Archive for January 2010

 
 

The Big Empty

I’m not entirely sure what’s going on in this movie. Whatever it is, I surely never got the memo. I feel that there is some underlying message in the film. *shrugs*

Anyway, The Big Empty is about an actor that isn’t having very much luck in the acting business and takes a courier job offer from a neighbor. The job itself is shrouded in secrecy and what not, but he’s getting paid 27 thousand dollars. So he accepts.

He goes to the meeting place and waits. A little comic drama and then the movie gets on with it. I won’t divulge anymore though. You’ll have to watch.

Overall, the movie is decent. It felt like a short movie, probably due to the comedy in it that I enjoyed. If you need a little something to sit back and enjoy with out too much thinking, this’ll do it.


Title Content
Movie: The Big Empty
Director:
Writer:
Steve Anderson (writer)
Genre: Comedy | Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi
Tagline: Cowboys. Aliens. Blue suitcases and bowling balls. Strange things are happening out in the middle of nowhere.
Plot Outline: A budding actor is faced with a stalled career and a mountain of debt. full summary | add synopsis
Cast: Jon Favreau, Joey Lauren Adams, Bud Cort, Jon Gries, Daryl Hannah

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The Big Empty

Jon Favreau (Producer). Lions Gate 2003, DVD, $3.49

3.5

Russian Ark

Russian Ark is a very interesting film. What drew me to it was the tag line of:  2000 cast members, 3 orchestras, 33 rooms, 300 years, ALL IN ONE TAKE

How can you not want to watch that? I guess it was actually two takes, the first got screwed up so they started over. It happens.

The movie is about a guy wandering the State Hermitage Museum in Russia, but he is unseen by other people. He meets another guy who isn’t Russian but somehow understands the language and can speak it. They wander through the museum and see various people from Russian history. There’s definitely a lot of WTF things about it. A lot of questions left unanswered or up to you.

The film is pretty damn neat. I am a fan of director Aleksandr Sokurov’s other movies as well, like Mother and Son and The Sun . The movie is pretty good, it’s engaging. I like history stuff in general so I am probably biased. For some people I can see how it might be boring. Also, it’s in Russian, so you’ll need some subs.


Title Content
Movie: Russkiy kovcheg
Director:
Genre: Drama | Fantasy | History
Tagline: 2000 cast members, 3 orchestras, 33 rooms, 300 years, ALL IN ONE TAKE
Plot Outline: A 19th century French aristocrat, notorious for his scathing memoirs about life in Russia, travels through the Russian State Hermitage Museum and encounters historical figures from the last 200+ years.
Awards:
9 wins&9 nominations
Cast: Sergei Dontsov, Mariya Kuznetsova, Leonid Mozgovoy, Mikhail Piotrovsky, David Giorgobiani

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Russian Ark

Fox Lorber 2002, DVD, $12.73

4.0

Brazil

Brazil is a fun movie. It’s also a Terry Gilliam movie.

It’s set in the future in a society that seems more truth than fiction, kinda like the movie Idiocracy. The movie is about a government worker who tries to fix a wrongful arrest/killing, but ends up being the one the government goes after. With a bit of comedy and seriousness to the liking I hope we never see, it is entertaining.

Movies like these that depict the future and how we might evolve or devlove are pretty inhteresting to watch.Who knows if we’ll end up with no government like Idiocracy or an incompetent, more paperwork than ever and no questions asked government like in this movie.

Overall, the movie is good. It’s become somewhat of a cult hit. If you like other Terry Gilliam movies, no doubt you’ll like this one. Brazil is also in IMDB’s Top 250 movies at number 245. http://www.imdb.com/chart/top?tt0088846


Title Content
Movie: Brazil
Director:
Genre: Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Sci-Fi
Tagline: It's only a state of mind.
Plot Outline: A bureaucrat in a retro-future world tries to correct an administrative error and himself becomes an enemy of the state.
Awards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 8 wins&1 nomination
Cast: Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Bob Hoskins

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Brazil

Charles McKeown (Writer). Universal Studios 1985, DVD, $8.59

4.5

Delicatessen

Delicatessen has some of the most memorable photography and colors in it.Probably because it was directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (who also did Amelie, The City of Lost Children, Alien 4, and A Very Long Engagement).

The movie is set in the future, seemingly post-apocalyptic world where food is scarce. One small French town survives by eating people under the guise of a butcher’s shop.

It all seems good until the butcher’s daughter falls for one of the new tenants they are about to feast on.

Overall the movie is excellent. Great directing, acting, and plot. Give it a shot if you have seen and liked the other movies I listed from this director.


Title Content
Movie: Delicatessen
Directors:
Genre: Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Romance | Thriller
Tagline: A futuristic comic feast
Plot Outline: Post-apocalyptic surrealist black comedy about the landlord of an apartment building who creates cannibalistic meals for his odd tenants. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 12 wins&9 nominations
Cast: Pascal Benezech, Dominique Pinon, Marie-Laure Dougnac, Jean-Claude Dreyfus, Karin Viard
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Delicatessen (Special Edition)

Lions Gate 1987, DVD, $12.51

4.0

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