DVD Rental Day (2004 - 2010)

[Katuluu]

I went and saw My Date with Drew this past summer on a whim and enjoyed the hell out of it. I'd second it's recommendation in a heart beat.

 

BTW, don't buy the propaganda that this is a bad year for movies. While the mainstream films released this year were mediocre, it's been a fantastic year for indie films and documentaries. In fact, I'd probably say this is one of the strongest years for film I've seen in several years. And since many of you didn't get a chance to see those films in the theatre, you should have plenty of good choices when you go rent something.

 

Which leads me to my reviews of a few of my favorites from this past year that are now out on DVD:

 

March of the Penguins

Certainly the biggest name of all the docs that came out this year, it's also probably the most fluffy out of all of them. Incredible cinematography and a fascinating storyline make up for the at time heavy sentimentality. Though it has to be better then the original French version, which had individual voices for each penguin, including the babies. That version has midnight movie written all over it.

 

Grizzly Man

Go watch this movie. Go watch it now. Simply an incredibly intimate and tragic look at a truly tortured soul. Throw in some incredibly beautiful images, fascinating wildlife photography, and a cast of borderline insane characters and you have simply the best documentary of the year, and possibly the best film of the year.

 

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill

I'll admit it, I'm a sucker for wildlife films. Throw in an oddball Darhma bum, a dancing parrot, and the routinely beautiful citiscape of San Francisco and I'm hooked. Mark Bittner's love for these birds is so genuine it's tough to not feel for both him and "his" flock of Amazonian birds living in the skies of San Francisco.

 

Murderball

I simply have no idea how this movie didn't blowup at the theatres. It have the backing of MTV, had some huge press in Maxim, had backing from the members of Jackass, and on top of all that was about quadropalegics playing wheel chair rugby yet only managed to pull in about $1 million. As a sports movie it's full of great action shots, and some suprisingly tense moments as the USA men's wheelchair rugby team goes for the gold medal they have won every year since it's inception. As a triumph of the human spirit, it's amazing, covering those who are just overcoming the shock of being a quadropalegic, those who are thriving under those circumstances, and those who have spent their whole life proving they don't need anyone finally admit they might need a little bit of help. A truly remarkable film with the added benefit of being one of the best DVD's I've bought in some time.

 

Sky High

It's always nice to watch a movie where it's obvious the cast is having a blast, and Sky High definately gets that across. Nothing great or eye openeing in the movie, just a nice clever satire of comics and teen movies with some truly perfect casting.

 

Serenity

Call me sacreligious, but this was the best sci-fi/fantasy movie of the year. If only the Star Wars prequels loved their original source material as much as this film obviously did. Ah well, at least Serenity gave me my much needed Han Solo fix, as George sure wasn't about too.

[pogokat]

Serenity

 

now don't get me wrong, the new star wars flick was much better than the last two, but i couldn't agree with you more...serenity was great...i hope they can make 5 more of 'em!

[ja002h]

Kat just jogged my memory on a few of those.

 

I agree Murderball was great, incredible what those guys are doing. I'm looking foward to seeing Parrots and Grizzly as well.

 

As for Serenity, I thought it was pretty good, and the effects were great, but it seemed a little weak on plot and had a little bit of cheesy B-movie feel at times. I'm sure it was especially good if you watched Firefly.

[homer]

I second Grizzly Man. In fact, I just finished watching it tonight. Wonderful look at a really disturbed individual that you can't help but pity. One of the most powerful documentary scenes since Hoop Dreams involves Herzog himself simply explaining what he hears on audio to one of the movies central figures. Terrific stuff.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Serenity

Call me sacreligious, but this was the best sci-fi/fantasy movie of the year. If only the Star Wars prequels loved their original source material as much as this film obviously did. Ah well, at least Serenity gave me my much needed Han Solo fix, as George sure wasn't about too.

 

 

My wife was a fan of the Firefly tv series, so we checked this one out. I'm not into sci-fi at all, and I found this to be a really good movie based on expectations.

 

 

And yeah, it was better than Ep. III.

[thebruce44]

In fact, with the exception of Katie Holmes, it is a superior cast.

 

You obviously weren't looking close enough at the shirt she was wearing in the last scene.

 

To me, this was the best superhero movie I have ever seen. I understand what people are saying about the choppy action scenes, but I think this goes along with the idea of Batman as a ninja.

 

I also just rented The 40 Year Old Virgin.

 

Probably not for the whole family, but I thought it was hilarious. I don't think it will stand up to repeated watchings like some of my favorite comedies, but after seeing it for the first time I thought it was one of the funniest movies I've seen in a while. In particular, the suporting cast was very funny. The movie could have taken the cheap route of creating a geeky character for the audience to laugh at, but instead they made a character that was very likable that audiences could almost cheer for. His suporting cast provided most of the laughs.

[ja002h]

More movie goodness:

 

 

Mad Hot Ballroom

An endearing look at an NYC 5th-grade program that has all kids take a ballroom class, culminating in a city-wide competition. Cute kids, and fantastic results in terms of confidence and self esteem.

 

The Constant Gardener

Just got back from this actually, but it's out on DVD this Tuesday. Great film. Beautiful, wonderful cinematography. I was sitting there thinking "this looks like a heck of a lot like City of God, and when I looked it up on imdb, lo and behold it's the same director! I pat myself on the back for that one. Or maybe I'd heard it somewhere and unconsciously remembered. Anyway, if you've seen that, expect more of the same. Ralph Fiennes is pitch-perfect, as usual.

Highly recommend.

[And That]

Masked and Anonymous

 

I love Bob Dylan, but this movie was as vague and wordy as possible, but without approaching the brilliance of his lyrical work. If you like watching decent acting by OK actors and Bob Dylan doing stuff on celluloid, hey, go watch this movie to kill 90 minutes. It's not a much better time than that, however.

[Katuluu]

Mad Hot Ballroom is another good suggestion. I really enjoyed it and think it should be pretty much required viewing for any teacher. I bought it for my sister for Christmas and she's already bringing it into her school to show to other teachers. Just a thoroughly enjoyable movie and some truly amazing kids.

[ja002h]

BTW, don't buy the propaganda that this is a bad year for movies. While the mainstream films released this year were mediocre, it's been a fantastic year for indie films and documentaries. In fact, I'd probably say this is one of the strongest years for film I've seen in several years.

 

That's so true. There haven't been that many good big studio movies, but there are a ton of small gems out there.

[RobertR]

Time to bump this up again.

 

THINGS CHANGE

 

One of David Mamet's rare forays into comedy. In the classic sense as well. This movie is essentially a relationship movie between Joe Mantegna and Don Ameche about perceptions instead of reality, but it's fun, it makes sense, and it holds up well over time. And, of course, it has Mamet's trademark dialogue, which is always worth the price of admission.

 

It's also fun to play "spot the future stars" game with older films. Including Bill Macy and Felicity Huffman in small, cameo roles.

 

CINDERELLA MAN

 

Ron Howard seems to have settled into a niche of making inspirational movies based on real people. And I don't have a problem with that. Not everyone should try to be Scorsese.

 

In many ways, I think Cinderella Man is a superior film to A Beautiful Mind where I think Howard missed the point and turned it into a "love conquers all" story. Russell Crowe gives his usual strong performance and looks believable as a boxer. The boxing scenes, which are surprisingly extensive, are well staged. Paul Giamatti is, of course, a strength. And the film does a good job of establishing time and place.

 

There are a couple of faults to the film. Renee Zellwegger doesn't rise above the "long suffering wife" cliche'. And Max Baer is more a caricature than a real person. Still, it's a good movie that's well worth a rental.

 

THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN

 

It's a rare sex comedy that isn't mean spirited and/or dumb. The 40-Year-Old Virgin isn't exactly high brow, but it's certainly a smarter, more good natured movie than expected. What really sets it apart is attention paid to dialogue, character, and detail. The fact that it managed to get its "collectable" details right is evidence of care that was taken in crafting the movie. There are also no real villains in the film as the film takes care to paint even the more minor characters as people instead of caricatures. Really, this movie was more deserving of an Original Screenplay Oscar than Crash.

 

The ensemble cast does good work across the board. Steve Carrell is obviously the high point, but there are no weak links. Well deserving of its success.

 

WEDDING CRASHERS

 

In many ways, this is the opposite of The 40-Year-Old Virgin. It's crass and characterization is almost non-existent above the most basic level. Still, it's pretty funny for the first two thirds until it runs out of gas for the mandatory "love on the rocks" segment before the happy ending. If you like Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, this is a fine showcase for them, particularly Vaughn, as the premise plays to their strengths as performers and gives them plenty to do. Unfortunately, the people they have to play off aren't nearly as interesting, including a criminally underused Christopher Walken.

 

CRASH

 

It won Best Picture last night. I have mixed feelings about the movie, although I will say that I think the acting ensemble is very good and carries it over some very rough patches. And themes of examining race conflict are still resonant. Too bad it's about as subtle as a brick and I don't think the plot ever really ties together. I also didn't find much of interest in the craftmanship of the movie, although the editing was obviously important. Some of the vignettes work, the underlying theme is at least of interest, and the acting is good throughout, so I'd recommend it, although I think there are plenty of better movies from 2005.

 

Let me also give a shoutout to the recent adaptation of Bleak House that was on PBS recently. It's not perfect, but it's a pretty solid adaptation of Dickens's classic novel, well acted, and well shot. Some of the minor characters aren't done justice and the transitions are sometimes annoyingly shot, but the changes to the novel are certainly understandable and it's hard to imagine a much better adaptation.

 

Robert

[homer]

I just rented a movie called Following which was pretty decent. It was made for nearly nothing and was the first movie by Christopher Nolan (Memento). Interesting film noir about a guy who follows people out of boredom. Eventually, he follows the wrong person and "stuff happens". Interesting use of the camera especially given the severely limited budget.

[RobertR]

New stuff.

 

The Aristocrats

 

A documentary by Penn and Teller in which a bunch of comics sit around and tell various versions of a filthy joke, each giving it their own unique spin. It does do a good job of pointing out that how a joke is told is often more important than the joke itself. Not all of the versions worked for me and definitely not for the prudish.

 

The Great Dictator

 

Charlie Chaplin takes on Hitler. With great success. Really, this movie is a showcase for just how talented Chaplin was, even when he wanted to be both funny and serious at the same time. A justified classic. Paulette Goddard and the other supporting cast members don't add much, Goddard is little more than a pretty face, but Chaplin is sublime.

 

Downfall

 

I watched it right after The Great Dictator, primarily since I've decided to finish off IMDB's top 100. I'm at 99 out of 100 now. This is very much the tonal opposite of Chaplin showing the final days of Hitler's government in the Berlin bunker in great detail and bleakness. Well acted, it's somewhat disturbing to find yourself feeling some sense of pity for people who are renowned, and even take pride within the movie, of their lack of pity.

 

Murderball

 

Great documentary. Especially as it establishes that these quadroplegics are regular people with all of the flaws that entails. Funny, exciting, and moving. This is the type of film ESPN should be doing instead of the junk that they've been making. Leave it to MTV Films to distribute a better sports movie than ESPN.

 

Good Night, and Good Luck

 

I'm up to 4 out of 5 Best Picture nominees now. I've no major gripes with this movie. It showcases Murrow vs. McCarthy in good detail, it's well acted and doesn't turn the characters into saints, it points out some of the hypocrisies of network news, and it also points out what network news has lost. It's no coincidence that Clooney shows Murrow engaging in vapid celebrity interviews for ratings and chafing at it.

 

That said, McCarthy is an easy target and Clooney does neglect that tv news was behind newspapers in that respect. It probably would have been a better movie, although a less dramatic one, focussing more on the evolution of tv news and less on the Murrow/McCarthy conflict.

 

Eyes Without a Face

 

A 1960(?) French horror film that my brother-in-law brought over partly as a result of the storyline being similar to recent news about face transplants in France. A doctor kidnaps and steals the faces of young women in order to replace the ruined face of his daughter, whom the doctor is responsible for injuring in a car accident. There's really not much more to the plot than that, right up to the final end, but the film works on almost a dreamlike level. The film plays to me like a cross between Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast and the Hammer films of the 50s. There's an extended, and squirm enducing, surgery scene of the doctor removing a face, mostly on camera. And there are a lot of moody shots of the daughter wandering around the villa in a mask. But, like I said, not much in the way of plot and some may find it slow moving.

 

Robert

[PeaveyFury]

Charlie Chaplin takes on Hitler. With great success.

 

I agree. The terrifying thing about the film was that it was filmed in 1937/1938, but Chaplin and the writers accurately predicted nearly all of the events and horrors to come in the next couple of years. Chaplin later stated that if he had known the true scope of the horrors to come, he never would have made a comedic film on the subject, even to make a political statement. Interesting to note that Hitler himself screened the film twice after it was released.

 

Downfall

 

Well acted, it's somewhat disturbing to find yourself feeling some sense of pity for people who are renowned, and even take pride within the movie, of their lack of pity.

 

I'm somewhat amazed that this film flew so far under the radar last year. The acting was brilliant, and the actor that portrayed Hitler had the mannerisms and look down to a T.

[homer]

I second Murderball. It's a terrific film.

[Fatter than Joey]

A couple I have seen that I really liked -- that might have come in under the radar....

 

"Dead and Breakfast" -- Great zombie tongue in cheek movie. Some really funny scenes in it.

 

"The Believer" -- Probably one of the best movies I have seen in a long time.

[mothershipconnection]

This weekend I watched:

Good Night and Good Luck - I thought this was very well-done. Murrow is a personal hero and I, like Robert, would have preferred it didn't focus quite so much on the feud with McCarthy.

Memoirs of a Geisha - this was a very interesting story, and the movie told it fairly well. I turned the subtitles on as the accents and soft voices made it hard to understand at times.

Waiting - the girls I was with yesterday wanted to watch a comedy, and this is the one we settled for. It was decent, pretty much the comedy that doesn't make your brain work that you'd expect. My distaste for Ryan Reynolds (always playing the smart badass a la Matt Damon) may have clouded my vision a little.

[Brian the Automator]

I watched Four Brothers over the weekend. It's no Oscar winner, but if you're looking to be entertained with action and some suspense, it's got the elements.

 

However, Andre Benjamin at no pointed shook it like a Polaroid picture, so that was disappointing.

[brettac1]

I loved The Aristocrats, and I liked Murderball a lot, too.

[DuWayne Steurer]

We rented King Kong this past weekend. When I watch a movie, I don't care if it's anything like the original. I'm a firm believer in letting each storyteller tell his/her version of the story. With that said, I thought it was a good show. Yeah, it did take a little while to get going, but it's not like the story before the "stars" came out to play was what I'd call boring.

 

There's at least a couple scenes where I caught myself holding my breath for a second or two, which is always cool.

 

And Jack Black was excellent in this movie, in my opinion.

 

The three hour deal isn't much of an issue when you're in your own home, so that should stop being an issue now.

[PrimetimeHater]

Did anyone else laugh at the last line of King Kong from Jack Black? Was it supposed to be that corny?

[Katuluu]

It's the last line from the original film.

[ja002h]

I had very mixed feelings when I saw Kong in the theater, but I recently watched the original and would say that improved my opinion of it. There's still a lot of things I don't like, but I think PJ did a good job of improving on the original, especially with Ann and Kong.

[PrimetimeHater]

Really? Maybe I just laughed at it because I thought he was so lousy in the movie. I really thought the whole movie was pretty goofy, although maybe that was the intention in some parts.

[homer]

Donnie Darko has turned into kind of a cult classic among sci fi fans. It's about a kid (Donnie, played by Jake Gyllenhaal) who struggles with visions of a demonic rabbit (yes, I said demonic rabbit) that coerces him into destructive behavior. I don't want to give away too much so I'll just say that the ending is one of those that makes you want to watch the movie all over again. Good indie flick.