da movies
some recently viewed DVDs i recommend:
Monster’s Ball
old school director who knows how to hold a shot. fuck all that race bullshit; this is a good film, though it was also fairly sickening. not a huge halle berry fan, but i like her in this all right, and i pretty much always dig my boy billy bob. in the special features you’ll see his thing where he stays loose before takes, and often makes up complete bullshit when against the reverse shot actor. may seem like he’s just being an ass, but there’s some good thinking behind it (beyond what he discloses in the commentary). probably bugs some actors he works with, i’ll bet, though i haven’t heard of anybody complaining. he’s a good dude. always like mos def too, who kicks hell out of a few appearances on this. maybe i’m jaded, but i didn’t see what all the fuss was about the sex scenes. thought they were fine.
The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition
yeah, it has government boondoggle written all over it (with some heavy private donors, fortunately), but i’m a freak for antarctic exploration. if i could move down there and live for the rest of my life, i probably would. need to look into that. this is slow, with some great modern shots of antarctica, and many shots of the real exploration attempt, including motion film. spooky stuff, and a trip to consider when you put yourself in their place. the doc’s heavy on glorifying the expedition leader, but worth a watch.
Serenity
i know i’m probably the last liberty-minded person to see this. never saw Firefly, not having TV. this film had me hooked for reasons i don’t want to give away. not a total freak for it, and i hate listening to the director’s duck quack (he’s one of those many dudes who try to pretend they have deep voices), but it’s worth renting if you loathe government and its indoctrination prisons (AKA “schools”).
Nobody Knows Anything!
most people will hate this film; i watch it repeatedly! my kind of writing. so much funny stuff they don’t telegraph. i only rented it for the exploding knockout looks of my honey alanna ubach (yow!), and stayed for the writing, which turns out to be from david pasquesi, the central character. don’t rent it if you don’t like hollywood insider quirky putdown humor. this is like seinfeld ramped up on the obtuse/intelligence scale. hard to find too, probably. this is a funnier Get Shorty, and maybe even smarter. i dunno though; i love GS.
Upright Citizens Brigades (The Complete First Season)
monty python not weird enough for you? then you need to watch this! not your speed? then simply enjoy the unrivalved beauty and sexual power of amy poehler. lordy lordy. what a funny person. her girl scout is unmatched. some of the sketches get a little boring, but there are diamonds aplenty.
Thirteen
i only rented this because i saw the director in the special features for Three Kings, and thought she was cute. well, i liked it. great acting for young girls, though the shakycam shit sucks as always. why the fuck do people think shakycam should be attempted regularly? no clue. fuck shakycam! anyway, this has the kickass evan wood, who’s also in:
Pretty Persuasion
evan wood with a lethal attitude and brown hair? would have watched it many times, if i hadn’t seen it once. watch it and you’ll know what i mean. damn, but this girl was sexy. skinny little brown-haired thing.
Der Tunnel
easily the most unease i’ve experienced in any film. in german, with english subtitles. if you like tense foreign thrillers, this is for you. based on a true story of tunneling from west germany to rescue east germans, but changes enough stuff that it may as well be made from scratch. still, it’s a burner if you get into it.
Sin City
wow! i’d heard this was good. true. not a big fan of the middle, but damn, mickey rourke is back. probably the role of his life. dig the opening theme, where they intentionally ripped off henry M. nice. this is a pretty, pretty comic book movie. want to take this DVD away from me? you’ll have to bargain with my mitts. damned crazy dames.
July 14th, 2006 at 08:57
Sin City is great stuff, the next one was supposed to be out this August (It’s all shot on blue screens, the comic books are the story boards so they’re relatively easy to bang out) but it’s been delayed a year.
You should catch it on the big screen, that much better.
July 14th, 2006 at 10:59
was looking into that last night. looks like my boy marv’s in it. yeah! saw there’s a hardcover set including the books for Sin City (film). tempting. supposed to look real good. heavy paper and stuff.
July 15th, 2006 at 13:12
Oh yeah the comic book is well worth it for Miller’s art style alone.
I also recomend “300″ and “Ronin”. Ronin is very rough around the edges, it’s when Miller’s style started to evolve but the story is neat.
But what I truly love about Sin City is that it’s the purest comic book adaptation yet. Gives me hope that Hollywood can’t fuck everything up.