Yah-Yah

This may be pathetic, but twenty-five years after the last broadcast of this cartoon, my brother and I still 'baaaa' at each other like goats every Christmas Eve.

This truly beautiful piece of holiday animation combines two of the most cherished genres in the world: namely (and no offense to non-Christians), Christmas and talking animals. And it mixes these two genres in a touching, intelligent way.

It's the story of one night when all the animals in a stable discover that they can speak. With this "gift" comes conflict, provoked mostly by the arrival of two (soon to be three) unwanted guests to their stable. Each animal has a differing and fitting personality and a differing stance on whether to allow the guests to stay. The eventual resolution is not only heart-warming, but, dare I say...haunting.

You will never forget this.

Back when I was in college a friend of mine, the only other person I knew who had seen this film, used to recite lines to each other on appropriate occasions. He was a rugby player, a real rough and tumbly sort of guy, and I was a fairly gentle, studious type; we were two, very different types of people. The point behind this is that, while we were both very different, we both found "We're No Angels" to be a superbly executed film.

I recently had a chance to see the film again and it's just as enjoyable as ever. This light-hearted, if somewhat criminal, comedy is warming, family film with an evil streak. It's absolutely fascinating to watch Bogart in a light comedy role, and to see a young(er) Peter Ustinov as a wife-murdering safe-cracker with a heart. And throw in great (if typical) performances by Basil Rathbone and Leo G. Carroll to boot.

But in my mind, the three biggest stars in this film are playwright Albert Hussens, screenwriter Ranald MacDougall, and above all, a surprisingly masterful performance by Aldo Ray. Ray treads the line between being dumb, lovable, trite thug and being a brutal, sociopathic criminal with great resolve. In the end it is his smoothly delivered lines that one remembers above all else.

As for the dialogue, it too treads lines. This is a film for the entire family, yes. But it does have it's randier moments, and all of them are done in such a way that children will not understand the full implications of them (if they do you have no one to blame but yourself). This translates into a "something for everyone" type of film.

Check it out.

It's hard to believe that the same film-maker that gave us "The Godfather" and "Apocalypse Now" could actually create something so poorly crafted as "Bram Stoker's Dracula." Not only is the acting pathetic (one has stopped being embarrassed for Keanu Reeves long ago, but one weeps for the lost Anthony Hopkins and the tired Gary Oldman), but the entire concept is weak. Rest assured...this is NOT Bram Stoker's "Dracula;" this is "Bram Stoker's Dracula," and the difference is profound.

The only redeeming features of this film are the artistic cinematography, Winona Ryders' almost believable performance and the amusement of listening to Reeves attempt a British accent.