Movie Reviews

[Elvina]

I don't know yet if I'll see Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan at all. If I do it probably won't be in the cinema but on DVD. As for Sacha ben Cohen's work... I must agree with you a bit on that point, Wyvern. The first I ever saw of this guy was in a class for my Cert IV in Disability Work. Out teacher used a tape of his to show the differences in the way people react when their beliefs are challenged or made fun of. It's not so bad when it's the cliche stuff that's not so important, but when it comes to our core values, people just don't shrug it off very well at all. Ali G and many of Cohen's other personas are good at doing that, and our teacher pointed out that these personas are a great way of doing it, since he can pretend ignorance in particular social mores and thus people are more tolerable of his loud talking about 'taboo' subjects or non-polite topics in polite conversation when they think he's a foreigner. I find Borat ruder than the other Cohen characters, though, and I've already heard that this movie is one of the rudest ever to come out if you can't take things with a grain of salt.

 

Anyhoo, movie, movie, movies...

 

 

I rented National Lampoon's Animal House on DVD the other day. It's a movie I watched growing up - one of my favourites. It's an oldie, starring John Belushi, Karen Allen, a really young looking Donald Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, Stephen Furst (Vir from B5, for all those B5ers out there), and a cast of less well-knowns. I was incredibly surprised to find out Bruce McGill, who I know mainly from a number of Star Trek: Voyager episodes as Captain Braxton, played D-Day, an old favourite of mine from the movie. It has some swearing (f-words) and sexual themes in some parts, but most of it is just hilarious college-orientated fun. It was co-written by Harold Ramis (Egon from Ghostbusters, for those who don't know the name - gotta love his work, both written and performed!), and was directed by John Landis.

 

The thing that ticked me off to no end, such that if I ever bought this DVD I'd have to also hunt down an original VHS copy, is that in the new release DVD they've actually changed some of the original songs that were used during some scenes. That might not seem like much to some people, but then, you've probably never seen Animal House. In those scenes, the thing I remember most is the music, and now they've got some meaningless other songs in there? GRRR! The worst part is there's no explanation for the change in the movie extras, which I was expecting. The movie just seems wrong now in those parts, like when Bluto (Belushi) is at the lunch line and that old song "Don't Know Much" should be playing. It's such a la-de-da song it adds to the humour of the scene as Belushi stuffs his tray, pockets, and face with food. What they have there instead is some rock-sounding song that just sounds like background noise. Bring back the integral songs that are in the original! Great fun, this movie, and not as bad as I remember language and content wise, if you know where to fast forward as I intimately do. You know you've seen a movie too much when, ten years since seeing it last, you can basically recite it word for word, dialogue AND music (when the music's right!).

 

 

Memorable quotes:

 

[Watching Flounder take abuse at ROTC]

Otter: He can't do that do that to our pledges.

Boon: Only we can do that to our pledges.

 

***

 

Dean Vernon Wormer: Greg, what is the worst fraternity on this campus?

Greg Marmalard: Well that would be hard to say, sir. They're each outstanding in their own way.

Dean Vernon Wormer: Cut the horse****, son. I've got their disciplinary files right here. Who dropped a whole truckload of fizzies into the swim meet? Who delivered the medical school cadavers to the alumni dinner? Every Halloween, the trees are filled with underwear. Every spring, the toilets explode.

Greg Marmalard: You're talking about Delta, sir.

Dean Vernon Wormer: Of course I'm talking about Delta, you TWERP!

 

***

 

Bluto: See if you can guess what I am now.

[puts mashed potatoes in his mouth, chews it, hits his cheeks with his fists and spits it out]

Bluto: I'm a zit. Get it?

 

***

 

Dean Vernon Wormer: The time has come for someone to put his foot down. And that foot is me.

 

***

 

Dean Vernon Wormer: Mr. Kroger: two Cs, two Ds and an F. That's a 1.2 grade average. Congratulations, Kroger. You're at the top of the Delta pledge class. Mr. Dorfman?

Flounder: Hello!

Dean Vernon Wormer: Zero point two... Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son. Mr. Hoover, president of Delta house? One point six; four C's and an F. A fine example you set! Daniel Simpson Day... HAS no grade point average. All courses incomplete. Mr. Blu - MR. BLUTARSKY... ZERO. POINT. ZERO.

 

***

 

Meaner dude: If I was in your shoes, I'd be...

Otter: Leaving! What a good idea.

 

***

 

D-Day: War's over, man. Wormer dropped the big one.

Bluto: Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!

Otter: Germans?

Boon: Forget it, he's rolling.

Bluto: And it ain't over now. 'Cause when the goin' gets tough...

[waits for response and gets none.]

Bluto: the tough get goin'! Who's with me? Let's go!

[runs out, alone; then returns]

Bluto: What happened to the Delta I used to know? Where's the spirit? Where's the guts, huh? "Ooh, we're afraid to go with you Bluto, we might get in trouble." Well just kiss my ass from now on! Not me! I'm not gonna take this. Wormer, he's a dead man! Marmalard, dead! Niedermeyer...

Otter: Dead! Bluto's right. Psychotic, but absolutely right. We gotta take these bastards. Now we could do it with conventional weapons that could take years and cost millions of lives. No, I think we have to go all out. I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part.

Bluto: We're just the guys to do it.

D-Day: Let's do it.

Bluto: LET'S DO IT!

 

***

 

Flounder: May I have ten thousand marbles, please?

 

***

 

[None of his literature students are paying attention]

Jennings: Don't write this down, but I find Milton probably as boring as you find Milton. Mrs. Milton found him boring too. He's a little bit long-winded, he doesn't translate very well into our generation, and his jokes are terrible.

[bell rings, students rise to leave]

Jennings: But that doesn't relieve you of your responsibility for this material. Now I'm waiting for reports from some of you... Listen, I'm not joking. This is my job!

 

***

 

SPOILER ALERT!!

 

[Flounder has just fired a blank cartridge near Neidermeyer's horse, and the horse has dropped dead]

Bluto: Holy s**!

D-Day: There were blanks in that gun!

Flounder: I didn't even point the gun at him!

Bluto: Holy s**!

[D-Day checks the gun]

D-Day: There WERE blanks in that gun!

Flounder: Maybe he had a heart attack.

Bluto: Holy s***!

 

***

 

Flounder: I can't believe I threw up in front of Dean Wormer.

Boon: Face it, Kent. You threw up *on* Dean Wormer.

 

***

 

Hoover: They confiscated everything, even the stuff we didn't steal!

 

***

 

Clorette De Pasto: Dad! Mom, Dad, this is Larry Kroger. The boy who molested me last month. We have to get married.

 

***

 

Otter: Point of parliamentary procedure!

Hoover: Don't screw around, they're serious this time!

Otter: Take it easy, I'm pre-law.

Boon: I thought you were pre-med.

Otter: What's the difference?

[Addressing the room]

Otter: Ladies and gentlemen, I'll be brief. The issue here is not whether we broke a few rules, or took a few liberties with our female party guests - we did.

[winks at Dean Wormer]

Otter: But you can't hold a whole fraternity responsible for the behavior of a few, sick twisted individuals. For if you do, then shouldn't we blame the whole fraternity system? And if the whole fraternity system is guilty, then isn't this an indictment of our educational institutions in general? I put it to you, Greg - isn't this an indictment of our entire American society? Well, you can do whatever you want to us, but we're not going to sit here and listen to you badmouth the United States of America. Gentlemen!

[Leads the Deltas out of the hearing, all humming the Star-Spangled Banner]

 

***

 

Otter: Mandy, Mandy Pepperidge. I haven't seen you since we...

Mandy Pepperidge: Go away!

Otter: I'm sorry, I can only stay a minute. Can I buy you some lunch? Oh, you got your lunch. Well, how about some milk? Got your milk too. Can I just massage your thighs while you eat?

Mandy Pepperidge: Do I have to leave?

Otter: Is this any way to treat an intimate friend?

 

***

 

Boon: It's not gonna be an orgy! It's a toga party.

Katy: Honestly, Boon, you're twenty-one years old. In six months you're going to graduate, and tomorrow night you're going to wrap yourself in a bed sheet and pour grain alcohol all over your head. It's cute, but I think I'll pass this time.

Boon: Want me to go alone?

Katy: Baby, I don't want you to go at all.

Boon: It's a *fraternity* party, I'm in the fraternity. How can I miss it?

Katy: I'll write you a note. I'll say you're too well to attend.

 

***

 

Jennings: Teaching is just a way to pay the bills until I finish my novel.

Boon: How long you been workin' on it?

Jennings: Four and a half years.

Pinto: It must be very good.

Jennings: It's a piece of s***. Would anyone like to smoke some pot?

 

***

 

Neidermeyer: You're all worthless and weak! Now drop and give me twenty!

 

***

 

Chip: [being spanked as part of Omega's initiation] Thank you, sir! May I have another?

 

***

 

Hoover: Will you tell those ***holes to shut up?

Boon: Hey! Shut up you ***holes!

 

***

 

D-Day: Ramming speed!

 

***

 

[Dean Wormer's plotting to get rid of Delta House]

Greg Marmalard: But Delta's already on probation.

Dean Vernon Wormer: They are? Well, as of this moment, they're on DOUBLE SECRET PROBATION!

 

***

 

Otter: Ah, she broke our date.

Boon: Washing her hair?

Otter: Dead mother.

 

***

 

[in the supermarket vegetable section]

Eric 'Otter' Stratton: Mine's bigger.

Marion Wormer: [looks questioningly at him]

Eric 'Otter' Stratton: My cucumber. It's bigger.

Eric 'Otter' Stratton: I think vegetables can be very sensuous, don't you?

Marion Wormer: No, vegetables are sensual. People are sensuous.

Eric 'Otter' Stratton: Right. Sensual. That's what I meant. My name's Eric Stratton. People call me Otter.

Marion Wormer: My name's Marion. People call me Mrs. Wormer.

Eric 'Otter' Stratton: Oh, we have a Dean Wormer at Faber.

Marion Wormer: How interesting. I have a husband named Dean Wormer at Faber. Still want to show me your cucumber?

 

***

 

Eric 'Otter' Stratton: You guys up for a toga party?

John 'Bluto' Blutarsky: Toga! Toga!

Eric 'Otter' Stratton: Ah, I think they like the idea, Hoov.

 

***

 

Greg Marmalard: Come outta there, you bastards!

Eric 'Otter' Stratton: [in falsetto] Who is it?

Greg Marmalard: You know damn well who it is.

Eric 'Otter' Stratton: I'm sorry. You'll have to come back later. I'm doing the dishes.

 

***

 

Eric 'Otter' Stratton: Greg, look at my thumb.

[Gregg looks at Otter's thumb. Otter punches Gregg in the face]

Eric 'Otter' Stratton: Gee, you're dumb.

 

***

 

Charming guy with guitar: I gave my love a cherry / That had no stone / I gave my love a chicken / That had no bones / I gave my love a story / That had no end / I gave my...

Bluto: [grabs the guitar and smashes it against the wall] Sorry.

 

 

 

Er, sorry, that was a little more than I expected. You probably all don't even need to see it now... There are just so many great quotes from this movie!

 

Elvina

Edited November 18, 2006 by Elvina

[reverie]

Borat

 

Insane predominately unscripted satire of well a lot things. Not for the faint of heart. Insanely funny, but with a lot and I mean a lot of cringe worthy moments. Not exactly sure what the message he was trying to get across was though. Okay, sure, i get the whole lampooning of America thing, which he did supremely, but why so vicious against Kazakhstan. I think I heard something online like it was revenge for them persecuting jewish ppl at some point their history, since the guy playing borat is actually an othordox jew...(didn't the Soviet Union do that to all religions?) but don't know how much truth there is to that, and why single them out...lots of nations did similar and worse. Must be a personal connection somewhere. oh well.

 

 

 

 

 

Who Killed the Electric Car

 

 

Documentary about the rise and fall of the electric battery powered car the EV1 circa 1995ish. GM literally crushed the last few remaining EV1's out of existence in 2004. (as other car maker did likewise.) A couple still exist as museum pieces, yet they were functionally disabled.

 

Sad Sad Sad movie as in it's a crying shame. Conservative, Liberal, Libertarian, Green, apathitic, whatever it will tick you off. Customer demand completely ignored. Innovation buried. !@#$!# Though, I'm not surprised.

 

My prius set me back ALOT, but i'm sooo glad i bought when I had the chance/means. @!#$#!$ detriot. Japan is not exactly innocence either, but at least they kept the technology alive.

 

grumble, grumble...

 

***

 

Four Rooms

 

finally got around to seeing this one. Great flick. Adding it to my all time favorite list. Check it out.

4 four directors for four semi-intertwined stories including Quentin Tarentino. Lot's of stars in it too. Great acting. Awesome.

Edited November 19, 2006 by reverie

[Wyvern]

reverie - I don't know if it's worth analyzing "Borat" for an underlying message, since I highly doubt that Cohen has any intention other than to shock the audience and make them laugh. You're right about the lampooning of America, though, so I suppose you can take a lot of critiques of the U.S from it. I certainly don't think Cohen has anything against Kazakhstan... in interviews, he's stated that the joke is really on people who can believe that the Kazakhstan he depicts is anything even remotely ressembling a real country. He also said that he just chose it randomly as one of many backwater Soviet spots that few Americans or Brits have heard of.

 

Thanks for the new reviews, by the way. :-) Elvina - I actually haven't seen "Animal House," and probably should given your glowing review and the praises of others. Though for the record, "swearing (f-words)/sexual themes" and "college-oriented humor" have always struck me as being pretty much synonymous. ;-p

[reverie]

Wyv,

 

The premise behind "Animal House," is that all the creators got together and decided to make a movie that would detail the most outragerous college myths they could find. As another example of truth being stranger than fiction, the scene where the two young white couples walk into a predominately african-american bar/club where two of regulars ask the white guys, "Do you mind if we dance with your dates?" actually happened to one of the writers.

 

it's a classic.

[Kikuyu_Black_Paws]

I saw a movie this thanksgiving break that I thought was marvelous, artful, and thoughtful. It's called The Fountain. It is a story that you have to see to understand: it begins with a flashback, and as the story progresses, you understand what is happening. The graphics and detail and culture were amazing. While slightly vague, the images and plot line were well developed.

 

I don't know if anyone else who will read this post has seen the movie, or if you will in the future. All I can say is that I give it a 9 out of 10.

 

The story centers around the fountain of youth, but in this case it's a tree: if you drink the tree's sap you will, in theory, live forever. Queen Isabella of Spain sends her conquistador out to find it in the Myan ruins. The whole leged is that the Myan's god sacrificed himself to create the world. His arms and legs (if I remember this rightly) became the world and his heart became the tree and his head formed the nebula (dying star to those who do not know) that is their afterworld. The story then flips back and forth between two other times: a doctor who is trying to discover how to stop the growth of tumors while his wife writes a story about The Fountain, and a man in a bubble-like space craft with a large tree, heading upwards into the Myan after world. I dare not say much more for fear of giving away the tale, so you'll just have to go see it yourself. Some language and 'other' scenes (beginning of) involved. But on the whole a movie for the wish list.

Edited November 27, 2006 by Kikuyu Black Paws

[Wyvern]

reverie - well-noted, I'll definitely have to check out "Animal House" at some point (thanks once again for your Wes Anderson recommendations, btw, I can't believe I almost overlooked him). :-) Kikuyu - I've heard quite a few positive reviews of "The Fountain," and Darren Aronofsky seems to be a pretty popular director with "Requiem for a Dream" and "Pi" under his belt. I haven't seen any of his films yet, is there any way his style could be described? "The Fountain" does sound pretty ambitious, though I might wait til it comes out on DVD. Or maybe I should whet my appetite with one of his other films...

 

Last weekend, I saw the new Bond flick "Casino Royale." Disappointing. I have no problem with Daniel Craig as the new Bond, and think he does a good job in the role despite some differences in style and appearence. Eva Green is also gorgeous as the heroine of the pic, and plays her part well. My problem with the flick, though, is that the action wasn't that gripping to me and I kept thinking the film was going to end only to watch another continuation. Tag it the "Return of the King" effect. They also made the mistake of [spoiler alert]knocking off the main villain[/spoiler alert] too early... the evil syndicate was nowhere near as bad-ass as a guy who cries blood. It's a decent film, but it didn't leave me 100% entertained.

[Zadown]

Wyvern, I've seen both "Requiem for a Dream" and "Pi", and umm... "Pi" is pretty good if I remember right, it's been years and years since I saw it. A bit Lynch-ian nightmare/paranoid atmosphere, definitely worth watching. "Requiem for a Dream" is even better but very harsh on the watcher, showing the watcher what addiction can do in no uncertain terms. It smashes the message through your skull right into your brain with such brute, disgusting power I am uncertain if I should actually ask people to see it. It's been years since I saw it as well, but the images were burned into my normally misty memory with acid and will not vanish.

 

I'm definitely looking forward to seeing "The Fountain".

[The Portrait of Zool]

'The Fountain' definitely sounds like something to look for.

 

I haven't seen any movies lately, been way too busy. Well, actually, last weekend I did stop long enough to watch 'White Christmas' with Bing Crosby, but what can I say about a certified iconic American christmas film classic?

 

Wait a minute... I did catch most of a rental, "l'enfante", a subtitled film my wife was watching.

http://www.sonyclassics.com/thechild/

I really liked this movie. It was very well written, produced and acted. The premise and story was resoundingly realistic. In fact, at times it felt eerily documentish, filmed as it was with a very minimalist approach. It was a very heartwrenching and gritty film, which I can't say too much about without giving away the movie. Suffice it to say, it's not much of an upper, but very powerful and revealling of human strength and vulnerability. I challenge anyone to watch this and remain unmoved, right through to the very end. Though not too particularly a bright ending, it is a strangely hopeful ending, which I tribute to the understanding, skill, and subtleness of the writers/directors.

 

But anywho, what I really wanted to post was something I caught on the Adam Carolla radio show, which I listen to on the way to work everyday (I know, I've sunk so low - but I find him pretty darn hilarious most of the time!). It concerns the movie 'Borat', which I want to see but haven't yet (add it to the list...). Apparently, Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock went to see the movie, and Kid Rock became so insensed by what he saw that as they exited the theater he called her a good many very bad things - and the next thing you know she filed for divorce!

 

So, it looks like 'Borat' the movie has become a bit of Hollywood history, tangled up with celebrity history as it is. Of course, Adam Carolla just had to comment that as far as 'movies' that Pamela Anderson was in, 'Borat' isn't the one that would stick in his craw if he were her husband... ;p

[Elvina]

Mission Impossible III

 

This movie was better than I thought it would be, but certainly not something you need your brain switched on to watch. Even with my brain as dormant as I could make it, I was still prone to the occasional: "What? You've gotta be kidding me!", and a rare "Oh, puh-lease!" Tom Cruise was good in this role, I thought. I can't help thinking every time I watch him that no one ever uses him properly in a movie. Maybe that's just something to do with the way he acts, though, since I've yet to see a movie in which he really just looks natural.

 

This was JJ Abramms' first feature film (the director who brought us Alias). There are some great camera angles in this film that made things more interesting for me, like when Ethan lands on the building roof and slids under the camera, which goes upsidedown to follow him down the glass and we get a great, bold geometric shot that really makes you feel the height and just look interesting. Also, the helicopter chase through the windmills was a little different, which was good. The stunt raved about in the extras - where something explodes behind Tom and he's thrown into a parked car - seemed unbelieveable to me. This is mainly due to the fact that he is thrown sideways, not forwards. Come on, people! Who get's thrown sideways when the exploding force is directly behind you??

 

Maggie Q was great. I wished I'd seen more of her. Her dress was fantastic. Philip Seymour Hoffman was good. I'm glad we see more of him not only as the bad guy, but as the good guy playing the bad guy, which he did well. He wasn't really a match for Ethan physically in this film, but thankfully it wasn't just about good guy and bad guy beating the daylights out of one another, or just shooting everything up. I still want to know what the Rabbit's Foot is. The hypothesis put forth only ever remained just that.

 

I was pleasantly surprised by Keri Russell in this action role. Her first? I'm not sure. I thought she did a good job, though. I didn't think Michelle Monaghan who played Ethan's fiance was anything really special.

 

Overall, a good switch-off-the-brain-and-watch movie if you're in an action mood, with some interesting sets, settings, twists on old chases, and camera usage. I'd give it three and a half out of five stars.

 

Elvina

[reverie]

Not sure, if I ever posted these, but here goes:

 

The Proposition

 

A western Australian Style. Bang, bang shoot 'em up stuff like that with a reluctant hero and everything. Not a bad film. Basically about 3 brothers that were in a gang. youngest is a simpleton, oldest is eloquent with a flair for the dramatic but is also evil incarnate, and middle brother is the reluctant hero that turned away from dark side. So general plot is this: The police capture the middle and younger brother. The police captain offers the middle brother a deal: kill your evil older brother or the law will hang your youngest brother.

 

Neat movie. Great twist on the western theme.

[Elvina]

The Prestige

 

Set against the backdrop of turn-of-the-century London, this story is about two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy - full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences. From the time that they first met as young magicians on the rise, Robert Angier (Huge Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) are competitors. However, their friendly competition evolves into a bitter rivalry making them fierce enemies-for-life and consequently jeopardizing the lives of everyone around them.

 

This story has a killer twist at the end. It's not so much a killer twist in that you never saw it coming - which you don't (or, at least, me and hubby didn't). It's more that you come out of the movie still dealing with the ramifications of the killer twist. I spent a good bit of my evening afterwards thinking about how much some foreshawdowed things all made sense now.

 

I was actually almost bored at the start of this movie. It jumps around a LOT, but that's part of what gets you engrossed once things start happening. I don't think I was really engrossed until maybe half an hour into it. The story turns very morbid, especially at the end. Huge Jackman was great, though his accent was a little off. Strange, since he played the Duke in Kate & Leopold with a perfect English accent, but then I guess that particular high-English accent had no part being spoken by a turn-of-the-century non-Duke English magician.

 

I didn't like how morbid it became as it progressed, or the depths to which these two characters went in their competitiveness, but the story and the ending are still quite good from a technical standpoint. For that reason, four stars.

 

Elvina

[Wyvern]

I recently watched "Ali G in da House" and "Napolean Dynamite," on TV and DVD respectively.

 

"Ali G in da House" is a film based on Ali G, another comedy character of Sacha Baron Cohen. The movie's very different from "Da Ali G Show" and "Borat" in the sense that it's all scripted and played by actors, which is a sharp contrast to Cohen's usual form of improvisational roleplaying. While the film isn't as funny as some of the original shows or as the "Borat" movie, it still definitely has its moments. The opening shoot-out scene and the scene where Ali G is forced to resign from parliament were both highlights to me. Overall, the movie's not essential, but brutally funny in brief spurts.

 

"Napolean Dynamite" is the recent nerd flick that's been getting a lot of publicity, including a succinct negative review in this thread from the Pen's own Doctor Evil. I found the flick decent. It was kind of fun and pretty well put together for what it was, but I didn't really find it laugh-out-loud funny. Napolean was an interesting character, but didn't feel like someone I could fully root for due to his pissy attitude. One thing that came as a pleasant surprise to me in this film was the way that it treated internet chatrooms and online dating. At the beginning of the film, it seems as though chatrooms are going to be treated as a foolish way to interact with people... but as the film progresses, it ends up really working out for Napolean's dad and his online girlfriend. A pretty refreshing approach to internet chatrooms in film, since most movies seem to end up portraying them as artificial. Decent film, overall.

[reverie]

Napolean's brother not dad.

[The Big Pointy One]

I also recently saw the Fountain. It was a really nice flick that kinda had the "huh?" factor of Donnie Darko, in my opinion. I don't think it's actually clear what's going on for sure, the way it switches around and certain plot events unfold. (For instance, whether or not the 'flashbacks' and the part where the main character is ascending towards the nebula with the tree are actually real or not...) Anyways, great movie, my only complaint is did they really have to make the sap white? Really? Anyways, that's that. I haven't seen the other one, but Pi was also really great. I was reading a little bit about Kabala at the time (forgive me if I spelled that wrong) so I found it especially interesting.

[reverie]

I've been watching a lot movies lately. Too much time on my hands, waiting for the semester to start, that and I'm recovering from some minor injuries. Anyway.

 

The Fountain was pretty, but I felt completely misled by the previews. Trippy film.

 

A Very Long Engagement If you like Amelie, you'll like this one. French Film with the same Director, same leading ladying, Audrey Tautou as Amelie, but it's far more serious as it is set in WWI. Still a love story though, and a nice one at that, with trench warfare to boot. It's one of the few movies I can watch more than once, and still enjoy (Royal Tenenbaums, Euro-trip, Four Rooms, Serenity, and Romeo and Juliet.)

 

Evil Dead I and II: Neat enough. Bruce Cambell rocks. Anyway, comparing both with each other and the third movie in the series: Army of Darkness will send you on a blissful trivia hunt for plot inconsistencies. Even more interesting is why those inconsistencies occurred in the first place (lack of funding, editing disputes, ratings, etc).

 

Mirror Mask A surreal collaboration between Neil Gaiman, Dave Mckean, and Jim Henson's legacy workshops with juggling. Family friendly story in the tradition of Labyrinth.

[Wyvern]

Last weekend, I rented and watched the film "Blood Rayne" with a friend of mine who was visiting for a few days. I was curious about this film since Yui and Aegon had told me it was the worst movie they’d ever seen, and I felt like watching a B-movie to make fun of.

 

"Blood Rayne" was exceptionally awful, as one might expect from a film based on a hack-and-slash vampire video game starring Kristanna Loken (Terminator 3), but I must say that it was one of the most hilariously bad movies I've had the pleasure of laughing at. When my friend and I were watching this, we were laughing so hard over it that we were reduced to tears, and had to pause the film several times just so we could catch our breath. "Blood Rayne" is just so campy, trite, plotless and poorly acted that it ends up being one unintentionally hilarious scene after another. Geeze, where to start with the comedy that is this film... how about the theatrical trailer: "A father... a daughter... a mighty leader... a prophet... a young hero... a guardian... a land ruled by evil... a secret society of avengers... will the world be ruled by light, or darkness? *names of actors flash by, including Meatloaf Aday* Blood Rayne, the adventure begins." That's a direct quote. Moving onto the film itself, we're talking zero points in the character development department, plus an action video game plot loaded with so many loose ends that you lose track. This flick is also so full of unrealistic over-the-top gore that it just feels ludicrous, and the completely random and unnecessary nature of it all makes it too funny. A highlight of this would have to be the final montage of the film, which seems to go back and revisit all of the gorey moments throughout the movie, throwing in an additional gang of unenthusiastic-looking fill-in actors hacking down on a corpse that looks like it's been put through a meat grinder, but which somehow still manages to spurt oodles of blood. The flick also features a completely gratuitous scene of sex that comes right out of the blue, though the director should probably work on his erotica a bit (eh, I can't complain, Kristanna Loken's breasts are still technically the best thing about this picture). The hilarity doesn't end there, as it seems that somehow, Ben Kingsley and Michael Madson managed to tangle themselves into this stinker. Watching them suffer on screen is a guilty pleasure... there's not a moment where you don't see that they're aware of how awful their roles are, and their glum facial expressions and laughable dialogue (I won't even bother going into how bad the script is) speak volumes. And did I mention the CGI special effects for the razor-blade mega death trap in the level 1 tomb? Dangerously funny. Heck, the expressions on characters' faces when they turn into vampires are reason alone to make fun of this film. "Blood Rayne" is a horrible B-movie in every sense imaginable, but it's also one that'll leave you intellectual film-goers laughing your heads off the entire way through due to the extreme level of campiness. A perfect 1.

 

P.S: see the trailer for yourself - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_8DN1Y0sL4

 

P.P.S: Yui, you'll be horrified to know that this is far from the worst movie I've seen. At least the unintentional comedy value of this flick gives it some redeemable qualities...

[Zadown]

Wyvern, that's "director" Uwe Boll, the ruler of IMDB Bottom #100 -list, for you. All his movies are like that, and the only reason he is allowed to make more (if I understood and remember right) are some sort of tax-related laws that make financing his crap benefical in Germany. I can understand the fun in watching his unholy abominations but I've seen one (House of the Dead) and I'd rather not kill off any more braincells that way. YMMV.

[Mynx]

During my Christmas/New Years/Summer(hah!) break from work, I managed to catch three films: Saw 3, The Prestige, and Night at the Museum.

 

Saw 3

Jigsaw can do no wrong in my eyes. This film was fantastic. Yes, even for a sequel. Even for a second sequel. If this had been a stand alone movie I would have enjoyed myself. Hell, the pre credits clip was better than all of Hostel (but we won't talk about that, for that movie is dead to me).

The premise is similar as before, the main captives this time being a man stuck in a maze that forces him to accept the fact that he needs to just. get. over. things., and a female doctor kidnapped by Amanda (Shawnee Smith) to help Jigsaw (Tobin Bell). Once again, this film (along with its brothers) is not for the fainthearted. But I loved it. And not just for the gore. The acting and directing was top notch and they still managed to keep a nice (nasty?) little surprise at the end.

The question that remains is, do they leave it as a nice little trilogy of sadism, or shoot themselves in the foot and try make more...?

Gods I hope not.

Game over?

 

The Prestige

Mmmm Christian Bale...

Mmmm Christian Bale with an English accent...

Another great movie, this one set in the 1900s and focusing on a pair of successful stage magicians. The pair (Bale and Jackman) have been rivals since Jackman blamed Bale for the death of his wife during a stage act they were apprenticing.

Much emo and angst ensues. But it's actually not annoying angst. The way they work at each other is entertaining and borderline viscious, and although you pretty much have things figured out by the end, there are some nice little extra things you learn that make going back and seeing the film again just as enjoyable. The casting was brilliant, and for once director Nolan didn't set my teeth on edge with his work.

...Mmmm Christian Bale...

 

Night at the Museum

This is a typical family movie. Simple and fun enough to keep the kids entertained, but there are some moments that also entertain the adults.

We have a down on his luck divorced father taking up the night watchman job at the local museum, only to discover that as soon as the sun sets, everything comes to life. And they mean everything. From wax statues to the T-Rex skeleton to the Easter Island statue, to...everything.

I have to say, the story did leave me wanting a bit, and there were some hideously cheesy moments. But there was also a few moments that made me laugh.

As for acting, it wasn't bad. Ben Stiller did a good job I think, and Owen Wilson only slightly annoyed me which is a big thing for him. Robin Williams' part was small but well played, and everyone else at the very least did enough to keep the story moving.

Not a fantastic movie, but not bad either.

[Wyvern]

Today, I went and saw "The Last King of Scotland" in theatres.

 

This film about Idi Amin, Uganda's most ruthless and selfish dictator, has been getting some pretty mixed reviews from the press, though Forest Whitiker's performance as Amin has gotten universal acclaim. I was a fan of Whitiker in Jarmusch's "Ghost Dog," so I was eager to give this movie a shot and see what all the hype was about. Anyway, "The Last King of Scotland" is certainly a good movie in my eyes, though not a great one. The film is loaded with exotic imagery, ranging from eye candy to horrendous brutality, and the images are certainly effective... but the way the movie flashes from one image and event to the next gave it a kind of rushed feel to me, like some sort of chaotic dream that's racing to its end. I think a dream-like quality was intended for the film since the protagonist, a Scottish doctor named Nicholas, is in the midst of a great adventure in the heart of a culture that's unknown to him. Still, I felt that the director could have relied upon dialogue and extended scenes a little bit more, as the film felt sort of speedy and fragmented to me. Forest Whitiker pretty much lived up to the hype though... he manages to strike an excellent balance between charmer and madman in his portrayal of Idi Amin, a mix that leaves Amin a frighteningly unbalanced figure by the end. Certainly worth checking out for Forest Whitiker's performance, though be warned - it's a heavy flick with some fairly gruesome imagery in it.

[Whisky in Babylon]

I saw Pan's Labyrinth about a week ago. I was really excited about it cause I had found out about the film about 8 months before and it seemed to be really interesting. I was worried though that I'd never get a chance to see it since it was in only a few theatres but finally it came out by me.

 

When I saw the trailer I went "This movie is made for me" I had really high hopes and usually I dont like to get my hopes up high with movies cause they tend to dissapoint. With this film however I was very pleased that my hopes were not crushed. It is in spanish which threw me off cause I really dont enjoy listening to it but it really was not that bad and the subtitles did not take away from the movie one bit.

 

Visually it was amazing the creatures looked fantastic cause they used very little cg with them which gave them a more real feeling. It is very dark... the darkest fairly tale I've ever come upon and it was a nice change from the norm. I dont want to give away the story for those who have not seen it but suffice it to say it was both very familiar and different at the same time.

 

It was nice to see a fantasy movie done well.

 

On that note I just want to say Eragon is one of the worst most vile peice of garbage out there. An awful movie based off an awful book. I've had friends who have seen and liked it and I just cant understand it... I really cant... it looked and ran like a SciFi Orginal movie... Its not worth 9 bucks to see it not even the 5 it costs to rent. Who ever let this movie be made and put in theatres should be ashamed of themselves.

 

Thats all

[Wyvern]

So today, after about a year of anticipation and several months of frustration over its limited distribution, I went out and saw David Lynch's new sprawling three-hour epic, "Inland Empire," in its first showing at a theatre in Berkeley.

 

As most David Lynch fans know, first impressions are not usually the best way to judge his movies... it can often take two or three viewings to piece together a semblence of coherence in his reoccuring details, let alone establish any sort of element of plot. If there's one adjective I can definitely attribute to "Inland Empire," it's "uncompromising." David Lynch certainly isn't making things any more comfortable or simple to understand for the viewer... if anything, he's moving deeper into his dream psyche and evoking subconscious emotions through abstractions. Like his other films, "Inland Empire" plays out like a bad dream put on screen; fragmented, frightening, and bizarre to the core. Never has Lynch's independent aesthetic been so clear... he filmed "Inland Empire" on Digital Video without the use of film reel and did a great deal of the camera work himself. He also directed the film, made a guest appearence as a voice actor, and even sung two of the songs on its ominous soundtrack.

 

To give a brief summary of the film's initial premise for a plot (I have yet to decide if it's a true element of the plot or not, so it won't be much of a spoiler): Laura Dern plays a wealthy actress who hopes to save her declining career by co-starring in a movie titled "On High in Blue Tommorows," which stars a popular actor Devon (played by Justin Theroux) who seems to also have a reputation as a womanizer. As they begin to act out the film, they learn from the director that it's a re-make of a Polish film titled "4/7," which was never completed due to the lead actors being murdered. But just as we're fooled into a sense of linearity, things begin spiraling out of control. One setting leads to another, which leads to another, which leads to another. Characters assume multiple identities in different time frames. The line between reality, hallucination, and film is permanently blurred. And when the 180 minutes reach their close, there is no explanation... only reoccuring details and associations to contemplate. David Lynch has struck again.

 

As a big fan of Lynch's work, my first impression of "Inland Empire" is a very favorable one. As always, Lynch's dream-style seems to touch nerves and thoughts that I would never have believed a film could reach. It frightens, saddens, humors, and mystifies in a powerful way. Laura Dern, who is an underrated actress in general, delivers an absolutely spectacular performance, perhaps the best I've ever seen from her. The variety of roles/personalities/time frames/identities/whatever-they-were she had to play must have been a real challenge, but she really stepped up to the plate and delivered. Her facial expressions alone were very powerful and evocative. Also, while David Lynch's new form of camera work may inspire some dread for the first fifteen minutes (Digital Video has a real "home video camera" feel to it), it eventually sinks in and is really incorporated well. There are points where Lynch even uses the blurry pixels to his advantage, making them radiate on thick canvases of color. I'm already planning on seeing the movie again at some point, with a couple of details and characters in mind.

 

A few words of warning to those uninitiated to David Lynch's abstract cinema: this film's three hour duration will frequently test your patience, and there's no easy answer or explanation to it after it ends. David Lynch's nightmares on screen are also often very troubling things to behold, and he remains one of the only directors really capable of scaring me with his endless sense of dread.

 

So, all in all, I'm very pleased with how "Inland Empire" turned out. :-) If you've been as bored with current films as I have, and don't mind some mindboggling imagery and abstractions, you'll definitely want to give this one a try. Oh, and if you do end up seeing it, please tell me since I'd love to chat with you about it here! :-)

 

On a different note, thank you for the review of "Pan's Labryinth," Whisky in Babylon. :-) That film has definitely piqued my curiousity as well, good to hear that it lived up to your expectations. I'll definitely have to check it out at some point when it's playing around here. As for "Eragon," I didn't bother checking for it, nor did I bother reading the book, nor will I bother renting it on DVD. I think once I had to watch a coming attraction for it, but I only made it about halfway through before my brain decided to block out the rest of the ad.

[Zadown]

So basically Lynch made another Lynch movie? *grin*

 

I definitely want to see it, but when and how are still open - it's not going to be shown at the local theater, that's for sure, and I respect the guy a bit too much to download the movie. Thanks for the well-written review Wyvern, I think you really managed to tell accurately what his movies are like.

[The Portrait of Zool]

My favorite Lynch film of all time would be Mulholland Drive. Though there are some parts that left me mystified, as a statement of the film industry and the film medium itself I think it is unrivaled.

 

 

Last night me honey had rented 'The Science of Sleep' and we had an enjoyable evening that included watching it.

 

It was a strange film. The central character is 'Stephanie', pronounced 'ste-fan'. The film opens with him arriving somewhere in metropolitan France to his old boyhood home and a new job. Both had been arranged by his mother, who otherwise doesn't reenter the story until about 3/4 the way through the movie. The main element of the film is his quickly revealed difficulty in separating his dreams from reality, and vice versa. Often throughout the movie, there is no clear delineation between what is reality and when he is dreaming, other than the way people are acting, though most of the dream scenes are packed with surreal scenery. Once, Stephanie even slaps his friend, then has to explain that he was checking to see if he was dreaming.

 

As if that weren't troubling enough, his insular, multiple reality is complicated even further when he meets his quiet neighbor 'Stephaney'. Much more than a cute foreshadowing, the similarity of the two names is important because Stephaney proves to be the only person who can share his dream reality.

 

There are a lot of other supporting details to the movie that are entertaining, and I won't reveal the end, which like Stephanie's dreams must be understood by implication, but I will say I highly recommend this movie. Very imaginative and at the same time realistic in the clash between one's dreams, wishful thinking, darkest fears, and waking reality.

[Wyvern]

I agree with you about "Mulholland Dr.," Zool, that probably ranks as my favorite David Lynch movie as well. :-) I also really liked "The Science of Sleep," and actually think that I wrote a review for it somewhere earlier in this thread.

 

I've been catching up on a number of critically acclaimed movies with my folks recently, including "The Departed," "Marie Antoinette," "Flags of our Fathers" and "Letters From Iwo Jima." And, at the risk of sounding like a total snob, I must say that all of these films left me feeling rather underwhelmed. :-/

 

"The Departed" is the new all-star Martin Scorsese gangster flick, featuring Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Leonard Dicaprio, and Alec Baldwin amongst others. The concept of the film is excellent, as the story revolves around a gangster that infiltrates the police force by posing as a cop while at the same time an undercover cop infiltrates the mob by posing as a gangster. Plenty of interesting situations arise as a result of this twisted knot of spies, and time reveals who the good guys and the bad guys really are. Unfortunately, despite some cool acting on the parts of Nicholson and Dicaprio, "Departed" felt more like "Mission: Impossible" than it did "The Godfather." It seemed to me like Scorsese had very low ambitions for the film, and while it provided two hours of entertainment, it felt sort of like your typical gangster film with a little spy twist thrown in for effect. To make matters worse, Scorsese just had to go and throw in two blunt literary quotes in the first twenty minutes of the film, going so far as to have the characters name the author and work that the quotes were from... Joyce and Hawthorne are probably turning in their graves as we speak. Fortunately, the "deepness" ends there and the rest of the film is some cops and robbers action type stuff. Entertaining though rather unmemorable film, watch it without any high expectations and you'll enjoy it.

 

"Marie Antoinette" is a new film by Sofia Coppola ("Lost in Translation") detailing the life and times of Marie Antoinette, the queen married to Louis XVI before the eventual beheadings of the French Revolution. Coppola's directorial approach in the film is an interesting one, as she deals with Marie Antoinette's troubles in the nobility of the secluded castle without ever really venturing into the politics behind the uprising of France. Perspective-wise, this feels realistic, as Marie Antoinette probably had no idea of the larger problems of France and existed in her own little private bubble. Only near the end of the film do we get a sense that something's gone wrong, and even then there are no depictions of arrests or beheadings. For all of Coppola's feminine touches and odd soundtrack choices, a central problem festers at the heart of this movie: Marie Antoinette's life just isn't that interesting to watch. I respect the direction of the film, but I'll be damned if watching one palace social after another doesn't get boring after a while. Kristen Dunst is also not a good actress, though she admittedly fits the hollow social ettiquette of Antoinette well. I loved "Lost in Translation," but didn't really care for this one overall.

 

"Flags of our Fathers" and "Letters From Iwo Jima" are two interconnected World War II movies directed by Clint Eastwood. "Flags of our Fathers" deals with the American perspective of the battle of Iwo Jima and the lucritive aftermath surrounding its celebritized survivors, while "Letters From Iwo Jima" deals with the Japanese perspective of the battle and the hopeless situation they faced battling the Americans. The two films compliment each other nicely, with each film revealing a little more about the other, but somehow they struck me as a little less epic than Clint Eastwood intended. The movies get my respect for their original takes on the War, with "Letters From Iwo Jima" standing out in particular for its unique Japanese viewpoint of the battle, but aside from these initial concepts the films pretty much follow the standard war movie formula: a bit of deep dialogue there, some gruesome deaths here, flashback over there, etc. Neither of them really stood out to me for this reason... If you're going to test one of the two, I guess I'd recommend "Iwo Jima" over "Flags of our Fathers." But nothing special, really...

[Zadown]

Saw "Déja vu" yesterday. Not much to say about it - it's decent action movie with a few explosions, a car chase (they just gotta have one no matter what, it seems), gaping holes in the underlying "science" and an easily predictable conclusion. It manages to do all the old, tired tricks with a certain shiny, fluid grace however. The movie stumbles in a few places, but if you can forget those the rest of it is entertaining enough.