Monday, January 29, 2007

These are not the Driods you are looking for


I have been putting in a lot of hours at the office recently. Who suffers from all of these 10-hour days? Not me, I get paid more. Not my employer, they get loads of work done meeting silly self-imposed deadlines. You, you my avid readers, suffer from neglect and lack of attention. Right when you are all at that all important point in development when you need my attention and care the most, I am off making a buck.

Friday night I went to bed early and didn’t stir again until 1:00 Saturday afternoon. I was way more tired than I thought.

I watched a dozen movies this weekend. It was hard, but I sat through them all. One of the best was “Grandma’s Boy.” This movie looked worse than “The Core” with a cast of Adam Sandler’s hang on co-stars from his comedies. But I have to tell you that I was laughing out loud very hard through most of the movie. So if you like goofy guy humor about weed, video games, sexual intercourse with your grandmother, and that hot chick who plays Velma Dinkley from Scooby Doo (I’ve always had it bad for those smart girls with glasses) you will love “Grandma’s Boy.”

Another movie with high guy appeal “Artie Lange’s Beer League.” Lange was the main reason I started listening to Howard Stern eight years ago. He is the reason I listen still today. A loveable everyman Artie has great lines in everyday life. Recently he returned from rehab (again) kicking heroin and now weighs in at his all time maximum capacity. While his self-deprecation can go over the top at times, there is no match for the celebrity stories he tells. Just this morning he recalled the time he met Peter Boyle (the dad from Everyone Loves Raymond or Frankenstein's Monster in Young Frankenstein) and how they smoked a joint together. So again, if you find these things interesting, Beer League is a great movie.

For you ladies, may I recommend “The Illusionist”? The memorizing Ed Norton, playful Paul Giamatti, and proof that Jessica Biel can act, this is a period piece that does not disappoint. From the first flicker of the film we are drawn into a time and place we should recognize but are askew. You can make guesses on how it will end, but it’s better to just watch and enjoy.

My fiancé Kate Bosworth made a little movie last year called Superman Returns. Most of us saw this in the theater and walked away wondering, “who the hell ruined this franchise?” But I would encourage you to watch it again or see it on the small screen. Remember that the direct made a decision to start this movie after “Superman II.” If you don’t recall, Superman just finished fighting three criminals cast to the forbidden zone for punishment. When you play Kevin Bacon connector it’s a good one to know as Zog, played by Terrance Stamp, is the same man who was in Pricilla Queen of the Desert, Hunt for Red October, and The Limey (which you must see if you haven’t.) Another side, the man who played Perry White in Superman II is Jackie Cooper who also has a long list of connections including to Boris Karloff. ANYWAY… the director of Superman Returns ignores that who Richard Pryor Red Kryptonite problem and goes right for a vision after beating Zog and succumbing to the human temptations of Lois Lane, the appitimie of every mans fantasy (strong, attractive, smart, and bossy female that is too blindly in love to see the man of her dreams is a pair of sexy specks away.) Good for a second viewing, especially for an over the top Kevin Spacey, and of course my fiancé Kate Bosworth.

Mention of “The Limey” reminds me that Steven Soderbergh should never do another Oceans Eleven movie. “The Limey”, direct by Soderbergh, also did some of my other favorite movies such as “Out of Sight” and another movie watched this weekend “Erin Brockovich.” If it has been a while since you have seen “Erin Brockovich” it is Oscar season and traditional to go back and see some of the past winners.

Looking for a foreign film? I can recommend two for you. First watch “L’Auberge Espagnole” (or the US title Euro Pudding.) Very fun and modern look at the world through the eyes of a French business student studying in Barcelona Spain living in a packed apartment with other students from across the continent. Next, watch the sequel to the film “Les Poupées Russes” (or Russian Dolls.) These movies are coming of age films of twenty somethings discovering who they are. More importantly they give a mind set to the next generation (or what us Yanks would say are GenX/GenY) of Europeans. Who they interact, how they view love and relationships, and how they see themselves in the world.

Media, books, music, movies, and television are all consumed like calories. There are empty things we wished we had not had, like Beer League and Grandma’s Boy. Some are like Thanksgiving dinner, we leave full unbuckling our belts and sleep with vivid dreams, such as a good Soderbergh. Then there are those that we can’t have every day but are savored on rare occasion, like a good French film.

Over the next week or two you shouldn’t be hungry for any more title’s as you to any of these movies.

2 comments:

  1. K, I watched the Illlusionist this past weekend (prior to you writing this post) and really was disappointed. I thought the plot was weak, I thought you could see the ending from miles away, and I really didn't think it proved Jessica could act. Sorry. (I only rented it because I'm a huge Ed Norton fan, and I thought he was pretty weak in this film, too)

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  2. Normally - I might agree. But I would also point out that you were in the wrong state of mind for this movie. You first need to watch Grandmas Boy and Beer League, then The Illusionist seems like a great movie.

    Also - it was highly rated by critics and on a few top ten lists... If you are good at guessing ending, don't watch this one.

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