An Education [2009]

A young woman learns a lot about love and life when she falls for an older man.

I thought this film was very well directed - well acted - and well pulled off as a whole - my only fault I found with it was I wasn't really interested. It's not like they didn't give you reason to care about the characters and story - as I pointed out it's very well made - it's just a matter of personal preference. It's a coming of age story of a girl who's well ahead of her peers maturity wise due to her parents - but no matter how mature you may be - it doesn't mean that older people can meet your level of maturity.

This falls in one of those categories where I'll probably come back and watch it - and make a real decision on what I really think - but right now it's getting a 4 out of 5 - and that's still pretty damn good.

[directed by Lone Scherfig]

Rant: A l'aventure [2009]

So, the filmmakers want you to believe that this film is about a woman who realizes she’s unsatisfied with her life – and goes off on a journey of sexual discovery.

What this movie is actually about is an old film writer/director keeps seeing all these beautiful women – he’s jealous because he’s a dirty old fuck – so he makes a movie where some woman is upset for vague reasons – an old geezer comes up to her in the park – points at a racy lingerie ad - says a few stupid things that barely make any sense – and she decides she needs to masturbate more and have different kinds of sex with different types of people.

It is rare that I shut off a movie that I haven’t already seen before I finish it – but this one needed to be taught a lesson. At 39 minutes in - the exact same thing happened 4 times - and was starting again! Lame conversations - more like monologues - and then she's off to masturbate or screw. That's it - the entire film was written to see this chick naked! Not even in a fun Tinto Brass way - in a kind of "I wonder if I can get her to do this" pervert way.

I'm not going to get into how unoriginal the story is - we all know what I think about originality in films - but fans of cult films of the 70's - who like Euro-sexual awakening films (such as myself) - are familiar with this story line and theme. The problem is - there's nothing new or racy - it's all the same. There's no sense that the director/writer - is hijacking the story and giving it their own twist - or making it watchable again. Unless you've been living in a cave - and haven't heard some of this used-to-be-taboo topics - that have been addressed in the mainstream for a while - nothing's interesting.

I guess it all would be fine – if the conversations/monologues were interesting – but they were the most dumbed down banal conversations that I would never suspect grown adults to have. Seriously? You can’t figure out how some people might find psychoanalysis interesting? Are you a preschooler? Sex and pain – yes – endorphins – no correlation? Just because you went to business school doesn’t mean you have to be an idiot to everything else in the world does it?

“Nice day out!”

“I wouldn’t know – I went to business school.”

“Would you like go grab a bite to eat?”

“I’m not hungry – I went to business school.”

“Would you like to have sex?”

“Yes, why not – I went to business school.”

I can’t rate this film – because I didn’t complete it – maybe at minute 40 things changed and the whole film would go on to become my most favorite film of all time – making Unforgiven, Little Miss Sunshine and Seven Samurai look like pieces of shit. I’m pretty safe in assuming – the rest of the film was just as bad – and I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone other than a horny teenager looking for a soft-to-medium core skin flick.

[directed by Jean-Claude Brisseau]

That's what I'm thinking...

Robin Hood

Russell Crowe's/Ridley Scott's Robin Hood came out this weekend - and I can't say I'm all that interested... But I am interested in rewatching Mel Brooks version... Maybe Russell was upset during that interview about his accent because of those tights...

Getting Stuff Done

Sorry for the non-post today - for once I didn't have my entire week of blogs scheduled ahead of time - and this week (just like Saul up top) I'm getting stuff done. Here's hoping that I get back on track for next week...

Black Dynamite [2009]

Someone kills Black Dynamite's brother - and if there's one thing you should know - it's you don't want to EVER cross Black Dynamite - because this soul brother will take your jive ass down!

I really didn't expect to like this film that much - I was worried that the humor was going to be just too broad (and for the most part it is) - but it's blended well with a good eye for the films of the 70's and action that's so over the top it's great. Black Dynamite picks up and blends the various offsprings of the blaxploitation genre's with kung fu, the mac daddy, the clean up the streets - and it works - it didn't feel like they forced one part into another to try and make it work. Michael Jai White is outstanding in the title role - he plays it straight for the most part - and overacts in the right tone when required - and is a fantastic martial artist. Salli Richardson-Whitfield was alluring in the role of Gloria - the community organizer - and at times reminded me a lot of Pam Grier (which is only a plus).

To me a bit of the broad humor brought it down a wee bit even though I laughed out loud several times (not all comedy films I watch and find humorous can do this) - and the montage was a bit confusing (thought I was missing out on a joke from a blaxploitation film) - another bit of computer effects that just didn't fit in with the entire style of the film also gave this film a bit of a confusing nod down... That all said I'll be looking to add Black Dynamite to the collection because it's just a lot of fun - I'm giving it a strong 4 out of 5 - if you are looking for a fun action film - this is a must see!

[directed by Scott Sanders]

Superbad

It may have felt as though I was picking on Iron Man 2 - but I really wasn't - I was just frustrated with a few of the flaws of the film. If someone was to say that they wanted to see it - I certainly would not tell them that they shouldn't watch it - it's a fun movie. It's certainly not the best superhero movie that I've seen - but it's not the worst - because if you take a look downward - you will see my picks for the worst superhero films that I have sat through.

Blankman [1994, directed by Mike Binder]

I've sat through this one more times than I'd like to admit - thanks to summer vacation, cable and boredom. A simpleton inventor creates bulletproof pajamas - and takes on a crime syndicate in an slapstick superhero romp that's sure to leave you dumbfounded.

Captain America [1990, directed by Alber Pyun]

This film was shot on a tiny budget - and it shows.

Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer [2007, directed by Tim Story]

Both of the F4 films could be in this spot - but this one in particular gets the nod as it made so little sense. The one bonus of this film is that it thankfully killed off this version of the heroes for what is rumored to be an eventual reboot.

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army [2008, directed by Guillermo Del Toro]

I've got an idea - let's make a film about a guy in a big red suit whining about his girlfriend issues - and then has to be dragged into most of the action. I know this is probably an unpopular pick - but the first one had such great potential - that this sequel was a waste.

Pumaman [1980, directed by Alberto De Martino]

If I thought Hellboy was whiney - jeesh! An Aztec goes around throwing people out of windows until he finds the fabled Pumaman (a whiney scientist) who then has to save the world from some strange Aztec mask thing. This film was an assault of nonsense - and though it was funny in the wrong ways - it was also aggravating and annoying.

I'm aware of several other really awful superhero films - Daredevil, Elecktra, Batman & Robin, Ghost Rider, the original Fantastic Four film and so forth - but have not been suckered into seeing any of them - so they don't qualify for the list. Others like Meteor Man and Batman Forever were spared mostly because I barely remember watching them - so good for them.