Women aren't funny. There I said it. Ok that isn't true I find a lot of women funny (30 Rock being one of the funniest shows on TV now comes to mind). Though I would say generally men are a lot funnier than women. So it is semi-rare that I find a woman to actually be hilarious and entertaining. Sally Hawkins in Happy-Go-Lucky is one of these rare cases.
Happy-Go-Lucky is a British film which follows an elementary school teacher Poppy (Sally Hawkins) living in London while sharing an apartment with her best friend Zoe. The film mainly revolves around Polly just living her life and taking driving lessons from a very angry bigot named Scott after her bike is stolen. I realize that I am not doing a very good job making this movie sound good, but it is. Here's the trailer which will probably do a better job than I have.
I would say that Sally Hawkins will probably be nominated for the Academy Award for best actress. She already won the Golden Globe for best actress in a musical or comedy. Though it's pretty likely that she will lose the oscar to something dramatic since the oscars treat comedy like some sort of disease. It was this critical acclaim and awards buzz that led me to watch it on January 4th. So I endorse this movie and must admit that women can be funny.
Monday, January 19, 2009
4- Harold and Kumar go to White Castle
Watched this on January 3rd at my friend Tyler's house. I'm not going to say a lot about as I figure that pretty much everyone who wanted to watch it has already seen it. This was probably the third or fourth time that I had seen it, and it's pretty much reached the point where it has gotten old and I don't want to see it anymore.
When I first saw this I was a bit blown away. Not because it was an amazing movie, it isn't. But because it was actually pretty good, and not an awful awful movie. I mean it sounded like a pretty awful concept, two dudes get stoned and go to White Castle (Spoiler alert: they make it there). I couldn't believe at first when my friends were telling me that it was awesome. I guess that the weak concept doesn't really matter since it's a pretty standard "quest movie". You know, guys want to do something but every possible obstacle is put in their way until they miraculously succeed at the end (other examples include Overnight Delivery, Road Trip which pretty much just stole the plot of Overnight Delivery, and Detroit Rock City). On paper I probably would have thought that I wouldn't like Detroit Rock City either as I don't like Kiss, but it's actually a hilarious movie. Other than a few gags which I find annoying (mainly Freakshow) Harold and Kumar go to White Castle is a pretty good movie and well worth a watch if somehow you haven't seen it. The sequel is also pretty decent, but is repeat of a lot of stuff.
When I first saw this I was a bit blown away. Not because it was an amazing movie, it isn't. But because it was actually pretty good, and not an awful awful movie. I mean it sounded like a pretty awful concept, two dudes get stoned and go to White Castle (Spoiler alert: they make it there). I couldn't believe at first when my friends were telling me that it was awesome. I guess that the weak concept doesn't really matter since it's a pretty standard "quest movie". You know, guys want to do something but every possible obstacle is put in their way until they miraculously succeed at the end (other examples include Overnight Delivery, Road Trip which pretty much just stole the plot of Overnight Delivery, and Detroit Rock City). On paper I probably would have thought that I wouldn't like Detroit Rock City either as I don't like Kiss, but it's actually a hilarious movie. Other than a few gags which I find annoying (mainly Freakshow) Harold and Kumar go to White Castle is a pretty good movie and well worth a watch if somehow you haven't seen it. The sequel is also pretty decent, but is repeat of a lot of stuff.
3- 40 Days and 40 Nights
Finally a comedy about lent. Though I don't think that Catholics were the intended audience for this movie as it is pretty much jokes about sex and masturbation for ninety minutes. The other movie that I watched on TV on January 2nd. This was the second time I've seen 40 Day and 40 Nights, as I saw it in the theatre when it first came out. Is it an alright movie? Sure. Did my 15 year old self like it a lot more than I do now? You bet.
Basically Matt (Josh Hartnett) can't seem to get over his ex-girlfriend and feels like the roof is about to tear itself open anytime he is having sex with a woman. To remedy this Matt decides to swear off sex (as well as masturbation and all sexual acts) for lent which happens to be starting that day. A couple of wrenchs are thrown in the mix when he meets the girl of his dreams shortly after, as well as interference from the people at his workplace who have started an internet betting pool for when he'll give up.
Awesome things about this movie:
-boobs
-it's kind of funny
Not so awesome things about this movie:
-Matt works for what appears to be a "dot-com", as this movie came out in early 2002 I can only assume that it was in development before the dot-com bubble burst, but his laid back "cool" work place makes me laugh.
-You know how in a lot of romantic comedies minor misunderstandings end up being major conflicts? Well this is definitely one of those movies. Hollywood should just learn to stop. For a show that seems to avoid unnecessary drama like this I would suggest watching How I Met Your Mother which is probably one of the funniest and best written comedies on TV right now. So what I am trying to say is that it's formulaic.
All in all this is probably worth watching once if you're a guy, less so if you're a woman. Though I wouldn't go out of my way to look for a six year old sex comedy as I'm sure there are plenty more on the way.
Basically Matt (Josh Hartnett) can't seem to get over his ex-girlfriend and feels like the roof is about to tear itself open anytime he is having sex with a woman. To remedy this Matt decides to swear off sex (as well as masturbation and all sexual acts) for lent which happens to be starting that day. A couple of wrenchs are thrown in the mix when he meets the girl of his dreams shortly after, as well as interference from the people at his workplace who have started an internet betting pool for when he'll give up.
Awesome things about this movie:
-boobs
-it's kind of funny
Not so awesome things about this movie:
-Matt works for what appears to be a "dot-com", as this movie came out in early 2002 I can only assume that it was in development before the dot-com bubble burst, but his laid back "cool" work place makes me laugh.
-You know how in a lot of romantic comedies minor misunderstandings end up being major conflicts? Well this is definitely one of those movies. Hollywood should just learn to stop. For a show that seems to avoid unnecessary drama like this I would suggest watching How I Met Your Mother which is probably one of the funniest and best written comedies on TV right now. So what I am trying to say is that it's formulaic.
All in all this is probably worth watching once if you're a guy, less so if you're a woman. Though I wouldn't go out of my way to look for a six year old sex comedy as I'm sure there are plenty more on the way.
2- Drillbit Taylor
I watched this on the second of January, and probably don't need to say a lot about the plot since it was reasonably popular and heavily advertised. Basically three nerds start high school and are being bullied pretty heavily. This leads them to decide to hire a body guard. They settle upon Drillbit Taylor (Owen Wilson) an ex-green beret who unbeknowst to them is currently homeless, mainly because he is the only body guard they can actually afford. I don't really want to let too much else out of the bag, but let's just say that zaniness ensues.
I avoided this movie at first due to pretty mediocre reviews. So I didn't watch it in theaters or even download it, but caught this on TV at my parent's house. Frankly I was pleasantly surprised by this. Sure it was formulaic, but it's based on an idea by John Hughes who played a pretty big part in developing the teen movie formula. There were a couple actors that if I had known they were in it then I probably would have seen it earlier. The first of those is Danny McBride (playing Drillbit's homeless friend) who kind of came out of nowhere in 2008 and was basically the funniest thing about Pineapple Express. The other actor was Josh Peck (as the bully's sidekick) who is apparently most well known for roles in Nickelodeon kid shows, but starred recently in the Wackness which was one of my favorite movies of 2008. Neither have substantial roles but they do the job well.
Though it may be formulaic there was one pretty clever reference to the film Cape Fear which I quite enjoyed. While in the principal's office trying to rat on the bully which proves to fail miserably as the nerds' parents take pity on him for being a lonely emancipated minor, the music from Cape Fear (heard in the video below, trust me you've probably heard it if you've seen a Simpsons episode featuring Sideshow Bob) begins to play. This is an allusion to how in the original Robert Mitchum the ex-con harrassing the family of Gregory Peck manages to have Peck arrested for harrassing him.
So basically if you have a couple of hours to kill and feel like watching something light and funny then give Drillbit Taylor a watch. Just don't expect it to break any new ground.
I avoided this movie at first due to pretty mediocre reviews. So I didn't watch it in theaters or even download it, but caught this on TV at my parent's house. Frankly I was pleasantly surprised by this. Sure it was formulaic, but it's based on an idea by John Hughes who played a pretty big part in developing the teen movie formula. There were a couple actors that if I had known they were in it then I probably would have seen it earlier. The first of those is Danny McBride (playing Drillbit's homeless friend) who kind of came out of nowhere in 2008 and was basically the funniest thing about Pineapple Express. The other actor was Josh Peck (as the bully's sidekick) who is apparently most well known for roles in Nickelodeon kid shows, but starred recently in the Wackness which was one of my favorite movies of 2008. Neither have substantial roles but they do the job well.
Though it may be formulaic there was one pretty clever reference to the film Cape Fear which I quite enjoyed. While in the principal's office trying to rat on the bully which proves to fail miserably as the nerds' parents take pity on him for being a lonely emancipated minor, the music from Cape Fear (heard in the video below, trust me you've probably heard it if you've seen a Simpsons episode featuring Sideshow Bob) begins to play. This is an allusion to how in the original Robert Mitchum the ex-con harrassing the family of Gregory Peck manages to have Peck arrested for harrassing him.
So basically if you have a couple of hours to kill and feel like watching something light and funny then give Drillbit Taylor a watch. Just don't expect it to break any new ground.
1- Red
This was the first movie that I decided to watch in 09. Well the first complete movie as I finished watching Defiance which I had started on New Year's Eve. I decided to watch this after hearing Tim talk about it. I figured that this was going to be a standard revenge movie. It's a pretty standard formula, person is wronged then decides to go a rampage for blood. Part of the reason I figured it would play out like this was the poster above. Brian Cox looks like a damn creep, and the tagline is "They should have told the truth." If that doesn't spell rampage then I don't know what does. Well it doesn't quite play out that way though it was a pretty good movie anyways (for awesome movies that do follow this formula then check out the Death Wish series, Taken, and if you're willing to watch something a bit worse Death Sentence).
The plot of Red is basically that Avery Ludlow (Brian Cox) is a widower out fishing with his dog Red when some rowdy teenagers decide to rob him. Unfortunately he only has thirty dollars which angers the teens and they decide to shoot Red. Red was a gift from his dead wife on his 50th, so needles to say Avery was pretty attached. Some clever detective work coupled with the fact that it's a pretty small town and soon he has located the boys who did it. He goes to their father to try to get them to apologize as well as a promise that the boys will be punished. Well typically the father believes that there is no way that his kids could have done such a horrible thing, and when the boys deny doing the deed he believes them. The movie unfolds from there with Avery trying to get justice for Red. One thing is certain...they should have told the truth.
I wouldn't say that I wholeheartedly recommend this movie, but if you are interested at all in revenge movies and want to see one that is a little different then Red is right up your alley. Also check it out if you're a fan of Brian Cox who I quite liked in X-2 as well as playing Herman Goering in the otherwise regrettable Nuremburg TV movie. The head bully Danny is played by Noel Fisher who was also great in the now cancelled FX drama The Riches as the teenage son Cal.
Resolving to have no life or how I decided to watch at least 365 movies this year.
You ever get the nagging feeling that you should do something, but just never get around to it? That is pretty much how I've felt about this blog for months. Now starting a blog right as university really got busy probably wasn't a smart idea, and I would say that partially explains why I only posted on here once. I guess I have had plenty of time to post on here since school ended in April, but I kind of figured that I had let it go for too long.
Obviously though I have decided to post on here again, but this time I have a purpose in mind. This year I decided that my New Year's resolution would be to watch at least 365 movies or one per day. Kind of a ridiculous idea, but I basically have no life already and am sure that I watched at least 200 movies in 2008. Sometimes you just want something to work for. Sure I could do something productive, but I figured this would be something that I would be more likely to succeed at (also it would be something that I enjoyed doing). If I do fail I feel that will be a different kind of success since hopefully it means that I have gained a life.
As well as watching the movies I figured it would be good to write about them which will serve to document the process, as well as maybe telling people which movies they should see and which they should avoid. The write-ups will include when I watched the movie in question, whether or not I liked it, interesting facts, etc. Not all movies will receive an extended write-up, for example I figure that most people have seen Finding Nemo so in those cases I will keep it brief. I also intend to keep major spoilers to a minimum and will figure out some way to write about spoilers so that only those wish to read spoilers can do so (probably just highlightable text). I would also like to encourage comments, if people actually end up reading this. I'm not going to bother to give the movies any sort of arbitrary star or number rating, but will just say whether I thought it was worth watching and possibly whether I would watch it again. Also, I will be counting movies that I have already seen, but will try to focus on watching movies which I haven't. Finally, though the majority of posts on this blog will be related to this project there will probably be a few unrelated posts, since I also watch tv/read/listen to music.
Obviously though I have decided to post on here again, but this time I have a purpose in mind. This year I decided that my New Year's resolution would be to watch at least 365 movies or one per day. Kind of a ridiculous idea, but I basically have no life already and am sure that I watched at least 200 movies in 2008. Sometimes you just want something to work for. Sure I could do something productive, but I figured this would be something that I would be more likely to succeed at (also it would be something that I enjoyed doing). If I do fail I feel that will be a different kind of success since hopefully it means that I have gained a life.
As well as watching the movies I figured it would be good to write about them which will serve to document the process, as well as maybe telling people which movies they should see and which they should avoid. The write-ups will include when I watched the movie in question, whether or not I liked it, interesting facts, etc. Not all movies will receive an extended write-up, for example I figure that most people have seen Finding Nemo so in those cases I will keep it brief. I also intend to keep major spoilers to a minimum and will figure out some way to write about spoilers so that only those wish to read spoilers can do so (probably just highlightable text). I would also like to encourage comments, if people actually end up reading this. I'm not going to bother to give the movies any sort of arbitrary star or number rating, but will just say whether I thought it was worth watching and possibly whether I would watch it again. Also, I will be counting movies that I have already seen, but will try to focus on watching movies which I haven't. Finally, though the majority of posts on this blog will be related to this project there will probably be a few unrelated posts, since I also watch tv/read/listen to music.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Dan In Real Life
It took me a little while to decide whether or not I was gonna watch this movie. On the one hand I really enjoy Steve Carrell (minus Evan Almighty which was probably the worst movie I saw last year). On the other hand I really don't enjoy Dane Cook. Unfunny pretty boys get out of comedy. Well boredom gave in so I decided to watch it, also the fact that I downloaded it. To sum it up it was alright, but it probably could have been far better.
This is sort of how I felt about Evan Almighty as well. The concept could have been really good,
but the final product ended up being a tall watery glass of mediocrity.
The story seemed to be a bit jam packed with too much stuff in too
little time. While the primary focus seemed to be on the forbidden love of wanting his brother's girlfriend they also managed to jam in three daughters and a growing career as a newspaper
advice columnist. These parts seemed a little bit thin, especially relating to his career. It was nice to see Dane Cook get sorta screwed over in the end though.
The one problem that really stuck out for me was that the whole extended family seemed to be living in the 1930s. They did everything together. Some of the things kinda made sense like the friendly family football game. But come on what kind of family has contests to see which sex can finish a crossword first,
holds a talent show, plays charades, does aerobics outdoors, etc. in one weekend. If this movie had been made even
30 years ago it would have seemed more realistic. Now though television has taken over our
lives that it just seems ridiculous to me that they would not be near one or watch it instead of
doing these family togetherness activities.
So for the record TV good, Dane Cook bad, Dan in Real Life ok.
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