Shutter Island, Death at a Funeral, Youth in Revolt, Year One

This is incredibly late coming from me, but this last Friday (after seeing Inception), I watched all the movies stated in the title of this post.

Shutter Island concerns the story of a "feder-uhl mah-shal" and his partner who investigate the disappearance of a lady at a top-security insane asylum. Leonardo DiCaprio plays the federal marshal Teddy, Mark Ruffalo plays the partner, Ben Kingsley plays the head psychologist, and Michelle Williams plays Teddy's tormented wife. Unfortunately, when I watched this, I had already predicted the end. My mother and I were picking out movies one time in the store, and I called it: "He's totally insane, and this is all some hallucination in his mind." My mom thought she had to dupe me, like when I discovered she was Santa Clause, so she told me that it had a surprise twist at the end (which I proceeded to argue was his insanity). So, when I watched this, I found that I had the basic idea right. A few things were more complicated than I expected, such as the anagrams of Teddy's and Dolores' names, how crazy his wife actually was, and the scheduled lobotomy at the end (which, thanks to Laura's and my viewing of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest with Jack Nicholson, I now know what that is :P). But other than that, this movie was awfully predictable.

Death at a Funeral (the English version) was alright. It wasn't as comedic as I had hoped (I expected the British to have better senses of humor), but some comedy elements were excellent. The plotline consists of a man holding his father's funeral (the timespan lasts a day) and how he deals with his eccentric relatives. The man Daniel (played by Matthew McFadyen, a.k.a. Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightley, a.k.a. Mr. Dreamy as I like to call him) has arranged his whole father's funeral and is trying to get ahold of a flat with his pregnant wife. His famous novelist brother Robert returns (whom he resents for becoming more famous than he) and hits on the younger cousins present. He also has two cousins who arrive: one is a drug addict in college (Troy) trying to keep it on the DL, and the other is a businesswoman (Martha) who is about to get married to a prudish, but lovable guy (Simon) who accidentally takes some hallucinogen supplied by Troy. Finally, there is another cousin (Howard) who arrives with a friend who once dated Martha and with Uncle Alfred, the most crotchety old man in a wheelchair anyone could imagine. The day starts out like normal until everyone arrives, and chaos ensues when the fiancée (played by Alan Tudyk of Firefly fame) begins to hallucinate. He thinks he sees the deceased patriarch trying to escape from his coffin and has to be removed from the room. Daniel takes the opportunity to work on his eulogy but continues to be interrupted by random relatives. A short man comes up to him and expresses an urgent need to speak with Daniel. Daniel finally agrees, and the man explains that he was his father's lover and proceeds to blackmail Daniel for money to not release the information about the affair. To his misfortune, Daniel and others in the family try to conceal the man from everyone and incidentally drug him with Troy's hallucinogenic pills. After Simon goes nude and noisily ponders on the rooftop (drawing everyone's attention to him), Daniel, Robert, Howard, and Troy manage to get the doped up midget into his father's coffin, thinking he's dead. After everyone returns inside, and the funeral begins again, the midget tries to escape and succeeds in notifying everyone of his relationship with Daniel's father. The mother goes crazy and attacks him, but after all of the madness and dysfunction of the family gathering, Daniel delivers a beautiful eulogy and manages to end on a good note. Death at a Funeral reminded me of Eulogy quite a bit, but I feel like it's more within the realms of reality than Eulogy (everyone seems slightly more real; a porn star, a closet lesbian, and a man with perverted twin sons doesn't seem like a likely family). I am excited for the American version of Death at a Funeral; I feel like it's going to slightly funnier with some African-American culture involved. :D

Youth in Revolt was different. I thought it was interesting to see Michael Cera in a badass role, but it wasn't as funny as I'd hoped it would be. It wasn't bad, though. It was fun to watch his sudden transformation into a complete opposite of himself in order to impress a girl (and yes, I'm aware it's for all the wrong reasons). I really disliked the girl, though. She played him throughout the whole movie and wasn't into him until he was classified as juvenile detention center jailbait. I did find it hilarious to see him as François, a suave man with a pencil mustache, tight pants, and a white button-up shirt. Overall, it was okay, but not one of my favorites.

Year One wasn't very good, either. It's the story about how two nomads leave their tribe to travel the world. It contains several Biblical references (the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden, Cain and Abel, Isaac's almost-sacrifice, and the town of Sodom). I liked watching the blooper reel at the end (I have a fetish with watching blooper reels; I really enjoy seeing how actors are when they are offscreen), but it wasn't a very good comedy. Jack Black and Michael Cera made an interesting team, but I felt they could have complemented each other better.

That's all I have for now. I've been meaning to put this up for awhile, but I hadn't had a lapse from my ADHD long enough to sit down and type this up. The next two movies I'm going to write about are Korean, so it will be entertaining. :P

Oh My God... Inception

I went to see Inception this afternoon, and I think it has got to be the best movie out this year. Christopher Nolan (director of Batman Begins, The Prestige, and The Dark Knight) is definitely one of my favorite directors out making films right now. He knows just how to time the suspense in each of his films and how to develop the characters in a timely fashion. Inception follows a team of thieves/engineers who share dreams in order to get information about classified projects. It starts out with Dom (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt sharing a dream with a Japanese energy tycoon Saito (Ken Watanabe) in order to steal information from his mind. Unfortunately, Dom's wife interferes, leaving you to wonder, how is she there? In order to make it back to the U.S. to see his kids, Dom takes on a project offered by Saito to plant an idea into a rival energy businessman's son to break up his company. This process, called "inception," is a very difficult one because the team would have to travel into the third level of dreams, which is the deepest part of the mind. The team breaks into the man's mind but has many unforeseen obstacles along the way, which includes Dom's memories' interference. At the end, Dom and his architect (Ellen Page) are trapped in the subconscious of the man, and Dom has to retrieve Saito, who was shot and has fallen into the limbo. *SPOILER* Dom returns home to his kids, but his totem, a spinning top, continues spinning and sucks the audience in by continuing to spin until the screen goes black, suggesting he may still be within the depths of his own subconscious.

I loved the action scenes in this film. They pulled in anti-gravity, drive-by shootings and car chases, and even cliff-climbing for the action scenes, which made it amazing. I also loved the characters' personalities: Dom with his mysterious past that is slowly revealed, Arthur with his rational thinking and seemingly smooth moves, Ariadne with her honest and practical approach to life, Eames with his sly and goofy manner, and Saito with his determination to see it through. I am definitely going to watch this again when it comes out. :D And I can't wait!

The Royal Tenenbaums

Yesterday, while getting ready for class, I watched The Royal Tenenbaums, a movie directed by Wes Anderson about a dysfunctional family. It has a cast with many famous names in it, including Gene Hackman, Angelica Huston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, the Wilson brothers, and Danny Glover. I don't know how Wes Anderson did it, but all of the characters have such interesting personality quirks, which makes for really funny interactions. For example, when Richie (Luke Wilson) tries to kill himself and is lying in the hospital, Chas (Ben Stiller) keeps drilling him about trivial things, such as: is there a suicide note?, could it be paraphrased?, was it gruesome?, etc. This movie made me laugh so hard that the proverbial milk was running from my nose. :P But anyway, it's definitely a movie I will be keeping with me to watch. :D

A Few Key Funny Points:
Pagoda stabbing Royal with a pocketknife while calling him a "son of a bitch."
Eli's suddenly going tribal and crashing a car into the wedding.
Ari and Uzi's tracksuits (made me laugh the whole movie).
Raleigh and Dudley's interactions.

Despicable Me 3D

So, on Sunday, I saw my first ever, actual movie in 3D. As you can guess, it was Despicable Me, a Pixar-like film about an evil villain trying to become the most evil villain/thief until he adopts three girls. I expected to see a more comedic movie when I went with my friend Larissa, but it wasn't as funny as I thought. It was really cute though. But I'm not really looking for cute. So, I'm going to say that Despicable Me wasn't really a good movie for me. I'm more into funny or action-packed or mysterious.

Also, I am going to see Inception at some point this week. I've heard from everyone who's gone to see it that it is freakin' amazing.

Step Up and the LXD

Tonight, I watched Step Up with my roommate, Sarah. It's a pretty stereotypical dance movie, but what I enjoy is watching the actual actors dance instead of having someone else dance for them. It makes the story better/more fun to watch. Anyway, I saw this movie awhile ago, and it was great to rewatch it tonight. Step Up 3D is coming out on August 6th, so I'm looking forward to seeing it. Unfortunately, my exam is supposed to be the same day, so I'll either be traveling home or, hopefully, have my exam moved up and be home by then. It looks like it's going to be awesome.

The LXD is an internet series by the director of Step Up 3D, Jon Chu, and it involves a bunch of dancers who become superheroes. There have been 3 episodes out so far, and my favorite is Robot Lovestory. It's set up like a live-action graphic novel, but with crazy moves. I have to admit, I'm jealous of dancers. I know it's hard work, but it would be totally worth it to move as fluidly as they do. But anyway, it's fun to watch them do what they do.

I would like to add that we need to add Battlestar Galactica to our must-watch list. I feel like it's going to be awesome.

Men Who Stare At Goats

Tonight, or, rather, last night, my friend Larissa and I watched Men Who Stare at Goats, a movie about a journalist's journey with Lyn Cassidy, who was once a part of the New Earth Army, a military section based in psychic research. The journalist (EWAN MCGREGOR!!!!!!!) reaches a mid-life (or 30s) crisis where his wife leaves him, and he heads to the Middle East in order to show that he has what it takes as a writer. In Iraq, he runs into Lyn Cassidy, the psychic prodigy of the New Earth Army who has been reactivated and is taking on a new mission, although he has no idea where he's going, or what exactly he's doing. The journalist learns to loosen up and accept life as it comes and to have some fun every once in awhile. I love the comedy in this movie. It's so random and ironic. They are a crazy bunch of people, and I love them for it. I'd highly suggest watching this movie, especially for Jeff Bridges' acting and Kevin Spacey's strange "spirit guide" voice. :D

She's Out of My League, Firefly, and The 4400

Last night, I watched She's Out of My League. Surprisingly, I had a good time watching it. It has a lot of funny parts to it, but about the same amount as other B-rated comedy movies. (Not as bad as a C-rated movie, like The 40-year-old Virgin Who Knocked Up Sarah Marshall and Felt Superbad About It. I mean, c'mon, really?). But I have to say that the combination of his family and friends and her really hateful friend made the movie. The main characters were alright, but the supporting cast really brought home the laughs. Also, I really liked the soundtrack. It had a lot of rock similar to 90's/early 00's rock. Overall, I liked it. Not loved it, but just liked it.

We also watched the pilot of Firefly. I watched its one and only season at the beginning of this summer. It's a really good series. The plotline follows the crew of Serenity, a spaceship called a Firefly, as they travel through space avoiding the Alliance and taking on random jobs. My fascination with the show is the style. It's a Western and futuristic/sci-fi as well. In addition, the characters have more depth to them than some sci-fi series. And there's comedy, for which I'm always a sucker. :P

Finally, a series that I have been rewatching with my roommate and friends is The 4400. The 4400 is about 4400 people who have been abducted over the past 60 years and returned in a giant ball of white light all of a sudden on a shore in Washington state. Even more strange is the unexpected presence of special powers that accompany everyone's arrival. As the plot develops, the storyline and characters get more complex. The first two seasons are to build up relationships between the characters and are, therefore, slower than the third and fourth seasons. By the second or third episode in the third season, a whirlwind of events picks up and carries away your boredom. It's an amazing series. :D And I fully suggest watching it.

Ahem... Yeah.

At the behest of Laura, I decided to stop for a moment and take a look at the movie Deliverance. So, um, yeah... What is there really to say about Deliverance? Well, it is a movie about four guys who work together who take a trip up into the Appalachian mountains to canoe down the river before it is destroyed for industry's sake. The trip starts out simply enough with the men looking for someone to drive their car to the endpoint of the journey downstream and some wicked banjo/guitar-playing ("Dueling Banjos") by one of the men and a young Appalachian boy. Then, they take off down the river, and the real horror begins. Two of the guys (played by Jon Voight and Ned Beatty) are accosted by mountain men and tied up, and the character acted out by Ned Beatty is then violated by one of the hillbillies. This includes the famous line: "Squeal, piggy, squeal!" (which isn't a pretty mental or visual image). The guys escape with the help of one of their friends (the oh-so-rugged Burt Reynolds) and take off down the river. One of them is killed, and two others are seriously injured before they finally escape the hell known as Appalachian backcountry. Don't think that I hate this movie because of all the gruesomeness and graphics; it is a good film for comparing the aspects of humanity and nature. It's just different from what I'm used to with all the cookie-cutter films nowadays. :P

But, I'd like to include some fun facts. James Dickey, the author of the novel and screenplay for Deliverance, liked to play with people's minds. He would tell stories about himself and others that weren't true just to mess with people. I found it hysterical when his son and the actors of Deliverance talked about it on special features. They provided lots of examples, so check it out! Also, I heard from my uncle's friend that the actor Ned Beatty would go to public places, and people thereabouts would say, "Squeal, piggy, squeal!" I don't think I would ever be truly comfortable with playing that character if it would lead to comments like that. But he managed somehow, and all the more power to him, as my mom likes to say. He became really good friends with the actor who played the mountain man who raped him. They spent a lot of time together onset in order to be comfortable enough with that scene. That takes some serious dedication. I would like to talk about Burt Reynolds too. He made me laugh really hard with his tough personality and wilderness skillz (that's right; he gets a 'z' because it's that awesome). I especially love when he looks into the distance and says,"You don't beat the river." I crack up every time because of the seriousness etched into his expression. :D

Finally, a word about my mother. She watched it last night with my aunt and I for the first time. Needless to say, she was not a happy camper this morning in relation to that topic. She's used to the cookie-cutter movies also. :P

Jade Warrior

So, yesterday, I decided to watch the much-delayed (in my case) Jade Warrior. At first I thought it was like the stereotypical Chinese/Japanese martial arts films that come through the United States on a whirlwind of English subtitles, but it proved to be more than I expected, in a good way. Jade Warrior tells a story of the Kalevala, an epic poem made from years of storytelling, where Sintai Seng-pu, the son of the smith Seppo, has to face a demon in order to create happiness for the world. This movie starts out with the incarnation of Sintai in a blacksmith named Kai Pelkonen who has just been dumped by his girlfriend Ronja. She trades in his belongings at an antique shop, and one of them triggers a mysterious metal box covered in runes to partially open. The man who runs the store, Berg, travels to Kai's hut to get him to fully open the box, and a demon takes over Berg and orders Kai to build the Sampo, a mythical box that could return hope and happiness to the world. Kai complies reluctantly and slowly remembers his past life as Sintai, a half-Finnish, half-Chinese warrior destined to defeat a demon. Unfortunately, Sintai falls in love before meeting the demon and discovers that she loves someone else. It's a very tragic movie (like the story), and it was a far cry from the martial arts film I expected, but I really loved the plotline and characters. I found it interesting how Sintai's fate is intertwined with the demon's, and how he constantly reminds Sintai of it. Also, the special effects were pretty neat. They weren't as good as other movies I've seen, but they were definitely better than those of the SyFy channel's latest movie productions. I really hope they make a second movie to follow the storyline, since the ending had the potential to continue.

Review of Percy Jackson, Fame, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, and *eek!* Happy Gilmore

Last night was movie night! :D Well, and this morning... We watched Happy Gilmore last night, and I watched Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid. The night before, I watched Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief and Fame. Let's start with Percy Jackson.

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is about a boy who discovers his father is Poseidon and that he is the prime suspect in the theft of Zeus's master lightning bolt... all within 14 days of discovering that he is superhuman (demigod). He has to try to find the bolt while fighting ancient Greek creatures that are out to kill him. Overall, it was a pretty good movie with special effects making a huge factor in my like for it, but I would have to say that the book is much better. The book has a much different plotline with the same goal (retrieve the lightning bolt before Zeus kills him), but little aspects made it better, like the humor always present in the book, and a smoother segue into events and relationships.

Fame was pretty cool. It was a lot less graphic than its '70s predecessor, but the issues were made to conform to modern times, which I really liked. It's a movie that follows several students who are admitted into a high school in New York with an emphasis on the arts, but it shows the ups and downs of their lives over the four years. I really loved all of the characters, and the actors did a great job playing them. I loved Denise's and Marco's voices, and I especially loved the lunchroom scene. If I were going to a school of the arts, lunchtime would be my favorite part of the day. :D Also, I would like to add that Kevin the ballet dancer (well, ballet teacher now) looked kinda like Bruno. :P

I rewatched Happy Gilmore with a couple of my friends. I hadn't seen it in a few years, and I instantly loved it again. It made me laugh so hard with its wry sense of humor. I'd have to say that my favorite character is Chubbs. He is so ridiculously ridden with bad luck that I couldn't help but giggle. Oh, and I finally discovered that the IRS agent (played by Robert Smigel) who comes to repossess the house is the same guy who creates the TV Funhouse cartoons for Saturday Night Live (which from hereon out, I will refer to as SNL). It was nice to put a face to the name.

Finally, I watched Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid via recommendation by Laura this morning. It's a detective comedy where Steve Martin incorporates several scenes from '40s and '50s films into his plotline of Det. Rigby Reardon's search to discover who kidnapped a client's father. It was very funny, and Martin's sense of humor is a little offkey from the stereotypical middle-class American humor, but it makes it all the more hysterical. One of my favorite parts is when he dresses up like a woman to seduce a suspect because he can't find a blonde woman to bait the suspect. He ends up being taken home with the man and drugging him, but he just looks so un-womanly (not feminine) that I laughed for the whole scene. Overall, it was an awesome movie for its subtle humor.



Also, I need to add another movie to Laura's and my list of movies to watch. We will be adding the Dracula movie which stars Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves. I feel like many parts in this will be too funny to pass up. It makes me think of Interview with an American Vampire, which is about the turning and life (or existence) of a vampire (played by Brad Pitt) in America. It costars Tom Cruise and Kirsten Dunst (when she was younger) and is based on a book of the same name by Anne Rice. I haven't read the book, but the movie was actually pretty interesting. It had its downfalls, but I liked it overall. But I am excited to watch Dracula. :D

P.S. Don't let me ever get started on The Village. My disappointment with it will never end.