PRELIM

It's been a crazy busy week on the doc but I did manage to catch a couple of flicks over the weekend: EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED & A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE.
Do NOT go see EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED. It is the worst film I've seen all year and I have seen them all (e.g. Fantastic Four, Cellular (pretty good actually), Must Love Dogs). Tonight over dinner, Vonds and I discussed our preliminary best and worst films of the year lists and EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED made it onto both our worst ofs. There isn't a single frame that sustains any interest whatsoever. It's truly bizarre. Sorry, Liev, but you done wasted some poor sap's moolah. You might be a great Shakespearean thesp, but a director you ain't. I should've done what Eric done did which was take a 45 minute long nap.
A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE: the critics are more or less right. It's as good as people say it is though it's not Cronenberg at his most challenging. It reminds me a lot of Starship Troopers but more nuanced vis a vis audience bloodlust and filmic represenations of violence.

So before the Fall movie season truly kicks into gear this weekend, I offer you a preliminary 5 worst films of the year list.

WORST 5
5. Any JGyllenhaal movie. Last Thursday, I caught PROOF by myself. Could've been decent, but every time JG popped up on screen, I laughed and wanted to throw up. He is so ugly!!! Especially when he emotes (or whatever the hell you call what he does when shit don't go his way). Seriously friends, he is one ugly dude and in a middlebrow flick like PROOF, everyone better be good looking to sustain my interest. Plus, I'm supposed to believe he's a math phD candidate? How about that JARHEAD? He looks fucking stupid! Having read the book and seen what Anthony Swofford looks like, JG is totally gonna suck in the Suck. And oh yeah, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN...don't even get me started on that one. Like he's ever worn denim on denim before in his life! And that 10 gallon hat he wears! Wow that's just funny shit to me.
4. CONSTANT GARDENER. God, poverty has never looked so cool! Africa's burning but boy oh boy do those kids make for some sweet background! Let's emasculate the only African character in the whole movie and kill him off as if he were a darkie in a slasher flick! Let's set the movie in Africa but let's not deal with Africa! The acting is fine and the source material is fine but it's basically a porno.
3. MUST LOVE DOGS. I was embarrassed for all the actors in that film. Diane Lane is a great actor but boy was she awful here. John Cusack sleepwalked through the thing. I love dogs but this movie sucked.
2. MA MERE. Stupid stupid stupid. That is all.
1. EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED. NOTHING IS ILLUMINATED.

There's a ton of stuff to look forward to this Fall. Other than the latest offerings from the Dardennes, Haneke, Hou, and hopefully Denis, I look forward to seeing Spielberg's MUNICH and two Sundance docs I didn't get to see earlier this year: NEW YORK DOLL and WHY WE FIGHT.

LOVE
ALEX