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british black comedy...
'a film with me in it' is a black comedy that is quite similar to 'very bad things', but not quite as funny. the premise is funny, mark is an out of work actor who lives with his girlfriend and paralyzed brother in a shitty apartment with tons of problems. one day everything falls apart for mark... his girlfriend leaves him, the chandelier falls on his brother and kills him, the landlord whom he owes plenty of money to gets killed trying to fix a light, and so on. the apartment amasses many dead bodies, all by accident! mark's friend pierce, who also claims to be a film writer and director, comes over and the 2 try to come up with a plan. the idea is funny, and the story plays out like a thriller more than horror, but the payoff just isn't that great. mark isn't exactly a likeable guy, while the guy who plays pierce (dylan moran) is funny and entertaining.
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.
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.
fast cars, hot women, and violence.
faster pussycat is an epic cult classic, and one of russ meyer's best. varla, rosie, and billie are 3 hot chicks who drive fast cars, and are looking for trouble. varla, played awesomely by tura satana, is the leader who is making all the decisions. they end up getting into trouble by killing a guy whom they encounter racing his car in the desert. they kidnap his distraught girlfriend and head on the lam until they encounter an elderly crippled man who has a stash of money in his house. the film is very talky, with some of the most campy yet awesome dialogue i've ever witnessed. the film is quite quotable, there are some horribly awesome action scenes, and of course a few gorgeous/buxom violent women seal the deal. truth be told this is the first russ meyer film i've ever seen all the way through, and i'm glad i started with this classic. i liked it in the same way i enjoy john waters' films. it's campy.
very important documentary, even if it is a bit preachy
let me start by saying that much of the information in this documentary i already knew. i was a vegan/vegetarian for a good 5 years of my life, and seeing things like this make me wonder why i am no longer. food, inc. is a documentary on the modern food industry. it's more or less an expose that shows us plenty of shit that we simply don't know about the food we eat. even with some knowledge of this stuff, there was PLENTY to shock me in food, inc. almost all the food we eat comes from very few companies... but travels thousands of miles to get to us. the cheapest foods are the least healthy, even though they do the most harm to us, the environment, and use up plenty of resources. slaughter house workers have one of the most dangerous jobs in america, and companies purposely place them in poor areas of states and hire illegal immigrants so they won't complain. the food industry has us by the balls and they know it. your hamburger is made from cows from various parts of the world, they are grown too big and too fast so their bodies break down before they're killed. factory farming is the worst. raising cows and chickens for food, that's not a problem at all... but the way the factory farms do it with incredible efficiency and speed is insane. the hormones and drugs and unnatural foods they feed these animals is insane. the food companies control everything, and many of the appointed officials in the fda and usda have worked for these giant food companies. the film has so much information that i can't go into all the incredible details, but please see this fucking movie if you care at all about your health, the world's health, animals, the environment, etc. this isn't a michael moore 'gotcha' style documentary, it's based on facts, and the makers investigated thoroughly.
this movie won't change lives for the most part, but hopefully it will make people realize what's going on behind the scenes. the food industry is getting out of control, and change is necessary. buying organic, local, in season, etc. are all good ways to show the industry what we consumers want to have happen. this is kinda the message of the film, and i happen to agree. there's no need to go vegan/vegetarian in my opinion, but there are much better, healthier, environmentally sound options out there and it's worth looking into.
great for star wars geeks
i am no longer a star wars fanboy, although i was pretty into it when i was a kid. the characters in fanboys are often hilarious interpretations of these people. fanboys is the story of 4 friends who are on a quest to see episode 1, the phantom menace before anyone else does, back in 1998. there are many star wars jokes to be had, even though many of them fall flat. there seems to be a little too much drama for this kind of movie too. the best parts are with seth rogan, as a trekkie and as a pimp obsessed with star wars! a few other cameos include: danny mcbride, will forte, craig robinson, danny trejo, kevin smith, jason mewes, the donkey fucker from clerks II, carrie fisher, billy dee williams, and of course william shatner! i think actual fans will like this the most, despite its flaws.
british black comedy...
