Friday, May 11, 2007

What to watch this weekend?

I've been pretty psyched for the sequel to "28 Days Later" for some time now, and now that it's here, my excitement has hit fever pitch.

I'm ashamed to say that in the Macon Telegraph, because we have to rush our Friday entertainment section on to the press early in the week, we ran a one-and-a-half star review of "28 Weeks Later" from the usually very reliable Roger Moore. Mr. Moore is usually a geek at heart, so I'm just hoping he got this one wrong, because I've seen more than couple raves out there already too.

Given the other choices this weekend, anyway, it's definitely the cream of the crop. If I had a couple of hours to kill I could probably come up with a couple hundred very painful things I'd rather do than watch "Georgia Rule." There's an article in the fantastic new Oxford American Southern Movie Issue that tries to crown Lindsay Lohan as a "hillbilly heroine," but trash with a crown is still just shiny trash in my book.

And I've officially reached my breaking point with Zach Braff. Last night's "Scrubs," following a simply sublime episode of "The Office," was just plain bad. They apparently even managed to put the extremely likable Amanda Peet and Jason Bateman in "The Ex" and gave them exactly nothing funny to do or say.

And then, of course, there's "Delta Farce." What can you say about this one? I was happy to see that, rather than shipping Larry the fat redneck to Iraq to ridicule our fighting forces for real, they instead send him off with Bill Engvall and DJ Qualls to Mexico to ridicule our friends to the south. It's nice to see someone as geeky as DJ gets to keep working, but there's just no way I can see myself supporting this.

So, one good movie. Actually, if you live anywhere near Macon, there's another very appealing option this weekend. The Macon Film Guild is presenting Deepa Mehta's "Water" Sunday at 2, 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. at the Douglass Theater in downtown Macon. If I have this right, the movie is set in 1930's India and is about a young girl and other women forced to live in a home for widows. It's supposed to be epicly good viewing, so if you're going to the 2 p.m. show, I'll see you there.

So, actually two good movies on a summer weekend? I guess I can't really complain much about that after all.

The. U.S. vs. Michael Moore

You know an American presidential administration is in its final days when it does something as epicly stupid as this.

Michael Moore knows a thing or two about garnering attention for himself. It's what makes his otherwise entertaining and informative documentaries often a pain to watch. Now, even before the release of his new one, "Sicko," he's getting a big assist in this endeavor from an unlikely source: George Bush.

It seems the U.S. Treasury Dept. recently opened an investigation into whether Moore violated a federal travel ban to Cuba by taking "ailing Sept. 11 rescue workers" there for medical attention for a segment in "Sicko," according to the Associated Press. In other words, they've turned what sounds like a typical Michael Moore gimmick into a media event. Sheesh.

Don't get me wrong. If Lions Gate manages to actually play this wide enough to reach my little corner of the world when it opens June 29, I'll be there on opening day. Like a train wreck, Moore's movies just have an appeal that keeps me from looking away, even when he makes a royal ass of himself.

The funniest man in America?

I was going to say the world, but there may well be s Sri Lankan comedian whose funnier than Rainn Wilson. But I kinda doubt it.

He apparently has a role in Jason Reitman's next flick "Juno" (along with Ellen Page, Michael Cera, JK Simmons and Jason Bateman .. what a cast!), but he also has two other projects in the works that sound very funny. The first, of which I don't know the title, apparently answers one of the many burning questions that have plagued my overly busy mind: What does a ninja do in his downtime? He's also just been signed to star in something called "Rocker," about a Pete Best-style drummer who gets a second shot of fame.

Wilson's Dwight Schrute is the funniest character on the small screen, so I can't wait to see what happens when he finally gets to cut up on the big one.

P.S. I've mentioned it here before, but the script for "Juno" was written by Minneapolis City Pages scribe Diablo Cody, author of the very funny Pussy Ranch blog, so it's well worth supporting when it finally comes out. Peace out.

11 comments:

Chalupa said...

I'd like to highly recommend Water. It's pretty good. I saw it about a year and a half ago.

Vance said...

Isn't Jennifer Garner in Juno too? I thought yesterday had best cast ever... maybe I spoke too soon. Plus, it's like an orgy of young CDN talent! Daniel Clark, Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Cameron Bright! Wow! Go Canada (including Water!) haha.. sorry... a little too much national pride there for a sec...maybe it's hockey fever up here (even though I'm supporting Buffalo... gasp).

bill said...

off topic: Keith, it just occurred to me, are you a former Minnesotan living in Georgia (I am)? Or do you just have relatives up there?

Heading up there for a conference and expect to be at Al's Breakfast for pancakes tomorrow morning.

Reel Fanatic said...

I'm not a former Minnesotan, Bill, but my brother currently toils for the Minneapolis City Pages and I visit there as often as possible ... I'm going back in August to catch two Minnesota Thunder games and just have a great time in that fantastic city ... And you're right, Vance, Jennfer Garner is in Juno too ... the story sounds almost as good as the cast, so it's definitely one I'm really looking forward to

kookie said...

I hadn't heard of 'Juno', but Rainn Wilson, Jason Bateman and Michael Cera together just sold a ticket.

renee said...

Water is really good. Bring a tissue, because it's an emotional film.

Jennifer George said...

I saw 28 Weeks Later last night and I thought it was one of the best horror movies I've ever seen.

Divinity said...

Waitress! I saw Waitress! Yay!

Reel Fanatic said...

I'm jealous, divinity .. With it now having been two weeks and no "Waitress" in my little corner of the world, I've now resigned myself to the fact that showing the trailers here was just a cruel hoax

Divinity said...

I'm really sorry that you haven't had it play in Macon yet. We didn't open it here until this past Friday. My review is up, for what it is. Here's hoping you get it soon!
On a side note, I just got my third issue of the Buffy comics and Season 8 could easily turn out to be my favourite! The first story arc is almost complete and the editor has written that Joss has expanded the original 24 issues to probably about 30. How shiny is that? oops, that's me mixing Whedon-isms...

Reel Fanatic said...

Season 8 is indeed turning out to be great, Divinity ... I hadn't heard that Joss had already extended the run, but that only makes sense since it sells out at my local comic book store on the day it comes each time