The Film Chronicles

Date Night/ Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘N’ Roll Generation Saved Hollywood

Date Night, 2010, Romantic Comedy
Plot: A middle-aged married couple seeks to spark their flattening marriage by taking another couple’s dinner reservations. This leads to a spiral down a long road of inconveniences and danger.

Review: This movie pleasantly surprised me. What I thought was going to be just another movie with some of the funniest names in comedy (Steve Carrell Tina Fey, James Franco, Mark “Marky Mark” Walhberg), this movie was more heartwarming than simply satisfactory.

Both Fey and Carrell play their normal awkward but funny characters. The comedy was there but there were only a few jokes that were really side-splittingly funny. There were, however, very few jokes that bombed. This movie mixed a good amount of comedy with drama to make the end a really good experience. I’ll probably watch it again and I recommend it.

4.1/5

Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘N’ Roll Generation Saved Hollywood 2003, Documentary viewed: 1/22/2011
Plot: Chronicles the shift in the direction of films beginning in 1967-1980

Review: This documentary is a MUST SEE for any up and coming individual seeking to make an impact in the world of film. This shows the shift that Hollywood took when it decided to start with the “New Age” of directors like Francis Coppola, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg.

Just to see how their surroundings shaped their decisions so much and how each of this successful directors had at least one major failure really puts everything in perspective. This film is based on the book of the same name, you should pick it up some time.

4.6/5

La Moustache/ TiMER

La Moustache, 2005, Thriller
Plot: A Parisian man decides to shave the mustache he’s had all of his adult-life on a whim, but no one (not even his wife) notices. Thus begins the spiral of his sanity in this 2005 French Film.

All of this drama over one mustache?

Review: Not too much to say other than the director did an excellent job of letting you become exactly what the main character was becoming: confused and left dangling on a hook. I watched this movie in hopes that it would wrap up nicely, but alas it did not.

The acting, however, was superb and everyone seemed to fit into their roles quite naturally. This movie did make me wonder what would happen to me if I fell into a similar situation (Everyone hates to do something for attention and then be completely ignored). If you’re a fan of French film, you’ll enjoy its twists and turns and the surreal feel of the film. I’d watch it again to see what I missed.

2.4/5

He looks better with the mustache. . . and without that psycho look.

TiMER, 2009, Romantic Comedy, viewed: 1/21/2011
Plot: In the not-so-distant-future people are getting “timers” put on their wrists. These count down the day until said person will come face to face with their one true love.

Great movie! Watch it!

Review: This movie was very refreshing. It was an entirely new look at the romantic comedy drama and was performed extremely well by all. Not only did it entertain the viewer, it also left me wanting to discuss the meaning and the true theme of the movie as well as draw parallels with it and reality though the concept seems to be a far deviant of what we would consider normal.

There’s not too much to say other than that this may be one of the best movies I’ve seen in a while (excluding big budget movies) I highly recommend it to anyone.

4.6/5

La jetée/ Death at a Funeral (2010)

La jetée, 1961, Foreign/ Sci-Fi
Plot: Told through a series of photographs instead of film, this movie chronicles the story of a Frenchman during post-Apocalyptic France who is enrolled in a program to send men back in time to save the present.

The main character’s love interest.

Review: La jetée is a film that’s concept seemed ahead of its time. I really enjoyed the way that the photographs were used instead of the rolling film. It made every shot count. With film, you’re shooting dozens of pictures per second, but with this style you can’t afford one missed photographic opportunity.

The film was completely narrated and since it was only 28 minutes long, making it seem more like a bedtime story than a movie. The style was intriguing and engaging and the story so fantastic that I felt myself a kid again. It was the appropriate length for something of this nature (90 minutes of still photos would have got annoying quickly). It’s a remarkable story of love and romance with enough of a sci-fi twist to keep anyone interested.

I enjoyed it and would watch it again. I recommend you do the same!

3.9/5

Death at a Funeral, 2010, Comedy, viewed: 1/20/2011
Plot: Based on a play of the same name, this comedy takes place at the funeral of a man who’s family’s dirty laundry all begins to come out.

THIS IS ONE SAD MOVIE.

Review: This was a movie with an all-star cast, so I expected it to be hilarious. This wasn’t so for most of the film because I felt the jokes too rushed, the dramatic moments not dramatic enough, and the language going a little too far. The one saving grace (comedic wise) was my namesake James Marsden aka Cyclops aka Scott Summers, who’s bit throughout the movie was hilarious (especially his impromptu solo). It did, however, get a bit tired towards the end.

Marsden

Danny Glover’s character Uncle Russell did what he was supposed to do. I despised the character and he got more than annoying as the movie went on. One part of the movie involving him was just plain nasty and needn’t be seen by my innocent eyes.

Martin Lawrence, Chris Rock, and Tracy Morgan played their roles with the consistent humor that they’re known for, but in this instance, it wasn’t enough and it seemed as if they were trying too hard.

This is a decent movie to watch when you’re bored and want a quick, immature laugh. I won’t be watching it again, however.

2.6/5

Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death/ The Men Who Stare at Goats

Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death, 2008, Comedy

Plot: A baker and his companion are trying to stay alive after a recent “baker killer” has struck the scene and is trying to make Wallace the next in the “bakers dozen” by offing him.

Thoughts: This film is exactly how a film should be made. Nick Park does it again by creating a great balance of humor and suspense. You know exactly what’s going to happen but Park wields the sense of predictability like a Knight of the Round table would a sword. Wallace is still the guy with his head in the clouds that takes forever to come back to reality. Meanwhile, Gromit is the loyal dog that always puts Wallace ahead of himself to save the day time and time again while not saying a single word.

The animation was beautifully done and the creators proved that films don’t need to be live action or an animated Disney movie to be successful. I’m not a huge fan of claymation, but this series makes me want to see it again and again (also, major props for the patience factor).

The only thing that irked me (and this is a very minor thing) was that the film seemed to be a little longer than it needed to be. It didn’t drag out, I just wish that more could have been packed into say 25-27 minutes. But that’s just me being nitpicky.

Honestly, this is probably in my top 20 films. I loved everything from the directing, to the voice acting, and even the storyline. I LOVED this movie and definitely will watch again. Check it out!

4.8/5!

The Men Who Stare at Goats, 2009, Comedy (at least that’s what it was supposed to be) viewed: 1/19/2011

Plot: A small-town reporter attempts to research a secret government program founded during the Vietnam War that used strange methods and tactics to confront the enemy.

Review: The movie was made honestly, which pains me to say how honestly bad it was. Everything about it seemed forced from the writing to the editing. I never got a good sense of chemistry between any of the cast. The concept, while not totally original, was fairly interesting. But that wore out soon after I stopped trying to keep my eyelids open.

George Clooney was on the bill to put audiences in their seats but the only actor that was entertaining was Jeff Bridges. I did enjoy the bout about “cloud bursting” and must say that I’ve tried it since then (I just know I did it yesterday).

I didn’t really know what to expect when I watched this. I just know that during the film I realized that I would rather stare at a goat than stare at any screen showing this movie. No offense to the makers of this film.

2.1/5

Did You Hear About the Morgans?/ The Machinist

Did You Hear About the Morgans?, 2009 Romantic Comedy:

Plot: Paul Morgan (Hugh Grant) and estranged wife Meryl Morgan (Sex and the City’s Sarah Jessica Parker) witness a murder and are enrolled in the Witness Protection Program and are forced to leave the Big Apple to go to small town in Wyoming (I noticed how similar the structure of this movie was to Tim Allen and Kirtsie Alley’s 90s film “For Richer or Poorer”).

Review: This movie, written and directed by Marc Lawrence (who wrote Miss Congeniality and its sequel), followed the general American formula for romantic comedies-which didn’t work to its advantage. Although predictability in films is nice, it is sometimes better to have the formula mixed up a little to keep it fresh and seemingly new.

The acting was average but I think it mainly had to do with the extremely cheesy writing. The only part of the script that was really genuine and had impact was Grant’s wedding vow (I’m comfortable enough with my masculinity to say that I even smiled. But that’s it.) Anyway, Sam Elliot (The guy that looks like Mark Twain) and Mary Steenburgen (the mom from 4 Christmases, Step Brothers, and The Proposal) co-starred as the counter-couple that modeled what Grant and Parker should be doing in regards to their marriage.

The comedic lines seemed forced and I never got a sense of fluidity and naturally flowing conversation from the actors and actresses. Grant had a nice delivery but it seemed as if the dullness of everyone else was what made him appear to be so funny.

The shots of the Wyoming countryside were beautiful and juxtaposed against New York City, we are forced to see how the natural beauty of small-town America can cleanse even the worst problems from the big city. I don’t really go for that message because their are benefits and consequences for living in both types of areas.

I don’t regret watching this film, it served its purpose and gave a few laughs and a number of chuckles. I wouldn’t watch it again.

2.8/5

The Machinist, 2004, Thriller
Plot: The Machinist follows the life of blue collar worker Trevor Reznik who has a severe case of insomnia, having not slept for an entire year. He loses his grip on reality and the film is his struggle to gain it back.

Review: A very dark movie, metaphorically and literally. The entire film had a gritty feel and a blueish-gray hue to it. Christian Bale plays the lead and once again shows his acting chops by playing another character another side of the acting spectrum (He’s best known for playing Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins and the Dark Knight, but you should also check him out in the Prestige and 3:10 to Yuma[2007 version]). He got ridiculously skinny for this role and looked exactly like you’d expect a guy who hasn’t slept in 365 days to look.

The film was directed by Brad Anderson, who’s done nothing of note since making this film. The story was as if Fight Club and Memento had a baby. Reznik carries the same monkey on his back as Ed Norton did but has a harder time believing in what he’s seeing. The link between the Machinist and these two movies is undeniable, but Anderson’s vision makes it worth watching. His spin on the matter seems much more realistic than [SPOILER ALERT] a guy creating a separate personality to form clubs that fight at ni- sorry I’m not supposed to talk about that.

Bulimic Batman

The writing was well executed and the characters were believable (aside from not sleeping that long). I don’t have too much to say without telling important plot points, so I’ll just recommend you catch it on Netflix when you have a couple of hours to spare. I’ll probably watch it again.

4.1/5

-Brandon

Exit Through the Gift Shop/ Precious

Exit Through the Gift Shop, 2010, Documentary
Plot: This film followed the story of Frenchman Thierry Guetta’s rise to fame within the street art world as a “Mr. Brainwash” or MBW for short.

“They got Mona Lisa’s on sale! 2 for $15!”

It began talking about Guetta’s obsession with a video camera, filming everything for months on end (resulting in a hoarding habit of collected tapes). He winds up tagging along with several famous street artists (including Invader and Shepard Fairey) and goes around the world with them, documenting their craft.

Eventually Guetta runs into the infamous Banksy, a street artist known for his political and socially conscious street art who then encourages Guetta to become a street artist, which Guetta does with great commercial success.

Thoughts: This documentary, directed by Banksy, was very well done and left much open to discussion that is also up for the Oscar for Best Documentary this year. I haven’t seen the competition, but this one looks like it could come off on top. It was interesting to finally get a viewpoint from the street artists’ minds. To me, graffiti is far more than vandalism and this documentary both proved and disproved my point.

The entire documentary seemed to be the evolution not only of Guetta’s rise to fame but also his descent from a bumbling idiot to a narcissistic (I’m all over that word lately), disillusioned fool. His work ended up being sold for millions and at the end of the doc, many of the artists that had taken Guetta under their wing now regretted their acceptance of such an imbecile.

What could have been a revolutionary film ended up being just a great one, but “just great” isn’t too bad at all.

4.2/5

For this double feature (which I’ll be doing until I catch up) I’ll start at the beginning with Precious.

Precious, 2009, Drama (viewed on 1/18/2011)
Plot: The story of a teenager who’s overweight, pregnant, illiterate, and lives with an abusive mother. She seeks to reclaim her self respect and dignity through the many trials that life continues to throw at her.

How I felt throughout most of the movie.

Review: Okay, I heard that this was an Oscar-winning film and I refused to watch it for reasons which will not be discussed. I must say that this film is exactly what I thought it would be, so shout out to my manly instinct and precognitive abilities.

After about 15 minutes in the story got somewhat repetitive. I was wondering how awful a life could get. For every step she took forward she was “pushed” 10 backwards (did you see what I did there? “push”). Anyway, I know it may be just my well educated, suburban upbringing that leads to the disconnect with the film overall, but I won’t allow that to hinder my judgement of the film.

Precious did raise some issues that are affecting many of our youth, primarily illiteracy which affects more than you realize. The acting was also superbly done, although Mariah Carey seemed like a random placement. Gabourey Sidibe was great playing the daydreaming Precious, but many times in the film I couldn’t understand a word she said and worried about missing an important plot point, causing me to miss another crucial moment in the dialogue. Mo’Nique’s anger and motherly facade dichotomy was played beautifully, I grew to hate her in the movie (which was the entire point of her character).

One thing that I noticed, which does not make me a genius on film, was that every positive character in the movie was of light complexion; i.e. the teacher, the counselor, the nurse. Kind of seemed like propaganda to me.

In the end, like most Best-sellers turned blockbusters, I believe that “Precious” should have just stayed as “Push”, although it did relay valuable undertones for powerful lessons to be learned from our lost youth within the education system.

2.2/5

That’s it for today. Tomorrow’s Valentine’s/ Singles Awareness Day so I hope you enjoy yours with a nice guy or gal, Ben & Jerry’s, or both!

Tomorrow I’ll be reviewing Did You Hear About the Morgan’s (making sacrifices for V-Day lol jk.) and Machinist (one of my favorites thus far).

-Brandon

As One Door Closes, Another Opens; In the Heat of the Night/ Duck Soup

In the middle of January, amidst many embarking upon endeavors that would inevitably fail (or as we more lovingly call them, “New Year’s Resolutions”) I decided to begin a personal journey. Inspired by one of my colleagues who was inspired by a colleague of his to take a picture for everyday of the year to recollect memories by the year’s end. I decided to do something similar and more to my taste by watching a film or documentary every day and log it into my personal journal.

I had kept up very well with this endeavor, but yesterday I realized that my journal was lost, perhaps in a library somewhere. Not wanting to go through that pain again, I decided to feed my narcissistic need for attention by creating a blog. Today is the first “official blog” that will cover the 1967 film “In the Heat of the Night”. I’ll do my best to update daily and I hope to have at least a few followers that are willing to share their experiences and opinions. And don’t worry, I will create posts for the 20+ movies that I’ve already seen.

In the Heat of the Night, 1967, Drama
Plot: This 1967 Best Picture film by Canadian director Norman Jewison is based on the novel of the same name. It stars Sindey Poitier as Virgil Tibbs, a homicide expert from Philadelphia who has conveniently been in a small Mississippi town when a murder happens. Rod Steiger (in an Oscar-winning role) plays the role of the Chief of Police Bill Gillespie who is forced to work with Detective Tibbs to solve the mystery.

Review: Overall, the film was very well done. Had I seen it during that time period, perhaps it would have hit me a little harder. But growing up in more liberal times forms a slight disconnection due to the generational gap. The infamous Tibbs slap or the risk Gillespie’s risk taking and symbolic actions would have made a stronger impact.

The Poitier-Tibbs combo is, perhaps, the beginning of the clichéd “White cop, black cop” flick. Minus the strong social/political statement and lack of comedic situations in the film, this had a similar formula to what we have seen from the mid-80s until today: Two cops from different cultures forced to work with each other to succeed in a common goal, they prove themselves to one another, have a falling out, and in the end realize that they are more alike than they would have ever guessed.

Poitier (one of the greatest actors of the 20th century) has his usual “renaissance gentleman who’ll clean your clock if you mistake him for a pansy” attitude, which works 101 times out of 100. During that same year he also starred in the films “To Sir, With Love” and “Guess Who’s coming to dinner (Both to be reviewed later, I might add).

This film shows the end of the “stage actors doubling as film actors” era and marks the beginning of the new film era with Martin Scorsese, Francis Coppola, George Lucas, etc.

This movie gets a 4.1/5.0 scale because I thoroughly enjoyed the acting, story/plot, directing, and most of all the message. Very powerful movie, I could watch it again. See it if you ever have a chance to do so.

That’s it for the first installment of my Film Journal. If I watch another film tonight, I’ll be sure to add it to this one. I look forward to receiving any comments or film suggestions.

-Brandon

Movies I have seen starting from January 16th, 2011:

Precious
The Machinist
The Men Who Stare at Goats
Death at a Funeral (2010)
TiMER
Easy Riders to Ragin’ Bulls
The Red Balloon
Copacabana
Exam
Some Folks Call it a Sling Blade
Valhalla Rising
The Cove
Triad Election
To Sir, with Love
Moon
How to Train Your Dragon
Dragons or Dinosaurs?
Treacherous Beauties
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Full Metal Jacket
Shades of Ray
Tapped
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Grown Ups
Bronson

Edit:
So I ended up watching another movie yesterday, Duck Soup by the comedic minds of the Marx brothers.

Duck Soup, 1933, Comedy
Plot: With the sudden death of an important ruler Rufus Firefly (Groucho Marx) courts the powerful and wealthy widow and ends up starting a war with a rival suitor and his nation.

Review: This movie features the 4 major Marx brothers: Groucho (The one-liner comedian) , Harpo (the master of physical comedy), Chico (The pun expert), and Zeppo (the straight man). Each one brings their particular skills to the film to make it a scene after scene and line after line comedy.

At some parts the jokes seemed a bit dated but this film was made nearly 80 years ago so who can blame them. This film was not as funny as Copacabana but it still had me laughing at jokes that were universal in the world of comedy. If given another opportunity, I would watch it again. Check it out for a good, clean laugh.

3.8/5.0.