"And I Always Get Nostalgic With That Song..."

Hello Everyone,

I have some unexpected time off currently, so because of this I will attempt to post more blog entries. I hope that you will enjoy that and I hope to keep up with it as long as I have the time

Music for me holds a very important place for me in films whether that music is the score or soundtrack music, diegetic (inside the world of the film) or non-diegetic (outside the world of the film) or whether the music is vocal or instrumental.

I will detail what I feel are some very ironic, interesting or mind-blowing uses of vocal music in some of my most enjoyed films. None of these films are in my top ten, but they are still films that I enjoy. By and large, these films are dramas, but two of them happen to be comedies and one is a horror film. This list is a list of ten; I attempted to compile a list of ten and in this case I was successful. So, without further a due, here is my list of top ten uses of vocal music is some of my favourite films, in no particular order. I will be detailing the circumstances in the film where these songs are used, so spoilers may follow; BEWARE.

New Born by Muse, featured in High Tension (Haute Tension)

This song by Muse is pumped into this film, as Marie is in pursuit of a sick rapist and murdered who killed her friend Alex’s family and kidnapped her from her parents’ country home. Marie pursues the killer’s truck in a bumblebee painted new ford mustang (I do not know anything about cars, so I do not know what year the music is). This song is used perfectly as it is a high energy tune used in a tense car chase sequence. I would suggest you see the movie just for this scene, although the film is great in itself, so do me a favour and just watch it.

Ordinary World by Duran Duran, featured in Layer Cake

This song is first heard from a diner radio as Mr. X and Morty have coffee and regroup. The song swells on the soundtrack just before Morty gives a former friend Freddy (who is responsible for Morty serving ten years in prison) a savage beating, which includes kicking, smashing on the head with coffee cups and pouring hot tea on Freddy’s face. As Morty beats Freddy the songs cuts out a bit to give the viewer a scene of the distortion in Freddy’s hearing as his is brutally beaten. I find that the use of this song really adds to this scene and makes it stand out as a major action point in the film. Just see this film because it is amazing.

Honourable Mention – “She Sells Sanctuary” by The Cult.

The Man Comes Around by Johnny Cash, featured in My Best Friend’s Girl

This song is featured at the climax of Dane Cook’s latest film, which I think is Dane’s funniest film to date (Good Luck Chuck was decent, but this one is just hilarious). At this point in the film, Tank (Dane) has decided that despite his love for Alexis (Kate Hudson) that she deserves better than him and so he begins to sabotage the relationship by doing unimaginable things at her sister’s wedding. The song begins to play as Tank lights a cigarette inside the church and soon after puts it out. Later her propositions Alexis’ mother for a blow job, by undressing and telling her “it won’t suck itself”. This song has a dark feel to it and it used really well in this comedy. When I heard the song playing in the film, I sort of giggled because I knew what was coming. Give this film a chance because it is really funny.

Mad World by Gary Jules, featured in Donnie Darko

This song is featured at the end of this film, as the character of the eponymous film (Donnie) decides that he must sacrifice his life to save the entire world from the tear/rupture in the space-time continuum. A montage of the characters of the film either waking up and silently reflect on the current state of this lives follows. It is as if they realize that something terrible has happened to someone that they know and subconsciously they may know that that person has martyred themselves for their benefit. This song fits perfectly into the world of this film and I belief that it was re-recorded as a cover song specifically for this film; it is originally by Tears For Fears. If you have not seen Donnie Darko, but now you really have no good excuses.

Without You by Harry Nilsson, featured in Rules of Attraction

This song is featured in the film as love letter girl (she sends anonymous love letters to Shawn [James Van Der Bek]) lies naked in a bathtub and slits her wrists. This song completely sets the mood of the scene as utterly tragic, as this girl has gone unnoticed by Shawn, as a quick montage of scenes from earlier in the movie are shown and the camera pans to the left or right to show love letter girl watching Shawn (although he is completely unaware of her). She decides to killer herself and the soundtrack plays “Without You” which gets distorted as you, the viewer are almost hearing this song from her perspective and the songs cuts out and fades as she loses consciousness and dies. Lauren (the girl Shawn thinks is sending him the love letters) discovers the dead girl, just after she goes to visit Victory, whom she is in love with, even though he is totally unaware of whom she is. Just see this film it is a great, hip character mosaic based on the great Bret Easton Ellis novel of the same name.

Honourable Mention – “Faith” by George Michael

Hey Man, Nice Shot by Filter, featured in Tales From The Crypt Presents Demon Knight

This song plays as the crypt keeper’s tales (Demon Knight) begins. Breaker /The Demon Knight (William Sadler) is being closely pursued by The Collector (Billy Zane) in car chase, in an attempt to get a hold of the 7^th key that he requires for the demons to take back the Earth. This is just a really rocking song that fits with the bad ass nature of the film and the characters. This is the only tales from the crypt movie that is any good, so if you are a fan of the show then see this film.

Blower’s Daughter by Damien Rice, featured Closer

This song is featured in the opening and closing of the film. In the opening, Alice (Natalie Portman) is walking down the streets of London and is caught by the eye of Dan (Jude Law). Dan gets closer to her and helps care for her after a near miss car accident. This song beautifully fits into the film, although I enjoy the bittersweet use of the song at the end of the film. At the end of the film, the song is played as Alice returns to America, Anna reflects as she lies in bed with Larry and as Dan walks across a cemetery where he and Alice walk to when they first meet, where he sees a gravestone with the name Alice on it and he realizes that is where she took the name from; her name was not really Alice; she lied to Dan because she never really trusted him. This song is a lamentable tune and is used at the end of the film as the characters are shown for one final time and you as the viewer reflect on the characters and glean from their faces whether or not they are really truly happy. This film is a great drama; probably because it is based on a play.

Honourable Mention – “How Soon is Now?” by The Smiths

Help Is Just Around the Corner by Coldplay, featured in Wasted

This film is, with no doubt in my mind, the best film that MTV has ever produced and is likely the best TV movie of all time. This rarely heard Coldplay song (featured on the Yellow Single) is featured towards the end of the film, as Chris (Nick Stahl) contemplates going to Owen’s house to dispose of some heroin that Owen (Aaron Paul) is sure the police will find when they search his house. Following this Chris goes to Owen’s house and overdoses on the heroin and dies; although none of this is shown, but is assumed because you later learn that Chris has died and all the evidence points to this conclusion. This song is used in a very sad and mournful part of the film. Luckily, Samantha (Summer Phoenix) a friend of both Owen and Chris learns from their mistakes and is able to kick her heroin habit and eventually get to college. This film is hard to find, but If you get a chance to watch it, please do so.

Honourable Mention – “Alive” by P.O.D.

California Dreaming by The Mamas and The Papas featured in Chung King Express

This is only one of my two foreign film entries (High Tension is the other) in this top ten uses of vocal music in some of my favourite films, and it is just as good as the other entries in this list. This song is one that Faye (Faye Wong) plays on her cassette tape stereo while she works odd and late shifts at the Midnight Express restaurant/snack bar. The use of this songs shows that American influence on director Wong Korowai’s films, as much as the femme fatale female character in the blond wig from another segment of the film or the Asian Air Hostess from yet another segment of the film. This song also has a meaning to Faye; it is what she dreams about, that is about going to California and living there, which she does by the end of the film as she tells the former police officer who used to come by the midnight express and now has bought it off of her uncle. I believe the use of popular 60s and 70s music in foreign films makes them more accessible to North American audiences. I find that the use of this song and a few other elements in this film make it more accessible for me, as a North American viewer. In my humble opinion, this film is Wong Kar-Wai’s best film, but I have not seen Ashes of Time, which I hear is great as well.

Honourable Mention – “Dream Person” (cover of Dreams by the Cranberries) by Faye Wong

I, Swear by All-4-One, featured in Just Friends

I just love how this song is used in this very, very funny Ryan Reynolds comedy. In the opening of the film, Chris (Reynolds) is writing an admission of love letter to his long time friend Jamie (Amy Smart) and after her finishes that I, swear by All-4-One plays and Chris sings along with the CD until his brother’s friends catches him and Chris yells at him to leave his room. Again at the end of the film the song plays, only this time Chris lip syncs the entire song; it is just hilarious. The use of this song in the opening really places the story in the time of 1995 when All 4-One were popular. The rest of the film however takes place 10 years later, where All 4-One are nowhere to be found.

Honourable Mention – “Eyes” by Rogue Wave

Alas, all good things come to an end, and so does this blog entry, however I have a few comments to say in closing. There are those of you that might say films such as Garden State and more so Pulp Fiction, as well as the rest of Quentin Tarantino’s oeuvre feature great music used sarcastically, ironically or for otherwise comic effect and you may wonder how come these are not on my list. I did not place any songs from Tarantino’s films on this blog entry listing my top ten uses of vocal music in some of my favourite films because all of Tarantino’s films feature music used for various comic or other mood setting effect; that is how music operates stylistically in his films. I was looking for mostly mainstream films that I enjoy that had great and fitting music placed to heighten the tension in dramatic moments or turn the laughter up in comic moments. Tarantino and other auteur calibre directors revolutionize the use of vocal music in their films, and that is a blog entry for another time.

I hope that you have enjoyed this usually long blog entry and please feel free to send me criticisms, feedback, comments, suggestions, etc. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.

Sincerely,

Fanboy Dave

My Favourite Scares!

Hey Y'all,

Here is a special Halloween Blog entry (I know that it is now November). I am going to list a bunch of my top horror films, in no particular order.

A Nightmare On Elm Street - This film is when the idea of Freddy Krueger was so new and fresh and a lot dark than any of the other films, with the possible exception of Wes Craven's New Nightmare. The cast is great; led aptly by Heather Langenkamp and Robert Englund; John Saxon is also very good, as is Johnny Depp in his first film role. It is obvious to say that all the films in the series are indebted to this film as is the entire history of New Line Cinema (which no longer exists) and other horror films that have come out since. This film has made an indelible mark on cinematic horror; as has The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu, The Exorcist and others.

Tales From The Crypt Presents Demon Knight - Billy Zane and William Sadler rock in this film. This film is also the only good Tales From The Crypt Movie (although I have not seen Ritual; so I cannot judge that one). Great story, great scares, great ending. Just watch it; that is all I can say.

28 Days later - I just love this movie; it is in my top five of all time. Nothing more can be said.

30 Days of Night - I love the graphic novel; I was a little disappointed with the movie right after I saw it because I became such a fan of the graphic novel, even though I only read the graphic novel because I wanted to see the film. I do really like this film; great atmosphere, great and brutal horror and decent story. Not many horror films these days are this extreme.

Friday The 13th Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan - I do not really like the first 3 Fridays; I believe the series picks up on the third one and I feel that the best one is part 8; Jason Goes To Hell and Jason X are both terrible. I like Jason killing the kids on the cruise ship; particularly the victim POV when Jason beats the girl to death with her own guitar; great kill. I like Jason killing those two New York thugs. Simply put, a great slasher.

Jeepers Creepers 2 - I prefer the sequel to the original film, although the first is probably more well acted (Justin Long is pretty good), but I find it to be too slow. I prefer the horror, pace and premise of the second better and the ending.

The Silence of the Lambs - I cannot say anything about this film. Just watch it if you have not already.

Don't Look Now - Great Gothic horror from arty director Nicholas Roeg (also The Man Who Fell To Earth). Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie are both great in this film. A story that throws curves at you throughout; builds to a shocking and dramatic and horrific conclusion.

High Tension - Foreign Slasher from director Alexandre Aja (who 'borrowed plot points from Dean Koontz novel Intensity; whether or not he admits it; I know the truth; he admitted that he had read the book after saying that he had not heard of it) that is thrilling, shocking and utterly brutal and fantastic.

Dawn of the Dead (Original and Remake) - I enjoy the down trodden and apocalyptic elements in the original film and the brutality and fatalistic nature of the remake, the cast and that fact that it was primarily or entirely (not positive) shot in Ontario. I highly recommend both versions.

I Am Legend - What I most enjoy about this film is the apocalyptic feel of it. The horror and the 'zombies/infected' are fast and scary. Will Smith's performance is excellent; but he is great in everything that he is in.


I hope that you have enjoyed this special Halloween blog entry. Please feel free to send me a list of your top horror films or films that you may suggest that I take a look at.

Sincerely,

Fanboy Dave

Their Games Are Not Funny!

Hello All,

If you have the desire or inclination to see either the Original or US Version of Funny Games DO NOT READ THIS BLOG BECAUSE IT WILL BE FULL OF SPOLIERS. If you do not mind then read on. Thank you for your time.

Funny Games (the original Michael Haneke version) was recommend to me from a friend of friend and eventually I found it for a decent price at Best Buy (no surprise there). Eventually as I worked through my pile of DVDs to watch I got to Funny Games.

What is really good about this movie is that it totally plays with the conventions of traditional Hollywood/American thrillers. The bad guys are really bad and you expect them to get their 'just desserts' and one of them does but then the other 'baddie' gets the remote control for the TV and rewinds the actions that led to his accomplices demise and prevents it from happening. The director does not let the viewers have the satisfaction of seeing these bad guys die. One obvious message behind this film is that sometimes the bad guys win or according to the director sometimes that bads guys should win in films because too often they are defeated; plus he is working against traditional American thrillers. One of the most dark moments in the film is at the end when one of the 'baddies' looks directly at the screen with a dark grin on his face after he sets up his next victim; to which he will do what he did to the protagonists earlier in the film.

I cannot say conclusively whether I enjoyed this film, but it got me thinking and that is important. I will let it sit and then give it a watch again. I did jar me as a film fanatic and few films tend to do this. If you want to have a film experience that will disturb you then give it a watch, but if you are squeamish then skip it. I am serious; do not watch it.

I hope this entry will be enjoyed by whomever is reading me blog. I appreciate anyone who reads my blog. Please feel free to leave comments, criticisms, questions, etc.

Sincerely,

Fanboy Dave

Direct-To-DVD...Ohh Damn!

Hello everyone,

And by everyone I mean me, cause I do not really know if anyone is reading this blog, so if you are please leave a comment or just leave a note saying that you read my blog. Thanks.

You know what really grinds my gears? (I know I stole that from Family Guy). I hate when I download movie trailers that often feature a reasonably well-known actor who I enjoy watching in films and then check on them later only to discover that they are either direct-to-DVD or only in a few theatres in the U.S.. I have two options when I find this out: one, drive to the nearest state that is playing the film (I am about an hour and forty five minutes from the border; not including time waiting to get into the country) or wait X number of months until the film is release on DVD and rent it.

A few films that I am referring to are, The Nines (Ryan Reynolds), Pathology, Bubba Ho-Tep (Bruce Campbell), Chaos Theory (Ryan Reynolds again) and My Blueberry Nights (starring Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, directed by foreign auteur Wong Kar-Wai). There are of course others direct-to-DVD films that I am upset about, but I cannot remember them right now, so that is it for the list. Regarding Pathology, is strangely was playing in South Korea and elsewhere abroad (UK, Thailand, The Philippines, Estonia, Singapore, Russia, Germany, Iceland, and Turkey), but not in Canada. Why not? It starred heartthrob and TV It Boy Milo Ventimiglia.

Another upcoming soon to be direct-to-DVD in film in Canada will be My Name Is Bruce, which will be in U.S. Theatres (limited release) October 30th. It stars Bruce Campbell as Bruce Campbell; check out the description on imdb.com. I fear that Bret Easton Elllis' (based on his first book) will also be direct to DVD as it is complete and only has a listed theatrical release date for Austria (Oct. 31). I just hope that once his last book (Lunar Park) is release that they same fate will not befall it. This guy wrote The Informers, Rules of Attraction and American Psycho as well and although they were not great films they were based on some original and bizarrely interesting gory, sexual, thrilling, horrifying subject matter. I recommend Rules of Attraction over American Psycho (although Christian Bale is great in this film), but if you have time see both.

Well if you are anything like me you seek out films that are harder to get a hold of to see if they are any good. I recommend many bizarre and off the beaten path films to friends and in some of my blog entries. I, like many others get jaded with Hollywood films and wish to enjoy some independent films or studio released low-budget films created by unknown, but talented filmmakers.

Well I hope that you (whomever you are) have enjoyed my latest entry in a long time.

Sincerely,


f@nB0Y D&v3

AHHH Yeah! Batman

Hello Everyone,

I just saw The Dark Knight and everyone should see this movie. It was amazing; action-packed, smart, well-acted, entertaining and so on. I believe that Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker has totally eclipsed Nicholson's performance in the first Batman film and I believe, along with other that Ledger should be nominated for an Oscar. Terry Gilliam is apparently saying that such talk is a publicity stunt, but we will find out in January when the Oscar nominations are announced. BEWARE SPOILERS MAY FOLLOW.

Again, as in Batman Begins, the cast is amazing; Ledger, Eckhart, Bale, Caine, Oldman and Gyllenhaal. Probably, the best ensemble cast in any comic book film, so far.

Everytime Ledger is onscreen you savour his performance as The Joker because you know that you are getting something special. The possibility of his performance warranting an Oscar nomination, I do not believe is hype. I think that his final completed performance deserves, at the least a nomination. His performance is indeed that good, especially because he seems to pull it out of nowhere. Of couse, Ledger was a great actor and was excellent in Brokeback Mountain, but still his performance as The Joker was and is astouding.

Throughtout the film and definitely at the end, is the birth of the dark knight. As much as Batman was alone in the past film, he will appear to be alone very much in the forthcoming Batman film. The caped crusader will once again be on the lamb from the law, at his and Gordon's choosing (i will not explain; you must see the film for an explanation).

I have no way to tell what they will do for the next film or what it will be like but there is speculation that the villian will be The Penguin. All I can say is keeping coming. Nolan is the King of the comic book film adapation and that would make Bale his Knight and of course he will be Nolan's Dark Knight.

In the film, Eckhart as Dent says that the night is darkest before the dawn and that seems to be true but I believe that it will get much darker before any light seeps through. Be prepared to wander through the darkness for awhile before you get out into the light.

Enjoy the film. Savour the film and stay through the credit, you will be rewarded.

Sincerely,

Your Light Knight,
Fanboy Dave

It's Incredible; Okay, it's not but it is pretty good.

Hello Everyone,

Went to see The Incredible Hulk today. I did have some expectations; I figure that it would be better than the earlier Hulk film starrring Eric Bana. It was better than the other Hulk film. It was very entertaining; not a great film, but entertaining. The problems that I had win the Eric Bana Hulk was that the writing was terrible (the climax at the end of the film with The Hulk fighting Absorbing Man who his father turned into [it was retarded]), The Hulk was too green, he was able to jump way to far [too a point way beyond realistic] and it was not entertaining enough [not enough explosions and fights etc]. The casting of the original Hulk film was fine. SPOILERS MAY FOLLOW.

Okay, the new Hulk movie. Edward Norton was pretty awesome, Liv Tyler was alright (Jennifer Connelly is a better actress), William Hurt was very good as General Ross and wicked wicked cameo of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark even though it was only for like a minute. I loved the locations they used; mostly because they used a lot of the University of Toronto campus and I went there so I could recognize the buildings etc. Tom Roth was also very good, but he always seems to be good (IE. Reservoir Dogs). The fights, the explosions and the visual effects were all pretty awesome. The writing was good; the development of Tim Roth's character into Abomination was fine (done pretty briskly), the love story between Bruce and Betty Ross (not overdone) and the back story about how he came to be the hulk was cool (over the opening credits), however they could have done it as a quick montage with him telling someone about his problem perhaps someone who was in Rio in the beginning of the film. The back story would have been a little less confusing this way; my wife had trouble understanding it and it was confusing because the back story was different from the original hulk film.

I would have to say that if they made another hulk film with this cast that I would definitely pay to go see it at the theatre. If you love comic books or comic book movies then I highly recommend this film. If you like some comic book films then I would not recommend you go to the theatre but you may want to rent it.

Thanks for reading.

Sincerely,

Fanboy Dave

It's Happening Right Now

Hello Everyone,

This is my first new movie in theatres entry since I saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall a while back. Yesterday, I went to the movie theatre to see M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening. I will not say too much because I do not want to give much away, but I will say that there is not really a twist at the end but sort of a turn, but it is predictable because a running theory proves to correct. Of course, I will not tell you what that theory was. SPOILERS MAY FOLLOW, PARTICULARLY IN THE SECOND TO LAST PARAGRAPH.

I was thoroughly disappointed with M. Night Shyamalan's previous film Lady In The Water; so much so that I did not buy the film even when it was in the remainder bin at HMV; I think it was for 10 bucks or under. One of the only good things about that movie was the casting and even then there were limited performances from many of these good actors. Freddy Rodriguez, Jerffrey Right, Bryce Dallas Howard, Noah Gray-Cabey and Paul Giamatti. Paul Giamatti had a bit of character development and background, but if more was done with him it would have been beneficial to the film. Brcye Dallas Howard's character was too limited and too vague in the film.

I also enjoyed the casting of Happening and was really excited when I heard that Mark Wahlberg and John Leguizamo were going to be in it. Unfortunately, Wahlberg's performance was mediocre at best. I think this may be indebted to mediocre dialogue. There was some genuine emotion between husband and wife Eliot and Alma, played by Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel. John Leguizamo pulled off a decent performance although he did not have a lot of actually screen time.

The suicides in the film can be somewhat brutal so if you are sensitive at all with regard to suicides, blood or brutal death scenes, either do not see the film or wait for the DVD and rent it so you can pause or fast forward if you need to.

Do not expect great things from this movie, but if you do see it you will be feeling a little better about M. Night Shyamalan as a filmmaker. I have faith that although his last few efforts (The Village, Lady in the Water and this film) have been weak to crappy to somewhat decent, that the quality of his work will improve, not expecting him to top The 6Th Sense, but at least pull off another film of Signs like quality.

The last thing that I will say about this film is that the turn in the film deals with a current global concern or problem.

If you consider yourself a fan or a big fan of Shyamalan's film then I suggest that you see this film, if you are not a fan then probably you should skip it.

Sincerely,

Fanboy Dave

ROCKY IV and V

Hello everyone,

SPOILERS MAY FOLLOW.

Today I watched the final two Rocky films in the series that I had not seen. Rocky IV I thought was pretty good; you could tell from a Russian being cast as the villain that it was somewhere in the 80s (the detente period; but where the U.S. still liked to paint the Russian as villains). It was sad to see Apollo Creed get killed, but at least he made it 3 movies; Jamie Kennedy did not make it alive into the 3 Scream films, which was a damn shame. The heart that is in all the of the Rocky films was still alive and well in the 4Th installment.

I have notice a funny pattern in the Rocky films. This pattern is that Apollo or Rocky go from thinking of one of their fights as a show and then once they get beat, seeing their next fight as a real brawl and then back to show again. Apollo Creed was all showman in the first Rocky film. In the second film, Apollo considered his fight as a real one, although he did lose the film. Then Rocky in the 3rd film did not take his fight against Mr. T. serious, he lost the fight and then trained like hell and managed to beat him in the next fight. Sadly, in this 4Th installment of the Rocky series, Apollo bit off more than he could chew, in what was supposed to be an exhibition fight and ended up getting killed by a hopped up Ruskie. What bothered me was during the montage of Rocky and Drago training, a syringe was shown during a shot of Drago's training, which seemed to insinuate that he was on steroids (I had also heard this from a friend a few years back) but it was not discussed or addressed in the film at all; unsettling. Oh well, I guess that I can get over; but I am still upset about this, JFK's Assassination, Area 51, Roswell 1947, O.J.'s Acquittal, Robert Blake's Acquittal and a bunch of other shit that I cannot remember right now, but when I do remember you will certainly hear about it.

In summation, Rocky IV was pretty decent, but I personally prefer the first two films. Now, Rocky V did had some good moments, such as in the beginning of the film when Rocky tells Adrian that something is wrong because his hands will not stop shaking. What was lacking in this film was a sanctioned boxing match for Rocky at the end of the film. The street fight with Tommy Gunn at the end of the film, although it was an entertaining fight it was weak (not Blade: Trinity Climatic fight between Drake and Blade weak, but still weak). The riches to rags element of Rocky V with him going broke was an interesting idea, but it was not orchestrated as well as it could have been. I feel that Rocky V was a weak effort and am glad that Stallone eventually added to the Rocky series with 2007's Rocky Balboa, which probably will be the final film, as it was pretty much Rocky's curtain call. I would say that Rocky Balboa was better than at least Rocky IV and V and possibly better than Rocky III, but I cannot say that for sure.

I would now consider myself a fan of the series and although I enjoyed the films to different degrees I did enjoy all of them. My favourites in order from most favourite to least favourite are as follows; Rocky 1,2,6,3,4,5.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading my somewhat tangled thoughts and I hope that you were able to make sense of them. I also hope that there was at least one coherent thought in there.

Sincerely,

Fanboy Dave

WATER

Hello Again,

Last night I watched the Canadian directed film Water (dir. Deepa Mehta). I had not seen this film in my Canadian Cinema class at the University of Toronto, unfortunately. SPOILERS MAY FOLLOW. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

I was expecting this film to be more sombre than it was; that is not to suggest that it was not sad. One of the two may characters does not make it to the end of the film alive. At about an hour and half through the film, the story got to a happy place. I thought to myself, if it ended here that would be the happiest possible ending that there could be for these characters. It however did not end at this point in the story, but went on for approximately another half hour.

I thought the film was a really interesting rumination of people of a country caught between old traditions and the new modern ideas that were coming out of the west and influencing the world over. Some characters welcomed the changes in tradition while others seemed to think that there was nothing wrong with the way they lived even though they were being subjugated and forced to either live as widows in a sort of convent/nunnery or marry the brother of there dead husband. I think that in the end the message of the film was that some of the country's ideas/tradition were backward and outdated, but that there was nothing wrong with many of the cultural traditions; the ones that did not infringe on the individual freedoms of women. Maybe I am off on this. I do not know. If you have insight into this culture or this film that I may lack , please leave comments for me and we can begin a dialogue. In the future, I welcome the idea of seeing Fire and Earth; the earlier films of Mehta's Elements trilogy; I know there are four elements, so do not bother pointing that out, please; ha-ha. I am funny. I do not care what you say, besides my wife says that I am funny and I have to believe what she says.

I hope that if you do not have an interest in seeing this film that you attempt to watch a film every now and again that you take a gamble on; whether it is a foreign film, independent or possibly direct to video (please exercise extreme caution when picking a film from this category; I mean it). I would love to hear your thoughts on some films that you may have seen recently, so please feel free to leave comments on my blog.

Thank you sincerely for reading.

Fanboy Dave

ROCKY III

Hello Everyone,

You may have notice that I have not had a new post in a while. There are a few reasons for this; my wife and I bought a wii and it is insanely fun and addictive, we prepared for and took a trip to Vegas and I have not been watching that many new films and am also trying to enjoy the nice and hot weather that we have been getting. As always MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS.

At some point in mid May, my beautiful wife Veronica bought the Rocky boxed set. After we saw Iron Man at the movie theatre, my wife said that she wanted to rent Rocky Balboa and I said okay but that we should probably rent the original Rocky as well because neither of us had seen the film. We watched both films; out of order mind you. We watched Rocky Balboa and then Rocky. The new film really had an interesting dialect with the new film; references, parallel montages etc.

Last night, my wife and I watched Rocky 3 and it was somewhat surprised that both Rocky 2 and Rocky 3 were both reasonably good efforts for sequels. Many people rave about how good the original Rocky film is and say that the sequels are not as good, but I think that they honour the original film pretty well. The character development of the Rocky character is very interesting to see and he struggles to keep going and defeat opponents while running the risk of losing everything that he has fought hard to get in the first place.

I was having a discussion with a fellow movie lover, a friend of mine named John (I know it is a common name, but I have a lot more friends named Mike and my name is David, but I do have friends with more original names; Sharda, Sumit, Heather-Anne, Denise [not too common] and others). Where was I...John said that although he did enjoy Rocky Balboa, he thought it was really glossy like an HBO type film or a hyped up ESPN/Pay Per View boxing event. I agreed with him on his point because the original films, specifically the first film have a more home video like contrast to them, partially because of the dated nature of the film stock that was then transfer to DVD and also because of the type of camera, film stock, and lighting techniques that were being used around the time of the first film. I am a big fan of Digital Video and older films that have that more realistic contrasty look to them (i.e. Mean Streets). Having said that I feel that aside from better technology and a likely bigger budget for Rocky Balboa, the reason why they may have made the film so glossy and pay per view event, because of the strength and popularity of the Rocky franchise that Stallone felt that the character really deserved the 'star treatment' for his final epic fight; I agree with this...I did say it and it is my theory so I kind of have to agree with it..I guess; ha ha.

I was surprise to see Hulk Hogan in Rocky 3, because I had never seen it and although I had not seen it, I was unaware that he was in the film. I figure that Mick was going to die because I was able to see the clues telling me (the viewer) that this was going to happen. Mr. T. I thought was a great opponent for Rocky because he was so tough and fast, of course Apollo Creed is likely his most known, respected and popular opponent. Paulie was really starting to piss me off at the beginning of the film, but of course that was the filmmaker's intention. He is one of those characters that you rhetorically ask, What the hell is his problem? Paulie's problem, as far as I can tell is that he is part of something big, but he does not have any of the money or glamour associated with Rocky's fame because he has always been somewhat of a problem for Rocky, so Rocky keeps him at a distance from the business of what he does because although Paulie does have big ideas, he does not have the common sense to appropriately put those ideas into motion without pissing off Rocky. I have notice a somewhat diminished role of Adrienne in Rocky 3 or less screen time anyway. I think that although she may not have a lot of lines, her character does have a strong impact on Rocky; quality of her screen time over quantity in minutes of screen time or number of lines. I am glad that they are continuing to feature Apollo Creed in the Rocky films because he is of course a very important part of the man that Rocky is becoming in his life. I would have to say that I believe Rocky 3 is as good as the 2ND film and that I am somewhat anxious to see if the movie lover maxim will prove to be true with Rocky 4. The maxim that I am referring to is the one that says often but not always, a movie franchise starts to head south in the 3rd film or that they 3rd film is usually a weak one, even if the franchise picks up after that film or after the next one (i.e. The Batman Franchise).

I hope that if you have not seen any films from the Rocky franchise that you go out an rent the first one and give it a try.

Sincerely,

F@nBoy D&vE

Forgetting Some Girl

Hello Everyone,

Yeah, it's me again. This passed weekend I watched a few films that I had not seen before; Iron Man, Rocky Balboa, Rocky and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I just did a post on Iron Man, so now I am going to do one for Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Again, the following paragraphs COULD CONTAIN SPOILERS.

If you are going to see this movie, there are two things that you need to know. Firstly, Jason Segel's penis is visible about half a dozen times in this movie; first at the beginning when his towel drops when Kristen Bell (Sarah Marshall) breaks up with him and towards the end of the film when he tells a fellow actor that he is going to change out of his unitard (DON'T ASK). Be prepared to either so his penis or to avert your eyes. The second thing that you need to know is that Mila Kunis is really hot and tanned in this movie. I watched That 70's Show but she was not my cup of ass...I mean tea, but she is super hot in this movie.

Jason Segel not only stars in this film, but he also wrote the story for the film; he does a pretty good job with that. Jason Segel is quite capable of carrying a movie himself, as long as it is well written. Jason is a composer who composes music for a very popular TV show called Crime Scene; I wonder what show they are making fun of with that one. His girlfriend Sarah Marshall (played by Kristen Bell) is one of the stars of the show and the other is..haha Billy Baldwin; ohh how the mighty have fallen..oh wait he was never mighty..I must have been thinking of Alec Baldwin. Sarah breaks up with Jason Segel's character, so he tries to move on with a series of one-night stands and then decides to go to Hawaii for a vacation, where he finds Sarah there with her new boyfriend (a ridiculous british rock star who heads a band called Infant Sorrow). Jason's characters starts to get with Mila Kunis' character and hilarity and some cute moments ensue. I will not spoil the rest of the film. Watch for cameo performances from Paul Rudd, Jonah Hill and Bill Hader (not enough of him in this film). It would have been cool for Seth Rogen to have a cameo in this film, but he does not. Oh well.

That is all for now, but watch out for Pineapple Express, which will be out August 8th. If you did not know, it stars Seth Rogen and a funny, long haired, hippy looking drug dealer played by James Franco.

Sincerely,

F&nB0y d@vE

Man of Iron?

Hello Everyone,

I began my quest in seeing all the top movies this summer, last night with Iron Man. I am vaguely familiar with Iron Man through the brief run of the cartoon series that was on Fox in the mid-90s. I know that he is a Millionaire who owns his own company that makes weapons. I also know that his buddy Damien Rhodes becomes War Machine (he gets a suit of his own). That is about all that I knew about the Iron Man mythology going into it.


SPOILERS/POTENTIAL SPOILERS
I thought the casting of Robert Downey Jr. was brilliant; he is so cheeky and is such a smart ass and that is really capitalized on in the film. The rest of the cast is fine; Gwenyth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges and Terence Howard are all decent in the film. Like The Fantastic Four, this is a real popcorn movie, but with a twist; it has a little bit more depth to it; that is during Tony's change in temperant from a rich playboy to a caring and morally bound superhero. I just loved seeing him building the suits; particularly the revised suit or the finished one. Even before the movie was over, I was ready for another Iron Man movie (HINT HINT HOLLYWOOD PRODUCERS). I laughed like a little school girl when Damien Rhodes looked at the iron man suit and said "Next time, baby". Bring on War Machine in part 2. I also laughed like a school girl at the bonus scene that came after the credits. Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury trying to recruit Tony Stark/Iron Man to the Avengers. What? Blows my mind. I also laughed when Clark Gregg's characters told Gwenyth Paltrow's character to call the organization that he was from S.H.I.E.L.D. instead of long form of what it stands for; I cannot remember what it does stand for.

In summation, Iron Man is just a really really fun movie to watch. I recommend this film to everyone or particularly to all who watch the comic book films. I hope that you all go out and see the film, cause I thought that it was awesome.

ENJOY THE SHOW.

F@nB0y d&v3

Sweeny Todd; He's the Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Hello Everyone,

I did not see this movie this weekend; I saw it last weekend. I saw the play in November with my in-laws Kirk and Linda and my wife Veronica, with the intention of seeing the movie and I knew that Tim Burton was adapting the play into a film version when I agree to go see the play. I, however did not get a chance to see the movie when it was in theatres; I think I got caught up with other films and Christmas and such. It is quite a bizarre musical; one part horror, one part musical. The plot is one of revenge, so that was a quick draw for me.

To the film itself. The costumes and the set design and all that looks really amazing; the film is totally enamoured in the old tyme England (do not ask me what period because I cannot remember). The acting was great; Johnny Depp is always good, I have nothing against Helen Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman is very good and everyone else in the movie does not suck. Oh yeah, Sacha Baron Cohen is evil and funny in this movie. I recommend this movie to anyone who is into revenge movies, horror (there are murders and blood and so on) and those who enjoy musicals (remember there is blood, so if you are queasy at the sight of movie blood be aware otherwise enjoy).

Now, can anyway in the film actually sing? Yes, they all can, but Tim Burton and the producer Richard D. Zanuck did not know if Johnny Depp could sing well into pre-production and were relieved to hear him sing and know that he was good or at least passable. The songs are not as catchy as those in Grease or Rent or Phantom of the Opera but they are very well written and are good songs.

Possible Spoiler
Just to let you know, do not expect a happy ending; the movie is pretty dark and does not falsely prepare you for one. The film ends the way that it has to end. If you cannot see that the film has to end the way it does then email me and I will tell you why I believe the film has to end this way.

Thanks again for reading.

Sincerely,

F@nb0y D&\/E

ReVolver

Hello Everyone,

I have been interested in seeing Revolver (Guy Ritchie's latest film) since I heard about it being screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, but sadly it was in limited release in Canada, so I did not get a chance to see it at the movie theatre, so alas I rented it.

People, I have heard, did not respond well to this film. I think this is because the film starts off as a Guy Ritchie gangster film and then morphs into a delving into the world of Freud (not fully). The narrative style is that of Ritchie's other films; sound bridges joining separate characters in separate locales to convey important plot points. I am a big fan of Jason Statham; all always enjoy his performances and have been told by a mike friend of mine to see his latest film The Bank Job. The narrative towards the end gets very perplexing and convoluted because it gets bogged down by big ideas; those of Freud and the Ego. I think that Guy Ritchie is getting bored with the comedic thriller gangster film; I hope that I am wrong because he makes films in this trifecta hybrid genre so well. Andre Benjamin from Outkast puts in a decent performance; in the future I would not mind seeing him more in films; I think that he is really trying to be a better actor and is making progress. I doubt that I will buy this film but was glad that I got to see it because I have Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch in my DVD collection and like them both.

If any of you would like to know more about this or any other film that I have seen or any film that you have questions about please contact me and I would love to talk to you. Take Care and thanks for reading.

F@nB0y D&\/E

Got Blood?

Hello Everyone,

More on another crazy movie weekend. First off, I would like to thank my friends John and Heather-Anne for coming over last night and watching There Will Be Blood with my wife Veronica and I. Secondly, I would like to apologize to them for the movie being crappy. I am sorry guys I did not know. I would like an apology from Paul Thomas Anderson for his crappy movie. I would not call myself a fan of his but I did enjoy Boogie Nights and Magnolia, but I never did see Punch Drunk Love but I heard it was weird and stupid or crappy I cannot remember. This does not bowed well for me and PTA; the last two of his films that I saw were turkeys. He has got quite a hole to dig himself out of with me. I probably will not get that apology much like my desire to get an apology from M. Night Shyamalan for Lady In The Water, which I have cleverly (well obviously) nicknamed Lazy in the Water. However, I am a fan of M. Night Shyamalan so I will keep seeing the films that he puts out even if the last one of his was crappy. Anyway, I am going off on a huge tangent; back to the movie.

First of all, There Will be Blood was probably about 40 minutes too long; the running time was about 2 hours and 40 minutes. The pacing was very slow; an intolerable slow, not A History Of Violence or No Country For Old Men slow (I highly recommend that everyone see those two films). This film was the turkey in the Best Picture Oscar nominees; it is the only of the Oscar nominated films that I would recommend you skip, however if you really have to see if for yourself then do so. If someone said not to see it too me, I would still have to see for myself, so I do understand. In order of most favourite to less favourite of the five Best Picture Oscar nominees, according to me; No Country For Old Men, Juno, Atonement, Michael Clayton and There Will Be Blood. This film won for Best Cinematography, which should have really gone to The Assassination of Jesse James (I cannot remember if this was nominated or not. I am not a fan of Daniel Day-Lewis; I have nothing against him. I have only seen him in Gangs of New York, which I did enjoy and he was great in it. Daniel Day-Lewis plays a sly and clever Oil Tycoon were well; he is very smooth talking and had me going; I was ready to let him drill for oil in our backyard, but I do not believe that he should have one for best actor. He has been nominated for for Best Actor four times and has one twice. So he is batting at 50%; so it seems like every few movies he gets an Oscar nom and every two noms he gets an Oscar. I am not sure that this is totally deserving. I have heard that he was great in My Left Foot, which I have not seen but would like to. I think that Tommy Lee Jones should have won for his performance In The Valley of Elah , but I have not seen Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises, so perhaps he is more deserving, I do not know. Paul Dano (The Girl Next Door, Little Miss Sunshine, Taking Lives) puts in a great performance as Eli, a preacher who tries to use the oil flowing in his hometown to his own uses, as Daniel Day-Lewis does to same, as he tries to exploit the town. Paul Dano should have at least been nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting role; this seemed to be lost on the members of the Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences of America. So, it appears that this year I am a step ahead of them; hahahaha. The music in this movie at times was annoying and at other times made me feel uneasy like something horrible or shocking was going to happen. I am puzzled as to the title of this movie for two reasons; first, the book to which the film is based on is called Oil and second, there was actually very little blood seen or spilt in this film. I can only speculate that the actions of Daniel Day-Lewis at the end of the film justify (somewhat) the title of this film.

Thanks for reading everyone. Take Care.

F@nB0y D&\/e

He is...Awake

Hello Everyone,

Another crazy movie weekend is upon us. So far, I have watch two new films this weekend and am likely to watch two more. Last night, my wife and I watched Awake and Reservation Road. Today, I aim to watch There Will Be Blood (the last Oscar nominated best picture that I have yet to watch) and Revolver (Guy Ritchie's latest film; the one without Madonna in it). Some SPOILERS may follow; I apologize in advance, but you have been warned.

Awake
First off, I have to say that if my wife had not rented this film then I probably would not have watched it. I am not a huge Hayden Christensen fan, but some of his films are actually good; Shattered Glass, and Life As A House. Terence Howard is also in the film; I love this guy; the last 3 or 4 years this guy has been in everything or a lot anyway. The film is about a rich business man (Hayden) who needs a heart transplant and is hiding his relationship with his mother's assistant (Jessica Alba) and against his mother's wishes (Lena Olin), he marries Alba and that night gets a call that a heart is read. The rest of the film surprised me because I had no expectations for where the film was going to go from there. The remainder of the film was an interesting mix of thrilling and dramatic conventions. My only problem with the film was that all the shocking/surprising plot points were spewed out all at once; it would have been smarter to weave these plot points with the dramatic elements of the film; his mother's overprotective nature and her not wanting to lose her son because he is all she has; her husband died in an accident year previous; this is discussed in the film, so I will not get into it. I previously did an entry on Jumper; which was cool at time but on the whole was a waste of time. If you like Hayden or are interested in both films, do yourself a favour and rent Awake; do not waste your time on Jumper; it will only disappoint you.

Reservation Road
This film was a little bit of a disappointment to me, which is really perplexing because I had very minimal expectations for the film, because I knew little or next to nothing about this film. It has some great stars in it, so that was really the draw for my wife and I to see it. I am talking about the always good Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo. Also, Jennifer Connelly and Mira Survino are not terrible; Survino did win an Oscar for Mighty Aphrodite. The story is about a couple (Joaquin Phoenix and Jennifer Connelly) that loses there son in a hit and run accident when a distracted Mark Ruffalo hits their son on the side of the road. The film juxtaposes the grief that Joaquin is feeling and how he is trying to deal with his son's death and the regret and fear that Ruffalo is feeling. Where it goes from there I cannot say. The performances from Joaquin and Ruffalo are very well done. I thought the ending was sort of abrupt; there is a part of me that wants total closure, but the film basically ties up the loose ends; through a little bit of extrapolation on the viewer's part with, regard incidents that they have witnessed previously that tells them how the story will end, eventhough it is not shown.

Well that is all for now. Take Care everyone. I hope that you have enjoyed my babbeling.

Fanboy Dave

Sad Movies that I Have Watched Recently

Hello Everyone,

Over the last few weekends I have watched some sad, sad movies. My wife says that I watch depressing movies; this is true, but they are are still very good. MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS.

Two weekends ago, I watched Children of Men, which my wife bought for me on boxing day; that is how backlogged that I can get with my movies. I knew that it was going to be a sad movie, so I waited until my wife feel asleep and then I bought it on.
Children Of Men
I consider myself to be a Clive Owen fan; it would have been really cool to see him play James Bond, but it would have to have been like 10 years ago when Brosnan was playing Bond. The film depicts a bleak, terrorist-filled world (much like the world of today; with all the fanatics), but still features a glimmer of hope. The decay of society (buildings, morals, people) is done stylistically in a sort of home video type way; I do not think that it was shot on digital video though. This type of depiction of the future is a change from the Back To The Future 2/Minority Report type future that is very slick. It is sad, but is decently done and is worth a viewing. I do not think that it is a great film, but it is a good film.

Casanova
I bought this Heath Ledger film along with Ned Kelly (remake) and Candy because there was a good sale on amazon.ca in January on Ledger's films; I got the 3 of them for 47 bucks USD. This was a cute little romantic comedy starring Ledger (obviously), Sienna Miller (HOT; rent Layer Cake), Oliver Platt (he is always funny; see Huff Season 1) and Jeremy Irons (bad guy from Die Hard 3: sucking hard [it was a big disappointment]). There are cute little instances of mistaken identity and shenenigans. I do not like the fashions of the time mid-late 1700s; I am not a period piece fan; it's too old. I thought that I would give the movie a try and it is pretty much what I expected. Cute little film. Ledger was always great.

The Ice Storm
My wife has been telling me for a few years that this was a good film and I am a fan of Ang Lee (Eat Drink Man Woman, Brokeback Mountain, The Hulk [it was not his fault, it was the stupid studio and the screenwriter and the stupid special FX for absorping man [Nick Nolte] and that whole fight at the end of the movie was crap, crap, crap. I digress. My wife told me that this film was about a bunch of couples that go to a key party during which a tragedy occurs (I am not saying that the tragedy occurs at the party but one occurs). Knowing this, I could really see the the tension building; I could tell that something tragic would occur. The film teased you with options as to what it could be, who it would happen to or who would perpitrate the act. What happened was not what I expected; I expect something a little bigger, but it was very dramatic and epiphanic for some of the characters involved. It was an interesting look into a very uncertain period in American society (1970s). The film showed that it was a period of questionable morals, uncertain politics and general unease; it was as it the free love of the 60s was being paid for in the 70s. All the excesses of the 60s came to a head at some point in the 70s about the time when this movie takes place or a little before that time. Kevin Kline, Joan Allen and Sigourney Weaver all put in good performances. Katie Holmes and David Krumholtz (Freaks and Geeks, Superbad, TVs Numbers) have brief parts. Tobey Maguire provides voice-over narration ocassionally during the film which helps to shed light on how to view the characters in the story; using The Fantastic Four characters as a metaphor for his family; interesting. Christina Ricci and Elijah Wood show how good they were as young actors and their parts are important to the message of the film. I recommend this to fans of American Beauty cause I get a bit of an American Beauty vibe from this movie, but it sadder than American Beauty gets so be prepared. The decision for characters to change their ways comes at the end of the film, so you do not get that move to change their lives to make themselves happy that you have in American Beauty.

I hope you have enjoyed my brief fore into sad sad films. Thanks for reading. Leave questions, comments or suggestions if you like.

Have A Good One.

Fanboy Dave