Yikes. First off, I only watched this movie because it was on while visiting friends. It also bears noting that none of us really really wanted to see it. I blame Dara for telling me that this movie was actually pretty cute. What she failed to reveal was that only the first eight minutes were cute. After that, it was a rapid descent into hell, complete with every single romcom formula ever. Terrible, terrible, terrible. The list of people in this terrible movie includes wonderful actors John Lithgow, Joan Cusack, John Goodman, Hugh Dancy, and Isla Fisher, among many others. My favorite part of the movie was the 800 times that there was a character that actually spoke the words that every viewer was supposed to understand from the situation. It's called "show, don't tell". And this movie failed to do even that.
Awful. Do not go see this film.
Score: 2/10
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
#140 - Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)
I didn't like The Jerk so much, and Michael Caine has only made a brief appearance in Inception for my blog, so I have a lot of love for Caine and Steve Martin that has yet to be really and genuinely tapped this year. Enter Dirty Rotten Scoundrels: a movie I've heard good things about but have not yet seen.
Caine and Martin play confidence men who have a wager to see who can swindle Glenne Headly (the American soap queen... whatever that actually means) out of 50,000 francs. I'm in Kalamazoo visiting friends, so we'll make this short: I really enjoyed it. And the best part was the bar scene with the two sailors commiserating with Steve Martin's "handicap". Way better than The Jerk. Saw the ending coming (in some form or another) from a mile away, but it was still good fun.
Score: 8/10
Caine and Martin play confidence men who have a wager to see who can swindle Glenne Headly (the American soap queen... whatever that actually means) out of 50,000 francs. I'm in Kalamazoo visiting friends, so we'll make this short: I really enjoyed it. And the best part was the bar scene with the two sailors commiserating with Steve Martin's "handicap". Way better than The Jerk. Saw the ending coming (in some form or another) from a mile away, but it was still good fun.
Score: 8/10
#139 - The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
I have a new record for earliest-made movie on the countdown: a movie from 1920 that has been firmly established in the film world as one of the first and greatest horror films: the German Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari. It's another silent film with a string soundtrack, and one thing I love right off the best are the neat dialogue frames, which look very unlike those normally seen with long serifed dashes and clear, English typefaces, but instead consisting of jagged letters placed upon starburst-style shapes mostly of shades of green.
The reference in the title is to The Somnambulist (a fancy word for "sleepwalker", from the roots somn meaning "sleep", as in somnolent or insomnia; and, ambul meaning "walk" as in amble or ambulatory, plus the suffix -ist meaning "doer". Didn't you love that vocabulary lesson?!). The Somnambulist is a sideshow of the title character who stays in a cabinet, and is touted to know all the past and the future. When a spectator asks him how long he will live (don't you know that you definitely don't want the actual answer to that question?), The Somnambulist tells him that he will be dead at dawn the next day. When he is murdered, it immediately prompts suspicion of the Doctor.
What follows is a brilliant psychological unraveling featuring another victim: a young woman, and her fiancés attempts to get her well and find the man responsible.
Score: 9/10
The reference in the title is to The Somnambulist (a fancy word for "sleepwalker", from the roots somn meaning "sleep", as in somnolent or insomnia; and, ambul meaning "walk" as in amble or ambulatory, plus the suffix -ist meaning "doer". Didn't you love that vocabulary lesson?!). The Somnambulist is a sideshow of the title character who stays in a cabinet, and is touted to know all the past and the future. When a spectator asks him how long he will live (don't you know that you definitely don't want the actual answer to that question?), The Somnambulist tells him that he will be dead at dawn the next day. When he is murdered, it immediately prompts suspicion of the Doctor.
What follows is a brilliant psychological unraveling featuring another victim: a young woman, and her fiancés attempts to get her well and find the man responsible.
Score: 9/10
#138 - Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959)
Hysterically, the movie I watched earlier today, The 400 Blows, was also made in 1959, the same year as the amazing Ed Wood film I have finally gotten around to seeing: Plan 9 from Outer Space. Ed Wood's "pedigree" is well-established, and this is widely considered to be one of his "finest" films. Far from the wonderful film Truffaut gave us, the steaming pile that Ed Wood gave us is completely unwatchable without some sort of comedy track, be it RiffTrax or a bunch of drunk friends. I only had the former available to me today, so I went with it.
At a mere 78 minutes, one might think that Plan 9 might be a tight movie, concise and tolerable. Instead, it drags on for what seems like four hours, so slowly paced that I had to open up a new window and start typing this review well in advance of finishing the movie, in an attempt to stay focused and actually finish the damn thing. Everything tends to just laze around: the scenery, the acting, the plot, the dialogue. It all falls completely flat. As a matter of fact, if everyone moved and spoke more quickly, the movie could probably have finished in about 37 minutes.
Of all the amazing aspects of this classic film, I think my favorite part is the music. So good. At one point Mike Nelson actually says, "Ow. That actually hurt!" when a particularly harsh and discordant tone sounds. Or possibly, my favorite part is the amazing mispronunciations and word slurs. Or possibly, my favorite part is the re-animated corpses attacking, moving about an 1/8 of one mile per hour toward their victims, who do absolutely nothing to get away. Or, perhaps, my favorite part of the movie is not actually a part of the movie at all, but rather a part of the RiffTrax that is an homage to Waiting for Guffman: "I hate you and your ass face!"
I hate this move and all its ass faces, too.
Score: 1/10
At a mere 78 minutes, one might think that Plan 9 might be a tight movie, concise and tolerable. Instead, it drags on for what seems like four hours, so slowly paced that I had to open up a new window and start typing this review well in advance of finishing the movie, in an attempt to stay focused and actually finish the damn thing. Everything tends to just laze around: the scenery, the acting, the plot, the dialogue. It all falls completely flat. As a matter of fact, if everyone moved and spoke more quickly, the movie could probably have finished in about 37 minutes.
Of all the amazing aspects of this classic film, I think my favorite part is the music. So good. At one point Mike Nelson actually says, "Ow. That actually hurt!" when a particularly harsh and discordant tone sounds. Or possibly, my favorite part is the amazing mispronunciations and word slurs. Or possibly, my favorite part is the re-animated corpses attacking, moving about an 1/8 of one mile per hour toward their victims, who do absolutely nothing to get away. Or, perhaps, my favorite part of the movie is not actually a part of the movie at all, but rather a part of the RiffTrax that is an homage to Waiting for Guffman: "I hate you and your ass face!"
I hate this move and all its ass faces, too.
Score: 1/10
#137 - The 400 Blows (1959)
I need to catch up! Perhaps I can do so this weekend? I'll do what I can, I guess.
My first movie of the weekend is the début film of French directeur François Truffaut: Les quatre cents coups (The 400 Blows), which is a semi-autobiographical dramatization of the director's own childhood. Whether or not you feel for the main character (a young boy named Antoine), you get the sense that his parents are resentful of his presence. Another mouth to feed, a somewhat mischievous child who doesn't follow directions well and who doesn't do well in school. Harangued by a martinet schoolteacher, he often gets in trouble for small wrongdoings, which doesn't help his situation at home.
At the beginning, Antoine's father seems to have a somewhat more conspiratorial air with Antoine, as the two share wry smiles and anecdotes while Antoine's mother sees in her son something that irritates her (we're not exactly sure where the sense of resentment comes from, at first). However, as the movie continues, we see the mother (somewhat genuinely) attempt to win back her child while the father becomes increasingly agitated. We learn much more of the relationship and tension later on in the film, which I had to say surprised me, but in a good way. It was more Hitchcockian and less Shyamalan-esque.
I had a conversation with my brother Matt not too long ago after he had just seen Casablanca for the first time, and he commented to me how good the movie looked (which of course I felt, also), despite the year it was made, and as I watched this film, I had the same spark: the movie is beautifully filmed, with deep black-and-white contrasts, and superb shots. Everything seems just so, in a way that refuses to annoy its viewers, but rather draw them in to its world. I was very impressed with this film in all aspects. Highly recommended.
Score: 9.5/10
My first movie of the weekend is the début film of French directeur François Truffaut: Les quatre cents coups (The 400 Blows), which is a semi-autobiographical dramatization of the director's own childhood. Whether or not you feel for the main character (a young boy named Antoine), you get the sense that his parents are resentful of his presence. Another mouth to feed, a somewhat mischievous child who doesn't follow directions well and who doesn't do well in school. Harangued by a martinet schoolteacher, he often gets in trouble for small wrongdoings, which doesn't help his situation at home.
At the beginning, Antoine's father seems to have a somewhat more conspiratorial air with Antoine, as the two share wry smiles and anecdotes while Antoine's mother sees in her son something that irritates her (we're not exactly sure where the sense of resentment comes from, at first). However, as the movie continues, we see the mother (somewhat genuinely) attempt to win back her child while the father becomes increasingly agitated. We learn much more of the relationship and tension later on in the film, which I had to say surprised me, but in a good way. It was more Hitchcockian and less Shyamalan-esque.
I had a conversation with my brother Matt not too long ago after he had just seen Casablanca for the first time, and he commented to me how good the movie looked (which of course I felt, also), despite the year it was made, and as I watched this film, I had the same spark: the movie is beautifully filmed, with deep black-and-white contrasts, and superb shots. Everything seems just so, in a way that refuses to annoy its viewers, but rather draw them in to its world. I was very impressed with this film in all aspects. Highly recommended.
Score: 9.5/10
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
#136 - The Hangover (2009)
Since this movie came out and I initially avoided it as being just like every other movie for the masses relying on bathroom humor, vulgarity, and sex jokes. But I wanted to eventually watch it so I would know what the hullabaloo was all about and give an honest assessment of the movie.
In the first fifteen minutes, I'm treated to nothing that passes for humor that doesn't use gay, faggot, retard, Zach Galifianakis's ass, or coming inside a chick. Of course, this can be funny, but if this is all I have to rely on for the next 80 minutes, then it's going to be a long, shitty movie.
Aaaaaand fast forward:
I'm not going to actually bother with the rest of the review, because for me, the movie never really got good. I laughed a few times, but it's not my kind of movie. I was unable to get past the enormity of the absurdity, right down to the unfathomably awful wedding song at the end. No thanks.
Score: 3/10
In the first fifteen minutes, I'm treated to nothing that passes for humor that doesn't use gay, faggot, retard, Zach Galifianakis's ass, or coming inside a chick. Of course, this can be funny, but if this is all I have to rely on for the next 80 minutes, then it's going to be a long, shitty movie.
Aaaaaand fast forward:
I'm not going to actually bother with the rest of the review, because for me, the movie never really got good. I laughed a few times, but it's not my kind of movie. I was unable to get past the enormity of the absurdity, right down to the unfathomably awful wedding song at the end. No thanks.
Score: 3/10
#135 - Bridesmaids (2011)
Went with Jess to see this at the theatre, and we were both pleased with it, overall. We both like Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph and Rose Byrne, and after seeing the movie, you really kind of have to, or you won't enjoy the film at all. We were also excited that Erin from the office has a small role, as does David Wallace (he's onscreen for about six seconds and says nothing).
So Maya Rudolph is getting married, and maid of honor Kristen Wiig and new BFF Rose Byrne are battling it out for supremacy over who's the better friend and gets to plan things, etc. Byrne constantly tries (and, frankly, succeeds) to one-up Wiig, the rest of whose life is falling apart around her. These two women are part of a strangely disjointed group of bridesmaids, including the large and hysterical sister-of-the-groom Megan, whose first conversation with Wiig is probably the single funniest part of the whole movie.
One thing that really struck me about the movie was how authentic the dialogue, for the most part, felt. There were some repetitive lines, some not-really-snappy dialogue, that I liked a lot. It made it seem more real. Of course, there were moments of the absurd and contrived intermeshed, but the effect wasn't overly cloying. I could chuckle at some of the inaner parts and be pleased with the more melancholy parts. To say that the movie is flawless in these regards is an exaggeration, but at least I could understand it all.
Score: 7.5/10
So Maya Rudolph is getting married, and maid of honor Kristen Wiig and new BFF Rose Byrne are battling it out for supremacy over who's the better friend and gets to plan things, etc. Byrne constantly tries (and, frankly, succeeds) to one-up Wiig, the rest of whose life is falling apart around her. These two women are part of a strangely disjointed group of bridesmaids, including the large and hysterical sister-of-the-groom Megan, whose first conversation with Wiig is probably the single funniest part of the whole movie.
One thing that really struck me about the movie was how authentic the dialogue, for the most part, felt. There were some repetitive lines, some not-really-snappy dialogue, that I liked a lot. It made it seem more real. Of course, there were moments of the absurd and contrived intermeshed, but the effect wasn't overly cloying. I could chuckle at some of the inaner parts and be pleased with the more melancholy parts. To say that the movie is flawless in these regards is an exaggeration, but at least I could understand it all.
Score: 7.5/10
Monday, May 23, 2011
#134 - The Changeling (1980)
This movie has it all!
Giggle as all the doors in the house slam to a frightening cadence!
Gasp in horror as a crystal goblet is flung across the room and shatters!
Laugh uncontrollably as a man drowns his child in a bathtub!
Weep when Melvyn Douglas and George C. Scott give slightly-more-than-passable acting jobs!
And LOVE when you find out what the hell a Changeling is!
Plus: be genuinely creeped out at the happenings and suddennesses, as well as the intricacy of the plot. Well-played, The Changeling, well-played.
Score: 8/10
Giggle as all the doors in the house slam to a frightening cadence!
Gasp in horror as a crystal goblet is flung across the room and shatters!
Laugh uncontrollably as a man drowns his child in a bathtub!
Weep when Melvyn Douglas and George C. Scott give slightly-more-than-passable acting jobs!
And LOVE when you find out what the hell a Changeling is!
Plus: be genuinely creeped out at the happenings and suddennesses, as well as the intricacy of the plot. Well-played, The Changeling, well-played.
Score: 8/10
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
#133 - The Night of the Hunter (1955)
A fascinating and tragic tale of two youngsters whose father robs a man and confides only in his children where the money is hidden. The father is arrested and hanged, but in between he meets his cellmate, a man who marries women and collects their money when they die. Fresh out of prison, the man (Robert Mitchum) woos the newly-widowed Shelley Winters in order to search for the money. When Winters finally sees past the façade and cottons onto his plot, Mitchum kills her and forces the young daughter to tell him where the money is.
However, the children escape and find the quasi-orphanage of Lillian Gish, who helps ward off Mitchum when he inevitably finds the children. One part Jesus, one part vengeance tale, and one part suspense thriller, the film is good, but I don't find it quite as spectacular as all the "Best of" lists it's on would have me believe. Mitchum is extremely good in his role, however, as just the right amount of dark, criminal, and faux-preacher.
Score: 7.5/10
However, the children escape and find the quasi-orphanage of Lillian Gish, who helps ward off Mitchum when he inevitably finds the children. One part Jesus, one part vengeance tale, and one part suspense thriller, the film is good, but I don't find it quite as spectacular as all the "Best of" lists it's on would have me believe. Mitchum is extremely good in his role, however, as just the right amount of dark, criminal, and faux-preacher.
Score: 7.5/10
#132 - 12 Monkeys (1995)
From the crazy, fucked-up mind of Terry Gilliam comes a "What year are we in?" story about some monkeys (twelve of them - well, kind of but not really), chemical warfare (well, kind of but not really), psychological divergence (well, kind of but not really), and the same characters in different times.
The movie's strengths lie in the interweaving of the different layers, which is done ably enough to be understood and not overly confusing. The viewer is able to appreciate the different sides of Bruce Willis as a convict sent back in time to find the source of a devastating virus that wiped out most of the known world, and Madeleine Stowe as a psychiatrist he "enlists" on his crusade, and the singular side of Brad Pitt, in his first Oscar-nominated role -- and only, until 2008's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button -- as a fast-talking, deranged son of a virologist.
The movie really makes me want to see Brazil, because I've heard tales of its insanity, but having seen 12 Monkeys, I wonder just how much weirder it could get. (That's hypothetical... I know how much weirder it can get...)
Score: 8.5/10
The movie's strengths lie in the interweaving of the different layers, which is done ably enough to be understood and not overly confusing. The viewer is able to appreciate the different sides of Bruce Willis as a convict sent back in time to find the source of a devastating virus that wiped out most of the known world, and Madeleine Stowe as a psychiatrist he "enlists" on his crusade, and the singular side of Brad Pitt, in his first Oscar-nominated role -- and only, until 2008's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button -- as a fast-talking, deranged son of a virologist.
The movie really makes me want to see Brazil, because I've heard tales of its insanity, but having seen 12 Monkeys, I wonder just how much weirder it could get. (That's hypothetical... I know how much weirder it can get...)
Score: 8.5/10
Monday, May 16, 2011
#131 - Notorious (1946)
I know, I know, another Hitchcock film! But there's another set of reasons for this selection: Jessica recommended it to me (and let me borrow her DVD), and this movie appears on several "Best of" lists on the site ICheckMovies.com (thanks also to Jessica and Rick for telling me about this site, where I have already wiled away many an hour -- it is a way to keep track of the movies you've seen). And since it kept showing up on these lists, and it's Hitchcock, and I had it in my position: well, the conspiracy was set, so here we go.
One of Hitchcock's finer outings, to be sure, with the lovely and amazing Ingrid Bergman as a spy who goes so far as to marry a former lover during her assignment. Cary Grant plays her true love (DUH, does he ever do anything but?) and liaison to the Whatever Spy Agency. The film is suspenseful, to be sure, and while it spends a little too much time with the whole "I love you, I love you, I love you" back-and-forth between the leads, at least it stays consistent in this regard.
Claude Rains plays the Nazi smuggler-type husband with calculating precision, and the moments when he and his mother realize who Bergman realize is are among the most superior in the film. Hitchcock did a lot with distorted vision and "cloudwalking" (as in the last scene as the main characters descend the staircase) to a triumphant degree, and every scene is so carefully planned and perfectly executed that the viewer feels led almost child-like into the world of the movie. Kind of a "here's what I want you to get from this shot and you will understand the movie better for it" feel without being cloying or extraneous. Really a perfect little package of a film.
Score: 9.5/10
One of Hitchcock's finer outings, to be sure, with the lovely and amazing Ingrid Bergman as a spy who goes so far as to marry a former lover during her assignment. Cary Grant plays her true love (DUH, does he ever do anything but?) and liaison to the Whatever Spy Agency. The film is suspenseful, to be sure, and while it spends a little too much time with the whole "I love you, I love you, I love you" back-and-forth between the leads, at least it stays consistent in this regard.
Claude Rains plays the Nazi smuggler-type husband with calculating precision, and the moments when he and his mother realize who Bergman realize is are among the most superior in the film. Hitchcock did a lot with distorted vision and "cloudwalking" (as in the last scene as the main characters descend the staircase) to a triumphant degree, and every scene is so carefully planned and perfectly executed that the viewer feels led almost child-like into the world of the movie. Kind of a "here's what I want you to get from this shot and you will understand the movie better for it" feel without being cloying or extraneous. Really a perfect little package of a film.
Score: 9.5/10
#130 - The Fog (1979)
I was pretty amazed at how much I really enjoyed this movie. I mean, I know that it spends more time than it needs to with all the "background story" (which could have satisfied my curiosity in a fraction of the time, let's be honest) but there's something interesting in the way it's paced: it plods carefully along and doesn't really pick up, even during the climactic scenes -- very much like The Fog itself.
Adrienne Barbeau is pretty convincing for the first half of the movie as a radio DJ, but less so later on when she's "trapped" in the lighthouse. Jamie Lee Curtis also makes an appearance as a hitchhiker who falls for a sea captain and also finds herself in Antonio Bay this fateful night. While not a particularly scary film, there is a nice level of suspense accompanied by some excellent storytelling. No big surprise the priest ended up being more involved than you'd think, too...
Score: 8.5/10
Adrienne Barbeau is pretty convincing for the first half of the movie as a radio DJ, but less so later on when she's "trapped" in the lighthouse. Jamie Lee Curtis also makes an appearance as a hitchhiker who falls for a sea captain and also finds herself in Antonio Bay this fateful night. While not a particularly scary film, there is a nice level of suspense accompanied by some excellent storytelling. No big surprise the priest ended up being more involved than you'd think, too...
Score: 8.5/10
Sunday, May 15, 2011
#129 - Jaws (1975)
Went with Jessica, Jen, Jaci, Rick, and Neil to a midnight showing of Jaws last night at the Royal Oak Main Art Theatre. While watching, I was able to confirm to myself that I had never actually scene the movie in its entirety in one sitting, but rather most of it from a couple of different viewings. Now, I didn't know anything about the movie before it started, other than it's directed by some guy named Steven and stars the guy from All That Jazz. Also, I thought it was about a T-Rex.
Boy was I wrong! Apparently the title refers to the yammering of one Robert Shaw and it's actually a revenge tale about what happens when you treat every nautical killing as a "boating accident". Thanks, Mr. Mayor! Also, Ms. I'm-sleeping-with-the-producer gets the biggest female role (notice how Lorraine Gary was the only one in all four Jaws's... it's not like her acting talent got her a lot of non-shark-related work) and Jessica pointed out to me that the author of the source novel has a cameo as an on-camera reporter.
It's easy to respect the camerawork on the film, especially since so many parts of the movie have become practically iconic images: the shark finally peeking up out of the water; Roy Scheider's snapping upright when this happens (not to mention the often misquoted "You're gonna need a bigger boat."); the thrashing around in the water at the beginning of the film; and, all the underwater shots of unsuspecting legs. It's also funny to think about how many people were scared of swimming after the movie came out, especially since I didn't find the movie that frightening. Not that I didn't really enjoy it, of course.
Score: 9/10
Boy was I wrong! Apparently the title refers to the yammering of one Robert Shaw and it's actually a revenge tale about what happens when you treat every nautical killing as a "boating accident". Thanks, Mr. Mayor! Also, Ms. I'm-sleeping-with-the-producer gets the biggest female role (notice how Lorraine Gary was the only one in all four Jaws's... it's not like her acting talent got her a lot of non-shark-related work) and Jessica pointed out to me that the author of the source novel has a cameo as an on-camera reporter.
It's easy to respect the camerawork on the film, especially since so many parts of the movie have become practically iconic images: the shark finally peeking up out of the water; Roy Scheider's snapping upright when this happens (not to mention the often misquoted "You're gonna need a bigger boat."); the thrashing around in the water at the beginning of the film; and, all the underwater shots of unsuspecting legs. It's also funny to think about how many people were scared of swimming after the movie came out, especially since I didn't find the movie that frightening. Not that I didn't really enjoy it, of course.
Score: 9/10
Saturday, May 14, 2011
#128 - Sideways (2004)
This movie established a precedent for me: I had never gone to see a movie by myself before (not that there are a ton of movies that fit in this category), but it was the night before the Oscars, and I only decided on a whim to go see the movie (and it's a little too artsy for some of the people I may have asked at the time). The audience was so terrible and nobody thought anything was funny (so stupid), except for me and a woman who was sitting behind me about three seats to my right. Actually, as the movie ended, she said to me, "I'm glad there was someone else who thought the movie was good!" And so we talked about the movie a little as we walked out of the theatre.
There are so few movies that can find this perfect combination of warmth and heart and personality and humor and intellectuality and wrap it all up into a nice, neat package, film it perfectly, pull the viewer in, and take him/her on the journey that the film's characters take. All four main actors (Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen, and Sandra Oh) are pitch-perfect, and while they may lead the excellent script-writing from A to B to A physically, they are able to elicit all the right emotions and secure full involvement from the viewer. This is not a movie to be taken lightly, but rather one whose depth must be examined to be appreciated. Please do yourself a favor and see this when you have the time some day.
Score: 10/10
There are so few movies that can find this perfect combination of warmth and heart and personality and humor and intellectuality and wrap it all up into a nice, neat package, film it perfectly, pull the viewer in, and take him/her on the journey that the film's characters take. All four main actors (Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen, and Sandra Oh) are pitch-perfect, and while they may lead the excellent script-writing from A to B to A physically, they are able to elicit all the right emotions and secure full involvement from the viewer. This is not a movie to be taken lightly, but rather one whose depth must be examined to be appreciated. Please do yourself a favor and see this when you have the time some day.
Score: 10/10
#127 - Trick 'r Treat (2007)
Jessica lent me this DVD a couple weekends ago and I finally got around to watching it. She's basically the one responsible for my increased interest in the horror genre, as well. (In addition to my expanded appreciation of Hitchcock, among other things.) Trick 'r Treat revolves around five interlocking Hallowe'en vignettes: a serial killer principal, the aftermath of a bus that trailed off the edge of a quarry (Veronica Mars, anyone?), a teenage prank, Leslie Bibb Doesn't Like Halloween, and Anna Paquin + werewolves (WTF?).
Some of these are more successful than others (the prank is good, as is the FINAL BATTLE! between Brian Cox and a live pumpkin creature), whereas the whole plot with Anna Paquin and Friends was aaawful. Jessica said that the movie was a neat throwback to the 70s horror genre, which is cool, because with that in perspective, there were parts that felt homage-y (but not stale). Oh, and I can also say that the Anna Paquin vignette (though this is a bit unfair to label it as hers because it's clearly more that she's just in it) is terrible. Terrible.
Score: 6/10
Some of these are more successful than others (the prank is good, as is the FINAL BATTLE! between Brian Cox and a live pumpkin creature), whereas the whole plot with Anna Paquin and Friends was aaawful. Jessica said that the movie was a neat throwback to the 70s horror genre, which is cool, because with that in perspective, there were parts that felt homage-y (but not stale). Oh, and I can also say that the Anna Paquin vignette (though this is a bit unfair to label it as hers because it's clearly more that she's just in it) is terrible. Terrible.
Score: 6/10
#126 - Date Night (2010)
Okay, so it's super predictable and unevenly maintained (all the time the leads spend talking about their lives is as boring as they are), but it's pretty funny, overall (it helps when you have Steve Carell and Tina Fey as your leads). Date Night doesn't win any awards for newness (I mean, how many mistaken identity movies are there, already), but it does do a surprisingly nice job of keeping its lightness and humor. Additionally, the parts where Carell and Fey are allowed just to interact with each other (especially the restaurant scenes) are the freshest.
There are lots of smaller parts, with varying degrees of interestingness: Mark Wahlberg plays a security guy/Department of Defense really smart guy who helps the couple find the people they need to find; James Franco and Mila Kunis play the actual couple, Kristen Wiig and Mark Ruffalo play the couple Carell and Fey don't want to become, Taraji P. Henson plays a detective (but talk about a role that doesn't use her full potential), and Serena Williams's boyfriend Common and half of the creepy brothers from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia play rogue detectives.
But none of that really matters, because for this movie, it's all about the leads. If you don't believe them (and I do), the movie has nothing to offer, whereas if you appreciate them, the movie mostly works.
Score: 7/10
There are lots of smaller parts, with varying degrees of interestingness: Mark Wahlberg plays a security guy/Department of Defense really smart guy who helps the couple find the people they need to find; James Franco and Mila Kunis play the actual couple, Kristen Wiig and Mark Ruffalo play the couple Carell and Fey don't want to become, Taraji P. Henson plays a detective (but talk about a role that doesn't use her full potential), and Serena Williams's boyfriend Common and half of the creepy brothers from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia play rogue detectives.
But none of that really matters, because for this movie, it's all about the leads. If you don't believe them (and I do), the movie has nothing to offer, whereas if you appreciate them, the movie mostly works.
Score: 7/10
#125 - Rock Haven (2007)
Rock Haven is the story of a religious boy and his mother who move to a secluded, beachside/cliffside/natureside area where Brady, the religious boy, meets Clifford, a gay boy (gasp!) and (surprise!) Brady has an internal conflict between religion and his sexuality.
The actor who plays Brady is really cute and has the most adorable, tiny little gap between his front teeth, and does the most with the dialogue he's given, which is sometimes spot on for the situation, and at other times (specifically in his dealings with this ultra-conservative mother) is so poor that I just had to stare at his face and ignore the words. This was a feat easily accomplished, by the way. Clifford, with a largely absent father, and a liberal "non-traditional" (his words) mother, understands the underlying conflict, but has a plan for helping Brady see his light.
I was a bit surprised overall: I had rented the movie because it reminded me of one of my very favorite gay-themed movies, Latter Days (in a nutshell: Mormon meets kinda slutty party boy), and while pieces of it were similar, it was different enough to have its own voice. It's low-budget (so many of these movies tend to be) and plods along at a nearly 30 beats per minute pace over rarely-changing scenery (honestly, after about the 70th time the boys met at the beach, I started to wonder if they weren't on a one square kilometer island), but it has heart at its core, and so, for the most part, it works.
Score: 7/10
The actor who plays Brady is really cute and has the most adorable, tiny little gap between his front teeth, and does the most with the dialogue he's given, which is sometimes spot on for the situation, and at other times (specifically in his dealings with this ultra-conservative mother) is so poor that I just had to stare at his face and ignore the words. This was a feat easily accomplished, by the way. Clifford, with a largely absent father, and a liberal "non-traditional" (his words) mother, understands the underlying conflict, but has a plan for helping Brady see his light.
I was a bit surprised overall: I had rented the movie because it reminded me of one of my very favorite gay-themed movies, Latter Days (in a nutshell: Mormon meets kinda slutty party boy), and while pieces of it were similar, it was different enough to have its own voice. It's low-budget (so many of these movies tend to be) and plods along at a nearly 30 beats per minute pace over rarely-changing scenery (honestly, after about the 70th time the boys met at the beach, I started to wonder if they weren't on a one square kilometer island), but it has heart at its core, and so, for the most part, it works.
Score: 7/10
#124 - The Dinner Game (1998)
In my search for new French films to watch, I came across The Dinner Game, which had apparently been funny enough and interesting enough that it was remade in the US and called Dinner for Schmucks. I've heard from various sources that the American version is a bit too stupid-funny for my tastes, and that, overall, the film was not that successful, barring some okay acting and a few funny parts (and about how many movies can we say that!).
The French version, however, stays really consistent and interesting, following the small cast from absurdity to absurdity in a way both strange and completely understandable. The basic idea is that a group of intellectuals have frequent dinners where each person brings a guest - and this guest must be un cochon: an idiot. Enter M. Pignon, who makes matchstick models of architectural marvels, has a weird, rhyming ditty for an answering machine message, and has a strange penchant for not being able to keep his mouth from continuing on conversations long after the normal ending point.
Director Francis Veber, who has already brought us The Valet and the original source piece for The Birdcage, keeps me laughing yet again with the way he keeps the story moving. Equal parts punnery and wordplay, sight gags, understatement, and interesting plot devices, the script is so well-crafted that we veyr much believe this scenario could actually happen, even while at every turn we know it to be full of contrivances.
The ending of the film is a true must-see for any screenwriter who may be having trouble figuring out how to end his tale. It's poignant and hysterical, and is a true ending to a terrific film.
Score: 9/10
The French version, however, stays really consistent and interesting, following the small cast from absurdity to absurdity in a way both strange and completely understandable. The basic idea is that a group of intellectuals have frequent dinners where each person brings a guest - and this guest must be un cochon: an idiot. Enter M. Pignon, who makes matchstick models of architectural marvels, has a weird, rhyming ditty for an answering machine message, and has a strange penchant for not being able to keep his mouth from continuing on conversations long after the normal ending point.
Director Francis Veber, who has already brought us The Valet and the original source piece for The Birdcage, keeps me laughing yet again with the way he keeps the story moving. Equal parts punnery and wordplay, sight gags, understatement, and interesting plot devices, the script is so well-crafted that we veyr much believe this scenario could actually happen, even while at every turn we know it to be full of contrivances.
The ending of the film is a true must-see for any screenwriter who may be having trouble figuring out how to end his tale. It's poignant and hysterical, and is a true ending to a terrific film.
Score: 9/10
Sunday, May 8, 2011
#123 - Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
A recent update to the Netflix instant streaming selection reminded me that I had never seen Wet Hot American Summer,
First off: who the hell isn't in this movie? Appearing in this movie are:
Janeane Garofalo, the camp director and a favorite of mine since The Truth About Cats and Dogs)
Michael Showalter, of "Stella" fame (Google it and watch it)
Amy Poehler (awesome)
Bradley Cooper, raising the total number of movies I've seen where he plays someone gay to 2
Paul Rudd (so, this lands somewhere between Clueless and 40-Year-Old Virgin, chronologically)
Michael Ian Black (also awesome)
and Molly Shannon, David Hyde Pierce, Christopher Meloni, Elizabeth Banks, and Ken Marino.
The movie follows the above as camp counselors on the last day of summer camp (a really messed up summer camp, go figure) that is certainly reminiscent of Happy Campers (which I highly recommend, even though there's a lot of suspect acting). Unfortunately, this movie also finds itself all over the place. The occasionally funny parts are mired in an absurdist mess that does somewhat come together at the final talent show, which is, ironically, the least continuous part of the film, but probably the drollest. I recommend watching this movie with others, or intoxicated. I bet that would make it even better.
Score: 6.5/10
First off: who the hell isn't in this movie? Appearing in this movie are:
Janeane Garofalo, the camp director and a favorite of mine since The Truth About Cats and Dogs)
Michael Showalter, of "Stella" fame (Google it and watch it)
Amy Poehler (awesome)
Bradley Cooper, raising the total number of movies I've seen where he plays someone gay to 2
Paul Rudd (so, this lands somewhere between Clueless and 40-Year-Old Virgin, chronologically)
Michael Ian Black (also awesome)
and Molly Shannon, David Hyde Pierce, Christopher Meloni, Elizabeth Banks, and Ken Marino.
The movie follows the above as camp counselors on the last day of summer camp (a really messed up summer camp, go figure) that is certainly reminiscent of Happy Campers (which I highly recommend, even though there's a lot of suspect acting). Unfortunately, this movie also finds itself all over the place. The occasionally funny parts are mired in an absurdist mess that does somewhat come together at the final talent show, which is, ironically, the least continuous part of the film, but probably the drollest. I recommend watching this movie with others, or intoxicated. I bet that would make it even better.
Score: 6.5/10
#122 - Hanna (2011)
So this movie was the other half of my doubleheader movie night last night (something that I actually don't believe I've ever done outside of the Traverse City Film Festival) and, while I'm glad I gave myself the opportunity, and enjoyed the experience, I found Hanna to be really one-note. The stunning lack of variety and the obviousness of the story arc did not lend themselves to any sort of exceptional moviegoing.
The positives of the movie include Saoirse Ronan as the main character, who keeps proving to me that she could have a good career heading forward into adulthood, the parts where Ronan is with the British family, and... Cate Blanchett is pretty. Also, this is the first movie I've ever seen Eric Bana in -- not counting the fact that apparently he was the voice of a minor character in Finding Nemo -- which is actually a bit surprising considering the large number of popular movies he's appeared in. (I refuse to count Lucky You.)
The negatives of the movie include:
1. It's super formulaic.
2. Can we say "predictable"?
3. Cate Blanchett's accent changes 94 times throughout the course of the film, and while I understand that it may have been a part of the plot, it was super distracting.
4. How on Earth did Hanna's friend find her among all the cargo when the three men tailing her couldn't? Laaaaaaame and pointless.
5. It wasn't even as good as Insidious.
If you're still interested in seeing this movie, save yourself the 10 dollars and wait for it to come out for rental. Really.
Score: 6/10
The positives of the movie include Saoirse Ronan as the main character, who keeps proving to me that she could have a good career heading forward into adulthood, the parts where Ronan is with the British family, and... Cate Blanchett is pretty. Also, this is the first movie I've ever seen Eric Bana in -- not counting the fact that apparently he was the voice of a minor character in Finding Nemo -- which is actually a bit surprising considering the large number of popular movies he's appeared in. (I refuse to count Lucky You.)
The negatives of the movie include:
1. It's super formulaic.
2. Can we say "predictable"?
3. Cate Blanchett's accent changes 94 times throughout the course of the film, and while I understand that it may have been a part of the plot, it was super distracting.
4. How on Earth did Hanna's friend find her among all the cargo when the three men tailing her couldn't? Laaaaaaame and pointless.
5. It wasn't even as good as Insidious.
If you're still interested in seeing this movie, save yourself the 10 dollars and wait for it to come out for rental. Really.
Score: 6/10
Saturday, May 7, 2011
#121 - Insidious (2011)
Why I volunteered to see this movie is beyond me. I blame J-Dub for piquing my interest in horror films. Or, at the very least, bringing them more toward the forefront of genres I would actually watch. In any case, since my friend Erika wouldn't see the movie with her husband Parviz, we decided we'd go see it without her. Take that! (Or, whatever...) And tonight was a good night because she'll actually be onstage herself in a performance of "Grey Gardens" (which I saw last weekend and talked about in an earlier post. At least, I remember doing so...).
I also decided to use this night that had been sans plans to make it a doubleheader, so I'll be following up this post with another one tomorrow.
My biggest complaint about Insidious is that it had the gall to cast Patrick Wilson and not have even one shirtless scene. What the hell? He was in his boxers for about two minutes, though, so I guess that's something. Also, I wanted more of Rose Byrne singing.
I did find that the movie did a nice job of keeping the suspense up without resorting to cheap horror movie "things jumping out of the shadows" all the time as its only method of scaring the moviegoers. A movie is much more effective (and so sayeth Hitchcock) when it allows the audience to know things that the onscreen character doesn't, or lets them see things the characters don't. In this way, the audience awaits with bated breath the inevitability of the scene. There was some good use of that in Insidious, and thus it was a better movie than it might otherwise have been.
Score: 7.5/10
I also decided to use this night that had been sans plans to make it a doubleheader, so I'll be following up this post with another one tomorrow.
My biggest complaint about Insidious is that it had the gall to cast Patrick Wilson and not have even one shirtless scene. What the hell? He was in his boxers for about two minutes, though, so I guess that's something. Also, I wanted more of Rose Byrne singing.
I did find that the movie did a nice job of keeping the suspense up without resorting to cheap horror movie "things jumping out of the shadows" all the time as its only method of scaring the moviegoers. A movie is much more effective (and so sayeth Hitchcock) when it allows the audience to know things that the onscreen character doesn't, or lets them see things the characters don't. In this way, the audience awaits with bated breath the inevitability of the scene. There was some good use of that in Insidious, and thus it was a better movie than it might otherwise have been.
Score: 7.5/10
Friday, May 6, 2011
#120 - Night and Fog (1955)
So, I'm going to Prom tonight! Hooray! I had so much fine at my own Senior Prom that I'm going to go to ever other Prom ever!!!
Or not. I hate dressing up, hate large, social gatherings, and hate small-talking with a billion people. So this year, I'm not getting that dressed up and I'm going to avoid as many people as possible. That's the right attitude heading into Prom, right?
The only reason I'm really going is because this year's seniors were freshmen when I began my teaching career almost four years ago. I have had a few students all four years I've been teaching (mostly due to the French classes) and I will be sad to see them go when they leave in a few weeks. Also, I did get an invitation (apparently, not everyone does), and several of my students (and a couple of the girls on the tennis team) asked me earnestly if I were going to attend. And so I relented. But this year I'm taking a date! (No, not a man. My friend Steph Kaza who's teaching next door to me this year before she doesn't return next year because she's a long-term sub.)
In any case, before I got ready to go, I wanted to get a movie in, so I chose a very short one.
I debated whether or not to include this film in my list this year, and decided that, despite its less-than-feature-film length, it should be included because of its impact on film, its cultural significance, and for the simple fact that it is a documentary I've wanted to see for a while now. Night and Fog (La nuit et la brouillard) is a French documentary about the beginnings of the concentration camps and imprisonment at the beginning of WWII. The images of the camp are arresting, but juxtaposed with the combination serenity and somberness of the area today.
But it is the images of the dead and dying, emaciated to a point that seems well beyond that of being able to keep itself alive, that are the most horrifying. In one second, these images expose the duality of the horror these people faced and the resilience of the human body and spirit. Bony adult corpses weighing probably 50 pounds prove that the will to live has a capacity greater than that of the will of the Nazis to break their imprisoned down.
In other words, this was a singularly great film to watch before going to Prom.
Score: 9/10
Or not. I hate dressing up, hate large, social gatherings, and hate small-talking with a billion people. So this year, I'm not getting that dressed up and I'm going to avoid as many people as possible. That's the right attitude heading into Prom, right?
The only reason I'm really going is because this year's seniors were freshmen when I began my teaching career almost four years ago. I have had a few students all four years I've been teaching (mostly due to the French classes) and I will be sad to see them go when they leave in a few weeks. Also, I did get an invitation (apparently, not everyone does), and several of my students (and a couple of the girls on the tennis team) asked me earnestly if I were going to attend. And so I relented. But this year I'm taking a date! (No, not a man. My friend Steph Kaza who's teaching next door to me this year before she doesn't return next year because she's a long-term sub.)
In any case, before I got ready to go, I wanted to get a movie in, so I chose a very short one.
I debated whether or not to include this film in my list this year, and decided that, despite its less-than-feature-film length, it should be included because of its impact on film, its cultural significance, and for the simple fact that it is a documentary I've wanted to see for a while now. Night and Fog (La nuit et la brouillard) is a French documentary about the beginnings of the concentration camps and imprisonment at the beginning of WWII. The images of the camp are arresting, but juxtaposed with the combination serenity and somberness of the area today.
But it is the images of the dead and dying, emaciated to a point that seems well beyond that of being able to keep itself alive, that are the most horrifying. In one second, these images expose the duality of the horror these people faced and the resilience of the human body and spirit. Bony adult corpses weighing probably 50 pounds prove that the will to live has a capacity greater than that of the will of the Nazis to break their imprisoned down.
In other words, this was a singularly great film to watch before going to Prom.
Score: 9/10
Thursday, May 5, 2011
#119 - 17 Again (2009)
Boy, this movie is alllllll over the place. There were parts where I was wondering if I could stand to sit through the extended scenes of unadulterated cheese (many of which were involving the film's star, Zac Efron), but there were a lot of moments that were pronouncedly funny (many of which involved the film's star, Zac Efron). I had originally decided to watch the film based on a lot of people telling me that it had been much better than they had anticipated. This it was, but it didn't have the amazingness quotient that a movie like Easy A did. Also, Zac Efron's a hottie.
What we have in 17 Again, for those of you unfamiliar with the premise, is sort of a backwards 13 Going On 30 where the main character (portrayed by Matthew Perry in the "adult years", which is a really smart part of the movie, as it were) gets a chance to put his life back in order when he gets to "replay" his senior year in high school. At first, he thinks he has this chance to prove his talents on the basketball court, but he comes to the realization that, instead, he needs to make sure his children make good choices in high school. Or something like that.
It's not the best movie of its genre, but it certainly is much more palatable than many others of its ilk. Zac Efron is pretty and pretty good, Leslie Mann (who I just saw in I Love You Phillip Morris) is beautiful and charming as Perry's ex-wife, and again we get Michelle Trachtenberg as a high school student (see also Eurotrip) who is dating the douchebaggy Silas Botwin of Weeds.
Score: 7/10
What we have in 17 Again, for those of you unfamiliar with the premise, is sort of a backwards 13 Going On 30 where the main character (portrayed by Matthew Perry in the "adult years", which is a really smart part of the movie, as it were) gets a chance to put his life back in order when he gets to "replay" his senior year in high school. At first, he thinks he has this chance to prove his talents on the basketball court, but he comes to the realization that, instead, he needs to make sure his children make good choices in high school. Or something like that.
It's not the best movie of its genre, but it certainly is much more palatable than many others of its ilk. Zac Efron is pretty and pretty good, Leslie Mann (who I just saw in I Love You Phillip Morris) is beautiful and charming as Perry's ex-wife, and again we get Michelle Trachtenberg as a high school student (see also Eurotrip) who is dating the douchebaggy Silas Botwin of Weeds.
Score: 7/10
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
#118 - City Lights (1931)
And now, something new is complete: I have finally watched some Chaplin. I went big, with the top silent film of the revised AFI Top 100 list from 2007. The film City Lights moved up 65 positions to 11th overall, probably largely as a nod to the genius of Chaplin and the era more than anything else. Now, I've seen both The General and Sunrise this year (and I realize that I bring the latter up often, but it is the curious incident of having been enthralled with a movie and yet, in esteem, going up with my reminiscences) and I have to say that this was my least favorite. Which is not to say that I didn't thoroughly enjoy it, but it was slow at the beginning -- too much sight gag and not enough story -- and until the story really got started, I wasn't that interested.
As the story goes on though (and it's really pretty simple: Chaplin plays a tramp who falls in love with a blind girl and gets her money to pay for her to have surgery to fix her poor eyesight) it becomes increasingly more interesting, focusing on Chaplin's attempts to earn this money. He befriends a millionaire, gets arrested, and tries to earn a boxing purse (easily one of the funniest parts of the movie), among other things. The sentimentality of the movie is a bit saccharine, at times, but the overall effect is less cloying than it might seem. I can certainly appreciate the artistry of the film, as well as its own unique brand of humor, and I definitely will be including more Chaplin later on.
Score: 8.5/10
As the story goes on though (and it's really pretty simple: Chaplin plays a tramp who falls in love with a blind girl and gets her money to pay for her to have surgery to fix her poor eyesight) it becomes increasingly more interesting, focusing on Chaplin's attempts to earn this money. He befriends a millionaire, gets arrested, and tries to earn a boxing purse (easily one of the funniest parts of the movie), among other things. The sentimentality of the movie is a bit saccharine, at times, but the overall effect is less cloying than it might seem. I can certainly appreciate the artistry of the film, as well as its own unique brand of humor, and I definitely will be including more Chaplin later on.
Score: 8.5/10
Sunday, May 1, 2011
#117 - Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
Hysterically, I was just talking to my friend Dan about how I watched this movie not too long ago and how I wouldn't really voluntarily choose to watch it again, really. But, as it turns out, it's part of the curriculum about social issues and racial tension in The South, which is couple with the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. So we watched the film in my 6th hour, and my feelings about its mediocrity were justified.
The movie is absolutely nothing special (as a matter of fact, its director didn't even get a Best Director nomination), though it is a nice movie. It's decently acted, tells a nice story, and tugs at the heartstrings here and there and everywhere, but God help me, I couldn't find a real conflict for the film. I mean, I get that Jessica Tandy is growing older and older, and I understand that Morgan Freeman can't read, but honestly none of the smaller conflict-ish plot points really gets fleshed out for the whole movie (other than aging, itself, and, honestly, you don't need a black chauffeur to stand by and watch a white woman age). And okay, there's the growing friendship between Tandy and Freeman, but that, too, is almost lost in everything else. This movie is, simply, a white woman being driven around by a black man and geography is the only real cause for their closeness. Kinda lame, don't you think?
Score: 5.5/10
The movie is absolutely nothing special (as a matter of fact, its director didn't even get a Best Director nomination), though it is a nice movie. It's decently acted, tells a nice story, and tugs at the heartstrings here and there and everywhere, but God help me, I couldn't find a real conflict for the film. I mean, I get that Jessica Tandy is growing older and older, and I understand that Morgan Freeman can't read, but honestly none of the smaller conflict-ish plot points really gets fleshed out for the whole movie (other than aging, itself, and, honestly, you don't need a black chauffeur to stand by and watch a white woman age). And okay, there's the growing friendship between Tandy and Freeman, but that, too, is almost lost in everything else. This movie is, simply, a white woman being driven around by a black man and geography is the only real cause for their closeness. Kinda lame, don't you think?
Score: 5.5/10
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