X2
Very enjoyable movie. I was thoroughly into it, loved the effects, and thought Alan Cumming was really great. I had no idea that was him as “Nightcrawler” until I saw the end credits.

Shaolin Soccer
Has been out for a long time in the rest of the world, and on DVD etc. My version had terrible subtitling, which sort of added to the humor of watching it. A very funny and engaging film about a guy looking to package Shaolin Kung Fu (the sort of magic power and flying version of Kung Fu) for modern folks. He finds his way to soccer, and there the fun begins. It’s a gentle parody, but not a farce. The special effects are also very cool. I enjoyed it a great deal. It’ll be excellent when it comes out here on the big screen.

Why these soccer players were hot chicks with men’s facial hair was never explained

Vanilla Sky
No matter what you think of it, it’s a very odd movie. Very alienating and distancing, you never quite get drawn all the way in, perhaps the feeling of a dream which pervades the film is part of it. At one point, it becomes very unclear what is real and what is a dream. And then it gets more complex – not confusing, but complex. There are more layers of possibility for truth and fantasy/dream/whatever as the film proceeds into the end of the second hour and beyond. Yikes, it was a long one. A really interesting film for Cameron Crowe to take on, a remake of a Spanish film from only a few years ago (now on my list to see). I can’t recommend this, but if you are curious, it’s not a terrible waste of time, it might be a bit boring at times, but it’s a very well made film that maybe wasn’t all that well thought out.

Mullet Men
Well, even though this film was sent to me for free by one of the folks behind the film after I mentioned it here a while back, I still have to say I absolutely hated this film. It’s the story of a guy working as an NBC page who travels to the Florida-Alabama border to enter a mullet (the fish) throwing contest. It’s a true story, and the premise sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it? It’s very well edited, very well scored, but incredibly poorly thought out. When the protagonist leaves NYC for the contest, the tone of the film changes radically. He is seen interviewing people. Suddenly the subject is now the interviewer. Then we see him showing off, making conversation with babes on the beach, and in the final fish-lobbing event, we see him grandstanding – yelling to the crowd about who he is, and why he’s there, and they should all cheer for him. It’s yuck on both levels – it’s annoying to watch, and it’s grating to deal with what you thought was a documentary turn into a film by the subject, and finally the events the subject is in are totally created for the purpose of filming. It’s all about self-promotion, and volume seems to be the key here. There is not one sincere interview beyond the security guy in Central Park who is concerned about fish guts flying around a public park (this is the best part of the film) – most everyone is drunk and absolutely everyone is “on” – speaking in that sarcastic, kinda mean and definitely hungry tone you find in bars and at awful parties. It was like a badly done version of an MTV Spring Break special.

I’d be happy to put my copy in the mail to someone who wants to watch it. Just let me know.