This past week, I had the opportunity to watch one of the most frightening and enjoyable movies I have ever seen. It is the stuff that the worst (male) nightmares are made of and done in such a perfect way, that it was hard not to enjoy it, even though I spent most of film with my legs tightly crossed. I am talking about the new tongue-in-cheek horror film Teeth. A bizarre film that centers around the vagina dentata myth (dentata, for those non-Latin speakers, means teeth) and a sterling performance by actress Jess Weixler, Teeth is the story of a chastity-preaching girl with violent powers. As she learns about her hidden gift, the men that cross her path soon find out as well, and most of them leave less than the man they were. Even though we have just put together our list of the great, artistic films of 2007 (you can read our Top Five Films of 2007 list here), there is something really satisfying about going to see a movie that you know is not going to have that much depth, but just going to because it will be Steve had a similar experience with Rambo. While his review give the film a critical examination of its place in the the Rambo pantheon, his statement to me upon leaving the theater: "i have seen the rambo...it was just what i thought it would be...lots of laughter" sums it up. After watching powerful, gut-wrenching movies all Fall, the start of 08 has started just like any other year: with entertainment and laughs leading the charge. (Check out A.O. Scott's article on February love films that ran in the Sunday New York Times.) There is a problem with this season though. As we saw last year, the good films are few and far between. 2007 started with some horrible movies: Smokin' Aces and the winner of our poll for worst film of 2007 The Number 23. Despite Teeth and Cloverfield, there is a LOT of junk in the theaters at the moment. So much so, that I am thinking of staying at home and getting some NetFlix watching done instead of my weekly foray to the screen. There is no way that I am going to see Hannah Montana, even if it is the best grossing film on fewest number of screens, and I am not that thrilled by How She Move, Strange Wilderness, or First Sunday either. The only thing I am considering going to see Woody Allen's newest Cassandra's Dream, and that is solely due to the Philip Glass score.
The good news is, there is hope around the bend. There looks to be a bunch of good films coming up in late February and we just need to bide our time until then. Leading the pack is the Jack Black/Mos Def zany throwback to VHS Be Kind, Rewind. What makes the film even better than the crazy plot is the fact that Michel Gondry is directing. To understand Gondry's brilliance and use of simple camera tricks, check out this link (the picture above) to the movie trailer, completely re-done with only Gondry himself.
For more on the releases in February, check out Shane Jenkins' overview of the month at The Bad Splice.
Congratulations to Mary Chris DeBelina, winner of last week's Quirk Quiz. For those of you who know the Weird Al movie UHF the Rambo spoof we features (in conjunction with the release of Rambo) should have been instantly memorable. I have been trying to think of other movies with Rambo spoofs, and I think I can only come up with one other, and that is Gremlins 2. Pretty sure the two are not easily confused. This week, our question which could win YOU a free book is a tie in to the concert stage movie Hannah Montana etc.. The pic below is not from the movie, but I gave you a couple obvious hints...
Till next week ,
~Chris
