Observe and Report, 2009. Three Stars.
I enjoyed the trailers for this flick, and I'd see them on TV a lot. Because they trailers are kind of silly, I completely forgot that this was not a silly movie, but rather a dark comedy.
Yes, this is a daaaaaaaaaaaark comedy. I was sitting in the theatre thinking, "WOW this isn't silly, some of it's SAD!" But I figured it out soon enough. I really liked it. I liked the choppy-ish editing and segment-y scenes. It was quirky-ish and funny. And everyone was great in it. Pretty darn dark, especially when set against a backdrop of a typical suburban mall, but that's how I like my comedies sometimes!
I would like to see this movie again!!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
"Roar! I will piss on the bones of your ancestors!"
Be Kind Rewind, 2008. Three Stars.
This was a very sweet and endearing movie... which is not how it was advertised at all! I was expecting Jack Black and Mos Def to just be crazy the whole time. So I was pretty confused. It should have been advertised correctly; I still think people would have gone to see it.
So like I said, it's a very sweet movie. And it's good. Very cool seeing Michel Gondry's well-known stunning visuals created with commonplace objects. The movie montage is probably the best montage I've seen ever! And I was not expecting to see Sigourney Weaver, she's great!
It's totally worth seeing this. Just don't be surprised at the sappy moments in the movie.
This was a very sweet and endearing movie... which is not how it was advertised at all! I was expecting Jack Black and Mos Def to just be crazy the whole time. So I was pretty confused. It should have been advertised correctly; I still think people would have gone to see it.
So like I said, it's a very sweet movie. And it's good. Very cool seeing Michel Gondry's well-known stunning visuals created with commonplace objects. The movie montage is probably the best montage I've seen ever! And I was not expecting to see Sigourney Weaver, she's great!
It's totally worth seeing this. Just don't be surprised at the sappy moments in the movie.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
"Ah!" "What happened?" "I saw the inner me."
Bicentennial Man, 1999. Three Stars.
I finally decided to watch this movie because I like robots. Tim warned me that it was epic; I, however, was all, "Whatever, it's Robin Williams as a robot, there's no way this story can get complex." I WAS SO WRONG. THIS IS SUCH AN EPIC MOVIE. It's long, and a lot of stuff happens.
Sam Neill gets a robot for his family as a surprise. Er, isn't getting a robot AN IMPORTANT FAMILY DECISION? You can't just don't show up with it one day! And, as this movie demonstrates, it can only increase tension among family members.
Robot Robin Williams was immediately embraced by Sam Neill. HELLO am I the only one that has any concern about Skynet??
RRW playing the piano is an effective and interesting way to show passage of time.
I think it's cool that, though a robot, he actually restored humanity to the family... well, at least some members.
Hey Future Government: Can you really justify Robin Williams Robot being human when he doesn't have an organic origin? It's just creepy. And I love robots and romance and stuff. But it's still creepy.
Jay from The Sarah Silverman Program is totally in this! And I've since discovered that he has been in many other things, including "Mr. Show" (which I'd been recently reintroduced to).
And, JIMMY JAMES! I'm always happy to see him in movies!
Now I plan on reading the novella. I've never read any of Isaac Asimov's actual books. (And I call myself a sci-fi buff...)
I finally decided to watch this movie because I like robots. Tim warned me that it was epic; I, however, was all, "Whatever, it's Robin Williams as a robot, there's no way this story can get complex." I WAS SO WRONG. THIS IS SUCH AN EPIC MOVIE. It's long, and a lot of stuff happens.
Sam Neill gets a robot for his family as a surprise. Er, isn't getting a robot AN IMPORTANT FAMILY DECISION? You can't just don't show up with it one day! And, as this movie demonstrates, it can only increase tension among family members.
Robot Robin Williams was immediately embraced by Sam Neill. HELLO am I the only one that has any concern about Skynet??
RRW playing the piano is an effective and interesting way to show passage of time.
I think it's cool that, though a robot, he actually restored humanity to the family... well, at least some members.
Hey Future Government: Can you really justify Robin Williams Robot being human when he doesn't have an organic origin? It's just creepy. And I love robots and romance and stuff. But it's still creepy.
Jay from The Sarah Silverman Program is totally in this! And I've since discovered that he has been in many other things, including "Mr. Show" (which I'd been recently reintroduced to).
And, JIMMY JAMES! I'm always happy to see him in movies!
Now I plan on reading the novella. I've never read any of Isaac Asimov's actual books. (And I call myself a sci-fi buff...)
Friday, March 27, 2009
"What did you expect?" "They used to dance."
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, 2008. Three and a Half Stars.
This was better than the first one. And there's so much brutality!
Perhaps this is a better story?? Or maybe I'd just seen too many versions of "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" as a kid. (Fun fact: As a kid, I saw a version of this on TV, and I didn't know what the heck a "Turkish Delight" was. I thought it involved turkey. I thought that it must've been the worst candy in the world!)
The mouse? Surprisingly not annoying! Because usually cutesy live-action animal secondary characters are.
It must be sad to be a kid who has lived a full life of magic and fantasy, only to turn back into a kid again. And also to be part of two completely different worlds: I have a difficult enough time feeling like I have a place to belong to, and I live in only one reality!
This was better than the first one. And there's so much brutality!
Perhaps this is a better story?? Or maybe I'd just seen too many versions of "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" as a kid. (Fun fact: As a kid, I saw a version of this on TV, and I didn't know what the heck a "Turkish Delight" was. I thought it involved turkey. I thought that it must've been the worst candy in the world!)
The mouse? Surprisingly not annoying! Because usually cutesy live-action animal secondary characters are.
It must be sad to be a kid who has lived a full life of magic and fantasy, only to turn back into a kid again. And also to be part of two completely different worlds: I have a difficult enough time feeling like I have a place to belong to, and I live in only one reality!
"Here's to you, you motherfuckers."
Charlie Wilson's War, 2007. Three and a Half Stars.
This was a good, interesting movie! I wasn't familiar with this story (I feel so lazy admitting that!), so, you know, it was pretty flabbergast-inducing.
Some big-name actors here (Tom Hanks, Amy Adams, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman), and all were great!
Amazing Quote at the end of the movie:
"These things happened. They were glorious and they changed the world...
...and then we fucked up the end game."
— Charlie Wilson
This was a good, interesting movie! I wasn't familiar with this story (I feel so lazy admitting that!), so, you know, it was pretty flabbergast-inducing.
Some big-name actors here (Tom Hanks, Amy Adams, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman), and all were great!
Amazing Quote at the end of the movie:
"These things happened. They were glorious and they changed the world...
...and then we fucked up the end game."
— Charlie Wilson
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
"Do not read me, I will bore the shit out of you."
**quote by Stefan Sagmeister**
Helvetica, 2007. Four Stars.
Too much to say about this movie. Seriously! I took notes. Lots of illegible pencil scribbles on an old envelope, because, even though I'm somehow not embarrassed to share my typed words on the Internet, I'm deathly afraid of someone reading my personal written words. Hence my terrible, unreadable handwriting that no one else can decipher.
Well anyways, I'll just give my general sense of the movie. And we can chat about it in person if you'd like!
If you don't know, Helvetica is a typeface. You can learn a little bit about it here. Like many designers, I have a love/hate attitude towards Helvetica: In my opinion, it's a gorgeously designed legible typeface whose neutral-ness can, when set in different ways, express different ideas; however, it's overuse and lack of inherent expressiveness can make it a total bore.
I appreciate that, in the movie, it was mentioned that the negative space of this 'face helps it read well. I concur!! I'm a big fan of negative space and what it can do for legibility and general aesthetics.
The gist: The beginning of the movie focused on the Swiss(-style) designers and their love of Helvetica. Then it concentrates on all the designers and movements that rebelled against Helvetica (and everything it "stands for" and such). Towards the end, it tells of current designers who have found a new and different appreciation for Helvetica. So it's pretty swell that the movie covered both "Helvetica" viewpoints, which truly helps the viewer understand this typeface even more.
You want some irony? I watched this flick with the subtitles, which were in Helvetica. But it was set poorly, so it looked and read like crap!! Haha!
IT WAS SO GREAT TO SEE ALL THE BRILLIANT DESIGNERS THAT I'VE STUDIED ABOUT AND TOTALLY DIG!! I'll talk about a few: Michael Bierut was the funniest!! Seeing Erik Spiekermann made me sad because it reminded me about how I missed him speak at the BPL last year. I think he's totally righteous. Paula Scher likened Helvetica to "fascism," which I think is a bit over-the-top and ridiculous (just like her, haha!). And it was cool to see Stefan Sagmeister in the movie, I have a bit of a crush on him. :D
Helvetica, 2007. Four Stars.
Too much to say about this movie. Seriously! I took notes. Lots of illegible pencil scribbles on an old envelope, because, even though I'm somehow not embarrassed to share my typed words on the Internet, I'm deathly afraid of someone reading my personal written words. Hence my terrible, unreadable handwriting that no one else can decipher.
Well anyways, I'll just give my general sense of the movie. And we can chat about it in person if you'd like!
If you don't know, Helvetica is a typeface. You can learn a little bit about it here. Like many designers, I have a love/hate attitude towards Helvetica: In my opinion, it's a gorgeously designed legible typeface whose neutral-ness can, when set in different ways, express different ideas; however, it's overuse and lack of inherent expressiveness can make it a total bore.
I appreciate that, in the movie, it was mentioned that the negative space of this 'face helps it read well. I concur!! I'm a big fan of negative space and what it can do for legibility and general aesthetics.
The gist: The beginning of the movie focused on the Swiss(-style) designers and their love of Helvetica. Then it concentrates on all the designers and movements that rebelled against Helvetica (and everything it "stands for" and such). Towards the end, it tells of current designers who have found a new and different appreciation for Helvetica. So it's pretty swell that the movie covered both "Helvetica" viewpoints, which truly helps the viewer understand this typeface even more.
You want some irony? I watched this flick with the subtitles, which were in Helvetica. But it was set poorly, so it looked and read like crap!! Haha!
IT WAS SO GREAT TO SEE ALL THE BRILLIANT DESIGNERS THAT I'VE STUDIED ABOUT AND TOTALLY DIG!! I'll talk about a few: Michael Bierut was the funniest!! Seeing Erik Spiekermann made me sad because it reminded me about how I missed him speak at the BPL last year. I think he's totally righteous. Paula Scher likened Helvetica to "fascism," which I think is a bit over-the-top and ridiculous (just like her, haha!). And it was cool to see Stefan Sagmeister in the movie, I have a bit of a crush on him. :D
"Stuff you Jemaine, and stuff you Bret. And stuff you again Jemaine!" "Why did I get double stuffed??"
"Flight of the Conchords", 2007–Present(?). Four Stars.
I was lucky that my boyfriend Tim introduced me to this show by the second episode; I avoided all the subsequent hype, which allowed me to bypass any sort of expectation, which enabled me to fully enjoy it!
This was the order I started watching it: Episode 2, Episode 1, then their HBO comedy special. At first, I was all, "What??" But then I was all, "HOT DAMN these guys are weird and funny!" Been hooked ever since.
If you've never seen the show before, I suggest starting with Season 1. You can either watch them in order, or check out the following few episodes (my faves) in preferably this order:
Season 1, Episode 3: Mugged
Season 1, Episode 7: Drive By
Season 1, Episode 6: Bowie
Season 1 is great, even though some of the episodes aren't that strong. It's a great introduction to the characters and their style of song-writing and humor.
I was so stoked when it turned out that Season 2 was in fact a fact and not a myth! It's quite different than Season 1 because: In Season 1, the episodes were written around already-existing songs. This contributed to a sense of flexibility and random fun that I fell in love with. But in Season 2, they'd ran out of songs and had to write all new ones. So because of this, the songs revolved around the episodes, which created a different style of writing. I loved this, as well! Plus, they obviously got more $$ for Season 2, so it was cool to see where they could take the show and their songs with more available resources. Also, I feel like there were less weak episodes than in Season 1.
Um, I feel like I must admit that Jemaine appeared in one of my dreams after the first time I watched the show... I think both Jemaine and Bret are super cuties (Bret's gorgeous, but I think Jemaine's more my type, it might be the glasses), but what really gets me is how WEIRD they are! I love it!
I'm going to see them play in April. Kristen Schaal, who plays Mel (their only fan), is opening up for them. She's HYSTERICAL!! The show wouldn't be nearly as good without her!
I wanted to leave you with a video of the first part of "Season 1, Episode 3: Mugged," but I can't find it on YouTube anymore. Blast!! I think it's a great intro to the show. But instead, I will leave you with the Ladies of the World video that Tim and I found randomly one day! It's one of my favorite songs, and the video is pretty bizarre.
I was lucky that my boyfriend Tim introduced me to this show by the second episode; I avoided all the subsequent hype, which allowed me to bypass any sort of expectation, which enabled me to fully enjoy it!
This was the order I started watching it: Episode 2, Episode 1, then their HBO comedy special. At first, I was all, "What??" But then I was all, "HOT DAMN these guys are weird and funny!" Been hooked ever since.
If you've never seen the show before, I suggest starting with Season 1. You can either watch them in order, or check out the following few episodes (my faves) in preferably this order:
Season 1, Episode 3: Mugged
Season 1, Episode 7: Drive By
Season 1, Episode 6: Bowie
Season 1 is great, even though some of the episodes aren't that strong. It's a great introduction to the characters and their style of song-writing and humor.
I was so stoked when it turned out that Season 2 was in fact a fact and not a myth! It's quite different than Season 1 because: In Season 1, the episodes were written around already-existing songs. This contributed to a sense of flexibility and random fun that I fell in love with. But in Season 2, they'd ran out of songs and had to write all new ones. So because of this, the songs revolved around the episodes, which created a different style of writing. I loved this, as well! Plus, they obviously got more $$ for Season 2, so it was cool to see where they could take the show and their songs with more available resources. Also, I feel like there were less weak episodes than in Season 1.
Um, I feel like I must admit that Jemaine appeared in one of my dreams after the first time I watched the show... I think both Jemaine and Bret are super cuties (Bret's gorgeous, but I think Jemaine's more my type, it might be the glasses), but what really gets me is how WEIRD they are! I love it!
I'm going to see them play in April. Kristen Schaal, who plays Mel (their only fan), is opening up for them. She's HYSTERICAL!! The show wouldn't be nearly as good without her!
I wanted to leave you with a video of the first part of "Season 1, Episode 3: Mugged," but I can't find it on YouTube anymore. Blast!! I think it's a great intro to the show. But instead, I will leave you with the Ladies of the World video that Tim and I found randomly one day! It's one of my favorite songs, and the video is pretty bizarre.
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