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good premise, but horrible execution
this film was well made. the cinematography and acting are great. the story premise seems good, but this film is just a boring, annoying and pointless mess. there's a 75 year old french woman who leaves her estate (including some great artwork and whatnot) to her 3 kids when she dies. the kids (in their 30's and 40's) must decide what to do with everything. OMG, STOP THE FUCKING PRESSES! they decide to sell off the art and the house. there's plenty of drama because of the memories, and thinking about what we do with our possessions when we die, but this movie is lousy. the film focuses on so many unimportant scenes it's ridiculous. the first 1/4 of the film is at the woman's birthday party... then she dies off screen, then months later we meet the characters again. wtf?we learn waaay too much about these characters that we don't need to. the old woman was fucking her uncle, but that's not that important to the film. WTF? that's quite important, but it's hardly even mentioned. and the kids are all spoiled assholes who travel from continent to continent all the time. well educated, well cultured, pompous assholes that most people can't relate to whatsoever. the art in the house is supposedly amazing, and plenty of the characters delve into great detail about the works. why though? no fucking clue.
the film is well made as i said. there's a lot of really good long shots, good dramatic elements, good acting for the most part... but the story is horrible. i was hoping to see more attention to the whole 'possessions don't go with you when you die' elements, but no. also, the last 1/5th of the film focuses on the eldest son's daughter and ignores the main characters.
woody returns to new york
first off, i'm a HUGE woody allen fan. even his worst film is generally better than an average one by anyone else. if you're not a fan, don't fucking bother seeing this. it's not for you, i'm almost certain. after his last few films based in europe, he returns to the state that he loves so much, and a story that is quite familiar for woody. in my opinion this is his best film since 'match point'.
larry david plays boris yellnikoff, the latest woody avatar, a "genius" who has no faith in humanity. he hates so many things (almost all of which i agree with by the way) including religion, racism, the nra, dumbing down of humanity, etc. boris basically spouts off a lot of woody's philosophical musings throughout the film, many of which i'm quite familiar with. overall he basically just says, "whatever works", find any love you can out of life and that's all we can hope for. larry is quite good, even if his range is incredibly limited.
boris meets melodie (even rachel wood), a very young 'simpleton' from the south who eventually absorbs his philosophy and they get married. there is a lot more to the story, including melodie's parents discovering their sexuality, melodie finding her true love who loves life the way she does, etc. the film is slight in nature, but very enjoyable to me. my favorite parts are when boris looks at the camera and talks to us. he's the only character who can 'see the big picture'. it's fucking win.
how does a pile of shit like this get made?
going into year one, i had low expectations. i thought the trailers looked decent, but when the reviews came out i knew i wouldn't be getting grade 'a' comedy. even so, this is the worst film i've seen in years. harold ramis somehow forgot how to make a funny movie, let alone at all coherant. all the jokes are stale, and feel like rehashed life of brian/history of the world part 1 bits. the biblical setting is pointless, as most of the jokes and gags fall flat in any setting. i tried to laugh a few times, but this film isn't fucking funny! michael cera and jack black play their typical characters. david cross, oliver platt, paul rudd, harold ramis, and many other actors are wasted in this shit fest. the story is retarded, slight, unfunny, etc. i think the writers had a decent idea, early man who talk and act a lot like modern people and therefore can make fun of the past, but stretched into more than 10 minutes it gets old and dumb fast. god i hated this film. nothing redeeming about it at all. i can't believe judd apatow had anything to do with it.
don't assume we give a shit
sam mendes and everyone else behind this film assume we like and care about these characters. i know i didn't. that's probably what made me dislike away we go. bert (john kransinski) and verona (maya rudolph) are a young couple who are about to have a baby... they end up searching for the perfect place to raise a family, and through a road trip around america (and montreal canada) they learn about themselves and parenting, etc.
this film, along with so many others these days, gives no real closure. at the end i mostly wondered why i was supposed to care about these people. now i don't have kids, nor do i anticipate having any for a loooong time... so maybe that woulda helped me enjoy their journey. they meet quirky people, most of which are terrible parents that they don't want to emulate. the best of which are maggie gyllenhaal and her husband. the most hippy people ever! i lolled at them quite a bit, so that was nice. otherwise there was a decent blend of comedy and drama. what does bert see in verona anyways? she's nothing special, and i never understood why they cared so much about eachother. sam mendes didn't do that great of job building their relationship in my opinion.
also, alot of the parental advice and conversations seem horribly written. no one talks the way most of the characters did... anyways, other than a few good performances, this is basically a waste.
another stylish con movie
the brothers bloom is similar to any other con artist movie ever made. plenty of cons, people conning eachother, hard to tell who's really conning and who they're conning, etc. to me it gets old fast. this film is rather enjoyable, but overall it's a tired story and i felt like i've seen it many times before. adrian brody (bloom) is in love with rachel weisz (penelope), the woman they're scamming. the story gets repetetive fast, as brody wants the same thing from his brother mark ruffalo (stephen), the mastermind. there are some funny parts, lots of enjoyable moments, but as i said it's been done before. see matchstick men, house of cards, dirty rotten scoundrels, etc.
disturbing, funny, sad.
i found out about bob flanagan very recently and wanted to see this movie immediately. bob flanagan was born with cystic fibrosis and a hankering for masochism/bondage/torture. most people with cf die very young, but bob lived into his 40's. this documentary shows some of bob's final days and documents his career as a performance artist and comedian. he often incorperated his sexual fetishes into his performances. his wife collaborated with him to bring his fetish and art to life, and overall bob flanagan is an interesting person. he lived his entire life in pain and sickness, and his passion was masochism, pain he had control over.
the documentary is very well made, and shows plenty of very intense and extreme examples of his masochistic ways. including: his wife shoving a large ball up his ass, nailing his dick to a block of wood, piercings being performed, cutting, etc. in some ways bob flanagan is similar to gg allin, they both were masochists, ate shit, died young, and performed on stage. bob however is a likeable person, he is funny and had a sick sense of humor about everything. he had control over his obsession. gg however was unlikeable and had no control over his habits and addiction. sick is a very difficult film to watch. i often paused the movie to get over some of the disturbing imagery. bob died during the filming of the documentary, and we see plenty of footage of the death/burial. his wife seemingly exploited him in the end, and that was upsetting, but all part of the story i guess.
anarchism personified
after seeing the hangover and looking up director todd phillips' filmography, i stumbled upon this early documentary he made about the infamous punk rocker g.g. allin. the film was very well made, and informational.
i've heard some of allin's stuff, and it never impressed me much, but his stage presence and overall appearance always interested me. he was basically the most extreme punk rocker in history. he'd often shit on stage, hit fans in teh face, pull women by the hair, shove things up his asshole, cut himself, etc. all while performing. this documentary does a great job displaying g.g. and his life, and that makes it worth seeing. note that we see plenty of amazing spectacles that i mentioned. unfortunately, g.g. died during the post production of this film, so the final scene after the credits is of his death/funeral. in the end he died a loser, nothing heroic or punk rock about it. he overdosed on heroin.
i came away from this doc understanding g.g. allin a bit more, but still not giving much of a fuck about him. he was a rebel, anarchist, and a complete loser who had some fame and notoriety. i appreciate people like him however, and wish more people would try to be different, but alas punk is dead. 
it's old school, but in vegas
the hangover is a very funny movie, and it's obvious that it's by the director of 'old school'. 4 buddies go away to vegas for a weekend bachelor party, and all hell breaks loose. they wake up and can't remember anything that happened, and the groom to be is missing. this leads them on an adventure of epic proportion. there are many lulz and some great gags. the film overall isn't original or anything like that though, but that's ok. the film is a lot like very bad things, but less black comedy and more raunch. speaking of raunch, there's plenty of cussing, male nudity, some violence, etc. awesome! oh, and we see heather graham's boob, while she starts to breast feed.
spinal tap, but for realz
the story of anvil is quite a sad and hilarious one. anvil is a big hair 80's metal band that is still together after all these years. their story has ups and downs, but mostly downs, and we get to see it all with plenty of humanity/hilarity. lips (lead singer/guitar) and robb (drums) are the 2 remaining members of the group, and they have been rocking since they were 14. in the 80's they saw some fame, but didn't really go anywhere... even though they were respected by their peers, and had plenty of die hard fans. now, almost 30 years later they are still performing and searching for another big break. they often perform in front of less than 100 people, don't get paid much, and work shit jobs to make ends meet. this film will make you laugh, possibly cry, and certainly cheer. great stuff in this rock documentary.
a classic, maybe a bit dated
i have wanted to see midnight express for years now. there are many memorable quotes and scenes from it that have appeared in numerous current films. the film is based on the true story of billy hayes, an american who gets caught smuggling hash out of turkey. his experience in the turkish legal system and prison is brutal. the film exaggerates a lot, but it makes the film pretty gripping. some of the acting was just shit in my opinion. billy was good for the most part, but some parts he was trying too hard. also, the guy who plays his father sucked, bad. randy quaid has a part as a nutty inmate trying to escape. i've heard over the years how brutal the film is, and how badly they were tortured, etc. but in this day and age, it's not that shocking at all. i've seen much worse in film, and even on the news... whatever.
good premise, but horrible execution
