Reviews in a Few Sentences

Burn After Reading

Pitt is funny, as is a bizarre Clooney invention, but this weird Coen Brothers follow up to No Country stalls until the final act.  In the end you’ll wonder if there are enough laughs to justify the time you spend on it.

The Wrestler

The handheld camera follows Rourke’s wrestler for the majority of the film; a perspective that takes a while to get used to.  Watch the scene on the beach between the man and his daughter and tell me Rourke wasn’t the best actor this year.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Clerks is no longer Kevin Smith’s best film.  Smith, directing his funniest and most complete film, reminds us that he, not Judd Apatow, is the father of the vulgar-but-kind-hearted-comedy schtick.  I would saw my right arm off at the elbow to get with Elizabeth Banks.

Look Back in Anger

This 50’s British drama, no relation to the classic Oasis track, features one of the angriest men this side of Travis Bickle.  He yells at his wife in the most eloquent manners...

“Nigel and Alison, they're what they sound like, sycophantic, phlegmatic and pusillanimous.  Shall I tell you what I mean?  Soapy, stodgy, and dim.”  Who knew domestic disputes could be so fun?

Role Models

The most you will laugh at a movie this side of Zack and Miri, and perhaps this is even funnier.  Paul Rudd is all of a sudden making a push to be the next comedy king... go back and watch Anchorman and this will not seem that surprising.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I know I wrote about this movie last time, but it still hasn’t finished... get it?  It’s long.

Reviews in a Few Sentances

Iggy Pop – The Idiot: Not the album I expected it to be, but that’s definitely not a bad thing. Sure, the “Search and Destroy” Iggy isn’t present on this album, but at least he’s kept his arrogant swagger. The Idiot is the first collaboration between Pop and David Bowie; you would be completely inept if you couldn’t recognize Bowie’s influence on this album.

Black Lips – 200 Million Thousand: Yeah I’ll admit this one has some throw-away tracks, but I liked it. Originality earns it some points. Punk Rock meets 60’s surfer rock…what a concept.

Jeff Buckley – Grace: A friend suggested this to me a while back, and I just dismissed it as yet another one of her useless hippie albums. I’m an idiot. This albums great, as it somehow manages to combine all the things I like. Varied track list…check! Led Zeppelin-like influence…check! Obvious 90’s sound…check! Badass falsetto…double check! In the end, it's great album that somehow mixes puppy dog softness with wailing narcissism.

Pavement – Slanted and Enchanted: Slanted and Enchanted is one of those albums that could arguably one of the best to come out of the 90’s…if it didn’t stand in the shadows of Nirvana’s Nevermind and Pearl Jam’s Ten. Tracks like Summer Babe (Winter Version), Perfume-V, Jackals, False Grails: The Lonesome Era are essential to any alternative rock playlist.

Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago: O-V-E-R-R-A-T-E-D! Look I wanted to this like this album, I really did, I tried several times after hearing that it amazing and you know what, its not. I like that it’s mostly acoustic with atmospheric vocals, but man, I need some variety in my albums. Skinny Love is a great song, and the rest of the album seems to be a painfully long intro/outro to it.

Nick Drake – Pink Moon: Take everything I bitched about Bon Iver’s album and put a positive spin on it. Sure, its an incredibly mellow album that feels like your chilling with some dude playing the acoustic, but at least it’s enjoyable…on a side note, wooed one of Anthony’s girlfriends into the sac with this one…she thought I was cultured, heh heh.

-Matt

Reviews In A Few Sentences

A few movies I’ve watched recently, briefly discussed for your benefit.  I haven't written one of these in a while, so I have a lot of little opinions to spout about.

Le Samurai

Woah, existential man.  The title sequence is so cool I want to start smoking: Alain Delon was to smoking in the 60’s what Dom Draper is to it now.

Taken

Possible alternate title... Throatchopper: Return of the Schindler.  Without Liam Neeson, this movie would be unwatchable.  And his “This is not time for dick measuring,” line is def an inside joke about him being rumored to have the biggest dick in Hollywood since Milton Berle.

Wall-E

I’m not covering any new ground here, but the first 30-40 minutes are magical.  The later half is better than I remembered.

Clerks II

Probably the best movie I have ever seen that has a significant segment dedicated to a donkey show.  Can’t wait for Zack and Miri on DVD.

Cassandra’s Dream

With Vicky Christina Barcelona out now, this is not the new Woody Allen film to watch.  Colin Farrell is terrible.

In Bruges

Great movie that somehow manages to effortlessly switch from suspense, to hilarity, to heartbreak without ever seeming uneven.  Colin Farrell is amazing.

Gas Food Lodging

Put this on the long list of wrongs perpetrated on humanity by the late 80s, early 90s (see Matt's post for some others).  I love Ione Skye more than the next guy, but do yourself a favor and never watch this movie.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Special Extended Review

Directed by David Fincher, written by Eric Roth, and edited by no one.  I love Brad Pitt as much as the next heterosexual male questioning his own sexuality (he is prettier than several of the girls that I have courted), but a best performance nod for this?  Ben B had absolutely no personality... based on what we saw from the film he could retarded or a genius.  I just don’t see what made (the so gorgeous that the fact that her last role was playing my hero Bob Dylan also makes me question my sexuality) Cate Blanchett so into him, aside from maybe a morbid curiosity of this freakish dude who keeps aging backwards.  I know this is more than a few sentences, but this film was longer than first grade, and I stayed back a year.