No Direction Home: Part 2 -- Martin Scorsese
I already wrote about this, so I'll just say if you like Bob Dylan, you should definitely check Scorsese's documentary.
Piranha 3-D -- Alexandre Aja
None of Aja's other films really made me think he'd do a tongue-in-cheek, mostly comic horror movie very well, so I'm fairly impressed that Piranha 3-D is generally entertaining (though I technically just saw Piranha since there was no 3-D). If you like extended underwater nude ballets and lots of gore, this is for you. I was a little let down by the reliance on CG (having watched the awesome original the week before didn't help) and Piranha falls completely apart in the last 20-30 minutes to the extent that I was getting angry about how things were playing out. And if anyone has any theories on what happens to Paul Scheer's character, you have to top his own explanation: "OPTION #1: Andrew is a Piranha" (more thoughts here). Not unhappy I saw Piranha, but never have to revisit it (unless it gets a new ending).
Blade II-- Guillermo del Toro
I think I'm inclined to like del Toro more when he's not adapting a comic book. They're all serviceable, but he's so much better when creating his own world (at least to me). Probably my biggest issue with Blade on the whole is that it's so humorless. I just can't take a half-man, half-vampire vampire killer seriously to begin with, so why should the film? Because it's Wesley Snipes, who seems to have lost his sense of humor some time after White Men Can't Jump. I was struck by how similar the super-race of vampires are to the vampires in del Toro and Chuck Hogan's book The Strain (and its sequel(s)). I did have a tiny "holy shit!" moment when I realized that one of the cadre of Reaper-hunters is played by Donnie Yen (who is the star of Ip Man, which I watched last week), who also did the fight choreography. It's the little things.
House on the Edge of the Park -- Ruggero Deodato
I guess I shouldn't be surprised by this, but House on the Edge of the Park (which isn't really near a park at all) reminded me a lot of The Last House in the Woods. It's not just the similar titles, though. They both play around with who you should be rooting for. While the latter actually has a sympathetic character or two, the former is nothing but awful people. HotEotP isn't really pleasant to watch (unwanted sexual advances are the order of the day), but it definitely left me with a lot to think about. The payoff doesn't really work at all with any type of critical thought, but there's a lot of interesting structural and thematic elements (which may or may not be intentional) that I can't help but admire. But seriously, this film isn't for everyone, so watch with caution. It does have an DVD cover, though.
Eva is probably a fine movie. I just didn't care about the story remotely. Anytime I watch a movie where one character falls hopelessly in love (read: lust) with someone who treats them like crap even though they are engaged/married to someone else who loves them seemingly no matter what they do (it's like a vicious circle!), I check out. Sure, it probably happens all the time, but it's so stupid and beyond reason that it's not worth investing my time in. Needless to say, I don't have much to say about Eva.
The Wrong Guy -- David Steinberg
The Wrong Guy should probably be a lot worse than it is. To be honest, I enjoyed it a lot. It's a trifle of a film, but wholly enjoyable. It's like The Wrong Man except the police know that the titular wrong man didn't do it leaving him the only person who believes that he's a suspect. David Foley is eminently likable (as always) and the cast is filled out by lots of recognizable bit players. It's co-written by Jay Kogen (writer for The Simpsons) and features tons of fun dialogue. An example? Sure thing.
Creepy Guy: Know how many assassins it took to kill JFK?A fun riff on Hitchcock. Definitely one to check out (even if it has a Barenaked Ladies cameo).
Nelson Hibbert: One?
Creepy Guy: Nope. There were no gunmen at all. His head just did that. I call it the "No Bullet theory."
Sherlock (BBC Show) -- Disc 2
There's only three total episodes of Sherlock this was the last one, though I'm looking forward to the second series. I really like everything about this show. Well, almost. There's a portrayal of a character that only comes up in this episode that I found a little off-putting. I almost came around to it, but was pushed back. I don't want to spoil anything about it, though. Sherlock Holmes mysteries are interesting because I don't think the reader/viewer is ever supposed to be able to figure out, which makes my efforts feel particularly futile, but I've still got to try, dammit!
Samurai Princess -- Kengo Kaji
I think this might be the end of me watching this type of hyper-violent Japanese horror movie. I made it through Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl and one other (the name escapes me, but they're all essentially the same), but Samurai Princess' production quality is far below those (which are already fairly low). Maybe it's that I watched it on Instant View, but it looked bad (and was dubbed... seriously Netflix. If you're going to focus on streaming, at least supply options for how we want to stream). There's some crazy gore, but the movie is a complete mess. The best thing I can say about it is that it's less than an hour and a half.
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