Big Fish

What a great movie! Beautiful cinematography, an interesting story and a lot of things that I'd wished I'd learned as a kid (i.e. take your own path and don't assume that what people expect from you is the right way to go). I didn't like the son so much, it's interesting (to me at least) that I've started (or at least in this movie I do) identifying with the father. Guess I'm old. Anyhow, this is something I'd definitely like to watch with my sons once they are old enough to appreciate it. It's a great representation of how much potential is in all of us, and how easy it is too get lost and miss the chance to make use of it to it's fullest.

A solid A-, the only thing that prevents it from an A is the weak performance by Billy Crudup.

Heroes Season 3

There's a lot of back and forth on the 'net about if this season is good or not. As far as plot we'll have to see but it certainly has brought back the delicious ambiguity that S1 had, not to mention totally gross pictures of people's brains. Good stuff. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the season, something I didn't say at all last year.

Hurrah!

The Simpsons Movie

I remember watching the Tracey Ulman show on my black and white TV when I was a kid and seeing a rude cartoon called the Simpsons. Ever since then I've been a pretty big fan of the sometimes witty show and looked forward to the movie. Like many things the Simpsons started out good, quickly peaked and then started a slow downward decline, but there where still occasional flashes of brilliance. This movie is not one of them. Sure there are great parts, some extremely funny scenes but for the most part it's nothing you've not already seen before. Except Bart's penis.

It was entertaining but there are better episodes. I'd say it's a C+

Weeds Season 2

More of the same, although things are getting crazy out of control. No one should be surprised that if you are going to be a moderately large time drug dealer and decide to grow it as well that chances are you're going to bump into organized crime. Basically the entire season focused on how she was a pretty horrible mom. All the situations that they are getting into (or at least almost all of them) stem from her decision to sell pot. I guess it's a pretty strong message that parents should not become illegal substance sales persons. Duh

Anyways, it's interesting if a bit unrealistic (the main character is extremely smart but almost psychopathic as far as denying the eventual end that pretty much anyone dealing that quantity of drugs is going to meet. Still they do a great job of keeping you interested in the next episode, even if things are extremely unlikely to happen in real life.

Taxi Driver

I wish I could have seen this movie when it came out. NYC was at it's apex (nadir?) of crime, Vietnam vets all over the US where still trying to come to terms with "loosing" a war that the public didn't really support in the first place and porn was still something that you snuck into dirty theatres to watch. Vietnam has been replaced by a war even more openly for matieral gain, NYC is clean and victimized (odd that today is when I post this) and porn is something common place to any American kid with a computer. It's odd, when I was a 13 or 14 a Penhouse was a really big deal. Now you can download any kink you want after 30 seconds of googling the right terms. How the world has improved in 32 years.

This was a beautiful movie (cinimatagraphically, if that's even a word) and the acting in it is first rate, but unfortunately I've seen every copy cat director's version of this story so it didnt have the impact it must have had in the mid 70's. The music is dated and no one with a half a brain is suprised that there are 12 year old hookers, although they probably look closer to 40, not fresh off the farm like Jodie Foster.  This was a good movie but still, I can't wonder what it would have looked like with a fresh mind. I did enjoy the set and stages. It's a lot like the world looked like when I was a young kid and that's kind of cool. This is a movie set in a time where you'd get beat up for wearing a bicycle helmet, doctors smoked in between seeing pacients and no one imagined you could become a millionare for getting hot coffee.

It's an interesting contrast with Cool Hand Luke. In Taxi Driver the protagonist is pretty much a dumb psycho, but ends up with everyone proud of him. Cool Hand Luke is more about a guy who is nice but just does not know when to quit. Similar in that neither fit in, but there is a lot more sympatico in CHL.

Anyhow, it's certainly a solid B but I can't help but wonder what it would have been like to see this fresh, a lot of the visceral effect is gone from both the obvious age of the scenes and the really dated soundtrack.

Weeds

So I finished Season 1 this weekend. For the folks who have not seen it Weeds is a dark comedy/drama about a chick who lives in an upscale suburban neighborhood. She was a stay at home mom and her husband died and she decides to sell pot to maintain her lifestyle. Yeah, she's crazy, and more then a little bit. It's a well written show with lots of cinimatic tricks and nods (the final episode is a great riff on the end of The Godfather for instance). There are certainly some laugh-out-loud moments but this is not a light weight comedy, everything from underage sex to addiction to the simple problem of fitting in with your peer group is scrutinized on this show.

It's amusing to me to see the depiction of suburban life in this show, maybe because it's reasonably accurate. I have friends who live there so to speak. Maybe they should start selling pot. The last rather interesting thing about this show is that although it's a Showtime produced series there is not a whole lot of sex on the show, more then you'd get on CBS but not anywhere near the Soprando's level...but there is a TON of drug porn. Seriously, someone there has a hard on for pot because it's shown and shown frequently in the show. I don't really have a problem with that except it's kind of funny to have so much screen time devoted to dried plants.

Almost Famous

What a great movie. My biggest 2 gripe about this film are 1) at the very ending when Billy Crudup calls Kate Hudson to tell her he wants to meet with her one last time. For some reason the dialogue there was really stilted and 2) the band sounded more like a Creed wannabe then a true classic rock band. Both of thse are pretty minor things, over all this was a fantastic film, easily one of my favorites. It does not hurt that it has a Led Zepplin heavy sound track either.

Kate Hudson is fantastic, you'd have to have a heart of stone not to fall in love with her character a little bit. Patrick Fugit does a great job and Frances McDormand is outstanding as a driven mom just trying to do the best for her kids. What a great film.

A true A movie!

Half Baked

So Dave Chappelle is obviously a funny guy and there where some parts to this film that made me laugh really hard (the different types of stoners for instance, anyone who's been to high school or college can relate), but over all this was only a 2nd rate comedy. With all the hubub around Chappelle I was hoping for better. The fact that he pointed to pot as a "gateway drug" is kind of sad, especially since later he makes a point that the level that it's users will stoop to is nothing like harder substances. And much of the acting is horrific. I wanted this to be better but it was only somewhat funny and mildly interesting.

Just a C

if you want something much funnier in the same category I recommend Grandma's Boy.

Empire Records

Not a bad movie. Sometimes it's a bit formulaic teen/twenty something movie (yes, the guy gets the girl) but it certainly brings back the sense of being a cool 23 year old - I *knew* these people, or maybe was one of them, albeit not as photogenic. Basically this is a movie about being young, doing what you want and how damn cool it would be to work in an independent record store, with a nostalgic nod to the "underground" culture of the mid 90's. At it's worst this movie was entertaining.

B-