What are you watching RIGHT NOW.... or close to now. S03E02

[W]

I re-watched three films in the past week or so and two really fell from what I remember. Dude Where's My Car was just not funny at all save a couple scenes, which still weren't as funny as the first times around. Friday was pretty much the same thing. Smokey wasn't as funny as I remember, but was really just about the only reason to watch save the very little screen time Big Worm got.

SLC Punk, though, went from one I really liked watching it once to something I could probably put into my 100. It really runs the emotional gamete like I like, there's plenty of action, and it's one that you can kick back and enjoy, but not mind-numbing.

[transformers2]

The Dilemma 4/10

A really muddled mess. It's doesn't do comedy or drama well at all. What saves from being a complete disaster is the cast and they aren't even at their best,

[Buscemi]

The Dilemma was a film that was filled with studio (and actor) interference. The original script was much darker and took place in New York. Then Vince Vaughn signed on and forced a bunch of changes (such as making the film lighter and taking place in Chicago, basically turning it into a Couples Retreat sequel). At some point, Vaughn took over the project and made Ron Howard an in-name-only director. Had Howard kept control of the project, it probably would have turned out much better.

But thankfully, Vince Vaughn will probably never get total control on a movie again after this one.

[undeadmonkey]

Ca$h 1/10

it started off interesting with a good premise, but it went nowhere so fast you wouldn't believe it. It runs out of tension so quickly, the family and sean bean seem like old relatives trying to get the money back. Then they try to add drama with the husband and wife characters starting to 'like' the crimes they are committing, but in the end they feel sorry and try to make up for everything they did.There are a lot of other problems but i don't care to list them. Stay away at all costs.



Hackers 7/10

loved this movie. Not saying it was a well made movie, it was cheesy as hell actually, but i really liked it. It was such a product of the time, down to the subject matter, clothes, cheesy lines, music, etc. This movie could not have been made any other time than when it was made. Which i think is one of the fascinating things about cinema.

[Ron Burgundy]

Started watching Diner, only 20 mins in. A little boring, pretty much just talk talk at the moment, ill try finish it tonight.

And have been watching the new South Park episodes, season 15. ep4 is the best out the the 4 ive seen, classic South Park while 1, 2 and 3 are fairly average. I cant say much for season 9 of Family Guy though its probably the worst season so far, seen the first 10 eps.

And ive been mowing through a fair chunk of Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia, S1 and S2 nearly done, and i like it. But its not that addictive that i have to watch one after another like Breaking Bad, where im up to S3 at the moment.

[Buscemi]

I seriously believe that South Park should have ended after Chef died. All that it is now is Trey and Matt using Stan, Kyle and Cartman to spout off their political views and personal opinions (and it often seems like Trey and Matt hate everything).

Also, they are way too harsh on the early seasons (which is easily their best work, hell even the movie came out during that point).

[numbersix]

The first few season of South Park focused more on silly toilet humour and gross-out gags. Sometimes funny, but most of the time not. It was only in later seasons where they achieved what you dislike, which was their ability to satirise topical issues within a week of them occuring. This put them in a great and unique position, and without doubt provided some of the best episodes of any modern TV series. They don't spout their political views as much as show us the holes and contradictions in established ones. It's the same method that gave rise to Team America: World Police. Do you also hate that movie?

[Buscemi]

At least in Team America, the politics didn't get ahead of the action (it was a spoof of Thunderbirds and 1980's action films first, a light-hearted jab at politics second). On South Park, it's become solely about politics and topical issues on a show that shouldn't be about politics and topical issues. It derails the show and it makes you forget about what the show was even about to begin with (four elementary school kids in small town America).

[numbersix]

But it spoofs Thunderbirds and 80's action BY being political. The two are inextricably linked. As for South Park, when the show isn't political it's drab and boring, it ran out of steam years ago when trying to be just about 4 school kids.

[Geezer]

Six is SO right about this topic.

[Ron Burgundy]

I agree with Six in this one, when they do the Political episodes such as the Obama one where he goes on a massive Heist with John McCann as his wing man, thats just pure comic gold. But a newer version where they mock the iPad and the Human Centipede isnt as good. Or the one where Randy get cancer on his balls just to get the legalised cannabis (again, political), is one of the better ones.

Family Guy though, is trying to hard to do old tricks and jokes and its just not funny anymore, Seth McFarlane seems to concentrate too much on ripping off stuff from the 80s.

[numbersix]

Obviously South Park's political shows are going to be hit-and-miss after a decade of this strategy, but they still have the potential to be hilarious.

I gave up on Family Guy years ago. Every line is followed by a predictably semi-surreal flashback. It could sometimes be funny but I just wasn't engaged.

[silversurfer19]

South Park is generally entertaining when I watch it, but it's never been essential, and like six I much prefer the later, more politically satirical episodes than the earlier ones. Family Guy has always felt so tired and predictable. The flashback thing is just plain annoying, they need to think of something fresh rather than use the same old tired ideas over and over.

Anyway, catching up on a couple of movies I watched over the weekend:

First up was Killer's Kiss (4/10), another of Kubrick's early pictures which rather than proving why he was a master of his art, rather points at the potential he would go on to fulfill. A rather standard noir is raised up a notch or two with some smart direction and cinematography, elevating what is a pretty tired plot which we've seen all too often into a taut, tense thriller. The characterisation is pretty slim, the acting is poor, and the flashback dubbing (which although prevalent in many noir) just came off abbrasive, but there are enough of Kubrick's later trademarks to keep you interested within his minimalistic direction.

Also watched The Killer Elite - (5/10), A well acted if rather convoluted spy thriller, in which double crossing after double crossing leaves you more than slightly confused, and ultimately largely uninterested in it's conclusion. The premise follows James Caan as an ex-CIA agent who had been forced to retire following an injury at the hands of his ex partner (played by Duvall), but comes back for one last job in a revenge mission while protecting an Chinese politician. It starts well enough, with some typical Pekinpah flair and brutality, but before too long I think the double crossing just became too much, you don't know who to support and for the most part don't care. It was pretty obvious it was intended as some kind of parody of all those 70s spy movies, and I guess Pekinpah was just having fun with it, but it was ultimately to the detriment of the film. However, it was slickly made with some excellent scenes (the shoot out when collecting the politician and the suspense of the night at the harbour were standouts) and while the pace is a little uneven, I was kept interested for the most part. Not one of Pekinpah's best though.

[Chienfantome]

I went to see The Purple Rose of Cairo in a little theater today, and it was great. It's funny cause it bears the same capacity from Allen to make his universe glitter with a fantasy that makes us dreaming as in Midnight in Paris which I saw last week. But this one is much more bitter and melancholic. It explores our dream for a brighter life and our realization that reality can be stronger than dreams. Excellent film. 7.5/10

[silversurfer19]

A couple of nights ago we watched one of six's top 100 movies, The Manchurian Candidate - (9/10). I'd been meaning to watch this for quite a while due to all the acclaim surrounding it, and it certainly lived up to it. A nightmarish vision of paranoia within a Cold War setting, the thriller follows Frank Sinatra a an army officer who after returning home from war, is disturbed by disturbing visions during his sleep, unable to tell what is real and what is not, only to find that fellow members of his squad have been having the same nightmares. What follows is a shocking but intriguing political thriller which satirises the paranoid conspiracy theorists, and I can only imagine how much of a blow it struck upon its release, even if it still feels alarmingly relevant now. While Sinatra is solid in the lead, Angela Lansbury steals the show with a wicked turn as an overbearing mother, while the camerawork is very realistic, almost documentary like, and it only further emphasises the relavance of it all. Tense and disturbing, that a movie almost 50 years old still works as a stunning satire is testament to its lasting impact.