Sunday, April 13, 2008

April Showers Bring April Tweeners.

I've been really busy lately, and not writing about the films I've seen lately. I can give you a brief rundown of the few I've seen recently, that I haven't posted reviews for. (Son of Rambow, though, I felt the need to publish the whole thing, because I loved it so much).

Doomsday - Such an awesome film, for being a complete piece of crap. It's literally Escape From New York crossed with Road Warrior (with a dash of Thunderdome), a touch of 28 Days Later, and a little bit of Excalibur. With a hot accented chick in tight clothing who kicks ass. The movie's a loving mess and homage to awesome movies of our youth that never quite gels together enough to rise above homage and becoming a film worthy of the ranks of its pieces. Still very worth checking out, as you'll note the badass pictures of it I've peppered throughout the article. (7/10)

The Hammer - Adam Corrola as a slacker who turns 40, who suddenly finds some meaning in life as he tries for an Olympic qualifier in boxing. It's got a lot of heart and good humor, and Corrola is winning as all hell. This one's in limited release, but if you get a chance to see it, it's worthy of your time. It's not an Apatow, lose your intestines laugh fest, but it keeps you smiling all through, and doesn't pull it's punches. (I'm so angry at myself for that pun). (7/10)

Run Fat Boy Run - You all know I made Simon Pegg laugh once, right? That was a good day. Sadly, I wish I could say that he once again returned the favor. there are a few moments in this flick where he makes you smile, but honestly, without Pegg, this movie would probably be unbearable. There are a few funny moments, and Pegg has a brilliant and believable scene with his son, but the script hits so many familiar beats and embraces them, when it should be turning them on their side. A major disappointment. (5/10 - extra point given for Pegg)

21 - I finally saw this movie. And it's not terrible. But it's also not really that good. At leat, to me, because the crowd I wound up seeing this with flipped their lids for it. I sat baffled. I understand the appeal of "nerds" beating the system and making tons of money in Vegas by counting cards, but I have a feeling the History Channel "true story" of the events would be more worthy of my time, and not nearly as formulaic. Like Fat Boy, too many familiar beats are hit to the point where it feels the characters are doing their actions solely because the script requires it. Again, not a terrible film, but far from a great one. (5/10)

That's all I got. Maybe I'll check out Leatherheads later today. And I still need to check out The Bank Job, which is allegedly one of the better heist movies to come around in a long time. (I also heard In Bruges is brilliantly hilarious, but again, haven't had much time).

Oh, I also dug Street Kings, which you can check out the review of here.

Fun fact: before viewing Street Kings, I wound up speaking with Peter Rice, president of Fox Searchlight Pictures. (I think, it might have been Fox Pictures in general, but he was giving out free beer and liked my shirt, so I wasn't paying attention). Anyway, he asks me "What's been good this year?" and I had a long moment of silence. And I looked him in the eye, with absolutely no irony, and told him Rambo was the best movie I saw this year. (Strangely enough, this was before Son of Rambow, which is my favorite movie of the year thus far).

Fun Fact 2: Also at the Street Kings presentation was Keanu Reeves. Two days previous to that, I met Alex Winter. Meaning that last week, I met both Bill AND Ted! I rule.

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