gordon42

• 188 friends
• 600 ratings
• 55 reviews
• Favorite Skins (0)

No new reviews. Rate some more movies.

• 
  I recommend you see...

  Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

  by Vmedia Berkeley Ca.

  UPDATE - I SAW THIS A SECOND TIME WITH A BETTER ENDING AND I HAVE UPPED MY GAME FOR THIS NEW INDI 2008 SKULL Flick.
  
  The Ending in the new cut i saw today uses a non Hollywood ending that I truly hope Steven keeps it the final cut you see next weekend.
  
  and no he doesn't die? or um? Lets just say this new ending does not follow the reagan formula - and for that reason I have upped the star factor.
  
  
  
  I saw Shia Labeouf last sat night at the dress for SNL - and he told us there would be this secret screening that night. Of course we all ran the screeing on 40th street and saw the bone.
  
  With the franchise and Spielberg not shying away from the original subtext of the franchise (the Reagan conquest) - Indi and his boy make for a fun play on the same metaphor this time around.
  
  Dr. Jack Wheeler is a legend. he was the inspiration for the famed movie character.
  
  While Jack has often been called a "real life Indiana Jones" and is part of the mix of historical figures Stephen Spielberg used (along with his own imagination) to create his fictional hero -- "Jones" is cartoon fiction and Wheeler is real.
  
  In the 1980s he conducted a series of extensive visits to anti-Soviet guerrilla insurgencies in Nicaragua, Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Cambodia, Laos, and Afghanistan, and to democracy movements in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, becoming an unofficial liaison between them and the Reagan White House. Based on his experiences with anti-Soviet insurgencies, he developed the strategy for dismantling the Soviet Empire adopted by the White House known as the "Reagan Doctrine. " It worked.
  
  Dr. Jack Wheeler is virtually immeasurable as the architect of the Reagan Doctrine, he is one of the handful of men most responsible for the defeat of the Soviet Empire in the 1980s. He served his country as an "unofficial" liaison between the Reagan White House and anti-Soviet insurgents, pro-democracy activists and freedom fighters around the world, in Nicaragua, Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Cambodia, Laos, Afghanistan, throughout Eastern Europe and in the Soviet Union itself.
  
  With this in mind this new romp with Indi and the kid sticks to that path.
  
  'Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it, have never known it again." says Ronald Reagan
  
  This Reagan Romp is fun - thick with 2008 Republican pride and will take the box office for the next 3 weekends.
  
  Bye George Bush -
  hello Mr McCain
  
  Vince
  Vmedia UCB

  standbyfilms

  UPDATE - I SAW THIS A SECOND TIME WITH A BETTER ENDING a new non Hollywood ending that I hope Steven keeps in the final cut you see next weekend.
  
  Spielberg not shying away from the original subtext of the film (Reagans conquest)Indi and his boy make for a fun play on the same metaphor this time around.
  
  Dr. Jack Wheeler is a legend, he is the inspiration for the famed movie character.
  
  Wheeler in the 1980s he conducted a series of extensive visits to Soviet guerrilla insurgencies in Nicaragua, Angola,Cambodia, Laos, and Afghanistan, and to democracy movements in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, becoming an liaison between them and the Reagan White House.
  
  Dr. Wheeler is the architect of the Reagan Doctrine, he is one of the handful of men most responsible for the defeat of the Soviet Empire. This Reagan Romp is fun - thick with 2008 Republican pride and will take the box office for the next 3 weekends.
  
  Bye George Bush - hello Mr. McCain (sad)
  
  Vince UCB
  Vmedia Ber

  posted 19 hours ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  The Violin (El Violin)

  by Vmedia Berkeley Ca.

  Indiana Jones does not compare to the character study of the same topics explores in the Spielberg epic, yet done so quietly prefect here in a real Indiana Jones film called THE VIOLIN.
  
  Life-or-death matters are handled with compelling gravity in Francisco Vargas' "The Violin," one of the most powerful movies screened at last year's Seattle International Film Festival.
  
  this Mexican drama takes the peasants' side in dramatizing a 1970s revolt. The script vividly explores the impact of government oppression on three generations of one rebellious family.
  
  Plutarco, perfectly played by 81-year-old Don Ángel Tavira, is never the frail grandfather he appears to be. Managing to play the violin even though his right hand is a stump, he just gets by as a traveling musician, using his practiced performer's charm to smother guards' suspicions and get past checkpoints. (Tavira deservedly won an acting award at the 2006 Cannes festival for this performance.)
  
  After raiding an ammunition dump in a cornfield, Plutarco supplies his son, Genaro, with handfuls of bullets. Distraught by the news that his wife has been captured, Genaro and his son, Lucio, seem increasingly helpless in a situation that only the old man can effectively manipulate.
  
  At first, even Plutarco seems to be getting nowhere. When he discovers a guard captain who loves music and wants to take violin lessons, the ice begins to break ? just enough to allow each man's humanity to become briefly evident. But as the uncompromising finale makes clear, this film is not any kind of heart warmer.
  
  Although it begins with a graphic torture scene that suggests more of the same is coming, "The Violin" becomes increasingly restrained in its use of violence. First-time writer-director Vargas makes a point about brutality, then refuses to dwell on it. The most shattering moment is one character's silent reading of a list of casualties; his changing expressions tell us all we need to know.
  
  Working in black-and-white with a gifted cinematographer, Martin Boege, Vargas creates a darkened fairy-tale atmosphere, especially as campfires light up the faces of the actors and smoke drifts photogenically through forests. Glimpses of village life suggest a timeless quality, especially when the grandfather recites a legend about the origins of war.
  
  Don't leave before the final credits of "The Violin," which briefly goes dark, apparently for emphasis, before it really ends with an expressive coda. The blank moment throws in a touch of mystery. Most likely it's meant as a tribute to Tavira, without whom the movie would be unimaginable.
  
  Move over Indiana Jone THE VIOLIN is the read thing - look for it on DVD ,
  
  Vince UCB
  Berkeley Ca Vmedia

  standbyfilms

  Indiana Jones does not compare to the character study of the same topics explores in the Spielberg epic, yet done so quietly prefect here in a real Indiana Jones film call THE VIOLIN. Life-or-death matters are handled with compelling gravity in Francisco Vargas' "The Violin," one of the most powerful movies.
  
  The script explores the impact of government oppression on three generations of one rebellious family. Plutarco,played by 81-year-old Don Ángel Tavira, is never the frail grandfather he appears to be. Managing to play the violin even though his right hand is a stump, he just gets by as a traveling musician, using his practiced charm to smother guards and get past checkpoints.
  
  Although it begins with a graphic torture scene that suggests more of the same is coming, "The Violin" becomes restrained in its use of violence. Firsttime director Vargas makes a point about brutality. Move over Indiana Jone THE VIOLIN is the read thing.look for it on DVD.
  
  Vince UCB Berk Ca Vmedia

  posted 1 day ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  The Violin (El Violin)

  by Vmedia Berkeley Ca.

  Indiana Jones does not compare to the character study of the same topics explores in the Spielberg epic, yet done so quietly prefect here in a real Indiana Jones film called THE VIOLIN.
  
  Life-or-death matters are handled with compelling gravity in Francisco Vargas' "The Violin," one of the most powerful movies screened at last year's Seattle International Film Festival.
  
  this Mexican drama takes the peasants' side in dramatizing a 1970s revolt. The script vividly explores the impact of government oppression on three generations of one rebellious family.
  
  Plutarco, perfectly played by 81-year-old Don Ángel Tavira, is never the frail grandfather he appears to be. Managing to play the violin even though his right hand is a stump, he just gets by as a traveling musician, using his practiced performer's charm to smother guards' suspicions and get past checkpoints. (Tavira deservedly won an acting award at the 2006 Cannes festival for this performance.)
  
  After raiding an ammunition dump in a cornfield, Plutarco supplies his son, Genaro, with handfuls of bullets. Distraught by the news that his wife has been captured, Genaro and his son, Lucio, seem increasingly helpless in a situation that only the old man can effectively manipulate.
  
  At first, even Plutarco seems to be getting nowhere. When he discovers a guard captain who loves music and wants to take violin lessons, the ice begins to break ? just enough to allow each man's humanity to become briefly evident. But as the uncompromising finale makes clear, this film is not any kind of heart warmer.
  
  Although it begins with a graphic torture scene that suggests more of the same is coming, "The Violin" becomes increasingly restrained in its use of violence. First-time writer-director Vargas makes a point about brutality, then refuses to dwell on it. The most shattering moment is one character's silent reading of a list of casualties; his changing expressions tell us all we need to know.
  
  Working in black-and-white with a gifted cinematographer, Martin Boege, Vargas creates a darkened fairy-tale atmosphere, especially as campfires light up the faces of the actors and smoke drifts photogenically through forests. Glimpses of village life suggest a timeless quality, especially when the grandfather recites a legend about the origins of war.
  
  Don't leave before the final credits of "The Violin," which briefly goes dark, apparently for emphasis, before it really ends with an expressive coda. The blank moment throws in a touch of mystery. Most likely it's meant as a tribute to Tavira, without whom the movie would be unimaginable.
  
  Move over Indiana Jone THE VIOLIN is the read thing - look for it on DVD ,
  
  Vince UCB
  Berkeley Ca Vmedia

  standbyfilms

  Indiana Jones does not compare to the character study of the same topics explores in the Spielberg epic, yet done so quietly prefect here in a real Indiana Jones film call THE VIOLIN. Life-or-death matters are handled with compelling gravity in Francisco Vargas' "The Violin," one of the most powerful movies.
  
  The script explores the impact of government oppression on three generations of one rebellious family. Plutarco,played by 81-year-old Don Ángel Tavira, is never the frail grandfather he appears to be. Managing to play the violin even though his right hand is a stump, he just gets by as a traveling musician, using his practiced charm to smother guards and get past checkpoints.
  
  Although it begins with a graphic torture scene that suggests more of the same is coming, "The Violin" becomes restrained in its use of violence. Firsttime director Vargas makes a point about brutality. Move over Indiana Jone THE VIOLIN is the read thing.look for it on DVD.
  
  Vince UCB Berk Ca Vmedia

  posted 2 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

  by Vmedia Berkeley Ca.

  UPDATE - I SAW THIS A SECOND TIME WITH A BETTER ENDING AND I HAVE UPPED MY GAME FOR THIS NEW INDI 2008 SKULL Flick.
  
  The Ending in the new cut i saw today uses a non Hollywood ending that I truly hope Steven keeps it the final cut you see next weekend.
  
  and no he doesn't die? or um? Lets just say this new ending does not follow the reagan formula - and for that reason I have upped the star factor.
  
  
  
  I saw Shia Labeouf last sat night at the dress for SNL - and he told us there would be this secret screening that night. Of course we all ran the screeing on 40th street and saw the bone.
  
  With the franchise and Spielberg not shying away from the original subtext of the franchise (the Reagan conquest) - Indi and his boy make for a fun play on the same metaphor this time around.
  
  Dr. Jack Wheeler is a legend. he was the inspiration for the famed movie character.
  
  While Jack has often been called a "real life Indiana Jones" and is part of the mix of historical figures Stephen Spielberg used (along with his own imagination) to create his fictional hero -- "Jones" is cartoon fiction and Wheeler is real.
  
  In the 1980s he conducted a series of extensive visits to anti-Soviet guerrilla insurgencies in Nicaragua, Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Cambodia, Laos, and Afghanistan, and to democracy movements in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, becoming an unofficial liaison between them and the Reagan White House. Based on his experiences with anti-Soviet insurgencies, he developed the strategy for dismantling the Soviet Empire adopted by the White House known as the "Reagan Doctrine. " It worked.
  
  Dr. Jack Wheeler is virtually immeasurable as the architect of the Reagan Doctrine, he is one of the handful of men most responsible for the defeat of the Soviet Empire in the 1980s. He served his country as an "unofficial" liaison between the Reagan White House and anti-Soviet insurgents, pro-democracy activists and freedom fighters around the world, in Nicaragua, Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Cambodia, Laos, Afghanistan, throughout Eastern Europe and in the Soviet Union itself.
  
  With this in mind this new romp with Indi and the kid sticks to that path.
  
  'Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it, have never known it again." says Ronald Reagan
  
  This Reagan Romp is fun - thick with 2008 Republican pride and will take the box office for the next 3 weekends.
  
  Bye George Bush -
  hello Mr McCain
  
  Vince
  Vmedia UCB

  standbyfilms

  Indi is back and Spielberg not shying away from the original subtext of the film (the Reagan conquest) - Indi and his boy make for a fun play on the new metaphor this time around.
  
  Dr. Jack Wheeler is a legend, he was the inspiration for the famed movie character.
  
  Wheeler in the 1980s he conducted a series of extensive visits to anti-Soviet guerrilla insurgencies in Nicaragua, Angola, Ethiopia, Cambodia, Laos, and Afghanistan, and to democracy movements in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, becoming an liaison between them and the Reagan White House.
  
  Dr. Wheeler is virtually the architect of the Reagan Doctrine, he is one of the handful of men most responsible for the defeat of the Soviet Empire
  
  "Those who have known freedom and then lost it, have never known it again." says Ronald Reagan.
  
  This Reagan Romp is fun - thick with 2008 Republican pride and will take the box office for the next 3 weekends.
  
  Bye George Bush - hello Mr. McCain (sad)
  
  Vince UCB
  Vmedia Berk Ca.

  posted 5 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

  by Vmedia Berkeley Ca.

  UPDATE - I SAW THIS A SECOND TIME WITH A BETTER ENDING AND I HAVE UPPED MY GAME FOR THIS NEW INDI 2008 SKULL Flick.
  
  The Ending in the new cut i saw today uses a non Hollywood ending that I truly hope Steven keeps it the final cut you see next weekend.
  
  and no he doesn't die? or um? Lets just say this new ending does not follow the reagan formula - and for that reason I have upped the star factor.
  
  
  
  I saw Shia Labeouf last sat night at the dress for SNL - and he told us there would be this secret screening that night. Of course we all ran the screeing on 40th street and saw the bone.
  
  With the franchise and Spielberg not shying away from the original subtext of the franchise (the Reagan conquest) - Indi and his boy make for a fun play on the same metaphor this time around.
  
  Dr. Jack Wheeler is a legend. he was the inspiration for the famed movie character.
  
  While Jack has often been called a "real life Indiana Jones" and is part of the mix of historical figures Stephen Spielberg used (along with his own imagination) to create his fictional hero -- "Jones" is cartoon fiction and Wheeler is real.
  
  In the 1980s he conducted a series of extensive visits to anti-Soviet guerrilla insurgencies in Nicaragua, Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Cambodia, Laos, and Afghanistan, and to democracy movements in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, becoming an unofficial liaison between them and the Reagan White House. Based on his experiences with anti-Soviet insurgencies, he developed the strategy for dismantling the Soviet Empire adopted by the White House known as the "Reagan Doctrine. " It worked.
  
  Dr. Jack Wheeler is virtually immeasurable as the architect of the Reagan Doctrine, he is one of the handful of men most responsible for the defeat of the Soviet Empire in the 1980s. He served his country as an "unofficial" liaison between the Reagan White House and anti-Soviet insurgents, pro-democracy activists and freedom fighters around the world, in Nicaragua, Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Cambodia, Laos, Afghanistan, throughout Eastern Europe and in the Soviet Union itself.
  
  With this in mind this new romp with Indi and the kid sticks to that path.
  
  'Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it, have never known it again." says Ronald Reagan
  
  This Reagan Romp is fun - thick with 2008 Republican pride and will take the box office for the next 3 weekends.
  
  Bye George Bush -
  hello Mr McCain
  
  Vince
  Vmedia UCB

  standbyfilms

  I saw Shia Labeouf tonite at the dress for SNL - and he told us there would be this secret screening tonite - Despite an intense effort by director Steven Spielberg, and producer George Lucas to keep this highly anticipated sequel out of sight until Sunday, May 18.
  
  Mr. Spielberg is unusually fastidious when it comes to protecting his films from advance word that can diminish excitement or muddy a message planted by months of carefully orchestrated publicity and expensive promotions (including, in this case, a February cover article in Vanity Fair, complete with Annie Leibovitz photos of the cast, and leather bullwhips delivered weeks ago to newsrooms).
  
  Spielberg customarily avoids leaky test screenings. Even Marvin Levy, his publicist of more than 30 years, said he had not yet seen the new movie.
  
  But tonite - it leaks -- so tune back here and I will give you my take on this new Mr Jones.
  
  Vince Vmedia -
  NYC tonite

  posted 6 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  Redbelt

  by Vmedia Berkeley Ca.

  David Mamet's stage reputation is built on his glorious dialogue, pushed far beyond any sense of realism into a verbal symphony of intertwining solos built on staccato bursts of profane words elevated to terse poetry. But when it comes to Hollywood, his most interesting films are his genre pictures -- heist films, murder mysteries, con movies, all generally male-centric narratives that he reworks with his own brand of professional pride, machismo and male honor. It's a man's world and he revels in it.
  
  "Redbelt" takes Mamet into territory no one otherwise would have predicted, the martial-arts thriller of honorable expert fighters, international competition and sinister organizers who corrupt the process. The sport here is Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, but Mamet hews to the samurai code, with Iraq vet and poor but proud Jiu-jitsu instructor Mike Terry (Chiwetel Ejiofor, all quiet dignity and modesty) as his honorable warrior in a dishonorable world.
  
  The plot gets Mike involved with a self-loathing Hollywood action star (Tim Allen) and a big martial-arts bout promoted by the star's agent (Mamet favorite Joe Mantegna). Betrayed by those he trusted, Mike (of course) ends up defending his honor in a very public way.
  
  It's glorious pulp fiction elevated to genre art, full of Mamet's cynicism about the corruption of big business (just substitute Hollywood for the martial-arts league) and his romantic ideals of men in military service and men dedicated to a higher purpose.
  
  For all the physical sequences, the screenplay is pure Mamet: characters trading questions that never get answered, lines repeated like a mantra, dialogue jumping topics like the transcript of an ADD convention, but always landing back on topic A.
  
  Mamet is more respectful than exciting as an action director, but his fascination with how things work, be it the mechanics of designing and promoting a big pay-per-view event or battling a world-class Jiu-jitsu master, makes it all quite mesmerizing.
  
  Give this Mamet film a chance .. its better than his last 2 films.. but doesn't beat it current play on Broadway now called November ..
  
  Vince
  Vmedia Berkeley Ca

  standbyfilms

  David Mamet's stage reputation is built on his glorious dialogue, pushed far beyond any sense of realism into a verbal symphony of solos built on bursts of profane words elevated to terse poetry.
  
  But when it comes to Hollywood, his most interesting films are his genre pictures -- heist films, murder mysteries, con movies, that he reworks with his own brand of professional pride, machismo and male honor. "Redbelt" takes Mamet into territory no one otherwise would have predicted, the martial-arts thriller of honorable expert fighters, international competition and sinister organizers who corrupt the process.
  
  The sport here is Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, but Mamet hews to the samurai code, with Iraq vet and poor but proud Jiu-jitsu instructor his quiet dignity and modesty honorable warrior in a dishonorable world.
  
  Give this Mamet film a chance .. its better than his last 2 films.. but doesn't beat it current play on Broadway now called November ..
  
  Vince Vmedia
  Berkeley Ca

  posted 7 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  Speed Racer (2008)

  by Vmedia Berkeley Ca.

  Even thou I worked on this project and I am close to its soul. I still have the gut feeling we will bomb this weekend.
  
  Iron Man took the ball and ran hard its first weekend out and no matter how fast the racer is - we won't catch that crowd.
  
  Well we may have a good first weekend - but then have engine probs for the rest of the run.
  
  The picture I agree looks great - seems great - and I love Emile (even thou he was not in love with this script)
  
  None the less I wish the Racer a good first weekend out of the pit and you guys tell me what you thing of this cartoon color maze version from the matrix boys.
  
  Maybe million will sing the theme song this weekend - who knows?
  
  Vince
  Berkeley Ca - Vmedia

  standbyfilms

  Even thou I worked on this project and I am close to its soul. I still have the gut weekend we will bomb.
  
  Iron Man took the ball and ran hard its first weekend out, and no matter how fast the racer is - we won't catch that crowd.
  
  well we may have a good first weekend - but then have engine probs for the rest of the run. The picture I agree looks great - seems great -
  
  and I love Emile (even thou he was not in love with this script) None the less I wish the Racer a good first weekend out of the pit and you guys tell me what you thing of this cartoon color maze version from the matrix boys.
  
  Maybe millions will sing the theme song this weeken - who knows?
  
  Vince Berkeley Ca -
  Vmedia
  

  posted 9 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  The Love Guru

  by Vmedia Berkeley Ca.

  I saw a screening this weekend and its good to have mike back for the summer.
  
  However he does show some restraint. He doesn't need to maul Alba, thats probably why he hired Justin Timberlake to play second banana. It helps that they've worked before? sort of. No, MM hasn't been helping JT bring sexy back. Timberlake did a voice in the wholly awful third Shrek movie. He was the annoying kid king, but don?t hold that against him. Timberlake has proven he can be incredibly funny in small doses. His guest hosting stints on SNL have been consistently hilarious. While I doubt 'Dick in a Box' will be funny stretched out over 90 minutes, Myers has given him more to do than the cup of soup bit from SNL. The movie is funny and will make money on a crowded Get Smart weekend.
  
  Its worth senior citizen special monday price - or you tube some of the very funny tailors .
  
  Vince
  UCB Vmedia

  standbyfilms

  I saw a screening this weekend and its good to have mike back for the summer. However he does show some restraint.
  
  He doesn't need to maul Alba, thats probably why he hired Justin Timberlake to play second banana. It helps that they've worked before, sort of.
  
  No, MM hasn't been helping JT bring sexy back. Timberlake did a voice in the wholly awful third Shrek movie. He was the annoying kid king, but don?t hold that against him. Timberlake has proven he can be incredibly funny in small doses. His guest hosting stints on SNL have been consistently hilarious. While I doubt 'Dick in a Box' will be funny stretched out over 90 minutes, Myers has given him more to do than the cup of soup bit from SNL.
  
  The movie is funny and will make money on a crowded Get Smart weekend. Its worth senior citizen special monday price - or you tube some of the very funny tailors.
  
  Vince
  UCB Vmedia
  

  posted 13 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  Baby Mama

  by Vmedia Berkeley Ca.

  Buddy Chick flick. Go Tina!
  
  It does follow the classic buddy film Hollywood formula script that we see men do - but i still liked it.
  
  Of course its easy to figure out - easy hits on all the plot lines - But Tina is a great writer - funny and intelligent. I love her work on 60 Rock. Always keeps me laughing.. so even thou this film has the classic buddy formula and we all know we will see a few babies in the end - at least pay the matinee price for this one.
  
  Vince Vmedia
  UCB Berkeley

  standbyfilms

  Buddy Chick flick. Go Tina!
  
  It does follow the classic buddy film Hollywood formula script that we see men do - but i still liked it.
  
  Of course its easy to figure out - easy hits on all the plot lines - But Tina is a great writer - funny and intelligent. I love her work on 60 Rock. Always keeps me laughing.. so even thou this film has the classic buddy formula and we all know we will see a few babies in the end - at least pay the matinee price for this one.
  
  Vince Vmedia
  UCB Berkeley

  posted 13 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  Iron Man

  by Vmedia Berkeley Ca.

  I had no plans to write about this film - I am not a huge comic book fan - But this picture did catch me off guard. Like Terrance Howard making reference to the sequel 20 min before the film ends, very entertaining.
  
  Robert Downey and Jon Favreau, bring this cartoon hero to a new level.
  Jon provides cartoon thrills for thinking people. It's the best movie of its kind since the second "Spider-Man" movie four years ago.
  
  Getting the suit right is easy. Getting the man underneath the suit right - that was the challenge, and the filmmakers rose to it. Robert Downey Jr. - cynical, witty, blithe, covering up some underlying vulnerability with a smoke screen of banter - is an ideal Iron Man and an ideal actor to place at the center of this story. With Downey there, the whole movie is a blast. When the action is fast and furious, there's the fun of spectacle, and in the calmer moments, there's Downey, whose dialogue is essentially a series of deadpan one-liners. That the whole movie feels ad-libbed is in fact a tribute to Downey either way. To the extent it's ad-libbed, it's evidence of his wit. To the extent it isn't, is evidence of the place he has come to occupy in our movies, that his casting should automatically inspire the screenwriters (Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway) to come up with Robert Downey-type lines: "Give me a Scotch, I'm starving."
  
  Director Jon Favreau is smart enough to let Downey puncture the pomposity of the sci-fi genre, but he's also smart enough to meet the genre's demands. The action is big, high-stakes and not played for laughs. The fact that the spectacle has its basis in character, and that Downey is such a likable presence, makes the action scenes all the more effective. This time, it's personal - for the audience, too.
  
  There's an element of social commentary at work in this. You want to know how irrational the world is? It's so irrational that the most rational response a concerned genius can come up with is to perfect an iron suit and get into fantastic sky battles - and fantastic they are. For all of the movie's wit, "Iron Man" delivers on the spectacle, with Iron Man dodging jet fighters in one scene and going head-to-head against an even stronger Iron Man in another. Along the way, there's the kick of watching Stark develop the Iron Man suit in his basement laboratory - a funny, slapstick process of getting the bugs out.
  
  No Bugs in the money this film made its first weekend out of the gate. Speed Racer is next..
  
  Vince UCB

  standbyfilms

  I had no plans to write about this film - I am not a huge comic book fan - But this picture did catch me off guard. Like Terrance Howard making reference to the sequel 20 min before the film ends, very entertaining.
  
  Robert Downey and Jon Favreau, bring this cartoon hero to a new level. Jon provides cartoon thrills for thinking people. It's the best movie of its kind since the second "Spider-Man". Getting the suit right is easy. Getting the man underneath the suit right - that was the challenge, and the filmmakers rose to it. Robert Downey witty, blithe, covering up some underlying vulnerability with a smoke screen of banter - is an ideal Iron Man and an ideal actor to place at the center of this story.
  
  With Downey there, the whole movie is a blast. When the action is fast and furious, there's the fun of spectacle, and in the calmer moments, there's Downey, whose dialogue is essentially a series of deadpan one-liners. That the whole movie feels ad-lib.
  
  Vince UCB
  Berkeley Ca

  posted 13 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  The Visitor

  by Vmedia Berkeley Ca.

  Oscar wake up - some of the spring films are starting to beg your name - The Visitor in one of them. Mike McCarthy (the station agent) second film is excellent.
  
  Richard Jenkins, the balding, bespectacled character actor best known as the ghostly father on HBO's Six Feet Under, gets the role of a lifetime A middle-aged economics professor grappling with the death of his wife, Jenkins travels to New York to deliver a paper and arrives at the apartment they'd kept there for years and finds an immigrant African couple (Haaz Sleiman and Danai Gurira) have been conned into renting the place. The professor's growing friendship with the man, a Syrian-born percussionist, begins to pull him out of the shell, but then the musician's busted and sent to a deportation center in Queens. The irony is overwhelming and yet somehow muted, Jenkins's professor is learning to open himself up again in a country that's closing itself down.
  
  The Visitor represents his first significant leading role. He runs with it, taking Walter on a journey from indifference to humanity to rebirth. Hes alternately funny, serious, angry, driven, emotional and compassionate. Its early in the year, but it?s hard to imagine come awards time there will be five better male performances. He's marvelous, and his own mastery of the Djemba is just one of the film?s many memorable moments. The rest of the cast will be unknown to most American audiences but are no less extraordinary. Sleiman and Gurira totally capture the loving relationship of this immigrant couple caught up trying to quietly live and work in a fear driven post 9/11 America. Special mention should go to Israeli Palestinian star Hiam Abbass, who breaks our hearts as Tareks fiercely determined, guilt-ridden mother. Her scenes with Jenkins are simply remarkable for their quiet power and honesty--two actors at the very top of their game.
  
  The Director McCarthy,
  is on the heels of his acclaimed debut film The Station Agent, Thomas McCarthy manages to avoid the sophomore curse and live up to and even exceed his initial promise as an all-purpose filmmaker (he also wrote the script). It should come as no surprise that McCarthy is also an actor since each performance he manages to get here is a gem. The characters are given plenty of time to develop and breathe and by the end none has worn out their welcome--in fact we don't want to leave them. His command of the camera is impressive, particularly since shooting a low-budget independent movie in the heart of New York City can be a pretty daunting task. What McCarthy really pulls off is balancing a sincere, expertly made character piece against some hot button political issues. Never once does he resort to preaching, but clearly, by putting a human face, on the wrenching subject matter, he has created not only a film that could potentially make a difference, but first and foremost, an unforgettable movie that will stir your soul. See it.
  
  Vince Vmedia
  UCB Berkeley Ca.

  standbyfilms

  Oscar wake up - some of the spring films are starting to beg your name - The Visitor in one of them. Mike McCarthy (the station agent) second film is excellent. Richard Jenkins, the balding, bespectacled character actor best known as the ghostly father on HBO's Six Feet Under, gets the role of a lifetime A middle-aged economics professor grappling with the death of his wife.
  
  The Director McCarthy, is on the heels of his acclaimed debut film The Station Agent, Thomas McCarthy manages to avoid the sophomore curse and live up to and even exceed his initial promise as an all-purpose filmmaker (he also wrote the script). It should come as no surprise that McCarthy is also an actor since each performance he manages to get here is a gem.
  
  He has created not only a film that could potentially make a difference, but first and foremost, an unforgettable movie that will stir your soul. See it.
  
  Vince Vmedia
  UCB Berkeley Ca.
  
  

  posted 19 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  The Wackness

  by Vmedia Berkeley Ca.

  The Wackness - the 1st film about the 90 era.. wow so soon. but year the 90's are now set for screen writers to boast about in some upcoming film themes.
  
  "The Wackness" inspired a packed Sundance house to forget their Saturday-night pains and stand up and cheer.
  
  A rollicking performance by Ben Kingsley as a pothead psychiatrist would steal the show in lesser films, but "The Wackness' is not overpowered: It rips in all aspects, compliments of talented writer-director Jonathan Levin.
  
  Generically, it's a rite-of-summer-passage yarn, but "The Wackness" bursts the form. It's hard to envision "The Wackness" not winning the Audience Award.
  
  In this 1994-set piece, recent high-school grad Luke (Josh Peck) sells weed and yearns to get laid. He trades grass for therapy from a drug-fuddled shrink (Kingsley) who exhorts him to sew his wild oats, albeit in more colorful language.
  The former-Deadhead doc doesn't realize that Luke's lust is for his nubile stepdaughter (Olivia Thirlby). A precocious classmate of Luke's, she's the kindof girl who, seemingly, has stepped out of his steamiest masturbatory fantasies.
  
  Both a comedy of manners of the Upper East Side, as well as a raw romantic roundelay, "The Wackness" is a tightly packed entertainment. It explodes through familiar teen-transition territory with dark ironies, but, all the while, touches are sentiments.
  
  Under filmmaker Levine's inspired hand, the performances erupt with precise energies. As the decadent doctor, Kingsley is marvelous as a randy old-goat, who anesthetizes his fears that life has passed him by. Peck as low-key Luke is a wonderful touchstone, exuding both decency and daring, while Thirlby is entrancing as the temptress teen, delicately revealing her wild-child's emotional wounds.
  
  Technical contributions torque this splendid movie ride. Special praise to editor Josh Noyes for the well-calibrated pace, and composer David Torn for the ripe and torrid sounds. Great sound track.
  
  If you were ever in New York City during the time this movie takes place, you'll probably appreciate its sense of humor, as Levine fills the movie chock-full of '90s nostalgia including a healthy amount of Guiliani-bashing, a favorite pastime of most New Yorkers. He also inserts lots of funny pop culture references from the world of music videos into Luke's fantasies, most of which will probably go over the head of anyone under 20.
  
  Either way, this is a great script that allows Levine to prove his worth as an up 'n' coming filmmaker, even if his use of the same washed-out color scheme as "Mandy Lane" is somewhat distracting and the film sometimes gets bogged down in the amount of dialogue, and its overuse of the same jokes repeatedly to get laughs, whether it's Dr. Squires' quirky behavior or the thought of non-black teens trying to be hip by saying "yo" and "peace" to each other. Despite these minor hindrances, "The Wackness" certainly is one of the more innovative indie comedies in recent memory that's notable for giving Kingsley a chance to have fun in a better comedic role than "You Kill Me" and as a great addition to the resumes of Peck and Thirlby, clearly two young stars of tomorrow.
  
  Vince
  Vmedia Berk Ca

  standbyfilms

  The Wackness - the 1st film about the 90's era.. wow so soon. but year the 90's are now set for screen writers to boast about in some upcoming film themes.
  
  "The Wackness" inspired a packed Sundance house to forget their Saturday-night pains and stand up and cheer. A rollicking performance by Ben Kingsley as a pothead psychiatrist would steal the show in lesser films, but "The Wackness' is not overpowered: It rips in all aspects, compliments of talented writer-director Jonathan Levin.
  
  The Wackness" certainly is one of the more innovative indie comedies in recent memory that's notable for giving Kingsley a chance to have fun in a better comedic role than "You Kill Me" and as a great addition to the resumes of Peck and Thirlby, clearly two young stars of tomorrow.
  
  Vince
  Vmedia Berk Ca
  
  
  
  

  posted 20 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  The Day the Earth Stood Still

  by Vmedia Berkeley Ca.

  Update of the 1951 version - the classic sauser film and klaatu the robot.
  
  The original The Day the Earth Stood Still, released in 1951, reflected Cold War fears. Fittingly, this year's remake will address warmer concerns.
  
  Keanu Reeves, who stars as the film's intergalatic messenger, Klaatu, tells MTV Movies that in Scott Derrickson's remake of the sci-fi classic, his voyage to Earth is prompted by more than just humanity's endless thirst for war:
  
  "The first one was borne out of the cold war and nuclear détente. Klaatu came and was saying cease and desist with your violence. If you can't do it yourselves we're going to do it. That was the film of that day. The version I was just working on, instead of being man against man, it's more about man against nature. My Klaatu says that if the Earth dies, you die. If you die, the earth survives. I'm a friend to the earth."
  
  That's right, gang -- Klaatu has gone from pacifist weenie to tree-hugging hippie. (Or, more precisely, pacifist weenie and tree-hugging hippie; as Reeves puts it, "We're trying to reach beyond the idea of [just] environmentalism.")
  
  Good news for fans of the original, though: When he isn't battling global warming or watching An Inconvenient Truth on his spaceship, Klaatu will find time to utter the famous words "Klaatu barada nikto" -- and he'll still have his robot bodyguard Gort, although Gort won't have the same leotard-and-spraypaint charm he did in '51; Reeves promises "another version of [the robot]."
  
  The Day the Earth Stood Still is scheduled for a December 12 release. - I will update you after I see the second screeing in may.
  
  Vince
  Vmedia UCB Berkeley

  standbyfilms

  The original The Day the Earth Stood Still, released in 1951, reflected Cold War fears. Fittingly, this year's remake will address warmer concerns.
  
  Keanu Reeves, who stars as the film's intergalatic messenger, Klaatu, tells MTV Movies that in Scott Derrickson's remake of the sci-fi classic, his voyage to Earth is prompted by more than just humanity's endless thirst for war:
  
  Klaatu will find time to utter the famous words "Klaatu barada nikto" -- and he'll still have his robot bodyguard Gort, although Gort won't have the same leotard-and-spraypaint charm he did in '51; Reeves promises "another version of [the robot]." The Day the Earth Stood Still is scheduled for a December 12 release. -
  
  I will update you after I see the second screening in may.
  
  Vince
  Vmedia UCB Berkeley
  

  posted 20 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  Son of Rambow

  by Vmedia Berkeley Ca.

  I have never been a Rambo fan, but these young actors have won me over big time.
  
  Although hundreds upon hundreds of movies have been made about kids pre teen romps, only a select few manage to capture the spirit of youth on film. Pictures like Steven Spielberg's E.T., John Boorman's Hope and Glory and Giuseppe Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso (the first half anyway) have the power to make viewers of any age feel as if they're experiencing the story entirely through the eyes of a kid. In its best moments, Garth Jennings' Son of Rambow achieves a similar state of youthful grace. This wildly funny and unexpectedly moving coming-of-age story is an unabashed celebration of childhood and moviemaking. It's also a remarkably vivid portrait of a specific place and time, in this case the London suburbs circa the early 1980s. The production has done such a stellar job recreating that era, you can practically taste the Pop Rocks bubbling on your tongue and feel the weight of the heavy VHS tapes the film's heroes lug around while filming their homemade action epic called you guessed it, Son of Rambow.
  
  Based loosely on Jennings own experiences growing up on the outskirts of London, Lee and Will decide to make, with the intention of submitting it to a local contest for amateur filmmakers. Trouble arises when a hipper than thou French exchange student named Didier (Jules Sitruk, whose scene-stealing turn may make him the McLovin of 2008) and his gang of worshipful cronies decide they want to be part of the production. While Will is happy to welcome more people into the Rambow fold, a jealous Lee becomes convinced that his film is going to be hijacked by these outsiders. And that's a problem that can't be solved by Rambo-style heroics.
  
  On paper, Son of Rambow sounds an awful lot like a kid version of Michel Gondry's recent ode to DIY filmmaking Be Kind Rewind and seen together, the two films do complement each other very well. Both Gondry and Jennings come from a music video background and rocketed to hipster fame by helming inventive videos on shoestring budgets. Their respective films celebrate that outsider aesthetic, positing that any movie you make with your friends?whether it runs five minutes or 50 minutes and costs $10 or $10,000 is infinitely more rewarding than forking over your dough to see anything Hollywood might put into theatres.
  
  What puts Rambow a notch above Rewind is that Jennings is able to hang this message on a compelling emotional hook, namely the friendship between Lee and Will. These characters aren't typical movie children who have had all their rough edges sanded away; Lee in particular can be a grade-A jerk, to the point where you wonder whether it's really wise for Will to be hanging out with him. Although Jennings' screenplay skirts the edges of cliché at times, the young actors (both of whom are making their feature film debut) make every moment ring true. As we enter a season where adults deal with their problems by dressing up as Batmen and Iron Men, it's amusing to think that the most mature characters we'll meet this summer may be two little kids from the London burbs.
  
  Vince
  Berkeley UCB
  Vmedia

  standbyfilms

  have never been a Rambo fan, but these young actors have won me over big time. Although hundreds upon hundreds of movies have been made about kids pre teen romps, only a select few manage to capture the spirit of youth on film. Pictures like Steven Spielberg's E.T., John Boorman's Hope and Glory and Giuseppe Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso (the first half anyway) have the power to make viewers of any age feel as if they're experiencing the story entirely through the eyes of a kid. In its best moments, Garth Jennings' Son of Rambow achieves a similar state of youthful grace. This wildly funny and unexpectedly moving coming-of-age story is an unabashed celebration of pre teens and moviemaking.
  
  As we enter a season where adults deal with their problems by dressing up as Batmen and Iron Men, it's amusing to think that the most mature characters we'll meet this summer may be two little kids from the London burbs.
  
  Vince
  Berkeley UCB
  

  posted 20 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  Meduzot (Jellyfish)

  by Vmedia Berkeley Ca.

  This is on the best foreign films I have seen this spring.
  
  The kind of magical realism we see in the Israeli indie effort "Jellyfish" is a tricky business; if poorly handled, it's contrived and saccharine. This comedy-drama has whimsical moments, but through adroit direction it avoids these pitfalls. By the end it's clear that serious issues are in play.
  
  Created by the husband-and-wife team of Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen ("Wristcutters: A Love Story" I loved the first film from the team), the movie, which won the Camera d'Or last year at Cannes, crosscuts the stories of three Tel Aviv women struggling in various ways, some of them comical. All are looking for harmony in their lives, and eventually their paths intersect.
  
  Batya (Sarah Adler) is a dejected young woman who works for a nasty boss at a catering company and has just broken up with her boyfriend. Her mother, a distant figure, is a celebrity involved in national fundraising efforts. Joy (Ma-nenita De Latorre), a Filipina caregiver who doesn't speak Hebrew, juggles unpleasant clients and yearns for the small son she left back home. Newly married Keren (Noa Knoller) injures herself at her own wedding party, so she and her husband (Gera Sandler) are forced to switch their honeymoon from a Caribbean resort to a rundown Tel Aviv beach hotel.
  
  The filmmakers throw a challenge at each woman. Batya becomes responsible for an impish 5-year-old (Nicole Leidman) who mysteriously appears on the beach, wearing only a bikini bottom and a flotation ring. Joy is hired to take care of an especially crabby old German woman who has issues with her daughter, an avant-garde actress. And Keren's husband meets an attractive female writer at the hotel.
  
  All this sounds glum, but there's more to these lives than just the obvious disappointments. For instance, the little girl (and there's just a hint that she might be imaginary) gives Batya a vicarious chance at a somewhat happier childhood. There's a mildly surreal air about many of the events, some nice comic moments and even a slapstick bit or two.
  
  Vince
  Vmedia berkeley Ca.

  standbyfilms

  This is on the best foreign films I have seen this spring. The kind of magical realism we see in the Israeli indie effort "Jellyfish" is a tricky business; if poorly handled, it's contrived and saccharine. This comedy-drama has whimsical moments, but through adroit direction it avoids these pitfalls.
  
  By the end it's clear that serious issues are in play. Created by the husband-and-wife team of Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen ("Wristcutters: A Love Story" I loved the first film from the team), the movie, which won the Camera d'Or last year at Cannes, crosscuts the stories of three Tel Aviv women struggling in various ways, some of them comical some glum,
  
  There's more to these lives than just the obvious disappointments.
  
  There's a mildly surreal air about many of the events, some nice comic moments and even a slapstick bit or two.
  
  Vince
  Vmedia berkeley Ca.

  posted 21 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  Frost/Nixon

  by Vmedia Berkeley Ca.

  I am not a huge Ron Howard fan. But his next film based on Peter Morgan play should be a good one. I saw it a second time.. its going to be a film to follow this fall.
  
  It has a huge cast ,. and will remind you of the film Bobby. Frank Langella plays Nixon and Kevin Bacon has a lead as well. The script is well wriitten
  
  I saw some early clips and this will be good. Again i am not a huge of Ron Howards films - but his last two have been damn good.
  
  Look for this in time for the 2008 Oscars.
  Nixon films are "in" this era. Expect more buy 2010.
  
  Vince - Vmedia

  standbyfilms

  I am not a huge Ron Howard fan. But his next film based on Peter Morgan play should be a good one. I saw it a second time.. its going to be a film to follow this fall. It has a huge cast ,. and will remind you of the film Bobby.
  
  Frank Langella plays Nixon and Kevin Bacon has a lead as well. The script is well written I saw some early clips and this will be good. Again i am not a huge of Ron Howards films - but his last two have been damn good.
  
  Look for this in time for the 2008 Oscars. Nixon films are "in" this era. Expect more buy 2010.
  
  Vince - Vmedia

  posted 23 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  Savage Grace

  by Vmedia Berkeley Ca.

  Many will not like American director Tom Kalin his second feature "Savage Grace" described as a fine example of European filmmaking. With its themes of dynastic decline, incest, madness and death, the movie will inevitably draw comparisons with works by Visconti, Fassbinder, Godard (for its use of music and Mediterranean light) and those two other notable European filmmakers, Joseph Losey and Orson Welles.
  
  While such antecedents do not necessarily mark "Savage Grace" as a masterpiece, this Directors' Fortnight offering is undoubtedly superior to many of the movies at Palme d'Or.
  U.S. viewers may be put off by its tangled sexual motifs and find its implied social critique a little close to the bone. But even Stateside, Julianne Moore, in her most challenging role in years, will win plaudits and attract mature audiences to a thoroughly absorbing and polished piece of work.
  
  In a series of six episodes spread between 1946 and 1972, "Savage Grace" tells the real-life story of Barbara Daly (Moore), the former actress and aspiring socialite who married into the fabulously wealthy Baekeland family, and her tortuous relationship with her son Tony. Her brittle personality and the inability of her husband Brooks (Stephen Dillane) to cope with it are evident in the early New York scenes when Tony is a baby. By 1959, with the couple installed in Paris with their 13-year-old son, the marriage is clearly heading for the rocks.
  By the time the action decamps to Cadaques in Spain and then Ibiza in the late 1960s, Barbara's smothering affections have left Tony (Eddie Redmayne) ill-equipped to deal with a life of idleness and his own confused sexuality. Tony's half-hearted attempt at a relationship with a local girl, Blanca (Elena Anaya), ends when Brooks makes off with her instead, eventually marrying her. Scorned by his father for his homosexuality -- he has been seduced by a beach acquaintance, Jake (Unax Ugalde) -- and torn between a desire to escape his mother's clutches and the knowledge that he is her sole emotional support, Tony begins a descent into mental illness.
  
  The process is accelerated by the appearance on Ibiza of Sam (Hugh Dancy), a bisexual art dealer who shacks up with Barbara and to whom Tony is attracted. After a brief return to Paris, Barbara and Tony move on to London, where Tony obtains a job in the art world and to the denouement which, given everything that has come before, can reasonably be described as inevitable.
  
  Kalin and writer Howard Rodman have pared to the essentials the mass of material provided by Natalie Robins and Stephen M.L. Aronson in their book on the Daly-Baekeland affair, structuring it to highlight the resemblance to classical tragedy. They make liberal use of letters written by the protagonists to each other and to third-party comments cited in the book, notably one by Brooks' father: "One of the uses of money is that it allows us not to live with the consequences of our mistakes."
  
  By scrupulously avoiding melodrama, Kalin ensures that the characters remain recognizably human despite their flaws and monstrous weaknesses. He is particularly acute on the pitfalls facing monied Americans who choose to lead cloistered lives away from their homeland and captures the hedonism of '60s youth without resort to cliche.
  
  Technically, the movie is impeccable across the board, as befits a director who took a 15-year break following his debut feature ("Swoon") in order to experiment with video, super-8, 16mm and other media, achieving its objectives with economy, wit and an unerring eye for the telling detail.
  
  Give it a chance - Vince
  Berkeley Ca

  standbyfilms

  Many will not like American director Tom Kalin his second feature "Savage Grace" described as a fine example of European filmmaking. With its themes of dynastic decline, incest, madness and death, the movie will inevitably draw comparisons with works by Visconti, Fassbinder, Godard and those two other notable European filmmakers, Joseph Losey and Orson Welles. "Savage Grace" as a masterpiece, this Directors' 2nd offering is undoubtedly superior to many of the movies that competed at the Palme d'Or. the movie should perform well on the art house circuit and in Europe as a whole. U.S. viewers may be put off by its tangled sexual motifs and find its implied social critique a little close to the bone.
  
  Technically, the movie is impeccable across the board, as befits a director who took a 15-year break following his debut feature ("Swoon") in order to experiment with video, super-8, 16mm and other media, achieving its objectives with economy, wit and an unerring eye for the telling detail.

  posted 23 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  Forgetting Sarah Marshall

  by Vmedia Berkeley Ca.

  I went in with a huge grudge about this film, and based on the teams current flop Drillbit Taylor, I was ready notto last the close to 200 minutes.
  
  But this film works. Romantic comedys are not my MO and I am usually harsh on these sort of stories,
  
  In the hands of sloppier filmmakers, Forgetting Sarah Marshall would sink as quickly as its sitcom-esque premise would allow (which is pretty quick), but Segels screenplay strikes an excellent balance between farcical silliness and weirdly sweet romance. In his first leading role, Segel (memorable from work in Freaks & Geeks and Knocked Up) does a fine job of playing a likable everyman, and of course the screenwriter gave himself a few really hilarious moments of overwrought heartache. (And even yikes a few silly nude scenes!)
  
  Leading ladies Kristen Bell (as Sarah) and Mila Kunis (as a sexy, sympathetic hotel clerk) deliver some of their best work to date, and (this being a Judd Apatow production) the background is capably populated by funny folks like Paul Rudd, Jonah Hill, Bill Hader, Jack McBrayer and Maria Thayer. Icing on the cake: UK comedian Russell Brand steals scene after scene as an egotistical rock star who steals people's girlfriends.
  
  It's one of those can't miss romantic comedies in that there's some sweet, sensitive, and insightful stuff for the ladies -- but there's also plenty of sexy, raunchy comedy for the boys. Plus, cmon, we all know guys like a little emotion and that ladies love the vulgar stuff, too, which makes Forgetting Sarah Marshall a quick witted date movie that will please both genders for a variety of solid reasons. Where this movie goes right and I think so many others like it have gone completely wrong, is in its refusal to cast anyone as a villain. The Farrellys always go out of their way to make one of their characters an asshole, as if we need someone to wish death on in order for them to make a joke. There is no real bad guy here, the interesting thing is that everyone involved is actually pretty likable. All of the characters written into Segels script are the sort of people youll love spending time with, and even when you're laughing at them you're still rooting for all of them. Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a hard-R, raunchy comedy in the vein of some of the great stuff Judd Apatow has written in recent years, and while it may not be quite as good as those Apatow masterworks, Segel seems well on his way to becoming a worthy Apatow apprentice.
  
  Well done, Segel!
  
  Vince
  Vmedia
  Berkeley Ca

  standbyfilms

  I went in with a huge grudge about this film, and based on the teams current flop Drillbit Taylor, I was ready notto last the close to 200 minutes. But this film works. Romantic comedys are not my MO and I am usually harsh on these sort of stories, In the hands of sloppier filmmakers, Forgetting Sarah Marshall would sink as quickly as its sitcom-esque premise would allow (which is pretty quick), but Segels screenplay strikes a balance between farcical weirdly sweet romance. In his first leading role, Segel does a fine job of playing a likable everyman, and of course the screenwriter gave himself a few really hilarious moments of overwrought heartache.
  
  Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a hard-R, raunchy comedy in the vein of some of the great stuff Judd Apatow has written in recent years, and while it may not be quite as good as those Apatow masterworks, Segel seems well on his way to becoming a worthy Apatow apprentice.
  
  Well done, Segel!
  
  Vince Vmedia Berkeley Ca
  
  

  posted 29 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  Get Smart

  by Vmedia Berkeley Ca.

  I saw a screening of this new Carell film last night and I hoped it would be better.
  
  Carell is a perfect stand-in for Adams, and not just because he bears an uncanny physical resemblance to Don. His style already has a lot in common with Adams own surreal brand of comic genius and hey, it doesnt hurt that he's an incredibly talented guy in his own right. Besides, consider the alternatives. Word is that before Carell landed the role both Jim Carrey and Will Ferrell were considered as possibilities to defile the cone of silence. CONTROL needs Steve Carell.
  
  He saves the poor script. I dont expect it to be on screen long.. Look for this on DVD I bet buy late summer 08.
  
  Vince UCB
  Vmedia Berkeley Ca

  standbyfilms

  I saw a screening of this new Carell film last night and I hoped it would be better. Carell is a perfect stand-in for Adams, and not just because he bears an uncanny physical resemblance to Don.
  
  His style already has a lot in common with Adams' own surreal brand of comic genius and hey, it doesn't hurt that he's an incredibly talented guy in his own right. Besides, consider the alternatives.
  
  Word is that before Carell landed the role both Jim Carrey and Will Ferrell were considered as possibilities to defile the cone of silence.
  
  CONTROL needs Steve Carell. He saves the poor script. I don't expect it to be on screen long.. Look for this on DVD I bet buy late summer 08.
  
  Vince UCB
  Vmedia Berkeley Ca
  

  posted 37 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  The Life Before Her Eyes

  by Vmedia Berkeley Ca.

  I got to see an early screening of Life Before her Eyes, (AKA In Bloom) the new, much-anticipated film from Vadim Perelman, director of House of Sand and Fog and the upcoming Angelina Jolie film, Atlas Shrugged. Based on Laura Kasischke's novel The Life Before Her Eyes, In Bloom follows two parallel timelines: one that begins in the weeks preceding that opening scene and one that jumps ahead a good fifteen years, focusing on a much-changed Diana, now being played by a jumpy and tense Uma Thurman.
  
  The exact timeline of the film is left murky, with the scenes featuring Young Diana no different, stylistically, than the 'present day' scenes. Young Diana doesn't appear at all to be living in the past, and Older Diana doesn't inhabit any kind of futuristic world. It's a somewhat puzzling, but acceptable dramatic choice for Perelman to make, and he presses the intimate connection between the two timeframes by aggressively juxtaposing them. Scenes in Young Diana's world sometimes have a duration of only a few seconds, before we cut back to Older Diana's world for a few more seconds, and so on. Older Diana is an average teacher with a husband and an emotionally troubled daughter, but she still focuses much of her energy on replaying that day in her mind over and over, torturing herself for some reason that's unknown to us. Until the closing moments, Perelman chooses to hide from us exactly what happened in that bathroom, although it's not much of a mystery. I had already written the correct answer in my notes fifteen minutes into the film.
  
  Perelman seems to be quite taken with Evan Rachel Wood's face and body -- not that I blame him -- devoting shot after luxurious, carefully-staged shot to her diving and swimming or sprawled out in bed or a million other poses. The effect is to give her character a breezy, carefree spirit that's completely absent in the present-day incarnation. As played by Thurman, Diana is driven by an invisible anxiety and seemingly always prepared for the worst. She stares and puzzles over every word her young daughter says as they eat some frozen yogurt, and when the daughter pipes up that she'd rather have had ice cream, Diana curtly reminds her that frozen yogurt is better for you. So what happened to turn an angelic layabout into a twitchy, volatile health-Nazi? Again, Perlman doesn't want you to know until the time is right. Putting all of his eggs into that basket turns out to be something of a mistake, because the way the chips fall doesn't exactly create the kind of emotional payoff that the audience is expecting by that point.
  
  Wood is an actress of growing reputation, and In Bloom gives her an opportunity to do some good work, playing a character who makes small attempts at being rebellious -- swimming in a neighbor's pool uninvited, dating a local bad boy -- but is probably just as naturally conservative as Maureen, who is on a religious kick and seems prepared for the life of a boring Christian, as Diana notes. She's too bright to get into any serious trouble, and there's one resonant scene in the present-day when the two incarnations of her character tie together nicely. Breaking down into tears after getting some bad news, Older Diana begins to defend herself, saying that she always thought if she cared for her daughter, helped her students and loved her husband, things would turn out right for her. She's a character who is fundamentally able to grasp how random tragedy continues to find her. Life Before Her Eyes, is structurally uneven at times, and definitely not as profound in its revelations as it wants to be, but with strong acting and a strong visual palette, it's a success.
  
  I hope it gets to more screen this spring.
  
  Vince
  Vmedia Berkeley Ca

  standbyfilms

  I got to see an early screening of Life Before her Eyes, (AKA In Bloom) the new, much-anticipated film from Vadim Perelman, director of House of Sand and Fog and the upcoming Angelina Jolie film, Atlas Shrugged. Based on Laura Kasischke's novel The Life Before Her Eyes, In Bloom follows two parallel timelines: one that begins in the weeks preceding that opening scene and one that jumps ahead a good fifteen years, focusing on a much-changed Diana, now being played by a jumpy and tense Uma Thurman.
  
  Life Before Her Eyes, is structurally uneven at times, and definitely not as profound in its revelations as it wants to be, but with strong acting and a strong visual palette, it's a success. I hope it gets to more screen this spring.
  
  Vince
  Vmedia Berkeley Ca

  posted 39 days ago