spackard Reviews

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

this film is not as good as it's first impression's make it seem

[6/10 · 12 January 2009]

I usually only review movies that just came out but I just saw this film last night and it struck me in an odd way so I decided to review it. One of my judges of a good movie that you find yourself thinking about the film several days after seeing it, I saw this film like 8 hours ago and I'm convinced I won't get it out of my head for the rest of the week. In fact this movie had such a weird profound effect on me I took a walk after seeing it just to get it clear in my head, and you know what consolation I came to while walking, this film is not as good as it's first impression's make it seem.

Oh don't get me wrong Eternal Sunrise is a good film, by many standards, but it pulls of the cleaver trick of being so weird that you automatically assume it's amazingly good. Vanilla Sky pulled the same trick, but I saw it for the piece of crap it was. This film is better than Vanilla Sky, but not better than say 12 Monkeys.

After my mind swam through the weirdness I came to some realizations about this film. One is that it is a Romance; I know Wikipedia says it's a Science Fiction Neo-Surrealist, but it's a Romance. And my main judge for a good romance is, do you fall in love with the girl as much as the main character does? And for this film the answer to this is a resounding no. I know all guys are into different "Types" of girls but there are some qualities in women that most men like and incorporating those into one "ultimate girl package" is in many ways the job of Romances (innless you're a girl reading this then it's the "ultimate guy package"). One of the reasons why I liked Yes Man so much was because Zooey Deschanel's character pulled this off so well, hell I still have a crush on her after seeing that movie. But you have to be delicate about this, if you try too hard to create "Mega Girlfriend" then the audience realizes what you're up to and the allusion is broken. This happened in There's Something About Mary, I really couldn't stand that film because Mary was so unrealistically appealing that I felt like meting Gandalf the Gray was more likely than meting her.

Anyway the Point I am getting at here is that Kate Winslet's character has the right idea, as far as being universally appealing, but takes it too far. Thought there are many different kinds of "Mega Girls" one of the most popular forms is the "Lively Spontaneous Girl" and this is clearly what the movie is shooting for with Kate Winslet. But instead of being lively and spontaneous in a cute fun way, she overdoes it and comes off more like one of those weird smelly girls who works at Spencer's Gifts. OK I'll admit maybe the guy writing this film was going for that, but I doubt it. In fact most of the characters in this film aren't very likable, and beyond that they're almost impossible to identify with. Jim Carey is supposed to be shy and aloof, but to me he comes off more as needy and cowardly. The only real character I liked was one of the films apparent Antagonists, who I would give more info about if it didn't mean risking spoilers.

But despite this flaw Eternal Sunrise is a movie worth seeing if only for the experience of it. Though the characters suck the actors playing them do a good job, unlike a lot of weird films it does a pretty good job of explaining itself to the audience, and if you can manage to understand the ending (which is hard) it's an extremely satisfying one. It's a good weird film just with some nasty looking smudges one it that I wanted to point out.

Bike Club (2006)

would have been nice if it were about BIKE GANGS!

[3/10 · 4 January 2009]

B.I.K.E. is a documentary that follows the exploits of Black Label Bicycle Gang. I had heard of Black Label before seeing this film, to sum them up, they are a group of Crust Punks who think the best way of defeating capitalism is to weld bikes together and ride them in front of SUVs. As you can guess the second I learned of this I wanted to join up, but I lack welding skills and have a fear of falling from tall heights, plus I don't live near any Hipster infected Cities.

Anyway I'm not reviewing the Gang I'm reviewing the documentary about the Gang. I'll say this; I quite liked the parts that were ACTUALLY ABOUT THE BIKE GANG! Dam, if you're going to make a documentary about something make sure the focus is on the something you're documenting. The protagonist (I didn't know documentaries could have protagonists, but this one seemed to) is Anthony Howard, called Tony. Tony is a pathetic Hipster Druggy who decides to hang out with Black Label members because he eats out of dumpsters and lives in an apartment covered in graffiti, like most Black Label Members.

Now I have nothing ageist Dumpster Divers or Squatters, in fact I very much support them in their Anti-Consumerist pursuits, but Tony is a whiney, gangstar talking Dumpster Diving Squatter. The movie decided to following him around, including the part where he melts down because his girlfriend runs off with some British dude (wait is that a spoiler? I didn't know you could Spoil a DOCUMENTARY). What does Tony's girlfriend's disloyalty have to do with Vegan Artist riding Freakishly Tall Bikes in Critical Mass?

I like Bike Culture, I like Bikes, I like this idea of Bike Gangs riding together and stuff. But this film didn't make me want to join Black Label. Most of the Black Label members they interviewed in this film struck me as the kind of Activist Kids who will give it up in ten years to become Suburban Yuppies. But I don't know any of these people personally, nor am I a member of Black Label so I don't really know if they are really into what they preach or if they're just having fun, the film makes it look like the later of the two. If there was a Black Label chapter in Morgantown I would check it out at the very least, and tell them how much I hated this film.

I'll give it 3 stars for the parts I actually liked, but that's grateful.

The Visitor (I) (2007)

Acting Good, Plot eh, Music Impressive

[9/10 · 4 January 2009]

I'll get this out of the way right now; I liked The Visitor, OK done, BYE! Alright, alright, sorry it boring reviewing a film you like. The Visitor was directed by Thomas McCarthy, who also directed The Station Agent. Now The Station Agent was a really good film in all aspects except for the fact it was mind numbingly boring, The Visitor is just like The Station Agent minus the boringness. Sure I could criticize Thomas McCarthy for not being original but eh it was a damn good film.

The acting was great; in particular Richard Jenkins who oddly was in Burn After Reading which was the last film I reviewed. I felt an honest attachment to the characters and genuinely wanted to see what happened to them next. The plot was simple yet compelling, it but seemed a bit mainstream for a film that is clearly so Indie. What I mean is Son of Rambo, that was an Indie film with an original plot, I doubt there is a single writer in Hollywood who could have come up with a plot as cleaver as that one, yet this film could have just as easily had Brad Pitt in it as opposed to Mr. I'veneverheardofyou. But I should give the plot credit for disusing a topic that probably isn't disused as much as it should be, at least not in the film world.

OK so the plot overall isn't the most creative but there is this whole theme of Music throughout the film that is. The main characters dearly beloved was a pianist whose passing has given him a desire to learn the piano, but unfortunately he lacks any skill. Fortunately he meet, uh one minute I have to look up this guy's name, Tarek Khalil who plays some kind of Bongo Drum Thingy, which he can actually play. Me personally being a music lover quite enjoyed this subplot, so much it kind of made the movie for me.

Rent it, buy it, wait till it comes on IFC whatever just support this film.

Burn After Reading (2008)

One of the Funnier Coen Works

[8/10 · 2 January 2009]

I heard one reviewer say that this film is a "Bubby Movie," yah know one of those films where every actor is friends with every other actor and the director (or in this case directors) and they all basically just dick around on camera for 2 hours and call it a movie. I wouldn't call it that necessarily call Burn After Reading that but I would call it a "Hollywood Indie." A Hollywood Indie is a mainstream Hollywood film with a big budget and a huge A-List cast, but whose script sounds like it was written by a struggling Brooklyn artist who previous experiences in film consisted of making Pods for Current TV about how great Barrack Obama apparently is.

The Coen brothers seem to be the kings of Hollywood Indies, since they directed half of the ones I can name off the top of my head. Burn After Reading will most likely be counted among the lesser of the Coen Brothers films, and rightly so since it does seem to lack the aesthetic appeal of their previous films, but I don't think this film should be counted as one of the their funnier films. Most of the Coen Brother's "Comedies" aren't really comedies, their more like movies that are weird in a kind of funny way. Yet the Invisible Pigeon Holeing Society must assign these films a genre, and since their not weird enough to be labeled surrealist or experimental, they get the title comedies simply because a few people in the theater may giggle a few of the "Jokes" in the film.

The point I am desperately trying to get to here is that, I didn't laugh at either The Big Lebowski or O' Brother, Where Art' Thou despite the fact they are rather funny, I laughed several times at Burn After Reading, and I laughed rather hard to. Burn After Reading is weird, as are all Dark Comedies, but it's not quite to the level as most Coen films, weather this a complement of an insult is a matter of interpretation.

What really impressed me in this film was Brad Pitt's and Frances McDormand's performances, everyone else's performances were "take it or leave it." Brad and Frances are like some kind of weird Fitness Center Employee Duo who stumble upon CIA secrets somehow and try to milk to cow for what it's worth. I knew Frances was a good actress, but Brad Pitt acting well is something new to me. I mean I always through his performance in Fight Club was good only because he really was playing the same character he usually does but this time in a quality film. I don't know if the Coen Brothers did something to him, or maybe he's been hiding something from us, but his character is by far the best in the film. But then again his character is a dribbling idiotic health nut with some mildly homosexual personality traits, so maybe Brad wasn't even acting, maybe he was just being himself (Ha Ha Ha).

What makes Burn after reading less of a film then most Coen Brother's work is that there is not any real thought involved. The second I pressed the stop button on my DVD I almost totally forgot about the movie, a good film is one can't get out of your head for a week after watching it, and most Coen Brother films do that. Listen, Burn After Reading is out on DVD now so it's defiantly worth renting, especially if you have Netflix. It's good for some laughs, and it's still rather Coen-y so go pick it up.

Yes Man (2008)

Yes it is a lot like Liar Liar, but it's Better

[7/10 · 2 January 2009]

Yes Man is a very hard film for me to review because it one of those films where the part of me that fancies myself a intellectual film critic tells me I should hate it, and the part of me that is just some suburbia kid that went to see a movie on Friday night tells me I should love it. The reason I'm suppose to hate it is because Hollywood has been beating the proverbial dead horse with films whose premise is almost identical to this one. Yes Man is a Romantic Comedy about a man who recently went through a divorce and is realizing his life is miserable, in order to change all that he makes an unusual, radical, and unrealistic change in his lifestyle that causes him to acquire a new girlfriend. If you can't name at least 5 Romantic Comedies that are carbon copies of that idea then you must live under a rock, Hell I can think of 3 that Jim Carey acted in before this one.

But there is nothing inherently wrong with these kinds of films, in fact some are very good, and if Yes Man is the last of this form of Romantic Comedies then the sub-genre has ended on a high note. There are several things that make Yes Man better than Liar Liar (which every critic on planet earth seems to be comparing it to). The first thing they do right is casting Zooey Deschanel as the lead female, since every role Zooey Deschanel touches is pure gold. You see, it's very easy for a director to find an actress with tits big enough that all then men in the audience wants to Do Her, it's not easy for a director to find an actress who is so sweet and likable that every man in the theater wants to snuggle with her for 4 hours then watch her sleep in their arms. I even liked her in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy despite the fact it sucked. In fact her role in that film was so good that if they just called it "Zooey Deschanel goes to Space with a British Dude" it probably would have gotten very positive reviews.

Now other than the fact the film has an actress that me and a good number of my male friends have a crush on (for good reasons), it deserves credit for doing something original with an unoriginal thing. It kind of like how Punk ceased to be original at the dawn of the 80's so everyone just started playing Post-Punk, (sorry no more Punk Rock references). Yes Jim Carey makes an unfeasible lifestyle change, but it can't be to unfeasible because apparently some Scottish Comedian actual did it for like six months and then wrote a book about it which this film is based off of. So unlike Liar Liar I could see 90% of the things happening in this movie actually happening.

What's really great about this film is the message it preaches. Almost all Romanic Comedies I see nowadays preach the message of "Responsibility," and "Trust," and "Respect." Back in the day this made sense since we were living in an age where getting a divorce was considered about as bad as getting a chocolate bar while on a diet, but it seems whoever wrote Yes Man thought this message got pounded into our heads a bit too well. Yes Man encourages couples to be spontaneous and free spirited, which is good because it seems people are so convinced that once you enter a serious relationship that you have to enter a dull routine. The movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall had a similar message, and I really enjoyed that film as well, thought it didn't have Zooey Deschanel. This movie is most likely the best Romantic Comedy about a guy making an unrealistic lifestyle change I've ever seen, there are some genuinely funny times, and some genuinely heartwarming times, plus the Romance between Carey and Deschanel in this film is a creative and oddly believable. And if anything you should probably go see it just cause I think it's Zooey's best role so far.