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Cheung gong 7 hou (2008)
I almost didn't like it
There are so many set-ups to potentially unwatchable kid flicks within this film and yet the story somehow carves a unique path around them. Example- My first impression of the main character, the poor yet adorable little Dickie, was that of an adorable slum-born prodigy. Turns out, he's a spoiled brat and he sucks inschool. What's worse, his poor father is working his ass off so little Dickie can go to private school. Yet the story revolves around this cute little kid like he's the second coming of Macaulay Culkin. Hard to swallow if it weren't for the fact that he, like the alien, are cute as a button
There is something so great about taking an overworked Hollywood premise and handing it over to someone like Chow. It's as though he is making a tired mass-appealing movie, yet the scenes he chooses to tell the story make me think it's all tongue-in-cheek.
This damn toy alien, CJ7 is going to catch like Pokemon wildfire wherever this film is shown. Yet, within the film he's slapped, drowned, hacksawed, strangled, drilled, probed, flattened, choked, trapped in a plastic bag and stabbed with a banana- and that's just what the kids do to him!
In any event, I almost left when the cute alien arrived in the movie, but I'm glad I stayed. The movie is just too weird to pass up. If Shaolin Soccer is Chow's Bad News Bears, CJ7 is his ET. Both very entertaining films crammed into their genres like a fat-footed woman trying to wear pumps- with hilarious consequences.
Little Children (2006)
A script Alan Ball could have done something with
The film really roped me in at the start with it's courage to take on that most heated of topics- Sex offenders released from custody into the unwelcome arms of the suburbs. However, this is not the subject most explored in the movie. WORD TO THE WISE- If you like movies where 'cheating on spouses' plays a prominent role in the storyline then this is your movie. Personally, this movie was an awakening for me to my disinterest in the 'cheating' storyline. Or, maybe there was too much of this film dedicated to the often-explored subject. This is only disappointing because there were so many other story lines in this movie that were ignored or flattened for the sake of a juicy Kate Winslet 'forbidden love' story. This movie could really have used an Alan Ball approach.
Ball could have given an adaptation from Perotta's novel the American Beauty/Six Feet Under treatment. What I mean by this is he could have taken the obvious conclusions this writer and director came to and found more ambiguous, gray areas to explore. The resultant film of the collaboration of Field and Perrotta seems to say 'This is very sensitive material so let's not stray too far from convention. Oh, and most importantly let's make sure to have two people in unhappy marriages GET IT ON.' Flattened by this end result are the sex offender who lives with his mom and the ex-cop who stalks him. It almost seems like there wasn't enough time in an already long film to really say something interesting about any of the minor characters. As a result, the sex offender feels like a copy of a copy of Norman Bates (this time living with a mother on the brink of death- radical) and the ex-cop is just your typical bully who realizes by the end of the film how wrong he has been. The cheating couple's respective spouses are also largely ignored. And one of those people was played by JENNIFER CONNELY! The problem is, this movie really hooks you with all the things it's going to explore and then just caps each story with endings straight from the play book. Some excellent performances make this movie watchable, but not recommendable.
The American Astronaut (2001)
Where have I been?
Why didn't anyone ever say anything about this movie to me? For shame, all of you. This is the best semi-gay, black and white, sci-fi, indy musical I've ever partially seen. I'm going home to finish it right now.
McAbee's other work can be found on YouTube. Short films with a lot of spunk and conviction. The Ketchup and Mustard Man (1994), The Man on the Moon (1993), and Billy Nayer (1992) prove to me this is a person who finds the term 'filmmaker' fits him like a glove. How does this guy put off that vibe like he's been doing this forever?
The American Astronaut, his 2001 feature film couldn't be more original. Featuring choreography, costuming and musical numbers that at first come out of left field and soon become eagerly anticipated surprises. The fact that there is no budget for this sci-fi space adventure does not seem to get in the way at all. I had seen Billy Nayer before watching this film, so I was prepared to see a film with a firm foothold in the music video world. Not that anything could really prepare you for viewing The American Astronaut.
Kono mado wa kimi no mono (1995)
when could this window be mine?
Look, its a great movie. But will I, as an American, ever get the chance to own it? Hell no! Because whoever makes these things happen doesn't know how great this movie is. OUTRAGE!
Granted, I saw it in Film School so the chances I'll ever see it again are slim. But this is a 95 minute piece of Japanese culture you have only glimpsed in your embarrassingly large anime collection. Furumaya has what we are all looking for in Japanese cinema. Killer sound design too. Think FLCL meets Kurosawa. This is not a movie about Japanese kids trying out their take on American cool for a western audience. This is bizarre, subdued Japanese storytelling of the 1990's and it needs to be regarded as much as (if not more so) than early 90's American independent film-making. You wont regret seeing this movie.
Super Size Me (2004)
not surprising, but good!
Its a 95 minute cut of one man's 30 day McD's diet (3 meals a day). Along the way, people are interviewed, facts are flung, and Morgan gets unhealthy. No surprise there. But he's an entertaining guy and has Michael Moore's approach to his subject matter- toe tapping music, quirky characters and well informed musings. The part I cant stop thinking about is the discovery of one Don Gorsky (I think it's Don), who consumes something like 2 big macs a day every day and he's thin as a rail. He haunts my dreams.
Cant wait to see if this guy has any more documentary ideas or if he's merely a flash in a greasy pan.
Recommended to anyone who wants to eat less fast food or at least feel guilty about how overweight they are.
Diabolik (1968)
see it both ways
Apart from being one of the most important of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 movies, this is also one of those movies that should be played with the sound off in bars everywhere(minus the MST3k treatment). You can tell by the first 20 minutes alone that this was on the list of movies Austin Powers desperately tries to emulate.
I just cant resist movies where the antagonist is the protagonist and the bad guy is everyone else.
Freak Talks About Sex (1999)
on the contrary george
I feel I have to come to the defense of this movie by first stating some of its flaws. 1)make-up and 2)trying to make 30 somethings look younger than they are. So just make-up, I guess. I swear, I could NOT believe David's girlfriend in the city was a day under 35. And this movie is clearly about 20 somethings.
Im guessing this might be a play adapted to screen because of the rigid shots and the strong dialogue. Plus Josh Hamilton (David) has a lot of these under his belt. Just look at House of Yes if you're not convinced.
The inclusion of weed as a supporting cast is done tastefully. Lots of movies have relied on it to be a major source of humor. So lets get a few things straight- Weed itself is not funny. Watching people smoking weed and the 'hilarious' consequences of them doing so isn't funny (even on weed). Because of Cheech and Chong, we're repeatedly hit over the head with the stereotypical squishy-headed stoner in all sorts of bad movies. So Don't Do Drugs.
The reality of smoking pot is expressed in this movie (in just a few scenes)in a very truthful way that I sympathized with. This is why Blowin Smoke might be a misleading title though it could be argued that it describes Steve Zahn's character Freak as a guy who likes to talk out his ass.
This isn't the only great thing about the movie. Steve Zahn is dead-pan funny and Josh Hamilton has always been a good man-boy character. Its too bad he'll be older someday.