Catching Up on Movies

TK got me a portable DVD player for Xmas and it's gotta be my fave gift. The funny thing is that when we had been out doing Xmas shopping and saw it in the store, I remarked that it was really cool but it was the type of item I would never buy for myself. Believe me, this was not a subtle hint. Anyone who knows me, knows there is nothing subtle at all about me.

Well, whaddya know? There it was on Xmas morning and I have to say it makes my commute into the city a whole lot more bearable.

So, after the Academy Awards, I am finally catching up on all the movies I never got to the theater to see. A short review follows:

A Prairie Home Companion--A real disappointment. I'm a Garrison Keillor fan by proxy. That is, my brother in Oregon raved about this guy forever and I finally familiarized myself with him and I have to say, he's captivating. I genuinely enjoy his stories about Lake Wobegon and whatnot.

That being said, the movie fell flat. There was a terrific cast: Keillor himself, Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones, John C. Reilly. Geez, even Lindsay Lohan was good. If you like country and western, you'll like the music. My fave was Lefty and Rusty (Harrelson and Reilly were awesome with their dirty ditties). But this was supposed to portray the last live radio show of APHC, so the characters should have pulled out all the stops when it came to reminiscing about the past. That didn't happen. All of their stories were predictable, lame and boring. I didn't get the "feel" of APHC; a good reminiscing movie should pull you in to the action, make you feel like part of the extended family. I just didn't get that.

Honestly, I think I learned more about Garrison Keillor and APHC from Wikipedia!

Some other things that annoyed me:

Virginia Madsen as the "Mystery Woman" ghost. WTF was that all about? Too contrived and totally unnecessary!

Kevin Kline's character. He was supposed to be a security guy. He was dressed more like a guy who got lost on the way to a barbershop quartet competition. Totally didn't get his character.

Things I liked:

Garrison Keillor playing himself.
The guy who did the radio show sound effects.
Rusty and Lefty's jokes.
The music.


Art School Confidential--I wanted to love this movie but that didn't happen. I liked some things about this film but I can't say I loved it.

It was a product of Terry Zwigoff, the same guy who directed Ghost World, which I DID love, so I just expected the lovefest to carry on over.

Granted there were some VERY funny scenes and the acting was decent. Plus, there was an actor in it I have never seen before named Matt Keeslar who was the hottest thing this side of wasabi paste. Where the hell has he been hiding? Note to directors: PLEASE cast this hunk in other productions!

Basically, it's a parody of the pretentious people one might find at art school. Now I've never been to art school but I have been in writer's workshops (Breadloaf) and let's just say there are pretentious characters in any artistic setting. You have the crazy chick, the phony intellectual, the druggie-punk, the closeted gay, the ass kisser, the hippy-vegan, you get the picture.

Now in case there's someone out there who hasn't seen the film, I don't want to put any spoilers in here. Suffice it to say that the movie takes a *comic* twist at the end which really didn't bowl me over. If I had to sum up this film in one sentence, I'd say, "It's a comedy about what an artist will do to get some notoriety."

But something was gnawing me about this film, hours after having viewed it. Where have I seen this theme before? And then I remembered: The King of Comedy, with Robert DeNiro, Jerry Lewis and Sandra Bernhard. Same message but funnier. Genius, if I say so myself.

Reviews to come: Jesus Camp and Little Miss Sunshine.