http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1041753/
This is a movie about a teenage boy who had the look and personality of a 60 year old man. As you can guess, the joke gets pretty old (no pun intended) about half way through, but they continue to milk it for all it's worth. I will admit it was funny, but for every joke that made me laugh there was a joke that completely missed its mark. Cuba Gooding Jr. is in this movie for some reason as an offbeat high school janitor, which was the best part of the movie.
5/10
Thursday, September 30, 2010
13) 6.14.10 The Pianist
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0253474/
When The Pianist first came out I was about 15, so needless to say I really wasn't interested in a WWII movie without tanks and flamethrowers. If I had watched it at that time, I would probably have thought it sucked and called it the most overrated movie of the year. Now, 8 years later, I can see why it won 3 Oscars. The story is heartbreaking. Adrien Brody is amazing. He look exactly like what I would expect an emaciated Jewish man running from the Nazis to look like, and apparently he lost 20 pounds for the role. That is just ridiculous; he can't weigh more than 160lbs to start! His unusual acting style is perfect for the solo role of the film. Who would of thought someone could make 30 mins of rummaging in debris entertaining. Roman Polanski may have a questionable personal life, but he knows how to direct a flick. The cinematography is also beautiful. It starts out so warm, but as the Germans begin to invade and wrangle everyone it becomes more dirty and bleak. Definitely a top watch!
9/10
When The Pianist first came out I was about 15, so needless to say I really wasn't interested in a WWII movie without tanks and flamethrowers. If I had watched it at that time, I would probably have thought it sucked and called it the most overrated movie of the year. Now, 8 years later, I can see why it won 3 Oscars. The story is heartbreaking. Adrien Brody is amazing. He look exactly like what I would expect an emaciated Jewish man running from the Nazis to look like, and apparently he lost 20 pounds for the role. That is just ridiculous; he can't weigh more than 160lbs to start! His unusual acting style is perfect for the solo role of the film. Who would of thought someone could make 30 mins of rummaging in debris entertaining. Roman Polanski may have a questionable personal life, but he knows how to direct a flick. The cinematography is also beautiful. It starts out so warm, but as the Germans begin to invade and wrangle everyone it becomes more dirty and bleak. Definitely a top watch!
9/10
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
12) 6.14.10 When Harry met Sally...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098635/ 6/10
I'm not a fan of romantic comedies. The over exaggerated emotions, the piss poor comedy, and the unrealistic situations with big speeches usually make for a pretty lame watch. This film has the over exaggerated emotions and the unrealistic situations with the big speech, but unlike most rom-coms its has some pretty good comedy and nice direction. Meg Ryan usually annoys me, but since the character is supposed to be a little annoying I think it worked out well. But I would probably never watch it again.
11) 6.14.10 Battle Beyone the Sun
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053103/
Apparently this is an American version of a Russian film called Nebo zovyot. The American version eliminates about 60 mins of film form the original version, and adds some footage of its own. I know very little about the Russian version, but the the American version is pretty shit.
2/10
Sunday, September 19, 2010
10) 6.13.10 The House on Sorority Row
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085694/
I love horror. Hands down, it's my favorite genre to watch. And the 80's had the best horror movies. Not necessarily for their scare content, but the camp factor. This flick is a perfect display of that campy fun style of horror that was so popular in the 80's. If you don't like horror, you may not know what I'm talking about. The acting ranges from par-poor, the kill/gore content is obviously fake, and every character is one dimensional. But it's fun as hell.
7/10
Friday, September 17, 2010
9) 6.13.10 Get him to the Greek
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1226229/
I really liked Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but when I heard there was a sequel to the movie, I was kind of skeptical; it just didn't make sense. As it turns out, the sequel is more like a Kevin Smith movie. Some characters are consistent throughout a series of films that all take place in the same universe. I was surprised how well Russell Brand's character Aldous Snow was able to not annoy for the 90+ mins he was on screen. Even Jonah Hill branched off from his usual loud and crude characters and was someone far more easygoing and docile. The humor is mostly sexually crude, so it's not for everyone. The music sucked balls, even by today's modern "rock" standards, but it's forgivable since I didn't really expect to like that aspect of the movie from the start. I'm kind of divided with this movie. It was far funnier than I expected, but there were times when there were big lulls in between the big laughs, and lord knows I didn't watch it for the cinematography or compelling plot development. But I would watch it again, and probably laugh just as hard as the first watch, which says something.
6/10
I really liked Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but when I heard there was a sequel to the movie, I was kind of skeptical; it just didn't make sense. As it turns out, the sequel is more like a Kevin Smith movie. Some characters are consistent throughout a series of films that all take place in the same universe. I was surprised how well Russell Brand's character Aldous Snow was able to not annoy for the 90+ mins he was on screen. Even Jonah Hill branched off from his usual loud and crude characters and was someone far more easygoing and docile. The humor is mostly sexually crude, so it's not for everyone. The music sucked balls, even by today's modern "rock" standards, but it's forgivable since I didn't really expect to like that aspect of the movie from the start. I'm kind of divided with this movie. It was far funnier than I expected, but there were times when there were big lulls in between the big laughs, and lord knows I didn't watch it for the cinematography or compelling plot development. But I would watch it again, and probably laugh just as hard as the first watch, which says something.
6/10
Thursday, September 16, 2010
8) 6.12.10 Confessions of a Porn Addict
This is the story of a man whose wife divorces him because he is addicted to porn. After years of suffering, he decides to get help for his addiction, and in the process decides to find his wife and tries to make amends. Believe it or not, this is a comedy. The film was made by several of the people behind the show Kenny vs. Spenny. If you have ever seen Kenny vs. Spenny, you pretty much know what to expect.
5/10
Its a very sophisticated show
While the setup is different, the basic sense of humor is the same. Uncomfortable situations where the punchline is more the reactions to the situation than the situation itself, and just a pinch of voyeurism for fun. There were some laughs and some uncomfortable moments. Overall it was a decent indie comedy, but I didn't really think it was anything special.5/10
Saturday, September 11, 2010
7) 6.8.10 The Lord of the Flies (1963)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057261/
I remember reading Lord of the Flies in high school and thinking that it was a pretty decent read. Which is amazing because I really only liked 5 of the mandatory books all throughout high school. This film version follows the book pretty closely, so it's nothing but a bunch of kids running around on a deserted island. Unfortunately, this is part of the problem with the film. The child actors are good, but in the end you still have 20 children actors that have to support the entire movie. I do give them kudos for creating a reasonably entertaining flick comprised entirely of kids, but there are some scenes where it seemed like they just printed the best take they could get for the day and called it quits. It's not that I didn't enjoy the movie (it kept me entertained for 90 min), I just think this is one of those books that will never translate well to a movie. And it mainly has to do with casting. It's hard enough finding a decent child actor, but finding 20 or so child actors able to convey the savage transformations depicted in the story may be impossible.
I remember reading Lord of the Flies in high school and thinking that it was a pretty decent read. Which is amazing because I really only liked 5 of the mandatory books all throughout high school. This film version follows the book pretty closely, so it's nothing but a bunch of kids running around on a deserted island. Unfortunately, this is part of the problem with the film. The child actors are good, but in the end you still have 20 children actors that have to support the entire movie. I do give them kudos for creating a reasonably entertaining flick comprised entirely of kids, but there are some scenes where it seemed like they just printed the best take they could get for the day and called it quits. It's not that I didn't enjoy the movie (it kept me entertained for 90 min), I just think this is one of those books that will never translate well to a movie. And it mainly has to do with casting. It's hard enough finding a decent child actor, but finding 20 or so child actors able to convey the savage transformations depicted in the story may be impossible.
5/10
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
6) 6.7.10 The Rock
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117500/
I never really watched this when I was young, so I decided to give it a double click. The action is pretty good (not great) but the story is real crap. Plus any movie that really ramps up the patriotism kind of annoys me. Like they are forcefeeding values or something. Cage is hilarious as the chem nerd, and Connery is pretty unbelevable as the old man who is suprisingly fit enough to take on 20 armed killing machines in the prime of their life.
The explosions were pretty sweet, but other than that, its just another mindless action movie. One watch is enough.
4/10
I never really watched this when I was young, so I decided to give it a double click. The action is pretty good (not great) but the story is real crap. Plus any movie that really ramps up the patriotism kind of annoys me. Like they are forcefeeding values or something. Cage is hilarious as the chem nerd, and Connery is pretty unbelevable as the old man who is suprisingly fit enough to take on 20 armed killing machines in the prime of their life.
He will always be Zed to me.
4/10
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
5) 6.6.10 Malcolm X
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104797/
One of the problems with making a bio flick is that anybody worth making a bio flick about has probably live a pretty crazy life, and people want to see that life. But much like film adaptation of a book you have two choices leave alot out and piss off the core fan base or make a long ass movie. The problem with long movies is that if you faulter in anyway to keep your audiance enguaged witht he film you have a 3 hour lame fest on your hands which leads to bad review and comparisons to Kevin Cosner's The Postman. You want to make the next Deerhunter not a movie about a fucking mail man. Though people will gladly watch a movie about a mail man fucking, its a really fine line.
One of the problems with making a bio flick is that anybody worth making a bio flick about has probably live a pretty crazy life, and people want to see that life. But much like film adaptation of a book you have two choices leave alot out and piss off the core fan base or make a long ass movie. The problem with long movies is that if you faulter in anyway to keep your audiance enguaged witht he film you have a 3 hour lame fest on your hands which leads to bad review and comparisons to Kevin Cosner's The Postman. You want to make the next Deerhunter not a movie about a fucking mail man. Though people will gladly watch a movie about a mail man fucking, its a really fine line.
Alternate ending to The Postman.
This is a very difficult task but Spike Lee pulled it off. I have only seen a few Spike Lee movies but I have become a big fan, his acting sucks but he knows how to tell a story. Malcolm X tells the story of, you geussed it, Malcolm X. Denzel Washington plays X and like almost everything Denzel plays he starts out charming moves to angrey as fuck and ends up less angrey and more enlightened. I can't comment on the accuracy of the plot but if you have a spare 3 hours and 15 minutes its a pretty solid watch.
8/10
Monday, September 6, 2010
4) 6.6.10 The Château
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283288/
This is a strange little indie comedy featuring Paul Rudd and Romany Malco as two brothers who have inherited a French chateau from a dead uncle they never really knew. Discovering this, they take a trip to France to access the situation for its monetary benefit, only to find that the place is kind of shitty. It also comes with a complete staff that expect the two to move to France and run the place from now on. I love Paul Rudd. Even though he seems to play the same character over and over again these days, that dude still makes me lol.
How could you say no to this?
Romany is pretty solid as well. When I still enjoyed "Weeds", he was one of the best parts of the show. So it's pretty upsetting that the film just sucked. Honestly, I dont really understand what the point of this movie is. It tried to be funny, but most of the humor was lost in the middle of the forced indie emotional breakthroughs. Also, it attempted a handy-cam documentary film aproach to its direction, which just kind of make me feel like a creeper.
4/10
Friday, September 3, 2010
3 ) 6.5.10 The Constant Gardener
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387131/
About 5 years ago it was nominated for a shit load of awards and was praised pretty consistantly for its direction, acting and editing. But for me it was just ok. I'm not saying it was a bad flick I'm just saying that it didn't strike me as perticularly special. The editing is the same non-linear style used constantly by Tarentino but for me I think this story would have benefited form a traditional style of stroy telling. I just didn't care enough about the characters to bounce around form point to point. Im a big fan of Rachel Weisze but I didn't thingk this was Rachel Weisz's best work (still better than Lovely Bones) and honestly she kind of annoyed me. I will say that it had amazing cinematorgraphy, that strange mix of beauty and filth that not many films can do well. Overall I was kind of let down, maybe its because I waited 5 years to see it but I expected more.
5/10
About 5 years ago it was nominated for a shit load of awards and was praised pretty consistantly for its direction, acting and editing. But for me it was just ok. I'm not saying it was a bad flick I'm just saying that it didn't strike me as perticularly special. The editing is the same non-linear style used constantly by Tarentino but for me I think this story would have benefited form a traditional style of stroy telling. I just didn't care enough about the characters to bounce around form point to point. Im a big fan of Rachel Weisze but I didn't thingk this was Rachel Weisz's best work (still better than Lovely Bones) and honestly she kind of annoyed me. I will say that it had amazing cinematorgraphy, that strange mix of beauty and filth that not many films can do well. Overall I was kind of let down, maybe its because I waited 5 years to see it but I expected more.
5/10
Thursday, September 2, 2010
2 ) 6.4.10 Splice
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1017460/
This is an interesting story to say the least. It's a sci-fi thriller that tends to jumps back and forth between adorable and just plain wrong. Splice tells the tale of two romantically involved geneticists, Clive and Elsa, that have been working on a chimeric organism capable of producing powerful drugs naturally. Obviously the drug companies are super stoked about this, but our two little rebels want to go one step further and add human DNA to the mix. Problem is that's illegal. So they add it anyway. The resulting spawn is a mix between several different animals (bat, frog, fish, some kind of insect) and human, and since Elsa is a little baby crazy at this point in her life, she/they decide to raise it like their own. Now the two have to raise this rapidly growing genetic contraband, Dren, (nerd spelled backwards) in secret while their personal and relationship struggles are brought to light and confronted. As my friend Brent pointed out after watching it, this film does a good job of playing with the standard view of what a parent child relationship is. And the combination of animal DNA allows Dren to transform from adorable to horrifying in seconds, giving the viewer some pretty good scares along the way. Director Vincenzo Natali does a great job keeping Dren's true intentions hidden throughout the different animal types, so the viewer is always guessing as to what she is thinking. And the character design is pretty amazing as well, mostly relying on make up and using computers to add the finishing touches. This is a style perfected by Guillermo Del Toro, and still my favorite way to animate the impossible in a live action flick. Then there are some times when the film gets, well, just plain wrong, on so many levels. I don’t want to give it away but don’t say I didn't warn you.
Adrian Brody is one of my favorite actors today. Besides the fact that he looks so strange and still somehow has become a leading actor, he is still pretty damn good at what he does. And since he is a leading actor of the day, this tells me that he really loved this script and is doing this because he wants to and not because he is hard up for heroin money. I will definitely watch this again, and would recommend it to anyone who likes films that push the boundaries of what we consider normal. Not as odd as an Alejandro Jodorowsky film, but still unsettling.
7/10
This is an interesting story to say the least. It's a sci-fi thriller that tends to jumps back and forth between adorable and just plain wrong. Splice tells the tale of two romantically involved geneticists, Clive and Elsa, that have been working on a chimeric organism capable of producing powerful drugs naturally. Obviously the drug companies are super stoked about this, but our two little rebels want to go one step further and add human DNA to the mix. Problem is that's illegal. So they add it anyway. The resulting spawn is a mix between several different animals (bat, frog, fish, some kind of insect) and human, and since Elsa is a little baby crazy at this point in her life, she/they decide to raise it like their own. Now the two have to raise this rapidly growing genetic contraband, Dren, (nerd spelled backwards) in secret while their personal and relationship struggles are brought to light and confronted. As my friend Brent pointed out after watching it, this film does a good job of playing with the standard view of what a parent child relationship is. And the combination of animal DNA allows Dren to transform from adorable to horrifying in seconds, giving the viewer some pretty good scares along the way. Director Vincenzo Natali does a great job keeping Dren's true intentions hidden throughout the different animal types, so the viewer is always guessing as to what she is thinking. And the character design is pretty amazing as well, mostly relying on make up and using computers to add the finishing touches. This is a style perfected by Guillermo Del Toro, and still my favorite way to animate the impossible in a live action flick. Then there are some times when the film gets, well, just plain wrong, on so many levels. I don’t want to give it away but don’t say I didn't warn you.
You're about to feel really really dirty.
Adrian Brody is one of my favorite actors today. Besides the fact that he looks so strange and still somehow has become a leading actor, he is still pretty damn good at what he does. And since he is a leading actor of the day, this tells me that he really loved this script and is doing this because he wants to and not because he is hard up for heroin money. I will definitely watch this again, and would recommend it to anyone who likes films that push the boundaries of what we consider normal. Not as odd as an Alejandro Jodorowsky film, but still unsettling.
7/10
1) 6.4.10 Antibodies
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0337573/
A German thriller/horror that seems to have borrowed some loose themes from Silence of the Lambs. The basic story goes as follows : A serial killer is caught, but the full extent of his crimes is not yet known. For some reason, the task can only be achieved by one small town policeman who is the only one the killer will talk to. As the killer plays the usual cat and mouse game, the true horror of the crimes begin to show. And what's this? He didn’t act alone? Apparently someone close to our beloved small town sheriff may be involved in one of the killings. Is he telling the truth? Is it a lie? The story also investigates the internal struggles of the small town sheriff and parallels these with what the serial killer is revealing. Cause according to the movie world, serial killers know everything about you; they are better than a therapist.
"Today, lets talk about your relationship with your father"
While this is no Silence of the Lambs, nothing is particularly amazing, but it's still a decent thriller mystery that kept me entertained until the end.
6/10.
A German thriller/horror that seems to have borrowed some loose themes from Silence of the Lambs. The basic story goes as follows : A serial killer is caught, but the full extent of his crimes is not yet known. For some reason, the task can only be achieved by one small town policeman who is the only one the killer will talk to. As the killer plays the usual cat and mouse game, the true horror of the crimes begin to show. And what's this? He didn’t act alone? Apparently someone close to our beloved small town sheriff may be involved in one of the killings. Is he telling the truth? Is it a lie? The story also investigates the internal struggles of the small town sheriff and parallels these with what the serial killer is revealing. Cause according to the movie world, serial killers know everything about you; they are better than a therapist.
"Today, lets talk about your relationship with your father"
While this is no Silence of the Lambs, nothing is particularly amazing, but it's still a decent thriller mystery that kept me entertained until the end.
6/10.
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