Thursday, February 28, 2008

Be Kind, Rewind

Be Kind, Rewind. I wanted to see this movie when I first heard about it. Jack Black? hilarious. Mos Def? Underrated as an actor. I love his music, and I've never seen him in a movie I didn't like. One thing I don't understand tho. Mos Def is an amazing rapper, great singer, eloquent and mesmerizing. But when he acts, he kind of mumbles a lot, and speaks like a small child. The first time I thought it was a shtick for the part, an affect for that specific movie. Then I saw it again. Then in interviews, public appearances. It's how he talks! That confuses me.

So the movie. Mos Def works for Danny Glover at a video shop in a small town in NJ. His wacky friend who works across the street is none other than Jack Black. This is kind of a tired premise, but I was ok with it. Anything where Jack Black gets to unleash his craziness is worth watching for me.

The film was funny, very funny at times. It was also cheesy, very cheesy at times. I was honestly a little touched, but it kind of angered Margo. She HATED the movie. So I'm going to include her review here too, in the spirit of bi-partisan ism and for your reading enjoyment.

PS. Is it possible Mia Farrow is actually 100 years old?
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Last night I took Christopher out on a date night and he picked the movie. Be Kind Rewind. A movie I had seen a preview for and immediately forgot, while Christopher was counting down the days until its release…

My reaction is a strong one to this movie, be forewarned: do not waste your precious $9.75! You may need that money to buy the next Mariah Carey album at Target.

The 2 weaknesses of Be Kind that I want to focus on were the subject choice of mental illness and the casting of big names to play “common” people. The movie had Christopher at Mos’ Def in an aluminum foil suit with his friend, Jack Black, a paranoid outcast. I am a tough sell on caricatures of people with mental illness partly because I work in mental health and partly because I think that you should really be prepared to say something a little deeper about this disease than “look at him he’s wearing a colander on his head because he thinks it keeps out the microwaves!” You might be chuckling now at the image, but generally people that believe stuff like that as truly as you and I believe that the sky is blue, aren’t going to be able to own a business, maintain friends, and function day to day like Jack Black does. Just try this for a second: would the audience be laughing at a movie that parodied people with Multiple Sclerosis or cancer?

Alright, I’ll get off of my soap box on parodies of mentally ill people. Now for the casting: Mos Def was great but the other actors in the movie, Mia Farrow, Danny Glover, Jack Black, and Sigourney Weaver were too big for the film. They distracted from the plot because they stood out so much from the rest of the cast. I liked that the smallest roles, such as “angry customer” felt like they were done by people pulled from the street. However, despite Mos Def and the extras, it took about 3 minutes of the over-acting of Black and Glover playing Murtaugh AGAIN (alas, no Riggs!) for me to want to snuggle up to Christopher’s shoulder.

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Well done Mugs, I know we're all looking forward to the next point/counterpoint review :)

PS- I didn't think Jack Black was supposed to be mentally challenged, and milady obviously loves Lethal Weapon a bit too much.

Lost

Lost. So, a lot of people watch Lost. They keep telling me to watch.

"You'll like it"
"It's your kind of show"
"Why don't you watch it"
"That's not a good excuse"
"Why are you wearing that dress" (oops, wrong conversation)

Anyhoo, I borrowed a couple of DVD's, and Mugs and I watch an episode or two a night this week. We've watched 5 episodes, and it's pretty good. It's not the best show ever, and I can't imagine being obsessed with it. The 'scary' stuff is well done for a small budget, tho it feels hokey at times.

One thing to learn from the movie, if you're on a plane with models and 90% very attractive people your plane is going down. And you won't be one of the survivors. Just get off the flight now. It's like being an ensign on an away team.

Terminator is still good, not really watching a lot of other TV besides poker.

I should be seeing something in the theaters tonight, hasta for now.

Monday, February 25, 2008

The Oscars.

The Oscars. People keep asking me if I watched the Oscars. No I did not. I was in a car, and even if I hadn't been, I wouldn't have watched. Faithful readers also want me to comment on the Oscars. Who am I to argue?

Oscars suck. Emmy awards suck. Tony awards suck. People's choice awards suck. Stupid, arseholey people celebrating themselves and the crap they spew out non stop. It's so contrived, and horrible, and vapid, and stupid. I like movies MORE than the next guy, but come on. Please. We watch the goddamn movies, watch the half hour long credits(why? Do we care who these people are?) we see the million TV commercials, the sporting events they sponsor. We see 'stars' in the crowds of the world series, and football games, etc.

We read magazines, newspapers, web sites, blogs, twitters about these people. They are everywhere. Isn't that enough celebrating of celebrity? Last night Mugs, as she happily devoured fashion fun and faux-pas', exclaimed frustratedly "who the hell do they invite to these things?" Everyone and their dog. Every pitiful member of SAG. All those horrible self absorbed people.

I despise everything about awards shows, from :
the concept(horrendousness celebrating its own horrendousness)
to the execution(have you watched one of these snoozefest trainwrecks?)
to the results(come see this crappy movie, it won this stupid award from a bunch of jerks with no taste).
Why should we want to see a movie that wins an award. Do we know who votes? Or what kind of people they are? Or what their motives are? Like ads about 'the most watched TV program' or 'the most used this or that'. Who cares? Why does that make it right for me? I don't get it.

F them and the horses they rode in on.
humbug.

Alien vs Predator : Requiem

AvP:r. I like these kinds of movies. My mom doesn't get to watch them often, so I watched it in DC with me mom. I've seen all of the movies leading up to, Predator I & II. The Alien series, even AvP the first one. My mom has seen very few of these.

The movie opens with some good monster vs monster action. The problem was that the movie is very dark, and these aliens looks a little too much like Predator. Seriously, they really could have differentiated them a little more for me(and me ma).

Action, action. If you are attached to any of the characters in the movie, human or otherwise, I hope you can handle loss. Almost everyone dies, big wipey outtie. There's some very cool monster action, and some very bad human acting. No famous people(which is sometimes a good thing) makes it seem like no one wanted to be in this film.

Overall, fairly disappointing, but not as bad as I expected. See it on TV

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Jumper

Jumper. Looked cool when it came out. Cool idea, I hope they do it well. I also am one of the few people who doesn't mind Hayden Christenson. Throw in Samuel L. and Rachel Bilson and you've got yourself a customer.

We start out a,b,c. Outcast kid who likes a cute girl. Kids pick on him, especially when the girl has a soft spot for him. Father is abusive, la di da. Traumatic event: Kid discovers powers! Move to a big city, use powers for evil. Mild evil. I like the jumping, things are going fine.

Samuel L. is a generic bad guy. He hunts these jumpers. Well. Chase, confrontation... blah blah blah. The action is pretty cool, and there seems to be some chemistry between Bilson and Christenson, more than with Portman at least. We have a cheeky little British helper jumper, and a tiny twist.

The movie is worth watching on TV, or in the theaters if you really need the effects on a big screen. Don't expect the next masterpiece, but it is kind of fun, and I'd watch the sequel if(when) they make it.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Knight Rider.

Knight Rider. I just finished watching a two hour long Ford commercial. I mean the new movie version of Knight Rider. Finally, they've resumed one of the coolest TV series' of all time, and it seems to be completely funded by Ford.

We have some formulaic baddies, rough and tumble good guy, and a kick arse car. The old catchy music is back, and the female lead is fairly striking. The car still talks(in Val Kilmer's voice), but now it can change form, and is protected by a nano-shield. It runs on gas, but seems to be somewhat less dependent on the driver.

The show sticks to the original(we even hear about the original KITT and get a cameo from the Hoff), and was pretty fun. It also sets us up well for a whole TV series. My problem was just that pretty much every car in their world is a Ford, occasionally a Volvo(a company owned by Ford).

Overall, Mugs and I are willing to watch the series, so it must have been a success for us.

The Martian Child

The Martian Child. You might ask why someone who just watched Rambo is watching a cute coming of age tale about adopting a strange child. Well, I think I'll watch anything with John Cusack in it. He's a cool fella. Doesn't everyone love him? No, it's just me? Oh well. This film also features his always-overacting-but-somehow-makes-it-work sister(Joan), who seems to be featured in more and more of his films. Often as his sister.

Strange widower, strange kid. Adopt each other, hijinx ensue. Amanda Peet plays the understated love interest. It's nice that they don't push it. The kid is cute, and you are rooting for him to get along with Cusack(John).

We see their troubles, how they each learn to fill their place in a family, and deal with reality and other peoples' expectations. The movie is pretty well done, and doesn't do anything annoying. Watch it if you are in the right mood(for kind of sappy).

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Epic Movie

Epic Movie. So as some of you may know, I went to a frisbee tournament this weekend. Live, Freeze or Die, a tournament in NH in february. We expected snow on the ground, and sub zero temperatures. It delivered on both counts. I, of course, played in shorts and a T-shirt, slicing the heck out of my legs on the ice in the first game, and it never got any better. But that's what I like. After the game, I was lying in my hotel room after a long hot shower, trying to not get any blood on the sheets. Suddenly, Epic Movie was on, showing on one of the 3 real channels I got in my room.

Why do I tell you this story? Well, among other things, this is what it took to get me to watch this movie. I think it wasn't as bad as Magorium, though I am not sure because I blanked that experience from my mind. But it was bad. I like Kal Penn, and Darrell Hammond, but I don't understand who greenlighted this project. It was just so bad.

Flat jokes, terrible acting. I honestly think the idea isn't a bad one, it was just so poorly implemented. I also watched it on HBO, who apparently edited it. I think running time not including credits was about 68 minutes. Crazy.

Avoid, please.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Rambo

Rambo. John Rambo. Sly Stallone has decided to resurrect another franchise with 2008 release of his newest Rambo movie. Everyone kept telling me how bloody this movie was, but I didn't really believe them.

We open with some gory, terrible detail about the atrocities in Burma. Then we see Rambo, living his life in anonymity, wrangling snakes and being surly. We build, build, build, Some of the movie feels like a poor man's Apocalypse Now. The female lead is pretty whiny, and the missionaries are soooo annoying. Then we get to action! Action, killing, blowing up.

People were right, this is the goriest movie since... since... Hm, maybe Ichi the Killer was this bloody. That movie blew my mind a bit when I saw it. This did too. I think Rambo(2008) has the most maimings I've ever seen in a movie. More than Private Ryan(can you believe that's 10 years old?), more than Braveheart(13 y/o, wow).

Anyways, it seems like I don't have a ton to say about this movie, but if you like Rambo, or Sly, or action-action-action with lots of killing check it out. Really.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Trivi-er

What? Another night without a film? This is becoming a no-movie blog. Pretty lame. But I must press on so that you, faithful reader, have something to do today for these 2-5 minutes. My post header is a play on the horribly annoying tendency people in Boston have of adding an 'r' to words like Pizza(er) and Monica(er).

Anyhoo, we won trivia last night. Kind of. We got the second highest score, but the winning team had too many people on it so we got first prize. We overcame a couple of hurdles to win. First, we had only four players, tho we got second place last week with 4 people too(max is six, the winning team this week had like 11). Second, we overcame a jinx we've had. My friend Norman(Ginger Gourmet), though wildly knowledgeable seemed to jinx our teams in past weeks. The prize was more than our bill, we made money playing :)

Before dinner Mugs and I went to East Asia. Which is probably my favorite restaurant in the world. Tiny and slow, you don't go there for the service. But if you're near Tufts and want some yummy chinese/thai food, it's right on Powderhouse circle there.

I got home and I watched some WEC. It's a great feeder league for the UFC. I've watched some HDnet fights. Good idea, bad fighters. Right now it's not really even worth watching.

Tonight is Valentines and a nice dinner, we'll see about the movie. Hasta pronto

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Other Stuff.

So no movie last night. I know, I'm slipping. Instead I went to a Bruins game. Let me say, they are bad. Bad bad bad. Bad at passing, bad at checking, bad at shooting. It's like the Hurricanes were playing a different game out there. The score stood at 3-0 Carolina until near the end of the game, when the Bruins scored two strange fluke goals, within about a minute of each other. Suddenly it was a game. The third goal never came, and we lost 3-2 but they made it exciting for about 3 minutes. Player of the game : Sergei Samsanov. Why can't we get players like that?

Got home and watched the show 10 items or less. It's a fun, silly little show on TBS that airs after Office reruns. If you see it on, I'd say check it out. It has good writing, and some legit funny parts. This week's episode of The Wire wasn't up to normal standards. It was only as good as the next best show on TV. American Gladiators is still boring but I'm still watching it. I could give them like 5 suggestions to make it much better. One that's easy is : ALWAYS have them run the assault, it's everyone's favorite event.

Tonight is trivia, but I should get a movie in at some point.

Monday, February 11, 2008

May

May. Weird movie. Weird effing movie. I can't remember adding this to my netflix Queue, but it must have been a long time ago. I've been watching it creep up my Q for a while, and lacking 6 other movies I'm dying to see, it snuck in to my house.

A strange, indy horror flick, May grabs you from the beginning. After a strange, socially isolated childhood, May grows up to be quite unique. I know I don't usually do plot synopses but I'll make an exception for this movie, roughly this is how it goes :

Quirky
Cute
Strange
Weird
Good weird
Creepy
Weird
Really weird
Bad weird
Weird
Kind of hot
Bad weird
Disturbing
Um... what???

Angela Bettis is terrific in the lead role, and the director with a cool name(Lucky McKee) crafts well. Jeremy Sisto feels natural as the neighborhood hunk, and Anna Faris is a good weird hot lesbian. While it goes beyond bizarre at the end, I think it's worth watching(if you can take some gore). It's certainly different, and you can't say that about a lot of movies these days.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Factory Girl

Factory Girl. I like Sienna Miller a lot, so a while ago I added a few of her movies to my Netflix Queue and Factory Girl arrived last week. It looked interesting, and I wanted to learn more about Andy Warhol, so why not?

A biography of Edie Sedgwick, briefly popular model and socialite, this movie at least chooses subject matter which has not been supersaturated. The film sometimes feels like it is more focused on Andy Warhol, but this is partially due to Guy Pearce's terrific portrayal. Pearce has been in a couple of bad movies in the past, but I don't remember him ever turning in a bad performance. He really shines in Factory Girl.

This is a fairly boring biography, but it still managed to keep my attention throughout. I hope it was an accurate representation of Andy Warhol, because if not I now dislike him quite a bit for no reason. Hayden Christenson is good as 'Musician' reputedly a composite of real people including Bob Dylan. I always like Jimmy Fallon, and he shows here he can play something other than a doofus who's always cracking up at inappropriate times.

If you're bored on a Sunday(as I was) and don't expect to be blown away, it's at least worth a watch. If you can't stand slow movies or really really annoying people I'd say steer clear.

Saturday, February 9, 2008

We Own the Night

We Own the Night. The previews looked interesting, the movie stars Marky Mark and Joaquin Phoenix. I wanted to see it when it came out, I finally did tonight. Unfortunately it suffers from those high expectations, and a lot more. A whole lot more.

We never really understand where everyone fits, and characters aren't sufficiently introduced. The action is weak, and too sparse. The night club is strange and unrealistic, and there is never any chemistry between Phoenix and Eva Mendes.

We Own the Night takes itself too seriously, and never takes time to really get us into the story. Relying on star power just isn't enough these days. I'd say pass on this.

Friday, February 8, 2008

Michael Clayton

Michael Clayton. I have mixed feelings going in. I don't really know too much about the movie, but it's a movie, so I'm interested. I like George Clooney in general, but Syriana and Good Night, and Good Luck both lost my interest quickly and kept it away. He isn't directing, so I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.

A quick note about the very beginning. It's soooo easy to make the credits interesting(or at least not terribly boring). Make them a part of the movie. Show something before you hit us with them. Make them small and over some action they don't distract from. Sounds easy, right? Far too many movies make way too big a deal out of the credits, acting like we should give a crap who these people are. Making them an event in themselves. It's like an awards show for awards shows, pretentious crap celebrating itself. Michael Clayton actually has an interesting opening. They hook you with loony ravings from 'Artie'(Tom Wilkinson). He has a terrific voice, and the audience immediately starts wondering what the heck he's talking about. Well done Tony Gilroy(director), he had me at hello.

The opening was interesting, so was the rest of the movie. Well drawn characters, good dialog, good casting and high production value. Clooney is very good in the lead, and his way-too-worldly son isn't annoyingly precocious(which is a feat given his part). The story flows and keeps you listening even if it doesn't really go anywhere. While I didn't particularly empathize with any of the characters, I wanted to see what happened next.

Unless you're really sick of Clooney or suspense-y movies, I say check it out.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

The Invasion

The Invasion(of the Body Snatchers). This is the Nth version of a classic scary tale. It's been a movie a few times, each time with a slightly different take. I saw the original('53) one a long time ago but I can't remember it; I'm just going to review this one as a standalone movie. I was waiting for trivia to start(we got second place!), and the movie length seemed to work.

The movie opens with Nicole Kidman franticly looking for pills at a pharmacy, mumbling to herself and looking all crazy-like. Then we snap back to how this all started. The problem seemed to come from outer space, and begins to spread to people all over. Kidman's ex husband Tucker(Jeremy Northam) is good as 'changed', he could play that role without changing. Daniel Craig is good as Kidman's boyfriend, I first remember him from Layer Cake and I don't remember not liking him in a film. He's so much a better Bond than Pierce Brosnan.

The kids are creepy, the pace moves. It fits with the recent rash of outbreak movies, and holds up fairly well. I wouldn't pay to see it in the theaters, but I think it's worth watching on TV or maybe renting.

**I have a confession to make. Yesterday I reviewed the movie having watched all but the last 10 minutes. I was in a hurry, I'm sorry. the last 10 minutes are so ridiculous/horrible I have to withdraw my recommendations. Seriously. They were more in a rush to finish this picture than I was to review it yesterday, just shameful.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

2 Days in Paris

2 Days in Paris. I must have put this in my Netflix a while ago and forgotten about it. Cute little french Indie flick, written/directed/produced by/starring Julie Delpy. Co-starring her good friend Adam Goldberg. A slow, 'real relationship' movie, we have a peek into the trouble an international couple can have while traveling. Issues are exacerbated by Adam not speaking the local language, and both characters having major commitment issues.

I was all ready with a rant about how both of these actors can't play anyone but themselves. I have liked Adam Goldberg since Dazed and Confused and Friends(he was briefly Joey's crazy roommate). His neurotic craziness is sometimes charming, and often funny. But besides The Hebrew Hammer(which I liked) he always plays himself. Which can get old.

While poking around IMDB for this review, however, I realized that Delpy isn't so one dimensional. She has played a lot of different roles, things I hadn't remembered. I guess I remember her most from Before Sunrise and Before Sunset each of which star Delpy as herself. Rant averted.

The movie is slow, but cute. It can get boring at times, and Delpy's character annoyed me so much it kind of ruined watching it for me. I don't think this is that common of a reaction though, so if you want a short, relationship Paris movie, check it out.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Fast Food Nation

Fast Food Nation. First a disclaimer: I understand that it was very different from the book. As are many many movies. I'm not someone who reads the book then watches the movie(in general). Most of the books I read aren't made into movies. I'm not sorry for this. So I'm reviewing this as a movie, not as an adaptation of a book.

We open with some folks sneaking over the border into the US, then we have a board meeting of a large(fictional) fast food company. Throughout the movie, we see jerky executives, struggling illegals, and disenfranchised youtts. They are all tied to the fast food industry, and float on its ebbs and flows. We're supposed to be disgusted at the procedures and contents of food, but we've become desensitized. Watching the Food Network and being informed ruin the shock value. Greg Kinnear is ok as a morally challenged mucky muck, and Wilmer(yo momma) Valderrama is terrible as a factory worker.

Slow and fairly boring, maybe watch this movie if it's on TV and you can do something else while it's on. We do get to see another Growing Pains actress all growed up though.

**I'm sorry I haven't been updating much lately. I've been busy and tired lately, and frankly I'm passing the suffering on to you. I'll try to be better this week/weekend.

Monday, February 4, 2008

Busy weekend

I had quite a busy weekend, so I'll write about the whole thing. Friday after work I went to Boston Billiards again, where I converted another friend to the buffalo chicken wrap. Our waitress, who I hadn't seen in weeks was less than surprised at my order. This is one of a few places I could walk into and ask for my usual, and have 90% of the staff know what I want.

Pool was killing time until the main attraction of the night, comedian Bobby Kelley. The opening act was funny, but Kelley really showed why he is headlining now. He was hilarious. Saturday morning was frisbee practice, and I'll share a science lesson from my playing. When an elbow meets a nose, the elbow wins. Or more specifically, the nose loses. On an unrelated note, my nose is killing me. Friends visited from NY, and we all went out to Wagamamas, the noodle place from Europe that has now trickled into Boston. Delicious noodles, then onto Finale. If you know me, you know I'm not a dessert guy, but I had molten chocolate cake, gelato, and sips of my friends' ice wine. I'd do it all again! Three couples came home to our place, and we played Newleywed Game(the board game). Now, the movie.

We watched a DVD of mine, Green Street Hooligans. Originally I watched it alone, and really liked it so I bought it. Elijah Wood plays the impressionable follower well, and Charlie Hunnam is fantastic. Good movie about soccer and hooligans, tho my friends and Mugs didn't love it.

Sunday morning, we watched another of my DVD's. This one I haven't seen before. Korean gangster/drama flick called A Bittersweet Life. Slow, violent, and sometimes funny, it was about what I expected. Throw in some weird torture methods, and this movie is worth watching if you don't mind it being verrry slow.

Sorry for the brevity, but I have another review to crank out in a minute