August 26, 2010
Vacancy (2007)
Should I see it?
No.
No.
Amy and David (Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson) are a bickering couple traveling down a dark, lonely road. They hit a raccoon and decide to spend the night at an isolated hotel. They get to their room and discover video tapes on top of the television. The tapes are snuff films that were shot in the exact room in which they are staying. To add to their shock, someone is banging on the door from the next room.
Before long, the hotel manager and two sidekicks corner the couple, hoping to make another film. The couple bands together to fight off the bad guys in the most predictable, boring ways possible.
Director Nimród Antal begins strong and then limps across the finish line. The images of the snuff film are very striking and disturbing. If someone forces the images of people being tortured on their audience, they better have a very, very good reason for doing so. Antal doesn't live up to this demand. Instead, his film descends into a cheap horror/action film that lacks any deeper value or meaning.
This movie is another example of the cinematic motif of the American Savage. As explained in my review of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, this feeds into the urbanite fear of the country folk. the civilized city dwellers wander off the beaten path and the thick-browed, red necked citizens of the American netherworld come to prey. Watered down, it is a fear of poor white people put to film.
This is a violent movie that isn't good enough to justify sitting through the rough stuff - so don't.
Related Reviews:
Nimród Antal movies
Predators (2010)
Kontroll (2003)
Other Critic's Reviews:
Reel Views
Film Threat
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Labels: film, frank whaley, Kate Beckinsale, Luke Wilson, movie review, Nimród Antal
posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 12:00 PM
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June 22, 2009
Idiocracy (2006)
Should I see it?
Yes.
Related Reviews:Yes.
Short Review: This is the kind of film I’d recommend, but I won’t be able to look you in the eye when I do it.
The premise of this movie is fantastic. It is centered around Joe Bauers (Luke Wilson), an average guy - actually he's the average guy. Joe is cryogenically frozen by the military and, thanks to some bad luck, wakes up five hundred years in the future where he finds that due to reverse Darwinism, stupid people have out bred the smart ones. Joe is the smartest person in the world. This is solid groundwork for a comedy.
Mike Judge (Beavis and Butthead) wrote and directed this movie and his sharp satirical talents are clearly visible. While this piece isn’t as comfortable or quotable as Judge’s cable TV staple Office Space, it has the same insight. In essence, this film is a full frontal attack on the stupidity of modern American culture. Judge, who has been mocking the idiocy of this culture for almost twenty years, is dead on with many of his salvos. The overall culture is in complete free fall. We have come to embrace the lowest parts of human nature as treasures by celebrating the inept over the helpful. We are taking climatological advice from dimwit actors and considering moral advice from comedians. Our “intellectual” class couldn’t be more useless as they battle against free thought and embrace groupthink concepts like political correctness. Heck, we’ve dipped so low as to allow for journalists to decide what’s important. Face it, when low life, do nothing journalists are considered vital members of society, you’re in trouble.
To water this down, Judge argues that our culture is little more than a bunch of brain dead zombies giggling at nutshots and farts. We're a culture obsessed with the dumb, obsessed with stuff like this:
Okay, that's pretty awesome so its not the best example. Honestly, I can watch this loop for hours. The reaction of the guy holding the pogo stick is priceless.
To put it another way, this movie is a poor man’s Children of Men, which is a haughty examination of how vacuous Western Civilization has become. While Children of Men is an insufferable mess that is so intent of being smart that it smothers itself, this film travels the exact opposite direction. It goes out of its way to mock our stupid natures by trading in a long line of scatological punch lines. The intelligence hidden in overall point gets a muddled by the litany of butt jokes. To be fair though, the butt jokes are pretty funny.
As a comedy, this film isn’t hilarious but does manage some good laughs. It starts out very strong and fizzles out by the final act. This is due to a lack of a viable villain for the hero Joe to confront. In essence, Joe Bauer is fighting against the whole stupid world. While this may work on paper, it doesn’t translate to the screen. Judge is forced by his final act to devolve into a distracting resolution that feels clunky and certainly isn’t funny – its barely even interesting. This said, the satirical points forwarded by this movie make up for the thin script and by the time the final act rolls around the film has made enough good moments to cover for its lousy resolution.
To sum up, this should have been a funnier film but it couldn’t be more pertinent. Judge makes some strikingly salient points about the condition of our culture but fails to balance them with his usual biting humor.
I will end by pointing out that the best way to enjoy this film is to watch it and then quickly make your way to the closest Wal-Mart. The similarities are creepy.
Cautions: The film has plenty of foul language and sexual references - just like you get when you hang around real life stupid people.
For fun, here are some commercials for the very real energy drink Brawndo. I think they do a good job of summing up the humor of this film.
Mike Judge (Beavis and Butthead) wrote and directed this movie and his sharp satirical talents are clearly visible. While this piece isn’t as comfortable or quotable as Judge’s cable TV staple Office Space, it has the same insight. In essence, this film is a full frontal attack on the stupidity of modern American culture. Judge, who has been mocking the idiocy of this culture for almost twenty years, is dead on with many of his salvos. The overall culture is in complete free fall. We have come to embrace the lowest parts of human nature as treasures by celebrating the inept over the helpful. We are taking climatological advice from dimwit actors and considering moral advice from comedians. Our “intellectual” class couldn’t be more useless as they battle against free thought and embrace groupthink concepts like political correctness. Heck, we’ve dipped so low as to allow for journalists to decide what’s important. Face it, when low life, do nothing journalists are considered vital members of society, you’re in trouble.
To water this down, Judge argues that our culture is little more than a bunch of brain dead zombies giggling at nutshots and farts. We're a culture obsessed with the dumb, obsessed with stuff like this:
Okay, that's pretty awesome so its not the best example. Honestly, I can watch this loop for hours. The reaction of the guy holding the pogo stick is priceless.
To put it another way, this movie is a poor man’s Children of Men, which is a haughty examination of how vacuous Western Civilization has become. While Children of Men is an insufferable mess that is so intent of being smart that it smothers itself, this film travels the exact opposite direction. It goes out of its way to mock our stupid natures by trading in a long line of scatological punch lines. The intelligence hidden in overall point gets a muddled by the litany of butt jokes. To be fair though, the butt jokes are pretty funny.
As a comedy, this film isn’t hilarious but does manage some good laughs. It starts out very strong and fizzles out by the final act. This is due to a lack of a viable villain for the hero Joe to confront. In essence, Joe Bauer is fighting against the whole stupid world. While this may work on paper, it doesn’t translate to the screen. Judge is forced by his final act to devolve into a distracting resolution that feels clunky and certainly isn’t funny – its barely even interesting. This said, the satirical points forwarded by this movie make up for the thin script and by the time the final act rolls around the film has made enough good moments to cover for its lousy resolution.
To sum up, this should have been a funnier film but it couldn’t be more pertinent. Judge makes some strikingly salient points about the condition of our culture but fails to balance them with his usual biting humor.
I will end by pointing out that the best way to enjoy this film is to watch it and then quickly make your way to the closest Wal-Mart. The similarities are creepy.
Cautions: The film has plenty of foul language and sexual references - just like you get when you hang around real life stupid people.
For fun, here are some commercials for the very real energy drink Brawndo. I think they do a good job of summing up the humor of this film.
Luke Wilson movies
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
Henry Poole is Here (2008)
Other Critic's Reviews:
Reel Film Reviews
Film Critics United
Labels: comedy, Dax Shepard, film, Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Mike Judge, movie review
posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 8:00 AM
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March 1, 2009
Movie Trailer: Battle for Terra
Let's get this straight, the bad guys are humans who, needing to survive, attack an inhabitable planet full of doe-eyed goofy aliens. The humans facing extinction are the bad guys for doing what they need to do in order for the SPECIES to survive. Why is it that leftists blab on about the beauty of Darwinism and the survival of the fittest while also whining when any humans follow its tenants and win?
Here's a clue to all you peaceniks out there, if you and I are stuck on an island and there's only one cave available for shelter - I'm getting the cave. I'm a Christian and I will probably share, but the first order of things is - I'm getting the cave. It doesn't make me evil, it makes me survive. Is the lesson of this film that we should put aside our natural desire for survival for some hollow leftist bromide?
We REALLY need to have a full discussion on what kind of dangerous self-destructive crap we're teaching our kids.
Return to the movie trailers pageHere's a clue to all you peaceniks out there, if you and I are stuck on an island and there's only one cave available for shelter - I'm getting the cave. I'm a Christian and I will probably share, but the first order of things is - I'm getting the cave. It doesn't make me evil, it makes me survive. Is the lesson of this film that we should put aside our natural desire for survival for some hollow leftist bromide?
We REALLY need to have a full discussion on what kind of dangerous self-destructive crap we're teaching our kids.
Screenwriters: Evan Spiliotopoulos (The Jungle Book 2)
Director: Aristomenis Tsirbas
Actors: Brian Cox (Supertroopers), Evan Rachel Wood (The Wrestler), Luke Wilson (Henry Poole is Here), David Cross (The Grand), Amanda Peet (The Whole Nine Yards) and Dennis Quaid (The Day After Tomorrow)
Labels: Amanda Peet, Brian Cox, David Cross, Dennis Quaid, Evan Rachel Wood, film, Luke Wilson, movie trailer
posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 9:00 AM
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February 19, 2009
Henry Poole is Here (2008)
Should I see it?
Absolutely.
I watched this based on the recommendation of Julie Davis from Happy Catholic. Julie and I have a history of not agreeing on films. To be more precise, Julie has a history of being wrong about films and I have a history of exercising great patience with her taste. This time around she recommended the film as an example of how Christian filmmakers should handle the topic of faith in their stories. She had just suffered through Fireproof, which she did not enjoy. I was more lenient with its flaws but understood her frustration with the film’s aggressive theological approach. This film deals with faith but is very approachable in its delivery. I am happy to say that Julie and I are in complete agreement. This is a very good film and well worth seeing.
As mentioned, the film is very approachable. The film’s personality is what makes the production so successful. The story centers around Henry Poole (Luke Wilson) a terminally ill atheist who moves into a neighborhood and discovers a Christ shaped water stain on his house. His neighbor Esperanza spots the stain and deems it to be a holy sign. Poole at first denies the stain looks like Christ but when local people begin to be healed after touching it, his theology falls into question. This is a conversation tale to a point. Poole is forced to confront his lack of faith in light of an obvious supernatural presence. The script by Albert Torres is careful to deliver the faith issues with a patient hand. The Christian aspects are not shoved down the audience’s throats but offered with life affirming humor. Lesser filmmakers may have gotten preachy with the story, Torres and director Mark Pellington (U2 3D) smartly let the religious characters speak for themselves. Poole is a smart and likable atheist who denies God even in the face of his impending death. The script doesn’t cheapen itself by making his protests against the existence of God too simple. Conversely, the religious characters are likewise enjoyable and have depth. More than being a story about faith, it is a story about real life people.
One aspect of the film that truly spoke to me was Poole’s impending death and how he handles it. In September of 2007 I suffered a heart attack at the ripe old age of 38. I went to the bank and dropped over at the change machine. If I hadn’t dropped two blocks from the EMTs, I wouldn’t be writing this today. I literally died and was brought back. Since then my condition hasn’t improved greatly. My HDL levels are stubborn and refuse to rise. Despite exercise, a good diet and taking steps in my life to reduce stress, my heart isn’t cooperating as it should. This said, I’m lucky to be alive in the first place so I try to look at every additional day as a continual Christmas present from God. Henry Poole reminded me a great deal of my own reaction to death. His despondency is handled perfectly and the attitudes he shows are exactly right. When the temporary nature of life is plain for you to see, the world takes on a strange essence. This can lead to moments of happiness and other moments of deep depression. While watching the film I found myself wondering if Torres himself survived some serious health concern or knows someone who did because he nailed the effect it can have on a man.
A final note, this film may have my favorite final shot. It may be a personal reaction more than a critical decision, but the final moment of the film was very moving. I want to thank Julie for recommending this movie. In turn, I recommend it to you. Even those of you atheists out there can expect to enjoy the film. It is an upbeat, well written work that deserves a chance.
Related Reviews:
Movies Julie Davis and I disagree about
Lars and the Real Girl (2007)
Millions (2004)
Memento (2000)
Serenity (2005)
Other Critic’s Reviews:
Combustible Celluloid
Hollywood Jesus
Labels: film, Luke Wilson, movie review, Radha Mitchell
posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 9:00 AM
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April 25, 2008
Movie Trailer: Henry Poole is Here
Coming out on July 25th, Henry Poole is Here stars Luke Wilson in the titular role. The film is about a man who abandons his current life and plans to spend his days in solitude. His plans fall apart when his home becomes a shrine after a stain on his wall is seen as being miraculous - wackiness ensues.
How could it stink? It stars Luke Wilson and was a hit at Sundance...oh wait, those aren't necessarily good things...
How could it stink? It stars Luke Wilson and was a hit at Sundance...oh wait, those aren't necessarily good things...
Return to the Movie Trailer Page
Screenwriter: Albert Torres
Director: Mark Pellington (U2 3D)
Actors: Luke Wilson (Idiocracy), and Radha Mitchell (Silent Hill)
Labels: George Lopez, Luke Wilson, movie trailer, Radha Mitchell
posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 8:34 PM
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