It's a weird week. Not only did I review three raunchy sex comedies, but two are fronted by women, which is a rarity. You can compare and contrast via my reviews, but one is very good and one tries really hard and fails and the other is truly awful. Hint: I arranged them in order.
* Bachelorette, Kirsten Dunst and Isla Fisher lead a great cast into some crass territory the night before the wedding.
* For a Good Time, Call..., or as I like to call it Phone Sex and the City. I know that's not funny, but neither is the movie.
* The Babymakers, perhaps the least funny comedy of the year. I like Paul Schneider and Olivia Munn, but there's no salvaging this weak script. Directed by Jay Chandrasekhar (Supertroopers) and out soon on DVD/Blu-Ray.
ALSO IN THEATRES...
* Red Hook Summer, the latest Spike Lee film, takes us back to some familiar ground to tackle difficult subject matter in a fiercely compelling fashion.
* Samsara, the new film by the makers of Baraka. I did a short review for the Portland Mercury, but space caused it to get cut in half. The 100-word version gets to the point pretty well, you can read it here, but I've also gotten permission to run my original version on my own:
SAME-SARA, SAMSARA
Whatever You See, You See
by Jamie S. Rich
The guys known for arranging footage of stuff have arranged a bunch more stuff. With a world music soundtrack!
The creators of Baraka and Koyaanisqatsi return to cinemas with Samsara. This go-around, the focus of their artfully arranged travelogue is the ongoing struggle of man versus nature, and how one’s always trying to get the upper hand. Monks push around colored sand to make a mosaic, storms push around people’s homes and cars, filling them with dirt and rubble. Director/cinematographer Ron Fricke roams the Earth in search of interesting images and patterns that illustrate the dualities of tradition/modernity and creation/waste, all the while hoping to challenge the way we view the world around us.
As a chronicle of actual things and people, Samsara can’t be beat. What David Attenborough does for animals and jungles, Fricke does for humans and cities. Too bad the juxtapositions he creates are more obvious than illuminating. Truth withers under the constant glare of the editorial eye. Samsara moves quickly, but somehow still doesn’t stave off distractions. I spent a lot of time thinking about my groceries, bills, and girls who broke my heart, all of which seemed more urgent and real than Samsara’s international rhythms.
Current Soundtrack: Elbow, Dead in the Boot
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All text (c) 2012 Jamie S. Rich
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