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He’s Having a Party

18 Mar

Altogether, Dave Chappelle’s Block Party is a really great, really fun, really upbeat, really exciting movie.

But I think for me, it’s a movie made up of great individual moments.

Like Kanye West’s performance of “Jesus Walks.”

Or The Fugees’ reunion.

Or when Erykah Badu’s wig nearly blows off.

Or when a guy in a store apologies for cursing and Dave says it’s alright, “this is a movie.”

Or when a Dayton, Ohio, woman is packing for her trip to New York and she wonders what to wear to a rap party, saying “I should have bought a thong.”

There are almost too many to mention, and they all add up to something really great. Continue reading →

What I Like About Her

14 Mar

Alright, so this posting may make me out to be a giant perv, but I can’t help it: I loves me some Amanda Bynes.

Her cherubic face, her smile, her girl-next-door charm, her comedic skill … the girl’s just dreamy.

How appropos that she’s on a TV show called What I Like About You.

For me, it goes back to when she was in Vanity Fair, which remains one of my favorite issues of all time.

So I was really excited to see her new film, She’s the Man, tonight.

Really.

And it’s not just because of how good she looks on the movie’s poster. Continue reading →

I Don’t Get It …

10 Mar

… the movie I hated the other night is the same one Ty Burr gave three-and-a-half stars to in today’s Boston Globe. I’m all for a difference of opinion, and I generally respect Ty Burr’s take on films, being a longtime reader of his from back when he was on staff at Entertainment Weekly, but come on … Game 6 really is not a very good movie. And it’s definitely not that good.

Adding Insult to Injury

8 Mar

When you’re like me, and you’ve gone more than a month without seeing a movie, you hope that the first one you see is going to be good. Well, Game 6 is not. Tonight I went to what was apparently the film’s premiere, not just in Boston but anywhere. The director, Michael Hoffman, was in attendance, as was one of the producers and what I guess were a few VIPs, since there were some reserved rows that weren’t for the press. And there was an after-party at Game On! that I got invited to. After seeing the movie, I had no interest in celebrating.

Game 6 is an independent movie starring Michael Keaton that takes place on October 25, 1986: the day of both the infamous penultimate World Series game between the Red Sox and the New York Mets, and the day that in the film, Keaton’s character’s latest play opens on Broadway. Keaton, supposedly, is a die-hard Sox fan who is prone to failure, and who waxes philosophical on failure and the Sox and how he knows they’re going to lose tonight, despite being up three games to two. Basically, the movie is episodic in nature — there’s the scene with his friend, then the scene with his wife, then the scene with his daughter, then the scene with the actor, then with the producer, etc. etc. — and none of it amounts to much. For a die-hard Sox fan whose team is on the brink of ending what was then a 64-year curse, Keaton sure isn’t all that excited. Nor is he all that involved with the fact that his play is opening. And there’s this line of dialogue, “This could be it,” which is clearly supposed to be a less-than-subtle message about hope and possibility, etc., and you’d criticize it for being lame if it wasn’t so pointless in context.

And just when you think the film can’t get much worse, there’s an extended sequence — what I would think would be the central scene — that takes place during the game, involving a cab driver, her grandson, and Keaton’s character. It takes place in perhaps the quietest bar in all of New York City. During Game Six of the World Series. Despite the place being packed with fans. And no one seems to notice that Keaton’s rooting for the Sox, albeit in a minimal fashion. And the kid seems to be the least interested in the whole thing out of everybody. A kid! With his team in the World Series. And he’s in a bar on a Saturday night! Doesn’t anyone care??

And then, just when you think it couldn’t get any worse than that … Well, suffice it to say, before the game, Hoffman took a couple of questions from the audience. One person stood up and asked, “Couldn’t you do something about the ending?” This was before seeing the movie, when the person was referring to the ending of the game. The movie ends a couple hours after the game does, and man, is the last scene contrived. Turns out Downey and Keaton’s character have something quite important in common (I’ll let you guess what it is), and despite the fact that — and I know I’m ruining it here, but you really don’t care, do you? — Downey’s just been making out with Keaton’s daughter, and that he’s the most hated, most feared critic in all of New York, the two bond and become friends. Hoffman explained that folks like Keaton and Bebe Neuwirth and Robert Downey Jr. and Catherine O’Hara did the movie, getting paid just $500 a day, because they loved the material. I can’t see what attracted Downey to the film, based on this last scene. It’s downright painful.

Game 6 is going to get a limited opening here in Boston and in New York soon before going wider in the next few weeks, and it’ll probably be greeted with some kind of fanfare here because of the Sox connection and all (there was a channel 7 news crew interviewing people after the screening). But despite the way the game ended up for the Sox (and in the spirit of full-disclosure, I’ll admit to being a Mets fan in ’86), I’d say the movie makes it worse. This film gets a D. It’s probably not even worth this review.

Everyone’s a Winner!

6 Mar

Some quick Oscar reactions:

* I got 16 out of 24 correct. Not bad. Of course, I was happy to get Best Song wrong.

* Crash winning Best Picture was an upset, sure, and I was shocked. I figured Brokeback had it all pretty much sown up. (Didn’t everyone?) I mean, It’s not like Crash is a bad movie or anything (hello, Shakespeare in Love), but even given how Lions Gate was aggressively marketing that movie in the last few months, I never thought it would pull out a win.

* Best Acceptance Speech: George Clooney, by a mile. That guy is just the most well-spoken, most intelligent, most underrated guy in all of Hollywood (despite his three, some would say four, nominations). Damn, was I impressed. No wonder I’m such a huge fan.

* Three 6 Mafia won. That was too funny (and totally cool). But what was up with the “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” production number? Truly bizarre stuff. Whole lotta “witches” jumpin’ ship? Where … in Salem? And those dancers? Huh? How come Dolly Parton didn’t have any backup entertainment?

* Brokeback Mountain, Crash, Memoirs of a Geisha AND King Kong all won three awards. That’s a pretty even distribution. No one film dominated.

* Jennifer Garner. Yes, I saw her trip. I even chuckled. Poor Jennifer. But it was still good to see her back in action.

* I turned quickly to the TV Guide Channel’s preshow to hear this comment from Dolly Parton to Joan Rivers: “Are yours all real? There’s not a real thing about me except my heart.” She then added, “You’ve known me since I was a B-cup.” That was when I quickly turned back to the E! preshow. Joan Rivers makes Guiliana DePandi seem so much more tolerable.

* Kudos to David Letterman for taking part in the opening montage.

* Bravo to Jon Stewart. Thought he did a really good, really different and unconventional, job. At times it was almost like he was too hip for the room, but I laughed the whole way through. And kudos to him for not overdoing the Brokeback jokes.

* Best dressed: A tie between Hillary Swank and Jessica Alba. Second place: Sandra Bullock.

* What was up with Jennifer Lopez’s makeup? Otherwise, she looked great too.

* Can we call a moratorium on all penguins talk from here on out? I mean, really — did the producers and directors of that film have to bring up those stuffed animals when they won? And on a similar topic, does this mean we can all move on from Brokeback and all the Brokeback jokes now that the Oscars are over and it didn’t win Best Picture and now it’s yesterday’s news?

* Really liked the M. Night Shyamalan AmEx commercial. Weird stuff, but it’s pretty cool compared to other ads out there.

* In general, this was the best Oscars in years. It hardly ever dragged, and it was thoroughly entertaining. I mean, really — no one expects the show to actually be over in three hours. And even if you took out two or three of the montages, you’d only be cutting out about 5 or 7 minutes.

* So to borrow and expand upon Jon Stewart’s thought, let me get this straight: Three 6 Mafia are Oscar winners, and Eminem is also an Oscar winner from a couple years back, but people like Robert Altman (not including his honorary one), Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorcese, and Paul Giamatti are not? Hmmmmmm. It’s always interesting to put things in perspective like that.

* No kidding, I’m a bit bummed the Oscars are over. As much as the Oscars are overexposed and overhyped, as a movie fan, it’s one of my favorite times of the year, and now it’s a bit of a let-down. When do the summer movies start?

Movies I’ve Seen

5 Mar

Here’s a list of all the 2005 releases I’ve seen. (click on the link for my review)

1. ELEKTRA (B-)

2. THE WEDDING DATE (C)

3. HITCH (B)

4. THE UPSIDE OF ANGER (B-)

5. SIN CITY (B)

6. FEVER PITCH (B/B+)

7. THE INTERPRETER (B-)

8. CINDERELLA MAN (A-)

9. CRASH (B+/A-)

10. MADAGASCAR (C)

11. THE LONGEST YARD (B)

12. STAR WARS: EPISODE 3: REVENGE OF THE SITH (C-)

13. BATMAN BEGINS (A-)

14. BEWITCHED (D)

15. MR. & MRS. SMITH

16. WAR OF THE WORLDS (B)

17. CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (B+)

18. WEDDING CRASHERS (twice) (B+)

19. BAD NEWS BEARS (C+)

20. MUST LOVE DOGS (C)

21. HUSTLE AND FLOW (B)

22. MURDERBALL (A)

23. DUKES OF HAZARD (C-)

24. RED EYE (D+)

25. BROKEN FLOWERS (B+)

26. THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN (B+)

27. THE ARISTOCRATS (B)

28. MARCH OF THE PENGUINS (B+)

29. JUNEBUG

30. TIM BURTON’S CORPSE BRIDE

31. JUST LIKE HEAVEN (B-)

32. GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK

33. A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE

34. WALLACE & GROMIT in THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT

35. IN HER SHOES

36. ELIZABETHTOWN

37. CAPOTE

38. NORTH COUNTRY

39. SHOPGIRL

40. JARHEAD

41. PRIME

42. KISS KISS, BANG BANG

43. CHICKEN LITTLE

44. WALK THE LINE (twice)

45. RENT

46. THE ICE HARVEST

47. THE PRODUCERS

48. THE NEW WORLD

49. BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (twice)

50. THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE

51. MUNICH

52. THE FAMILY STONE

53. KING KONG

54. SYRIANA

55. CASANOVA (B)

56. RUMOR HAS IT (B)

57. THE SQUID AND THE WHALE

58. THE CONSTANT GARDENER

59. MATCH POINT

60. THE MATADOR

61. TRANSAMERICA

If I Picked the Winners

3 Mar

Since I never did write up a list of my favorite movies of 2005, I figured it was only right for me to post some of my picks for this Sunday’s Oscars. I don’t have strong feelings in many of the categories, and I feel like a good number of them are already pretty well set (which doesn’t generate much interest in picking your own winner), but here goes anyway in a few of the ones I have an opinion about …

Best Picture
Who’s going to win: Brokeback Mountain
How I’d vote: Toss-up between BBM and Munich. While the latter film resonated more with me and would have ranked higher on my list, Brokeback has had the longer-lasting emotional impact, and I saw it twice. As good as it was, I have no real interest in seeing Munich again.

Best Actor
Who’s going to win: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
How I’d vote: It’d be cool if Terrence Howard won, but I’d agree with the Academy if they chose Hoffman. He really was great, and he’s way overdue for some recognition.

Best Actress
Who’s going to win: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
How I’d vote: Wasn’t particularly blown away by Witherspoon or Felicity Huffman, so this one is also a toss-up for me. Because I enjoyed Walk the Line more, however, I’d give my vote to Witherspoon.

Best Supporting Actor
Who’s going to win: George Clooney, Syriana
How I’d vote: Tough call again. Despite my allegiance and loyalty to Clooney, and my liking of Syriana, I’d really like to see Paul Giamatti get some long overdue recognition.

Best Supporting Actress
Who’s going to win: Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener
How I’d vote: Weisz was the best thing in a great movie. She’d have my vote too. Still, even though I didn’t like her movie, I think it’d be cool if Amy Adams won.

Best Documentary Feature
Who’s going to win: March of the Penguins
How I’d vote: Murderball was my favorite movie of 2005, the only one I actually wanted to be longer. So I’m really rooting for it here.

Best Original Song
Who’s going to win: “Travelin’ Thru,” Transamerica
How I’d vote: “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp,” from Hustle & Flow. Let me put it this way: If this song doesn’t win, there’ll be a whole lotta bitches jumpin’ ship.

Best Original Score
Who’s going to win: Gustavo Santaolalla, Brokeback Mountain
How I’d vote: The score for BBM is great music that can be listened to on its own without the movie. I’m hoping John Williams’ two competing scores cancel each other out with the voters.

Otherwise, here are my other picks:

Best Animated Feature: Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Best Art Direction: Memoirs of a Geisha
Best Cinematography: Brokeback Mountain
Best Costume Design: Memoirs of a Geisha
Best Director: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Best Documentary Short: The Mushroom Club
Best Editing: Crash
Best Foreign Language Film: Paradise Now
Best Makeup: The Chronicles of Narnia
Best Animated Short Film: One Man Band
Best Live Action Short Film: Ausreisser (The Runaway)
Best Sound Editing: King Kong
Best Sound Mixing: Walk the Line
Best Visual Effects: King Kong
Best Adapted Screenplay: Brokeback Mountain
Best Original Screenplay: Crash

So there you go. Oh, and one last prediction: Jon Stewart is going to rock. I can hardly wait.

Buy Rent

27 Feb

After watching the DVD of Rent this weekend, I’m happy to report that I have a bit more enthusiasm for the film. As you may recall, I didn’t exactly love Rent when I first saw it last November. I felt that the film had serious pacing problems that made it feel long, and the decision to cut one or two key songs eliminated all the emotional impact. But now I’ve watched all the deleted scenes and the full two-hour documentary, and I’ve played the movie straight through (admittedly, it was more like background music since I wasn’t watching too closely) and I can honestly say I don’t hate the film as much as I did. Sure, I still think director Christopher Columbus was wrong to cut “Goodbye Love” (which you can watch here, along with some other clips), and I actually like the alternate ending more than the one that’s actually there, but as a lasting memento of a musical I love, I could do a lot worse than this movie adaptation. And it’s worth noting that the documentary feature is actually quite good and worth watching, even if you think you know everything about Jonathan Larson and Rent. So there’s my ringing endorsement, without a lame “it’s a good rent-al” pun. Oh wait …

Good Man, That Oscar

31 Jan

Gotta say, I’m really happy with the Oscar nominations this year. Really quickly … Continue reading →

Sign of the Apocalypse, No. 427

30 Jan

The end of the world is coming.

Here’s more proof: Ludacris is a Screen Actors’ Guild award winner (as a member of the ensemble cast of Crash).

Will Fo’ Bit be next?

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