Weekly Cinimeh

So, after a very long hiatus we are back with a weekly cinimeh post~. Sorry about the delay. We will try to make these a more regular thing, originally I wanted to do one a week with 5 movies but it might end up being fewer than that. So lets Jump right in!

The Whole Nine Yards: Not high art but a good dark comedy that doesn't forget to be funny when it starts with the whole spousal murder scenario. The balancing act in a dark comedy is hard to pull off well, and while this movie does tip a bit more towards comedy it does better than most. Whenever I watch Matthew Perry I'm sad that he doesn't get more work. Kevin Pollak was fantastic and seeing Michael Clarke Duncan just made me sad. Not because he is a bad actor, he isn't (he is great in everything I have seen him in), but because it reminded me that he died. I could listen to the man talk all day long, his voice was amazing. Bruce Willis and Amanda Peet were also good, but I thought that Natasha Henstridge was a little stiff/wooden. All in all a fun movie and worth a watch.

Eshi: Matthew Perry doesn't get enough credit and this movie demonstrates that pretty clearly. I've got weird feelings about Bruce Willis but his slightly effeminate mob assassin adds some nice tang to the film. As Brian said, not high art or anything but definitely a good way to spend an evening. 

2001: A Space Odyssey: One of my favorite sc-fi movies of all time, and in general, 2001 is a classic. It is a little slow, and the last scene lingers for a little too long with the staring into waves of color, but all in all its a great film. You can see where other sci-fi movies borrow from it, and how it influenced popular culture as a whole. One of the major points in the film is that the main AI is effectively alive, and that the crew trying to turn him off (read: kill him) are actually kind of bad guys, though he does try to, and succeed in, killing them. HAL is a great character who forces us to examine how we should treat AI that develop personalities (something I have talked about on here before). The movie series is about the turbulence that accompanies evolution and is great at making the viewer ask questions. Its great, watch it.

Eshi: I see it as a spectacular personal failure that I, a man who is almost thirty, have not bothered seeing this film before this last week. Stanley Kubrik is fucking legendary as always. This is impressionism as sci-fi and deserves its place in the Cinema Pantheon... Even if Kubrik is just ever so slightly too fond of terrible noises as expression. 

2010: The second film in the series (and last) was not directed by Kubrick, but still had Arthur C Clarke's work as a basis for it. Its far less subtle then the first film, but is still good. It expands upon the ideas expressed in the first movie while trying to resolve some of the problems that remained. If you watch 2001 you should watch 2010.

Eshi: 2010 is required watching if you want 2001 to really make any sense. That said, even with the second movie Kubrik had to come out and spoon feed the audience after it was released. Now don't get me wrong, this is easily the weaker movie, this story needed a master's touch and they only delivered on half. The recasting is pretty jarring and the overall tone falls painfully short of what the first film established.

Honorable Mention: Doug Stanhope's Beer Hall Pusch:
Not really a movie, but a comedy special, I still thought it was worth the watch. Doug Stanhope is one of my favorite comedians. He is passionate, funny, and irreverent. He combines all of these qualities in his comedy to show just how fucked up everything in the world is. After he makes you think about the problems in our world, he always offers solutions which make you think "That would actually probably work". He is a great comedian, and his specials are well worth the watch.

Eshi: I can't say enough good things about Doug Stanhope. Watch all his things.