Rockers (1978) - 6.15.2008

The last 15 minutes of this almost make up for the previous hour and a half. If I were Jamaican and not a sort of fluent English speaker, I might have liked this... or at least understood it. This was a Hollywood Forever Cemetery screening. Que ridiculoso.

5 stars.

Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993) - 6.15.2008

This is kind of long. Zach Braff has a neat cameo... I think he might even say some words. Watching neurotic people makes me very uncomfortable, I don't think Woody Allen was quite this crazy before. Alan Alda is great though, and I like Bob Balaban too.

5 stars.

His Girl Friday (1940) - 6.15.2008

Cary Grant is great. I like when he describes Ralph Bellamy's character by saying, "You know the movie star Ralph Bellamy? He looks like that." I also like when a crazy lady pointlessly jumps out a window! Check this one out.

5 stars.

Gamers (2006) - 6.14.2008

I rented this because it had William Katt in it. It is not that funny and features only sporadically laughable improv comedy. Don't watch it.

5 stars.

Lifeforce (1985) - 6.13.2008

I am not quite sure how I had never heard of this movie. Apparently Quentin Tarantino played a trailer for this during his New Beverly festival and someone, who is amazing by the way, made a netflix list of movies mentioned therein. As a result, Lifeforce is on my Roku and today I checked it out. I was already embarrassed about not seeing it when Golan-Globus Productions came up so you can imagine how mortified I was to find Tobe Hooper's name following them. Later still in the opening credits, the score which I had been enjoying thus far and continued to throughout the film was credited to one Henry Mancini. At first confused by his appearance, I later found out this soundtrack was submitted to Hitchcock for his film Frenzy but apparently rejected. I am glad it was put to use. The first half of the movie is probably the most realistic alien vampire movie ever committed to film, but is that saying much? The second half is less acceptable. The special effects for the time are pretty incredible and the corpse animatronics and puppetry were really great. The film features appearances by Clockwork Orange's Aubrey Morris and also the great Captain Piccard. Definitely worth a look if you have somehow not heard of it either.

5 stars.

Semi-Pro (2008) - 6.12.2008

I was on set for some of this. I thought maybe Jeff and I were in it. We are not, dangit. I love Will Ferrell to pieces and it was still worth being on set with Ferrell and Andre and Harrelson and Arnett and Walsh and so on. In one scene toward the end, Jesse and I noticed the girl from the Foot Fist Way that Danny McBride kept hitting on at his dojo. No doubt Ferrell's casting decision considering how much he loves that movie. The scene with the pseudo-Russian Roulette was already funny in the trailer, but friggen hysterical the way it actually plays. Check this out.

5 stars.

2 Days In Paris (2007) - 6.11.2008

This film confounds me. I have seen Before Sunrise and Before Sunset enough times to be very much in love with Julie Delpy. Her association with Godard only makes her that much more attractive. It is hard for me to accept that someone could write and direct a film in which they portray such a slight antagonist. She is the bad guy here, but so barely that I could comprehend people disagreeing with me. This is a subtle villainy. I assume from what I understand of Delpy's life that this film is at least slightly more autobiographical than most of her work. She has poor eyesight (as her character does here) and was born and raised in Paris. Obviously I have never met Julie in person (so it is unfair for me to assume that her character here is even remotely a representation of herself) but this film forces me to ask whether I could write myself into a script as the antagonist.

P.S. I liked this a lot... if that was confusing.

5 stars.

Dial M For Murder (1954) - 6.10.2008

There are a lot of movies about the perfect murder. Most of them try to prove it's impossible to get away with killing someone. I wonder how many people owe their lives to this cinematic phenomenon. Anyway, some guy named Freddy Hitchcock directed it and it's pretty neat. Oh and Grace Kelly is gorgeous and that Ray Milland guy is great too, I especially liked him in George McCowan's Frogs.

5 stars.

The Big Picture (1989) - 6.10.2008

This doesn't feel like a Christopher Guest movie. Some of his players are here but there is little if any improvising. I rented it because the cover reminded me of Altman's The Player. Both feature the main character sitting in a knot tied in a film strip dangling over Hollywood. They are very similar movies beyond that but I think The Player is the better film. I always like Michael McKean, and this subdued version is no exception. The film's best moment comes from bartender John Cleese smacking a barroom television to colorize the It's A Wonderful Life broadcast and then saying, "That's better."

5 stars.

King of California (2007) - 6.9.2008

I am writing a movie about a king and California and the first time I heard about this was when my parents thought I was too late. Luckily this is a different story. Although I am sure the makers of this film would like to preserve its sanctity, I would like to see a sequel with more crazy treasure hunting hi-jinx, and Evan Rachel Wood is a classy gal. Jesse thinks this review is terrible.

5 stars.

7 Plus Seven (1971) - 6.8.2008

The second of the Up series. Jesse pointed out that for 14-year-olds, these kids seem oddly depressed. The 14 faces, which started as caricatures of British stereotype faces have only grown more exaggerated in the seven years we've missed. Everyone's hair is longer and teeth have gone from missing to crooked. Tony is still my favorite.

5 stars.

Seven Up (1964) - 6.8.2008

This is the first of a bunch of these documentaries and I already know I'm gonna like the whole series. They interview 14 kids but they start when they are seven with this movie and release a new movie every seven years. Unfortunately this first one is only a half hour long as it was intended to be an extended news segment, but the rest are longer. Check these out!

5 stars.

Xanadu (1980) - 6.8.2008

Gene Kelly is awesome. So is the Electric Light Orchestra. Olivia Newton-John is okay. But this movie is ridiculous. As much as I want to say "Xanadon't see this movie" because it is a clever conjunction, I think I am better than that. Even though it is ridiculous, rent this on you're awesome Roku Netflix viewing device. The special effects are, for the most part, entertainingly misused and the film's sudden animated sequence has a higher production value than you will expect.

P.S. Gene Kelly is awesome.

5 stars.