I saw "A Dirty Shame" this weekend. It wasn't a masterpiece, but it was pretty funny.
The plot (well, what there is of one, anyway), is pretty negligible. It's the cast that makes the movie. Tracey Ullman, Chris Isaak, Selma Blair, and Johnny Knoxville give stand-out performances. It's also a very funny movie. The "Hokey Pokey" scene is arguably the funniest scene from any movie of the past year.
Sadly, the movie seems to lose track of both its plot and its sense of humor about halfway through, and while it remains enjoyable, it really loses its purpose (though it does make one strong one thgroughout the film).
Also, the movie ends fairly abruptly, leaving the viewer somewhat unsatisfied. I was left wanting more, and not in a good way.
It's still one of the best movies I've seen this year (#3, maybe), so if you like this type of movie, I recommend it.
About Shaun of the Dead. I liked how zomie-like everyone was in the first few scenes. Then when they all started turning to zombies and Shaun didn't notice.I found that all very amusing. As were the scenes where he was imagining how his rescue plan would play out. And the scene where they are being coached on how to pass for a zombie.
That last was far and away the best joke of the movie, IMHO.
I laughed in several places, especially in the first half of the film, but the gross out stuff towards the end counteracted that, so I ended up not liking the film that much. I am the first to admit though that I am a really big wuss about gross out stuff.
You never, EVER want to see Peter Jackson's earlier, funnier work, then. Trust me.
I thought Shaun of the Dead was pretty funny and not that gross. I think I liked the Dawn of the Dead remake better, actually, just because it was scarier and still funny.
The first time around, I completely missed that the scene towards the end
Hmm. I caught that. I was just like, "Huh. Good use of foreshadowing at the beginning."
I don't know. Maybe I'm missing the funny zombie gene. Although if someone had put "Thriller" on the jukebox as a way to distract the zombies, I think I would've enjoyed the film about ten thousand times more.
I don't know what that says about me, except perhaps that I like dance sequences.
I had mad, mad love for
Shaun of the Dead.
I caught the
video game
bit, and the
zombie-training
sequence, especially the shot of them
putting it into action
made me laugh so hard I almost choked on my popcorn. I still think back on bits and giggle. One of my friends had to miss out due to a rehearsal dinner so I gets to go again!
Another thing I liked were the shout outs to 28 Days Later in the news reports.
So, I saw a promo for The Grudge. It reminds me a lot of The Ring in look (which makes sense), though they seem to be mining more diverse creepiness, which may just mean that the movie's less focused, or more creepy, or both, hard to say for sure. Apparently, SMG's going to be one of those actors who, as long as she looks just-like-Buffy, it's gonna be a mental block for me.
