List: Netflix Queue, Best of

broderic on December 8, 2006

Not only is it the season for gift lists, but it is also the time of year that people break out there “best of” lists. Here at BrowserMetrics, we aim to be like the rest of the sheep. So without further ado, here’s the first of what should be many lists (I do have to fill 31 days of posts).

According to my Netflix queue, as of today, these are my top rated DVDs this year. Of course I only started renting from them this year. Most of the good DVDs will have inspired a post on this site, so you could read my review. I hope you place some of these on your Netflix queue to enjoy.

5 stars

4 stars

Adventures From My Netflix Queue: Hell on Wheels

broderic on December 5, 2006

Hell On Wheels documents the 100th vesion of le Tour de France by following Team Telekom as they compete in that edition. It was funny to watch a tour from another countries side. If this was an American film it would’ve been about Lance Armstrong notching his fifth straight tour victory. Or even about the herculean effor put in by Tyler Hamilton to go the distance and finish fourth with a broken collarbone. Yet, this was a German film and being such, it focused on Team Telekom, a German team.

Funny that. This was the most exciting race of the seven that Lance Armstrong won, and this film barely mentions him. Hamilton got more coverage and even then it was bare.

The film follows several team members on this tour: Rolf Aldag, the consummate gunny-sargent, Erik Zarbel, the sprinter on his last legs, Andreas Kloden, wiped out and abandoned with a broken cocyx. It also shows some behind the scenes of Aldag and Zarbel with their massuese. These scenes were very reminiscent of the end of an era. Showing the humanity in the racers and their desire to finish. Zarbel especially comes off as being on the verge of losing his legs with his buddy, Aldag and his massuese by his side as his chances of being a force in the cycling world dim.

Anywhoo, I want to go out and ride right now, but it’s late. When’s summer coming?

4 of 5 stars.

Movie Reviewing

broderic on December 3, 2006

I figure that lots of my posts here are movie reivews. I made a commitment a while ago to watch as many films in theatres as possible. Lately, I don’t feel like it, because movies are sucking. Looking over my reviews of the last year I would say that most are 2 stars or less. The summer of 2005 was bad, but no where as sucky as the summer of 2006. Wha’ happened?

Anyway, all this is a lead up to posting about The House Next Door. A movie blog that does some excellent reviews. This is how I wish I could make my reviews zing. Or failing that, this is how I wish my movie reviews could be. Check them out.

The Fountain

broderic on December 2, 2006

This review of The Fountain is overdue. I had seen it last weekend. While the Ravens were beating up on Pittsburgh, I was contemplating the meaning of life with Hugh Jackman and Racheal Weisz. If that isn’t a mindfuck Sunday, then what is?

When the credits started rolling, a lady behind us asked, “Did anyone get that?” The audience muttered something that wasn’t a resolute yes, but a half-hearted no. Most people laughed as well figuring that everyone didn’t get the film.

But what was there to get? It was another movie contemplating life. In fact it can be summed up simply with “live your life to the fullest or you’ll regret it.” It just so happens that if you live forever and you don’t follow this maxim, you’ll want to plunge yourself into a dying star to make up for this regret.

2 of 5 stars.

Film, Thoughts on Film. Casino Royale

broderic on November 20, 2006

The new James Bond film is fantastic. But it’s too long and there are some slow spots in the film. Especially with James Bond in love. That’s right. James Bond falls in love in this one. And like “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” that doesn’t work out too well. It makes him into the Bond that he is today. Except for the misstep in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.”

4 of 5 stars.

Mindless spot of the Eternal sun. F’eh!

broderic on November 13, 2006

There once was a blogger who wrote a review about the movie, Stranger Than Fiction. He had seen it the previous night. Now, it wasn’t the movie he went to see, but since that was sold out, it was either Stranger Than Fiction or The Return. Being tired of trite horror films since Halloween had just past and not wanting to watch a movie from behind the brim of his ball cap, Stranger Than Fiction was the only choice. He bought a ticket as did his companions, waited a half hour before getting seated, and patiently watched the film unspool before him.

While devouring a ridiculously large bucket of popcorn, he felt that the movie was trying too hard. That it was too clever by a half. It was as if the writer and director wanted to out clever Charlie Kaufman’s writing and out wit Michel Gondry direction. The “meta” style and “wink-wink” that the plot represented indicated to the blogger that the story was very much about a story. The flashes of graphics thought to enhance the picture were gratuitous and show-offy. He was so aware that this was going to be another movie he would not like.

Yet, there was some doubt. How can he not like it when the main character gets the girl? He thought the writers would surely make it a dream, but no it was real. The audience cheered this development. How can you not like it when the fictional writer had ten years of writers block? He knows how that feels. He was pulling for her hoping that she would write, “Fish for sale! Fish for sale!” referencing another of filmdom’s infamous writer with writer’s block.

Can this movie win him over? It did! The characters live happily ever after. Imagine that! Love conquers all. Live your life as if dying tomorrow would not be bad. The cliches he had to think about. They would’ve made him give this film a terrible review, but in the end, he has to admit…

…3 of 5 stars. Much better than expected.

Hocus Pocus

broderic on November 13, 2006

The Prestige

Back in the day, magicians ruled entertainment. I found it hard to believe. You’ll also find this movie hard to believe once you realize that it is truly fictional. The conceit of this movie turns upon the idea that science can conjure up something truly fantastical. That scientists through there work create an unreality that is macabre. This movie asks us to believe that magicians practice magic, but scientists practice a dark art. The revelation at the end wherein we learn that Tesla was a mad genius who produced a scientific body that defies science. No wonder Thomas Edison and his thugs had to discredit him; his work was not science but magic. And the magicians’ illusions were not slight of hand, but pure fantasy.

Hugh Jackman I can’t take seriously. For me he is always a comical character. I don’t know why, perhaps it was his role in Kate & Leopold. No matter, he was a distraction.

2 of 5 stars.

Running With Scissors

broderic on November 2, 2006

I thought Joseph Fiennes was Kevin J. O’Connor, the dude who played Benny in The Mummy. Throughout the entire movie, I kept thinking, “Man, Benny sure has some acting chops. Who knew?” Obviously, I didn’t, so imagine my surprise that it wasn’t Benny.

3 of 5 stars.

Infernally Departed

broderic on October 20, 2006

The Departed. The US remake of Infernal Affairs. I had recently watched the original because by coincidence it wound up on my Netflix queue at the same time the US remake debuted.

The original was confusing. Now this may sound cliched but I couldn’t tell the bad guys apart. They were all chinese to me, so that when it was time to remember who the mole was in the police department, I couldn’t pick him out of a police line up. I spent the better part of the movie trying to fathom out what was going on. At least the undercover cop was easy to pick out because he’s the infamous Tony Leung. Supposedly, the other guy is somewhat famous, but I don’t really watch much chinese cop dramas because I am limited to the kung fu genre. Anyway, the original besides confusing me ended in a very bitter tone. You had the mole, who always wanted to be a good cop, make it and the undercover cop not. Like the scene in Heat with Al Pacino and Robert Deniro, their tales where intertwined, and you know that someone loses in the end. In this film, it turns out the good guy was the bad guy. For some time after, I was confused by the turn of events to let the mole live. It felt wrong, but I felt conflicted liking the bitter ending, but not liking that crime triumphed. Heh.

The remake adhered to the premise of the original with lots of the same plot rythms. Along with The Aviator, this pic does not include many grand Scorsese stylings. Scorsese sublimates his style to tell the story. Nicholson on the other hand is always Nicholson. The quiet unfolding of the film under Scorsese was punctuated by Nicholson’s brashness and makes the film seem lively, but the length of the movie was very noticeable. I squirmed for the last half hour waiting for the ending. Of course, there was an american twist in the end. You cannot end an american story embracing the dark side. Unlike the original, the mole gets his comeuppance. This was rather phony. For once, an american film should’ve ended (like the original) with the embrace of bad cops rule. I would’ve liked the bitter ending to have remained.

Mark Wahlberg was the best. Followed by Alec Baldwin. DiCaprio and Damon were alright. The boston accent is teh suck.

Original: 2 of 5 stars.
Remake: 2 of 5 stars