Deuce Bigalow: European Gigalow (R: 2005)
August 23, 2005
| Duece Bigalow: European Gigalo (R: 2005) STARRING: Rob Schneider, Eddie Griffin, Edwin Alofs, Fred Armisen, Johnny de Mol DIRECTOR(S): Michael Bigelow Deuce is at it again, this time visiting Europe’s famous Amsterdam where prostitution IS Legal. Folly fun as he experiments with legal “rocket” cakes and his “pimp” gets accused of being a Gigalow murderer. Its a crazy adventure to find the real killer and clear his pimp’s name. It had its funny moments, but a definitely wait till video flick. 2 stars out of 5. |
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Four Brothers (R: 2005)
August 23, 2005
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Four Brothers (R: 2005) STARRING:Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, Andre Benjamin, Garrett Hedlund, Sofia Vergara DIRECTOR(S): John Singleton Four foster brothers face the harsh reality when gangland and organized crime kill off their mother. The mourning turns to a tale of revenge as the hotheaded Bobby troops up his brothers to wage a mass war to take care of the perpetrators who killed their mom. Bloodshed everywhere … its action packed and a good movie. 4 stars out of 5. |
The Great Raid (R: 2005)
August 23, 2005
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The Great Raid (R - 2005) |
 The Great Raid |
Wow, I’m glad I didn’t pay to see this one! A war story. Need I say more? Well obviously I’m not a big fan of war flicks. I suppose for a war film its ok. It had its moments. I suppose a good tale about a WWII squadrant out to get back POW’s that Japan was holding hostage in the Phillipines and what they had to endure. I suppose this was also built on a true story. It had its moments, but I’d wait till video. A 2 stars out of 5 stars rating film.
Skeleton Key (2005: R)
August 23, 2005
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Skeleton Key (R - 2005) |
 Skeleton Key |
Wow … what a well done - Southern swamp voodoo hoodoo horror story packed with ghosts, hoodoo, and Louisiana flavor. I want to go to New Orleans right now! Its a tale of a caregiver nurse who wants to home care for an elderly gent out on a rickity haunted plantation in the middle of the swamps. She quickly finds herself surrounded by Hoodoo and spirits quickly adapting to taking on the arts herself but being given a surprise of her life. A 5 stars out of 5 stars rating film. Must see!
Must Love Dogs (PG-13: 2005)
August 9, 2005
Review by Leaf McGowan
5 stars out of 5
| Must Love Dogs Rated PG-13 - 2005 Directed by Gary David Goldberg Starring: Diane Lane …. Sarah, John Cusack …. Jake, Elizabeth Perkins …. Carol, Christopher Plummer …. Bill, Dermot Mulroney …. Bob, Stockard Channing …. Dolly, Ali Hillis …. Christine, and more |
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Another cute drama with John Cusack, Elizabeth Perkins, and now Diane Lane. A romantic comedy that will warm your heart. John and Diane play divorcees who seek to find a new partner online … well, their friends and family set them up online. It turns to be a humorous tale of the complexities of dating after that disasterous divorce. I really enjoyed it. 5 stars out of 5. A must see.
Here Comes Plan 9 Again
August 8, 2005
Alright, I had planned to post this entry earlier on, but unfortunately didn’t have the opportunity to do so before today. This is an ageless thing, though, so it’s still worth it.
I need to admit, first of all, that my sense of humor is often skewed, and that I tend to easily fall for crappy movies that need to be taken at the third degree or more to gain some value. Well then, is there any need to say that Plan 9 From Outer Space pertains to this category? When I found out that the movie was available for distribution on Internet Archive, I couldn’t resist about mentioning it. In its own way, it is indeed a masterpiece, and as can be read on the summary page on IA:
Bela Lugosi was cast in the role of “Ghoul Man” but passed away before filming really started. So what happens? The producer’s wife’s chiropractor (Mr. Reynold’s was the executive producer) takes over as “Ghoul Man” and holds his cape in front of his face THE ENTIRE MOVIE.
Add to this numerous plot inconsistencies, horrid acting, and masses of stock footage - some of which we see several times and you have a terrible but funny movie.
Even if often labelled as “the worst movie ever made”, I however think that it still remains a “must-see” no matter what. Of course, if looking for a good representative of the serious, horror genre, then it’s a total failure; on the other hand, there is a certain brilliance and a certain gem quality in this movie - as well as, undoubtedly, matter to laughing. It’s so bad that it can only be good - as an unintentional comedy.
Last Days
August 1, 2005
Last Days was designed to torture me. As a native Seattleite who was an impressionable teenager during the grunge movement and who owns most Nirvana recordings available to the public, I was stoked for months prior to its release. Gus Van Sant’s most recent film, Elephant (about the Columbine incident), was brilliant, and although this is ficiton, it’s well known that Last Days is a thinly veiled description of Kurt Cobain’s life right before his controversial death in 1994. The trailer was promising: dark and hazy and saturated, like Van Sant’s other films reliably are, and featuring a spooky Nirvana rip-off soundtrack. I even saw the film on the Ave, the historical Grunge Boulevard, if you will. I was like a lathered-up Star Wars fan.
First of all, the guy–”Dawson’s Creek” alum Michael Pitt–looked nothing like Kurt Cobain and, judging from my collection of Nirvana footage, acted nothing like him either. I realize, actors are employed to act like the characters, not to look exactly like them, but it was difficult to suspend one’s disbelief. Dude had the blond hair, but he didn’t do his homework. More disappointing, though, was that the bulk of the movie is just Kurt Faux-bain futzing around the house, running through the forest, humming to himself… collapsing on the floor while a Boyz II Men video plays on the TV for three solid minutes… being intentionally strange. There was no story–it was just a pretty collage of images, except it wasn’t pretty. It was a pointless, preening, affected waste of time.
(Also, Van Sant made the protagonist “Blake” and then the Courtney Love character calls on the phone and she’s “Blackie.” Blake and Blackie. Do you get it? Have another kick in the stomach!)
The only merits to be found are when “Blake” sets his bowl of mac and cheese on a snare and it makes a little ba-dum sound, which was hysterical for some reason, and then the song he played was nice and Nirvana-ey. And the cameos from Kim Gordon and Harmony Korine were slightly thrilling. These little gems, however, were totally canceled out by the stupid, agonizing finale, where “Blake’s” body is shown sprawled in the infamous greenhouse pose and then his naked soul climbs an INIVISBLE LADDER TO HEAVEN.
I feel kind of violated. Why make a film of a famous story, if you’re not going to include the story? Van Sant did it right with Elephant–I dunno what happened here.
