I took advantage of relatively inexpensive movie opportunities to catch a few flicks while home. On the flight to Canada, I only caught one movie, opting instead to read.
(ASIDE: I read
Spider Robinson's
Very Bad Deaths, really very good seemingly-autobiographical SF-thriller: think
Telepath + Hippy + Cop meets Hannibal Lector.)
What I did see on the flight was
Lucky You starring the Hulk, Boo Radley & Gertie. Pleasant, predictable & ponderous parable of Poker. Watch the
Cincinnati Kid instead. (I'd take Ann Margret over Drew any day!)
New to DVD is
Hot Fuzz and
Clerks 2.
Hot Fuzz was not as good as
Shaun of the Dead, but it did have its jocular moments. Great extras on movie making though. I'll have to rewatch
Clerks to refresh my memory, but I may prefer the sequel. Witty dialogue, great characterization and I found the romantic aspect as good as
Chasing Amy.
Bourne to be Wild was the
Ultimatum of action flicks. Thrills, chills and spills, but my main criticism is the constant use of the "SHAKY CAM". A few times would be okay, but expect seizures aplenty to strike the populus who view this. I also fear that we're in for a new trend of copycat movies using "Epilepto-vision" as the new "Bullet time".
It was a boy's night out to go see the Simpsons Movie and after a few pints, we were ready. Unfortunately, the paper had mixed up the times and the next show wasn't for another hour. So we all went to see Ratatouille. Excellent alternative, but I couldn't blubber like a school girl in front of my mates. It's over here in Japan under the title of:
Remi's Delicious Restaurant. It might be worth seeing a dubbed version as a comparison.
The next night I caught the
Simps and found it to be a superior episode with a few naughty sight gags but not quite cinematic enough to warrant a theatrical release. I'll see it when it comes to Japan next November though...It IS the
Simpsons after all!
I managed to get to the
Bloor to see
Grindhouse. Rodrigues' movie,
Planet Terror was brilliant. I loved every creepy moment of it. Tarantino's
Death Proof, on the other hand, talked and talked and talked with some intermittent action thrown in. Good finale though. They plan to split the movies up for overseas release (no such thing as a double feature over here) so I may catch
Planet Terror again for the extra footage. I can hold out for
Death Proof until it's on DVD though.
Finally on the flight back, I forgot a book, so I watched all three movies.
The Last Mimsy was pretty dopey, but passable kiddy SF.
Blades of Glory was very dumb but very funny, the Frat Pack strikes again. And every flight needs your typical embittered ghetto kids who triumph over all odds to win the championship; this time it was
Pride with swim trunks.
Stay tuned for the theatrical highlight of my trip, a certain nod to
Sam Raimi. (Oooh, how enigmatic!)
The latest hot movie in North America is a Western called 3:10 to Yuma starring Batman & Cinderella Man (now that's a Dynamic Duo!) It's taken the #1 spot away from Rob Zombie's Halloween and that must be some accomplishment. Check out the site and see what all the hubbub is bub.
But this western looks pretty damned cool, too. スキヤキ・ウエスタン ジャンゴ, (a remake of an old Spaghetti Western, Django) is directed by 三池 崇史 (Takeshi Miike) so you know it's going to be violent. Surprisingly, the dialogue will all be in English! Less surprisingly, Quentin Tarantino has a cameo in it. Let's hope his previous super-sucky onscreen portrayals were a fluke and he's actually good in this.
By the way, my mom used to make Sukiyaki when we were kids. It was pretty yummy, though I suspect it wasn't totally authentic. For one thing, I don't think you should use Uncle Ben's Instant Rice.
(ASIDE: I read Spider Robinson's Very Bad Deaths, really very good seemingly-autobiographical SF-thriller: think Telepath + Hippy + Cop meets Hannibal Lector.)
It was a boy's night out to go see the Simpsons Movie and after a few pints, we were ready. Unfortunately, the paper had mixed up the times and the next show wasn't for another hour. So we all went to see Ratatouille. Excellent alternative, but I couldn't blubber like a school girl in front of my mates. It's over here in Japan under the title of: Remi's Delicious Restaurant. It might be worth seeing a dubbed version as a comparison.
The next night I caught the Simps and found it to be a superior episode with a few naughty sight gags but not quite cinematic enough to warrant a theatrical release. I'll see it when it comes to Japan next November though...It IS the Simpsons after all!
