9:04 pm  •  16 January 2012

I saw Shame and it made me want to take a shower. I mean that as a huge compliment to director Steve McQueen as his film succeeds in making the viewer feel the sad, dirty depths to which one man will stoop. Shame is a meditation in sex addiction and the dysfunctional relationship between two distant siblings. Michael Fassbender (M. Fassy if you’re nasty) is fearless here as Brandon Sullivan, baring all (ladies read: all.nude.everything.) and diving headfirst into territory rarely seen on film. There are a million films about the downward spiral of drug and alcohol addiction yet very few about sex addiction. There’s a level of comfort here that Fassbender embodies in his sexual candor and lack of inhibition that goes past your standard movie “o” face. For a film called Shame, Fassy has none. And it’s incredible to watch.

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12:41 pm  •  13 January 2012

It all started sometime last February when a new copy of W landed on my desk. The cover featured then unknown actress Rooney Mara’s striking transformation: A new found hardened gaze, raven toned locks, bloody knuckles, and a large winding chest piece.  I quickly flipped through the pages desperate to find the ajoining spread. And there she was: a cigarette pressed between her lips leaning over a chair getting a tattoo on her ass. If loving her was wrong than I didn’t want to be right and I basically bought my movie ticket on that day. I had never read one of Stieg Larsson’s novels yet I was intrigued. A few years ago when the series received it’s English translation it felt like they were the only books anyone was reading. You’d enter a packed subway car to be greeted by a sea of their covers. People of every race and age looked down with furrowed brows, heads deep in the pages and feverishly turning to get to the next chapter. “What the fuck is this book?” I kept thinking to myself and now I stood staring down at a glossy photo of its heroine: Lisbeth Salander inhabited by Rooney Mara.

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12:04 am  •  13 January 2012

11:03 pm  •  29 November 2011

For a few misguided minutes over the holiday weekend I almost considered watching Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 in hopes of getting a glimpse of this half breed vampire baby that has been the talk of my office for months. In a moment of clarity I opted for The Muppets instead. Monday Morning Water Cooler Spoiler: No demon baby yet and Breaking Dawn sucks even by Twihard standards. Is that a blow to Team Edward or Team Tay Tay? We may never know. Jason Segal and Nicholas Stoller’s Muppets reboot feels new yet nostalgic. Its full of sarcasm and self awareness (a nod to the original films) for the grownups, kids will appreciate the slapstick and silliness and both will love the way the Muppets throw their heads back and sway à la Stevie Wonder when singing. My only complaint: It could have used more Muppet showcasing scenes, and with that more Muppet songs.  Some choice scenes in The Muppets Take Manhattan feature them solving problems in The Port Authority, riding bikes through Central Park or a personal favorite: Rizzo and crew greasing up the diner grill using butter pats as skates. It’s movie magic when you see the Muppets from the waist down and I missed that a little. Though as non-Muppets Segal and Amy Adams were perfect. Also notable, a Muppet power ballad written by Bret McKenzie (One half of Flight of the Conchords) that will have you laughing like a hyena and lingers far after you leave the theater. It’s not exactly Henson’s Muppet Movie but Jason Segal, I tip my Fozzie Bear sized fedora to you.

4:57 pm  •  29 November 2011

11:57 am  •  29 November 2011

11:57 am  •  29 November 2011

11:57 am  •  29 November 2011

Two girls both named Marie are bored, beautiful, and they don’t give a shit. The Maries, much like the Coreys get themselves into all kinds of shenanigans. In this case batting the eyelashes on their heavily lined lids, sulking around in bikinis, setting small fires, and breaking the hearts of naive sugar daddy’s all over the Czech Republic. If it all sounds a little self indulgent it is: Daisies is more surface than substance (much like the Maries themselves) but the film is just sooooo good looking and quirky that it’s hard to deny. It is also considered an important work of the Czech New Wave and pissed off their government so much it was subsequently banned and had its director in hot water with authorities for nearly a decade. How do you say “Chillllll” in Czech? Daisies is a lighthearted romp made more robust by ridiculously cool cinematography, art direction, and, of course two total babes. Sometimes it doesn’t take much.

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11:57 am  •  29 November 2011

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11:54 am  •  14 November 2011