All Entries Related to "Movies"
June 26, 2008
What does (limited) mean?
Youth in Revolt has a "limited" release on December 5th. Um....need more information please!!! I will go to New York for this if I must. LA or Cannes will be tricky. But maybe since CD Payne went to Harvard, Boston will be one of the first cities to get it. How am I going to keep myself occupied for five more months?
Posted by Michael at 01:55 PM | Comments (1)
July 29, 2007
The Simpsons Movie
Were you worried that the Simpsons movie would be a disappointment? Have you been concerned that the last few seasons of the show have been like watching a balloon slowly deflate?
Maybe the writers were saving their best stuff for the movie. It sure seems that way, since the movie is hilarious almost from start to finish. It's not all THAT different from a 90-minute episode of the show; there's a little more swearing (from Marge!?), a little more blatant drug use (don't be too surprised that it's Otto) and a little more nudity, but the plot isn't unfamiliar.
The plot? Springfield thinks it's solved its pollution problem, but Homer and Spider-Pig (more on that soon) push Lake Springfield past its ecological tipping point. President Schwarzenegger sends in Russ Cargill of the EPA (voiced by Albert Brooks; think a mean Hank Scorpio) to seal off the town. The Simpsons escape, and Homer has to eventually decide whether he'd rather help save his hometown or be his normal lazy self.
The problem with turning the show into the movie is that they've introduced 1,431 characters over the years, all well developed and all somebody's favorite. Unfortunately, the middle third of the movie takes place far away from Springfield, so we get hardly a peep out of mainstays like Moe, Groundskeeper Willie, or Guy Incognito. Keep your eyes peeled during the crowd scenes, though, as everyone seems to get at least a microsecond of screen time.
Without giving too much away, there are a couple of great moments. Martin finally gets to feel the rush out of beating someone up. Cletus shines in his moment when he's selected to test an idiot-proof fence. And Spider-Pig, which you may already know from the commercials, steals the show in his several scenes. If the Spider-Pig appearance had happened during seasons 5 or 6 of the show, we'd be talking about it as one of the show's classic moments.
It's not a perfect movie, but it's well worth it for anyone who's enjoyed the show over the years. You may have to see it twice, since some of the lines may be drowned out by the crowd laughing and cheering.
Four stars out of five.
Posted by Michael at 12:30 AM | Comments (0)
July 06, 2007
Chinatown
And another one is finally in the books. 82 down, 18 (plus 23) to go.
Posted by Michael at 11:55 PM | Comments (1)
June 20, 2007
The Road Leads Ever On and On
(Some of this is background information you regular readers already know, but I'm cross-posting this elsewhere, so skim through it.)
Ten years ago, the American Film Institute revealed its list of the 100 Greatest Movies of the 20th Century. It inspired me to go down the list and watch or rewatch all of them, write up my thoughts, and become the literate film buff that I always wanted to be. Now, I could confidently stride into any cinematic cafe and say with utter sincerity, "Yeah, I watched Wuthering Heights."
Eight years after I began in earnest, I'm kinda almost nearly getting close to being done. This has turned into a cavalcade of procrastination, bad luck, shame - lots of shame - and has been a constant and reassuring nagging presence in my life since Bill Clinton started getting in trouble.
And now they've gone and redone the list.
When I heard the AFI was going to do a 10th Anniversary special, I thought maybe they'd shuffle a little, add a few recent gems, and it would make a nice little coda once I finished off the original list.
Hardly.
There are 23 different movies on the list. That's almost a quarter of the list replaced, if my math is correct.
Oh boy.
A quick list at the 23 added to the list: Toy Story, Blade Runner (yay), Do the Right Thing, The Last Picture Show, Sophie's Choice, Swing Time (huh?), The Sixth Sense (I'll have a lot to say about this, I promise), Twelve Angry Men (the biggest injustice on the first list), A Night at the Opera, Titanic (really?), Sunrise (who?), Spartacus, All The President's Men, In the Heat of the Night, The Shawshank Redemption (yay yay yay yay yay), Saving Private Ryan, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Cabaret (I know someone who will be pleased with that), Sullivan's Travels, Nashville, The Fellowship of the Ring, Intolerance (oh my), and The General.
What got the axe? Doctor Zhivago, Birth of a Nation (yay), From Here to Eternity (really?), Amadeus (boo), All Quiet on the Western Front, The Third Man (a grave injustice), Fantasia, Rebel Without A Cause, Stagecoach, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Manchurian Candiate (you're killing me, AFI), An American in Paris, Wuthering Heights (see ya), Dances With Wolves, Giant, Fargo (COME ON), Mutiny on the Bounty, Frankenstein (Raaarrrr!), Patton, The Jazz Singer, My Fair Lady, A Place In the Sun (yay), and Guess Who's Coming To Dinner.
And Forrest Gump remains. Somebody's got some explainin' to do.
Posted by Michael at 11:18 PM | Comments (8)
May 20, 2007
Fay Grim
It's always dangerous to see a sequel when you haven't seen the original; you never know exactly how much of the background that you're lacking is important to getting the point.
So I went into Fay Grim with a little trepidation, not having seen Henry Fool. The story of Fay Grim sets things up pretty well, though, even if you don't know the backstory. Apparently, the story is that Henry, a mysterious drifter, has vanished into thin air after committing some unspecified foul deeds. But first, he left his "confessions" in a series of rambling notebooks, which are scattered around the globe.
But Henry is the MacGuffin of Fay Grim, which focuses on his ex-wife (Parker Posey), who gets roped into trying to collect those notebooks. Her imprisoned poet brother (James Urbaniak), his publisher (Chuck Montgomery) and a CIA agent (Jeff Goldblum) all have an interest in finding Henry's confessions, and Fay gets dispatched into the world of high-stakes espionage and international double-crossing.
Early reviews said this movie stands up on its own, but I found myself really wanting to know more about how these people got where they are (yes, I know where the video store is, so I can answer some of these questions). But what I saw was pretty good.
What carries the movie is Posey's beautiful deadpanning of all her lines. People come to her with stories of terrorism and treachery, and she responds, "OK. Whatever." in so many words, which would sound ridiculous from some, but she carries it off.
The look of the movie is memorable. Director Hal Hartley shoots every scene with the camera tilted about 30 degrees, which works somehow. And the visuals, with Fay running around Paris and Istanbul, really put you in there with her.
There are a few laughs - mostly as a result of Posey underplaying her hand - and one very memorable scene involving a cellphone set to "vibrate". But the movie is mostly based on suspense, and plot twists, and I found myself wondering what was going on for a lot of the time. Maybe now I'll go to the video store and see if the first movie explains any of it.
Six stars out of ten.
Posted by Michael at 11:49 PM | Comments (0)
May 19, 2007
A Movie Countdown In Less Than Ten Minutes
Posted by Michael at 07:38 PM | Comments (1)
May 18, 2007
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
OMG he actually finished his latest movie review. I'm going to miss my target date, but I think I'm still in good shape to get this done before the list of the Greatest 21st Century Movies is unveiled.
Posted by Michael at 06:00 PM | Comments (1)
May 05, 2007
Something Old, Something New: Lucky You
Behind the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas exists the souls of many desparate, lonely people. Not exactly a revelation. But it's a theme that keeps giving material to moviemakers, inspiring such films as the new Lucky You and 2003's The Cooler.
The desperation and loneliness is a little more muted in Lucky You, so let's start there. Eric Bana plays Huck Cheever (apparently, that's his real name), a professional poker player who plays way too recklessly on the card table and way too close-to-the-vest in real life. He's chasing after the legacy of his poker-superstar dad (played by Robert Duvall, who's as good as ever), who's had Huck's number his whole life.
Even though Huck's life is pretty hollow, there's no sense of any crushing emptiness, but when he meets new-to-Vegas lounge singer Billie Offer (Drew Barrymore), there's at least an indication that there is a hole in his life waiting to be filled. Of course, he has to do it the hard way, swiping some money from her for some poker seed money. But he does pay it back.
When Huck enters the World Series of Poker tournament, he's gambling a ton of money and Billie's affection. Whatever exactly it is that she sees in him. And, of course, it remains to be seen if he's learned any lessons (poker or otherwise) from his dad.
The movie plays as a romantic comedy, but it's not all that funny. There are a few laughs (Horatio Sanz pops in to supply most of those), but what it has in abundance is poker. Lots of poker. If you're like me, and find watching poker to be about 1/1,000th as interesting as playing it, some of the scenes get pretty long. And Huck stares down his opponents, looking for their "tells", for so long that you're tempted to call casino security on their behalfs.
But if you want to be uncomfortable in a casino, try The Cooler. The loneliness and despair pulsates off these characters, particularly Bernie Lutz (William H. Macy), a man with such bad luck and such a huge gambling debt that a casino has hired him to walk around and let his negativity rub off on anyone enjoying a hot streak.
And everyone around him is alone too: Alec Baldwin plays Shelly, the guy who hired Bernie because it was slightly more palatable than breaking his legs. He's the last of the old-time Vegas bosses, who feels an impotent rage when a hotshot strategic planner (Ron Livingstone) comes in with ideas to make his joint more in line with the suburbanite-friendly, antiseptic casinos that Shelly thinks are ruining the Strip.
Finally, there's Natalie (Maria Bello), a gritty-yet-vulnerable cocktail waitress with a dark past and a dark present, as she's paid off by Shelly to date Bernie and give him a reason to stick around town. But the two broken souls connect, and when she tells Bernie she loves him, all of his karma-killing skill flies away.
Their love is tested from all sides, not least Shelly. He only knows one way to settle things - the old-school Vegas boss way - and it's jarring to see him use it on this tender and fragile couple. There are more than a couple very uncomfortable moments.
The casting in The Cooler is perfect; Macy, especially, plays the luckless schlub so perfectly that, on the rare occassions Bernie smiles, it's like the sun peeking out from behind clouds that have lingered for a week. And the scene where he gets revenge on his noisy neighbors is hysterical.i>The Cooler is perfect; Macy, especially, plays the luckless schlub so perfectly that, on the rare occassions Bernie smiles, it's like the sun peeking out from behind clouds that have lingered for a week.
Lucky You: 5 stars out of 10. The Cooler: 8 stars out of 10.
Posted by Michael at 09:13 PM | Comments (1)
April 30, 2007
On Broadway
If you're looking to be touched, warmed and uplifted by a movie these days, don't go to the multiplex. You know this already, of course. Instead, move to a city where they host a film festival, where you might run into something as special as Dave McLaughlin's On Broadway, which premiered this weekend at the Independent Film Festival of Boston.
It's the story of blue-collar Jack O'Toole (played by, yes, that Joseph McIntyre), who loses a beloved uncle in a freak work accident. Jack can't sleep the night after the wake, and decides he needs to write a play to capture the whirlwind of emotions the death brought out in his family.
He faces resistance; his friends think he's a goof, his wife (played by Jill Flint) worries about the bills, and his taciturn father (Sean Lawlor) thinks he should shut up and get back to work. Even when things start rolling, there's trouble, too. The pub where the show will be staged keeps overbooking and chasing out their rehearsals. The itinerant actor playing the lead can't be bothered to remember his lines. And, of course, there's no money.
This is all played out with such heart and depth by the cast that you're with Jack 100% right from the beginning. There are a couple of star turns, too. Watertown's Eliza Dushku plays Lena, an actress/insider who fortutiously runs into Jack at the pub, and the reigning First Couple of Comedy (Will Arnett and Amy Poehler) pop in for some memorable moments. (Arnett as a starstruck funeral director is especially brilliant.)
There was a Q+A after the screening in which McLaughlin and some of the cast and crew said they were proud and honored to make a movie about Boston that doesn't rely on gangsters and murderers. And this movie is so undeniably Boston that the pride bursts through. Jack's buddy Neil (T conductor by day, amateur actor by night) takes Lena on a date in the cockpit of a Red Line train. The pub (the Skellig in Waltham) looks just like the Irish pub in everyone's neighborhood. And the soundtrack is heavy on local artists with Exploit Boston Radio's stamp of approval, including The Bleedin Bleedins and Buffalo Tom's Bill Janovitz.
McLaughlin is still trying to get On Broadway into other festivals and into some kind of wide release. Here's hoping he's successful; this movie deserves an audience.
Posted by Michael at 12:22 AM | Comments (1)
April 15, 2007
The Grapes of Wrath
The peaches are picked, the review is done, and there are only twenty more to go.
And to Concerned Reader K.P.: the lame joke you were hoping for is, in fact, included therein.
Posted by Michael at 11:38 PM | Comments (3)
April 09, 2007
Milwaukee Set To Reprise Its Greatest Film Role
Nearly twenty years after its groundbreaking portrayal of the city of Cleveland in Major League, the city of Milwaukee is set to play the role again for this week's Angels-Indian series.
With Cleveland buried under 14 feet of snow, apparently, the entire Tribe-Seattle series was cancelled, and rather than have the California/Los Angeles Angelic Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, California spend their entire week twiddling their thumbs in Ohio, the teams decided to give Milwaukee another moment on the silver screen.
A spokesman for the city of Milwaukee says that even though County Stadium (which doubled as Cleveland's Municipal Stadium in Major League) is long gone, the city is ready to pretend to be Cleveland again. "The moment when 20,000 Milwaukeeans pretended to be Clevelanders and screamed for Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughan is probably the greatest thing that's happened to Milwaukee sports in twenty years," he said. We look forward to pretending to cheer for this new batch of Indians as well."
"Is Cerrano still on the team?" he added.
The city of Baltimore, which portrayed Cleveland in Major League II to terrible reviews, was said to be "hurt" by the decision.
Posted by Michael at 01:47 PM | Comments (3)
April 04, 2007
Grindhouse
I got a pass to a preview screening tonight of Grindhouse. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but what it is is a 3+ hour smorgasbord of violence, mixed with a little gruesome violence, mixed with a bit of head-turning gore, then a little more of same, then some more violence, and a handful of unredeemable characters.
OK, I guess I kind of knew what to expect.
And I absolutely loved it.
It's two movies in one (with some Tarantino/Rodriguez "previews" and "commercials" interspersed). The first one, "Planet Terror", directed by Robert Rodriguez, is an almost Short Cuts-like collage of different lives in a small West Texas town. There's the go-go dancer going straight (Rose McGowan, obligatorily pictured here), the mysterious drifter (Freddy Rodriguez), the harried doctor (Marley Shelton), the BBQ chef, and the cop. Oh, and the scientist (Lost's Naveen Andrews) who was partially responsible for the massive zombie plague that's about to descend on all of the above.
There's an awesome cameo (I won't give it away, but if you're a Tarantino fan, you probably have an educated guess), and some horrible horrible scenes of zombie mutilations and melting skin. And of course, the brilliant idea of attaching weaponry to Rose's severed leg. It's cool.
The second half is Tarantino's "Death Proof". Four girlfriends in Austin have one of those Tarantino rambling conversations at a bar, then meet Kurt Russell. He's Stuntman Mike, who had an unremarkable Hollywood career, but spends his middle years stalking groups of girlfriends and massacring them on the highway (his car, specially built for stunts, is the "death proof" conveyance of the title.)
I'm not a huge fan of car chases, in general, but this one is fantastic. I don't want to say too much, but I'm dying to. I don't see a lot of free movies, but this is one I'll happily pay to see again.
(Also, there was a preview for 1408, which stars Sam Jackson and is based on the only Stephen King story that legitimately terrified me. Pretty good chance I'll be plunking down $9 when that comes out too.)
Posted by Michael at 11:14 PM | Comments (2)
March 18, 2007
2001
Strap yourselves into the pod, throw a bone into the air, drop some acid - the review of 2001: A Space Odyssey is up. 21 more to go. I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I've still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission.
Posted by Michael at 08:18 PM | Comments (3)
March 11, 2007
Bonus Movie Fun
My new blogfriend at Obscurorant has a movie questionnaire he's posted and invited one and all to play along with. And so I do the same; I'd love to see some of your answers.
1. Name a movie that you have seen more than 10 times.
First one that comes to mind is Airplane!, but after a few seconds of thought, I've also seen Major League, Ghostbusters, and Better Off Dead at least that many times. I'd guess The Godfather is probably around nine times.
2. Name a movie that you’ve seen multiple times in the theater.
Pulp Fiction may be my record, at (I think) four. I also saw The Last Starfighter two days in a row when I was a kid.
3. Name an actor that would make you more inclined to see a movie.
I like Zooey Deschanel so much I sat through Abandon. That right there says something. I'll also be more inclined to see things with Kevin Spacey or Samuel L. Jackson. Or William H. Macy, as long as Martin Lawrence isn't in it with him.
4. Name an actor that would make you less likely to see a movie.
Aside from the obvious (Carrot Top, etc), I can't really think of anyone so unenjoyable I'd avoid it on purpose. Maybe Julia Roberts.
5. Name a movie that you can and do quote from.
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm going through a fit right now trying to pick just one. I quote movies ALL. THE. TIME. In fact, this is such an integral part of my life that I'm going to give one frequently-quoted line from ten different movies right off the top of my head. Can you name all of them?
- I just want to tell you both good luck; we're all counting on you.
- I'm just sittin' here, enjoyin' my coffee.
- It's my family, Kay, it's not me.
- I'm not even supposed to be here today.
- When you split the bill evenly, the steak eater picks the pocket of the salad man.
- Startin' to come together, Pepper; startin' to come together.
- You lose! You get nothing! Good day, sir!
- Anybody want a peanut?
- I can remember lots of things.
- I know how to spell Lincoln!
6. Name a movie musical that you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs
Holy Grail, of course. I also know a suprising amount of Fiddler on the Roof.
NOTE UPON FURTHER REFLECTION. There really isn't an awful of music in Holy Grail when you come right down to it, is there? Withdrawn pending thinking of something else.
7. Name a movie that you have been known to sing along with
See above. We eat ham and jam and spam a lot.
8. Name a movie that you would recommend everyone see.
The Godfather, of course. I think I'd also put Field of Dreams, The Shawshank Redemption and Amelie on the list of movies that I don't really think I can trust you if you don't like them.
9. Name a movie that you own.
Almost every one I've mentioned so far. And quite a few more besides. I also own the DVD of Santa Fe Trail, with Ronald Reagan and Errol Flynn.
10. Name an actor that launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops.
I'm just going to go ahead and steal Obscurorant's answer for this: Mark Wahlberg.
11. Have you ever seen a movie in a drive-in? If so, what?
I'm told my first movie ever was Star Wars in a drive-in. The only other one I remember is the pathetic Mel Gibson Maverick, with my ex in Pennsylvania.
12. Ever made out in a movie?
Yes. Maverick. Next question, please?
13. Name a movie that you keep meaning to see but just haven’t yet gotten around to it.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I've owned them all since they came out, but I've never made it more than halfway through Two Towers. My problem is that now I feel I have to watch them in a row to get the full effect.
14. Ever walked out of a movie?
I don't think so. But I'm pretty self-selecting about what I go see in theaters. I've stopped watching DVDs and tapes quite often.
15. Name a movie that made you cry in the theater.
I was 16 or so when I saw it, so I didn't at the end of Field of Dreams in the theater. But for some reason, it gets a little dusty in the room every time I've seen it since.
16. Popcorn?
Most of the time.
17. How often do you go to the movies (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?
Not often enough. Probably 6-7 times a year is my average.
18. What’s the last movie you saw in the theater?
Children of Men.
19. What’s your favorite/preferred genre of movie?
Well, comedy, as you may have noted by now. And disaster movies. I'm also a sucker for the "bunch of guys who really don't like each other" ouevre such as 12 Angry Men or Glengarry Glen Ross. Or Major League, until the cardboard cutout of Rachel Phelps arrives.
20. What’s the first movie you remember seeing in the theater?
I think it's Superman. But since my parents didn't want me to be emotionally scarred by the destruction of Krypton at the beginning or the California quake at the end, we were probably at the theater for only 45 minutes. The good news is, when I saw the whole thing a few years later, I thought there was suddenly lots of extra footage.
21. What movie do you wish you had never seen?
You've Got Mail. What a piece of crap.
22. What is the weirdest movie you enjoyed?
First one to come to mind is The Doom Generation.
23. What is the scariest movie you’ve seen?
For real...Blair Witch Project. I had to walk through a little bit of woods on the way home from that and I was more than a bit freaked out. Then again, I don't go to a lot of scary movies.
24. What is the funniest movie you’ve seen?
Oh, come on. How the hell am I supposed to answer this? Let's go with Major League, since it's spring training time and so I don't have to agonize over this for an hour.
Posted by Michael at 10:38 PM | Comments (0)
The Maltese Falcon
The hamster has started running again. The hamsterwheel is turning. Another movie review awaits the watch-tapping and throat-clearing of my adoring public.
Posted by Michael at 10:31 PM | Comments (1)
March 05, 2007
Pullin' Teeth
I'm more than half done with the Maltese Falcon review, but writing it is like running through quicksand for some reason. Which has knocked my Survivor writeup onto the back burner too. Plus, I'm using up all my cliched metaphors on this post. At least I added Malden to Project 351 this weekend. That's progress of a sort.
Posted by Michael at 12:46 AM | Comments (1)
February 19, 2007
For Me, This Is A Dizzying Pace
The surge is getting on track; two movies in one week! I may make my self-imposed deadline. What movie review would feature:
- an anecdote about Coors beer
- a careful rewatching of a scene that doesn't add up
- passing references to Fight Club and Adventures in Babysitting, and
- the lyrics to Coach and Sam's Albania song?
Raging Bull, of course.
Posted by Michael at 06:30 PM | Comments (1)
February 15, 2007
Turn On Your Heartlight
That's right. Crank up the Neil Diamond. Grab a handful of Reese's Pieces and your Speak-n-Spell. And keep watching the skis...I mean skies. The surge is underway; the 100 Movie Project just lurched 1% closer to completion.
P.S: Holy crap. I must have this. And anyone with the skills to put the poster on a (Black XL) T-shirt wins...something. Anything.
Posted by Michael at 12:38 AM | Comments (4)
January 12, 2007
The Surge Is On
When you come right down to it, I have more in common with President Bush than I'd ever really let on in the past. We both once dreamed of owning a baseball team, both of us have unanswered questions about whether we truly served in the Texas Air National Guard, and we both have noses.
And both of us have foolishly embarked on projects that looked nice and easy on paper, but have turned into Sisyphean ordeals of woe and disappointment. His is Iraq; mine is the AFI 100 Movie Project.
And now he's decided to try a surge to finish off the war in Iraq, or at least keep it boiling long enough to hand it off in 2009. Not having the luxury of a successor, I have decided on a surge of my own. Beginning as soon as the Patriots' season ends (which could be Sunday, but I hope not), I will launch "Operation 25 Movies in 25 Weeks". You heard me. I own a lot of these on DVD and want to get this party finished before the technology is obsolete.
Futher details after (I hope) the Superbowl.
Posted by Michael at 08:08 AM | Comments (3)
August 20, 2006
Not A Bit Disappointing
When you spend nine months eagerly anticipating something (well, maybe not a baby), there's always a chance of a major letdown. But I'm happy to report that Snakes On A Plane is every bit of everything we hoped it would be from the beginning. There's the requisite cheesy disaster plot, there's lots of action and gore (just about every part of the human anatomy is attacked by one snake or another), and the cast looks like they're having obvious fun with it. I don't know how it will transfer onto DVD, so you really owe it to yourself to see it in a theater with a bunch of people. But the kids in front of us were laughing their heads off at the trailer for Jackass II, so make what you will of that.
Posted by Michael at 05:37 PM | Comments (3)
August 17, 2006
It's Not Every Day
In the last 7 years (gulp), I've now written 75 AFI movie reviews. But this is the first one where I've been able to:
- Make a positive reference to Dabney Coleman
- Admit that my sense of irony and cynicism wasn't always this sharp
- Praise Bob Newhart
- Take a shot at chick flicks
- Read the position papers of the John Birch Society
Any guesses what this movie could be?
Posted by Michael at 12:30 AM | Comments (0)
August 06, 2006
Made It!
I promised a new movie review this weekend, and I got it with 12 minutes to spare.
Incidentally, if you're looking for something to read in these epic stretches between the AFI movies, I have a page of capsule reviews for non-AFI-awarded movies that I update from time to time. There's no rhyme or reason to what goes up there, but it shows that while I'm not working on my Top 100 reviews, at least I'm watching something and keeping out of trouble.
Posted by Michael at 11:48 PM | Comments (1)
June 13, 2006
The Horror. The Horror.
When they made Apocalypse Now, it's common knowledge that the movie almost destroyed everything it touched. Francis Ford Coppola had a nervous breakdown and nearly went off the deep end. Marlon Brando showed up late and out of shape, and couldn't bother learning his lines. Martin Sheen got himself drunk, had a heart attack, and actually attacked his hotel room in his first scene. It also took 16 months longer to film it than Coppola expected.
I like to think my movie reviews show the same dedication to the craft.
Posted by Michael at 12:16 AM | Comments (1)
May 30, 2006
And Then There Were 28
A big weekend for movie-watching. I saw Winter Passing, which was very interesting if a little depressing (and had one of the most awful animal-cruelty scenes of any movie I've ever seen; Zooey! How could you?!?). I saw Walk the Line, which was as good as everyone said it was. I saw most of X-Men 2, which was fine.
And yes, kids, I watched and reviewed Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Set your movie-countdown-alarm-clocks to July 17th.
Posted by Michael at 09:39 AM | Comments (1)
March 23, 2006
August 18th
The logo is out.
(As seen on EW.com.)
This comes on the heels of today's news that they've gone back and done extra shooting to spice the movie up a little bit. In response to overwhelming Internet demand, they're even adding a scene in which Samuel L. Jackson* actually says, "Get these m----------ing snakes off this m---------ing plane!" My heart soars at this display of Hollywood responsiveness.
*The subject of S.o.a.P. was much-discussed at SXSWi. At dinner one night, I felt the crowd would be responsive, so I brought up our old bookstore discussion: "Name a book title that sounds really good, as read by Samuel L. Jackson, who then added the word "m---------er" at the end. The reigning champ was Make Way For Ducklings, but Jared came up with a great one: Are You There, God? It's Me Margaret.
Posted by Michael at 03:13 PM | Comments (3)
February 21, 2006
Dizzying Speed
If I keep writing two new movie reviews a week, I actually might be finished by the time my 7-month-old nephew is old enough to read them and mock me for not writing them faster.
Posted by Michael at 01:27 AM | Comments (6)
February 14, 2006
Annie Hall
And they said it couldn't be done. They, of course, being my closest friends and family.
So guess what, MySpace losers? There's a new picture up for you to steal!
Posted by Michael at 10:48 PM | Comments (1)
November 16, 2005
Long-Term Thinking
Perhaps you've heard of the Clock of the Long Now. It's a project designed by scientists, technologists, artists, and all-around smarties to build a working clock designed to last 10,000 years. The point, I suppose, is to put things in perspective: the whole of recorded human history is about 10,000 years, and contemplating that far into the future does kind of lessen the urgency of getting the Henderson accounts settled by Thursday.
The reasoning behind the clock is varied: it's mystical, it's pragmatic, it's humbling, it's powerful. Or maybe they're just more demonstrative and impatient fans of my 10,000-year movie project.
Well, we're one closer.
Posted by Michael at 01:24 AM | Comments (2)
June 20, 2005
Shorter Star Wars Script
I'll echo Blogtopus on this one. I actually really liked Episode 3, but the Abridged Script is hilarious.
Posted by Michael at 11:54 PM | Comments (0)
June 02, 2005
Dragged Into the Light Like Boo Radley
Welcome to all of you who've come here from all the links to my "Dangerous Books" post. And thanks to eveyone who's linked to me.
While you're poking around the site, take a look at my 100 Movies Page. You may remember when the American Film Institute released its list of the 100 Greatest Movies of the 20th Century. I'd never seen a lot of them, and always had a nagging feeling that I should. So I decided I'd spend a year watching them all, from #100 to #1. At two movies a week, I'd be able to see the movie, write a pithy review, come away with a valuable lesson, and still be able to get my Christmas shopping done.
One year turned into two years turned into...well, never mind. Any comments you can make about the glacial progress of this project have already been made, by generations who have lived and died in the interim. The fact is, it's hard to write pithy reviews. But I chug away undaunted, and in fact have reached the 2/3 mark with #34, To Kill A Mockingbird.
Posted by Michael at 12:54 AM | Comments (0)
May 05, 2005
And Then There Were 34
When I first started my 100 Movie Countdown back in 1985, I was expecting to see some that I'd like more than I thought, but I was also hoping to see some that I unexpectedly loved. That happened with Network, and it happened again. I flat-out loved It Happened One Night.
Posted by Michael at 12:54 AM | Comments (5)
April 13, 2005
Cue Nelson Going "HAAAA HA"
Fever Pitch cost $30,000,000 to make. Its first weekend, it brought in $12.4 million, finishing 3rd.
This is why you don't build hotels on ancient burial grounds, and why you don't steal mojo away from Red Sox World Series victories.
Posted by Michael at 12:15 PM | Comments (1)
April 01, 2005
Gettin' There
...and then there were 35.
My Midnight Cowboy review is up. Hope the damn song starts running through your head the way it did mine.
Posted by Michael at 01:53 AM | Comments (3)
March 23, 2005
The Weirdest Movie Roundup Ever
(Disclaimer: the following contains the most forced segue in BunkoSquad history)
The gravity post below (which was fake) was inspired in no small part by this fiasco - several IMAX theaters in the (wait for it) South aren't going to be showing a new film about volcanoes because it mentions evolution. Keep in mind some of these IMAXes are attached to science museums. I guess science museums in the South are probably rightfully fearful about torch-wielding mobs.
But do you know who oughtta be concerned about torch-wielding mobs? Any theater in New England that shows Fever Pitch.
Never in my life did I think that a movie featuring
- Jimmy Fallon (who I think is in over his head as an actor, but overall pretty cool and funny)
- Drew Barrymore (upon whom I've had a mad crush on for like 15 years), and
- The Red Sox
would make me want to throw up repeatedly, but they've pulled it off. Why? Because 30 seconds after Foulke threw Mientkiewicz the ball, launching the Official Greatest Moment of My Life, Fox treated us to the sight of Drew and Jimmy dancing around the St. Louis infield. In the words of Sheila Broslovski...wha wha WHAT?!?
Because here's the deal. We, as Red Sox fans, wanted to see the Red Sox celebrating. We wanted to see Johnny Damon and Johnny Pesky and Johnny Henry. And we wanted to see the Idiots in the customary pigpile and racing towards the champagne.
We didn't want to see Jimmy Fallon; he's from New York and not even remotely a real Red Sox fan. And we (how do I say this without potentially souring the Next Offical Greatest Moment of My Life) didn't...(I'm sorry)...need to...(I'll make it up to you)...see...(I swear)...Drew, who -- let's be honest -- probably didn't fully appreciate the gravitas of the moment. (Let me make it up to you, OK?)
So I won't be seeing this movie. This guy is calling for a universal boycott. Good for him. And Bill Simmons' thoughts are pretty close to my own.
Of course, if Drew shows up and offers to escort me to the film, my principles will last about as long as an evolution pamphlet at a creationist science museum. But until then, I'm taking my $9.50 elsewhere. And shame on any movie theater around here that screens it.
Posted by Michael at 03:43 PM | Comments (2)
March 02, 2005
I'm 37. I'm Not Old
(The above was a bonus Monty Python joke for alert readers)
Would that The Holy Grail were in the list of the 100 Greatest American Movies of All Time. But it's not. It's not even American. Pity.
What is #37 on the list, though, is The Best Years Of Our Lives. And here's the review.
Posted by Michael at 11:16 PM | Comments (2)
February 16, 2005
I've Been Waiting For This Since 1987
Amazon has the Hitchhiker's preview up.
If you can't wait till May (the April date given in the trailer is for the U.K. release) (and I can't), you can keep yourself busy with an updated version of the old Infocom game on a BBC Java Applet. Just remember to buy a sandwich for the little dog.
Posted by Michael at 11:54 PM | Comments (0)
February 13, 2005
Semi-Annual News
The new movie review, that of Double Indemnity, is up. All those who've been holding their breaths these last 6 months can triumphantly exhale.
Posted by Michael at 12:00 AM | Comments (7)
November 26, 2004
National Treasure
Everyone at work to whom I mentioned I saw National Treasure to had about the same reaction..."Was it awful?"
Well, no. It's not going to make any AFI list of the Best Movies Ever (you thought I forgot?), but it was entertaining. Sort of a Da Vinci Code meets Indiana Jones roller-coaster, with some good cinematography and a good performances from Harvey Keitel the eyecatching young Diane Kruger.
But there was a teaser-trailer for the Hitchhiker's movie that had me trembling just a little bit. I think you know where to find me on May 6.
Posted by Michael at 05:01 PM | Comments (0)
September 11, 2004
Breakneck Pace
2 movie reviews in less than a week? What is this world coming to?
Posted by Michael at 10:38 PM | Comments (2)
September 05, 2004
61 Down, 39 to Go
Somewhere in my busy schedule of moping, fretting and angsting, I've found the time to write a movie review. That's something...right?
Posted by Michael at 11:38 AM | Comments (0)
August 12, 2004
The Village
How do you write a review of The Village without giving everything away? I don't think you can. I had almost given up on M. Night Shyalaman after Signs, but was persuaded to give him another chance - and I'm glad I did.
There is, of course, a major plot twist 80% of the way into the movie - standard M. Night stuff. But then there's a second and third twist coming almost simultaneously. I had a glimmer of what the third twist was early, but I talked myself out of it - but it turned out to be true. If this makes any sense to you if you haven't seen the film yet (or even, frankly, if you have), you're ahead of me.
But, in any case, it's good and spooky and creepy without being too over-the-top. I'd recommend it. I think I just did.
Posted by Michael at 12:48 AM | Comments (0)
August 02, 2004
And Then There Were 40...
There's a new AFI Top 100 movie review up. The Movie Elves are looking to score some overtime pay.
Posted by Michael at 11:04 PM | Comments (4)
July 20, 2004
Rear Window
Say what you will, but the pace of the 100 Movie Countdown has been upgraded from "glacial" to "very very very slow".
Posted by Michael at 03:54 PM | Comments (4)
July 16, 2004
The Big Lebowski
I love love loved Fargo when it came out. Then the next Coen brothers movie came out, and for one reason or another I never got around to seeing it. Don't know why.
Then about a year ago, I finally grew tired of the incredulous looks and the trash-talking (90% of which from my friend Jeanne - so I'll return the favor and bestow upon her the first annual BunkoSquad "Person Who Most Acutely Needs A Web Presence" Award) and rented The Big Lebowski. I liked it - not as much as Fargo, but well enough.
But in the last month or so, Lebowski has taken hold of my mind in strange and powerful ways. I've been quoting it obsessively, the songs in it run around and around in my head (in fact, I'm currently listening to "Run Through The Jungle" by Creedence), and I'm developing a crush on Julianne Moore to the point where I might watch all four hours of Short Cuts again.
I casually mentioned at work the other day that Lebowski might be making a serious run at my once-thought-inviolate Top Five Favorite Movies list (which consists of The Godfather, The Shawshank Redemption, Pulp Fiction, Fargo and Dogma). None of the top three are going anywhere, so that leaves Fargo and Dogma as the candidates to fall out of the Top Five. I'm not taking Kevin Smith off the list, so I've got to choose the best Coen movie. Not an easy task.
After a lot of thought (it's humid and hard to get to sleep), I'm giving Lebowski the nod. Here's why:
Acting. William H. Macy and Frances McDormand give the performances of their wonderful careers in Fargo. But you throw back John Goodman, in one of the best characters in film history, Jeff Bridges, perfect as the Dude, fabulous minor roles by Moore, John Turturro and Philip Seymour Hoffman (Buscemi's a tossup), and Lebowski's hard to beat.
Dialogue. Fargo's is awesome. But Lebowski may be the most quotable movie of all time:
- "You're out of your element, Donny!"
- "Your war is over, Mr. Lebowski. My condolences! The bums lost!"
- "We believe in nothing!"
- "Also, Dude, Chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature..."
- "Do you see what happens, Larry?"
- "Her life is in your hands!"
and so on.
Music. Fargo's soundtrack is unmemorable; Lebowski has lots of Creedence, Bob Dylan, Santana and Kenny Rogers (I had no idea that was Kenny Rogers singing "I Just Dropped In" until I looked it up). Just awesome.
So the inviolate Top Five has been broached. Sometimes there's a man...sometimes, there's a man.
Posted by Michael at 02:47 PM | Comments (3)
July 02, 2004
Krugman on Moore
Posted by Michael at 01:31 AM | Comments (5)
June 27, 2004
Film Festival!
Thanks aplenty to sooz for hooking me up with a pass to this week's Boston International Film Festival, and indirect thanks to her friend David Baeumler, whose film was in the festival, but who couldn't use his passes - so I could.
Short synopses of what I saw:
First was David's I Cannot Understand You It's a short (5-minute) cinematic love letter to Vienna, beautifully filmed and narrated by a philosophical tape recorder shown in various places around the city. The best line (I paraphrase): "We don't ask the fireworks, or the flowers, what they mean -- why do we ask this of art and music, and people?"
Next was Felix Allen's Economics 101, an amusing short about a student whose attempt to bribe his teacher backfires horribly. More humor came from Dara Resnik's Great Lengths. A teenage girl breaks up with her boyfriend because he's not Jewish, so he decides to convert. He can do the studying, he's willing (if not eager) to give up bacon cheeseburgers, but the surgery....
Next was Nothing Exceptional, by Douglas McGowan. It's the story of the most blase bunch of teenage girls on earth, trying to decide if the events of September 11th change anything in their lives.
The first feature-length film I saw was Australia's Straight To You, directed by Michael Egan. I'm not a big romantic-comedy fan(!), but this was funny and pretty cute. A temp/aspiring actor goes to work for a type-A female lawyer, and of course their initial hostility breaks into mutual attraction. I enjoyed it more than I expected.
Next was Andy Cambria's The Wet Floor, with an interesting twist on a convenience-store heist. The funniest film I saw all week was Talmage Cooley's Pol Pot's Birthday. As the humorless tyrant watches with disapproval, his petrified staff try to throw him a surprise party. Hysterical. Less funny, but still well-done, was Martha Pinson's Don't Nobody Love This Game More Than Me, where four thirty-somethings finish a game of pickup game and discuss life, basketball and desire.
Then came Saran Barnum's The Hillz, about four jaded whitebread teenagers who turn to a life of crime (except, for a while, the college baseball stud). It's a pretty interesting portrait of bored-to-mayhem suburbians, though it's almost derailed by the presence of Paris Hilton, looking more like a science experiment gone awry (like the attempt to mate a human with some sort of stick insect). Still worth a look.
(We're on the home stretch now.)
Warren Hooper's Out of the Shadows is a melancholy look at loss, death and forgiveness, without a bit of dialogue. Cliche, by Dallas Jenkins, is a pretty funny short piece: a cop-on-the-edge sets out to avenge his partner in a movie intentionally packed with every movie cliche in the book (right down to the grocery bags with the French bread loafs sticking out). Clever. And I liked Tap Heat more than I thought, too. It's also without dialogue; the whole story is told by tap-dancing. Better than it sounds.
The final film I saw was Nathan's Rebellion, directed by K.M. Fitzgerald. Shot in Western Massachusetts on an almost-literally shoestring budget, it's the story of a misfit 13-year-old who takes his teacher's advice to take the "road not traveled" and finds himself traveling through time to befriend a 1780s farmer. It's got a higher ratio of heart to dollars-spent than anything I've ever seen before, and the kid who plays Nathan is fantastic.
Sooz confessed that she brought me along because she thought it might rekindle my interest in writing and filmmaking. And, as is so often the case, she's right. I'm gonna go dust off some old ideas I've had.
Posted by Michael at 12:46 AM | Comments (0)
May 16, 2004
When You're Hot, You're Hot
Two movie reviews in one week!
Posted by Michael at 10:28 PM | Comments (1)
May 09, 2004
Dear Sweet God, He Did It
By which, of course, I mean made it to the end of Birth of a Nation. T'ain't pretty.
Posted by Michael at 07:05 PM | Comments (3)