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RandyTheRam
1. Pulp Fiction
2. Memento
3. City of God
4. Life is Beautiful
5. Oldboy
6. A Clockwork Orange
7. Hard Candy
8. The Squid and the Whale
9. Pan's Labyrinth
10. Funny Games
Also love: Cache, The Dark Knight, Inglourious Basterds, Thirst, Waiting for Guffman
Favorite TV shows:
1. Six Feet Under
2. The Wire
3. Breaking Bad
4. Lost
5. Mad Men
6. Arrested Development
7. Curb Your Enthusiasm
8. Freaks and Geeks
9. True Blood
10. 30 Rock
Also love: Californication, The Office, Party Down
Reviews
Observe and Report (2009)
Atrocious
Being a huge Seth Rogen fan, I cannot express how disappointed I was in this film. To start, everyone deemed it a "dark comedy"; one reviewer even claimed it was like "a Kevin Smith film directed by Quentin Tarantino". As I enjoy both of their work, and love dark/twisted humor (opposed to the generic Chuck and Larry type humor), I had high hopes for this film.
But it seems that many people don't know what dark humor is. Because for it to be "dark HUMOR"...it has to be funny. If anyone wants to see a real dark comedy, they should go see Death at a Funeral, a Frank Oz film. This film is dark comedy. However, Observe and Report's idea of dark comedy is....knocking kids out with skateboards. There is a difference between DARK comedy and VIOLENT comedy, which are by no means the same thing.
Any educated film-goer shouldn't waste their time with this crap. However, for those who enjoy lines like "You blew up chick fil a" "why would I blow up chick fil a...its delicious" should enjoy this. That and Mexican jokes at the expense of one of the characters who is entirely based on stereotypes. Once again, this film hasn't gone above the typical shitty comedy level, as it stoops to this level. Observe and Report is supposed to be dark and twisted, but it's nothing more than you're average Norbit or Bedtime Stories-a generic comedy with pathetic laughs aimed at the masses, using violence in an attempt to pretend to be something more.
That being said, I would like to urge everyone to see Big Fan, which should be coming to theaters soon. It is another story about a "loser" still living with their mom, but much better executed. Written and directed by Robert D. Siegel (who wrote The Wrestler), this is an actual story about a man we feel sad for and try to understand. It's tragic and also absolutely hilarious. With a complex multi-layered plot, it's a true dark comedy. I don't want to give anything away, but I urge you to see it for some twists and incredible scenes. Seth Rogen, however, was simply....a loser you could not possibly feel bad for or at least understand.
Don't waste your time!
Adventureland (2009)
Original and Not Cliché
Adventureland differs from other boy-meets-girl stories in it's originality and complex character development. While Superbad is hilarious, Greg Mottola concentrates on drama in Adventureland. It follows a college graduate who is still a virgin, who gets a job at a theme park to play for grad school. Not only are all of the characters he meets at the park unique and complex, the plot twists and turns. The outcomes of this film are not predictable or like a "typical" romantic comedy. The "pretty/popular/stupid" girl is not portrayed in the usual cliché manner; she is not mean and does not break up the main characters. She is a real person. Same with the character of Connor (Ryan Reynolds' character), who could have made to be a disgusting pedophile, but instead is given a personality and complexity. While you do not agree with all of the characters, you can sympathize with them or understand them, and they all feel like real people.
Grace (2009)
A Brilliant Film
I saw this wonderful film at the AFI Film Festival. It was so refreshing to see a truly great horror film. Nowadays, all we get are teenager-themed slasher films that concentrate on horrible acting and gore. This film was eerie because it has a truly compelling and chilling plot. The idea of an undead baby, and a mother's love for it, was haunting. The multi-layered plot had you always at the edge of your seat. Grace is perhaps the best horror film I have ever seen. It reminded me of Rosemary's Baby in the sense that it used a chilling story to frighten you-not overdone slasher gore. Not to mention beautiful cinematography and direction.
Adam Resurrected (2008)
This movie is a joke
I went to Adam Resurrected expecting a holocaust movie, but what I got was a sick, weird, perverted film. This film had almost nothing to do with the holocaust. It followed a circus clown who, during the holocaust, was forced to act like a dog to avoid going to the camps. While this showed how brutal Nazis could be, I'm pretty sure this didn't even happen to ANYONE during the holocaust. This film is not art. Some have been saying the dog was "symbolism", but I don't care. This film was a piece of crap. Between his line (while having doggy style sex with his nurse...) "less like a schnauzer more like a wolf" and his line to the OTHER boy who thinks he's a dog (what are the chances of this?) "it's you and me against the world,", this dog themed holocaust movie was horrible. Should Jeff Goldblum get an Oscar? No. Unless they create a new category for "best human portraying a dog".
The Reader (2008)
A New Perspective
The Reader was one of the most memorable films of 2008. It was also incredibly controversial, as it humanizes the monster: a Nazi prison guard. Kate Winslet brilliantly portrays Hannah Schmitz, the German who decides to become a Nazi, a decision which a teenager struggles to understand after an affair with her. The film seems to be in two parts. The first part is their affair. She is an older, lonely woman, and he is a teenager. She is reluctant to love him, but they bond over his reading to her. The first half of the film is executed perfectly. While some already seem to deem Hannah as evil as she is now a pedophile, pedophilia is not the theme of the first half. The theme of the first half is love and happiness. We know the Holocaust is going on, but it is not even shown. They go away with each other to the country, etc. However, the film abruptly changes. Hannah has suddenly left, and the boy is left sad and confused. Later, in law school, after the Holocaust, he finds out that she was a Nazi. It is here that the film becomes more controversial. He is trying to understand how someone he thought he knew could do something so evil, and also struggles with his newfound guilt for loving her. A brilliant line is, when talking about the toll their affair took on his later life (as he has become unable to form real relationships), he says "she did far worse to others." The Reader may be a holocaust story, but its central theme is love. I remember when I saw this film in an advanced screening, the critic talking about the film detested it. He said it was insulting to Jews who were hurt in the Holocaust to humanize the monster. But the hard truth is that the Nazis were people, and the film tries to understand how ordinary citizens could do something so cruel. While the film made me think, I also have problems with it. First of all, I wish they would have filmed it in German. While Kate Winslet was brilliant, it is frustrating that films like Slumdog Millionaire stay true to the culture and speak the language, but The Reader hired famous actors to make more money. The Germans are speaking English in this film. Also, the "big shock" about the film was incredibly easy to figure out. I think that some intelligent people might have a problem with the fact that the main character does not figure out the surprise soon enough. Also, the first time I saw the film, the ending dissatisfied me. However, upon seeing it again, I think that it was a simple and profound way to end the film. Another nit-picky problem of mine was its lack of a consistent score, which I personally feel would have added more emotion to the film (but this is just personal preference). But I still loved The Reader. The Reader dares to go where other Holocaust films have never gone before. It is a standout of 2008. However, it is not a "perfect" film, and beware, for many people found the film to be insulting.
Friday Night Lights (2006)
Realistic and Full of Emotion
Friday Night Lights is one of the best shows on television. It is a travesty that no one is watching it, simply because NBC isn't advertising it. First off, the pilot is one of the best pilots I have ever seen. Some may think FNL is just a high school show about football with a beautiful cast, but it is so much more than that. In the very first episode, the starting quarterback becomes paralyzed. This is the kind of show that FNL is. Everything is realistic; it's not just glamorous and phony like Gossip Girl or 90210. And you don't have to like football or sports to enjoy this show. It is about relationships more than the game. And the marriage between the coach and his wife doesn't involve them cheating or behaving like the parents did in, for example, The OC. They have one of the most realistic marriages on television or on film. And the relationship with their daughter, Julie, is like that of a real family; it is a strong relationship but with some difficult times. ALL of the characters feel like real people. Also, FNL gets the whole football-obsessed town down perfectly! The other great thing about the show is that it has so much heart and emotion. Don't watch it if you're not ready to cry! The relationships between the characters are beautiful. There are wonderful characters dealing with hardships: Jason is paralyzed, and Lyla, his girlfriend, has to deal with her boyfriend's paralysis, which is the most moving part of Season 1 for me. My only critique of the show (and the reason I give it a 9 instead of a 10) is that Season 2 was weaker. In an attempt to get more people to watch FNL and save the show, the writers started to do more "typical" plot points, one involving murder. It was still tasteful and had pure emotion, but nonetheless took a turn from the truly real feel the show had in Season 1. However, critics did not like Season 2 as well, and they are back to their strong selves for Season 3, which is the best season yet! Everyone who enjoys quality shows and film should watch Friday Night Lights!!