The Princess Bride (1987)

 



Dir: Rob Reiner
Writers: William Goldman
Starring: Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Wallace Shawn, Christopher Guest, Andre the Giant

A couple of months ago, my friend Jaime and I started watching Homeland and when Mandy Patinkin as Saul came on the screen I looked at her and said, "My name is Inigo Montoya! You killed my father, prepare to die!" Jaime stared back at me quizzically, and I understood the horrifying fact that she had never in her thirty five years of life seen The Princess Bride.

"Inconcievable!"

My dad happened to call me on that fateful night and also joined in my absolute astonishment. Since the following week was my birthday, he happened to send a copy of the DVD, since I had lamented my last one had been stolen (right off my DVD shelves!). I invited Jaime over recently to finally introduce her to Wesley, Princess Buttercup, and all the favorite lines I grew up with.

The movie really does stand the test of time; I remember watching it repeatedly as a kid (this, and Big). Watching it as a twenty-nine year old was just as enjoyable. Jaime and I laughed out loud, I slapped my knee a few times, I said the lines I remembered so well, I pointed out who the actors were to Jaime (that's Billy Crystal! That's Christopher Guest!), and we even thought of what a great group costume the characters of movie would make for Halloween. It was fun to rewatch it, and even more fun to watch it with someone seeing it for the first time.

The movie is a bit of a fantasy, but grounds itself with the storytelling of a grandfather (Peter Falk) to his grandson (Fred Savage). The script nor actors ever miss a beat, and the movie is a great adventure from start to finish. It defines the word enjoyable for a film!

The Best: Cary Elwes has never been as good as Wesley, though I still love Robin Hood: Men in Tights. I just love when he reveals himself to Princess Buttercup while falling down a cliff: "as youuuuu wiiiiiish!"

Fact: When Count Rugen hits Westley over the head, Cary Elwes told Christopher Guest to go ahead and hit him for real. Guest hit him hard enough to shut down production for a day while Elwes went to the hospital.

Rating: ********** (10 out of 10)

Friends with Kids (2012)

Dir: Jennifer Westfeldt
Writers: Jennifer Westfeldt
Starring: Jennifer Westfeldt, Adam Scott, Maya Rudolph, Kristin Wiig, Scott O'Down, Jon Hamm

I saw this movie earlier this year in the theaters, but my thoughtful brother sent me the DVD as a birthday gift a couple of months ago.

I've been a huge fan of Jennifer Westfeldt since I saw Kissing Jessica Stein when I was in college, and a few years ago when I saw Ira & Abby. She wrote both of those movies, which are smart, funny, and not your run-of-the-mill rom-com or lady comedy. Friends with Kids is her directorial debut, and I liked it a lot, too.

Overall, this film is about three couples, two who are in romantic relationships and have kids, and another who are strictly platonic but decide to have kids due to the ol' biological clock and because they observe that kids can take all the romance out of a relationship. It can seem a bit winded when typing it all out. But the movie is funny and charming, while there are some things I have to ignore in order to like it, but that's the case with most films, isn't it? I think Westfeldt understands that her characters are not the most realistic or smart -- but there wouldn't be an interesting movie without these two best friends agreeing to a slightly kooky life plan. So, I have to suspend my disbelief, and Westfeldt puts in some great scenes to demonstrate that yeah, this is kind of crazy. The supporting cast (all plucked from Bridesmaids) are particularly great in these scenes.

Westfeldt and Adam Scott play off each other really well, and I love them both. You root for all the characters, and there are moments of sadness throughout, even though it's more of a comedy. I do like how odd and different the plot was from most movies out these days--it seemed more thoughtful--but the ending still seemed a little trite against the rest of the movie. I mean, I feel great that it all works out, but sometimes I want the characters to be challenged a little more!

The Best: When the other two disapproving couples come over to the new parents' apartment for the first time and think they're about to walk into a harried scene, but it ends up exactly the opposite. The outtakes on the gag reel from this scene are also hilarious.

Fact: Westfeldt's been dating co-star Jon Hamm in real life for over ten years. He had bit parts in all of her movies pre-Mad Men era!

Rating: ******** (8 out of 10)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Dir: Stanley Kubrick
Writers: Arthur C. Clarke (story, screenplay), Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester

This film was a rarity from my collection: I hadn't seen it when I purchased it. However, the blu-ray was sitting in the bargain bin at Wal-Mart for $5, I simply couldn't pass up that deal on a movie with such a reputation. That was a couple of years ago.

I finally picked it out of my collection to watch because Hurricane Sandy was descending on New York and my cable went out. My power and blu-ray player still working, I decided this would be the best time to settle in for the three hour film; it's not like I could go outside.

The movie is certainly an enigma, but watching it I understood everything that could be attributed to it. It was truly a a giant step for film innovation. The pristine shots of the spacecrafts from space are beautiful (like much of the film's visuals) and there would be no Star Wars or Alien space shots without Kubrick's 2001. In fact, I was amazed this film was made in 1968. The technology seemed so far advanced, and that's when I realized this was the first.

The film itself has an abstract story, but it's momentous to take in from the visuals to the music to the nearly philosophical aspect of questioning humanity. The dialogue is barely audible at times, but that's because it's not the point. While it may be hard to keep your attention because there's not much story happening, the images, production design, cinematography and directing kept mine.

I loved the iconic music over the man-ape throwing his tool into the air in the beginning and I also loved the shot-to-shot cuts in the room in Jupiter near the end.

The Best: Obviously HAL's meltdown is the most plot this movie has; my favorite moment in the film is a mechanic that Kubrick repeated and many others copied. When the astronaut is trying to get back onto the spacecraft with his friend and HAL won't let him in, he has to let the other man go and blast back into the spacecraft without his helmet. Such an intense scene would usually be paired with loud and bombastic music -- but it's all played in silence though the image vibrates with flashing lights and the actor flying across the screen. The silence made me hold my breath. It was beautiful.

 



Fact: HAL 9000 never once says, "Good morning, Dave," despite this line being one of his most recognized quotations. It is hard not to think about 2001 when watching many sci-fi movies, even this year, Prometheus' character David opens a computer and it greets him with "Hello, Dave."

Rating: ********* (9 out of 10)

Gentlemen Broncos (2009)

Dir: Jared Hess
Writers: Jared Hess, Jerusha Hess
Starring: Michael Angarano, Jemaine Clement, Sam Rockwell, Jennifer Coolidge

This is one weird movie. But I love it.

I remember seeing the trailer for it in a theater and thinking "well, that looks dumb." Cut to last year when my friends Jaime and Andrew had me over to their apartment and decided I needed to watch. They were reciting the lines during the movie, and then afterwards when we went to a bar they continued. Many lines are now inside jokes between friends; sometimes when I say bye to a friend in-the-know, I say "Remember who you are and what you stand for!" while flashing two metal signs, as Jennifer Coolidge's character says to her son Michael Angarano as she sends him off to a writing festival for homeschooled kids.

I digress.

The movie is about the Benjamin, living in the bland surroundings of Utah, much like director Jared Hess' previous film, Napoleon Dynamite. He's a teen sci-fi writer who has hopes for his first novel with a lead character named Bronco who fights evil on distant planets. The great hilarity of the film centers on the fact that his novel is played out on screen several times -- as his own version with Sam Rockwell as a long-haired, tough Bronco, as a version low-budget filmed by his friends, and as a version stolen and plagiarized by his idol, Chevalier (played so well by Jemaine Clement). In Chevalier's version, Bronco is now Brutus, and Sam Rockwell plays him as well, but this time in a pink suit, long blond hair, and lispy accent.

When you have Sam Rockwell saying lines like--"Oh my holy crap, surveillance does... I hate those. This is ridiculous, that's the most well guarded yeast factory I've ever seen!"--you know it's a different kind of movie. But Rockwell owns both characters and all their ridiculousness. If you haven't gotten it yet, this movie is absolutely crazy. And not everyone will like it, enjoy it, or even get why people are laughing at the random (and sometimes gross) jokes. But I did!

Proceed at your own risk. If you enjoyed this movie for what it is, we'd probably be friends.

The Best: Sam Rockwell, hands down. The guy puts everything into his roles no matter how weird. His tackling of two roles is the best part of the movie.

Fact: The opening credits have a series of fake sci-fi novels to showcase the stars. The cover artwork was created by acclaimed fantasy and science fiction artists Kelly Freas and David Lee Anderson.

Rating: ******** (8 out of 10)