SWEENEY TODD - THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET (3.5 STARS)

Todd is a barber who comes back from exile to find his family stolen from him by the very man who exiled him. Bitter at the world, he begins taking it out of everyone with his straight razor.

I loved the story, and i loved the look (minus the CGI), but i hated the music... and i hated the singing. The problem with musicals and Bio Pics these days is modern recording technology. They have the ability to flatten and gloss and almost robotasize everything now... and they always do. I thought Walk the Line was ruined by the recordings. This is another case. Helen Bonham Carter was the worst of all of them. You could tell they did a lot of work on hers. You couldn't make out what she was saying. It sounded like a tiny bird chirping. The first scene with her in it, she's making gross meat pies and singing this stupid song and it just killed my ears and made me uncomfortable and i eventually had to leave the room. I'll also add that i just darn right did not at all like the music. However, toward the end, i got used to it. Mostly because Depp did most of the singing. He was more tolerable because he added different intinations to his voice... kept it interesting. Not just an annoying bird chirp chirp chirping my ears off.

If you have to see it... you absolutely have to have the subtitles on because you won't understand a word they're saying.

THE AMATEURS (4 STARS)

The Ameteurs is written and directed by debut film maker Michael Traeger and stars Jeff "the dude" Bridges, along with many others. It's about a guy who feels like a big loser and wants to finally achieve something in his life. He comes up with the idea of making a porn, seems easy enough. In the process he encounters obstacles and blessings. The whole town pitches in and they all do their best.

It's about creating something...achieving something. It's about a purpose in life. It's about friends and neighborly love.

I loved this film. It's really funny and cute, but balanced with a crude subject matter and dialogue. Anyone will enjoy this movie if the porno lingo doesn't bother you. There's no nudity, and everything is in good taste.

I'd also like to give 5 stars to Ted Danson.

WALK HARD (3.5 STARS)

John C. Reilley. A friend and i had dreams of producing a Bio pic about Blind Doc Watson. We thought John C. Reilley was the spitting image of him, plus we knew he played the guitar and was a good singer. He can also has a southern draw to him. It was going to be perfect. Those dreams have just been shattered forever.

Walk Hard is a bio pic parody. It mostly follows Walk The Line and Ray, but it takes a lot of ideas from documentaries like Wings for Wheels (about Springsteen recording Born to Run) and the Smile documentary about Brian Wilson. They also slightly wink at Elvis, Loretta Lynn, and the Beatles.

The gags in this film come slow and obnoxiously. They make the gag and then they'll hold on the gag or repeat it over and over until the humor of it goes away and you're left just smiling. The only true enjoyment of the gags is when you can see them coming a mile away. But what i really like about this movie is when they take ideas or events from other peoples life and creatively have fun with the idea. Not just spoofing scene from a movie but spoofing an entire cultural period. My favorite part in the movie is the Brian Wilson acid period. It's not from any movie... just talked about in a few documentaries. It's especially good in the longer cut of the movie. He's running around screaming about emotion and didgeridoos and he's giving goats pointers on how to baah. Recording boobs' vibration. The trampoline.

I actually really like it all. I see myself watching it over and over. And i also look forward to Step-Brothers with John C. Reilley and Will Farrel coming soon.

THE JERK (5 STARS)

I watched The Jerk with a friend who had not seen it...ever. It was SO MUCH FUN. He laughed at everything. He got every joke and about every 3 seconds he was laughing even harder than before. It's bazzar to see him stressing out during the scene where the once crazed maniac sniper is chasing him with his hand in his coat. I was just casually talking threw it. There's a lot of scenes that hold no value after you've seen it once.

I, like many others, have grown up watching this movie. It's always on TV, usually Saturdays or Sundays. It wasn't until about 10 years ago when it came out on VHS that i realized that his dog wasn't really named "stupid". As i grew up watching it, i would get the jokes little by little the older i got. Until now, i pretty much get all the jokes. But for him...he just got blown away with an amazingly funny movie thats jam packed with funny stuff.

HOOSIERS (5 STARS)

Always a delight. I got to see it in HD on a HD tv. It looked SO AMAZING. Which by the way, i believe is my first HD watching experience.

A few new things i noticed was how good the wood looked. The wood on the different courts and the wood in the school. I also noticed all the clique random shots of Indiana scenery...barns, cornfields. The town they shot all that in probably still looks exactly like that still.

I see Gene Hackman a different way now that I've seen The French Connection. And i look at Dennis Hopper different now that I've seen Easy Rider. Both good things, but extreme eye openers.

THE KITE RUNNER (3.5 STARS)

I want to give it 4 stars but it doesn't seem be holding up in my mind as a 4 star movie. It is good though. And it's a really important film.

The story is hard to explain without giving anything away. Here's an attempt.

Through unreturned friendship, turned guilt, turned hate, 2 boys are separated. Through unfortunate annihilation of war torn Afghanistan, the now American raised Afghani man is given a chance for redemption.

One critique is that every flying kite you see in the film is CGI. It's obvious from the first frame of the opening credits. It instantly disappointed me. If someone cares enough about a film, he's going to do what it takes to make it perfect and make it so that it stands the test of time. CGI never stands the test of time. It looks terrible and it says a lot about his directing choices. I'm a huge fan of Finding Neverland and Monster's Ball. I thought they were pretty flawless. But this definitely has that flaw.

DARJEELING LIMITED (4 STARS)

Darjeeling Limited is named after a train that 3 brothers take across India on the quest for brotherly closeness, to see their mother, and for a spiritual awakening. These three eccentric, medicated, selfish, rich, snobs, are forced to slightly deal with they're own consequences, and forced to deal with they're new slight venerability. They go threw a few hardships and maybe gain a ounce of integrity to them in the end... still, however, remaining total douches.

I give this movie 4 stars with room to grow. I saw it in the theater opening night a few months back as a die hard Wes Anderson fan. I had been looking forward to it for 3 years. Heard a lot about it, I heard it was better than anything he's done. I saw it at the arts theater in Indy. First of all, there was no short film. There's supposed to be a short film before it with Jason Schwartzman and Natalie Portman. Second, it was completely packed with Wes Anderson snobs who will laugh at anything if it's in a Wes Anderson film. And third and most annoying, it was out of focus. Threw the opening credits it was all over the place focusing in and out, in and out. It wasn't the first showing, so i don't know what the last showings were like but it was bad. About 10 minutes in, I stormed out of the theater to talk to the ticket lady because they hadn't gotten it right yet and we were 10 minutes in. I asked if i could get my money back if it didn't get fixed soon. She said yes. That helped a little. I went back in, and after 15 more minutes of it being out of focus i asked Haley if we could just leave and come back another day because i was pissed and couldn't enjoy the film at that point. As far as i was concerned, it was ruined. She said she didn't want to leave, so i had no choice but to sit there with the images on the screen being nearly unrecognizable (no exaggeration). About half way threw, it stopped pulling in and out and just stayed fixed on an out of focus setting. After the movie i stomped out of there before anyone else and went straight to the counter. No one was there. I went to the ticket booth... no one. I asked a janitor where the manager was... he muttered something about around the corner... nothing was there. I asked him again he muttered something about an office across the way... it was locked. EVERY SINGLE PERSON HAD LEFT. THEY JUST GAVE UP AND WENT HOME! I COULDN'T GET MY MONEY BACK. No one else seemed to care. People from the theater that i knew asked me what i thought of it and i just cussing up a storm talking about how it was so out of focus. Am i crazy? Is it not a big deal that you can't read signs or see any facial expressions, or enjoy the scenery. IT'S A WES ANDERSON MOVIE FOR PETE'S SAKE!!!

I was in no hurry to revisit this movie. I didn't laugh at a single moment during the worst theater experience of my life. The sight of the cover of Darjeeling Limited makes me mad. And after hearing douche bag interview after douche bag interview of Wes Anderson, my prospective of the guy had completely changed. But i rented it. And I really really liked it. I laughed the whole time. Just about every 10 seconds. And the short! It has everything to do with the movie. Jack's story seems completely random without the short, it explains everything about him. The only reason it's separate from the film is the pace. It wouldn't fit in the middle or end like the funeral clip in the end that's actually the beginning. It's perfect as a pre-feature short. Every other theater was playing the short before the film... why not ours. Who the hell is running Indianapolis' art theater? I need to speak to him. He is an idiot.

[overhead view of vintage suitcase being opened]
A critical thought. Wes Anderson, in interviews that I've heard, does not own up to his "Wes Anderson style". He claims he doesn't have a "style". He claims that no one is making movies that resemble his, and that he is not an "auture" film maker.

That's dumb.

Another thought is that Wes Anderson likes making movies about rich people, or successful people that have everything they want, but are miserable. Possibly all going back to Harold and Maud and the Graduate. But recently i believe he himself has become one of his characters. He can make any movie he wants and he's got a whole lot of money. I think this changes his movies. His angle is different. In Rushmore, you're rooting for Max, the underdog. Now we have no choice but to root for these 3 worthless human beings. The Life Aquatic is about a rich film maker who is spoiled and is sort of a hack. Royal Tenenbaum is the underdog with his upper class highly skilled but deeply troubled family. Maybe I'm off on that thought... What do you think about it?

This is a movie that will probably get better the more times i watch it.

ROMANCE AND CIGARETTES (5 STARS)

Okay, please understand that I am on a major hype of this movie. This is my second time seeing it this week and I also listened to the commentary. I'm currently under the impression that this is one of the greatest movies ever made. It's completely original, it exemplifies the art form that is film, and it redefines the musical. You absolutely have to see it to believe it. This film knows no boundaries. The soundtrack is unbelievable. The cast could not be better. I am 100% on board.

FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO (3.5 STARS)

This is close look on homosexuality and religion. What does the bible actually say about it. Why do religious people hate gays so much? This is really informative. I like the first 3 quarters of it. Then in the last bit, it just got far too touchy feely. To sentamental and repeated it's final point over and over.

I thought it covered ever important element to the debate, and left no question unanswered.

This is perfect for homosexuals who are also involved in church and Christianity. It's also good for people with friends or family in that situation. It's good for people who don't quite know what to think about the subject. It's good for gays who hate Christians for hating them. The only people that may not like this movie are the conservative Christians who are manly men and feel threatened by gays... they would HATE the last bit of this film.

THE MIST (2 STARS)

No...this is a dumb movie. I don't watch hardly any of these kinds of movies. Where there's a big CGI monster that's killing everyone. So I can't say if this is on a par with those or if it's good compared to those movies, but this is a really stupid movie. You got to think that the writers of these kinds of movies are either really dumb or they think everyone else is so dumb that they just write really dumb things into the script. Dumb characters, dumb dialogue, dumb circumstances, dumb plot devices, and dumb themes.

The CGI monster was SO bad looking. Especially the first one. It's campy. The acting really isn't that bad. The main guy is good, I've never seen him in anything but i thought he was good. I also think he could be a great bad guy in a horror film. He's got a great scream and growl. Everyone played their stupid part really well, it's just that they all had stupid parts.

Now... the "controversial ending.... I liked it.. because it was a little unconventional. But at the same time, what the F else did you think was gonna happen?

CRAZY LOVE (3.5 STARS)

I don't want to tell you much about what this documentary is about because it's fun to go into it "blind" (pun cleverly intended). It's a love story. A very crazy love story.

I liked it... but didn't love it. I had heard really loud raves about this, the podcast filmschool said it was the best documentary of 2007. I'd have to disagree with that. It's in the top 20, maybe...but still entertaining.

The director did all he could do with the material. It was very well put together. It just didn't have much to say. It didn't touch me in any way, didn't make me think, or inspire me.

ROMANCE & CIGARETTES (5 STARS)

Know who's a great director? John Turturro. He has made himself a perfect movie. 100% original. Straight from the mind of a madman. Instant classic.

No one has said a word about this film in any of the podcasts i listen to. No one has rented it at blockbuster. It wasn't in any theater in Indiana. What's wrong with you people?

It's a comedy/musical/love story. James Gandolfini is a regular guy who works hard for a living to provide for his wife and 2.5 kids (one being Mandy Moore) and his wife played by Susan Sarandon. He is in the middle of starting a fling with a foul-mouthed Irish red-head hooch named Tula played by Kate Winslet. It causes problems in the home obviously...and we have our conflict.

A quarter of the way in, I'm thinkin' "Wow, this movie is perfect. It couldn't be any better. Then in glides Christopher Walken dancing and singing along to Elvis, and completely blows my mind. I don't think he has ever been COOLER then in this film.

I'd say it's a cross between Steve Buscemi's Trees Lounge and John Waters' Pink Flamings...but a musical.

If you can watch this trailer and not go right out and rent this movie your are a big idiot! A big, big, idiot!

I AM LEGEND (4 STARS)

I have to admit, I really liked this film. For as much CGI in it as there was, I'm really surprised it could tolerate it as much as i did. I usually cancel these types of movies right out. But I had heard good things about it, from critics and Philistines alike.

It was really scary. It went zooming by at an amazing pace. It was well acted (though the acting at times didn't make much sense to me).

The ending seemed rushed and out of nowhere. I agree with how it ended, I just thought it seemed a little lopsided. But maybe that's the point. 3 years of work then BAM, it's over.

You probably know the plot, you've probably actually seen it already. Blockbuster is getting 1098 copies. Which is 10 times the average amount. They got 100 No Country for old men and they barely left the shelf.

AIR GUITAR NATION (3.5 STARS)

Air Guitar Nation is about the World Air Guitar Championship and what it means to play air guitar. The film follows the first 2 contestants from the United State to participate in the World Air Guitar Championship, held in Oolu, Finland.

It's entertaining. Especially to watch it with a girl who uses the phrase "bad-ass" a lot and listens to Motorhead and that sort of thing. The film lacked something. It didn't have any depth. It tried to be "about something more" but it just wasn't really. It didn't seem to have that much coverage.

Over all, it's an easy watch, and I'd suggest checking it out if you find it in the library or if you're a heavy netflix watcher.

SOUTHLAND TALES (4 STARS)

Right off, I don't want people to think I'm bashing this movie. I think Richard Kelly (the director) is a genius. Furthermore I believe this film is a work of genius. Though as a whole, me watching this on my couch, with my wife, it's not a good movie in the conventional sense. It has about 100 moments of awesomeness, but in between those moments are total buzz kills.

I'm not going to try to explain what it's about. However, I have to point out that it does have a time travel element in it (for those of you like me who have to see anything that pertains to time travel).

Kelly directed Donnie Darko in 2001. This film has been 7 years in the making, and I think it shows. Definitely be on the look out for anything else this guy might do. I'm tellin' ya, he's a genius.




In the middle of the film, it breaks into an all out Justin Timberlake/Killers music video. I've been watching this clip over and over for the past few months.

ENCHANTED (4 STARS)

The best way to explain my reaction to this picture is that i developed a new kind of laugh about half way threw. I hadn't been laughing yet because it wasn't really laugh out loud, just kinda cute. So I had been just chucking strangely, quite often. Then something happened that caused me to laugh out loud (when she started singing with the Jamaicans and he says "I've never even heard this song") this weird laugh that i had never done before came out. I just kept doing it threw the rest of the movie. Thank goodness it was only me and my dog around... I was even concerned my apartment neighbors would hear, cos it was really strange.

Amy Adams is so fippin' cute. She was born to play this part. She's unbelievable.

I see a lot of other males developing new laughs during this film. Be warned.

ATONEMENT (5 STARS)

Atonement is about perception, coming of age, seeking atonement for your mistakes, and how life doesn't always play out the way it's supposed to, but art can.

This film is SO beautiful, so well acted, so well shot. I believe Joe Wright is the modern master of the period piece, now being 2 for 2 with his 2005 Pride and Prejudice, also starring Keira Kightley. Pride and Prejudice was my favorite movie of 2005. It was perfect in every way. Though I can't find fault in Atonement, I can't say it's nearly as good as Pride and Prejudice. It's the story, mostly, that just goes in unpleasing directions. It does things you wish it didn't. It plays out more like reality. Giving you a dismal uncontrolled outlook on life.

I love this movie, but I know most people won't. It's sad and mean at times. Not really a love story at all, though the cover will have you believe otherwise.

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (5 STARS)

I watched No Country this time with 4 other guys. My Dad, my cousin and my young foster brothers. I still enjoyed it, but this time in a humorous way. The tension and suspense was always being killed by a joke from one of us...me included.

I never realized how confusing and unconventional the story plays out. Everyone in the room was completely clueless to what was going on, having to pause it several times and ask for help.

They all hated the ending... hated. I on the other hand, shed a tear once again during the ending monologue, knowing good and well I'd have to fight for the justification of what they were about to be subject to. It still touched me, with all the distractions in the room.

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (5 STARS)

Of coarse this gets 5 stars, this is what is known as a perfect movie. I saw it twice in the theaters. The first time by myself, early afternoon, the place was empty. I was petrified. Plus the screen had a blur in the middle (which is all too common at the keystone arts cinema) which bugged me the whole time. The second time i saw it, i had snook in after watching the new Woody Allen film and it was a packed theater... maybe a month after it had come out. I enjoyed it, but not nearly as much. There was no blur but there was a dude behind me with his girlfriend and he narrated everything that was going on. Plus he was constantly trying to predict what was going to happen. He couldn't let anything go by without saying something about it. I think everyone was so freaked out by the movie they didn't notice him... but i noticed him. The only thing i could enjoy the second time was the humor which was the thing most critics critique. They say the Coen Brother humor takes away from the film. But i loved it the first time and i loved it the second.

NOW...i just watched it a 3rd time. On DVD, in my home, with my wife and dog. (which by the way, it's coming out on DVD this Tuesday and it's still in the Theater... first time I've ever heard of that). Haley hadn't seen it and had always wanted to. She was hysterical! Constantly claiming she was having a heart attack and looking away at the gross stuff. Laughing at every humorous situation. It's like, when you claim a movie is good for a really long time, and then finally you get someone to sit down and watch it with you...you're always worried it won't win them over, you usually feel like apologizing at times and you're always worried it won't have the affect on them you claimed it would... well, this film put me at total ease. It blew her away and i could see it on her face every moment. It surpassed what i the expectation I gave her.

For me it was a great movie watching experience. The 3rd time now, i picked up new things i hadn't noticed, i relaxed during stressful suspenseful scenes, And mostly i could relax during the spouts of dialogue cos i have a little better idea what's going on. The humor was still right on perfect every line.

One complaint i have is that I'M CERTAIN that they cut a little piece out of 2 scenes. The first scene with the handcuffs and the neck and the blood. I'm positive there was more blood squirting. And then the scene with the first hotel clerk... the bit about the rooms and the size of the beds. It got a lot of laughs in the theater, and I think they cut a line or two to make it not funny at all. I checked to see if my theory was right. Now, I'm not sure this is accurate but the feature time in the theater is 123 minutes and the time on the DVD says 122 minutes. 1 minute is all it would take to cut those two things out. SO look for an unrated, extended edition in the future.

No commentary on the DVD(as expected) but 3 cool "behind the scenes looks at; the Coen Brothers, the making of, and Diary of a country Sheriff.

THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE (4 STARS)

This is a beautiful film. Released in 1976 then later edited and released in 1978. I've now seen both, the 76 version has a few longer scenes, not much difference.

The first time i saw this all i could think about is how much it reminded me of Vincent Gallo's Buffalo 66. Same feel, same oddness.

This picture is about a strip club owner who get in a little trouble with the wrong kind of people after diving in a gambling debt. But what this movie is really about is a guy who is an artist. His art is his life. The club is an original. They have song and dance routines that he writes and directs. This scene is what he lives for. Then there's these bad guys that basically control his destiny. They get in his way of his art. There are things he has to do that he doesn't want to do all for the sake of his art.

I can't put these themes into words. I feel like a failure.

Just know that i 100% understand and relate to this film and what it's trying to say.

MILLENNIUM (4.5 STARS)

Why does the future of the 80's always look like an extreme version of the 80's? Every other decade had a pretty original idea of clothes and style, but the 80's future is eye makeup, huge crazy hair, zippered, velcroed, patched, shoulder-padded shirts.

I've always heard that this is a time travel movie, and for some reason i didn't jump up and see it right away. I've actually had it in my VHS collection for a couple years now. The cover just looks awful. It doesn't look cool. But this morning i flipped it over and looked at the back... it changed everything. i immediately wanted to watch it.

I had coincidentally listened to the commentary of PRIMER (a time travel movie from 2005). If i was in the business of rating commentaries, this would get 5 STARS! It's extremely informative. There's also a cast track that i haven't gotten to yet.

This 1989 time travel love story (my favorite genre) is starring Kris Kristofferson and Cheryl Ladd. Kristofferson by the way was also in the Jacket, another time travel movie, but this time he's the protagonist. The antagonist is the threat of causing a paradox. Time travel is a risky game.

I don't want to give away any plot points. I need to see this on DVD. This movie could eventually be one of my all time favorite time travel movies.

Compares to THE JACKET and SOMEWHERE IN TIME.

HOFFA (3.5 STARS)

This 1992 film is about Jimmy Hoffa. The man who started the teamsters. The union. I love this period 1930's and the 1940's, i love movies about the workin' man, and i love Jack Nicholson. This film is directed by Danny DeVito, who i like as a comedic actor but i don't at all feel confident about his choice of directing decisions. I could have made a list of 50 strange choices with camera shots and visual ideas that i had never seen before and ultimately didn't work. Most of it came off as childish and campy.

The performance by Nicholson was outstanding in spite of an amateur (immature) camera shot invading on a scene that he is simply mastering.

The ending took me by surprise especially not having known the Hoffa story. I did like the ending and for the most part, i liked the movie as a whole.

INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (5 STARS)

I was BLOWN AWAY by this film. The 1978 version starring Donald Sutherland and also Jeff Goldblum. So original, so cutting edge. Very scary. Many of the shots start sideways and slowly level out. The sound is darn right freaky. Great twists, great effects, great camera style. The lighting is constantly pushing the norm in every shot. The acting is perfect. Great movie, i look forward to seeing it again and again. I suggest it to anyone.

A FISH CALLED WANDA (4 STARS)

1988 Comedy starring Jamie Lee Curtis (looking really good), Kevin Kline, John Cleese, and Michael Palin (Cleese and Palin being from Monty Python).

It's a heist i suppose... althought the heist happens right off the bat. The double crossing happens immediately after. But then what this movie is about is what happens after those two things happen.

What a really funny movie. It's got a really good British Monty Python sence of humer to the dialogue and the situations, but also has an american crudeness and selfishness humor. Plus there's constant cracks at both americans and brits. It's a really funny movie and i'm surprised i hadn't seen it until now.