jstebel

I'm not sure why I liked Pitch Black. The whole premise was just too convienient, Vin Diesel's Riddick character wasn't anything new, and for the most part the supporting cast were clearly Star Trek redshirts. Still, something about it just struck the right chord with me, the Plot was good enough to make up for the dialogue and Vin Diesel played his character just right and broke new anti-hero ground by being restraint during moments you expect the action hero to overact.

It's more of the same with Chronicles of Riddick. The dialogue sounds as though the script was written by an 11 year old. People, myself included, were laughing in the audience when I went to see this film. However, the actual PLOT was so fun and well conceived that I found myself unabashedly enjoying "Riddick". The visuals were STUNNING, some of the best CGI i've seen and I liked how the Necromongers had this futuristic/Zombie/Roman Gladiator mix in their wardrobe. The premise behind them was interesting, but I found myself annoyed they didn't explain enough about "The Underverse".

After a lengthy prison planet escape sequence, I wondered how they were going to wrap this movie up with such little time. What I got was one of the most fantastic endings I'd seen in a long time. It becomes apparent that this movie was a means to give the title character more development for the next sequel. This ending was worth the price of admission alone. I just hope they hire a better screenwriter to make the dialogue in the next "Riddick" movie worthy of the set up it was given.

I won't spoil this ending, but I do highly reccommend turning your brain off and giving this film a shot. It's a lot of fun.

Something I've always loved about watching The Upright Citizen's Brigade when it was on Comedy Central was that its cast really had their own unique brand of humor and delivery. Even if it isn't exactly your style, it's still funny and respectable for how unique and unflagging it is in its consistency. With Martin & Orloff, the unofficial UCB movie, their humor translates to the screen with the same quality and integrity that makes them endearing to anyone with an open and progressive sense of humor.

Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh do an incredible job as the title characters. It is obvious from their comedic chemistry how long they've spent doing improv with each other in the Upright Citizen's Brigade Theater. They are quite simply, masters of their craft. While obvious how low a budget this movie had, the director, Lawrence Blume does an Incredible job of stretching the budget and utilizing the higher profile celebrity cameos. David Cross, Andy Richter, Jeanine Garafolo, Rachel Dratch and Tina Fey are all used very well and in small doses so that they don't overshadow the main players. Andy Richter and David Cross's characters in particular, had me out of breath with laughter, as they are both charicatures of people we've probably all met and loathed.

I cannot stress enough how offbeat this particular brand of humor is, but there's nothing that would stop me from recommending this gem to anyone in order to extend its current one-week run at the Sunshine Cinemas in Downtown Manhattan. It truly deserves a larger audience. Go see this wherever you can and go in with an open mind. I guarantee you laugh at times without quite knowing why and you'll feel great about it. I got to see this movie free at an advanced screening and I would gladly (and will later this week) pay to see it again.

While I didn't enjoy Storytelling as much as I did the Director's two previous films, Happiness and Welcome to The Dollhouse, Solondz continues to amaze with his depictions of just how awkward true life really is. As always, he masterfully shows the oft times tactless, cynical, transparent motivations of everyday suburban life and combines them with outrageous situations, giving a humorous view into the myriad of interesting quirky characters he creates. As with Happiness, Storytelling has no background characters. Each character gets fully explored in a way that no matter how familiar or foreign a specific character's behavior might be to you, you can't help but understand their motivations. Solondz can develop over 10 characters in 88 minutes while most conventional hollywood films fail to portray just one in any given 3 hour "epic".

Selma Blair and Leo Fitzpatrick give incredible performances in the first segment of this film titled "Fiction". John Goodman is at his best here in the film's second segment "Non-fiction", not to mention it was a pleasure to see Julie Haggerty again.

One of the film's most honest moments (and there are MANY) comes in the beginning of the Non-Fiction segment, during a phone call Paul Giamatti gives to a female classmate he hadn't spoken to since high school. WHile hilarious, I couldn't help but feel bad for his character, which gets fleshed out in the almost confessional tone of the conversation (which of course, he blunders).

I don't want to delve far into the plot because the elements of shock and surprise that are Solondz bread and butter should only be revealed firsthand on the screen, suffice it to say I recommend this movie very highly. I look forward to anything this director does.