Month: December 2004

EuroTrip

I almost laughed my belly out now watching “EuroTrip“. This is a very excellent comedy and I strongly recommend you watch it. A bunch of American students travelling through Europe mostly without money and documents sounds funny already.

Events take place in many locations through Europe and each one has its own fun to offer. Football hooligans in London, crowd entertainment in Paris, “exotic love houses” in Amsterdam, cheap stuff in Bratislava, etc.

There was an interesting choice (and usage I must say) of cast. Main characters are mostly very unknown, except for, maybe, Michelle Trachtenberg. Supporting roles and cameos are amazing though. Matt Damon, almost unrecognizable as a punk rock singer, Vinnie Jones as a leader of the football hooligans gang, Lucy Lawless as a prostitute, Rade Serbedzija, Diedrich Bader, Jeffrey Tambor, and others.

8 out of 10. Note that this film is rated R, which is the only way to make realistic movies about students. Sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll is all its about.

Spaceballs

Watched “Spaceballs” on DVD. It is old (from 1987), but it is as good as new. And I don’t know how I managed to miss it until now, because everyone is talking about it and it’s like classics.

The movie is pretty funny. It spoofs about 20 movie or so. “Star Wars”, “Alien”, “2001: A Space Oddysey”, “Star Trek” – they are all there. Directed by Mel Brooks, same guy who brought us “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” and a bunch of other good comedies, with great cast, excellent costumes and decorations, as well as soundtrack, this movie is a really must see.

My favourite places were the “jammed radar” and the Rambo-like shooting by the princess. But the rest of the movie was pretty cool too. I’d rate is as a 8 out of 10. Either they don’t make movies like this anymore, or I cannot find them.

Movie fever

I think I have movie fever. I am sick. And I am getting worse. I always feel this need to watch a movie. Even after I do so. Movie after movie. This is getting out of hand. And the problem is that I don’t have any problem with that. I just go rent yet another movie and watch it. Or I go to the cinema. If I am too lazy to go out, I just watch a movie off TV. If there is nothing on TV, I find something on the web…

I remember I had this once. I was about 14 years old than. Video club opened at the bus station not far from my house. It was not the one where you rent films (I didn’t have a video player than). It was the one where you pay a ticket and you watch right there. Sitting on the harsh chair and watching it on the crapy 14″ TV. People who were travelling by bus from city to city and had to wait for their next bus having nothing better to do would go there. And I went. With the friend of mine. I think we’ve watched 20 or so films in one week. That was amazing. I wanted more, but I was broke. And so it stopped.

These days, films are so cheap that I will hardly go broke watching them. Many of them come free on TV or on the web. How would I stop? I don’t know. Do you?

On the other hand, I am still thinking if I should do anything about it. I mean I spend a lot of time watching films, but nothing else. Sometimes I watch them alone. Sometimes with my wife. Sometimes with my friends. Is it really bad?

Why do I watch them? Movies entertain. They change mood. They give something to think about (some of them, at least). They give something to laugh about, or something to cry about. Some are educational. Others are scary. Some make me appreciate things that I have. Others make me appreciate things that I don’t have. Sometimes they take me from the reality. Sometimes they bring me back to the reality.

I guess, I am watching them for the same reasons other people read books. Is reading bad? I was always told that it is good. How different is reading from watching movies? Some say that books push one to think and imagine things, analyze what one reads so that he can draw better pictures in his mind. Same some say that movies don’t give this to you. Movies provide you with ready-made thought-over images and you have nothing to do, just consume them. I don’t agree with that. The fact that I see a picture doesn’t mean that I don’t create a similar picture of my own. It does not mean that I don’t think “How would I do it?”. Also, movies are very limited in terms of time, while books are not. Books can cover huge periods of time with plenty of details. Movies cannot do that. Thus, movies provide you with material spread over a period of time, and it is you who should properly connect and fulfill it.

Why am I saying all of this? Because. I am just filling time between two movies. One that I’ve watched, and another one, which I am about to watch. Off I go…

Antwone Fisher

Watch an excellent film on DVD – “Antwone Fisher“. This is a must see for all people who are having sex in general, and want to have children in particular.

The movie is based on the book by Antwone Fisher, which he wrote about his life. He also co-produces this film together with Denzel Washington. And although disclaimer at the end of the movie states that some of the events are fictional, they could very well happen in real life. And probably they did happen to many people out there.

Anyway, the film is about the life of one guy who serves in the US navy. He was sent to psychiatrist (played by Denzel Washington) for a check after yet another incident of his violent behavior. It turned out that he had a pretty tough life prior to the navy. He was born in prison, his father was already two month dead, he went to the orphanage, than he was adapted, than he was abused and bitten a lot, and so forth and so on.

This film excellently shows how behavior of adults affects the child. The movie was deep and showed how complex some roots of our behavior really are. It also showed how important love, caring, and family are to people. Not only kids, but adults too.

Excellent performance by all of the cast, great directing, nice music, camera work, photography, story, and pace all make it a very strong movie. Strongly recommended with a 9 out of 10 rating on my side.

P.S.: Oh, and seems that I wasn’t the only one crying when the closing credits started rolling.