Conspicuous Absences

The handful that read this will know that the Barricade has been an area for tumbleweeds. Jase has gone AWOL and I have been too for the most part. Between work, trying to get a PhD done, visits to hospitals, epic bike rides, soccer, AFL, etc etc, it has been hard to find time for anything.

So here is a catch up post, with some brief highlights and lowlights:

Movies:

– Tropic Thunder… what a disappointment. I was geared up to love it, but felt like I missed the joke. I think I laughed 3 times… actually it was 3 times… I can count them.

– Hellboy 2… I didn’t get this either. I won’t say it was bad, I just didn’t dig the vibe of it. I am not a massive Hellboy fan, but thought this would be OK, but it was just meh

Music:

– New Kings of Leon… what a shame… I dig KoL. But not this one. To me it sounds like 11 times the same song. I will give it more of a crack, but I can’t see this one getting high rotation.

– New Mogwai… this just sounds like Mogwai. So I really dig it.

– King Khan and the Shrines… an “on a whim” purchase in Missing Link. Man did I make out like a bandit. The new album “Supreme Genius” is GOLD. I knew a bit about them, and had some tracks from a split LP they did with the Dirtbombs, but man, this is 16 awesome party tracks. Has not left the car in days. Get it now!

– New Okkervil River… see Mogwai review above (but substitute the word “Mogwai” for “Okkervil River”)

Gigs:

– Nope, none.

TV:

– Arrested Development… I am late on this one and finally caved since everyone says “you will love it”. I am half way through season one. Can’t say I love it. I like it, but not love it. There is something a little self-conscious about it for mine. But I like it enough to keep watching.

Other:

– Jase got me into Mike Allred and Madman comics in a big way. While I can’t say the current issues of Madman are amazing, they are still really interesting, and he is a great artist and a great writer. Allred’s X-Force I really dug too. And Dead Girl is just way too cool.

So that is it I think. New Drones is out tomorrow. Woo hoo! The big one of the year for me. I will be at the record store at 9 (well, close to that). And Wall-E tonight. Giddy up… the wait for this has been toooo long.

… muttler

Movie Review: In Bruges

Wow. I haven’t had one of these in a while. It used to happen a bit more frequently… the movie that comes out of left field to knock your socks off. Being John Malkovich was one, Fight Club was another, Amelie, and especially Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Here is another to add to the list: In Bruges. Repeat viewings will have to see if it really does join that list, but after 2 watches I have to say I love it.

Why it is has taken so long to arrive at our shores I really don’t know. I first saw it a month or so ago on DVD, as it came out in the US a few months ago. We only just have advance screenings now. Having seen it on the big screen now, it really is criminal we waited so long, but now it is here, life is good.

If you haven’t heard of it, it is not really a surprise. Being relatively low budget, and a UK production filmed in Belgium, it is never going to get big notice. But it getting wide release here so nobody has any excuse not to rush and see it. It has previous “it” boy Colin Farrell in it which gets it some publicity points, but don’t let that put you off… he is comedy gold in this film.

Concerning 2 hitmen lying low in Bruges, it is comedy, melancholy, and profanity all wrapped in one. I can’t really say too much more regarding plot… that would spoil the experience. The movie has such a low key charm and understated sense of humour, that I was a little worried seeing it with an audience they would not respond, But at my local multiplex the crowd lapped it up.

So I don’t want to say anymore. You will see comparisons to Lock Stock and Pulp Fiction bandied about, but those are lazy. This has a charm all of its own. If you get easily offended by quite profane language, or politically incorrect jokes about dwarves and the mentally challenged, just a word of warning… although those are the funniest parts of the movie. Two big Muttler thumbs up.

… muttler

Movie Review: Equinox

What? I hear you ask. What the hell is Equinox?

Well, it is a very very dodgy movie from 1970, but for some reason championed by the Criterion Collection. Well it can’t be too dodgy if Criterion put it out, I hear you say. It must be some foreign art-house filum. Nope, guess again.

Equinox is an ultra low budget schlock sci-fi horror movie about some youngsters heading into the woods to meet their Professor, when they stumble upon some kind of enchanted book. All kinds of shenanigans then ensue. So what makes it notable?

It was made for only $6500 (yes it shows), and it features the some of the worst post voice dubbing I have ever seen. Acting is gloriously awful, and the whole thing is unintentionally hilarious at times. But it also features some great stop motion effects by Dennis Muren, who has since gone on to win a gazillion Oscars.

So yes it is dodgy. But it is all at once the worst and best movie I have ever seen. Movies like this are exactly why Hollywood sucks. Yes, 99% of people will see this and think it stinks. But 1% will see it as some joyous, fun film making, and actually quite inspirational visual effects. I’m in that 1% for sure.

Oh, and check out Criterion’s 2 disc set. Who would have thought a movie like this could have 2 awesome discs. Kudos to Criterion for recognising that genius comes in all shapes and sizes.

… muttler

Pick the Movie Quote #4

So the last one was this… http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0829482/

Any one who reads this might be surprised by that one, but I really dug that movie.

I will keep trucking with this until someone actually guesses one. Here is the next. A hint… a pretty iconic 80’s movie.

That’s a big twinkie!

Do you know?

… muttler

Pick the movie quote #3

I thought as much. No one reads this blog! The last guess the movie quote was so easy. For those of you who didn’t know it, it was http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118715/.

This one is from a recent movie to see if anyone can guess. Now I didn’t expect to like this movie at all, but I laughed, and laughed hard. I dug it way more than any movie like this really has a right to be. It just goes to show that even a suss genre can be done really well. One of the best debut performances ever too. So here goes (apologies for the crude nature, but it really is funny)

Nobody has gotten a hand job in cargo shorts since ‘nam!

.. muttler

Movie Review: Wanted

What a steamer Wanted is. I knew it would be over the top, but I wasn’t really prepared for how lame this movie actually was. While I don’t mind Angelina Jolie, I’m not obsessed by her, so this movie experience really had nothing going for it. It wanted to be all hip and cool and Fight Club, but it was just embarrassing. Avoid it.

… muttler

Pick the movie quote #2

So no one wanted to play my game? Or was the quote too obscure? Maybe. For those that want to know, it was from this movie… http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065466/. If you haven’t seen this movie, then go watch it NOW and have a new favourite movie. Bet you can’t pick the ending.

So let’s try a much easier one to get you all in the mood. This should take all of 5 seconds to guess.

Nobody f***s with the Jesus!

Post a comment if you know. C’mon… it’s an easy one.

… muttler

Pick the movie quote #1

Last night while watching a movie I thought “why don’t I post some movie quotes up and see if the 2 people who erratically read this can guess where they are from?”. It was a little inspired by remembering some choice quotes from In Bruges which I saw on the weekend (gold… more on that movie later).

So here it goes… the first entry in a guaranteed to be sporadic and probably short-lived movie quote thing. If you know, post it as a comment so others don’t autmoatically see it when they read the posting. And please don’t cheat by searching on Google or anything. I will post the answer as a comment when I post up the next installment (could be tomorrow, could be next week).

The only hint is that they will all be from movies I dig. The first ones will probably be from movies I really love. This inaugural entry defintely is in that category. So here it is:

This is my happening and it freaks me out!

Know what it is?

… muttler

Melbourne International Film Festival

MIFF is here again for another Melbourne winter. Over the years I have gone from seeing 20 films, to a dozen, to a handful. Last year I saw about 5 and it was the quietest year since I began going. This year I only have 2 on the cards. Not sure why… there is always enough too see. Maybe it is just getting to be a bit too much and too expensive.

And this year to be honest there wasn’t too much that grabbed my attention. Yep, there is some good horror in there (more on that soon), but outside of that, I reckon it is a bit slim. Even the Music Doco section is a staple, but this year there is not much in there. So what am I actually going to?

Well, the thing that MIFF has done that has gotten me all excited is bring out George A Romero for his new one Diary of the Dead, as well as a retrospective. Sure, Land of the Dead is not great. But the 1-2-3 of Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the Dead can’t be beaten. So I am off to see some of those (having never seen Dawn on the big screen I am pretty excited). But the main bit of gold is the Q&A with the man himself. You better get that on that one quick though as I can’t imagine tickets are left.

The only other thing on my agenda is the new doco on Hunter S Thompson. The man is amazing, and this seems to be the most “official” doco we will get so should be very cool.

Outside of that there is not too much I don’t think. If I wasn’t up to much, sure I could see a few movies each night, but must see’s? There they are above for ya.

… muttler

Zombie Strippers

Well, since it is Zombie season, why not briefly mention Zombie Strippers? Why not you ask? Well, because it is terrible. Not good terrible. Just terrible terrible.

I know, you are saying what do you expect? The title is Zombie Strippers for crying out loud. Yes, it had everything… dodgy humour, gore, strippers… but it is just truly awful. I love a good cheeseball horror flick. The 80’s was a gold mine, and even lately I have gotten perverse enjoyment out of things like Plane Dead (ie Zombies on a Plane), but this was so shockingly awful, I can’t believe Robert Englund was in it. Not that he has any credibility. That’s my point.

Re-reading the above I realise I have probably just made it sound great. But it isn’t.

… muttler