Archive for July, 2007

Metallica: Some Kind Of Monster

Published
by
Chalupa
on July 28, 2007
in Documentary and Music
. 0 Comments

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - it’s always interesting to see movies, documentaries or not, made about things I’ve experienced in my lifetime. I am by no means the biggest of Metallica fans, but to say that this band hasn’t shaped my music tastes a little would be very far from the truth.

I was pretty excited and a little leery when I heard there was going to be a documentary about pretty much the biggest metal/heavy rock/etc bands of the past three decades. Yeah, I’d like to learn more about this band, but what’s the point of view going to be? Will this just be propaganda? After watching the film I have to say I loved it. Maybe it’s just that good, or maybe I got sucked in. Hard to say. I guess you’ll have to let me know what you thought of it.

One thing I was really getting annoyed with from about 1999 to 2005 is how all of a sudden everybody loved Metallica. Yeah, they were already freaking huge and popular, but I’m talking all of a sudden it was EVERYBODY. It seemed like any and every rock station was having Metallica time every night. My little brother’s friends would come over and I’d hear them start talking about how they’ve loved this band their whole lives and how the Black album is the best “first” album ever. Personally, I loved Kill em All, Ride the Lightening, Master of Puppets, …And Justice for All and Black. Load and Reload were ok. Garage Inc was cool. The Symphony album was a little overplayed and I was a bit disappointed with St. Anger. At the time I didn’t really know what to think of Jason leaving the band. I also couldn’t stand Trujillo when it was announced he was their new bass player. Looking back though, I don’t think it would have mattered who stepped in to fill those shoes.

Watching the documentary showed a bit how dysfunctional the band was or had become. My initial reaction is, “Grow Up!“. However, I don’t know if I would perform any better in their shoes. Money and power do strange things to people and I hate being in the spotlight for whatever reason. I know the documentary doesn’t show everything. It’s not like things were shown the band didn’t approve of. At the same time, it was interesting to see them acting like real people. There’s so many insane reality shows on TV that are about the farthest thing from reality.

I would pick this one up if I found it for a reasonable price. Some documentaries are cool, but it’s not like I’d ever watch it again. For some reason I feel a little personally invested in this. I’m sure all you other fans out there know what I’m talking about. I give this one two thumbs up.

The Dinner Game

Published
by
Chalupa
on July 25, 2007
in Based on a play, Comedy, Foreign, France and French
. 0 Comments

The Dinner Game is a French movie that was recommended by a friend. The premise sounded pretty funny and it turned out to be a pretty good film. A group of stuck-up professionals get together once a week for dinner. One stipulation is the regulars have to bring an “idiot” to exploit and make-fun of.

Pierre finds such a man on a train who loves to make models of monuments, etc from matchsticks. Pierre just knows this guy is the king-of-all-idiots and invites him to dinner by making Francois think the other dinner guests are interested in making a book about his hobby. However, before Pierre and Francois can make it to dinner, everything seems to go terribly wrong. Wrong for Pierre that is. Everything from an injured back to his wife leaving him are all caused by the one man he was going to exploit and belittle. You might say Pierre got just what he deserved.

Filled with slapstick comedy and cheesy one-liners, this probably won’t be at the top of everybody’s comedy list. It’s definitely light-hearted and fun. It’s also in French so you’ll get to read some sub-titles. I’m no expert on french film, but I really felt like I was getting a taste of the french-film culture. I’d highly recommend this one to anyone who considers themself a movie-fan.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Published
by
Lij
on July 21, 2007
in Adventure, Based on a book, Based on a novel, England, Family, Fantasy and Sequel
. 1 Comment

There’s nothing I can say that hasn’t already been said about Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix, which came out more than a week ago. I only saw it last night, shortly after re-reading the book. The last time I read it was when I bought it at Heathrow Airport in the summer of 2003, after my sister’s wedding in Nepal. I had planned on buying the paperback when it came out, but as soon as I saw the book in the airport bookstore, I had to have it.

The same thing happened in 2005, when I saw Book Six (Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince) in a bookstore in Lourdes, France.

Then, the same thing happened today — the release date of the final book — when I was at the mall running an errand. There it was, staring me down, and I was forced (forced!) to buy Book 7, Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows.

I like Harry Potter a lot. I think that JK Rowling is a creative genius. I would love to have even an ounce of her creativity and ingenuity for myself.

I guess I’m telling you all of this because unless the movie just sucked, I was going to love it. This is a biased, unfair review, because I LOVE Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix. I love the storylines, the character conflicts, the absolute perfect portrayal of what it’s like to be 15. I love the book so much, and that meant that I could only love the movie. Oh, and I love Sirius Black.

The best moment of the whole movie, I think, was when Harry confessed to his godfather Sirius, “I’m angry all the time.” The darkness of the story lets us know that a major part of this anger comes from the connection between the Dark Lord Voldemort and Harry himself, but the honesty of the story tells us something else: it’s also because he’s 15, and when you’re 15, you have little control over your emotions.

Sure, the director of Movie #5, David Yates, tried to cram a whole lot more than he should have into the movie. But how could he not? Also, he does a great job of knowing what to leave out: Hagrid’s story of living with the giants, the emotional saga of Harry’s banishment from Quidditch, the lengthiness of Dumbledore’s eventual conversation with his favorite student about the history of the prophecy in question.

Yates also knew what was essential: the relationship between Harry and Sirius, first of all, and then Harry’s emotional state. We’ve seen Harry abused and defeated through four books/movies, despite his victories. In the fifth chapter, it’s finally taking its toll. He’s tired, and he’s unsure of himself.

And that’s what Yates does so well to capture. He understands that exhaustion and that weakness, and he shows it to us plainly and honestly. The movie definitely has flaws, but despite them, it’s a really, really good story.

Hurlyburly

Published
by
Chalupa
on July 20, 2007
in Based on a play, Drama, Drugs and Independent
. 1 Comment

If you look up hurly burly you’ll find the definition: noisy disorder and confusion; commotion; uproar; tumult. That pretty much describes this movie. You have a core group of three friends, Eddie (Sean Penn), Mickey (Kevin Spacey) and Phil (Chaz Palminteri), who are somewhat monetarily successful and living in L.A., yet have the mentality of disturbed teenagers. Along with this core group are Artie (Gary Shandling), Darlene (Robin Wright Penn), Bonnie (Meg Ryan) and Donna (Anna Paquin).

The four guys are pretty much constantly taking drugs of some sort or another. Eddie is stuck on one long diatribe about this, that and everything else; he’s like a skipping record. Phil is prone to frequent, violent outbursts. Mickey seems to somewhat have it together, but it’s almost like he’s lowered himself to the level of his other friends. I could be totally wrong on this. If I had to make a pecking order Eddie would be in the middle with Phil on the bottom and Mickey on top. Phil has it the least together and Mickey has it the most, which isn’t saying much.

This was almost like watching a whole movie Derek Zoolander and his idiotic friends, only it wasn’t funny and it was much darker. At one point Bonnie, after getting thrown out of her moving car by Phil, tells Eddie, “If your manner of speech is in any way a reflection of what goes on inside your head, you are lucky you can tie your shoes.” That pretty much backs up my second observation that everybody in this film was so dumb at life they almost seemed retarded. My first observation being these 30-40 year old men were still living like they’re in college.

The whole quality of the dialog seemed quite lacking to me too. Maybe that’s because it just wasn’t very intellectual…or funny. That’s one reason why I absolutely love Kevin Smith movies. Yeah his Jersey series is all about a couple of stoners and their adventures, but there’s a lot of heart and soul put into them. It’s the same reason why I love Judd Apatow’s work. These are characters that just seem real to me in one way or another.

I’m not quite sure if the whole point of this film was to poke fun at some of the absurdity of Hollywood or not. If that’s the case, then this movie would be very similar to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. I really couldn’t stand that movie…even though I realized it was satirical. It was just a bit too much for me. Everybody in this film was so selfish and narrow-minded. It was pretty crazy. Made me glad I don’t live that way. Some of the discussions and arguments reminded me of watching kids in high school all hyped up on hormones and emotions getting worked up about who-knows-what.

You might discern from my tone that I wasn’t a huge fan. That’s pretty much true, however, I’m not dismissing this film as crap or worthless. Any good work of art produces a reaction. Movies that are really just terrible aren’t even worth talking or writing about. Afterwards, it really hit me that this would make a much better play than film. I was checking out IMDB and saw that this was a play by David Rabe, who also wrote the screenplay. I don’t know if I’d necessarily recommend this or not, unless you’re really into movies.

The Queen

Published
by
Chalupa
on July 11, 2007
in Based on a true story, Biography, Drama, England, Family, Government, History and Independent
. 0 Comments

Finally saw The Queen and what everybody was raving about at the Oscars. Helen Mirren does indeed rock the kasbah in her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II. It was very interesting to see historical events reenacted that I remember happening just 10 years ago. I don’t know much about the royal family or what goes on across the pond, but it’s something that has always fascinated me a little. There’s just something about royalty that grabs my interest and imagination. It makes me think of knights and castles and decadence.

I hadn’t really thought about it before, but it was interesting to see the queen portrayed as someone from a different generation with methodical logic and reason behind her decisions and actions. Yeah it seemed cold-hearted to not publicly acknowledge the loss of Princess Diana, but that’s just not what you did 50 years ago. It was also interesting how they pointed out some of the accomplishments and achievements of Elizabeth II’s reign. I hadn’t really thought about it before, but she’s been on the throne for 55 years or so and became queen when she was 26. That’s how old I am. I don’t think I’d do too well at being president/king of anything, let alone a country, or commonwealth.

I’ve heard people say this movie was long and boring. I guess that could be true if you’re not into historical things and dramas. This actually wasn’t that long. Only about 90 min. I’d suggest you check it out if you have time.

Danielson: A Family Movie (or, Make a Joyful Noise Here)

Published
by
Chalupa
on July 11, 2007
in Documentary and Music
. 0 Comments

If you’ve ever heard of a band called Danielson or Danielson Family, you’ll never forget those vocals. You might describe them as unique, weird, awesome, screeching, annoying, etc. All I know is that it grows on me. Another unforgettable trait of their music is the lyrics of their songs. They’re all about life, in a weird and quirky way. Some songs are hilarious and others are just plain thought provoking. If you’re interested in learning more about this band, this is the documentary to watch.

We meet Daniel Smith, founder of pre-mentioned bands, and learn about how everything started. Things are explained related to band members, who they are, are they really related, music content, costumes, etc. It was also cool to see Daniel Johnston a bit in there. Besides learning about all of the band members, there’s also a sprinkling of live footage throughout. We also learn what’s in store for the future and Smith’s current projects.

If you’re not that into music and/or don’t really like documentaries, this probably isn’t the film for you. I really enjoyed it though. Thanks for the suggestion Shorb!

Transformers

Published
by
Chalupa
on July 11, 2007
in Action, Adventure, Animation, Based on TV Series, Based on a comic, Sci-fi, Technology and Thriller
. 0 Comments

I don’t have a whole lot to say about Transformers. I used to watch the cartoon as a kid, but wasn’t fanatical about it. I’m also not opinionated enough about the cartoon to rip apart the movie for minuscule inconsistencies. Yeah, so Optimus Prime has some flames painted on the side and Megatron didn’t turn into a gun fired by Starscream. Big deal. The movie was still action packed and entertaining.

For me, I don’t know if this would have been absolutely necessary to see on the big screen. I’m sure some would heartily disagree with that, but this would have been the same experience for me on my television. I still suggest catching it sometime.