Good things happen to those who support public radio.
I've seen a lot of movies lately. Here's what I have to say about them:
Grizzly Man: Well done. Timothy Treadwell is a complete lunatic, which is demonstrated fairly-well in the movie. There's some really good footage of brown bears. Like the Milgram studies, it's not ethical/smart to replicate these videos, but since it's available, you might as well see it. Complete, flaming-but-straight, egotistical, maniacally effusive wackjob.
Junebug: Seventy-five percent of the reason I went to see this movie was because Kara told me Matt Besser is in it at the beginning. Of course I got to the theater late (and had another near miss in the crosswalk with a Volvo) and missed the first 5 minutes, so I didn't see him. Premise: Cosmopolitan art dealer (Embeth Davidtz) meets new in-laws in the rural Southeast. Decent idea, disappointing delivery. The main problem was that the screenwriter seemed to forget to write a part for the husband/son, you know, the impetus for this whole 'cultural clash' in the first place. A secondary problem is that the guy who plays the husband/son is a terrible actor.
Waiting: The quarter-life crisis approach to the teen gross-out movie meets Office Space. Well-done by an ensemble cast (Ryan Reynolds, Luis Guzman, Andy Milonakis) if this is your thing. Or if you have ever worked at a chain restaurant. Or if you hate chain restaurants.
Elizabethtown: Really terrible for a lot of reasons. I recently told this couple, in detail, exactly why this movie is bad. The guy goes, "Oh, yeah; I thought so." The girl, "Oh, so maybe we should wait until video then?" NO!! Never see this movie.
We have arrived at the heart of this story. Last night was a KCRW movie screening/private afterparty with The 88 and "very, very special guest". Given that The Flaming Lips did the soundtrack for I Love Your Work, and that they were due to disembark from this Long Beach - > Mexico concert cruiseship yesterday, my hopes were high that they would be the very, very special guest.
Upon entering the screening, I was struck by a mildly familiar blonde woman - she also looked familiar to my friend. It was Judy Greer, the neurotic sister from Elizabethtown. Also in the lobby hanging out were Giovanni Ribisi and Adam Goldberg. I spent the next two hours trying not to feel awkward about (a) Giovanni Ribisi having so much sex onscreen when he was sitting in the audience and (b) Adam Goldberg's movie not being that coherent when he was also sitting in the audience.
My patience was duly rewarded, however. The 88 put on a great show at The Knitting Factory. Between sets, some guy that had talked to me at the screening bought me earplugs after hearing me say I had set mine out only to forget them. The best part was that he didn't even stick around to make small talk. (I wanted to thank him after the show, but I didn't see him.) I also recognized the people who coordinate the on-campus concerts at UCLA and chatted them up about bringing
So, um, hooray for NPR & KCRW.
Grizzly Man: Well done. Timothy Treadwell is a complete lunatic, which is demonstrated fairly-well in the movie. There's some really good footage of brown bears. Like the Milgram studies, it's not ethical/smart to replicate these videos, but since it's available, you might as well see it. Complete, flaming-but-straight, egotistical, maniacally effusive wackjob.
Junebug: Seventy-five percent of the reason I went to see this movie was because Kara told me Matt Besser is in it at the beginning. Of course I got to the theater late (and had another near miss in the crosswalk with a Volvo) and missed the first 5 minutes, so I didn't see him. Premise: Cosmopolitan art dealer (Embeth Davidtz) meets new in-laws in the rural Southeast. Decent idea, disappointing delivery. The main problem was that the screenwriter seemed to forget to write a part for the husband/son, you know, the impetus for this whole 'cultural clash' in the first place. A secondary problem is that the guy who plays the husband/son is a terrible actor.
Waiting: The quarter-life crisis approach to the teen gross-out movie meets Office Space. Well-done by an ensemble cast (Ryan Reynolds, Luis Guzman, Andy Milonakis) if this is your thing. Or if you have ever worked at a chain restaurant. Or if you hate chain restaurants.
Elizabethtown: Really terrible for a lot of reasons. I recently told this couple, in detail, exactly why this movie is bad. The guy goes, "Oh, yeah; I thought so." The girl, "Oh, so maybe we should wait until video then?" NO!! Never see this movie.
We have arrived at the heart of this story. Last night was a KCRW movie screening/private afterparty with The 88 and "very, very special guest". Given that The Flaming Lips did the soundtrack for I Love Your Work, and that they were due to disembark from this Long Beach - > Mexico concert cruiseship yesterday, my hopes were high that they would be the very, very special guest.
Upon entering the screening, I was struck by a mildly familiar blonde woman - she also looked familiar to my friend. It was Judy Greer, the neurotic sister from Elizabethtown. Also in the lobby hanging out were Giovanni Ribisi and Adam Goldberg. I spent the next two hours trying not to feel awkward about (a) Giovanni Ribisi having so much sex onscreen when he was sitting in the audience and (b) Adam Goldberg's movie not being that coherent when he was also sitting in the audience.
My patience was duly rewarded, however. The 88 put on a great show at The Knitting Factory. Between sets, some guy that had talked to me at the screening bought me earplugs after hearing me say I had set mine out only to forget them. The best part was that he didn't even stick around to make small talk. (I wanted to thank him after the show, but I didn't see him.) I also recognized the people who coordinate the on-campus concerts at UCLA and chatted them up about bringing
LA's catchiest indie rock band to campus. By this point it was a secret anymore, but The Flaming Lips went on next and certainly exceeded my expectations with the video screen, animal costumes, enormous balloons, the giaganto-enormous balloon, confetti, and a nun puppet. A super excellent show, complete with video footage of their mid-nineties appearance on 90210.
So, um, hooray for NPR & KCRW.
posted by kelly at 10:08 AM
3 Comments:
What were you main problems with Elizabethtown? I thought it quite good. Feel free to e-mail if you don't feel like posting a comment
Oh, man how I wanted to like Etown.
But I couldn't.
1. Some of the plot lines were mildly entertaining/endearing (e.g. the family in Kentucky) - had they bore some semblance of being held together, I would have dug it.
2. Kirsten Dunst's character. At first she was an unsophisticated flit. Then she turns cool? Turns back? Cool. Back. . . And why is she ALWAYS THERE? Did Cameron Crowe mean for her to only have an accent 30% of the time?
3. Why did only the male protoganist have any psychological depth? We never knew what Kirsten Dunst's character was supposed to be thinking. Also, her character was kind of psycho, "Here, go think through this and be 'with the melancholy', then call me." What she meant was, "please don't have an independent thought for the next 3 days; please think about me the whole time - aside from when you're visiting the MLK memorial, that is."
4. Susan Saradon's character?? Um, when did stand up comedy and tap dancing become the appropriate way to eulogize your dead husband in front of his hometown who hates you?
I did think this movie had a lot of promise (I mean, Orlando Bloom is hot). But for me, it didn't deliver
When I left the theater from seeing this movie I wanted to tell the lady in front of me that it is okay to wear bras in public and that her kid didn't like the movie so stop bringing him to museum showings of independent films. Oh yeah, also tell her that her 10 year old son wants her to wear bras too. Miss you lots Kell-hugs from FW
Post a Comment
<< Home