the green hornet

So I watched 2011's "the green hornet", starring one of my comedy favorites Seth Rogen and directed by Michel Gondry. So was it good, well I say it stung me in a good way. So was it great, well no. Was it as bad as the critics and others have made it ought to be I say no way. Look this movie is clearly a spoof of super hero movies, but not one that tries to beat you over the head with the fact that it is a spoof, so I think a lot of people just didn't get it. Seth Rogen plays basically the character he played in pineapple express, which considering he wrote this movie with his writing partner from that movie it makes sense. Michel Gondry directed this film and though he has a very distinct style usually e.g "science of sleep" and "eternal sunshine of the spotless mind", we the audience don't see much of his unique visual sense and quirky dialog. However, I found this movie to be very enjoyable and highly underrated. I don't know if comic book fans were put off by the fact that this movie is sort of like the inspector clouseau and cato take on the green hornet character, from the pink panther movies, or if stoners were put off by the not so stoned Seth Rogen in this movie, but it seems most people did not like this movie as much as I did. I researched the green hornet and found that since its inception there have been several different takes on the characters and general story, so the fact that this one was not faithful to the original in every sense should not be a big deal to "purists". This take seems slightly different in that the green hornet wants to be seen not as a hero but as a criminal, so he can infiltrate criminal organizations more easily. This also makes him busting up said organizations look like a grab for power rather than a vigilante exercise. The hornet (Britt Reid) and Kato have no real super powers, although Kato can sort of slow time but not literally. So the character setup is kind of like batman in a lot of ways including the hornet being a trust fund baby. Look, basically I really liked this movie, I thought it was funny and packed with good action sequences, but everyone does not share that view so I recommend it but, I can't say who this movie should appeal to since I was not in the majority on this one.

get low

So I watched 2009's funeral flick "get low", starring two greats Robert Duvall and one of my personal favorites Bill "mother fucking" Murray. So was it good, I say yes indeedy do. This film is a mystery of sorts, so once again I won't be discussing plot. However, I will comment on things like the direction which was very good, especially considering this was Aaron Schneider's first full length feature. The story was very interesting and well written. The story itself is loosely based on the life and I guess death of Felix Bushaloo Breazeale, a hermit acquitted of murder who had his own funeral party. The writers of the movie took this and twisted it and turned into a fine tale much better than the real life story. So now the acting, well as I said you have two greats plus a good supporting cast, so you can't go wrong there. Basically this is an easy to watch sort of indy film with great production value. Which leads us to the next question, is this film for everybody, yeah as I said it is easy to watch, it is comical at times, suspenseful at other times, has a little mystery, really something for everyone. I remember Robert Duvall promoted the shit out of this movie and, it did make a small profit, which considering it is an indy type film is pretty good and so was this movie.

megamind

So I watched 2010's CGI cartoon flick "megamind". Well was it megagood, well for a kids flick I say it was good. Now as a flick just for adults it get's an ehh. However, if I had kids I could sit through this film and enjoy it which I did overall, and I think kids will love this movie. The animation is just standard fare here, nothing special but then again everything CGI to me at this point is wonderful, it just doesn't stand out here like it did in say "rango". The plot is interesting enough, two aliens crash on earth at the same time one destined to be a superhero and one destined to be a super villain, or perhaps not? The acting is solid and comes from some of the industries best Ferrel, Fay, Jonah Hill, David Cross, Stiller, and Pitt (hey my second review today with him). In fact, the character that Ferrel developed for this film was memorable, not Ron Burgundy memorable but good. It was interesting if I had to compare it to say "the incredibles" it is not in the same league, but it is good for a kid's flick. And I said most adults with the exception of my best friend who hates anything that isn't completely obscure should enjoy this "popcorn" flick.

Sleepers

So I watched the star studded film from 1996 called "Sleepers", and directed by academy award winning dude Barry Levinson. Mr. Levinson has given us some really great flicks over the years like "rain man" and "diner", as well as some real stinkers like "Sphere", "envy", and of course "Toys". So which camp does this one fall into well it was good, not great but good. So this movie could have been great I mean what a cast which includes Deniro, Patric, Pitt, and Hoffman. And the list keeps going. This movie is supposedly a real life fictionalized version of events that happened to the author of both the screenplay and the novel this film was based on, writer Lorenzo Carcaterra. The only problem there are zero records to back up this statement something the film disclaims at the end. Well what about the plot, well this is one of those flicks you should just watch, I think I was better for not knowing most of the plot going in and anyone else should be as well. There are some moments in this film that are not for children so just be aware of that before you sit little Billy or Betty down beside you to watch this. Also there is one plot point I will mention, half of this film takes place when the characters are young while the second half takes place when they have all grown up. So what did I not like about this film, well there were flashbacks which were useful, but just were a little too much and just complicated an already complicated story. There was also the narrative, normally I am a fan of narrative but here it didn't work for me. Besides from that this is a highly watchable film, and one that was filmed in the 1990's and takes place between the late 60's and early 80's, and holds up now some 15 years later. So finally is this film for everyone, well it's not very chicky and not lighthearted, its a guys film, but not like say "insert generic action flick or crime flick here", it is slightly cerebral. I recommend it, but it is not in my top Levinson film picks by a long shot.

harlan county U.S.A

So I watched the 1977 academy award winner for best documentary, "Harlan County U.S.A" directed by Barbara Kopple. So was it good, yeah it was pretty good. It was not one of my favorite documentaries, but it was enjoyable, informative, and had some real life drama. So basically this movie is about the plight of the Kentucky coal miner, but on a deeper level, it is also about the division between labor and the supplier's of capital in this country. This movie gives us a glimpse into not just the lives of these people, but their struggles over the years going back to the early days of unions in this country. We see how these men toil day in and day out in these mines, only to more than likely die from any number of things but namely "black lung". We see how the rich owners of this mine just don't seem to care about the health and safety of their workers, or about giving them a fair share of the pie. We get a glimpse at corruption at the corporate level as well as in government. Towards the end of the movie something substantial happens which finally brings this nearly year long strike to an end. I won't spoil it, but if Hollywood wrote I would say what B.S, but it happened and because of it the union boys got what they wanted. We also see that even though the strike at the heart of this film is over, the struggle for fair wages, good working conditions, and union rights is never over it seems. My only gripe was with the depressing as all hell hillbilly music, most of which made me feel suicidal. But some may really like that music. I know there is a version of "oh death" in this film, and normally I love it (at least the version by Ralph Stanley), but hated how the singers reminded me how depressing a tune it is in reality. Otherwise this is a great film, but I personally have seen better but not necessarily more powerful documentaries.

superheroes

So I watched HBO's 2011 documentary called superheroes. So was it good, I say up up and away (is that what superman used to say?) or in other words good. This documentary exposed me to a phenomena that I did not know existed, where people take the liking of superheroes way to far. Well that's not entirely true I saw a Mexican documentary a few years back, about Mexican wrestlers who were just people with a cause and a mask to draw attention to themselves called "super amigos", that was also very interesting and good. Basically this documentary is about a bunch of vigilantes most of whom are either out of shape, old, or drunks. There was a team out of New York which was actually composed of some very organized highly trained bad asses. But for the most part these are people with a super hero fetish who are just trying to do some good. My favorite line from the doc was when a super hero was describing his day it went as follows. "he's a regular guy who gets up,.... says goodbye to his girlfriend....., and goes out on the streets in costume." Then the documentarian asks "So you have a girlfriend?", and the super hero replies, "No ... I was just speaking metaphorically." I think that one line says it all, these guys are pretty fucking out there. However, they do good, they seem to help homeless people and shine a light on a common problem in this world, which is that most people turn a blind eye to injustice in this world including cops. So is this movie for everyone, well maybe some comic book geeks may be offended, but it has a good mix of entertainment value and educational value as well (it is a documentary after all). So most people should find something to like about this flick I know I did.

unstoppable

So I watched 2010's train movie unstoppable starring Denzel Washington and directed by Tony Scott. So was it good, well no it get's an ehhh from me. This is Denzel's second mass transit movie in the last couple of years the other being the mediocre remake of "the taking of Pelham 123" (by the same director I may add, what's next a remake of speed). I am not a fan of Tony Scott's movies for the most part with a few exceptions the man gave us "the hunger", "true Romance", and one of my favorite movies of all time "man on fire" also starring Denzel. So if you go to rotten tomatoes you see this flick got an 86% approval rating and is one point shy of a 7 (or the starting point of good in my opinion) on IMDB. However, if you look at the reviews themselves most of them say the same thing, which was "well he did the best he could with a pretty weak premise". Well what is the premise? The answer is a true life tale of a train in Ohio which was unmanned for almost 70 miles, and because of the stupidity of the conductor who left the train to begin with, was traveling at full throttle. All this while carrying a dangerous chemical that could kill us all! So a couple of brave souls got the train to stop. Well this movie did its best to make that boring yet interesting story well not so boring (at the end of day its still just a train on you know tracks going slower than my grandmother used to drive). This movie has conflict, suspense, redemption, selfless heroics, and an executive making all the wrong decisions because he is a douche, you name it the Hollywood formulas are all crammed in here. What it doesn't have is well, that quality that makes an action movie good. I guess go back and watch "man on fire" to get what I am saying, because I don't know how to put it in words; I guess the word Zaz comes to mind. This movie is very skippable, it is not the worst peace of crap I have seen lately, but as I said you may watch it and hear yourself uttering ehhh as well.