Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!: Season 1 (2008)

TV. Tim & Eric Awesome Show is the most god-awful, intentionally rancid and untalented attempt at humor on the airwaves now. Tom Goes to the Mayor was marginally funny in a talentless way but in T&E these guys are freakishly obnoxious. It makes me cringe just to see any given second of the Adult Swim promos. My eyes--! 1 star.

A Carol Christmas (2003)

Tori Amos carried the brunt of A Carol Christmas almost as well as Brittany Murphy singlehandedly carried the whole of Little Black Book. Tori plays the obnoxiously conceited (and b-i-t-c-h-y) talk-show host Carol Cartman, whose ambitions-on-estrogen career-trammeling Aunt Marla (Dinah Manoff) returns from the grave for a Marleyesque chat with her protege. It's the weakest scene in a movie that, as an updated A Christmas Carol spoof, doesn't take itself entirely seriously anyway. The writing is pretty good and the cast makes this Hallmark production, which could have been a disaster, succeed. Gary Coleman plays the former-child-star angle as a reflective Ghost of Christmas Past; William Shatner plays the on-air blowhard Dr. Bill and a Monk-like Ghost of Christmas Present; and a sadly uncredited Lurch-like chauffeur plays the Ghost of Christmas Future. (Blogger Jim Hill notes that William Shatner's career was a joke at this point and it was specifically this show's light touch and what Bill did with the role that won him his Emmy-winning lead role on Boston Legal.) The ending is as intuitively happy as one could hope for -- no one really wants a Christmas grouch and "it is better to give than to receive"! This script on its own strength carried me from the opinion that everyone has of Tori Amos to, by its end, a fond affection for her big red moue of a pout. 3 stars.

Horton Hears a Who (2008)

Horton Hears A Who is much better than prior animated fare of recent years (Chicken Little, Over the Hedge, Ice Age, even Madagascar). In fact, it bears the noteworthy imprint of trying to hew true to the Seussian textus receptus: Whoville is definitely Whoville and its inhabitants (with their iambic diction) are unmistakably recognizable as the brainchildren and godchildren of Ted Geisel. Jim Carrey (previously an over-the-top green-suited ham known as the Grinch) is remarkably restrained as the large-but-not-in-charge Horton ("An elephant's faithful, one hundred percent"). Steve Carell (previously Hammy the hyperkinetic squirrel in Over the Hedge) is remarkably restrained as the Mayor of Whoville. Carol Burnett is a triple-threat control-freak as the authoritarian kangaroo who lays down the rules so no one (esp. God forbid the children) questions the rules or thinks for themselves. Horton ("A person's a person, no matter how small") knows he must save Whoville at any cost -- which promises to involve an encounter with Will Arnett's mercenary buzzard Vlad ("I devour heem two times"). The soundtrack is wonderful and theater viewers (including myself) went gaga over the googly-eyed little yellow creature known as Katy -- or the other Vlad, a bunny who bakes cookies. So you see Horton has a coherent and cohesive story with plenty of bits of whimsy to amuse any and all. 5 stars.

Glick Doesn't Do Red Carpet: Jiminy Glick at the Independent Spirit Awards (2008)

This Netflix production starring Jiminy Glick (Martin Short as a ribald, tubby, and obnoxiously airheaded movie-star talk-show host) is as funny as the Primetime Glick television show (2001-2003). I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. (Steve Buscemi does not appear, however.) See it -- 32 min -- only on instant watch! 4.5 stars.

Adrenaline Rush: The Science of Risk (2003)

Documentary. Cliff jumping, synchronized team sky diving, and wingsuit-assisted flight comes to the high-definition IMAX format. More a paean to adrenaline than a scientific essay, Da Vinci is credited for the foundational aerodynamic designs. What a trip! Fall at 200 mph with these skydivers to the tune of Phil Collins singing "When You're Falling" (miscited in the credits as "When You're Fallen"). 37 min. 4 stars.