On the shelf and waiting for me to spin them (in no particular order):
1) Syriana
2) Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
3) The Culpepper Cattle Company
4) American Me
5) Naked
6) The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
7) Cache (Hidden)
8) Freeze Frame
9) Stay
10) Songwriter
If you’ve seen any of these and wish to post capsule reviews, have at it. If you haven’t seen them, go ahead and post reviews anyway. Hell, review the titles if you want. I don’t care. Just get off my back, would you? I’m a busy and very important man.
Unbelievable… I haven’t seen a single one of those.
I did see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang once, though. Not that that helps or anything.
You need to broaden your horizons, Russ. Make peace with your inner PG-13 and move on to the hard stuff.
Ah, for the Hollywood of WWII.
Syriana feeds our enemies hatred
by Charles Krauthammer
..
Who in the greater Middle East is closest to “Syriana’s” modernizing, democratizing paragon? Without a doubt, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, a man of exemplary—and quite nonfictional—personal integrity, physical courage and democratic temperament. Hundreds of brave American (and allied NATO) soldiers have died protecting him and the democratic system they established to allow him to govern. On the very night the Oscars will be honoring “Syriana,” American soldiers will be fighting, some perhaps dying, in defense of precisely the kind of tolerant, modernizing Muslim leader that “Syriana” shows America slaughtering.
It gets worse. The most pernicious element in the movie is the character who is at the moral heart of the film: the physically beautiful, modest, caring, generous Pakistani who becomes a beautiful, modest, caring, generous … suicide bomber. In his final act, the Pure One, dressed in the purest white robes, takes his explosives-laden little motorboat head first into his target. It is a replay of the real-life boat that plunged into the USS Cole in 2000, killing 17 American sailors, except that in “Syriana’s” version, the target is another symbol of American imperialism in the Persian Gulf—a newly opened liquefied natural gas terminal.
The explosion, which would have the force of a nuclear bomb, constitutes the moral high point of the movie, the moment of climactic cleansing, as the Pure One clad in white merges with the great white mass of the huge terminal wall, at which point the screen goes pure white. And reverently silent.
In my naivete, I used to think that Hollywood had achieved its nadir with Oliver Stone’s “JFK,” a film that taught a generation of Americans that President Kennedy was assassinated by the CIA and the FBI in collaboration with Lyndon Johnson. But at least it was for domestic consumption, an internal affair of only marginal interest to other countries. “Syriana,” however, is meant for export, carrying the most vicious and pernicious mendacities about America to a receptive world.
Most liberalism is angst- and guilt-ridden, seeing moral equivalence everywhere. “Syriana” is of a different species entirely—a pathological variety that burns with the certainty of its malign anti-Americanism. Osama bin Laden could not have scripted this film with more conviction.
http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/charleskrauthammer/2006/03/03/188504.html
Jeff,
“Three Burials”…despite a transparently lefty slant–rogue INS officer (a Timothy McVeigh clone) murders super nice illegal immigrant. Local Sheriff has Bob Dole disease, can’t consummate with local hooker with a heart of gold. Tommy Lee Jones kicks INS ass, can consummate. Coyotes bad, illegals good.
I enjoyed the film. Tommy Lee Jones is always one helluva cowboy.
you should see Rob B.’s review of syriana at file it under.
I’m a big fan of those seventies political conspiracy thrillers—3 Days of the Condor, Parallax View, etc. So I figured I’d give Syriana a go.
Uh, nope. Haven’t seen any of those. But that may be because my kids largely determine what I’m going to see.
I did see Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang, though.
Pure filthy Marxist propaganda.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Quit videotaping our bedroom.
Or at least start sending us copies of the tapes.
You perv.
Hmmmm. I just invented the word “propagandagyn.” Someone ought to take it for a website, or something.
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang is one of my recent favorites. Despite taking a rather sternly po-mo take on the narrative, the script (as I remember it) works, and the three lead roles are well-cast and extremely well-acted by Downey Jr., Kilmer and the stunning Michelle Monaghan. I’ve been something of an evangelist of the flick, really, so hope you enjoy it.
The rottentomatoes front page contains two comparisons to Chinatown and L.A. Confidential. I’m not sure those are my first frames of reference, since although the noir element is well-executed and pulls the plot very effectively, it’s really not the dominant project of the movie. Invocations of Pulp Fiction seem comparatively well-taken: KKBB plays with the noir / gritty genre and adds stylized wit and dialogue in the same proportions from the familiar Tarantino recipe. The plot is somewhat disappointing—no dramatic Usual Suspects turns—but that’s beside the point. Whether from adrenaline or hilarity, the flick finds a way to make every scene an arresting experience.
But eyes off Michelle Monaghan when she comes on screen. The girl is mine, yo.
Sorry, Russ. Didn’t see that. You ate my lunch beating me to the punch.
Sounds like my kind of flick, Jack Roy. Would Get Shorty work as an analogue?
I’m eagerly awaiting Brick as well. Rather than spend money to go to the theater I just generally wait and buy the DVD.
The Culpepper Cattle Company:
Fleet average ‘70s western. Geoffrey Lewis is solid, Luke Askew is very good, Bo Hopkins is underused. What the hell ever happened to Gary Grimes?
Grimes does a lot of cartoon voices. Plus I think he married Marsha Brady.
I’m a big fan of those seventies political conspiracy thrillersâ€â€3 Days of the Condor, Parallax View, etc. So I figured I’d give Syriana a go.
If you haven’t seen it yet, and are up for recommendations, rent or buy ‘The Soldier’ starring Ken Wahl.
Cheyenne Social Club woulda been a better Western. And if you’re gonna watch Syriana, you really should orter watch The Next Man, first…
I’ve been sitting here at the office (yes, at the office, someone has to keep the internet running—those hamsters won’t flog themselves, y’know) trying to figure out how Chitty Chitty Bang Bang might be a Vietnam metaphor, but I’m just not seeing it.
OTOH, the whole flying car thing seems to be a mockery of those of us who, in 1968, thought the future would be full of flying cars.
I was only 6 then, but I’m certainly pissed that I haven’t got my flying car yet. Where is my flying car!?!?
that val kilmer so effectively plays a private, well, dick in KKBB confirms much of what we thought about top gun.
Never saw all of Get Shorty, but what I did see irritated me—Travolta was just too cool all the time, which I thought threw off the balance. Kilmer has kind of the same touch here, but he’s backgrounded a lot and mostly as a foil for Downey’s in-spite-of-himself incompetence. So can’t help you there.
Haven’t seen any of them.
So far, this weekend I.ve seen “Yes, Prime Minister” Disc 1 & 2 and “Charlie and Chocolate Factor”. Have “Yes, Prime Minister” Disc 3 in DVD player to watch tonight and tomorrow.
I highly recommend the BBC series of “Yes, Minister” or “Yes, Prime Minister”.
Charlie wasn’t bad either.
“Plus I think he married Marsha Brady.”
That bastard. I haven’t been so annoyed since Kate Jackson married Andrew Stevens.
I won’t watch a movie unless I’ve already seen it.
tw: the shallow end of the gene pool
Kate Jackson married Andrew Sullivan……
Never mind.
someone has duplicated the actus algorithm
KK/BB is one of the few *must see* recommendations. Combine Way Of The Gun’s narrative style, Boondock Saint’s self-deprecating wit, and dialogue half-Mamet, half-Chandler… you’ve got KK/BB. It doesn’t surprise me this didn’t fare well in its theatre release phase. I’ll bet it takes off in DVD distribution. Definitely a writer’s movie.
– actus has a secret formula for obtuseness, co-joined with abject avoidance of any and all responsibility right down to a speck of a descernible opinion that nakes sense on all topics:
– He figures since his parents didn’t have children he probably won’t either. QED
TW: A picture is worth a thousand actus posts…..
The ‘Culpepper Cattle Company’ is a nice little western. Not as good as ‘Monte Walsh’ and grittier than ‘Cowboys’
“American Me’ struck me as a self indulgent vehicle for Edward James Olmos.I didn’t like it.There was a documentary out a while ago about low riders which was much mor satisfying.
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang is Shane Black making fun of his resume in a much more effective way than Last Action Hero. Po-mo it may be, but with a deserving target. Unlike Get Shorty, it plays out more noir than Hollywood satire, though there is that element. And Val Kilmer’s character is known as “Gay Perry,” which is brilliant.
Assuming that that’s Mike Leigh’s Naked re-released on Criterion, I did a short review here (#11).
Seen ‘em?
Never even HEARD of them.
Except Syriana.
Which I refuse to see.
Here’s Glen Macnow’s “Top 150 Guy Movies of All Time”:
http://www.610wip.com/startinglineup/staff/macnow_movies.php
Glen is a sports writer and radio personality, a very smart guy and a very nice guy.
I’m working my way trhrough his list via Netflix.
Right now I have #2, “Goodfellas.”
I suggest Who Is Cletis Tout? as a good follow-up movie to watch after Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. A little bit lighter film noir, to cleanse the palate, after the more vulgar Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. Not that I’m complaining about the latter, mind you.
Oh, come on! Chitty Chitty Bang Bang wasn’t that bad!
Uh, Pulp Fiction as #1? Bullshit. Swap that with From Dusk ‘Til Dawn (#87)—about the only that had Tarantino involved in it that I can stand to watch.
Since I’ve been invited to review the titles, if I like, I’ll say that “Naked” sounds good. But it all depends on the casting.
Me, I’ve been watching “When Videotape Compilation Shows Attack” on SpikeTV.
I just watched Syriana last night with my family, as a matter of fact. None of us could tell what the fuck was going on. And that’s not just because of the “non-linear storytelling,” either. It is an interesting movie, but it commands your attention more by the hope you may harbor of getting some part of it by the time it ends rather than for any compelling dramatic reason.
Oh, and it turns out that Amerikkka is the giant [womb monster from Aliens] that keeps creating terrorists where there were none before.
(But that’s not much of a spoiler these days, anyhow.)
I can’t stand Steve Gaghan so I’m going to see Syriana, too.
Rent the original Brit Traffik to see how GAghan & Co. kinda wrecked it.
Syriana: a facile and stupid anti-American and anti-capitalist conspiracy theory of middle east politics, dressed up in just enough cinematic chaos and confusion to give the superficial impression of being deep.
I used to think that Syriana, was a travesty of Bob Baer’s excellent memoir See no Evil. Having
read his latest roman a clef; Blow the House
Down; I’m not so sure anymore. He posits 9/11
as an Iranian directed conspiracy by a Iranian
intelligence officer; in league with a Wasp
yuppie backer of neocons. who’s profiting
from insider trades from his connections to
KSM’s operations Oh, in this reading he’s
is not officially AQ; and Bin Laden, fishing
in a creek in the NorthWest frontier? Sounds
like something Dr. Vic and Dr. Cole would co
write; prime moonbattery.
Before watching Stay you should watch Sit. I would then recommend Roll Over followed by Play Dead or Fetch.
I also recommend Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Are you kidding? That whole German/kid-catcher subplot? Awful. And only Ian Fleming would put a woman named Truly Scrumptious into a children’s story. I mean, come on.
Though Dick Van Dyke is always cool. And the kids weren’t too cute.
If you trash your senses with Syriana early on then plan to have your holliday ruined. I walked around just generally pissed off for three days after my wife rented this trash. Damn her. Usually I can sit in my home office puter puttering and watching boxing or old gray movies but for some stupid reason I wandered into the living room. Stupid stupid man.
Syriana informs America is a nation of murderers who practice genocide gleefully to line our pockets. Belgium in the Congo has nothing on us. The CIA is nothing but a well oiled assasination squad. Terrorists are only defending themselves. The entire US government is run by corporate interests and politicians are only paid shills.
“3 burials” was a good western, just pretend that there’s no lefty slant.
American Me was pretty good if you’re into gang/prison movies. It’s pretty graphic though, fair warning. It’s also damn depressing, but definitely worth watching.
Mel Estrada is the only one of these I’ve seen and it’s not bad. Course it was kinda shot in my neck of the woods so I enjoyed it from a homeboy standpoint. The funniest part is when the trailer house salesman fucks the yankee couple into spending $60k on a doublewide.
Culpepper Cattle Company. Great Western.
Was that the one where the little kid says to the (old) cowboy: “Nice horse Mister, what’s his name?”
To which the cowboy says: “Boy, you don’t name nothin’ you might have to eat.”
Priceless.
Melquiades E was a conventional western, entertaining but not world-view changing. Tommy Lee Jones gets to play the Gus Mcrae character from Lonesome Dove, bringing a body home, crossed up somehow with All the Prett Horses.
“Stay”? Didn’t see it coming until the end. Shoulda. Just didn’t.
American Me was “OK”, but for a better take on the whole Latino gang/prison thing, take a look at Bound by Honor (Blood In Blood Out).
ASW
Culpepper is one of the best westerns ever made. You’ll like it.
Me, I’m doin’ a “John Ford/John Wayne” best-of series.
Want to see Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, haven’t yet. (also Naked & Cache.)
“Stay” is interesting–liked the script & the acting, particularly Ryan Gosling. Visuals are excellent. Strongly disagree with the directing choices Marc Forester made, but I won’t say any more so as to avoid spoiling the movie. Wish he’d directed it the same way he directed “Finding Neverland”–e.g., realism. ‘Cause that’s what it called for.
Since I’m late to the party, I guess this counts as a pile-on. Loved KKBB. Val Kilmer almost calls up the ghosts of a time when he was the God of acting, before Johnny Depp took his title.
“A sexy romp through the mean streets of LA!” –Gene Shalit
So, you cling to your copy of “Omega Man” like Kos clings to Lamont, yet it’s not on your viewing list. Seems to me someone (who is said to eat paste, but shall not be named) is hoarding a classic of my generation and failing to appreciate its magnificance by watching it. Ergo, Heston and his chess pieces gather dust while persons, such as myself, starve for quality entertainment.
Valdez is Coming… now that was a Western.
1) Syriana
2) Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
3) The Culpepper Cattle Company
4) American Me
5) Naked
6) The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
7) Cache (Hidden)
8) Freeze Frame
9) Stay
10) Songwriter
1. Couldn’t watch more than 20 minutes of Syriana. Who could?
2. KKBB was interesting but what happened? Downing is pretty entertaining though.
3. Brokeback II?
4. Is that like f*** me in french?
5. Naked by Mike Leigh? Terrific film. Thewless is splendid.
6. Looking forward to this one. Tommy Lee (Jones)is one of my heroes.
7. Johnny Cache?
8. Freeze Frame? They’re running out of lame comic books and have turned to lame rock songs for ideas?
9. Maurice Willimas in falsetto-color, I hope.
10. Finally a movie about some exciting visual things. Man have you seen a guy writing a song? Awesome special effects will be required!
Jeff – I loved The World’s Fastest Indian, myself.
Anything but Syriana. George Clueless made my list of people annoying enough to avoid.
Last night was a total washout. Cable went out, so I had to scrounge through the DVD collection for something to watch again. Lost in Translation won. Mrs D was working – she hates that movie because she thinks it makes Japan look stupid.
I think it’s funnier than hell, and seeing I have to stick up for American people (all 300 million of you plus myself), I don’t mind a little reinforcement from time to time.
I’m hanging around waiting for the Fourth Protocol review.
Get jacked up on caffeine and blow before you see Syriana. You’re going to need it.
Nevermind that, get stoned instead. It might make sense then (in a non inteneded way of course).
Cliff notes: America is evil. Big oil is evil. It’s America’s fault and we deserve it all.
I second World’s Fastest Indian. Good film.
Two must see films for content and cinematography: Searching for Bobby Fisher and Black Stallion. Shawshank Redemption is another great film often overlooked.
“The World’s Fastest Indian” was a great movie.
Saw Syrianna on Saturday. I liked it generally, and liked Clooney in it specifically. I wanted to kick everyone involved in it the ass for making the US out as a villain.
I liked Syriana a lot. Frankly, I don’t see what Krauthammer and the rest of the right are so bent out of shape about. I can only assume that they’re looking to be offended because they don’t care for Clooney’s politics.
Whoever wrote it definitely paid attention in Sociology class when they taught Dependency Theory, but written from that perspective it didn’t strike me as at all anti-American. I thought Cloney did a damn good job. I think you’ll enjoy it, Jeff.
Random movie review:
Saw Dodgeball last night. I was hoping for Baseketball-meets-Zoolander. No dice. Disappointing movie overall with a few very good laughs. And more Object Hits Man In Crotch sight gags than I ever care to see again.
“Thanks for coming, please stay for the end credits, if you’re wondering who the best boy is, it’s somebody’s nephew, um, don’t forget to validate your parking, and to all you good people in the Midwest, sorry we said fuck so much.”
Harmony: Well, for starters, she’s been fucked more times than she’s had a hot meal.
Harry: Yeah, I heard about that. It was neck-and-neck and then she skipped lunch.
“Why in hell did you pee on the corpse? “
With lines like that, how can you NOT enjoy KKBB?
and don’t forget: (paraphrasing)
Gay Perry: “If you look up idiot in the dictionary…”
Harry :”You’ll find a picture of me?”
GP: “No. You’ll find the definition of idiot, which is what you are.”
Love Naked, enjoyed Three Burials, and like Lex said, I shoulda seen through Stay , but didn’t.
I’ll be interested in hearing your opinions of Cache, which seems like more of a movie to talk about afterward than to enjoy.
American Me was good. Olmos wasn’t a persona then, just a good actor. I won’t spoil it, but notice the ways he indicates by gesture the different man he has become when he gets out.
But I saw it before I became a member of VRWC so maybe I would think differently now!
Did you see OPen Water, Jeff? I’m with Armond White, the damn movie makes me weep.
sorry, dr. k–i liked syriana A LOT.
it gives good insight into what some people think of us.
the classified briefing scenes and the realtime targetting in viddy in the war room made me howl with laughter, tho.
syriana is filled with themes of how others see us.
the treatment of the madrassa’s recruitment of the young paki expatriate labourers is accurate and chilling, and was very real for me. the charming blue-eyed soccerplaying imam with added frenchfries! deadly.
bob (clooney) is very nearly nearly a parody of a CIA wetware specialist with principles hung out to dry by his handlers.
syriana is very accurate portrayal of what many in MENA think we do.
it is valid for that reason alone.
American Me was OK, kind of a Cuban mafia type movie if I remember. The rest? Feh. Not a clue.
Now, if you pick up JOE DIRT, then we can talk!