Much Ado About Nothing...

If you go along for the ride this movie is hilarious. If you want to try to figure out story plots and find a deeper meaning of life from a film, try something else. The Coen brothers have once again taken the ordinary and given it a quirky twist in their latest film, Burn After Reading.

The premise: Linda (Frances McDormand) and Chad (Brad Pitt) are two fitness trainers who find what they believe to be top secret CIA files in the gym and try to use the information as blackmail to get money for Linda's plastic surgery. Once they have set plans in motion with the rightful owner of the disk, Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich), several others find themselves being pulled in, including Cox's wife, Katie (Tilda Swinton) and her lover Harry (George Clooney). Trying to keep things from escalating are the gym manager (Richard Jenkins) and CIA Superior (J.K. Simmons).

This could have been played out as a simple act of mistaken identity and fraud. However, the plot forms circles upon circles to show that nothing is as it first appears and while things are discovered, nothing is understood. There might not be a lot of sense to what you see, but it is enjoyable to just sit back and watch.

Forecast: Occasional Bursts of Laughter

Ben Stiller is not afraid to take on Hollyweird in his latest pic, Tropic Thunder. Co-written with Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen, Stiller also produced, directed, and stars in this comedy about the making of a Vietnam film that goes awry. The movie brilliantly introduces the main characters through mock trailers of the stars previous films.

Stiller plays Tugg Speedman, an action star in serious need of a box office success after his last couple of films were flops. Jack Black plays comedic actor Jeff Portnoy, whose portrayal of every character in films about an overweight family with serious flatulence problems is an obvious take on Eddie Murphy's Nutty Professor films. Jay Baruchel (Knocked Up) plays newbie Kevin Sandusky and Brandon T. Jackson plays rapper turned actor Alpha Chino, whose audacious ad for the energy drink "Booty Sweat" begins the film. While each of these characters have their moments, the real star of the film is Robert Downey Jr. as Kirk Lazarus, an 5-time Academy Award winning Australian actor who undergoes a controversial procedure to darken his skin to play the African-American Sergeant.


Over-his-head director Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan) takes the advice of the writer of the book the film is based on (played with perfect gruffness by Nick Nolte) to drop his group of spoiled actors into the middle of the jungle and film them through hidden cameras in order to get a more realistic portrayal of soldiers. Through a serious of missteps, the actors soon find themselves lost in a jungle surrounded by Viet Cong heroin dealers with no way to get back to their cushy lives on set.

Of course with so many self-absorbed actors together friction ensues and with it some hilarious scenes between the characters. The most controversial scene involves an extended use of the word "retard" during a conversation between Stiller and Downey's characters about the Academy's lack of giving Oscars to actors that go "full retard." While many disability advocate groups protested the use of the word, the writers are satirizing Hollywood more than making fun of mentally-challenged people. There is plenty of the usual Stiller shtick throughout, but there is also a higher level of satire hidden below the surface.

The film is able to make fun of big Hollywood productions while being one; the cinematography is top notch, and the high production costs don't go unnoticed. There are several funny cameos throughout the film, the biggest being Tom Cruise as the foul-mouthed, gangsta dancing (it alone is worth the price of the movie), malicious studio exec. While the action sometimes overtakes the comedy, and the film is a tad too long, it is an enjoyable way to bid farewell to the summer blockbuster season and get ready for the heavyweights of fall.

Rise of the Great Pumpkin

Here is last year's entry into the Boulder Shoot Out 24 Hour Filmmaking Festival. I edited a few things and added extra sound than what my entry had, but for the most part this is what was submitted.

A Couch Vacation That Will Have You Tripping

This weeks featured rental, Wes Anderson's meandering road trip through India, The Darjeeling Limited, might not make a lot of sense, but it is interesting. Combined with some take-out Indian food, this will make for a relaxing beginning to another stressful week. Owen Wilson plays Francis Whitman, the oldest of the 3 Whitman brothers, who decides after a near fatal motorcycle accident to take a religious journey through India and asks his estranged siblings, Peter (Adrian Brody) and Jack (Jason Schwartzman) to come along. The brothers have not spoken since their father's funeral, a year ago, and Francis has a goal to have them become brothers again, like they used to be. In order to do this he brings along an assistant with a computer, printer, and laminate machine.

Each morning the brothers are to find a laminated itinerary in their train compartment that they are to follow in order to successfully complete their enlightened spiritual journey. Soon enough they discover that these kind of journeys cannot be planned and the real enlightenment begins once they encounter unforeseen obstacles on their path.

There is a lot of symbolism throughout the film, as well as an in-depth look at the nature of sibling rivalries and human behavior. If you are looking for a film with a lot of structure, this is not it. If you have not been a fan of Anderson's previous films (Rushmore, The Royal Tenebaums) you will probably find this to be more of the same. However, if you are looking for something a little different, pop this movie into your DVD player and enjoy a trip to India sans Bollywood hype. Oh, and be sure to watch the short film Hotel Chevalier before the main film, it will give you a good preview of what to prepare for and is the most (quite literally) that you will see of Natalie Portman.