Monkey Movie Review

This is possibly the most disturbingly maddeningly brilliant film I have ever seen:

I'll have to see it again because I'm sure there were lots of things I missed or didn't get on first viewing and I'll probably end up buying it eventually. Yeah, I liked it that much.

Oh don't get me wrong though, it's not for everybody. If Being John Malkovich was too 'out there' for you, or if you didn't like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and if The Science of Sleep left you flummoxed then Synecdoche New York is not a film you need to be watching. But if you like challenging films, films with a waaaaaay off beat sense of humor, and films that make an impression on you days after seeing them, then by all means watch this film.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman turns in his usual good work in this film, as does Catherine Keener, Michelle Williams, and Diane Weist. But the real stand outs are Hope Davis, Tom Noonan as the non actor hired to play Phillip Seymour Hoffman's character in the play and Samantha Morton as Hoffman's on and off love interest. After her small but winning cameo in this film I'm almost ready to forgive Jennifer Jason Leigh for making Georgia, almost but not quite. I still hate that movie.

The two funniest things in this film to me were Mabel's smouldering house and Hoffman's daughter's death bed scene. I'm getting cracked up just thinking about them now as I write this.

I'm ready to go ahead and name Charlie Kaufman a national treasure for writing and directing this film. He's got to be the single most creative screenwriter working in film today and based on his direction of this movie, he may be getting ready to give Terry Gilliam and Michel Gondry a run for their title of most creative film directors working today.

I can't believe how much I love this film. It's wonderfully strange and strangely wonderful.

Dr. Monkey's Movie Review Cubed

The Hoax is a very good film. It tells the story of Clifford Irving's audacious attempt to pass off a fake autobiography of Howard Hughes. This film hits on all cylinders, the script and look of the movie are good, the performances by Richard Gere, Alfred Molina, Hope Davis (who makes a stunning brunette by the way), and Marcia Gay Harden (despite being saddled with the worst cinematic hairdo of the decade and who uses a pretty bad accent) were all stellar, and the director, Lasse Hallstrom, did a fine job. The extras are good and so is the soundtrack in the film. I highly recommend this movie.


Little Children was one of the most disquieting films I have ever seen. No one in this films ends up getting what they think they want. It's a troubling and at times hard film to watch because one can imagine these sort of things go on all the time in the suburbs. Having said that, I really liked this film. It's one of those movies that sticks with you, the story, the performances, it was all just hauntingly good. It's a depressing film on many counts though so if you don't like sad or provocative movies I don't recommend it for you. Why Kate Winslet has not won an academy award is beyond me, she deserved it for this film, as did her nominated co-star Jackie Earl Haley. Ladies, there is some serious beefcake in this movie so if you like to see buff dudes and you don't mind having to look at Kate Winslet nude then check this one out. Also, the guy who does the voiceover through out the film has possibly the best speaking voice ever. Oh yeah, Trini Alvarado is in this movie as well, you may remember her from Beaches but I fell in love with her when I saw her in Times Square.

The rap against this movie is that it seems like an extended version of the TV show. Well, like the song says, "Ain't nuthin' wrong with that...." A mediocre episode of The Simpsons is better than 95% of what's on TV any day of the week and this movie adaption is better than 80% of the films on DVD now. It works, the comedy, the voiceovers, the story, everything. I you like the TV show, you'll love this movie because you finally get to hear some of the beloved characters cuss and you get to see Bart naked. It's funny and I look forward to seeing it again some time.