A Monkey movie review

After all the hype around The Wrestler finally died down, we decided to see it. And the bottom line is, believe the hype. It's a very good film.

I had my doubts about it and I carried those doubts throughout most of the movie and I did not get rid of the doubt until the very end when Mickey Rourke looks up and see that Marisa Tomei had fled the arena where he's wrestling. That's when I finally knew the film wasn't going to go the route of the nice neat make everyone happy Hollywood ending. The ending was messy and open ended, just like life is.

Mickey Rourke's performance as a washed up wrestler hanging on to his 'sport' is a thing of beauty. He fulfills in this role the promise he showed so early on in his acting career, the promise he squandered for so many years when he took so many bad roles in so many bad movies. His character in this film reminded me of Brett Favre because both men are way past their prime and they are only hanging on to their athletic pasts because they fear getting older. Marisa Tomei is also very good in her role as the aging stripper. She projects a world weary sexiness mixed with a longing for a normal life with her son. Her boobs are world class as well in this film.

Highly recommended.

Monkey Movie Review

They took away our free HBO and Cinemax channels but they left us with The Movie Channel On Demand and I caught this last night on it:
This film is about what happens when two brothers who need lots of money to correct their sorry lives decide to rob their parents jewelry store. The robbery goes wrong and it starts a tsunami of bad shit that eventually catches all the characters in it's wake.

It's hard to like any of the characters in this film because they are all so morally repellent. Even the one character who tries to do the right thing ends up doing the wrong thing. By the end of the film you are rooting for everyone to be killed off or imprisoned for their crimes.

Having said that, I'll say this, I liked all the performances in this downbeat heist gone wrong film. Phillip Seymour Hoffman, or Phil Sey Hoff to his buddies, turns in his usual stellar performance. He's playing the opposite of the lovable loser he played in Owning Mahowny. In Mahowny at least his character knew he was doing wrong and tried to do something about it. In this film his character knows he's doing wrong and he keeps on piling more wrong on wrong.

Ethan Hawke manages to shake off his post Uma divorce depression long enough to turn in a gritty performance as the whiny younger brother who is roped into his big brother's scheme.

Marissa Tomei shows off her natural assets through out the film and I for one was glad to see them, both of them. But all kidding aside she's very good in the film as well and I'd say that even if she wasn't topless in parts of it.

Albert Finney is also good despite doing most of his role with his mouth hanging wide open. It's as if ol' Al is giving a master class in mouth breathing acting for future generation of actors. But you know what? If' I can do a third of what he does when I get to be his age, I'll be doing good.

This film is not for the faint of heart or those who don't like seeing seedy criminals get their just rewards. If you like movies about petty criminals that have no honor then this film is for you. I recommend it but be prepared to not like any of the characters in it.

Monkey See, Monkey Do Quick Reviews

I got this DVD for Sparky for Christmas and we watched it on Christmas night. It follows the spirit and basic structure of the book and over all it's a dang fine adaption. Kal Penn is very good in it, although I had a hard time buying him in the scenes where he was supposed to be high school age. The actors who played his parents were great and so were the women who played Penn's love interests. Director Mira Nair did a damn fine job with it. The film is beautiful to look at, and I have a feeling it'll be in heavy rotation here at Monkey Central now that we own it.


I also got Sparky DVD's of some of her favorite movies and this was one of them:
I can not tell you how much I love this movie. Everyone in it is pitch perfect, Natasha Lyonne, Alan Arkin, Marisa Tomei, Carl Reiner, the guy who played her brother, the creepy guy who takes her virginity, they are all great in this movie. Even though it's about a teenage girl who is growing into her new big boobs and dealing with her crazy family, I empathized and identified with her character. I think it must be due to the fact that I grew up with such a collection of freaks and nut bags like she did. This one is definitely one we'll toss into the DVD player every few months.

I recommend both of these films highly.