For the second week in a row, I was off both Monday and Tuesday. So how did I fill up my time, you may ask? I went to the movies! And I drank. Somewhat heavily. But let's forget about that for a second and go back to the movies thing. Since I spent about 10 hours at the movie theatre over the last two days, I figured that I must share my hard won information. Below are my movie reviews:
The Real Cancun:
Is there anything more sad than a guy going to see The Real Cancun by himself at one in the afternoon on a Monday? Yeah, nothing immediately came to mind for me either. It was so bad, that I actually bought a ticket for Phone Booth instead to help ease the embarrassment. Anyway, about the movie...it is basically the bastard child of the Girls Gone Wild video series and every soap operatic teen movie that came out circa 2000. And I mean that in the best possible way. It wasn't like these two genres were combined into something new...it was more like they were spliced together. How can you not get a kick out of watching drunken twentysomethings ramble about the search for true love, immediately followed by scenes from a Wet Tshirt or Hot Body contest? A few thing stuck out to me about this movie...1) Thank god I didn't have a girlfriend, daughter, or sister involved in it, and my sympathies go out to those who do. 2) There is comedy, there is high comedy, and then there is Alan, 3) With 16 cast members, it is only natural that some cast members get more screen time than others...but there were a couple who were never even named!! How much must that suck to be an extra in a movie that was
4-26-03 - Blake Guest Column
4-23-03 - Reality Television
4-22-03 - Theme Column
4-20-03 - NBA Preview/Review
4-15-03 - One Saturday Night
4-10-03 - Thinking Can Be Dangerous
4-9-03 - The Next One
4-8-03 - The Break-Up Column
4-7-03 - Hari's Column
4-5-03 - Me Thoughts
ARCHIVES
1) "Papillon" - Rilo Kiley
2) "Paranoid Android" - Radiohead
3) "My Ride"- Nappy Roots
4) "Rewind" - Northern Slate
5) "We've Been Had" - The Walkmen
6) "I Can Drink Any Woman Pretty" - Todd Snider
7) "PopStars" - Rooney
8) "Can We Kick It?" - A Tribe Called Quest
9) "Too Far To Care" - Old 97's
10) "Outtathaway"-The Vines
Better Luck Tomorrow:
This movie has been the focus of a major advertising blitz.on MTV with the buzzwords being "disturbing" and "thought-provoking". I found the movie to be pretty enoyable (although the ending takes a great suspension of disbelief) but it hardly seemed groundbreaking. It basically stole from numerous predecessors, thinly disguising this by adding a small twist...the protagonists are Asian. The movie does get many things right...everyone needs excitement in their lives, good grades in high school can allow you to get away with murder, and jealousy can lead you to do things you'd never imagine. At the end of the day, this is an enjoyable, if sensationalistic, film
Bend it Like Beckham
At first glance, this movie appears to be an uplifting cross-cultural comedy that doubles as a girl power flick. And it is easy to view it that way...a teenage girl overcomes family opposition and personal turmoil to fulfill her dream of winning a soccer schoilarship AND the heart of her dreamy coach! It works on that level, but watch closer. A much more sinister pattern emerges. These girls are supposed to be in their mid-teens, but their are an excessive number of changing scenes in the girls' locker room. And what to think of all of the slow motion shots of girls running through sprinklers in their sports bras and white shorts? Is that a normal soccer training activity? Although the director seems to have a small dose of pedophilia, I still recommend this movie for the whole family. That is, of course, if tour kin to Pete Townsend.
Confidence
I like Ed Burns, but he never seemed to build much on the promise he exhibited in The Brothers McMullen. In this movie, he is outstanding in the role of a charming con man. But in any con movie (The Sting, Heist, The Score, Nine Queens) a few elements are necessary. To be good, the plot can't be too predictable. Confidence does pretty well in that regard. To be great, all plot points must tie neatly together to make sense. Here, the movie fails miserably. If anyone else sees the film, I want to bitch about some key points to the ending. Maybe I'm a little too picky, but a few coincidences ruined what was otherwise a very enjoyable crime flick.
The Pianist
I enjoyed watching Daniel Day-Lewis chew up scenery in Gangs of New York. Jack Nicholson was both hilarious and touching in About Schmidt. Michael Caine was much better and more complicated in The Quiet American (a GREAT movie) than he was in his Oscar winning role in The Cider House Rules. And Nic Cage, for as much as I find him to be overrated, was exceptionally funny in Adaptation. But Adrien Brody, GOOD GOD! He was so good in this movie that whatever I write won't do him justice. Simply a revelation, wherever his career goes from here, he will no longer be anonymous. The movie itself was thoroughly moving and quite depressing. It was excellent, but my friend Leigh brought up an interesting point. Why does hollywood always focus on the Holocaust when there are catastrophes on the same level that have occured recently in places such as Bosnia and Rwanda? Somehow we can confront this as a historical injustice, but we cannot confront it present day equivalent.