I just rented and rewatched Giant and I love that fucking movie. Its such a big hollywood epic. I love that James Dean never gets over trying to get one over on Rock Hudson to the point that he screws around with his barely legal daughter (in an implied 1950s sort of way). And That shot of the mansion with nothing around it and the oil welling up? Gorgeous.

The Holiday is a charming piece of fluff, mostly because Kate, Jude, and Jack sell their characters nicely. Cameron Diaz? Not so much. She should not agree to be in a movie with Kate Winslet, because it just serves to showcase what a lousy actress she is. Some of her line readings made me wince in pain.

Strangers with Candy. I'd had it sitting in my bag for a week, and I finally watched it this morning while waiting for my plane. I thought it was pretty funny. My love for Colbert knows no bounds. And I love that they snagged Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Matthew Broderick for roles. PSH was so funny, even though they only gave him a little bit part. "SHE'S WITH ME!...on the school board."

Yes!! Welcome to the Cult of Bowie's Wang.

I rented United 93 this weekend. While I did shed tears, it wasn't quite the sobfest I was expecting. I was more tense through the whole thing, like someone was taking my in-*test*-('")ines and wringing them out. Absurdly, a small part of me was hoping the passengers would actually succeed in getting the plane back and safely on the ground, although I know very well that's not what happened.

Then for a rather bizzare companion piece, I watched Little Miss Sunshine. (I figured I wouldn't be able to sleep otherwise). It was a cute movie, although not really one I want to own and watch over and over again.

Dr. T & The Women: Altman’s reputation as a women’s director escapes me. All his female characters are absolutely unsympathetic in everyway. Granted he’s a contemptuous misanthrope behind the camera, but he seems to have a misogynistic streak on top of that.

He’s like that guy you are acquainted with who has no job, a chauvinist pig, openly crass and abusive but has about six women falling all over him. Exhibit A: Dr. T and the Women.

Every female character is a vacuous materialistic Dallas society bitch (Altman seems to have an unhealthy disdain for anyone with a drawl too.) There is plenty of sport to have at the Texas upper class, but it takes some doing to make yourself come off as being harsh to them. Hell I laughed my ass off at the Vice President shooting a guy in the face, but I found myself thinking “jeez Bob, take it easy.”

• Laura Dern is a drunken flibbertigibbet trophy wife. He’s used this character in 3 movies in the 90’s that I can think of off the top of my head and expanded not one bit upon it.
• Tara Reid is woefully miscast as an Kennedy Assassination expert. Ok her agent wanted to piss against the tide of Tara being a coked out party girl, but there is something inherently cruel about overmatching her like this. Kind of like throwing a taser in the chimp cage in the zoo. “Storms are nature’s snipers” Fuck the what now?
• Lee Grant has two stunningly awful scenes as the shrink documenting the “Hestia Complex” that afflicts poor Farrah Fawcet. I saw two movies featuring Robert Hays that had heretofore unheard of mental disorders and Lt. Hurwitz thinking he was Ethel Merman was by far the more plausible.
• Farrah Fawcett now that she’s brain fried it’s uncomfortable that Altman casts her as a mental patient and convinces her to do a nude scene in a mall fountain… also 25 years too late for all those guys that had her poster. (me, I’m a Shelly Hack apologist.)
• And if you think Hack is too much of a has-been for Altman: Shelly Long. A fake Texas accent which only conveys “Why did I leave Cheers?”
• Helen Hunt, her over exposure inadvertently symbolized by her having a wet t-shirt like four times in the movie.
• Kate Hudson is his other daughter, a lesbian Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. SEEN IT!
• Liv Tyler I think this is where she started affecting her voice to the “Happy Birthday Mr. President” breathiness. Altman let’s actors run around without a leash and if I can blame this on him…

Dr T is the horn of plenty for Altman’s trademark “message for you sir” style symbolism. Farrah’s nude scene takes place in front of the Godiva chocolate store when the characters are tramping around the mall looking for her we see the Guess store to answer a rhetorical question and it’s not just in the background or passed by, Altman pans off the action and up to the sign. “Did you get this?!” While he was at it he should have gunned down someone in front of a Target or added “Duh! Duh! Dun!!!!” to the score.
Of all the details-stretched-out-to-a-goddamned-set-piece for Altman fan boys to whack over, Dr. T letting one of his patients smoke during a visit maybe the most heavy handed.

Who ever ordered the score must have asked Lyle Lovett for a “twangy Spanish Flea”

I’m off to settle into nice episode of Dallas.

I'm renting this movie just to see Tara Reid.

Pulse was interesting, though it seemed very vapid in contrast with the social commentary of the Japanese original. I loved the scene with Zieglar, the guy who discovered the transmitted monster thingies, though. Reminded me greatly of the "don't be a werewolf!" episode of SVU.

I really liked Weird Al's UHF -- imagine, movie parodies that are actually funny and make comments on the films they're parodying, instead of just referencing them for the sake of it! Plus, I love stuff about television production.

And in a complete 180, I also got Sogo Ishii's Burst City, which is sort of like a live action punk rock musical version of Akira. The DVD is an excellent one from a company called Discotek that puts out great releases of obscure Japanese genre films -- if you can find it, check it out.

Because I really enjoyed Pan's Labyrinth, I decided to give The Devil's Backbone a try. I loved the atmosphere of the film, and how it was a ghost story where >>you were much more afraid of a real person than the ghost<<

It's been a good week for rentals. Half Nelson, Hollywoodland and Memento.

All of which were quite good, though I didn't like Hollywoodland quite as much as the others.

Ryan Gosling was amazing. I thought that something would read as: "for the consideration of the Academy." But nothing did. He was so amazingly subtle and natural, it felt like I was just watching him and not watching an actor play a movie role.

Memento was a trip. I love the timeline and how you have to pay close attention in order to remember in what order everything happened. I also loved the twist. I thought I had called the movie but then there turned out to be so much more than that.

The pinacle of Tara Reid's career will always be "I'll suck your cock for $1000."

Was that for a movie role, or just Tara being Tara?

Perhaps a little of both. (However, she does say it in The Big Lebwoski)

In the last SF you voiced disapointment that Dr T and the Women wasn't about someone who had a PHD in pitying fools.

Hahahahahahahahaha...ten minutes elapse...hahahahahaha.