Simon's Movie Reviews

Adam McKay’s comedy Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) takes a satirical look at the American news world of the 1970s to laugh at puff pieces, sexism in the workplace, and the mistakes anchors can make on live TV. The sad fact is today the sexism is still there, if only slightly more hidden (FOX News), and the news on TV sometimes looks more and more ridiculous. Part of what makes Anchorman so funny is that unlike today most of its characters have no idea they are being ridiculous since in their world the term “diversity” is to be confused with the name of a sunken ship. Having worked as a reporter for three years, I can guarantee you that Anchorman is a lot funnier if you have actually worked in the media. When I first saw the movie while it was playing on a movie channel I thought it was one of Will Ferrell’s better comedies, but it took a new meaning when I joined the Journalism – New Media program at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario. We had to learn how to use...

With the success of the show “Toddlers and Tiaras” I now have even more appreciation for the 2006 film “Little Miss Sunshine.” It follows a dysfunctional family travelling from New Mexico to California so that their seven-year-old daughter Olive (Abigail Breslin) can participate in a beauty pageant. My favourite scene is when Uncle Frank (Steve Carell) and older brother Dwayne (Paul Dano) step into the pageant hall. You can actually count up to seven seconds before the two of them walk out of that room. They’re not saying it, but you can tell they’re thinking it: “this is wrong and we can’t let them do this to Olive.” A major success at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, “Little Miss Sunshine” had a lot of good buzz by the time it expanded to major theatres late in the summer. At that time I was just beginning to learn about different film festivals so having read the good reviews, I was curious to see the movie. I saw it while living at Sherbrooke University, at a theatr...