Alvin & Chipmunks 2 - #
The Baader Meinhof Complex - #
An Education - #
Sherlock Holmes - #
Weapons of Self Destruction
Click below for this week's Blu-ray releases.
Collateral - *
The Killer - *
# - also on Blu-ray
* - Doctor approved
If you like Robin Williams, you'll like his latest stand up comedy show, Weapons of Self Destruction. It plays on HBO and its affiliates from time to time.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
DVD and Blu-ray Releases 3/30/10
Greenberg - B
In theaters. Rated R, 107 minutes. Trailer.
I don't think it would be fun to be friends with Noah Baumbach and and Jennifer Jason Leigh. The creative duo (writer/director and actress, respectively) and real life husband and wife are responsible for depressing but occasionally funny and insightful The Squid and The Whale (B+) and the depressing and uninteresting Margot at the Wedding (B-). With Greenberg, Baumbach moves from the East Coast to the West Coast but brings his uniquely neurotic/negative viewpoint with him. Ben Stiller stars as Roger Greenberg, a negative, self-centered jerk with an inability to integrate into the world. His co-star is the soft and appealing Greta Gerwig as Florence Marr, the nice but aimless love interest of Roger. Click below for more Greenberg:
The film follows 6 weeks in Los Angeles when Greenberg is staying at his brother's house. He lived in LA 15 years before, but after he rejected a record deal and broke up his band he moved to New York and hasn't been back since. He interacts with Florence (his brother's assistant) and soon asks her out on a 'date'. After yet another awkward Baumbach oral sex scene (this time guy on girl), they sort of go out and his relationship with her and his best friend Ivan Schrank (a substantial Rhys Ifans) form the basis of the rest of the film.
The relationship with Gerwig is strange and real, although its not clear why she 
would see him more than the first time. Gerwig is the heart of the film, and her declaration that she doesn't know what she's doing with her life as she heads in for a very severe surgery is heartbreaking, especially given her audience at the time. Ivan and Greenberg are old friends, and Greenberg's actions regarding the band really hurt Ivan's career but he appears to have forgiven Greenberg and endures abuse and indulges Greenberg for a good portion of the film. Their relationship is well-written and interesting.
Hurt people hurt people. This truism is stated twice in the film and provides a pretty clear statement of how every interaction with Greenberg ends up for the other person. Stiller is impressive in his ability to be unlikable, unfunny and extremely self-oblivious. He uses people for rides and sex but obsesses over the details at a very lame 'party' and only appears normal or comfortable after he takes cocaine at a very odd party. His shrink has told him that he lives in the past because he was so paralyzed by neuroses when he went through it the first time he can only enjoy it in retrospect.
Baumbach has several directorial flourishes that are interesting. The opening sequence follows Gerwig in her car with a profile shot facing to the right. Other normal characters, such as Ivan, are also shown with a profile shot facing to the right, but Greenberg is always shown facing to the left, most prominently in a poorly conceived swim.
I enjoyed the brief performances of Mark Duplass as the angry former friend of Greenberg and Chris Messina (who was the only good thing in Away We Go) as Roger's normal and successful brother with no patience for Roger.
Worth your time - I have been thinking about it all day and it may move up a notch after I watch it again.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Slow Jammin' The News
A genius bit from Jimmy Fallon with Brian Williams on the Healthcare Bill. Really Funny.
Continue reading this postSong of the Day - Alejandro, Lady Gaga
You knew this was coming. The latest from LG is a more laid back song that sounds like a mix of any Ace of Base song and Madonna's Isla Bonita and Like a Prayer.
Continue reading this postSunday, March 28, 2010
Green Zone - B-
In theaters. Rated R, 115 minutes. Trailer.
War movie, action movie, political thriller, Matt Damon, Paul Greengrass. These ingredients should make at least an A- movie, but alas, the Green Zone just never got there. Damon stars as Miller, a US soldier in Iraq in 2002 just after Baghdad is taken. He is leading one of the groups looking for weapons of mass destruction, but continually comes up empty handed. He begins to question the intelligence he is being fed, leading him to the CIA's Middle Eastern agent (an excellent Brendan Gleeson), the lead American reporter on the war (a fumbling Amy Ryan), and the Bush administration's chief Iraq weasel bureacrat (Greg Kinnear). Click below for more GZ:
As Damon begins to question the intelligence, the film is promising. But then he and Greengrass get bogged down in unnecessary and uninteresting gun battles and nighttime chases that ruin the movie. The movie mostly steers clear of too much bashing, laying the blame equally on the Bush administration and Judith Miller, the real life reporter former NY Times reporter that botched the WMD story by printing the Bush administration's assertions without enough questioning (Amy Ryan's character). I too wonder how we got it as wrong as we did and this film provides somewhat of an answer (even if it is unlikely). The final 10 minutes of the film are good and Damon's anger toward Amy Ryan is tangible and voices what many on the left and right feel about how everyone turned a blind eye toward the WMD question before the war.
Greengrass does masterfully use scenes in the green zone (especially the pool scene) to rightly point the finger at a certain segment of America that couldn't care less about any of these issues and just wants another Heineken. "Green Zone" becomes a metaphor for the complacency of everyone as the film wears on.
Weekend Box Office: 3/26-3/28/10
Title/Gross/%Change/Total
1. How to Train Your Dragon: 43.3 mil / (-)
2. Alice in W-land: 17.3 mil / -49% / 293 mil
3. Hot Tub Time Machine: 13.7 mil / (-)
4. Bounty Hunter: 12.4 mil / -40% / 39 mil
5. Diary of Wimpy Kid: 10 mil / -55% / 36 mil
6. She's Out of My League: 3.5 mil / -39% / 26 mil
7. Green Zone: 3.4 mil / -45% / 30 mil
8. Shutter Island: 3.2 mil / -33% / 121 mil
9. Repo Men: 3 mil / -50% / 11 mil
10. Our Family Wedding: 2.2 mil / -41% / 17 mil
11. Avatar: 2 mil / -50% / 740 mil
12. Remember Me: 1.9 mil / -42% / 17 mil
13. Ghost Writer: 1.7 mil / -20% / 9 mil
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Gentlemen Broncos - B+
On DVD and OnDemand (2009). Rated PG, 90 minutes. Trailer.
Gentlemen Broncos emanates from the quirky brain of Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre helmer Jared Hess. From the original opening credits (each of the credits appears as the author of a cheesy sci-fi book) that DNA is evident throughout this ode to isolation. Our main 'protag' is Benjamin Purvis (Michael Angarano - a dead ringer for Shia LeBouf), a 15 year old only child homeschooler stuck in a geodesic dome house in rural Utah with his earnest and clueless 'designer' mom (Jennifer Coolidge). The film follows his story as he attends a fantasy writer's camp and comes into contact with legendary author Ron Chevalier (Jemaine Clement) and submits his novel "The Yeast Lords: The Bronco Years" into a contest only to have it stolen and plagiarized by Chevalier into a huge fantasy novel success. Click below for more Broncos:
Benjamin wears the face of bewilderment throughout the film, until he reaches
his breaking point near the end of the film and his feud with Chevalier and his mother's happiness are both attained. Only in those 2 scenes does he smile. Along the way, he encounters a weird local duo (Lonnie and Tabatha), a super weird 'mentor', and lots of other unforgettable rural types. The film is intercut with scenes from the novel, starring Sam Rockwell. These scenes are very bizarre but ultimately very funny - especially in the Chevalier version where Rockwell's character is a trannie.
This one starts weird, gets weirder, lost me and then had me again at the end. I know it will get better on subsequent viewings. I can identify with the sheltered kid trying to make sense of the world and Hess does a good job of writing a good-hearted kid with Benjamin. He endures his mother and loves her, too. He allows himself to be taken advantage of, but when his mother gets mistreated, he acts out in a great, great action scene at the home of a robe magnate.
An entertaining and original film. Worth your time.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Movie Releases - 3/26/10
Hot Tub Time Machine
Looks kind of fun with an eclectic mix of actors (who'd never hang out in real life). Rob Corddry is great in everything. As is Craig Robinson (Darryl on The Office). John Cusack is an interesting choice since he helped define the late 80s teen movies. Who doesn't love 80s nostalgia?
How to Train Your Dragon
Dreamworks's animators have never even come close to Pixar's worst (A Bug's Life - still a B), even if they outgrossed them (most notably with the Shrek films). This looks more focused on character and plot (instead of dated pop culture references) but the message is obvious from the trailer.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Great Site
If Doc doesn't already know about this site, it will soon be among his favorites. Movieclips.com is compiling high-quality movie clips from great movies. A great service. I can't think of a better one to advertise the site with than the one below (don't forget to click the 'full screen' icon in the bottom righthand corner):
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Song of the Day- To Binge
I'm digging the new Gorillaz, but this laid back gem is my favorite.
Continue reading this postDVD and Blu-ray Releases 3/23/10
African Queen - #, *
The Blind Side - #
Brothers - #
Fantastic Mr. Fox - #
Free Willy 4 - #
Mad Men Season 3 - #
Men who Stare at Goats - #
Red Cliff - #
Click below for this week's Blu-ray releases.
Bigger Than Life (Criterion)
Days of Heaven (Criterion) - *
Toy Story - *
Toy Story 2 - *
Yojimbo & Sanjuro (Criterion) - *
# - also on Blu-ray
* - Doctor approved
Monday, March 22, 2010
Song of the Day - Spanish Sahara, the Foals
From dentist, who says: "this one builds slowly into an epic one--like a good Radiohead or Pumpkins track. Brilliant."
Continue reading this postSunday, March 21, 2010
Odds and Ends.
1. Priest?
2. Aziz Ansari on tour this summer (dates here).
3. Trailer for The Switch (Bateman, Aniston, Goldblum parenting comedy)
4. Trailer for Tron Legacy (maybe).
5. Here's the text of the Obama Executive Order prohibiting the use of Federal Funds for abortions. We'll see. And here is the rest of it.
Weekend Box Office: 3/19-3/21/10
Jude Law as action hero will have to wait. Green Zone & Remember Me fell hard. Alice in Wonderland is Tim Burton's highest grosser with plenty left in the tank. Wimpy Kid beats up Gerard Butler - crazy world.
Title/Gross/%Change/Total
1. Alice in W-land: 35 mil / -45% / 266 mil
2. Diary of Wimpy Kid: 21.8 mil / (-)
3. The Bounty Hunter: 21 mil / (-)
4. Repo Men: 6.2 mil / (-)
5. She's Out of My League: 6mil/-39%/20mil
6. Green Zone: 5.9 mil / -58% / 25 mil
7. Shutter Island: 4.8 mil / -42% / 116 mil
8. Avatar: 4 mil / -39% / 737 mil
9. Our Family Wedding: 3.8 mil / -50% / 13.7 mil
10. Remember Me: 3.3 mil / -59% / 14 mil
11. Ghost Writer: 2.1 mil / +71% / 6.8 mil
12. Brooklyn's Finest: 1.7 mil / -63% / 25 mil
Song of the Day - Tubthumping
By Chumbawamba
Best one-hit wonder ever. Its relentless positivity is infectious. Video here.
Friday, March 19, 2010
NBC -Thursday night 3/18/10
30 Rock's excellent season hit one of its high points last night as Jack mourns the passing of his mentor who gets cryogenically frozen Han Solo style. Jack quoted Hans Gruber and discovered his new bosses aren't interested in making anything, just peddling porn. Liz keeps running into Wesley Snipes (Michael Sheen) by chance. Great self aware, knowing humor as always.
Meanwhile on Parks and Recreation, Jerry gets picked on - hilariously by all and Ron holds some awesome self-defense classes. Love watching Aziz Ansari run in that suit and Andy Samberg was a terrific guest star as a loud-talking park ranger. But I'm not buying Nurse Ann having feelings again for shoe-shining Andy.
Movie Releases - 3/19/10
The Bounty Hunter
Gerard Butler is a bounty hunter who has to transfer his ex-wife (Jennifer Aniston) cross country. It's a gender switching Midnight Run - without the chemistry, humor, heart, and characterizations. Andy Tennant directs.
Repo Men
In the future, Jude Law and Forest Whitaker try to repossess mechanical organs that recipients can't pay for. Terrible casting - looks like it should star Van Damme or Stallone instead - 15 years ago.
The Runaways
Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning start a rock band in the 70s. Michael Shannon plays their manager who leads them to success. Love Joan Jett's solo stuff, so interest level is medium. Limited release.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Based on some best selling kids books. Steve Zahn cashes a paycheck, Thor Freudenthal (Hotel for Dogs) directs, so you know your kids will hate it as much as you.
Greenberg
Ben Stiller decides to do nothing with his life in this talky talk-fest from Noah Baumbach, who the critics love and the audiences hate. I'll see it because of Stiller. New music by LCD Soundsystem. Limited release.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
David Gray in Concert - March 16, 2010
At Nokia Theater in Dallas (Grand Prairie)
David Gray is on my must see list any time he comes to town. Last night marked my third perfect concert with the man with the perfect voice. Playing to a full house in his trademark suit without the tie, he showed humor, class and effortless perfection of his diverse catalog. "Please Forgive Me" and "This Year's Love" were among my favorites from last night, but "Jackdaw" and "Nemesis" were also great. He sings so powerfully and pitch-perfect live that it commands your full attention the entire show. Highly recommended.
Song of the Day - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
By The Band
The lead vocal sounds a bit nasally, the harmonies are out of sync, and the guitar and drums are relatively simple. But there's something about when the group sings together that's quite satisfying. Like an old friend who understands everything without talking. And of course, I'd be remiss without including the version from the best concert film ever, The Last Waltz.
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