09-21-2005

735) Bad Taste. Dork that I am, I was always proud to say that I had seen Meet the Feebles before anyone had ever heard of Peter Jackson. I rented it when I was 11 at the Movie Gallery when it was still in the Palisades (that's life growing up in the 'wood right there) and when I watched it I was like "how did they let an 11 year old kid rent this?!" That movie was messed up, people. But now that I'm thinking about it, that was a shady place anyway. I remember always wanting to rent Ilsa - She Wolf of the SS from there, but I was always afraid to, not because I thought they wouldn't let me, but because I was really actually a little scared of the movie. It looked so insane that I had to see it, but I never have gotten up the nerve and I've never seen it in a movie rental place again. So yeah, the fact that they had Ilsa - She Wolf of the SS in with the regular library selections should tell you something. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, they had a ton of movies like that. That place was insane. So anyway, I would always get film snobby about having seen Meet the Feebles and then I would always get "well have you seen Bad Taste?" and my gigantic, egotistical head would shrink back to normal size and I'd have to say no. But NO MORE! I'VE SEEN BAD TASTE, BITCHES, AND IT'S APTLY TITLED! Really though, it's a great movie. Not for the faint of heart, because the gore and gross out level on this one is high, but as a first movie it's astounding. It reminded me of Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead a lot. Both are purile, boyhood fantasy, slapstick splatterfests, but they both are helmed by first time director's with obviously immense talent who use deft camera work and inventive homemade effects to create a movie that is way better than it should be. Disgusting, but hysterically funny at times, and well visualized. I'm impressed.

736) All the Real Girls. On 16 Horsepower's recommendation. He was right, they nailed the accents. Most movies really try to play up the southern but for some reason speech coaches and producers never seem to realize that 95% of the time everyone talks alike while it's the other 5% that stands out. So you can tell them to talk slow and elongate their vowels all you want, but if you don't also tell them to reign it in and make sure to get the regional colloquialisms down pat they just sound like assholes trying to do an impression instead of a real southerner. Anyway, the accents were nailed, the only thing keeping Zooey Deschanel from overtaking Cate Blanchett in the who will be Todd's favorite actress contest is my inability to pronounce her name (It's not you Zooey, It's me), and the storytelling was well done. Sarah and Charity were bored to tears, but they're like that. I liked the idea of telling a longer story in smaller vignettes so you get the overall feel of the thing instead of concentrating on the details.

736 down, 264 to go.