Stephen Tobolowsky's Birthday Party - 2005 - Dir. Brinkmann

I'm the kind of sucker who would watch a movie just to see what Stephen Tobolowsky is doing in it. Granted, he's probably not doing anything terribly interesting but I'm always checking in to make sure. I think Birthday Party ended up being what I expected it to be. Entertaining, sometimes a little disappointing, and probably a little more sentimental than I might have liked. Well, maybe the sentimentality isn't the problem. In fact, it should be expected that when a movie is a bout an actor telling stories on his birthday, that there is going to be sentimentality involved. I suppose maybe at times it seems a little forced or a little on the nose. Tobolosky is often calling for toasts to various people and things. And there's something that just feels a little too set-up about Stephen standing in front of a room telling lengthy stories. Cameo appearance by Anna Farris seems very bizarre since she hardly is featured but is one of the few who speaks directly to the camera in private. Sort of like showing off that Anna Farris is around. But they are entertaining stories for the most part. Maybe not as profound as he might make them seem, being that we're separated by the screen, simple story telling can often lose it's power. The tone of the movie is at it's best when Stephen is more relaxed, cooking sausages rather than when he's clowning about in front of a crowd. A nice way to kill some time and certainly needed if you like watching Tobolowsky.

Genius.

Born on the Fourth Of July - 1989 - Dir. Stone

Having somewhat given up on really getting into Stone movies, I had pretty low expectations. I would say this movie met them with flying colors. I saw it primarily because it was being taken off of Watch Instantly and Tom Cruise shouting in a wheel chair had been ingrained in my memory at a young age and I was never able to shake it, so was kind of naturally interested in the movie. And yeah, Tom Cruise does an awful lot of shouting. It's pretty good shouting, I guess. No, you know what, it's great Tom Cruise shouting. Some of his best. The movie focuses Kovic's experience in Vietnam and mostly on his return home and readjustment. It's a tumultuous one to say the least. The entire Brooklyn hospital sequence is probably the most striking and memorable part of the movie. It feels like we spend as much time in the Hospital as in Vietnam and Stone seemed to make a point of making it even more horrific. Generally speaking, I felt like Stone's broad strokes effected me the way they usually did and turned me off quite a bit. I always feel yanked out of the story and any kind of emotion that I might have had. More than twenty years later, the movie has become a blue print for the returning vet movie. So I guess, it feels a little aged, the events just feel familiar. It's just become a very Hollywood Blockbuster tale at this point.

Bleeeeeuuuughhhhh...

How Much Wood Could a Woodchuck Chuck - 1976 - Dir. Herzog

Sort of a mini-documentary. Or just a normal documentary, I guess. "It's forty minutes long" is what I'm saying here! Herzog is capturing the World Livestock Auctioneer Championship. There are a handful of interviews in the beginning, some shots of Pennsylvania, but I would say the majority of the film is watching auctioneers strut their stuff. So the length is really appropriate length for the film. Any longer and I might have started to pull my hair out. That isn't to say that the subject matter isn't interesting. It's fun to see how all of the auctioneers do what they do. And rather hypnotizing. The scope of the film is a little limited. Apart from the opening when the auctioneers talk about their "craft." There isn't much to the movie apart from the actual auctioneering. I would have gotten a kick out of speaking with a few more people. There's something kind of funny when people are filmed talking about a subject about which they certainly don't seem to have a lot to say. Even the auctioneers don't have much to say repeating the mantra "Practice makes perfect" and go through how they began to practice. The movie is nice in depicting the atmosphere of the Championship. There seems to be something inherently engrossing about the film to someone like me who is very distant from that world, and also somewhat amusing.

Cattle! You are all just Cattle! It makes me sick!

Robocop - 1987 - Dir. Verhoeven

I love this movie. I've seen it a small handful of times, but I enjoy myself during every viewing. It's a ton of fun to watch. You can chuckle at it without being dismissive of it and losing interest because of the silliness. It's just silly enough. It has a really nice balance of action and sci-fi elements (neither overwhelms the other). There are a ton of my beloved 80's Practical Effects (is that what they're called?). Easily the most memorable of which would be what happens to Emile after his run in with the Toxic Waste, which is also probably one of my favorite sequences in the film. A host of great/campy actors. Miguel Ferrer and Kurtwood Smith are just a portion of the ridiculous cast of villains but to me they stand out as THE TOPS! Both of which are so slimy and over-the-top. I also get a kick out of Ray Wise's bug-eye and forehead. It's one of those nice movies where everyone seems to be on the same page which helps it maintain the satirical, goofy tone. Peter Weller does a great job being a Robotic Cop. Naturally, something like that could look pretty silly but the thought never even crosses my mind. The script doesn't exactly pull any surprises as far as story telling in concerned but it's just a good example of a well-crafted sci-fi blockbuster. It's very indicative of the time.

Peter Weller. Actor.

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus - 2009 - Dir. Gilliam

MAN! Gilliam is nuts. I believe I've said before that I'm a huge fan of his. I was actually kind of nervous to watch this one so I passed up the chance to see it in theaters. It looked a little bit like Brothers Grimm Redux, yeah, I'm still reeling from that one, I guess. It's not Brothers Grimm Redux though... It seems to to leap into the area pretty frequently, but never gets too out of control. To some degree, I find it really refreshing to watch a movie that doesn't really bother with typical storytelling. It's more like a fairy tale. A very scatterbrained fairy tale (I get the impression that some things were edited for time making it more scatterbrained). At the same time, it also illustrates why certain storytelling elements have become so frequently replicated. Gilliam, however, seems more interested in visuals and images. And the movie is chock full of them. Parnassus' stage is friggin' incredible. I was very hesitant with the CGI, Gilliam always seems to work much better with practical effects, but in the end, I think it worked in the context of the film. I was really impressed with the acting in the film. Andrew Garfield especially, after seeing him in Social Network, doing a completely different kind of role. Ledger's performance is a reminder as to how damned good he could be. The Depp/Law/Farrell stand-ins are a little surreal (even in the context of the movie, but they also just look a little creepy) but they work. The movie can be a struggle to keep up with at times but it's a really satisfying modern fairy tale and a breath of fresh air these days. It's not perfect, but it's fun enough to warrant repeat viewings.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh AHAHAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!

Tron (again!) - 1982 - Dir. Lisberger

It was sort of an accidental re-viewing of Tron. I would certainly say I didn't seek it out or really consider watching it again. Not that I'm trying to trash Tron exactly, I guess, I just didn't feel very enthusiastic about watching it a second time, so recently especially. It's still pretty fun and goofy and obviously created quite a world. I still feel like the entire concept ends up being a little wasted in the film and is treated more like an AWESOME premise rather than a movie with a full world behind it. I realize I must sound spoiler because Tron: Legacy does that and I still wasn't happy. I think I was a bit more aware of how thoroughly silly the movie could be. Corny sci-fi one liners were way more prominent this time around. Although, it's still a very imaginative movie and understand that the nostalgia factor plays in a great deal to many people's feelings to it. The movie is incredibly dated. It could have played on MST3K in a heartbeat. I guess the movie works best as a snap shot of American Sci-Fi movies. I feel like there is a lot of forgiveness involved and constantly framing it in the period it came from when watching this movie nowadays, unless you can see yourself as a pre-teen having your mind blown at the theater, in which case, I'm sure it's a blast.

I really don't want to make an Ultimate Frisbee joke... :(

The Jerk - 1979 - Dir. Reiner

Haven't seen this movie since my high school days and to be honest couldn't remember much about it until someone quoted it and the memories came flooding in. I was a huge fan when I first saw this! And I still am! Steve Martin's first starring role as a supremely naive man raised by a poor black family who goes out into the world when he realizes that he's not their blood child. That and he discovers the pleasures of white people music. It's a fun movie. My especially favorite part would be the gas station section of the film, which is kind of a shame because it's so early on in the film. The movie never gets AS funny as that section. It certainly has its laughs throughout. It's not as seriously plotted as many comedies, he becomes rich, then loses it. Generally, not due to any actual action he takes. But that's about as far as we go. So it's like a series of goofy scenes dragging a story along behind it. Certainly we're never really asked to take the plot seriously or do we ever worry that things won't work out for him in the end. I suppose that feels like a weakness sometimes, but the movie is just too silly for serious story-telling, so it feels right that it treats the story as it does. It's a great early Steve Martin role especially to see him in his prime doing something other than the sarcastic prick roles that he seemed to be typecast in frequently afterward.

That's what I wear when I go to the bathroom!