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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.
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.
woody harrelson killing zombies on an epic quest for some twinkies
yes, the fatty snack food... anyways, zombieland is a fun action packed zombie film similar to shaun of the dead. jesse eisenberg stars as columbus, a loner college kid who somehow is still surviving the zombie apocalypse. he meets up with a somewhat unbalanced psycho zombie killer (woody harrelson) and they continue their quest through 'zombieland' together in search of unblemeshed land, and twinkies. they meet up with 2 girls, emma stone and abigail breslin (whom i can't stand btw) and horror/comedy ensues. a really fun and cool movie, with some originality even, which is weird since there are so many damn zombie films now (george romero has to be up to 20 now, i swear). there are some really good scenes, and great use of high FPS camera. the product placements were a bit much though (fedex ffs) but not horrendous. also, the celeb cameo (which i guess is supposed to be a big secret) is awesome!
street bums, napalm hooch, necrophilia, and much more!
street trash is a decent 80's b-movie. freddy (our protagonist) is a bum who runs around trying to score cheap alcohol, cash, and easy women on the streets of new york. meanwhile a liquor store owner uncovers some really old bottles of booze called 'viper'. turns out this stuff turns anyone into liquid from drinking just a sip! so, bums start melting all over, and some shitty cop is hunting down a killer. meanwhile freddy is just trying to get his fuck on with a drunken whore whom he eventually date rapes! once he's done with her the other bums (who behave more like zombies than actual humans) rape and kill her... then this fat ass junkyard owner finds her dead body, and he rapes her! more people end up melting in an awesome display of b-movie special effects. lots of liquid body parts, ooze dripping from people's bowels, etc. one of the funnier scenes was when the leader of the bums gets peed on and he instinctively cuts off the pee'er's dick and the bums play keep away with it! awesome. the filmmakers probably had some deeper message with this film, probably about homeless people and alcohol or something, but it isn't too prevalent. this is entertaining, but the acting and dialogue are so horrible at times.
well made, but...
the baader meinhof complex is based on the true story of anarchist rebels andreas baader and ulrike meinhof, and their rise to power in 70's germany, and their international following. the film is very well made, and good. the subject matter however is aggrevating. the filmmakers however seem to idolize these people, and i found them to be completely reprehensible. sure the world was full of shit at the time (still is by the way), and these people stood up against it in their own fucked up way... but what did they actually change? nothing. they were terrorists with giant egos and no true sense of reality. i noticed that several terrorists (RFA fighters) shot at cops, but the instant that they were wrestled to the ground we heard them moan in agony from the pain! wtf? dude just killed a bunch of guys, but we're supposed to feel sorry for them when they're taken down and handcuffed? i think the filmmakers failed to make a strong enough case for these people. they all came off as ignorant idealistic college kids who we should love and respect. i didn't buy it. we were supposed to feel sorry for them when they were jailed in solitary confinement. the people fucking used pipe bombs and stole cars!
like i said though, the film was very well made, especially the special effects. there are some great bullet wounds that are incredibly realistic. the movie also goes very long, around 2.5 hours!
awesome animation, design and concept, but......
9 is a cgi animated film about 9 ragdolls, created by a scientist, living in a post-apocalyptic world trying to survive. the final ragdoll creature '#9' (voiced by elijah wood) has just awoken in this strange place and he meets up with some of the others. they all can speak and think like humans, but are small and have different personalities. they are on the run from an evil creature, until #9 accidentally unleashes something much larger and fierce. the leader #1 (christopher plummer) is stubborn and refuses to let the others try to save #2 (martin landau) when he is captured, blah blah blah. the story is slight, but full of good action and beautiful animation. the main problem is the fucking ending! jesus, it was horrible. i won't give it away, but let me say that it was not at all satisfying. that's not necessarily the point of this film, but damn it was a letdown.
on the plus side, the voices are good, especially john c. reilly (#5) and crispin glover (#6). anything crispin is in becomes instantly improved, so i can't fault this film too much.
patton oswalt impresses
in big fan, patton oswalt plays (quite convincingly) paul aufierio, a 30 something man whose only real passions in life are the new york football giants, and calling in a local sports radio show to talk smack on the air. along with his friend sal, played by one of my favorites kevin corrigan, they devote all their time to cheering for their favorite football team. paul is a pathetic loser to most, but he doesn't see himself that way. he lives with his mother still, doesn't own a car, and has a shitty job as a parking attendant on staton island. he doesn't want a life like his brother, who is a seedy lawyer that dumped his wife for his mistress. things change drastically for paul when he and sal follow their favorite giants player to a strip club, and he gets his ass kicked by his hero. now he doesn't want to press charges, because this will hurt his team! the film is mostly a drama, even though the material is often humorous. paul is a great character. he is a total loser, we hear people like him on the radio every day, but 'big fan' gives him depth. paul goes so far for his passion on the radio and for the giants that he takes some drastic measures towards the end of the film. the only problems i had with the film were the unresolved conflicts in the story. i really like how true to football fans this movie is. they don't do the typical hollywood bullshit, the filmmakers know their stuff and the details are spot on. overall it is worth a look.
low expectations, wasn't too disappointed.
