Finishing the Game: The Search for a New Bruce Lee

You may or my not know that Bruce Lee movies are a guilty pleassure of mine. There is something about their mix of sploitation, awesome action, and sense of moral decensy that I find very indeering. For movies made so badly, it's amazing that you can still tell that Bruce Lee put a lot of heart into them.

This film, "Finishing the Game", is a mocumentary that follows the auditions set for Lee's last movie. Lee died before the movie "Game of Death" could be completed, with very little footage left that actually involved him. So naturally, the big company involved still wanted to milk all that they could out of it and needed a new actor to fill his place. The actual movie "Game of Death", is pretty bad.

This movie, on the other hand, is really good! It captures the look of cheap 70's film stock perfectly. Even the editing and music choices are perfect. And it's amazingly funny!! I honesltly wasn't expecting much out of it and it truly surprised me.

The characters are brilliantly crafted and the way they interact creates some really great dynamics. One of the auditioning actors is an Asian American who's only clame for fame is being a buddy character a short lived cop show with his catchphrase being "I'm not gonna do your laundry!".

It's also a major twist on the concept of a sploitation film. Asian Americans are one of the misportrayed set of people in American cinema and hardly ever have leading roles unless it's in an action setting. It's a mostly comedic movie but the drama totally sets in and the social commentay is lighthearted and enlightening. Wow, I used a lot of big words in this one.

I give it 4 1/2 out of 5 yellow jumpsuits!

-tb

Zach Galifianakis: Live at the Purple Onion

Zack Galifinakis really is one of the funniest comedians I've ever seen, and the movie "Zack  Galifinakis: Live and the Purple Onion" really emphisizes his style of humour. It's a style that de-emphisizes the value of celebrity and embrases the awkward everyday bizzare nature of reality.

He's completeley straight faced and has a beard. For some reason that's an untapped feild for humour.

I still haven't seen "The Hangover" but I hear it's really good and can't wait to. The first time I ever recognized him was when I first started watching "Tim and Eric", which I think is a great show. There's something going with him that's hard to define. He's not high or low brow, he just seems to be coming from the left field.. literally shifting his emotions for no reason in the middle of a set, but somehow maintaining a consistant stage pressense.




This isn't a long documentary. Not sure if it even counts as one. But it's really good and really funny.

I give it 4/5 beards

-tb

In Bruges

In Bruges follows two hit men named Ray and Ken as they hide out in Belgium while they wait for orders from their mob boss Harry.  Ray feels guilty about killing a young boy accidentally and wants to quit the business.  When the call from Harry finally comes in, it turns out that he wants Ken to kill Ray for what he has done.  Ken lets Ray go because he supports his change of heart, which causes Harry to come find them to kill Ken for not listening to him.  They all end up trying to kill each other in a comical yet dramatic shoot out.

To put it bluntly, I loved it.  I appreciate 'smart' films that have not only perfectly blended misc-en-scene, but also make you think.  This isn't some crap studio popcorn flick, this is a black humor film which shows the comical side of murder, if there even is one.  Every line of dialogue is brilliantly quick and snappy, which is a rare thing.  You find yourself laughing as characters talk about murder, and then feeling bad.  It is filled with hilarious British humor, which is an acquired taste for Americans.  My old roommate thought it was so 'foreignly' mystical because all she saw was men with accents saying the c word......  But to people that really get 'it', this film is a gem.




Favorite line- Harry: Well, really, the way I see it it's all your f**king fault now isn't it? You try to rob someone with blanks in your gun and he gets the jump on you, takes your gun away and shoots the blanks in your face blinding you, so he had to get pretty close to do that. It's your own fault for being such a big gay fairy now isn't it?

Rating: 5/5 angry murderous dream boat Ralph Fiennes'

The Kid

The Kid (1921) is one of Charlie Chaplins greatest films, and I say this knowing full well that I've only seen three of them. I probably laughed harder during this movie over anything else I've seen in '09 ( I still haven't seen The Hangover.)

Chaplin, who dons the the infamous role of "the tramp", is put in the strange situation of discovering and raising an orphan child. The sheer emotion involved with him and the kid as they struggle to stay afloat and stay together is so impelling that it makes the comic bits all the more enjoyable. This movie is seriously like "The Bicycle Thief" meets "Duck Soup"!

Here is one of my favorite scenes where you get an idea of Chaplin and the kid's daily routine:

 ( I suggest finding something upbeat by Louis Armstrong or Jelly Roll Morton to listen over it.)




I came into it expecting pure zingers. Almost like a bugs bunny episode. Random situations for Charlie Chaplin to hilariously get out of. But the great thing about this movie, is that the slapstick moments have a function in terms of the plot.

I definitely recommend it for people (like me) who want to get a good taste of Chaplin. It's not as grand as Modern Times, but it's a very well crafted comedic piece. And the kid is so freaking adorable he totally steals the show!

Also, the dvd I watched had more upbeat music, compared the the composed orchestrated music in the same scenes that I've seen online. I wonder if this made a difference. It's probably a big issue in the silent film world, and must be really hard to settle because they can't hear each other. I'm pretty sure that at the time that these movies were first shown, there would be a piano player beneath the screen playing ragtime style music that wouldn't have been so dramatic.. but who knows!

Rating: 5/5 hitler mustache's.

-tb

I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With

The film follows around James (Jeff Garlin) who is an overweight actor....typical Hollywood 'loser'. He lives with his mother, has a witty successful friend and can't seem to find a girlfriend.  The camera seems to follow him around as he bumbles through daily life.  He meets quirky Beth (Sarah Silverman) and she ends up slightly breaking his heart.  As the movie ends he has his own apartment, is in a play at his mother's rest home and has a new love interest played by Bonnie Hunt.

I REALLY wanted to see this movie for a long time and to be honest I was really disappointed. Too much Sarah and not enough Bonnie.  The sadder his life got, the sadder I felt. I started to feel like a fat, broke, out of work actor!  I love Jeff Garlin on Curb, but it was a litttleeeeeeeeeeeee too much of him for me.

Favorite line: "What do pirates have to do with hot dogs?"

Rating: 2/5 cheese wheels.

-bk

friends.