Movies, Now More Than Ever!

Floyd Pepper (Jerry Nelson): Well, if this were the movies...

Dr. Teeth (Jim Henson): Which it is.

Floyd: ...we'd think of a clever plot device.

Scooter (Richard Hunt): Like disguising their car so they won't be recognized!

- THE MUPPET MOVIE (1979)

Whatta busy season and it's gonna get busier. We here at film babble have seen lots of movies lately both on the big and small screens and we can't wait to blather 'bout them. So let's go :

NOW SHOWING :

NAPOLEON DYNAMITE (Dir. Jared Hess) Funny or just funny looking? Hard to decide about a movie made by Mormons about a high school geek (Jon Herder) in Idaho and his quirky misadventures. Quirky humour seems to be the rage in recent independent comedies so much so that one critic (Sean Burns from the Philadelphia Weekly) said that it felt like the work of "a lousy Wes Anderson cover band". I'm not sure I'd quite say that but it's a good line. A good hearted flick that a lot of kids will like NAPOLEON DYNAMITE goes by like a smirking breeze.

SHAUN OF THE DEAD (Dir. Edgar Wright) A British romantic comedy/killer zombie thriller this is a spirited merging of High Fidelity (the book) and 28 DAYS LATER especially in the scene where slacker Shaun (Simon Pegg) and his deadbeat flatmate Ed (Nick Frost) throw old vinyl records at the blood thirsty undead - Ed : "Stone Roses?" Shaun : "Definitely not." Ed : "The Batman soundtrack?" Shaun : "Throw it." Funny but not hilarious, scary but not blood curdling the amount of energy and wit here makes this a good time. Some critics are predicting this may become a cult classic in years to come. They might be onto something. It's nice to see Lucy Davis and Martin Freeman from the brilliant BBC program THE OFFICE make appearances too.

SKYCAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW (Dir. Kerry Conran) More like the "World That Yesterday Thought Tomorrow Would Look Like" this is the ultimate in retro. Or maybe what Harry Shearer called "nowtro" in A MIGHTY WIND. Old school sci-fi ideals mingle with new school computer generated imagery to make a 2004 movie look like it could have come from the 30's. Jude Law and Gwyneth Patrow star as the hero and heroine who go through a narrative as cribbed from old Flash Gordon and Dick Tracy as it is from James Bond and Star Wars. For the most part SKYCAPTAIN works and it is fascinating looking but unfortunately it drags horribly in places and the sense of innocence it tries to evoke is so long gone that it may leave viewers puzzled. Still though such an ernest while overblown concept movie is hard to dismiss. Long live Nowtro!

BADASSSSS! (Dir. Mario Van Peeples) Movies that are about making movies hold a certain interest but the claim that some critics have made that finally blaxploitation has it's DAY FOR NIGHT seems to miss the point. This is about the making of a real movie - SWEET SWEETBACKS BAADASSSSS SONG and the 'movie within a movie' cliche doesn't really ring true. This is about the struggle and satisfaction of the film making process told by the son of the original film maker who had an inside ear. Funny, intense, and emotionally endearing in its last half hour this is exactly what it what it claims to be - BAADASSSSS and without a doubt the best project that Mario Van Peeples has ever been involved in.

ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (Dir. Michael Gondry) Nearly flawless existential comedy with a Philip K. Dickensian kick! I don't need to recount the plot - just about every film babbler has seen this flick but maybe the best movie of the year gets a great DVD treatment. Commentaries, deleted scenes, and featurettes augment this disc but the movie alone works just fine. Charlie Kaufman while working with well trodden egghead memory erase concepts wrings an imaginative free form story out of every day truths. Romantic at its core ETERNAL SUNSHINE is a delight in every way. Jim Carrey puts in the restrained everyguy performance that comes off as more impressive than his 'in-your-face' persona of past while Kate Winslet gives a greatly confident spin to her impulsive artsy book store slave gal with the everchanging hair colors. With a crack cast that includes Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Wilkinson, David Cross and Elijah Wood just watch and enjoy and consider giving your own existence a jump start, why doncha?!!?

More later...

Random Babble

"All we are is dust in the wind, dude." Ted Logan (Keanu Reeves) to Socrates (Tony Steedman) BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE (1989)

Well the summer is coming to a close and what have we learned? I guess that the documentary genre is now a viable film product (FAHRENHEIT 911, THE HUNTING OF THE PRESIDENT, SUPERSIZE ME, OUTFOXED, and FESTIVAL EXPRESS), that comic book heroes are still needed (SPIDERMAN 2 & HELL BOY) and that horror franchises are still kicking (ALIEN vs. PREDATOR, EXORCIST : THE BEGINNING)

We've been babbling 'bout whether Zach Braff's GARDEN STATE is a worthwhile watch. Some film babblers have likened it to the classic cult flick HAROLD AND MAUDE like Braff has in interviews but to film babblers like me I think it's more on the ORDINARY PEOPLE side of the spectrum. More on that debate later.

* HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO KEANU REEVES - (40) There's more Ted Logan in all of us than there is Neo (MATRIX)

More later...