PHATFLIX DVD RECOMMENDATIONS By James Avatar

In the mood for: Silly grown–up comedy

Rent: BURN AFTER READING

Upside: Cohen brothers farce, awesome cast including George Clooney & Brad Pitt.

Downside: Intellectual and quirky- no fart jokes.

Buy it? Oh, yeah. Put it next to FARGO in your collection.

 

In the mood for: Intellectual indie comedy

Rent: 10 ITEMS OR LESS

Upside: Morgan Freeman’s charisma, Pas Vega’s beauty.

Downside: Slow pacing. Intellectual and quirky - no fart jokes.

Buy it? If you like indie films, sure. Get it if you got JUNO.

 

In the mood for: International Crime Drama

Rent: EASTERN PROMISES

Upside: David Cronenberg’s spot-on direction, Viggo Mortensen’s nude fight scene.

Downside: Violent, sometimes graphic. Very

 mature themes.

Buy it? Yes. Put it next to A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE in your collection.

 In the mood for: Grown–up “stoner” comedy

Rent: PINEAPPLE EXPRESS

Upside: Suburban “HALFBAKED”. James Franco nails it.

Downside: Non-smokers will be scratching their heads.

Buy it? Only if you like “Cult Classics” or “Midnight Movies”. It will be a new one.

 

In the mood for: Bizarre political sci-fi action comedy

Rent: SOUTHLAND TALES

Upside: “Donnie Darko” director’s 2 ½ hr. futuristic masterpiece. Huge ensemble cast.

Downside: Not your average apocalyptic action movie. Way strange.

Buy it? Only if you want something completely different. (Warning: Moby soundtrack)

 

In the mood for: Silly Hollywood comedy based on a network TV show

Rent: GET SMART

Upside: Good slapstick. Steve Correl. Alan

 Arkin. Terrance stamp is the villain.

Downside: Non-“Maxwell Smart” fans won’t have a reference to compare this to.

Buy it? Sure. Especially if you remember the Mel Brooks TV series.

 

In the mood for: A Ben Stiller movie.

Rent: TROPIC THUNDER

Upside: Robert Downey Jr.

Downside: Fart jokes

Buy it? Yes. It’s the only movie that TOM CRUISE is actually good in.

The year 2008 starring in "Return of the sequel".

Some say you can't get enough of a good thing. If anyone believed that last year it was Hollywood, for sure. Sequel after sequel came rolling off the film studio assembly lines and into our neighborhood multiplexes like overpriced buckets of popcorn.

NEO should have told MORPHEUS that the "second black cat" was actually named "Reloaded". The Hollywood matrix glitched on purpose and we loved every minute of it. Just in case you missed this massive re-attack on the senses, here's a run down of some of favorite stories that got part-two'd:

Last year we:
•Helped RAMBO into the old folks home (we hope).

•Once again visited our furry friends from the land of NARNIA. PETA must be pleased.

•Dusted off yet another MUMMY. (Spoiler Alert: Brendan Frasier really is the animated corpse.)

•Witnessed more gore in SAW.

•Sang yet another HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL.

•Got another delivery from THE TRANSPORTER.

•Went to hell and fought THE GOLDEN ARMY with HELLBOY.

•Really, really wanted to believe in THE X FILES.

•Escaped twice: once to Africa from MADAGASCAR, and again from GITMO with HAROLD AND KUMAR.

•Fought another STAR WAR with cartoons CLONES.

•Got no SOLACE with 007. (Okay. Maybe a Quantum)

• Watched INDIANA JONES bump his CRYSTAL SKULL.

•And giggled with the SISTERHOOD again in those darn TRAVELING PANTS.


But I think 2008 sequel award goes to the caped crusader. THE DARK KNIGHT is now the fourth highest grossing movie in history and picked up two Academy Awards. (Best sound editing and best supporting actor: HEATH LEDGER.)

Betcha we see more super hero flicks soon considering that three of the top ten films of 2008 were superhero movies. ENTER: THE WATCHMEN.

The Dark Knight- Worldwide Gross : $1,001,082,160
Hancock - Worldwide Gross : $624,386,746
Iron Man- Worldwide Gross : $582,030,528



PHAT ALERT!!
Paramount Pictures and Marvel Studios are scheduled to release on July 15, 2011 a film titled The Avengers.
Iron Man director Jon Favreau is the executive producer, while Robert Downey, Jr. and Don Cheadle will play Iron Man and War Machine, respectively.
Unknown returns include Edward Norton, star of The Incredible Hulk (2008) as Bruce Banner and Samuel L. Jackson in his Iron Man cameo as Nick Fury.
The film's roster includes Iron Man, Captain America, the Incredible Hulk and Thor.The film's writer, Zak Penn (co-writer of The Incredible Hulk film), cited Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch's Ultimates version of the team as inspiration for the story.

FLIX that are PHAT: PART 1

CLOVERFIELD:
A huge monster destroys Manhattan. Awesome. Self-involved, milquetoast, whiny 20-somethings die under rubble and debris. Awesome. Small budget. Awesome. 75 minute running time. Awesome. Looks like like 911. Amazing. What's not to like? I couldn't believe that people booed this movie. I guess they were mad that it wasn't Rambo. Whatever. go see it in the theater.

THERE WILL BE BLOOD:
Daniel day-Lewis plays a greedy oil tycoon. The painstaking detail in costumes & set design are great. Great script. This is serious drama for your mama. MTV-heads, stay home.

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN:
The Cohen brothers definitive statement on the end of innocence. Gansta-culture lovers stay home.

That's a wrap!

• Wanna yawn? Take a look at the trailer for Jerry Seinfeld’s animated flick ‘Bee Movie”. Grab a tall one at Starbucks before watching.

• Where the hell is Gene Hackman? We miss him, don’t we?

• Rest In Peace: whoever died in the accident on the set of the next Batman movie.

• Was that Sigourney Weaver in the trailer for the new “Alien VS Predator” film?

• Timothy Olyphant was awesome on HBO’s “Deadwood”, kicked ass as the villain in “Live Free Or Die Hard” and stars in the upcoming (videogame inspired) film “Hitman”.

• Rest In Peace: original concept for the “Underdog” TV series.

• Hey, Hollywood!: Don’t you dare make a live action “G.I. Joe” movie without COBRA COMMANDER!

•Dream flick…“Natural Born Killers” remake starring Joaquin Phoenix & Britney Spears. Jeremy Piven plays the Robert Downey Jr. role. Directed by Michael Bay.

And….that’s a wrap!

Resident Evil: Extinction

Punk-ass movie reviewers panned this film calling it “videogame-inspired nonsense” and the like. Meanwhile, it debuted at #1 at the box-office and continues to pull in crazy bucks. Why? Well…let’s see…could it be because…IT’S A FUCKING AWESOME ZOMBIE MOVIE?

I guess their idea of a good zombie movie is 28 Days Later. Yeah, it was good. But not as dark, subversive and “fantastical” as R/E. Maybe they don’t like the fact that a corporation is the villain. Maybe they don’t like the fact that Mila Jovovitch reprises her role as a zombie-killing hottie with super-powers. Maybe they burned out the last iota of their “Suspension Of Disbelief” on the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. C’mon! You get what you pay for!

Director Paul W.S. Anderson rocks the third installment of this series (yeah, based on the hit videogame–BFD!) balls out with over-the-top special effects as our heroine Alice finally realizes her true psyonic potential and helps a band of “T-Virus” survivors through a desert wasteland that used to be Las Vegas.

Have no idea what I’m talking about? Good. Get out of the way and let the rest of us marvel at the imaginative blood work, badass fight sequences & zombie makeup. Don’t fret. The “Sex In The City” movie will be out soon.

The Brave One

I also used to talk a lot o’ shit about Jodie Foster. “Always playin’ the damsel-in-distress”, I muttered under my breath. But “Brave” was awesome. It’s the kind of film that turns interactive (the audience cheers & yells at the screen) when the action gets going.

Ms. Foster plays an evening talk radio jock reporting her spin on “things-that-go-bump-in-the-night” on the mean streets of the city. When “things-in-the-night” bump her & her boyfriend, her grief & rage compels her to buy an illegal handgun & take the law into her own tiny hands.

Hot on the case is a dapper, newly divorced detective played by Terrance Howard who’s gut tells him that she may be connected to the fresh vigilante killings that abound, making him torn between his badge of tin and his heart of gold.

The script is decent, the action ok and the bad guys are REALLY bad. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself cheering for their deaths like a Roman spectator at a gladiator bout in the Coliseum.

The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford

I used to talk a lot o’ shit about Brad Pitt. “No-talent” this, “Pretty-boy-gettin’-by-on-his-looks” that.

This was before I saw 12 Monkeys and watched him get nominated or an Oscar, applauding for him all the way. That boy can act. Oh yeah, he can really burn. He is perfect as Jesse James and so is Sam Shepard as his grumpy older bro, Frank.

But major kudos go to Casey Affleck who plays Robert ford, the mixed-up, yellow-bellied yungin’ that ends up killing the American folk anti-hero of the film’s title.

Mr. Affleck (Casey, not Ben) is establishing himself as a top-notch actor and it’s good to see him finally get a feature role to bite on like “chaw” in the jaw. He makes the psychological study of a complex character like Bob Ford engaging to watch. It would be a shame if he didn’t receive a Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination. Also worthy of mention is Sam Rockwell (awesome as usual) as Bob Ford’s simpleton brother and Mary-Louise Parker as Jessie’s soon-to-be widow.

Poetic narration & fantastic cinematography frame the excellent performances of this well casted film, a must for all western addicts and aficionados of period dramas. It has a pacing that’s laid back like life in the 1800’s - so if you want a “shoot-em-up”, go see 3:10 To Yuma. Y’hear?