FINALLY… TiTo’s Movie Reviews – Part 3 (of 4)
By TiTo | March 22, 2009
Why so long for part 3 TiTo?
Damn! Why you always ridin' me like that?! It's not like you ever leave comments on our blog entries. So there!
But if you must know... it's because there was a great deal of research needed to prepare for this most awesome movie night review installment. Ok… not really… I’m just a procrastinator. And a slacker. Slack is good!
Let’s have a look-see at the January 2009 movies that were enjoyed at Movie Night shall we? Yes. We shall. Since that is what this particular blog is about, it would make perfect sense to proceed with that line of thought.
January 1st
The first Movie Night of the new year! It's gonna be AWESOME, right? Turns out the event was only partly kick ass at best. The lone person to show up that night was Ogre. That was pretty much the kick ass part. The movie on the other hand sucked big hairy basketballs. It was so bad in fact that I almost opted to not mention it at all. However, upon further thought, I understood it was my duty to most definitely put this on the list in the hopes of sparing some folks out there the horrible waste of time on the this “Adam Sandler wannabe”, D-List, ex-SNL, NOT! FUNNY! MAN! Andy Samberg’s HOT ROD. It would appear I am not the only one who thought this movie sucked, as it has only a 38% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and everyone knows that when it comes to movie reviews and previews - they are the Quintessential. Or whatever. In MY opinion, this movie was funnier the first time it came out, and not by much mind you, when it was called Napolean Dynamite. But, you know... if you think you can handle more than 90 seconds of this witless wonder, then perhaps HOT ROD is for you. Personally, I’d rather punch myself repeatedly in the gonads than have to sit through anything this guy does. Pass this one up. It’s a definite must miss!
Prepared To Be Dazzled…
By How Sucky This P.O.S. Is!
No preview for this one kiddies. It's not about you... I just can't bring myself to have to sit through even another preview of this lame-o. Onward!
January 8th
A little something, something out of the ALICE collection. But more importantly... the flick that gave me a greater appreciation for the works of Peter Jackson. I mean ya, he did "The Trilogy" and King Kong. But a decade before that he was doing features like Meet The Feebles, and Braindead, probably better known as Dead Alive. I thought Meet The Feebles was okay at best. It's a nice mix of Muppets meet Sid and Nancy. But it didn't leave me pining to see more of this man's earlier works. Needless to say I was a bit reluctant for the viewing of Dead Alive. But ALICE has a knack for bringing movies that look like they might suck that end up being surprisingly excellent, so I was ready to give it a shot. And I was not disappointed. I've heard this may be the goriest film EVER for the use of nearly 5 gallons of fake blood used... per second... during the big action finale! And it's about a 20 minute scene. Wrap your head around that... and enjoy this trailer!
I want so much to say this was the turning point for Mr. Jackson, however he went on to make such box office smashes as The Frighteners and The Making of The Frighteners. But let us not speak of such things. Let us instead speak of the very noticeable advancements that were made in the art of puppetry since Meet The Feebles. On the one hand, it is nice to have all the CG we enjoy in movies these days, but on the other hand, it would have been nice to see where Jackson would have gone next with his puppetry if not for it all. He could have been the next Jim Henson. Certainly "The Trilogy" would be a very different set of films. But I digress. Dead Alive! Go rent the movie! Now! And watch it!
Al Goriest Says This Film
Causes Global Warming!
January 15th
TiTo was NOT prepared for Movie Night on this date. He had to pull an old standby out of the archives. Now here's what I do. I used to rent movies, but I had this really bad habit of renting a movie, holding onto it for 7-10 days, never actually watching it, then returning the movie with a huge late fee. In time I recognized this pattern, and so now when I spot a movie I want to see, I just buy it. And put it on my own shelf where it will always be until I am ready to view it. No late fees ever! This was one of those movies. It'd already been on the shelf for almost a year, and on occasion I would look at it and think we should watch it, but never was proactive enough to do so. And here was the moment. Ben Affleck's directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone. Honestly, it is difficult for me to give a good review on this movie. I really don't like Ben Affleck to begin with, especially since he completely ruined Dare Devil. That should have been a totally kick ass flick, and his Keanu Reeves like delivery brought it to its knees. But since he was behind the camera not in front of it - and because I was not prepared with anything else - I popped it in. At first I was worried I would dislike Casey Affleck as much as I do Ben. But to my surprise, he is actually an excellent actor and enjoyable to watch. But good acting from Casey and his ensemble was not enough to get me to buy into the convoluted and contrived storyline with a M. Night Shyam-a-lam-a-ding-dong twist. I guess I am in the minority on this one however, as rotten tomatoes gives this moose nugget an astounding 94%. But Gone Baby Gone does NOT make me want to spend any time out of my life following anything Ben Affleck does. However, I DO now want to see something else that has Casey Affleck in it where he is not tethered to his lead ball of a brother. In retrospect, I kinda wish I had just rented this one. Sure, late fees, but at least I'd still have those two hours of my life to waste on something else.
The Butler Did It.
If you're a true glutton for punishment... try out this trailer.
January 22nd
This is the movie that I should have pulled out of my archive the previous week instead of that Aff-blech crap we watched. I was excited for this one, and so was the rest of the crew. How could you NOT be excited about a viewing from the man who brought us Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and There Will Be Blood!?!? Paul Thomas Anderson made an unlikely pairing with funny man Adam Sandler for 2002's outing known as Punch Drunk Love. This is the Adam Sandler flick that die hard Sandler fans hate! While Sandler is funny in a neurotic and sometimes scary way, it is a far cry from the goofball characters that are his signature. In Punch Drunk Love, Sandler's character is complete, with his antics explained and not without cause. Indeed this is a character study, not a laugh a minute kind of movie. And the soundtrack to this thing! Great Googly Moogly it’s awesome! I would even go so far to say that if PTA had used any other soundtrack, it simply would not have worked. Plus, if you love pudding but got no taste for cowboys, this is totally the film for you!
Huh?! What did I tell you about that soundtrack. Gritty! Intense! Dark and awkwardly funny! A resounding YES! YES! YES! YES! from the group on this one. And Beware of those die hard Sandler fans who hate this movie, they'll try to tell you it's a chick flick. It is not! If anything, this is a Bro Show... fo' sho!
I Totally Just Wanna Smash Your Face In With A Sledgehammer!
January 29th
No Stevo for this showing, (his third miss for the month... hmmm). But Ogre, ALICE, and my buddy Puckett were there for the 2008 rebooted version of Get Smart. I'd heard bad things about this one, and being a big fan of the original series, I was skeptical Steve Carell would be able to pull off the character. He was okay. But overall the movie was pretty good. A lot more laughs than I had anticipated, which was a pleasant surprise. It's good to get you chuckling and smiling, with an occasional burst of guttural laughter! No need to rush right out and get it, but certainly keep it in the back of your mind for that time you need a comedy to please the group.
And oh ya... for the ladies... it has The Rock!
You Too, Mighty Steve Carell, Shall One Day
Be Relegated To The Role Of A Tree...
And so... well... that's it for this installment. Hope you enjoyed. Feel free to comment...
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!
Ya... so that's gonna happen. Check back soon and often for part 4. It could arrive at any moment. And don't forget to rock out!
14.0°
