The Big Year

The only reason I even know this movie exsist is because a list of the 10 biggest flops of last year was being passed around and this movie was on it. Which completely blows my mind, because it is simply amazing. Yes it's true, every single gods damned comedian on the face of the planet is in this thing and they are all unequiviqobly outstanding.

I've been struggling to figure out how to descibe this one, and the best I've come up with is; imagine that the book in Adaptation, The Orchid Thief, was actually about birding. And this is the movie that Adaptation should have been. It's quite literally a love song to birding, but with these amazing, soulful characters. I know personally by the end of the movie, I had fallen in love with birds and these characters.

It's a very strange thing, and I havn't felt it a very long time, to fall so completely in love with a character, let alone an entire cast of characters. But thats what this movie did to me, every single person in this movie feels like a real human being, even Owen Wilson, while stilling doing his arrogant prick Owen Wilson thing is rooted and grounded and the character is a living breathing human being that obviously cares about things. I just yeah, it's hard to describe, but the script is great and everyone in this is bringing thier A-game plus a little more.

It also sort of harkens back to a lot of 80's comedies for me, specifically Christmas Vacation. While there's certainly a lot of very very funny moments, there is also a LOT of heart to this movie. And I think thats the best way to put it really, this movie has an incredible amount of heart to it, a lot more than I've seen in a very long time.

I, yeah, it's just an outstanding, and amazing movie. Easily my favorite Jack Black performance (he's essentially the main character and provides all the voice over narration, and it's beautiful, it really is), Steve Martin is amazing as always, and where Owen Wilsons character ends up by the end is just heartbreaking. And yeah, every one else is amazing.

I'm fairly certain this is a movie everyone here would love, go watch it.

This past weekend I watched Lethal Weapon three times trying to record a fucking commentary for it and Tango & Cash again, for the second time this week, recording one for it. I may be losing my mind a little. I just imagined killing my friend and pissing on his ashes......

Last edited by Jimmy B (2012-02-21 10:56:27)

I'm glad you found the short, Matt. I wouldn't have gone to the trouble of looking it up myself, and I would've missed out on revisiting it.

Watching it now, I remember vividly how it made me feel the first time I saw it: Fucking pissed off.

It's a wonderfully charming little film, whimsical and clever in equal parts. And there's no good goddamn reason why I, at the age of never-you-mind, couldn't have gotten my shit together sometime in the past twenty years and done something like that myself. There's simply no excuse for it. I've had all the time in the world and all the opportunities in the world and I haven't done it, and seriously, that's just not okay.

I still defend MI:2, but I'm a Woo apologist. I really like the idea of having completely different directors bringing their vision to that franchise, and while Woo's vision is definitely retarded and crazy (also compromised as fuck by the PG-13 rating and the studio), its at least memorable. Whatever you call that movie, you don't call it generic.

That's why I kind of like MI:2 more than MI:3, even though 3 is obviously better as a cohesive movie. I just find the 3rd one really, really forgettable (like most JJ Abrams movies), and it doesn't really bring anything new to the table (the team stuff is better in the 1st one, the action is better in the 2nd one). MI:2 I can at least remember lots of cool images from it, and the awesome Hans Zimmer score.

Finally watched Synecdoche, New York. It was a lot like 8 1/2, in a Charlie Kaufman kind of way. I've liked Kaufman's other work, but I had a hard time connecting with it, as I did 8 1/2. The ending was effective, but most of it was an endurance test.

Now I've just watched Paul, and something is driving me crazy. When Kristen Wiig goes inside at night, she has this exchange with her father:

He: What took you so long?
She: I was just talkin', papa.
He: You talk too much.
She: Sorry, papa.

I'm sure this is a direct lift from some classic movie, but I can't put my finger on it. Anybody?

Last edited by Zarban (2012-02-29 02:53:40)

They're reviving the Ouija movie. They kicked McG off it, cut the budget down from $100 Million (!!) to $5 Million and word 'round the campfire is that they're looking to get the guys who directed the last installment of Paranormal Activity to direct.

The only thing about the news that shocked me was the fact that the Ouija Board movie had McG attached to it and a 9-figure budget. It makes me kinda wanna read whatever story idea they came up with that would have required that much cash to make it float.

As an Australian, there's something unique about MI:2 in that it's the only non-Australian movie I know of to be filmed & set in Australia. All those Bond & Bourne, etc movies that go to exotic locales - never ever go to Australia. After 22 Bond movies, he's been on every continent and in space and underwater, but Australia doesn't exist in the Bond universe. The only time Australia is featured in movies is in Australian movies.

And the only reason that MI:2 was set in Australia is because Tom & Nicole were together and wanted to raise/school their kids in Australia. Otherwise the location would have been in Europe or America or Asia or anywhere but Australia. I think the Australian landscape is too boring & empty - after all most of it is just one big flat sandy desert.

There are plenty of movies filmed on Australian soundstages (Star Wars 2&3, Matrix 1,2,3, etc) but they weren't SET in Australia.

Wem Wenders' epic Until the End of the World was partially filmed and set in Australia. The last act of it was, anyway. The first two acts were filmed and set literally every-fucking-where.

Damn, damn good movie, too.

Thanks - I've never heard of that one. I'll look it up.

Watched 'Fright Night' the other night. The new one, from 2011. 'twas fun. Looked it up mainly because I think I might have a man-crush on David Tennant. And the added bonus of Checkov, Mintz-Plasse and that douche that's stuck in a phone booth in that film kinda helped too.

I watched Skyline then proceeded to bash my head into a brick wall in an attempt to forget what I just saw.

And I just saw that Micheal Bay announced that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie he is working on will not have them be Mutants, but instead Aliens. At which point I asked "When will Hollywood stop raping our childhoods?"

So is this Bay's plan? Make bad action films out of every series that began around the 80s and 90s? First Transformers and now TMNT. I guess Thundercats is next.

Bay should just forget TMNT and make a Biker Mice From Mars movie instead. That cartoon is about a team of crime-fighting *alien* animals...