What Movies Have You Seen, Part 15

[Valerie]

A good, stylish love story centering in on the Cuban connection of the Be-Bop revolution. Woody Herman, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Ben Webster and others make animated cameos. Chano Polo makes an extended appearance but gets off-ed just like he did in the real world. A lot of fun and one of the sexier animated movies you're ever going to run into. This is probably something jazz fans should have a look at.

i absolutely LOVED this movie!! have seen it twice so far. will probably buy the dvd, if and when, which i never do. an absolutely "must" for any jazz fan!

[Valerie]

Jiro Dreams of Sushi is an excellent documentary. i'm a sushi addict so it was a "no-brainer" for me to see it. it's a fascinating story of an 85 year-old sushi chef who owns his own little sushi bar in Tokyo. he has devoted his life to his profession and is a perfectionist in the true sense of the word. he is in the Guinness Book of Records and is the only sushi chef to earn 3 stars by Michelin. he is an extremely unique character who left home when he was 9 years old!!

[baksheesh]

Interesting reaction in The Guardian to My Week With Marilyn, entitled Unsexing Marilyn Monroe

[baksheesh]

Looking forward to 'Prometheus'?

Yes, this looks like it might be pretty damn cool. Can't wait - summer blockbuster of the year I hope!

[clinthopson]

Donna prevailed upon me to record Bridesmaids.

We watched it the other night.

If this is the best Hollyweird can do, the movie industry is in big trouble - cliched dialogues, unconvincing acting and shitty music.

[baksheesh]

Donna prevailed upon me to record Bridesmaids.

We watched it the other night.

If this is the best Hollyweird can do, the movie industry is in big trouble - cliched dialogues, unconvincing acting and shitty music.

Not to mention an obsession with scatology that would have put the Ancient Romans to shame. I found it hilarious and tragic (and I should point out that I have no intention of ever watching the movie, but have encountered a fair bit of discussion and reviews about it) that doing a toilet scene 'for girls' was sort of an equalizer in the gender stakes. Although I remember a similar scene in the first Harold & Kumar film.

Anyways, I find that shit (if you'll pardon the pun) ineffably depressing and juvenile.





































































Pandering to the lowest demographic in the lobby.

[stonemonkts]

Donna prevailed upon me to record Bridesmaids.

We watched it the other night.

If this is the best Hollyweird can do, the movie industry is in big trouble - cliched dialogues, unconvincing acting and shitty music.

I was hoping it would be as clever and funny as Election. Of course, it wasn't.

[Sergio Zamora]

Well, I just saw Bridesmaids this weekend and I thought it was hilarious and even insightful at times.

[LennyH]

I was hoping it would be as clever and funny as Election. Of course, it wasn't.

If that's where you put the bar you are in for a lot of disappointment, stone.

I thought Bridesmaids was fine. Watchable and funny enough to make it worth it. Based on the reviews, though, it was less than expected.

[stonemonkts]

I'm glad for Wiig's success, being a fan of hers. The film was a bit too formulaic for my taste. I laughed a few times for sure, and appreciated a few scenes a lot (the microphone grabbing scene, and some subtle things, like the scenery flowing by through the bus window, of brown dreary Kansas, or whatever midwest wasteland it was). I didn't hate it, but I must say I was disappointed.

[Chris D]

Tough room. I saw "The Hunger Games" with my son and loved it.

[steve(thelil)]

Donna prevailed upon me to record Bridesmaids.

We watched it the other night.

If this is the best Hollyweird can do, the movie industry is in big trouble - cliched dialogues, unconvincing acting and shitty music.

I strongly disagree. Thought Bridesmaids was both funny and impressive. And as a funny gross-out flick with female leads, I think it defied cliche and convention very effectively. If you have somehow concluded that it's the best Hollywood can do even though you didn't like it, maybe you just don't get current comedy. I actually can't recall anyone else who thought it was bad. What was the last comedy you liked?


I don't like much of the current Judd Apatow school of comedy that is so prevalent, but I've really enjoyed some of them. I don't watch any Adam Sandler pics, Jim Carrey Pics and mostly avoid Will Ferrell pics (the ones where he does his dumb guy shtick) My ratings of Hollywood comedies released in the last few years in the order of descending quality


Adventureland (not only a comedy): Excellent
Cedar Rapids: Excellent. Highly recommended.
Bridesmaids: Excellent
Role Models : Very Good/Excellent.
40 Year Old Virgin: Very Good
Old Schooll: Very Good
I Love You Man, Good
Midnight in Paris: Good. Loved premise in the beginning. Then the movie ran out of steam
The Hangover: Fair: Overrated. Erratic
Superbad: Fair: Overhyped. Very erratic
Big Year (the birdwatching comedy w/Steve Martin, Owen Wilson and Jack Black): Fair. Boring

[baksheesh]

Man, I just don't know how people can get down with that gross-out toilet humour. It seems juvenile to me.

[steve(thelil)]

Baksheesh: Which films are you referring to when you say they are about gross-out or toilet humor and seem juvenile?

I agree with you in that I generally don't like gross-out or toilet humor, which is why I thought both the Hangover and SuperBad were very overrated. The reason I avoid the Sandler and Ferrell and Carey films is that they seem juvenile to me, but I actually can't be sure since I don't watch them.

Bridesmaids has one famous gross-out scene (which I thought was funny), but most of the movie had nothing to do with gross out humor or juvenalia.

One recent comedy that got some props for being more mature, well-acted and NOT about gross-out humor was "It's Complicated" with Meryl Streep, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin. It was well-acted. It was also very cliched and not funny. The fairly recent "mature"comedy about the same characters that the Graduate was about was painfully lame.

[baksheesh]

steve: I guess the presence of a major gross-out or toilet humour scene tends to put me off a film. Harold & Kumar is a glaring example. Dumb & Dumber, the second Ace Ventura film, the American Pie series all had obligatory such scenes.

Then there are the out and out gross-out films such as Dirty Sanchez, Jackass, Slither. I definitely include the violence porn of the Hostel and Saw series and their various knock offs, although they're operating on a different level altogether.

SuperBad I actually enjoyed a lot, and wouldn't consider it a gross-out film.

[Valerie]

Man, I just don't know how people can get down with that gross-out toilet humour. It seems juvenile to me.

AMEN, AMEN!!

[clinthopson]

What was the last comedy you liked?


I

Young Frankenstein

These post pubescent gross out flicks demonstrate the fall of our civilization.

Donna agrees with me about Bridesmaids.

[steve(thelil)]

steve: I guess the presence of a major gross-out or toilet humour scene tends to put me off a film. Harold & Kumar is a glaring example. Dumb & Dumber, the second Ace Ventura film, the American Pie series all had obligatory such scenes.

Then there are the out and out gross-out films such as Dirty Sanchez, Jackass, Slither. I definitely include the violence porn of the Hostel and Saw series and their various knock offs, although they're operating on a different level altogether.

SuperBad I actually enjoyed a lot, and wouldn't consider it a gross-out film.

I haven't seen the films you mentioned (mostly because I anticipated I'd agree and avoid movies where the gross-out stuff seems central) except SuperBad. I agree that it wasn't mostly a gross-out film, but the gross-out parts (such as the menstruation scene) and the allegedly comical violence were the parts that diminished it for me.

I wouldn't go near Dumb and Dumber and somehow had the instinct to avoid American Pie, but I forgot what about it made me want to avoid it.

Probably the Hollywood comedy that impressed me most in the last 25 years was Roxeanne, the Steve Martin vehicle that was sort of an updating of Cyrano De Bergerac. (I only saw it once, and at a theater) Even though Clint says Young Frankenstein was the last comedy he liked, I'd be surprised if he saw Roxeanne and didn't like it.

[clinthopson]

Even though Clint says Young Frankenstein was the last comedy he liked, I'd be surprised if he saw Roxeanne and didn't like it.

I liked The Man With Two Brains more

Cyrano Schmeryano

[Sergio Zamora]

Even though Clint says Young Frankenstein was the last comedy he liked, I'd be surprised if he saw Roxeanne and didn't like it.

Clint had some nice things to say about a Fatty Arbuckle short he saw in its premiere. It's all been downhill from there.

[steve(thelil)]

I liked The Man With Two Brains more

Cyrano Schmeryano

How about L.A. Story? I think it and Roxeanne were much better comedies than The Man With Two Brains. On the other hand, I like my comedies to be funny.

[Sergio Zamora]

How about L.A. Story? I think it and Roxeanne were much better comedies than The Man With Two Brains. On the other hand, I like my comedies to be funny.

The Man With Two Brains is dope. I like all the Carl Reiner-directed Steve Martin films, but this is tops:

[steve(thelil)]

I was kind of disappointed by the Car Reiner directed Steve Martin pics. I thought The Jerk and The Man With Two Brains were OK, but I was hoping for more, having been a BIG fan of Steve's standup. The match of Steve and Carl Reiner seemed perfect since Steve Martin was kind of an updated Dick Van Dyck. Maybe I had unrealistically high expectations at the time.

Actually early Steve Martin standup REALLY reminds me of the character Dick Van Dyck's brother Jerry played on a two-part episode of the DVD show. He played Dick's younger brother Stacy. The 2 episodes were about the shy, awkward Stacy becoming the life of the party when he's sleepwalking. To me, his performances are among my favorite comedy performances ever, and I think they hold up.

Anyone who has Netflix streaming should check them out. Besides being funny as hell, it's wild how much the sleepwalking Stacy is like early Steve Martin standup - and not just because the act involves playing the banjo.

[baksheesh]

Hey, Bakie. How was Hunger Games?

I can answer now, as I went to see it with my bros (literally) on Tuesday. I have to say that I was disappointed - and I didn't expect much. I've been out of the 'movie loop' for quite a while now as it's been so long since I saw a worthwhile film.

The best I can say about Hunger Games is that it was well made but I was never at any time drawn into this film. Maybe this is the Hollywood standard now, but this was extraordinarily full of cliches. Every plot twist was telegraphed miles in advance Every character seemed to be either stamped from a template, or drawn in the crudest colours, with not a hint of originality to distinguish the archetype.

The dialogue was uninspired and wooden. The only thing this one had going was the fact that it was competently made - i.e. the pacing and story structure flowed. But that just highlighted the 'action film by numbers' aspect of the whole thing.

I'm seriously reconsidering whether to bother going to Prometheus now, if this is the state of film making in the main stream today.
5 anti-Montes

[baksheesh]

The Man With Two Brains is dope. I like all the Carl Reiner-directed Steve Martin films, but this is tops:

Btw, I loved this one the first few times I saw it. Some truly classic visual gags. Just deliriously stupid and side splitting - the way a great comedy should be.

[Monte Smith]

I admire art that has something to say about the human condition. There is a point in the new Three Stooges movie where Curly is about to toss an octopus across a room crowded with partygoers and Moe plaintively cries, "Where's your dignity?!" Three Montes.

[ran]

I admire art that has something to say about the human condition. There is a point in the new Three Stooges movie where Curly is about to toss an octopus across a room crowded with partygoers and Moe plaintively cries, "Where's your dignity?!" Three Montes.

Good thing you said it before I did.

[Uli]

[steve(thelil)]

I admire art that has something to say about the human condition. There is a point in the new Three Stooges movie where Curly is about to toss an octopus across a room crowded with partygoers and Moe plaintively cries, "Where's your dignity?!" Three Montes.

I'm very conflicted about wanting to see this. There are moments where I can't resist. I think they're winning.

[Monte Smith]

I'm very conflicted about wanting to see this. There are moments where I can't resist. I think they're winning.

I understand your reticence. Obviously, I didn't share it. People have hard and fast opinions about the Stooges. In a way, they are like barbecue. Some people see a man hit another man in the face with a sledgehammer and it is a revelation. They want more, but they want it the way it is and in no other way do they want it. Shemp? Fuck you. Others see a man hit another man in the face with a sledgehammer and they want no part of it. "The Three Stooges are stupid," an observer will say, as though positing an opinion that one might dare refute. Pick up a sledgehammer and these types won't thank you, they back away declaring themselves not fans and going off to toss themselves against a more intellectual trampoline. To do which thing are they entitled? Coitenly.

There were some good reviews online about this Farrelly Stooge flick. I read the reviews not because I had to make a decision to see it (emphatically, I did not. I am seldom without my sledgehammer). I read the reviews to determine if the picture would be suitable for my six and eight year olds to see. "Three violent dim-wits become entangled with a murder-for-hire scheme and the cast of JERSEY SHORE. Larry David plays a nun called Sister Mary Mengele. Sounds OK." One aspect of the reviews was illuminating. This aspect was the aspect that asked if the new Stooges movie was anti-semitic. Theory was, the original Stooges were Yiddish-speaking vaudevillians who acted in a tradition of Jewish comedy. The new Stooges are cavorting with nuns at a Catholic orphanage. Did Mel Gibson write this screenplay. It being the internet, these opinions were expressed very strongly by obvious amateurs. One went so far as to declare categorically that Moe, Larry, and Curly play recognizably Jewish types and that Catholicizing them is an outrage. I just love the idea that there are recognizable Jewish types to which Larry, Moe, and Curly are avatars. What a slander! What race would accept that? Tempest in a teapot, obviously. For the record, Larry David plays a hell of a nun.