wangotango Reviews

Sigur Rós: Heima (2007)

The "Citizen Kane" of music documentaries.

[10/10 · 15 December 2007]

An absolute masterpiece...visually astonishing and deeply moving.

The juxtaposition of opposites is seen and heard throughout this film (ex: light and shadow, life and death, motion and stillness, perfection and imperfection, young and old) which suggests the circularity of life. Heima also presents the viewer with an all-encompassing look at the beauty of Iceland as a segment of a much larger picture, Earth.

This film is perfectly accentuated by the music of Sigur Ros as well as the free spirited attitude of the members of their band. Altogether, this film transcends the genre of music documentary (rockumentary) and takes it to an entirely new level with beauty that will bring tears to your eyes.

A New Wave (2006)

Not even John Krasinski could save this film...

[1/10 · 20 November 2007]

I have to say, Krasinski is the only reason I even watched this film. He is good. However, everything else about this film is so far below average that it's not worth the time and effort spent viewing this film.

This film has loads of technical/aesthetic issues: namely, shot selections, framing, camera movements within monologue sequences, extremely bad editing (probably due to the total lack of fluidity in and between shots), and overall terrible acting (except for Krasinski).

It was far too theatrical (in acting and presentation) to develop any sort of suspenseful moment in this film...which is surprising, because it's all about a bank robbery, which should be at least somewhat exciting.

How does a film this bad get made, and then released, AND THEN distributed?

Kind of reminds me of a C- film student's thesis project, probably not even that good though.

CIA II: Target Alexa (1993)

Inadvertently Hilarious - A Must See!!

[1/10 · 16 November 2007]

Quite possibly the most hilarious action movie ever made, but more likely the most homo-erotic action film ever made.

Perpetuates the stereotypes of action films made after 1994 beautifully. Apparently, militias in parts of the world contain only mustached/bearded sweaty men in camouflage wife-beaters, with additionally hilarious ponytails.

I'm fairly certain that I saw one of the uniforms in the film contain the word "Military" on a patch, which would be akin to a police officer wearing a badge that said "Cop" or "Police Office", as if it weren't obvious enough.

I especially enjoy the scene where the helicopters come over the horizon and begin firing on everything in sight - including horses, tents, vehicles, plants, etc. The only thing that doesn't explode in a giant fireball are the horses...everything else goes up in flames, particularly, the empty tents.

I sort of feel bad for the actors in this film because all of their IMDb profiles have this film listed...but...they did agree to be in the film, so this film is their punishment I guess.

Freak Show (2006)

If you like Family Guy, you will not like Freakshow

[8/10 · 15 November 2007]

I like Freakshow. I wish they made more episodes.

The thing is, David Cross is a pretty brilliant comedy writer, comedian (stand-up), and actor. He's got to be bad at something, and that might just be animation. But his "bad" writing is still dozens of times better than some of the other crap out there...

Family Guy, which has its moments of genius (not often, but often enough to take notice) relies solely on A.D.D humor, and the incredibly short attention spans of the viewer to execute their story lines.

Freakshow relies on a more traditional story structure that has none of the hard cuts to situations completely unrelated to the show. This show also presents its comedy in the form of subtleties and ironies (observational humor).

Ultimately, Freakshow is more toward the spectrum of South Park in the way it presents material. So if you like South Park, there's a good chance you'll like Freakshow.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005– )

This show has "got it"!

[9/10 · 28 July 2007]

I'm always weary about watching new TV shows that are suggested by certain friends of mine (they tend to have awful taste), which is why I waited until now to check this show out.

I was really surprised to find that this show is not only hilarious, but also smart. It's got that weirdness and hilarity that makes good TV shows great TV shows that are remembered for years to come. Few shows have this type of smart writing - but this show DOES have it.

I would recommend this show to anyone who was or is a fan of Arrested Development, Friends, Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, etc.

I hate the fact that it's on FX - it should really be on HBO - but eh. It's still a damn good show.