After last week's Oscar winning film viewing we went with some offbeat movies this week. The first one we saw was:
Don't get me wrong, I like the films of Wes Anderson, but this one wasn't that great. It's very pretty to look at because they filmed it on location in India and it's filled with the usual quirky Wes Anderson movie characters but it just didn't do much for me.
It was an hour and a half set up for one scene near the end when the brothers throw away all their baggage. Hey Wes, I got it. I got the metaphor you were going for. When they throw away all the luggage they were lugging around they were also tossing aside all their emotional baggage as well. Big frickin' deal. Wes, you spent all that time and money to make that not so subtle visual joke? Come on man, I thought you were better than that.
The leads, Owen Wilson, Adrian Brody, and Jason Schwartzman, all play along and give us the requisite Wes Anderson inspired performances. Meh, they've all done better work in other films. I was underwhelmed by all of them.
There was one bright spot in this movie for me and her name is Amara Karan. Here is her picture:
Hubba hubba. She's actually Sri Lankan by ethnicity but in this movie she played an Indian woman who worked on the train where some of the action takes place. She was cuter than cute in her small role and I hope she goes on to be in bigger and better projects than this one. And I also hope she develops a thing for pasty middle aged white guys who blog incessantly. Amara, Dr. Monkey likes his brown actresses don't ya know so give him a call sometime if you're ever in east Tennessee.
If you're a huge Wes Anderson fan then see this movie but if not then you won't miss anything if you skip it.
The other movie we watched was this one:
I was skeptical about it at first but from the get go it got me. It's funny, sweet, off beat and I liked it immensely.
It's about a fat schlub, played by Jeff Garlin, in his early 40's who lives with his mom and who is a borderline struggling actor. He has problems with his self esteem, his mother, his choice of careers, and with women. It's not a pity party movie where we're invited to laugh at the fat guy as he laughs at and makes fun of himself and it may not sound like a gut buster but there are some good laughs and memorable scenes in it. My favorite scene was the one where a kid in a poncho takes a hot dog from Garlin's character. Garlin asks him why he's wearing a poncho on a hot sunny day and the kid tells him he's wearing it as punishment for something he did wrong. The kid's father comes up and asks the kid if he said "Thank you" to Garlin for the hot dog and the kid admits he didn't. The father tsks, shakes his head, and says, "That's another week in the poncho for you young man." It was strange and unexpected enough to make me laugh out loud when I saw it.
The movie also has three of my favorite actresses in it:
Bonnie Hunt 
Speaking as a guy who has a belly and who's self esteem problems gave him problems with women in the past I really identified with Garlin in this movie and it's probably one of the reasons why I liked it so much. But it really is a well written, well acted, funny movie.
The only problem I had with it was the lack of extras. We've come to expect some DVD extras, be it the perfunctory "making of" mini documentary, deleted scenes, out takes, or cast bios, but with this movie you get none of those. Zip. Zilch. Nothing. But even with that one flaw, I highly recommend this film.
Don't get me wrong, I like the films of Wes Anderson, but this one wasn't that great. It's very pretty to look at because they filmed it on location in India and it's filled with the usual quirky Wes Anderson movie characters but it just didn't do much for me.It was an hour and a half set up for one scene near the end when the brothers throw away all their baggage. Hey Wes, I got it. I got the metaphor you were going for. When they throw away all the luggage they were lugging around they were also tossing aside all their emotional baggage as well. Big frickin' deal. Wes, you spent all that time and money to make that not so subtle visual joke? Come on man, I thought you were better than that.
The leads, Owen Wilson, Adrian Brody, and Jason Schwartzman, all play along and give us the requisite Wes Anderson inspired performances. Meh, they've all done better work in other films. I was underwhelmed by all of them.
There was one bright spot in this movie for me and her name is Amara Karan. Here is her picture:
Hubba hubba. She's actually Sri Lankan by ethnicity but in this movie she played an Indian woman who worked on the train where some of the action takes place. She was cuter than cute in her small role and I hope she goes on to be in bigger and better projects than this one. And I also hope she develops a thing for pasty middle aged white guys who blog incessantly. Amara, Dr. Monkey likes his brown actresses don't ya know so give him a call sometime if you're ever in east Tennessee.If you're a huge Wes Anderson fan then see this movie but if not then you won't miss anything if you skip it.
The other movie we watched was this one:
I was skeptical about it at first but from the get go it got me. It's funny, sweet, off beat and I liked it immensely.It's about a fat schlub, played by Jeff Garlin, in his early 40's who lives with his mom and who is a borderline struggling actor. He has problems with his self esteem, his mother, his choice of careers, and with women. It's not a pity party movie where we're invited to laugh at the fat guy as he laughs at and makes fun of himself and it may not sound like a gut buster but there are some good laughs and memorable scenes in it. My favorite scene was the one where a kid in a poncho takes a hot dog from Garlin's character. Garlin asks him why he's wearing a poncho on a hot sunny day and the kid tells him he's wearing it as punishment for something he did wrong. The kid's father comes up and asks the kid if he said "Thank you" to Garlin for the hot dog and the kid admits he didn't. The father tsks, shakes his head, and says, "That's another week in the poncho for you young man." It was strange and unexpected enough to make me laugh out loud when I saw it.
The movie also has three of my favorite actresses in it:
Bonnie Hunt Sarah Silverman
and Amy Sedaris. And all three are great in it.Speaking as a guy who has a belly and who's self esteem problems gave him problems with women in the past I really identified with Garlin in this movie and it's probably one of the reasons why I liked it so much. But it really is a well written, well acted, funny movie.
The only problem I had with it was the lack of extras. We've come to expect some DVD extras, be it the perfunctory "making of" mini documentary, deleted scenes, out takes, or cast bios, but with this movie you get none of those. Zip. Zilch. Nothing. But even with that one flaw, I highly recommend this film.
8 comments:
I just don't get the Sarah Silverman thing, sure she's cute, but she's SO annoying.
The best thing in the Darjeeling Express was the first 5 minutes, the scene where Bill Murray is trying to catch the train. having been in India recently, I can tell you that the scene was completely accurate.
Bonnie, Sarah & Amy?!?
That only guarantees a place in my rental queue!
O.K., now this is just getting too damn weird. I watched, or tried to watch, Darjeeling Limited this past weekend and couldn't sit through it. And, I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With has been on my Netflix waiting list for about eight months. Spill it, von Monkerstein, you're taking advantage of the Patriot act to spy on my Netflix list.
Cheese for me please, they're three of my favourites too! Maybe they didn't let the Darjeeling steep long enough?
I've noticed that every movie you like is quickly followed up with a photo of a hot babe, or two, or three. Coincidence?
Lulu-She's cute and funny that's why we dig her.
MWB-Rent it, watch it. You'll like it.
Kriby-Big Monkey is watching you.
Dale-Quite the witty bee aren't you? :)
GKL-I have to post them when I can sugar booger.
Cute? yes. Funny? Not at all.
Just came across your blog while searching for Bonnie Hunt fans. Seeing as you mentioned Bonnie as one of your favorite actresses, I thought you might be interested in her new daytime talk show, The Bonnie Hunt Show. We’re sharing promo clips for the show with bloggers in anticipation of the debut, September 8. Please follow the link above for the clips and feel free to post any if you enjoy them!
Any feedback is appreciated!
Cheers,
Eric Hansen
eric@m80im.com
*M80 encourages full transparency; please feel free to disclose that M80 contacted you on behalf of Warner Bros.
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