Category Archives: Flicks

Wrapping It Up: Favorite Movies 2008

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Yes, I’m aware it’s March and I’m randomly posting Best of 2008s. Blame the economy, hahahaha.
My Favorite Movies in 2008 Were:
(linked to their original Snip reviews)
1. Iron Man. WIthout a doubt. This SHOULD have won awards.
2. Milk. So well done.
3. Let the Right One In. Spooky!
4. Zach and Miri Make a Porno. Hilarious. Yet sweet.
5. Wanted. AWESOME. With a few plot holes. Bygones.
6. Hunger. So sad.
7. The Dark Knight. It wasn’t as good as IronMan. But it was good.
8. Tropic Thunder. Pure utter hilarity.
9. Atonement. Gorgeous. Just as good as the book.
10. Leatherheads. Beautifully filmed. And I really do not care for Renee Z., yet she was unable to ruin it for me.
And if you’d like to hear about other movies I liked or DIDN’T, you can go read the full post.

À la Super Eggplant, currently, I am…

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Eating: Toaster Strudel. It’s my go-to breakfast when I have to leave the house before 5 a.m. Like I have to every day now.

Making: Supposedly working on two baby boy quilts. Supposedly.

Reading: Our challenge book for February, “The Broom of the System” by David Foster Wallace, which I am loving. I call it “Vonnegut if he wrote female narrators.”

Watching: BStarG season 4.5 and Holy Frak the last two episodes have been NUTS. Remember all those interviews Tahmoh was giving where they asked him about the last 10/11 and he said “Everybody dies!” Yeah, I’m wondering if that might not be the truth! Also loving Bones (hockey dream sequence!!!) and the past few episodes of The Office have been really side-splittingly funny. I have a bunch of random other series on DVD saved up but I just can’t get around to watchin’ ’em.

Listening to: “Alopecia” Why (like a lot); “Oracular Spectacular” MGMT (Love! and hello where have I been?); Bon Iver “Blood Bank” (love) and a few singles from LadyGaGa (sounds like a combination of Pink + Gwen Stefani? no?) and just bought the latest singles from Kelly Clarkson (only the second song of hers I own! but it’s fun!) and Eminem!

Best of December

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The best movie I saw in December…was Bolt, the ONLY movie I saw (Pathetic! Especially considering I was on vacation the first week of the month.

The best book I read in December was… hmmm, hard to pin it down when you read 11 books that month!!! I’ll make it a three-way tie between Tender Morsels, by Margo Lanagan; Deaf Sentence, by David Lodge; and Black & White, by Dani Shapiro. But I don’t think there were many of my December reads that I wouldn’t recommend to you. It was a great month for reading.

The best gig I went to in December was My Morning Jacket, which was allright but I actually thought the time I saw them at Lollapalooza was a better set. The ony other show I went to I didn’t review. It was The Sea and Cake on New Year’s Eve, which was good, but I wasn’t really aware of their stuff before so I wasn’t necessarily super engaged. Plus you know, NYE, crowds, loud drunk girls, etc. Cathy and I had fun but then we had enough fun so we went home early! 🙂

My favorite tunes in December boils down to one album: Frightened Rabbit “The Midnight Organ Fight” which I pretty much listened to nonstop. And I listened to a lot of Kanye, Killers, and Pink (all from November) as well.

Random personal highlights: A week off! Yay!; hung out with Cinnachick!; Back to the Future marathon with Carlos; dinner with my cousins; brunch with MK; brunch with KC; dinner at the Coopers; and Cathy came to visit!!! YAY!!!!

Lowlights? Can’t remember any in particular. Now that’s rare!!

Oh look, I finally got through December. Now I can write up my year-end lists. I’m SO TIMELY this time around. Ha!

Best of November

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The best movie I saw in November was Milk and it was EXCELLENT. My No. 2 movie for the year. So good.

The best book I read in November was “The Way of Shadows” by Brent Weeks. It was a slow month reading-wise but I did really enjoy that book.

The best gig I went to in November was….some gig that I didn’t go to! First month all year with no shows. Am I slowing down? I’m certainly feeling old and decrepit but it may just be I wasn’t paying attention to what was coming up so I missed out on tickets I would have wanted. Who knows!

My favorite tunes in November were new albums from Jem, and The Killers, and Matt White, and Vancougar, and Ryan Adams, and Pink, and Kanye, and Winter’s Fall and…some others. I bought a ton of music over the month (click on the link and you’ll see!).

Random personal highlights: HuffenCooper Halloween party; “HOLY FUCK OBAMA WINS!” is what it says on my calendar for November 4. Certainly a day that will not be forgotten; did some serious shopping in the burbs with Sara; I hung out with my nephews for the first time in ages; beers at Guthrie’s with Lauren; bought some cool shit at the DIY show; I visited my “second (or third, really) home” in Milwaukee for Thanksgiving; and Michelle was in town for a day. There was a lot going on (hence the aforementioned lack of reading!).

Lowlights? Fallout at secondary browsing location continued. Missed seeing Francine Prose & Anne Carson speak, both of which I had tickets to but I’m too dumb to look ahead in my calendar when the month rolls forward. Was very tired.

DVD: Death Race

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Nothing more than an action movie chockfull of explosions and car chases. But for what it is? Pretty entertaining. (Far more entertaining than the movie I watched yesterday.) Maybe not enough hand-to-hand fighting for a prison movie (not enough shirtless scenes, certainly).

A combination of Mad Max, futuristic prison scenes, and The Fast & The Furious stylized car races/chases. It did a nice job of whiling away two hours for me and I certainly wasn’t bored, even though I was sometimes laughing when I maybe wasn’t supposed to be.

Really, my only question is: What the fuck is Joan Allen doing in this movie?

DVD: Pineapple Express

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My conservative estimation would be: 90% stupid, 7.5% ludicrous and 2.5% occasionally funny. James Franco was good, for what the part was worth, but Seth Rogen seemed like he was just going through the motions, and all the yelling during the first half? Boring. Most of the other acting was bad, and one guy was so incredibly bad that every time he came on screen I felt like I was watching someone’s bad “home audition” movie.

I *think* this wanted to be to drug movies what Hot Fuzz is to cop movies. But it so was not.
I am completely baffled by its lack of funniness, given the reviews it has gotten.

Best of October

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The best movie I saw in October was a three-way tie between Zach and Miri Make a Porno, Let the Right One In, and Hunger, all of which I saw at the Chicago Film Festival. In regular movie releases, I also really liked The Duchess.

The best book I read in October was The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson. I also really liked Conversations at Curlow Creek, by David Malouf, my favorite Aussie author.

The best gig I went to in October would be Fujiya & Miyagi. I didn’t write up any of the October shows so here’s the quick and dirty: Liam Finn, was completely unlike his album, super into experimental, extemporaneous, and jam band-type style if you can be a jam band when there are only two people on stage; Catie Curtis sang some really nice sweet songs, but also some goofy stuff that isn’t really my thing. And Fujiya & Miyagi was good, they sounded great, people were into it, the beats were hoppin’….but at some point all the songs start to sound the same. Felt like we heard an hour of one long song with a great beat.

My favorite tunes in October were the latest albums from Keane and Ray LaMontagne and my top two favorite songs were “Honey Let Me Sing You a Song” Matt Hires and the First Aid Kit cover of Fleet Foxes’ “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song”.

Random personal highlights: My dad came to visit and joined wholeheartedly in my 365 project and it was outstanding.

Lowlights? Fallout at secondary browsing location continued. My Morning Jacket concert cancelled and then I wound up blowing off a Joseph Arthur concert as I just didn’t have any energy that day. Also had a weird shiatsu massage that bruised/hurt my back so badly I could barely sit in a chair for two days afterward

Big Screen: 15 Features from the Chicago Film Festival.

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So back in October, I saw 15 films in 10 days at the Chicago Film Festival. I was quite ambitious in my ticket buying (obviously) and although I was a bit worn out at the end (it’s not like I had any days off work during this adventure), I saw a lot of interesting films, most of which I certainly would not have had the opportunity to see otherwise.

Day 1, Oct 17

The Pleasure of Being Robbed
Misleading description. Not about the pleasure of being robbed at all. Maybe a little bit about the pleasure of robbing, not that it even seemed that pleasurable, and the cinematography wasn’t interesting enough to keep the viewer involved. This wasn’t terrible, but we both felt it smacked of “senior year art project”. And as T pointed out: it ended and you weren’t even sure you knew the main character’s name, much less her motivations. 2.5 out of 5.

Wendy & Lucy
Really nuanced wonderful performance by Michelle Williams. But sad, hard to watch, and one of those movies where it’s more “a portrait of a moment” than a movie/story. Minimal plot. And our second movie of the day featuring a girl who is somewhat lost and alone. 3.5 out of 5. Great performance but not much there otherwise.

Let the Right One In
Beautiful. One of my faves of the festival. Slowly paced, dim and quiet. Sweden. Winter. Loneliness. Vampire. Love. So glad to see this one is getting a more widespread release (if you can consider indie theaters in big cities to be widespread). If you read the review in EW and decided not to see it, I urge you to go anyway. It was really lovely and moving. Icky in places, but quite powerful. This is definitely a 5 out of 5 for me.

Day 2, Oct 18

Sparrow
Very fun. Slapstick drama about four brothers who are all pickpockets and all get involved with the same woman. Her end of the plot was a bit lame but it was so fun, I really didn’t mind that. Sort of Marx Brothers in Hong Kong with a little more seriousness. 3.5 out of 5.

Surveillance
One of only a few US-centric flicks we saw. First 2/3rds = really interesting, tightly plotted, intriguing flick. Last 1/3rd = insane twist that throws away a LOT of the good stuff from earlier on and makes it not nearly as interesting. Bizarre. And then the credits roll and “Oh, directed by Jennifer Lynch. From the content of that movie, I HAVE to think she’s related to David.” 3 out of 5.

Day 3, Oct 19

Hunger
So good. So sad. HARD to watch. Death of IRA leader Bobby Sands by hunger strike (which had followed a “rub shit on the walls” strike). Loved the first half. Neat stuff showing how the prisoners found ways to communicate both with each other and with the outside world. A really really interesting (long) conversation in the middle of the film between Sands and a priest. But didn’t like how the second half (or last third maybe) of the movie lets all the other characters drop away and basically you just watch someone waste away, hallucinate(?) and die. 4 out of 5. Really good but could have easily been better just by keeping the stories of the other prisoners/activists going.

North Starr
Poor. Definitely the weakest entry I have seen not just this year but last year as well. Poorly written and acted, heavy handed. Maybe a 2 out of 5 and that’s generous. Not sure how this even got selected.

Day 4, Oct 20: No movies for me.

Day 5, Oct 21

Everlasting Moments
WWI Sweden. Woman stuck in bad marriage, constant pregnancy, poverty, etc. Gets the gift of a camera. Changes her life. Somewhat. Beautifully done. The grunge of their lives so well portrayed/styled/etc. 4 out of 5.

Zach & Miri Make a Porno
I am not unbiased about Kevin Smith. I fucking loved this movie. I loved it even more after he took Q&A for an hour afterwards. Sure, it’s crass and gross and whatever else people are saying about it. It’s also super sweet and romantic and really fucking funny. 5 out of 5.

Day 6, Oct 22

Two Lovers
Not very good and you know I love Joaquin Phoenix so that was sad. Same director as We Own The Night which while somewhat formulaic/predictable was a much better movie than this one. Convoluted. And unlike how seeing Kevin Smith’s Q&A made me love his movie more, this Q&A went the other direction.
2.5 out of 5.

Day 7, Oct 23

Girl by the Lake
Italian murder mystery. Starts with your classic misdirection. Some nice subplots about the lead detective’s own life. Liked it. But not sure the conclusion really worked. 3.5 out of 5.

Day 8, Oct 24

Country Wedding
Two busloads of Icelandic family members lost trying to find the right church for a wedding. Some really funny stuff. Some sweet. But dragged a bit. Could have used some zippier editing or maybe a few more contretemps thrown in. 3 out of 5.

Julia
Totally crazy movie about people making insanely bad decisions and then following through on them only to have even worse happen. A lot of it was really uncomfortable and hard to watch. But this is by far the most human I have ever seen Tilda Swinton be. So that was interesting. 3.5 out of 5.

Day 9, Oct 25

Snow
Beautiful. A Bosnian village of women whose men have gone to war and vanished, trying to find ways not just to survive for themselves but to keep their community together. Slowly paced. But really good. 4.5 out of 5.

Day 10, October 26

Terribly Happy
Denmark. This is totally Hot Fuzz, minus the comedy and upping the eerie stuff by half or more. Really creepy and nuts. Very entertaining. Lots of misdirection. Had a little sense of slapstick but in a very serious way. 4 out of 5.