Adventureland (2009)

When I saw the previews for this I was up out of my seat excited to see it. Kristen Stewart, the guy from the Squid and the Wale, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, and Martin Starr (Bill from freaks and geeks). Set in 1987. The Smiths, Lou Reed, The Replacements, and Husker Du over and over throughout the film. The majority of the film is in a tiny theme park! It's perfect!

So far... my favorite film of the year. I yelled with excitement so many times while watching this.

500 Days of Summer (2009)

The director Marc Webb really has nothing to show for himself until this point. However, hit knocks this film out of the park. The writers too, have nothing before this. The soundtrack is great, the acting is good, the writing is superb, the cinematography is good, and the direction is great.
I'm see this twice now. Once when I shouldn't have (alone, after a split with my wife, the day before my best friends wedding), and then this time (a month later) I was with friends and i was maybe finally coming to grips with whats going on, and I saw the film in a different light. I'd say I enjoyed the film more the second time. See, the movie sort of tricks ya. It puts on a mask similar to how "love" does, then when "love" goes away, the mask is taken off and you see clearly. Going back to watch this a second time...I saw clearly the whole time, similar to if I could go back and subjectively view my former relationship as a hidden 3rd party. It was an eye opener the second time instead of a depressing movie about a breakup.

A must see.

TWILIGHT (2009)

Twilight. Kristen Stewart is cute. I thought she was cute in Panic Room when I couldn't even tell if she was a boy or a girl until towards the end of the movie.

I will say that there is an intrigue here. Something is drawing me in. But everything else dumb.

NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS (2008)

Nights and Weekends (2008) was directed by Joe Swamberg and Greta Gerwig, both also starring in the film. Greta Gerwig played Hannah in Hannah Takes The Stair which was also directed by Joe Swamberg, Nights and Weekends seems then is the follow up.
It deals with a long-distance relationship and a reuniting after a break up. It deals with a few good times and a lot of hard times. As seemingly all "mumble-core" film do, this film plays the awkward card. Hannah Takes the Stairs contains awkward characters, Nights and Weekends contains awkward situations. The awkward character card is played in a few occasions but I felt it was forced. These characters should be capable of dealing with the situations they're in, but they baby out.
Ultimately, I was on of the best "mumble-core" films out there. The story was well thought out and very interesting. It touched on detailed issues that I appreciated. The characters could use some work. But the acting was good and the dialog was much more interesting then the fartin' around kind of business the other films of this nature have.

JACK KNIFE (2.5 STARS)

The redeming quality in this movie is how cool all the truck driver vets look. Also Deniro and the other dude has some really cool scenes within the movie, but overall, this movie is bad. Very phony how it's all set up.

GUILTY BY SUSPICION (2 STARS)

Not good. The Dialogue is not good. The acting is not good. Have you ever wanted to know if there was a movie where Deniro is not good? Guilty By Suspicion.....that and Jack Knife.

THE ROCKER (3.5 STARS)

I really liked the Rocker. I expected to hate it. Or maybe to dislike it a little. But I loved it, and i keep thinking about it. It's definitely somewhat similar to School of Rock with Jack Black, but this has a great heart to it. Rain Wilson does an amazing job pulling off the the huge hearted 80 rock drummer who's biggest talent is his enthusiasm and encouragement.

It's such a great feel-good freakin' movie!

ROBOCOP (3.5 STARS)

I wasn't allowed to watch this when I was a kid. I am now glad. Robocop is surprisingly violent and gory, even disturbing at times. It's really awesome though.

I wanted to watch the second and third one right away but i pulled the VHS out of Robocop 2 and it was Tarzan. So now I own Robocop 1, Robocop 3, and Disney's Tarzan.

Same with Rocky... i have 2, 3, and 5. No 1 or 4.

IN COUNTRY (3 STARS)

In Country is an alright movie starring Bruce Willis and a cute girl who is not a good actress but tries SO hard! You got to respect it for what it's about. The ending is extremely heart felt and touching. Plus Bruce Springsteen has the main song on the sound track "I'm on Fire".

C.H.U.D. 2 (2 STARS)

Sort of a frustrating movie. It has potential to be funny, but it just becomes annoying. The cover of the movie is packed full of funny lines. "Bud the C.H.U.D", "This Bud's for you", "So funny it's scary", "Get chudified".....ect.

There is no mention of the acronym's meaning (childlike, humanoid, underground dwellers). Definitely don't watch this alone.

GOING SOUTH (4 STARS)

Going South is a delightful little film from 1978 starring and directed by Jack Nicholson. Moon is an outlaw who ran with a rough gang. He was on the run from the sheriff, escaping to Mexico on his horse Speed. He got across the boarder safe and was doing a victory dance when the sheriff (Christopher Loyd) and his men just galloped across the boarder and arrested him. He was to be hanged, but there was a law in town due to the number of male deaths during the Civil War that if a woman wants to marry a man on death row than he is to be let loose. Mary Steenburgen steps forward and claims him. She brings him home only to treat him like a slave.
Will Henry Moon put the moves on her with his outlaw bad boy charm? Will they strike gold before the railroad company takes their land? Will Moon's old buddies show up and ruin everything. With the sheriff, who is jealous of Moon, do something to jeopardize everything?
Nicholson is a maniac! Maniac! No youtube. Not that popular of a movie.

SEPTEMBER (3.5 STARS)

September is hard to explain. It's written and directed by Woody Allen. There's only a tiny scrap of humor hidden in this one. It's very much like a later Bergman film. It takes place in one house and it unfolds through dialog like a play. There's no obvious build, but there is a touch of tension with the characters that is then released in the climax, but it's a long, not-so-interesting journey to get there.
Honestly, I liked September. I don't suggest watching it unless you're a true believer in Woody Allen or Bergman. But I thought it was a well written, well acted drama. I'd also like to note that the sound design was superb.

HELLO DOLLY (3 STARS)

I've wanted to watch Hello Dolly ever since I saw Wall-E in the theaters last spring, nearly a year ago. I started it some time before I moved to Kentucky last summer. I didn't like the beginning, that's for sure. Then recently, for some reason, I had the urge to try again. I started from the beginning and yes, that beginning is a rough patch to get through. You sort of need to become desensitized to the annoyance.
I will say, once I got to the parts that are featured in Wall-E, I loved it. Actually, I'll say from the middle to the end I liked.
I really don't like Barbara Streisand.

BLIND DATE (1 STAR)

Blind Date is a horribly awful movie. Bad taste all around. The director of this film is an idiot. It's starring Bruce Willis and Kim Basinger who aren't too bad, but the movie they're in.... awful!

WAYNE'S WORLD (5 STARS)

I wonder if kids these days still appreciate Wayne's World. The dialogue we use today, own SO much to this movie. "That's what she said", "it certainly does suck", "oh yes it will be mine", and the obvious one, "NOT!". It's just as funny every time you watch it.

NEXT OF KIN (2 STARS)

Next of Kin is not a good movie. Not very thought out, and not very well acted. But really the ultimate down fall in it is that Patrick Swayze doesn't dance or to a hand stand and any moment in the movie. I'm sorry if that ruins it for you, but it's better you know beforehand.
You wouldn't recognize anything the director has ever done and the writer has only written this movie in his film career and he hasn't written a word since.

THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (4 STARS)

Directed by Bob Rafelson who has become one of my favorite directors. My first introduction to his work was in Five Easy Pieces with Jack Nicholson. I reviewed that last year and was completely floored by how cool it was. Rafelson thrives on loud chaotic scenes. He love the naturalistic dialogue of people talking over each other and not finishing their sentences and a whole lot of yelling. His actors are usually very extreme and dynamic.
It also seems like he enjoys the old way of life, or the simple life. Five Easy Pieces shows an obvious contrast between the lower working class with a little country, to an upper class island living, with wild-man Jack Nicholson. The second movie i saw was Stay Hungry starring "the dude" and "the terminator" and also with Sally Fields doing her fast talking sassy Jane Fonda acting that she flared in Smoky and the Bandits. As i watched my crappy VHS copy of Stay Hungry I noticed a familiar style of humor and chaos in the acting. I thought, "Gee this is a lot like Five Easy Pieces." So i looked....and POW!! it all clicked.
The Postman Always Rings Twice is a remake from 1941. This 1981 Rafelson film is different than the others. Their are only a few "outbreaking" moments where a little bit of chaos occurs. Compared to his other movies, Postman is very restrained. If you've seen this version of Postman, calling it "restrained" may seem funny seeing how it's bazaar and the love scenes are violent and exploitative at best. But Rafelson was really putting forth his effort to put away his style and put some real quality footage on the screen. The dark browns and the windy rainy 1940's California days are so raw and real.
I can't suggest anyone watch this. It's extremely awkward to watch with anyone else (i saw it with my Dad), not a whole lot happens, and it's 2 hours though it feels like 4. However, i say it's a great film. A really good quality film. I just don't want you to hate me for telling you to see it.

Don't see it.

TERROR SQUAD (6 STARS)

Wow! What a movie! Action packed! Explosions! Blood! Guns! Deaths! Terrorism! Squads!

This is one of the most entertaining movies ever made. It was directed by the great Peter Maris, who came to the humble farming town of Kokomo, Indiana to shoot a ridicules action film about Libyan terrorists who "come ashore" to try to blow up a nuclear power plan and when they fail they go on a shooting spree in downtown Kokomo and then they end up holding a group of Kokomo High School students hostage. Can you imagine this? This movie really exists!!!

Terror Squad was filmed in 1987. It has yet to make the media format leap into DVD. I now own 1 of maybe 10 copies left in the world. Yes.... me.

BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER (4 STARS)

Excellent documentary! Packed filled with information, visual charts, graphs and aids, and it's overflowing with hilarious stock footage. More stock footage than I've ever seen. They said there was something like 300 hours of footage they cut down to 2 hours and 2 minutes.
On the outside, it's a documentary about steroids. Look a little closer and it's about all sorts of drugs in all sorts of sports and actually all aspects of American life. Look a little closer and the film really hits home on the "side effects" of American culture. The 3 subjects chosen are effects of 80's "manly" American pop culture.. Guys like Rocky and Rambo, Terminator, Conan and Commando. And the ever-American Hulk Hogan!
I watched this with my mother. She hates all the muscles and the lifting and the wrestling, but no one can deny that this movie is an extremely interesting documentary. It asks some serious questions and brings up some serious thoughts for discussion.

NAKED GUN (3.5 STARS)

There are a lot of funny jokes in this movie. Few flop. The slap stick stuff is great, especially the OJ stuff in the beginning.