+1000 if the movie asked important questions, the answers were provided by people who think that Judd Apatow's best movie script was Don't Mess With The Zohan
The Grand Budapest Hotel Okay, so it's gimmicky and and self-consciously weird (as usual). But apparently I like that sort of thing because I had fun. The guy sets out to tell a story and that's what he does. Although I have to say that Tilda Swinton (whom I didn't recognize at all--only realized who it was when I spotted her name in the credits) was deeply disturbing. Stop that, Ms. Swinton!
Hell on Wheels - season 1 (2011) If you go in expecting "Deadwood", you will be very disappointed. It does not really work as a serious drama (from my perspective) but it can be enjoyed as a (very) pulpy western show. The pilot was the very best episode (I love Ted Levine). Conversely, the one where they chase Dog Soldiers and the Indians display a bad case of Stormtrooper aim was by far its nadir. Colm Meaney could probably play this role in his sleep. Anson Mounts intensity fits the character, but I can see it getting old eventually, and unfortunately his back-story is an amalgam of genre cliches. Common is passable in his role. This was just about good enough for me to want to see season two. Oh and Christopher Heyerdahl's Nordic accent is both terrible and incredibly annoying.
And the running gag at the expense of the Swede's nickname does not even make sense. Norway was part of a union with Sweden at that time, so the inhabitants of Hell on Wheels aren't even wrong in identifying him as such...
I watched "Captain Phillips" last night. My wife ordered it from Netflix thinking I'd want to see it. I'm sure it was a traumatic and harrowing experience for those involved and I wouldn't like to be put in that situation. Nobody knows how they would react. As an idea for a 2 hour movie, it's not so good. They "had to change" a lot of the "facts" to make it interesting to the viewer. What made it interesting was, soon afterwards. I caught the documentary of the real story on the discovery? channel. In some ways the reenactment of real story was more dramatic and interesting than the movie version.
Oblivion [2013] I don't really know what I expected out of this film, other than maybe just a decent sci-fi flick. The visuals were great and the tech had a pretty realistic "what the future could be" feel to it. The plot was kind of flimsy, and once you find out what/who Jack and Vik really are, it fell apart for me. It felt like WAY too much of a mashup of Planet of the Apes and Independence Day, with a dash of I, Robot, and a sprinkle of Minority Report for good measure. On their own, I enjoyed each of those four movies for different reasons. That's not to say I didn't enjoy Oblivion, but, to me, it felt like a patchwork quilt taking the "best" of those movies and trying to make something new and exciting.
A Separation (2011) Iranian film about a couple going through divorce while he is also accused of a crime and threatened with prison. Not usually one for world cinema but this just blew me away. Highly recommended.
Running Man Interesting note: If you google image Running Man you get 400 pix of some Japanese anime program and their live action stars well before you get the Schwarzenegger... I'm debating whether to get my son to watch this, you know, to see how it compares with his dystopian experience via The Hunger Games. Except that watching this movie every 20 years may have been enough. Really enjoyed the pop-schlock casting of Richard Dawson as the host of the show. It was great when he was the host of Family Fued. It's even a better casting choice after all these years...
In Bruges - 2008 No idea why it took me so long to see this little gem but I'm glad I did. Who'd have thought Gleeson and Farrell would make such a sweet couple. Not I. An entertainingly, often very funny, 100mins of my time well spent.
Thor - The Dark World Wow. I know it's a comic book movie, and I chose to watch it -- but it made zero sense as a narrative and created little enjoyment as a diversion. Natalie Portman must have loved this -- fewer and slightly less awful lines of dialogue than Star Wars; only a few ridiculous costumes; zero kabuki make-up; and probably an equally gargantuan paycheck. But I'm hard pressed to think of another movie as epicly un-necessary as this one. Even within the Avengers Universe -- the whole two hours could have been a brief conversation between Tony Stark and Captain America in some other film ... -- Is Thor OK? You mean after that whole 'convergence of the 9 realms' thing? -- Yeah, that seemed pretty hectic. Didn't his brother get killed? Unclear. -- Hope that cute Dr. made it out alive. Hammerhead with a little mortal action, huh? Who knew? Leave it. Why did he end up on Earth again anyway? -- Apparently that Tasseract thing has a sister -- yet another world destroying chemistry set. Him and his helmets sent it off to some intergalactic safety deposit box. Fascinating. What could go wrong? Boom. Done.
I've just served 250 minutes in Exploitation Prison. The Big Bird Cage (1972) The standard for jungle prison movies. Tin-pot southeast asia government, revolutionaries, bizarre authority figures, and diverse individuals thrown together in common cause. An almost innocent American does hard labor in a plantation prison with gay guards and a warden fixated on building a giant mill for grinding sugar cane (the "bird cage"). Relaxed revolutionaries hatch a stupid plan to free the women prisoners and use them as sexual bait to attract proletariat support and overturn the military junta. It doesn't work. Who would have guessed. Big Doll House (1971) Higher production values than the sister film above, but I don't understand it. There's some drama among the prisoners, and a convoluted escape plan, but it seems like the main purpose of this film is to see women being tortured. The American warden of a southeast asia prison and her lieutenant use waterboarding, whips, and electrocution to try to make a true revolutionary betray her comrades to the lackeys of American Imperialism. As if. Pam Grier sings the theme song "Long Time Woman" and does a fantastic job. Caged Heat (1974) Nothing like the other two - no Pam Grier, no Sid Haig, no Philippines, no revolutionaries, no innocents, no cheap film stock. Women in prison face a controlling warden and sadistic doctor. The experience turns them into super criminals, but with great loyalty to each other. Tries to be a psychological study of the prisoners and warden in between the voyeurism and sadism, but shallow thinking and poor direction ruin it. Mostly a mess, but gets better near the end. -- I enjoyed movies in the periphery of this genre (Black Mama White Mama, Savage Sisters, The Arena), but I can't say I liked any of these. You either see the protagonists die at the hands of evil authority, or you see murderers get away with crime.
Thor sees this cute nymph after an all night orgy so he struts over and says. "Hi, I'm Thor" She replies. "You're Thor? I'm tho thor I can hardly pith! Oh and I agree mostly on the movie.
The Adventures of Tin Tin OK. True enough to the spirit of the books, which, of course, is paramount for me, and the animation is very similar to the panel by panel action. Neat fight at the end with dueling container ship loading cranes. Perfectly enjoyable hour and a half spent with my son (who steadfastly refuses to read the books Edit: OK, he says he's read the books and that I'm selling him short on the subject of Tin Tin) and I'm looking forward to the sequel. On netflix. This was not a movie worth $10-12 / head in a theater.
My wife, bless her little cotton socks ordered "American Hustle" for last night. Sorry, I have no idea of what it was doing at the Oscars or why it even received an invite. The only redeeming feature was getting to drool over Amy Adams and dream of being a few years younger.
I've been torn ever since this came out: On the one hand, the guy directed Three Kings and I {heart} Huckabees, both of which I like quite a bit. On the other hand, Spanking the Monkey was one of the worst movies I've ever watched not directed by Todd Solandz or Harmony Korine Then again.. Amy Adams...
It's been on my mind as well. Wondering why? The cast and the acting, under the circumstances, was quite good. Jennifer Lawrence, although miscast for this movie, IMO, still shows amazing on screen presence. Amy Adams shows her versatility yet again, (drool). Renner is believable in his role. The other 2 were a 'little" over the top but fun. Yet the movie itself.... Well it just Sucked!
47 Ronin (2013) Dir. Carl Rinsch Not as terrible as some critics made it out to be. I honestly thought that the American actor being shoe-horned in would bother me more, but it works better here than it did in "The Last Samurai". For one thing, Reeves at least looks like he could belong in this universe. And his character is actually a proper fit in the samurai movie tradition where one of the warriors is an outsider, sometimes even a spirit or a magical creature. I had less patience for the handful of monster sequences and the superfluous ship sequence, which seemed aimed only at attracting the Pirates audience. The tattooed dude on the poster is only on screen for thirty seconds, if that. As a retelling of the famous story, it takes quite a bit of liberties. As a genre film, it's adequate but not really memorable. If you want to see a modern day samurai movie that is much better yet still very accessible, then "13 Assassins" is a far better alternative.
Watched this a few nights ago. I thought it was one of the better movies I've seen in a while. I didn't really figure out the big reveal, but wasn't really trying to either. I really enjoyed the acting. Jackman and Gyellenhaal were fantastic. I guess I enjoyed it more because I wasn't thinking too much about it while watching it.
Shakespeare Uncovered: Part 1 Ethan Hawke on Macbeth In homage, I think, to Spejic's Van Dammathon, I have embarked on the Bardathon. I am attempting to read the 38 plays of William Shakespeare in one calendar year. I've already enjoyed one of his weaker works, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, more than most anything else I've picked up this year (there have been a lot of losers). Anyway, this documentary was the first I found on netflix instant, and it was compellingly interesting. Hawke comes across as a guy who's seen the play on stage, and being an actor, thinks that the role of Macbeth would be a great one. He fully has to learn the setting, the time, the language. Oh, there are way too many shots of a brooding (or walking, he does a lot of walking) Ethan Hawke, but this was surprisingly enjoyable.
It's over 30 years old now... But Shakespeare's a lot older than that, so it's still relatively new, but this is one of the best series I've ever seen about acting, theater, etc... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086780/?ref_=nm_flmg_slf_152 A documentary covering a half-dozen or so master classes on how to play Shakespeare at the Royal Shakespeare Company, featuring some pretty serious actors (Ben Kingsley, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan). Damn fine stuff.