for shock value instead of genuinely clever gags. It is also very funny when it works. Imagine standing around the shallow end of a swimming pool but getting sprayed with water as compensation. It isn't as satisfying, but you're still getting wet. When an overweight woman known as the T-Rex mounts Parker's Joe Young during a porno shoot, the obvious sight gag inspires no more than a chuckle, until we get a great dissolve into Young's mind, giving us a visual of how he deals with his unenviable situation.

Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! (2004)

★★★
Robert Luketic, the director of Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!, knows exactly what makes Kate Bosworth so endearing. She has a lovely smile. Here, Bosworth doesn't shy away from smiling, which is one of the reasons why I liked this movie. Oh, don't get me wrong. The script has some real humor in it, the performances are charming without being sickly cute, and I liked how the character of Tad Hamilton was presented. By 2004, Bosworth was receiving a steady stream of work. Her supporting role in The Rules of Attraction was small, but she captured our attention the moment she appeared on the screen. She demonstrated in Blue Crush that she could hold her own as a romantic lead, which she does to perfection here.

Election (2005)

★★
Prolific Hong Kong director Johnnie To juggles a large cast of characters set against the backdrop of the Triad societies in Election, a fast-paced yet convoluted story that nearly sinks under the weight of so many gangsters vying for screen time. I watched the movie twice. The first time I was really confused on who was who. A second viewing cleared things up, but not enough to get a firm grasp of who was working for whom. This is a story that would have greatly benefited by having its cast trimmed down. It is absolutely possible for a movie to feature many characters. Just off the top of my head, I'm thinking of Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line, which has nothing to do with Election, except as an example of how a story can feature a lot of actors who weave in and out of the narrative as it progresses.