Benjamin Button
Oldboy
Fitzcaraldo

203

watch for a restart up of this blog, i will start getting back to full reviews and probably try to redo the layout come the new year, as well as starting another try at 300 movies.

wild bunch 7/10 (20 min final shootout)
godfather 7/10
usual suspects 7/10



WOOOOOO 200 goddamn movies this year, omaha ruined my 300 goal, maybe next year

sleeper
don't look now

swimming with sharks
the wire season 2 (discs 1-5)

195/300
6/30

can i break the 200 movie mark?
can i break the 10 book mark?

only days left

borat
rivers edge

death at a funeral
elf
let the right one in

the wire season 1 disc 3, 4, 5
millions
naked

184/300

the killer

let the right one in
them

178/300

secretary
the wire 1.2
paranoid park

176/300
6/30

the wire season 1 disc 1
days of heaven
lars and the real girl

173/300

royal tennenbaums
confessions of a dangerous mind
son of rambow

get in the back of the van

withnail and I

Two unemployed actors -- Withnail (Richard E. Grant) and Marwood (Paul McGann) -- take a trip to the British countryside in 1969. But instead of rejuvenation, they experience a lack of food, an abundance of rain and a plethora of alcohol. Their host, Withnail's gay Uncle Monty (Richard Griffiths), displays a love for life and a lust for Marwood. This classic art-house comedy won an Evening Standard British Film Award.

very dry, very british, very awesome. Kind of like most american drug movies but funny. Some very uncomfortable parts with the creep uncle. Amazing actors playing over dramatic actors. A incredible unexpectedly heavy ending with one of my new favorite shots in cinema.

9/10

run fat boy run

Five years ago, Dennis (Simon Pegg) left his pregnant fiancée, Libby (Thandie Newton), at the altar. Now, he realizes it was the worst mistake of his life. Run down and out of shape, Dennis begins training for a marathon, hoping to win Libby away from her sleazy new boyfriend (Hank Azaria). Will losing the pounds and catching his breath be enough to get her back? Dylan Moran co-stars in David Schwimmer's feature directorial debut.

pretty awful generic romatic comedy bullshit. i was hoping for atleast a little somethiong with simon pegg........but fart

3/10

167/3oo

books
black hole
childhoods end

6/10

Been sick at home watching this crud...

The Go-Getter  2007 Dir. Martin Hynes

I was pleasantly surprised by this road movie starring Lou Taylor Pucci (Chumscrubber, Thumbsucker).  It's the usual story of someone going on a trip to find someone or something, in this case it's 19 year old Mercer (Pucci) looking for his long lost older brother.  The main twist is that Mercer stole the car from Kate (Zooey Deschanel) who doesn't turn Mercer in, but rather talks to him on the cell phone she left in the car.  Some cool cinematography and music help make this one a keeper.

8.5/10

Burn After Reading  2008 Coen Bros.

Pretty entertaining but kind of a lazy effort from the Coen Brothers.   In other words, it doesn't stack up to their other stuff, but it's still way better then similar movies from lesser filmmakers.  Also Brad Pitt is pretty hilarious.

7.5/10

Snow Angels 2007 David Gordon Green

High schooler Arthur is falling in love with a girl, meanwhile his parents are splitting up, his old babysitter (and co-worker) is sleeping with another co-workers husband, while her husband tries to get back into her life after giving up alcohol and finding Jesus.   As Arthur's relationship with that girl who played Juno's friend improves, everything else in town is going downhill.

Pretty good, not great.  A few funny lines amongst the drama, and Sam Rockwell is good as the recovering alchoholic/Jesus fan.  Worth checking out.

7/10

The Fall  2008  dir. Tarsem

A stuntman in the 20's is in the hospital and begins telling a story to a small girl.   However, he tends to stop just before the "good parts" in order to ask the girl to do favors for him.  Film switches back between the reality and the story.

This movie is worth watching mostly for the cinematography, and because the plot is something unique amongst all the sequels, remakes, and movies based on video games.

7.5/10

MORE TO COME!!!!

The Lives of Others

The Last Winter

The Office Season 4

House Season 4

It's Always Sunny.... Season 3

Old School

Wedding Crashers

The Simpsons Movie

40 Year Old Virgin

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Anchorman

86/150

american gangster
harsh times

165/300

million dollar hotel
everything you wanted to know about sex (but were afraid to ask)

sweet and lowdown
born to boogie

i am legend
hancock (again)

step brothers

157/300

tropic thunder
scanner darkly
the game

small time crooks


Ray (Woody Allen) is an incompetent crook with big dreams and a low IQ. When he sets up his wife, Frenchy (Tracey Ullman), in a storefront to cover his tunneling operation into a local bank, her baked goods take off, and Ray and Co. are catapulted from rags to riches. A brilliant ensemble cast including Hugh Grant, Elaine May and Jon Lovitz has got Allen's back.

A wacky plot with wacky but still incredibly strong and intelligent comedy. Sometimes, or maybe most times, very uncomfortable to watch. Still very entertaining. Small Time Crook both the most silly, and awkward of the woody allen movies i have seen.

7/10


samurai champloo (disc 1-4)


Director Shinichiro Watanabe mixes a maturity rarely found in anime with a historical Japanese setting and a funky hip-hop soundtrack. Fuu is a spacey waitress at a teahouse where a sword fight breaks out between Mugen, a wild warrior, and Jin, a more composed ronin. In exchange for saving them from execution, Fuu demands that they accompany her on a journey to find "a samurai who smells of sunflowers."

I am not a huge anime guy, but this one has some how managed to keep my interest. Where most anime that i have seen has too much weirdness, Champloo manages to stay with it's fairly straight forward story of 3 people on a journey to find the sunflower samurai. As in most television shows there are a few side tracks here and there but even those kept me entertained. Animated by the same people who did Cowboy Beebop so it's pretty amazing to look at. My only real issue with this show is that they try to make samurai, something i'm very interested in, and make it sometimes annoyingly hip, but i guess that's sort of a good thing too.

7/10

dexter season 1 (4 disc)


Michael C. Hall pulls it off neatly in this Showtime drama about a likable forensics expert who channels his violent tendencies by killing miscreants who've avoided punishment. So harmless is Dexter Morgan's (Hall) demeanor that neither his girlfriend (Julie Benz) nor his sister (Jennifer Carpenter) has any inkling of his extracurricular activities.

A nice fresh twist on the crime drama, with so far excellent story writing (based on a novel that i should probably read) and no noticeable filler episodes that i hate so much. Despite most descriptions i don't really think this is much of a stretch for Michael C. Hall from six feet under, he is still sexually pent up and weird, but now he kills people instead of just whining about it all the time.

8/10
diving bell and the butterfly


In 1995, author and Elle magazine editor Jean-Dominique Bauby suffered a stroke that put him in a coma; he awakened mute and completely paralyzed. Mathieu Amalric stars in this adaptation of Bauby's autobiography, which he dictated by blinking. Julian Schnabel was nominated for the 2008 Best Director Oscar and won the Golden Globe in the same category for his poignant film about the strength of the human spirit.

a very touching story, but i don't think i like how it was pulled off. I think i just didn't like use of so many first person shots. Other than that, very well acted and a story to pull your heart strings.

6/10

this american life (season 2) (3 hours so two disc?)

Documenting unique and compelling stories about everyday people through field recordings, essays, memoirs and found footage, host Ira Glass brings his Peabody Award-winning Chicago Public Radio show back to the small screen for a second season. Highlights include profiles of an obsessed birdwatcher, a 27-year-old quadriplegic man and his caregiver mother, and two convicts who nearly escaped from a Wisconsin prison using dental floss.

Almost as amazing as the radio show. Great slices of life that make you consider your own. The final episode of this season was amazing. Filmed with 6 (i think) people named "John Smith" of pretty different age groups. From a baby to a Senile old man. The writers have some incredible knack for making the completely mundane completely extraordinary. Not quite as great as season 1 but still highly Recommended. (also has some awesome chris ware animation)

9/10

165/300

blades of glory
When a scandal strips them of their gold medals, two world-class skaters (Will Ferrell and Jon Heder) skirt their way back onto the ice via a loophole that allows them to compete together as a pairs team. Will Arnett ("Arrested Development") and Amy Poehler ("Saturday Night Live") co-star as their competitive on-ice rivals who vow to use their triple axel to the fullest advantage.

will ferrell, new sport same jokes. Couple funny lines

4/10
miller's crossing
Gabriel Byrne stars as Tom Reagan in Joel and Ethan Coen's take on the '30s gangster film. Adviser to a Prohibition-era crime boss (Albert Finney), Tom gets caught in the literal and figurative crossfire when his loyalties are divided between warring mobs. Mix in an affair with the boss's dame (Marcia Gay Harden), several double-crosses and backstabs and the Coens' typical blackly funny dialogue, and you've got a bang-up (literally) movie.

my favorite mob movie, and each time i watch it i think i like it more and more, slowly becoming my favorite coen bros movie. Lots of little stuff to pick up that warrants multiple watches.

10/10

beast with a million backs
The crew at Planet Express must work overtime to seal a portal between their universe and an alternate universe ruled by the gargantuan alien Yivo (David Cross), whose Earth-conquering plans include making Fry the pope of the alternate realm. Bender, Leela, Amy, Farnsworth and the gang are back in this tentacle-packed feature spinoff of the hit animated series. Other guest voices include Brittany Murphy and Stephen Hawking.

maybe more than a half hour is more that futurama can stay entertaining. has a couple great moments, mostly with zoidberg and david cross.

6/10
hancock

Will Smith stars as Hancock, a down-and-out superhero forced to employ a PR expert, Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman), to help repair his image when the public grows weary of all the damage he has inflicted during his life-saving heroics. Ray's idea of imprisoning the antihero to make the world miss him proves successful, but will Hancock stick to his new sense of purpose or slip back into old habits? Charlize Theron co-stars in Peter Berg's action comedy.

I don't get why every one was so pissed at this movie, i thought it was a pretty decent will smith/super hero movie. I sort of like the twist, plus, Will Smith gets drunk, that's pretty awesome.

7/10

my winnepeg
Guy Maddin's dreamlike biographical documentary is part psychoanalysis and part historical study of Winnipeg, Canada, Maddin's hometown. Poetry serves as narration to explain how the city's idiosyncratic culture has influenced the director. From lyrical ramblings about how the denizens of Winnipeg exist in perpetual "sleep mode" to fanciful reenactments of scenes from Maddin's dysfunctional childhood, the film comprises a unique allegory of life.

i do not know how seriously to take this guy. He is too artsy for his own good. Neat to look at, and a couple really amazing lines and the idea of him casting his whole family with actors and his mom playing her self is pretty funny. When he is actually telling a story and not just rambling it is very entertaining but those parts are few and far between. Maybe i just don't get it?

6/10

death to smoochy

Danny DeVito directs this dark comedy set in the dog-eat-dog world of children's television. Kids' show star Rainbow Randolph (Robin Williams) gets fired over a bribery scandal and is replaced by Smoochy (Edward Norton) -- a puffy, purple rhinoceros. When Randolph discovers Smoochy is having an affair with Randolph's ex-lover Nora (Catherine Keener), a top programming executive at the network, he plots his revenge.

i have a crush on catherine keener. going on a safari.

8/10

lost boys: the tribe

After their parents die in a car accident, Chris Emerson (Tad Hilgenbrink) and his sister, Nicole (Autumn Reeser), move in with their quirky Aunt Jillian in her California beach town. Soon Nicole falls for a local surfer, who, unbeknownst to her, is also a vampire. Now Chris finds himself battling the whole gang of vampire surfers in an effort to rescue his sister. Corey Feldman and Corey Haim co-star in this sequel to 1987's Lost Boys.

pretty awful. Corey Feldman says some funny shit and there is some funny gore. other wise pretty much as good as that buffy episode with the ventriloquist dummy.

4/10

153/300

Lost Boys: The Tribe

In the much anticipated sequel to 1987's vampire movie, "The Lost Boys", we find a similar storyline,  similar terrible-ness in a good way-ness, and similar Corey Feldman.  Replacing Corey Haim and Jason Patric's characters are two people I've never heard of playing a pro surfer who got kicked off the circuit and his little sister.  After the surfer "snaps" and gets kicked off the circuit, he takes his sister to Santa Clara, which  looks suspiciously Canadian.  Then we pretty much go down the same road as we did back in '87.

Not quite as good as the original.  Corey Feldman pretty much makes it worthwhile.  Every one of his lines is  pure gold.  "Who ordered the stake?"  He asks, brandishing two stakes made of wooden crosses.   Not as classic as "Death by stereo" but still hilarious.  Other then Feldman it's kind of hit or miss.  But the return of Edgar Frog totally makes "The Tribe" worth checking out.

8/10

71/150

More drugs, more violence...

More reviews.  Down below starting with Harold and Kumar.

unforgiven

Long-retired gunslinger William Munny (Clint Eastwood) reluctantly takes one last job -- and even more reluctantly accepts a boastful youth (Jaimz Woolvett) as a partner. Together, they discover how easily complicated truths are distorted into simplistic myths about the Old West. Gene Hackman (who won an Oscar) and Richard Harris stand out as old foes who have an unhappy reunion. Other Oscars include Best Picture and Director (Eastwood).

clint eastwood starts off quite the wuss and then goes to battle with the biggest badass gene hackman thus turning clint into the ultimate badass. Oh yeah morgan freeman is there to teach wise ol' ways. pretty solid, pretty standard western

7/10

man bites dog

A satirical look at how the media affects and promotes violence in modern society. Spoofing reality television, a fascinated documentary crew follows a charismatic yet unrepentant serial killer on his murder sprees. The crew attempts to objectively document the horror, but as the violence escalates, they ultimately get sucked into participating. Man Bites Dog won the International Critics' Prize at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival.

pretend that ricky gervais worked as a serial killer rather than a paper co. boss. Amazingly funny but not for the faint of heart. Beautifully shot and and acted as most criterion stuff.

10/10

naked lunch

Director David Cronenberg brings William S. Burroughs' hallucinatory, "unfilmable" novel to the screen. Part-time exterminator and full-time drug addict Bill Lee (Peter Weller) plunges into the nightmarish netherworld of the Interzone, pursuing a mysterious project that leads him to confront sinister cabals and giant talking bugs. Special features include an audio commentary by Cronenberg and Weller

my least favorite cronenberg movie to date, but still pretty awesome gore and talking buttholes and weird humping scorpion centipedes. Probably for fans of heroin and fear and loathing in las vegas.

6/10

amarcord

Awarded both a Golden Globe and an Oscar for Best Foreign Film, acclaimed Italian director Frederico Fellini's Amarcord is a richly visual film about Rimini, a traditional seaside village during the uncertainty of Mussolini's fascist rule. Fellini drew from personal experience to bring the small town and all its colorful characters to life in this story about the escapades of a boy on the cusp of becoming a man.

an early form of slapstick that probably highly influenced mel brooks. This movie really wasn't for me, but i don't really enjoy zany humor especially from a foreign country so i don't even get it's social commentary

6/10
vicky christina barcelona

Academy Award winner Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men) stars in the latest effort from legendary filmmaker Woody Allen as a flamboyant painter who finds himself in the middle of a unique relationship with Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Christina (Scarlett Johansson), a pair of American tourists. Penélope Cruz (Volver) also stars as Bardem's insanely jealous ex-wife, Maria Elena, in this quirky romantic dramedy set in Barcelona.

Woody Allen back to his more traditional movie making. His movies seem very relateable, it's got a neurotic personality for every one. Scarlett is the sort of deviant side, while rebecca hall is the much more conservative side and javier bardem is just a real ladies man. Funny and pretty adorable, watch with a date.

8/10

146/300

Drugs and Violence

Pineapple Express dir. David Gordon Green

Tropic Thunder dir. Ben Stiller

I enjoyed both of these movies, with both of them being pretty much exactly what I expected.  "Pineapple Express" is a Judd Apatow movie, but with a lot more action, and "Tropic Thunder" is a Ben Stiller movie combined with a big budget Vietnam movie.  So you pretty much know what you are getting into.

Pineapple Express is hilarious, mostly because of the two leads, Seth Rogen and James Franco formerly of  Apatow's "Freaks and Geeks".  There are just so many good lines.  Also funny is Danny McBride of "Foot Fist Way" who is also in Tropic Thunder.  McBride spends much of Tropic Thunder with Nick Nolte, who is playing the vet who wrote the book that the movie is based on.

I would have to say I enjoyed Pineapple Express slightly more then Tropic Thunder, even though it had a pretty terrible ending.  Some people have complained about the whole last section of the movie, when the film switches to full action mode,  but I was alright with it.

Pineapple:  9/10

Thunder:  8/10

That's all for now.  More later:

Movies:

Shotgun Stories

Harold and Kumar 2

True Romance

Doomsday

70/150

Books:

The Man Who Was Tuesday

The Son Also Rises

15/15

the graduate
doomsday
great ecstasy of the sculptor walter steiner
how much wood would a wood chuck chuck
encounters at the end of the world
bed and board
stolen kisses

141

Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo  Bay

Harold and Kumar are on the way to Amsterdam but get mistaken for terrorists and are sent to Guantanomo Bay where (spoiler alert!) they escape and go on the run to find a guy who can help them (thank goodness they saw him at the airport!) and stop a wedding (thank goodness they saw her at the airport!).

I didn't have high (get it!) expectations when I saw the first one but I loved it.  I thought it was hilarious even though I wasn't stoned when I saw it.  The sequel just can't compare.   It's the same deal with one crazy scenario after another, but each one seems to be just a weaker version of what we already saw in the first one.  Neal Patrick Harris is back.  The giant bag of weed is back.  Even Christopher Meloni returns.   But none of these things are as funny as the original.

It's weird that a movie about two guys going to get burgers had a better story then a movie about two guys escaping from prison and being pursued by the law.  But that is the case.  If you liked the first one, you will be disappointed.  If you didn't like the first one, you will hate the sequel.

5.5/10

Doomsday  dir. Neil Marshall

I saw this week and here is what I remember about the plot:  it didn't really matter.  The real point of this movie was to have a hot chick (Rhona Mitra) battle cannibals with mohawks,  a giant covered in armor in a gladiator type arena, and a chase sequence where she ramps her car through a graffiti covered bus and a guy's head flies into the camera.  Basically lots of cool stuff happens and there is some story about getting a cure for all these people  or.... I don't know.   It's stupid, but a bunch of badass stuff happens and Rhona Mitra is super hot.  Good movie to have on at a party or something because I'm sure it's just as good if you can't hear anything, or if you miss chunks of the story.

7.5/10

True Romance dir. Tony Scott

Huge cast (Balki from "Perfect Strangers" has a bigger role than Brad Pitt,  Samuel L. Jackson, and Tony Soprano) but Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette are the stars of this violent love story written by Quentin Tarantino.   Clarence (Slater) and Alabama (Arquette) steal a briefcase full of cocaine and try to unload it all at once before the gangsters they stole it from can catch them.  Also features:

-- Brad Pitt smoking pot out of bear shaped honey bottle.

-- Val Kilmer as Elvis

-- Balki also has more screen time than Christopher Walken, Dennis Hopper, and a dreadlocked Gary Oldman.

Pretty Awesome.  Tarantino's most hollywood-ish script is well taken care of by director Tony Scott (who hollywood-ed up the ending.)

9/10

Across The Universe dir. Julie Taymor

I couldn't watch this whole movie.  A bunch of people sing Beatles songs, quote Beatles lyrics, and are  named after Beatles characters.  I like the Beatles, but I don't like watching actors sing their songs.  It seems like people liked this movie, but it was too much for me.

4/10 on the off chance it got better.

Shotgun Stories dir.  Jeff Nichols

Pretty standard indie drama.  Three brothers (Son, Kid, and Boy) live together (Kid and Boy move in from their tent and van, respectively) when their mom comes to tell them their dad died.  They "crash" the funeral, attended by the family their dad started after leaving his sons and  finding God.  They manage to piss off their half-brothers, and things eventually get ugly.

This movie would've been really good if it ended better.  Two main characters die suddenly and one of them off camera.  The film kind of stumbles towards an anti-climactic ending after that.

7/10

The Man Who Was Thursday (book) G. K. Chesterton

I saw in a magazine that said this was one of the funniest books ever.  It's not.  It was first published in 1908.  It was probably the funniest book ever in 1908.

Anyway a guy working for the police infiltrates an Anarchist group of seven who all have days of the week for names.  He finds out he is not the only undercover cop in the group, and things start getting predictable until the end which I had high hopes for, but was disappointed.  There's supposedly some sort of Christian allegory but I didn't really get it.

6/10

The Sun Also Rises  Ernest Hemingway

After the war, friends get drunk and go to parties and bullfights.  Pretty great.

9/10

Their Vacation....Just...Got...Ruined.

The Ruins   dir. Carter Smith.

Four college kids go to Mexico for spring break or whatever and on their last day follow  a couple dudes to go to visit some ruins.   When they get there some villagers yell and kill one of them and make it clear that they are not  going to let them leave.  Turns out the vines running up and down the temple kill people.  So the killer in this movie is some weeds.  I think the people who gave this movie the green light were smoking some killer weed. (Ben Stiller is a producer).  

I like a good brainless horror movie as much as the next guy, but weeds?  And the weeds only actually kill one of them (by going down a guys throat... oooohh!).  It's one of those movies where "in the end the victims become the villains" thing which is super lame in this case, especially when a character dies by getting stabbed,  by doing the exact same thing another character did less than a minute earlier.   

2/10

Breathless  dir. Jean-Luc Godard

Guy steals a car, kills a cop, and then tries to sleep with a girl and get her to go to Rome with him.  They run around and hang out while he tries to get some money some guy owes him.  Meanwhile the police are closing in.

This movie is really cool.  Simple but effective.  Really made me want to be a car thief in France in the 50's.  Has a really loose feel.  I guess a lot of it was written and filmed the same day, with the actors getting fed their lines.  Ends like most New Wave movies I've seen.  I would really like to see the Criterion version, because the picture is probably a lot  better then on the version I got from Blockbuster.

8.5/10

63/150

casino
Martin Scorsese paints a colorful portrait of Las Vegas in the early 1970s as the oasis of glamour and corruption that it was. Against this backdrop, the story chronicles the rise and fall of three central characters: a play-by-the-rules casino owner with mob connections (Robert De Niro), his childhood friend and Mafia underboss (Joe Pesci) and an ex-prostitute with expensive taste and a driving will to get what she wants (Sharon Stone).

a pretty standard Scorsese movie, but in a good way. One of the few where De Niro is a good guy. Pesci is brutal, and sharon stone is a goddamn mess. Probably one of my top 5 fave mafia movies in my new found love of the mafia.

8/10

cash back
After his girlfriend dumps him, insomniac art student Ben (Sean Biggerstaff) takes a supermarket night-shift job and deals with his boredom by pretending he can stop time --a tactic that reveals life's hidden beauty and draws him to the intriguing checkout girl (Emilia Fox). Surrounded by equally creative co-workers, Ben learns that by freezing time, his world opens up to unimaginable possibilities, including a cure for his chronic sleeplessness.

I picked to watch this movie pretty much at random from netflix watch it now stuff due to the babe on the cover and the talk of time stopping. Ended up being a very pleasant surprise. The kids attitude towards breaking up and relationships is pretty funny and at the same time relateable, same goes for his view of beauty. Very fun romantic comedy without being wussy. Watch this with a lady

7/10

the ruins
An idyllic vacation in Cancun takes a dangerous turn for four young Americans when they're persuaded by a mysterious tourist to join an archaeological dig and subsequently find themselves lost within the cursed ruins of a forgotten city. Adapted by Scott B. Smith from his own novel, this bone-chilling thriller from director Carter Smith stars Jonathan Tucker, Laura Ramsey, Jena Malone and Shawn Ashmore.

awesome!!!! WEED MONSTERZZZZZ!!!! BEN STILLER. shitty movie but pretty funny, pretty scary when the weeds are moving in peoples skin.

5/10

hot fuzz
A top London cop (Simon Pegg) is ready to die of boredom when his superiors transfer him to a sleepy English village to work alongside a blundering but well-meaning young constable (Nick Frost). Craving some real action, the big-city bobby may just get his wish when the town begins to stir with a series of grisly "accidents." Is foul play afoot in this seemingly idyllic hamlet? Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) directs.

i think when i saw this in the theater i didn't fully appreciate it. I am glad i watched it again cause there is lots of little stuff in it to notice that makes it hysterical.

9/10

the office (series one, British)
The workplace depicted in this six-part BBC series is as dysfunctional as it gets. David Brent (Ricky Gervais), office manager of nondescript Wernham Hogg Slough, is at once zany, clueless and mortifying. David likes to drink, divulge deeply personal information at odd moments, read his poetry and make a fool of himself in front of his team, which is made up of Gareth the sycophant, Tim the sensitive guy, flirtatious Dawn and many others.

amazingly uncomfortable without being goofy. Some of the greatest moments in television comedy.

8/10

the signal
When the phones, radios and TVs in the city of Terminus begin to broadcast the same strange signal, the transmission causes jealousy and hate to spew, turning once sane people into murderous lunatics. Trapped in a world gone mad, a faithless wife seeks the safety of her lover, while her affected husband hunts for her. David Bruckner, Jacob Gentry and Dan Bush each write and direct an act of this bloodthirsty horror tale.

brutal horror filmed in pulp horror. Freshest horror movie i have seen in a long time. 3 separate writes have there own act each with a different tone, but all pretty cool in it's own way.

8/10
134/300

see my previous post below for more complete reviews

Batmanorama

Dark Knight  Dir. Christopher Nolan

Dark Knight picks up where Batman Begins left off, with new villain "The Joker" (Heath Ledger) and new district attorney/soon to be villain/boyfriend of Rachel Dawes (Maggie (not Katie Holmes) Gyllenhall),  Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart).  Anyway.  Batman (Christian Bale) is trying to fight the mob with the help of Lt. Gordon (Gary Oldman), Dent,  and his work buddy/costume designer/weapons supplier, Lucius Fox.  Oh and his butler/jokester Alfred (Michael Caine).  At first Batman is more concerned with the mob then The Joker, but eventually The Joker gets Batmans attention.

I think this movie actually lives up to the ridiculous amount of hype.   Partially because Heath Ledger lives up to his ridiculous amount of hype.  Ledger is scary, funny and totally unrecognizable as the Joker.  (I loved his "magic trick").  He pretty much has an Oscar nomination locked up and I won't argue.  All the other main characters are perfect as well.  At two and half hours it never slows down, the score and cinematography really adding to the intensity.  Seeing the film on the IMAX screen was incredible, especially in overhead shots of Gotham and Hong Kong, and action sequences such as when Batman causes Jokers semi to flip over.  

My only complaint is the ending, and only because Heath Ledger died.  Basically the movie feels like what it probably is; the second part of a trilogy.  I'd feel a lot better with how this one ended if I knew we'd be getting more of Ledger's Joker.

9/10

Batman Begins  Dir. Christopher Nolan

Batman Begins is basically about how Batman begins to be Batman.

When I first saw "Begins" in the theatre, there wasn't all the hype that "Dark Knight" was getting and my only expectations were it should be cool because the guy that did  Memento was the director.   And it was cool.  Super cool.  

I was never really a fan of other comic book or superhero movies.  I hated Spiderman.  But Batman Begins actually makes the story of Batman believable.  The story takes it's time to show Bruce Wayne transform himself ("Batman" doesn't show up until like an hour into the movie).   All the main characters are great, and the script is awesome.  It proves a movie can be about a superhero and not be totally retarded.

9/10

The Sopranos:  Season 6 Part 2 (Final Season)

HBO series starring James Gandolfini as a Mafia boss and family man in New Jersey.

As I was watching the last few episodes, it seemed like they were kind of struggling to wrap everything up.  It's what I'm afraid is going to happen when "Lost" is finally over.  There are just too many key characters and subplots to just lead up to one nice neat climactic finish. However, once we  get around to the last scene.... I don't want to give it away.  I will just say after watching it twice, and then reading different theories on the internet, I am very satisfied with how it ended.

Season: 9/10

Series:  10/10

Foot Fist Way  Dir. Jody Hill

A smalltime Tae Kwon Do instructor, Fred Simmons (Danny  R. McBride) brings his friend and a couple students to meet Chuck "The Truck" Wallace (co-writer Ben Best) a smalltime action star (and Fred's hero).  He convinces Wallace to come to his students belt-qualifying testing, only  at this time "The Truck"  is no longer Simmons hero, but his enemy.

Fred Simmons is pretty much the same character that Will Ferrell plays all the time, so either 

a.) you like Will Ferrell movies and you will like this one.

b.) you don't like Will Ferrell movies and you won't like this one or...

c.) you like Will Ferrell movies so you don't like this one because it's some other guy.

I'm going with A.  It's stupid, it's kind of a rip-off, but it made me laugh.

8/10

The Day of the Locust   Nathanael West 

Takes place in Hollywood during the 30's and tells the tale of Tod Hackett, a set painter, who pines away for a wannabe actress, Faye Greener.  Not that she'd go  for him anyway, (just friends) but he is in competition with a cowboy, and his Mexican buddy, a producer, a dwarf, and a guy named Homer Simpson.

I read this because it was mentioned in Y: The Last Man.  I think Yorrick said it was his favorite book.  I wasn't really into it.  It kind of reminded me of "The Great Gatsby"  (There is even an F. Scott Fitzgerald quote on the back) but not as good.

6/10

movies:  61/150

books:  13/15

Rambo
When governments fail to act on behalf of captive missionaries, ex-Green Beret John James Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) sets aside his peaceful existence along the Salween River in a war-torn region of Thailand to take action. Although he's still haunted by violent memories of his time as a U.S. soldier in Vietnam, Rambo is unable to turn his back on the aid workers who so desperately need his help.

mindblowing. Maybe even sweeter action than bad boys 2 and die hard. SHITTTTTTTTTT. Stalone knows he is intelligible so he doesn't talk, and despite this it has a mildly entertaining/important story dealing with genocide in Burma.

9/10

First Blood
You'd think in this first film in a long line of sequels, the law would learn not to mess with ex-Green Beret John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone). Alas, no. When he's harassed by local law enforcement, this Vietnam vet snaps, runs for the hills and rat-a-tat-tats his way into the action movie hall of fame. This edition includes commentary by Stallone and deleted scenes -- including an alternate ending.

an awesome intro to the Rambo saga. All about poduncks trying to kill a super soldier for no real reason and it exploads to epic proportions. An amazing action movie filmed for an amazingly small amount of money. Stalone has a epic speech at the end that makes any slow parts worth the wait "I COULDN'T FIND HIS LEGGGGGG I COULDN'TFIND HIS LEGGGG"

7/10

Forgetting Sara Marshall
After his TV star girlfriend, Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), breaks his heart, Peter (Jason Segel) wants nothing more than to enjoy his vacation in Hawaii. One problem: Sarah's vacationing at the same resort he is, and even worse, she's bringing her new beau. Produced by Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, Superbad), this hilarious comedy also stars Mila Kunis, Paul Rudd and Bill Hader.

pretty much the same as all of this team's movies, but still very solid. Lots of balls, lots of great one liners, and some great songs

7/10


Sopranos Season 1
Modern-day New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) brings an element of humanity to the "family" in this Emmy Award-winning series from HBO. In the first season, Tony turns to a psychiatrist (Lorraine Bracco) to come to terms with the effect of his job's brutality on his life. As the Feds crack down and the tension within the "family" rises, his wife (Edie Falco) and two kids have expectations of leading a normal life

foot fist way
A pompous control freak, small-town tae kwon do instructor Mr. Simmons (Danny McBride) finally loses his cool when he gets wind of his wife's infidelities. Facing meltdown, he sets out on a pilgrimage to see his hero, martial arts master Chuck "The Truck" Wallace (Ben Best), in action. But is the world ready for a meeting between these two black-belt egos? Expertly drawn characters and furious action make this a comedy that really packs a punch

same joke for the whole length with two or three funny parts. Will Farrel without Will Farrel...whatever

4/10

batman: dark knight
Batman (Christian Bale) teams with Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) to continue dismantling Gotham City's criminal organizations in this sequel to Batman Begins. But a psychotic new villain known as the Joker (Heath Ledger) threatens to undo all their good work. The star-studded cast includes Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman, Anthony Michael Hall, Michael Caine and Eric Roberts.

A great (if not one of the greatest comic hero movies) movie, but i don't think it lived up the hype. Yes, Heath Ledger is good. Yes, the story written for his character is very well done, but without his death i don't know if it would be quite so praised, i feel he is no better than Javier Bardem in No Country. Other than that it's still a superhero movie, with plenty of cool scenes, but with a bit too much length. This was my first IMAX movie experience and it was pretty pleasant, with the intense sound being the real stand out component.

7/10

people under the stairs
Master of horror Wes Craven brings an urban twist to the classic fairy tale in the story of Fool, a 13-year-old lad who succumbs to ghetto pressures to steal from a local house. Fool's instant karma comes in the gruesome form of the house's residents -- an insane, deformed family of murderers. The perils of latchkey kids and warnings about absentee parents are the subtle social subtext as Fool and other victims try to escape the deadly home.

shitty, hole filled horror movie, but still manages to be entertaining for fans of monster squad or lost boys are stuff like that.

6/10

a night to remember
The Titanic's dramatic final hours are depicted in this film version of Walters Lord's book. On its maiden voyage, the ship struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic on April 14, 1912, taking the lives of 1,513 passengers. The vessel's tragic sinking is accurately recounted and filmed in real time; it's only 37 minutes shorter than the real-life event. A documentary on the making of the movie and commentary by Titanic experts are included.

filmed in 1958, this movie shines as a technical marvel. Exterior boat shots stand up (if not exceed) the modern Titanic movie effect without using gross digital bullshit. With lots of frustration for the viewer at the naivety of the boat's passengers and crew, this is a great portrail of probably went on on that boat.

Southland Tales
Set in a dystopian near-future, director Richard Kelly's visionary tale mines post-Sept. 11 angst and paranoia as Los Angeles teeters on the verge of social, financial and ecological catastrophe. While a heat wave takes its toll on the sprawling metropolis, one man foresees the coming apocalypse -- but can he prevent it? The Rock heads the star-studded cast, which includes Sarah Michelle Gellar, Justin Timberlake and Miranda Richardson.

With this amazing/weird cast, and a story of the post war conspiracy type stuff i'm pretty interested in, I was pretty bummed that this couldn't pull much of anything off. Despite the tangled mess there are a few ideas and weird jokes that i was entertained by, but overall it never gets it's direction straight. Directed by the guy from donnie darko.

5/10


129/300

Funny This Movie Isn't.

Death at a Funeral   (2007)  Dir. Frank Oz.

A whole bunch of crazy British stuff happens at a funeral.  Such as:

--a guy accidentally takes a hallucinant, which is actually pretty funny but goes on for way too long.

--an old guy curses a lot and is left on the toilet

--a midget tries to bribe the dead guys sons with pictures of the two of them (the midget and the dad, not the sons) in the act of being gay.

This is basically the whole movie with some other dysfunctional family stuff thrown in.  Not very funny though.  I expected more from a movie directed by Yoda.

5/10

Weeds Seasons 2 & 3

Nancy Botwin (Mary Louise-Parker) is still trying to juggle being a single mother of two and the biggest marijuana dealer in the California suburb of Agrestic.  In seasons 2 and 3 things just keep getting more and more complicated but Nancy always finds some way to overcome her obstacles.  

Despite the fact that the show is about a mom selling marijuana,  I don't think this is one of those things that you have to be really into/smoking weed to enjoy.  Nancy doesn't even smoke weed, she's just good at selling it.  For the most part, the show avoids any broad marijuana humor, like say on "That 70's Show" or "Harold and Kumar".  However it comes close to getting a little too over the top when Nancy starts hanging out with rival drug dealer "U-Turn", but that stuff is  actually funny, and manages not to go too far.  And like in the first season, Kevin Nealon formerly of SNL is hilarious as one of Nancy's best customers/accountant/councilman.

Season 2:  9/10

Season  3:  9/10

Batman: The Long Halloween   Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale

A  serial killer is going around killing gangsters (Soprano gangsters, not Coolio gangsters) on the holidays, thus earning him (or her?) the nickname "Holiday".   Batman, Captain Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent are on the case.

I bought this in anticipation for "The Dark Knight" because I've read that this is one of the influences in the two Cristopher Nolan directed Batman movies, and I was pretty dissapointed.

"Halloween" probably worked better when it was initially released in 13 issues over a year.  All at once, it's kind of boring reading about pretty much the same thing happening (someone dying on a holiday) and then nothing is resolved, and apparently nothing happens in between holidays.  And then there is a twist (sort of) and we find out who Holiday is and I didn't really care.

I can see  the influences, but in my opinion "Halloween" doesn't come close to "Batman Begins" and probably won't compare to "Dark Knight" either.

5/10

movies: 57/150

books:  12/15

Weeds Season 1

House Season 2

Weeds features Mary Louise-Parker as a suburban mother of two who resorts to selling marijuana after her husband suddenly dies in order to maintain the lifestyle she's grown accustom to.

The second season of House is exactly like the first season.  Someone gets sick.  About halfway through the episode House figures it out and they start to get better, then they start to get worse, and then some new variable is brought to light and then House solves the  case for real.

I really like both of these shows and I can't really explain why.  They're kind of like crackers that are just sitting there and you eat one then  another then you just keep eating them.   And it's not like crackers are that good but you can easily eat a whole box if you are bored/hungry.

both shows:

8/10

Harry and the Hendersons

See Jake's description below if you don't already know what this is about.   I agree that it is a bit too long.   Lots of cheesy 80's family movie humor that isn't really that funny, but Harry cracks me up.  But it is way better in my memory from when I first saw it, then from seeing it last week with "somebody"  bitching about being too fat.  

7/10  (average score of viewing at age 10 and 26.)

boooks

I've decided I don't really like  reviewing books.

The Life of Pi   by Yann Martel

Multi-religious Pi (he practices three) is traveling with his family and a whole bunch of zoo animals when the ship goes down.  He ends up on a lifeboat with a hyena, orangutan, zebra and a Bengal tiger.

I thought this was a good book when it was just Pi surviving on a lifeboat with a tiger (the other three get eaten).   Then there is a plot twist at the end to make you re-examine the whole story.  Pi talks about religion at the beginning before he ends up on the lifeboat, and you kind of forget about it  until the end.  But whatever you make of what the twist, and what it has to do with religion, it's a much better twist then you see in most movies these days, which are usually twists just for twists sake.  

9/10

Then there are these two books that I didn't finish and probably won't.  But I read more then half, so I'm going to count them as one.

Dubliners by James Joyce

One Hundred Years of Solitude  by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Dubliners is a bunch of short stories about  people in Dublin.  Some are pretty good.  Some are pretty boring.  They are unrelated, but similar.  Like a book about 20-40 year old middle class white people in Omaha would be.

I stopped reading that to read "Solitude" which is about a family who founds a city, and all their relatives and everyone in the city.  There are about 500 characters with 14 different names.  (Mixed and matched of course, like Michael Jordan, Michael Jackson, Jordan Jackson, Michael Michaels, etc.)  

The people in Dubliners are pretty mundane, the characters in Solitude are pretty eccentric.  But I just didn't care about any of them.  I much rather read about a kid stuck in a boat with a tiger for 227 days.

One Hundred Dubliners of Solitude

6/10

54/150

11/15

sure i'm sure

The Fly David Cronenberg

While testing his teleportation device, scientist Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) accidentally merges his cells with those of a housefly. As his reporter girlfriend (Geena Davis) bears witness, Seth slowly -- and quite disgustingly -- morphs into an insect. David Cronenberg's 1986 remake of the Vincent Price original achieves an unlikely concoction of horror, romance and pathos, thanks largely to Goldblum's strangely touching performance.

Jeff Goldblum is a goddamn legend, david cronenberg has a weird flesh problem. A pretty great 80s horror movie with twitchy ass goldblum, what more can you want

8/10

Harry and the Hendersons

Returning home from vacation, the Hendersons -- George (John Lithgow), Nancy (Melinda Dillon), daughter Sarah (Margaret Langrick) and son Ernie (Joshua Rudoy) -- accidentally run over a strange Bigfoot-type animal (Kevin Peter Hall). They decide to take the friendly "Harry" home and adopt him as a pet. But soon, they're scrambling to hide their new friend from authorities and Bigfoot hunters. This charming family film won a Best Makeup Oscar.

way to long and not as awesome as you remember. pretty vegan if you are into that stuff

5/10

Tokyo Zombies
While training to fulfill their dreams of being jujitsu champions, Fujio (Tadanobu Asano) and Mitsuo (Shô Aikawa) work in a fire extinguisher factory. But when a mob of zombies suddenly invade Tokyo, they'll have to employ their limited fighting skills to battle the undead. They soon join with other zombie fighters to try to reclaim the city. Directed by Sakichi Sato, this Japanese zombie-movie satire is based on the manga by Yusaku Hanakuma.

pretty awesome and goofy zombie movie in the vein of Shaun of the Dead but goofier. Afro ninja guy vs. zombies.

7/10

Annie Hall
Listen closely and you can actually hear the stress hormones pumping through the bodies of the characters in Annie Hall. Woody Allen's real, funny ode to love among twitchy city dwellers scooped up Oscars for Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Actress (Diane Keaton) and Best Screenplay. And don't miss cameos of not-yet-stars Jeff Goldblum, Shelley Duvall and Sigourney Weaver.

Pretty lacking in my woody allen, i id not really know what to expect here. Lots of really witty and awkward but amazingly hilarious videos. After watching this i can see where lots of modern movies borrowed from his style with heavy cuts and amazing writing but no one has ever come close to capturing it.

10/10

118/300 movies

permanent midnight
Brace yourself for this emotionally riveting story about the dark side of success in Hollywood. Based on the highly praised autobiography of the same name, the story of a hot television writer who learns the high cost of fame first hand.

Ben Stiller in the only serious role i can recall him in. I don't really know how real this whole story is due the fact that Ben Stiller, who plays the part of a writer for the show Alf, is using heavy drugs and abusing everything but still comes out the good guy. Very well acted though and with this strong of a cast i am surprised this movie slipped through until now.

6/10
videodrome

The president of Civic TV Channel 83, Max Renn, is always looking for new cheap and erotic movies for his station. When his employee, Harlan, decodes a pirate video broadcast showing torture, murder, and mutilation called "Videodrome," Max becomes obsessed to get this series for his channel. He contacts his supplier, Masha, and asks her to find the party responsible for the transmission. A couple of days later, Masha tells that "Videodrome" is real snuff movies. Max's sado-masochistic girlfriend Nicki Brand decides to travel to Pittsburgh, where the show is based, to audition. Max investigates further, and through a video by the media prophet Brian O'Blivion, he learns that that TV screens are the retina of the mind's eye, being part of the brain, and "Videodrome" transmissions create a brain tumor in the viewer, changing the reality through video hallucination.

Another great movie from Cronenburg. Taking the strange and grotesque perversions of people to an extreme very successfully. Some very strange gore and some amazing stuff in Max's hallucinations make this easily my favorite Cronenburg. A must see. Long live the new flesh
9/10




Three Days of Condor
His name is Joe Turner -- code name, Condor. In the next 24 hours, everyone he trusts will try to kill him. Robert Redford stars as the CIA researcher who returns from lunch to find all his co-workers murdered. Double-crossed and forced to go underground, he kidnaps a young woman (Faye Dunaway) and holds her hostage as he unravels the mystery. Conspiracy films don't come any better.

a solid spy movie that doesn't rely on explosions. Robert Redford was the real deal in the 70s

7/10

114/300

finally

i was moving and stuff so i have not watched many movies
but this weekend is for movie watching i do believe
look below at my half assed post for more in depth reviews



son of rambow
Forbidden to watch TV or go to the movies by his ultrareligious parents, young Will (Bill Milner) gets a hold of a camera, and his mind blossoms in this nostalgic comedy from the team behind The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Set in 1980s Britain, the film tells the tale of the friendship that blossoms between Will and class bully Lee (Will Poulter) when the latter recruits Will to help him make a home movie inspired by Rambo: First Blood.

an adorable feel good movie that doesn't make you feel like a wuss for watching it. Pretty straight forward no frills story telling for a family movie. In the vein of "millions". Kid actors can be a risky thing i think, but these were some of the best. I want to throw or atleast go to parties like the french kid (pictured above) throws.

9/10

somebody else post something.

Control   dir. Anton Corbijn

Starts off right before Curtis gets married and joins Warsaw, who would eventually become Joy Division and ends, well, you know where.  I guess if you don't know how it ends you probably don't care.   And if you do know, you'd probably guess correctly that this is a pretty dismal story.  Curtis struggles with his work and family right as his band is about to blow up and things just go from bleak to bleaker.

I was kind of falling asleep throughout this one.  Not that the movie is that bad or anything, but it is kind of slow.  I think Anton Corbijn did a good job of directing, and Sam Riley is great as Ian Curtis, but the story is just a slow, painful one about a very short musical career.  Not really anyone's fault, but there just isn't much of a story arc,  more like a story slope.  But, what can you do?

6.5/10

Funny Games   dir. Michael Haneke

Two preppy boys terrorize a family  when they arrive at their vacation home in this shot by shot remake of the Austrian movie by the same name by the same director from ten years ago.  I really don't know what the point of that was, other than what I read about Haneke wanting to specifically direct this movie at Americans.  Why you ask?  Well let's find out!

I was with this one at the beginning, as the movie starts out pretty suspenseful.  But after awhile it just gets boring.  I'm getting sick of these long takes in movies.  At least the shots in "Atonement" and "Children of Men" there is stuff going on.  There's an incredible amount of time spent on trying to get a cell phone to work when one of the characters has a chance to run for help (or get the other cell phone  out of the car.)  One of the kids keeps talking to the camera and at one point rewinds the movie.   I guess we are just like the kids doing the torturing because we're watching.....whoa..... I have more complaints but I'll just say this movie is just goddamn annoying.

4/10

51/150 movies.  

Things I Borrowed From Kevin

Y: The Last Man (comic books)  Brian K. Vaughan

I guess I'll just count all of them as one book.

Every single male is DEAD except for a man and his monkey, Yorick Brown (man) and Ampersand (monkey).  So he has to figure out what the F is going on, and find his fiancee who is in Australia.  Many different characters join him along the way, most notably a secret agent known only as 355 who was hired to protect Yorick, which proves to be a challenge.  Ninjas, pirates, Israeli's and one-boobed super lesbians are all after the only living man.  Or is he....???

This series is f-ing awesome.  It's funny, intriguing, never boring.  Awesome all the way through.  It is written by one of the writers of LOST, and it makes me realize how even though LOST is awesome, it would be even sweeter with an infinite budget, and no "seasons".  And if Walt could have stayed a little kid... but anyway back to Y.   I've never read any comic books before but this one has me wanting to explore more.  Must read.

10/10

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia (TV show) seasons 1 & 2

As Jake Baby Jake would say, this is basically Battlestar Gallactica in a bar.  I read somewhere that it was "Seinfeld on crack" which I think is more accurate.  It's a lot like "Seinfeld", where a group of self-obsessed friends go on wacky adventures that usually come full circle to a hilarious ending.  I didn't pay much attention to this show back when it was first on cable because I thought it was just trying to get laughs by being offensive.  But after closer inspection the show is actually hilarious and offensive not just hilarious  because it is offensive, which usually isn't that hilarious.  But IASIP is hilarious.  

9.5/10

49/150 cinema

9/15 literature

"SPACE ODYSSEY 2007: conversations at home with Riley Martin and company"
A documentary film by Christopher Langford


In this film we travel down to meet up with Riley and question him about his Experiences Being abducted by extraterrestrials and the information they have bestowed to him.

FANTASTIC AMAZING MYSTICAL

made by a sioux falls local, who i was able to talk to a couple days after watching, guy seems pretty for real about these aliens. Documentary is slow and static but interesting none the less.

5/10

110/00 movies

also lazy

but i haven't really been watching too many movies.  just netflixing tv shows.  also i've stopped reading two books before  finishing them and started reading the Y The Last Man books.  do comic books count?  anyway....

The Sopranos Season 5

Pretty much "Battlestar Gallactica" in the mafia is how I'm sure Jake would describe this show.

I love this show and it is consistently great season after season unlike  some shows that I'm into which dick around with stupid shit (Lost, The Office this season).  Possibly the best show ever.

10/10

House M.D.  Season 1

Hugh Laurie plays Dr. Gregory House, a great diagnostician and a huge asshole.  I think I'm more interested in this show because of the second part.  I'm not really big on medical shows or mystery shows, and this show is both.  It's also super formulaic.  You could make a drinking game out of the show pretty easy and get wasted every episode.  Jake would probably call it "Battlestar in a hospital".  

But I still like it.   House is funny when he's being a jerk.  There's usually some small storyline going to break the monotony of the whole obscure disease diagnosing.   Mostly I wish I could be like House and  say whatever I wanted when I am confronted with stupid people at work.

8/10

Dark Tower: The Gunslinger.   Stephen King.

One guy follows another guy across the desert.   That was the summary I gave someone to work.  She replied "Well it shouldn't be very hard to find someone in the desert."  I immediately stopped reading.  Just kidding.

I like this book alright.  Maybe not enough to get a tattoo about it, but I still liked it.  I'm not rushing out to get the other books in the series, but I'll probably read them.

8/10

48/150    movies

8/15          bukes

i am lazy
so im just going to make large updates from here on out
ehhhh whateva right?


indiana jones and the crystal skull


Hollywood icon Harrison Ford returns to the role of the adventurous archaeologist Indiana Jones nearly 20 years after he last donned the famous fedora and bullwhip to save the world from imminent peril. Joining Ford for this latest installment of the Steven Spielberg-George Lucas collaboration are Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett, Ray Winstone, Jim Broadbent, Karen Allen, John Hurt and Shia LaBeouf as Jones's headstrong young sidekick.

Indiana Jones vs. aliens. Don't by the "this movie is far fetched" hype. Were the reviewers expecting a documentary on knights templar? shut up. This movie was good 'merican fun

8/10
National Treasure: Book of Secrets

Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage) and Dr. Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger) -- who found riches and romance at the end of their first hunt for national treasure -- reteam with their wisecracking partner in crime, Riley Poole (Justin Bartha), for another romp through U.S. history. Now, armed with a stack of long-lost pages from John Wilkes Booth's diary, Ben is obsessed with finding the truth behind President Abraham Lincoln's assassination.

Again a fun movie and nick cage and his bad hair cut are always awesome. A more ridiculous indiana jones. a more awesome da vinci code

6/10

strange wilderness

When Peter Gaulke (Steve Zahn) and Fred Wolf's (Allen Covert) TV wildlife show is threatened with cancellation, they attempt to boost their flagging ratings by going in search of the most elusive beast of all, Bigfoot. But will their big plan turn out to be just another hoax? Directed by Fred Wolf, this raucous comedy also features Justin Long, Kevin Heffernan, Jonah Hill, Jeff Garlin, Ernest Borgnine and Harry Hamlin.

this movie had dante from grandmas boy, and puking into a sharks mouth, other than that it was pretty fart.

4/10
sword of doom

One of the most thrilling and disturbing samurai epics, The Sword of Doom delivers unparalleled action and outstanding performances from two of Japan's greatest actors, Tatsuya Nakadai and Toshiro Mifune. Nakadai dominates the screen as Ryunosuke Tatsue, a man for whom killing is a pleasure. Brought up by a father to whom the sword was the way of life, the sword is now the only family he recognizes. Pitted against him is Taranosuke..

a must see samurai movie for any samurai fan. Guy kills like 185082150825 people in the most epic fight ever.

8/10

darkon

Ordinary folks trade in their street clothes for medieval costumes, faux weaponry and full-contact battles in Andrew Neel and Luke Meyer's documentary about Darkon, a group that acts out fantasy war games based on complex rules and customs. Neel and Meyer capture the drama as padded swords clash, armies advance and a ruler crosses the line, while off the battlefield, participants open up about what keeps them coming back for more.

i was hoping for more of a "documentary" style movie than what i got from this movie. It just kind of showed the current story of where the darkon world was at right now, and not enough of how fucking insane people were that are involved in larping. Oh well i am almost level 8

6/10

shadow of the the Vampire

A wicked movie about the making of the 1922 silent-film classic Nosferatu, Shadow of the Vampire features Willem Dafoe's Oscar-nominated performance. Director F.W. Murnau (John Malkovich) yearns to create the most terrifying vampire tale imaginable. Unknown actor Max Schreck (Dafoe), cast as the vampire Count Orlock, makes an impressive debut as filming begins, even as he hides an unearthly secret.

a really awesome cocncept for a movie i think, and fill it with amazing actors and you got a real gem. Some weirdly uncomfortably funny parts from willem dafoe and malkovich being malkovich.

8/10

wristcutters

Trapped in an alternate world populated by suicide victims, a band of souls tries to find an escape route in Goran Dukic's quirky fantasy. Although he took his own life, Zia (Patrick Fugit) isn't ready for such a grim hereafter, particularly when he learns that his ex-girlfriend also killed herself. On a quest to find her, he befriends a jaded hitchhiker and a Russian rocker, and together, they set out in search of a more appealing afterlife.

a gimmicky movie that is well executed and fun/heartfelt. The girl in this is a total babe and tom waits is incredible. Looks like it was shot in the salt flats or salton sea or some dead land giving purgatory this weird cool grey look.

9/10
warriors

A prominent New York City gang leader named Cyrus (Roger Hill) wants to wage an all-out battle against the police, and as part of his strategy he calls upon Gotham's gangs to set aside their turf wars and come together at a summit. At the meeting, a rival leader kills Cyrus, but a Coney Island gang called the Warriors is wrongly blamed for Cyrus' death. Before you know it, the cops and every gangbanger in town is hot on the Warriors' trail

this movie is silly and not good. The gangs are pretty funny though and there are some pretty awesome one liners.

5/10

109/300 movies
6/30 books

Man of Iron

Iron Man  dir. Jon Favreau

Robert Downey Jr. is millionaire Tony Stark who has made his money manufacturing weapons.  When he almost gets killed in the desert by his own weapons, he decides to quit making weapons and concentrate on a suit that will help  him take on the people using his weapons for evil.

Kind of ridiculous, but still really entertaining.  It's somewhere between the Spiderman movies, which I think are really lame and cheesy, and "Batman Begins", which is darker, more intense and altogether better.   So as long as you aren't hung up on things like... how did he make this extremely complicated suit all by himself in his basement in like 23 minutes...  oh wait, I forgot about the montage of magazine covers at the beginning showing all the stuff he's done!  Nevermind!  Oh and Jeff "The Dude" Bridges is the bald bad guy.  Ha!  Fun movie.  Worth seeing in the theatre.

8/10

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly  dir. Julian Schnabel

Based on the true story of French Elle editor Jean-Dominique Dauby (Mathieu Almaric) who suffers a stroke and is left paralyzed except for his left eye.  Working with a nurse he developed a system of communicating involving blinking with corresponding letters.  He used this technique and a book deal he had to "write" his memoirs.

I realize this sounds kind of boring but it is actually really good.  The film starts with Dauby waking from a coma, but of course there are flashbacks showing what his life was like.  Still the stuff from his point of view accompanied with his narration is entertaining as well.  And the fact that a lot of the movie is taking place inside his mind allows the director (a painter) to be really creative and artistic.  I think a big help to this one is the fact that it is a true story, and a French movie.  If this was a Hollywood creation, it probably could have been a little more super sad at the sad parts and super uplifting at the uplifting parts.   Instead its just realistic sad and realistic uplifting.  Maybe a little too long...

8/10

I'm Not There dir. Todd Haynes

Six different actors play Bob Dylan-esque characters (none of them are named "Bob Dylan") during different stages of Dylan's life.   I really like Bob Dylan, but this movie was kind of disapointing.

A lot of the dialogue comes from quotes and a lot of the shots are re-enactments of photos or video.  I suspected this when watching it, even though I didn't exactly recognize all of it, but it was confirmed in some notes on the DVD, and the commentary.  I don't really think that was a great idea.  I guess if you're some kind of Bob Dylan historian (I'm not) this might be kind of cool.  

 I'm sure the whole six actors thing seems really novel and inspired and "oh it suits his music so well" when I think maybe just one good actor who could act like different characters might have worked better.  But what do I know?  Walt from Lost was just annoying as little kid Dylan (named Woody Guthrie in the movie) and Cate Blanchett (Jude Quinn) actually looked the most like Dylan, but was just kind of annoying, aaaaand she's not a man.  

Music's good though.  David Cross is hilarious in a small role as Allen Ginsberg.  Some of the cinematography is really great, and there are some good parts scattered around.  But the structure and loose narrative don't make for a good two and a half hour movie.  One actor, 90 minutes.  Solid movie.  Instead...

6.5/10

46/150

the fire keeps on burnin' guitar solo is pretty rad

i have a ton of shit to update about so i will probably keep the reviews short
i know all of you are sad

The Shining

Stanley KubrickAll work and no play make Jack a bloodthirsty boy. On the wagon after his alcoholism created family troubles, aspiring novelist Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) accepts a position as off-season custodian at an elegant but eerie hotel so he can write undisturbed. No sooner have Jack, his wife (Shelley Duvall) and son Danny settled in than the ominous hotel starts to wield its sinister power over father and son. …

probably one of the most scary movies ever to me. For all the movies that are filmed in hotels why don't more use the really long hallway scary shot. put a kid on a bigwheel bike riding on that shit and you got horror.

9/10

Last Detail Hal Ashby

In this classic 1970s road movie, Officers Buddusky (Jack Nicholson and Mulhall (Otis Young) must escort a young sailor (Randy Quaid) to a New England military prison, where the 18-year-old is about to serve eight years for a trivial offense. Determined to cram all the living they can into one lost weekend, the boys booze, brawl and fornicate their way to their ultimate destination. Both Nicholson and Quaid deliver Oscar-nominated performances.

i was trying to have a jack nicholson marathon, i only made it through two movies though. I heard he thought his mom was his sister until they told him the ruse at 33 years old. This movie has lots of swearing and randy quaid being a wuss. he comes around though.

7/10

Millions Danny Boyle
Acclaimed director Danny Boyle posits a tantalizing question in this engaging film: What happens when two boys stumble upon a cache of cash? Damian (Alex Etel) and his brother, Anthony (Lewis McGibbon), find a satchel filled with British pounds, but with the country just days away from switching to the Euro, they must quickly find a way to spend and share the wealth. Trouble is, Damian wants to give to the poor, while Anthony aims to live it up.

danny boyle makes kids movies? who would have though? this is a really standout kids/family movie that you should watch with your mom

7/10

High Lonesome Rachel Liebling
Whether you're a longtime bluegrass fan or just discovering the genre, you'll appreciate this documentary. Bluegrass music was born of a combination of African and Celtic sounds and is the base of American country music. This film traces the musical form from its Appalachian roots to the present and features more than 100 songs performed by legends such as Bill Monroe, The Stanley Brothers, Mac Wiseman, Jimmy Martin, Flatt & Scruggs and others.

i went and saw this at a movie series thing that the university here is doing about "plains" music. I was hoping for some scary mountain man blue grass stuff but all i got was how bluegrass got boring and modern. still some sweet jamz and old timey footage though

6/10

Hairspray Adam Shankman

Set in 1962, this colorful adaptation of the Tony-winning musical (spawned by director John Waters' cult classic of the same name) follows ambitious teen Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky), who tries to integrate a racially divided Baltimore one watusi at a time. The film's star-studded cast includes John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Allison Janney, James Marsden and Amanda Bynes.

im kind of bummed that john watters let this happen. I never saw the original but i think i have seen most if not all of john waters other movies, and isn't he suposed to be a creeper? I guess you have to pay the billz some how. This maintains a few uncomfortable parts to make it at least a little like waters' style but over all it's for wusses.

6/10

long way round (2 disc)David Alexanian
A sort of The Motorcycle Diaries for the Hollywood set, this documentary miniseries chronicles the cross-continental adventures of actors Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman as they set out on their BMW bikes to travel round the world. Embarking from London and arriving 115 exhausting days later in New York, the duo tackles 20,000 miles of tough terrain, explores offbeat destinations and takes in colorful local culture.

a t.v. show about ewan and his friend riding around buttass no where on expensive motorbikes. Interesting stuff. These dudes seem pretty down to earth and like some one you could hang out with. Riding through scary russia and mongolia was the best due to lack of roads or anything that we consider normal roadside fair. once they get to the u.s. it gets pretty slow, but luckily they cross the whole continent in like one and a half episodes.

7/10

Jackie Brown

Director Quentin Tarentino added his deft touch to nicely placed wry humor, combined that with an all-star cast (including Samuel L. Jackson, Pam Grier and Robert De Niro) and delivered the action-crime caper Jackie Brown. Jackie is a flight attendant who smuggles cash on the side. When busted and pressured to help with an investigation, she plans to play the opposing forces against each other and walk away with the dough.

by far some of tarentinos best dialog (in a very dialog heavy movie) in my opinion, but it could have just been the stellar cast that pulled it off. A bit on the long side and a bit on the 2080358 twists side.

p.s. samuel has some tubular hair in this

7/10
In the name of the king Uwe Boll












When the Krugs -- a violent race of brutes who are controlled by the evil Gallian (Ray Liotta) -- kill his son and kidnap his wife, Farmer Daimon (Jason Statham) sets off on a quest for revenge. Along the way, he meets those who vow to help him in hopes of bringing peace to their beloved kingdom. Leelee Sobieski, Burt Reynolds, Claire Forlani and John Rhys-Davies co-star in this fantasy adventure based on the popular role-playing game.

Uwe Boll is a cenimatic genious. This is probably one of the worst movies i have ever seen with the best cast ever. It's like watching power rangers with millionz dollarz acting budget. It's like a video game that was about nerd shit that no one cared about got made into a movie that no one cared about. how does he do it?

6/10

battle star season 3 (6 disc)
The third season of this popular sci-fi drama picks up where the 10-part series of "Webisodes" left off, with Tigh (Michael Hogan), Tyrol (Aaron Douglas) and Anders (Michael Trucco) leading resistance forces on New Caprica in attacks against their Cylon oppressors. Elsewhere, a reluctant Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff) is enduring forced cohabitation with Leoben Conoy (Callum Keith Rennie), a humanoid Cylon agent she despises

still my favorite television show. Picks up with last seasons awesome finale and stays out of the typical zone that most television shows suffer. Real world issues but in space. Also has another pretty awesome season end


8/10

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Film Club by David Gilmour
From Publishers Weekly
In this poignant and witty memoir, Canadian novelist Gilmour (A Perfect Night to Go to China) grapples with his decision to allow his teenage son, Jesse, to leave school in the 10th grade provided he promises to watch three movies a week with his father. Determined not to force a formal education on his son, former film critic and television host Gilmour begins the film club with Truffaut's The 400 Blows—with Basic Instinct for dessert. There are no lectures preceding the films, no quizzes on content or form: just a father and son watching movies together. Expertly tracing the trials and tribulations of teenage crushes and heartbreak, Gilmour explores not only his choice of films but also Jesse's struggles with his girlfriends and burgeoning music career. There are units on everything from undiscovered talent (Audrey Hepburn's Oscar-winning debut in Roman Holiday) to stillness, exemplified by Gary Cooper's ability in High Noon to steal a scene without moving a muscle. Gilmour expertly tackles the nostalgia not only of film but also that of parents, watching as their children grow and develop separate lives. With his unique blend of film history and personal memoir, Gilmour's latest offering will deservedly win him new American fans.

another one of those advance reader copies from the library. A interesting concept that seems to work surprisingly well on a kid who seems like some dumb gangster dude. A great way to learn about movies of importance.

8/10

102/300 movies
6/30 books

PSH = Pretty Sad Hoffman.

Before the Devil Knows Your Dead dir. Sidney Lumet

The Savages dir. Tamara Jenkins

Both these movies are pretty depressing.  Both have Philip Seymour Hoffman.

In "Devil", Hoffman and Ethan Hawke are brothers who plan to rob their parents jewelry store.   The place is insured so no real harm.  But of course everything goes wrong.  Really wrong.  Just bad stuff happens everywhere.  Hoffman is really good as the sleaze ball older brother who gets his mildly wienerish younger brother to do the dirty work.   Albert Finney is impressive as their father.  Sad but effective.  Hoffman's character is just pathetic throughout.  

I know critics really liked this movie, and the acting and direction and all is really good, but I just don't think it all comes together to make a fully satisfying movie.  The whole does not equal the sum of its parts, or whatever.  In my opinion anyway.  Maybe it was just too much of a downer for me to enjoy.  Critics love downers.

Same thing with "The Savages".  Sad comedy which kinda leans more towards the sad then the comedy.   PSH is college professor Jon Savage, and Laura Linney is his younger sister, aspiring playwright Wendy Savage.    After years of not speaking to their abusive father, they are forced to take care of him after his girlfriend dies and he is diagnosed with dementia.  

Hoffman is good as usual, but Laura Linney is awesome in her Oscar nominated performance.  I also thought Philip Bosco was impressive as the dad.  There are a few bright spots, but for the most part this is really sad.  I liked the ending, which is actually kind of uplifting,  but for the most part this is a depressing movie.  Not totally in a bad way, but not totally in a good way either.  Laura Linney might have became my favorite actress, and she really makes this better then it would've been with a lesser star.

both movies: 7/10

43/150