Movies-n-Things

Hey Folks. So, it's been a little while and I've definitely watched some things and stuff. Leslee and I have been doing a lot of sitting and thinking and looking at things and moseying. It's been fun. Let's get down to it.

Movies watched:

The Illusionist

Townies

101 Reykjavik

Tristam Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story

The Naked Cosmos

Cars

Gas Light (1940)

Bunny Lake is Missing (1965)

Blackballed: The story of Bobby Dukes

Movies Rewatched:

Sexy Beast - Which has become one of my favorite movies ever. If you haven't seen it, you should punch yourself in the face and then go buy it.

Aristocrats - Not the best doc ever, but good for a laugh…a very dirty laugh.

The Illusionist: Good performances from Ed Norton and my main man Paul Giamatti and even that chick from 7^th Heaven. The movie looks incredible. It's got this really great silent film kinda feel to it. Some of the magic tricks are CG, but convincing enough that you don't really think about it. So, here's my problem: I don't want to say that the movie is a "little bit predictable", because just by saying that it's a "little bit predictable" might be giving something away. So, my solution is for you to just pretend like I didn't say anything and go see the movie.

Townies: This movie had potential as a good cult flick. Its most famous star being Toby Radloff (the genuine nerd from American Splendor), which is the only reason why I wanted to watch it in the first place. Everyone is as bad an actor or worse than Toby and the writing, directing and cinematography are just about the worst ever caught on film. This has not only been checked off of my list of movies to watch, it has been frantically gouged off with some sort of large knife (probably a machete, or at least something serrated).

101 Reykjavik: This ones a weirdy. It's an Icelandic film about a 30 something year old slacker who likes to party and nothing else. He hooks up with his mom's friend who he eventually finds out is his mom is a lesbian and this same friend is her lover. He's distraught and tries to commit suicide in a couple of goofy ways and doesn't succeed. Then he just accepts it and goes back to being a slacker who likes to party. It all equals out to be a movie that you probably don't need to watch.

Tristam Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story: Apparently "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman" is an unadaptable modern classic. I've never heard of it, but the movie adaptation is great! It is, sort of a mockumentary, except for the parts where they are actually in the movie that this movie is supposed to be shooting. Got it? Very funny and very British.

The Naked Cosmos: Forget about that other movie, this movie is a weirdy. In no way can I suggest this to anyone, but I can review it. This stars Gilbert Hernandez, of "Love and Rockets" comic book fame. He plays our hero Quintas, his evil clone Kalisto, hippy teleportation expert Ego, and their announcer Mr. Mims. Gibert's wife, Carol, plays the Chief and Mistress Velda. This thing is a mess. Obviously shot by himself at his house or something. There are some funny moments, but overall, I watched it just to see the bad cheesy affects. It's shot like a bad children's public television show. The cool thing is a comic book came with the DVD and it rules. The comic book is waaaaay better than the show. So, in the end, if you are a fan his Gilbert Hernandez, you should probably stick to his comics.

Cars: They couldn't just leave the "Gitterdun" out of there. I was enjoying myself and then they threw that in there and I nearly had to get a refund on the one dollar I spent to see this movie. So, I generally agreed with most critics who have said this was good but not as good as the other Pixar movies. I think the reason is simple: Cars is geared toward a more specific audience. It's not like bugs, fish, or monsters, this is a movie for NASCAR fans (I like to call them rednecks), or at least racing fans, and although NASCAR is, like, the most popular thing on the planet, it is still more specific than superheroes or fish. It's still way better than any other animated film this summer, not that I've seen any others.

This here is an apology for anyone who is offended about me calling NASCAR fans rednecks: I'm sorry….that you like NASCAR. There are REAL sports that you could enjoy. Like sports that require skill…or have less death.

Gas Light (1940): Apparently there are two different versions of this film: this one and a more famous 1944 version with Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer and Angela Lansbury (Jessica Fletcher). I haven't seen the 1944 version, but this one is great. It's about a residence where an older woman was killed and the couple that move in many years later. The husband (who I will refer to as rat-face man from now on) is very controlling and suspicious. Rat-face man's wife is weak and falls for his mind games. You know that rat-face man is guilty, but you don't really know how he is going to be found out. It's very simple, but fun. Anton Walbrook plays rat-face man perfectly as you really do hate him and his rat-face guts throughout the movie.

Bunny Lake is Missing (1965): My "old" friend Nathan, who works with me, recommended this. I really enjoyed it a lot. It's about a young single woman and her daughter who moves to London to live with her brother. When they get there, she promptly checks her child, Bunny, into a daycare and goes about her day. She returns to find no sign that her daughter was ever there, nor does anyone remember her dropping bunny off…. Or maybe Bunny isn't real, maybe Bunny is a figment of her imagination. Maybe Bunny is really a bowl of pudding…that she ate, but doesn't remember eating, so she's confused and upset.

Blackballed: The story of Bobby Dukes: As much as I think the mockumentary genre is all played out, I still enjoyed this movie. It stars Rob Corddry (of Daily Show fame) as Bobby Dukes, an ex-paint ball star, humiliated out of the game after he was caught "wiping" paint off of himself mid-competition, trying to create a new paintball team to play with. They refer to "wiping" in many different fashions, as many times as possible, all of which are funny. Corddry's got a good dry sense of humor that makes the movie enjoyable. He pretty much plays the straight man, to his team members, all of which have some sort of "problem". A couple of Daily Show Alumn make appearances. If you are a Corddrey fan, you should enjoy this.

Seeya!