Category Archives: Acceptable Trash

2007, 3D, Acceptable Trash, Violent

Beowulf (2007)

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From NetFlix:

Directed by Robert Zemeckis, Beowulf tells of the great 6th-century Scandinavian warrior called upon to defeat a manlike ogre named Grendel (Crispin Glover), a descendant of the biblical murderer Cain. Based on the longest surviving Anglo-Saxon poem, this film adaptation’s notable cast includes Anthony Hopkins as King Hrothgar, Angelina Jolie as Grendel’s tormented mother, John Malkovich as Unferth and Ray Winstone as Beowulf.

There are at least two movie versions of the story. When the 2007 movie came out I decided to plough thru the actual Anglo-Saxon saga of Beowulf. Seamus Heaney produced a version that had Old English on the left side and his English translation on the right side. Frankly, I was a bit bored by the classic saga. It’s fairly straight-forward: man meets monster, man slays monster, man goes back home. So I can see why the movies spiced it up a bit.

I can only recommend this version to horny male teenagers eager to
see Angelina Jolie arise out of the water for all intents and purposes
naked.

Having said that, this is supposed to be a 3D movie although I am not
sure where I have to go to see it in 3D. I would be willing to re-see the
movie in 3D just to see how successful it is. The novelty in this movie
is that all the characters are real people whose appearances have
been digitally altered. I did not recognize Anthony Hopkins’ face, but
his voice was unmistakable. I recognized Jon Malkovitch’s altered face.
There are so many special effects (wow – what a dragon !) that 3D
might be fun. According to IMDB, Ray Winestone (Beowulf) is the voice
of Beowulf in some kind of video game based on Beowulf.

Having said all this, if you want to see a Beowulf film, please see
instead “Beowulf and Grendel (2005)”.

2007, Acceptable Trash, Explicit sex, Suspense, Violent

Shoot ‘Em Up (2007)

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From NetFlix:

When a mysterious loner named Mr. Smith (Clive Owen, Children of Men) delivers a woman’s baby during an intense shoot-out, he inadvertently lands himself at odds with the ruthless Mr. Hertz (Paul Giamatti). Aided by the enigmatic DQ (Monica Bellucci), Mr. Smith is tasked with protecting the newborn from Hertz and his henchmen. Written and directed by Michael Davis, this bullet-riddled action thriller also stars Ramona Pringle and Chris Jericho.

“Antonio, you can’t be serious !!!” I make no apologies for having enjoyed thoroughly the wonderful escape offered by this violent, funny, outrageous, vulgar movie. This is a movie made for Clive Owen. And Paul Giamatti makes a great villain. Jackie Chan is quite an athlete and all the things he does are real. In “Shoot ‘Em Up”, on the other hand, nothing that Clive Owen does could possibly be real. During the movie he never misses a shot and kills possibly a hundred men. But the shooting sequences are works of cinematic art. The dialog and moments of sex are down and dirty. I loved this movie. But then, I LOVE TRASH !

1001BeforeDie, 2006, Acceptable Trash, Comedy, Could Be Hard To Watch, Gay theme, Unusual, Vulgar

Borat (2006)

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From NetFlix:

Fans of the HBO comedy series “Da Ali G Show” will be delighted to join one of their favorite characters — the Kazakhstani reporter Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen, in a Golden Globe-winning role) — as he travels to America to report on the “greatest country in the world.” Camera in tow, the boorish journalist sets off on his cross-country road trip, but his original purpose is soon subsumed by a much greater quest — finding and marrying actress Pamela Anderson.

If you think Mel Brooks (think “Blazing Saddles”) was politically incorrect, wait until you watch “Borat” which has the dubious distinction of offending the entire planet. Let’s call this film “acceptable trash” although I admit it is really funny in some parts. At other times I could hardly believe what I was seeing in a film. Today fims show extreme violence as comedy (“Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels”) as well as explicit sex as comedy (“Choke”). So bad taste as comedy has become part of our culture. For another discussion see the Wikipedia Borat article.

Recall that in each scene there is a camera somewhere. Consider, therefore, the “healing” fundamentalist revival service. What was in the minds of the congregation during the filming ? Was this whole thing just a put-on ?

In any case, you are warned that you too might be offended by this film which, believe it or not, is one of the “1001 Films To See Before You Die”.