Amph What was the last movie you saw?

I don't know, "Firework" is pretty cathartic.

I mean, sometimes I do feel like a plastic bag, drifting through the wind, wanting to start again...

But I'll guess I'll do it over, honestly this time.

THE INTERVIEW

It's typical of Franco and Rogen. Take that as you will.

Personally, I like Franco and Rogen. I like how stupid and lazy they are in their approach. I like how they lazily fall back on movie references for attempts at humor, I think it's very identifiable, it's something people do, even if it's not actually funny on its own.

In this movie, Franco, for some reason, keeps referencing LOTR. His character is making some speech congratulating Rogen for their 1000th episode, and in an attempt to get mushy, Franco calls Rogen "the Samwise Gamgee to my Frodo Baggins. The Gandalf the Grey to my Bilbo Baggins. But of all the Lord of the Rings references I could make (lol he's lampshading this ****)....I am Gollum...and you are...my presh-shesh." Later, he puts on a bit of an Elijah Wood voice, only lazy and uncommitted, and says "You're my Sam." I wasn't busting a gut over this, but I kinda crack a smile and acknowledge what they're doing.

It's stupid and lazy and weak...but for some reason I still like it. Maybe because it's so nerdy, and so stupid, and they know it and don't care.

I enjoyed the whole "honey potting gag". You can tell Rogen and Co were really amused by the whole business (probably while high), I'm sure they thought it was genius to include a classic element of James Bond in this ridiculous farce they've created. I'm sure they thought "honey ****ing" was pretty clever, and that it was funny to have KJU honey **** Franco, and then have Franco honey **** him back. I can't say I disagree. The dialogue concerning Franco getting honey potted by Liz Caplan sounded like some stupid **** you might see in the JCC. Rogen brings up Caplan's fake glasses, and everything else that Franco finds attractive in a woman, and Franco is like "This is 2014, women are smart now!" or some **** like that. "I bet she's blind as a bat!" Then they meet Caplan the next day, and she's not wearing glasses. When asked, she says she got LASIK, and Franco's like "between now and the last time I saw you?" And Caplan calls him out on being sexist. Sounds like the JCC to me.

Speaking of that scene, I kinda like seeing Franco narrate his own tell all book as the **** is happening. Again, I think it's something that people do, I think it's identifiable. During that scene, Franco was so damn stupid, I did find myself smiling at how idiotic this whole thing is.

I enjoyed the tiger, simply because it's so ridiculous. They're in North Korea and Rogen gets attacked by a ******* tiger, and the tiger gets killed by a drone package delivery.

And, you know what, I really do like the Katy Perry stuff, because I like Katy Perry's music. I found myself loving the idea of hanging out with Kim Jong Un, driving around in a ******* tank while listening to Katy Perry, blowing **** up. Just the idea of this happening is so silly and absurd that it's funny to me. I like that Franco defeats KJU by making him cry to Katy Perry lyrics on live television. I LOVE when that NK soldier was like "He's lying, he clearly loves that song!" It's so absurd. And I loved seeing KJU's head slowly explode, like a firework, with a slow version of "Firework" sung in the background. It's just crazy. It's all crazy.

It's kinda funny, again in a stupid way, to look at North Korea through Franco's stupid eyes. Franco, apparently, is just like your average North Korean citizen, believing every lie KJU tells him, to the point of thinking a single grocery store means the country isn't starving. When he finds out that even the grocery store is fake, it breaks him of the lies KJU has been telling him. He goes through this really painfully awkward melodramatic moment of discovery when he finds out the fruit on display is fake, and breaks down as if his reality has been shattered. It's so awkward, awful, stupid and not funny....that it's kinda funny. Almost.

I did have a tiny problem with the gay jokes. It's just not funny, certainly not anymore. Oh, ha ha, Eminem is teh gay. That's hilarious, I get it, because he bashes gays in his music. Sure, it's ironic, but it's still just a joke about a person being gay. Same thing goes with KJU being "gay"....for liking Katy Perry's music and margaritas. Oh, I get it, Katy Perry's music and margaritas are not macho, that makes them gay, and you gay for liking them! And just the mere idea of being gay is not only funny, but an insult and a source of shame. "Ha ha you're gay" jokes are just tired at this point, especially these lazy ones. Maybe I was just in a sensitive mood, maybe I just like Katy Perry, but I just found them tiresome. I'm not really OUTRAGED about it, or even really offended, it's a comedy starring Franco and Rogen. I'm not that easily outraged, morally.

It doesn't live up to the amusing premise, it's incredibly lazy and has no problem just living off its own gimmick, but I didn't feel like it was a complete waste of my time, but then again I like this stuff.

If I had to give it a score, I'd probably give it a 6/10, it's juuuuust barely better than a failing a grade. If you don't like Franco and Rogen, it's almost certainly a failed attempt at comedy.

 

Ghostbusters 2

 

2014 Halfie Awards:

Best Ensemble – Honorable Mentions



Steve Carrell, Kristen Wiig, Benjamin Bratt, Elsie Fisher, Russell Brand, Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud – Despicable Me 2

My love for this witty, heartfelt and hilarious animated film is no secret; as superspy Groo, marvelously voiced by Carrell, struggles to raise his daughters, romance Wiig’s hilarious superspy and track down Bratt’s over-the-top, hysterical supervillain turned Mexican restaurant owner, the vocal talents just never stop. And special kudos to co-directors Coffin & Renaud; they also give us the voices for the most indelible and iconic characters here, those little bundles of pure id, the Minions.



Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Jim Broadbent, Paddy Considine, Rafe Spall, Bill Bailey, Timothy Dalton, Edward Woodward, Billie Whitelaw, Eric Mason, Paul Freeman, Rory McCan, Kenneth Cranham, Maria Charles, Anne Reid, Adam Buxton, David Threlfall, Lucy Punch, Stephan Merchant, Martin Freeman, Steve Coogan, Bill Nighy, Cate Blanchett – Hot Fuzz

What an astounding cast fills out this action movie spoof. First off, you’ve got the village police force where Simon Pegg’s hard charging officer finds himself trapped; then there’s the larger group of villagers; and even the cameos, like Merchant & Blanchett, land perfectly. Taken at a glance, this cast list reads like a who’s who of great British actors of both past & present and every one of them hits their marks to absolute perfection.



Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Rick Moranis, Annie Potts, William Atherton, Slavitza Jovan – Ghostbusters

Begin with a perfectly cast quartet of Ghostbusters (Murray, Aykroyd, Ramis & Hudson), stir in a romantic interest (Weaver), a wacky next door neighbor (Moranis), a sassy secretary (Potts), a pompous bureaucrat (Atherton) and a genuinely terrifying villain (Jovan) and you have something like the most perfect cast for an eighties comedy. To a person (except for Jovan), they’re hilarious.



Ralph Fiennes, Tony Revolori, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, F. Murray Abraham, Mathieu Amalric, Jude Law, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Tom Wilkinson – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Well, at this late date, it’s no secret that Wes Anderson can assemble astounding casts with a snap of his fingers. Some of these folks are underused, seemingly always the case in an Anderson ensemble, like Murray, Wilkinson, Schwartzman and Law, but it’s still a pleasure seeing them pop up, however briefly. As to the rest, they’re excellent; Fiennes is pitch perfect and Brody, Goldblum & Abraham give their best performances in years. With the words “grand” & “hotel” in your title, you need a hell of an ensemble; Anderson has one.



Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde, Chris Pratt, Kristen Wiig, Spike Jonze – Her

What a cast of actors are on screen here; Phoenix & Adams serve as wonderful anchors; Wilde & the seemingly ubiquitous Pratt are wonderful support; Mara comes in for just a cameo, but nails her scene to perfection. And that’s not taking into account the wonderful voice cast. Johansson, primarly, of course, as the lovestruck Operating System, but there’s also Jonze as the voice of a foul-mouthed & hilarious video game character and Kristin Wiig as a phone contact with a somewhat . . . strange sexual fetish. Perfect right down to the ground, in other words.



Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, William Redfield, Brad Dourif, Sydney Lassick, Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd, Dean Brooks, Nathan George – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Nicholson’s electric lead performance steals all the attention, but the rest of the inmates of the psychiatric hospital are perfectly cast and perfectly performed. Brad Dourif gives one of his best performances and, of the others, Lloyd particularly impresses in a somewhat atypical role. But the entire cast is really fantastic here.



Nicolas Cage, Tye Sheridan, Heather Kafka, Ronnie Gene Blevins, Sue Rock, Adriene Mishler, Gary Poulter – Joe

Yes, it’s Cage’s best performance in years and another triumph for young Sheridan, but the rest of the cast is fantastic as well. Blevins is a genuinely terrifying villain and Poulter, a non-professional actor giving his one & only performance, is electrifying as the alcoholic, abusive father of the Sheridan character. Kafka is wonderful as the madam at a local brothel and Adriene Mishler is very good as Cage’s girlfriend.



Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint, Lee J. Cobb, Karl Malden, Rod Steiger, Martin Balsam – On the Waterfront

Brando leads a cast of brilliant actors in this story of waterfront crime and corruption. Saint is remarkable, especially for a debut performance. Malden manages to take a character that could easily be hackneyed, a crusading priest, and makes him real and believable. Cobb chews the scenery marvelously and Steiger, usually a scenery chewer himself, gives his quietest, and maybe his best, performance. It’s a great cast, no doubt.



Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, Dominic West, Andrew Scott, Monica Dolan, Jessica Gunning, Mark Ashton, Paddy Considine, Liz White, Faye Marsay, Russell Tovey – Pride

It’s another cast of great Brits in this tale of gays and coal miners coming together during a protest against the Thatcher government. Mark Ashton is phenomenal as the idealistic youngster who dreams the whole thing up and both the group of gays and the group of coal miners are populated with great actors. Special note to Nighy’s quiet, retiring villager, Considine’s warm-hearted optimist and White’s sarcastic, punky lesbian chick. It’s an inspiring film and meticulously cast and acted.



Colin Firth, Jeremy Irvine, Nicole Kidman, Stellan Skarsgard, Tanroh Ishida, Hiroyuki Sanada – The Railway Man

Firth gives his best performance in quite a long while as a deeply traumatized WWII vet; it’s a raw, wrenching performance and it’s matched by a quieter, more interior performance by Skarsgard as a fellow vet. Kidman gives her best performance since Moulin Rouge as Firth’s troubled wife. Irvine is the young Firth character and Ishida is the brutal Japanese officer that tortures him mercilessly during his time in a prison camp. It’s a gut wrenching film and the powerful script gives its talented cast plenty of opportunity to give great performances, in many cases the best they’ve given in years. It’s a definite must see.



Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Shirley MacLaine, Adam Scott, Kathryn Hahn, Sean Penn, Patton Oswalt, Olafur Darri Olafsson, Adrian Martinez – The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Stiller gives a fine performance here as a sad sack loser thrust into a world of adventure. The always welcome Wiig is quieter and less overtly funny than usual, though Adam Scott takes up the slack as a heinously irritating corporate man. Sean Penn does his best work in years in a brief cameo. The rest of the cast is equally perfect for their roles. Oswalt is relegated to mostly voice work, but he imbues his character with personality and zest even though he’s typically just a voice on a phone line. It’s a great cast in a surprisingly wonderful film and one that a lot of people missed; time to rectify that, especially if you like good acting.

2014 Year in Review!

 

Went to the Replay store to continue my nostalgic look back at Michael Keaton with 'The Dream Team'. It's a great under loved comedy from the late 80's. Michael Keaton, Christopher Lloyd, and Peter Boyle are mental patients who get separated from their doctor on a trip to the city. It's got some great laughs and Christopher Lloyd in particular is good.

 

I love The Dream Team and Mr. Mom. Love them.

"My brain is like oatmeal. I yelled at Kenny today for coloring outside the lines! Megan and I are starting to watch the same TV shows, and I'm liking them! I'm losing it."

"I loved this shirt!"

"What did you use? A .38?"
"38, 39, whatever it took. Bye, darling."
"Tough luck, Jeff."
"Jack. Jack. My name's Jack."


Plus Teri Garr was way cute.

 

Kingsmen. Fun, but broadly played and peopled with caricatures; also the rather crude joke at the end was just unnecessary, imo.

 

The Dream Team is a really underrated, overlooked comedy. Keaton, Lloyd and Boyle are all fantastic. Lloyd's character really cracks me up; but then there are also some really nice, more dramatic scenes, like the scene where Lloyd visits . . . his ex-wife, isn't it?

 

zandalee. it occurred to me that this was probably someone's modern take on an archetypal story, but then i thought that this really wasn't much of a revelation at all and is probably in fact true of most movies. anyway it's quite awful, and unless you're also working your way through every one of nicolas cage's movies (and why wouldn't you?) i can't recommend it. not even cage's ridiculous hairstyle can save it.

 

Nebraska.

It was ok.

 

i thought nebraska was a beautiful film.

 

It was good, but not particularly great. Beautifully shot and cast. Will Forte was particularly good, probably the best performance in the movie.

 

Yeah, it was his ex-wife.....or maybe just his wife, I can't remember. Pretty sure he had a kid, too.

You're laughing at these people because they're crazy and that's hilarious....then it turns out they're real people with families.

Keaton is amazing in that movie, I think it's perfect for his style.

The Thief of Bagdad (1940)

It drags, but it's a quaint adventure, and the coloring is truly incredible, I haven't seen anything like it, especially in movies this old.

 

Terminator 2

It's still perfect after more than 20 years, it's the perfect ending, but why are they still keep making sequels?

 

So that we know who to go with if we want to live and to remind us that the Terminator "will be back."

 

Final Destination

 

Black Sunday(1960)
Madhouse(1974)
Dead Man(1995)

 

Final Destination 2.

 

I got an itch recently to revisit the four ST:TNG films. I'm watching them out of order, as there's very little notable carryover business from any of the films to worry about.

Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) - The complaint I often hear is that it feels more like a two-part episode of the series than a theatrical film, and this is certainly true. However, while it may lack scope, scale and ambition, director Jonathan Frakes and his cast execute this modest tale reasonably well. - 6/10

Star Trek: First Contact (1996) - Typically regarded as the best of TNG films, and though I still have two more to revisit, I can definitely understand why. In true Trek fashion, time travel is used as casually as a drive down to the corner store and their are many fissures on the corners of its logic, but the Borg and their Queen make for a strong villain, humor and drama are deftly mixed, with each hitting the mark more often than not, and it's excellently paced. - 7/10

 

Final Destination 3

 

Rogue1-and-a-half - if you watch Hot Fuzz with the Pegg/Wright commentary, you quickly learn that the entire cast is composed of veteran actors who had all worked together in various capacities in years gone by, and they apparently had a blast.

 

You're far more generous than I am. Klingon zits and Data telling boob jokes . It doesn't even have the nice Kirk-Spock-McCoy character moments that TFF had. I don't think that Insurrection was well executed at all.

 

That movie is awful except for the Gilbert and Sullivan scene which is so bizarre and terrible that it transcends both space and time to become awesome.

 

Yeah. Insurrection really should have been about the Dominion War and it would have been really, really easy to write a Dominion War movie without having to bring in any DS9-specific mythology.