Sunday, July 21, 2013

Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger (2008); The Dinosaur Project (2012); Leading Ladies (2010); My Family and Other Animals (2005); The Man Who Cried (2000); Morning Glory (2010); Fat Kid Rules the World (2012); This is the End (2013); Without Men (2011)

It's been nearly two months since my last update. Since then, I've watched over 80 short films, most of which at the Snake Alley Festival of Film, and which I won't discuss here. That's quite a load!

So picking up where I left off...

Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger (2008)

Director:

Writer:


Stars:
, , |

This falls into the fun and quirky category, so of course it gets my vote. It was a fun romp and you will probably recognize from Whale Rider (2002). And Toni Collette. This film is able to straddle the comedy/drama line pretty well. Check it out. :) (Oh and of course the Aussie accents are a delight!)

  __________________________________

 The Dinosaur Project (2012)

Director:

Writers:
, , 2 more credits »


Stars:
, , |  

I don't think I recognized anyone from the film, but it was shot as one of those 'Oh, look we found lost footage' type films. I watched it with one of my nephews (Redbox find) and it was a fun tie-in to the day as we had just seen a T-Rex skeleton that day at a museum. It's kind of far-fetched (dinosaurs exist in the deep parts of Africa) but the acting was fine and the effects pretty decent. If you need SOMETHING to watch, this is okay.

 _______________________________

 Leading Ladies (2010)

Directors:
,

Writers:
,


Stars:
, , |

I think I liked the idea more than I liked the execution of it. I like dance movies and I like movies that have gender flexibility. But this kind of wasn't it for me.

 _________________________

 My Family and Other Animals (2005)

Director:

Writers:
(book),


Stars:
, , |

 I didn't know what to expect from this movie, but I really enjoyed it. It was definitely a character film and lots of fun. The beautiful scenery and fact-based story really helped. The young animal collector reminded me of my youngest nephew so that was extra fun for me to watch. As far as I know, it was the first Masterpiece Theatre piece I had seen that wasn't a Sesame Street mock-up! ;) Quite fun and enchanting. I love the quirky characters, as I said before, because my own family is kind of goofy too. Quite a fun find! It seems you can watch it in several parts on Youtube. First part below!:

__________________________

The Man Who Cried (2000)

 Director:

Writer:


Stars:
, , |

I had NO idea what I was in for. All I knew was it was a Johnny Depp movie I hadn't seen yet. It was a bit odd in several regards. It was interesting historically speaking and visually pleasant at times and it DID help show how the coming of WWII caused divides that otherwise were overlooked (ie country of origin). I guess I would recommend it, but mostly for the historic look at how lives were upturned in different living situations. The film opens showing how difficult life was and why some people emigrated to other places. I really appreciated that. After watching the trailer, my question at the title reappears. Technically we see both her father and Johnny cry... who is the Man Who Cried? And why is the film titled after him?

_____________________________

Morning Glory (2010)

Director:

Writer:


Stars:
, , |

I'd held off on seeing this film because I figured it was pretty predictable. Of course it was, but sometimes a fluff piece is welcome. This film reminded me of my brief stint working at a television station and all the crap my producer friends had/have to deal with. Let me tell you, it's a crappy job that requires putting up with a lot of crap. But apparently, it's also a calling b/c my friends who work in news generally stay in news and they are good at it. So, I hope they get their blessings on the other side! :) Anyway, the film. Like I said, predictable, but decent enough. I liked the actors so that helped. It was funny to see Mod Fam's Ty Burrell play a creep. is still yummy after all these years too. :) Diane Keaton great of course too!

____________________________

 Fat Kid Rules the World (2012)

Director:

Writers:
(screenplay), (screenplay), 1 more credit »


Stars:
, , |

This wasn't exactly what I expected, and I'm not sure how I felt on a whole since I watched it in two sittings (I hate having to split viewings!) It was interesting, but not exactly what I thought would happen. It ended up being more of a multiple character story than focusing on one character. That's okay, it's just not what I expected. You did feel for the main character when he was coerced into certain things, you just wanted to reach out and stop him. So I suppose that's good... getting us to feel for the characters and what they're going through. Not your standard flick.

____________________________________

This Is the End (2013)

Directors:
,

Writers:
(screenplay), (screenplay), 3 more credits »


Stars:
, , |

Although I like the actors, this film is the epitome of the types of movies that Hollywood makes: movies that appeal to Males age 18-25. This movie was a disappointment, and its easy to see the concept came about as was portrayed in the movie: a bunch of Hollywood actors/friends sitting around at a party saying 'Yo, we should totally make a movie'. The film relied very heavily on drug and dick jokes. There was a lack of strong female characters; if there were females, they were used as gag jokes. I kept hoping that maybe it was an alien invasion and our characters would rise up and become heroes, but nope... it was just a biblical 'end of days', and apparently one only had to do ONE good thing and all your bad shit was erased and you got to go to heaven. I walked away from the film going 'wtf?' (mostly because of the Backstreet Boys cameo) and wondering 'what the hell message am I supposed to take away from the movie?' I feel like the actors are laughing and going 'oh my god, they actually bought tickets to see our bro-fest!'. I mean there was stuff that made me laugh, but sometimes it was only from the absurd notion that I hadn't walked out of the theater. That's the painful part about being a Film Studies graduate... no matter how much I dislike something, I rarely walk away from it and try to make it to the bitter end. There have only been a couple films I've turned off and have yet to revisit. Unfortunately, I did make it to the end of this one. I feel like I've been had. Yeah, I know LOTS of my male friends on social media were all ramped up after seeing this film, but now I feel like this film somehow gets in the head of its niche market perfectly. Oh well. So I guess, if you have the mentality of a male age 18-25, this movie is for you... Otherwise, spend your time elsewhere.
________________________________

Without Men (2011)

Director:

Writers:
(written for the screen by), (based on the novel "Tales from the Town of Widows" by)


Stars:
, , |

I think this movie was supposed to be a tongue-in-cheek farce that makes everyone look bad, but I didn't like it. As soon as all the men had disappeared from the town, the women were incompetent, believed they were to procreate with a priest and eventually just turned to lesbianism. What the hell? It was painful to watch because it was just so far from reality that it wasn't funny. The original novel was written by a Colombian man and won some awards; maybe it was funnier in text form, but I had a very hard time watching it on screen. I just felt like it was so bizarre and did so little for the gender discussion. Better luck next time. :P


Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)