Parents

strange but awesome comedy about cannibalism!

directed by bob balaban... that alone had me curious about this little film, and it wasn't too bad. randy quaid stars as nick, a father who may or may not be a cannibal. his son michael suspects that some strange shit is going on ever since they all moved to their new home. it takes place in a 50's era suburbia where quaid is a working man and his wife stays home to make the meals. randy quaid works for Toxico developing chemicals for warfare, but uses cadavers a little too thoroughly. i think the dark comedy works rather well in parents, and the kid who plays michael is awesome. definitely more of a cult movie worth a look.

Dante 01

cube meets 964 pinnochio in french.

that's the best way to describe dante 01. its odd, takes place in a small location, and everyone is bald. marc caro directed this film, and that's why i was interested in seeing it. it was his first solo film, but his works with Jean-Pierre Jeunet (delicatessen and city of lost children) are nothing short of amazing. unfortunately dante 01 is not. the film has a lot going for it... an interesting sci-fi story about a new passanger aboard a prison ship and he seems to have amazing healing powers. good setup, and even a pretty decent delivery throughout, but the ending was too outrageous and seemed thrown together at the last minute as to not go over-budget. most of the action takes place on the ship, and not a whole lot happens... but plenty of the prisoners have painful siezure-like problems and portray pain a lot, and it gets old fast.

Revolutionary Road

american beauty 2

ok, its been done to death... people don't feel alive and feel like they are just machines waiting to die, and feel so much more important than all those "other" people who haven't figured it out. yeah yeah yeah. kate winslet and leo dicaprio are these people. a young married couple who feel like they are now trapped in suburban america and don't feel really alive. its a great premise, it always is, but i just felt that it has been done before and the characters (especially winslet) are just too damn pretentious. don't worry however, the film gets good late when winslet tells leo she hates him, and his world seems to fall apart. seriously, there are a few amazing scenes towards the end of the movie. leo is great as frank wheeler, and winslet is also good as his wife april. i just sided with frank's character and sympathized with him. maybe because i'm a guy and know what that situation is like. he wants to do well in his career and succeed, while his wife still has "fairy tale" dreams that are unrealistic for a married couple with kids. either way there is a lot of win in revolutionary road but also, unfortunately, some fail too. *SPOILER* thebotched abortion that leads to death has been done enough. we get it, back alley/self induced abortions are bad. move on.

Milk

very good biopic

sean penn is great as harvey milk, an openly gay man elected to office. his story is one of triumph and tragedy, and sadly i wasn't very aware of the history going in. a fellow supervisor in san francisco, dan white (played by josh brolin) eventually murders harvey at the peak of the gay rights movement during the 70's. there are some excellent performances in MILK, most notable are james franco and emile hirsch. the film enraged me, but also educated about the struggle of gays in america. it seems we have come a long way from this time, but still seem far from actual equality... there are many groups and individuals that seek to silence gays as well as ruin their lives. i have met people on many occasions who say they have no problem with gays, "just don't get fucking near me", or "don't try to teach my kids about it". its ridiculous... but i hope this film encourages people, rather than further divide us regarding homosexuality.

Code 46

ambitious low budget thriller...

doesn't quite deliver the goods. tim robbins (once again) does a good job as a detective in the not-so-far-off future. he's sent to shanghai to investigate a fraud involving "papers" that allow people to leave and enter areas. he meets a woman who he (seemingly inexplicably) falls in love with and they break 'code 46'. now, in the future cloning is common and there are laws against having sex with someone who's dna is too close to your own. that's what code 46, the code, is. the film is more about the future and genetic dispositions vs. human created willpower. think gattaca. the film works rather well, other than the fact that samantha morton (the female lead) is in no way attractive in the film, and i can't believe that her character and tim's would get along one bit. i really like morton in most of her stuff, but in code 46 she acts and looks like a punk with a buzzcut and almost no femenine characteristics. that doesn't matter too much, but it just doesn't work for this role in my opinion. the story on the other hand is really good, and despite the low budget they pull off a rather convincing glimpse into the future.

The Player

now more than ever

robert altman's the player still holds plenty of truth 17 years after it was made. the critical examination of hollywood dirtbag executives and the system that keeps art out of mainstream film is excellent. tim robbins stars as griffin mill, a declining producer who begins receiving threatening postcards from a disgruntled writer who he never "got back to". meanwhile he sees a young hotshot exec. rising in the studio and threatens to put mill out of a job. things go horribly wrong for griffin when he tries to confront the writer in person. the film has an excellent ensemble cast, as do all of altman's movies, and lots of great performances. probably the best scene in the movie is the first 8 single take featuring many of the characters on the lot. the ending is very good and makes the film.

Bob Roberts

more disturbing than funny, but very good

tim robbins made one of the most controversial movies in the nineties with 'bob roberts'. i remember when it came out in theaters many people who i knew (including my parents) said they would refuse to see it, and disliked tim from then on. bob roberts the film bashes conservatives its true, but justifiably so, especially for the time this film was made. its a scathing look at the political machine and the making of a superstar candidate who people rally behind, even though his message is very dangerous and hateful. the conservatives blamed so many things on welfare and drugs in the nineties, and this film was really spot on in many respects. tim robbins is amazing as bob, and even though its obvious that we're supposed to hate this man tim doesn't go over the top at all. the film is a mockumentary in which we follow bob roberts, a "self made" millionaire folk singer, through his campaign for u.s. congress and one journalist who tries to take him down. through shady and despicable acts he tries to come out on top.

lots of celebrity cameos including james spader, susan sarandon, jack black, john cusack, bob balaban, helen hunt, and peter gallagher.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno

kevin smith makes a shitfest

totally unoriginal, unfunny (for the most part), unnecessary film to add to kevin smith's growing resume of shit. ok, i seriously was a huge smith fan back in the day. i LOVE clerks, mallrats, chasing amy, even clerks 2! but, his other works like jersey girl, and this are so damn pointless and unfunny that it makes me wonder why smith doesn't just stick to what he's good at... the jay and silent bob jersey flicks. watch this for justin long's performance, and that's it. also, kevin smith seems to be stuck in the nineties musically. why was there dmx and primus music in a present day movie? made no sense, other than kevin smith doesn't get out much.
tom savini's part was pointless and wasted, justin long was great but his part was tragically short, kevin smith's wife makes another retarded appearance even though she has no fucking talent, there was absolutely no chemistry between rogen and banks, the story was SOOO UNORIGINAL. not to mention this was basically like any other seth rogen/judd apatow film of late (think knocked up or 40 year old virgin). did i mention that it sucked?

Defiance

jews kicking ass!

finally, an original story involving world war II. daniel craig and liev schrieber star as polish jews who lead a small revolt/survival group during the german occupation. its supposedly based on a true story, which makes it even more awesome. brothers tuvia, zus and asael start by hiding from the germans, and they quickly gain more people and band together to survive. some good action and hollywoodish plot, but overall there is a lot of good in this film. i certainly hope it was not completely hollywoodized with a lot of the real story changed. also, who knew james bond was a hebrew?

Red Dawn

wolverines!!!

classic world war III movie pitting teenagers against commies in the middle of colorado. awesomeness ensues! lots of cool action scenes especially for the mid eighties. swayze and sheen kick ass (as usual!), but the ladies just get in the way. many classic lines and scenes, in a very campy type of way. it has been... a red dawn.

Raising Genius

odd little indie

justin long stars as hal, a 17 year old genius who has locked himself in his bathroom to pursue his dreams of mathematical and scientific discovery. his mother (wendie malick) is obsessed with trying to get him out of the bathroom, even though it is her that truly scares hal. she claims to be an amazing mother, yet can't stand how her only son turned out. very odd little film, and it seems to be very low budget despite the decent cast.

Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy

talk about a boring person

ron jeremy is not an exciting person, and this documentary proves it. he's just an old "washed up" former star who is trying to make it in hollywood. he is not funny, has almost no acting talent, and is pretty much pathetic in a lot of ways. this documentary tries to give us some background on the 'legend', but all i came away thinking was how pathetic people like him are. sure he was a great porn star, and did that well, but that doesn't mean he deserves real credibility as an actor. that's what he's searching for, but he blames people for his lack of good opportunities, rather than accept that he's just not that good. not very interesting at all. one of the most pathetic scenes was watching ron at a frat party accepting an honorary membership. very sad.

Freak Out

awesome british horror comedy

merv and onkey are slasher movie fans who discover a released vegetarian mental patient who they decide to train to become a serial killer. what else do you need to know? its hilarious, even though it stumbles a bit towards the end, freak out is an awesome indie film. it reminded me of movies like bad taste, dead alive, and shaun of the dead. very funny in my opinion.

Cadillac Man

good little comedy with robin williams and tim robbins

there's not a whole lot the story, and its not really that funny... but williams and robbins score in cadillac man. robin williams is a used car salesman who is having a very bad day. he's about to lose his job, his daughter is missing, and all the women he is sleeping with find out about his womanizing behavior. tim robbins shows up as a nutty gun wielding jealous boyfriend who takes the dealership hostage. good but not great slight comedy is definitely enjoyable, if not forgettable.

Gran Torino

eastwood overcomes...

lots of bad acting and a weak script to deliver a good performance. clint is great... no matter what, he can do no wrong in my book. the dude who plays the young priest and a few other people did horribly trying to act convincing. the story is simple, and clint is very likeable as a grumpy racist old man with a heart. lots of things work well in this movie, but other things don't. there isn't too much original about gran torino, but hey... its clint eastwood! the relationship between walt and thao is great. lots of funny dark humor and racial slurs.

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

pretty damn good

going in i didn't have high expectations for walk hard, and i wasn't disappointed at all. i love most all of the apatow films (sans the ricky bobby shitfest), and one of the only ones i had missed was the dewey cox story. lots of funny moments, good songs and spoofs of the music biz. john c. reilley is always good. this one delivers for the most part.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

benjamin ... gump?

so i finally caved in and saw the latest brad pitt/david fincher movie... i have to admit that it was very good for the most part. i definitely teared up multiple times throughout, as benjamin saw everything in his life leave him. people die, relationships end, and people disappear... its very depressing to me, even if it is just a movie, we see this all the time in our lives.

PROBLEMS: the daughter and her mother in the hospital reading the diary. this was not necessary to tie the story together. its like fucking titanic, saving private ryan, schindler's list, etc. i am fucking sick of modern people telling the stories of the past. that's why we're watching the film, we are watching the story already, no need to see the people telling it again. also, there was one of the worst product placements ever in the film... for jell-o. and it was 3 fucking hours and the ending was disappointing!