#93 - The Beastie Boys Video Anthology: Disc 2

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "How in the hell is he watching Disc 2 first? He must be breaking some rule. That can't be allowed! I won't stand for it!! KILL THE MONSTER!!!" Okay, maybe the last part was a bit much, but this is a good example of how dumb Blockbuster.com can be. Sometimes when you put in a multiple disc set, it goes in to your queue in a way that the discs will only be sent in order. For some reason, this was not the case with this set and they sent disc two first. I expected that it might happen here, but I was hoping against it. I had a dilemma on my hands. I have a strict "no sequels first" rule. Along those lines, I have a strict "season 1 goes first" rule for TV DVD's. I was concerned that watching disc 2 first would break some sort of rule. The last thing I need to hear is a bunch of grief about not sticking to the rules that I myself have made up. Well, I consulted with the senior member of my legal representational firm, Fosberg & Chubbs. He told me that I was not breaking any rule since I was not disrupting any kind of chronological production release order. So, if you don't like that I watched disc 2 first, bring it up with him. I have been given explicit instructions that you must fill out all concerns in triplicate, combine it with a self addressed, stamped envelope, and shove them up your candy ass.

Let me start out by saying that I loves me some Beasties. I mean I LOVES me some Beasties. The very first CD I ever bought was Check Your Head and to this day it is my favorite Beasties album. Needless to say, I was pleased that the first video on disc 2 was for Sabotage. Not only is that one of my favorite Beastie Boy songs of all time, it might very well be their best video, EVER. For those of you who don't know, this video is the Spike Jonze directed take off on 70's TV cop drama intro's. Has nothing to do with the song, but what videos really do anymore. Besides, I don't really care because it's top notch entertainment, especially if you like bad wigs and mustaches. And the best part is that the disc has numerous alternate angles that show more video footage than you see in the final product. The video has about three story lines edited in and out. The different angles show the different stories. It's fun to watch. I can't stand it. I know you planned it.

Here's another great use for the alternate angles. The Beasties constantly employ a couple of techniques in their videos. One is that they take one long shot for the whole song and seem to ad lib everything while playing to the camera. They do this in a number of different ways, and then edit them all together. With the angles, you get to see the whole shot, which is very interesting to watch, especially the ones where they are walking along following the camera. The other technique they use is to do one take for the whole video, but they use multiple cameras for that take, and then edit them together. Well, you guessed it, you get to see the whole shot from each angle. Good stuff there.

The DVD also has a number of remixes for the songs. I am not a fan of remixes for anything, but some of the remixes were actually pretty good songs by themselves. The weren't that great and kind of hard to sit through. I watched each angle and listened to every remix individually, which took a long ass time to do. I broke it up into two viewings that were about two and a half hours each. If this was some music act that I didn't like, I don't know that I would be able to do that. In fact, I may have to veto some stuff in the future if it comes up. I vetoed the Al Green gospel music DVD, and I like Al Green. I just don't need to watch a gospel music DVD. Okay, a little off track there. It's a good DVD, lots of songs from lots of albums, mostly Pauls Boutique, Check Your Head, and Ill Communication, but there's even a song from Pollywog Stew. Talk about OLD SKOOL. It's quite enjoyable, and guess what...there's another disc coming.

#92 - American Splendor

I love it. I love it. I love it. You wanna talk about something that hits all the right buttons in my brain. I love the subject matter. I love the concept for the movie. I love the presentaton of the movie. Truly fantastic, well done, imaginitive, and quite unique. It's right up my alley in so many respects. Should I continue to go on and on about it, or actually say what it is I liked about it? Right.

First of all, the movie is a bio-pic. Or is it "biopic"? No, that sounds like an eye disorder or a problem in the renal division. Anywho, this movie is the story of Harvey Pekar, who happens to be the author of the classic underground comic book that I bet if you really thought about it, you could figure out the title of. The comics, which were originally drawn by Harvey's friend R. Crumb, are essentially autobiographical tales about his life as a file clerk, and this movie is based on those stories. Oh yeah, count me in.

But here's where it gets really good, and what I think makes it unique. Harvey Pekar is excellently played by Paul Giamatti. The narrator of the movie is Harvey Pekar himself. It makes sense. He was the voice of the comics, why not be the voice of the movie. But wait, there's more. We actually get to see Harvey in the movie. And not in a halucination scene sort of way like Fear and Loathing. We see him in a documentary style interview way. So, other than what we know about Harvey from the narrative portions, we get a little deeper and more personal than we otherwise would. I think this is a fascinating technique. It's not a case of using dramatic re-enactments to support a documentary, it's documentary type elements to add more depth to a movie. Where this really gets interesting is in the case of the people around Harvey. The other characters in the movie, specifically his wife and his co-worker, are interesting characters with bizarre eccentricities and quirks that you could see coming from a comic book world. But just as honest as Giamatti's performance is about who Harvey Pekar is, so are his co-stars. And we know this because the people they are based on are in the movie as well. It's fascinating to see what appears to be odd caricatures turn out to be real people. It's fascinating. It's funny. It's touching. It's well made in all aspects. Oh, and there's discussion about the social ramifications of Revenge of the Nerds.

#91 - Adaptation

I loves me some Charlie Kaufman. I loved Being John Malkovich. I thoroughly enjoyed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I haven't seen his others. What I love about his movies is how he is able to take an abstract concept and present it in a naturalistic setting using masterful levels of humor and quirkiness. What you then get is a movie that has interweaving elements of humor that is not quite at a dark comedy level, abstraction that's completely real to the world that has been created, and a surreality that actually combines the two together. He does not juxtapose reality and abstraction in order for us to step away from reality and view the differences through a lens. Instead, through his use of surreality, he combines the two together so that we can see, feel, and learn from the inside. On the surface we are given the unusual, the odd, the quirky, the offbeat, the peculiar. But more importantly, we are given a foundation of internal honesty that is at the very core of everything he presents to us. It's fantastic. It's dynamic. It's infinitely entertaining, and this movie may be the most honest of the ones I have seen because it is so introspective.

Let's see, how to describe this movie? The movie is based on the book The Orchid Thief, so you have that story involved, but the main character is actually Charlie Kaufman himself. Stick with me here, but the actual story of the movie Adaptation is about Charlie Kaufman writing the screenplay for the movie Adaptation. How good is that? Seriously. Wrap your brain around that for a bit. Is that not the best thing you have heard of in a while? At first, you think that the clips of the story you see is what he is writing. Pretty straightforward storytelling. Nothing different there. But, much of what we see at first is Kaufman's struggles with adapting a book that really isn't a story into a story without going too Hollywood with it. What's fascinating about this is that you, the viewer, know that he is writing the movie you are watching, but Charlie Kaufman the character does not. That's all I am going to say about the story. The last quarter of the movie is fantastic, especially once you realize what is going on. I give you the premise. I tell you it's good. But you must go see the movie, because it is even better than what I have said here, and besides, trying to explain it all would take longer than I am willing to give. And you should see it anyways.

A couple of things I want to touch on here. First, as good as Charlie Kaufman is at writing, I am eternally thankful that there are delightful lunatics out there in the world like Spike Jonze to make the writing work. I am also eternally thankful that there can be at least one music video director that doesn't make shitty looking movies, and the movies he chooses to make are Charlie Kaufman's. Secondly, the character of Charlie's brother Donald is fantastic. You see, Donald isn't a real person, yet he is credited as a co-writer, was nominated for an Oscar, and actually has an imdb.com page. That is terrific. And the fake brother being Charlie's internal alter ego with a Hollywood mentality is great. And he's Charlie's twin, also played by Nicolas Cage, and here's the crazy thing, they play well off of each other. How is that possible? The interaction Cage has with his two characters is tremendous and I can't even begin to think about how difficult that is to play off of somebody that you are going to play later. This is one of those movies that Nicolas Cage does that can make me forget and forgive the piles of turd he puts out there like Con Air and Gone In Sixty Seconds. These are the kinds of things he should be remembered for.

#90 - Bad Santa

It was actually the unrated directors cut packaged as Badder Santa. But I protest that name due to the fact that if there was to ever be a sequel to this movie, it should be titled Badder Santa. But they ruined it. Now they are stuck with Bad Santa 2. Snooze. And they can't use Even Badder Santa because that's what should be used to complete the trilogy. And while I'm on the subject, can we stop with the cute ways we title the unrated DVD releases? Seriously. Uncorked Edition? That's not even a play on words. It's not even witty. It's not even a freakin pun. Besides, I have come to the opinion that an "unrated directors cut" doesn't mean a goddamn thing. I'm sorry, but a different shot of a kid humping a pie is not the drastic change to the movie that the title implies. And it sure as hell doesn't warrant two versions to be released in stores. And speaking of two versions, if you are going to release Pan and Scan movies with the same cover as the Widescreen, PLEASE do a better job of distinguishing between the two so I don't have to go back to Target and try to return an opened copy of Batman Begins. Is that too much to ask? On another note, isn't Lauren Graham hot?

Seriously, huge crush on Lauren Graham. Partly because she's easy on the eyes, but she's funny too. From News Radio, to Celebrity Poker, and late night talk show appearances, I like her a lot. I've even watched bits and pieces of Gilmore Girl reruns, but I have to change the channel quickly before the fast paced, back and forth prattling between her and Becky give me an aneurysm. So, I got a picture of her showing a little tushy and some tongue, even if it is a foreign poster. I wasn't gonna get a Badder Santa photo. And here's the interesting thing about her in the movie, compared to the delightful lunacy that sums up everyone else's characters, she appears to be the only normal person in the whole thing. BUT, and that's a huge interjection, her kinky little fetish might make her the craziest one of all. I'm not gonna tell you what it is, but her "catchphrase" is one of the funniest, bestest, most unexpected things I have seen in a while. You wanna talk about coming out of nowhere. Fantastically amusing.

This whole movie was amusing. It's a dark comedy, which I like, and has a tiny bit of absurdity thrown in just to keep you guessing. I mean COME ON, that kid is one of the oddest creatures being passed off as a human being that I have ever seen on film. Was he written that way? Cause if he was, that kid pulled off a hell of a performance, cause he's just weird. And speaking of good performances, John Ritter was fantastic. It's a shame that he passed away during filming because I would have loved to have seen how he was meant to fit in to the rest of the movie.

I will admit that I wanted a little more from Billy Bob Thornton's character. As rude and crude as he is, I was expecting a little more rude, and a lot more crude. I guess it just didn't quite push the envelope for me enough, but I recognize that as personal preference and not neccessarily anything wrong with the movie. In all honesty, I think he was put on this earth to play this role. He was fantastic. The scene where he cusses out the mom and kid while he eats his lunch is making me laugh just thinking about it. The piece of lettuce that hangs off his mouth as he barks out at the two is such a fantastic and hilarious moment, that if I forget everything about this movie, I will always remember that part. Well, that and Lauren Graham's line.

#89 - Comic Book Villains

I think I can. I think I can. I wish I could. I wish I could. Ah ..... oh ..... ahhhh ...... uhmmm ........ not quite. Sorry. This is the little cult movie that couldn't. It wants to. It wants to in the worst way. It has a lot of things going in its favor. Things that definitely help in the desire to be a cult favorite type movie. But there are a number things about it that get in the way and it inevitably falls just short.

For those of you who don't know, and I am assuming this means all of you, I'll give a brief plot summary. In Smalltown, USA, we have two rival comic book shops. One is run by Donal Logue, a lifetime comic book purist. The other is run by Michael Rapaport and is more successful because they also sell toys, stickers, etc. A rich kid comic book fan lets both of them in on a secret collection of comic books that was owned by a recently deceased resident of their very town. What follows is are the cutthroat attempts by these two rivals to own this holy grail of comic book collections. I like to think of it as a dad in a crappy family sitcom on Fox versus a dad in a crappy family sitcom on Fox.

Sounds like a good premise, but where everything goes wrong is that it doesn't make up it's mind about what kind of movie it wants to be. There's a bit of the movie that attempts to be in the same vein as a Kevin Smith movie, especially parts of Mallrats and Chasing Amy, but the writing isn't quite up to par with Smith's. In Kevin Smith movies, the characters have legitimate literary debates about characters, storylines, and artwork. In this movie, it's more about how much comic book trivia Logue's character knows. Not as amusing, or effective.

Ultimately, this movie is a dark comedy because these people go to pretty extreme measures to obtain a fortune in comic book gold. This is fine. I would have no problems with that if they maintained the style throughout the movie. For example, there are scenes that have a quirky musical score playing underneath them. It's kind of like a Danny Elfman score, but more from Pee Wee's Big Adventure than any of his other stuff, and not as good. An Elfman sound would have fit a dark comedy, but they chose the wrong one to emulate, and the one they did doesn't fit with the Kevin Smith-esque moments. And then there is Cary Elwes' character, who we first see in a strip club drinking beer watching his girlfriend dance. He kind of treats her rudely, but that's okay because he's the heavy. He is the one Logue hires to steal the comics. You see, he's a bad guy, and we know this. Given that, I am at a loss to find the reasoning behind the scene where he is lying with his girlfriend, in the house he is renovating, talking about where he is going to put her music studio because he is doing all of this for her. Awwwww, it's so sentimental and unbelievably out of place for this movie, and his character. He's the tough guy. He's the mean bad ass. If you put an emotional aspect to his character into the movie, you have to keep it in the movie beyond the scene where you introduce it. Otherwise, that scene is an anomaly and should have been cut.

There is a lot of stuff in this movie that I really like. The relationship between Michael Rapaport and Natasha Lyonne is quite odd. I would have liked to have seen more. Donal Logue's character turns out to be really sleazy, skeezy, and pretty interesting, I would have liked to have seen it used better. And in my opinion, Danny Masterson is underused, while DJ Qualls is overused. This is probably because I like Masterson more, but he also seems to have the right wiring in his head for a dark comedy. Plus, the movie uses DJ Qualls as the narrator and apparently the main character, but really, the story revolves around Logue, so less Qualls would have worked. I guess what it all boils down to is that I would have told the story differently, or at least tweaked the screenplay in a number of ways.

#88 - The Secret Lives of Dentists

From foreign art house movies, we transition into independent films. When I made comments about art movies can only be art if they are foreign, that wasn't completely true. It's high art that is foreign dramas. The regular art, which is all we could possibly hope to produce in America, is available in the form of indie films. You see, there are obvious layers of art, and along with them come layers of pretentious people who are their champions. Therefore, my thick sarcasm. But as you come down from on high, things become more tolerable. What I am saying is that I like indie movies. I think that they are the source of some of the most imaginative and innovative work being done. But people can be just as snobbish about their indies as others can be about their art house flicks. Now that I sound like a broken record, which is probably more annoying than the people I am blabbering about, I think it's best that I talk about the movie I watched, especially since it's a good one.

I thought about why the creators of this movie chose dentists to show the secret lives of. I'll get more into it later, but the movie isn't about dentists specifically. Instead, it's a story about what may be happening to these people outside of the their office. Given that, I felt that it could have been any kind of medical doctor. The Secret Lives of Pediatricians. The Secret Lives of General Practitioners. The Secret Lives of Anesthesiologists. You get the point. For me the idea of a doctor as being the cheerful person you go see when you have problems and don't really know much about them beyond that is something that works regardless of what type of medicine they practice. But as I thought about it a little more, the relationship one has with a dentist is a unique one. You sit there with your mouth open, unable to talk while your dentist is picking and scratching away at your mouth. And yet you are able to maintain a conversation about whatever comes up. Also, if all goes well, you see your dentist more often then other doctors, and when you do, they are right in your face. It's a pretty personal, face to face relationship, yet you know very little about them beyond the moments you are in the chair, which is a pretty comfy chair. So, I think the choice of dentist is quite an interesting one.

But as I said, this isn't about what we know of our dentists. The main characters in this movie are a married couple and are both dentists that share an office. This adds an interesting dynamic because the story is about what happens as their marriage falls apart. This is a warning because a lot of the movie deals with the husband and his assumptions about his wife's infidelity. It's pretty brutal to watch at times because the signs are right there, yet he doesn't ask because he's afraid of what would have to happen if it were true. But here's the thing, this has some elements of a dark comedy, which make it that much better. Dennis Leary plays a patient that has some dental work that goes bad, so he confronts him about it in the ways that only Dennis Leary can. But after that, Leary becomes the devil on the shoulder of the guy as he tries to ignore the signs and keep his family together. It's great to watch Leary try to get this guy to just take a stand and lash out, while the guy attempts to maintain his mild mannered ways. It's a fascinating movie. Serious moments, humorous moments, and even some moments of delerium all add up to a pretty interesting and entertaining slice of life/character study sort of thing with a quirky little tweak to it. I recommend that everybody take a look at it, unless the infidelity issues would hit a little too close to home because some of those moments are pretty brutal to watch.

#87 - El Dia Que Me Amen

Just what you always wanted. It's more art!! While this movie is not a Film Movement selection, it clearly displays the inherit danger of my selection process. It is very easy to get caught in a genre rut. It's like the time a while back when I was stuck watching crappy Don Bluth cartoons that proved his work on Rats of Nimh and some others may have been an anomaly. Did I just use the word "proved" and "may" in the same sentence about the same subject? And it was only two movies, but it seemed like SO much more. Anyways, getting caught in a foreign drama/art house rut is not exactly the kind of thing that I look forward to. Of course, I have to remember that part of the reason for doing all of this is to be surprised by movies I wouldn't normally watch, otherwise known as The Search for Before Sunrise. This movie is a prime example of when that search goes well.

I don't exactly remember what the title translates into. Something about the day I fall in love, or something like that. And look at that picture. Love in the title and a romancy looking cover don't bode well. I am already not a fan of romances and there are obviously inherent dangers in even liking one. But this is not a romance. Sure, there are issues with love and all that crap, but it is by no means the point of the movie. The main character is a man suffering from a depression that is so severe that he is unable to leave the house. The story begins when his long gone childhood friend returns home and they are reunited. These two characters provide an interesting juxtaposition wherein we have a character who can't leave his house next to a character who has traveled the world, and yet neither of them are able to sustain meaningful relationships with those around them, not to mention their families. It really is an interesting contrast.

Now I know what you are thinking. You're thinking that a movie with a main character suffering from depression can't help but be bordering on the edge of over dramatic. Okay, maybe that's just me, but it was a concern because I just wasn't really in the mood to sit through anything like that. Thankfully, this is a different story. Joaquin(that's his name) isn't in the usual self loathing, introspective, emotionally wrought kind of depression. It's more of a fear to take a risk and connect with the outside world that has caused him, in his mind, to waste his life at such an early age. He spends much of the early part of the movie almost numb and dazed, but there is something in his eyes that a real person is still in there. You can't help but get behind this guy and root for him to at least break through, if not get completely better. He is aided by his childhood friend, who is struggling to overcome her emotional hangups, which means instant drama. It really is an entertaining movie filled with humor, charm, and a tremendous character that is done with the perfect mix of subtlety and measured energy, if that makes any sense. I was quite pleased with the whole thing.

#86 - Viva Laldjerie

Oh boy!! More art. This is another Film Movement selection, but I was able to find a picture that wasn't from the collection, and that's what I went with. And of course, it has all the elements that have been discussed in previous reviews: foreign + dramatic = art. More art than you know what to do with. More art than you can shake a stick at. More art than you can legally use to turn your nose up at others with. So put your scarf on, even if it's during the summertime, and let's go watch a film.

Now that I have said my standard and predictable diatribe about art house movies, I will say that this movie isn't that bad. Of course, I am comparing it to the tediousness of Raja. While this may not be a fair comparison because they are two different movies attempting to do two different things, it's what I did, and you'll just have to deal with it. What makes it good is that it's not Raja, and what makes it bad is that it's just okay. Well, bad isn't the right term because it isn't really a bad movie. I did have some problems with it, which in some cases may be due to my lack of knowledge about current events in Algeria.

The main character of the movie is a young girl whose name I can't remember, so we'll call her Viva. She lives with her mother, a former cabaret star who will go by the name of Laldjerie, or Jerry for short. What we get is a story about tradition versus modern times with a bit of western culture versus traditional Islam versus modern perceptions of Islam, all set in the city of Algiers. The story about Jerry is quite fascinating because she was apparently a huge cabaret star who has faded into past due to modern times and the taboo nature of what she used to do. Her search for validity and a connection to her past is quite interesting. It's Viva's character that I can't wrap my head around and since she's the main character, that doesn't bode well for my overall impression of the film. At the start of the movie, she appears to be an irresponsible young slut, but for some reason that doesn't last. She is a little bit at odds with her mother, but it's hard to say why other than the usual generation gap, which isn't that exciting to watch. She has a guy from the neighborhood who has a crush on her and borders on the edge of stalking, but nothing really happens with that. The more I think about it, she appears to be nothing more than a catalyst for what goes on around her. Some of her actions inadvertently cause others harm, but she doesn't know that she is responsible, so no lesson learned. Since I am unable to truly grasp the impetus behind the main character, I find it hard to truly enjoy the whole movie, even though there are a lot good things going on in it.

I would like to take this time to respond to a few comments made by some regular readers of this page known to you all as Fosberg and Chewy. It is in regards to my review of the movie The Notebook. Apparently, my manhood has been brought into question due to my positive review, however hesitant I was to say it. I believe the initial comment by Chewy had to do with renting the movie as oppossed to just catching it on cable. According to him, this would make me a girl. Of course the implication of his statement is such that would make one believe that Chewy watched the film on cable and of his own free will as opposed to a random selection, which is how I came to watch it. This would make Chewy much more of a girl than I. In response to all of this, Fosberg decided to throw in his two cents, declaring that what Chewy was saying was that I was a girl for actually liking the movie. Well, I hate to say it, but it seems to me that this is in no way way what Chewy was saying. Rather, I feel that this is a comment that was thrown in by Fosberg in a unrelated piggyback tactic that does not properly defend the merit of Chewy's initial argument, yet gives a "point" to Chewy. To which Chewy has since chimed in with his agreement. Well....I only have two responses. First, I thought that I made it clear that I was conflicted about the movie. I felt that I expressed myself quite clearly about enjoying a certain aspect about the film that was good enough to carry my interest through the uninteresting romance segments. I also felt that I was able to convey an appreciation for the work done on the movie, even though it is not my favorite genre. It isn't easy to step outside my own likes and dislikes to see the level of work done by others. Secondly, if you two bi-coastal butt buddies aren't man enough sac up and admit when you like shit that you normally don't like, then keep it to your damn self and don't bring your insecurities down onto me. Remember Chewy, you are the one who caught movie on cable, probably sitting alone in the dark with a pillow and some popcorn. And Fosberg, if you think I am a girl for liking this movie, why don't just come out and say it instead of "riding the backside" of someone else's comment. I guess if you are gonna hide your balls somewhere, Chewy's backside is as good as anywhere else.

That is all. I have said my peace. Let the shit storm begin.

#85 - The Notebook

Um...I don't really know how to go about saying this. I'm not really sure how I feel about it. But you might want to lock the doors, pull the shades, turn out the lights, put the kids to bed early, call in sick, consult a physician, know your cuts of meat, use only as directed, have your pets spayed or neutered, and most important, don't lick the poison frogs. You see, I liked this movie. NO!! WAIT!! I see why people would like this movie. No...dammit...I don't know. I think I liked it, and I don't like thinking that I liked it. But I didn't really like it because it's just an okay movie, and I LOATHE romances. Here's the key to it all: I really enjoyed a certain part of the movie that, while only a little part of the movie in terms of time, was good enough to carry the rest of the movie for me. I'll explain.

The main story, otherwise known as the RHO-mance, is set in the 1940's and involves a blue collar lumberyard worker and the young daughter of a well to do financier/businessman/rich guy. Heard this one before? OF COURSE YOU HAVE. There was nothing really new about the story at all. Guy sees girl, instant attraction met with instant rejection, eventual acceptance after some sort of a irregular behavior, activity or stunt, whirlwind romance, disapproval by the rich kids parental units, eventual fight and separation, years of sadness, longing, and resentment, and then the obligatory "random" re-introduction. Otherwise known as BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. The acting for the main story is well done, as is the directing, and even the dialogue is worth noting because none of it a sappy or over dramatic, even if it is the same old story.

Now, it's the side story involving James Garner and Gena Rowlands that really did it for me. Rowlands plays a woman suffering from dementia and Garner plays a man who keeps her company by reading her a story, which happens to be the main story of the movie. It is an absolutely fascinating relationship that develops itself quite well throughout the entire movie. If it was not for these two characters, I would have cared very little for this movie, but as I said earlier, it was their story that kept me so engaged in the movie that my attention was held during the same old love story. This is significant. It's like watching a bad movie just because there is a hot chick in it, except it's operating on a bit of a different level.

Finally, there is something I have to mention. Some of you know that I strongly dislike people who make a big deal out of simple editing incontinuities. I won't get into it again, but it ups the level of irritation in my body, which is already a little shaky. ANYWAYS, I have a simple note. A slight suggestion if you will. If you are shooting a scene at a carnival set in the 1940's, make sure that the modern day ride where people are riding in SPACESHIPS is NOT in the background. The ferris wheel is fine and quite appropriate. But other than a carousel, there is no ride that I can ride in the present day that should have been seen in that movie, much less one with freakin spaceships on it.

#84 - Raja

Here we have another movie from those crazy cats at Film Movement. You may remember my review of Falling Angels. That's the Film Movement movie that I really enjoyed, recommended that you seek it out...and nobody did. Don't try to tell me you tried. I know the truth. You're all fans of Rock-a-Doodle and got pissed off when I thought it sucked and figured I must suck too. Be that as it may, I will iterate again...nay...I will reiterate that people should take the time to watch falling Angels. And on that note, Raja is nothing like Falling Angels.

As I am sure I mentioned before, Film Movement movies are art house movies, which due to my prejudiced cynicism, the pretentious alarm starts going off in my head almost instantly. You get those people who turn their nose up at Hollywood movies just because they are from Hollywood. They turn their nose up at anything with a budget because in some way money can't translate into art, or even good movies. I know I'm generalizing here, but so are they, so that's what you get. So what makes a movie art? Well, first and foremost, it HAS to be foreign. This is crucial. It is imperative. Secondly, it has to be a drama because comedies are in no way an art form, unless it is a dark comedy or a social satire. Rule of thumb for this is that if you laugh out loud while watching the movie, it cannot be art. Finally, a movie is art if you can't eat popcorn while watching it, other wise known as the Eddie Izzard rule. Raja passes all of these rules with flying colors.

To this point you may have sensed a tone of dislike in this review. That may be because it is normal for me to rant and rave like I have been doing after I have watched something I disliked...or more accurately...hated. Do be clear, I did not hate this movie. The acting, writing, directing, and everything else is exactly what it needed to be in order to tell the story as it was desired to be told. What I have a particular distaste for is the genre. This is the first modern European drama I have ever watched and it fits the stereotype perfectly. It's stiff and rigid. It has a tremendous amount of internal angst wrapped around pent up desires and jealousy. Oh my god, the desire is thick, but nobody does anything. The two main characters play little games to make each other jealous, and apparently it worked because they hated each other at some point. It's hard to explain because according to the story there is a crapload of strong emotion, but it is pretty much all internal and in my mind had little justification. In other words...SNOOZE. I just don't get the appeal.

I think what made it hard was that one character spoke French and the other spoke Arabic, which to my untrained ear are both just foreign languages that couldn't be less discernible. So it seemed like they couldn't communicate at the beginning or in the middle, but at the end, they were communicating. Did I miss something? And if I did miss something, when the hell did I miss it? Sure, this movie had an underlying background about class differentiation in a post-colonial Morocco which apparently led to a heightened intensity of these two people's supposed passion as well as making their relationship that much more unconventional and taboo. That's all fine and dandy, but one would think these things could have been talked about in a more palatable format. I mean, can somebody do something? Can somebody actually say something instead of fucking around with indirect dialogue and heaping spoonfuls of subtext? PLEASE?

#83 - House of Flying Daggers

This review is historic. WHY? Well, this is the very first review that I am writing in the same day that I have watched the movie being reviewed. What a concept. And it only took 82 other times to make it happen. Sure, I could have done it before, but it seems like lately if I don't write something the day of viewing, it may take a week or so before I can get to it. So, here we have it. I make no guarantees that it will be any better, and don't get used to it either. Just thought it was worth mentioning since it's obviously rare.

I love all of these Asian historical epics. I find them fascinating, well written, well acted, and the cinematography is some of the most amazing work you will ever see. I am a sucker for historical epics in the first place. The fact that these movies are in a foreign language and about a history that I know next to nothing about is of little import. I loved Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I loved Hero. I loved Kung Fu Hustle. Okay, that last one was a bad example, but it's still a fun movie. What I particularly enjoy about the Asian epics is that they take a moment in history and create a world that includes a little mythology, a little bit of fable, and a little bit of good ol' storytelling. The great thing with the movies I have seen is that they all seem to use these elements in different, yet amazingly effective ways in order to tell their stories. This movie is no less amazing, and go figure, it's from the director of Hero. I didn't know that until I got the picture for this review, but I can definitely see some similarities of visual aesthetics and style.

Here's the shocker with this movie: it's a romance. But this ain't yer daddy's romance. In fact, you don't even realize what it is until late in the picture when you have been sucked in by the story and extremely stylized combat scenes. By that time you are drawn in by the intensity of the situation that has been established. But it's not done by bait and hook. The only reason that it is so unexpected is because it's not what I expected to see from this genre. I was caught up in excellent fights, beautiful imagery, and what appeared to be a story about miltary vs. fugitives. As I have said before, I am not a big fan of romances. But when a movie portrays a romance in a unique way, I find it to be quite entertaining. This is the case with this movie. And another thing, I've barely talked about the beauty of the film and I sure as hell haven't said anything about the ending, both of which are quite notable, but I want you to see for yourself.

#82 - The Circuit 2

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#81 - Star Spangled Rhythm

So, here we have the second movie from a Bob Hope Classics DVD. If you you read the My Favorite Blonde review(It's #80...you should be able to find it), you know that I enjoy watching Bob Hope perform and the idea of seeing more was a good one to me. So...when was he going to show up? Seriously, I was watching this movie under the assumption that I was going to see Bob Hope, yet he was nowhere to be found. I thought to myself, "What the hell is going on here?" How do you have a movie in a Bob Hope tribute DVD...AND NOT HAVE HIM IN IT!?!?!? Well, the answer is simple. It's not really a Bob Hope movie. In fact, it's something altogether different. But he does show up, so I guess it counts. Lets put To Kill A Mockingbird in the Robert Duvall collection. Let's put Father's Day in the Mel Gibson collection. Let's put Home Alone in the John Candy collection. Let's put Arachnaphobia in the John Goodman collection. Get my point?

What we have here is a veritable who's who of Paramount Studios from back in the day when actors, directors, and writers were contracted to individual studios. Mary Martin. Dick Powell. Alan Ladd. Dorothy Lamour. Veronika Lake. Fred MacMurray. Hope and Crosby. Preston Sturges. Cecil B. Demille. And there are tons more. How could they possibly cram all of these stars into one movie? Well, all you need is a paper thin storyline about a young man in the military on shore leave visiting his father who works at the Paramount lot. I could go into details about the story, but there really is no point because that's not what this movie is about. As I was watching this movie, I felt as though I was in the middle of a two hour advertisement for Paramount Studios. Cameos galore, numerous styles of musicals numbers that are placed into the film in various contrived ways, and a number of different comedy scenes and routines that are also placed in the film in their own special ways. It's weird. I didn't like the premise cause it seemed so obvious what they were doing, but the scenes and numbers were very well written and well done and fun to watch. Upon a teeny bit of poking around, I found that this was Paramounts first effort to make a film for soldiers fighting in the war. Given that, I can't frown on this film because it does what it was intended to do. I just wish it was a more complete movie, like National Velvet.

You know what I like about some of these older movies that have show within a show type performances? I like it when the shows are supposedly thrown together at the last minute, and then the production value is absolutely top notch. Huge sets, special effects, the whole shebang, and thrown together overnight. I understand that I am bringing up something unimportant to the point of the movie, and honestly, I hate people who bring up these kinds of points as a negative aspect for a film. You know those people. The kind of people who complain about weak character development in summer blockbusters. The kind of people who complain about editing continuity errors. Sometimes, and I do mean sometimes, these things don't really matter. In the case of this movie, I happen to find it amusing, mostly because I'm in the entertainment business and I know that putting something like that together takes MONTHS of planning and WEEKS of preparation.

Do you ever get the feeling that sometimes I am not writing a review and instead I am rambling on about random topics related to movies that only sort of relate to the movie I watched and therefore I end up not saying much about the movie at all? Yeah, me too.

#80 - My Favorite Blonde

Oh...to be pleasantly suprised when you aren't paying attention. Some of you may remember WAAAAAAAAY back in the early reviews when I watched a few movies about homosexual topics. Admittedly, I am a little bit homophobic and since I wasn't paying attention...well...you can read the reviews yourself. In the case of My Favorite Blonde, I was not paying attention...again. When it cleared my queue and was sent to me, I was assuming I was going to get stuck with a lame Hollywood musical that would leave me beating myself in the face with a rusty metal spatula in order to take away from the pain of what I was watching. In other words, what I should have been doing while watching Bus Stop. Instead, I pull the DVD out of the envelope and see the classic profile drawing of Bob Hope. A strong "WHEW" soon followed.

I love Bob Hope. You have to. Even if you don't like golf. Unfortunately, most of my exposure to him is in the later years of his life. His cameo in Spies Like Us, for example. I've seen clips from when he hosted the Oscars and other appearance on the television. I have seen bits and pieces of some of Hope and Crosby's "road" movies, but that was SO long ago, I remember little of it other than a song sung on the back of a camel. If you couldn't figure it out, I was excited to watch this movie.

Usually, when I have a long, positive buildup, it is quickly followed by a review explaining how the movie was the exact opposite of what I expected. This is because I am a hack writer, and I don't know any better. Well, I am here to tell you that in this case, the movie was just okay. Is that an amazing break in my formula or what? The movie has its moments, and it's entertaing and all, but I can't say that there are any moments that are hysterically funny. Mostly, it's amusing at best.

I guess it's mostly due to the fact that I am not the biggest fan of ramantic comedies, but can be a sucker for them, which makes me sick, but that's the way it is. But this isn't exactly the ramantic comedy that we are used to today. I wonder if I didn't like it more because of the fact that Hope doesn't have Crosby to work against. He has plenty of one liners that he delivers with his own unique style, and I think that his ability to give some of them directly to the camera is only better by the genius of Groucho Marx, but it still wasn't enough to make this movie great.

Oh, there is a cameo by Mr. Crosby himself, and it is quite amusing. Probably the best moment of the movie. I think that speaks volumes when the best part of a movie starring a solo performer from a comedy team is the short cameo with their partner.

#79 - My Neighbors the Yamadas

"Konichiwa Bitches!" Did you miss me? Haven't been able to watch many DVD's because work has been insane lately. That's right, some of us have to work. We can't all hang out in Kodiak, AK. We can't all go to renaissance fairs on the east coast. We can't all sell candles in St. Louis. We can't all get stuck in a 4/4-12bar-autopilot. I don't even know what the hell that means. But it sounds painful? The point is, I just haven't been able to keep up on this little dog and pony show I have here. I have a couple of DVD's to review, this being one of them, and I hope to watch a couple this week, but I make no guarantees. Also, it doesn't look like work is going to be slowing up any time soon, so you'll just have to deal with it. Oh yeah, football season means no movie watching on Sundays until sometime after January. If you can't deal with it, all I can do is give you the words of a co-worker: "Suck it up and walk it off".

We gots us here some more cartoons. But instead of being another crappy Don Bluth cartoon, it's a Japanese cartoon with dubbed english, much like Princess Mononoke. But that's where the similarities end. This is not anime. As you can see from the picture, it doesn't even look like the anime style. There are some moments where you see it, but for the most part this looks like Family Circus: Japan Edition. The animation style is quite interesting because you have the family members front and center and some of the background, but it doesn't fill up the whole screen. It kind of floats on the screen that in a way that is reminiscent of the way the episodic vignettes flow from one to another. Some are short little jokes, while others have longer story lines. The interesting thing is that there are moments when they break away from this style into a completely different style for that scene. It reminded me of Waking Life, but it was only for a couple of scenes and not the whole movie. Visually it was interesting, but I can't say that I could see any reason for it, but that may be a cultural thing. Think of how Kung Fu Hustle jumped in and out of styles, but not as extreme.

Overall, this movie was amusing. I can't give the best reviews to Jim Belushi and Molly Shannon for the english voices, because they were either annoying or didn't fit the character. But I found myself seeing something different from what I expect to see in this kind of movie. Usually, I expect a movie like this to be more sarcastic or darkly absurd. But there is some bitterness and some really vicious things that go on in this movie, and it's truly bizarre to watch these thing happen in a sunday morning Family Circus type of package. This is where the cultural difference really hit me. I found myself wondering if a Japanese audience and look at some of our things and think that they done in an odd way. In a way, it took me out of the movie because I was focusing on how it was different from what I was used to, and not watching it for what it was.

Usually I hate it when I think too much about a movie as it is going on, unless the movie is asking me to do so. I like to be in the moment and take what they are giving as they give it. In other words, I try my best to go on the journey that the filmmakers are trying to take me on. As you know, it doesn't always work out that way. When it is because I am analyzing the film, I don't like it. It takes away from that journey, and when it's my fault, which in this case it is, I get disgruntled with myself. To make a long story short, I don't think I gave this movie it's full due. I think it's worth another look at some point. I would recommend it if you are an animation buff, but it's not really anything you wanna get a bunch of friend over to watch for a bunch of laughs.

#78 - The Circuit

How in the hell did this get into my queue? You all can see what has come to me and it doesn't make any damn sense that this should be delivered. Whats even more crazy is that I know whats coming and it doesnt make sense that this would be there. There's random, and then there is this. Normally I wouldn't mind except for this is one of the worst movies I have seen in quite some time. To say that it is a straight to video classic would be giving it too much credit. To say that it is perfect for late nate premium cable channels would be giving it too much credit. I can't believe they even try to make movies like this anymore. Do we need any more low budget movies about underground fighting rings with cutthroat fight promoters and a natural fighter of European descent who doesn't want to fight but does in order to save a loved one? And lets not forget the other really good fighter who is the bad guy fighter and is usually flamboyant and Asian. Yes people, it's that kind of movie.

You know what I was thinking when I was watching this movie? I was thinking, "Get off my dick you fucking snake". Wait...that's not it...that was something else. What I was actually thinking was, "Betty White just Shatner pants". No...no...that wasn't it either. Let's see here...oh yeah, I was really thinking was, "We gave the mighty Thor a rusty trombone". No, that wasn't it. Let me think here. Oh yeah, I was thinking, "If my grandma looked like that, I'd wanna fuck Jack Palance". Alright, that wasn't it either. In all honesty, what was running through my mind was this movie was just like Kickboxer, except it didn't have the same "masterful" script writing...or acting...or directing.

How do you write a review of an obviously bad movie? You could say what was wrong with it, but LOOK AT IT!!! What do you expect from a movie that has the tag line "No rules. No limits. No survivors."? First of all, that shot you see of the fighting arena with the Medeival Times stripe on the wall is the ONLY shot you have for the whole movie. Sure there are close ups and some crowd shots with bad crowd noises dubbed over, but all the shots are from the same direction. And the fights suck. With movies like this you wanna at least some cool moves, or some tricky, cool camera shots that hide your bad choreography. This had neither!!! And see the ripped dude in the picture, he's the main character and he looks like some bad ass fighting dude. WRONG!! He's the former undefeated champion of the circuit and doesn't wanna get sucked back in. What a bunch of played out tripe. It really gets stupid when the old guy with the cane from within the curcuit has to train the old champion because of the intensity it takes to succeed these days. That's all fine and dandy, but looking at those fights you would see nobody fighting to the death or very intense at all. Shite on screen, my friends, shite on screen.

#77 - Bus Stop

Shhhhhhh......listen.....you might be able to hear it.....even now. What is it you might be hearing? It's the echoes from me beating my skull against the wall while watching this god awful movie. There!! I said it. No build up. No waiting to see if I liked the old movie or not. It's plain. It's simple. It's simple and plain. NO. This had to be one of the most annoying movies I have seen in a while. Usually when I watch an older movie, I am able to recognize what it is that movie watchers from that time enjoyed about it, even though I may not. In this case...I don't see it. It's just lame, and the weirdest part about it is that the writer responsible for this is the same guy responsible for Splendor in the Grass. Talk about two movies that couldn't be more different from each other.

See the cowboy in the picture? His name is Don Murray. I dont know what else he has done but just about everything he does in this movie makes me want to shove pencils into my eyes. It's a sleeper for being the most annoying and ridiculously written character...EVER. And I'm not talking about characters written for movies where the characters are intended to be ridiculous. Apparently this yokel has spent all of his life on a farm in Montana and has absolutely no social skills whatsoever. Are you chuckling yet? So we have ourselves a charming little fish out of water movie when he goes to Phoenix to compete in a rodeo...right? WRONG!! This guy is so bull headed, loud, and obnoxious with his lack of social savvy that in real life he probably would have had the crap beat out of him on day one, which would be nice because then the movie would have gotten over sooner. It's as if the writer took every possible farm hand cliche, amplified it to an unrealistic level, and then expect people to think it's funny. Guess again. I think of the movie Elf. That was funny becuase a lot of the humor dealt with how Will Ferrell interacted in a world that is familiar to us. This was not the case in Bus Stop. Instead I was forced to watch a stubborn loud mouth do whatever he wanted to without any consequences for any of it. I guess I was suppossed to laugh at his lack of knowledge about the ways of the world, but whereas Crocodile Dundee adapted to NYC with his own style, this cowboy just did whatever the hell wanted. Not entertaining at all.

Oh, by the way, is that a "southern" accent you have there Marilyn. Is that really what women from the Ozarks sound like? Cause that didn't sound like any kind of southern accent I have ever heard of. In all honesty, whatever it was Marilyn was trying to do with her accent, it didn't work and sounded awful. The worst part was when she tried to sing Black Magic with that bad accent. It was unbelievable because Marilyn was doing the sultry thing that she is famous for, but with that bad accent and the song was horrible. I wonder if Sammy Davis, Jr. sang this song first because I cant imagine anybody wanting to sing it after watching Marylin hack through it. Seriously, it was bad.

And to bring it back full circle, the most preposterous thing about the whole movie was story itself. A loud mouth from the country goes to Phoenix to compete in a rodeo. On the way there his friend suggests that he use this trip to learn how to interact to women. Good ol' cowboy says he will know his angel when he sees her, and obviously, Marilyn is that angel. From that point on he drags her all over Phoenix against her will, and about every five minutes you get to hear him boldy state, "that woman is gonna murry me". She tries to get away because he is obviously crazy, but he gets her and kidnaps her. On the way back to Montana, they get caught in a snowstorm. They argue and when cowboy Bob is an obnoxious jerk, the bus driver fights him to teach him a lesson. Apparently, when a kidnapper and stalker that you want nothing to do with gets his ass kicked and then apologizes without really learning anything, this is what makes a woman fall madly in love with somebody. Are you freaking kidding me? This idiot who has been absolutely annoying the entire time gets his ass kicked and you feel sorry for him and then fall in love? How the hell does that make sense? Nothing says romantic comedy more than a mild case of Stockholm Syndrome.

#76 - The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

I'm getting tired of watching these classic movies that either won Oscars, or were nominated for them, and then finding out that they don't really do jack squat for me. It's a crappy little situation cause I know they aren't really bad movies. I can see why the people of the time enjoyed them so much, but I couldn't be less interested. Give me some White Heat, and you can take your Great Ziegfeld. This is just another on that list.

Even though I havent checked it out and seen what else was nominated, or what came out the same year, I don't know how this could be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. I really don't. I can understand why people went to see it, I just don't get the nomination. Here's the main reason why: I don't think Rex Harrison is any good. I didn't like him in Dr. Dolittle and I didn't particularly like him here. He's too stiff. He's too unnatural. It's like watching a 2x4 with a bad sea captains accent. In his first scene with Gene Tierney he's talking with a wierd pirate-like voice that is apparently supposed to be a scary ghost captain voice, but it wasn't. It didn't help that his voice was clearly dubbed in afterwards, and what was dubbed did not match the physical gestures. Think of a stiff, rigid, water logged actor playing a sea captain's ghost and not moving around very much or having any noticable facial gestures talking with a loud "YARRRR" type of voice, and then inexplicably losing it halfway through the scene, never to have it come back again, even when he is trying to scare other people. Call me too critical, but you aren't allowed to be nominated for Best Picture if you have bad sound dubbing.

Seriously though, this is only the second movie I have seen with Rex Harrison in it, and I have been less than impressed both times. How did this guy get famous? He barely sang in a crappy musical, he barely moves his body, and the man has no concept of range or levels. It's like he's on stage and is captured in a bad case of stage fright that has rendered him virtually immovable, yet he can still vocalize, but even that isnt very good. I just don't get his success.

As far as the movie goes, I wasn't really into the story. But, I am aware that this is a personal preference, and not anything to do with bad writing. It also didn't help that the two inexplicably fell in love. Again, it's not inexplicable because of the writing, it's inexplicable because no woman could fall in love with a boat anchor pretending to be a captain. I actually bought her falling in love with the scheister later in the movie more because that guy actually has a personality, even for a sleazeball. And there's something sad about a woman who lives a lonely life waiting for death in order to see her lover again. To some, it may seem hopelessly romantic. I think its kind of sad. Walks on the beach aren't that fulfilling, and nobody could fall that much in love with a small dinghy.

#75 - American Beauty

Hey!! How about that? I DO watch movies that were made within the last ten years that most of you have heard of. And its an Oscar winner no less. And it stars the best American born manager of a British theatre you have ever heard of...if you've ever heard of anything like that. And it also stars one of the best no-name supporting actors of the last several years. You know the type. They are in a ton of movies and always do good work, but don't exactly have headliner status. All in all, this is a well thought out, well made, and suprisingly intriguing movie. I liked much of it, but for this review, I am going to talk about what I didn't like about it. Actually, it's not so much what I didn't like, it's more of a number of observations about a movie that was quite popular, and apparently, the best one of the year.

Let's talk about Kevin Spacey. In case you were wondering, he's the British theatre manager I was talking about earlier. His whole character in this movie, from narrator to his relationships with everyone else and himself is an absolute enigma to me. It's fascinating because we are drawn to him because of his bitter, dark sarcasm towards the world, but that means we are rooting for a man who falls for an underage girl. And we DO root for him. We want him to tell people where to shove it. We want him to stand up and piss people off, but much of what he does is to attract his daughters friend. It's interesting because he's not a bad person, definately not an anti-hero, but he is a pedophile. To his credit, it's not the pedophilia that we are rooting for in his character. We actually root against that, but still want him to be bold and abrasive. I think much of the reason we are on his side is because we know that all of it will be in vain. We know from the start that he is going to die and we want to see him die in a different state than what he is in at the start of the movie. So we get behind him, even if some of his actions are questionable.

And then there is his lovely wife. To say that the two are estranged would be quite an understatement. She takes on the the largest share of Spacey's ferocity, and deservedly so. She has become detached from her family, and in some cases reality. It's great watching him tell her where to stick it, and how hard. I gotta be honest though, I was not impressed by Anette Bennings performance. Whereas everybody else had a very internal character, she seemed to be more of a caricature that anything else. I understand the idea of her character being a caricature because that is what she presents to the world. The strong, take no prisoners real estate agent and the neat and tidy, clean cut family woman are all an image she wants to show the world, but we know that it is all show. I understand all of that, but Benning's performance is a little too much caricature, and not enough of the internal material that makes that stronger. I instantly think of the dinner scene when Spacey and Benning are fighting and Spacey throws the asparagus against the wall. I didnt think the way Benning played that scene was real or connected. Too much show and not enough feel.

I have to mention the performance of Chris Cooper. He is every bit intense as he is frightening. I dont remember if he got nominated for a supporting Oscar, but he should have, and with great consideration. The pain, the anguish, and the torment are all so strong and overpowering, but it's never overdone or out of place. Great performance.

I found myself wondering what the filmmakers were trying to say with this movie. It's not merely a slam against suburban life or modern living, and I think that breaking it down to just being a message about skeletons in the closet is too easy. But there is a message in there. I think the message lies in Wes Bentley's character. It's his outlook on the world that we are suppossed to take away. While everybody gets caught up in their appearance to others and other insignificant things, Bentley notices the poetic beauty of the world, even if he is looking at a dead animal, or a floating piece of garbage. There is beauty all around you, you just have to look for it.

Unrelated Lollapalooza review #3: So this was the last day of the festival, and the most important thing was that I watch Blues Traveler. Everything else would just be bonus. BT is one of my top three bands I had never seen them play before, and by all accounts they are awesome live. But more on them later. I started off by checking out The Redwalls. Didn't know anything about them, but took a chance and was rewarded. They have some pretty good songs and I was quite pleased. I think its clear that they listened to the Beatles in their youth because a lot of their sound had a strong echo of the lads from Liverpool. I wandered around and checked out the last bit of The Hold Steady. I wanted to see more because they have a lot of energy when they perform. It was clear that they love to play for an audience and are proud of being from Minnesota. After that I watched Ben Kweller, who was okay. Not bad, and not great. Right after that was 30 Seconds to Mars. That was dissappointing. They really aren't that good. I got the feeling that they wouldn't be as popular as they are if Jared Leto wasn't fronting the band. It's also not really my kind of music, so that may have something to do with it. Leto does get credit for throwing popsicles into the crowd and climbing to the top of the stage for a song, but he loses all that for his overuse of the "F" word. I'm all for swearing, but there is such a thing as too much for no particular reason other that you know you can. I left that early in order to get to the other side and check out The Shins. This was a dilemma because The Shins overlapped with The Reverend Horton Heat, and I loves me some Rev. Luckily, and unfortunately, the sound guys helped make that decision for me. I stayed towards the back of the crowd in order to skip out and split my time between the two sets, but the sound was so bad I couldn't hear the lyrics. The yells from the crowd to turn it up were louder than the lyrics. So I left to check out all of the Rev's set, and I was handsomely rewarded. This guy is AWESOME!!! He rocks out from start to finish and does not let up. Its great music played well. And the Rev is the character he sings about. He looks it, he lives it, he is it. The looks he gives when he sings are priceless and punctuated by his extremely expressive, icy blue eyes. Tremendously entertaining. The psychobilly freakout was in full force. After that I had a choice, I could go get relatively close for Wilco and then be relatively close for Blues Traveler, or I could sacrifice getting a good shit at Wilco in order to get really close for BT. I chose the latter since it was going to be my first BT show. I heard some of Wilco, and what I did hear sounded pretty good, but it was far away. I'll have to check them out some other time because I enjoy their work. In the meantime, I was stuck between an obnoxiously loud stoner kid and the guy who was going to be seeing BT for the 64th time in his life. Hey stoner kid, the reason people aren't talking to you is because you are annoying and loud, and this is coming from someone who spent most of his youth being annoying and loud. And #64 over there, you are a loser. You mean to tell me that your fat ass has seen this band 63 times before now since 1995. Thats over six shows a year!!! Now I love BT, have all of their albums, studio and live, but there are other bands out there. Some people may be impressed by the little trivia facts(what the band members drink during the show and why) that you may know from so much exposure, but I am not. I am also not impressed that you know the roadies by their first names. And another thing, you aren't cool when you yell at them before a show trying to get their attention, they are trying to work and dont have time for someone like you. Get a life. But hey, once the music started, it was all good. Unbelievable. They jam and jam and jam. So good. They have a tremendous ability to start a song, transition into another song, transition into yet another song, and then when you have almost forgotten about the original song, they seamlessly go back to it and finish the whole thing up with resounding success. Throughout the festival, people sang along to lyrics, but no crowd sang along as loud and as unified as this crowd. It was great. These guys have something special that may not translate into immediate album sales, but do garner a tremendous following of devoted fans that they clearly appreciate, and even recognize, especially when they have been there 63 times before. By the time the show got over, I was in the front row, up against the rail. As soon as they got done, the Chili Pappers were starting all the way on the other side of the park. In the hour and a half they had for their set, I went from the front row at Blues Traveler, all the way across Grant Park and to about 20 feet from the front row at the Chili Peppers. It was one of the hardest move ups I have ever done. It was hot, sweaty, and crowded from way back. I was almost denied the journey was creamed from behind by a crowd surfer. She was knocked down pretty hard and wouldnt have been able to make it out of the crowd on her own. Luckily, she had friend with her, and I could keep going. And I kept going. The key is to sneak up when people are getting out so you arent just bulling your way through, which is a much needed technique at times. The best is to shift up when a crowd surfer comes by. Everybody groups together and you can sneak right on up. Its even better when they fall. Here's a sidenote: when you are crowd surfing, lay flat so there is more surface area for people to hold you up with. When a crowd surfer comes by, just walk them along with your hands. Dont push them so hard that they fly beyond where people are paying attention, therefore leading the crowd surfer to an untimely death, and people get crushed underneath them. Oh, I guess the Chili Peppers were cool, there was so much going on that it was hard to really pay attention. It was harder to move up when they played their slower songs because people weren't dancing around as much, but they seemed to play pretty well. That's it. That was my three day weekend earlier in the month. I only I didnt need food and water, I could have seen even more stuff, but I saw a TON of great bands, all of which played as hard as they could for the crowd. It was a great experience.

#74 - In Old Chicago

I gotta be honest. I wasn't in the mood for this kind of movie when I watched it. I probably didn't give it the attention it deserved, but thats the way it goes. It just didn't pull me in right away like Alexander's Ragtime Band did. Why do I bring that movie up? Well, the male and female leads are all the same people. It's a team. It's a blockbuster trio. Honestly, these three people work very well together. The interaction between them is pretty damn similar between the three of them, just a few changes here and there. But leadin man falling in love with leadin lady and Don Ameche as the supporting guy with the mustache. Brothers or bandmates, it really doesnt matter.

I think the reason I was pulled into this movie as much as the other is because there isnt any music by Irving Berlin. Okay, that and the fact that I was seeing the same characters again, but I think I have made that point already.

I'll tell you what, even though I spent the middle of the movie trying to thaw my stupid little freezer enough so that I could close the door, the ending is quite well done. The brothers fight against an angry mob while trying to save Chicago from the big fire. The scenes were well planned out, well shot, and the special effects were quite well done. I was impressed and it was the only part of the movie that had me completely engaged. Of course, I have to deduct points for the origin of the fire. I know it started in a theatre and not in the house of these two guys mother. Thats what you get when you light a wooden building with flammable curtains and paint with candles and oil.

Unrelated Lollapallooza segment 2: Actually, its not that unrelated since both things took place in or near downtown Chicago. Okay thats a stretch. Anyways, on day two I started by watching Nada Surf. They rock. They were very good and have a classic sound. I need to get some of their stuff. I checked out Coheed and Cambria and they were alright. They did a good job at what they were doing, but I just wasnt into it all that much. I will tell you that the lead singer has one hell of a head of hair. Eat your heart out Sideshow Bob. After they got done, Wolfmother started on the other side of the field. They had a great introduction by the man, Perry Ferrell himself, and they were pretty good. Kind of a rocky, somwhat psychadelic, rockin kind of sound. Hard to describe, but it was entertaining. I cut out of there early to check out Sonic Youth on the other side of the park. They were fantastic. Most of what they did was from their new album, but they played great. I need more of their stuff too, but there is a lot to choose from. After they got done, The Dresden Dolls started on the other side of the field. Sound familiar. Bands were going back and forth from stage to stage all day long on two sides of the park. And then there were the side stages going on too. Non-stop music all day long. Now, I have heard some of The Dresden Dolls stuff and I enjoyed the edgy cabaret sound that they created. When they play live, it is very intense, energetic, and quite entertaining. They have classic cabaret makeup on and its a guy on drums and a girl on piano, and she is really good. She slams down on those keys and put everything into her songs. I dont know if it is on any of their albums, but I was shocked when they broke out with War Pigs by Black Sabbath. The highlight was when Amanda Palmer tried to change into a t-shirt becuase her outfit was too hot. She tried to do it without flashing the crowd and failed. After that it was thirty minutes of her in a tshirt and stocking with garters and her sweaty hair in her face, messing up her makeup as she pounded away on her piano and poured out her lyrics. I dont think anyone the entire weekend sang with as much passion and intensity as she did. It was great to watch. It was quickly overshadowed by what was about to take place on the other side of the field. I have never heard about what takes place at a Flaming Lips show, but it is one of the most amazing spectacles I have seen on stage. Wayne Coyne starts off the show by climbing into a clear ball that gets inflated until its like a life sized gerbil ball. He then gets carried out to the audience and crawls over the crowd. When he gets back, half the stage is filled with dancing santas and the other half is filled with chick aliens. In the back they blow up a huge inflated santa, alien, and two astronauts who all start dancing around. And then they toss out about a dozen enormous blue balloons into the crowd that float in the air forever. And in the middle of all this chaos is this madman in a vest and dress pants with a huge head of hair. It's as if he is conducting all of the madness around him as he shoots off a seemingly endless supply of streamer cannons into the crowd. It was absolutely phenomonal, and the best part was that it fit the music they play. It wasn't spectacle that distracted from or covered up the music. Instead, it was a tremendous visual environment that was supported by and emphasized the music. Unbelievable. After that, I made my way back to the other side of the park and got ready for the last show of the night. I kid of heard The New Pornographers from the other side of the field, but now really. I would have liked to have heard them better, but I was getting a good spot for Kanye West. For a while I have been impressed by Kanye's ability to have catchy, popular songs while actually being a good rapper. And let me tell you, he blew the place up. He came out ready to put on a show for his home town and he delivered. He had a full string section, backup singers, and of course, a DJ. Here's a note to audio technicians, dont screw up Kanye's mic when he is in his hometown trying to put on a hell of a show. He will rip you a new one until its fixed, which in this case took about three songs. It was still a hell of a set that had half of Grant Park on their feet and dancing along. It was another good ending to another good day. I wasnt able to check out Gnarls Barkley, Common, or Blackalicious, but like I have said before, I had to make my choices. The final day will be in my next review.

#73 - The Debut

And here we go with another movie that nobody has ever heard of in their entire life. If you have, you came across it by accident, work at a movie store, or are a complete loser. Actually, there is a fourth option, and that's kind of what this movie is really about. If you are of Fillipino origin, you may have heard about this movie. You see, it was written, directed, mostly acted, and pretty much everything else was done by Filipinos. I can't say that I have ever heard of an endeavor like this before at this level of production. Do be sure, it is a low budget movie, but it is a fully realized film and not a backyard weekend production and I give the production team all the credit in the world for doing something that speaks to themselves as a community. They are saying what they want to say, to whom they want to say it to. Name another movie that does that sort of thing for any Asian-American group, much less Filipino's. You can't do it.

Having said all that(I'm sure you know where this is heading), the movie isnt very good. Its cliche after cliche and obvious, overused plot point after obvious overused plot point. Father can't relate to the son. You realize that the father has a similar relationship with his father. The father isn't just a tyrant, he actually cares to make a better life for his his son. BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. But before you begin to think that this was a total waste of time, much like a particular made for the BET network movie I have seen, there is something of value that sets this movie apart. Remember that this is from Filipino's, and for Filipino's. All of the obvious plot points are done from that perspective. So when the main character has to choose between celebrating his sister's birthday and hanging out with his white friends, we see something that a Filipino youth could actually relate to. When that main character is embarassed about his family's culture and tries to hide it and reject it, these are things a Filipino youth could actually relate to. And that is what the movie is all about. Same old story, but told from their point of view, and dealing with issues specific to being a Filipino youth growing up in America. Congratulations for all of that. I was still bored watching it, and couldn't recommend it to anyone.

Unrelated side note: Two weeks ago I attended Lollapalooza in downtown Chicago. I had purchased my three day pass months in advance and was eagerly anticipating the first weekend in August. I was not dissapointed. For three straight days I saw good band after good band. Unfortunately, I wasnt able to see everything I would have liked to see, but it was absolutely impossible to see everything and sometimes I had to make some hard choices. So here is my rundown of what I saw at Lollapalooza. I was going to write this sooner, but work got busy, and I got a little lazy with my spare time. The first band I saw on the first day was The Subways. I had heard of them, but wouldn't have been able to identify one of their songs. This was a common theme with a lot of the bands. I'll tell you what, The Subways rock. For taking a chance and just picking a band to watch, I was quite pleased. Its not bad being ten feet from the front barricade wall either. Oh, and have a chick bassist is pretty sweet too. I made my way to the other side of Grant Park where the other stages were, and I saw The Eels. I love The Eels. have a couple of their albums and was looking forward to their set. They didnt play anything like they did on their albums. It was a lot rougher and more rockin than I expected, but it was still good. The have a bit with a security guard that is quite entertaining and the guys had agood time playing in green fatigues, even though it was at least 85 degrees. I wandered around for a while, hearing stuff here and there. Umphrey's McGee was alright, but I was really waiting for later. The Raconteurs came out and were absolutely phenomenal. Jack White is amazing, even while sporting a neck beard. I had not heard any of The Raconteurs songs but am a huge fan of The White Stripes. I was expecting something similar or something that was a show-off for Jack White. Not the case. They have their own sound and White is just another member of the band. At times he steps back and lets the other band members take the stage. It was awesome. And in what may have been the best, most unexpected cover of the entire festival, The Raconteurs broke out with Crazy by Gnarls Barkley. Unbelievably good. Standing there as the whole crowd realized what they were playing was great. As soon as their set got done, the Violent Femmes started on the other side of the field. I dont think there's anything I need to say about that. The fact that they were playing, and I was watching pretty much says it all. Great set. Gone Daddy Gone and Add It Up were particularly good. It was bonus having the Dresden Dolls performing backup percussion for the whole set, but more on them later. After the Femmes got done, Ween came out back on the other side of the field for the final set of the night. That meant an hour and a half as oppossed to just the hour that everyone else got, and they used their time wisely. They were fantastic. I only have Pure Guava and after about fifteen minutes I was wondering why in the hell I haven't bought more of their stuff. They mixed in old, middle, and newer stuff and were solid throughout. It was a great ending to an awesome day. I would have liked to have seen Sleater-Kinney, Iron & Wine, and The Editors, but you have to eat sometime, and other times you have to make some choices. But the weekend got even better. I'll get to the second day in my next review.

#72 - Honey for Oshun

You haven't heard of this movie? Could that be because you don't speak Spanish? Or, could that be because you are not of Cuban origin? I told you I would watch everything and if atomic bombs and BET movies weren't evidence enough, this should be. The difference is, this movie has something to offer the world. It's a simple story of a man returning to Cuba thirty years after being seperated from his mother and brought to America. He is on a search to find out who he real is, and reunite with his long lost mother. Not neccessarily brand new stuff, but there are some things about movie that make it unique.

I think the most important thing about this movie is that it was shot on location in Cuba. For someone like me, that means I was seeing images of Cuba that I have never seen before. The search that this man has takes him on a Plains, Trains, and Automobiles type of journey across Cuba...only serious. The camera follows him through the markets of Havana, into the countryside of Cuba, and into remote coastal towns. He does this in broken vehicles, old bicycles, and in the backs of trucks. There is a sense of the environment of Cuba that I haven't ever seen. Usually Cuba is all about Castro and his rule, but this movie doesnt mention it all and sticks with a more personal look at what it means to be in Cuba. Of course, not mentioning Castro is probably how they got this movie made.

I did have problems with this movie. First of all, can we put all subtitles in yellow? Yellow is the best color to use because it is usually in contrast with everything else on the screen. If the subtitles are white, at some point they will be in front of the color white, and then NOBODY can read them. I had the same problem with some of the Italian movies reviewed earlier, but didnt mention it until now.

The second problem that I had with this movie is that it was WAAAAAY too dramatic. The internal struggle of the main character was a little too thick. Make that a LOT too thick. It made it hard to sympathize with the main character because he is ultimately a selfish bastard. He pisses his fellow travelers off which leads to shouting matches where everybody screams out how hard their life has been and why. Too much. There's already a structure there that works and the heavy drama distracts from it too much.

On the whole, for me this movie was just alright. Seeing images of Cuba I have never seen before was really what was the most interesting to me. How the main character got across Cuba was somewhat entertaining, but ultimaately was overshadowed by the heavy drama. About halfway through the movie I realized that this movie would probably have more impact on the people of Cuba or Cuban immigrants who have severed familial relationships. If you look up this movie on imdb.com, you will read a user's comment that slams this movie. Pay attention to the fact that this guy is from Mexico. Sometimes you have to put yourself in the mindset of the target audience to see the true value of a movie. This movie does have its faults, but there is a connection that is being made between the main character and people in a similar situation, and that is what really matters, not production value.

#71 - Smooth Talk

This one threw me for a loop because the most bizarre thing happens in this movie. And it's not a surreal, weird, or wacky sort of thing that happens. Its not anything gross, unusual, or disgustingly awful. It's basically one scene that stands out head and shoulders above the rest of the movie, and it caught me completely off guard, and floored me. I'll explain...

The premise of this movie is simple, Laura Dern plays a high school teenager who is spending her summer break learning all about male/female companionship. She basically acts like a floozy, not realizing what it is she is doing getting herself into trouble with her mother. Its a pretty typical case of fighting mother and daughter. Nothing new there. They fight. They say things they don't mean, but you know they really love each other, blah, blah, blah, blah. Really, I was not entertained at all watching this movie. I was annoyed by the way the girls acted in the mall. I was annoyed at the mother/daughter fights. I was annoyed by the oblivious father. It was not entertaining at all. I found myself wondering what the deal was with bracelets in the late 80's. I remember the fad, but I was only ten-ish, so the full impact of it was nothing to me. Seriously, how ridiculous of a fad was it to put about 150 metal bracelets on each arm? Or, as a substitute, three or four plastic ones. Thats a 50 to 1 conversion ratio. The plastic ones must be spendy.

Here's another thing in this movie that is one of the silliest things I have ever seen. Treat Williams acting like a tough guy. I know what your saying, Treat Williams acting like an actor is silly enough, but throw in tough guy on top of that, and its out of control. But this brings me to the point of the whole review. You see, early on in the movie, Laura Dern walks by Treat Williams and he singles her out, but then he goes away, never to be seen...until later. He shows up at Dern's house when her parents aren't home. I'm sure you can see where this is going. What follows is one of the most frightening and intense scenes I have seen in a while. I was sucked right in to the interaction between the two, not knowing what would happen, or exactly where it was going. I could not believe it.

That is what was so bizarre about this movie. I couldn't have cared less about the movie until that one scene came around and I was locked in. Then, there is an implication about what happens, the family comes home and everything is resolved quickly and the movie was over. That was it!!! Sixty-five minutes of crap, followed by a dynamic, riveting, and unbelievably intense twenty minute scene, and then five more minutes of crap. Movie over. What the hell is that? I can't recommend the movie because on the whole, it was lame. But that one scene is SO strong I want everybody to see it. But it's probably not as strong without seeing all of the lead-up to it, which is CRAPPY!!!! Paging Joseph Heller!! Paging Joseph Heller!!!

#70 - The Great Ziegfeld

Is it over yet? Are we done now? Seriously, I watched this movie a week ago, and I'm pretty sure it's only half way through. I'm mean come on!! This thing is THREE HOURS LONG. Emphasis on the word "long". Here's a sign that the movie you are watching is way too long: It's not really a musical(check the previous review), and yet it has an intermission. Hell, it has an overture for chrissakes. Overtures are okay if you are watching a stage production. Or, if the overture is more like an opening song with some sort of animated credit sequence, that would be fine. This just has a graphic that says overture. BOOOO!!! I know, I know, they played it while people were actually getting settled into the movie theatre and all that crap, but it's not a freaking musical. Why is it that Hollywood has to lump any movie that relates to music into the musical category? When stuff like that happens, people like WAH-Keen Phoenix win a musical Golden Globe for Walk the Line. That's just not right.

So this is the point in the review where I begin to explain why I didnt really like an Oscar winning movie or the Oscar winning performance by the leading lady. Just thought I would put it all out on the table right away. You see, I understand why it won an Oscar, but I still just thought it was only okay. I think the best way to describe it is to say that it was a Titanic type of Oscar. I think what they looked at was the fact that the scope of the movie was so massive, and yet the movie was complete and well made. I just don't think it was THAT great. Of course, I dont know what other movies were nominated that year, so it may have been the best movie anyways.

You see, I think it could have been at least forty-five minutes shorter. The production numbers in the middle of the movie were amazing technical achievements. The massive scope of of the two scenes was amazing, even by todays standards. The design, and execution of everything is even more amazing when you realize that they were done with only one or two shots. I also understand that it was probably an accurate recreation of the types of productions that Ziegfeld made, but spectacle only goes so far in my book and since these numbers were in the middle of the marathon, I was almost already out to lunch. I know it may sound odd to have someone recognize all of the achievments of a movie, and still not like it that much, but that is what I am doing.

I tell you what William Powell was AMAZING. His performance should have won an Oscar. I would have been more than fine with that. But the actual Oscar winner was Luise Rainer, and I gotta tell you, I was none too impressed. I think the problem I had was with the way the character was written. I hated the wishy washy, whiny, "you don't really love me", "I can't live without you" nature of the character. I am aware that at the begining it was intended to be humorous, but when it kept happening into the dramatic moments, I was over it, WAY over it.

I also didnt like the episodic nature of the film. I'm not talking about a Mother Courage kind of episodic structure. More like one story about Ziegfeld after the other. It made the life of Ziegfeld seem choppy instead of a sweeping epic that this kind of movie normally is. But hey, if I could dance like Ray Bolger none of this would matter because I would be the coolest person in the world. And if I was as awesomely funny as Fanny Brice, you might just have to close all the stores and put the kids to bed early cause it would be going down TONIGHT!!! What the hell does that mean?