Old School (2004)
If you where to set up two TV’s and watch ‘Animal House’ on one and Rodney Dangerfield’s ‘Back To School’ on the other at the same time you’d be watching ‘Old School’ – it’s actually genuinely funny. Look out for the ‘Fight Club’ references. Jocks. JC
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004)
Utterly brilliant from start to finish, I urge every single one of you to watch this masterpiece. Look, its by Charlie Kaufman, (he wrote Being John Malkovich), so you KNOW its going to be great. “But it’s got Jim ‘The Grinch’ Carrey in it” I hear you bleat - yes but he redeems himself in this and can no longer be called the ‘new Robin Williams’. Look just watch it, now. Spotless. JC
Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005)
After one too many ‘Scary Movies’ and even a ‘Date Movie’ it’s only a matter of time before we’ll get a ‘DVD Movie’ - which will consist of 90 minutes of fart noises and Carmen Electra’s Jigglin’Titties. Thank frig then for Miranda July’s debut feature “Me and You and Everyone We Know”, a refreshing lung full of pure originality amongst the cloying froust of banality currently on offer. Pitching up somewhere between a Wes Anderson film and, say ‘Punch Drunk Love’, ‘Me You…” is a story about relationships and people of all ages trying to make connections in a modern world and took some flack on its release for daring to suggest that its not just people between 16-45 that think about sex, whilst at the same time having a bit of a dig at the world of CONceptual ‘art’. Brilliantly funny and touching, leave Big Mommas House on the shelf and go rent this. JC
Good Night and Good Luck (2005)
Yeah and you'll need it, whilst GN&GL is well made, it's well shot, it's nicely put together it's, it's well, it's BORING!!!!! The film is set within the working environment of a TV station and there is no external factors taken into account, as such there is no real back story to the film, it jumps into the plot straightaway without there being any explanation of the rationale for what is taking place. Whilst I understand and know the basics of the Communist witch hunts of the 50's and it makes a welcome change for a Hollywood film not to be spoon feeding me the story every 5 minutes, the problems is that what is this really saying? That the current political climate in America is as oppressive as the one when this film is set? For this reason GN&GL is a well made and important film to highlight the failings within American society but at the end of the day I'm afraid the bottom line seems to be that America is run in a self generated state of fear now with the 'threat' being from the middle east and not from Communists but at the end of the day whilst this is very true and very important and brave to highlight this it's also just a bit dull. To the extent that by the time the reason that we are told why two of the characters are hiding the fact of their marriage I didn't care. I can't say much more from that point on as I'd had enough and said good night to this very slow moving beast, the good luck is to anyone tackling it. Important but dull, like a dictionary. PB
Bubba Ho-Tep (2004)
Directed by Don Coscarelli, (‘Beastmaster’), and starring Bruce Campbell, (‘Evil Dead’), Bubba Ho- Tep is the ‘true’ story of what happened to Elvis after he ‘died’ – he ended up in an old people’s home with JFK (who was ‘dyed’ black to disguise his appearance), fighting 3000 year old Egyptian Mummies. Sounds great doesn’t it? Thing is, this film is an adaptation of a Joe R. Lansdale short story and in the hands of a schlock meister like Coscarelli all you get is, well schlock. Ok, Campbell is great as The King but the film is slow, slow slow, and cheap? For a film released in 2004 it’s incredibly badly made- oh, what’s that? Its ‘ironic’? Hmmmm. Unfunny, dull and comes across like a ‘student’ film. Avoid JC
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