Thursday, March 27, 2008
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Movie Log: March
Mar. 1: American Movie
I've been aware of this film for several years due in part to glowing recommendations from my friends Wyatt and Tom, but nothing compares to witnessing it first hand. The filming of the two movies, the commitment of Mark's friends and family, and the stupidty/comic genius of these Northwestern rednecks never failed to amaze me. Watching it with two Swedes made it more entertaining as they revealed that many Swedes settled in Northwestern areas such as Wisconsin (including Mark's family)giving its people their unique accent. I was even occasionally surpirsed by the intelligence Mark had which was more often outshined by his naivety and backwoods education (or lack thereof as he dropped out of school). But the most arresting character is not Mark, but his best friend and his uncle. Mark's best friend Mike provides the beautiful acoustic metal music that is the film's sole soundtrack and regals us with tales of drug abuse juxtaposed with his firm anti-drug stance of the past year and a half, all delivered with his trademark blank stare and dead brain cell droll. Mark's uncle Bill serves as the executive producer to Coven because of his financial contribution that appears to be aquired through Mark tricking this near-senile man who provides comic relief through the fact that he hates the movie and everything about it, is one of only two characters who don't believe in Mark (the other being an old friend who views Mark's dreams as pathetic), constantly discusses with Mark how near death he is, and is the one character who's nature is so hilarious that even the rest of the people in the film find him comical. The only downfall of the documentary is that you don't get to see Coven or Northwestern in their entirety. More than anything else I've said, my sole justification in recommending this film is due to the fact that myself and the four other people watching found it so funny at first that we swore it was a scripted mockumentary and was too funny to possibly be real. But it is!
Mar. 7: Alvin & The Chipmunks
This film was playing on the plane as Alisha and I flew to New York. I started watching Juno, but found it dull and full of junior high humor, so I opted for the much more high brow Alvin & The Chipmunks. How was it? Exactly how you think it was. The worst part was actually the editing and how poorly the plot flowed together because of it. Dave and the Chipmunks went from obscurity to international superstardom within the span of a 5-minute montage. I'd add that is was better than Garfield: The Movie and that David Cross was occasionally funny, although still a total tool for doing the movie. Also, we had a great deal of turbulence during the flight and each time we went through a violent patch of it, I wondered what it'd be like if the plane crashed and we died and the last thing I saw was Alvin & The Chipmunks.
Mar. 15: D-War: Dragon Wars
The movie starts in the present day, then to a flashback that goes into a story from 500 years ago that then itself goes into a flashback. This was followed by about 5 minutes where I thought it was the greatest movie I had ever seen. What followed was the worst movie I've ever seen, and I've seen You Got Served. It was the first movie since the new King Kong that I fell asleep before the end. I think Korean film critic Kim Bong-sok summed it up best when he said it was "below criticism."
34 Nicholas Cage films left.
I've been aware of this film for several years due in part to glowing recommendations from my friends Wyatt and Tom, but nothing compares to witnessing it first hand. The filming of the two movies, the commitment of Mark's friends and family, and the stupidty/comic genius of these Northwestern rednecks never failed to amaze me. Watching it with two Swedes made it more entertaining as they revealed that many Swedes settled in Northwestern areas such as Wisconsin (including Mark's family)giving its people their unique accent. I was even occasionally surpirsed by the intelligence Mark had which was more often outshined by his naivety and backwoods education (or lack thereof as he dropped out of school). But the most arresting character is not Mark, but his best friend and his uncle. Mark's best friend Mike provides the beautiful acoustic metal music that is the film's sole soundtrack and regals us with tales of drug abuse juxtaposed with his firm anti-drug stance of the past year and a half, all delivered with his trademark blank stare and dead brain cell droll. Mark's uncle Bill serves as the executive producer to Coven because of his financial contribution that appears to be aquired through Mark tricking this near-senile man who provides comic relief through the fact that he hates the movie and everything about it, is one of only two characters who don't believe in Mark (the other being an old friend who views Mark's dreams as pathetic), constantly discusses with Mark how near death he is, and is the one character who's nature is so hilarious that even the rest of the people in the film find him comical. The only downfall of the documentary is that you don't get to see Coven or Northwestern in their entirety. More than anything else I've said, my sole justification in recommending this film is due to the fact that myself and the four other people watching found it so funny at first that we swore it was a scripted mockumentary and was too funny to possibly be real. But it is!
Mar. 7: Alvin & The Chipmunks
This film was playing on the plane as Alisha and I flew to New York. I started watching Juno, but found it dull and full of junior high humor, so I opted for the much more high brow Alvin & The Chipmunks. How was it? Exactly how you think it was. The worst part was actually the editing and how poorly the plot flowed together because of it. Dave and the Chipmunks went from obscurity to international superstardom within the span of a 5-minute montage. I'd add that is was better than Garfield: The Movie and that David Cross was occasionally funny, although still a total tool for doing the movie. Also, we had a great deal of turbulence during the flight and each time we went through a violent patch of it, I wondered what it'd be like if the plane crashed and we died and the last thing I saw was Alvin & The Chipmunks.
Mar. 15: D-War: Dragon Wars
The movie starts in the present day, then to a flashback that goes into a story from 500 years ago that then itself goes into a flashback. This was followed by about 5 minutes where I thought it was the greatest movie I had ever seen. What followed was the worst movie I've ever seen, and I've seen You Got Served. It was the first movie since the new King Kong that I fell asleep before the end. I think Korean film critic Kim Bong-sok summed it up best when he said it was "below criticism."
34 Nicholas Cage films left.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Mr. Cage Leaves Hollywood
Here are some comments the Cage recently made about his future in the film world:
“Some movie stars look like they are having a ball, but I’m tired of it. It has made me reclusive. That is an increasingly gnawing feeling in my body. When I first started I loved it. One of my frustrations is I have no control. I haven’t worked in a while, and it will be eight months before I start my next picture. I know for the first time which direction I’m going in and what changes I want to make.”
“For some reason, I piss off the audience. People who like one type of film don’t like to see me in another. Things I did and said early on still haunt me. I started acting at 17, but I’m 44 now and have grown up. I wonder if I am still interesting to watch if I didn’t drink or raise hell, but it’s obnoxious to keep drinking.”
If Ed Harris couldn't stop the Cage, nothing can.
“Some movie stars look like they are having a ball, but I’m tired of it. It has made me reclusive. That is an increasingly gnawing feeling in my body. When I first started I loved it. One of my frustrations is I have no control. I haven’t worked in a while, and it will be eight months before I start my next picture. I know for the first time which direction I’m going in and what changes I want to make.”
“For some reason, I piss off the audience. People who like one type of film don’t like to see me in another. Things I did and said early on still haunt me. I started acting at 17, but I’m 44 now and have grown up. I wonder if I am still interesting to watch if I didn’t drink or raise hell, but it’s obnoxious to keep drinking.”
If Ed Harris couldn't stop the Cage, nothing can.
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