In The World…

The latest in the Judd Apatow production machine is a movie called Forgetting Sarah Marshall. He is the guy that gave us The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up. However, he didn’t write or direct this one, only produced it. Frankly, this movie isn’t near as good as either of those flicks.

The movie centers around sad-sack Peter who in the first scene gets dumped by his TV star girlfriend of 5 years while in the buff. That’s right. We’re treated to a little full frontal male nudity not 5 minutes into the flick. Not that there is anything wrong with that… Did it feel a little gratuitous? Yes. Was it necessary to tell the story? That is questionable.

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As usual, thar be spoilers ahead!

When a movie has boobs during the opening credits, you know you’re in for a good flick. Actually, one of my movie pet peeves are the ones that have a long drawn-out opening credits sequence where there is nothing on the screen but the names of the people and companies who created it. They are basically forcing me to read the credits because there is nothing else to look at… and that makes me angry.

Anyway, The Bank Job starts with some folks frolicking in the ocean topless, then retiring to a bedroom where some illicit photos are taken surreptitiously. We later learn that these photos contain scandalous images of Princess Margaret getting funky with swarthy types. These photos are in the hands of a Black Panther leader /pimp /all around criminal named Michael X (real original there, Chief) who uses them as leverage to stay out of jail. See, the authorities can’t touch him or he releases the photos to the press.  Apparently, this is all based on a true story.

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This is the third entry in my 2008 movie reviews, as always, there will probably be spoilers contained herein.

I knew we were in trouble when the first line of dialog did not occur until 15 minutes into the movie.

The much lauded There Will Be Blood by P. T. Anderson was by my account wholly disappointing. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. First a little synopsis. The movie centers on a driven oil prospector and driller Daniel Plainview in the early 20th century. He is approached by a fresh faced kid who says his family ranch has oil, and for a price he’d tell him where it was. Long story short, Daniel and his son (and partner, H.W.) arrive at the ranch in California, convince the local yokels to all agree to let him drill by promising them prosperity, and bread. Obviously, you would have to imagine not all goes smoothly, and hurdles are presented by a local preacher and twin brother of the kid who put this all in motion.

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Jess is a massive U2 fan.  She owns every piece of music ever produced by them.  She was so excited for this movie to open that she actually, only half jokingly asked if we could fly down to Salt Lake City last weekend where the movie was already open.  Needless to say, I put a heavy kibosh on that one.  Instead, we waiting until this past Friday when the movie opened here.

The movie itself is quite a piece of work.  This is the first 3d movie I’ve seen in many many years.  I can tell you one thing; 3d has come a LONG way since the old days of the paper framed red and blue glasses you got in your box of Lucky Charms to watch the 3d presentation of The Day After.  They give you a hefty set of alternating polarized glasses that neatly separated the left and right images for each eye.  The shape of the glasses suggests a Elvis Costello type look.  I thought that they really missed a great marketing tie in.  They should have totally made the glasses look like a replica of Bono’s shades.  How great would that have been?

The movie is projected by a digital projector which creates a beautiful crisp image.  I’m a HUGE fan of digital movies.  You don’t realize how bad traditional film movies look with all the scratches and pops and dirt.  It’s like the difference between VHS and DVD.  Or even VHS and HD-DVD… er… I mean BluRay.  Fantastic.

The movie itself is a straight concert movie, shot at their live show in Buenos Aries.  No behind the scenes or anything.  It starts when they come on stage and ends after the encore.  I’m enough of a U2 fan to recognize about 3/4 of the songs they played, including Vertigo, Beautiful Day, and Where the Streets Have No Name.  The director kept the camera moving and really made the most of the 3d thing.  Shots of the drum kit were very cool, as were closeups of the band… But the absolute peak of the technology was when they would shoot across the top of the crowd.  Seeing thousands of waving arms or jumping bodies in 3d was unreal.  Makes your eyes pop out of your head.  Also, at the end, the started flashing text on the screen (the same text used at the concert in the background) but it was laid over the concert in such a way it looked like it was about 30 feet in front of the screen.  Amazing stuff.  The runtime is only 80 minutes so it certainly doesn’t overstay it’s welcome.

Even if you are a marginal U2 fan, I would recommend seeing this flick.  The visuals alone are worth the price of admission.  Plus, the music is solid enough to help you get past Bono’s slight megalomania.

My buddy George and I go to a lot of movies. I have been extremely lax about posting movie reviews on this site, and I want to get better about that this year. He had the idea that he is going to keep a “Movie Journal” about what he sees this year (in theaters that is), and I thought that was a great idea. So, I’ma gonna steal it. Thus, my journal will be here. (see, George, if you had a blog, you could have claimed this for your own…) Keep watching this spot for future reviews. Well, technically, these won’t always be strict reviews. They will probably be filled with things that made me crazy, didn’t work, or questions about why characters did what they did. Without further ado…

The first flick (and only flick for that matter) I’ve seen so far is the sci-fi piece I Am Legend starring Will Smith.

Now, this thing will be filled with spoilers, so if you haven’t seen the movie and don’t want it ruined, quit reading now.

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There are guys in the world that I am amazed by. I love their work, their personalities, everything. Jess calls them “Man Crushes” (click for Urban Dictionary definitions). Now, before you go getting the wrong ideas, let me make one thing perfectly clear… this does NOT mean I love these men in a unnatural sense. Absolutely not. By definition, “Man Crush” means if you could sit in a bar and have beers with a guy and shoot the shit for 4 hours, that would be a great time. All of these guys have personalties such that if they were normal guys who lived around me, I would think that I would definitely be their friends.

Without further ado, here are my man crushes.

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Sunday night Jess and I attended the World Premier of Michael Hoffman’s new documentary about Boise State football and their magical season last year. I only have one major critique.

It wasn’t long enough.

The movie had a run time of almost 90 minutes, but frankly, to get everything I wanted to see in there, that thing would have had to have been a 4 week mini-series. (How cool would that be!?)

Actually, this was really well done. If I had one more critique, it would be the fact that a lot of the footage I had already seen before in other outlets (local news, national ESPN pieces, the Perfection season DVD, Fiesta Bowl, etc. I guess that is the problem with doing a documentary after the fact, is that you can’t shoot your own footage at the events as they happen. The stuff they did shoot new for this film was terrific. Lots of interviews with players past and present. Some very very funny lines and moments, especially from last year’s starting center Jadon Dailey. He is awesome. I would say to watch the movie if only to see him.

But like I said, some of the things were just a little too short. I would have loved to have had a few more season moments set to a swelling musical score to really drive things home. Specifically, I’m thinking about the orange and blue rushing of the field in Nevada after the game was over and we had sealed the perfect season and BCS trip. That is a mental image I have that sort of gets drowned out by the enormity that was the Fiesta Bowl. Next to the bowl game, that is by FAR my favorite moment of the season. I stood there, in the upper deck, grinning to myself as 8,000 Bronco fans stormed the field. Outstanding.

I do understand the limitations of a movie, though. I mean, they can’t get everything in there. Plus, the Fiesta Bowl itself was so dramatic and the climax of the movie, they had to devote enough time to that. I guess it just boils down to the fact that I am a fan. And as a fan, I want as much content about my team as is humanly possible.

I will absolutely own this on DVD. There is no question. It will go into my rotation of DVD’s I have to watch when I need a Bronco fix. I have to be one of the few people who still semi-regularly watches the season review DVDs from 3 or 4 or 5 years ago.

Apparently, there is a version cut down to an hour that ESPN will be showing on September 3rd. It cuts out all of the player’s lives stuff and just focuses on the football. Yes, I will watch that too, but I highly recommend getting your hands on this full film and enjoying it.

Jess and I caught the latest Bourne flick (Ultimatum) on Monday for my single day off between jobs.  I met her downtown and we caught the flick then got a little dinner after.

The movie was pretty good, but that is not what I want to talk about.

Instead, I want to talk about the theater itself.  See, we went to catch the matinée at Boise’s legendary Egyptian Theatre.  It has been in business since 1927 here, and despite some lean years in the 80’s, it is back and is the destination for premiers and events.  Right downtown with plenty of parking nearby and lots of post event entertainment (restaurants and bars).

This is the type of place that is just so refreshing I had to write about it.

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George and I went to see Grindhouse last night, and I gotta tell you… It is not just a movie. It’s an event. Basically, this movie is made up of 2 feature length movies melded into one sitting. More bang for your buck, for sure.

Now, I’m a little young to remember seeing grindhouse pictures since I was born in the 70’s when they were in their heyday. But, John and I use to spend many nights in the 80’s watching the next best thing to grindhouse movies… the horrible schlock served up on late night HBO. We watched so many bad movies back then, I do have an affinity for them. Back then HBO only had so many first run type movies, so to fill the late night slots when John and I were still up watching, they had some of the worst movies ever. (John, does “Ninja 3: Domination” ring any bells?)

I knew going in to this that these would be so over the top that I had very low expectations. Which was a good thing, since I could just sit back and enjoy the ride. These movies were so outrageous in every single aspect, that they really came across as something that you and your buddies might think up just sitting around and trying to ‘out gross’ the next guy. For example, the zombie who pops a gigantic red boil on his neck and wipes the resulting slime on the doctor to infect him. Of course, in text that sounds absolutely horrible… and it is… but when you see it, you just laugh out loud.

There were a ton of laughs in these movies, but you were not laughing at comedic bits. You are laughing at things that are so crazy and so bizarre you can’t help but laugh. In fact, I was chuckling pretty much during the whole show.

So, the first movie was directed by Robert Rodriquez and was called Planet Terror. Basically a “zombies invade a small Texas town” flick. This was the one that was delightfully insane. Absolutely unlike any “studio” movie you have seen. It is really not that scary in a traditional horror sense. There are a few ‘jump’ scenes, but mainly it is so unreal you just can’t take it seriously. And that is the fun. There was just non-stop shooting of zombies with GALLONS of fountainous watery blood.  Tremendous!

The other movie was Quentin Tarantino’s “Death Proof” which is a slasher meets muscle cars movie. Kurt Russell plays Stuntman Mike who is a deranged stalker of young girls (of course) but instead of using a knife, he uses his car to kill them. I enjoyed this movie better… it was a bit more reserved and realistic. Plus, Kurt Russell is awesome. The scene in the bar when he is watching the girls and using charm to chat them up is great. He has that charisma that you’ve seen so many times before, but you know that there is a creepiness to it behind the scenes. You want him to be a good guy, but you know he’s not. This film is also packed with some serious stunt work that was quite impressive to watch.

I also love how the directors deliberately “damaged” the film itself to look and sound authentic. There were skips and pops and burns and scratches and dirt and dust. It really lent an air of authenticity to the whole production. Almost takes you back in time from the pristine digital images we’re now seeing in theaters.

Perhaps the best part of this whole double-feature was the previews before and in between. Movies called “Machete” which is a 70’s style assassination flick, to “Werewolf Women of the SS” to a holiday slasher called “Thanksgiving”. These things were right in line with the theme of the night and really a lot of fun. Not to mention, that the use of 70’s style movie ‘feature presentation’ stock was just icing on the cake.

When you combine everything, you get a total movie going experience unlike anything you’ve had for a long time. It absolutely is an event. I can’t adequately describe it in words. The end product is far more than the sum of it’s parts and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Set aside 3 hours, go to the theater and turn your brain off and enjoy the ride. You won’t regret it.

New Daylight Savings Time rules. Everyone who has been around me for the past 4 days has heard me bitching and moaning about congress and their infinite wisdom to extend the daylight savings time a month (3 weeks now, 1 in the fall). Well it pisses me off.

It has nothing to do with the usual reasons people give for disliking it. It doesn’t affect me physically in the least. For me, being a technical guy and a web programmer at work however, I’m forced to deal with dozens of applications I have written that are time based. Well, the new rules means that everything is now broken. Not irrevocably or anything, but just enough to make me crazy for the next 3 weeks. The amount of time it would take to go back and make sure everything is a-ok is far more than 3 weeks, so what’s the point? Everything will be back to normal working order by then anyway. Talk about frustrating.

Besides, how much energy are we really saving anyway? My guess is NOT MUCH. So, instead of having the lights on at home in the evening for that hour, we’ll have them on in the morning for an hour. Plus, is an hour a day for three lousy weeks really going to reverse global warming? Of course not. But it’s easy, and congress can say they are doing something. Whether that something is effective or not is certainly not their concern. Changing the time is far easier than actually solving any problems.

March Madness. Its that time of year where everyone in the country becomes a college basketball fan. I don’t follow much of it during the year, other than Boise State, so I’m always scrambling this week reading everything I can to fill out my brackets. I always look at my brackets kind of like I do when I’m on the tee of a par 3. “There is that possibility, however incredibly remote, that I might luck into perfection here.” Maybe I hit that miraculous shot for my first hole in one. Maybe I somehow pick every single one of the 65 games correctly. Both are so unlikely that it boggles the mind, yet I always think that. Maybe its the eternal optimist in me.  If either were to happen, I would die a happy man!

However, it is much more likely for me to shank one into the lake.  And just as likely for 3 of my final four teams to be long gone before they get there.  So, watch this space, as I’m sure I’ll be back to bitch about somehow getting screwed in the brackets again.

The 300. George and I saw the movie last night. George, being a bit of a comic book nerd, was looking forward to this movie in the worst kinda way. Due to the arrival of Jack, we were forced to postpone the original plan of opening night.

I will say, the movie was visually stunning. The story was ok. It was most assuredly NOT historically accurate in any way, shape or form. But no matter. It was a fun ride. Perhaps a touch homo erotic with the “uniforms” those Spartans were wearing, but maybe they were going for the women audience with that.

Lots of good violence. Always fun.

St. Patrick’s Day. Coming up this Saturday. One of the great holidays of the year, in that everyone gets to celebrate Irish culture by mainly getting absolutely blotto. It’s great because there are no gifts to buy. No family events to attend to. No rigmarole to go through. You basically find a place to park your ass (and this year watch basketball) and drink Guinness until it comes out of your ears. Sounds like a quality day to me!

Maybe queue up The Quiet Man, pour yourself 2 fingers of Jameson and shout a hearty Slainte to the holiday.

That’s all for today folks. So, top o’ th’ mornin’ to ya!