Movies for the week of 10/3/10 to 10/9/10

Hello world today is movie Monday and these are the movies I’ve seen for the week of October 3^rd to October 9^th 2010.

Zeitgeist 2: Addendum (2008)

 To those unfamiliar with The Zeitgeist Movement or The Venus Project, both focus on the need for sociological and economical change in America. The movies, Zeitgeist and Zeitgeist 2: Addendum, help propel the awareness by informing its audience of the atrocities set forth by their government. I saw the original back in 2007 and liked how it focuses on the many myths in history that have brought about the story of Jesus and I also liked it’s talks on the Federal Reserve. However, I didn’t like the whole section on how 9/11 was an inside job and the supposed formation of the North American Union (which was cut in a later version).  Zeitgeist 2 picks up where the first one left off going into more about the Federal Reserve and the over saturation of the government. Like its predecessor, it gives a wealth of information that should leave the viewer wanting to do a bit of their own research. I liked it and it is informative but some of the information is questionable and should be taken with a grain of salt. 7 out of 10

The Game (1997)

I love David Fincher and after seeing The Social Network, I wanted to see The Game because it’s the only Fincher movie I’ve never seen. It’s a great movie with an awesome story about a man who becomes involved in a giant game. While watching it, something clicked. I realized that I HAD seen the movie already as a kid. I was able to name every event that was going to happen next which disappointed me. The movie wasn’t disappointing. There are enough twists and turns to keep me interested but this movie is just ok to me. It’s not my favorite Fincher movie. 6.5 out of 10

Amphetamine (2010)

I hate watching independent gay movies because most of them suck. But I hadn’t seen a gay movie in a while so I took this time to watch a couple. I watched Amphetamine because I liked  Permanent Residence also written and directed by Scud (who has an awesome pseudonym). Like Permanent Residence, Amphetamine is about 2 gay guys living in China. Permanent Residence had this charm to it while Amphetamine had this charm with a bit of chaos mixed in. The story was whatever. It was sweet but the actors really make the characters unlikable. The redeeming factors of Scud’s movies are that they’re well shot and show these beautiful urban Chinese landscapes. 5.5 out of 10

American Psycho (2000)

Psychotic Christian Bale. Enough said. Jason took the liberty of writing a review for me. I didn’t ask but I didn’t object either. Jason seems to think I lack the confidence to write a movie review but that’s not the case. 7.5 out of 10

The Curiosity of Chance (2006)

Again, I felt like watching a gay movie despite their history of crap. This movie had teenagers, drama, and European accents. All things I love. This movie is in English and is about an American boy but takes place in Belgium. The acting isn’t the best and the story was a bit predictable but Chance, the main character, was such a likeable character and with his group of silly friends, they made this movie was fun. 7 out of 10

Monsters (2010)

I was THIS close to writing up a decent review for Monsters but I’m much better writing why I hate something then why I like something. Monsters was made on a $15,000 budget! After watching this movie, that fact blew my mind. Director and writer Gareth Edwards is a genius in my eyes. It doesn't have the highest production but it looks like it could maybe cost at least a million dollars. This movie is a monster movie but it's more of a “realistic” monster movie.  It has a “mumblecore” feel meaning with its shaky cam, super low budget, realistic dialog, and beautiful composition.  I really liked that this wasn't some over the top monster movie. It was about as minimal as a monster movie could get. This movie makes me want to make movies MORE now than I ever have before. I think people are taking the movie’s “message” a bit too far in the reviews though. This is a must see! 8.5 out of 10

Crazy Love (2007)

Crazy Love is a documentary about a guy who blinds a woman by throwing acid in her face and then marrying her years later. This is a very average documentary shown with interviews and pictures but the story is crazy. I like movies about crazy people. And, even more so, I like documentaries about crazy people. 7 out of 10

Quiet City (2007)

I think I have a love/hate relationship with mumblecore movies. They’re usually a bit pretentious, full of hipsters and annoying dialog. But, at the same time, they’re beautifully shot, the dialog is real, and the situations a very real. The problem I seem to have with many of the mumblecore movies I’ve seen is that they are so real that they’re fake. It’s like the dialog and the acting becomes so realistic that it goes right back to being manufactured. That may not make a lot of sense. But it’s how I see it. I like minimalism and simplicity and that’s why I love mumblecore. But it just seems like so many mumblecore movies are trying so hard to be hip and with it and I hate that. This movie was just another mumblecore movie. I only watched it because I liked the description for it. It wasn’t until I started watching it that I realized it was mumblecore.  4.5 out of 10