One Movie A Day Review Thread

DAY 82: November 21st, 2008.

ShortBus



"You're taking a picture of yourself at Ground Zero: do you smile?"

I'm not going to recommend people run out and rent this flick, but I do think people should see it. Does that make sense? Shortbus is not about sex, or homosexuals, it's about relationships. You will know within the first 5 minutes if you will want to watch this film or not.

I found Shortbus to be a remarkable film. It's certainly not for everyone, it shows graphic sexual acts, both straight and gay, full frontal nudity, both male and female and it doesn't shy away from those taboo subjects. This is the second film from the director of Hedwig and The Angry Inch, a film that, after viewing Shortbus, I really want to see.

There are numerous characters, all have their own problems. One wants to commit suicide, another is a voyeur, a sex therapist has never had an orgasm and many more. In fact there are so many characters that a lot of their stories are left to the side and don't feel complete.

Each performances, no matter how amateur, are strong and brave. I know Sook Yin Lee from Much Music (Canadian MTV basically) and to see her in this film was a surprise, but to see the emotion and faith she put into this film is inspiring. I found myself connected to each character, most films have trouble with one.

I would recommend you read up on the film if you are not sure if you want to watch it, it's definitely not for everyone, but I did enjoy it and applaud everyone involved.

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Suspect's Reviews

You're still plugging away at this TUS? Good for you! How's it been going? Are you getting a bunch of films in that you haven't seen?

Hedwig is a total trip btw, I hope you get to see it. I think you might like it.

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December and January have more films that I haven't seen then November.

I also recommend Hegwig & The Angry Inch. I'm a lot less psyched to see Shortbus than I was Hedwig, the result being that I've yet to see Shortbus (but will one day) while I did everything I could to see Hedwig and I wasn't disapointed.

That'll be interesting. I'm curious what they are. You sure have lasted on this a lot longer than I ever would have. Sure, I could watch one a day, but the reviews. Nope!

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That's why I'm so far behind, watching is easy, reviewing is not.

I'm just happy for you to do reviews even if it isn't every day

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DAY 83: November 22nd, 2008.

Definitely Maybe



I was surprised by this one and I enjoyed it. Ryan Reynolds can hold a film, yet he hasn't really seem to have found his niche yet. He's an upcoming star I want to keep my eye on and ditto to everyone else in this movie.

Isla Fisher is cute and funny, she was my favourite of the three possible mothers in this film. Her story is also the most heartbreaking, I didn't tear up, but my girlfriend did. (She hates the fact that I never cry and calls me a robot).

Elizabeth Banks is someone who has peaked my interest. I loved her small part in The 40 Year Old Virgin and thought she rocked the house in Slither. Her latest film Zac and Miri Make A Porno, she was not only beautiful, but hilariously funny. She is quickly becoming a favourite of mine. She doesn't have a heck of a lot here, but the little screen time she does have works.

The last lovely lady is Rachel Weisz, who may seem like the odd one out. She was my least favourite of the three, but that's not because I didn't like her. I thought she was great here, it's just that I had a better connection with the other two. When we first she see, she is with Kevin Kline, who plays an alcoholic writer.

The story is told in the present by Reynolds to his daughter. We jump into the past, via the story, and we the audience have to guess who the mother is, just like the daughter. There are no real clues because we have no idea what relationship the mother has with the daughter, all we know is that it is ending in a divorce. She figures it out and appears to be happy, I have no idea why because the way he told the story, it makes no sense for her to be happy as to who the mother is. Oh well.

There is no real indication of what year it is, other then his job. Which was campaigning for Clinton as president. Which means everything looks exactly the same. I don't know why, but that part bugged me a bit.

DAY 84: November 23rd, 2008.

Black Sheep



No, this isn't the comedy film starring Chris Farley and David Spade, but rather a horror film that fails to mix the comedy genre successfully, even when it should have been easy considering the content of the film.

To sum up the film it's about sheep that have been experimented on and they turn blood thirsty. The film obviously had potential to be really funny, but the filmmakers missed the mark. I chuckled once or twice, but that was it. Shot in New Zealand, it brings back memories of better comedy/horror flicks, such as Brain Dead and Bad Taste. I guess when you have a talented guy like Jackson behind the camera it makes a big difference.

Black Sheep has poor production values. At times the sound came and went and the video quality reminded me of the film Undead, that amateur shot on digital video type feel. That, mixed with an unfunny script and poor actors makes this film a pain to watch. It's not original or fresh, which is sad because it tries to be, really badly. But we've seen it all before. The mutation from man to sheep isn't even that good.

I guess if you like your gore, more specifically sheep eating people, and the type of comedy where a sheep ends up driving a truck off a cliff, go ahead an rent this, everyone else stay away.

DAY 85: November 24th, 2008.

I'm Not There



A film is suppose to, among other things, entertain it's viewer on some level. It can be expertly made, well acted and thought-provoking, but if you cannot entertain your audience, what's the point of watching? If I'm not entertained, I lose interest and when I lose interest I get bored. You can have the most unique and complex ideas but if I can't get engaged by anything then again....what's the point. Enter I'm Not There. Well acted by everyone involved, a unique vision and script that is fresh, yet I was bored to tears. Flashes of 2001 come to me.

Thinking of this film, many words come to my mind, pretentious is one of them. Thinking that it is more important then it actually is. I will give it credit for being unique and fresh, but that's it. Todd Haynes clearly had more on his plate then he could handle. Eliminate two of the "Dylan" characters, it cuts the running time down, makes things more centred and complete. There, that is one simple solution that would have made the film better. It might have even been able to keep my attention.

The cast all work well, and Haynes is decent at telling a story, but his ambition got the better of him here. Way too much for him to handle and for the audience. I get the fact that he wanted to tell the audience that bob Dyland can't be understood, but I'm sitting here thinking what was the point of me watching this film. What did I get from it? Nothing.

I know there are fans of this film, my question is are they fans of Dylan? I'm a fan of Dylan and I did not like this movie, not for what is was trying to do, but for what it did, bored me to death.

The only part which really bored me was the Richard Gere part. I would have not even filmed that section. It pretty much killed the film just as it was rising to its highpoint. But even so, I just "flew" that part (like an old frisbee at the park) and let the rest of the film carry me through giving it a . I know I probably would have given it an extra half without the Gere part. What do you think you'd rate it, if just that part was deleted?

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I didn't enjoy I'm Not There very much either , a couple of interesting ideas - but no actually deep genius to any of it.

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Gere is one of the sections I would have deleted as well, making things go by a lot smoother probably earning it half a rating more.

Again, the entire film just wasn't my thing.

I quite liked the different interpretations of Dylan I am with Mark I would have cut the Richard Gere bit out

DAY 86: November 25th, 2008.

Chaos Theory



It is extremely hard to be able to blend two different genres together and pull it off. Evil Dead II did this with horror and comedy and In Bruges did this with action and comedy (yes Mark, I watched it a again and enjoyed it more the second time around). Now here comes Chaos Theory, which I thought was a comedy with bits of drama sprinkled through, something along the lines of Thank You For Smoking for instance. It's a story about a man who is so obsessed with time that he has to make sure every part of his day follows a specific routine which he has timed out on small cue cards. Something 'chaotic' happens and his life is turned upside down. He now lives his life in the moment. What I didn't expect was that the so called 'chaotic' thing that happens was actually a heart-breaking moment that I would never wish upon anybody.

It would help this film is people knew what they were getting themselves into. Chaos Theory does have some comedic elements in it, but it's mostly a drama. Those little comedic moments are so out of place, yet I still laughed at them. Which made watching this movie an awkward experience.

The cast holds up pretty well, including Ryan Reynolds as the lead and Stuart Townsend as his best buddy, whose name also happens to be buddy. Townsend plays his role at certain points at two polar opposites of the spectrum. A revelation happens to his character and the second half of the film he's completely different. I enjoyed his second half more because he became more likable and he actually had more to work with.

As the drama goes on and on, it becomes less and less heartbreaking because it's sways back and forth between comedy and drama. Reynolds is able to pull off both serious and funny very well, but I'm afraid he still isn't able to hold an entire film together. Sure he was good in Definitely Maybe, but he has three beautiful co-stars behind him, who at some times stole the light. A few more years down the road for this guy, then you'll see some amazing stuff, I'm sure.

The film screams as one of those films that no one knows about. Not too well made, and not horrible either. There are no moments of wow, this film really touched me, or any scenes that stand out in my mind days later. It's simply a competently made flick.

I can't recommend that you go out and rent this flick, but if it is on TV sit back and watch you, you will be surprised.

Must keep my eye out for this Thanks Sussy

DAY 87: November 26th, 2008.

See No Evil



I had the unfortunate pleasure of watching a film produced by the WWE, starring the wrestler Kane and directed by a former porn director. See No Evil is the result of a poor attempt to get the WWE stars to become movie stars, like the days of Hulk Hogan and the current movie star The Rock. Kane is not a movie star, Kane is not a horror icon and Kane is not scary. After failing at the horror genre, they tried to go into action with John Cena, we all know how that turned out. Here is hoping that they stay in the ring and out of our theatres.

The film has a no name cast of 'teenagers' who must clean some abandoned place as community service. They all get killed one by one by Kane, who is living in this place. Through flashbacks we see that he was abused as a kid, which I guess makes his killings okay, and was raised by a woman who was super-ultra-mega religious. That means that if he were to even look at a girl, he would get beaten. Or something like that. Oh, I almost forgot, he collects eye-balls. Yeah...get it? See No Evil???

As far as run of the mill horror films go, this one barely makes it to that level. There is zero suspense, which is mainly because we couldn't give a crap about these kids, who are all punks. The deaths aren't even enjoyable, hell I didn't even root for Kane to kill them, something that the 80's slasher flicks all had in common. Rooting for the bad guy. You didn't do that? I sure did.

I'm ashamed I saw the flick, and I feel sorry for those that decided to read this review. I almost want to think that I did someone out there a favour in telling them not to watch this movie, but I'm sure everyone out there didn't need me to tell them that.

DAY 88: November 27th, 2008.

True Lies



You mean to tell me that James Cameron can direct something other then robots and aliens? Here is his entry to the action-spy genre, his version of James Bond. Arnold isn't as suave, I'm sure Bond would have been able to hold on to the tape recorder in the stripping scene. Which I always remember my dad fast-forwarding when I was little.

True Lies has the right amount of action and comedy to not be taken too seriously and not be ridiculed. Tom Arnold, who usually gets on my nerves, does a decent job here as the funny sidekick, which is a staple in films like these. For example, he is a lot better then Schneider in Judge Dredd, which come to think of it, isn't saying much.

Buffy fans out there will recognize a young Eliza Dushku as the daughter. She is the rebellious teenager, who ends up getting in trouble with the bad guys at the end. Any excuse to see Arnold fly a harrier is okay by me.

I applaud Curtis here, she was able to pull off both sexy and nerdy with her role. Cameron's buddy Bill Paxton also makes an appearance, his role is rather comical. Arnold does his usual stuff here, no complaints.

The film seems like a What If...What If Rambo worked as a spy and secured Cameron, in my eyes anyway, as a great director. It's a shame he hasn't done anything since Titanic, besides sit back and count his dough. Here's looking to Avatar.

Present!

Yep, I noticed Eliza in True Lies, and her presence in the movie actually came as a surprise to me because I didn't know she was going to be in it beforehand. And what a pleasant surprise it was!

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I really liked Tom Arnold in that flick.

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