The Informant! is the best movie you didn't see

Whew, that was a close one. Yeah I bet you didn't think I was going to see this one. Well, luckily for me Ames mall has a second run theater. Yeah, evening weekends in Chicago, $11 now. Evening weekends in Iowa...$2. Man, I should move home. Then I could double the viewings of this year. But again, I did get to see a lot for free, so who can complain.

But, boy am I glad I did see this. Remember what I said about "The Men Who Stare At Goats"? Well this mines similar material and does it right. Based on a true story, it tells the tale of corn, intrigue and bipolar disorders. This movie is in a nutshell all true. But depending on perspective, can be told in different ways. In this case, its played for laughs.

But it is not all laughs. Since its grounded in reality, the characters are not necessarily the butt of the joke. The situation itself is the focus. I didn't actually find myself laughing out loud until the third act. At that point it was a 12 layer cake and I had to laugh at the audacity of it all.

Did you enjoy it?
Very much so.

Would you see it in theaters again?
If I didn't have to go to Iowa to see it in the first place, yes I would have.

Would you rent it?
Yessir.

Would you buy it?
Possibly.

Would you watch it if you saw it was on TV?

Of course I would, Tim.

Happy Post Thanksgiving

Quick shout out to Devin at Chud.com for putting together a great list of terrible turkey movies.

http://chud.com/articles/articles/21683/1/CHUD-QUICK-LIST-TEN-TERRIFIC-TURKEYS/Page1.html

You know some of your favorites are on there. Plus, if for no other reason to post the link, KRULL!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Men Who Stare at Goats Need something better to stare at

A little fall movie has snuck out in theaters. It's called "The Men Who Stare At Goats". It is directed by Clooney's partner in Hollywood. Is it a comedy? Sure. Zany is their fortay. Is it based on some real people and projects? Yes, but who knows to what extent. Does it have a good cast? Yes, which is the biggest disappointment.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this. This movie doesn't know what it wants to be and could have been a lot better if it had chosen a more direct genre. It could have been a hardboiled thriller about the government (with injection of some moment of levity provided by comedy). It could have been a character study about jealously and belief in oneself. It could have been about a seriously disturbed group of confused Army rejects. Instead it goes in 5 directions with a limited amount of rope pulling it every which way.

Not that there is a lot of good stuff out there right now. This was literally a last minute toss up. It was just nice to get out of the house. Okay, maybe not that nice...

Did you enjoy it?
Eh. Barely if at all.

Would you see it in theaters again?
No.

Would you rent it?
No.

Would you buy it?
No.

Would you watch it if you saw it was on TV?

No.

The Boat that Rocked

"Pirate Radio" as it's known in America was called "The Boat that Rocked" in England. This is like the classic case of TAKEN where the movie opens everywhere except the USA. How dare they? Don't people in other countries know we're number 1? Where would people in other countries be without our movies? We have Hollywood!

But it's hard to discuss being left out in the cold about a movie that is already on DVD in England. Especially a movie that is pretty great. I guess in the 60's England stopped playing rock and roll on the radio. Reminder this is the time of the Beatles, Stones, etc. WTF? England, that's why you lost the war vs the colonies. And now you hold it against us by not releasing the film here for a year?

So, some renegades when offshore to play rock to the england airwaves. I guess this lasted a few years. I'm not sure how much is actually true. It's based on a true story, supposedly. I'm not wasting my Saturday looking on wikipedia to verify any facts.

The man who created this film also created a lot of movies about love: Love Actually, Bridget Jones (movies, not books), Notting Hill, Four Weddings and a Funeral and assorted Mr. Bean stuff.

This film is the music version of all his love tales. It's a music love story. A boat full of men playing rock. Phil Hoffman, Nick Frost, Bill Nighy, Rhys Darby (Murray from Flight of the Conchords) and a host of others.

It's very fluffy and lighthearted. There is a ton of good rock music. And the loop, who provided me my free passes, gave me the soundtrack. Nice. And a tee shirt. boom. Additionally a Loop sock for my iPhone. Thanks.

Did you enjoy it?

Yes.

Would you see it in theaters again?
Probably not.

Would you rent it?
Yes.

Would you buy it?
Nah.

Would you watch it if you saw it was on TV?

Sure. According to Tim I would watch any movie on TV. Shut it, Tim.

Valentine's Day plans

I know my "The Room" coverage has fallen off in recent months. I think it was the sensory overload that came from back to back showings. Plus, nothing can beat telling Joel to "watch out" in my lowest calmest tone right before he got hit in the face with a football.

But, The Music Box has been doing a great job of running The Room every month to packed crowds. And to repay them for their hard work, Tommy Wiseau himself will be in attendance on the February 12th showing. That means I might be as well. I want to ask him where that room on the roof goes, because its definitely not stairs to the street!

So mark your calendars and be ready to be torn apart once more!

I wish I had sent my Surrogate to see Surrogates

I think this fall has been the leading year for big promise, little payoff. What I assume is the end of the strike pictures is here (or was here at the end of last month). Hey, afraid of germs? Send out your surrogate (or avatar this holiday season). Don't want to get hit by a pickup truck? Me neither. And this is coming from a guy who has been hit by seven different pickups on nine different occasions. Send out your surrogate. Do you hate walking? Who doesn't. Spend a lot of money on a surrogate.

So, this movie is about robots who interact in the world while you stay home. What could have been an interesting tale of the soul, friendship and life really is a by the numbers who done it. And it has Ving Rhames looking like Delroy Lindo. Think about that for a minute.

I went to see this after being sick and needing to get out of the house for 82 minutes. I wish I had taken enough cough syrup to make this an enjoyable fever dream. It was not. How can this be in the theaters still and The Informant! is already gone. Damnit.

Anyways, it might be time for Bruno to start doing his indie films and serious roles instead of action. Remember Collateral Damage and End of Days? Yeah, these are Bruce Willis' final bow into action. Please. Hopefully. Time to do more good meaty adult old man roles. Let's consult the list.

Did you enjoy it?
Not really.

Would you see it in theaters again?
Hells no.

Would you rent it?
Nope.

Would you buy it?
Are you crazy?

Would you watch it if you saw it was on TV?

Negatory.

You can add "ainous" to anything and make it magical

Gentlemen Broncos is the third film in Jared Hess' Pathetic People Trilogy. My friend has said that he feels Hess hates his characters. He might not be far off. He definitely enjoys inflicting as much pain on them as possible.

In this case, its a dead bear of a dad, a mom with dreams of $70 ankle length night gowns and the usual kids and adults taking advantage of each other. Oh and Sam Rockwell plays two versions of a fictional character.

The characters are ridiculous. The situations are ludicrous. If you've seen and liked Napoleon Dynamite you could enjoy this. If you liked Nacho Libre then hit yourself in the face. Mole and I agreed that the bad parts are baaaaaad. But there are plenty of laughs to be had as well. But just like his last two films, this will surely split the crowd. I'm glad I saw it. I'm also glad I saw it for free. Proceed with caution but with Sam Rockwell and Jemaine Clement, you know you won't go home empty handed.

Did you enjoy it?
Yes. Laughter was created.

Would you see it in theaters again?
No.

Would you rent it?
Nah.

Would you buy it?
Nope.

Would you watch it if you saw it was on TV?

Yes.