DVD Update Reviews (09/01/2009)

So it's been a little over a week since my last random movie review blog. I'll try my best to do one of these every week or so, depending on how many older, pre-2009 movies I see during said week. Well since a week ago I've seen 5 more movies via Netflix or various other ways. So here are my reviews:

The Breakfast Club (Rated R, 1 hour 37 minutes): Yes, this is another one of those movies that everyone has seen but me...the supposed film buff. Look I'm working on catching up OK?? That being said, I'm so mad at myself for not seeing this movie sooner! This was a fantastic movie, probably one of the best movies the 80's ever produced! It had such a realistic story of high school kids. THESE are real kids (even though they were all in at least their mid to late 20's at the time). Not like the crap attempt Hollywood makes these days to chronicle the life of high school kids that is NOTHING like high school. This movie had a very well written screenplay and actually some pretty solid performances. I just simply loved this movie. A lot. My Grade: A+

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Noises Off! (Rated PG-13, 1 hour 41 minutes): This was an early 90's movie with quite a big cast. Michael Caine, John Ritter, Carol Burnett, Christopher Reeve, Nicollete Sheridan, Julie Haggerty all headline this film. I think I have seen bits of this as a kid, but I really didn't remember much about it. This is one heck of a funny movie! I loved how it was put together as well: in 3 acts. The first act is all about their dress rehersal going completely wrong. One set, one long scene. The second act is my favorite. It is the matinee show. As the play is going on, a silent fight is going on backstage. It was so brilliantly done, and hilarious! The 3rd act is the play going terribly wrong! This movie was so good. The performances were very comical. My one problem is that it ended rather abrubtly. These characters had a lot of issues and it just sort of seemed to go away way to quickly. As if the ending was lazily put together. Oh well...still a fun movie! My Grade: B+

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P2 (Rated R, 1 hour 38 minutes): On occassion, I feel like watching a movie I know is going to be bad, sometimes it can be fun. And boy oh boy is this a bad movie. This is an AWFUL movie! No wonder it lasted only two weeks in theaters. The acting is atrocious (can't knock it to much for that though, this IS a horror movie). The plotline is dumb and so far from original its laughable. The characters make retarded decisions. It's overly gruesome for no apparent reason. They kill a dog (which is a big no no for me even thought it was evil). This was such a crap fest movie that it was almost fun to watch. I seriously would never suggest this movie to any living person on this earth. It isn't the worst I've ever seen though, so it has that going for it. My grade: F

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Primer (Rated PG-13, 1 hour 17 minutes): You know, I like to consider myself a fairly intelligent person. By no means am I a genious, but I know enough to get by in life. When I watched this movie, that all went out the window. I seriously felt like a moron while sitting through this movie. This movie was in some kind of nerd genious (no offense) language that I don't know if any common folk like myself could ever get. I don't know what the hell this movie was even about. I couldn't begin to explain to you. That's the main reason I didn't care for this movie. I just did not get it. If you're making a film, you should make it so that people can understand the premise. I guess maybe I am a little stupid, ha! The performances were pretty ameteur (but they were rookie actors, so that's not so bad) and very very very one note. These characters showed zero emotion. The direction was cool and the look was pretty neat. Other than that...I can't recommend this movie because I don't even know what the hell I watched. My Grade: D+

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Visioneers (Unknown rating, 1 hour 32 minutes): This is a weird, weird, weird movie to say the least. I appreciate the far out originality attempt this movie made. These characters live in a world where flipping each other off is a way of saying hello. They pronounce chaos like "chay-oss", and best of all...when they get to stressed out...they explode...literally. The movie was very well made and had a star performance from Zach Galifinakas (who was not funny in this movie) and I was surprised by his dramatic side. However, the storyline...another one I just didn't comprehend. Maybe I'm losing my brain cells or something, but I don't know exactly what this movie was supposed to be about. It was way to artsy and bizare (and I love that stuff, but this one was to much for me). I didn't feel anything from it, and I didn't get anything from it. I don't know, it looked cool, had very good performances...but lacked for me in story and all around purpose. My Grade: C

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Like usual, all of these films are now on DVD.

2009 Review #28: Sunshine Cleaning

Sunshine Cleaning

Rated R

(Language, disturbing images, minor sexuality and drug use)

1 hour 31 minutes

Storyline:

In order to raise the tuition to send her young son to private school, a mom starts an unusual business -- a biohazard removal/crime scene clean-up service -- with her unreliable sister.

Starring:

Amy Adams

Emily Blunt

Alan Arkin

Steve Zahn

Critics Grade:

B-

My Grade:

B-

You know I was expecting a dark comedy from this movie, along the lines of the Best Picture nominee, Little Miss Sunshine. However, comedy I did not get...at least not all that much. Sunshine Cleaning had only a few funny moments, but it was the standard amount you see in any dramatic film...which is what this movie categorically falls into. So on that level I was a bit disappointed, given the premise of the film...two sisters who start a crime scene clean up business to make ends meet. But this was much more of a serious film, that bordered on depressing.

That being said, I did like this movie very much. It was by no means the best movie of 2009...not even close really. But I though the storyline was quite moving and at times charming. There seems to be a lot going on in this movie, but the core story of this family struggling to get by financially and just in life in general was well told. I liked the dynamic of this family. The cooky old dad, the oddball, eccentric daughter and the other daughter who is not really like the rest of them. She has a son that's a bit of a hyper case, and is kind of annoying. Their story though was sweet and at times quite dark. The background story of their dead mother was pretty emotional and tugged at the heart strings a little.

I enjoyed the scenes of the sisters cleaning up after dead people. That is where a lot of the humor in the film came from. There were also some very touching scenes. There is a scene where Amy Adam's comforts an old woman who's husband just killed himself. It showed that these girls weren't just there to clean up blood, they were they to help and I thought that was a nice touch to the story.

The problem I had with this movie is that there was way to much going on at time. There is a side story with Steve Zahn's (Joy Ride, Strange Wilderness)character that really just ends up falling flat. Another side story involves one of the sisters trying to connect with the daughter with one of the dead victims they cleaned up after. That story was very odd and I felt like it was just a space filler. I know that it was an attempt to humanize Emily Blunt's character but something about it was weird. The girl she was trying to connect with is a lesbian, but Blunt's character is not and that whole thing just felt strange and way out of place. Then by the end of that story arch, nothing really happens...I just didn't get it.

Then we have the story of Oscar winner Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine) trying to sell random things in grocery stores and restaurants. I guess I didn't see the importance of this aspect of his life. I guess he was trying to make time go by since he no longer had his wife...but they never really explained his odd behavior. Then we have the tale of Oscar nominee Amy Adam's (Junebug, Doubt)characters son who can't seem to fit in at school. He is a bit of a troublemaker and no one knows what to do with him. Again...this story falls flat in the end, there is no resolve. Finally there is character you think has a thing for Amy Adams and you never really know if she likes him back. Again...no real resolve there. Overall though, the story of the family as a whole was the most prominent one in the film, and was written very very well.

The performances were pretty good. I thought Emily Blunt was awesome in The Devil Wears Prada and I believe she was robbed of some award attention. Here she was dawning an American accent and did so fairly well. She was good in this movie, but there were times where her performance was a little too...fake, I guess would be the best way to describe it. Amy Adam's was definitely the best in the movie. She's always turned in solid performances and I think she will win herself an Oscar one day. There was a pretty powerful scene towards the end of the movie involving her talking on a CB radio that was her shining moment in the film. Arkin was good, but not as good as he was in Little Miss Sunshine. But I still thought he was entertaining.

All in all, this is a solid movie. It suffers from trying to do to much to make us feel sympathetic towards the characters, but it didn't need to do all that. We already feel for these characters once we learn of their past. I wish they would have focused more on that and eliminated some of the random side stories that led up to nothing. I would recommend this film though to anyone. I don't know if it's for everyone though. It's a bit of a "slow" movie, but I like those kind of flicks. It's on DVD now...check it out! What bad can it do??

2009 Review #27: I Love You, Man

I Love You, Man

Rated R
(Language, some crude and sexual)
1 hour 45 minutes

Storyline:
Friendless Peter Klaven goes on a series of man-dates to find a Best Man for his wedding. But when his insta-bond with his new B.F.F. puts a strain on his relationship with his fiancée, can the trio learn to live happily ever after?

Starring:
Paul Rudd
Jason Segel
Rashida Jones

Critics Grade:
B

My Grade:
B+

This movie came out in theaters in March but I'm just now seeing it here in August on DVD thanks to good old Netflix! It's basically another one of those buddy comedies that's a bit on the raunchy side. I keep saying how much I don't care for these types of movies, yet I keep watching them. Mainly because these kinds of movies usually have pretty good stories and some funny performances making me look past the filth. This is by no means in line with movies like Knocked Up or 40 Year Old Virgin in terms of the raunch, but it's still there in parts.

I liked the story here. It's about a guy played by Paul Rudd (40 Year Old Virgin, Role Models) who's about to get married to Rashida Jone's (TV's The Office and Parks & Recreation) character, only to realize he has no close guy friends for his wedding party. He has no one as a best man. So the movie is his quest to find a male friend or two, and eventually finds a guy played by Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, TV's How I Met Your Mother) and they hit it off. The rest of the movie is them becoming good friends and their various hang out sessions.

I thought it was a pretty cool story, and it seemed pretty realistic to me. There are a lot of guys out there who are much better with the ladies and can never truly admit they have a "best guy friend". They exist all over the world. The writing was just great! They really gave these characters a lot of funny things to say and again it all had this feel of reality. Some of the writing was a little filthy of course, there were numerous sexual jokes and plenty of bad language but overall it wasn't that bad. There was a lot of well written humor that was pretty clean. In fact there was more "clean" humor than "filth" humor. Paul Rudd has always been a funny guy, but so far in his attempts at leading roles (for example, Over Her Dead Body) have been pretty feeble. But this time, he really found the perfect role for him. He was absolutely hilarious in this movie. Rudd really has some pitch perfect comedic timing and he was so awkward in this movie that it was just so funny! Jason Segel is basically the same way. He was great in the Sarah Marshall movie, probably a little better than he was here, but he was still very very funny. These two guys worked really well together, and were quite believable as best friends.

Rashida Jones also turned in a good performance, but she wasn't all that comedic, but she was still good. There were also a slew of good cameos. JK Simmons, Andy Samberg, Jon Favreau, Jamie Pressly, Jane Curtin all turned in solid borderline cameo performances. That's another thing I like about these movies. They always have a handful of hilarious supporting characters that circle in and out of the main characters lives. There was no change in that in this movie!

Sometimes I can say a lot about a movie, other times I don't have a whole heck of a lot to say. I thoroughly enjoyed I Love You, Man though. This is a really solid, really well made comedy and for me is probably one of the funniest movies of the year. I can't sit here and recommend this movie to ALL my friends because some of them don't care for this kind of movie, because it is still pretty inappropriate. However, I would suggest this film to all my other friends! It is a very enjoyable flick!

DVD Update Reviews (08/23/2009)

So I've watched a few random movies recently via Netflix and I thought I'd give them a little bit of attention on my blog! I'll just give you a sum up of what I thought of them. Some are old movies, some are more recent.

Word Wars (Rated NR, 1 hour 20 minutes): This is a documentary about the world of Scrabble tournaments. It follows four of the "elite" scrabble players in their quest to win a $25,000 prize at a tourney in San Diego. This was actually a really interesting look into this world I never really knew existed. Hundreds of people take this very seriously, and are incredibly good at the game. I learned so many words that I can use on my next go at the game! I learned there are a handful of "Q" words without a "U" in them. Anyway, this movie also had a slight charm to it, and had some really likable people featured. Fun movie, interesting movie. My Grade: B-

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For the Bible Tells Me So (Rated NR, 1 hour 35 minutes): This is another documentary about homosexuality within Christianity. It follows a few Christian families (some of them pastors and church leaders) who learn they have homosexual children and how they deal with this. First they hate their children then grow to understand that maybe homosexuality is not a choice. The bible never says homosexuality is a choice, only that it is a "sin". This is a pro-gay movie, but also a pro-Christian movie. I happen to fall in both categories, so this movie meant a lot to me. I found it to be eye opening, as a gay Christian. It changed my perception of some Christians who I naturally assumed would look down on me for being gay. This film has a LOT of good points and I think any Christian, gay or straight, should check this movie out...you might learn a thing or two. My Grade: A-

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Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (Rated R, 1 hour 33 minutes): Yeah, yeah, yeah I know what your going to say: "Mike, you, a film buff, have not seen this classic movie??". Well no I had not seen it up until just a few days ago, so sue me! I have this weird thing against 80's movies. However, after it was all said and done, I really did enjoy this film. I thought it was a super well done "buddy" comedy, probably one of the better ones I've seen. It was very simple, and it started really quick. I thought it was sweet, and had moments of some great and classic comedy. I loved the scene of Steve Martin dropping like...15 "F bombs" in one speech. That was great! I regret not seeing this movie sooner, it was very enjoyable! My Grade: A-

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[*REC] (Rated R, 1 hour 20 minutes): This was the 2007 Spanish language film that inspired the 2008 horror movie, Quarantine. There is virtually no difference in storyline between both films. On that note, they are essentially identical minus one or two small tidbits. However, I have to say that this original version was much, much creepier. I don't know how it was able to do that to me seeing as how the American version didn't scare me that much. I think this film was better at pacing the story and the action therefore adding a lot of tension that the remake did not have. I liked Quarantine, and I was surprised that I did. But I liked this one just a smidgen more just because it was slightly more intense and scary. It is by no means a perfect movie, neither is Quarantine. But they are both entertaining and kind of different. My Grade: B-

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Them (Ils) (Rated R, 1 hour 17 minutes): This is a French film from 2006. I actually just got finished watching this movie on Netflix instant que. This is a film much like 2008's The Strangers but a whole hell of a lot better, and I liked The Strangers! This movie came out before, but Strangers is not a remake (at least it never was labeled as one). Both films claim to be based off a true story (both are not however). This one follows a couple somewhere in Romania and they are enjoying a quiet evening in their huge, isolated and creepy house in the middle of the woods. Their night is soon ruined by strange noises and someone or something has entered their home and begins to mentally torture them. It becomes this extremely intense cat and mouse game that really unnerved me as I watched it. This is one freaky, unsettling movie. There is almost no music playing during the scenes of people sneaking around and all we here are ambient sounds and man is it tense as I'll get out!! There isn't to much of a story, but this doesn't need one. Good, believable performances and these characters weren't dumb for the most part. I won't say how it ends, but I have to say that the reveal of the "stalkers" is quite disturbing. My Grade: A

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This Film is Not Yet Rated (Originally NC-17 but is now NR, 1 hour 37 minutes): This is another documentary about the corruptions and secrecy of the MPAA film rating system. It follows one man's quest to figure out exactly what the deal is with the MPAA and why they rate movies the way they do. It has interviews of film critics and film makers who are blown away by some of the choices the MPAA made about certain films. You really learn a lot about how and why film's get rated the way they do. They talk a lot about films that were rated NC-17 and should have been R. You also learn that the MPAA is the second most secret organization in the country next to...THE CIA!!! Up until 2007 (after this film's release) the members of the MPAA were top secret and only two people in the world knew who they were (the members consist of mainly American parents). These people get paid over $30,000 a year to watch movies and make odd decisions on how to rate them. The movie chronicles a private investigation that is trying to figure out who these people are. This is one of the most interesting and unique documentaries I've seen. I loved it, and thought it was so fascinating! I am a fan of film after all. I would suggest checking this movie out on Netflix. My Rating: A

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And that's it for now! Stay tuned for more in the near future! By the way, all of these films are now available on DVD!

2009 Review #26: Inglorious Basterds

Inglorious Basterds

Rated R

(Occasional graphic violence and gore, brief language and some sexuality)

2 hours 31 minutes

Storyline:

In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as "The Basterds" are chosen specifically to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally killing Nazis. The Basterds soon cross paths with a French-Jewish teenage girl who runs a movie theater in Paris which is targeted by the soldiers.

Starring:

Brad Pitt

Melanie Laurent

Christoph Waltz

Diane Kruger

Critics Grade:

B+

My Grade:
A+

I think Pulp Fiction is a great film. The Kill Bill saga is an amazing piece of filmaking and storytelling. Inglorious Basterds however, is Oscar winner Quentin Tarantino's (Best Original Screenplay - Pulp Fiction) ultimate masterpiece. I thought I had seen his best work in Kill Bill and I honestly never thought he could top that. This is when I love being wrong. When I saw the trailer for Basterds, I thought it looked good but I did not think that I would end up loving it. Again I say, this is when I love to be wrong.

I'm not going to describe the storyline in my review, but as usual I put a brief synopsis up above. This movie has a lot going on and it could take several paragraphs. I'll say this though, before you see this movie, leave your history books on the shelf and don't try to brush up on your WWII knowledge. This is probably one of the more historically inaccurate war films ever made and it was done so deliberately...of course. But as you watch this movie you can't help but think that this would have been a much cooler alternative to the Nazi Germany timeline. Tarantino brilliantly re-wrote history for this movie, and I think this film truly showcases how great of a screenwriter he really has always been.

Tarantino is probably the master at writing superb dialog for his characters. You have to see this film to understand. It is through the dialog this film is carried, and there are many many drawn out, very long scenes of people talking (in other languages at that!) but it never once goes dull and I never got bored. More than half of this movie is in a foreign language (primarily French and German...and a tad bit of Italian haha) but you don't find yourself caring or angry that you're reading half of the film. I don't mind foreign language films, but some people hate them. Trust me though, you won't mind it this time around.

He also relies on his genius characters that he creates (he even made Hitler a bit of his own character) to move the story along. Aldo Raine is one of the coolest, most bad ass characters I've seen in a film in a while! 90% of this film is all dialog and character examination, and trust me when I say it makes this screenplay come to life in a wonderfully incredible way and you will never grow restless while watching this film. It runs at 2 hours and 31 minutes but when you watch it, it feels like a 90 minute movie. That's how awesome the pacing of this movie works. Probably one of the best paced screenplays I've seen in years.

Now don't get me wrong, this movie isn't ALL drawn out talking sessions, there is some cool action scenes. In fact, a lot of the dialog scenes lead up to some pretty awesome action moments. You can tell something is eventually going to happen in these scenes, because it feels very tense when you watch these characters communicate. I would say there are a good three or four solid action moments that were just so enjoyable to watch. This is when some of Tarantino's famous blood and gore come in, but never to much. There's a brutal gun battle that lasts maybe a minute and there's a good supply of blood to go around. There are some explosive scenes that were so masterfully done but also so very simple. Which is something you aren't to used to with Tarantino. Usually you expect big, drawn out, bloody action scenes, but it's more "toned" down this time and I liked that.

The direction by Tarantino was so, so, SO good. He doesn't do a lot of rapid cut scenes and he doesn't move around to much. This story is told in chapters (much like the Kill Bill saga), and the film really feels like chapters. During each chapter he only focuses on one aspect of the story. He does not jump to different characters doing different things, he focuses on one aspect of the story each time. This is how we grow to love these characters (and yes, hate some of them) and really understand their motives. He brought this tale to life so eloquently I thought. You can tell he is a fan of film and that this guy knows what he's doing. It's a shame he doesn't make more movies than he does. I also loved all the technical aspects of this film. The set design was so classy and beautiful as was all the costuming. The cinematography was brilliant. Of course we also have the standard use of music in a Tarantino film, he is so good at choosing music. You will also notice a lot of music from Kill Bill...a really cool touch if you ask me.

In a Tarantino film, you can always expect at least one good performance (I still think Uma Thurman was robbed of an Oscar nomination for any of the Kill Bill films). This movie has at least two brilliant performances. The first being from the star, Oscar nominee Brad Pitt (Twelve Monkeys, Curious Case of Benjamin Button). This was probably my favorite performance from him, because it was the most unique one I've seen from him (and no I have not seen Snatch or Fight Club). There was NEVER a dull moment with this character. I mean he was a riot and was one of the most hilarious characters I think I may have ever seen. Pitt was just so great and I was blown away by how perfect he was for this role. So funny! I don't know if he will garner another Oscar nomination for this movie, but honestly I think he deserves one.

However there was once performance that was a little bit better than that in this film and that was from Christoph Waltz (who won a Best Actor award for this film at Cannes Film Festival). He plays an SS Colonel and he is a nasty nasty character. You really, truly hate this guy but at the same time you just love when he is on screen. Half of his performance is in English and the other half is in a combo of French, German and some Italian. Not matter what language he speaks though, this guy was brilliantly sinister and also so odd and quirky. That very beginning scene of the film, he had me hooked from the moment on. If he does not garner a supporting actor nomination this year at the Oscars I will think there is some kind of scandal in the Academy.

The women were good as well. Melanie Laurent and Diane Kruger (National Treasure series) added some great character depth to the film. Kruger is more of a limited supporting role, and Laurent has a much meatier role and where the primary story of revenge comes from (but I don't want to give to much away). I thought they did a great job carrying the characters throughout the film. I liked the cameos from Mike Myers (a surprisingly unfunny one) and also a pretty comical one from BJ Novak (TV's The Office). There were a lot of small, supporting roles in this film and all were excellent. This was a seriously good cast!

This was just a great overall movie. I spotted virtually no flaws. I guess there were a couple issues, but in the grand scheme of things they were so small and didn't take away from the movie at all and aren't even worth mentioning. Amazing storytelling, beautiful film making, incredibly good and entertaining performances, fun action scenes, the works. In my opinion this was a masterpiece on virtually every level of film making possible. Tarantino shocked me by not hinging on his typical use of blood, guts and gore and extreme foul language (but it's still there, just no where near anything bad, I've seen worse in movies this year). Instead he went a much more mature and professional route and created his first real masterclass film. I applaud Tarantino for this movie, and the Academy should finally give him what he deserves...some true recognition for his wonderful and wildly original film making accomplishment.

This year the Academy announced there will be ten best picture nominees. I am a fan of this, because some smaller films or films that don't typically get noticed in the big award of the night will sneak in. So far this year I've seen a handful of movies that at this point in the year deserve to crack the top ten: Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince, Star Trek, The Hurt Locker, District 9, Up, and at the very top of that list...Inglorious Basterds. I don't care what anyone tells me, THIS is the very best film of 2009.

Go see Inglorious Basterds.

"Nine, nine, nine nine, nine!"