as it seems like my life get's more down trodden and depressive, i can go to a theater, sit in the dark, and get completely lost in a story. and adventure if you will. it's almost like all my problems in reality become vacant for the next hour and a half to two hours, and i get lost in the story and feel like a kid again, even though i'm twenty six.
that being said, i did see four new films this weekend so far. three in the theater, one at home.
The Merciful Death of Jonas Blake is a short film that was written and directed by two of my very good friends from childhood, brothers, seth and nathan anderson.
the film, in focus is a western. but, as films without dialogue often do, it gave me another premise. my own take that may or may not have been the intent of it's creators.
i viewed it not as a western, but a story of confused love. and i feel like an asshole even reviewing this film, because if my interpretation is off, then i come off like an assbag of a friend.
i feel the film showed jonas chasing after this woman, and attempting to, barter, in a sense, with her father for her hand in the greater extent of things. and just when you think he may get it, he offends the father, and forces the love at a greater cost.
i don't know if my view is correct, but i saw it that way, and despite if i was right or wrong, i still feel very strongly towards the film.
it's a short film, a little under/over fifteen minutes, but it's so beautiful to watch. the locations are just so amazing, you really feel it's an old style western of sorts.
the direction is well done, as is the music and story i got from it, and the acting is great. the female lead was so beautiful, and the father well cast, as well as the man portraying jonas blake.
i also enjoyed the, "making of," feature as well. nathan holding up that picture of jesus on the cross was pretty funny and the process of the tent to home was cool.
to find out more about the film, and ways to get your grubby hands on a copy, or even watch the trailer, visit seth and nathan at: here me now brother.
monster house. oh monster house...
i had been anticipating this film since i found out about it a year or so ago.
the premise is a simplistic film catered to children and adults. simple enough. it's got the look of a kid's film, with just enough hidden content for adults.
essentially it's a love story in a way and about letting go of the past. of course, you don't get that until after the first hour of the house eating people and objects like a dog pissing on the lawn, or the two douchenozzle cops who never believe anything kids say.
and as i found myself laughing out loud quite a bit through the film, i had two things lingering in my mind.
one. -this is the best cgi animated film i've ever seen. period. fuck shrek, fuck toy story and all that other incredibles bullshit. those films entertained me, but the animation was too mucky and waxed. this film, screams miles and miles of detail and for lack of a better term, coolness.
two. -when we're kids, and we see things like houses eating jason lee characters named, "bone," or other stuff adults don't believe happen, how come is it, when we grow up, we don't believe the new kids telling us these amazing stories? what happens in this world to us? why are we like wendy in peter pan? why must we grow up and stop believing? it's something that will most likely bother me until i plunge cuetips into my eyes, but, i just can't figure it out.
aside from all the rad animation, the coloful character development was what really had me the most.
steve buscemi as mr. nebbercracker was so badass. i'm a huge steve buscemi fan, and hearing him play a crazed, crotchety old guy was both frightening, and absolutely hysterical. "YOU WANNA DIE KID!? YOU'LL DIE DEAD!"
jon heder, better known almost unfortunatley at this point from over exposure as napoleon dynamite, has a brief role playing a character named, reginald “skull” skulinski, who reminds me of a combo of people i've known in real life. pelka, berry, and just a hint of lackner, making me nearly squirt, just a little.
the rest of the cast was fine and good, but those two were the most entertaining, at least to me. although the kid who played chowder gave me the biggest laugh when he hangs up on a phone conversation with his dad, realizing his friend JD, and this new girl he liked were coming into the room, so he put the phone back up to his ear and utters, "OH YEAH, WELL KISS MY HAIRY BUTT DAD!... *click* oh, hey, JD, got any beer?"
the film isn't a blockbuster spectacle, but it's worth the bones you'll shell out if you got kids and want a good laugh while entertaining the young ones.
clerks 2. a film, ten years in the making?
i did see this one with friends. my good friends actually. and i went into it with a pretty big respect for kevin smith and a love for the world he has created virtually around new jersey. that being said, i did like clerks 2. i didn't love it like i wanted to, but i liked it.
the film is, if you haven't read the reviews by now, not so much a sequel as it is a check up, and it's a film that is about friends and growing up. that's really the core of it in a nutshell.
at what point is it not cool to work a shit job and do something that has merit?
finding real love. not half-assed loved, but someone who will love you so much, that when you're in your golden years, shitting in your adult diaper, they will be there to clean you and change you.
some of the more memorable scenes are what i'll talk about.
the hidden, "poopy trim," inside joke is displayed oh so brilliantly which made me chuckle silently to myself.
elias. i know this kid. but in real life his name is matt. and you can also chuck star wars and smallville onto the lord of the rings/transformer list as his passionate loves. and i am randal in real life to this kid. which makes his character all the more hilarious to me.
the lord of the rings bit was priceless.
kinky kelly, disturbing, but finding my friend justin and myself in the bathroom after the film taking a piss, laughing still at, "oh man, not again, i gotta finish fast..."
jay and silent bob have evolved into something more than spectacular. the original versions of themselves in the first clerks, or even, chasing amy. they are still a little bumbling and vulgar, but not cartoons of themselves as they were prominently in, "jay and silent bob strikes back." jason mewes has impressed me milestones with his look and sober appearance in this film. although the q. lazzarus, "goodbye horses," dick tuck was a bit much, it still garnerd the most laughs in the theater i think, next to the kinky kelly scene.
rosario dawson... so fucking gorgeous.
the film to me, more than anything revolves around randal figuring out the reality of things. growing up and realizing there's more to life than his outlook, and finding the right way to do things... and the spiderman 2, rain drops keep falling on my head jab was pretty funny.
it was a good film, that i will watch at least one more time before waiting for the jam packed dvd that bastard will put out like he always does.
m. night shyamalan is one of those people i do like to refer to as, a storyteller.
sure, that's what all filmmakers do, but there's something to shyamalan's reel that is more. and i honestly don't know how to put it. there's no description. no two films are the same.
i wasn't keen on, "the sixth sense," but i did fall head over heels for, "unbreakable," and, "signs."
"the village," was good until the end, and even then, i didn't find myself hating it. just, disfigured by the clever deception.
"lady in the water," was the best film i saw this weekend, and by far the best one i've seen all summer. period. and you may not like it. in fact, i think a lot of people will hate it based on, "the village," alone, but... fuck them.
right until the end, i felt like a kid again. i've said that once in this post already, but this film embodies the essence of finding the little one inside of you, and believing that good will win, and defeat the evil that trys oh so hard to stop it from it's succession.
i love paul giamatti. i always have. the guy is such a great character actor, and he shines as cleveland heep in this film. a building super, once doctor, who encounters the magical narf, whose name is very simple and appropriate, story, played by the beautiful, bryce dallas howard, who charmed me with adrian brody throughout shyamalan's predecessor, "the village," and will have us all calling toby maguire, "tiger," next year as gwen stacey in spidey the third.
more so was the lengthy role shyamalan gave himself as a brother and a writer, vick ran, who plays a prominent role, that really moves me not just by what the characters is and is to become, but by m. night's performance.
the film's story really is a bedtime story. it's got the good, the bad, and the happiness that a fantasy tale should have.
when i asked my friend who saw it two night's prior, what i should expect, he said, "it kind of reminds me of those great 80's flicks where the ideas were fresh and the stories carried you away..." and he was right. brilliant actually, with that point.
when i left this film, i felt like a little kid who had just watched, "labyrinth," or, "legend," for the first time... i wanted to go home and write my own bedtime story... i remembered how when my brother and i were younger, our father would make up stories about my brother and me being ghostbusters, and he would tell us the great adventures we never really had, but did have in his version.
the scene when paul giamatti had milk and cookies and acted like a kid in order to hear the story of the narfs and the blue world... that's when i bought into it all, and eventually had tears stream down my face at some points in the film.
it's a film where anything does happen, and it recaptures that innocence we've all lost over the years as we grew up. it brings us back and let's us know it's okay to believe in something outlandish, and that we can defeat whatever scrunt comes our way.
