Movies You Should See: August
08.4.09 | Movies
I started this series of posts last month and people seemed to like the first one, so let’s keep this going. I’m very into movies and find it amazing that there is so much garbage that we have to sift through in order to find actually entertaining films. This is my second post in a series that I hope will turn a few people on to some movies they may not have heard of. I’ll also talk about the first movie in this series that I went to see in theaters last week.
In quick related news to Movies You Should See, the Tucker Max book I Hope The Serve Beer in Hell has a trailer out. The book was one of the funniest things I’ve ever read. Based on the trailer, the movie looks like one of the worst things ever filmed. I had high hopes for it, but I’m pretty much over any anticipation I had for this movie. Anyways, here are some movies that you actually should see.
In Theaters
District 9
2009 | William Allen Young, Robert Hobbs
It’s finally here. I heard about this movie over a year ago and then heard that it might not get an American release. A few months later, I started hearing about it all over the place again and that apparently Peter Jackson had tacked his name onto the movie and gotten it a major American release. I’m stoked.
This movie comes out August 14th and should not be missed. It metaphorically represents the class and race struggles that have existed among humans since the beginning of recorded history. Only now, it’s the humans who want nothing to do with aliens. Yes, it’s an alien movie and partially an action movie. That being said I almost always hate alien movies, just like I usually hate vampire movies, aka Twilight. But, this really looks like a gritty, story driven, original film that I think everyone should check out.
The Hurt Locker
2009 | Jeremy Renner
I talked about this movie last month, having only seen the trailer and hearing about it from different sources. I decided to make this the first movie that I would go out and see from my recommendations and I was not disappointed. Go see this movie. I helped a friend move last week and realized that she lived a few hundred feet from one of the select theaters in Los Angeles showing The Hurt Locker. I had been telling her all about the movie and she was excited to see it. When we got out of the theater, she said “That movie was f-ing awesome.” I spent almost the entire movie on edge because the tension only stops when the credits roll. Even then, it took me a while to get out of the state of mind that the movie had put me in. It feels like you’re watching the best filmed documentary you’ve ever seen, about one of the craziest groups of people ever to have lived. At least check out the trailer for this one.
Already Released
In Bruges
2008 | Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes
Colin Farrell is fucking hilarious. He reminds me a little bit of Brad Pitt’s character in Snatch. He’s a fast talking, angry at the world, hitman who is hiding out in a city he absolutely hates and not doing a very good job of hiding.
If I grew up on a farm and I was retarded, Bruges might impress me. But, I didn’t and it doesn’t.
Farrell’s character Ray has just finished a botched hit and is accompanied by a fellow hitman Ken. The pair are waiting for instructions from their boss in the European city of Bruges. Ken just wants to sight see and Ray wants to get into trouble. This is not a movie for kids. In Bruges has midgets, prostitutes, cocaine, guns, and tons of smart ass jokes. Yet, it maintains a solid story and is extremely intense at times, while still finding a way to be absolutely hilarious.
Adventureland
2009 | Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Bill Hader
When a recent college grad’s parents run out of money for his graduation trip to Europe, he has to take a job at the local amusement park. Everyone there hates the job and yet it’s one of the best times of their lives.
This movie hit a little too close to home for me. I live in Santa Clarita, where Six Flags Magic Mountain just happens to be. I spent the summer after high school and the next summer working there. It was every bit as hellish and yet for some reason amazingly fun as the movie makes it. Only people who have worked at theme parks really know what I’m talking about. I think the fun comes with meeting new people and having a giant group of friends to mess around with at work, in order to avoid the 100 degree weather, children puking, and three songs that play on a loop twenty times a day. To sum it up:
James: I’m amazed at how tiny my paycheck is, I’ve been working doubles.
Joel: Well we are doing the work of pathetic lazy morons.
Aside from that, this movie is one of the most moving and compelling “funny” movies I’ve ever seen. It has heart, it has a story, it has an amazing 80s soundtrack, and it makes you think. You can relate to all of the characters and the different ways they are trying to escape the boring theme park and move on with their lives. This movie just came out on DVD so check it out.
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I can definitely vouch for Adenture Land and The Hurt Locker!! The Hurt Locker was really well filmed; you felt like you were right in the room with them. The director has a rare talent, he managed to not have a specific climax scene in the movie that it focused on building up too. But keeping you completely engrossed the entire time with the whole story line being really well written and portrayed. You are definitely missing out if you do not see it!! :)