| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| randall |
Posted - 06/27/2008 : 21:56:06
SPOILERS PROBABLY GALORE, BUT NOTHING WHICH WILL SPOIL YOUR ACTUAL VIEWING OF THIS MOVIE:
I searched for a thread and went back as far as Sundance 08 [where I missed it in its premiere engagement], so if one exists, sue me -- but I think the typical fwiffer should know about and see this one, newly released on DVD.
The new Gondry takes a fanciful premise -- have any of his pictures been grounded in reality? -- and then squeezes every possible reaction from it. There's a New Jersey video store which seems stuck in the past -- they only have tapes -- and a weird accident happens to Jack Black, who becomes magnetic and zaps all the VHS tapes in the store, to the consternation of his pal Mos Def. [Real owner Danny Glover is out of town, so they're desperate.]
Comes in Mia Farrow to get her daily rental. She wants GHOSTBUSTERS. The boys say, you'll have to come again tomorrow. Then they take a camcorder and shoot a 20-minute homemade version. This becomes a neighborhood craze: walk in to the store, ask for a movie, and pick up your cheaply shot hommage tomorrow! [ROBOCOP is the funniest.] Plus, everybody wants to rent everything in this new postmodern version. It distills what we really love about any of these films, and they do include 2001.
So, ha ha ha, and Sigourney Weaver shows up as a studio suit to retain her clients' intellectual property. And the core of BKR is cut forth: the community gets together to make a cheap-ass Fats Waller biopic, and the game is on.
Except:
The last 20 minutes of this flick are deep into Capra, Sturges country. I swear they are. It makes no sense, but how did Gondry conclude he could go there [he wrote and directed]?
Any movie fan should roll this one at least once. |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| silly |
Posted - 07/08/2008 : 15:26:00
This movie was a lot of fun.
I wanted to scream at the TV during the "copyright" crap, but that's because I spend too much time on the internets (did you know that Wall-E, the robot, broke tons of copyright laws? I guess since the lawyers were gone it didn't matter, but he did. I didn't tell my kids)
Enjoyed this one tremendously. 
|
| MisterBadIdea |
Posted - 07/01/2008 : 00:33:57
Man, I don't even think I've been on the same forum as two different people who didn't like Eternal Sunshine. |
| Whippersnapper. |
Posted - 06/30/2008 : 23:33:04
This kind.
But then you've experienced extreme difficulties fathoming me before.
And try not to argue with Ali. He's a really sensitive guy.
|
| MisterBadIdea |
Posted - 06/30/2008 : 22:10:22
quote:
Originally posted by Ali
The film has an ending that's described as whimsical because it's directed by Gondry. If it were directed by an American director of commercial flicks, it would be deemed schmaltzy.
I hated it. The way I hate most of Gondry's work.
I don't think it's schmaltzy because the crew doesn't get what they want. They opt to lose with dignity when they realize it can't win. It's marvelously bittersweet. Schmaltz is only a bad thing if the acting isn't good enough to pull it off, and I don't think it qualifies here.
As for Gondry, I'm not much of a fan of The Science of Sleep but the man has a lifetime pass as far as I'm concerned because of Eternal Sunshine. What kind of human being doesn't like Eternal Sunshine? I can't even fathom it. |
| Ali |
Posted - 06/30/2008 : 12:16:22
The film has an ending that's described as whimsical because it's directed by Gondry. If it were directed by an American director of commercial flicks, it would be deemed schmaltzy.
I hated it. The way I hate most of Gondry's work.
|
| randall |
Posted - 06/30/2008 : 11:42:02
quote:
Originally posted by MisterBadIdea
quote:
Originally posted by Randall
quote:
Originally posted by MisterBadIdea
Goddamn Internet.
Yeah, I know. You have to say stuff this way: go piss up a rope!
Well, screw that. I'm not going to use smileys in my messages; I don't even smile when I tell my jokes in real life. (I've been told I have one of the best deadpan expressions ever. No one can tell when I'm joking in real life either.)
Hmmm. No wonder I wasn't laughing. |
| MisterBadIdea |
Posted - 06/29/2008 : 03:51:21
quote:
Originally posted by Randall
quote:
Originally posted by MisterBadIdea
Goddamn Internet.
Yeah, I know. You have to say stuff this way: go piss up a rope!
Well, screw that. I'm not going to use smileys in my messages; I don't even smile when I tell my jokes in real life. (I've been told I have one of the best deadpan expressions ever. No one can tell when I'm joking in real life either.)
|
| randall |
Posted - 06/28/2008 : 23:19:47
quote:
Originally posted by MisterBadIdea
Goddamn Internet.
Yeah, I know. You have to say stuff this way: go piss up a rope! |
| MisterBadIdea |
Posted - 06/28/2008 : 19:13:32
Goddamn Internet. |
| randall |
Posted - 06/28/2008 : 18:30:57
quote:
Originally posted by MisterBadIdea
'Twas a joke, Randall.
Sorry...all I saw was what was actually on the page. |
| MisterBadIdea |
Posted - 06/28/2008 : 17:26:42
'Twas a joke, Randall. |
| randall |
Posted - 06/28/2008 : 08:40:55
quote:
Originally posted by MisterBadIdea
quote:
The last 20 minutes of this flick are deep into Capra, Sturges country. I swear they are. It makes no sense, but how did Gondry conclude he could go there [he wrote and directed]?
It had a perfectly justified ending. Shut up.
My opinion's every bit as valid as your own, if expressed less rudely. No. |
| MisterBadIdea |
Posted - 06/28/2008 : 03:33:29
quote:
The last 20 minutes of this flick are deep into Capra, Sturges country. I swear they are. It makes no sense, but how did Gondry conclude he could go there [he wrote and directed]?
It had a perfectly justified ending. Shut up.
I think more indie auteurs should try to write their own big crowd-pleasing blockbusters. Gondry said he wanted this movie to be his own Back to the Future, which is more than admirable. It's got that lovable '80s goofiness to it, especially the scene where Jack Black accidentally magnetizes himself. |
| Demisemicenturian |
Posted - 06/27/2008 : 23:44:26
quote:
Originally posted by Randall
There's a New Jersey video store which seems stuck in the past -- they only have tapes
Yep, until D.V.D.s are mentioned about halfway through, I assumed it was actually set in the 'eighties as everything (including Jack Black's glasses) seems to be from then.
It's a great romp -- the film-making scenes are ingenious and hilarious, as is the camouflage scene. |
| silly |
Posted - 06/27/2008 : 22:44:24
I had no idea this was already out on video (where have I been?) so I've put it in my Netflix queue and will get it next week.
I was sold from a trailer I saw a while back that said it was "coming soon." I guess it's soon already, huh? |
