Bob Roberts

more disturbing than funny, but very good

tim robbins made one of the most controversial movies in the nineties with 'bob roberts'. i remember when it came out in theaters many people who i knew (including my parents) said they would refuse to see it, and disliked tim from then on. bob roberts the film bashes conservatives its true, but justifiably so, especially for the time this film was made. its a scathing look at the political machine and the making of a superstar candidate who people rally behind, even though his message is very dangerous and hateful. the conservatives blamed so many things on welfare and drugs in the nineties, and this film was really spot on in many respects. tim robbins is amazing as bob, and even though its obvious that we're supposed to hate this man tim doesn't go over the top at all. the film is a mockumentary in which we follow bob roberts, a "self made" millionaire folk singer, through his campaign for u.s. congress and one journalist who tries to take him down. through shady and despicable acts he tries to come out on top.

lots of celebrity cameos including james spader, susan sarandon, jack black, john cusack, bob balaban, helen hunt, and peter gallagher.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno

kevin smith makes a shitfest

totally unoriginal, unfunny (for the most part), unnecessary film to add to kevin smith's growing resume of shit. ok, i seriously was a huge smith fan back in the day. i LOVE clerks, mallrats, chasing amy, even clerks 2! but, his other works like jersey girl, and this are so damn pointless and unfunny that it makes me wonder why smith doesn't just stick to what he's good at... the jay and silent bob jersey flicks. watch this for justin long's performance, and that's it. also, kevin smith seems to be stuck in the nineties musically. why was there dmx and primus music in a present day movie? made no sense, other than kevin smith doesn't get out much.
tom savini's part was pointless and wasted, justin long was great but his part was tragically short, kevin smith's wife makes another retarded appearance even though she has no fucking talent, there was absolutely no chemistry between rogen and banks, the story was SOOO UNORIGINAL. not to mention this was basically like any other seth rogen/judd apatow film of late (think knocked up or 40 year old virgin). did i mention that it sucked?

Defiance

jews kicking ass!

finally, an original story involving world war II. daniel craig and liev schrieber star as polish jews who lead a small revolt/survival group during the german occupation. its supposedly based on a true story, which makes it even more awesome. brothers tuvia, zus and asael start by hiding from the germans, and they quickly gain more people and band together to survive. some good action and hollywoodish plot, but overall there is a lot of good in this film. i certainly hope it was not completely hollywoodized with a lot of the real story changed. also, who knew james bond was a hebrew?

Red Dawn

wolverines!!!

classic world war III movie pitting teenagers against commies in the middle of colorado. awesomeness ensues! lots of cool action scenes especially for the mid eighties. swayze and sheen kick ass (as usual!), but the ladies just get in the way. many classic lines and scenes, in a very campy type of way. it has been... a red dawn.

Raising Genius

odd little indie

justin long stars as hal, a 17 year old genius who has locked himself in his bathroom to pursue his dreams of mathematical and scientific discovery. his mother (wendie malick) is obsessed with trying to get him out of the bathroom, even though it is her that truly scares hal. she claims to be an amazing mother, yet can't stand how her only son turned out. very odd little film, and it seems to be very low budget despite the decent cast.

Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy

talk about a boring person

ron jeremy is not an exciting person, and this documentary proves it. he's just an old "washed up" former star who is trying to make it in hollywood. he is not funny, has almost no acting talent, and is pretty much pathetic in a lot of ways. this documentary tries to give us some background on the 'legend', but all i came away thinking was how pathetic people like him are. sure he was a great porn star, and did that well, but that doesn't mean he deserves real credibility as an actor. that's what he's searching for, but he blames people for his lack of good opportunities, rather than accept that he's just not that good. not very interesting at all. one of the most pathetic scenes was watching ron at a frat party accepting an honorary membership. very sad.

Freak Out

awesome british horror comedy

merv and onkey are slasher movie fans who discover a released vegetarian mental patient who they decide to train to become a serial killer. what else do you need to know? its hilarious, even though it stumbles a bit towards the end, freak out is an awesome indie film. it reminded me of movies like bad taste, dead alive, and shaun of the dead. very funny in my opinion.

Cadillac Man

good little comedy with robin williams and tim robbins

there's not a whole lot the story, and its not really that funny... but williams and robbins score in cadillac man. robin williams is a used car salesman who is having a very bad day. he's about to lose his job, his daughter is missing, and all the women he is sleeping with find out about his womanizing behavior. tim robbins shows up as a nutty gun wielding jealous boyfriend who takes the dealership hostage. good but not great slight comedy is definitely enjoyable, if not forgettable.

Gran Torino

eastwood overcomes...

lots of bad acting and a weak script to deliver a good performance. clint is great... no matter what, he can do no wrong in my book. the dude who plays the young priest and a few other people did horribly trying to act convincing. the story is simple, and clint is very likeable as a grumpy racist old man with a heart. lots of things work well in this movie, but other things don't. there isn't too much original about gran torino, but hey... its clint eastwood! the relationship between walt and thao is great. lots of funny dark humor and racial slurs.

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

pretty damn good

going in i didn't have high expectations for walk hard, and i wasn't disappointed at all. i love most all of the apatow films (sans the ricky bobby shitfest), and one of the only ones i had missed was the dewey cox story. lots of funny moments, good songs and spoofs of the music biz. john c. reilley is always good. this one delivers for the most part.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

benjamin ... gump?

so i finally caved in and saw the latest brad pitt/david fincher movie... i have to admit that it was very good for the most part. i definitely teared up multiple times throughout, as benjamin saw everything in his life leave him. people die, relationships end, and people disappear... its very depressing to me, even if it is just a movie, we see this all the time in our lives.

PROBLEMS: the daughter and her mother in the hospital reading the diary. this was not necessary to tie the story together. its like fucking titanic, saving private ryan, schindler's list, etc. i am fucking sick of modern people telling the stories of the past. that's why we're watching the film, we are watching the story already, no need to see the people telling it again. also, there was one of the worst product placements ever in the film... for jell-o. and it was 3 fucking hours and the ending was disappointing!

My Bloody Valentine 3-D

better than the original...

that's not saying too much for my bloody valentine 3D, but most remakes aren't. its been quite a while since i saw a 3-D film, so i was pretty excited to hear about this slasher remake getting the treatment. its really just another dumb slasher movie where you don't know who the real killer is, but with the cool 3-D effects going on, the excitement really never stops. nothing but pure visceral entertainment... not much more. but that's a good thing! stay til after the credits btw.

Taken

pretty good little action flick

liam neeson is the ultimate man in this movie. he kills a lot of people, and uses his awesome skills to go to france in search of his "taken" daughter. turns out she was abducted by some albanians who use girls as sex slaves. liam is the overprotective father who turns out to be right all the time. his daughter kim goes to europe with her friend, and they are immediately abducted... surprised? naw. anyways, liam totally goes balls out to get her back. lots of good intense action, and car chases and shit.

the story was pretty meh, but liam and the intensity made it worthwhile.

RocknRolla

mess of a film, poor performances, and not funny

blah. i was hoping for guy ritchie to return to his 'roots' with this film, but he didn't deliver. man the 'jokes' weren't fucking funny, and the plot was so contrived and pointless. i really hated ludacris and jeremy piven in the movie... they were pointless and stiff. some parts were good, like the action scenes.

oh, and the "brilliant" accountant lady in this film was the dumbest character out of anyone! man, this was disappointing as fuck.

Fubar

decent mockumentary

i first heard about Fubar when it was shown at the 2002 sundance film festival. i heard it was pretty good and hilarious. when i was watching it i don't think i laughed out loud more than a few times... however, it was very enjoyable. terry and deaner are best friends. they are actors, and the "documentary" being filmed following them is alwo fabricated, but many of the people in the film are real. the guys are canadian headbangers with long hair and redneck qualities. they are very funny and believable actually! the story gets going when dean finds out he has ball cancer and needs surgery. the "filmmaker" dies, and other events ensue... its a really enjoyable movie overall, even if it is very slight in scope... whole lot of variations of the word fuck as well.

Matchstick Men

pretty good con-man flick

matchstick men doesn't really add anything terribly new to the genre, but still features some great performances. i pretty much can't stand nicolas cage 80% of the time... but in this he is very good. he plays a con man who has many (many) nervous ticks and obsessive compulsions. he and his partner, played by one of my favorite actors Sam Rockwell, and his newly discovered daughter, Alison Lohman, con people in interesting ways... that's always fun in movies. watching con-men work... anyways, there is a big twist in this movie (which con movie doesn't have this right?), but its pretty obvious early on what's going on. the ending felt a little too "hollywoodish" too. doesn't matter, this is a pretty good ridley scott film with good performances. worth seeing.

also: why do we always love movies with twists in the end? its gotta be because we feel so smart for "getting it" when everything is said and done. if you're looking for a really good con-artist movie, check out House of Games.

In the Realms of the Unreal

average documentary about an extraordinary person

i first heard about henry darger only a few weeks ago... but i knew i wanted to learn his story. darger was a simple man who worked labor intensive jobs his entire life in chicago. no one really knew him well, and he kept to himself mostly... but in his apartment while he was alone he created some amazing art and wrote a novel literally thousands of pages long. henry darger was a 'simple' man, and thought to have mental problems, but he taught himself how to draw and paint his imaginary world. he wrote and painted about an imaginary land called "the realms of the unreal" and the main characters were the vivian girls. its a really amazing feat this man accomplished, but no one learned about his work until after he died! crazy stuff. the documentary didn't really add a whole lot to the story or the man, but did feature quite a lot of henry's artwork. he used colors and space really well, and the images are really awesome! even though he has some issues with genetalia, his work is what i consider to be really artistic and appealing. i loved the art and the sections from his novel a lot. the interviews were less than stellar for the most part however. i'd highly recommend looking up henry darger, and this documentary does have a lot of useful information.