by Ethan Johnson
January 1, 2007

How's this for a new year's miracle, huh? A fresh crop of new and old movies to add to your long-suffering (or soon to be long-suffering) Netflix queue:

Dreamgirls: Wow. Just wow. I could go on and on about "Oscars™ for everyone" and so forth, or you could just stop reading this and go see it. This was the first movie to really make me appreciate movie theatre sound. It was such effective sound editing/mixing that certain scenes made me think that people in the theatre were whooping and cat-calling. Nope, it's the movie itself. See it, now.

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life: I can't believe I missed not one but two "At the Movies" updates to mention that I saw this at long last. I had been largely avoiding it due to the Mr. Creosote sketch. And now that I have finally seen it, I can say officially: Meh. Holy Grail was the best in my opinion. This one felt phoned in. I thought the "Crimson Permanent Assurance" film was clever in places, but otherwise tedious after awhile. But holy crap, Matt Frewer was in it! Anyway, meh. Flame away.

Bubba Ho-Tep: OK, dig the title. You just know that Bruce Campbell is in this, don't you? I mean, isn't it patently obvious? Anyway, so is Ossie Davis, and both had so much fun in their repective roles it has to be written out as f-u-n. A bit slow going in the first 20 minutes, but it gets rolling after that. My only gripe is that it came off as Army of Darkness-lite in places. But it's Bruce Campbell, man. And playing Elvis confined to a rest home, man. Rent it. Cheaply, but rent it.

Pollyanna: Wow, what a movie. I was expecting "typical" 1960's Disney fare when I rented this, and to some extent, it is. BUT. Not sure how this snuck into the distribution channel, because some pretty heavy subjects are tackled head-on in a very un-Disnified way. Of course, it is a Disney movie at root, so certain plot developments are to be expected, shall we say. Others, not so much. A syrupy sweet movie, no question - and thus I can't recommend it highly enough.

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy: It met my expectations. Will Ferrell seems to have carte blanche with whatever comedy movie he wants to be associated with, kind of like Jim Carrey in the 1990's. Considering the sheer amount of casting done for the movie, let's just say that 90% of all of the white male actors in Hollywood aren't worrying about paying for health insurance for at least a year. Light boffo entertainment, rent as inclined. (Assuming you haven't seen it dozens of times already.) Confidential to L-Dub: Now I "get" the Seks Panther quote. Right on.

Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby: I think Will Ferrell is incredibly overexposed, I'm not into NASCAR all that much (used to go to the NHRA drag races in Wisconsin though), and I was plain skeptical that I'd find anything remotely entertaining about this movie. Yeah, cram all of that. LOVED IT. Rent and enjoy.

Little Miss Sunshine: This is one of those movies where everyone on the cast list dove in to pile up heaping helpings of Teh Cred™. Indie Cred, that is. Chloe from 24 is in it. So's Alan Arkin. And Steve Carell! But it's a good movie. Really, most of the movie is the opening act for the ending, which was soooo worth it. So rent it and hang in for the ending. Give in to Teh Cred™. <EM>