After much debate, I decided to attend and review a recent movie. The movie I saw was in fact so recent that it is still playing at the Cineplex. The movie was Step Brothers starring Will Farrell and John Reilly as 40 year old dudes living at home with their single parents who meet, get married and move in together. As you might have guessed, zaniness ensues and the popular Hollywood formula of "event leads to tension - tension leads to friendship - easily foreseeable event wrecks friendship - easily foreseeable event saves friendship" plays out before the viewers very eyes.
For all of our loyal readers out there I would like to provide some insight into the current state of the movie theater business. Forget how much everything costs (we all know it is ridiculous), did anyone realize that they now are showing commercials prior to the movie? Shouldn't I have been warned about this by the fifteen year old kids who sold me a ticket and some corn? I did enjoy the fact that the commercials they forced upon me were really poorly done and awful. At one point I think they just started showing pictures from the Auto Trader magazine. I don't know the pricing structure for movie commercials, but if you have to resort to having the kid running the projector hold your ad in front of the lens...you may not be spending enough on advertising!
Speaking of Auto Trader, I was recently spending some quality time at a Shell gas station in the middle of nowhere and studied this magazine very carefully. I think Congress should mandate some tougher standards on the use of "low mileage." Every car in the magazine was listed as having "low mileage" but their actual mileages were all over the board. I saw a Fiat that was headed as "Low Mileage Fiat, Mint." When I read through the 8 two-word phrases used to describe the car I also saw "68,757 miles." On this planet, 68,757 miles is not "low." It should also be noted that when girls weigh 225 they should not describe themselves as "athletic."
If I owned a movie theater I would list all of the movie starting times as 15 minutes before the movie actually starts. Every time I go to a movie there are always five or six knuckleheads that shuffle into the theater ten minutes into the show. These folks proceed to walk up the stairs of the theater loudly asking each other "do you see two?" while pointing at every empty seat in the middle of a row. When they finally choose their seats they always have to turn off their phone (with the unnecessary chimes and rings that entails) and open the diet coke and something sealed in cellophane that they obviously brought from home.
The movie itself was just OK. This seemed like a funny idea for a Saturday Night Live skit that ran about 45 minutes too long. John Reilly was really funny in this movie as Dale Doback. I am sure that every movie review(er) has already pointed this out but Will Farrell is just playing the same character over and over with a new song for the soundtrack. I think he went to the George Lucas movie seminar they offer at University of Southern California Community College whereby you develop an idea only enough to get an exciting preview commercial, re-record one song to sell the soundtrack, and release the movie in every possible configuration (VHS, DVD, Unrated, Super Unrated, Director's Cut, Bonus Material, Laser Disc, Super 8).
There were some genuinely funny parts to this film. I especially laughed at the job interview scenes (although they were mostly the same as the preview commercial), the building of the bunk beds (again, mostly the same as the preview commercial) and the judo practice on pumpkins. One thing that I could have done without was all of the cursing. I will be the first to admit that I enjoy some salty language as much as the next guy (I don't know if this will come off in a blog but I just cursed out loud...there I did it again) but this movie just had too much of it. I know that we all get some special satisfaction out of seeing a parent-type figure, someone who seems professional and innocent, throw down some f-bombs, but there was no build up to this satisfaction in Step Brothers. Everyone in the movie was cursing early and often. I really felt like some of this language distracted from the funny lines in the movie.
To wrap this one up with a tight little bow, I will just say "Step Brothers, low mileage, f#%$!"
Warren
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Memories, Like the Corners of My Mind
Since neither Matthew nor I have reviewed a movie from this Century yet, I guess I will continue to fill everyone in on exactly what happened during the 20th Century. History will record that pretty much nothing was happening in the 20th Century until the launching of Home Box Office (HBO). I can't guarantee it, but I am fairly sure that my first words as a little tyke were "Home," "Box" and "Office."
When I was growing up in the Midwest, HBO was on channel 2. The best part about this channel being on 2 was that the next channel was CBS (channel 3). So, when I had a questionable HBO movie on, such as When God Created Woman or Disorderlies or Revenge of the Nerds, I could quickly switch the channel to the more family friendly CBS.
I took this walk down memory lane after last night's viewing of another HBO classic - The Best of Times. This is a great 80's movie starring both Robin Williams and Kurt Russell as adult friends attempting to relive their high school football glory by replaying a game from twelve years earlier. I have probably seen this movie about thirty times over the course of my life and it never gets old. There are some classic lines in this film, "I'm pretty quick for a Caucasian," and there are some great sight gags, Jack being hit with the gavel and then punched in the face by Charlie during a meeting with the Caribou Club, but mostly it is just a fun football movie.
When this movie came on last night I watched it and was reminded just how often this (and every other) movie used to be on HBO. It seemed to me as though HBO had about 15 movies to fill an entire monthly lineup. They would show the same movie at 1pm, 4pm, 7pm and 11pm. I can remember watching Dead Solid Perfect (with Randy Quaid as a golf pro) over and over again with my father, watching Better Off Dead, One Crazy Summer and The Secret of My Success with my sister, and watching Starting Over with my mom (Burt will always be Bo Darville to me). And let's not forget some of the great original series HBO had like Dream On, 1st and 10, and Real Sex.
HBO has come along way since its early days. They now have relatively new movies (I recall HBO having a lot of movies I had never seen, but I don't recall them having movies that had been in the theater "recently") and they have a pretty large catalog of older movies to sprinkle in. Of course, it should be pointed out that they still have the same opening montage for movies that they have used for the past 25 years. You know the one, the camera is flying along down the street scene and then the road turns into the giant HBO sign (I think it is called HBO in Space).
So there you have it...the full history of the 20th Century!
Warren
When I was growing up in the Midwest, HBO was on channel 2. The best part about this channel being on 2 was that the next channel was CBS (channel 3). So, when I had a questionable HBO movie on, such as When God Created Woman or Disorderlies or Revenge of the Nerds, I could quickly switch the channel to the more family friendly CBS.
I took this walk down memory lane after last night's viewing of another HBO classic - The Best of Times. This is a great 80's movie starring both Robin Williams and Kurt Russell as adult friends attempting to relive their high school football glory by replaying a game from twelve years earlier. I have probably seen this movie about thirty times over the course of my life and it never gets old. There are some classic lines in this film, "I'm pretty quick for a Caucasian," and there are some great sight gags, Jack being hit with the gavel and then punched in the face by Charlie during a meeting with the Caribou Club, but mostly it is just a fun football movie.
When this movie came on last night I watched it and was reminded just how often this (and every other) movie used to be on HBO. It seemed to me as though HBO had about 15 movies to fill an entire monthly lineup. They would show the same movie at 1pm, 4pm, 7pm and 11pm. I can remember watching Dead Solid Perfect (with Randy Quaid as a golf pro) over and over again with my father, watching Better Off Dead, One Crazy Summer and The Secret of My Success with my sister, and watching Starting Over with my mom (Burt will always be Bo Darville to me). And let's not forget some of the great original series HBO had like Dream On, 1st and 10, and Real Sex.
HBO has come along way since its early days. They now have relatively new movies (I recall HBO having a lot of movies I had never seen, but I don't recall them having movies that had been in the theater "recently") and they have a pretty large catalog of older movies to sprinkle in. Of course, it should be pointed out that they still have the same opening montage for movies that they have used for the past 25 years. You know the one, the camera is flying along down the street scene and then the road turns into the giant HBO sign (I think it is called HBO in Space).
So there you have it...the full history of the 20th Century!
Warren
Monday, August 11, 2008
Matthew's Contribution
I'm new to all of this and certainly no match for Warren at this point. I just moved up to a temporary residence in San Francisco. I'm staying at my brother's place while he is in Mexico for three weeks. Going to medical school I think. No, actually, just visiting friends. Anyway with all the packing and unpacking and adjusting to my new surroundings I hadn't had time to blog. I'll do better.
I haven't really watched any movies lately. Well, none that have discernible plots. I've been watching three minute spurts of fairly predictible movies. Taking my enjoyment in short bursts. You know what I mean. Living alone in a new city can be a drag. Anyway.
Along that vein, I dug up an old copy of the old movie, "Tarzan The Ape Man," starring Richard Harris. An actor named Miles O'Keefe stars as Tarzan. Oh yeah, and there is an actress named Bo Derek as Jane. Whatever happened to her? She did Bolero and then disappeared. And that was such an inspirational movie.
Tarzan is actually better than I remember it being. And I watched it for more than three minutes. You readers may laugh, but the movie has some redeeming qualities. The plot works. Richard Harris is an interesting character, although he overacts horribly. The scenery is beautiful. I think they actually filmed in Africa and the director captured some great vistas on film. On the other hand, the acting is atrocious. Atrocious. Godawful. Wooden. Non-convincing. I said the plot works and it does. Or could. If they just removed some of the more preposterous elements. I'm not talking about the nudity. The nudity is good. Heck for my tastes they could have had more. But wrestling snakes and being kidnapped by aborigines that want nothing more than to paint you white seems kinda weird.
I haven't finished watching the film. I'll update my blog when I have a complete report to publish. Until then, I'll also look for more mainstream movies to review. I suppose that the purpose of this blog is to have point/counterpoint between Warren and myself, so I will have to seek out a copy of "The Bone Collector."
Matthew
I haven't really watched any movies lately. Well, none that have discernible plots. I've been watching three minute spurts of fairly predictible movies. Taking my enjoyment in short bursts. You know what I mean. Living alone in a new city can be a drag. Anyway.
Along that vein, I dug up an old copy of the old movie, "Tarzan The Ape Man," starring Richard Harris. An actor named Miles O'Keefe stars as Tarzan. Oh yeah, and there is an actress named Bo Derek as Jane. Whatever happened to her? She did Bolero and then disappeared. And that was such an inspirational movie.
Tarzan is actually better than I remember it being. And I watched it for more than three minutes. You readers may laugh, but the movie has some redeeming qualities. The plot works. Richard Harris is an interesting character, although he overacts horribly. The scenery is beautiful. I think they actually filmed in Africa and the director captured some great vistas on film. On the other hand, the acting is atrocious. Atrocious. Godawful. Wooden. Non-convincing. I said the plot works and it does. Or could. If they just removed some of the more preposterous elements. I'm not talking about the nudity. The nudity is good. Heck for my tastes they could have had more. But wrestling snakes and being kidnapped by aborigines that want nothing more than to paint you white seems kinda weird.
I haven't finished watching the film. I'll update my blog when I have a complete report to publish. Until then, I'll also look for more mainstream movies to review. I suppose that the purpose of this blog is to have point/counterpoint between Warren and myself, so I will have to seek out a copy of "The Bone Collector."
Matthew
Thursday, August 7, 2008
The Bone Collector
I happened to catch the movie The Bone Collector on Encore the other day, so I figure it is a good place to start. This movie is not new, 1999, but it was new to me and frankly I don't even remember it coming out. That being said, there is probably no reason to give some in-depth review of a decade old movie. But I don't think I would get much enjoyment out of this blogging business if I just had an entry that said..."I watched The Bone Collector. It is from 1999."
First of all, this was a decent premise. I like Denzel and he is in his usual cop role in this movie. But to skip directly to the end...why did they have to use the obscure, underdeveloped character as the killer? We see Dr. Lehman in an early scene of this movie and he promised to assist in the suicide of his good friend Lincoln Rhyme (Denzel) who has been paralyzed in a police work accident. Then, until the last scene, Dr. Lehman is gone.
In the last scene Dr. Lehman comes to kill Lincoln Rhyme and rambles on about how he used to be a detective and then Lincoln testified against him for placing some evidence and staging a crime scene. Lincoln tells the good Doctor that he doesn't remember him but that he was sure he was correct in his testimony. Then Dr. Lehman says that due to the testimony of Lincoln he went to prison where he received a daily dose of "the friendly" from other inmates for several years.
OK, so we have a guy who was a detective (it takes time to raise through the police ranks to detective, doesn't it?) then goes to prison for a few years, then becomes a doctor, then becomes a surgeon, then as a surgeon he somehow meets Lincoln, becomes his friend, waits until he has been paralyzed, stages 4 exceedingly elaborate murders with plenty of clues so that Lincoln can try to solve the case, then tries and fails to murder Lincoln despite the fact that Lincoln had agreed to let him assist in his suicide.
Do you see where I am going with this? This guy looked like he was about 40 years old, you do the math.
Is the new American Dream to someday get out of prison, go to medical school, become a surgeon, and then commit murders with easily decipherable clues so that you can get back at a guy who helped send you to prison but along the way became paralyzed, wants you to assist in his suicide, and is under the constant care of Queen Latifah? Are these the dreams prison guards were filling our prisoners heads with in the early 90's?
And what was the deal with Captain Cheney? I mean, the whole movie they set this guy up to be the killer. He was trying to stop the investigation of the murders at every turn. But in the end he just gets killed by Dr. Lehman and he never was the murderer? Why was he so angry? Why was he trying to stop the investigation?
Finally, when Amelia Donaghy got called to the scene of the first victim, why was she alone? I love cop movies but why is she going into a dark, questionable subway tunnel (complete with burned out cars) to investigate a possible dead body without any backup or a partner? She looked scared out of her mind (good acting Angelina)! If I was a hot chick cop, walking into a dark subway tunnel with erie music playing in the background...I would call for backup! By the way, did anyone question the kid at the scene as to what he saw? He must have seen something.
So, to sum it all up, The Bone Collector is from 1999.
Warren
First of all, this was a decent premise. I like Denzel and he is in his usual cop role in this movie. But to skip directly to the end...why did they have to use the obscure, underdeveloped character as the killer? We see Dr. Lehman in an early scene of this movie and he promised to assist in the suicide of his good friend Lincoln Rhyme (Denzel) who has been paralyzed in a police work accident. Then, until the last scene, Dr. Lehman is gone.
In the last scene Dr. Lehman comes to kill Lincoln Rhyme and rambles on about how he used to be a detective and then Lincoln testified against him for placing some evidence and staging a crime scene. Lincoln tells the good Doctor that he doesn't remember him but that he was sure he was correct in his testimony. Then Dr. Lehman says that due to the testimony of Lincoln he went to prison where he received a daily dose of "the friendly" from other inmates for several years.
OK, so we have a guy who was a detective (it takes time to raise through the police ranks to detective, doesn't it?) then goes to prison for a few years, then becomes a doctor, then becomes a surgeon, then as a surgeon he somehow meets Lincoln, becomes his friend, waits until he has been paralyzed, stages 4 exceedingly elaborate murders with plenty of clues so that Lincoln can try to solve the case, then tries and fails to murder Lincoln despite the fact that Lincoln had agreed to let him assist in his suicide.
Do you see where I am going with this? This guy looked like he was about 40 years old, you do the math.
Is the new American Dream to someday get out of prison, go to medical school, become a surgeon, and then commit murders with easily decipherable clues so that you can get back at a guy who helped send you to prison but along the way became paralyzed, wants you to assist in his suicide, and is under the constant care of Queen Latifah? Are these the dreams prison guards were filling our prisoners heads with in the early 90's?
And what was the deal with Captain Cheney? I mean, the whole movie they set this guy up to be the killer. He was trying to stop the investigation of the murders at every turn. But in the end he just gets killed by Dr. Lehman and he never was the murderer? Why was he so angry? Why was he trying to stop the investigation?
Finally, when Amelia Donaghy got called to the scene of the first victim, why was she alone? I love cop movies but why is she going into a dark, questionable subway tunnel (complete with burned out cars) to investigate a possible dead body without any backup or a partner? She looked scared out of her mind (good acting Angelina)! If I was a hot chick cop, walking into a dark subway tunnel with erie music playing in the background...I would call for backup! By the way, did anyone question the kid at the scene as to what he saw? He must have seen something.
So, to sum it all up, The Bone Collector is from 1999.
Warren
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Movies and Culture Blog...Day 1
Let me begin by thanking Al Gore for creating this world wide web machine. I tend to think that this might just catch on...assuming more people find out about it!
I got the instructions on blogging from the most famous blogger I know, Cooking with Jessie. So, I called my good friend Matthew, signed up for the site, and now here we are. Matthew is a cool guy who has recently moved to the thriving metropolis of San Francisco. Matthew and I used to work together and we almost always argued about anything and everything. Mainly though, we argued about movies and pop culture. We both like a wide variety of movies but Matthew seems to focus on the story and the presentation and I prefer to focus on what is not quite right, unbelievable, or underdeveloped.
I guess I should type a sentence about myself here, so I will just say that I love to go to and watch movies. I am no expert on movies or movie making, but I have always thought I could make the studios a lot of money if I could get hired as the guy who watches their movies and helps them to cut out the fluff, develop the underdeveloped, and maximize the entertainment value.
Of course, this blog is called movies and culture. Matthew and I will be presenting our opinions on various subjects that we can argue about effectively. I think our best source of culture is going to be Matthew's dating life, wait until you read some of his stories!
Warren
I got the instructions on blogging from the most famous blogger I know, Cooking with Jessie. So, I called my good friend Matthew, signed up for the site, and now here we are. Matthew is a cool guy who has recently moved to the thriving metropolis of San Francisco. Matthew and I used to work together and we almost always argued about anything and everything. Mainly though, we argued about movies and pop culture. We both like a wide variety of movies but Matthew seems to focus on the story and the presentation and I prefer to focus on what is not quite right, unbelievable, or underdeveloped.
I guess I should type a sentence about myself here, so I will just say that I love to go to and watch movies. I am no expert on movies or movie making, but I have always thought I could make the studios a lot of money if I could get hired as the guy who watches their movies and helps them to cut out the fluff, develop the underdeveloped, and maximize the entertainment value.
Of course, this blog is called movies and culture. Matthew and I will be presenting our opinions on various subjects that we can argue about effectively. I think our best source of culture is going to be Matthew's dating life, wait until you read some of his stories!
Warren
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