The Missing Weeks

Alright, there hasn't been any posts in the past week, and there probably won't be any for at least another week.  Just finishing up school, then I will be back to work on the blog.  In the mean time, check out 100 Weeks of 80s Flix. My brother just started this blog. He plans on watching the 50 top grossing films from each year of the 80's, five each week. That's 500 movies in 100 weeks. Go wish him luck and follow along with his adventure. I'll be joining him for some of the movies once school is over. Should be fun!

My Week in Movies (April 11-17, 2009)

Okay, this will cover a bit more than this week, but whatever. Get over it.

Movies Purchased
Not much purchased this week, but it was all Blu-Ray, so that makes large quantities more financially difficult.

Tell No One (Blu-Ray)
This one was just fantastic. The French really know how to thrill, apparently. Basically, a man's wife is killed and eight years later he gets an email proving she's alive. The whole movie keeps you guessing right up until the end. There is even a great little twist. I thought it was a solid, exciting thriller that any fans of the genre should see.

Slumdog Millionaire (Blu-Ray)
I've felt divided over this one for a while. When it was first released, I really wanted to see it, but as the expected backlash started to occur my mind changed. In the end, I realized that I love Danny Boyle, and need to give him a chance (also, it was supposed to look great on Blu-Ray). I was somewhat underwhelmed. I figured I would either love it or hate it, but I ended up just liking it. It is a good solid film, but probably my fourth favorite Danny Boyle movie (28 Days Later, Trainspotting, and Sunshine currently lead). I don't think it deserved ALL the acclaim it received, but you should all check it out and decide for yourselves.

The Matrix: Tenth Anniversary (Blu-Ray)
A Blu-Ray version of The Matrix that allows you to pretend that the sequels never happened? Sign me up. The movie looks great on Blu-Ray, and the effects still don't look dated. I'm sure most of you already know whether you like this film or not, so if you do, pick this up. If not, just move on.

Movies Rented
My place of employment no longer accepts my mail, and my apartment has no outgoing mail, so my Netflix access is slowed a bit.

Resident Evil: Degeneration (Blu-Ray)
Alright, didn't have high hopes for this one, but I like the Resident Evil games, so I decided to give it a chance. It was basically what I expected. Creepy, lifeless CG character in action-packed situations. If that's what you're looking for, this is the uncanny valley at its finest.

The Flight of the Red Balloon
Kind of an odd one. A movie inspired by The Red Balloon, but in the film they talk specifically about the original movie. Ignoring that, the film is a solid examination of modern Parisian family life and its effect on a young boy. Busy mother, loving sister living far away, sweet nanny, a bad tenant, and one red balloon. Clearly this movie has it all. The film has a subtle touch of magic (both narratively and cinematically) that makes the whole thing simply beautiful. But, really, the most important thing is that I love Juliette Binoche, and she does not disappoint in this film. If you were to ask people who are not cinephiles (read: movie geeks) what they think French films are like, they would likely describe this type of film exactly, so really it's up to you to decide whether French films are your thing or not, I can't help you.

Donkey Punch
Oh good God! Why?! I should have listened to the dozens of reviews that said to avoid this movie, and not the one review that said it was great. I know it's meant to be a cheap exciting thriller, but it's really a tired concept excecuted poorly with ridiculous amount of scenes meant to be shocking. Recoil in fear.

Movies Watched

Observe and Report: See posted thoughts.

Adventureland: See posted thoughts.

Sunshine Cleaning
Not too much to say about this one. It was an enjoyable enough movie. The comparisons to Little Miss Sunshine are apt, but it's not as identical as some may claim, although Alan Arkin is basically the same character. I say rent this one if you're up for a good funny feel-good movie.

Matrix Reloaded
I was given this movie as a gift, and after watching The Matrix on Blu-Ray, I decided to give it another chance. It was exactly as disappointing as I remember it being. Oh well.

And Finally, Thoughts: Observe and Report

Okay, so I’ve been busy. I saw Observe and Report on Easter Sunday, and I haven't had a chance to coherently assemble my thoughts on the film until now. I have some experience writing about movies, but no amount of Film Studies credits could prepare me to review this one. As much as I enjoyed this film, I just can't bring myself to endorse the film completely. This film is most certainly not for everyone. If you, for instance, enjoyed Paul Blart: Mall Cop or any similar film, do yourself a favor and steer clear of this one.

I really want to avoid going into too much detail regarding what it is that makes this movie so different because I think some of the fun of the movie comes from slowly realizing what type of film this really is. No one in a million, perhaps jillion, years would ever believe that this was a studio produced film. It's not the language, the sex, the violence, or even the drug use, it's the fact that only one character in the film (not even a major character) is truly sympathetic. The thing that really grabs you in the film though, is the fact that it still gets you to sympathize with these characters that, let's be honest, you probably would not even speak to in real life. The fact that we still manage to care about Ronnie (Seth Rogen) as he seems to spiral out of control, is a testament to Jody Hill and his ability.

It may not sound like it from this post so far, but this movie is actually a comedy, and is really funny. There is a good variety of comedy, some character based, some situational, and some just completely insane. One thing that I really picked up on that I haven't seen mentioned in other reviews is the fact that there is a major change in tone about halfway through this film. The movie starts the way that anyone who had only seen the TV commercials would imagine, pretty standard studio comedy fare. Weird people doing weird things at a mall where regular people can look bewildered and/or befuddled (this isn't as bad as it sounds, as Hill keeps the comedy consistently mixed with character development, etc), but things change drastically. The most noticable part is how the first half of the movie could easily keep a PG-13 rating (notice how we never get actually see any nudity from the notorious flasher), then Ronnie makes his decision to stop taking his bipolar medication and the movie instantly cranks things up to a hard R rating. Right away we get to see some date rape (I'll get to that), then comes the vulgar language, intense violence, Hardcore drug use, and full-frontal male nudity. Not only does Ronnie start to become unbalanced, but the whole movie does so as well.

Unfotunately, this is where the movie gets into a little trouble. There is little in the way of connective tissue. Hill keeps putting intense scene after intense scene with little explanation of motivations. It can get a little confusing, and unfortunately the story suffers a bit, but not too much.

Seth Rogen's performance is spot on. Little by little he's proving he's got some dramatic chops hidden beneath his goofy exterior. Ronnie is sweet, a little dumb, and completely deranged, and Rogen does all of the above better than almost anyone (he has said that Ronnie is the logical continuation of Ken, the character he played on Freaks and Geeks, which makes the whole movie even funnier). Anna Faris is fantastic as well. Funnier than ever, but I did wish her part was a bit more substantial because I really wanted to see more of her in the film. Michael Pena stole his fair share of scenes, his comedic ability really was unexpected, but fantastic nonetheless.

Other Thoughts:

• Favorite line: "He's dead! ...oh, wait nevermind."
• Yes, it was probably date rape, but it wasn't really worse than Ronnie's excessive use of violence that likely killed innocent people, so I don't really understand the controversy.
• Why would anyone want to blow up the Chik-Fil-A? It's delicious!
• Boom.

Verdict: personally, it was a nine out of ten, but I would never be able to predict how anyone else would like it. Just look at the wildly varied reviews its getting. I guess, just find someone you usually agree with and listen to them.

Excitement: "Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World" Video Blog

I am just getting more and more excited about Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. The first in a series of videos from the production takes place at the training facility, and I'm glad to see it. As Wright mentions in the video, he's taking all aspects of the story seriously. This means that the action and music aren't going to be ignored in favor of the comedy. Knowing Wright's track record (Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz especially), this shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, but it's still good to hear for sure.

Anyway, watch the video if you're interested. Michael Cera is clearly the superior swordfighter, just look at those moves!

Thoughts: Adventureland (or my defense of Kristen Stewart)

Let me start by first declaring that I loved this film. I went in knowing that it was not Superbad (its more Almost Famous), so I was not surprised as many people seemed to be. This film is best described as a slapstick comedy script directed by a dramatic director. Of course, this is not true as it was both written and directed by Greg Mottola, but that's the feeling you get. The movie is filled with comedic setups that rarely go where you think they will and stereotypical characters that are anything but. It's set in the 80's (complete with soundtrack), but doesn't fall into cliched "people in the 80's were ridiculous" comedy. Mottola remains sincere and devoted to his characters, as even minor character built from 80's archetypes (hot, popular girl/pompous jerk musician) develop into well rounded characters each treated as if they were the main character.

None of this is meant to imply that the movie isn't funny. The majority of the jokes are played very low key by the actors, and it works very well. There is a bigger focus on timing and situational comedy rather than physical or gross-out humor that people may be expecting. The few bits of slapstick in the film are played perfectly by Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig, who tend to steal the few scenes in which they appear.

As for the rest of the cast, I'd like to give exceptional marks to Jesse Eisenberg, who has already shown his knack for dramatic and comedic timing in films like The Squid and The Whale, and to Martin Starr, who is great as always (people should be currently watching him in Party Down on Starz). Now here is where some may be surprised, I'd like to give the Most Improved award to Kristen Stewart. After coming off an thoroughly mediocre performance in the thoroughly mediocre Twilight I would not expect much from her, but she did a good job in the film. She plays Em's understated vulnerability with a quiet sexiness that went a long way to convince me she's a girl that James (Eisenberg) couldn't help but fall in love with. I'm convinced that if Stewart makes wise choices, she could have a successful career ahead of her. We'll have to wait and see how she does as Joan Jett in The Runaways, but I'm optimistic.

There seems to be some disagreement on this point coming from some (female) people I know and have seen online.  They believe that she is simply a one-note actress, but they're definitely just jealous (alright, maybe not).  Seriously though, I do think they're coming into this film with a predisposed dislike of her from her part in Twilight, but I think it also may have something to do with the fact that girls simply don't want to think that boys would fall for girls like her, but unfortunately that is not the case.  For the most part, we love that kind of girl (speaking generally, obviously not every boy would like a girl like that).  I have yet to come across a female critic that gives an opinion either way, but most male critics have been positive about her performance, and I've heard almost universally positive reactions from male bloggers, commentors and the like.

Random thoughts:

• James is supposed to be a college graduate, but he doesn't seem to have any idea how to nonchalantly hide his erections?  Come on!
• Girls in the 80's could be impressed by fictional stories of the night you played with Lou Reed?  I would have been a great 80's liar.
• On second thought, listening to "Rock Me, Amadeus" over and over probably would have made life pretty unbearable.
• Air drumming Rush's "Limelight."  Hell yes.
• A mustachioed Bill Hader with a baseball bat is probably the scariest thing I've seen in a long time.

Verdict: Check this film out. Eight out of ten (bonus if you're at the exact same point in your life as the characters in the film like I am).

WFF Thoughts: And The Rest...

This was the first year that I really actively participated in the Wisconsin Film Festival. I had been to a few films featured at the festival in past years, but this year I bought tickets well in advance and made an effort to research the films and see the ones that interested me. I didn't make it to as many films as I had hoped (I didn't even go to a few I had already purchased tickets for), but I was happy to support the festival anyway.

So to wrap things up, here are some very brief thoughts on the remaining films I attended:

Treeless Mountain. I have to admit I was pretty disappointed by this one. It delivered what it advertised, but it failed to do so in a substantially interesting way. The film followed two sisters who are left with their aunt while their mother looks for their father. Everything is viewed from the girls point of view, which means we hear and see only what they hear and see. As we follow these girls, they spend their days trying to pass the time until their mother returns. The acting is done brilliantly well by these two very young girls, but unfortunately nothing really happens to them. Their mother never returns and they eventually move to live with their grandparents. There is no standard structure to the plot, there is no real climax or even a resolution to the conflict. I assume these girls will continue to do the same thing they have been doing even after the film ends. In the end, it was a decent concept that was well acted and shot beautifully, but ultimately not interesting enough to sustain even the short 70 minute film.

Secret Sunshine. This film was the most pleasant surprise of the festival. I went to it mainly because I was a fan of Kang-ho Song from seeing him in films like Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and The Host (and I'm very excited for the upcoming Thirst), but I found the film to be one of my favorites of the festival. Song was great, but Do-yeon Jeon was astounding. I have since found that she won the Best Actress Award at Cannes in 2007 for the role, which I agree with whole-heartedly. Watching her cope with extreme loss in a new town was incredibly compelling. Seeing her turn to faith in God to help her cope, only to lose that faith and turn to less savory ways to deal with her grief was actually more exciting than most thrillers I've seen lately. I spent the entire film trying to guess how it could possibly end. I was trying to figure out how they would resolve the issues brought up, which is a feeling mirrored in Shin-ae (Jeon) and her own search for resolution.

Jerichow. Calling this film a thriller may be a little misleading. There is an affair and a murder plot, but it lacks any heart pumping excitement. I'm not saying that this is necessarily a bad thing though. The story is generally interesting, and very well acted, even if it becomes inexplicable at times. Motivations are often left mostly unexplained, as the affair seems to come from nowhere without any warning. Perhaps it makes a little more sense to Germans. That said I did enjoy it quite a bit, it just was not a favorite of the festival.

Mermaid. I guess the best description of this film would have to be "magical." Not only does the main character develop some magical powers, which really isn't that important of a plot point, but really Masha Shalayeva was the most magical part. She is completely enchanting as a young woman who moves to Moscow after taking a vow of silence as a child. She finds herself at several demeaning jobs (including dressing as a cell phone and getting stuck in the middle of a soccer riot), but eventually falls for a rich young man who does not know she even exists. The whole film is surreal, clever, and funny. I enjoyed this film immensely, and really hope it does get a US DVD release. It has much of the same charm exciting visual style as something like Amelie and likely could appeal to the same audience, although I find this film to feel a little more genuine than Amelie, even if it does make it a little less accesible to general audiences (I also assume that people are more likely to enjoy people speaking French for an entire film than they are Russian).

So those are my final thoughts for the Wisconsin Film Festival. I had a lot of fun, and enjoyed most of the films immensely. Apparently I wasn't completely satisfied though, since the next day I went and saw Adventureland and Sunshine Cleaners back to back. I will hopefully post some thoughts on those later today.

WFF Thoughts: JCVD

I won't be able to give too much of a review here (there are too many movies this weekend, I'm overloaded), but I can say this: if there was ever a perfect midnight movie for movie geeks, this would be it.  I really don't have anything negative to say about the film, but honestly I think the fact that I was on the brink of passing out from exhaustion may have helped.  The absurdity that fills this movie was made even more surreal.

What makes this film so absurd, you ask?  Well, the most absurd, mind-boggling part of this film is the fact that Jean Claude Van Damme gives an excellent performance.  Obviously, there is no one better to play an aging action star, but Van Damme bares all in his performance.  He remains completely real even as the film becomes more and more surreal.

I won't go into detail of just how weird this movie becomes because I really just want you all to see it for yourselves.  This will be out on DVD and Blu-Ray on April 28th.  Everyone who feels they are a movie geek has an obligation to watch this film.

WFF Thoughts: 500 Days of Summer

Alright, I'm going to try my best to avoid making too many comments regarding my personal experience seeing this film.  Let's just say that watching a film sitting next to a group of girls who are discussing how they are going to hook up with the writers and director of the film does not make for a completely pleasant movie-going experience.

Beyond that, I was pleasantly surprised by the film.  As the trailers have said, "this is not a love story, this is a story about love."  It ends up that this is not simply a way to avoid being labeled a romantic comedy, but actually a very apt description of the film.  Without going into too much detail regarding the story, you learn early on that this is not about two people falling head over heels in love, but one person falling with the other person standing firmly in place.  This, of course, brings about the lies they tell each other and the ways they delude themselves.  The story isn't groundbreaking, but definitely unique enough to make an interesting film.

The comedy in the film is solid overall.  Most of the jokes are sharp and clever, with only a few falling into the cliche or cheesy category.  In all honesty though, even those portions seemed oddly appropriate most of the time, even the last line of the film (which I won't spoil for you, but it was incredibly cheesy and evoked cheers from the audience).

The characters aren't as developed as I wished them to be, but they all served their purpose reasonably well.  Each adds something unique to the overall story and I don't think any of them could be seen as unnecessary.  That said, this was clearly Tom's (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) story.  What we know of the other characters we learn through Tom's experiences, with the one exception of the introduction of Summer (Zooey Deschanel) at the start of the film.  We really see all the events of the film through Tom's eyes, which means when he gets metaphorically kicked in the crotch, we all get metaphorically kicked in the crotch.  Luckily these moments are cushioned by enough wit and charm to make it all not only bearable but actually enjoyable.

Other Thoughts:

• Stories told out of chronological order seem really difficult to write effectively.  Well, done guys.
• Who can blame Tom for falling in love with her?  It's Zooey Deschanel for god's sake!
• Having a world wise tween sister that gives you advice on your relationships seems like it would be more creepy than helpful.
• According to the girlfriend, the kissing in this movie is fantastic
• PENIS!

In summary:  If you get the chance, check this out in the theater.  Otherwise, its definitely worth at least a rental.