Like a chocoholic, but for misery
Dammit, I'm getting lazy with this blog. But I saw three movies in the theater last weekend. In reverse watching order:
"The 40 Year-Old Virgin" - OK, the scandalous hos in this picture are hilarious. I recently discovered that I'm a fan of director Judd Apatow's work. Other than writing "Celtic Pride," which made me walk out of a free screening, dude's got a good track record. And Steve Carell is a brilliant man, so even though I miss Produce Pete, I'm all for his becoming a box office draw. The only drawback for me is that at times it's waaay too much like my own life for comfort. I'm not 40 or a virgin, but I totally understand what it's like to stay isolated from romantic entanglements for a long time, and how retarded you can get when you try to break out of that. Honestly, it's very smart for a sex comedy, and Catherine Keener, as radiant and badass as always, just makes it even smarter. That's a welcome trait in a time when humans are producing sequels to "Deuce Bigalow" - another free movie from which I walked out.
"Transporter 2" (aka "Le Transporteur II") - I saw the first "Transporter" in the theater, but all I remember was the dude from "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" kicking people and wearing a suit, and I think there was a slinky Asian woman in it. I guess I might not have been 100% sober at the time, but I usually remember a little more about most movies I've seen it within the last decade or so. I remember more about "Wolfman" than I do about "The Transporter," and believe me, that's no endorsement for "Wolfman." But my buddies were psyched about this sequel, and we actually got Barry out of his apartment, and it was on the top of a drive-in double bill, and it was a lovely night... and as I was watching it, I could feel myself forgetting it. The whole momentum of the plot revolves around the titular tough smoothie having promised a rich child he'd look out for him, and when the kid is kidnapped the guy keeps putting himself in ridiculous situations which he has no real reason not to leave to the police. Some bearded French dude shows up, apparently a buddy of his from the first movie, and this guy just hangs out in the police station, hacking into their computers and feeding info to the hero when necessary. There's lots of Eurotrash getting beaten up and a disgustingly bony assassin girl whose zealously-applied mascara is constantly running. That's all I remember.
"The Brothers Grimm" - I didn't doubt Terry Gilliam's ability to pull off a fantasy romp, and sometimes, faith pays off. It pretty much reminded me of those big-budget, low-grossing '80s fantasy pictures I loved in my cable-watching youth such as "Dragonslayer" or "Clash of the Titans" (the greatest of course being "Krull"). Gilliam's fond of dumb slapstick humor, and there's plenty of that, but it's also pretty imaginative (like "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen") and amazingly grimy (like "Jabberwocky"). Peter Stormare and Jonathan Pryce steal the movie, chewing the scenery as over-the-top Italian and French military, respectively. Lena Headey is pretty good, too, sort of an older, crustier, mountain woman version of Keira Knightley. "Grimm" also contains a surprising amount of hilarious (and fake) animal violence, crazy expensive-looking sets and many references to various fairy tales by the Bros - some very blatant, others not. I have no idea why this has gotten such poor word of mouth, or why stupid Disney sat on it for so long. Aside from some shoddy CG and all the Germans with British accents, it's absolutely fine.
Whoo, this mortgage stuff is confusing. Time to chill with the beautiful new Cave In disc, essentially a collection of beefed-up demo tracks (handily streamed in its entirety here). The bad news: it's pretty short, and some of these songs are reportedly several years old. The good news: it's a nice mix of the band's recent pop/indie/psychedelic/punk/emo styles, and they brought back the screaming vocals on a couple of tunes.
If you're not sick of reading, peruse my thoughts about this evening's George Carlin show. Hoppa!
"The 40 Year-Old Virgin" - OK, the scandalous hos in this picture are hilarious. I recently discovered that I'm a fan of director Judd Apatow's work. Other than writing "Celtic Pride," which made me walk out of a free screening, dude's got a good track record. And Steve Carell is a brilliant man, so even though I miss Produce Pete, I'm all for his becoming a box office draw. The only drawback for me is that at times it's waaay too much like my own life for comfort. I'm not 40 or a virgin, but I totally understand what it's like to stay isolated from romantic entanglements for a long time, and how retarded you can get when you try to break out of that. Honestly, it's very smart for a sex comedy, and Catherine Keener, as radiant and badass as always, just makes it even smarter. That's a welcome trait in a time when humans are producing sequels to "Deuce Bigalow" - another free movie from which I walked out.
"Transporter 2" (aka "Le Transporteur II") - I saw the first "Transporter" in the theater, but all I remember was the dude from "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" kicking people and wearing a suit, and I think there was a slinky Asian woman in it. I guess I might not have been 100% sober at the time, but I usually remember a little more about most movies I've seen it within the last decade or so. I remember more about "Wolfman" than I do about "The Transporter," and believe me, that's no endorsement for "Wolfman." But my buddies were psyched about this sequel, and we actually got Barry out of his apartment, and it was on the top of a drive-in double bill, and it was a lovely night... and as I was watching it, I could feel myself forgetting it. The whole momentum of the plot revolves around the titular tough smoothie having promised a rich child he'd look out for him, and when the kid is kidnapped the guy keeps putting himself in ridiculous situations which he has no real reason not to leave to the police. Some bearded French dude shows up, apparently a buddy of his from the first movie, and this guy just hangs out in the police station, hacking into their computers and feeding info to the hero when necessary. There's lots of Eurotrash getting beaten up and a disgustingly bony assassin girl whose zealously-applied mascara is constantly running. That's all I remember.
"The Brothers Grimm" - I didn't doubt Terry Gilliam's ability to pull off a fantasy romp, and sometimes, faith pays off. It pretty much reminded me of those big-budget, low-grossing '80s fantasy pictures I loved in my cable-watching youth such as "Dragonslayer" or "Clash of the Titans" (the greatest of course being "Krull"). Gilliam's fond of dumb slapstick humor, and there's plenty of that, but it's also pretty imaginative (like "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen") and amazingly grimy (like "Jabberwocky"). Peter Stormare and Jonathan Pryce steal the movie, chewing the scenery as over-the-top Italian and French military, respectively. Lena Headey is pretty good, too, sort of an older, crustier, mountain woman version of Keira Knightley. "Grimm" also contains a surprising amount of hilarious (and fake) animal violence, crazy expensive-looking sets and many references to various fairy tales by the Bros - some very blatant, others not. I have no idea why this has gotten such poor word of mouth, or why stupid Disney sat on it for so long. Aside from some shoddy CG and all the Germans with British accents, it's absolutely fine.
Whoo, this mortgage stuff is confusing. Time to chill with the beautiful new Cave In disc, essentially a collection of beefed-up demo tracks (handily streamed in its entirety here). The bad news: it's pretty short, and some of these songs are reportedly several years old. The good news: it's a nice mix of the band's recent pop/indie/psychedelic/punk/emo styles, and they brought back the screaming vocals on a couple of tunes.
If you're not sick of reading, peruse my thoughts about this evening's George Carlin show. Hoppa!
posted by SoulReaper at 2:53 AM
3 Comments:
George Carlin: The Misanthrope's Misanthrope
To George Carlin, they call it the American Dream because “you’ve got to be asleep to believe it.” And it only gets bleaker.
The veteran comedian, performing the first of two shows Friday night at Waukegan’s Genesee Theatre, told the audience that in a few weeks he’ll have been clean and sober for nine months. This is his first tour after a lengthy break that included book promotion and rehab.
But at age 68, Carlin’s really got nothing to prove. He’s done everything from hosting the first episode of “Saturday Night Live” as a counterculture prankster to charming children on PBS’ “Shining Time Station” with his warm smile. Yet he’s still the same man arrested in 1972 for violating obscenity laws after performing at Milwaukee Summerfest. With his usual penchant for dirty words and uncomfortable subject matter, Carlin dug deep into modern American neuroses on Friday.
What would his old character The Hippy-Dippy Weatherman have said if confronted with Carlin’s gleeful description of societal breakdown caused by an absence of electricity?
Or his call for a channel that broadcasts nothing but suicides, an act he calls “the ultimate makeover”? Not to mention his riffs on genocide, cannibalism, necrophilia and teenage autoerotic asphyxia.
Sure, the man’s material has gotten much darker over the last decade or so, but there’s a point to all of this armchair nihilism. Carlin explained that he’s fascinated with the things humans do to each other, noting that we’re the animal kingdom’s sole participants in those acts.
These “funny thoughts” he claims to get are formed from a mind and tongue that remain sharp. His opening statement was a lengthy spoken word rant, a twisty stream of rhymes and wordplay called “A Modern Man.” His limber jargon-slinging could seriously show up a rapper one-quarter Carlin’s age.
His attraction to semantic ironies hasn’t diminished, either. Addressing education, he noted that in a very short span of time, the country has gone from talking about “Head First” to “No Child Left Behind,” cursing all the while.
It was evident that Carlin’s gallows humor comes from the heart, a place deeply disappointed with humans and the gifts they squander. After all, he revealed his hope is that once everything is demolished, peace and renewal will emerge.
Here's the thing about "The Brothers Grimm." I can tell by watching it that it's supposed to be a bad movie. On paper, this movie was supposed to be a cliche-ridden conveyor belt of crap about two at-odds brothers figuring out that they love and respect each other, on top of the usual story about the charlatans who end up stuck in a place where the danger is real (for a better take on that story, see "The Frighteners"). Also, they could've pared a half an hour off the movie around the end without the storyline suffering anything, and adding more punch. But the movie's saved from being a bad movie based solely off the personality that Gilliam dumps into the movie. He's got visual style oozing from every frame, kind of a Tim Burton-meets... er... well, somebody funny. Actually, it gives off the same vibe as some of the little cartoons he did for Python... very funny, but only if you think a guy smashing mice with a hammer can be funny.
Yeah, I flip flop between liking and not liking Carlin's darker side. It does make you think, and I agree with most of what he says, but sometimes I miss the Carlin of "Carnegie" - then again, he was hopped up on cocaine back then too. I met him at his book signing last year, and he seems like a very unassuming, nice old grandpa - so yeah, I think he holds a glimmer of hope for the human race - but not too much. :-)
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