Here are some movie reviews I was originally going to include in my zine and have since decided to scrap.

Broken Flowers: Bill Murray stars in this dry comedy about retired computer entrepreneur Don Johnston.  He receives an anonymous note one day from a former lover revealing that he fathered a son twenty years ago.  The note suggests he be on the look out for this long lost son who has run away from home in search of Don.  After incessant prodding and planning by his neighbor, Winston, Don heads out across the country to visit four former girlfriends and determine which one of them wrote the note.  I had high hopes for this movie, but it was a little disappointing.  The premise wasn’t bad, but the execution was a little stale.  One neat bonus feature on the DVD was a start to finish look behind the scenes that includes some humourous Murray outtakes.  Check it out if you’re a die hard Bill Murray fan or connoisseur of independent films, but don’t be expecting Rushmore or Lost in Translation.

Batman: Gotham Knight: This video is a collection of six interconnected Batman animated shorts, each by a different director and animation team.  At an hour and fifteen minutes, it’s not going to occupy your time like a feature film, but it’s still time well spent.  It may not be as violent and intense as The Dark Knight, but don’t confuse this for your kids’ Saturday morning cartoons.  A must see for comic book enthusiasts, but it may leave some wanting more.

The Fearless Freaks: This documentary covers the career of The Flaming Lips from their inception in 1983 all they way up until the time just after the release of their 2002 album, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.  The film is done by Bradley Beesley, long time neighbor to Lips’ frontman Wayne Coyne, and director of their music videos.  The film features interviews with band members past and present as well as several friends and family members.  It’s the tale of how a scrappy experimental garage band slowly evolved into a Grammy winning cult phenomenon and achieved success through determination and perseverance.  Consider this required viewing if you have two or more Flaming Lips albums in your library.  Further recommended for documentary fans in general.

The Graduate: Dustin Hoffman makes his debut performance in this classic film as Benjamin Braddock, a young college graduate who allows himself to be seduced by his older, married neighbor, Mrs. Robinson.  The two continue an affair for some time, but it comes to a messy end when Benjamin finds himself falling for the Robinsons’ daughter, Elaine.  This is a film that has been on my list of movies to see for years, and now that I’ve waited so long to see it I think it couldn’t quite live up to my expectations.  Although I enjoy the music of Simon and Garfunkel in general (who were responsible for the soundtrack and score), I feel like I listened to The Sound of Silence four times before the film was over.  Minor shortcomings aside, I’d still recommend this film to just about anyone.

A Hard Day’s Night: In their first film, the Fab Four are gearing up for a big televised show and along the way they are tasked with looking after Paul’s mischievous grandfather.  Described as a proper villain, the elder McCartney manipulates all those around him and throws a wrench into the works right before the band’s performance.  Seeing as I was born about twenty-five years after this film was made, I can’t imagine paying money to see this cheeky little story unfold on the silver screen.  However, it still manages to entertain and share some insight on a historical time in pop culture.  My favorite aspect was hearing some full length Beatles songs that I was previously unfamiliar with, such as “I Should Have Known Better,” which was first released on the film’s soundtrack.  Recommended for anyone that can name thirty or more Beatles tunes off the top of their head.

Across the Universe: This is a big screen musical featuring thirty-three songs and compositions from the Beatles.  I was a little skeptical because I don’t watch a lot of musics, on the other hand, I love the Beatles.  It’s the story of a young man named Jude, who comes from Liverpool to America in search of his father during the turbulent 1960’s. Along the way he .  One of the great aspects is how the songs are changed in terms of the arrangements, giving a fresh update to the tunes you love.  Each and every character in the film is named for someone in a Beatles song (Jude, Lucy, Sadie, Dr. Roberts, Maxwell, etc.) leaving you to guess which character will have their namesake song featured at some point (the performance of Dear Prudence seemed especially contrived).  The soundtrack seems a little heavy with tunes from The Beatles (White Album), featuring seven songs from it.  The runner up is Abbey Road which has five songs featured, but the greatest injustice is that not one song from the album Revolver is included.  Overall I was pleased with the film.  On top of some first rate music, the visual effects are right up there.  Mandatory viewing if you own The White Album,  Abbey Road or can name twenty Beatles tunes off the top of your head in less than two minutes time.  If nothing else, it should urge you to put those two albums into regular rotation for a week or more.

A Quick Look:

Sky Blue Sky Bonus DVD: Included with the deluxe version of Wilco album of same name, watch the band play nine full length songs in their practice loft as they prep for touring.  Includes insights from Jeff Tweedy between tunes.  A must for Wilco fans.  4 1/2 of 5.

If All Goes Wrong: Billy Corgan’s ego shows no signs of shrinking as he tries to bring back the Smashing Pumpkins name. Once faithful fans looking to remember the good old days walk out of shows before it’s over.  Documentery on disc one, full length concert on disc two.  For die hard fans only.  Beats shelling out $80 to see the latest lineup live.  3 of 5.

The Darjeeling Limited: Three brothers (played by Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, and Adrien Brody) reunite on a cross country train ride in India in the latest film directed by Wes Anderson.  Not quite on par with Rushmore or The Royal Tennenbaums, but pretty decent.  The soundtrack features a three songs from the Kinks’ Lola Vs. Powerman and the Moneygoround (and a Rolling Stones tune).  3 1/2 of 5.

The Seventh Seal: Ingmar Bergman’s 1957 classic follows a dying knight as he travels the countryside making time to play a game of chess with Death.  The DVD offers an English dubbed audio soundtrack if you can’t follow the subtitles with the original Swedish audio, but I found it easier to keep track of what was going on with the subtitles.  Good for discussion on themes and filmmaking or religion and death.  4 of 5

Filed under: Reviews by John