The Cabin in the Woods

2011 horror movie deconstruction

Rating: 16/20

Plot: Five stereotypes go on a retreat to the titular cabin in the titular woods, mess around in the cellar with stuff that doesn't belong to them, and unleash a redneck zombie family. Although there's a little bit more to it than all that.

I managed to hear about this movie without knowing anything about it which is exactly how you need to go into the experience. Let me be completely honest--I'm having a difficult time determining whether this is a really intelligent pseudo-horror movie that deconstructs the genre; pokes fun at its cliches, excesses, and even its audience; and manages to be really funny, infectiously energetic, and wildly creative or if it's just really really silly. Or maybe it's a little of both of those and that's exactly why it's so invigorating. I really enjoyed some allusions to horror classics, including the Evil Deads, and there's a moment of sheer lunatic brilliance in this that was simultaneously the most ridiculous thing I've seen all year and one of those moments capable of forcing one to cream his jean shorts in a way that jean shorts have never been creamed before. What follows is nonstop horror action with questionable special effects and even more questionable logic that cools down with a little Sigourney Weaver and some gummy allegory. Intellectually fascinating and horrifically stupid-fresh, this would make horror movie fanboys giggle themselves blind while also appealing to people who like dissecting movies to discover their meanings.

Barton Fink

1991 movie

Rating: 19/20

Plot: The titular playwright rides the success of his play about the plight of common men to a contract with a film studio and is hired to write a movie about wrestling. He moves to L.A. where he struggles with the screenplay and makes some friends.

I know that I saw black comedy before Barton Fink, but I'm not sure I appreciated the genre as much before I saw this. I guess this just came along at the perfect time in my life, and I found it easy to connect with its dry humor, its surreal glimpse of one man's personal hell, and its many incomprehensibilities. I didn't understand it back then, but it was a movie with these overly-colorful characters in this setting that seems to be right from somebody's lackadaisical nightmare that I just felt, one of those movies that keeps coming back and rubbing up against your leg long after you're finished with it. I don't think it was the first artsy-fartsy movie that I liked--I'd seen Eraserhead--but it was the one that made me actively seek out more artsy-fartsy movies and turned me into a Coen brothers fan. And you know what? I still don't have a grasp on this one twenty years after I saw it which, for me at least, puts it right up there with a lot of my favorite movies, works of art, writings, or music. It's a riddle that I'll always love diving into.

What a look the Coens capture with this! It's almost like they wanted to see how many different shades of brown they could squeeze on the screen. The movie's got this dusty tint which adds to the dreamlike tone. And I love the shots of the peeling wallpaper, the mosquito cam, all these absurdly long hallways (sometimes with shoes laid out in front of the doors) and balconies, and some of that typical quietly flamboyant Coen camera work. The movie's also got such colorful characters, both the major and minor ones, that are wonderfully performed by a few Coen regulars. Turturro's almost a straight man in this, but he gets more than enough chances to stand out on his own when his character passionately engages in one-sided discussions about the importance of his work or gets angry or nervous about something. Charlie's the perfect role for Goodman whose smile is as big as the hotel room. This was when Goodman became Goodman for me since I was too distracted by the genius of Nicolas Cage to notice him in Raising Arizona and only really knew him from Roseanne and Revenge of the Nerds. He and his chins are just such a physical presence in this. John Mahoney--who is the coolest guy ever according to a history teacher I used to work with who was an extra in some movie that Mahoney had something to do with--is also very good as the writer, W.P. Mayhew. Buscemi's Chet, Judy Davis's Audrey, Michael Lerner's Lipnick, Tony Shalhoub's Geisler, and Richard Portnow and Christopher Murney's Italian and German detectives are all smaller but still memorable roles that add such color to the Coen's world. And then there's the humor. Chet's double introduction of himself (Chet!) is my personal favorite moment, probably because of Steve Buscemi's teeth, but I also love the very first little "joke" where a guy screams "Fresh fish," a gag that is just so beautifully executed. As the characters maneuver through this landscape of surreal imagery and symbols, it's hard to know whether you're supposed to laugh at them or be horrified, and that's part of the magic of this movie. This will more than likely be a movie that I will always feel slightly lost within, kind of like its protagonist. No, that doesn't sound like a comfortable movie feeling, but it's a feeling that I'll never forget and one of the main reasons I started really liking movies in the first place.

My favorite line in the whole thing, by the way: "These are big movies about big men in tights, physically and mentally--especially physically."

Oprah Movie Club Pick for April: The Muppets

2011 Muppet movie that can't be called The Muppet Movie because there already is a movie called that

Rating: 15/20 (Emma: 18/20; Abbey: 19/20)

Plot: The aptly-named Tex Richman is about to buy the land upon which sits the former Muppet studios because he wants to drill for oil there. When Gary, his girlfriend Mary, and his little felt brother Walter find out while vacationing in Hollywood, they find Kermit to let him know and help him reunite the Muppets for a telethon to raise money to save the studio. Those curmudgeons who always sat in the balcony crack wise.

I have to get this out of the way before I type anything else--I've always loved the Muppets and probably always will. I love them unapologetically and unconditionally. If Scooter bounced over to me and hit me squarely in the groin with a baseball bat, I would grimace and fall down writhing in pain and ask, "Scooter, what was that for?" but it wouldn't keep me from loving the Muppets. I think it's the texture of their "skin" that I like so much. And it looked great in this movie--you could see the felt, and all the colors of these colorful characters, especially when they filled the screen with their movements all at once, just hit my nostalgic sweet spot and made the child within me giggle. I don't want to go on and on about the material Muppets are made of; I'm not a pervert or anything.

This really is a movie that's all about nostalgia. I can't imagine a fan of the brilliant television show or the other movies hating this despite some flaws. It's true to the original stuff and, at least I think, the overall vision of Jim Henson. There's some self-referential stuff peppered in the script and a fan favorite song playing over the closing credits. All of the characters show up except for that John Denver Muppet, and the new character, though possibly guilty of being a little on the bland side, is just too likable not to like a little bit. Really, I wanted to give Walter a noogie. Not that I'm a pervert or anything. It was great seeing all the characters in something a little more traditionally Muppety than the parodies they've appeared in more recently. The start of their big show with their theme song nearly jerked tears from me!

The humor's also slap-happy meta-, and Muppet-esque, and although Muppet-esque humor probably isn't for everybody, I laughed more during this than I've laughed at anything for a long time. I laughed like a little boy, too. I laughed at Muppet teeth, a robot offering Tab and New Coke, Swedish Chef subtitles (and that "Say hello to my little friend" reference was so funny), a human replacement for Animal in Fozzie's Moopet band (Dave Grohl, the first of two Nirvana references), Punch Teacher, Tex's unlikely and surprising burst into a rap song, hip-hop Fozzie's "Wakka Wakka," and the barbershop quartet version of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" which was about the best thing I've ever heard in a movie and my new second movie scene that takes place in a barbershop. That's right, Chaplin still has the top spot.

This is a Muppet musical, and I actually enjoyed the songs. There was one nice nod to a song from an earlier movie (I won't give it away, but it has to do with rainbows and connecting) that was beautifully done, sonically and visually. The duet about being a "Muppet Man" or a "Manly Muppet" managed to be both touching and hilarious.

Jason Segal and Amy Adams were both potentially bothersome, but they were fine here. I enjoyed Segal especially with this wide-eyed "Holy cow! I'm in a freakin' Muppet movie!" look that he had throughout this thing. You expect and at times put up with all the cameos, just like you kind of have to wade through a few terrible jokes to get to the really funny parts. The story was ok but predictable, but there were an awful lot of side plots. So many stories! This also almost overflows with themes, and although a lot of those themes really connect, it almost seems too ambitious at times.

Still, I'm not complaining about anything I saw here, and I was enormously entertained by this. And I am thrilled that this Muppet comeback wasn't completely screwed up.

Rubber

2010 killer tire movie

Rating: 14/20

Plot: An abandoned automobile tire rolls around the desert and uses its telepathic powers to destroy any trash, bunnies, or people who get in its way. A crowd of people is given binoculars to watch the proceedings.

Like Christine or Maximum Overdrive or Duel but with only a tire. Or like your typical 50's monster movie except instead of a guy in a rubber suit causing mayhem, you just get the rubber. From a technical standpoint, I enjoyed trying to figure out how the tire was brought to life. It may be a much easier special effect than I think it is, and it certainly wasn't a special effect you'd describe as flashy. Most of this movie is the tire rolling around, only stopping to quiver and make a loud noise and make something explode, or people sitting around watching the tire, a meta-cular cinematic joke that's the sort of thing Soderbergh might put together in his spare time between Oceans 19 and Oceans 20. We're told at the beginning that this film is an "homage to the most powerful element of style" in movies--a lack of reason. It frequently falls into annoying cutesy-clever territories, turning into the kind of indie production that you want to take out back and slap around a bit. But was I entertained? Heck, yeah! It's a tire rolling around making bunnies explode! How could I not be entertained? Funniest bit involves a cop taking a tire off a car and saying, "This is what our killer looks like." No, the funniest bit is probably where they set a trap with an explosive dummy. I also can appreciate any movie that has a scene implying that a tire has jerked off while watching an exercise video. I'll give director Quentin Dupieux credit for seeing this ridiculous idea to its end, but his message about movies comes across like a film school student trying to impress his professor who rambles on and on about arthouse cinema every class.

I'll probably lose any chance at a Father of the Year Award for admitting this, but I was watching this with a couple of my children until the moment when heads started exploding and I told them to go upstairs. They didn't enjoy the bunny explosions at all and were probably disappointed that their father laughed at it.

Summer of Nicolas Cage Movie #3: Adaptation

2002 orchid movie

Rating: 18/20

Plot: Charlie Kaufman, straight from the critical success of Being John Malkovich, attempts to adapt best-selling novel The Orchid Thief into a screenplay. He struggles with the material while at the same time struggling with life in general. Meanwhile, his brother Donald decides to also become a screenwriter and is having no problems with his serial killer murder mystery The Three. This puts Charlie in a bad mood. He tries everything--a meeting with the original author, the same writer's workshop that Donald attended, even getting his brother's feedback--as he tries to meet deadlines and get the script finished.

A special treat for Nicolas Cage fans for a few reasons. 1) He's kind of fat in this one, so there's actually more Nicolas Cage on the screen than in any other movie. 2) He plays twins, Charlie and Donald, so at times, you get two kind-of-fat Nicolas Cages on the screen simultaneously. It's almost an overdose of Nicolas Cage. 3) For my money, it's his finest acting performance. If you've got any doubt at all about the talents of Nicolas Cage, probably because you've seen his new Drive Angry or The Wicker Man or Ghost Rider, this is probably the one that'll convince you that you've been wrong about the guy. And really, all you need to do is hear him say "Banana Nut--that's a good muffin" in order to be convinced. I'd imagine that playing twins, especially if they share a lot of screen time and actually interact with each other, would be difficult. If Hayley Mills would ever answer my creepy letters, I'd know for sure. Cage is terrific here as a set of twins, so good with body language, voice modulation, and barely perceivable nuances that you know right away which character is which. I think a lot of the credit for Cage's performance has to be given to Spike Jonze, and Cage has even said that he did what the director told him instead of going with his natural instincts. I wonder if Meryl Streep as author Susan Orlean and Chris Cooper as the titular orchid thief John Laroches did the same thing because they're just as terrific. And when you have three acting performances that are this good in a movie? Hold on to your hat! All three were nominated, and Cooper won for best supporting actor. Jonze's direction is solid, too; I was most impressed with the way the intersecting parts of this story are edited in a way that, although it makes you a little uncomfortable because it is jarring, manages to hold all these massively complex parts together. But the real star of this show is the screenplay by the Kaufman "brothers," a multifaceted rare jewel of a script that will bounce around your noggin for days after you've seen this. The story is so layered, so self-referential, so meta-clever, and so thematically complex that it's like an action movie for intellectuals, the type of movie that'll make really smart people pump their fists and grunt. Kaufman's script bounces off itself in some really cool ways, and the more you think about it, the more surprising ways it makes connections. Adaptation is really the anti-Con Air, a movie that you really have to put some work into in order to fully enjoy. It's either the type of movie that you have to watch a few times to have a grasp (not a complete grasp, mind you) or the type of movie that proves I'm not as smart as most people. I do enjoy movies about the creative process (i.e. Barton Fink, Naked Lunch, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, even Black Swan I guess) though. There's just so much here, and I really wish I would have waited until next month to make this the Oprah Movie Club selection for July. This is a unique film and a good muffin of a movie.

And Hayley Mills--if you happen to Google your own name and find this, please write me back and send those pictures I've requested.

Head

1968 psychedicasploitation

Rating: 16/20

Plot: None really.

So it's a product of its time, the technicolor acid-drenched psychedelic late-60s. And it stars the Monkees who don't quite have the charisma or charm of the Fab Four and, as really more of a joke TV band, didn't have the musical chops or pedigree to be involved in anything musically or visually trippy. And sure, some of the visual effects date it and the poster is awfully yellow. But for whatever reason, this freeform trek through the subconscious works. And the stream-of-conscious script by director Bob Rafelson and none other than Jack Nicholson is frequently clever satirically and makes it work as a metafilm. As a story, it's spilled soup, a hodgepodge of spilled soups actually that would likely scald a lot of people, but it does have this way of weaving in and out of itself in fun and surprising ways. The songs aren't too bad either. They're lower shelf psychedelic numbers maybe, but they still work here. Add Annette Funicello and a cameo appearance by Frank Zappa and you've got yourself a movie! And no they're not the Beatles, but this is loads better than the weirdo equivalent Magical Mystery Tour movie. And if you look hard enough through the surrealist sludge, you'll very likely find a little meaning, too. Sneakily intelligent and delightfully quirky, Head is a nice little relic that is worth seeing for fans of the goofball genre.

The Aristocrats

2005 dirty joke

Rating: 12/20

Plot: An enormous collection of some of the world's funniest people and Bob Saget ruminate a filthy vaudevillian joke.

This would have been a lot better if it was about half as long. If nothing else, it helps me discover that I don't think I like comedians very much. The interviews with the comedians are edited to make this into a pissing contest. There's also this vertigo-inducing thing going on where you get rapid quick-cuts of the comedians telling the joke from multiple angles, I guess so the producers can show off the fact that they had more than one camera. I never figured out why that was necessary. There's nothing especially clever about any of this, but it does have a lot of very funny moments and gives a glimpse of the inner workings of how funny people make the funny. Overall, it's not as outrageous as it wants to be and in no way succeeds in being as funny as it thinks it is for ninety minutes. It's definitely not for everybody although there is one scene that I doubt anybody could watch without uttering, "My God! This is the greatest thing ever filmed!" That's right--I'm referring to the scene where the mime delivers his version of the joke. That was comedy gold.

Schizopolis

1996 dada practical joke

Rating: 16/20

Plot: Fletcher Munson's a bored guy. He's bored with his marriage, and he's bored with his job as a speechwriter for a quasi-religious organization called Eventualism. That corporation might have a mole, a spy, or both a mole and a spy. Meanwhile, Munson's relationship with his wife deteriorates to the point where she begins to take steps to leave him for a dentist who looks exactly like him.

You've got to love a movie that doesn't need any excuse whatsoever to have a crazed exterminator named Elmo Oxygen who runs around town seducing housewives until he's offered a more exciting movie role and leaves the movie. Or maybe you won't love it. I don't think Steven Soderbergh really gives a shit. I've seen this one thrice now, and although nothing new is really garnered from subsequent viewings, it does help to know that this is the type of movie that you really shouldn't try to "get" and instead just let the thing crawl on top of you and wiggle around in a semi-violent and arguably inappropriate way. It is entertaining, and you will laugh. Or maybe you won't, but Soderbergh won't give a shit about that either. I do really love what this movie has to say about communication and relationships; it toys with language in an interesting way. For a movie allegedly shot without a script and largely improvised, the three distinct parts (showing the speechwriter, dentist, and wife's point of views) come together so well, overlapping in ways that are surprisingly meaningful. This is about as close as you can get to a Pee Wee's Big Adventure for adults, and the world would benefit from having more movies made similarly to this. Or maybe not. Soderbergh wouldn't care.

Contempt

1963 Godard drama

Rating: 16/20

Plot: A screenwriter is summoned to Italy by an American producer to work on an artsy German screened version of The Odyssey directed by Fritz Lang. The writer's wife accompanies him, and artistic and personal tensions begin to take a toll on the marriage.

This is the least adventurous Godard movie I've seen, and I'm really not sure I'm smart enough to have even watched it. There are some film and literary references I don't really get. I'm still trying to make connections between the voyage of Ulysses and the disintegrating marriage in Contempt, and I'm also not completely sure what Godard is trying to say about the cinema with this. I am smart enough to lust after Brigitte Bardot, however. I can handle that. This movie's broken into three parts--an exposition where the beginnings of a conflict between the husband and wife fester, a long argument that takes place in the couple's apartment, and a trip to the producer's home. It's the middle section that really stands out here. Several long takes are used to show the couple almost in real time, and there's a rhythm to the dialogue that is just perfect. It's an emotionally exhausting scene, and Godard uses the walls of the apartment and the decor to frame the actors and represent their conflict visually. All dialogue, but there's a choreography that makes it almost like a fist fight. It's a fantastic long scene, and Michel Piccoli and Bardot come across as very real and natural in it. There's another great scene near the end where the screen is almost split in half by the geography--Piccoli sulks on a gray hillside while Bardot swims in pure blue waters. Naked. And I've got to say, Bardot isn't just mesmerizing physically here. Her performance is equally mesmerizing, and there's a mystery to her character that is very appealing. Jack Palance and Fritz Lang are also terrific as the jerk-off producer and as, well, Fritz Lang. Neither of them are naked though. Although I'm not sure I like how it ended, I thought this was a well-written and brilliantly acted story that puts the viewer right in the center of a flawed protagonist's artistic and marital struggles.

Man with a Movie Camera

1929 documentary

Rating: 18/20

Plot: None. A man with a camera photographs Russians going about their everyday business from dawn until dusk.

There's so much to see here. The titular man risks injury to capture some unique and kinetic moving pictures of everyday people absorbed in mundane activities. I struggle to understand exactly what the point of it all is (one could discuss its connection with modern day reality television or paparazzi, I suppose, but I'm not sure Dziga Vertov was familiar with MTV's The Real World--Tucson or how grotesque that Amy Winehouse looks in cut-off jean shorts); however, I sure enjoyed watching it. There's a lot of shots of men and women interacting with machinery which, in a way, makes this an interesting companion for Chaplin's Modern Times. Director Dziga Vertov uses (invents?) an assortment of film tricks--double exposure, stop animation, split-screen, slowed down film, etc.--which makes this not only an important document for sociologists but folks interested in cinema. Even if you're not interested in either, the images come at your rapidly enough that the movie remains interesting for its duration. Vertov creates a language of images here that is startlingly unique today and must have really blown 1929 audiences away. The version I watched had music by Michael Nyman who scores Peter Greenaway's movies, and it's always great to hear his stuff.

Recommended by Cory.

The Stunt Man

1980 action comedy

Rating: 16/20

Plot: Cameron, a Vietnam veteran on the run from the police, stumbles into a production of a war film directed by eccentric director Eli Cross. After he contributes in the death of a stunt man, Cross offers him a job as his replacement. The pay's good and the leading actress is attractive, so he accepts. He starts to wonder, however, whether the director wants him to survive his stunts or not.

Though flawed, The Stunt Man really has it all. Action. Suspense. Mystery. Humor. Romance. Philosophical reflections on our perceptions of reality and deity. Nudity. Intrigue. A great performance by O'Toole as the god-like director. Well-choreographed comedic stunt scenes. Twists. A fine score. A terrific script. And I absolutely love the opening scene involving a vulture, half-eaten apple, and a helicopter. With The Stunt Man, it's all about the dichotomies. This movie manages to be an over-the-top action movie and an art film simultaneously. It manages to be very subtle and in your face at the same time. This is a really interesting, multi-layered movie that will either come together or fall to pieces with subsequent viewings. It's not perfect (blame the editing), but it's a treat for both the brain and gut.

Buster Keaton Saturday: Sherlock Jr.

1924 romantic action-comedy

Rating: 17/20 (Emma: 17/20; Jen: zzzzz)

Plot: Our protagonist dreams of becoming a detective which could be detrimental to his real job as a projectionist. When accused of stealing and pawning a watch belonging to the father of the love of his life, he is booted from their home.

A novella of a movie? At a bit under fifty minutes, this is too long to be a short and too short to be feature length. Emma and I picked it because we'd all already seen it and the other two members of the household who are able to remain waking participants of Buster Keaton Saturday have come up missing. Sherlock Jr. sort of takes a while to get going, but it would be a great introduction to Keaton's work since it's got a little taste of everything he's known for. Creativity/invention in the denouement of the motorcycle and car chase and (especially) in a scene involving Buster walking into a movie. There are sight gags, including a tricky safe and Buster's attempt to "shadow" the culprit. There are a few stunts and pratfalls. There's a train. There's a fantastic chase scene. There are clever bits of "dialogue" ("It's your dollar? Describe it.") and romance. There's a down-on-his-luck protagonist who is easy to root for. And there are wonderful "How's he even doing that?" moments. I love a scene where he plays pool with an explosive ball, and this has one of my favorite Buster Keaton moments when he appears to actually leap through both a suitcase and a human being. His buddy Houdini probably taught him that one. My only gripe is that the music used for my dvd copy (composed in the 90's, I believe) is awful.

Trivia: This is the movie in which Buster actually fractured his neck during what looks to be a prosaic stunt and didn't even realize it until years later. This is also the movie that contains the only time Buster Keaton used a stunt double when he was needed to perform the stunt of another actor in the same scene.

Helpful hint: If interested in renting a Buster Keaton dvd, Sherlock Jr. and Our Hospitality are paired together. Since they're both good ones, it might be a great place to start. You'll have to put up with that terrible music though.

My Name Is Bruce

2007 junk

Rating: 3/20

Plot: Some Chinese demon is awakened by a storm or by some teenage vandals or by a combination of the two. He begins slicing the heads off the inhabitants of small-town Gold Lick, so they kidnap b-movie actor Bruce Campbell to help them out.

It's hard to tell whether or not this is self-referential or self-indulgent. I do know that every time I see Bruce Campbell, it makes me like Evil Dead II a little bit less. I realize this is actually supposed to be a bad movie, but that doesn't excuse it being so cliched, so unfunny, and, most heinously, so racially insensitive. I'm not sure what the Chinese have done to Bruce Campbell. Maybe there's some joke I'm not hip to, but regardless, I'm not sure I want to be in on it. Most offensive would be the special effects used to create the Chinese demon. No, most offensive are the terrible jokes. There are lots of references to Campbell's previous work (the "Give me some sugar" line is used at least thirty times), but it just seems so cheap. I can appreciate self-deprecating humor, but there is nothing clever about any of this and absolutely no reason to see it.

La Constellation Jodorowsky

1994 documentary

Rating: 11/20

Plot: Interviews and career synopsis of Alejandro Jodorowsky.

Some fascinating tidbits and footage, especially the scenes from the "Panic Movement" stuff and the artwork for the abandoned Dune project. The documentary, unfortunately, is a real mess from the get-go and really takes a self-indulgent turn at the 3/4 mark and spirals aimlessly for what seems to be 2 and 1/2 hours before thankfully ending. Any interview/documentary that starts with the subject being asked "Who are you?" is bound to be pretentious although there's a definite fanboy idol worship going on with filmmaker Louis Mouchet. Nothing all that revealing, but it's an ok introduction to Jodorowsky.

Pierrot Goes Wild

1965 cinematic anarchy

Rating: 17/20

Plot: Completely bored with his own life and appalled by the superficialities of modern society, literature-lover and failed poet Ferninand (not Pierrot) flees town with his children's babysitter Marienne. Marienne, it turns out, is mixed up with a motley crew of gun-runners, and following a murder, the lovers find themselves on the lam. Then, succumbing to peer pressure and the teasing cameras, "Pierrot" repeatedly exposes his wild wild nipples.

This equivalent of cinematic pop art is more than likely the inspiration for all those "Girls Gone Wild" videos. Hockney-esque, Warholish, and Lichtensteinian, Godard borrows from comic books, American film genres (humorously, the crime movie, the road movie, musicals, romantic drama), advertising (dialogue at a party early in the morning is plundered from ads), poetry, and painting and slaps it all together into a freeform stew of cinematic anarchy. The result is wildly chaotic, original and fun, funny and poignant, and frequently beautiful. My favorite scenes: the midget gangster and his eventual demise, the gun-runners' dance scene on a beach, an extended long-shot in Marienne's apartment before they leave town, the numerous non-sequiturs peppering the script (the best being Pierrot's final conversation he has with a stranger about a song), the surreal car accident, the explosive denouement. What at times seems like a guy just dicking around, Godard actually has a lot to say about romantic relationships, language futility, emotions, and the role and possibilities of cinema. I gave this movie a bonus point just because of how good Anna Karina looks. Samuel Fuller, who isn't nearly as cute, has a cameo in this one. At times very similar to Godard's Week-end, but it also reminded me a lot of Jeunet's Amelie. Maybe it's the Frenchness.

Get this head a beret!

Crumb

1994 documentary


Rating: 17/20


Plot: A brutal look at the life of 60's counterculture comic artist icon Robert Crumb and his dysfunctional (word is too mild here) family. Bizarre sexual proclivities (piggyback rides and thick legs), mental disorders, and misanthropy abound.


"When I was young, I was sexually attracted to Bugs Bunny."



Possibly the most honest documentary look at an individual ever made with subtexts about sexuality, family, genius, the worlds of art and pornography, individual expectations. Crumb's an interesting and quirky enigma, a guy who is almost unbelievably portrayed as the most normal of the three brothers in his family with the older an Autistic recluse who rarely leaves his room and spends all of his time writing illegibly in notebooks or reading and the younger a pseudo-monastic painter who rarely paints and spends the majority of his time sitting on nails or begging on the streets with a wooden bowl. Director Zwigoff, who apparently spent over ten suicidal years creating this labor of love, lets the audience just watch the subject without embellishment, and it's fascinating to see an artistic genius surviving in a world he hates by retreating into his sketchbooks. Uncomfortably entertaining and sometimes difficult to watch and sad. Pretty brilliant work.



I just might be better looking than Robert Crumb:

The Simpsons Movie

2007 comedy

Rating: 13/20 (Dylan: 11/20; Emma: 10/20; Abbey 20/20)

Plot: Pretty much the same as most episodes of the television show--Homer makes a big mistake and then the family has to scramble to fix things. This time, Homer doesn't give a hoot, pollutes, and causes the EPA to put a giant dome over Springfield. The rest of the Springfieldians grab their pitchforks and torches to throw down on the responsible family, but they manage to escape and head for safe Alaska. Homer later must return to save both the town and his family.

This was just like the typical episode of the show stretched into 90 minutes. Not a bad episode with lots of funny moments and probably too many current pop references. It was pretty much exactly what was expected with only the occasional annoyances--some pandering to Simpsons fans and some look-at-what-we-can-do-cause-it's-not-on-television stuff. There's no way it couldn't be self-referential and the show is satirical, so I'm not sure how I can complain about that. I could probably complain about Spiderpig, but the seven year old inside me really thought that was funny. I would have liked to see more of the minor characters. They all just sort of popped in and out to deliver their one or two lines. In fact, I'd like to see an entire movie with just Lenny and Carl. It could be just like Midnight Cowboy. But I digress. This is the type of movie where you're really digging the first 30 minutes but then you only sort of enjoy the second 30 minutes and then you keep looking at your watch for the final 30 minutes. Quite possibly the longest credits I've ever seen by the way.

Look! I'm enjoying myself!

Sullivan's Travels

1941 romantic comedy

Rating: 16/20

Plot: Sullivan is a successful director of comedy films. He decides he wants to make O Brother, Where Art Thou?, something with a little more meat, something that will accurately reflect the lives of the most troubled persons in troubled America. As one of the studio bigwigs points out, however, Sullivan has never suffered a day in his life. Impulsively, he decides to borrow some hobo clothes from the studio and embark on an itinerary-free adventure with only ten cents in his pocket in order to know what real trouble is. He runs into troubles along the way--his inability to get out of Hollywood, meeting an aspiring actress who insists on coming along, and ultimately getting himself arrested.

I liked this story, and I liked Veronica Lake (especially dressed as a male tramp in a way that wouldn't fool even the most idiotic hobo). Unfortunately, this wasn't funny at all. There was a lot of typical 40's slapstick and verbal jabs, but this lacked the ironic punches and crisply black comedy of Unfaithfully Yours. The plot and mood were all over the place. There was the fast-paced goofiness in a wild car chase that reminded me of something from a Mickey Mouse cartoon. There were quiet moments when the protagonists tried their best to blend in at the railroad stations and the soup kitchens. There was a moment both touching and desperate during Sullivan's time behind bars, one that reveals (somewhat preposterously) one of the themes of the movie--the importance of comedy. One thing that was very interesting to me was how blacks were shown. The black characters ranged from a very typical cook character stumbling around in a kitchen to much stronger, more realistic characters, the latter, I imagine, being fairly revolutionary portrayals for the early 40s. This is one of those rare movies that would benefit from being a little more drawn out. At just over an hour and a half, it didn't quite have enough time for the romance to realistically develop or for the audience to really believe the troubles of the protagonist.

I've often dreamed of being a hobo:

The Muppet Movie

1979 Muppet funk


Rating: 16/20 (Dylan: 8/20; Emma 11/20; Abbey fell asleep within ten minutes)


Plot: Kermit's a swamp rat keeping it real with nothing but his banjo, his songs about rainbows, and his dreams. When he meets a Hollywood producer, he gets an ambitious idea--find his way to the showbiz capital of the world to become rich and famous. At the same time, businessman Doc Hopper, owner of a chain of restaurants specializing in frog legs, wants Kermit to sell out and become spokesman for his company. While journeying, Kermit befriends a criminally unfunny bear, a rock band, a pig, a Gonzo, a giant hairy thing, and a couple scientists. Together, they hit the road, evading Hopper and his thugs while attempting to reach their dreams.


First off, I completely missed the "one-eyed midget" played by Tommy Madden in this one. It's impossible to imagine that I could miss a midget, but I was probably distracted by another of my obsessions--puppets. This movie has everything--guns, car chases, suggested sexual relations between a vulture and a chicken, a Skip Spence reference (see: Animal), a psychedelic bus, music, terrible puns, a puppet riding a bicycle, a whorish pig, gratuitous cameos. The cameos were a bummer. Bob Hope, Richard Pryor, Steve Martin, Big Bird, Telly Savalas, Mel Brooks (big surprise--he overdoes it), Milton Berle, Orson Welles, Edgar Bergen (his last role. . .he died a few weeks after shooting his cameo), and others. It's in the spirit of the show (but where was John Denver?) but got a little tiring after a while. Some of the jokes were pretty terrible, maybe ripped off from a lost Marx Brother movie, but that sort of added to the charm. There are lots of cool visuals and lots of "How are they doing that?" moments, and the vocal performances and most of the songs are excellent. Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem nearly steal the movie, and their song "Can You Picture That?" is a highlight.




"Anybody's lover, Everybody's brother I wanna be your lifetime friend.
Crazy as a rocket, Nothing in my pocket, I keep it at the rainbow's end.
I never think of money, I think of milk and honey, Grinnin' like a Cheshire Cat.
I focus on the pleasure, It's something I can treasure, Can you picture that?

Let me take your picture, Add it to the mixture, There it is I got ya now.
Really nothing to it, And anyone can do it, Its easy and we all know how.
Now begins the changin', Mental rearrangin', Nothing's really where its at.
Now the Eiffel Tower's Holding up a flower, I gave it to a Texas Cat.

Fact is there's nothing out there you can do,
Yeah, even Santa Claus believes in you.

Break down your walls, Begin, believe, begat.
Be a better drummer Be an up-and-comer Can you picture that?

CAN YOU BAGGY THAT?

All of us are winnin' Pickin' and a-grinnin' Lordy how I love to jam.
Jelly belly giggling Dancing and a wiggling Honey that's the way I am.
Lost my heart in Texas, Northern Lights affects us, I keep it underneath my hat
Aurora Borealis, Shinin' down on Dallas, Can you picture that? Can you picture that?


Use it if you need it, But don't forget to feed it, Can you picture it?"


There's a good message poking its head out from all this meta-nonsense, and although the humor and deluge of songs would make this difficult for some people to watch without audible groaning, it's impossible not to appreciate the creativity and artistry of Jim Henson. Speaking of him, this story is apparently based on his own.


Here I am enjoying puppets:

Real Life

1979 comedy

Rating: 10/20

Plot: Director Albert Brooks brings a film crew into the home of a typical American family of four living in Phoenix in order to film their real lives for the entertainment of future movie-goers. The filming, mostly because of the meddling of the narcissistic director, nearly ruins that family's "real life. Unfortunately, it's not very funny.

Sort of a precursor to modern reality television, and in a way, nearly prescient. So this could have and probably should have been very clever satire. Nope. Albert Brooks is annoying and splashes all over this one. There's not enough family, not enough Charles Grodin, not enough funny. There's too much snippy Albert Brooks narration, too many winks at the audience, too much 'look-at-how-clever-I-am" moments. True, that's part of the point and helps characterize Brooks' "character," but it's not what I wanted to see. The guys standing behind the family in the background of the poster up there? They're wearing cameras. They represent the only funny thing about the movie, too. Every time one of them wandered in frame, I almost laughed. Every time Albert Brooks was in a scene, however, I wanted to throw a glass through the television. I'm not sure why I expected this to be funny enough to spend an hour and forty minutes with, but I was way off. It's cynical and criminally unfunny instead.

Here I am enjoying Real Life: