Most pop
culture aware people have seen at least some fan made videos, parodies,
impersonations, or general mockery directed at George Lucas and everyone
responsible for the Star Wars prequels. These humorous
attempts have been done with varying degrees of competency and success.
However, recently I came across one that has raised the bar for dissatisfied
fans everywhere. It is a series of parody reviews on the Youtube channel, RedLetterMedia, from man calling himself Mr. Plinkett. Each review is about an hour and a half long, and he has released one for all three of the prequels. They. Are.
Hilarious.
He uses a few memorable phrases to describe the main problems with The
Phantom Menace including "it's mind boggling how complex the
awfulness is." In addition to the humor, Mr. Plinkett makes some obviously
well thought out criticism of the movies. He explains in great detail the main
failings, not just focusing on obvious aspects like Jar-Jar Binks and Queen
Amidala's hair. It is a great learning experience that you will laugh your
whole way through.
If you find any other great parodies, leave them
in the comments section.
Exclamation points are usually a bad idea when writing because they often convey too much enthusiasm. However, after reading that James and Dave Franco are set to direct and star in The Disaster Artist a.k.a. a movie behind the making of The Room, exclamation points seem more than warranted.
A film about the "Citizen Kane of bad movies" is long overdue, and James Franco seems like the perfect combination of consummate and weird to make it work. Production is still in its early stages. Only Dave Franco has been cast as Mark, the film's protagonist.
Franco's real challenge will be casting one of the strangest people in the history of show business, Tommy Wiseau. Wiseau, if you don't know, is the man entirely responsible for The Room. He wrote, directly, produced, edited and, of course, starred in the movie. There are few actors with the combination of skills and physical appearance to capture Tommy's alien qualities. Whoever takes on this role, despite not being the protagonist, will shoulder much of the burden of the overall quality of the film. Let's hope the Franco brothers are up to the task.
You should rewatch The Room to brush up on your knowledge or at least read my article. Until then, I'll just leave this here.
Bryan Cranston can act in a great range of roles. Besides his obvious stellar work on Breaking Bad, he was truly hilarious on Malcolm in the Middle. He's also had a turn in war in Saving Private Ryan and the legal side of crime in The Lincoln Lawyer. Recently, he even teamed up with Ben Affleck for the critically acclaimed, real-world, high stakes con movie, Argo. However, one of his lesser known but most shocking roles has been as the villain Twinman in the classic 90s children's show: Might Morphin Power Rangers. He just did the voice, of course, but the clip is still genuinely funny if you imagine Heisenberg delivering the lines. If you're a true fan with a few extra minutes go back and watch the full episode. MMPR was a staple of many a' kid's childhood.
The Emmy's weren't a huge surprise this year, generally speaking. Breaking Bad won Drama Lead Actor, Drama Supporting Actress, Drama Supporting Actor, Drama Writing (for Ozymandias), and obviously Drama Series overall. True Detective managed to snag Drama Director, but that's about it.
I'm guessing it didn't take long for HBO executives to start pointing fingers about whose idea it was to submit True Detective as a Drama, not a Mini-Series. At the very least, Matthew McConaughey should've been mad he was denied his well-deserved Emmy for Rust Cohle, especially because he almost certainly won't have another chance to win with that character.
In Comedy, Louie took home Best Writing, and Modern Family generously got Best Comedy Series, Supporting Actor and Director. Julia Louis-Dreyfus received her well-deserved Emmy for Best Actress. All was well, except...
As a strange insult to every other talented person in the Best Comedy Actor category, Matt LeBlanc, Ricky Gervais, Don Cheadle, Louis f-ing C.K., and William H. Macy, Jim Parsons won, again. The man responsible for the, hands down least funny, most annoying, catch-phrase having, cringe inducing, did I say unfunny, character on television right now won. It's generally good to make an effort to separate dislike of a character from the actor portraying them (Anna Gunn for example, seems like a lovely person even though Skylar became pretty unbelievable by the end of Breaking Bad). However, in the case of Jim Parsons, I make an exception. His unbelievable greed for 90 million goddamn dollars a year cost him any benefit of the doubt he had left. I don't often say this, but I think after my experience in school plays for a few years, I could create a better character than Bazinga-man has.
So the Emmy's were relatively, and in one case unfortunately, predictable. A disappointing side-effect of True Detective and Breaking Bad is that Game of Thrones got shut out this year. It's hard to disagree with any decision but I hate to see such a good show not recognized. It's too bad the Emmys don't have an honorable mention category.
In their never-ending quest to completely take over all things on-screen, the good people over at Netflix recently released another original show. It's called BoJack Horseman, and it throws a lot at you. First of all, the show is set in a world where animals are all functioning members of society, equal and completely similar to humans. As important as this sounds, it's not often a source of conflict or plot development, so I won't dwell on it. The titular character is the washed-up former star of a cheesy but successful 90s' sitcom. He's a rich, self-involved, and ultimately lonely person (well...horse, but whatever).
The plot structure of BoJack Horseman covers some fairly familiar ground. The ideas of the washed up former celebrity, his lazy roommate who's there to relieve emotional tension, disappointed ex-wife/girlfriend who our protagonist pretends to hate but is secretly infatuated with... they're all there.
However, what it lacks in overall originality, the show makes up for in style. There are a plethora of excellent actors that have lent their voices to the program. Will Arnett plays BoJack superbly, invoking a great range of emotions smoothly. Aaron Paul, fresh from his Breaking Bad success, has dived into a whole different genre where he also excels playing the roommate, Todd. Patton Oswalt makes frequent appearances as several characters on the show. Patton's an excellent stand-up, but more and more it seems like he was made for voice acting. The frantic desperation he lends his characters is hilarious on an H. Jon Benjamin level.
Speaking of Mr. Benjamin, it is clear from the start that the BoJack Horseman writers love Archer. The show has already shown a tendency towards effectively employing running jokes. At one point, a character is dating Andrew Garfield and he, to the amazement of only Todd, consistently displays the same characteristics of the infamous lasagna-loving, monday-hating cat. As the parallels pile up and Todd gets more and more incredulous that only he seems to notice, the joke gets better.
In that same episode, characters often refer to "Adam Levine's Halloween party" in relation to various extreme occurrences. We're never told exactly what happened at the infamous party, but that's the point. Every time it's used in reference to an event, it become less of a descriptor and more of a joke. A joke that keeps getting funnier.
BoJack's animation is presented in a lovely, intentionally-crude fashion. It is a refreshing departure from other animated comedies on the air today which are nice to look at, but insist on being a little too crisp. The semi-inconsistent outlines are reminiscent of Home Movies, if that means anything to anyone (if not, read this).
In short, BoJack Horseman is an overall predictable show that is filled with talent and creativity. You might not love it, but BoJack is worth the watch. It certainly might improve with season 2, and we could be looking at a hit. Or not. I'm hoping for the former and giving it an tentative B+.
One other thing in BoJack's favor: it has a kick ass theme song produced by The Black Keys.
Unfortunately, a movie that we were all hoping would be excellent has turned out to be less than that, probably significantly so. Rentrack has reported that this weekend, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For came in a staggering 8th place at the box office with just under 6.5 million dollars in returns.
This is a crushing blow for a film that looked so promising. What with the success of the first Sin City and the high profile stars involved in acting and creating this movie, it's a shocker it didn't even make it to double digits. The combined efforts of Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez, Josh Brolin, Eva Green, Mickey Rorke and about a thousand other talented people didn't turn out a successful product.
I haven't made it to the theatre to see this yet, although given a few awful reviews that are already out there, this might be one just to watch at home. One of the best reviewers on the interwebz, Vince Mancini, sat through it yesterday and released this review. It paints a damning picture. Sorry in advance to anyone out there who wears fedoras.
If the likes of Eva Green and Jessica Alba can't bring people to see this movie, it must be pretty bad.
For a long time I confess I thought of Jason Statham as just another action hero. Sure he made some decent movies, but he was fairly one dimensional. Then I finally got around to watch Guy Ritchie's wild, ensemble crime adventure: Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, and I realized how wrong I had been. Statham gives a fun, riveting performance throughout the whole film. His character is a classic swindler that, along with three friends, gets in a little over his head with some bad people. If you can see through all the colloquialisms, it's fantastic.
Statham's a natural when it comes to being "the level-headed hustler of the group" so to speak. Statham followed up his performance with the lead in another great Guy Ritche movie, Snatch. Snatch is the penultimate heist movie of our generation, just behind Ocean's 11.
Here's his opening monologue in LS&TSB. From the moment Statham delivers his line "hand made in Italy, hand stolen in Stepney..." You'll be hooked.
August is winding down, the Emmy's are almost upon us, and everywhere excitement for the Fall TV schedule is heating up. There is a ton of good television to look forward to and for long-time Aaron Sorkin viewers, the final season of The Newsroom is near the top of the to-watch list.
The Newsroom, for those not familiar, is essentially a misty eyed look at Aaron Sorkin's ideal news program. Sorkin is the writer behind The West Wing, Sports Night, and quite a few good movies (but we're in TV Land right now so forget about those). It's corny and a little bit full of itself. The characters on Newsroom often fall prey to the classic Sorkin tropes. All characters are incredibly smart except when it comes to having any social skills whatsoever, and they're very prone to making speeches.
That being said, the dialogue is crisp and the actors compelling. Plus, its always enjoyable to turn away from, say, The Walking Dead (which is getting grimmer by the episode) and see something closer to utopian than dystopian.
Olivia Munn, who has carved out a nice niche for herself playing financial reporter Sloan Sabith, told Zap2it at Wondercon 2014 that, "The only thing I can speak on is I feel there's a really great feeling of it's a great ride and it's been awesome and it's given me so much. It's helped me be seen in a different way in this business, and for that I am forever grateful."
For now we can only wait, but I'll leave this nice highlight reel here to remind anyone who's forgotten about The Newsroom.
Some stars just don't have an off switch. Bryan Cranston can't seem to stop being excellent. He is back along with Breaking Bad co-star Aaron Paul and Veep/Seinfeld queen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, in a hilarious Emmy promo skit. Cranston and Dreyfus both have already proven beyond a doubt they have consummate comedy chops, but it's a delightful surprise to see Aaron Paul play a hilarious simpleton pawn shop owner.
Granted, Jesse had his moments in BB (the dinner scene, wow), but this short shows Paul might have a serious future in comedy. Now that Breaking Bad is over, he can do pretty much whatever he wants. An Aaron Paul sitcom could be great, or turn out to be a disaster, but either way a lot of people would certainly tune in. I'm sure more than a few writers out there are thinking about it after watching this.
A big part of Main Screen Media is sharing gems from around the net that a lot of people will enjoy. One said gem is After Hours, an online show produced by Cracked.com. It features 4 friends discussing, in great detail, theories about all our most treasured video games, movies, toys etc... They've had some very interesting ideas, but the best, perhaps, is that Keanu Reeves, an actor so often called Hollywood's most implausible star, is actually a fantastic action hero.
This goes far beyond a simple love of Speed or The Matrix. The After Hours crew goes into the concept of neutral masks and our unspoken desire to live vicariously through movies. It's a little complicated, so I'll let them explain.
R.I.P. Community
For a lot of guys (and I'm guessing more than a few women), Alison Brie and Jennifer Lawrence are a lot of fun to watch based purely on superficial merits. AKA They're hot.
When you tack on that both are genuinely talented actresses, everyone should be very glad that they didn't end up starring in Muffy the Vampire Slayer (sounds like a porno, I promise you it's not) years ago because, as you'll see in a second, it probably would have at least hurt Brie's career, and possibly Lawrence's as well.
Muffy was a show commissioned by Comedy Central in 2007 that basically revolved around a high school girl who killed supernatural beings while being, it looks like, perpetually stupid. As part of the "twist" it's filled with sex puns. Imagine Buffy the Vampire Slayer set at the O.C. high school and directed by Friedman and Seltzer* and you've got the idea of it. The pilot was shot and almost aired, but thankfully the TV gods CC came to their senses and realized the show would have been a catastrophe.
I can't embed the clip here, but thanks to MTV News you can check out this link and see a clip in all its horrifying glory. For bonus points, notice H. Jon Benjamin is in it as the unlucky janitor.
*Friedman and Seltzer, for those lucky enough not to be aware, are the directing team behind, among other terrible "films," Date Movie and Epic Movie. Both of these could be candidates for my Fun Times with Bad Movies running series, except they're not fun. They're just bad.
From the moment he strolled onto screen in 1962 with Dr. No, James Bond has captivated audiences everywhere. 23 films and 7 actors* later, the franchise is still going strong. The enigmatic, womanizing super spy is responsible for revolutionizing a genre of film all on his own. There have been uncounted offshoots, all inspired by the classic character and those films and shows themselves have been excellent in their own merit (Mr. Bond is even responsible for Archer, that alone makes him admirable). The introduction of the spy has to be the most iconic part about him. Every new Bond actor has their own moment where, when asked his name he replies, "Bond... James Bond." It's infinitely cool and, even before the gunfire, explosions, car chases, hot babes, and clever contraptions from the M16 armory, we're hooked.
No other movie franchise in western film history has had the success or longevity enjoyed by the Bond films. They have even been around longer than Dr. Who, an impressive feat to say the least. To keep generation after generation of viewers all over the world entranced for so long is the mark of a truly great character. As cool as Tony Stark (Iron Man) is, even he couldn't be clever enough to stay around so long.
With that in mind, I put to you the question, "Is 'Bond, James Bond' the greatest line in western film history?" It introduces and sets the tone for the most successful character of all time. It is to the point. Bond is not a gregarious person and his most iconic words are no different. The line is elegant but not flashy. If this isn't the best line ever, I would love to hear which can compete.
Here is Sean Connery, the original Bond, delivering the line. Whatever you think about his job as a character overall, Connery's utterance is undoubtedly the best.
First Conan, then Khal Drogo and now Aquaman? Yes. Apparently, the formidable actor Jason Mamoa is switching from the fearsome Khal on the grassy Dothraki Sea (a Game of Thrones reference for those not in-the-know) to the hero of a more typical water-filled sea as Aquaman in the upcoming Batman v. Superman movie.
With his series of past appearances, it looks as though Aquaman might be the perfect role for Mamoa. With him, Ben Affleck- as Batman, and of course Henry Cavill- as Superman in tow, Batman v. Superman is looking better and better every day. The clip below is not for the squeamish, but if you like this sort of thing, Khal Drogo is the perfect character.
Although his soft interview skills are still a sore point for critics of the show, Jimmy Fallon's tenure as host of The Tonight Show has already been lauded as a success by viewers. Fallon's tribute to the recently deceased Robin Williams is a great reason to look forward to many years of Fallon's sincere, clever hosting abilities. It's sad to see Williams go, especially in such a tragic way, but at least Fallon and the rest of the comedy community are giving the respectful send-off he deserves.
As if the BBC didn't have enough good programming going for it already, they are looking to continue their streak of successes with Mr. Holmes, yet another iteration of the classic Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle detective: Sherlock Holmes. Right now, the viewing public has Elementary (Johnny Lee Miller), a series of Holmes movies (Robert Downey Jr.), and the best incarnation of all: Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) to choose from when it comes to the super sleuth.
Now, the BBC is producing a new movie, Mr. Holmes, set to release in 2015. The twist this time? The eponymous character is 93 and away from his classic adventures at 221B Baker Street. The character of Dr. Watson has been completely done away with, except in flashbacks, and the whole format of the story is going to be different.
It is a bold move to completely change a character that is obviously so adored by the audience. The very qualities that have made Sherlock so popular (including Cumberbatch's jawline) are going to be mostly gone. However, the BBC does have two people as proof against fan backlash: Sir Ian McKellen and Laura Linney (who plays Sherlock's housekeeper). These two fantastic actors seem well suited to their roles. Both have a great track record of strong performances and are well-loved by viewers everywhere. There's not much more than a few promotional photos to go on yet, but one way or the other, Mr. Holmes is looking exciting.
If you've never heard of Michael Tyznik you're not the only one. However, he's probably about to get a lot more popular. Tyznik is a graphic designer by trade who recently came out with an excellent series of Game of Thrones transit maps. They're really beautiful as well as a practical way to follow your favorite characters through Westeros.
Here is a snippet of one of the maps. As you can see, it's incredibly detailed. Tyznik is clearly a book reader given the massive amount of information contained in this picture. Here is a link to his website where you can find more of his work on a larger scale.
After seeing Rick and Morty, I thought it would be a good idea to scan Adult Swim's current programming to see if there's anything else that needs watching. As you might imagine with such a long list, there's a few shows that made the cut. One of the shows in question is Check It Out! With Dr. Steve Brule. This freshly minted hilarity features John C. Reilly in his strangest acting performance yet.
The premise of the show is an eccentric doctor introducing the audience to everything from church to the invention of pleasure. Brule, with his implausible hair and bizarre facial expressions makes this show stand out head and shoulders above a lot of other programming. If you're a fan of weird comedy, this show's for you.
I'm not generally very political, I'd rather stick to something less grusome like Game of Thrones. However, this epic name-dropping battle between Stephen Colbert and Hillary "Hil-Dawg" Clinton is as good a reason as most to like a politician. Watching over-the-top conservative Stephen Colbert fight his natural intincts and respect Clinton is a sight to see. Hillary's PR people should be slapping each other on the back right about now.
Also, if you ever need something to watch, you can do a lot worse than watching some classic clips of The Colbert Report on the show's website, colbertnation.com
A shaky video of the Better Call Saul trailer surfaced online yesterday. Unfortunately, it's pretty short, but it certainly does its job; my interest is peaked. Bob Odenkirk has been adamant that Better Call Saul is not Breaking Bad 2.0, and this certainly implies a less serious tone than Breaking Bad. Whatever happens, after this release you can be certain, it's time to get excited! Blogger isn't letting me embed, but here, we, go! (Joker voice). Thanks to The Guardianfor the heads up.
The Big Bang Theory is one of the highest rated shows on TV right now. It's somewhat unclear why people seem to like it so much. I would love to see the demographic breakdown of the show's ratings. There must be a huge audience of people somewhere that enjoy stale stereotypical characters talking about science.
Big Bang's ratings are not its only success. Among other things, Jim Parsons has received 5 (5!) Primetime Emmy nominations. A substantial group of critics are impressed with the show as evidenced by its many Screen Actor's Guilt, Golden Globe, and Critic's Choice nominations.
All of this is a source of mystery and infuriation to me, and I would pay for someone to explain the show's success. After watching four episodes I honestly don't understand. There must be something I'm missing about this show that makes it seem funny.
I had learned to accept all of this until recently, when the cast, aware of their leverage, decided to negotiate for more money. Due to it's massive audience, the stalling of BBT was widely reported. This article from US Magazine outlines the MASSIVE salaries the main cast members are receiving. Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco are all getting $90 million dollars a year. Each. $90 million dollars a year. They are making 90. Million. Dollars. Every year. Because of the delays in production due to negotiation, the next season will only feature 20 episodes. At $90 million dollars a year, that is $4.5 million dollars an episode. This orgy of unnecessarily huge salaries is heinous.
I will offer, as a comparison, the salaries of Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, the stars of Breaking Bad. As you are probably aware, Breaking Bad is considered by many to be the greatest TV program of all time. Here is evidence of that from Forbes, Philadelphia Magazine, and my favorite source, Uproxx. According to Business Insider, Paul and Cranston make $150,000 dollars and $225,000 dollars per episode respectively.
I will let that sink in. Jim Parsons is making literally 20 times what Bryan Cranston made. Parsons recites stale, cliched science jokes, Cranston became one of the most complicated, amazing characters ever broadcasted. And Parsons makes 20 times as much as he does. Will someone please explain this to me. The idea that Parsons actually held out for such a high salary is enraging beyond belief.
If you'll excuse me, I think I'll go look for some blue meth to take my mind off this injustice.
I've not kept it a secret that I don't think much of Michael Bay. His movies are, for the most part, awful. However, he regained some standing in my eyes when I found, while researching the supernaturally horrific director Uwe Boll for this article, a redeeming quote from Bay.
You see, in 2007, Uwe Boll released the movie Postal and more than a few critics were somewhat repulsed by how painstakingly dreadful it was. On Rotten Tomatoes, Postal has been holding steady at a 7% approval rating. Postal was so uniquely bad, it did not even succeed in being comical, like The Happeningor The Roommanaged to do.
In response to the bad reviews, Boll went on a furious diatribe and, among other things, called Mr. Bay a "fu8ing retard", even though Bay had not said a word about any of his movies once. Bay's response was surprisingly calm and articulate, a characteristic that has certainly never been used to describe his films. "I find that people who rant like that...comes from someone screaming because he is not being heard. He is obviously a sad being."
So Michael Bay is measured and pitying when it comes to Uwe Boll. That might make you assume, correctly so, that the man is a piece of work. This article isn't meant to be a full biography of Uwe Boll, but here a few telling things about a director who is more than simply bad at his job, he is a malignant blight on the movie industry.
First off, quite a few of Boll's movies are based of relatively unknown video games. Indeed, if he was even marginally talented, there is every chance he could have made a household name for himself several years ago. In 2008, the video game developer Blizzard was seriously looking for experienced people to produce a movie about their hit release World of Warcraft. WoW, as it was known, was so popular at the time any movie about it would probably be an instant hit. Boll, naturally, jumped at the chance; it probably would have netted him a lot of money, and, in terms of video game film experience, he had a certain claim to be the right man for the job. By 2008, Boll had released or was producing a total of 9 movies derived from video games. Blizzard, however, was less than excited about the prospect of working with Boll. Upon receiving his application to direct their film, Blizzard, notoriously protective of their games, responded, "Never...we will not sell the movie rights to you...especially not to you." If you watch Boll's movies, Blizzard made a wise choice. In 2006, Boll made an announcement that should have been a signal to the world at large that he was at least somewhat disconnected with reality and should never be allowed shoot a home video, let alone earn a living making feature films. Whenever Boll unleashed another one of his cinematic atrocities on the planet, critics all over the world were united, for once, in their distaste of the movie (I like to think I would have been part of that noble group back then, and certainly will be soon if I can sit through his segment of the The Profane Basement coming soon to a few desperate theaters and the internet). Boll was, understandably, more than displeased by the veritable hailstorm of horrendous reviews his movies consistently received. In fact, he was so incensed, that he, completely seriously, challenged his harshest critics to a series of 10 round boxing matches. He was, for the most part, ignored or mocked. However, a few critics accepted his challenge. Boll, as it turns out, is something of a fighting guru, because he beat most of them senseless. This did little more than send a few people to the hospital and worsen Boll's image. However, another filmmaker decided to make a short documentary about the incident cleverly titled Raging Boll. It wasn't Citizen Kane but Raging Boll certainly was the best film Uwe was ever involved in.
Finally, the probably most telling fact about Boll is that he is responsible for what is almost certainly one of the most in-bad-taste scenes in recent film history. Boll's most well known movie (still very obscure for most people) Postal, nearly featured a virtually unbelievable opening sequence parodying the September 11th terror attacks in which passengers overcome the hijackers but ultimately unwittingly crash the plane into a tower anyway.
It is shocking enough to consider that anyone would compose such a scene at all, but all the more audacious when you consider the release date of Postal was less than 7 years after the terror attacks occurred. America didn't even have a new president yet. Upon further inspection, two details make it crazier still. Postal was in various stages of production for two years. Given the time it would take a writer as implausibly bad as Boll to write a treatment and accomplish the extraordinary feat of securing $15 million dollars of funding for a script that wasn't worth 15 cents, he must have decided to parody 9/11 less than 4 years after it happened. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of this film is that Postal's assistant director, Dave Folley, had to urge Boll at great length to remove the offending scene. Boll insisted that America was portraying 9/11 victims in too positive a light and the scene would help to correct that. He ultimately relented when Folley made the argument that many, if not all, theaters in America would refuse to show the movie if it contained the scene in question. Boll still included this "secret scene" in the DVD release. You can watch below, but it's somewhat stomach churning.
My point, in all of this, is an attempt to seriously convey the message, do not see this man's movies. Every cent that he earns is a bad thing for people everywhere. He perpetuates an insensitive culture that is far worse than the smashy insanity of Transformers or juvenile gross out porn from movies like Grown Ups. Any person who believes the scene above is "good for America to see" needs serious help. Do the world a favor and watch an indy.
Even though it has already been half a year, the sting of Philip Seymour Hoffman's early death is still very strongly felt. He's had several movies released posthumously and there are still a few more to go. For movie goers everywhere, each one of these films is both an homage to one of the best actors of his generation, as well as a warning of what drug abuse can bring. It's taken MainScreenMedia too long to recognize him, but better late than never. Here are a few clips of one of the best: Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Everyone with a functioning Netflix subscription owes redditor clayton_frisbie a debt of gratitude. He cross referenced IMDBs top 250 movies with what was on Netflix and spit out the top 50. It is a great viewing guide if you're looking to see a few classics but don't want to wade through the list to find which you can watch. Thanks to Uproxx for the heads up. Here's the link. Enjoy.
(Okay, this one is a little predictable, but it needs to be said) For the last few years, the nearly unrivaled cinematic catastrophe that is The Room has slowly been percolating through movie-going circles. Many fans are calling it the worst movie since Plan 9 from Outer Space.
A big part of what makes The Room so bizarre is also what makes it hard to describe. There are a series of almost completely unconnected subplots that weave in an out of a strange, almost bipolar love triangle between the main character, Johnny (Tommy Wiseau), his friend, Mark (Greg Sestero) and Johnny's fiance, Lisa (Juliet Danielle). These awkward relationships are characterized by intermittent, extremely intense, and definitely uncomfortable sex scenes.
The Room, not unlike The Happening, the last bad movie I wrote about, is incredibly entertaining. The madness of each subplot (perhaps most memorably: a woman tearfully discovers she has breast cancer and proceeds to never mention it again) is matched only by the oddness of the dialogue. All that can be said of Tommy Wiseau's portrayal of the main character is that it will leave you astonished.
The guys over at CinemaSins did an excellent job skewering The Room. Frankly, I'm surprised how short this clip is.
As a bonus, here is writer, producer, director and main actor, Tommy Wiseau talking about his experience creating The Room as well as, wow, the finer points of comedy (see part 2). Apparently he's a misunderstood expert in the field. Enjoy.
Note: The man does seem like a nice guy, I'll give him that. He's no Uwe Boll (who's up next).
For all the Game of Thrones fans out there whose favorite character is Tyrion, I have two words for you: Station Agent. The 2003 film The Station Agent was one of Peter Dinklage's first big projects and it put him on the radar for his current role. The Station Agent is a masterwork in the study of loneliness.
Peter Dinklage's character, Fin, has been mocked his whole life for being small. As a result, Fin has grown into a supremely private, quiet recluse, who refuses even the most well-meaning attempts at companionship. The Station Agent is about him slowly forgoing that lifestyle. Patricia Clarkson, Bobby Cannavale, and Michelle Williams play supporting roles as the people who steadily bring Finn out of his shell.
It is a slow, deliberate film that manages to take the viewer on an 88 minute journey that, despite very little action, will leave you very pleased. Here's a clip:
In the last several days since Transformers 4: Michael Bay Swims in Money came out, I’ve heard people compare Bay’s 160 minute turd to Pacific Rim three times. This is wrong for so many reasons. I’ve literally hurt my brain trying to understand why so many people are still going to see transformers movies. Even someone dumb enough to keep the name Shia finally jumped ship before this one.
I know Guillermo Del Toro’s movie about giant robots smashing things (Pacific Rim) is just as dumb as Michael Bay’s 4 movies about giant robots smashing things. But I love the former and I honestly hope Michael Bay dies alone all Citizen Kane-y remembering the one good Indy flick he accidentally wandered into years before, (slowly whispers) “Take… Shelter…” (if you haven’t seen Take Shelter, you absolutely should. Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain will knock your socks off).
There’s a key difference in the two. Del Toro made PR and dismissed the idea of coherent story structure in order to make a good, silly action movie, because realism would impede that. Instead, he sunk his teeth into outstanding visuals, a few great fights (a robot smashing a Godzilla thing with a cruise ship? Yes please.) and one epic speech from the man, the myth, the legend himself: Stringer Bell. I mean Idris Elba, aka Stacker Pentecost, aka I’m naming my firstborn Stacker.
If you pick apart all the logical inconsistencies: the coastal wall, the sword, the EMP, stopping the Jaeger program, Charlie Kelly being a biologist, I’m afraid you’re missing the point entirely. Could some of those aspects have been fixed? Yes, but then it wouldn’t be Pacific Rim, in all its hilarious awesome/dumb glory.
Michael Bay, on the other hand, thinks his movies are just misunderstood. He has a style, we just don’t get it because we’re dummies who don’t have houses made of gold. Bay’s movies, with the possible exception of The Rock, are all mashups of interchangeable, blurry, repetitively choreographed fight scenes with protagonists the audience will all actively be rooting against by the time the screen goes black.
Because it’s making an absurd amount of money and Michael Bay has no soul, there’s going to be a 5th, 6th, and 7th (a 7th!) Transformers. The good folks over at Warners quickly green-lit a PR sequel not long after it opened too. If you must see Transformers again, it’s your life. But you should check out Pacific Rim 2 (Atlantic Rim?), in case you’re looking for a better version. Maybe the best fight of the movie:
