Defiance

I love a good war movie. Heck, I usually like a bad war movie. Especially when it's about World War II. It is such a fascinating part of our history. Almost the ENTIRE planet was at war. How crazy is that?

Defiance is a war story that is a true story about a not-so-glamorous part of the war. The movie is set in Eastern Poland in the woods. There, the Bielski Brothers have fled their village after a German invasion and while roaming in the woods happen upon a group of wandering Jews who had fled the Nazis. Note that I separate Nazis and Germans. They were 2 distinct groups. The Germans were the soldiers. The Nazis worked for the political party and for the most part are the ones that ran the concentration camps and the Jew extermination policy. One could be a part of both groups, but being a German did not make one a Nazi, just as an American in the army is not necessarily a Democrat.

Defiance stars Daniel Craig (James Bond in both Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace) as Tuvia Bielski and Lieve Schreiber (The Manchurian Candidate and RKO 281) as Zus Bielski, 2 brothers. While both men acted with fake Russian\Polish accents, Liev Schriber actually made a good Polish Jew, whereas Daniel Craig makes a good Brit speaking in a Polish accent who probably doesn't go to church as often as his mother would like.

Once the first few families of Jews were found, Tuvia decides that they must protect them. Over time, the refugees number in the thousands. Zus, on the other hand, wants to be a fighter rather than a protector and leaves to join a Russian detachment. Meanwhile, Tuvia, the now default leader of the refugee, finds himself fighting not only a war, but partisan bickering and struggles for gathering food, protecting the people, and trying to remain unseen by the occasional German observation planes.

Almost the entire movie is set in the woods of present-day Belarus, though filming was actually done in nearby Lithuania. Another notable fact is that many of the cast were relatives of surviving refugees, which number in the tens of thousands.

Defiance was directed by Edward Zwick, no stranger to directing big films, also known for Glory, Legends of the Fall, The Last Samurai, and Blood Diamond.

The movie states that it is 2 hours and 17 minutes long, though my DVD player was able to knock it out in 2 hours and 5 minutes. Perhaps I have an aggressive DVD player. Defiance is rated R for violence, mostly for violent gun battles and exploding bombs, and language.

Though an interesting story, the acting was a bit melancholy and dialog was slow. After watching the movie, I read about the true story and found it to be fascinating. However, I will have to give the movie 3 stars. I think it could have been a little better.

Last Chance Harvey

I kept my expectations in check with Last Chance Harvey, staring Dustin Hoffman, one of the most formidable actors of our time, as the quirky Harvey Shine and Emma Thompson as shy but strong Kate Walker. My latest Netflix movie didn't get great reviews and some of Hoffman's movies can be a bit bazaar.

Harvey is a jingle writer and his daughter is getting married. He hasn't seen her much because she lives in London and, coincidentally, the wedding is in London. Upon arrival he passes one of those people that tries to gather information by conducting a survey. He's not interested and brushes off the lady. Once in his hotel, he learns of the wedding plans and starts to realize that he's not really welcome there. At the rehearsal dinner that night those feelings are confirmed.

At this point in the movie I was ready to kick his daughter's ass. His ex-wife wasn't much better. I could not believe how rude both were being to him and he coiled in defeat and surrendered into seclusion. I felt horrible for him and almost felt like I was there with him.

And then things got worse. Fortunately for Harvey, the lady that he shunned at the airport on his inbound flight shows up again and it goes from being that awkward obnoxious guy to that feeling of fresh sunshine and thinking that things can get better. Will Harvey be able to make good on his relationship with his daughter and find happiness again?

The movie is mostly predictable and quite short. It's only an hour and 30 minutes long. Though the reviews that I read were mostly disappointing, both Hoffman and Thompson both won Golden Globe nominations for their performances.

Last Chance Harvey also stars Liane Balaban as Susan, Harvey's daughter, Eileen Atkins, Kate's mother, Kathy Baker as Harvey's ex-wife, and James Brolin as Kathy's new husband.

The movie was directed by Joel Hopkins, a relatively unknown director who's only other direction came with Jump Tomorrow.

Last Change Harvey is rated PG-13 for some brief strong language and an attempt at boosting ticket sales because PG movies usually don't bring in as much money.

While the beginning of the movie was much more powerful to me than the end, I still thought the movie was decent and give it 3 stars.

Synecdoche, New York

If you are a fan of artistic movies, then you're dumb and you're not going to like this blog entry.

I got Synecdoche, New York from Netflix recently. If you don't get it yet, it's a play on Schenectady, New York. Schenectady being an economically shrinking town in New York full of formerly employed New Yorkers who do not want to live in the state capital of Albany.

Synecdoche, on the other hand, is a part of speech, a term denoting a part of something that is used to refer to the whole. I think of the term Nazi, which when heard conjurs up impages of German soldiers in World War II and a general refrence to Germany as a whole. However, this is not entirely accurate as Nazi was a political party and I think you could argue that most people that lived in Germany were not Nazis, though most were conscripted into service and fought for their cause. Do you think that the Germans would talk about how the Democrats were bombing Berlin?

Back to the movie. Synecdoche, New York stars Philip Seymour-Hoffman, who I think is taking cues from Robert De Niro. Hoffman has starred in 7 movies in less than 2 1/2 years, including Charlie Wilson's War, The Savages, and Before the Devil Knows Your Dead. Also starring in the movie is Catherine Keener, also taking cues from RDN, with 9 movies since 2007, including What Just Happened, with RDN, The Soloist, and Into the Wild. Minor roles include Jennifer Jason Leigh, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, and Diane West.

The movie tracks the life of director Caden Cotard who is staging an autobiographic play of his life. He was won a grant that endows him unlimited resources to produce his play. However, the play never seems to get completed. Cotard ages, his child grows up to participate in unsavory activities, and his wife leaves him. Cotard becomes neurotic and a hypochondirac.

Meanwhile, the set for his play becomes larger and larger, eventually occupying a reall large warehouse that comes to include a miniature cut-out of New York City. He hires an actor to play him, who, in an attempt to recreate Cotard, hires an actor to play the actor who plays Cotard.

I get the humor in the movie. I'm sure this would have made a hysterical book. However, the movie is long and drawn out. It's sort of dark humor or tragic comedy. And, yes, spoiler alert, nearly everyone dies in the end, but don't we all die in the end?

Synecdoche, New York is rated R for language, sexual content and nudity, and confusing dialog. Fortunately, this movie cuts out right near the 2 hour mark and not the 40 year mark like the play.

I am not a huge fan of the artistic movies, nor of the dark comedies. I didn't care for Broken Roses. Didn't like Burn After Reading. I did understand the comedy, but I was just not a fan of it. I give this movie 2 stars.

Netflix Delay

I checked Netflix at 6:15 in the morning on Friday the 24th and it indicated that they had already received my movie that I dropped in the mail on Thursday. This got me excited. It said that the next available movie would go out today, meaning Friday.

I had Path to War, the 2002 movie with Alec Baldwin. I also added Billy Bathgate, a 1991 movie with Dustin Hoffman. Both movies indicated that they are available Now. Also in the queue is War, Inc, which has a Very Long Wait.

Which movie did I get? None! All day it indicated that I would get the next movie today. Then around 3pm it changed to show that my next movie would come on Monday. As of right now it still says the next movie will be shipped today. I removed Path to War and Billy Bathgate and I am hoping to get Journey to the Center of the Earth, which releases tomorrow.

My wife keeps telling me to drop Netflix because of their shenanigans and go with Red Box. I like the option of seeing older movies, which you cannot do with Red Box. But I'm starting to agree with her.

Netflix Logic

So my last movie made it back to Netflix today. First on my list? Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It's availability? Available NOW. What did I get? 88 Minutes. Where was that on my list? 10th. Tenth! How can they not find the top 9 movies? Netflix, I cannot understand why you are doing this to me. I haven't been flipping movies at the 2-per week rate in a while. Are you holding a grudge? Can't you give me a break? I'm going to start using Red Box.

The Hammer

Adam Carolla is one of the funniest people I know. First from his days of Love Line on the radio while I was in grad school. Then it was Love Line on MTV. Finally, the Man Show. This guy is the genius of blue-collar humor. Who else can intertwine construction humor into a comedy routine?

The Hammer, ironically, is about a construction worker, Jerry Ferro, who just turned 40, got fired from his job, and dumped by his girlfriend. He does, however, have a side job as a boxing instructor at the local gym where he starts to build a relationship with Heather (Lindsay Pratt).

While sparring for practice, a top-tier boxing coach spots him and offers him a position with his organization to train for the Olympics. With a little coaxing from his newfound love, he decides to go for it.

Jerry ends up training with 2 other boxers, 1 of which does not get along with him. In fact, they are both in the same weight class. Adam is a southpaw, while the other is a righty.

Unbeknownst to Jerry, the trainer who spotted him has other plans in mind. They plan on going to regionals, then finals to see if they make the team. Will Jerry honestly make the team? Will he learn of the fiendish plot?

This movie is hysterical, especially if you subscribe to Adam's style of humor. The debate in the cashier line at the hardware store is typical Carolla and very funny. Who else can make humor about J-bolts?

The movie is rated R for brief language and some violence. Image a boxing movie with some violence. Additionally, The Hammer is only an hour and a half long. I dig this movie, so I give it 4 stars.

Netflix Again

I turned in my movie on Friday, so they got it early Monday morning. There was only one decent movie releasing on Tuesday, What Happens In Vegas. Anticipating that EVERYONE would want that movie I also moved The Man in the Moon right behind it. It said it's availability was "Now".

All day it just sat there. "We expect to ship your next movie today." Finally around 3pm it says that we are getting The Hammer with Adam Corolla. This was like 4th on my list. Whatever. I then get this email:

If the movie was not available, then why are they sending it to me? So now I'm back to getting 1 movie this week.

Netflix Delay

Despite being on vacation for a week and not seeing any movies during this time....and despite my son losing a movie for several days causing me to not see 2 movies last week...Netflix decided to pretend that the several movies listed at the top of my queue were unavailable after they received my DVD on Tuesday. Therefore, they are sending The Other Boleyn Girl today. So now I will only get 1 movie again this week. I guess when Netflix decides to throttle you, they throttle you hard.

Stripes

I got this 1981 classic from Netflix since all the other movies that I wanted were on Long Wait. I had never seen this movie, so unofficially I was not actually part of the Man Club. Though I have ridden a motorcycle and been in the boys locker room with a girl when I was in high school. But I digress.


Stripes stars Bill Murray as a has-been cab driver named John Winger who quits his job, loses his car, breaks up with his girlfriend, and gets kicked out of his apartment - all on the same day. He temporarily moves in with his buddy Russell (Harold Ramis, also of Ghostbusters). Murray sees a commercial for the Army and talks Ramis into joining with him.


Once at boot camp, Murray and Ramis were united with Ox (John Candy, who's not even an American), Elmo (Judge Reinhold), and Psycho (Conrad Dunn). It's there that we hear the memorable quote from Psycho: "My real name is Francis. If anyone calls me Francis, I kill him." Sgt Hulka, "Lighten up, Francis!"


The new recruits fall under the command of Captain Stillman (John Larroquette), the inept captain with a penchant for watching the ladies shower with his telescope. The other star of the movie is the EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle, which in 2008 looks likes a badly renovated GMC Motorhome. The EM-50 is equipped with state-of-the-art toggle switches for electronics, bullet proof siding to cover the windows, missiles, and a drop down cargo door in the rear. Unfortunately, it didn't appear to have any pull-out couches or a kitchenette.


On the way, Murray and Ramis hook up with 2 lady MP's who bail them out of trouble and deliver of some saucy love. The group is the biggest rejects of the Army. They are unable to get in shape and cannot seem to learn the drills. Captain Stillman is then put in charge of the EM-50 and is sent to Germany with this new class. Murray and Ramis then decide to take the EM-50 for a joy run and rendezvous with the girls. Captain Stillman finds out the EM-50 is gone and decides to chase them, but inadvertently end up in Communist Czechoslovakia. Now the EM-50 must go in and save everyone.


Stripes fits well with the typical Murray and Ramis films - e.g. Caddyshack, Ghostbusters. And did you know that Harold Ramis wrote Animal House, Meatballs, Caddyshack, Stripes, Ghostbusters, and Back to School? This guy is the unsung hero of 80's classic comedies.


Stripes is Rated R for cursing, violence (though it's really bad), nudity (top and bottom - remember the telescope scene), sexual situations, and Dick Chaney may have had some input on the R rating because of some criticism of the government. The movie is an hour and 40 minutes long. I give this movie 4 stars. It's not the funniest movie of our time, but it's good. Definitely a movie you should see before you turn 35.

Strange Wilderness

I got Strange Wilderness from Netflix on Saturday. It wasn't a well-advertised movie. But because there weren't any new releases this week, I thought I'd get it. It should be funny enough. It stars Steve Zahn (Rescue Dawn, Employee of the Month, Riding in Cars With Boys), Allen Covert (who's in every Adam Sandler movie), Jonah Hill (Superbad, Evan Almighty, Knocked Up), Justin Long (the Apple guy), Harry Hamlin (L.A. Law), and Ernest Borgnine, the hardest working 91 year old in Hollywood (Mermaid Man!).

Boy was I wrong! Sometimes I should pay attention to those stars on the movie. This one predicted that I would give it 2 stars. And it was right!

The premise of the movie is Peter Gaulk is struggling to keep his father's nature show, Strange Wilderness on the air. Ever since his father died, he has been trying to keep up the show, but he's a pot-smoking bumbling buffoon. And his camera man is a pot-smoking bumbling buffoon. And the sound guy smokes pot, too. And I'm not sure what Justin Long did with the crew other than smoke pot and bongs.

In an effort to save their show, they decide to go find Big Foot. Not only do they find him, but they shoot him up with machine guns when they find him because they all freaked out. Not sure why this was funny - or supposed to be funny. Near the end of the movie, they all started yelling at each other and calling everyone a bunch of "F-in A-H's" and then the physical fight broke out.

Lot's of cussing. Mostly the F-Bomb. Now that I think about it, Jonah Hill doesn't say much more other than F - in ALL of his movies.

This movie is rated R for drug use, crude and sexual humor, and, as Netflix put it, "non-stop language". And they ain't kidding! The movie is 86 minutes long, so the suffering won't last forever. The movie is directed by Fred Wolf, most noted for his involvement with Ducktales. I guess he's trying to break out of his stereotype. He wins. He went from being kid-friendly to dickhead.

As mentioned previously, I give this movie 2 stars. There were a few things that did make me laugh, but the 43,018 F words were just a bit for me. Ignore this movie and see Ducktales instead.

Semi-Pro

My latest movie from Netflix, Semi-Pro is the story of The Flint Tropics, the fictional basketball team from the old ABA (American Basketball Association).


The movie is set in 1976, the year that the ABA folded. That year, the NBA allowed the ABA to merge 4 teams into their league. These 4 teams included the Indiana Pacers, San Antonio Spurs, New York Nets (which became the New Jersey Nets), and the Denver Nuggets. Not making the cut were the Kentucky Colonels, Spirits of St. Louis, Virginia Squires, San Diego Sails, and the Utah Stars.


Like any good sports movie set in the 1970's, there are short-shorts, knee-high striped socks, and big hair, Will Farrell included. And who can live without sexy groovy 70's disco music and fur coats?


This fictional comedic version of the story stars Will Farrell, who plays Ron Burgundy, who plays Chazz Reinhold, who plays Chazz Michael Michaels, who plays Ricky Bobby, who plays Buddy, who plays Jackie Moon. Other than dropping the F-Bomb more frequently than in previous movies, presumptively to get that special R Rating, this movie is just like all other Will Farrell movies.


Also starring in the movie are Woody Harrelson as Monix, Andre' Benjamin as Clarence "Coffee" Black, Maura Tierney (ER), DeRay Davis as Bee Bee Ellis, Jackie Earle Haley as Dukes, Will Arnett as the drinking, smoking, cussing sportscaster Lou Redwood, and Andrew Daly as straight-laced sportscaster Dick Pepperfield. Oh, and David Koechner, who makes an appearance in EVERY Will Farrell movie. Each of these characters is pretty funny in their own right.


Jackie Moon is the bankrupt owner, coach, player for the Flint Tropics, a fitting name for gloomy cold and wet Flint, Michigan. Additionally, he is also the singer of the hit song, "Love Me Sexy." With 8 players on the team, I think this would qualify the Tropics as the largest single employer in Flint, Michigan. When he learns of the league's plan to fold the other teams and merge the 4 best teams, he challenges the league to accept the best team at the end of the season, not just the best teams as of the league meeting. The chairman agrees and the Tropics decide to get it together and win it all.


Of course, with any Will Farrell movie, nothing ever goes right or he gets so close only to be the perennial loser in the end. This movie is no different. Some funny quotes, "I got traded for a washing machine?" and "No no no, no no no. Mrs. Pepperfield is watching this, she watches all the broadcasts, and I just want you to know that I have no interest in these ladies what-so-ever. I think they are appalling."


The movie is Rated R for language and some sexual content. It is about 90 minutes long. I gave this movie 3 stars, just like all the other Will Farrell movies - since they're all the same - sort of funny, but the same.

Netflix Delay

I returned Semi-Pro in to Netflix on Wednesday, which means they should have received it on Thursday, since Gaithersburg is a mere 20 miles from here. However, they are pretending once again that they didn't get it so that they could slow down the distribution of my movies.

Netflix Delay

Netflix got my movie on Tuesday, May 27th, but decided to wait until Wednesday the 28th to send the next movie, despite having 2 movies that are available NOW at the top of my queue.

Netlfix - throttling

Netflix decided today that I have seen too many movies recently. This morning they got Over My Dead Body, which I returned yesterday. At the top of my queue is American Gangster. There's absolutely no wait for this movie. However, they feel that they can't walk over to the A's section of the movies, pull it out of the box, and send it to me.

And it's not like they're trying to push me back from some great new releases for Monday. The only new release that I have is Mad Money, and that looks like it will suck. Queen Latifah's in it. How good could it be? It will consist of her getting an attitude and raising her voice and wagging her finger at people.

Netflix - Further Delays

Despite the note that stated they expect to send the next movie on Friday, my queue now says:

We expect to ship your next available movie by Monday.

So I returned the movie on Wednesday and I will not receive another movie until Tuesday. They advertise that you should receive a movie the next business day, I will have waited 3 business days before they send a movie. The service is getting worse and worse.

Netflix - Throttled Again

For the second week in a row, Netflix has decided that I am a power-user. A rental abuser. And a movie loser. Yes, I've received a whopping 2 movies in 8 days. That's nearly 1 per week! I'd be pissed at me, too, if I was Netflix.

I even threw in Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism , a movie that is not wait-listed. No one is watching this movie! It is sitting on a shelf, waiting for me and several other documentary nerds to request it. But no, it's not available to ship to me today. So I took it out of my queue. Let's see if they send something to me tomorrow. I have in my queue:

American Gangster Long Wait
The Mist Very Long Wait
August Rush Very Long Wait
Atonement Short Wait
Into the Wild Short Wait

Netflix

Netflix decided to throttle me again. I returned a movie yesterday and received this message today:

We expect to ship your next available movie by Wednesday.

This seems to happen about once per month. I'll keep track of it to see how often it happens. Fortunately I have a trove of lent movies to watch. The next few reviews will probably be some movies from the 90's.

Southland Tales

Is it a comedy? Is it science fiction? Is it drama? Yes, though its official genre is listed as Independent. To me, that's like asking someone what their sexual orientation is and they answer Lutheran. One has nothing to do with the other.

Regardless, Southland Tales is one that casts itself as a "star-studded" film because a bunch of people are in 18 second bit parts and some other "studded stars" have some longer parts. Actors include Dwayne Johnson, better known as "The Rock", Seann William Scott, better known as "Stiffler", and Sarah Michelle Geller, better known as "Daphne". These are the main characters. The other actors include Mandy Moore, Justin Timberlake, Nora Dunn, John Larroquette, Jon Lovitz, Amy Phoeler,...okay. Let's just say that nearly the entire cast of Saturday Night Live is in this movie.

The premise behind the movie is that post- 9/11 Los Angeles is near political, financial, and social collapse. One man can see the future, but he doesn't know if he can stop it. Reading this, one would think that it could be a documentary of current day Los Angeles. Is it not near total collapse???

The movie wavers between ridiculous and comical. The Rock is a timid and anxious man. How would the Brooklyn Brawler feel about this? There are stabs at the Bush Administration and talk about the war in Iraq. It had a similar resemblance to Peter Sellers' movie, Dr. Stranglelove, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb from the 1960's, which it attacked nuclear war.

I've read a few reviews of Southland Tales and some claim that the movie was aiming to be a cult film, much like Dr. Strangelove. I would agree that this is a movie you will either love or hate. Much of it is just too goofy to be taken seriously. However, other parts made me laugh. If I see this movie another 10 times, I may become one of those cult movie believers. Until then, I will give this movie 2 stars.

One special note. The DVD sleeve claims that this movie is 1 hr 40 min. However, it took me 2 hours and 17 minutes to see those 100 minutes that it claims. If a movie runs over my 5 minutes or so - no big deal. When it runs over by 37 minutes, then someone should be fired.

The Cat From Outer Space

I found this movie on the shelf in the children's DVD section at the library. I immediately had sentimental yearnings to see this movie. This was, in fact, the first movie that I ever saw as a kid. My grandparents (Nana and Pop-Pop) took me to the drive-in movie theater to see this movie.

The Cat From Outer Space was released by Disney in 1978. It stars Ken Berry (Mama's Family), Sandy Duncan (Peter Pan on Broadway and Valerie Hogan on The Hogan Family), Harry Morgan and McLean Stevenson (M*A*S*H*).

In typical 1970's Disney style - this movie really sucks. The special effects are really special. The movie stars a cat (Morris?) that makes an emergency landing on Earth. The cat can talk to people and has a special collar that has super powers. He can make people freeze (as he did to Harry Morgan who re-awoke in his underwear, the comedic highlight of the movie).

Ken Berry must convince everyone that he is not crazy and help Jake (the cat) get the needed gold to fix his spaceship. Of course, Berry and the cat are able to save the day after a harrowing helicopter and airplane chase that left my kids and me on the edge of our seat.

Overall, I give this movie 2 stars. Netflix predicted that I would give it 4. Their Disney movie ratings predictor must be on crack. This movie would have been worse had it not been for the fact of its great sentimental value. If this wasn't the first movie you ever saw at the drive-in, I would not be clamoring to knock the kids over at the children's DVD section at the library. Get that disc 4 of the Gilmour Girls instead. You'll thank me.

The Ten

This is one of those movies you think will either be really funny or really stupid. After all, it starts the attractive Jessica Alba, Paul Rudd, Wynona Ryder, Liev Schreiber, Adam Brody, just to name a few.

You should take the fact that I fell asleep half way through the movie as an idication that it is not very good. Movies always keep my attention - unless they suck. And don't get me wrong - I can take a good religous spoof, as long as it's tastefully done and not done in hatred. The Ten passed that test.

The premise of the movie is to act out a story for each of the Ten Commandments. The one skit with the skydiver just would not end. It was not funny. It was irritating. I laughed a couple of times during the other skits, but not the kind of laughing that you would do when a guy steps on a rake and it comes up and smashes him in the nose.

Overall, I gave this movie 2 stars. It wasn't so horrible that it made me sick and I did laugh a couple of times. However, I would have preferred to have spent my time doing something else. If you are using this blog to gauge whether or not to watch this movie, skip it. Watch something else. you're not missing anything that's worth seeing.