| Jul. 12th, 2009 @ 09:56 pm Quick reviews |
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Role Models: I didn't realize this was from largely the same group that did Wet Hot American Summer, but the fact that it was probably accounts for why it is way more amusing than I expected it to be. Paul Rudd and Sean William Scott star as a promotion team for a horrible energy drink that gets sent from high school to high school hawking the vile stuff. Rudd is having a "1/3 life crisis" and flips out, going on a minor rampage that results in the pair facing 30 days of jail or community service. The community service ends up being with a "Big Brothers" type of organization, and each is assigned a problem child-one is an out of control, sex obsessed kid who swears constantly, the other is a high schooler whose parents have enrolled him since they find his chosen social activity, which is basically a NERO style LARP organization. I found the whole thing hilarious, even if it follows basic buddy/romantic comedy rules and is thus fairly predictable. Worth a look if you ever LARPed or participated in the SCA and have a sense of humor about it, and especially if you're a fan of Rudd, Elizabeth Banks or David Wain.
Milk: I don't know enough about the real life figures in the film, but as far as biopics go its one of the best. The cast is uniformly excellent and it seemed relatively free of Hollywood cheese. Excellent drama; I intend to watch the documentary The Life and Times of Harvey Milk soon.
To Live and Die In L.A.: I have NO idea what possessed me to put this on my "to watch" list, but it was definitely a mixed bag. William Friedkin once again reminds us that just about no one can put together a chase through a crowded city as well as he can, but the over powering 80s-ness gets to one after a while. I found William L. Peterson and John Pankow's Secret Service investigators relatively unsympathetic so it was hard to get 100% behind them; meanwhile, Willem Dafoe's counterfeiter is kind of creepy. Still, it's not bad as far as "ambiguous" crime films go, and it certainly had an ending that I did not see coming at all. Nice to see Steve James in a big budget film, even if its an unrewarding small part (and has him losing a fight to Dafoe and his bodyguard, which was somewhat unbelievable to say the least) and John Turturro as a double crossing crook in Dafoe's group.
28 Weeks Later: Totally crap sequel to a great horror film that completely abandons the first film's sticking to its internal logic and attention to creating likable characters to care for in favor of every character making completely bizarre decisions, mostly retarded behavior by a prepared military force and the entire story being driven by the bad decisions of the cast of characters. Bizarro Tim warned me not to watch it, but for some reason I chose not to listen to him. Completely skippable. |
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