Red State

Honestly, I'm a little conflicted about this post. The reason? Red State kind of blew me away, in a good way... but I attribute a (big) part of that to the fact that I knew very little about it going in. All I knew was that Kevin Smith wrote and directed it and that it premiered at Sundance this past January, which led to an anti-marketing/distribution tirade by Smith that culminated in his decision to self-distribute the film on a traveling tour across the States. That's it. That's all I knew. Yes, I saw a trailer for it but the trailer gives nothing away. Agitated as I was at first, I'm glad to have known so little about it. So now I'm going to attempt to talk about this film without giving hardly anything away. (Good luck, me.)

Okay, so it was at the last stop of the tour at the Wiltern theatre here in Los Angeles where I was able to see the film followed by a Q&A with Smith and most of the cast. I was really surprised to hear him say that he doesn't consider himself or identify with being a director, especially after seeing Red State, as it is a very well directed and well written film. On the other hand, I was NOT surprised to hear him say that he wanted this film to be more "unsettling" than horrific. It is incredibly unsettling. It is also provocative, intriguing, original, engaging and just really raw. And although I wouldn't place it into one specific genre, I will say that there are shades of horror, drama, thriller, action and cult throughout. 

Lastly, whether you are a Kevin Smith fan like myself or not, you should know that this is absolutely nothing like any of his other films. I wouldn't label it as a "Kevin Smith movie" by any means. It's just a good movie. Please, please go see Red State when/if it comes to theaters. 

Sucker Punch

If you don't take it so seriously, Sucker Punch isn't all that bad. Some of the fight sequences were actually pretty badass. I really liked the first one in particular. I mean, there I was watching a movie about a girl being sent to an insane asylum by her wicked stepfather when all of a sudden... BAM! Crazy fight sequence with said girl pitted against three giant, kinda terrifying, Samurai robot monsters! (I guess that's why it's called Sucker Punch?) And yes, I saw the trailers. Yes, I knew what was coming. But it was still totally shocking when that first fight actually happened.

But of course it has its flaws: The story is very... simple, to be polite. The dialogue is mediocre. The acting is adequate. And as for the music, I wish they would have used the original versions of The Pixies' and Iggy Pop's legendary songs instead of cheesy covers.

All in all, hokey? Yes. Terrible movie? No.

David Boring

This is the start of my official petition to get David Boring made into a feature film.

Why?? Because it would be awesome. For example, check out this panel that is practically begging to be brought to life onscreen:

Bottom line is, it's just good material. And as much as I love reading it, the cinefile inside me wants to see it as a film. Not to mention, some of the themes and issues that it touches on would be totally relevant to what is going on today. Furthermore, I have been yearning for a good '90s period piece to hit the screen, if for nothing else but the clothes!

That's all I have to say about this for today. There will be more posts on this topic in the future I'm sure. I hereby leave you with a simple, kinda silly, yet thought-provoking panel:

Paul

I really enjoyed this movie, despite the annoying lady sitting next to me who apparently had never seen a comedy before. I mean, she was laughing louder than anyone in the theater, snorting, clapping and repeating the lines (so loud!) that she thought were funny... which were nearly all of them.

In any case, Paul is a really fun, upbeat buddy roadtrip movie. Geeks/nerds will particularly love all of the geeky/nerdy inside jokes that pepper the film from beginning to end. Also, anyone who has a fear of or repulsion to aliens and the movies that feature them will also, surprisingly, probably like this movie. I myself belong to the former group of people (I'm not sure why but I'm terrified of all alien movies, except maybe Independence Day) and I am happy to report that I was able to leave this movie without feeling totally creeped out and paranoid.

Red Riding Hood

This movie is terrible. The acting, the dialogue, the set/costume design... all of it sucks. I was especially disappointed in Academy Award winner Julie Christie. Her performance was definitely cringe-worthy. And let's not forget Gary Oldman. I just kept thinking, Gary Oldman?! In this movie??? C'mon Gary, you're too good for this!

Lucky for us, a fire alarm went off right smack in the middle of the movie and the building had to be evacuated, leaving a perfect opportunity to get our money back, leave the scene of the (movie) crime and never think about it again. But I was so damn curious about who the wolf was, we waited out the fire scare and were soon let back in to watch the rest of it. But now I wish we had just left and looked up the ending online. Chris, I'm sorry for putting you through this!


P.S. - Amanda Seyfried is really pretty.

Rango

I think I liked this movie. I downed a glass of white wine at the theater bar immediately before going in to see it, so some of the beginning is still kind of fuzzy for me... But from what I can remember, it's a very good film, unique in comparison to other animated films.

Physically, the characters are the antithesis of the furry, doe-eyed, cutesy-tutesy Disney characters that we all know and love and that have been warming our hearts since childhood. And by antithesis I mean crusty, scaled, dried up, wart-covered, toothless, dirty, slimy creatures. So with that, plus the fact that the dialogue is a little more sophisticated than its Disney/Pixar counterparts, I'm not sure how kids will respond to Rango. Adults however will probably really enjoy it, especially the Hunter S. Thompson and Man With No Name references.

Rango = Recommended.

I want to go to there

30 Rock is my latest obsession. It's too bad I just recently decided to give it a chance because if I had known how good it was when it first came out, I wouldn't be spending six hour blocks of time glued to my Netflix account when I should be doing other way more productive/important stuff, like say... getting a job. Or writing something. Or feeding my cat.

In any case, I love you Liz Lemon! I want to eat donuts with you! And drink wine on the treadmill! And do sudoku puzzles all day long, forever and ever!