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Reviews
Olive, the Other Reindeer (1999)
A charmer. Deserves a long holiday-season life.
If you've just noticed 1999's "Olive, the Other Reindeer" in your TV listings (as I did last night)and are checking it out on IMDb, I heartily recommend it. The script and characters do not ring any of the false notes that usually undo other Christmas fare. The cute story will keep kids interested, but is peppered with references and visual gags for grownups.
Drew Barrymore gives a plucky-not-sucky performance as Olive, and keeps her character's likability from turning sappy. Joe Pantoliano (Ralphie in "The Sopranos"!) as her shady-but-good-hearted sidekick Martini the penguin is a likeable Runyonesque pal. Michael "R.E.M" Stipe contributes a wry musical highlight in the bar scene. Dan "Homer" Castellaneta makes a fine villainous postman, and the other voice artists too numerous to mention here are also first-rate.
The 2D-in-3D computerized animation is highly imaginative but not gimmicky.
"Olive" is as enjoyable as any holiday entertainment since "A Christmas Story". Like that film, word-of-mouth should keep "Olive" around for many Christmases to come.
3000 Miles to Graceland (2001)
Wooden Costner bad guy fails to put point to gore-fest.
A film so bad that I registered for IMDB after years of just visiting.
The overreaching Kevin does it again, trying to join the Pantheon of terrific, wacko bad guys like Robert Mitchum in Cape Fear. Instead he offers a solid pine rendition of a sociopath. Watch Costner in Thirteen Days instead. The accent's a bit lame but at least he's three-dimensional.