bradlewis98's reviews
by bradlewis98
This page compiles all reviews bradlewis98 has written, sharing their detailed thoughts about movies, TV shows, and more.
9 reviews
"Old Dogs" is simply mind numbingly awful. It's like two hours of being raped in the face by fart jokes. Is it funny to see Seth Green pretend to get hit in the balls? Well then this is totally up your alley. When people talk about how films are getting worse this is what they are talking about. The inexplicable amount of decent ratings for this mess of idiocy kind of explains why the publishing industry is tanking. I refuse to admit I live in a world where those who enjoy this dreck actually know how to read.
"Old Dogs" is an ugly artless stupid film that has been created only to keep your kids quiet for a couple hours; although making them sit through this should legally be on the same level as child abuse. In a couple years we will forget this ever existed.
"Old Dogs" is an ugly artless stupid film that has been created only to keep your kids quiet for a couple hours; although making them sit through this should legally be on the same level as child abuse. In a couple years we will forget this ever existed.
So Godard is not for everyone. I need to preface things here with that. Godard is such a polarizing figure some folks actually get angry at not just the director, but also with the people who enjoy his work. I've actually been accused a few times of simply pretending to dig the guy by those who didn't have the patience. But, for my money, when Godard was in his power (ie the Sixties) no one could touch him.
Made in USA, so Godard claims, is a remake of the Big Sleep. But, and it should be noted up top, I don't think we can believe him. Part of the fun is dealing with how he will lie to you, treat you with contempt, and/or in general mess with your head. There are constant interruptions in the film, Godard forces you to face the fact you are watching a film and to size it up constantly. Godard doesn't exist to watch on auto pilot; he wants you to analyze the act of viewing. It can be infuriating, especially when he removes action sequences or very awkwardly names characters/places "Otto Preminger" or "Richard Widmark." The political statements get a little heavy handed as well, though treated with humor.
As much fun as I find the film, and this entire period of Godard, watching a film like this or Pierrot Le Fou or 2 or 3 Things About Her or Weekend is work. You are expected to be actively involved. If you want to be told a story or feel like you are looking into another world, maybe Made in USA is not for you. And that's cool, these films are obnoxious and pretentious. But it can be extremely rewarding if you are willing to admit you may not "get" chunks of the film and maybe enjoyment will only kick in after thinking about the movie for a couple days. That sounds like faint praise, but Made in USA is an audacious, bold, exciting film that makes you confront what you always took for granted in classic Hollywood.
Made in USA, so Godard claims, is a remake of the Big Sleep. But, and it should be noted up top, I don't think we can believe him. Part of the fun is dealing with how he will lie to you, treat you with contempt, and/or in general mess with your head. There are constant interruptions in the film, Godard forces you to face the fact you are watching a film and to size it up constantly. Godard doesn't exist to watch on auto pilot; he wants you to analyze the act of viewing. It can be infuriating, especially when he removes action sequences or very awkwardly names characters/places "Otto Preminger" or "Richard Widmark." The political statements get a little heavy handed as well, though treated with humor.
As much fun as I find the film, and this entire period of Godard, watching a film like this or Pierrot Le Fou or 2 or 3 Things About Her or Weekend is work. You are expected to be actively involved. If you want to be told a story or feel like you are looking into another world, maybe Made in USA is not for you. And that's cool, these films are obnoxious and pretentious. But it can be extremely rewarding if you are willing to admit you may not "get" chunks of the film and maybe enjoyment will only kick in after thinking about the movie for a couple days. That sounds like faint praise, but Made in USA is an audacious, bold, exciting film that makes you confront what you always took for granted in classic Hollywood.
I have seen an unholy amount of punk documentary and biopics; maybe even more than that. For whatever reason every band that half filled a bar has a film about their career/supposed influence. Once Arab On Radar got their own film you knew things had gone too far. Those quickie fan films can be exciting, and occasionally interesting...and sometimes you even find yourself half drunk and screaming in the background. But they rarely achieve the status as film, really just home videos for the die hards.
The Unheard Music is the exception that proves the rule. Maybe due to being produced when the market/distribution plan would have been nebulous at best, this comes across as an independent and brilliant piece of art, which just happens to feature one of the first wave LA's best punk bands. Unheard Music is constructed like a collage, like one of those bootleg video mixtapes that were floating around the underground back in the day. Your basic interview, performance, rehearsal sequences are intercut with found footage and various Exene based weirdness.
The true greatness of the film is the illustration of how X could never possibly find themselves in any subsection of the mainstream. For a band that is so informed by the classic sounds of American rock and roll, for a band that would have had dance hits in 1957, it is disheartening to listen to sleazy label suits babble about how the entire country would not "get" X. It's obnoxious at best to think those weasels are making value judgments about my taste based on geography. But then maybe that does explain Nickelback.
This is a fresh an exciting film about not just X, but what a statement it once was to say you were into punk. It took a certain amount of effort since the powers that be actively kept you from hearing this music. Wasn't on the radio, TV, or in suburban record stores. Makes you really understand how much of an uphill battle artist-musicians have.
The Unheard Music is the exception that proves the rule. Maybe due to being produced when the market/distribution plan would have been nebulous at best, this comes across as an independent and brilliant piece of art, which just happens to feature one of the first wave LA's best punk bands. Unheard Music is constructed like a collage, like one of those bootleg video mixtapes that were floating around the underground back in the day. Your basic interview, performance, rehearsal sequences are intercut with found footage and various Exene based weirdness.
The true greatness of the film is the illustration of how X could never possibly find themselves in any subsection of the mainstream. For a band that is so informed by the classic sounds of American rock and roll, for a band that would have had dance hits in 1957, it is disheartening to listen to sleazy label suits babble about how the entire country would not "get" X. It's obnoxious at best to think those weasels are making value judgments about my taste based on geography. But then maybe that does explain Nickelback.
This is a fresh an exciting film about not just X, but what a statement it once was to say you were into punk. It took a certain amount of effort since the powers that be actively kept you from hearing this music. Wasn't on the radio, TV, or in suburban record stores. Makes you really understand how much of an uphill battle artist-musicians have.
I am not going to say this movie is terrible or brilliant. Clearly its not very great. This kind of stuff is always pretty incompetent (I have a MA in film--I can't not keep an eye on form), but usually pretty funny. Aggressively stupid coming of age type stuff works on me far more than it doesn't. You don't need to be Godard to make something like Super Troopers or Valley Girl or Road trip or Nick and Norah or whatever work. Nostalgia plus easy to please means cheap teenage comedies get to me far too often. But this? Sex Drive isn't a movie, it's an abortion. The basic joke structure is obnoxious+boob. So essentially its 2 hours of listening to someone you would punch in real life and punchline flashes of full frontal nudity. These movies depend on three things: characters, gags, and soundtrack. All awful here. Mostly bland characters, no real jokes to speak of, and massively unmemorable attempts to pin the movie to a time. Then Fall Out Boy shows up. Unwatchable movie plus one of the most unlistenable bands I can think of. Awesome. But hey, bright spot: Seth Green. Dude shows up, acts all Seth Green-y, and brings the only funny of the movie. At the end of the day this movie exists, in one form or another, over and over again. A version of Sex Drive is released like 5 times a year. Just watch the other 4, this thing is a bloody disaster. Humor is 100% subjective (proof? Carlos Mencia gets work) and I can dig that. I'm not taste cop, groove on what you want. But seriously, you can do better.