Guest appearance on MILFcast!

Rachel and I were cordially invited to be guests on the 40th Episode of the Man I Love Films podcast (MILFcast).  Usually Kai is joined by Heather, but alas, she doesn't seem able to join when Rachel and I are guests.  So we got to pal around with another of our favorite podcasters - Scott Knopf from the Frankly, My Dear podcast.  Seriously, if you haven't checked out both of these podcasts, you must do so in the immediate future.  We talked movies, played some games and basically had a jolly good time.  Though, I'm probably not going to be asked to play The Game again.

Reel Insight Episode 44: Paul Bettany

We can't seem to get enough of our British stars.  Mr. Bettany was pushed a few times, from the fall and now he arrives at the dawn of spring.  We also discuss the return of "Friday Night Lights" (why aren't you watching it yet?), the super-sized "Glee", I love you Phillip Morris and it turns out Super is MUCH darker than anticipated (Rachel told me I won't like it).  Oh, and then we chat about Paul Bettany too.

New Movies with Paul Bettany I watched this week:

Firewall - I can't get this one out of my head.  Harrison Ford owns a computer security company that can get into bank accounts.  Bettany is a great bad-guy for the first 90 minutes, but when things start going against him he crumbles rather unattractively.  Good nerdy tension, and complicated thriller, but the ending was a bit weak.

After the Rain - When this ended I was thinking it would make a terrific play, and then found out it's based on the play "Soweto's Burning".  Taking place in South Africa during apartheid, Bettany plays an Afrikaans soldier who can't kill.  He goes AWOL and when he gets home he finds his girlfriend Emma in bed (platonically) with a black man, Joseph.  He's as freaked out by the white woman helping him as Bettany is to find him there.  Bettany takes them hostage trying to get them to say they've been sleeping together.  It doesn't end well for anyone but Joseph, and I really enjoyed the movie.  

Creation  - This could have been amazing, tellings us more about the real-life of Charles Darwin.  However, it focused on his love for his daughter, his stomach problems, and really ignored his thinking about evolution.  He struggled with how to say it because his wife was devoutly religious.  But the movie was really dull.

Legion - This was soooo bad.  Bettany plays archangel Michael who wants to save mankind from the devastation that God is about to rain down.  Of course the baby to bring about the future is at a diner in the middle of nowhere with some seriously terrible characters.  It's funny enough to enjoy a few more times, but not intentionally.  And as Rachel pointed out, Bettany looks AMAZING.   

Podcasts galore!

Just in case you can't get enough of me, there's a lot of me to go around.  First, of course, listen to the newest episode of Reel Insight.  The Mad Hatter joins us to discuss lots and lots of Steven Spielberg.  Longest episode in a while (with some terrific editing by Rachel).  Also, we talked about all the new movies I saw this week, so I'm not going to review them here (how do you review the classic Spielberg films anyway).

Second, you can hear more of Rachel and I on the MILFcast.  You'll never believe the scores of The Game.  It's amazing.

And saving the best for last, check out Muppets vs. Toons on the Demented Podcast!  Nick and I debate two  movies and then play the new Tower.

Reel Insight Episode 40: Jo-Go

After a week away we came back stronger and longer.  Rachel's voice is back, so we discuss the Millennium Trilogy, Wrecked, The Lincoln Lawyer, and some TV Talk with Veronica Mars and the Grey's Anatomy musical episode.  Then it's on to a discussion of one of the greatest actors working today: Joseph Gordon-Leavitt (Jo-Go).  From his early days on "3rd Rock from the Sun" to last summer's Inception, there's a lot to say.  Enjoy.

New movies I saw this week with Jo-Go himself:

Uncertainty - A parallel worlds kind of movie (Sliding Doors is better), with Jo-Go and his girlfriend, Lynn Collins, split into two different days in New York City.  In one, they spend the day with her family, discussing their relationship.  In the other, they find a cell phone in a cab that turns out to belong to a terrorist/mobster and spend the day trying to stay safe.   Not a bad flick, but the visuals were a bit too much - to distinguish the different stories they split them into yellow and green, from the clothes they're wearing to the filters on the lens.  Interesting stories that just didn't blend particularly well.  

Brick - I'm so glad I finally saw this movie.  A film noir reminiscent of a Raymond Chandler detective black and white, except it's set in a California high school.  The dialogue is sharp, totally out of place for a high school, but the acting is so good they carry it off perfectly.  A murder mystery of the drug-lord type, brilliantly made movie.  

GI: Joe The Rise of Cobra - Jo-Go was nearly unrecognizable, and the story didn't make much sense at all.  I wasn't expecting much, but it was just so strange I'm not sure what to say.  

Latter Days - Follows a young gay waiter who decides to try to corrupt the new Morman missionaries that just moved in.  Well, one of them happens to be gay too, so it works, but ruins the kid's life.  Jo-Go plays a racist, bigoted Morman Elder.  It's barely more than an after-school special from the 1980s.   

Reel Insight Podcast

This is not an early April Fool's joke (though keep your eyes out for those soon), but there won't be a new episode of Reel Insight this week.  We're closed due to illness (Rachel lost her voice!).  Check back next week.  If you've missed any older episodes, you can download them here.  I particularly enjoy the Ryan Reynolds episode 19.

Reel Insight Episode 38: Gary Oldman

A great week of film watching went into our star of the week. But we also talk about Oldboy, The American, and AHHH! ZOMBIES!. Just a crazy group of movies. Oh, and did Glee sex it up right? You decide. Check it out.  Then of course, our brilliant star of the week who has made the supporting role huge.  Oh, and he has not one, but TWO franchises - Batman and Harry Potter.  Check out Gary Oldman.  And TONS of listener feedback - thanks everyone!

New movies with Gary Oldman this week:

True Romance - I think this was a victim of my being too young to see it when it originally came out and then confusing it with other movies, so I never got around to it.  How happy am I that I had to see it for Gary Oldman's performance?  Wow - what a great movie.  Really makes you wonder what happened to Christian Slater's career though?  Oldman isn't in the movie a ton, but as a white Rasta pimp, he does an incredible job.  One of the best movies I've seen for the podcast so far.

The Backwoods - This moving started out defying all my expectations.  It follows 2 English couples vacationing in Spain, in a particularly rural area.  They bicker and obviously have issues, but are pretty interesting to watch.  One day the men are out hunting and find an abandoned cottage, and realize there's a little girl chained up like an animal inside. They know they cannot leave her, and bring her home.  Turns out she's got lobster claw hands and the town nearby is cuckoonuts and keeps her hidden.  This is where the movie went a bit off the rails and stopped making sense.  I might have to watch it again to figure out the end, but not the horror movie I kinda thought it might be.

Interstate 60 - I was wonderfully surprised by this movie - Quirky describes it best.  Gary Oldman plays a man who can grant wishes (like a genie without a bottle).  However, you can't just go find him, he finds you.  James Marsden plays a guy who can't get a handle on his life and keeps looking for answers.  He is granted this wish and it sends him on the oddest journey.  Just check it out - odd and quirky, funny, and a bit romantic.

State of Grace - This was just a relatively cliched undercover cop movie starring Sean Penn, a young Robin Wright, and Gary Oldman.  If you like cop movies in NYC with a mafia undertone, this is for you - just wasn't quite for me.  

Reel Insight Episode 37: Emily Blunt

Rachel and I had a busy day on Skype on Saturday recording both the Battle Royale and Episode 37.  We had a lot of fun doing both, so I bet you will listening too!  We discussed Knight and Day, Never Let Me Go, some great TV and the perfectly pleasant career of Emily Blunt.  Enjoy!  Also, all of our back episodes are finally available for free!  You can check them out or download them here.

I won Battle Royale!!

Okay, maybe I didn't, but you can go check out a hysterical game and some people who got questions correct!  Rachel, Hatter, James, Tom and I attempted to battle to the death.  Download on itunes or check it out here.

Reel Insight Episode 36: Christian Bale and guest

This might have been my favorite episode of Reel Insight yet.  Our Quoteable Quotes winner from January, Rachel's mom, Monica, joined us.  A whip smart film afficianado with a love for Christian Bale - our Star of the Week.  A fair amount of pre-Oscar discussion, so you can see how well we prognosticated.  Some TV talk and other movie talk as well.  Thanks so much for all the listener feedback too!

New movies seen this week:

Empire of the Sun - Can't believe I missed one of Speilberg's best, but now that's been rectified.  What a great start to a career, and epic story carried well by a less than annoying child actor.

Metroland - I didn't love this 70s flashback filled drama about growing up and having a family and leaving your past behind.  It was interesting and Emily Watson is terrific as always, but it still didn't resonate with me.

All the Little Animals - I watched this one for John Hurt, whom I adore.  Generally very odd movie - Bale is a teenager with special needs, and when his mother dies, his step father (whom he calls "The Fat") wants Bale to sign over his control of their store.  He runs away instead and meets John Hurt who is obsessed with road kill - the tragedy of it - and follows the roads giving them a proper burial.  He lives off the grid (perhaps he's escaping his own past) and takes on Bale for help.  It goes way off the rails when they try to get permission from The Fat to keep working and give up the store.  Uneven, but I still liked it.

The Machinist - I did not like this one.  It felt like Bale's weight loss was just a gimmick to advertise what could have been a fairly interesting dark drama.  He could have been thin, but the level to which they took it was distracting rather than helpful.  His craziness from lack of sleep was fascinating, but overall, the movie didn't come through.  Michael Ironsides was an interesting addition since you never quite know what side of the madness he's going to come down on.

Reel Insight Episodes 34 and 35: Nicole Kidman and Adam Sandler

I have been so remiss, I didn't post an update for our podcast last week, can you believe it?  I was down in New York City for school stuff and we recorded there and I just forgot to post about Episode 34 where we talk Nicole Kidman and the direction of her current career.  This week we discuss Adam Sandler and his 3 career choices - man child with a way too hot woman, serious fare that would mostly be good if they were shorter, and movies just for his kids (Click, Bedtime Stories).  Oh, and a fair amount of TV Talk, lots of discussion of the upcoming Oscars.  Enjoy!

I'll review Adam Sandler's new movie, Just Go With it, in a few days. 

Reel Insight Episode 32: Oscar thoughts

We recorded early and it's all ready for you!  Can't wait to listen myself.  It's only about half as long, and there's NO STAR OF THE WEEK.  Why, because I have major school stuff tomorrow and couldn't devote my week to anyone but the evil gods of academia.  Check it out.

Reel Insight Episode 31: Colin Farrell and The Mad Hatter

Our winner of Quoteable Quotes in December arrived to talk a little TV ("Community", "Being Human" and "Perfect Couples") and new movies ("The Room", "The Tourist", etc.) and the wonderful variety of Colin Farrell's career.  Give it a listen and send feedback to reelinsight at gmail.com

New Movies with Colin Farrell this week

Ondine - "A fairy tale for grownups" was the best description I read about this Irish story.  Farrell is a fisherman who brings up a mysterious woman in his net one day.  His sick daughter likes to hear the myth of the woman from the water, and the whole movie comes together well.  You know that it won't end up that she's actually mythological, and perhaps the reality is more harsh than expected, but I still loved this and can't wait to watch it again (okay, I didn't always understand the Irish accent so that is necessary).
Triage - Farrell plays a photojournalist who has gone with his buddy to a war-torn area (Kurdish areas maybe?).  They get terrific photos, but can't quite get the money-maker shot until a invasion happens.  Farrell is injured and returns home with more unseen scars than he knows.  It's a good look at how PTSD can work, but it's all the supporting characters that make the story work.
American Outlaws - Wow, for a movie that got a theatrical release, this movie couldn't look, sound or feel more like a bad version of a made-for-TV movie.  I watch and enjoy many movies on TV so this isn't from a bias of sorts, but wow was this un-entertaining.  Farrell plays Jesse James and Scott Caan is Cole Younger and they create their gang.  Ali Larter is James' love and wife, and the movie is dreadful.
Tigerland - set during Vietnam, this war drama doesn't exactly cover new ground (I was strangely reminded of An Officer and a Gentleman and expected Louis Gossett Jr. to make Farrell do sit-ups), but the movie is a much better drama without the romance.  Farrell is a smart bad-ass who helps his buddies work the system to get out of the army.  They're in Louisiana doing their last training before shipping overseas.  The supporting cast is again terrific and Farrell leads the group without actually overwhelming the film.  Good, but not really my favorite.

LAMBcast #53 - Best of 2010

And so, it is finally time to draw line in the calendar and reflect on the past year in film. James, Jess, Nick, Jason and Dylan document their Best of 2010 in a variety of categories. The highlight: James' pick for Best Ensemble, by far.

Also on tap:

* Listener Feedback
* LAMB of the Week
* Trailer Talk: Battle: Los Angeles
* Last LAMB Standing
 
For the LAMB of the Week, we take a look at LAMB #262, The Film Vituperatem:


You can listen to the podcast here, or check it out on itunes of course!

Reel Insight Episode 30!!! Jennifer Connelly

Our 30th Episode!  Who knew we'd get so far.  Some great plugs, some of the best feedback yet (thanks!) and Movie minutes with The Ghost Writer and Trick or Treat.  Not too much TV talk yet - Rachel describes her mysterious love for "Greek" and I talk about the new show "Lights Out" (which has a lot of potential!).  Then on our star of the week.  She has some humdingers in her canon, but wow has she made an art form out of 3 things - standing on piers, crying the single tear, and being the wife that gets cheated on (see if you can make them all rhyme).  Enjoy!

New Movies I saw with Jennifer Connelly
Labyrinth - I never saw this as a kid, I'll admit it scared me with its similarity to The Dark Crystal which still scares the crap out of me.  So I was particularly excited when this movie brought back some great nostalgia for 80s Muppet technology, since this was Jim Henson and George Lucas, they actually did a terrifically humorous job with this fantasy tale.  Connelly does a good job at 16 carrying the movie on her adventure to rescue her baby brother from David Bowie.  I loved the Muppets, the music was insanely dated, and overall enjoyed the experience.  4 of 5 lambs/stars

Requiem for a Dream - This movie was something I was never particularly interested in, but when I realized I've never seen other Darren Aranofsky movies when I saw Black Swan, this was a great opportunity to catch up.  I loved it!  I'll probably never need to watch it again - there's only so many times you can let that kind of insanity into your soul, but the directing and creativity in it is wonderful.  How many times have we seen junkies getting high and you just watch them sitting and enjoying it.  Aranofsky gave us a way to visually experience the injection too.  Wow.  Just wow.  Ellen Burstyn was amazing watching her downward spiral.  I wasn't a huge fan of Jared Leto - his would be the only role I'd recast to improve it.  5 of 5 stars/lambs

Waking the Dead - An odd movie that I didn't expect to like.  Rachel described it as The Constant Gardener goes to Washington after I described it to her.  And it really is, with a little less violence.  Billy Crudup is the straight man who will become a senator, while Connelly is the political activist who gets in trouble and screws up Crudup.  Good visuals where you don't know if she's still alive or Crudup is hallucinating her.  3.5 of 5 stars/lambs

Career Opportunities - While this is a John Hughes movie, it stinks.  It's got the "Say what one more time" guy from Pulp Fiction, and he's dreadful as a night janitor at Target.  Connelly is a spoiled princess just trying to rebel. Then an nearly unrecognizable Dermot Mulroney shows up to rob the place and cause havoc.  Terrible.  1/5 stars/lambs

Reservation Road  - Mostly this was just bleh.  Mark Ruffalo accidentally hits and kills and drives away from Joaquin Phoenix and Jennifer Connelly's son.  Phoenix decides to find his son's killer and it's a hard leap to follow how he figures out it's Ruffalo.  Rachel pointed out and I agree, that it would have made more sense if the two men had switched roles.  It would have been more of stretch watching Ruffalo become an anger ball, and Phoenix struggle with what he did.  2.5/5 stars/lambs

Reel Insight - Episode 29: Vince Vaughn

Usually I try to come up with my own description of our episodes or pretty much, but this week I laughed out loud reading Rachel's description, so I'm just flat out stealing it - I hope she'll forgive me.

"And we're back to our regularly scheduled program with Plugs, Feedback, Movie Minutes, TV Talk, Actor of the Week and Quotable Quotes. Jess dared to watch The Last Airbender after hearing my thoughts on last week's episode, while I'm still gnawing on the good scraps from 2010 with the other facebook movie, Catfish. As for new television, Jess finally gave in and started watching the old series Veronica Mars, while I dove in head first into the newer version of Doctor Who, after wrapping up the final season of Angel, of course.

Then we jump into the Actor of the Week with that tall fellow, Vince Vaughn. We branch out into some of his more serious or obscure roles, but we must come back to the recent crap too."

New movies I saw with Vince Vaughn this week:

Clay Pigeons - Vince befriends Joaquin Phoenix who has come into some trouble when his girlfriend's husband shoots himself and frames Phoenix.  Then the girlfriend shoots his new girlfriend and he has to make the body disappear.  He and Vince are fishing when another body appears.  Eventually we find out Vince is really a serial killer and Jeanne Garafalo is the FBI agent out to find him.  The movie is really uneven, but Vince does a pretty good job acting throughout.

Into the Wild - Vince plays a very small part as a corrupt farmer who befriends Emile Hirsh on his incredibly selfish journey of "self-discovery".  The other small parts - Catherine Keener and Hal Holbrook - are terrific, but this movie made both Rachel and I so angry because he's just a little asshole throughout.  Here's a paragraph from an e-mail I sent a friend after I watched it.  "Okay, I watched Into the Wild this morning (Vince Vaughn week).  I kind of knew his story, but didn't really realize what a kook he was.  I'm sorry he died (because he was stupid) but so many people tried to give him some wisdom or help and he even idolized people who had good ideas. His behavior was insanely selfish and it was hard to see why he would want to abandon society and yet accept work from Burger King or McDonalds?  He met some great people who were doing similar things and yet was so pathologically anti-social that he would not do anything for them.  Hal Holbrook was awesome, Catherine Keener was awesome.  Even Vince Vaughn did a pretty good job.  Emile Hirsh is less annoying in this than other movies, but he doesn't make the character any more appealing.  I get why people might consider him someone worthy of emulation (as Wikipedia reports about others who have tried to live off the land) but I think he was mentally ill to have let himself die rather than seek help.  Getting down to 67 lbs (according to Wiki) doesn't happen overnight.  It would have taken months of barely eating.  Which means he probably would have had enough time to walk around enough to find people or get himself out.  I can believe dying in Alaska in fall or winter, but in August?  Really?  This movie made me mad.  His attitude about rafting down a river without a permit and the idea that "rivers should be for everyone to use, permits are for right-wing government fascists" pisses me off as an environmentalist who knows that it's the only way to preserve the river.  End rant."

Thumbsucker - I keep thinking about this movie - it's odd, trying to be very indie, but missing the mark somehow.  Vince plays a high school teacher and debate coach who befriends the hero (the thumbsucker - diagnosed by his dentist, Keanu Reeves).  He thinks the Thumbsucker can be a great debater, and he is - with the help of some ADD drugs.  Strange movie about finding your self-esteem and growing up, but again Vince is good not being himself.  

Reel Insight Episode 25 - Natalie Portman

My biggest girl-crush must be Natalie Portman, so it was easy to find a lot of her performances I enjoyed, even if I don't like all the movies she's in.  We also discuss some TV pet peeves, some good movies I saw, and a bad one Rachel saw through.

New Movies I saw with Natalie this week:

Heat - Overall, this movie was much more boring than I expected.  However, I will give that a huge caveat, I really dislike Al Pacino in everything that isn't The Godfathers or Scent of a Woman.  I find him extremely distracting from the main storyline. Also, Val Kilmer, while probably still popular when this was made, is also distractingly bad.  However, the story is particularly awesome, so watching it a few more times would probably help me get over those facts.  DeNiro seemed great, and the overall story was intriguing.  2 of 5 lambs

My Blueberry Nights - This has been in my queue forever, so I was super excited when I found out Natalie was in it because it jumped to the top.  Made by Wong Kar-Wai it fits his style really well I think (I've only seen one other of his films) but its stars are totally outside of his wheelhouse.  Norah Jones stars as an observant woman who moves around a lot.  She befriends bar tender Jude Law, but then moves on with her life, meeting David Straithern and Rachel Weisz, and moves on again and meets Portman, ending up back with Law.  It's very much a character study of the random people who make up our lives and recur in it if you're actually paying attention.  Jones isn't a terrific actress, but she doesn't a good job keeping up with the terrific acting around her.  4 of 5 lambs

Leon: The Professional - Many people have told me how great this movie is, and now I'm one of them.  This was terrific.  Jean Reno plays a "cleaner" (aka hit man) who lives next door to a drug dealer's family.  Natalie Portman is the daughter of the drug dealer and is out getting groceries when her entire family is gunned down by Gary Oldman's cop henchmen.  When she returns home, Reno basically saves her, and eventually agrees to train her to be a cleaner too.  Their relationship is really innocent, but Mathilde (Portman) is not, or likes to pretend she's not, which makes for laughs.  It's got a great action sequence at the end, and Portman is amazing carrying the film from the point of view of a 12-year-old. 

Goya's Ghosts - TERRIBLE movie.  The story wasn't bad, and Javier Bardem is pretty good.  Portman's acting isn't terrible, but her costumes, sets, and the direction is dreadful.  Portman ends up over the top playing a young woman locked up by the Inquisition who gets knocked up by a visiting monk (Bardem) and then plays her daughter 17 years later who has become a prostitute.  The only thing they bother to do to make it clear this is her daughter is to give her different teeth.  But Portman as the mom is so heinous looking that you don't need to be reminded one's the daughter and the other is the mom.  Stupid.

Reel Insight Episode 24 - Jake Gyllenhaal

This week we discussed the young career of Jake Gyllenhaal, as well as some TV talk (yes, I'm a dork, Hatter), and movies we've seen lately.  Also, an explanation of my Harry Potter experience now that I've seen it all.

Movies watched for the first time with Jake:

Prince of Persia - I have to say I had no previous knowledge of the source material for this (a video game? maybe?) nor really any concept of what it was about.  Considering that, I really enjoyed it.  It's not good, there's some ridiculous plot holes and it's heavy on action scenes.  Oh, and I don't really think Gemma Arterton can act.  It's sort like why I liked National Treasure - it's pure popcorn entertainment with a bit of a mythological fantasy story thrown in and presumes no foreknowledge of anything.  It's all spoon fed, but still pretty fun.  Ben Kingsley was amazing in Ghandi and in Schindler's List, but should stop playing bad guys - he's just not built for it. 2.5 stars/lambs

 Love and Other Drugs - see my review here.

Zodiac - I stayed away from this movie because I'm generally not a fan of scary movies, particularly serial killers, though I do find them fascinating.  But, with three stars I adore - Jake Gyllenhaal (Love and Other Drugs really changed my opinion of him), Robert Downey, Jr., and Mark Ruffalo, I decided the time had come to check out this David Fincher movie.  And while, I might have cut 20-30 minutes of the story, I really enjoyed the overall experience.  It's not terribly scary as it took place from 1969-1991, and is more menacing rather than thrilling.  It combines the police investigations across many different jurisdictions with the news media because that's a big part of what the Zodiac killer did - sending messages and cryptic codes to the newspapers who then have to discuss events with the police.  Gyllenhaal is fascinated by the story and tries to coordinate all the different accounts of the many murders and witness accounts to solve the mystery, which was never solved.  Great story.  4 of 5 stars/lambs