Dead Ringers

This movie is a psychological thriller starring Jeremy Irons as twin gynecologists.

So.

As Jeremy Irons is never one to do things half-assed, and there's DOUBLE the Jeremy Irons in this movie, it's full-assed crazy times two.

My main problem with this movie is that I could not tell the two apart, pretty much from the start, so they might as well have been the same character.

It was nuts.  I had asked my stepmother to watch with me, and the two of us were kind of appalled at a lot of it.  Other parts were okay, but the whole thing was kind of ridiculous.

If you like the Jeremy Irons brand of crazy, you might like this?  I don't know.  It's nowhere near as good as, say, Lolita, or the one where he puts his wife into a coma and is acquitted.

Watch...if you want to.

Availability: DVD
Released: 1988
Added to my queue: 2/12/2008
Reason added to queue: who knows

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (#6)

My first impression of this film was pulling the DVD out of its sleeve, seeing the actors printed on it, and realizing "Man, these kids have really grown up!"

And it was wonderful.

*Spoiler Alert*

In case you don't remember the book, this is the one where:

• Hermione is jealous that Ron has a girlfriend for most of the movie
• Harry is jealous that Ginny has a boyfriend for most of the movie
• Both get their intended mates by the end of the movie
• Harry finds a potions book that used to belong to "the half-blood prince" and uses its cheat-sheets all the way through the movie until nearly the end
• The book ends up being Snape's
• Snape makes an unbreakable promise to protect Malfoy / finish any Dark Lord business Malfoy may need him to do 
• Because of this, Snape kills Dumbledore
• Helena Bonham Carter is terrifying, as usual

See it!  See them all!  Read all the books!  Love love love!  I was late to the game because the whole premise of the whole series sounded idiotic to me.  But I loved all of it as soon as I succumbed.

Availability: DVD only (Boo!!!!)

Released: 2009

Reason I watched it: It's Harry Potter, dude.  It's good stuff.

Panic in the Streets

This is a film noir about an outbreak of pneumonic plague in New Orleans.  Directed by Elia Kazan, it stars Richard Widmark as the doctor and Paul Douglas as the police captain; these two spend the movie trying to find everyone who was exposed to the disease in time to inoculate them.  Barbara Bel Geddes (Dallas), plays the doctor's wife, and a young Jack Palance (as Walter Jack Palance) plays "bad" guy trying to elude police because he (bullied?  killed?  I can't even remember, it was so boring) Patient Zero.

My thoughts:

• This movie is ridiculously low-action for a movie called Panic in the Streets (which has a poster depicting people running for their lives in horror).  Let's call a spade a spade: there can't be a panic if the Department of Public Health refuses to let anyone know (or the press reveal) that there is an epidemic.  Secondly, worst thing about Jack Palance's "Blackie" is how very bizarre Palance looked as a young man.  He definitely peaked in his later years, in my opinion.  
• And while I'm on the subject of Blackie: watching his stooge and him evade the police was like watching my dog avoid letting me near him to give him a treat: a lot of drama for absolutely NOTHING because all they wanted to do was give him a shot to keep him from dying.  Nobody, but NOBODY, cared about his relationship to Patient Zero.
• The impact of this movie is certainly lessened by my having seen movies like Outbreak and Contagion.  Maybe it was terrifying in its day, but it really doesn't pack a punch in the 21st century.

I don't really recommend it.  

Availability: DVD

Released: 1950

Added to my queue: 9/5/2007

Reason added to my queue: Who knows

Tiny Furniture

This is the premiere commercial work of Lena Dunham, the wunderkind behind HBO's hit series Girls.  Months before seeing this movie, I read articles lauding it as the voice of its generation (people who are graduating from college now-ish).

The premise: Aura (Dunham) graduates from an unnamed Ohio college and moves home to Manhattan, to live with her artist mother (Lauri Simmons) and sister.  Her "best friend" from childhood, Charlotte (Girls's Jemima Kirke) is also hanging around the neighborhood (Tribeca), living at home.  The movie basically shows Aura's awkward life, as she tries to fit back in with her family, tries to make new friends and stabs at romance, and essentially hopes her art (YouTube videos) will pan out as a career.  She also has plans to get an apartment with a friend from college, Frankie (Merritt Weaver, whom I recognized from Law & Order: Criminal Intent).

I can sympathize with moving back into my parents' house after they expected me to be gone forever; and living in Manhattan with no money; and the weird romance part.  I guess that's enough.  This is a weird generation, growing up feeling entitled and then coming out of college with no prospects.  I don't really know any of them or like thinking about any of it.

I mean the movie was pretty good though?  I don't know.  I was going to have to see it eventually.

Availability: DVD and Streaming
Released: 2010
Reason I watched it: Netflix said so

Butter

This is a quirky, darkly funny movie about an Iowa City woman (Jennifer Garner) whose husband (Modern Family's Ty Burrell) is forced into retirement from entering area butter-sculpting competitions (which he has won for 15 years).  The woman decides to take his place in the competitions, so there's that aspect of the plot.  Another entrant is a 10-year-old foster child, who is sweet and talented.  I won't ruin the story for you, but it was a decent movie.

The cast was kind of outrageous - so many famous people, yet I had never heard of this movie before I watched it. Thus goes the indie comedy.

Availability: DVD and Streaming
Released: 2011
Reason I watched it: Netflix said so

Louie

This is the second show to star comedian Louis C.K.; Netflix streams Seasons 1 and 2 (a total of 27 episodes).

The premise is that Louie is a stand-up comedian who is a divorced father of 2 girls, which is also true in real life.  There are essentially 3 components to the show:

• The stand-up segments: These are generally a little too masturbation-focused for me.  However, I like them because this is the part of the show where you can see him genuinely smile - it's clear that he really likes his job.  And he's very - - I don't know how to say it - - unprepossessing?  Un-self-possessed?  Something about possess.  Or not about possess.  He's just interesting to watch.  Sometimes this veers into cringe-worthy moments, which is hard but generally worth watching.
• The regular-guy life segments: These often involve Louie trying to date, or somehow stumbling into a potential sexual experience, and are very very often cringe-inducing, but still generally worth watching.  He befriends the mother of one of his daughter's schoolmates (Pamela Adlon, from Californication) and develops an awkward crush on her, which she totally does not reciprocate (and yet I still found myself convinced they would get together).  She's funny.  Except her character's son is named Serge, which every character on the show pronounces "Serj" but she pronounces "Sir".  It's weird.  The most interesting thing about the real-life segments is what a good person he is, which always kind of surprises me for some reason. 
• The segments with his daughters: These are the best part of this show, as far as I'm concerned.  Lillie is 8-9 and Jane is 4-5 during these seasons, and they're really cute - but Ursula Parker's Jane is, hands down, my favorite character on the show.  First of all, she's totally adorable.  She can't say her "R"s, which adds to the hilarity of everything she says.  Her best work is seen on the family trip to see great-aunt Ellen; the Halloween episode; and Duckling, Part 1.

I really didn't think I'd like this show much, but it definitely grew on me.  

Availability: DVD and Streaming

Released: 2010-

Reason I watched it: Netflix said so

Queen of Versailles

This is a documentary about David (74) and Jackie Siegel (43) - he is the owner of Westgate Resorts, which is apparently the largest privately-owned timeshare company in...the US?  The world?  I don't know.

The movie begins with the couple talking about their new house that is being built, the largest single-family, single-building home in the US, which is modeled on the palace of Versailles in France.  It's stupid big.  $75 million.

Both David and Jackie come from humble means, and this was intended to be a rags-to-riches kind of a thing.  But during the filming, the 2008 real-estate tumble occurs, and banks stop backing sub-prime investments, which is pretty much exactly the definition of time-shares.

It's a great documentary (a darling of Sundance, etc.) and very interesting (and not a little sad to watch all those time-share employees lose their jobs).  Among other things, David has a bizarre and distant relationship with his grown children from his first wife, and is "closest" to the son (Richard) who is a VP at Westgate, who shows the business side of matters to the documentarians.  They are closest because they work together, but it's not at all a father-son relationship. Also interesting is wife Jackie, toward the end, saying she doubts they will lose the house, and simultaneously realizing that the documentary crew spends more time with her husband than she does and may be privy to information that she doesn't have.

All this is BEFORE David Siegel sued the filmmaker, Lauren Greenfield, claiming he didn't let her make the film and she did it against his wishes.  That's a completely asinine accusation - he gave interviews to the filmmakers!  he totally knew what they were doing and was fine with it! - and he lost the first court battle.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/queen-versailles-lawsuit-filmmaker-wins-415325

Anyway, check it out if you like documentaries or watching rich people having to cut down on their domestic staff.  The couple's 8 children (who are being raised as responsible citizens who can't bother to keep pets alive) are just another source of intrigue.

Availability: DVD and Streaming
Released: 2012
Reason I watched it: Netflix and New York Magazine said so

Oldboy

This is a Korean crime thriller about a business man who finds himself imprisoned (and drugged, and sometimes tortured) for 15 years, and he doesn't know why.  So once he gets out, he spends the rest of the movie trying to figure out why he was imprisoned / get revenge on his captors.  He befriends a waitress, and the two work to face his vengeance together.  But it gets complicated.

My thoughts about this movie: it definitely doesn't turn out the way you think it's going to, so that is captivating.

That said, they DUBBED it instead of using subtitles - and the douchebags they use as the characters' voices, my God.  Just use subtitles.  I spent many scenes - more than several - thinking to myself, "Is this even the right translation?  Is this just a Mystery Science Theater 3000 version, where some jackass watched it on 'mute' and guessed at what the characters might be saying?"

But, I mean.  It was decent.  It held my attention.  If you like Korean movies, crime thrillers, or torture porn, this might be for you.

Availability: DVD and Streaming.
Released: 2003
Added to list: 2/11/2008
Reason added to list: unknown

Jeff Who Lives at Home

I really thought this movie would either be extremely dull, or some kind of silly comedy about a family trying to get their grown son to move out of the house (who would really believe an adult moving back in with his parents??  Haw haw haw).  

However, they actually throw in some interesting turns, and by the end, I was really glad I watched it.  And you might be, too.  So you should maybe see it if you have extra time.  Jeff is played by Jason Segel, who seems roughly normal-sized on How I Met Your Mother, but kind of hulking here.  His mother is played by Susan Sarandon, who is kind of wasting her talent here if you ask me.  And his brother is played by The Office's Ed Helms, who plays kind of "against type" for you pretentious people who use phrases like that.

Availability: DVD and Streaming 

Released: 2011

Reason I watched it: Netflix said so

The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret

I watched this entire series last night.  I mean there are only like 12 episodes, and they're each around 22 minutes.  My thoughts are below.

This is a program about a temp named Todd Margaret (David Cross) who inadvertently becomes the head of UK sales of an energy drink of questionable nutritional/toxicity repute.  His boss, George Wilts (Will Arnett) discovers him, likes him, and sends him off to Jolly Old England with a credit card and like 32,000 cases of ThunderMuscle (the energy drink).

Hijinks ensue.

I am not the biggest hijinks fan.  I am not a huge fan of things going really wrong and getting really misunderstood and huge messes becoming unnecessarily made.  This makes such shows as The Three Stooges, Three's Company, and nearly every Disney movie distasteful to me.

However, David Cross and Will Arnett are who they are, and I'll watch whatever they want me to watch, and support all their endeavors until Netflix bankrolls the return of Arrested Development, the new seasons.

If you love these guys, and Americans looking like complete twats in the UK, this show's for you.

Availability: DVD and Streaming
Released: 2009
Reason I watched it: Netflix said so

Portlandia

I really, really did not want to watch this show.  My brother continually insisted that I try it, and I refused.

Ultimately, I had to give in.  Netflix kept putting it into my top 10, and if my brother and Netflix BOTH thought I'd like it, well they know me better than most people.

This show is HILARIOUS.  I don't want to go into too much detail, because I know from experience that describing the things that are so funny about the show falls flat in the ears of people who have never seen it.  That said, I laugh out loud at least once per episode, usually more than that.

Among other reasons, I did not want to watch the show because it is about Portland, which, to me, meant that it would be about hipsters.  Having lived in NYC for 10 years and continuing to read New York magazine on a regular basis, I'm completely over hearing, reading, or thinking about Brooklyn hipsters and their exhausting, micromanaged, microbrewed, and locally sourced lives.  The most dedicated Brooklyn hipsters ultimately give up city life, and move to Portland, where they live the dream into old age.  The last thing I would want to do would be to watch a show about them.

But a show making FUN of them?  Hold the phone, you might be onto something.

I love this show.  Fred Armisen (Saturday Night Live) is delightful, but the best part of the show is Carrie Brownstein, whom I had never seen before, and who is HYSTERICALLY funny.  And the two of them together, I just love love love.  Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks) is cute as the mayor.

Also look for hilarious cameos by such actors as Heather Graham, Selma Blair, Aimee Mann, Penny Marshall, Amber Tamblyn, and many others.

There are only 16 episodes (2 seasons) on Netflix, each of which is 22 minutes long, so it's doable in a weekend (I watched the whole lot of them in 24 hours, along with studying).

You HAVE to watch this show.

Availability: DVD and Streaming
First Aired: 2011
Can also be seen: IFC Channel

Hotel Babylon

I just started the final season of Hotel Babylon, a few years after watching the first few seasons - and have to tell you, if you have never seen this show, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT.  I really love it.

And you will, too, if you like:

• Shows that are simultaneously hilarious and heartbreaking
• Workplace shows
• Shows that have a core group of characters and then lots of cameos that change from week to week
• Shows with compelling characters you come to care about

And most of all, if you find yourself in love with British shows but always wishing there were one based in present day, not focused on crime-solving...

THIS IS THE SHOW FOR YOU.  

The premise is a 5-star hotel in London, and the staff who keep it going year after year.  It changes management and ownership a few times, but all the characters maintain their integral loyalty to the place.  From Tony, the concierge that holds the group (and hotel) together, to Anna, the ditzy and self-possessed girl at the front desk, they're all a riot.  And there are touching moments that will make the most devoted Gray's Anatomy-type fan glad they've tuned in.

Seriously, I have loved this show for years.  There are four seasons.  Definitely check it out.

Availability: DVD and Streaming (Yay!)

Man of La Mancha

This is a musical version of the Cervantes classic, Don Quixote, starring Peter O'Toole, Sophia Loren, and James Coco as Don Quixote's faithful sidekick, Sancho Panza.

It grew on me.

All in all, though, and maybe it's because I am unfamiliar with the original story -

Or maybe it's because I've seen a ton of musicals and this one only had one catchy song, which was the (in my opinion) unfortunate "To Dream the Impossible Dream" -

Or maybe it's because the scene moved back and forth between the storied castle courtyard and the "actual" dungeon where Cervantes is awaiting being burned at the stake by the Inquisition -

I felt like this movie was a waste of my time.

I hate to say that, but here we are.

Availability: Streaming only

Released: 1972
Date added to my queue: 5/12/2012

Reason added to my queue: I was reading an article about Sophia Loren, and added a bunch of her movies

The Machinist

In this movie, Christian Bale plays Trevor Reznik, a factory worker who weighs nothing and has not slept in a year (plus his entire life is seen through a washed-out filter of blues and grays, so you kind of wonder how he even continues to put up with it).  PLUS not one but two women are interested in him, which in his condition is completely absurd.  As if that isn't weird enough, creepy things start happening to and around him , and he cannot tell whether they are really happening or he's just crazy from insomnia.  I won't tell you which, if either, of these is the case.  But I will say some other things about the movie.

First off,  this movie singlehandedly proves that Christian Bale is the greatest current Method actor.

That said, I don't know how his wife stands him.  Maybe he lets tons of time go by between movies, so she can get a lot of experience with Christian the truly decent guy between bouts of Christian the depressed, 60-pound man or Christian the brooding and ripped superhero.

This movie is really, really good.  I did spend the vast majority of it wondering what could possibly be the reason a man would get as thin as he did, and not sleep for an entire year - but everything is satisfactorily resolved at the end, and I wish I had just trusted him and gone with it.

If you're interested in a dark, quiet thriller, and for some reason have not seen this yet, I for sure recommend it!

Availability: DVD and Streaming (Yay!)

Released: 2004
Date added to my queue: 12/6/2007

Reason added to my queue: Unknown

Boogeyman

This morning, I watched Boogeyman, starring Barry Watson (7th Heaven) and Emily Deschanel (Bones).

Watson plays the grown-up version of a little boy who lost his father to the boogeyman, and everyone thought the kid was nuts.  It turns out there IS a boogeyman, as one might guess from the title.

I love horror movies, but this one is not that great.  The characters aren't very developed or compelling.  There are some good spooky moments, but I'm not that huge a fan.

Availability: DVD ONLY (ugh)

Released: 2005
Date added to my queue: 10/10/2010

Reason added to my queue: Probably because I love scary movies

Deadwood, Season I

Oh, how to begin?

First of all, a lot of you are wondering why it took me so long to watch Deadwood.  Well, I had some reservations.

• I don't like "The Old West".
• I don't like dust.
• I don't like the way they talked back then.

However, people rave about this show, so I decided to check it out.  The first thing that jumped out at me, before I had made it through the first 20 minutes of the first episode, is how salty the language is.  Now, believe me, I cuss more than anyone else I know.  But the citizens of Deadwood use the "F" word like a tween uses the word "like"; that is to say, f@*&ing constantly.

Once I got used to that, I got to know the characters.  I was slow to warm to them, but by the end of the season, I loved them all.  They include:

• Saloon owner Al Swearengen (Ian McShane), who basically runs Deadwood by scaring all the citizens to death or killing them.
• Hotel-proprietor E.B. Farnum (that guy from Newhart, Larry who had multiple brothers named Darryl), who is approximately as buffoonish as he has been in anything else you've seen.
• Fledgling hardware-store owner Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant, who always reminds me of Joel McHale from Community, until I see him smile and then I remember it's the drama guy, not the comedy guy.  I loved him on Damages.  On Deadwood, he usually has his eyebrows raised, which makes me think he's trying to hold his hat up.  But whatever, he's a main character and by the end of the season I just loved him), who seems like the most normal person in Deadwood.
• Doc Cochrane, whom I've seen in some stuff but don't feel like Googling.  This guy's awesome though.
• Rival saloon owner Tolliver (Powers Boothe), who tries to keep above the dirty deeds of Deadwood, but that's impossible.
• Alma Garrett (Molly Parker, who I remember most fondly from Swingtown, which was amazing, underrated, and too-short-lived), who ultimately comes to care for the little Sophia.
• Sophia, a little girl whose parents are killed early on and who gets passed around like a hot potato but ultimately ends up with Mrs. Garrett (presumably to live her life with Tootie, Jo, and Blair.  Kidding, kidding).
• Prostitute Trixie, who tries to squirm out from under Swearengen's thumb most of the season.
• Promoted overlord of the prostitutes Joanie, played by the boy's aunt from Great Expectations.  She is associated with Tolliver.  She's intriguing.
• Reverend Smith, who irritates me throughout the season.
• A.W. Merrick (Jeffrey Jones, the principal from Ferris Beuller) as the town newspaperman.
• Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane and their friend Charlie: all of these characters are a pleasure, although Jane takes some pretty serious getting used to.

Also look for Kristen Bell, in a cameo as a grifter - I loved her as Veronica Mars, but remember that I used to kind of hate her and think she had beady little eyes - and lo and behold, they actually make fun of her beady little eyes during her visit to Deadwood, which was awesome.

Anyway, once I understood who was who, I realized I didn't hate the clothes or the talk as much as I had thought - but instead of dust, they have mud, much, and manure, which is gross under any circumstances.  I also got used to the whole gold-prospecting idea and the idea of Deadwood as a town full of corruption and "crime" - although they're not technically a part of the United States and also don't have any laws, so all the crimes are kind of moral crimes.  Ethical crimes, at best.  But in Deadwood, ethics is a pretty elastic concept.  And pretty much everyone who dies or gets their ass beat deserves it.

So yes, I recommend this show.  And I had been planning to just add the next season at the bottom of my queue and watch it in 5 years when it comes up; but the season finale was so very good that I really want to know what happens next!  So we'll see.

Availability: DVD ONLY (ugh)

Date added to my queue: Unknown

Reason added to my queue: Everyone loves it