Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, Street Mobster, Fast Food Nation, Tideland, The Bridesmaid, Ratatouille, & Rock Monster

Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny probably would have worked better had I been high. At least they came out immediately and started with a THC rather than a THX intro. I like the idea of them so much more than the execution. Amy Poehler was very funny though.

Street Mobster was directed by Kinji Fukasaku, who also did a bunch of yakuza films and Battle Royale. And it stars Bunta Sagawara, who also was the star in the Yakuza Papers films, along with The Great Yokai War. The plot is trashy, and it fits very well with the general theme of most of the best yakuza films: they don't fit in anywhere, are a relic of an older time, and they all seem to have no problem beating and raping women (always strange to see the crazy things they'd do to make sure the nudity wasn't too much for the censors, which was compounded by the many scenes in baths and lots of raping). The films are pretty darn stylish, though.

Fast Food Nation is clearly a good idea, but the story that's wrapped around it is both frustrating and a little too easy. I do want to read the book though.

Tideland starts with an introduction by Terry Gilliam saying the film is very divisive. Some would love it and some would hate it. I come down solidly on the hating it side. It's long, disturbing, and just confusingly bad.

The Bridesmaid stars Laura Smet, who looks like a younger version of Annette Benning. And is very attractive. Somehow I haven't seen any Claude Chabrol films, although there are many of them, and he's working in the mystery genre, one I generally enjoy. As for this, it's about a guy who falls for the bridesmaid at a wedding, and she decides that they need to prove their love for each other, by doing four things: plant a tree, write a poem, sleep with someone of the same sex, and kill a stranger. I think you can tell why it turns into a mystery: what kind of trees are they planting? I liked it a lot.

Ratatouille looked outstanding, was funny, and Brad Bird needs to keep working. He's the best non-Miyazaki animation director out there, and this one didn't change my belief at all. And I want Colette. Hot, French, chef, purple hair, yes please. Pixar's animation quality keeps getting better and better, and the films have gotten better filmically as well. I haven't seen Cars, and I don't plan on doing so anytime soon. But from Toy Story through Monsters Inc. to The Incredibles and Ratatouille, they've just been getting closer and closer to being worthwhile to recommend to those who refuse to watch any animated films. I don't know why you would ignore a film just because it's animated. There are very few things that will make me ignore a film. Tyler Perry is one, as is Dane Cook.

Rock Monster is terrible. io9 said that it was better than most Sci-Fi original films. Tweaks and I both read the same post, and so we watched it Sunday. If that was pretty decent, I no longer regret missing any of the other films. Actually, the best thing this film did (although it didn't do it soon enough) was follow the well-known movie trope to kill the black guy (who was majoring in string theory just so they could do a g-string theory joke... sigh...). He was the worst actor in the entire film. Even worse than the extra in the bar scene who was clearly waiting to react to the sword. I wish they had been able to get a guy I didn't want to die for that part. But this one had Jon Polito as a drunk former Soviet (I think, I never really figured out where it was actually set) officer, the female friend was annoying at first but quickly came around, about when the guns were starting to be handed out, David Figlioli is one of those guys from so many TV shows, Chad Collins wasn't terrible, and Natalie Denise Sperl was hot. All in all, a terrifically terrible film. I was either laughing at or... well, I pretty much didn't laugh at any of the jokes. And I kept getting Rock Lobster stuck in my head. Damn you, Sci Fi. Only two weeks until Battlestar Galactica Season 4 though.