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Supergrass
Reviews
The IT Crowd (2006)
First season - AMAZING! Second season - Ehhs.
after an amazing first season, comparable to Father Ted's esteemed run, the IT Crowd quickly became one of my favorite shows. The second season started off well (& most unPC), & then it went to heck from there. The second seasons didn't elicit one laugh out of me.
I hope the 3rd season improves - or I'm back to watching Father Ted reruns & season 1 of the IT Crowd.
Note: my 10 out of 10 is for the first season. I'd give 1/2 star for the second season.
On a random note, Moss was sitting at my table at a restaurant in Chinatown in NYC.
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
terrible
my problems with the film: (1) character design:the villains were laughable. the porcupine fellow and the 2 new female recruits elicited muffled laughs from the audience i caught the film with; (2) script: the severe deviation from the comic plot line was unbearable. i mean, artistic license in the cinema is fine, but x3 does to the x-men what demi moore did to the scarlett letter. my point: why kill certain critical characters? to bring a level of gravitas to an already goofy film? i mean, this is a comic book adaptation, not Citizen Kane. (3) direction: nothing special here. it seems like the current director just rehashed the previous director's style (much like he did in "red dragon") w/o adding anything interesting. most of the action is silly and pedestrian. i was at least expecting some exciting good ole American movie violence. it might be better to spend your 10 bucks on singer's superman instead of this P.O.S.*
*Piece of Sh*t
Stranded in Canton (2005)
difficult to describe but here goes...
Transvestites, geek men biting off chicken heads, classy blues musicians, and crazed men with guns form the backbone of this delightful documentary look at the "Southern Hipsters" of louisiana and mississippi.
the film does not judge its motley crew of vivid characters, thus allowing the "cast" to openly reveal themselves on screen. the southern brand of 70s hipsters seem oddly drugged out as they bellow to the camera and preen their wares for all to see. interestingly, eggleston's choice of a primitive sony camcorder lends an odd glow to the images on screen, thus creating a surrealistic feel to the entire piece.
while the film is naturally a bit slow at points, the ending makes up for it all: a drunken drugged out pimp w/ his pistol plays Russian roulette while bizarre noise rock drones from a guitar somewhere in the background.
Body Double (1984)
one of the worst films ever, yet still oddly entertaining
i realize depalma was creating some sort of parody pastiche piece here which references hitchcock as usual, but the film is just terrible.
yet, in an ed wood sort of way, the film is highly laughable and thus entertaining, especially the frankie goes to Hollywood musical bit in the movie within a movie.
the score is incredibly sleezy and ranks amongst the best of the scores of the exploitation films of mario bava.
this is not 'obsession,' a well made hitchcock homage, but this is one hilarious film with native American villains, 80s pastel colors, "relax don't do it," a miscast craig wasson, and melanie griffith prancing around naked (like many other 80s films).
oh yeah, there's also a quick peek at the farmer's market, which has now become "the grove" in miracle mile.
Shôwa kayô daizenshû (2003)
terrible
Adapted from a novel by ryu murakami (audition, coin locker babies, happiness of the katakuris), of course, you would expect a bizarre and mean-spirited film about the more twisted and unsavory characters in japan.
and this you get.
unfortunately, this film is not very interesting unlike murakami's other novels and films. we're privvy to a group of overly-indulgent middle aged Japanese women who spend their time singing karaoke together and trying to pick up younger men. their name: the midoris.
we then meet their nemesis: a group of horny 20something boys (reminiscent of the cast of porky's) who also adore karaoke and the musical 'cabaret' and engage in a major war with the old ladies once one of the boys murders one of them.
from here ensues a boring testament to senseless murders via: knives, guns, grenade launchers and an atomic bomb (no, this is not a takashi miike film about yakuza).
generally unfunny and grimly disastrous. if you have 2 hours to yawn through, watch this one. otherwise, see one of murakami's other works.
Vital (2004)
not a date film
as usual, tadanobu asano provides a subtly seizing performance as a medical student who returns to school from a car accident that killed his gf (an extremely attractive yet horrible dancer). the med student has lost some of his memory, but is searching for answers which arrives in the form of flashbacks. during an autopsy, he discovers that his cadaver is his former gf, and he mentally struggles to regain his composure during a surreal and trippy ride in his mind.
unlike some of the director's earlier works, this film does not spazz out with an inordinate amount of guitar fuzz and headache inducing images (but there are still some bizarre images of smokestacks integrated with migraine inducing punk rock for a few fleeting moments). instead, the film focus on the medical student's more subtle descent into confusion and then enlightenment as he struggles to regain his memory and make peace with himself.
in the midst of the med students flashbacks, another sexually bizarre med student (another extremely attractive woman) courts tadanobu.
if you're squeamish and wouldn't watch HBO's "autopsy" program, then i would not suggest this movie to you.
Shimotsuma monogatari (2004)
charmingly funny
This is one of the better Japanese films i've seen recently. Kyoko Fukada perfectly embodies a 'lolita-heidi of the alps' shibuya gal who lives in her own delirious world of baroque Europe. Anna Tsuchiya is OK as her butch sidekick who rides beat-up vespas.
Rapid-fire, color saturated scenes are spliced with cartoon sequences - leaving a syrupy sweet depiction of some of the Harajuku/Yoyogi park girls in japan.
If you've been yearning for a near mindless, yet amusing look at Japanese female counterculture with the editing, cinematography, and style of Trainspotting (sans drug use) and Run Lola Run, this might be your cup of tea.
Cha no aji (2004)
a little long, but definitely worth watching
a bizarre, humorous, and surreal look at the quiet life of a seemingly ordinary country family in japan.
the film contains a series of humorous anecdotes and events about the separate lives of an extended family. we start off with tadanobu asano's hilarious and unmatched story about 'crapping on a giant egg and the yakuza following him everywhere.' from there, the film moves between painfully slow countryside shots, which harken back to yasujiro ozu's films, and amusing tales of the family's ordinary life. one of the more pleasant and crowd pleasing stories relate's the family's son's attempts to woo the beautiful new biracial Japanese girl (anna tsuchiya from 'kamikaze girls') at school through his mastery of the game, go.
even with the slow paced editing, the film is wonderfully charming and sometimes funnier than a rerun of sanford and son.
totally worth your time and money.
Maraton (2005)
this looks bound for a Hollywood remake
this film is a charming look at an autistic man who overcomes his mental deficiencies with the drive of his mother to successfully race in marathons around Korea. while this may sound like a conventional plot, the great performances by the actors playing the autistic man and his mother propel this film into thoughtful melodrama. the film is also based on the true story of a 21 year old korean man suffering from autism who has successfully won marathons in Korea with help from his mother.
marathon is the top film in Korea currently and a quick sweep of the korean video shops in nyc reveals that the dvds are ALWAYS sold out.
bring tissues to your screening, this is a major tear jerker worth seeing.