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wes anderson's fantastic mr. fox
i've loved wes anderson's films since seeing rushmore in theaters years ago. i couldn't quite explain why i loved them back then... and i still can't quite tell you now. my favorite is probably the life aquatic. the feel of his films, the characters, dialogue, and just overall style are so great. the films have a pleasing quality to them. fantastic mr. fox is certainly one of those films... even if it is a stop motion animated film based on the book by roald dahl. i remember reading the book as a kid, but the story was really just a blur to me now. this film is fun, funny, and even poignant at times. overall a highly enjoyable movie for kids as well as adults. unlike 'up', this film has jokes that adults can enjoy, and lots of fun for kids too. the voice acting is pretty good too... george clooney is mr. fox, meryl streep is his wife, jason schwartzman plays the son ash (my favorite personally), and bill murray, willem defoe, and others join in as smaller roles. i just really enjoyed this film, and i'm glad wes anderson is sticking to making his style movies.
fuck norman rockwell...
up is just like a fucking norman rockwell painting... utter bullshit. the story is about an old man whose wife of 50+ years has died, now he wants to go on an adventure he wanted to pursue with his beloved... i can't stand pixar films anymore... they're all the same. so much syruppy bullshit about friendship and what's really important and shit. fuck disney for making their films so manipulative. the film accomplishes what it sets out to... make us care about the characters. that's what they specialize in... they made us care about toys, fish, and cars for fucks sakes... why not an old man who never realized his dreams? i don't care how preposterous the plot is... i can get over that stuff, like the audience is supposed to... but the way they present life, it's so fucking phony. it's either a kids movie, or an adult movie... don't try to be both pixar!
another thing i hate about pixar... the shitty sense of humor. they're kid jokes, but they want adults to laugh at them. wtf? the funny stuff involves dug, the talking dog... but the jokes get old fast. this film is so similar to wall-e, finding nemo, monsters inc., etc. for some reason i keep seeing them too... just like the rest of the world. that's what i hate too! they have so much power over us! lol. the animation is amazing as usual, but i am just sick of their bullshit overall.
boring and meh
so i finally saw stargate, and i was disappointed. i didn't know what i was expecting, but i was hoping for something better than this... i mean this spawned some tv shows and stuff, right? plot: james spader is great with heiroglyphics and shit, so the government hires him to decipher this ancient circle thing from egypt. turns out to be a stargate that teleports you to another planet on the other side of the galaxy or some shit. he breaks the code and goes with hard boiled army guy kurt russell to see if it's safe on teh other side. they go through and can't make it back.... meet some natives, and fucked up shit ensues. the story is predictable, and the acting is good, but the behavior of the characters makes no sense whatsoever. the effects are cool, and the egyptians from the other planet have awesome pharoah masks and shit that are cool. i like spader and russell, so i can't hate it too bad, plus it's 15 years old.
good and bad
judd apatow has good stories to tell in his films. like the 40 year old virgin and knocked up before it, funny people has a good premise, and i'm sure it's at least somewhat close to his heart because that's how the other films he directed were. adam sandler stars as george simmons, a comedian not that much unlike himself in real life. he's a comedian with tons of money. george however doesn't have a family or many friends, and he recently found out he's dying of a rare form of leukemia. he decides to get back into stand up comedy and befriends seth rogan's character, ira, a struggling stand up comic who has to work at a deli just to pay the bills. the 2 form a unique friendship... meanwhile george is still in love with his ex (leslie mann, apatow's real wife) who's now married to eric bana and they have 2 kids (apatow's real kids). well, guess what... george gets better, and his ex wants to get back together with him, but ira knows it'll fuck up a family... this film is more drama than funny, and extremely long. it's almost 2 and a half hours. the funny parts are funny, especially the scenes with seth rogan and his roommates jonah hill, and jason schwartzman. the important parts of the film are rushed through, while the funny but less important parts are dragged out quite a bit. the acting is good, premise is good, but it's execution is meh.
disturbing. dark. harrowing.
gasper noe's film irreversible is a roller coaster ride through one fucked up night in france. the film is shown in reverse chronological order, like memento, and it works extremely well for this story. the film starts with a dead body and leads us through the actions that led up to a murder... 2 friends, marcus and pierre, are searching for a pimp who raped and beat their girlfriend/friend alex. they search a gay club where tons of sex acts are being performed, and i imagine the director has some unique thoughts on sex and homosexuality... anyways, one of the most fucked up/disturbing scenes in all of movie history is a 5 minute long anal rape scene involving said girlfriend, alex (played by the gorgeous monica bellucci). the scene (and overall film) was easy to watch for me, but i'd be curious to see others' reactions though. i've seen my fair share of fucked up shit on the internets by now. the rape scene however was more disturbing because it was almost like a love making scene... the man was making love in a way, while alex was in agony and pain the whole time. i imagine this is what real rape is like. anyways, the film is well acted and has some good long scenes that must have been difficult to film. the ending (or beginning of the story) is up for interpretation, but i didn't think it was as good as a story like this deserved.
epic anime style action movie, but...
casshern is a beautiful movie, and it's obvious that it was made by a music video director. the action is intense, and pure style over substance, like an mtv music video... but there is a lot of good in casshern. the story takes place in the dystopian future, where mankind is at war and a scientist, dr. azuma, is working on 'neo-cells' that will revive any human body parts and heal people. his son tetsuya goes and dies in the war. dr. azuma's liquid works and he accidentally creates a new breed of neo-sapiens who vow to destroy mankind, and tetsuya is revived as casshern, an incredible warrior who must take down the neo-sapiens and end the war once and for all. the film is epic, and for the most part it's awesome... but i think they tried to cram too much into this film. there is drama, romance, war, action, sci-fi, animation, etc. all in one film, and i think they shoulda focused more on the action personally. casshern is a badass, and the scenes with him are awesome, but some of the drama is so over the top, soap opera-ish that it takes away from the cool stuff. like i said, the film is style over substance, and that's fine if they stick with it. when they try to half ass the substance, it shows.
other than some poor acting, this is a great film
cannibal holocaust is a very disturbing horror-drama film. there are scenes of extreme violence against humans (fake) and animals (REAL!). the story is really, really original. there is a documentary filmmaking crew that goes to south america in search of uncivilized man, but they go missing, so an anthropologist goes in search of them. what he discovers is that they were killed and eaten. he finds their film cans and takes them back to the states and he discovers the true horrors. honestly, if this wasn't a grindhouse horror movie, it'd be a masterpiece. the acting is often crappy, but not bad enough to ruin the great story. the animal killing doesn't bother me as much though. i mean, those animals were killed and the images live on forever... when we kill animals for food, it lives on for a few meals. the turtle death scene was crazy, and the true horrors of the film that i mentioned are shocking and gives the story such an amazing twist that is much better than the shit we make today. this film definitely isn't for the squeemish, or animal lovers. truly terrifying shit lies within.
unconventional vampire tale
chan-wook park, director of oldboy and i'm a cyborg, but that's ok brings us a unique horror/dark comedy about vampires. father sang hyeon volunteers to get infected by a virus because he believes in the power of prayer and wants to prove it for research. he dies, but comes back from the dead as a vampire. now he isn't a typical vampire with fangs and no reflections, but he does live on human blood and can't go out in daylight. most of the story is about how he develops a relationship with a troubled young woman tae-joo. now that father is a vampire, he can't control his urges and the 2 have amazing sex and passion, until she decides to become a vampire too. the 2 of them eventually go on a killing spree and father decides it must stop. this film is great, and very similar to i'm a cyborg. the special effects are often amazing, and the camera work is so unique that i appreciated it the most out of all aspects of this film. there are quite a few funny parts, and the gore and 'slurping' noises are gross, but totally add to the twisted ambiance that park has created.
wes anderson's fantastic mr. fox
