Category: movies

And for fun, DaveZilla’s Movie Quote Replies (I’ve even contributed – Look, ma, I’m social!).

In no particular order, for your Monday Morning, post-fantasy football loss, enjoyment:

Kevin’s Top 4 Foreign Films in No Particular Order

• Toto Le Hero: By Jaco van Dormael (he has two in the top four, how cool is he?), this is the story of two men switched at birth and the places their lives intersect. An amazing story with some very funny twists thrown in.
• The Eigth Day: Also by van Dormael, this is the story of George, a man with Down Syndrome. It’s sweet, romantic, funny and heartbreaking. A must-see. If you live in Sterling, I might even loan it to you.
• Kolya: This movie made me cry and cry, like a little baby. Maybe I’ll tell you why later. At the beginning of the film, you’ll find no reason to like the main character. By the end, you’ll wonder why you felt that way. Heartbreaking and sweet, but not in a Hallmark way.
• The Nasty Girl: The lies we tell ourselves about the past. A young woman investigates her small German town and their part in World War 2. A great movie.
• Five would be here, but i’m drawing a blank… sorry, i’m not caffeinated yet.

Yessir, it’s that time again. It’s the weekend movie review! This weekend was a mixed bag of attempted escapism. And, heaven forbid, Jen and I got to go OUT to the movies. Our adventure at the empty theater will be recounted below. My theory this weekend was to rent three flicks – classic, serious, and stupid as hell. I exceeded my expectations in all three areas. But, we’ll start with what we see in the theater:

1. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back: This is the perfect movie to see if you want to sit in a dark, empty theater and escape your thoughts. This movie doesn’t go deep, and that’s what I liked about it. Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith are getting a little old to play losers, but their dialogue is still filthy and funny. Will Farrell was great as the Wildlife Marshall, and keeping up with the in-jokes and cameos was fun. Not a great movie, but worth a rental when it comes out (I don’t expect it to be in the theaters much longer).
2. Blow (the serious one): This was a decent flick. It was missing something, but it was still interesting to see how George Jung got started in the business and slipped deeper and deeper into that world. If you don’t know, Blow is based on the life of George Jung who’s currently serving 60 years in federal prison for drug trafficing. At one point, he was the biggest importer of cocaine in the country, and dealt directly with Pablo Escobar. I think they spent too much on the exposition, and not enough on the second and third act. The first act took almost an hour to set up relationships, which are then discarded. We never see most of those people again in the film. I almost wish this was a mini-series so they could cover the ground more thoroughly. It’s a great story that wasn’t executed as well as it could have been.
3. The Ladies Man (the stupid): I wasn’t expecting anything from this movie. I like the sketch on SNL, so I figured why not? This one definitely filled the stupid slot in my plan. But, I dug it! Yeah, it shocked me too… This movie has some funny lines, Will Farrell (as the closeted wrestling bad guy… worth the rental), and Billy Dee! If you’re in the mood for stupid funny, check it out.
4. Jerry Seinfeld: I’m Telling You for the Last Time (the classic): Jen calls this the perfect sick dvd. She was right. It’s comfortable, funny and well, it’s Jerry! This is all his classic material in a nice 80 minute package. If you didn’t see it on HBO, rent it. You won’t be sorry.

This is the funniest Lego movie I’ve ever seen. Monty Python? You bet! (via Davezilla)

I have a lot of stuff to talk about today, and I’m not sure where I want to start. Let’s start with the weekend movie reviews and see what I have energy for.

Enemy at the Gates: I think there should be more movies about the horrible time the Russians had during WW2. The US lost 500,000 soldiers in Europe and Pacific combined. The British, about the same (I could be wrong about that one). The Russians lost 20 million soldiers and civilians during the war, some killed by their own commanders. There are some amazing stories from the war, and in all the hoopla from the past couple years for WW2, it’s time to show stories that aren’t American. Enemy at the Gates is a great example of what I’d like to see more of. While showing the horror of the war for the Russian people, it’s really an intimate story of four people and how they cope with their situation. The suspense is great, the acting superb, and the duel between Jude Law and Ed Harris’ characters was superb. I enjoyed this movie, and I think anyone who liked Private Ryan, but thought it was missing something, this movie has what was missing, I think. Definitely a great rental.

Momento: Woo-hoo, we’re two for two this weekend! This was a fun mystery. It reminded me a lot of The Usual Suspects. It’s a well-made movie with a great gimmick executed perfectly. The first viewing is eye-opening, and a great ride, and it might hold up to a second viewing to try to catch all the clues. It’s not a movie I’ll watch again, but it’s one I’d definitely recommend if you like film noir or good mysteries. The performances were all solid, and the story was nicely paced and the payoff was perfect. I would have loved to have seen the story told in the chronological order and see if it affected the impact of the ending. I’m sure it would, but it would still be fun to see.

Now that I’m on a roll… Football!! Football, football, football!! It’s here, it’s started, the first quarter of the Colts-Jets game has ended, and I couldn’t be happier!! It’s time for popcorn and fantasy football and yeah yeah yeah. Can you tell I like football?

It was weekly, couple-with-a-toddler weekend movie night. We had one hit, one miss this time. We’ll start with the miss.

15 Minutes: Avoid this piece of crap like the plague. If you have to watch it, watch the first 45 minutes, stop the movie, and finish the movie in your head. It will be a million times better than the crap that follows in the second half of this lame movie. The concept of the movie is great and full of possibilities, but the director has no idea how to pull off the ending, so he goes back to his Die Hard: How to Make a Movie manual, written by Michael Bay and Jan de Bont. Aside from implausible, it was just stupid. Ok, enough, it’s almost Sunday and I don’t want to start swearing. Last word: a terrible waste of a good concept and a great cast.

And now the good…

The Gift: Sam Raimi strikes again. I loved A Simple Plan. This movie was great. Unlike the stinker, this movie has a great concept, cast and pulls it off in a way that stays true to the premise. This is an excellent supernatural thriller without relying on gore or crap sarcasm to pull it off. It’s serious psychological horror, and is just excellent. 4 stars, definitely.

This weekend, we saw American Pie (me for the second time, Jen for the first), State and Main, and I finally finished watching my new copy of Akira.

Before I get into the reviews: Yes, I know these movies were in theaters months ago. That’s what happens when you have a kid. You watch movies on video instead of going to the theater. So, shut up.

American Pie: This movie was really funny the first time I saw it. I’m not sure what happened with the second viewing. It just wasn’t that funny. Jen didn’t even laugh all that much. It still had its moments, like the scenes with Eugene Levy, the Pie and Finch’s toilet adventure… it just didn’t ring true like it did the first time.

State and Main: I love David Mamet. I adored The Spanish Prisoner and Vanya on 42nd Street. Now you know where I’m coming from here, and won’t be disappointed. I really liked this movie. It wasn’t terribly deep nor did it have an important message to share. It was funny. William H. Macy was great as the producer, coddling, tough and an ass when he needed to be. The whole cast was fantastic. But, my favorite part of the movie had to be the relationship between Rebecca Pidgeon and Philip Seymour Hoffman. It wasn’t overtly sexual, and just rang true for me. It was nice to see Mr. Hoffman in a non-gay role (hello, Talented Mr. Ripley, Fabulous… anyone else paying attention?), and he really pulled it off. Ms. Pidgeon played her attraction to him very understated, and I just loved it. If you’ve ever hit if off with someone, you’ll recognize the feelings there. It was great fun.

Akira: I saw this a long time ago on a bad VHS copy, and didn’t really like it, but remember the animation as something special. SO, I bought the DVD at Price Club for $14. This is a very Japanese movie. If you like Anime, you’ll love it. If you don’t, you’ll probably hate it. Could you sit through Princess Mononoke? Yes? Then get Akira. If you couldn’t, don’t bother.

Attack of the Clones Huh? Ok, so, the name of Star Wars Episode 2 is going to be Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. It’s apparently about the Clone Wars mentioned way back in Star Wars (you know, the one that came out first). Why not just call it Star Wars: The Clone Wars? Other than repetetive, at least it doesn’t sound like a bad Ed Wood movie, starring Jesse Helms and Trent Lott as the intrepid CloneBusters. Lucas has gone soft in the head, I swear.