Analog Jam

Be Kind Rewind
Betamaxminimum
Trailers & Mo

Michel Gondry’s ideas are getting bigger, but his films aren’t necessarily getting better. No one would ever deny the fact that he’s a true artist, in any medium really, but then again, no one would probably admit to watching Science of Sleep [TWS review] a second time. Besides the brilliant Eternal Sunshine [WS review], none of his other films have hit the nail on the head, only getting a passing grade cause they’re so cool to watch (DP’s Block Party doesn’t count). Be Kind Rewind is juss the latest to join dem ranks, but the novelty is starting to wear thin. The idea of Jack Black erasing an entire video store’s inventory of VHS tapes, forcing him and store clerk nice guy Mos Def to recreate them in a mos basic DIY kinda way (or as they call it ‘swede a film’) is rather nifty on paper, but after you see the fruits of their labor on VHS, you’ll be wishing you could skip ahead, like you can on a DVD (or should that read Blu-Ray now?). Once Gondry has had his fill of fun with his playful swedes (send ups include: Ghostbusters, King Kong, Driving Miss Daisy, Rush Hour 2 etc, etc), the story attempts to find some meaning in it all. While the conclusion is sweet and good-natured, its juxtaposition to the silliness it follows doesn’t add up to anything more than a great idea that juss looks cool. We tried to be as kind as we could, but now it’s time to FFwd to the next Gondry joint. Regardless, we can’t wait

Genius Loves His Own Company: Gondry sweded the original trailer! SWEEEDTT!!

John Grisham’s Jizzum (aka Verdict): Gondry is always worth a Peeper, but this one is juss Sum Merit But Not Stinkin Badges

Charlie Bartlett
Student R_xchange Program
Trailers & Mo

We’re starting to grow tired of precocious young Anton Yelchin, and it has nothing to do with his weasel voice or mop top hair, although it certainly doesn’t help his case. How many times does he have to play a doe-eyed smarmy know-it-all skinny kid, endlessly cursin for a bruisin (Hearts of Atlantis, Alpha Dog)? Great question, but an even better one is why do we keep rooting for him to get his a$$ handed to him? He certainly got his just desserts in the little seen earnest mess that was Fierce People [TWS review], and it happens once again in the beginning of the very vanilla coming of age ‘comedy’ Charlie Bartlett. The two films are similar in a lot of respects, cept FP is actually interesting and CB is juss plain ole lame. Long time editor (of Jay Roach’s movies) and first time director Jon Poll certainly gives it the old high school try, and while his portrayal of teens may be a bit more realistic than what we’ve seen in cinema recently, there’s nothing visually or audibly stunning going on here to make up for the blah blah blah. Not even the supporting work of Robert Downey Jr. or Hope Davis can help to add a beat to the DULLdrums. We hope (Davis) Yelchin gets quite the licking in his next pics, as Chekov 2.0 in the new Star Trek and sum Russkie in the tATu movie

Ice Ice Daddy : Anton’s parents, Irina Korina and Viktor Yelchin, were a Russian figure skating team (explains a lot). His dad went on to become Sasha Cohen’s first coach. No word if papa had anything to do with these racy of pics of the adorable pixie

John Grisham’s Jizzum (aka Verdict): not enuff merit for badges, so this one is Slit Yer Eyes Out Repoopulous

both films open in theaters tomorrow

Rental Round-Up Dawg: if you have as big a hard-on as we do for Fincher’s Zodiac and/(wh)or(e) the case in general then ya gotta czech out Charlie Chan at Treasure Island (tis a part of that boxset seen below). The film musta been watched by the killer him/herself cause the killer in the film is called Dr Zodiac and he sends taunting messages about his crimes to peeps all over San Fran!!!! It’s not only worth the peep for that reason, but it’s really effin entertaining AND it’s only like 73 minutes!! Plus Cesar Romero is in it and he didn’t even have to paint his mustache!!!! We hearted it so much that we’re planning to watch all of the Charlie Chan movies… even though it’s strange that they have a white dude playing an Asian fellow. At least it’s not as racist as the yellofacin’ of Mickey Rooney in Breakfast At Tiffany’s

And since there’s no originality left in this remake age, be sure to seek out Death Race 2000 in all it’s cheesy glory before the Jason Statham-Joan Allen vehicle (pun intended) hits screen this fall. Same goes for the TV series Get Smart, which gets the big screen adaptation treatment this summer with Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway as Maxwell Smart and Agent 99 respectively. It was one of our father’s favorite shows and ours too. If you’ve never seen it, there’s no better time than today to start! The good folks at Time-Life released a complete collection that includes ALL 138 eps, plus a ton o’ bonuses, including, but certainly not limited to audio commentaries by creators Buck Henry and Mel Brooks, OG Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon) and many more. Sadly Don Adams passed away two years ago, but he will never be forgotten!

until next thyme the balcony is clothed…