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mule66
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Zizek! (2005)
Loves Stalin, hates people, no surprise.
This Zizek guy actually has some perceptive ideas on modern culture when he's critiquing our pathological need to diminish our enjoyment of soda, coffee, beer and other consumer products by accepting diminished aspects of the real thing such as diet, lite, decaffeinated and so on. He's way off base by venerating a mass murderer such as Stalin though and it's awfully telling that the director doesn't even challenge him on this but does express astonishment at the fact that some people when they see his proudly displayed portrait of Stalin in his home walk right out the door - I mean what sad, narrow-minded idiots these people must be for not appreciating the finer ironies of the slaughterer of millions! Despite this fault of Zizeks I kinda liked him, he is whip-smart, not afraid to mix it up with his critics and despite his extreme intellectualism is a lovable schlub. The real problem is the aforementioned director, Astra Taylor, and her slavish adoration of Zizek and her jokey, yet unfunny, interspersing of the film with stock footage accompanied with old-timey piano music to present some of his ideas. Not cool.
Land of Plenty (2004)
An Absurd movie that takes itself seriously
I get it the Diehl character is s'posed to be a microcosm of America itself - seeing Arab terrorists under every rock, only to find out at the end that it's his own actions all along that got him into that siege state and truly if he practices good-will to all men everything will be rainbows and lollipops. Sorry Wim you have made amazing movies in the past that stay neutral of the politics and for good reason, polemics are your weak point and they weaken this a well-made, amazingly filmed movie with absurd characters, dialog and plotting. Better luck on your next flick. Another thing that yanked my crank was the belabored point of the homeless section of LA being there for reasons of hunger, these people don't get enough to eat. Truly these folks aren't eating regally but the real hunger these folks is a spiritual hunger, an emotional hunger, a mental hunger. They need self-respect, self-worth, dignity which you can't give a man. Yeah those folks are hungry and if they need it it is available. Less the center for hunger in America, I would say it's more the center for alcoholism, drug-abuse, mental suffering and economic devastation. Dealing with hunger although a noble endeavor is band-aiding a more profoundly systematic societal and age-old human problem of homelessness. Bill Diehl was good though and Michelle Williams was cute as the young yet (cliched) old soul.
The Jake Effect (2003)
Man this show blew my mind . . .
Saw it last night on Bravo, thought I'd watch the first couple episodes but half way through the second show knew I was in for the long haul . . . The last episode (they showed) was the best I damn near levitated with awe and laughter at the green foam cowboy hat scene in the parking garage. Freakin' genius writing and great acting and characters. Y'knew these guys were tapped into the humor money vein when they had Kyle Gass as one of the supporting actors. I would definitely buy this if it came out on DVD. Bateman was on top of his game as always and his love interest was a knockout. The guy who played Bateman's best friend was terrific. Awesome show, too bad it was cancelate, doesn't surprise me though, television is controlled by twisted weasels. But hey if it wasn't cancelate we never would have gotten "Arrested Development," or at least it would have been without Bateman, which is hard to comprehend.
Beat the Devil (1953)
Essential Bogie Flick
"Beat the Devil," is in my mind one Bogie's most cynical and humorous performances and consequently his most naturalistic. His character is very much the same as Rick from "Casablanca," but by now the war is over and he harbors no idealistic notions at all. He takes no-one seriously. Nearly every character in the movie is working an angle or hiding something with the possible exception of his wife played by Gina Lollobrigida. Other standouts are Jennifer Jones as the spoiled rich woman and erstwhile Bogie lover; Peter Lorre as a hapless criminal and Robert Morley as the pompously ridiculous gang leader. As directed by John Huston this is like no other movie from the time period in that it is actually shot on location where it is set on the Mediterranean coast. An essential Bogie flick for movie fans.
The Rookie (1990)
Good cop movie with a sly performance by the director.
For the most part a formulaic thriller with plot holes so big you can drive a stolen semi through them, The Rookie is made watchable because of a hilariously grizzled performance by Clint Eastwood. If you get past the first 15 minutes and not think too hard about it, The Rookie is an o.k. action movie with a definite tongue-in-cheek portrayal of cop-movie cliches.