Fantastic Mr. Fox

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Wes Anderson has long been one of my favorite directors. Rushmore is one of my favorite films, and I honestly can't think of a single one of his films that I didn't at least moderately enjoy (yes, even Darjeeling Limited). That being said, I think that Fantastic Mr. Fox is his most accessible film, and may even be his best.

Mr. Fox (voiced by George Clooney) put his days of poultry theft behind him when he settled down with his beloved wife (Meryl Streep) to raise a family. But familial bliss, and a career as a writer for the local newspaper isn't enough for him. Feeling unfulfilled, he packs up his wife and his strange, not particularly cool son Ash (Jason Schwartzman) and moves them out of their hole and into a bigger, and better, tree. The only problem is that this tree is in full view of the farms of Boggis, Bunce and Bean, the three meanest, most vicious farmers in the area. The temptation is too great for Mr. Fox and he soon goes back to his thieving ways, enlisting the help of his friend Kylie (Wally Wolodarsky) and his nephew Kristofferson (Eric Anderson) in a series of ever more difficult capers.

Click to read more ...

VOTW: Muppets' Bohemian Rhapsody

Hi-frickin'-larious. No need to say more.

The Men Who Stare at Goats

The Men Who Stare at Goats

I really wanted to like The Men Who Stare at Goats. It has a couple of my favorite actors in it (George Clooney and Jeff Bridges) and I love a good story about secret government research, especially when they're researching turning soldiers into "Jedi warriors." It all sounds promising, and turns out to be disappointing.

A strange series of events leads local reporter Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) from investigating a psychic in Michigan to trolling through Kuwait trying to find a story about the war in Iraq. A story he stumbles across, of Lyn Cassady (Clooney), a man trained as a psychic soldier (Jedi warrior) by the U.S. government during the 1980s. Lyn spins the tale of the founder of his unit, Bill Django (Bridges) and his wanderings through the America of the 1970s, trying to find the tools to create a new kind of soldier, a soldier that'd use peace to end war. Lost and confused, Bob follows Lyn into Iraq, on one last mission.

Click to read more ...

The Boat that Rocked (aka Pirate Radio)

The Boat that Rocked (aka Pirate Radio)
If you take a cracking soundtrack, marry it to a likable cast, a few good jokes and a fun, if historically inaccurate, plot you'll end up with something like The Boat that Rocked. In other words, you'll get a fun film that is ultimately pretty inconsequential.

In the late 1960's "pirate" radio stations were broadcasting from ships anchored off the coast of Britain, supposedly in defiance of the British government's ban of pop music on the radio (which is pretty dubious historically). Not exactly the sort of place that one would expect a mother to send her teenage son to keep him out of trouble. In fact, it'd be safe to say that when Carl (Tom Sturridge) arrives on the pirate radio ship, Radio Rock, that he's in for a real hive of scum and villainy. He's quickly accepted into the ragtag crew which includes a confident American (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), the suave Dr. Dave (Nick Frost), clueless Simon (Chris O'Dowd), weirdo Kiwi Angus (Rhys Darby), father figure Quentin (Bill Nighy), token lesbian (Katherine Parkinson) and many others. This wild bunch takes as its calling delivering the best in pop music to the British masses and sticking it to the man. The man, represented in all his stiff upper lip Britishosity by Kenneth Branagh, doesn't take kindly to this, and will take extreme measures to shut them down.

Click to read more ...

VOTW: Star Trek- The A-Team

I love me the mash-ups of sci-fi films and classic 80s TV shows. So this Star Trek/A Team combo is right up my alley.

Land of the Lost

Land of the Lost

Have you ever wondered what it'd be like to be lost in another dimension? One that was full of dinosaurs, and ape men and lizard men and all kinds of other weird stuff? You have? Really? Now the real question is, have you ever wondered what it'd be like to do it if you were completely high? Or are you high right now? Do you like to get high? Wanna get high? Because that's pretty much what Land of the Lost wants to know. Right now.

Disgraced paleontologist Rick Marshall (Will Ferrell) has a theory about time warping and has a problem with Matt Lauer. Which has left him teaching children at a museum with his research assistant Holly (Anna Friel). She encourages him to continue his research into building a tachyon amplifier by showing him a fossil that somehow has the imprint of his lighter in it. Upon completion of the amplifier they journey to the place where she found the fossil, and join up with guide Will Stanton (Danny McBride) on a mission into a parallel dimension filled with dinosaurs, the lizard like Sleestaks, and ape like Pakuni, along with a host of historical anachronisms that are explained by the "time warp" effects. They have to work together with Chaka, a Pakuni to survive the horrors of this "land of the lost" and return home to their own dimension.

Click to read more ...

What I Learned in Texas

Of all the things that I learned on my trip to Texas this is the one that's probably the most important: zombies are everywhere, and if I'm not careful I'll end up looking like this.

Austin

Way back at the end of September I made the trip south to Austin, Texas and the world famous Alamo Drafthouse for Fantastic Fest. Fantastic Fest is the "largest genre film festival in the United States." Basically it's eight days of movie geek insanity with frequent trips into horror, science fiction, action, and fantasy. If you love movies it's pretty much an overdose of your favorites. Combine the movies with the location (only the best theater in the country in my opinion) and all the other events (like parties, the Fantastic Debates, Fantastic Feud and others) and it's just plain awesome.

I managed to see 30 movies during the festival, with a huge range in both style and quality, ranging everywhere from the super low budget, will never get a release, (Yesterday) to stuff that's since then come out to be great hits in wide release (Zombieland) and everything in between. I still plan on writing about at least a few of the films here so keep an eye out for that. On the whole I quite enjoyed the festival programming, and would highly enjoy going again. Or if you know, someone wanted to open a Drafthouse in Utah I wouldn't exactly be upset.

Click to read more ...

Post Grad

Post Grad

I might complain about a film like Transformers 2 being stupid, incoherent or a failure on almost every level, but at least I can respect that it took a few chances, and had some personality (dumb personality, but personality nonetheless). What I can’t respect is when a film is so bland, safe and lifeless that it’s a complete waste of time. Post Grad is just such a waste of time.

Ryden Malby (Alexis Bledel) is the sort of bright overachiever that’s had her entire life laid out since she was in elementary school. Her plan of getting great grades in high school, coasting through college near the top of her class and landing an interview for a job with a top publishing house has gone off without a hitch. The only problem is that she has no clue how to set herself apart from all the other bright, shiny, bland applicants, and can’t get the job. Over-educated and under-employed Ryden is forced to move back in with her family, who appear to be straight out of quirky indie movie central casting, while she tries to figure out where she’s going with her life.

Click to read more ...

Trick 'r Treat

Trick 'r Treat

One of the things I was most looking forward to at Fantastic Fest was getting the chance to see the much talked about, often delayed, Trick 'r Treat on the big screen. It was originally scheduled for release in the fall of 2007, but was pushed back again and again until its eventual DVD and Blu-ray release this October. It was a long time coming, but it was definitely worth the wait.

Trick 'r Treat is a series of four Halloween tales told in the style of a Creepshow or Twilight Zone style, interweaving the four stories to create one complex story of one Halloween night. The common thread tying all these stories together is a little pumpkin-head, sack-masked creature named Sam. He visits a couple (Leslie Bibb and Tahmoh Penikett) returning home from a party as they take down their Halloween decorations. He looks on at a confrontation between a principal (Dylan Baker) and one of his troublesome students. He joins in with a group of teenagers as they go to an old quarry looking for a night of spooky fun. He can't help following a young woman (Anna Paquin) and her friends as they get into all sorts of naughty trouble. And finally he puts a cranky old man (Bryan Cox) in his place when he refuses to respect or celebrate the holiday. Sam is the unpredictable, and often vengeful protector of the holiday, making sure that everyone respects and follows the rules.

Click to read more ...