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ChrisThilk
Member since 8/1/2007, last signed in awhile ago.
"It's all about what it's all about."
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Zack & Miri Make a Porno
Opportunity Knocks
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Gigantic
Movie Journal: Gigantic
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"I watched Gigantic after taking a look at its marketing campaign, so my immediate question that had to be answered was: Did the campaign accurately portray and sell the finished film? The answer is yes, absolutely. The movie is funny and offbeat without ever descending into parody or a portrayal of quirk for the sake of quirk. Instead, while all the characters act in what would be considered odd ways they never go over the edge into being just ridiculous. More to the point, they all stay true to their motivations and remain grounded in the reality of this film’s universe, which is even more important and the lynchpin of such directors as Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach. Dano and Deschanel have obvious chemistry and - and this is essential to the movie’s success or could have been a cause of its failure - are able to deliver the highly stylized dialogue in a way that’s natural and believable. That’s a testament to their skills as actors as well as to the accuracy of the casting. The ... "
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Appaloosa
DVD Review: Appaloosa
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"I really, really like Appaloosa and even began, shortly after watching it, that it might be my second favorite modern Western, behind only Unforgiven. Appaloosa is the story of two lawmen-for-hire, played by Ed Harris (who also directed) and Viggo Mortenson. The pair come to the small town of Appaloosa to help the locals with the problems they’re having with a local powerful rancher, played by the fantastic Jeremy Irons. One complication after another comes into the story (including a few that involve a woman who moves to town shortly after them and who’s played by Renee Zellweger) but the two come through as partners despite being the only morally clear people in the entire story. What I dug about Appaloosa was the stoic attitudes displayed by the two stars. While everyone is getting all emotional around them these two lawmen just shrug and move along, never betraying any emotion they don’t need to and meeting every challenge with a quiet certainty. The performances by these two a ... "
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Quantum of Solace
DVD Review: Quantum of Solace
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"For some reason Quantum of Solace, the most-recent outing of super-spy James Bond, got lukewarm reviews when it came out in theaters. I’m not sure why that was since I actually quite enjoyed it and even thought it was an improvement over 2006’s Casino Royale. Picking up right, more or less, where that previous movie left off, Daniel Craig once again stars as the new stripped-down and highly intense version of Bond the first movie introduced us to. He’s on a mission to not only uncover some shadowy, nebulous organization that specializes is toppling governments and exploiting natural resources but also to - although he doesn’t admit as much - to avenge the death of Vesper, the girlfriend he lost in the previous installment. The nature of the plot doesn’t really matter though. Quantum of Solace needs to be viewed as the second half of a single film, one who’s primary purpose is to introduce this version of James Bond and give him a mythos of his own as someone who is emotionally dama ... "
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Being There
DVD Review: Being There
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"Have you ever watched an acrobat and marveled at the control they have over their bodies? Just sat there and been amazed at how they can move their limbs in ways that you just can’t considering you count every time you don’t trip while walking up the stairs as a massive, massive success? That’s kind of what it’s like watching Peter Sellers in Being There. If you’re unfamiliar with Being There here’s a quick synopsis: A simple man named Chance serves as the gardener for an old man in Washington, DC. Chance has never left the house and has the intellect of a child, as well as being able to neither read nor write. One day the old man dies and Chance is cast out, only to find himself taken in by another rich old man who thinks Chance is some sort of nuts-and-bolts genius who’s able to take the most complex situation and reduce it down to its core elements. As part of that Chance winds up meeting the President, being quoted in newspapers he can’t read and making lots of influential frie ... "
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The Manhattan Project
Movie Journal: The Manhattan Pr ...
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"I don’t know about you but I always think of The Manhattan Project in the same vein as Wargames. You know, two movies about some kid in the mid-80s who’s smarter than adults around him and who uses those smarts to blow up the world, or at least Ithaca, New York and the surrounding states. The movie doesn’t hold up nearly as well as some others from that era, unfortunately. It’s still fun to watch, though mostly at this point simply for the memories it evokes of watching it on VHS countless times while spending summer days at my grandparents’ house. It’s especially bad when you realize that John Lithgow’s character basically causes his own problems when he gives the kid a tour of his lab - where he’s making highly unstable weapon’s grade plutonium - because he wants to sleep with the kid’s mother. Good job on that, big guy. Originally posted on:Chris Thilk "
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A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Movie Journal: A Funny Thing Ha ...
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"For whatever reason I had never actually seen A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum before coming across it on Hulu a little while ago. I certainly knew of it but had just missed it time and time again. Forum, though, is not to be missed, especially if you’re a fan of old-school comedy. Between Zero Mostel, Phil Silvers, Buster Keaton and a variety of other faces and names you’re likely to recognize if you know your comedic history, it’s a light little piece of entertainment that is funny and fresh and entirely enjoyable. There isn’t much physical comedy, at least not as much as I was expecting. Instead, as truly befits the talents of those involved, it’s mostly about the word play, about mistaken identities and about pulling one over on your neighbor because he’s probably about to pull one over on you. If there’s one thing that comes through on watching this, it’s that Mostel truly was a force of nature. He blows through every scene like a whirlwind, leaving half-thought ... "
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Watchmen: The Motion Comic [Animated Series]
DVD Review: Watchmen - The Comp ...
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"Months before the release of Watchmen into theaters, Warner Bros. - specifically their Warner Premiere division - made the first chapter of something called “Watchmen Motion Comics” available as a free download through iTunes. The format of the video was just what is sounds like, literally the panels of the Watchmen graphic novel put in rudimentary motion and with voice work. It was quite interesting to watch but the future episodes, which weren’t released for quite a while after the first one, weren’t free and so I didn’t continue watching them. But now Warner Premiere has released all 12 chapters on the two DVD set Watchmen - The Complete Motion Comic. Unlike the big-screen movie adaptation there’s nothing new or altered from the source material here. Most every panel, including The Black Freighter sub-story and everything else, that appeared in the graphic novel is brought to motion. Dave Gibbons’ artwork is rendered faithfully, with moving limbs and objects being the only alter ... "
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Marley & Me
DVD Review: Marley & Me
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"When the movie was about to come out you probably weren’t able to go anywhere or watch anything without encountering an ad for Marley & Me. The ads played up the antics of the dog whose name is featured in the title or, because it was coming out around Christmas, showed you a cute little puppy with a bow around his neck. The campaign caught a lot of flack after the movie opened because it’s very much not a “cute dog” movie that’s great for the whole family but instead features a bevy of very adult issues and themes. And that’s what I really dug about Marley & Me. Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson play a young married couple whose life we’re following through a handful of very real moments both good and bad. From the enthusiasm of starting their life together through the tragedy of miscarriage to the joy of starting a family to struggling with jobs and self-identification issues, these are all moments that a lot of people have gone through. To their credit, Aniston and Wilson do thei ... "
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The Stranger
Movie Journal: Nobody’s Fool, T ...
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"I went on a movie-watching spree on Hulu recently and wanted to catalog some of the flicks I caught on the site. Nobody’s Fool: I saw this movie when it first came out and remembered quite liking it so I thought it was cool that it showed up on Hulu and I had a chance to revisit it. Paul Newman, unsurprisingly, gives a great low-key performance as a small town curmudgeon who tries to come to terms with the life he’s lead as he meets his grandchildren, tries to hold down a job and other everyday tasks. There’s no big emotional arc he goes on - he winds up in much the same place at the end of the movie that he started out in - but Newman is always worth watching and he never makes the one long, sustained note he’s asked to hold out boring. The Stranger: Orsen Welles plays an on-the-run Nazi who has managed to integrate himself into a small town in the U.S. but who is eventually tracked down by Nazi-hunter Edward G. Robinson. Not the best film from either one but definitely worth watc ... "
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Watchmen
Movie Journal: Watchmen
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"I did see Watchmen opening weekend but haven’t had the strength/time to write up anything approaching a review of the film and, quite frankly, still don’t. But I did want to share my overall impression of the film. Unlike my brother-in-law, who saw it with me, I didn’t completely hate it and want to start attacking those involved in the film with pointed sticks. In fact I quite liked it and felt that while it’s still largely impossible to completely adapt the sourch graphic novel into even a 2:45 film, the filmmakers did a pretty good job of accomplishing what they could. High points include: Jackie Earl Haley’s portrayal of the detective Rorschach: Filmspotting’s Adam or Matty (I can’t remember which said it) were right when he said it was a performance that approaches what Heath Ledger did as The Joker in The Dark Knight. Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian: Yeah, he exists only to provide motivations of one form or another to the rest of the characters - he is the Macguffin - b ... "
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Ashes of Time: Redux
DVD Review: Ashes of Time (Redux)
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"It’s more or less impossible for me to adequately explain the plot for Ashes of Time, a film from director Wong Kar-Wai, so let me just paste the official synopsis here: The film is set in five parts, five seasons that are part of the Chinese almanac. The story takes place in the jianghu, the world of the martial arts. Ouyang Feng (Leslie Cheung) has lived in the western desert for some years. He left his home in White Camel Mountain when the woman he loved chose to marry his elder brother rather than him. Instead of seeking glory, he ends up as an agent. When people come to him with a wish to eliminate someone who has wronged them, he puts them in touch with a swordsman who can do the job. Now let’s be clear that this brief description of the film doesn’t come close to doing justice to the film itself. Broken into five parts, the loose center of the film is the man, mentioned above, who finds people for clients who need problems solved. But what it’s really about is the visual pal ... "
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How to Lose Friends and Alienate People
DVD Review: How to Lose Friends ...
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"If there’s a bright shining light to How to Lose Friends and Alienate People it’s star Simon Pegg. As the main character Sydney Young, Pegg is given a good deal of latitude to be, at turns: irritating, entertaining, obnoxious, endearing, clueless and nostalgic. The movie follows Pegg’s Young from his beginnings as the publisher and head writer for his own British celebrity tabloid through his hiring by an upscale New York-based glossy lifestyle magazine. Young is constantly in search of movie and other stars as he tries to find the tawdry details of their lives, even while seemingly being the only one in any give room that’s willing to call them on their narcissistic worldview. When he arrives in New York he meets a young woman who, though he doesn’t know it at the time, will wind up being his primary co-worker at the magazine. Their story arc is all too predictable but the game performances by both Pegg and Kirsten Dunst as his comedic and romantic foil make it an enjoyable ride. ... "
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