1288 - Bruno

First off, I can't imagine even trying to make this film in the wake that was Borat. The mass success, plus the exposure that Cohen got would have made it difficult to film given how he works, not to mention the expectations. The project was, somewhat, doomed from the start.

I have to say though, this film picked up a bit in the middle. And there's some wonderful and disturbing stuff in here, particularly regarding what some parents will allow their kids to go through in an effort to get a gig. I'd go into specifics but I wouldn't want to rob you of the jaw-dropping experience.

Hit or miss, no one has bigger balls than Cohen for the situations he'll put himself into for the pure exploitation of human nature.

This film isn't firing on all cylinders, but there's enough here to make it worth the watch. Bruno was always my favorite character of Cohen's and so I expected more, but understand the circumstances he was under. It could have been a hell of a lot worse.

1287 - Redbelt

I was really surprised by how much I liked this film. It's not that I expected to dislike it, but wow. It just flowed beautifully for me, the characters, the story, it all just... worked. I really wish that I had more to say about this, but I strongly recommend it. Really really nice.

1286 - Three Amigos!

I never saw this film as a kid. I remember this girl I had a crush on that worked in the video store where I grew up always watched it while I was in the store, and so I never wanted to rent it because I knew it would mean she'd have to turn it off and give it to me. So that's my excuse.

It's such a product of it's time and you could never get away with the wonderful goofiness today unless you're making a dick & fart Wayans-type film. There's some really great jokes in this film, my favorite is when Chevy Chase shoots the invisible swordsman by accident.

There's been several films of this ilk since this came out: Tropic Thunder, Galaxy Quest (which I haven't seen either) come to mind.

Glad I finally saw it.

1285 - Mad Men: season three

First time I watched this series as the episodes were airing. I love this show. In the absence of The Wire it fills that void of solid epic novel-esque writing. I adore this series and all that comes with it. I don't want to ruin a damn thing, so all I'll say is that this was a fantastic season in what is a truly great story. They've done some really interesting things in this season, in particular the final episode and I can't wait to see the next chapter of this story. I can't recommend this show highly enough.

1284 - A Dirty Shame

When you sit down to watch a John Waters film you have a pretty good idea of what you're in for. Everything is hyper-real. That's the point. He's trying to make a comment on society in a way that entertains him. And does it entertain others? I suppose that's a matter of opinion. I'm not phased or shocked by sexuality - but I think that the big problem for me is that I didn't quite get the point of it all. Maybe I wasn't trying hard enough. If you're a Waters fan you'll no doubt enjoy it - if not, it might be hard to get into it.

Fables: The Dark Ages

I'm not a big comics guy. I had cousins who were big into comics when I was little, but I was a casual enjoyed of them at best. In fact, I kinda sorta feared them. Especially when it comes to the bigger characters. There's just so much goddamn story, and where the hell do you start?! I'm the kind of person who needs to start at the beginning and there's just not enough time in the day to do that when it comes to your Spidermans, Batmans, and the like.
And then I discovered Vertigo: A DC off-shoot label. I have to admit that my discovery back into comics came when I finally bought a copy of Watchmen a few years and inside of it the comic-clerk slipped a little "50 must-own comics" document. So in reading it I discovered that there was more to the comic world that the old standbys and more importantly I found two titles that interested the hell out of me Y the Last Man and Fables.
I realize I'm getting sidetracked here, but if you're even remotely interested in comics, and if you like a smart, funny, entertaining story then you need to run to your local comic shop, hell most big bookstores carry them now too, and pick up the entire run of Y the Last Man. There's ten collected books and the run is over. You could easily read the entire series over a weekend, and you probably will. It's that good.
But to what I came to write about: Fables.
I a am a big fan of fucking with established stories. I love the idea of mucking around with ideas that have been around forever, and the kid in me loves the old fairy tales. In highschool I co-wrote a play messing with fairy tale characters and more recently my writing partner and I have written a feature spec about a little girl who finds a portal into a world that houses all of the fairy tale characters. So Fables is something that's directly up my alley. It's smart and playful. Funny, yet intense. These are the characters of myth, but they're real. They have flaws. They win, they lose. They become heroes, they have their hearts broken, and yes, some of them even die. I'm not going to get into specific plots here because I believe in being spoiler free - but if you're even remotely interested in comics and have a love of fairy tales then I beg you to do yourself a favor and start collecting the Fables series. There's twelve books in total thus far. I can't even remember how many times I've bought the first volume as a gift for someone. And I have to be honest, while even the first volume is quite good it doesn't even come close to how great it becomes. The first two volumes merely introduce you to the world of Fables, starting at volume three the real story kicks into high gear - and it's a wonderful ride with some wonderful tangents of it's own.
Apparently ABC is developing a pilot for a television series. How much would I love to get a gig writing on that show. It would be intimidating and fantastic all at the same time.

1283 - Whatever Works

This is the first Woody film in a long time that I completely missed in theatres. And what a shame. It's not surprising to know that he wrote this back in the 70's originally for Zero, but shelved it when he died. It actually makes you curious whatever gems he's got locked away in a drawer somewhere. Woody is one of the most impressive filmmakers to me, if for no other reason than his sheer output. This being his 40th film, and you know damn well he's not going to stop until he drops (please please please don't drop Woody!).
Larry David does pretty well in a role that has no obvious redeeming qualities. It's not a big character arch type role. Evan Rachel Wood continues to impress and she's fantastic here. Truly. It's a film packed with brilliant one-liners and I can't wait to explore it again. If you're even remotely a Woody Allen fan, especially vintage Woody Allen, do yourself a favor. Get it. Now.

1282 - Saw VI

Wow. This could possibly be the best of the Saw sequels. In fact... I might have liked it better than the original as well. Ironically it almost seems to say something here with it's political slant. Who'da thunk it?
The walls are closing in here, and it's interesting, it's starting to feel more like an on-going series than stand-alone films. I can't imagine coming into this thing having not seen the previous ones. I could care less about the torture-porn aspects of these films, what I like is all the plotting. I realize the use of flashbacks gives the writers lots of outs, but this film seemed to have a lot of fun with paying off things planted in previous films - to the point where I can't think of any lose threads from the previous films outside of what-happened-to-Dr. Gordon (a surprise I'm sure they'll save for the final film). For fans of the series it's a must see, for those new - start catching up now, there's a lot of pipe laid before this one, some of it better than others.