Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Reviewage: In Bruges, Tropic Thunder, Be Kind Rewind, Hamlet 2

Given the time it has taken me to get back on a regular bloggin' schedule, it's only natural I'd have a few movie reviews in tow. Lucky for me, they were all quality flicks. If you missed these, git ta watchin.

Go Rent
Be Kind Rewind:
Take a more refined version of the typical Jack Black humor, throw in a dash of the evolving talents of Mos Def and add a heaping helping of off-kilter hilarity and a love for music, skewed history and the good old days of VHS and you have a great buddy comedy that's sure to spawn countless independent Sweding projects wherein jackasses record themselves acting out scenes from all their favorite movies. Be sure to check out the bonus features on this disc, too. Though I can't understand why they didn't include the Black/Def Sweded films, what's on offer is another hour of quality entertainment and behind-the-scenes features.

In Bruges:
While you might need subtitles turned on to understand some of those bloody accents, In Bruges is a vulgar, refreshing take on the classic Euro-gang genre. No interconnected plots or gang wars in this one. No. Instead, Colin Ferrell and Brendan Gleeson play a couple assassins who, after a botched assignment, end up laying low in the podunk city of Bruges. Ferrell can't stay out of trouble, Gleeson can't keep Ferrell under control and a steadily building plot eventually builds to lots of swearing and shootouts through the sleepy streets of Bruges. Consider this one of the best black comedies in quite some time.


Go see
Tropic Thunder:
Tropic Thunder is hilarious. You don't really need to know anything beyond that. Black, Stiller, Downey, Jr. and their supporting cast all deliver knock-out performances with plenty of raunch, gut laughs and even a few moments genuinely worth pondering. Also, after an hour and a half of terrific comedy you get treated to some of the best war scenes caught on film. Explosive fun. Feel free to add that to your DVD box Goldcrest Pictures.

Hamlet 2:
While the story isn't exactly the most complete piece of work, the laughs are big in this parody of life, high school musicals and the close-minded masses who picket without knowing anything about what they are rebelling against. Maybe it's because I know a few too many drama folk, but Steve Coogan's portrayal of a failed-actor-turned-drama-teacher kept me grinning throughout. Also, any film featuring the lines "raped in the face" and "rock me, sexy Jesus" more or less has to be watched, right?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, since you don't respond to anything else... please proceed to here:

http://littlebigplanet.us.playstation.com/post/2008/09/Pre-order-And-finallyNariko-SackGirl.aspx

-Ryan Winslett said...

I don't respond to anything else? And yes, I sadly plan on pre-ordering LBP from Best Buy just to get Nariko. Hopefully getting a Kratos code from a friend.