BE KIND REWIND

BE KIND REWIND

Director: Michel Gondry
Starring:Jack Black as the paranoid and hopeless Jerry, Mos Def as the retarded, naive and underestimated Mike, Danny Glower as Elroy – the outdated owner of a video shop and Melonie Diaz as the youngish beautiful Alma with others.

Screen date (US): 2008

Date seen: 03.08.08
Reviewed by: neko

Trailer:

Review: I got interested in this film watching the trailer that went all trough Europe at the time. Of course I shouldn’t, but then again – it seemed as a nice plot for a good story.

Be Kind Rewind happens to be another waste of my time. What advertising, Hollywood money and known actors do to you – they tend to do to me as well. They abuse me with false marketing, and makes me feel good when I finally see their movie. But when I go as far as to see a film, at least I don’t swallow it whole. If I – in a second of insanity – ate at McDonald’s and my advertised burger tasted like this, I would complain!!

See the trailer for the story. I’ll bring my opinion for you. Honestly, I was seriously considering turning the whole film off before half an hour had gone by. But the said abusers had promised me hilarious parodies of well known Hollywood classics, so I continued. The first 30 minutes of the movie could easily have been cut out. I despite the new trend in Hollywood, being that the characters should talk over each other so that it seems like it’s a natural conversation. I can’t catch a word of what they’re saying, and I get embarrassed. I never talk like that with my friends, unless I’m sickly drunk.  Not to mention Mos Def as Mike, I can’t figure out a single word he says. I really don’t understand why he needs to play mentally retarded in his films. Even if he is. It really doesn’t do any good.

Just after the first horrid 30 minutes, they decide to start doing the fun stuff. And it works! I laughed out loud two times. But after those 7 minutes of joy, the film started moving downwards again.  You know what’s going to happen for the rest of the movie, you just cross your fingers that it’s something amusing. Something that really would make your time worth while. But it never comes.

7 minutes of laughs just doesn’t do it for me. Don’t see this movie! If you like fun parts and despites cheap stories, see the trailer. I think the ones producing the trailer of this film should get more money that the (hopefully) soon-to-be retired  Michel Gondry.

In words: video shop, VHS, tape, losers, business, some laughs, community

Reminds me of: I really wanted to buy a video camera and be creative for about one minute. I haven’t felt that since The Blair Witch Project. I guess I could call it an original then. I honest to god hope that the sequel is better!! And that it never comes…

Trivia: Think you can get magnetized from breaking in to a power station? Think again. Jeez.

MRS. PARKER AND THE VICIOUS CIRCLE

MRS. PARKER AND THE VICIOUS CIRCLE
Director: Alan Rudolph
Starring: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Matthew Broderick, Campbell Scott, Gwyneth Paltrow
Screen date (US): 1994

Date seen: 25.07.08
Review by: dorizjeltzin

Trailer:

Review: I love biographic movies, specially early 20^th century, specially America. For me mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle is the film that made it for me. The movies I usually enjoy the most are the once I accidentally drop by while I’m watching TV and that suddenly struck me as interesting. The problem with these movies are that you mostly only see parts of it and really have to struggle to find it later in life. I spent years to find this movie again, but the first time I saw it really made an impression.

The movie tells the life and times story of New Yorkwriter Dorothy parker with a special focus on the Colorful twenties. A question I like to ask myself is if I rather would like to be an artist with a miserable life, but great affection on the future, or an artist that was great in its time but forgotten in is future. If I where to pick the first one, I would be mrs. Parker. She wasn’t named the Queen of Sarcasm for nothing. Just because she is the coolest little lady ever. The movie almost seems to be built on quotes and is like a cavalcade of snobbery. Still the setting with the vicious circle as the coolest group of people ever it totally is the place you want to be.

In words: Flappers, probation and All that Jazz.

Quote: “The sun went dim, and the moon turned black, cause I loved him, and he did not love me back” Dorothy Parker.

EUREKA

EUREKA
Season One

Created by: Andrew Cosby & Jaime Paglia
Starring: Colin Ferguson as the extremely relaxed US Marshal (soon to be sheriff) Jack Carter, Salli Richardson-Whitfield as Carter’s and Eureka’s babysitter Allison Blake, Jordan Hinson as Zoe Carter – the rebellious daughter, as well as a lot of other great actors both known and unknown.
Screen date (US): 2006

Date seen: 19.07.08
Reviewed by: neko

Trailer:

Review: OK, this is a television series, not a film. It’s harder to evaluate, both since they usually pick up or drop down in quality by the season (or sometimes episode), and you never know what to expect. I’m reviewing Eureka based on the pilot and the 2nd episode. I do this because that’s how I decide if I’m personally going to follow a series or not. With Entourage for instance, I needed to see the first four episodes before deciding to keep watching. And then again, I didn’t actually start to love the series until late in the first season.

But Eureka worked for me. It’s a science fiction series, with a few gags in between. It’s somewhat like a Disney film, but then again more like Desperate Housewives. I can’t really decide where to put this, but it’s safe to say that the plot for a TV series is original enough for me to get interested.

The plot: Jack Carter is a US Marshal, driving his rebellious daughter Zoe home after she once again escaped from his separated wife, and on top of that pretended to be an air stewardess. A serious offense of course, and Carter has enough on his mind when suddenly a dog appears in the middle of nowhere. He manages to steer clear, but crash into a tree. After walking all trough the night, they get to a quiet small town. Seemingly. But this small town is Eureka, hidden by the government to foster the greatest minds of the nation into developing all sorts of new inventions. Carter is an easy-going guy, and doesn’t mind much that 5 year olds read advanced science, pieces of motorhomes vanishes into thin air or that everything really is a bit off. He gets sucked into a somewhat big case when the sheriff looses his leg, and with his relaxed temper, charming smile, and quick wits, he impresses and overcomes even the smartest of scientists in this little town. Finally solving the case and getting the old sheriff back on his feet, he returns back home, only to be promoted. To sheriff of Eureka.

There’s potential for a nice love story or two in here, there’s the strange characters that you know is up to no good, there’s family issues, bizarre happenings and lots of geeks and cool gadgets. The tempo of the episodes is fairly relaxed, and although Carter didn’t have time to shower or brush his teeth for two days in the pilot, I didn’t flex a muscle. I liked that! This is something you could watch any time of the day – it’s pure entertainment.

In words: science, investigation, inventions, gadgets, fun, comedy, relationships, family, sci-fi, mystery

Reminds me of: A Disney Original Movie with a twist of Desperate Housewives.

Buy: From our friend, Amazon.

KING LINES

KING LINES

Director: Josh Lowell & Peter Mortimer
Starring: Chris Sharma amongst others.
Screen date (US): 2007

Date seen: 18.07.08
Reviewed by: neko

Trailer:

Review: King Lines is THE best climbing video I’ve seen. Actually, I stumbled across the trailer on youtube, and I was sold. I HAD to see this film!

The plot revolves around Chris Sharma, a climbing legend. Lowell and Mortimer’s sponsors brings Sharma around the world looking for his perfect climb. He search trough the rocks of Greece and Malta in Europe before he boulders a bit in the US, climbs a few routes with his childhood gym trainer, and trek for days trough the Venezuelan jungle to find a hidden, magical bouldering spot. In between, there’s some partying documented with hand held cameras, a competition in Barcelona, and a flashback and short introduction to Sharma’s climbing career. Parts of this movie is set up to be a deifying of Sharma, but I’m sure he didn’t want it to be like this.

Mostly it’s just about the climbing. And it’s so intense, I even had to take off my socks. I usually get sweaty palms when watching masters in action, but this is the first time my feet started sweating. I was tense all trough the 64 minutes of this movie, and I felt so great afterwards – I was on top of the world with Sharma by my side! Highly recommended!

In words: climbing, rock, adventure, sending, routes, party, chris sharma, legend, sport

Reminds me of: Other climbing movies of course, but they don’t quite match this.

Quote: Sharma: Putting everything on hold, I might just stay here. Live up at Clark Mountain. I might just go crazy.

Buy: From Amazon.

CAKE

CAKE

Directed by: Nisha Ganatra

With: Heather Graham, The Dad from Gilmore Girls, Dr. Cristina Yang from Grey Anatomy, Dr. Sam Bennett from Private Practice.

Review by: dorizjeltzin

Trailer:

When I roll the dice it shows a movie worth a 3 pointer, something that match very well with the film. The film tells a story about a young independent woman who hate weddings(Graham), but suddenly become editor of a wedding magazine. Voila, idealistic conflict. Naturally she have to work with this lame guy that is the exact opposite of he (Rory’s Dad).

The set up is a classic romantic comedy. They did a big job on colorful costumes and scenography, which match the genre very well (theres something about Mary, How to get dumped in 10days etc.) What still drags the movie down is that it don’t really match the comedy part at all, and even if it looks and acts funny it isn’t. The dialog is very serious, and the crazy parts becomes tragic instead of funny. Like the supposedly embarrassing funny scene where the bridesmaid is rolling around in a fountain gets ruined when the hero of the film come in and act like she is an alcoholic and give the whole scene a negative vibe. And so the film goes. He is not overwhelmed by her craziness, but by her drunkenness. What still makes the movie worth a 3 pointer is the fact that even if the story and actors was kind of lame, it never got to boring. Funny outfits and hairdos totally did it. And it’s always nice to see so many tv-stars in a real movie.

i can’t wait for the sequell: Why is mummy smelling funny?