Public Enemies

melodrama, romance, and 140 minutes. wtf, this is a gangster film??

public enemies is the latest michael mann gangster drama. this one is based on john dillinger (played by johnny depp) the depression era bank robber and his evasion of the fbi, led by melvin purvis (christian bale). the film is 140 minutes. that's way too long for how little actually happens in this film. there is plenty of manufactured drama and romance, which seems completely out of place in this movie. for some reason some deaths are worth long drawn out scenes that show the drama and angst in the person's eyes... while some get killed and we just move on. that's what i mean by manufactured. the filmmakers want us to care about some deaths, and not others, but it's seemingly for no reason. who cares... there is plenty of good shootout scenes, even if it's nothing we haven't seen before. this is quite similar to michael mann's heat that it's funny. heat is much better by the way. the scene that made me lol was when depp's girlfriend billie (marion cortillard) is being beaten by interrogators, until christian bale shows up to beat up her abuser and subsequently carry her to the ladies room. so fucking hollywood! god i laughed at the absurdity. not to mention the final sequence of the film, which i won't give away, but it is quite cliche. there are plenty of boring pointless moments in public enemies, and the only thing that is really worth a damn is the shootouts and bank heists. i feel like such a typical man for saying that, but this just isn't a good movie.
as with a lot of period movies made lately, public enemies shows almost no signs that it takes place in the past. the film techniques don't fit the date of the film, and other than the costumes and cars (which at all times appear to have just been washed) it just doesn't feel like the great depression era at all.

The Hurt Locker

best war movie in years

the hurt locker is more of an action thriller than a war movie... but the film does say a lot about modern warfare, and war in general. the film feels very genuine, and i'm sure the filmmakers did a lot of research.
jeremy renner plays sgt. james, a bomb diffuser in the iraq war. he and his unit must disarm EOD's in the during warfare. a very fucking intense job! james is the best at it, and he gets a thrill out of his assignment. the other members of his unit become wary of his dangerous tactics. throughout the film james disarms bombs and helps to take out iraqi snipers like a true action hero, just not as glamorous. jeremy renner does a great job in this role. i'd only seen him in the film 'dahmer' and the shitty 'senior trip', so this is quite a leap for him. he does great as a leading actor in the hurt locker. the film made me realize just how intense and dangerous war is. i mean, i'm not an idiot who doesn't know war is hell... but man, this is shows just how brave, scared, and overall insane some of these guys are. i wouldn't describe this film as "anti-war", but it certainly shows enough fucked up shit that happens to make me think that life is too short to spend it killing eachother. these thoughts have been with me for years, but seeing a film like the hurt locker makes me realize this even more.

Moon

sam rockwell is pure win

moon is an indie scifi drama starring sam rockwell. the film takes place on the moon where sam (sam rockwell) is manning a space station that harvests moon rocks for planet earth to use for energy. he's alone for 3 years and awaiting his return to his life on earth, when weird things start to happen. he gets in a crash in his 'rover' and wakes up in the infirmary not remembering much. he goes back to the crash site and discovers that he was never rescued. i don't want to give much away, because the way the film unfolds is quite impressive and very well done. there isn't a twist ending really, but there are plenty of twists and turns that thrill the senses.
sam rockwell is essentially the entire cast, as he plays 2 roles, and does excellent. he was already one of my favorite actors, but now he's right at the top. he's so fucking good in this. the film is just awesome. kevin spacey voices the robot GERTY, and is somewhat remininscent of HAL from 2001. i heard comparisons to a space odyssey, but i think they're on different wave lengths. moon is less about science fiction as it is just an interesting story that takes place in space. the film reminds me of the prestige (the christopher nolan film a few years back), and that's a good thing. best film i've seen in a long time.

Summer Hours (L'heure d'été)

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.

Whatever Works

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.

Year One

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.

Away We Go

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.

Schizopolis

quite fucking unique

schizopolis is one of steven soderbergh's earlier films, and certainly the most unique one i've ever seen. the film has no credits, often people speaking in different languages, actors playing the same character but in different roles (somehow), and plenty of other oddities. the humor and story is hit and miss in my opinion.
steven soderbergh plays the main character, who has to write a speech for a motivational speaker type guy, and is going insane from the task. the story is almost irrelivant though and most of the film seems to make little or no sense. it's more or less a take on modern business life... kinda like office space, but weirder. i liked it overall for the originality.

Departures (Okuribito)

a very moving film

daigo kobayashi is a cellist who has recently lost his gig and needs to find a new job. he applies and gets offered a job he knows nothing about, and it turns out it's for a business that prepares dead bodies for their departure. he keeps this a secret from his wife and friends because they look down on such things. daigo eventually gets good at it, and sees what he does as beautiful and necessary (which it is). we all die, and we all deserve some peace and respect in the end. daigo is still coming to grips with the death of his mother (for which he was absent for her funeral), and his father's disappearance when he was young. there is plenty of beautiful cello music to move the story along, especially the flashbacks of daigo as a child.
the film is very well made, and the story is very moving, and each character is well developed. i'm not sure if this was the best foreign film of 2008, but i can see why it won the academy award. it's very good.

The Brothers Bloom

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.

Sick: The Life & Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist

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.

Hated: G.G. Allin and the Murder Junkies

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.

Treeless Mountain

slow paced sadness

treeless mountain is a film about 2 little korean girls, Jin and Bin. They are forced to live with their aunt while their mother searches for her husband who went AWOL. the film is basically all from jin and bin's perspective, and hardly anything happens, but the girls are amazing. they run through all human emotions in this 90 minute film. they show human emotion at it's rawest (a word?). they wait for their mother every day, and try desperately to bring her back by filling a piggy bank full of coins, and waiting for her each day at the bus stop. very sad and depressing stuff.
this film reminds me a lot of the previously reviewed 'wendy & lucy'. hardly anything happens, there's no music, and it is shot like real life. very impressive, but overall this film is unsatisfying.

The Hangover

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.

The Limits of Control

jim jarmusch's control

the limits of control is a very slow/brooding film that seems to go nowhere. a nameless man (Isaach De Bankolé) is on a mission in spain, and everything is very mysterious. he encounters multiple strange and quirky people who deliver coded messages inside matchboxes. we as the audience learn almost nothing about the 'mission' and wait for a payoff in the end. we don't ever really learn what the nameless lone man is up to, and that's ok. the style of the film is great, and issaach does a great job as a calm, controlled gangster type. the film lasts almost 2 hours, and there is almost no real action, plenty of repetition, and as i said no real payoff. overall i enjoyed it well enough, but i don't think it's for everyone by any means.

Drugstore Cowboy

good drug addict crime film

matt dillon stars as bobby in this early gus van sant film. bobby and his wife are leaders of a group of thieves who rob drug stores for pharmaceutical drugs. they seem to have a good thing going for them, until cops get too close, one of the crew members (heather graham) croaks, and everyone starts believing in crazy superstitions. not to mention that they're all addicts constatntly looking for the next score. the film is really well done, and i really liked matt dillon's performance. plenty of win in this 80's crime drama.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil

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.