Yesterday afternoon, I had the misfortune to be subjected to a movie called Idiocracy. I thought it was one of the worst movies I have ever suffered through.  While I understand the satirical nature of the film which centres around the dumbing down of Americans.  Personally I think the frequent toilet humour is so vapid and banal that I actually found myself drawn to going to fold laundry in preference to wading through it.  To my dismay after that small task was accomplished, I returned to the living room to find the asinine offering was still running, and I fervently wished for a forgotten root canal appointment or something to present itself to take me away from the utter pedestrian nonsense that was emitting from my television.  In the absence of any such intellect saving invasive dental surgery, I did the next best thing and promptly popped a Valium and attempted to sleep through the remainder of the platitudinous drivel.

Reader’s digest version – I prefer my satirical social commentary with fewer fart jokes.  So, for me,  this movie sucks blue cheese smelling ass, but by all means, see this film if you have the IQ points to spare for I guarantee that you’ll loose a few just by having been in the same room as this absolute crap of a movie.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a film so entirely unappealing, unstimulating, uninspiring and unengaging to me since Dude Where’s My Car (which I have tried to watch several times as many of my friends seem to love it – but always end up abandoning when the aliens appear)  but who knows… perhaps it would improve with less back pain, less Valium and half a bottle of vodka under your belt…..

.

Oh dear God, what was I thinking?  I volunteered to go as a chaperone on an excursion for Angel’s last day of school today and we went off to see the new Dreamwork’s flick – Bee Movie.  Eighty sugared up (and probably no small portion of them also doped up on ADHD drugs) screaming children and me there without my earplugs or a flogger to keep the little buggers in line.

The movie was a bit of a let down… no where near as good as Ratatouille (which I absolutely loved and have already watched at least half a doz times).  It seemed a little patchy.. you know didn’t seem to flow so good for some reason.  The humour was full of bad puns which naturally leads me to think that there must have been at least one dodgy Canadian on the writing staff, and the story line was just not engaging for kids.  Bees suing the human race?  The whole lawsuit concept is something that little kids just don’t get, so the kids eventually got bored. 

There was also a really awful moment where Barry the Bee makes a joke about suicide.  Yes, suicide… I wasn’t aware that suicide is a big funny area for under 10s and it certainly had a few of us adults exchanging glances.  The joke was slotted in just after they’ve realised that they’ve cocked up the delicate balance of nature in Central Park and Barry says to Vanessa that they could always make a suicide pact, and then they discuss how they could do it.  What were they thinking?  Was looking around to see what the reviews were saying, and found this website of Christan Analysis of American Culture… monster raving loonies, but here’s their review.

Still, the animation was great and there was a fantastic scene when Barry is leaving the hive for the first time flying with the Pollen Jocks, where they burst out of the hive and emerge from the trees to be flying over central park and dodging in and around some kites which looks really gorgeous… lots of bright colours and flying motions.

.

I saw Magicians last night… it was hilarious. I’m always a bit wary of English comedies, sometimes they look like everything is going to be okay but then if you’ve ever seen the world’s most banal and disgusting waste of air time that has the gall to pose as entertainment, also known as Little Britain, then you know why I think English comedy can be a bit hit and miss.

Magicians was just my type of comedy, absurd situations, slightly off kilter humour and bizarre characters with dry and sometimes dark dialogue. I enjoyed the gay bar dance bit so much I nearly peed myself laughing.

Being a product of the 80s and having had quite a number of skinhead friends way back when, I thought I’d have a look at “This Is England”. The trailer looked really interesting even though there was no way that a film about skinheads in 80s England was going to be all tiptoeing through the tulips in Doc Martens to a cool Madness soundtrack. It wasn’t as full on as Romper Stomper, but it did resemble my experience of skin head types from years ago… most of them politically apathetic and far more interested in hanging out,findin groovy clothes, shaving their heads, listening to the The Specials and The Clash etc. They used to get excited about whether or not your shirt was a genuine Fred Perry and what hole Docs you had but mostly couldn’t give a fig about race relations and I never saw any of the nasty altercations or extreme bigotry associated with the skinhead stereotype.  Mostly I remember them being passionate about their music just like any other subculture group.

Anyway, I quite enjoyed the film.  Still think the dopey Mum was a loon for letting her 12 year old boy hang out with a gang of skinhead types who were all obviously much older than he was.  She’s depicted as only getting excitable or concerned at his shaved hair cut, no mention of Mum being concerned about her little boy being exposed to racial prejudices, violence or even a mild concern that her kid should have friends his own age… nope, it was the haircut.  I quite liked the movie though and the central kid was really good.

.

Went to see the Bourne Ultimatum last night.  I quite enjoyed it once I got over the dizziness.  I had some free tickets (courtesy of Equinom) for an advanced screening session in town.  Went to dinner at a strange little restaurant above Elizabeth Street in the Myer Centre called the Beach House Bar and Grill.  The place feels like Fisherman’s Wharf in the early 90s… has that weird Australian beach pub feel about it, but you’re on a wooden verandah about 5 metres above the footpath on the corner of Elizabeth and Edward Streets in the middle of the city.  But anyway I digress.

We got to the cinema right on time, but I think because it was an advanced screening session or something – there was none of the regular 20 mins of bullshit pre movie ads on…. and we ended up sitting right towards the front of the cinema.   Strangely enough this was exactly how I ended up seeing the Bourne Supremacy a few years ago…. walked in a bit late and ended up at the front of the cinema cranning my neck and desperately trying to watch the entire film and not be overcome with nausea during the action sequences.

Still, I liked the film, and ‘Matt Damon, Matt Damon’ (insert zombie voice) makes a great Jason Bourne…. I enjoyed the first film in the series the best – the Bourne Identity… probably cos of the cool way he was pulling strange skill out that he didnt know he had etc.  As it is I don’t much fawn over celebrities, but Matt Damon would be one of my favorite actors – which is in no small part largely due to his cool cameo appearance in Eurotrip 🙂

.