MY WEEK IN FILM

Before I begin, let me just say what a fantastic week for me in the movies. Hard to pick the worst one this week. However, due to the bronchitis, also not a very productive week, as I only managed to squeeze in six movies.

THE LIST
-Network 1976 - Sidney Lumet
-Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore 1974 - Martin Scorsese
-Step Brothers 2008 - Adam McKay
-As Good As It Gets 1997 - James L. Brooks
-Swingers 1996 - Doug Liman
-Ferris Bueller's Day Off 1986 - John Hughes

THE BEST
SWINGERS
I saw this one years ago in my younger days, remembered liking it and so during my years of obsessive DVD purchasing I picked it up for a cheap price and haven't viewed it, until this week. If you're into low budget movies independent flicks then this one is for you, although by looking at it you'd never guess it was low budget, as the film looks great. John Favreau stars (and also wrote) in this hilarious flick, also starring Vince Vaughn, before he whored out to Hollywood and Jen Aniston, and the pair are "so money." As you view this film you really get the sense that Favreau knows a lot about film as minor spoofs of Reservoir Dogs and Goodfellas, are carried out for us. If you're not a fan of Vaughn, but you haven't seen this movie, then give him one more chance because he is truly unforgettable in this role. The dialogue between Favreau and Vaughn is so genuine and real, and this isn't the type of laugh out loud, roll on the floor comedies, but rather, a clever, hip comedy that is really really good. Check it out, if only to see Mikey (Favreau) spend five minutes with a girl, get her number and then return home to call her only to get the machine, after six or seven back to back phone calls the comedy escalates, as you're laughing at the sheer ring of the phone, and the impending doom that Mikey is about to bring on himself.

THE WORST
NETWORK
I remember watching a special feature on the Magnolia DVD, saying something about P.T. Anderson showing this film to the crew, before they began shooting that movie, and thinking to myself that I'd really like to see it. So when I found it on the Instant Viewing portion of the Netflix website, I jumped at the chance to view this "classic". A classic it was not, and I was really disapointed, because I really wanted to like it. My biggest complaint with this flick is the fact that once the story is established and we start to get into the meat and potatoes of the film, all the actors seem to be outdoing each other. As Faye Dunaway makes a five minute ranting monologue, then we go to Robert Duvall yelling and acting his ass off and making another monlogue. Then of course you've got several rants from Peter Finch and, of course, William Holden chimes in with a few raves of his own. I'm not saying that the acting is bad, it's actually quite good. But...and this may sound wierd...I think it's too good. It's such good acting and these actors are trying so hard to really pour their hearts out, that the realism of the film is lost. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but it makes sense to me and that's all that matters. And really this film wasn't that bad, it just gets voted the worst by default.

THE REST
Coming in a close second behind Swingers, was As Good As It Gets. There's so much story to sink your teeth into here, that it's impossible to be bored. First of all, you've got Nicholson as obsessive compulsive Melvin, who doesn't walk on cracks and locks and unlocks his door five times as he enters and exits his apartment. He goes to the same restaurant everyday, where Helen Hunt (his waitress, Carol) waits on him. They begin their small talk, which eventually leads to serious talk and we go from there. Then you've got homosexual neighbor Simon (a fantastic Greg Kinnear) living across the hall from Melvin, and his dog, Verdel. After Simon is attacked the dog gets pushed on to Nicholson, who regretfully must watch him for a couple weeks, as Simon recovers. The anti-gay, anti-dog Melvin eventually becomes attatched to the dog and we go from there. And then, through a simple twist of fate, they all end up on a road trip to visit Simon's parents. Great movie, big thumbs up. I loved it, I love Nicholson, I love Kinnear and all of the acting was top notch and, as I said, there's so much story here that you just get caught up in it all. Check it out.

If I rated movies on a "hilarious scale", then Step Brothers would probably be the best movie of the year. What a hilariously funny comedy, with Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly being cut loose for ninety minutes and basically improving. Rather than me write a whole mess about this one just read some of these lines from the flick and you'll be able to tell whether or not this is your kind of comedy. It is extremely offensive and vulgar, so if you don't like comedies like that, then it's definitely not for you. Think Anchorman and The 40 Year Old Virign's bastard son, and you get Step Brothers.

"Martha Stewart, Oprah, your wife. You gotta fuck one, kill one and marry one, who do you pick?"

"I'm gonna fill this pillowcase with bars of soap and beat the shit out of you"

"You voice is a combination of Fergie and Jesus"

Ferris Bueller's Day Off is every kid's dream. And that's the appeal, because we can all relate to what it was like to be a kid and hate going to school and just wanting to stay home and fuck around. Ferris lets all of our childhood dreams come to life, as he skips school and ends up having the best day of his life, all the way up to the edge of your seat climax, as he races against his parents to get back home. Great movie and a modern classic. How can anyone not like this movie? It's a lot of fun.

When you think of Martin Scorsese, you think of Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, The Departed, Raging Bull, real tough guy movies. Well, can you believe, in his early days he actually directed a movie about a widowed woman, who hits the road to find a job, so that she can survive and provide for her twelve year old son? Well he did, and he did a fantastic job. And so does everybody in this movie, including Ellen Burstyn, Diane Ladd and Kris Kristofferson. Alice (Burstyn) ends up waiting tables at Mel's Diner with fellow waitress Flo...sound familiar? That's right, this is the movie that kicked off the TV show Alice. It was a surprise to me too. I have a hard time relating Martin Scorsese to the phrase "Kiss my grits!"

Til' next Sunday...Have a great week!

Andrew
7/27/2008