Since I tend to be deliberately vague in my ratings of the films I’ve watched (the better to cover my ass when I change my mind later) I thought it would be worthwhile to do a Top Ten for all the films I reviewed for this site last year. The idea is that if you skipped over any of the reviews when I originally posted them that this would provide you an opportunity to give the best movies I watched another chance and hopefully check them out for yourself.
This is one of those rare children’s films that neither pander to its core audience nor bores adults. While much maligned during its initial release, this is a rich film that shouldn’t only be re-evaluated, but treasured.
Pretty simple update this week as the theatrical new releases all seem to be cowering in fear of The Bat Man. Now I’m sure the movie is great and Heath Ledger is perfection and Christopher Nolan finally has discovered how to shoot an action sequence, but something about the torrential buzz for the film is really giving me a bad taste in my mouth. I’d boycott the film but it seems pop culture would then be legally required to put a bounty on my head.
For DVD releases next Tuesday it all comes down to one simple release, Spaced: The Complete Series. The brilliant brainchild of Simon Pegg, Jessica Hynes, Edgar Wright and Nick Frost about a pair of friends (Pegg and Hynes) who lie about being a couple so that they can rent an awesome apartment. But with oodles of geeky references, and fantastic camera work and absurd characters. It is one of the best television shows ever made, and should be required viewing for any fan of the all powerful Pegg/Wright/Frost triumvirate.
So here we are again and I have nothing to recommend for theaters this weekend. Hancock blows, I could care less about Kitt Kittredge and … wait a moment! Gonzo:The Life and Work of Dr Hunter S Thompson comes on this weekend. Go see that post haste. Whether you want to ingest three or four rogue narcotics and a bottle of ether before you watch it is entirely up to you.
DVD releases aren’t much better. The abominable The Ruins is the major release, and I can’t emphasize enough how much I hate hate hated that movie. Please don’t rent it or borrow it or, grrrr, buy it. It’s Little Shop of Horrors, but totally taking itself seriously. Hopefully that blatant and unmarked spoiler totally ruined the film for you.
But their are several Independent releases coming out on DVD this week that might be interesting. The Tracy Fragments is a tiny Canadian (I think, don’t hold me to it) film that stars uber-annoy Ellen Page as some sort of smary, sassy, super intelligent girl who is always three or four steps ahead of every adult in the world. Well, it might not be, but since she’s played that role in every other film she’s been in I feel pretty comfortable on pigeonholing the film straight away.
Also out is the film Chop Shop, about a small boy living in the slums of New York. Don’t know much else but it has garnered some huge praise in spite of its very limited release.
And last, but certainly not least, is the documentary Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten. It covers Strummer’s life before, during and after The Clash as told by a gaggle of people much cooler then you plus Bono.
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