Filed under: Movie Reviews, Uncategorized | Tags: Adam Sandler, Blades of Glory, Dan Akroid, gay rights, Homophobia, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Johnny Knoxville, Kevin James, Nick Swardson, Steve Buschemi, The Ringer
Genre: Comedy
Venue: Blockbuster
Actors of Note: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Dan Akroid, Steve Buschemi
Rating: Pretty Funny
Viewing Date: 12 January 2008
Personal Notes: Initially expected to be a recitation of gay jokes as two friends attempt to pass as a couple in order to gain healthcare for the widower Kevin James’ kids, this movie pulls out of the expected flight path and actually delivers a back-handed complimentary message much in the way that Johnny Knoxville’s The Ringer did. Sandler’s womanizing bachelor character agrees to help James’ kids by claiming to be his life partner, and all goes well until a beautiful lawyer grabs Sandler’s eye and Buschemi’s claims investigator grabs James’ trash (it isn’t gay enough). Spreading out the punches, the movie also mocks the absurdity of two men attempting to prove their love to a government agency, as well as the unnecessary hardships created by cowokers and other intolerant attitudes that seem to shift throughout the movie. Two of the greatest sequences are at a gay Halloween party where the audience is treated to Nick Swardson’s prancing butterfly (think of Will Farrell’s stalker in Blades of Glory) and Adam Sandler’s fist-fueled correction of a religious bigot’s homosexual nomenclature.
What could have been a much lower brow movie actually turns out to be funny and positive. And a rain-soaked Jessica Biel strips down in her apartment, making the movie an Oscar nominee for any straight man. If the underlying message of tolerance doesn’t reach men in the audience, the appreciation for the decrease in competition that gay men provide should.
Filed under: Movie Reviews, Uncategorized | Tags: Bush Administration, CIA, Culture of war, John McCain, Why We Fight
Why We Fight (2005)
Genre: Documentary
Venue: Netflix
Actors of Note: John McCain
Rating: Very Good. Interesting, but not shocking for someone paying attention.
Viewing Date: 9 January 2008
Personal Notes: A very interesting documentary that no only identifies the US interest in making war for profitability, but also begins to unravel the K Street think-tank policies that are being implemented by government officials without citizen consent. The documentary also reinforces the bumblings of the Bush administration in their unilateral quest for a war in Iraq, as well as the awakening of a country that is now coming to terms with being duped into an unjustified war. Most interesting is the commentary by former CIA and government officials.
Filed under: Movie Reviews, Uncategorized | Tags: humor, one-liners, Oscar, Ryan Reynolds, testicles, Waiting
Genre: Comedy
Venue: Netflix
Actors of Note: Ryan Reynolds. No one else matters.
Rating: Shamefully, I really liked it.
Viewing Date: January 8, 2008
Personal Notes: Expecting potty humor with the predictable dick and fart jokes, I was pleasantly surprised when I experienced a movie of gentle vocal subtleties, underlying thematic complexities, and stark commentary on the plight of the working class in America. With lots of dick and fart jokes. You like penis? Well get ready for Christmas morning.
As much as I bash it, I actually really enjoyed it. Ryan Reynolds could recite the phonebook and I’d wet myself with laughter. Until that changes he can remake Great Expectations and I’ll love every minute of it. And I think he should.
If you like long overly descriptive tirades, blank stares, testicles, and the idea of never going out to eat in public again, jump on this train. Next stop? Oscar nomination.
Filed under: Movie Reviews, Uncategorized | Tags: Helvetica, letter setting, publishers, typography
Genre: Documentary
Venue: Netflix
Actors of Note: n/a
Rating: Would have been more interesting if I’d been into typefaces.
Viewing Date: 8 January 2008
Personal Notes: Numerous designers discuss why the love or hate Helvetica. It was interesting to hear the story and to understand the influences behind the creation of Helvetica, but much like The Sketches of Frank Gehr, it was difficult to understand if you didn’t speak the necessary language or have the same appreciation of the subject matter. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to understand, it was that I couldn’t understand because I’d never look closely enough because…well, I didn’t care enough. It’ll make the viewer look at things a little differently, but unless you’re really into typefaces, this one might not thrill you.
Filed under: Movie Reviews, Uncategorized | Tags: Curt Cobain, filmmakers, institutionalization, medications, mental illness, The Butthole Surfers, The Devil and Daniel Johnston
Genre: Documentary
Venue: Netflix
Actors of Note: n/a
Rating: A very interesting, multi-faceted film
Viewing Date: December 28, 2007
Personal Notes: The Devil and Daniel Johnston chronicles the life and musical career of Daniel Johnson, an artistic young man with a history of mental illness and institutionalization. The story focuses mostly on the his life leading up to his musical career and then branches out into the tenuous balance between art and madness that he continually attempted to negotiate. In and out of the hospital, barraged with prescribed drugs, Johnston presents a fluency in music that few can appreciate. As a musical layperson, I was only able to glimpse some of the genius in his work after being told what to look for. Many of the interviews with famous musicians and bands—including Curt Cobain and the Butthole Surfers—illustrate just how profound Johnston’s music was and is.
Thankfully, as the film traces the chilling path of mental illness through Johnston’s life, it also comes out of the shadows to realize the aging artist’s potential to continue creating works of art. Even in his darkest hours Johnston is able to invoke pity for the illness that has taken hold of him, and ultimately it is that pity and appreciation of talent that reconnects him with the filmmakers at the conclusion.
Filed under: Movie Reviews, Uncategorized | Tags: Elijah Wood, England, Football, Green Street Hooligans, Journalism, UK
Genre: Drama
Venue: Netflix
Actors of Note: Elijah Wood
Rating: Amazing.
Viewing Date: 28 December 2007
Personal Notes: Just a really great movie about a an expelled college student (Elijah Wood) finding himself mixed up in a football gang of sorts in the UK. Even though the subplots are somewhat clichéd, the performances offered are genuine, interesting, and at times moving. The story covers a great range of human emotion from rage and triumph as the gang surprise ambushes its arch rivals at an important game, to horror and sadness as members we have come to appreciate betray their own or worse. It’s a great movie. Highly recommend.
Filed under: Movie Reviews, Uncategorized | Tags: Borat, cultural bigotry, Kazahkistan, Pam Anderson, Sasha Cohen, uncomfortable
Genre: Mockumentary/Comedy
Venue: Netflix
Actors of Note: Sasha Cohen, Pam Anderson
Rating: See it once to see what everyone’s talking about. Even that’s a little much.
Viewing Date: 27 December 2007
Personal Notes: Haven’t seen Borat yet? Good for you. Innately vulgar and uncomfortable, this movie works against itself in that much of the clever satirical situations are lost in the flood of obscenity and vulgarities. The story centers on Sahsha van Cohen’s Borat, a Kazahkistani journalist coming to America to learn American culture. The clever commentary on the base and horrifying nature of so many Americans is overshadowed by the potty humor and stomach-turning antics of Cohen and his “producer” as the pair traverse America juxtaposing their absurd interpretation of eastern bloc “culture” with the supposedly superior culture of the richest country in the world. It’s upsetting.
Combining the uncomfortable feeling of “The Office” with the sickening feeling of watching Two girls and a Cup (so I’m told), this film offers little more than quoteables for high school and college students. Even those watching for the mockery of the horrifying attitudes and prejudices abundant in this country must do their best to ignore a majority of the film.
Don’t get me wrong; there are many funny situations in the movie, but the line between humor and sickening disturbance is crossed one too many times. For anyone who watches South Park for the potty humor, this is the movie to watch. If you watch for wit and satire, you’ll have a lot to sift through to get down to the core of this movie.
Filed under: Movie Reviews, Uncategorized | Tags: Adam Sandler, Anger Management, Jack Nicholson, Sandler clan, therapy
Genre: Comedy
Venue: Netflix
Actors of Note: Adam Sandler, Jack Nicholson,
Rating: Not hilarious, but it picks up at the end.
Viewing Date: 27 December 2007
Personal Notes: One of Adam Sandler’s not-so-funny ventures, this movie is like a joke without a punchline—it builds and builds for a joke that never really comes. There are a few silly situations and even a few wordplays that cause chuckles, but aside from that it’s largely frustrating and annoying. Nicholson plays a doctor (who is either “genius or insane”) assigned with the task of helping Sandler’s David overcome his anger problem. The usual cast of characters and Sandler voices are present (and even a few cameos by New York politicians), but largely absent is the building/climax/resolution form of storytelling that we moviegoers so appreciate. It meanders and bumps into humorous situations, but doesn’t nail them. Slighly redeeming at the end either for it’s cuteness, predictability, or simply the fact that it’s over, this film lasts a wandering hundred+ minutes.
Filed under: Movie Reviews, Uncategorized | Tags: Balls of Fury, Christopher Walken, not even fucking close, not funny, oh my god it's not funny, terrible movies
Genre: “Comedy”
Venue: Blockbuster
Actors of Note: Christopher Walken
Rating: I want my 98 minutes back.
Viewing Date: 26 December 2007
Personal Notes: I didn’t go into this looking for cinematic excellence. I was expecting bawdy jokes and some stupid humor. While the entire movie was in no short supply of stupid, the only thing that slightly resembled humor was the fact that I had paid $5 to watch a movie that had to have been written by someone who kills ants by head butting them. Even Walken couldn’t save this one. The trailer looked funny for good reason—it contained all the parts that were bordering on close to funny. The problems with the film are countless, but the most noticeable is the fact that while not being funny when it should have been, the expanded scenes from the trailers only prolong already humorless jokes and situations and make the viewer feel that much dumber for wasting his or her time. It isn’t even funny in the “this-is-so-bad-it’s-funny” way, nor is it even slightly amusing in the “we-can-quote-stupid-lines-from-this-later” way. The following are possible movies I would watch before sitting through this again:
–Robert’s Rules Explained!
–Rose’s Bed: An Elderly Woman’s Hilarious Quest to Regain the ‘Best Garden’ Title
–Fido Joined the Circus: A Parent’s guide to Explaining Death
–So, How Are Things in Darfur: George Bush’s Quest to Stop a Genocide
–Behind the Scenes: The Pediatric Oncology Ward,
–Happy Feet
