Best Sleepwalk With Me (Particularly if You Haven't Before)

Saturday afternoon I saw Mike Birbiglia's film adaptation of his one-man show "Sleepwalk With Me."  After the show he and Ira Glass, his This American Life buddy and co-producer, did a Q&A at the theater.

Let me shoot straight: How much you like Sleepwalk With Me depends greatly on how many times you've heard the story.  Never heard it?  You'll probably love the movie (consider Roger Ebert's review, which also basically gives away the whole story).  Myself, I'd seen Birbiglia workshop the material four years ago and heard it retold several times since then.  The movie was nearly one time too many for me.  BUT it was well made for a first time film (Birbiglia was the director.  Or co-director?) and he's an extremely likeable dude that I will continue to extremely like for a long time.  During our Q&A he confirmer he's adapting his second one-man show, "My Girlfriend's Boyfriend", to film and that I'm excited about.  Because I never saw that show, and as far as I know, I've never heard the story. And I like Mike Birbiglia stories.

In short, if you've never heard Mike Birbiglia's sleepwalking story, go see this movie.  If you have, stream this movie when it comes to Netflix.  Or see it to be supportive.  Your call.

Bonus Picture:

As I stand in line, Birbiglia looks at his own movie poster.  Because he's a normal person!  And it's exciting to have a movie poster.  (Or I don't know, maybe he's a demanding auteur already and was checking it for errors)

Best Early Morning Rose for Some Dark Knight Rises

I still don't know how to tackle the whole weekend, but let's start with seeing the Dark Knight Rises?  Roughly a month before it opened we snatched up some tickets to see it at the Lincoln Center IMAX on Saturday morning at 10:25.  And when Saturday finally came, Emily arrived to get in line at 8 on the dot, the rest of us a little after.  The IMAX lobby had already been filled with one segment of the line, but those sorts are the people you just can't beat.  The people who got there before the 6:30 AM screening.  We still got dead center seats.  So great work, Emily.

The 2+ hour wait flew by.  We passed the time doing stuff like trying to make bat-symbols with our hands.

This seemed like the closest thing we could get to a bat at the time. 

And what did I think of the movie?  Oh it was awesome, that is for sure.  I feel it isn't time yet to get into all the details?  Like what if you're actually reading this and you haven't seen it yet?  There certainly were many moments that really socked me in the gut, I had been on a pretty good No-Spoiler lockdown and had a few pleasant surprises (and the even more pleasant feeling of figuring out a surprise or two before they happened.)  But here is one thing that I think: I think that when I see this movie again I will notice things that bug me, I feel its enjoyment will be diminished by 7 to 8% with repeat viewings.

Leaving the theater we beheld with our own eyes what happens if you aren't in line for IMAX Batman two and a half hours before it starts: You line up all over the place.

And what do I see as I leave the theater?  A pair in line for the 6:15 screening five hours ahead of time. Like I said earlier, there's some people you just can't beat.

Post-show outdoor congregating and discussing and sign-flashing.  There's a lot to talk about after watching the Dark Knight Rises, you're really going to want to have some friends around to discuss it with.

Eventually we started making our way down Broadway.  As you may have noticed earlier, Pearl was in town from Provo (or Costa Rica, actually) as she sometimes is.  And on the right, that's Lemon Verbana.

Saw a Salvation Army setting up to play . . . the Christmas Creep comes earlier every year. 

Dipped into the Time Warner center for some macarons from Bouchon.  I had a PB&J.  It truly was a PB&J macaron.

Major stroller-parking situation outside Landmark, that's the brunch rush you're dealing with right there.

Much further down Broadway enjoyed a couple No. 7 Subs subs.  Roasted broccolli with lychee, pine nuts, and ricotta.

Cheese steak with Funyuns, pickled jalepenos, and "Miso Whiz".  These sandwiches hit a lot of spots. 

I bet you didn't think this Batman post was going to end with close up photos of sandwiches.  But in a way, can you really say you're all that surprised that it did?

Best Memorial Day Weekend Movie(s)

Listen, I know you're not going to take me seriously when I tell you Battleship was a super great movie, but I'm still going to try to tell you anyway.  I saw Battleship on Memorial Day and you know people have complained about the title of this movie and how it's based on a board game and I'll agree, Battleship is not the best name for the movie—it should have been called Memorial Day because Battleship, like Independence Day was the greatest Fourth of July movie, is the greatest Memorial Day movie.  In it all of the the branches of our military are represented and all rise to protect not just America but the entire Earth from alien invasion and to watch it just filled me with pride in our armed forces.  Some people, okay, many people, watched saw the previews of Memorial Day, I mean Battleship, and were like "pffft, are you kidding me?  Why should I watch that?  It looks like Transformers." and to those people I say "Get serious!  You really think the man who behind Friday Night Lights, Tim Riggins and Landry Clark would all make a bad action movie?"  Because they didn't make a bad action movie, they made the BEST action movie.

Why is it so best?  For one, there is Action!  Boats get blown up, buildings get toppled, children stand face to face with certain alien death, villains get shot pointblank by enormous firearms, it goes on and on.  Also, there is Suspense!  It gets dark and mysterious at night out on the water and the movie's namesake inspiration (now I refer to the boardgame, not the holiday) is implemented in the absolute best way it could have been implemented.  And also also, somehow, you start to care, at least a tiny bit, about our heroes.  And the plot ramps up, there's an actual final act and it's exciting . . . I mean, we all know the earthlings are going to win, right?  But HOW will they win?  It's a legitimate question because the odds stack and stack against them.  Let me tell you how they win: In a totally awesome way that will make you cheer, that is, if you have any warmth in your heart at all.

I post this review as an urgent service, the days remaining to see Battleship in theaters are certainly few.  Like Speed Racer before it, this is a movie that the critics raged against and it never found its audience but I haven't met anyone who saw Battleship that didn't think it was totally fresh just like I've never met anyone who saw Speed Racer and didn't give it a big double-thumbs up.

Other Movies I Saw on Memorial Day Weekend:



Moonrise Kingdom: Twice. Because it's the best and I will be seeing it again.



Men in Black 3: The best Men in Black movie ever made!  Were I not so overcome by Battleship I would have written a three paragraph tribute to this movie.  Sorry, MiB3, you were unexpectedly rad but you were not Battleship.



Bernie: Would you believe I was 4 for 4 (or 5 for 5) on my Memorial Day weekend movies?  Because Jack Black is brilliant as a small town funeral director in this giddily dark comedy.  I liked 2/3rds of it a whole lot and only just liked 1/3rd, but it's a treat.  The real life townspeople in the movie (as it's based on a real life crime story) were even better than Black.  No.  A perfect counterpart to Black, that's what they were.

Best Non-violent Rescue Mission

Saw Moonrise Kingdom Friday night, was caught completely off guard by how awfully good it was.  Best Wes Anderson movie yet?  For the time being I think so.  What I really liked was how original it was, while true to Wes's style, it didn't seem like a rehash or retreading.  I think Fantastic Mr. Fox deserves some credit for this.

That said, several scenes (shots, really) reminded me instantly of shots from earlier Anderson films:

There were a couple more.  One was rather spoilery.  And only so many scenes were available to grab from the Moonrise trailer.

Best Cinema Education

I've heard it said, somewhere, by somebody, that the 70's were the last great decade of film . . . or something like that.  It's a thing filmsnobs or critics say, usually they then cite movies I've never seen, like The Conversation, as an example of this.  But last weekend I happened to see a movie from 1976 one night and a movie from 1972 the other and you know what?  I think those Know-It-Alls might know something after all.



Friday night I saw the Song Remains the Same, a Led Zeppelin concert film that's 1/2 footage from a three night stint at Madison Square Garden and 1/2 dream sequences showing members as knights, wizards, and race car drivers.  Just about everyone goes through a Led Zeppelin phase around 13 or 14 and then moves on.  Myself, I had never really realized how talented the band was.  Watching Jimmy Page's guitar solos slackjawed me and John Bonham's stage-clearing solo on Moby Dick made me want to run home and Wikipedia him.  And you're knowing you're watching a very serious concert when Stairway to Heaven is the shortest song they play.  Seriously, there's a 25 minute version of Dazed and Confused in the middle of the thing.  And it flew right by.  I honestly think this movie should be played in college History of Civ classes.  When people are being taught about all that humanity has done, they need to know about the arena rock of the seventies.

Then Saturday night I headed out to Jersey to see The Poseidon Adventure (Carol blogged it too) and I loved it!  Both ironically and seriously.  Seriously!  Like, it was real cheesey and campy, sure.  And how are you supposed to take a movie seriously where the women have to trudge through a capsized cruise ship in hot pants (or no pants) and four inch heels?  BUT also it was exciting!  For real!  I jumped once or twice and was little sad (I mean, at least I didn't cheer) about some of the deaths.  I think it's the best disaster movie I've ever seen.  Even better than Towering Inferno.

Best Movie of the Spring!

I saw The Gang's All Here at the Film Forum Saturday night.  It was completely nuts.

It's a Busby Berkeley movie with Carmen Miranda in it.  I had never seen a Busby Berkeley movie or a Carmen Miranda movie, let alone a movie with the two of them combined.  Instead of trying to describe it myself, let me share some quotes from reviews of the movie (all stolen from the Film Forum website):

"SENSES BOGGLING! Time and again, you can’t believe what you’re witnessing" - Time Out New York


"Some sort of apotheosis in vulgarity" - Time Out London


"Utterly deranged!" - New York Magazine


"A TECHNICOLOR FREAK-OUT! Gang is the apotheosis of fruitiness." - Village Voice


"Like a male hairdresser’s acid trip"- the Film Guide


The Gang's All Here runs through Thursday night.  I 100% recommend it.  It is a four star film, in it's own  very special way.  I tapped my toes, I clapped at the end of numbers, I moaned at some jokes and laughed at others and in the end, I could not believe what I had just witnessed.

Best I Just Saw Breaking Dawn a Second Time

I think three times would be too many.

Best I Am At Peace With Breaking Dawn

The thing about Breaking Dawn pt.1 is that the last, what, ten or fifteen minutes? are so good that they erase all the nonsense from the hour and a half that preceded them.

Seriously.

In New Moon there was this short sequence, where a group of unsuspecting tourists are ushered into the Volturi chambers to be slaughtered and eaten, that was so incredibly sinister and dark in tone when compared to the rest of the fairy tale it took place in--I loved it.  Suddenly I was watching a real monster movie.  Similarly, the birth of Bella's vampire baby and Bella's transformation into a vampire (or Snow White?) are so grisly and bloody and intense, it's such a surprise and it's so good.  I'd have to say that the very last two seconds of the movie were so, uhh, perfect? that I actually can't wait for the next movie?  It was like a preview for a real horror movie and, well, I know the next movie isn't going to be a real horror movie, but it did leave me wanting to know what was going to happen right after [redacted for spoileriness even though its probably unnecessary].

Okay, but the rest of the movie?  Sheesh.

Having already been familiar with the key nonsensical plot-points of Breaking Dawn I was able to make it through this movie alive.  I don't know how someone who hadn't been prepped with the details of this story could live through the movie without their head exploding.

But to its credit, I liked that the movie was absolutely unapologetic about the stupider elements of Stephanie Meyer's tale.  For example, when Bella tells Jacob the names she's picked out for the vampire baby, Jacob reacts like he's just heard two stupid baby names and Edward is kind of like "well, can't do anything about these crazy names my 18 year old bride has picked out."  The movie doesn't try to act like these names are normal, or present them in such a way to suggest an audience member is dumb for not thinking they're beautiful.

Hold on.  You know that Bella names the baby "Renesmee", right?  It's a combination of her mom's name and Edward's mom's name.  After the movie I joked that if it were a boy she should have named it "Charlisle" or "Carly" after its grandparents.  I've since learned that "Carly" is Renesmee's middle name. It's like Twilight unabashedly beats you to every joke you wanted to make about it.

And now, bullet points:

• I thought Bella's nightmare wedding was kind of cool, better than her real wedding
• Is Bella's back really that long?
• I liked the toasts.  That was some genuine goodnatured fun right there.
• Isla Esme seemed like a cool place.  I spent a few days in a Brazilian tropical island paradise myself two years ago so I could relate a lot to their experience there.
• And when they were dancing in Rio?  That was totally supposed to be Lapa, and I've been there!  But from my experience there are more robberies.
• Whenever I see someone hire a private jet with a moment's notice I just think that's real cool.  Even if it's in a made up story.
• BEST PART: Do I even have to say it?  But the angry wolf standoff/psychic pow wow.  One of the funniest things I've seen in a theater in years.  Giant wolves speaking to each others' minds is something that just doesn't translate smoothly from book to film.
• When Bella drinks the blood?  And she looks awful?  And the blood is on her teeth? Pretty cool.  Like watching Fear Factor or Jackass.
• When Jacob was entering the Cullen house after the birth and I realized he was about to see Renesmee for the first time I got so excited I couldn't help but exclaiming, far too loudly, "He's going to fall in love with the baby now!  He's going to fall in love with the baby!"
• And the Imprinting montage was so good.  It was smart of them to show us Renesmee as a grown up.  Makes it less creepy.
• Baby Renesmee was made with a computer, right?  I mean, that wasn't a real baby, right?  She was a Toy Story baby, correct?

I think that's everything.  I just want to say that Breaking Dawn, pt.1 didn't kill me, it made me stronger.  I want to see Part 2 at midnight in Gilbert, Az.  I want to experience the full final-Twilight meltdown.

Best I Have Brought This Upon Myself

You may remember a few months ago when I excitedly posted the trailer to Breaking Dawn.

I still don't know if I posted it out of genuine enthusiasm or a condescending sense of humor.

And I don't know if my joy was genuine or ironic (sheesh) when this billboard appeared on my corner last month.

And did I actually make sure to pass this display of costumes and props from the movie at the Lincoln Square Loews or just happen to happen to pass by it last Friday?

And now I've got my opening night ticket to Breaking Dawn pt. 1.  I think I'm going because I want to take in firsthand the full force of Twilight fandom.

But what if I actually want to see the movie?

I can only promise you a report by Monday.  Who knows what it will contain.  An answer to these questions?  Or just more questions?

Best So This is What We'll Be Watching Next May

A mysterious force is blowing up the world's cars and only the Avengers can stop it!

Nice touch being all sneaky about what the Hulk looks like there at the end of the trailer.   You know, the Hulk?  The guy who already had two movies made about him?

Best It Is Hard for Me to Say This

But Diablo Cody's new movie looks good?

"We can beat this thing together."
Oh yeah, it's called Bad Author Young Adult.  12/9/11

Best Worst Team-Up

Fourteen years ago tonight I watched Batman and Robin. It was just about the worst movie I had ever seen.  I've been working on a review of the movie, here and there, for at least the last nine years and finished a (very) rough draft last week.  While I wasn't able to get it done by today I'm hoping to have it finished sometime this month.  Or next month.  It'll be shorter than my Disney report, that's the only thing I know for sure right now.

Best Well I Know What I'll Be Thankful for this Year

Nov. 18!

(There's a video embedded here that doesn't show up on Google Reader so click through to see what I'm talking about if you're curious)

This Will Be the Best

Why aren't we talking about Red Tails more?  Why aren't we talking about Red Tails all the time?  It looks so good!



But of course it looks so good!  That's because it's going to be so good.  Why?  Why will this George Lucas (produced) Tuskegee Airmen movie be so good?  Because it plays to George's strengths!  It's the story of a plucky band of outcasts called to fight for a good and noble cause against an evil foe.  It is a movie full of dogfights and if there's something George has always delivered on, it's dogfights.  The original attack on the Death Star was inspired in part by WWII air combat footage/old WWII air combat films, so it's the perfect territory for him to be turning to.  People.  Step back.  George has got this one.

And look at the cast, aside from Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding Jr. all up in your face, the movie has Method Man in it AND Lions QB1 Vince Howard!

If you watched the trailer do I even have to tell you that people will be cheering out loud in the theater?

Also, I'm excited to learn more about Eddie Winslow's grandpa