Alright. I must make an apology here. The title of this blog is Let’s Go to the Indie Movies, and yet I’ve barely mentioned any truely “indie” films yet (or at least not many). So I apologize for just giving you some of the stuff that you just haven’t bothered to watch. But this time, I went out of my way to ensure I wrote about a film that went basically unnoticed by most frequent filmgoers, not even making $500,000 at the box office (thanks imdb!). This film from 2007 by the name of Interview, created by and starring Steve Buscemi alongside a beautiful Sienna Miller, was definitely a good choice for my comeback into independent movies.

First off, I want to say right now after recently finishing this movie that I pretty much loved it. The story is quite simple. Steve Buscemi plays a political journalist named Pierre Peders who is assigned, to his dismay, to cover a story on a tabloid-superstar actress by the name of Katya, played by Sienna Miller. After being a poor sport and not being professional with the interview, Pierre’s attitude forces Katya to storm out of the…..what’s another word for interview…. interview. Circumstances occur which brings Katya to end up bringing Pierre up to her nearby apartment, and a most unconventional interview ensues. Sounds hot right?

This draws on a handful of themes that I feel are really relevant to the media culture we’re involved with today. In today’s world of news, the majority of the public feels that the coming out of Lindsey Lohan (OMG she has a girlfriend!) is more important than the pressing matters of the falling economy or the war in Iraq. Throughout the film, Pierre is constantly ridiculing Katya for not being a “real person” and to “stop telling lies to herself”, because he feels that celebrity gossip isn’t worth a minute of his time. But, the film’s focus isn’t on how people are more interested in celebrities than anything else, but how the lives of these people are reported to us. With the help of alcohol, Pierre hopes to at least get the interview that he was assigned to, leading to a deeper conversation with an actress who’s not supposed to be an actual thinking human being. A relationship forms between the two of them that is beautiful to watch. And we realize that celebrities are people just like anyone else, and journalists are…well….they’re something else. Just watch it for the sheer beauty of not just Sienna Miller, but of the lovely and song-like dialog.

Ok. So I’ve avoided the film Norbit starring Eddie Murphy in multiple roles for as long as I could, considering some of the worst reviews of 2007 and a couple of Razzie Awards to its name. You say you don’t know what a Razzie Award is? Well I’ll tell you. It’s pretty much an award given to the worst films of any given year. In 2007 this film and Lindsey Lohan’s I Know Who Killed Me pulled through with the most nominations and wins of the year. Well, I finally gave into the urge of watching a terrible movie just for the sheer joy of knowing what I am watching is pure shit. And what I found is…….I kinda liked it.

The film, as I said before, stars Eddie Murphy in three roles: one of the extremely nerdy main actor Norbit, another as his loud and obese wife Rasputia, and the last as an Oriental man Mr. Wong who both runs a restaurant and raised Norbit in his orphanage. Growing up, Norbit’s best friend in the orphanage is a girl named Kate Thomas. They like each other so much that they even put on a fake marriage by exchanging ring pops to signify their love. But it all comes to an end when Kate is adopted and taken away never to be seen by Norbit again. As time passes, Norbit is alone most of the time until the large Rasputia claims him for herself, and then eventually get married. Things go fine until one day Kate comes back to town.

Besides just wanting to see how bad a movie can actually be, I had some hope for the film because I was a huge fan of Eddie Murphy’s Nutty Professor movies when I was growing up. After seeing Norbit, I guess I can understand why it may be offensive to some people, every scene pretty much has a fat joke of some kind, but I feel like I’ve seen worse movies than it in 2007. No matter how crude and stupid it was, I was fairly entertained. Maybe that makes me a simpleminded person who gets his kicks from seeing people made fun of…but I don’t think so. The film received criticism for the one dimensional characters and the blatant stereotypes placed on all of them. But I say, forget all of the morals you really have and just enjoy a really stupid movie and know that you’re much more classy than the material you’re witnessing (hopefully…). I’m not ashamed to say I enjoyed one of the worst films of last year. Well…maybe a little ashamed.

So my summer has taken a bit of a detour recently. After having had a job ripped out from under my feet in Champaign (they told me I had the job!!!), I went on a mad goose chase for some employment to support my spending needs. Seems that no one wants to hire a fairly hardworking male U of I student (I may be exaggerating that word “hardworking”). In my need for money I found myself packing up and heading back home to a place I could at least live more cheaply. I’m still having a tough time getting a job here too, but at least I’m getting some free home-cooked grub. So to go along with my somewhat slacker lifestyle, I rented the new straight-to-dvd film Super High Me.

The film stars the one and only Doug Benson….you know…one of those guys that does the commentaries on Best Week Ever and a contestant on one of the Last Comic Standing seasons. Doug Benson was also voted by High Times as “Stoner of the Year” in 2006. This fact being the most relevant since the whole plot of the movie revolves around Doug going thirty days without smoking marijuana, taking multiple physical and mental tests, and then blazing for thirty days straight and to see how he does on those same tests. What ensues is pretty hilarious and yet educational (sort of).

Doug Benson is able to purchase weed legally in the movie because he lives and California and has a medical license that allows him to buy from an assortment of different strands from a vast number of medical marijuana shops. The film shows that the marijuana actually has little affect on Doug’s both mental and physical performance, and he would actually prefer to be on it constantly. But since Doug Benson himself is known for being a pretty big pothead before the filming of this movie, the statistical research he conducts can’t really be taken for face value. It have to be someone who’s never tried a drug in their life (does someone like that really exist out there) and see the affects it takes on them. Well, my main goal really wasn’t to try and learn much, even though I did learn about national enforcement on state laws and how it is actually a quite confusing dilemma.

The film as a whole wasn’t the funniest things I’ve ever seen, I mean you can’t really beat Half Baked or Cheech and Chong films in pot-comedy, but Doug’s a really funny guy even though he uses weed as the source of much of his comedic material. I say light up and enjoy the film (if you’re into that sort of thing I mean).

Sorry for the long delay, but watching movies takes time.
Fortunately, I’ve gotten a lot of good movie watching under my belt
the past week. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the money to actually go
to many shows, thus having to resort to renting movies for very cheap.
I’m going for the “new to you” films that are actually really great
and are definitely must sees. Most recently on my list of found films
was the goofy comedy called Hot Rod starring Andy Sandberg from
Saturday Night Live.

The movie Hot Rod is comparable to one of my favorites Napoleon
Dynamite for its sheer zaniness. Most people didn’t go see this movie
because it was going up against the smash hit Superbad the weekend it
came out. It didn’t stay in theaters for too long, but I’m thankful
that I got a chance to see it with my friend Sam in an empty theater.
The story follows the antics of Rod Kimble and his dream to be a
professional stuntman, and his team that helps him with his stunts.
When Rod finds out that his bully of a stepfather is dying and needs
$50,000 for a heart transplants, Rod takes it upon himself to set up a
big jump in order to raise the money. The only reason Rod wants to
keep his stepfather alive is in order to finally get a chance to kick
his ass. Performances from Bill Hader, most recently in Forgetting
Sarah Marshall, Danny Mcbride, and Isla Fischer keep the story alive
with ongoing laughs. Though the gags are very stupid and the plot is
meant to be ridiculous, the film just gives you the chance to laugh at
just plain silliness. I hope this movie will rise in cult status as
years go on, because it definitely kept me laughing after my second
viewing this past week. Cool beans.

Lately, it’s been hard to come across a truly scary movie that didn’t need the help of unnecessary blood and guts in order to shock the audience. Though the Saw movies succeed in using this type of genre (I had nightmares for weeks), a film that is able to make me just as frightened without having to resort to gory special effects is called The Orphanage.

This spooky film comes all the way from Spain under the direction of Sergio G. Sanchez. The film was released in the states earlier this year in January, and I feel like it’s a film that is a great yet lesser-known horror movie. The story takes place in, who would have guess it, an orphanage where the main character, Laura, grew up as a child and later bought to have her family live in. With her husband Carlos and adopted son Simon, she decides to make her new home into an orphanage for handicapped children. But as she’s busy preparing for this new orphanage, she regretfully pays little credence to the five imaginary friends that Simon talks about all the time.

The film’s very smart and plays on people’s fears of ghosts and spirits. There are twists and turns that are revealed as the plot moves along, and scenes that will just about make you leap out of your pants. It’s always good to take a risk with a foreign film since they are able to put a whole new spin on film that many of us are unaware of. If you’re one of those people that just can’t deal with the subtitles (movies are meant to be easy, right?), take a chance on this one because there aren’t many American films that can compare to its eerie plot.

Due to the fact that I’m trying to save as much money as possible this summer, I realized that it’d be hard to go to as many indie movies as possible in theaters ($9.00 for a ticket? What’s that?). But there’s always a never ending amount of great independent films that are at my disposal at the nearest video store, and they’re really cheap too!

One of the movies I came upon was called The Savages. I didn’t know anything about it except that Phillip Seymour Hoffman was in it, which is a plus if you’ve ever seen him in Magnolia or Almost Famous. Going into an independent movie without knowing anything is probably the best thing you can do because it adds to the excitement of what you’re about to see. So, with no expectancies, here’s what I found.

The Savages follows the story of the middle-aged Savage siblings, Jon and Wendy, and their dementia-ridden father Lenny who is left in their possession after his girlfriend passes away. After almost twenty years of not seeing him, the Savage children only remember their father as being an abusive and unloving, and now they have to deal with the man who made them the emotionally scarred individuals they are today.

The film shows the struggle of having to take care of one’s parents as they get older and older, especially if the parents were never loving to begin with. The theme of doing something for others just for the good of doing it is poignant and depressing at the same time. We, as children, have a duty to take care of those that raised us, even if they did a terrible job. The Savages poses a very real look at what everyone will someday have to go through when they and their parents reach old age. If you’re up for the depressing reality of that, filled with a handful of laughs, then take a peek into your future with this film.

As I am fortunate enough to be down here in Champaign for the summer, I’ve marked up a list of many goals that I’d like to accomplish down here. Working on my blank resume (got to start somewhere right?), learn how to write good songs that don’t only sound good to me, and discovering all of the unique places this campus is home to. Well, this past Monday I stumbled upon a place that will from now on be a frequent host for my viewing habits: Boardman’s Art Theater. This movie theater, that I’m sure many people have heard of, offered two things that will keep me coming back for more: great independent movies and the feeling that I’m in the episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark when the vampire comes out of the screen (it’s creepy in a good way).

So the first independent movie that I had the utmost pleasure of viewing at the Boardman’s Art Theater was called Young @ Heart. The film follows a chorus of senior citizens, with an average age of 80, as they practice for their upcoming tour in Europe. This would seem to be a pretty bland premise if it weren’t for the fact that the songs they were singing were made up of their own versions of popular rock songs. From the utterly weird tune by the Sonic Youth called “Schizophrenia” to the body-shakin’ James Brown song “I Got You (I Feel Good)”, we get to see the grandmas and grandpas stumble their way through the lyrics with as much enthusiasm as a little kid.

The choir is so fun to watch due to their innocence and individual personalities. Though it is easy to giggle at the old people trying to be young again, there are parts in the movie that show that trying to be youthful just doesn’t always fit with the reality of things. Yet, when bad things arise, the choir only has optimism for what they’re doing and truly entertain with their renditions of the music.

This film is one that I’ll be able to recommend to anyone, young or old. The film’s theme of holding on to your youth is one that will ring true with anyone. Now that we’re in college, we act as if we’re invincible and that we can do whatever we feel like without feeling the consequences. But the truth is, that we are becoming the adults that we will be for the rest of our lives, and we must hold on to our young spirit forever. This film is a good inspiration to not just do things in your late age, but also to do anything that you’ve ever wanted to do today, and put all that you can into it. I can say that it has definitely inspired me to write a blog recommending it and other lesser known movies that maybe make you think a little bit more than a regular mainstream movie. I hope you enjoy what I find and enjoy going to the indie movies!