February Movie Roundup

Movies i've watched since the last roundup, plus a couple i forgot to mention the other time.

Red Eye - Craven can do better; this thriller isn't. Murphy does ok, it's just not as compelling a role as his best - man on airplane sets up terrorizing events around a woman for some slowly revealed purpose. I never really cared (didn't help that i watched it through the eyes in the back of my head). 4/10 overall, 5/10 in genre.

House of 1000 Corpses - YAHF (Yet Another Hicksploitation Flick), this one done in a more artistic style with the camera cuts and angles that irritate after the 4th time. Nameless people wander into other nameless people's deadly playhouse and die. Relatively gorey, but i've seen gorier. Decent acting in a story we've heard a thousand times. Still worth seeing for the clown and the rabbit outfits (is that a Hills or a Darko reference?) 4/10 overall, 6/10 in genre.

Flightplan - Touchstone/Imagine's answer to that other thriller involving a plane. It's no better. Ok acting and boring story about people who don't pay attention. Whoop-de-do - NEXT! 5/10 overall, 5/10 in genre.

The 40 Year Old Virgin - Comedy about sex and virginity. Cheap laughs, decent acting, obvious plot. 4/10 overall, 5/10 in genre.

The Hills Have Eyes (1977) - One among the first movies that helped define hicksploitation. Craven's simple story about random people who get lost and killed by other random people. While far from great, the acting suits the movie perfectly, and the directing is fantastic. Watch out for that rabbit! 6/10 overall, 8/10 in genre.

The Serpent and the Rainbow - Zombie flick of the Haitian variety. Nothing too special, though - the story moves kinda slow, often seems as if nothing is happening, but when something happens, Ouch! 5/10 overall, 5/10 in genre.

Gosford Park - Well done movie showing two sides to 1930's high society. Altman's attention to detail is wonderful. Unfortunately, the acting is only good and the plot is a little too obvious. More could have developed from the many differences on display. 7/10 overall, 8/10 in genre.

i heart huckabees - funny, active movie that screams "look at me! I know stuff!" - every college freshman should watch it as an intro to 1900's philosophy. People wonder what it's all about in a humourous setting; nothing new, but watch it for Wahlberg's great performance. 6/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

Girl with a Pearl Earring - Wonderful movie about a Vermeer painting. Johansson, Firth and others deliver strong performances in this compelling tale of social strata. 8/10 overall, 8/10 in genre.

La Jetée - short sci-fi flick with very funny beginning and overall goodness. Time-travelling maniac sets into play dangerous events, or plays with mania in eventual danger, or eventually travels through mania in play time, or... Yes it's a familiar movie for a reason, and a cinematic technique that i'm looking forward to seeing again. 8/10 overall, 9/10 in genre.

City of God - Beautiful movie about poverty in Brazil. Amazing directing, acting, storying - see it now. The dvd's mini-documentary holds some choice quotes. 9/10 overall, 9/10 in genre.

Bad Taste - One of those great movies that does so much with so little. Jackson delivers a hilarious, gory tale of aliens and the humans that hunt them. 7/10 overall, 10/10 in genre.

Domino - Bountyhunter tale with every little detail narrated and stylized to death. Boring despite its never-ending flash, the acting, action and plot could have been great under different direction. 4/10 overall, 5/10 in genre.

Saw - If this is what Wan and Whanell are giving us today, we're in for some good tomorrows. Horror flick with twisty ends and a whodunit feel. Decent acting, though sometimes it feels like the actors were only allowed a couple takes each scene. 6/10 overall, 8/10 in genre.

Saw II - Battle Royale meets Se7en with a dash of Shyamalan - in other words, just like the first. Watching this second entry, it is very apparent the writers grew up on video games - you can almost hear "POWER UP!!!" every other scene. 6/10 overall, 8/10 in genre.

Meet the Feebles - Typical early Jackson (in other words, humourous whacky greatness on a minimal budget) in puppet form. 6/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

Wallace & Grommit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit - i think it was action, or adventure, well definitely boring. Very good claymation in a underwhelming, obvious story. Worth watching if you enjoy the animation, otherwise you'll get the whole movie, including jokes and plot, from the title. 6/10 overall, 6/10 in genre.

Wild at Heart - Typical Lynch and what might be Cage's and Dern's best performances. Death and disaster (and artsy, disjointed scenes) follow a couple destined and determined to be in love. 8/10 overall, 8/10 in genre.

The Weather Man - Typical Cage (grow up dude!) plays a (monetarily) successful man wondering where life is taking him. Same message has been played out better before, though strangely i can't think of where. 6/10 overall, 6/10 in genre.

Dead Meat - Zombie flick that adds zombie cows and Irish and Scottish accents to the genre but nothing else. Still a decent enough low budget film, with an alt ending that seems a bit out of character, if oddly reminiscent of other strange movies. 4/10 overall, 6/10 in genre.

The Basketball Diaries - DiCaprio proves he can play not only a convincing mentally handicapped boy, but a decent addict as well (now if he could just get any other role right...) Story of drug use/addiction following the paths 4 boys take out of high school, but doesn't quite deliver on the message as strong as it could have. Very good supporting performances from Bracco and Wahlberg. 6/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

Braineater - Wonderful short zombie film. McMahon shows he knows his way around a camera, script and director's chair in this funny and gorey short. 6/10 overall, 9/10 in genre.

Eraserhead - Huh? Typical Lynch++, or Lynch without the need for thinking about the audience, in a twisted tale of a man's mind and the pressures on his soul. 7/10 overall, 9/10 in genre.

Elizabethtown - Paramount's answer to Garden State, the story is nearly identical (down and out guy goes to small town to bury parent) but delivers better acting and a slightly better storyline. Neither one shows any originality, but E is pieced together slightly better, and the characters resonate more realistically (or maybe i've just been annoyed with GS-style characters my whole life). 6/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

Daily Drudgery

The river sang to me today, a song of broken dreams and future warmth, of distant places, lost friends, dead ends, new beginnings, and common routes - typical nature gooseshit, a windy treat played through nameless instruments. The day's warmth and wind had cracked the thick riverside ice into a thousand fist-sized pieces, and the wind and waves jingled the ice-xylophone through a one-time tune. Sometimes the wind was too strong, overwhelming the ice pieces tingling against eachother, but when i stopped and listened for a while, the high, frozen notes drifted through an amazingly resonant, surround sound performance.

Makes a good memory; the wind writes ever more in the increasingly deep wrinkles on my face.

Movietime

I spend much of my time watching/thinking about movies. Here's my take on the movies i've watched so far this year.

Finding Neverland - Good performances by Depp and Winslet, but not quite there - those two are capable of better; maybe if the script had been a little more compelling and less pitifull. Still a good movie following J. M. Barrie's development of Peter Pan. 7/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

Zombie Night - My Canon A80 could make a better movie; this is the lowest production movie i've ever seen for rent in Blockbuster - lousy lighting, sets, scoring, etc. Horrendous acting (save Curtis) and a hole-ridden plot not even worth laughing at, yet it features all the zombie movie essentials and they're coming back with a part II. It's not Battlefield Earth, but it is pretty damn bad. 1/10 overall, 3/10 in genre.

Emma - Love stories from Jane Austen featuring good performances all around, lacks depth of characters, plot, but i was spoiled by Sense & Sensibility. Maybe better as Clueless, but definitely worth a watch. 6/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

Sense & Sensibility - Best performances ever from everyone involved, in all aspects - directing, acting, writing, scoring, dialogue. A most compelling multiple love story with twists, turns, wit, wisdom, fantasy, reality, and a slew of lessons. 10/10 overall, 10/10 in genre.

Doom - Space marines and hot chick enter science/military facility and kill/get killed by evil things - I kept wanting Aliens but didn't get a quarter of that masterpiece. Still worth seeing for the Rock (i'd like to see him and Ice Cube in a movie together), the cinematography, and the FX. 4/10 overall, 6/10 in genre.

The Constant Gardener - Corporations are evil and only hippies care about 3rd world countries - tell me something i don't know. Decent enough stylised movie with an interesting storyline whose ending you know you're going to hate. 7/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

Lord of War - Once you get over Cage, it's a great movie about gun running. Compelling story, actors, cinematography, but sometimes the plot winds in the wrong directions. 7/10 overall, 8/10 in genre.

Immortel - why do i keep watching French flicks? Unworthy FX, wandering storyline, mediocre acting in a futuristic world where egyptian aliens show up to have sex with mutants. Why do i keep watching French flicks? 2/10 overall, 4/10 in genre.

Howard's End - Good love/social criticism period piece with powerful performances from Hopkins and Thompson, but both can do better. The title word "End" teases the mind as the story drags at times. 7/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

Empire of the Wolves - Reno action movie that was horribly dubbed. Decent action sequences and pretty scenery, all in all a good waste of time. 5/10 overall, 6/10 in genre.

Heavenly Creatures - Watch for the moment Jackson grows out of Bad Taste style and into LotR style. Lynskey and Winslet work wonderfully together in this true murder tale. 7/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

The Cat Returns - In your face (moral-wise) child's tale from Studio Ghibli. Lacks depth, subtlety of other Ghibli work, but it wasn't directed by Master Miyazaki. 6/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

Murderball - documentary about quadraplegic rugby. Very straightforwardly factual, therefore very good. Well shot, well cut. 7/10 overall, 9/10 in genre.

Fantastic Four - better than Daredevil superhero flick with good Chiklis, mediocre everything else. Does what it needs to plot-wise, FX-wise, character-wise, but doesn't do any more. 5/10 overall, 6/10 in genre.

The Brothers Grimm - Gilliam's worst movie. For the equal in humour, action, wit, and plot, but a more worthy movie overall, rent Eurotrip instead. 4/10 overall, 5/10 in genre.

Broken Flowers - Follow Murray's past lovelife around the country. Dziena's full frontal is within the first hour, you don't miss anything if you stop watching after that, though if you enjoy either Jarmusch or Murray (both have done better), watch the rest. 6/10 overall, 6/10 in genre.

Serenity - Thankfully it's not Nemesis, unfortunately it's not Wrath. The plot is underwhelming, FX decent enough, storyline expects a lot from the viewer, acting is a bit forced - in other words, typical scifi flick. I thought Whedon was revolutionary. 5/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

City of God - Great movie; the gimmicky timeline isn't necessary but doesn't hurt. Good acting, directing, filming, and compelling story which juggles its many characters quite well. Be sure to watch the dvd's documentary for some choice quotes/viewpoints on drugs, guns and the role of police in Brazilian society. 9/10 overall, 10/10 in genre.

Who's there?

Sunday night on the way home i heard a loud rhythmic knocking sound from my rear wheel. I tried to see what the problem was, but the cold and the darkness convinced me to wait until i got home. At home i saw this:



The rim was cracked and jutting out, and the brake kept hitting it every rotation. My quick fix was to disengage my rear brakes - no more knocking sound!

Next day at the bike shop i was told this is what happens after prolonged use - even though they are only rubber, the brakes slowly wear away at the metal rim, first making a groove in it, eventually wearing it so thick that it cracks. In this case it cracked at the weakest point, right along the seam. Comparing my new rear wheel with my old front wheel is great - the front has a very nice concaveness to it whereas the rear wheel is flat.

$50 and 30 minutes later my bike was fixed. This makes a grand total of (approx) $80 i've spent on my bike this year. At 15 miles a day, $2 a gallon, and 15 miles a gallon, i'll have paid off this year's current bike expenditures in a couple more days.