6-3-3-3
Six Movies. Three Cities. Three Theatres. Three Days.
Friday Night: City #1: Effingham, IL (45 min drive from my house). Theatre #1: The rustic, old school Heart theatre.
Movie #1: Murderball- This is a documentary about the US Olympic Quadrapeligic Rugby Team. That's right, it's a bunch of guys in wheel chairs rolling around, smashing into each other, and throwing a ball around. The documentary not only studies this bizarre, albiet exciting sport, it also looks into the lives of the men who play, as well as other quadripeligics. The most important thing I learned was this: Apparently, being in a wheelchair makes you a babe magnet. Yeah. A very good doc, my only real complaint was that there was less actual footage of "Murderball" games than I thought there would be.
Movie #2: Broken Flowers- Bill Murray stars as Don Johnston, an aging Don Juan whose most recent relationship has ended poorly. When Don gets a letter in the mail from an anonymous former lover claiming he has a son, Don is encouraged by his neighbor, amatuer detective Winston, to search out his former flames in hopes of discovering which one is the mother. This is one of those quiet, subtle films that critics love and people with short attention spans sleep through. I dug it well enough, mostly because Bill Murray is awesome and the character of Winston is brilliant (even if he doesn't get near enough screen time).
Food Consumed: Jimmy John's Vito Sub and Jalepeno Chips.
Saturday: City #2: St. Louis, MO (2 1/2 hour drive from my house) Theatre #2: The Tivoli Theatre on Delmar. Ultra classy joint. None of that Multiplex crap here.
Movie #3: Mirrormask- A young woman who lives/works in her parents' Circus becomes frustrated with never having a normal life. After a particularily harsh fight, her mother collapses and is taking to the hospital to await surgery. While worrying about her mom, the woman, Helena, becomes inexplicably trapped in aa bizarre dreamworld where she ends up on an even more bizarre quest. If you're a geek, you've probably heard of this one by now, the Jim Henson company's Dark Crystal/Labrynth-esque film by comikers Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean. I could ramble on and on and on about how big and bold and beautiful this movie is. I could. But why waste time? Watch this movie, it is eye candy for the Hardcore Dreamer. Highest Recommendation.
Movie #4: The Aristocrats- A documentary about the filthiest joke ever, told by over 100 comedians. There was a lotta hype going into this movie about how scandalous it was and alla that, and frankly, it's not that shocking, and it's not nearly as funny as everyone makes it out to be. Hell, you'll hear far more shocking stuff if you hung out with me and my Trained Howler Monkeys on a Saturday night. Having said that, there are certain versions of the Joke that are Hi-Larious, most noteably, the Ventriloquist bit, the South Park version, and, believe or not, Gilbert Godfried and Bob Sagat (yes, I said Bob Sagat)'s version. Not bad, but not as wonderful as everyone said it was.
Food Recap: Lunch- Tomatillo's Mexican Grill, Steak Chimichanga. Supper- Qdoba's Mexican Grill (you heard me), Steak and Shredded Beef Taco.
Sunday: City #3: O'Fallon, IL (about 30 mins from St. Louis, about 2 hours from home). Theatre #3: Wehrenberg Theatre O'Fallon a gaudy, neon colored, stadium seated multi-plex. Beggars can't be choosers.
Movie #5: Corpse Bride- Claymation. Victor (Johny Depp) is forced by his parents to marry Victoria, despite having never met her. He gets cold feet and runs off into the woods to practice his vows. Unfortunately, he accidentally marries a rotting corpse bride instead. Chaos ensues. A so so story is saved by great characterizations and brilliant visuals. I love Stop Motion Animation. Of special merit are the scenes in Dead Town, which are chock full of interesting Cadaverous Characters. There's a couple of lame songs, but not enough that you'll wanna run screaming from the theatre. Not as good as the Nightmare Before Christmas, but worth watching regardless.
Movie #6: A History of Violence- Y'know, I don't feel like giving away any of the plot of this awesome film. Just go watch it. It's brutal, it's smart, it's creepy, it's riveting, and it is an absolute must watch. Viggo Mortensen is excellent. Strangely enough, this still isn't Director David Cronenberg's best film, but it's still 1000 times better than most of the crap out right now. Highest Possible Recommendation.
Food Count: Lunch- White Castle, Chipotle Chicken, Jalepeno Cheez Burger, and Onion Rings, Supper- McDonalds Cheese Burger and Big Mac.
Whew.
Friday Night: City #1: Effingham, IL (45 min drive from my house). Theatre #1: The rustic, old school Heart theatre.
Movie #1: Murderball- This is a documentary about the US Olympic Quadrapeligic Rugby Team. That's right, it's a bunch of guys in wheel chairs rolling around, smashing into each other, and throwing a ball around. The documentary not only studies this bizarre, albiet exciting sport, it also looks into the lives of the men who play, as well as other quadripeligics. The most important thing I learned was this: Apparently, being in a wheelchair makes you a babe magnet. Yeah. A very good doc, my only real complaint was that there was less actual footage of "Murderball" games than I thought there would be.
Movie #2: Broken Flowers- Bill Murray stars as Don Johnston, an aging Don Juan whose most recent relationship has ended poorly. When Don gets a letter in the mail from an anonymous former lover claiming he has a son, Don is encouraged by his neighbor, amatuer detective Winston, to search out his former flames in hopes of discovering which one is the mother. This is one of those quiet, subtle films that critics love and people with short attention spans sleep through. I dug it well enough, mostly because Bill Murray is awesome and the character of Winston is brilliant (even if he doesn't get near enough screen time).
Food Consumed: Jimmy John's Vito Sub and Jalepeno Chips.
Saturday: City #2: St. Louis, MO (2 1/2 hour drive from my house) Theatre #2: The Tivoli Theatre on Delmar. Ultra classy joint. None of that Multiplex crap here.
Movie #3: Mirrormask- A young woman who lives/works in her parents' Circus becomes frustrated with never having a normal life. After a particularily harsh fight, her mother collapses and is taking to the hospital to await surgery. While worrying about her mom, the woman, Helena, becomes inexplicably trapped in aa bizarre dreamworld where she ends up on an even more bizarre quest. If you're a geek, you've probably heard of this one by now, the Jim Henson company's Dark Crystal/Labrynth-esque film by comikers Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean. I could ramble on and on and on about how big and bold and beautiful this movie is. I could. But why waste time? Watch this movie, it is eye candy for the Hardcore Dreamer. Highest Recommendation.
Movie #4: The Aristocrats- A documentary about the filthiest joke ever, told by over 100 comedians. There was a lotta hype going into this movie about how scandalous it was and alla that, and frankly, it's not that shocking, and it's not nearly as funny as everyone makes it out to be. Hell, you'll hear far more shocking stuff if you hung out with me and my Trained Howler Monkeys on a Saturday night. Having said that, there are certain versions of the Joke that are Hi-Larious, most noteably, the Ventriloquist bit, the South Park version, and, believe or not, Gilbert Godfried and Bob Sagat (yes, I said Bob Sagat)'s version. Not bad, but not as wonderful as everyone said it was.
Food Recap: Lunch- Tomatillo's Mexican Grill, Steak Chimichanga. Supper- Qdoba's Mexican Grill (you heard me), Steak and Shredded Beef Taco.
Sunday: City #3: O'Fallon, IL (about 30 mins from St. Louis, about 2 hours from home). Theatre #3: Wehrenberg Theatre O'Fallon a gaudy, neon colored, stadium seated multi-plex. Beggars can't be choosers.
Movie #5: Corpse Bride- Claymation. Victor (Johny Depp) is forced by his parents to marry Victoria, despite having never met her. He gets cold feet and runs off into the woods to practice his vows. Unfortunately, he accidentally marries a rotting corpse bride instead. Chaos ensues. A so so story is saved by great characterizations and brilliant visuals. I love Stop Motion Animation. Of special merit are the scenes in Dead Town, which are chock full of interesting Cadaverous Characters. There's a couple of lame songs, but not enough that you'll wanna run screaming from the theatre. Not as good as the Nightmare Before Christmas, but worth watching regardless.
Movie #6: A History of Violence- Y'know, I don't feel like giving away any of the plot of this awesome film. Just go watch it. It's brutal, it's smart, it's creepy, it's riveting, and it is an absolute must watch. Viggo Mortensen is excellent. Strangely enough, this still isn't Director David Cronenberg's best film, but it's still 1000 times better than most of the crap out right now. Highest Possible Recommendation.
Food Count: Lunch- White Castle, Chipotle Chicken, Jalepeno Cheez Burger, and Onion Rings, Supper- McDonalds Cheese Burger and Big Mac.
Whew.
3 Comments:
Great reviews, but Corpse Bride isn't claymation. Stop motion, yes. Clay no. They use real models that are poseable. There's a word for poseable, but I can't remember it.
On a tangent, claymation is actually a copyrighted word like Kleenex. I forget which creator/studio owns it, but I think the studio is gone, although the artist is still alive and kicking. Offically, most claymation is really just "clay animation." Yeah, that's why everyone uses claymation.
When you went to 2 movies did you just pay for the first one and instead of leaving the theater head right on over the the other one ? Or did you pay for both movies ?
First rule of Me: I do everything the hard way. So, yep, after every movie, I left the theatre, went to the box office, got in line, and paid my $6 to $10 for every flick I watched. I pretty much chucked a week's pay out the window that weekend.
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