Great show but I'd be interested how much they cut of this gory serial killer love fest. Each episode might be chopped a good 20 minutes which is probably what CBS is looking for. Secondly, it will be interesting to see if the show is still as good with constant interruption that doesn't happen on Showtime, and probably makes all their shows seem better.
The top ten movies of 2007 in an unnumbered, somewhat particular of an order: No Country for Old Man I went through this movie a few weeks back in comparison to the mess that was Hitman but I'll repeat myself. Javier Bardem and Coen Brothers have been cleaning up at the film critic's awards for a reason. No Country for Old Men is enthralling, tense, and full of rich characters, none more memorable than Bardem's ruthless killer with a ridiculous haircut. It's just like the Coen Brothers to do something like that, add a small touch of a weird haircut to challenge the actor to raise his intensity beyond the haircut.
If you want to hear Bardem's take on it:
There Will Be Blood A very close second. Daniel Day Lewis shows he is one of the best living actors and that any project that he becomes part becomes a possibility for an instant classic. Matched with the directing talents and skilled visual style of the auteur Paul Thomas Anderson, this story of a turmoil of a turn of the 20th century oil man is gritty, brutal and completely arresting. Before this week, I thought there was no better performance than Bardem's but Daniel Day Lewis eclipses him. It's a good thing Bardem seems to be getting the support for the supporting actor, although I never truly understood how that can be decided. Yet while Bardem does take control of No Country, There Will Be Blood completely rests on Lewis and there is not another actor I know of that could have surpassed him. A full review is in my previous post.
Eastern Promises David Cronenberg's latest masterwork following up last year's A History of Violence has not just one of the most innovative fight scenes in a long time but Viggo Mortensen proves he's one of the best actors working in now. His performance as a Russian mafia man in London ruthlessly working his way up the ladder is one of the strongest of the year and gives his own take on the intense, multifaceted criminal character. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead If you haven't noticed a theme here, a great film starts with a great actor, an excellent director and don't forget the brilliant script. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead has Phillip Seymour Hoffman playing the equivalent of a douchebag businessman in the middle of a fucked up caper that is told from multiple angles that perfectly melds into a fantastic film under the direction of Sidney Lumet (Dog Day Afternoon). Excellent supporting performances are in abundance with Ethan Hawke, Marissa Tomei, and Albert Finney all making strong impressions. Juno A very postmodern tale of the average of high school aged Minnesotan whipper snapper named Juno (Ellen Page) who gets impregnated by the dweeby but lovable track star (Michael Cera of Arrested Development and Superbad). Unlike the average movie wwhich would spend most of it's time on the decision to keep the baby, Juno follows this sharp witted hipster through her trials and tribulations in keeping the baby and giving it away as a gift to someone in need. That couple in need is excellently depicted by Jennifer Garner and especially Jason Bateman as a former wannabe rock star now commercial Jingle composer. The comparison you'll most often hear is to Napoleon Dynamite with more of a plot as well as the dark humor sensibilities of last year's inide darling Little Miss Sunshine. Both comparisons are apt and Juno is worth the praise if not for the strength of Ellen Page's performance. The one performance that will likely be overlooked is the humorous turn of acting chameleon, JK Simmons who can go from Law & Order to Spiderman to a major role in one of the more overlooked film's of the year First Snow starring Guy Pearce. His voice of reason, intelligence and fatherly advice takes Juno to another level. The Lives of Others An interesting tale of the invasive Socialist era in the vein of Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation. A dedicated socialist is given the task of spying on popular writer who is believed to have ties to the underground. An interesting tale of a man's fascination that develops with someone who never actually meets and the relationship that is unknowingly formed while also telling a story of a time that hasn't had mush light shone upon it.
Zodiac
I remember when seeing this in March that this is the reason that filmmakers that want award notice and accolades wait until the fall but I appreciated David Fincher giving his audience this sprawling 2 ½ hour plus tale of multiple men's intricate levels of obsession with finding the Zodiac killer. Joining the strong performances of Jake Gylenhaal and Mark Ruffalo to this task and keeping the story gripping was a task on its own. Although the film does meander at times, Zodiac was the first truly great film of 2007 and I kept my promise to myself to not forget it and reward it at the end of the year with my very valuable recommendation. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street I heard the hype. I loved the driving forces behind the film with Tim Burton and Johnny Depp but I never really thought I would get into a musical about a demonic barber who takes revenge on the politician that took his perfect life. But they pulled it off, they relaly pulled it off. The Savages The second Phillip Seymour Hoffman film to show up on the big countdown stars the man and Laura Linney as middle aged siblings who are called on to take over the care of their estranged father who is beginning to go senile. One of truly smaller independent films of the year that rely heavily on the performances of the leads. The Savages is a semi autobiographical tale from Tamara Jenkins, who also made the chronically underappreciated Slums of Beverly Hills. The Savages is a very personal tale full of dark humor, real characters living real ives and tackling genuine problems. A film that is emotional draining, full of the dark side of life especially in respect to the aspirations and difficulties of its main duo make The Savages a real gem from 2007 that will stick with you long after you leave the theater.
Hot Fuzz / Superbad Here are two films that will stick with you long after you leave but for a very different reason than The Savages and that's because they are both fucking hysterical. Superbad is basically a Judd Apatow produced version of American Pie. In more descriptive wording, it's an intelligent comedy that mixes much slapstick with heart and two bumbling high school droks who just want to have fun before they ship out to college. Most people who would see this movie had and love Mclovin like myself so I'll waste my breath on Hot Fuzz instead.
Hot Fuzz comes from the team who made Shaun of the Dead, the popular British horror film satire which I personally did not enjoy much but Hot Fuzz is right down my alley. This time they take on the ridiculousness of Hollywood cop films especially Bad Boys and the Keanu Reeves/ Patrick Swayze greatness of Point Break. Basically, a big city cop is reassigned for arresting too many criminals and making the rest of the force look bad so they send him to a small village that has no crime. The old fish out of water tale mixed with the hysterical parody scenes makes Hot Fuzz a must see for those who are a fan of the British style of humor. Noteworthy:
Charlie Wilson's War - Phillip Seymour Hoffman gets into crazy man haired character to make a third appearance on the list in this comedic telling of a Congressman and his quest to "shoot down some helicopters." The Lookout – Slow, brooding, moody and somewhat predictable. Joseph Gordon Levitt returns with another standout performance after last year's amazing Brick American Gangster – Denzel and Russel Crowe go to toe toe in this year's Departed. Ridley Scott makes up for some recent faux pas with this tenacious tale of Frank Russell Crowe also shares top billing with Christian Bale in 3:10 to Yuma. Yuma is a remake of 1957 western that rides the intensity, vigor, and viciousness of two actors that are their best are pretty much unmatched in those categories, Crowe and Christian Bale. Bale as the flawed man about to lose his land and Crowe as the ruthless criminal that Bale is hired to transport as a prisoner. I also like Hollywood's recent trend to giving us a little more western action.
Ken Loach's The Wind That Shakes the Barley tell the story of the struggle for Ireland's freedom from British occupation in the early 20th Century. It's a gut wrenching and strong handed, politically motivated tale starring Cillian Murphy as man with a bright future pulled into the struggle. Richard Gere stars in The Hoax, a true story of a man who fakes the writing of a Howard Hughes biography in the humorous and interesting film. I never thought I'd say this but Ben Affleck deserves some respect for bringing the gritty Mystic River junior (a book from the same author) in Gone Baby Gone. His brother Casey stars and isn't half bad and Morgan Freeman also shows some adept skill as missing child expert for the police force.
Paul Vorheoven, a man best whose career has varied wildly between made the good (Robocop, Total Recall), the bad/tacky (Starship Troopers, Hollow Man) and the ugly (Showgirls) released his two and half hour plus drama about a woman's story of survival in Holland during the holocaust entitled Black Book. The film flows from engaging to sexy to with his best effort possibly in his career. It's nice to watch a film about the Holocaust that isn't preoccupied with concentration.
Paris Je T'aime brings together a tour of Paris through about 12 plus vignettes about different sects of the population in the celebration of the city by multiple popular independent directors starring a large collection of actors from all realms. The Coen Brothers, Alexander Payne direct a plethora of actors including Steve Buscemi, Nick Nolte, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Bob Hoskins, Elijah Wood, Natalie Portman, Rufus Sewell and Gerard Depardieu.
The summer action films usually a case of dull, boring dogshit has quite a few glimmers of hope in the-more-often-than-not-atrocious direction of Michael Bay made Transformers energetic, fun and entertaining. And when those robots come on screen, it was kind of like the moment you first saw the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. You know they weren't there but you get swept away. Then there were the action sequels from two of the better series around, Live Free or Die Hard and Bourne Ultimatum, which both
Best Documentary - An Unreasonable Man
If you were unacquainted with the history of Ralph Nader's political rise and background, An Unreasonable Man should do the trick. It's interesting, informative, and showcases how Nader became Nader.
And that means the fall is almost here. That means Oscar season is right around the corner. You know what that means? There are tons of great movies that will be passed over for recognition in favor a bunch of Hollywood's favorites that have the big marketing budget. But those great films will be there by the end of the year. You just have to look for them.
Some of them have already come out. In the comedy realm, there have been two great ones. The one everyone knows about and has seen is Knocked Up. The second one got a good marketing push and the great reviews but didn't seem to get the people with all the other was Hot Fuzz. This Brit comedy form the makers of Shaun of the Dead pulls off a tough pair of tasks, the first half as a balls out cop parody while still maintaining an interesting plot but never forgetting about the film's true purpose, primo comedy. Even if you didn't enjoy Shaun, I'd highly recommend Hot Fuzz, it's about to come out on DVD and will definitely make you chuckle if you enjoy making fun of over-the-top Micheal Bay police action sequences like in Bad Boys. The film gives plenty of homage to Michael Bay's epic buddy cop comedy series. Speaking of Micheal Bay...
There have been the big budget messes like Pirates: Curse of the Bullshit and Spiderman 3 as well as the big budget surprises of awesomeness. Live Free or Die Hard and Transformers (which Michael Bay managed not to fuck up like Miami Vice , Pearl Harbor, and The Island) were surprisingly awesome in the mold of the mid 90s over the top action movies that were engaging, blow it up, destruction of all pieces of awesomeness. I think there is soft spot in my and all men's hearts (AKA balls) for completely ridiculous cop movies like Robocop, The Die Hard Series and Bad Boys. You know what Bruce Willis, even though you're 63 years old, you can go and make another Die Hard I don't mind. Just do me two favors, kill the Mac kid and don't ever make another Whole Nine Yards sequel.
Yet the genre that has probably had most excellent yet overlooked films has to be the Suspense/Dramas with Zodiac and the Lookout. Zodiac had a weird winter release date. It had David Fincher (Seven, Fight Club) directing and Jake Gyllenhaal starring. Add to that some great reviews, a serial killer story, and a large collection of superb supporting performances and you'd think this movie would be a slam dunk. Maybe it was a mistake to release it in the winter but that's what people have been begging for, to release some quality films during the year and not just release them all in December. There were some qualms with Zodiac though. It really does drag. Some of the murders are a bit poorly represented and the movie does drag at points but so does any 2 1/2 hour plus film. But unlike the $300 Summer shit twins (Pirates and Spiderman) manages to justify its length and grip you more than not that you are really fascinated by the story.
The Lookout had the same glowing reviews and a decent amount of marketing, but it too was lost somewhere on the March calendar. Joseph Gordon Levitt (the kid from"3rd Rock From The Sun") is really growing into an excellent actor in recent years especially with the movie he picks to be in. Last year, it was in the criminally under-seen modernized pulp crime Raymond Chandler-esque Brick. The Lookout is the story of a high school jock who goes through a horrible car accident and suffers permanent damage to his long term who gets wrapped up in a plotto rob that bank that he works at. No, it's not Memento. It is so simple and restrained, yet subtle and meaningful at the same time. It is a great character study of a young man trying to regain his power and his identity conflicting with the guilt of like long instilled morality. The beauty of The Lookout film is in the character's dialogue and especially in the execution. Hopefully, it will get remembered during Oscar time, especially Jeff Daniels in a supporting role and hopefully you will check it out on DVD.
The two headed comedy of sports is coming our way very soon and let's just say cream dreams are coming true left in right. From the writer of Old School come Semi-Pro starring Will Ferrell and Andre "3000" Benjamin. I feel the movie trailer voiceover guy. Here is your plot from IMDB: "Jackie Moon, the owner-coach-player of the American Basketball Association's Flint Michigan Tropics, rallies his teammates to make their NBA dreams come true." Semi-Pro is the movie Will Ferrel has been letting those locks getting a little long. Long enough to pick into a lustrous afro. Click the image below to get a bit more zoomed to its beauty. Count me in.
The second part of the two headed monster is Balls of Fury with a cast of thousands including Christopher Walken. Think Beerfest with ping pong.
There's finally a trailer for possibly my most anticipated movie of the next 6 months, the latest film matching Jack Black and Mos Def with the director of The Science of Sleep and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in a film entitled Be Kind Rewind. Watch and love.
In work related news, I'm looking for this as a perk in my next one man negotiation. Ohhhhhh, give me the Energypod. I didn't used to be one that was much for naps but now I'm all for them. (Found that one in this weekends.
This one is a bit outdated but the Bruno AKA the gay fashionista character from Da Ali G Showmovie may be trying to film under the radar, otherwise it wouldn't be able to film at all looking at the piling of lawsuits trying to cash in on that Borat action. (via Cinematical)
More Lollzapalooza thoughts this weekend. Needed to distance myself and let the thoughts simmer. C'mon back.
Zodiac had everything going for it; A great cast, an amazing director (minus the useless Panic Room, Jodie Foster really sucks of late), and it matched all that with an interesting story of murder, obsession, and kookiness.
Zodiac is a breath of relief. A quality, interesting film released during the year and not just waiting for Oscar time. The movie has a few main characters that seem to take over adn then return the mantle to the other. Mark Ruffalo and Jake Gyllenhaal have the main plotlines but RObert Downey Jr. steals the show as a what else, but a zany beat reporter with affinities for the drink, the tobacco, and the nose candy. He is the go to guy for that. And if yo missed Kiss Kiss Bang BAng, I'd reccommend a run to the rental store ASAP.
At every turn there is just another excellent actor or character. Brian Cox shows up. From Fargo, the guy who played Norm, Marge's husband re-emerges with a strong performance. Minkus from "Boy Meets World" even shows up. The guy who played Gus in Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead is even in there. As well as Chloe Sevigny, Anthony Edwards (from ER), Elias Koteas, and even Dermot Mulroney has a decent showing. These names might not mean much to many but it was cool to see this kind of cast assembled.
Positive reviews and a very good overall movie. The only impediment for most is the length of the movie. It's 2 1/2 plus hours which is a lot for a film like this, and while it does drag at points, it's refreching the way the film unravels and is not cut short to fit the regular two hour popcorn session. So after all this, the movie will probably get crushed this weekend by Wild Hogs. And that is what is wrong with America.
Who is actually seeing Wild Hogs? Who thought this movie was a good idea? Why do people keep going and paying for movies with John Travolta? They should make another Saturday Night Fever like Rocky 6? This review didn't end up as short as I planned it.
