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Wow, that was a good movie. Recommended by friends at work, and they were right. If you like movies from India, you’ll like this one a lot.
Commentary loosely based on movies.
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Wow, that was a good movie. Recommended by friends at work, and they were right. If you like movies from India, you’ll like this one a lot.
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Almost un-watchable. Your Movie Monkey is not anti-musical, he just can’t imagine people waiting in line to see this on Broadway. The jokes are just tired and goes on way, way, WAY too long. Mel Brooks certainly has some classics (Blazing Saddles, High Anxiety, Young Frankenstein) that are brilliant, but everything thereafter just seems to recycle the same tired jokes. Rotten Tomatoes says it was more suited to the theater than the big screen. Not if Your Movie Monkey is the one who bought the theater ticket.
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Another good recommendation, this time from mom. (Awwwww.) Based on a true story, the movie is about a pair of brothers who box. The older brother knocked Sugar Ray Leonard down (or he tripped, it isn’t clear) in a fight 12 years ago and still relieves his glory days, but is a crack addict. Christian Bale is brilliant at this part, and is almost uncomfortably thin while doing it. (Actors who do this have always amazed Your Movie Monkey). The younger brother is played by Mark Wahlberg, who is also great. The influence of the crack, and the problems that arise from having his mother as manager all make this a great movie about about difficult family relationships, but also the will to succeed, etc. Normally Your Movie Monkey is not a fan of sports movies (if you’re thinking of recommending a movie to YMM where a ragtag group of group of kids is able to beat all odds and win some kind of contest through the help of a noble coach, please don’t bother 
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So Your Movie Monkey was skeptical when this was out in the theaters, and then it was recommended by a friend, and he rented it, and it was great. Lots of action (violent – not for the squeamish), a hilarious storyline, and completely over-the-top. Like Batman meets Pulp Fiction meets Revenge of the Nerds, if that’s possible. Definitely 100% not for kids… quite a bit of coarse language and very brief but R-rated situation (could have done without that). But if you like a good action movie with lots of humor thrown in, this one’s the one.
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Watching Steve Carrell, Tina Fey, and Mark Wahlberg interact is fun. Parts of it are unbelievably stupid. Overall enjoyable, wish they had edited out at least 10 minutes. Also tired of the constant theme in Hollywood that marriage is boring and unfulfilling because you can’t do what you want to do every second. (Who cries if they don’t get to do what they want to do every second of the day? Infants.)
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Really interesting, funny, well-acted movie. Beuadelaire liked it too. Probably not for kids under 14… inappropriate in small bits, would be boring to them anyway.
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Yikes. Great actors (Denzel Washington, Jim Caviezel) in the middle of a really stupid plot. Like a more violent Star Trek episode, what with the time travel that works by crazy rules, etc. Beaudelaire and YMM said “but what about the…” quite a few times while watching the DVD. Example: Denzel: “Can you use this thing to transport people back in time?” Sulu-esque tech geek running the joystick: “No it’s impossible. Your [technical thing about biology] wouldn’t survive. It’s scientifically impossible!” Later in the movie, Denzel enters a chamber specifically designed to transport living things backward. Wouldn’t waste your 2 hours with this one.
Overall Rating: B+
Filmmaking/Artistic: B+
Storytelling: A−
MPAA Rating: R (Zombie violence, Some language)
The pitch
What if we did Shaun of the Deadwith Woody Harrleson as the “funny guy”, and added a Napoleon Dynamite loser to it?
Overview
A well-done zombie comedy, with enough anti-zombie violence for the action fans and plenty of loser comedy. The very funny script even makes the 90 minutes of Woody Harrleson shtick acceptable.
Review
Your Movie Monkey heard from multiple sources that this was great, and it did not disappoint. The world has been taken over by zombies, and there are very few survivors left. The movie focuses on one Napoleon Dynamite type loser, Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), who is trying to get to his family (in Columbus, Ohio… everyone is known by the town they’re from in this film). He explains to us how he survives, basically he has a set of rules he lives his life by. (Example: Rule #1, Cardio. You’ve got to be able to outrun the Zombies.)
We get to know Columbus throughout this movie, as he becomes more alive in his quest to survive than he ever was before the invasion. Columbus hooks up with Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), who basically just loves shooting zombies. Tallahassee has suffered a big loss, and basically doesn’t care about anything else.
It’s the script that’s really funny… constant reminders of the rules. Nothing much actually happens in the film, but the adventures along the way are worth it. Your Movie Monkey’s hesitancy was the idea of watching Woody Harrleson for an entire movie. (He’s funny in small doses, but 90 minutes?) But the writing is so good, that it’s even worth it. A lot of fun and laughs, and not too deep, Zombieland is definitely worth a rental, if you like the genre.
Your Movie Monkey, who can’t deal with horror films or with gangster films very well, found this one easy enough because the zombies are so clearly not real, it’s a complete fantasy. Some may find it too violent, but those who would probably don’t need this review to help decide.
It’s rated R for some language and for violence. Definitely not for young kids.
Overall Rating: B−
Filmmaking/Artistic: B−
Storytelling: C+
MPAA Rating: R (Realistic depiction of Nazi crimes and resistance countermeasures)
The pitch
As this film portrays the true story of Belarussian Jews who resisted the evil of the Nazis (and in some cases their own countrymen), Your Movie Monkey does not believe a humorous “pitch” is appropriate.
Mini-review
Although Your Movie Monkey is not enough of a history buff to confirm the accuracy of the claim, this movie retells the story of Belarussian Jews who resisted the orders of the invading Germans to go to their deaths.
Led by 4 brothers, these Jews hid out in the woods beginning with the 1941 invasion, and lasting for about 3 years. While in some cities the number of Jews was dropped from the thousands to 50 in a few short weeks, these descendants of these 1200 survivors now number in the thousands or tens of thousands.
The two eldest of the brothers, who experience or learn of the murders of their parents, wives, and children, are played by Daniel Craig (the oldest who leads the band) and Liev Schreiber (the second oldest who ends up joining the Red Army in resistance), and both do a decent job. Schreiber’s character, Zus Bielinski, is a militant intent on revenge, while Craig’s character, Tuvya, believes that refusal to stoop to the level of the Germans is what makes them human.
The two philosophies clash often throughout the film. As an example, the brothers decide that they will only take food from farmers “who can afford the loss”, and they take milk from a farmer who claims that if he doesn’t make his quota, the Germans will kill him and his family. They take the milk (and Zus takes the farmer’s coat as well), but Zus believes they should kill the farmer who is a witness. Tuvya lets him live, only to have him lead the Germans to their camp.
These moral dilemmas are highlighted in the conversations between a rabbi and an intellectual who become friends and enjoy good natured argument. Further, the people who live with Tuvya and Tuvya himself are presented with a real dilemma when they capture a blond-haired, blue-eyed German solider, who is clearly terrified. They find valuable information on this German who screams “Bitte, ich habe eine Frau und kleine Kinder! (Please, I have a wife and small children!”) While Tuvya willingly turns his back, the Jews scream in return “And my brother’s name was Max! And my mother’s name was Anna!”, and cannot resist, and beat him to death.
As a film, it seemed a little bit plodding. Your Movie Monkey found himself hitting fast forward on several occasions. Plus, the characters speak a combination of their native tongue and accented English. Your Movie Monkey finds this construct distracting… if there is to be a switch to English, just switch to unaccented English. (It’s the Kevin Costner Theorem.)
But even with these slow pieces, it feels like an honor to watch the resolve of these people who were faced with unmitigated evil, and who choose to take everyone along with them (including the elderly and the sick), so that no one would be left behind.
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