Rumor Has It (2005)

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Rumor Has It

Rumor Has It

Sarah Huttington, recently engaged, goes home to Pasadena with fiance Jeff for a family wedding. She hears a rumor that “The Graduate” (book and movie) are based on her family. Did her grandmother and her mom have flings with the same man just before her parents married?

Silly little chick flick. Well cast, from Shirley MacLaine as the battle-axe grandmother to Mena Suvari as the simpering, spoiled sister. Kevin Costner, one of my least favorite actors is fine here. Since his character is required to be basically flat and without emotion, he is an ideal choice. Mark Ruffalo as the sweet, slubby fiance, Jennifer Aniston as the neurotic mess of a heroine….

I found it hard to get past the idea of a mother & daughter sleeping with the same man, and harder still when the granddaughter joins the line. Eww, just ewwwww! The general message of the movie, though, is sweet. Love isn’t like the movies, love is like life. Much as Henry Fonda said in this quote.

Tepid comedy [that] almost screams ‘just wait for video.’ ~ Full Review

Rotten Tomatoes: Critics 20%; Audience 51%

Slither (2006)

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Slither

A mysterious meteor infected with a deadly alien plague brings chaos to a small hunting town in the feature-length directorial debut of screenwriter James Gunn (Scooby-Doo, Dawn of the Dead). Booted out of bed by his young, trophy-wife Starla (Elizabeth Banks), and in desperate need of some female companionship, wealthy Grant Grant (Michael Rooker) picks up bar local floozy Brenda (Brenda James) and heads into the woods for a hedonistic night of extramarital excitement. When a flaming meteor lights up the sky before crashing to the ground nearby, Grant’s curiosity gets the best of him and he sets out to find the space rock. Subsequently infected with a rampaging space virus, which he passes along to Brenda, Grant transforms into a horrific, cow-munching monster and begins terrorizing the town. As thousands of squirmy space slugs burrow into the brains of the unsuspecting Wheelsy denizens creating an ever-amassing horde of mindless space zombies, panic grips the small town and it’s up to Starla, Sheriff Bill Pardy (Nathan Fillion), and gung-ho mayor Jack MacReady (Gregg Henry) to put an end to the infection and save the planet. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Campy, Sci-fi, Horror – the perfect way to spend an evening. There are definitely some gorey bits, and the script wouldn’t win any awards, but it is a hoot.

This is a great, goofy B movie, a clever homage to the flicks that filled double bills in the 1950s, combining low-brow slapstick and gory scares in equal measure. Art it’s not; but it certainly is fun. ~ Full Review

Lower on the Word of Mouth Scale due to gore and foul language, but good fun for those who can appreciate such entertainment.

Rotten Tomatoes: Critics 84%; Users 77%

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Thriller: They Call Her One Eye (1973)

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Thriller

Thriller: They Call Her One Eye

This is decidedly not a movie for everyone, not even a movie for most. It is sexually explicit, graphically violent, and in all ways over the top.

And it is great – if you are into that sort of thing.


This is the movie that is said to have inspired Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill movies. There certainly is enough in this film to support that contention. Because of that connection, I would most certainly recommend this flick to Gonzo – but, because of that connection, I imagine he has already seen it. Other than Gonzo, I have few friends to whom I would/could recommend it.

However, if you are into sex, drugs and bloodshed, check this one out.

Rotten Tomatoes: Critics 40%; Audience 66%

RV (2006)

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RV

RV

Bob Munro and his dysfunctional family rent an RV for a road trip to the Colorado Rockies, where they ultimately have to contend with a bizarre community of campers.

I just found an old Star Magazine that had a review of RV just before it opened in the theaters. The money quote for me was, “when was the last time Robin Williams was in a movie that was funny?” This one certainly isn’t – if you are over the age of 10.

There were bright spots; Jeff Daniels & Kristin Chenoweth as the bizarre but big hearted Gornicke parents, JoJo as a typical teen, um…I guess that’s about it.

Potty humor and predictable slapstick with good production values.

Rotten Tomatoes: Critics 24%; Audience 59%

The Long Winters @ Stinkweeds

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Long Winters

tuesday, i worked a solid 25 out of 29 hours between sept 11 and 12 to get a new design up for the my company’s entertainment section.

i got home at 12:30pm. all i wanted to do was sleep.

i forced myself to stay awake so i could attend an acoustic set by seattle’s the long winters at stinkweeds record store on central camelback. it was well worth it.

i’ve admired these guys since i first heard “the commander thinks aloud” on kexp.

frontman john roderick was really funny and played off the crowd quite well. the first song they played was “ultimatum.” it’s very slow and heart-felt. i was nearly moved to tears while they were playing it.

i was going to give a rundown of the setlist in order they were played, but i was really tired at the time and while trying to write this, i couldn’t remember the order of the songs. here’s my best guess:

1) ultimatum
2) blue diamonds — he seemed a little perturbed about playing this
3) carparts — my request
4) cinammon — great song
5) rich wife — from the new album, a more electric song, but sounded great acoustic
6) pushover — their favorite song from the new album at least at the time of the performance

john was a really cool guy. i got to chat it up with him a little bit after the performance. i must of looked like a madman because i was working off zero sleep. i asked him they put a faster version of “ultimatum” on the new album. he simply said, “because i felt like it.”

“fair ’nuff, john.”

we shared a laugh.

“i just wanted to make this a little bit of a faster, more rockin’ album. you never know, the next will be so slow that it’ll bore you to sleep.”

could he tell i was high on sleep deprivation?

they were playing at the rhythm room that night. i really wanted to go, but my lack of sleep caught up to me. i passed out as soon as i got home and woke up at 11:30. to say the least, i was pissed.

none the less, though, the put on a great performance, and i was very happy to see them.

keep a look out for this band. they’re gonna be big some day.

ultimatum


fire island, ak

mp3s:
carparts
scent of lime
blue diamonds
stupid
ultimatum
pushover

The Family Stone (2005)

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The Family Stone

The Family Stone

A woman meets her future in-laws and discovers they don’t much care for her in this comedy from writer and director Thomas Bezucha. Everett Stone (Dermot Mulroney) is a successful young businessman who is dating Meredith Morton (Sarah Jessica Parker), and has asked her to spend Christmas with his family, with plans to ask his mother, Sybil (Diane Keaton), for the titular family wedding band and propose to Meredith on Christmas Day.

I hadn’t really intended to see this film, had it in my Blockbuster queue just as a filler. Looked like an OK chick Flick, but nothing I needed to see. Then my step-sister told me she loved this movie. “Love-love-loved it!” Alrighty then, I’ll give it a go….

…and I will end up feeling like I just wasted an hour and a half.

The premise is fairly simple, and something that would be quite familiar to a lot of people. Boy brings home Girl to meet the Family before he proposes to her; Girl is uncomfortable, Family doesn’t like her, hilarity ensues, cue laugh track. Unfortunately, the writer/director(?), or whoever, wasn’t satisfied with that. What they end up giving us is a cast of unrelate-able characters, most of whom have no redeeming qualities whatsoever – in fact it seemed as if they lacked humanity altogether. Even the most heinous villain should have some vulnerability or charm to make us care about the story, I couldn’t have cared less about the majority of this group.

They finally become a bit human in the last ten minutes of the film, but the various nauseating & absurd (though predictable) couplings spoil even that.

It manages a 1.5 simply because of the two girlfriends I have who may want to see this, and who I wouldn’t actively dissuade. They both love Sarah Jessica Parker and this is her in her neurotic element.

Rotten Tomatoes: Critics 51%; Audience 61%

A few gems:

“A feel-bad holiday film about a repellent family, with a milquetoast dad and a smug, devious harpy of a mom.” — Mick LaSalle, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

“There are many ways to define the shrieking awfulness of The Family Stone, from the general lack of wit to the cheap exploitation of cancer to its casual cruelty.” — Stephen Hunter, WASHINGTON POST

“It doesn’t matter how many fine actors are assembled in a film, if the script is terrible, then the movie can’t be good.” —Jeanne Kaplan, KAPLAN VS KAPLAN

“Rarely have I seen such a maudlin, manipulative, mean-spirited mess masquerading as a holiday comedy.” —Susan Granger, MODAMAG.COM

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