Archive for the Pick of the Week Category

Narcs Throw the Best Parties: 21 Jump Street

Posted in Pick of the Week, Review with tags , , , , , on March 25, 2012 by Timothy Parfitt

There’s a thin line in comedy between stupid/smart and stupid/stupid. 21 Jump Street humps that line for 90 minutes. Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum’s turn out to have great chemistry, and the writing keeps things fun and inane.

I spent many a prepubescent evening watching the original 21 Jump Street team earnestly break up high-school steroid rings. In the updated version, Smidt (Hill) and Jenko (Tatum) play underachieving cops assigned to go deep undercover to break up a hallucinogenic car freshener ring, led by James Franco’s smirking little brother. Read more »

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So Dark the Night

Posted in Pick of the Week, Timothy Parfitt with tags , , , on December 12, 2010 by Timothy Parfitt

A couple of days ago I saw a weird little noir called So Dark the Night (1946) at the Siskel Film Center.  Directed by Joseph H. Lewis (Gun Crazy), the film follows a famous Parisian detective as he tries to adjust to country life.  Big city crime solving has taken its toll and Detective Cassin seeks comfort in a country girl to whom he becomes engaged.  The only problem is she already has a fiancé, a young and vengeful one at that. Read more »

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Cyrus, mumble-core masterpiece

Posted in Pick of the Week, Review with tags , on July 10, 2010 by Timothy Parfitt

 

Cyrus is a smart romantic comedy that steers clear of the recent pitfalls of the genre.  It’s a funny love story for grown ups and a showcase for great acting.  The real suprise here is Jonah Hill, who show previously unforeseen dramatic chops, and aptly holds his own with co-stars John C. Reilly, Catherine Keener and Marisa Tomei.  Hill stars as the title character, Tomei’s oedipally agressive son. Read more »

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Anvil! the story of Anvil (2008)

Posted in Pick of the Week, Review with tags , , on June 29, 2010 by Timothy Parfitt

It would be hard to invent a more endearing character than Lips, the real life singer of Anvil.  Almost 30 years past his band’s artistic heyday (influencing behemoths like Metallica and Megadeath), him and his drummer are keeping the dream alive.  They play crappy shows, Lips works at a catering business, their families accommodate them.

Like Randy from The Wrestler, Lips and Shelly have tasted fame and recognition, only to be banished back to the proverbial basement.  Early on in the film, Anvil plays at a metal festival, and Lips tries to chum it up with other metal stars backstage.  They obviously do not remember him or the times they had played together.

I would recommend this film to non-metal fans based on the human element.  Anvil are artists committed to their craft, forced to compromise but never quitting what they were born to do: rock.

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Is Party Down the funniest show on television?

Posted in Pick of the Week, TV (Prime-time) with tags , , , on June 9, 2010 by Timothy Parfitt

“Party Down”, now on its second season on Starz, follows a group of actor/caterers in L.A., as they pursue their dreams of stardom and get generally humiliated in the process.  Each episode focuses on a single event staffed by the Party Down catering company, giving the show a neat set of limitations, as they are forced to explore the characters on company time. Read more »

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Down and out in L.A.

Posted in Pick of the Week, Review with tags , , , on May 6, 2010 by Timothy Parfitt

In Greenberg, the new drama by writer/director Noah Baumbach, Ben Stiller plays a guy spending a couple of weeks doing nothing in his brother’s house after a stint in a mental hospital.  He fills his time alternately wooing and scolding his brother’s personal assistant (Greta Gerwig) and they both tend to his brother’s sick dog.  While not heavy on the plot, emotionally Greenberg doesn’t hit many false notes.

I was hesitant to see this film, partly due to it’s marketing campaign, which tries too hard to make it look funny.  Read more »

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Why good people do bad things: Breaking Bad, season 3 premiere

Posted in Pick of the Week, Review, TV (Prime-time) with tags , , on March 24, 2010 by Timothy Parfitt

“Breaking Bad”, the twisted and criminally under-watched AMC show, debuted it’s third season last week.  Judging from the first episode, “No Mas,” Bryan Cranston, Vince Gilligan and co. haven’t mellowed out.  Surreal, paranoid and funny, the show basks in its own bleakness. Read more »

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Mama’s boy and the hard-boiled Detective: Mother

Posted in Pick of the Week, Review with tags , , , on March 16, 2010 by Timothy Parfitt

Mother, the new South Korean thriller by director Joon-ho Bong, is an instant classic.  Funny, disturbing and suspenseful, it is the best thriller in recent history (even trumping the excellent Ghost Writer).  Hye-ja Kim, playing the title character, delivers an unforgettable performance in a film that finds humor, and plot twists, in unexpected places. Read more »

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Catch-Up: The Invention of Lying (2009)

Posted in Catch-up, Pick of the Week, Timothy Parfitt with tags , , , on February 13, 2010 by Timothy Parfitt

I went to Central America on vacation, and on the flight back Delta played The Invention of Lying, Ricky Gervais’ latest comedy.  Like the similarly enjoyable Ghost Town, The Invention of Lying is witty,  original, and flopped at the box office.  The film is set in a world where no one has ever lied.  Gervais and co-writer/director delight in exposing the cruel thoughts that, in this alternate universe, no one covers with discretion or white lies. Read more »

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Pick of the week, by Sam Doob

Posted in Pick of the Week with tags , , , , on January 16, 2010 by sdoob

Trailer Park Boys 

Huge in Canada, Trailer Park Boys is unknown in the states.  I’d recommend TPB to anyone who likes stories about booze, growing dope, stealing, living in cars, kitties, and most importantly, love and friendship.  Seasons 1, 2, and 4 are best.

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