Wednesday, March 28, 2007

[title removed]


brazil, i mean, brazil...where to start? the most visual of romps, brazil is a cinematic manifestation of nervous laughter and leaves you wondering when the nightmares will start.

it's important to lay out some context here: brazil is set in the future ("sometime in the 20th [not a typo] century") and was completed in 1985. being that it's now 2007, there's no way this movie can not be a mindblow. oh and it's from the man behind monty python.

mini roll call of who's lurking in this bad boy: the surly grandma from who's the boss (her scenes freaked the ish out of jim), the dad from garden state (criterion alum), and mario from super mario bros. (as an electrician--presumably auditioning for the part).

can't leave out how huge de niro's cameo is. with one of the best entrances evs, he's like an old friend, a life preserver to save you from an ocean of oddness. also, i'd really like to know how he went about doing his research for this part.
(thanks lex for the rec)

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

300


Oh herrrroooo. I'm not sure if you have heard of 300, so I figured I'd let you in on my little secret. This flick tells the tall tale of the Battle of Thermopylae, in which the King of Sparta leads 300 of Sparta's best soldiers versus a Persian army numbered in the hundreds of thousands.

Visually, this movie is stunning and you will undoubtedly agree (unless of course you're one of the many haters who seemed to whine about Frank Miller's other comic book adapted for the big screen, Sin City). Also, expect lots o' dramatic speeches and gore & blood.

Downsides include subpar acting although Gerard Butler convinces as King Leonidas, predictable plot line, and it is evident the filmmakers watched Gladiator about 300 too many times (oh snap!).

If you want to be entertained and can appreciate this movie for what it is, definitely peep this. Just don't smudge the dude's puma who is sitting next to you once the movie is over, you ain't built like them 300 boys.

P.S. Director Zack Snyder also directed Michael Jordan's Playground.

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

a history of insanity

you see this guy? yea, it's an alien smoking a cig and sipping on a cocktail. and you know what? he's in naked lunch like it's the most normal thing in the world. and you don't even want to know who he's talking to...

actually it's peter weller, who plays the most badass exterminator ever captured on screen. he's almost as badass as the dapper police chief from jaws. and he's in this too.

there's also an enthralling monologue about a man with a talking butt and the haunting use of a parrot cage.

did i like this movie? not especially, it's completely nonsensical. however it does make me want to visit tangier.

Saturday, March 3, 2007

(i can't hear y'all)

saw zodiac last night. was expecting a lot. got a lot. of movie. almost 3 hours.

it's no secret that the zodiac killer was never caught and i wish that wasn't the case.

go for robert downz (criterion alum), stay for mark ruffalo.

not sure what it is (anyone?), but the song during the first murder and again at the end credits completely owns. UPDATE: It's Hurdy Gurdy Man by Donovan

if it wasn't for imdb, i could never be sure if that dude from grounded for life was in this (he is).

also of note is fincher's what-must-be-record-breaking use of date/time subtitles.

zodiac is not a friday night movie. see it on a sunday.

related: what's your zodiac sign?

***UPDATE: the director, David Fincher, uses tons of unnoticeable CGI to make this film

Thursday, March 1, 2007

oscar buzzed part 2

having now seen "notes on a scandal," which i saw this morning, i've verified that i'll probably never care about the best actress categories. there's a reason they announce the best female jump off like an hour before the best male awards are given out. that said, cate blanchett and judi dench both killed it in this movie. i give their performances an 8 and 8.5 out of 10 respectively. but does that mean that they deserve an award for it? neither of them were playin idi amin, man. and you know what? neither of them could pull that off any damn way.

p.s.: noas was adapted for screen by patrick marber, who wrote "closer."