Hot Fuzz

Media Bastard said:

2004's Shaun of the Dead took the traditional zombie movie and turned it into a zom-rom-com, a zombie, romantic comedy. Written by star Simon Pegg, Shaun of the Dead, succeeded not only because it was a spot-on parody, but also because it was simply an excellent zombie movie, filled with more dramatic tension and legitimate chills than most movies it satirized. That same creative team have returned with Hot Fuzz, their take on a traditional, Hollywood action movie. The movie takes over-budgeted, bloated action pieces and deflates them to a surprising dramatic core, a bro-mance. Hot Fuzz eagerly embraces the male, platonic romances inherent in many action movies and makes this its center. The bro-mance portion of the movie is a slow, but pleasing build, as Pegg's character, a supercop from the big city now put to pasture in a sleepy English village, finds friendship with a peaceable local constable, played by Nick Frost; the pace then quickens in a third act that switches into full and satisfying action. Hot Fuzz is a rare, comedic gem, a movie that loves the silliness of what it parodies, but also embraces the fact that a lot of that silliness can be damn cool. The same guilty pleasure one gets when watching "things go boom" in a movie like Bad Boys II, can be had guilt free in Hot Fuzz, replete with a knowing wink.




BitchlyBitchly said:

It is difficult to provide a summary or a review for a movie that is grounded in repetitively drawing on those which have come before it. Do not be mistaken, however, as this is not a Scary Movie or Epic Movie (note that Hot Fuzz does not have the word "movie" in the title, thus removing any potential association). Instead, this is a humorous romp through the action film genre that simultaneously manages to poke fun at and pay homage to many classics, including Point Break and Bad Boys 1 and 2 just to name a few. There is a slow build to the plot, but by the end you will not be disappointed by the somewhat off-the-wall, though still traditional, turn that the story takes. If you like action-cop-dramas, then you will like this movie. If you do not like action-cop-dramas, you will like this movie. In an effort at world unity and peace, Hot Fuzz has something to offer everyone.

Brick

BitchlyBitchly said:
Since viewing Brick many weeks ago, it has left an unpleasant feeling stewing inside of me, much like that left after eating spicy chili. Much to my chagrin, there is no digestive track designed for awful movies. Alas, I am left having to purge onto the page the feelings of angst, anger, and remorse I have for the two hours of my life that I spent viewing this cinematic atrocity, courteously brought to you by Joseph Gordon Levitt and many, many others. Let us begin with some of the things that irked me about this movie:

• Is time no longer relevant in movies because I was uncertain whether this was 1945 pretending to be 2005 or 2005 pretending to be 1945
• Regardless of the time period, no teenagers have EVER spoken in the awkward, fast-paced, mafioso-type dialect that was used by the characters
• One of the main settings in the movie was at a school but, perhaps due to low production costs, the characters never actually saw the inside of the building. It reminded me of a frustrating video game where there is much to see, but little to explore
• Maybe this movie was set in the future, in a world where teenagers rule and spontaneously reproduce, because there were few people above the age of 17 in the foreground or background
  
• While all of the characters were young, the actors portraying them were unbelievable as high school students. It was more realistic for me to think of them going home to their young families then to their bedrooms filled with posters of 30 Seconds to Mars
• The plot was meandering, unbelievable, and uninteresting

You might be wondering if there was anything decent about this film. Although there was little, the whole notion that teenagers are isolated, have bloated egos, and are convinced that they rule the world was the most realistic thing about Brick. Also, I came away with a greater appreciation for the long-hated TV series "3rd Rock From the Sun," which also starred Joseph Gordon Levitt. At least the TV show had plot development, was generally believable, and had JGL as a kid pretending to be a kid, not as an adult-pretending-to-be-a-kid- pretending-to-be-an-adult. Hopefully now that this is off my chest, I will be able to sleep at night and get the images of this awkward romp through teenage egotism out of my head.

Stranger Than Fiction

If you are looking for empty entertainment, there is no doubt that the numerous moments of comedy and romance in Stranger Than Fiction will keep your simple mind occupied. However, this movie also holds a lot for those wanting to explore on a deeper level, particularly if you are interested in questions around existentialism and humanism. From this perspective, the movie opens up questions about the meaning of life, free will, and the inevitability of 'death and taxes.'
Reprising his role as the smart man with all the right answers ala I Heart Huckabees, Dustin Hoffman goes one step further to become somewhat of a god to the character of Harold Crick (played by Will Farrell) and holds Crick's fate, quite literally, in his hands. The same is true of Emma Thompson, playing the writer who narrates the boring constancy of Crick's life. Both of these characters come to know and determine Crick's fate, holding power that many of us can only dream of. These answers are also available to Crick, who makes an active choice to leave it be, but makes other choices in between to enrich and enhance his life. This movie painted a simultaneously dreary and uplifting picture of life: While we are all faced with the eventual doom of death, we can make choices within our daily lives that may not necessarily impact our downfall, but will influence the quality of our time in between. Thus, the question becomes: What choices will you make?
Overall, even Will Farrell as a serious character, Queen Latifah being outacted by a squirrel, and Dustin Hoffman jiggling as he jumped into a swimming pool could not ruin this fascinating romp through a life, though seemingly mundane, yet positively worth living.
-BitchlyBitchly

Grindhouse

BitchlyBitchly said:

The word that came to mind, particularly when watching the Robert Rodriguez feature, Planet Terror, was intentionality. Don't get me wrong, most movies strive to make a point and position cameras, objects, and actors in specific ways to achieve a purpose. However, Planet Terror went out of its way to make sure everything, including cinematic inconsistencies, had a place. This was refreshing, as movies that strive to be perfect make laughable errors, whereas one striving to be imperfect due to the nature of its genre had everything perfectly placed. Even the machine gun strapped on the leg of an amputee did not seem as ridiculous in the context of the film as it did on the preview.
The Quentin Tarantino feature, Deathproof, stood out less in its intentionality and more in its commentary on groupthink and human nature. These two went hand in hand, as characters were able to switch their basic behaviours on a dime based on the situation. For instance, a timid female character becomes a hothead daredevil, and a hothead daredevil is reduced to a crying schoolgirl in a matter of minutes. As sad as this was to see, it was also believeable. While I was less impressed with this feature then the first, I have to admit having a feeling of pure joy as I watched Kurt Russell get the shit kicked out of him. I haven't felt that excited by a scene in a movie since, well, ever. Now I know how Goldie Hawn must feel.



Mediabastard said:

When Freddy Rodriguez's character, Wray, offers consolation for the freshly amputated leg of his former girlfiend, Cherry, by saying that "sometimes the best jokes are about cripples," you can't help but feel the line applies to the entire Grindhouse experience as well. This is lovingly told joke, three hours long, but well worth the wait to the punchlines.

Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror is Grindhouse's first feature, but I couldn't help feeling that it would have made a better rejoinder to Tarantino's Deathproof, the darker tone of which could have been buoyed by Rodriguez's cartoony acting and unrepentantly inane action. That said, Planet Terror delivers the goods: to me, it perfectly captures the quality of what a grind house movie was, right down to the missing reels suddenly jumping the action twenty minutes ahead, or the intentional debris on the film stock. The story is a sci-fi/horror Frankenstein's monster held together ungraciously by a thick neck bolt of willful continuity errors, and as such it's better seen than described. Rodriguez captures the look and feel of the genre perfectly with attention to detail that surpasses Tarantino's contribution, but it's the latter who succeeds more in capturing the genre's bullish intent.

Deathproof, the misbotten child of chase movies like Vanishing Point, feels like exploitation; watching it you feel a little dirty, and that, my friends, is exactly the point. The question of female empowerment comes up in Tarantino's movies time and time again, and likewise here the female characters are uniformly strong, but what Deathproof is really about is not female empowerment, but male disempowerment, masochistically so. Tarantino puts the screws to Kurt Russell's Stuntman Mike in such a way that it's almost sexual. And that, I think, is exactly the point. Tarantino builds and titillates, and when the final payoff arrives, it's a cinematic money shot - satisfying and a little empty at the same time. Which, if I'm not mistaken, is the whole purpose of a grind house film.

Grindhouse delivers an exploitative, escapist jaunt through the shared mental landscape of two of the world's biggest B movie buffs. Somewhere along the way, the intent of execution forces a raising of letter grade: Grindhouse is an A film about B movies.