Well That's Cool

Hot on the heels of my previous review, here are some quick, down-and-dirty reviews of the movies that the Bama’s been showing. Keep coming back for the full series as it happens.

Melancholia: Missed most of it, I was selling tickets to the movie (Well That’s Cooligans support our community). It seemed super depressing. Plus, who wants to have sex in a sand trap? Sounds… gritty.

Martha, Marcy, May, Marlene: A wonderful meditation on why postmodernism is ass-backwards and modernism is alienating.

*Bonus* The response from the Bama’s manager upon hearing that line: “Bill, you’re full of shit.”

Bellflower: Bad in a good way and good in a bad way.

The Other F Word: Punk rockers explain some of the best reasons to have a crumb-snatcher. It’s pretty heartfelt. Not a lot of reality show bull here. Just punk rockers as dads.

Black Power Mix Tape 1967-1975: This film is impossible to sum up in one sentence. It was informative and showed many people from the Civil Rights Movement as persons and not just names in a text book. See this film.

To come: Carnage, A Dangerous Method.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Apologies for lateness. Color me lazy.

As I didn’t read the book, I went into Scorsese’s film quite blind. A combination of his daughter’s request for a movie she could watch and Scorsese’s own love of 3D film, Hugo tells of an orphan who is determined to repair an automaton his father started fixing.

This movie’s plot is one to watch instead of reading a summary in a review. The technical aspect of the plot is that it is two part, the setting and the stage. In all, I found it too fragmented. I plan to read the book and watch the film again.

The characters are fun and actor chemistry is fantastic. The story is dripping with a sense of adventure that accompanies childhood naivete. The movie also reminds younger viewers that those older than they were once as young and as idealistic as the young are now. This holds especially true when the movie diverts from Hugo’s story to a biographical one.

It’s a tough film to critique without having read the book. Therefore, I won’t numerically score this. Simply put, see it if you have read the book, or if your kid wants to see it, or if you want to see some of the first films ever made in 3D.

If you miss it in theatres, get the 3D Blu Ray. Scorsese made it 3D for a reason.

Bonus info: this movie got a ton of damn Oscar nods. Take that how you will.

Popularity: 5% [?]

While I shy away from nostalgic things (because nothing can top my memory of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles show), I like nostalgia from certain sources and, being in the right mood, gave the new Muppet movie a whirl. And it was a hell of a great way to unwind. While some things were laid on heavily and non-cameo actors came off really hokey, that was the point, wasn’t it?

Popularity: 12% [?]

One of our favorite times of the year is Halloween. Who doesn’t like getting tipsy while dressing as their favorite video game charter or internet meme?  (why yes Matt Smith I do think those tights would really pull your Link costume together)  But we also love that it’s the time of year that we get to partner with the lovely ladies and handsome gentlemen of the PBB for The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

This year’s show is on Sat Oct 29th at the lovely Bama Theatre at 9pm. It’s not just a screening of the movie,oh no, it’s a full on stage show with  crowd participation, props,  dancing and a heaping tablespoon of innuendo with the movie as a backdrop. It would be a terrible shame to get there late. Starting at 7pm when the doors open you can watch “Haxan”, a creepy 1922 Swedish documentary about witchcraft followed by the always super rad costume contest with over $300 in prizes at 8:30. Admission is just $15 with prop bags for $5 and that is money well spent in our book. We hope to see you there!!

*update*

8pm: Special Guests, the Voodoo Saints!!

Popularity: 27% [?]

The Arts Council of Tuscaloosa is bringing something very cool back to the Bama, The Art House Film series. This fall’s series promises to be one of the best yet. It runs Tuesday nights at 7:30PM. The best deal in town for a film on the big screen is at the Bama Theatre where adults can see all nine films for $4.44 a film when you buy a season pass. Adults pay $40 and students/seniors pay $35 for a pass to the entire season. That’s a deal even David Smith can get behind and that’s before the $1 popcorn. The Bama Bar will be running drink specials and open at 6:45 in advance of each show. People sometimes gripe to us about there not being enough cool stuff here in our fair hamlet but this is a prime example of something we need to support. You can get you season passes here. The opening film will be Terrence Malick’s “Tree of Life” and continue through October 11th.

• August 23: The Cave of Forgotten Dreams 
• August 30: The Trip
• September 6: The Names of Love
• September 13: Beginners
• September 20: Terri (who doesn’t like John C. Reilly)
• September 27: Manhattan Short Film Festival
• October 4: Tabloid
• October 11: Submarine

Popularity: 23% [?]

Let me be clear from the start: I have not seen this movie. I will soon, in an attempt to give some credence to my ranting, but I haven’t yet. The following words are a pre-view, a chance to share my anger at its boiling point to those who have not yet had the joy.

This movie takes my blood pressure sky-high. The rise comes for the two reasons, the most obvious being representation of women. The way to get ahead is to scrounge money for a tit-implant, get a “hot” guy, and have him support you? Seriously??? I want to know what ideas got turned down in that pitch meeting. This is an example of one way female comedy can go after the climate change hoped for following the movie “Bridesmaids” last month: women “empowered” by their ability to be dirty versions of what men are after. Charming.

Honestly, the concept is so absurd that I can’t be offended by it for more than five minutes. It’s certainly bad, and Cameron Diaz in particular creeps me out beyond imagination, but it’s not really a shocking development. What really gets my bile up is that Diaz is a teacher.

Maybe the profession isn’t much of a concern to the target group seeing this movie. I don’t have stats on this, but I would hearty bet that the only people seriously concerned with education in the nation are people with kids. Or folks trying to enter the field, like myself. We’re mired in this hellatious swamp of testing, arbitrary accountability ratings, and the idea that class room training is more valuable than subject knowledge (the former is important, no doubt, but ultimately what good is being able to awesomely manage a classroom if you have nothing of substance to teach?). For quite a while the idea was “those who can not do, teach,” that it was a course of study favored by women still waiting to earn their MRS, or just folks who don’t want a life in retail or restaurant, but not smart enough to much else. Now we’ve reached a point where teachers apparently exist to suck the system dry while not doing anything for the students — unions battling for outrageous benefits so that these monsters can sit in front of knowledge starved young ones counting their pile of gold!

This may seem a bit far from a summer flick with Cameron Diaz doing a sexy carwash, just the bitter ramblings of an unemployed graduate, hopelessly jealous of the bleach-blonde Joker look.  Maybe so.  Still, when I’m assaulted by this movie’s trailer all I can see is teachers being slobs who got into the game to be lazy, people who don’t care about their students unless they can profit off of them, and promotion of the idea that standardized tests truly are a great way to get people motivated.  Diaz strutting like a preying mantis in heat and Justin Timberlake looking barely pubescent are just the icing on the caca-cake.

Hopefully, I’m terribly wrong and the trailer is just sensationalist propaganda that doesn’t effectively represent the movie’s core.  For now, I’m just looking for a way to see it without contributing a cent to the weekend gross.

This movie opens today at the Cobb 16 along with Cars 2 which I hear is also quite the masterpiece.

Popularity: 14% [?]

Note to future filmmakers: If the scene you are creating looks anything like a screensaver or wallpaper included in Windows, DON’T DO IT.

Not sure how to apply this to veteran maker Terrence Malick, but want to at least put a call out in some lame attempt to prevent my eyes from being subjected to that nonsense again.  This trip down memory lane for a man (Sean Penn) trying to grapple with conflicting feelings toward his father, the troubles of becoming a man, and the loss of his childhood, plays more like a punishment than a narrative experience.  What have we done to offend you, Terry?  I understand the intent of vision, but the end product plays like a long trailer — series of partially connected scenes, swooping music, poignant faces, and so on.

Malick works a great lens without the backbone of narrative tightness, a clear perspective, balance of any kind.  The stage has no clear setting, though there is a glimmer of an idea that the two parents battle inside their growing child, an interesting concept worth exploring.  This falls apart with the execution of the parents.  Pitt’s portrayal of the father is beautifully crafted, whether by Malick’s hand or Pitt’s it’s hard to tell.  The dichotomy unravels, and actually does great injustice to the other performers (except for Penn who if just obnoxiously hanging out for the course of the film, looking pensive and destructive as ever), with the two-dimensional image of goodness that is the mother.  Her spacey looks and wispy sayings are dull to the point of distraction.  Or action — I could have run screaming out of the theater a couple times (admittedly, this may have been augmented by highly uncomfortable chairs).

I don’t even know how to approach what I can only decipher as Malick’s failed contribution to a Discovery Channel mini-series.

Self-reflection is a vital part of the human experience, but the purpose of film is communication and that just didn’t happen here.  It was the precipice with no followthrough, a declaration with no substance, just a wide array of glorious items disgracefully lacking.  Very likely, this project fulfilled some great part of Malick’s creative vision, but it’s a school of cinematic thought I have no patience for.  It’s not petty indulgence, as I read in one review, it’s just damn foolishness.  We would all be better served if Malick had approached a talented screen-scribe, laid out the plan, and insisted on visual oversight.  Then, truly (sans creation montage), he would have had a wonder on his hands.

This film was seen at the lovely Cinema Arts Theater in Fairfax, VA.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Watching a childhood favorite as an adult is a dangerous venture as you seem destined to either collapse into crippling nostalgia (no, sweetheart, I will NOT call you Atreyu) or shuffle through depressing, shattered illusions (why does Falkor look so fake move so weird?). After going to this flick, suggest galloping down memory lane with someone whose excitement matches a penchant for dirty jokes.
For those not privy, this Wolfgang Peterson masterpiece is the tale of alonely child who escapes into a book henabs from a creepy bookshop. The “neverending” element relates to the paralyzing fear that the battle of growing up will destroy the glorious treasure of imagination that fuels the younger years. The music is cheesier than a Frenchman’s sockdrawer and Atreyu is one of the most melodramatic warriors to ever grace the plains, bit all scoffs and petty jokes (an upright plethora) are born of admiration, not disdain. We all know the terror of lost imagination. If you put your sad hat on, you’d probably find

this guy still scares the shit out of us

it’s the cause for more than half your committed drinking. But what avenue is there for full-on “grown” folks? In theory, our minds have already been devoured by a faceless cloud, leaving only bumps and chunks of land behind. Joke as we may about people in a state of perpetual childhood, we’re really referring to a post-pubescent realm far out of reach from unicorns in math books and the endearing scampiness of stealing or trespassing. So we get obliterated, piss on the remains of other people’s glowing genital structure, and wait to shake the last few golden grains of sand from our shoe.
SEE movies like this. Make foul jokes, mock the bad ass theme song, and scream like Bastian on the way home (I know someone out there knows the name — help a sister out!). In light of all the rest, please, act an ass — it’s the noble thing to do.

Three cheers for the Bama Theater for bringing this gem back to the big screen! Warmed my heart to see kids enjoying a movie NOT fueled by fart jokes and castrated rap. Look forward to seeing what other “youth movies” are coming next.

Popularity: 17% [?]

I know our usual film reviewer is the lovely Dosty Glory, but after seeing a movie I had been anticipating for quite some time, I decided to finally make use of my Critical Film and Television Studies degree and review it.  As you already know because you clicked on the link, the film I’m talking about is Super 8, which was directed by J.J. Abrams and produced by the American union equivalent of Senor Spielbergo, Steven Spielberg.

The film tells the story of a group of friends trying to make a homemade zombie movie in a mundane Ohio steel town in 1979.  One member of the group, Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney), is still strongly affected by his mother’s death in a freak accident at the steel mill.  His father Jackson (Kyle Chandler), a sheriff’s deputy, has a strained relationship with his son and does not understand the boy’s willingness to go running around with his friends making crazy movies.  One night, the director of the film, Charles (Riley Griffiths), gets the crew to sneak out and film some shots at a local train station.  They are aided by the slightly older Alice (Elle Fanning), who naturally catches the eye of all the boys, specifically Joe.  If you’ve seen the trailers, you know that while the kids are at the train station, a derailment occurs followed by some pretty big explosions.  From there, things just start getting worse as all sorts of weird things occur in town.  Something has escaped from the train, and that something is rather angry.

A lot has been said about how Super 8 is J.J. Abrams’ homage to the Steven Spielberg movies of the 1970′s and 1980′s.  It is pretty easy to see the influence of Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind and E.T., straight down to a shot that mirrors a key scene early in that film.  Still, below the surface, the film touches on something that Spielberg and Abrams’ have both covered in their previous work: Strained family relationships revolving around the father.   After the death of Mrs. Lamb, Joe and Jackson can’t see eye to eye on a lot of things, including Joe’s fascination with Alice due to the fact Alice’s dad was indirectly responsible for the death of Mrs. Lamb, or so Jackson believes.  Alice’s relationship with her father is also severely strained from the effects of alcoholism and guilt.

With that in mind, though, the main point of the film, at least in my opinion, comes through.  The whole film is about letting go and moving forward.  Joe clutches a locket that belonged to his mother for the whole film.  Jackson blames Alice’s dad for the accident, thus banning Joe from seeing Alice.  Even the creature has these same issues.  He can’t let go of what’s been done to him, and the government literally can’t let him go to live in piece.  I don’t want to say too much about the creature as the film is not so much about a pissed off alien causing havoc, but it’s about an incredibly strange situation in the most normal of towns.  The attention to detail, the characterization, especially the kids acting like normal kids, and the atmosphere presented gives you that feeling throughout the film.  The actions of the creature serve as the catalyst for all our characters to make the necessary decisions about letting go and moving forward.

On a personal note, I did rather enjoy the interaction shown between the children in the film.  As mentioned before, they act and talk like normal kids meaning they curse, insult each other, and constantly try to one up each other.  Some will definitely see shades of the dynamic shown in “The Goonies”, well, at least I did.  Goonies never say die.

The film is not without faults as it does lose steam during the last act, but it’s a small criticism.  We’re still dealing with a summer film that has a lot of heart and intelligence behind it, and that’s a rarity this time of the year.  Do yourself a favor and go see this one.  I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Let’s leave aside the obvious (who would choose to work for James McAvoy over Kevin Bacon??) and focus on the necessary: badass people with bad dialogue and awesome powers!

I love these movies – from the Marvel flipping comic page logo to the last lame sweep-shot. They have their faults. More than goofy dialogue (“Mutant, and proud!”) but also in areas that could have easily been fixed if someone would take five minutes to review the material. Like – Sebastian Shaw speaks all these languages, and is presumably German, but he speaks as if he’s from Ohio. Or, why is Moira the only person in most scenes not in period dress? My most obnoxious complaint, for the millionth time: why the blip does Dr. X’s chair look like that?! I know, later on in the saga, sure, get yourself a fancy set of wheels. But initially? You might as well make it out of plexi-glass, fill it with gold fish, and blame it on the times.
Obviously it’s a bit obscene to expect some type of realism from a comic book film. The plot, afterall, does focus on a new (to my knowledge) explanation of a world event. Still, I’ve got my standards, and one of them is the idea that fans deserve to be treated like they have some cinematic sense, even if they don’t know it. These nit-picks aside, the movie mainly falls prey to the flaws of most origin stories — too much jumping around to cover all the bases, too much attention to explaining things that can respectfully be taken for granted. A lot of this gets back to giving credit to your fanbase. I’m not suggesting film makers should act like the movie is a giant inside joke and everyone not in the know can just flip off. A little a mystery is a good thing and, when used right, can spark desire to investigate deeper from those unfamiliar while providing a fun treat for long termers. It’s all about balance, a space between bottomless insider references and walking the viewer through like a newly toddled child.
In the end, these are more complaints for the genre at large than this particular flick. I’m not a reader of the books so it was fun to learn new things, while also enjoying little gifts for those who’ve seen the other films. It’s fun, it’s exciting, and I can’t wait for the next one (hurry, hurry, hurry).

Can’t finish without saying a word about the wicked performance by Nicholas Hoult, portraying my own favorite X-Men character (who I shamefully didn’t recognize initially). His subtlety as an actor continues to astonish me, I hope they keep him on for the next film (seriously, there better be another film, and soon). In the meantime, I’ve moved the other X-Men flicks to the top of my Netflix queue, if only to enjoy how Holt’s characters make-up SHOULD have looked.

Popularity: 19% [?]