azguki Blog

Should Be Released Under a New Title...

azguki — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 02:57:44 GMT

The Crappening.

Please Make It Stop!!!

azguki — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 07:33:00 GMT

This is the worst movie I have seen since the turn of the century. That is not an exaggeration. I mean this is Pearl Harbor bad. At least Pearl Harbor had Cuba Gooding Jr. and cool special effects. It was really, really, really, really, really, really bad, but it had Cuba Gooding Jr. and cool special effects. There are no redeeming qualities at all about this one. It is just really, really, really, really, really, really bad. I am dumber now for having witnessed it.

Bukowski's Screenplay

azguki — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 04:08:35 GMT

I just finished writing my thoughts about Ask the Dust, John Fante's master novel adapted by Robert Towne, and it really was impossible for me to stop without sharing a few thoughts about Charles Bukowski. The performances in this one are fantastic. However, Mickey Rourke's take on the Bukowski alter-ego, Henry Chinaski, is more of an exaggerated charicature. For a more subtle, and far more accurate, portrayal of the notorious poet look to Matt Dillion in Factotum. I would expect the biggest complaint about this picture to be the screenplay itself. For example, Michael Costello's observation at the bottom of this page reads: "What little story there is...." I'm not sure if Costello was aware of Bukowski's correspondence with John Fante, but when Bukowski was asked to write the introduction to a new printing of Fante's Ask the Dust, he solicited the man himself for advice. Fante was himself a successful Hollywood screen writer. In his reply to Bukowski, he tells him the necessary details about the writing of the book and in closing offers a few words answering Bukowski's questions about screenplay writing. I don't have the exact words in front of me, but it was something to this effect: "That Frenchman who stands over your shoulder while you type sounds like a kook to me. You are the writer. They asked you to do the writing. Write the most unorthodox script you can, the script that is most appealing to you."

Sage advice.

What Has Towne Done To John Fante !!??!!!

azguki — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 03:50:49 GMT

I know that Robert Towne is admired for his success in Hollywood, but he completely messed this one up. My opinion is unapologetically biased. I am a lover of John Fante. In the past 5 years I have read anything, and everything, I could find of his. His name, if it is not already, will be mentioned with the other American greats (Hemingway, Sherwood Anderson, Faulkner, Fitzgerald, etc.). This has to be one of the finest novels ever written (in my humble opinion). Towne fails to grasp the energy or the attitude. If he does grasp it, he certainly doesn't convey it on the screen. I admit it is a difficult task, but then.....if he loves the work and is uncertain it will translate to the screen, why do it? There is also the problem of the performers in the film. I thought Donald Sutherland and Idina Menzel absolutely nailed their performances. It is a real shame they played such minor roles. Colin Farell and Salma Hayek both look amazing in this film. In fact, they look too good. These characters are not supposed to look this good. Farrell and Hayek are great at what they do, but here, neither of them succeed in completing a full portrait. And Towne, ROBERT TOWNE, he changed the ending........one of the most romantic, harrowing, mystical, beautiful endings I've ever read (and I majored in literature). I CANNOT BELIEVE HE CHANGED FANTE'S ENDING. It didn't make the movie any better, solve any time issues, or make any more sense. All it did was completely ruin the experience for me. Perhaps I am too attached to the book. I concede that making any film adapted from a novel will lose certain elements. However, those elements could have been thought out a little more here. Like I said before, Farrell and Hayek look absolutely spectacular together here. It makes the film easy to watch. I did love it because it was Fante brought to the big screen, but considering the material with which Towne had at his disposal ( commonly referred to as a masterpiece in literary circles ), this should have been a hell of a lot better.

Grindhouse

azguki — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 23:39:48 GMT

What a fun show!!! I had my doubts going into this one, but ended up having a great movie experience. The stunts in Death Proof were out of %&$*@#! control!!! I found myself sincerely concerned for the poor woman on the hood of that car (the amazing ZOE BELL who couldn't care less) . There are a ton of pure adrenline and tongue-in-cheek guilty pleasures here. Enough to fill the Astrodome. These guys are on top of their games and enjoying/ capitalizing on all of the freedom the weinsteins pour on them. I love the way it said at the end of the Machete clip, "Brought to you by your friends at the weinstein company!" Hysterical. These guys can get away with anything. I love it.

AAAHAHAHAHAAAAAHA!!!!!!

azguki — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 23:27:44 GMT

I searched for Junebug, and this was on the list that came up. AHAHAHAAA!!!!!! I totally remember this movie from my youth. I think it was on HBO every afternoon after I came home from grade school. AHAHAHAAAA!!! This is one of the funniest movies of my entire childhood. I haven't seen it in probably 13 years, but I still remember every joke. Must have seen this 50 times. Laughed my @%*@# off every time. There is a teenage Chris Rock cameo in this movie that I still quote today, "Pour some in my hands for a dime!" AAAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!! CLASSIC. CLASSIC. CLASSIC. I need to go call my brother and reminiesce about this one right now..........

This one could've been better

azguki — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 23:10:03 GMT

With the overabundance of talent working on this film, the end product should have been something far superior to what exists here. The premise is fantastic (although way too soon of a time frame for the sun to be dying,try 6 billion years after it has swelled to a size that will engulf earth). But astronomy mistakes aside, i am willing to suspend disbelief for a quality story, there was too much going on in this movie. And the characters start dying before the audience gets a chance to get to know them, or even try to care about what happens to them. And the end.....................SPOILER ALERT!...................is the guy from the other ship really there......is it his ghost........is it god.........too many questions for me. By the end of the movie, I had no idea what had happened, or why. Ambiguity is interesting, but sheer incoherence is annoying.

WHAT A PLEASANT SURPRISE

azguki — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 22:40:27 GMT

This film was just released in Korea last week. What a pleasant surprise this movie was. I found it to be an absolutely refreshing piece of work. The characters are so well drawn (not to mention thrown right out of the screen and into your lap). Warm, funny, touching, bothersome........how on earth did one filmmaker put all of that into a single work. And that kid from the OC is actually a fun actor to watch. I have never seen the show, but I imagine that they do not use him to his potential. High quality entertainment here. This reaches beyond what all those other art-house/indie movies try to do, but never quite touch.

The Always Impressive Gilliam

azguki — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 22:15:59 GMT

I have loved Terry Gilliam ever since I saw Time Bandits when i was like 14. My automatic response whenever anyone asks that "Who is your favorite director?" question is always the same, Terry Gilliam. It is quite safe to say that he is one of the most original directors of the last 20 years. If Tideland is any indication of the direction he is currently going though, I'm afraid we may have lost him.

I love weird. I love weird. Tideland is something beyond weird.

Maybe I'll come back to that thought.

I think the one thing that is most impressive about Gilliam's style is his constant ability to get completely unique performances out of his actors. He does it every time. If you think about Brad Pitt in 12 Monkeys, Heath Ledger in The Brothers Grimm, Johnny Depp and Benecio Del Toro in Fear and Loathing, and EVERYONE in The Fisher King, they are all completely unlike anything else you've ever seen from them.

The performances in Tideland are top-notch. It is pure entertainment. However, it will not be accepted well by many in the theatre-going community.

Oh Stop It!!!!

azguki — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 18:16:09 GMT

Okay. First of all, anyone who takes this film seriously, and feels compelled to critique, is way too tightly wound. I was a fan of the cartoon, I had the toys at Christmas, and I consider myself a fairly capable film buff. That said, this movie absolutely rocked!!!!!!!

It's not class. Not even close. Michael Bay is a hack. That's undisputable. However, he is a flashy, explosions, beautiful girls, suped-up effects, all-in-your-face, certified genius of a hack.

I saw it in a theatre full of Koreans, and everyone cheered, applauded (not at the Japanese references hahahahahahhaaaaa), and laughed. Even in translation this movie works. You could take out all the dialogue together (although it is a very funny movie), and it would still be a summertime masterpiece. I mean after Spiderman 3 and Pirates 3 (both unbelievably disappointing), this movie saved my summer. I highly recommend it, if for nothing more than two hours of mind-numbing fun and deliciously fatty popcorn.