Netflix Diary
a) "Community," Season 2
Before anything else, let me just say that I still think Netflix DVD rental is the greatest thing since sliced bread and will continue to use it (under any name, under any price rate) for a long, long time, and I'm not really sure what everyone's shitting their pants about. Anyway, I had a lot of fun a few months ago revisiting the first season of "Community" on DVD and watching all the commentary tracks and other bonus features. But I might've started watching these too soon, especially since I was watching the season 2 reruns all summer, because it just kinda feels stale and makes me want to just focus on watching the new episodes now that the third season has started. Still an amazing season of a great show, though.
b) Sucker Punch
I think my wife thought this was more depressing than the fun she expected, but I kind of liked the downer aspects of it. It really wasn't much of a "yeah, chicks kicking ass!" movie after all, though, and a few cool scenes aside I wasn't that impressed by the visuals, and I say that as someone who doesn't have much of a problem with Zack Snyder -- Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole probably looked better, to be honest.
c) The Lincoln Lawyer
I remember seeing the first big trailer for this and just going "HOLY SHIT MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY IS The LINCOLN LAWYER FUCK YEAH" perhaps just out of total shock of him doing something that looked actually interesting instead of another romcom with Kate Hudson. And it really did live up to my expectations, it's a really cool, smartly assembled thriller with a great supporting cast that McConaughey actually doesn't feel out of place in.
d) The Adjustment Bureau
There's nothing I hate more than big action/sci-fi movies that make everything hinge on a love story without making the slightest effort to make the viewer actually care about the couple or their relationship beyond casting two attractive famous people. So this movie was really refreshing and engaging right off the bat just by virtue of Matt Damon and Emily Blunt having great screen chemistry and believable and funny banter, so much so that at times the whole huge concept of the movie almost felt secondary, or like it maybe should have been. The only time the whole ridiculous premise started to feel a little silly was when somebody ominously said "everybody with a hat is a threat," which really should have been the tagline on the poster. But really, despite some rough patches this was solid.
e) Rango
Visually this was pretty cool but it kind of washed over me, which may be my fault, I wasn't paying much attention.
f) The Mechanic
There's something just too perfect about Jason Statham starring in a Charles Bronson remake. My wife loves both Statham and Ben Foster so this was right up her alley, and I enjoyed it too, some pretty dope action setpieces, although nothing super memorable or over the top like Statham's best flicks.
g) The Rite
Anthony Hopkins: another actor my wife is kind of strangely a huge fan of. This had some cool creepy scenes but I'm a big fan of The Exorcist and it always feels like other movies about exorcisms consistently fail to avoid obvious comparisons, which are inevitably unflattering.
h) The Dilemma
I don't feel like a lot of people really enjoy Vince Vaughn just being chatty and obnoxious like I do, but when he's on, man, he's on, and this movie features him in better form than, I dunno, Couples Retreat or Four Christmases, and he has a good dynamic with Kevin James here. The movie as a whole is kind of a mess, but it's an interesting mess that diverts from the romcom formula in as many good ways as bad ways.
i) 127 Hours
I wasn't particularly jazzed about the idea of seeing this, partly because the trailer's (understandable) reliance on the lighter moments of the movie made it look overly goofy, partly because I kinda knew it would be really uncomfortable to watch. I was kind of surprised how moved I was by the end of the movie, though, I really kinda felt for the guy and what he went through and was more impressed by Franco's performance that I thought I'd be.
j) The King's Speech
This was whatever, I didn't love it, didn't hate it.
k) True Grit
I generally prefer Coen Bros flicks when there's a bit more comedy in the mix, so I was apprehensive about having the same problems connecting with True Grit that I had with No Country For Old Men and A Serious Man. But I really enjoyed this, felt very character driven and involving, great use of the cast, had me on the edge of my seat toward the end.
l) "Better Off Ted," Season 1
I'm still so annoyed this show was canceled, it was so sharp and quick and meanly satirical, but hey, that's what DVDs are for, and it holds up well to multiple viewings.
m) Brooklyn Lobster
I can't even remember how I ended up with this movie on my queue, but man was it boring and pointless, which made slightly more sense after I watched a behind the scenes featurette explaining how the director wrote the movie about the true story of his own family's lobster shack. Martin Scorsese "presents" this movie according to the DVD cover but I have no idea what that really means and the prestige of his supposed involvement doesn't have any discernable effect on the quality of the movie.
n) Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Man I fucking loved this movie, enjoyed The Long Kiss Goodnight and the first couple Lethal Weapon movies but didn't realize what a total genius Shane Black is until I watched this, so psyched about him directing the next Iron Man movie now. This movie is also the closest Val Kilmer has ever coming to recapturing his energy from Real Genius, which in and of itself is enough to make a movie classic in my eyes.
o) "Deadwood," Season 2
Even though I put this on my best TV of the decade list I still don't feel like a total convert to this show; there are a lot of great individual moments of acting and dialogue writing and set design and atmosphere-building, but it hasn't quite added up to a cohesive whole that I genuinely care about yet.
p) "Huff," Season 1
I feel weird about finally deciding to rent this show just before a new Hank Azaria show started airing (and doubly so because I'm concurrently watching new episodes of another Showtime series co-starring Oliver Platt, "The Big C"). This is occasionally a really good show but it also feels a bit over top with all the standard premium cable edginess and nastiness, and it's unnerving how this show seems to have so much of the same people behind the music and direction and production as "Dead Like Me" (which was on Showtime around the same time, natch), so it all feels kind of eerily familiar.
q) "Mystery Science Theater 3000" - Gunslinger
Once again, watching some old Joel-era "MST3K" I'd never seen before. This one didn't seem especially funny, but they're all good, obviously.
r) Empire Of The Sun
This was good, although I think I enjoyed the performances more than the story or anything else. Not just young Christian Bale but also early Malkovich and Joey Pants were pretty good. Like with a lot of these movies, though, I wasn't paying super close attention because I was chasing around my toddler half the time.
Before anything else, let me just say that I still think Netflix DVD rental is the greatest thing since sliced bread and will continue to use it (under any name, under any price rate) for a long, long time, and I'm not really sure what everyone's shitting their pants about. Anyway, I had a lot of fun a few months ago revisiting the first season of "Community" on DVD and watching all the commentary tracks and other bonus features. But I might've started watching these too soon, especially since I was watching the season 2 reruns all summer, because it just kinda feels stale and makes me want to just focus on watching the new episodes now that the third season has started. Still an amazing season of a great show, though.
b) Sucker Punch
I think my wife thought this was more depressing than the fun she expected, but I kind of liked the downer aspects of it. It really wasn't much of a "yeah, chicks kicking ass!" movie after all, though, and a few cool scenes aside I wasn't that impressed by the visuals, and I say that as someone who doesn't have much of a problem with Zack Snyder -- Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole probably looked better, to be honest.
c) The Lincoln Lawyer
I remember seeing the first big trailer for this and just going "HOLY SHIT MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY IS The LINCOLN LAWYER FUCK YEAH" perhaps just out of total shock of him doing something that looked actually interesting instead of another romcom with Kate Hudson. And it really did live up to my expectations, it's a really cool, smartly assembled thriller with a great supporting cast that McConaughey actually doesn't feel out of place in.
d) The Adjustment Bureau
There's nothing I hate more than big action/sci-fi movies that make everything hinge on a love story without making the slightest effort to make the viewer actually care about the couple or their relationship beyond casting two attractive famous people. So this movie was really refreshing and engaging right off the bat just by virtue of Matt Damon and Emily Blunt having great screen chemistry and believable and funny banter, so much so that at times the whole huge concept of the movie almost felt secondary, or like it maybe should have been. The only time the whole ridiculous premise started to feel a little silly was when somebody ominously said "everybody with a hat is a threat," which really should have been the tagline on the poster. But really, despite some rough patches this was solid.
e) Rango
Visually this was pretty cool but it kind of washed over me, which may be my fault, I wasn't paying much attention.
f) The Mechanic
There's something just too perfect about Jason Statham starring in a Charles Bronson remake. My wife loves both Statham and Ben Foster so this was right up her alley, and I enjoyed it too, some pretty dope action setpieces, although nothing super memorable or over the top like Statham's best flicks.
g) The Rite
Anthony Hopkins: another actor my wife is kind of strangely a huge fan of. This had some cool creepy scenes but I'm a big fan of The Exorcist and it always feels like other movies about exorcisms consistently fail to avoid obvious comparisons, which are inevitably unflattering.
h) The Dilemma
I don't feel like a lot of people really enjoy Vince Vaughn just being chatty and obnoxious like I do, but when he's on, man, he's on, and this movie features him in better form than, I dunno, Couples Retreat or Four Christmases, and he has a good dynamic with Kevin James here. The movie as a whole is kind of a mess, but it's an interesting mess that diverts from the romcom formula in as many good ways as bad ways.
i) 127 Hours
I wasn't particularly jazzed about the idea of seeing this, partly because the trailer's (understandable) reliance on the lighter moments of the movie made it look overly goofy, partly because I kinda knew it would be really uncomfortable to watch. I was kind of surprised how moved I was by the end of the movie, though, I really kinda felt for the guy and what he went through and was more impressed by Franco's performance that I thought I'd be.
j) The King's Speech
This was whatever, I didn't love it, didn't hate it.
k) True Grit
I generally prefer Coen Bros flicks when there's a bit more comedy in the mix, so I was apprehensive about having the same problems connecting with True Grit that I had with No Country For Old Men and A Serious Man. But I really enjoyed this, felt very character driven and involving, great use of the cast, had me on the edge of my seat toward the end.
l) "Better Off Ted," Season 1
I'm still so annoyed this show was canceled, it was so sharp and quick and meanly satirical, but hey, that's what DVDs are for, and it holds up well to multiple viewings.
m) Brooklyn Lobster
I can't even remember how I ended up with this movie on my queue, but man was it boring and pointless, which made slightly more sense after I watched a behind the scenes featurette explaining how the director wrote the movie about the true story of his own family's lobster shack. Martin Scorsese "presents" this movie according to the DVD cover but I have no idea what that really means and the prestige of his supposed involvement doesn't have any discernable effect on the quality of the movie.
n) Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Man I fucking loved this movie, enjoyed The Long Kiss Goodnight and the first couple Lethal Weapon movies but didn't realize what a total genius Shane Black is until I watched this, so psyched about him directing the next Iron Man movie now. This movie is also the closest Val Kilmer has ever coming to recapturing his energy from Real Genius, which in and of itself is enough to make a movie classic in my eyes.
o) "Deadwood," Season 2
Even though I put this on my best TV of the decade list I still don't feel like a total convert to this show; there are a lot of great individual moments of acting and dialogue writing and set design and atmosphere-building, but it hasn't quite added up to a cohesive whole that I genuinely care about yet.
p) "Huff," Season 1
I feel weird about finally deciding to rent this show just before a new Hank Azaria show started airing (and doubly so because I'm concurrently watching new episodes of another Showtime series co-starring Oliver Platt, "The Big C"). This is occasionally a really good show but it also feels a bit over top with all the standard premium cable edginess and nastiness, and it's unnerving how this show seems to have so much of the same people behind the music and direction and production as "Dead Like Me" (which was on Showtime around the same time, natch), so it all feels kind of eerily familiar.
q) "Mystery Science Theater 3000" - Gunslinger
Once again, watching some old Joel-era "MST3K" I'd never seen before. This one didn't seem especially funny, but they're all good, obviously.
r) Empire Of The Sun
This was good, although I think I enjoyed the performances more than the story or anything else. Not just young Christian Bale but also early Malkovich and Joey Pants were pretty good. Like with a lot of these movies, though, I wasn't paying super close attention because I was chasing around my toddler half the time.
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on Monday, October 03, 2011 at 12:10 PM.
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