Change Your Image
doug_wallace
Reviews
Leaves of Grass (2009)
Bad Imitation of Bad Cohen Bros Movie
I was very disappointed in this movie. So much expectation but, alas, a waste of great actors. Tim Blake Nelson, the director (and played Bolger) seemed to be trying to channel the Cohen Brothers' style of movies, but ran off the tracks even worse than they do when they make a bad movie. Ed Norton, as the country boy Brady, was channeling Larry the Cable Guy with an over-the-top Okie accent, while his philosophy-professor brother was your typical movie stereotype, the cool Dead Poets Society motivational teacher. The smart and cute country girl poet, who has no Okie accent, is a fan of Walt Whitman, (this is where the oh-so-clever "Leaves of Grass" reference comes in) does catfish noodling between writing free verse. Sorry, but I thought I was going to puke. After a slow buildup, with lots of talk about the shame of being geniuses from Oklahoma and endless psychiatric self-evaluation, this movie seemed to suddenly be written by a team of new writers about halfway through - because characters inexplicably began acting totally out of character. Bolger suddenly blows the brains out of Pug's (Richard Dreyfuss) thugs, then Brady joyously, and with gusto, guts Pug with a hunting knife (what, Bolger ran out of bullets?). Not even close to the development of their characters as peaceable organic pot-growers who had moral objections to peddling coke or heroin since it was not as organic as weed. Couldn't understand why Pug would lend them 200,000 dollars for hydroponic equipment to grow weed, (which he was buying from them at a discount),and then suddenly (a year later) want them to sell methamphetamine, and decides to kill them because they don't want to? What kind of business man is that? The Harvey Milquetoast Jewish orthodontist suddenly becomes a vigilante, drives out to the country and kills Brady with some kind of motivation that is not explained. Susan Sarandon is wasted as the twin's 50 year-old mom who lives in a retirement home without visible means of support, and says about 10 words in the whole movie. Lots and lots of setups for punchlines, but no payoffs, just quirkiness for quirkiness's sake, which is the slippery slope of the Cohen brothers or other quirky comedies. My wife and I were watching and, halfway through the movie started to give each other a lot of WTF? looks. You might enjoy this if you are a freshman in college, and you think it's cool that the philosophy and poetry quotes somehow bring it up to a respectable level, especially if you're stoned. Sad, sad mess.
Firesign Theatre Presents 'Hot Shorts' (1983)
Similar to J-Men Forever
Woody Allen probably started all this with "What's Up, Tiger Lily" back in 1967, when he overdubbed an Asian spy thriller for comedic effect, but the Firesign boys take it to whole 'nother level.
If you liked J-Men Forever, you'll love this set of stories. Instead of one fused-together story like JMF, its broken into several short stories of about 10 minutes each, hence "Hot Shorts". Some cuts are familiar to JMF, but with new dialog. Others are totally different.
The story lines run the gamut from Canadian Mounties fighting herpes outbreaks at the Israeli border to rioting New Yorkers yelling "White Castle Boigas!" as a rallying cry as they storm Heaven. You gotta be there, it does make sense in a strange way. At least that's kinda they way I remember it.
Too bad it's not on DVD, but I did manage to find a VHS tape of it on EBay, though it's seen better days. I personally think some of these gems are better than JMF, but it's a matter of taste. (My wife hates it.)
Look for it in an old VHS rental store, and STEAL it, watch it, and put something on this list to get it on DVD. It'll be worth the late fee.