Slither: 2006 sci-fi-horror-comedy directed by James
Gunn and starring Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, and Michael Rooker. A parasitic alien species crash lands in a
small South Carolina town and takes over the body of Grant (Rooker), an older
man who had been cavorting in the woods, on the verge of cheating on his foxy
younger wife, Starling (Banks). A horde
of slug-like alien babies soon infect the townsfolk, who then develop kind of a
hive mind thing. As the dwindling
still-human population fights for survival, they must also deal with
Grant-Parasite’s love for Starling, and its effect on his plans for Earth
domination. It’s funny and
cute-scary. The main cast is great – can’t
go wrong with The Fillion, in my opinion – and Jenna Fisher and Rob Zombie also
have hilarious small roles. Give it a
shot if you like Joss Whedon or the humorous variety of scary movies.
Kathy Griffin:
Pants Off: 2011 Kathy Griffin
stand-up special. Look, you either like
her brand of celebitchy humor or you don’t.
This is much like the others – she discusses her friendship with
Anderson Cooper, dinner with Gloria Steinem, the Kardashian clan, and so forth. I enjoyed it!
But you might not.
Behind the Burly Q: 2010 documentary directed by Leslie Zemeckis,
about the Golden Age of Burlesque. Like
many of today’s quasi-hipster adults, I know more than a handful of burlesque
performers and enjoy the retro aspects of it.
So I had high hopes for this movie.
It provides some interesting stories and tidbits, nothing too tawdry or
salacious, and the interviews with the burlesque veterans and random other
folks like Alan Alda were delightful. But
put all together it was merely a disjointed series of anecdotes which are
interesting but all over the place. It
just hops from performer to performer and back again with seemingly no
purpose. I’d skip it.
Tamara: 2005 horror film directed by Jeremy Haft and
starring Matthew Marsden, Jenna Dewan and Chad Faust. It’s like Carrie
except terrible.
 |
| I can't even hold an ax properly. |
His Girl Friday: 1940 screwball comedy directed by Howard
Hawks and starring Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell and John Qualen. Grant plays Walter Burns, a ruthless
newspaperman who is about to lose his ex-wife/hardboiled partner in crime Hildy
to a rather vanilla insurance salesman.
Fortunately for him, a convicted murderer is on the loose and it’s too
juicy for Hildy to pass up. If Burns can
keep her on the story long enough, he just might win her back.
I’d avoided this movie for
years. I don’t like Grant and I don’t
like screwball comedies. There, I said
it. But I was totally wrong; it was quick
and light, the physical comedy was subtle enough, the chemistry between Russell
and Grant is somehow both outrageous and believable. I ended up really liking it. If you’ve never seen it, be forewarned: there are a few mildly 1940s-racist jokes
thrown in.
Margaret Cho:
Beautiful: 2009 Margaret Cho
stand-up special. I will always have a
soft spot for Ms. Cho. I saw her live a
few times in the early ‘00s, and I can recite I’m the One That I Want verbatim.
That being said, this was almost sad.
It was just the same regurgitated fag-hag jokes she was doing a decade
ago. I didn’t laugh once, just waited
patiently for it to turn around. And it
never did.
Hit So Hard: 2011 documentary directed by P. David
Ebersole, about the life of Patty Schemel, founding member of Hole. The film includes Patty’s own home movies,
showing life on the road and while on break from tour, and features interviews
with Nina Gordon, Gina Schock, Sarah Vowell, and her Hole band mates, including
a seriously cracked-looking Courtney Love.
The chronological jumping around is annoying at first, but I got past it. It’s just so freaking good. It’s funny and interesting and speaks so
clearly and frankly about addiction; I was immediately riveted. See it if you like documentaries in general
or grew up in the ‘90s or are, like, human.
It’s that good.
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