Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009)

Seeing trailers a few months back this movie did not interest me at all. I was very skeptical about it as well for 2 reason. It was clearly made just to capitalize on the vampire craze that this nation seems to be in right now, and John C. Reilly, this really didn't seem to be the role for him.

I did not read the books so I didn't know anything about the plot and I thought it was going to be every vampire cliche wrapped into one. This one actually changed it up and make fun of the Hollywood depiction of vampires. For the most part I was suprised It was not as bad as I was anticipating. And it had some rather fun moments.

I seem to be a sucker for traveling circus or freak type films. It really reminded of a combination of 1932's Freaks and 1988's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen and mix it with some vampires and then you have this. I would have like to have seen a bigger role from the side characters, but hey you see a movie for the main characters, its understandable.

The movie take place during a truce between warring vampire factions. Darren (Chris Massoglia) and Steve (Josh Hutcherson) are best friends who go to see a freak show. Steve who has an obsession with vampires spots Crepsley (John C. Reilly) as a vampire from one of his books. Crepsley does an act with a large spider and Darren, who has an obsession with spiders, steals it from Crepsley. It bites Steve and the only way for Darren to save his life is to give into
the demands of Crepsley who turns him into a Half-Vampire. Things ensue both sides want Darren to fulfil some prophecy. Steve then turns into a vampire as well and hes a part of this prophecy too. I've already given away too much ill stop here.

I was suprised with because I really didn't expect much of it. Reilly, as much of a fan of his as I am, I dont think he was the right person for the role, but he did a good enough job. I'd say it worth the rent not exactly my cup of tea but I would like to see a sequel.
Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant Recieves 6.5 "Bearded Ladies"...out of 10.

An Education (2009)

In my experiences with Sundance films turned unknown Oscar Noms, I found most of these movies to be either confusing, boring or just and overall piece of shit...This is NOT one of those movies. This is the 5th Best Picture nominee I've seen and my 2nd favorite of the bunch.

I was very suprised by this film. I came into it expecting it to be complete garbage, for the reasons stated above, and it's a Romance film, Im a guy that hardly appeals to me. But I was not disappointed and it was actually a hell of a lot better than I was expecting.

My film tastes have been changing as of late and I've been straying away from just liking the overall plot and zoning in on the detail of the film, the acting and the writing. As I've said many times before, if a film can make you care about the characters, its a good film.

Im a sucker for a film where the main characters have an obsession for culture, be it film, literature or music. Even more so all 1960's British and French culture and as a World History buff I love foggy old London town =).

In an Oscar nominated role Carey Mulligan portrays Jenny who randomly strikes up a relationship with the older David played by Peter Sarsgaard. Jenny who was on track to go to Oxford, falls in love with David and begins to learn a different kind of education, one you cannot learn in books (this is what i got out of it and possible origin for the title). Her grades begin to slip but shes gaining a once in a lifetime cultural experience traveling and spending time with David. But David has a darkside to him...that I will not detail so as to not give away too much.

This was a film that took me by suprise and I'm happy netflix randomly sent me this.
An Education recieves 8 "Eiffel Towers"...out of 10.

The Lovely Bone (2010)

When I first heard about this movie a little bit less than a year ago, I knew this was going to be a good one and it was being directed by one of the greats, Peter Jackson. So I read the book and enjoyed it, then it was movie. Due to poor timing I never got the chance to see it in theaters.

Lovely Bones tells the tale of Suzie Salmon and her murder. Suzie's souls is stuck in the "inbetween" because she cannot let go of her life on earth. Looking in on her family and their struggle to cope without her. Simultaneously she is keeping tabs on her murderer, Mr Harvey, played by Stanley Tucci in an oscar nominated role. There was not much notably different from the novel in terms of major things. I only noticed they altered the relationship between the parents and the investigating cop.

Peter Jackson score big on this one, the cinematagraphy is grade A. The "inbetween" is beautifully done, vivid and imaginative. He really shows his talent for directing in this film. Stanley Tucci goes deep for this role as Mr. Harvey and although he does not have many lines in the film, his time on screen is great. The dialogue before the murder is funny yet demented especially when you know what is coming soon.

Despite enjoying the film, I'm keeping the review short because I really wasn't thinking in terms of a review when I was watching it. I was keeping tabs on the relevance in comparison to the book and the acting.

It was a good film that didn't stray to far the novel, this has been one of the better book adaptations I've seen, but then again I really havn't seen that many. If you read the book go see it, if not, make up your own mind on it.
The Lovely Bones recieves 7 "Creepy Dollhouse Stares"...out of 10

Surrogates (2009)

For anyone who had seen the film Gamer, Surrogates is exactly like that...and that movie sucked. Surrogates although having not connection to the film Gamer, basically recreates the game "Society" of Gamer but in real life rather than an enclosed town. Granted, "Society" was the only intriguing aspect of Gamer and I wanted to see more of it...but this was not what I wanted.

The plot borrows from many other action films. Humans no longer feel safe being around other people so a large company develops surrogate robots through which people can live their lives from the saftey of their home. Quickly all crime ends, people do not get hurt and their is no murder. Sound familiar? iRobot ring a bell?

Im not even goin to bother going into detail about the plot because it really doesn't matter. IT has some good actors but, that cant always save a bad screenplay. Bruce Willis and Ving Rhames appear on film for the first time together since Pulp Fiction but they have very little interaction, something the director could have improved on not just because of the actors but their characters would have meshed well together. There is a few other recognizable actors but not too overly notable, I mean James Cromwell is the man and what a coincidence...He was in iRobot!

Overall I felt this movie was bad. I couldn't get into it and it never hooks the viewer. So Im going to say skip this movie its not worth the time.

Surrogates recieves 3 "Ving Rhames' Prophets"...out of 10

The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

After watching Fantastic Mr. Fox, It's going to be a Wes Anderson/ Jason Schwartzmen fest on my DVD player. I have heard many good things about Wes Anderson over the years but just never got around his movies. I did see Life Aquatic a few years back but I remeber very little about it. So over the next week or so I'm probably going to watch Life Aquatic, Bottle Rocket, Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums over this time span.

Darjeeling Limited has the same great formula that made me love Fox. Wes Anderson can jut write a godamn movie like no one else. His dialogue is unmatched and that is what make the movie so good. Jason Schwartzman is just great and had one of the funniest scences i've seen in a long time. The trio tries to pop the clutch in their car and end up pushing it out onto the road in front of a passing car pissing off the driver, Schwartzman and all 5'6" of him standing half naked in the road Yells at him to get back into the car, "Are You kiddin me?" FUCK YEAH! I think its his voice that does it for me because everything he says is fantastic.

The Plot is not too overall intriguing, 3 brothers who havn't seen each other in a year go on a spiritual journey and hope to eventually find their mother. But they go through their trials along the way, hijinks ensue and they come out better for it. It does accomplish something I really like to see in movies, it makes you care about the characters and what happens to them and you feel what they are going through, which is always a Plus for me.

I can understand why some people might not enjoy it, they might find it dull and boring. But what the movie has best going for it is its screenplay. Which as of late, has become a major focus of my movie viewings, if the screen play sucks the plot might not save it for me anymore (Exception, Transformers: RotF. Come on it was pretty good regardless). I am looking forward to WesWeek and maybe I will have found one of my new favorite directors.


The Darjeeling Limited recieves 7 "Running of the Bill Murray's"...out of 10.
"Stop Including Me!" <- Best Line



I can't tell if this article about Wes Anderson's Upcoming film is legit

Extract (2009)

As a fairly big Mike Judge fan I was disappointed in this film. Most of what Judge does is memorable and overly quotable but this has none of that. His films Idiocracy and Office Space, are the stuff of comedy legend for me, they are definetly some of the best comedies I've ever viewed, and his TV shows are 2 of the most memorable cartoon in history, Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill. Extract is just a big step down from his previous work and for me will not be watched multiple times like his other films.

I dont feel as though much really happens in the movie. Jason Batemen runs a flavoring extract company but his life is unfulfilled. So he tries to hook up with the new employee (Mila Kunis) who is a klepto and is only there to try to persude an employee who is suing the company so she can in-turn rip him off. All the while Bateman is dealing with sexual frustration with his wife (Kristen Wiig) so he hires a new "pool guy" to sleep with his wife so he wont feel guilty making play for the new employee.

So really nothing happens. I would have like to have seen more character development because you feel nothing for the characters or what they're doing. I feel as though all the characters in Office Space are important and special in some way, even the lesser characters. But in Extract I could care less about the main characters or even the employees who get maybe 5 minutes of screen time, except for T.J. Miller's Character because he is always hilarious.


This film has me a little worried about Mike Judge's career, because as of late his work as been well beneath his ability. Extract and the short lived TV show The Goode Family have just not been good. Since Idiocracy hes just gone downhill even King of the Hill got cancelled in this time. So I'm a little worried and I hope he can regain he creative form.

An overall disappointing film, Extract recieves 4 "Schtaplers"...out of 10

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

I was a huge fan of the story as a kid. It was probably my favorite children's story and Roald Dhal was my favorite author of the time. So I really wanted to see it but I was skeptical because it was a short story, I wouldn't have thought it would translate into a 1.5 hour film.

It turned out to be actually really good. The stop-motion was near flawless, not Wallace & Grommit good but close. The voices were great, anything with Clooney's velvet vocals is great. The film was even up for the Oscar for best Animated film, but I still like Up more.

What really struck me was the screenplay. Noah Baumbach (Life Aquatic & The Squid and the Whale) is a pretty good writer and creates fantastic dialogue. Everything about this screenplay is just witty and clever, and full of quotable phrases.

Clooney voices Mr. Fox, a professional livestock theif, who has given up the life to raise a family. Hit with a mid-life crisis he buys a new home near 3 wealthy farmers and plans to pick up the old trade. The farmers beigin to hunt him down along with his family and all the village animals. So the animals seek refuge in the sewer system. Fox's nephew get kidnapped so they plan a rescue mission. They retrieve him and live out their days in the sewer.

The film was a lot better than I expected and I'm glad because it was one of my favorite book during my childhood. After seeing this I really want to check out some more Wes Anderson films. This is only the 2nd film of his I've seen and both have been great.

With its fantasticly clever writing and witty humor, Fantastic Mr. Fox recieves 9 "Modified Tube-Socks"...out of 10