I'm surprised this movie hasn't had 5 ratings yet. I saw it last year (2011) at the Cinequest film festival in San Jose and it's playing again later today at Cinequest (2012) and I'm going to see it with my wife! This movie is just fun! I thoroughly enjoyed myself watching this group of young people seeking some cheap fun during the course of one night. I don't want to give too much away but I knew people who got high from cough syrup, and that was funny. I really don't want to give too much away but there was some funny stuff with a naked dude. I'm not a big fan of naked dudes but sometimes there's just something funny about watching a naked dude and shenanigans. There was one of the main dudes that I didn't really like watching on the screen, I actually made notes during the movie and the actor's (or character's) name is Ford. It was like he really wanted to be noticed really bad and he was not really watchable. Like he was trying too hard. I'm an accountant and I imagine that watching him act would be like watching me act. Sorry Ford! I was a little confused about the bible dude getting hit by the car and I'm not sure if he was hit once or twice. When I saw this at Cinequest last year, it was showed at the special "Rough Cut" presentation, so maybe it has been edited and cleaned up since last year. It was shot in San Jose and film festivals are fun because I got a chance to talk to the director and give him my honest feedback. Thanks for the fun film! I hope I get to talk to you again.
Reviews
4 Reviews
Genghis Cohn
(1993)
Isn't there more to Jewish culture than liver and onion sandwiches?
27 January 2003
Genghis Cohn is a (very) mildly entertaining British movie about a German police commissioner in the late 1950's who is haunted by the ghost of a Jewish comedian that he killed 15 years earlier while serving under Hitler in the SS. The ghost comes back and wants his killer to live as a Jew to atone for the murders he committed.
Otto, the German policeman actually knows this ghost's name because, the last thing he did before he died was said, in Yiddish, `Kiss my ass'. The policeman didn't speak Yiddish, so he asked around until he found the meaning. The `kiss my ass' left such an impression that everybody involved with that killing learned and remembered the comedian's name, Genghis Cohn.
There are a bunch of men who are murdered in the jurisdiction of the police commissioner, and there are no helpful clues. The men are murdered with a set of knives that are missing from the local butcher. The butcher announces that his knives are missing while the commissioner is in the store to get a liver and onion sandwich, so the commissioner is a suspect. The first man is killed while making love to the butcher's wife, so the butcher is a suspect. But the butcher maintains that he would be very busy if he killed every man that slept with his wife. All the men are killed immediately after the climax of lovemaking.
I think I might be a bit angrier than the ghost of Genghis Cohn if I was killed like he was. He seems to be very good-natured about it, as if he was just in a mild car accident. I can only guess that it is because it is a British movie and they are known for being a very polite people. He uses some of his material from his stand-up routing, and I just didn't find it very funny.
I gave this movie a 4 because it was just kind of goofy. I thought it should have been a little more serious than it was. The movie turns out to be a murder mystery (where did this come from?), and it seemed that Genghis should have been more helpful than he was. The movie gave me a tiny look into Jewish culture, but was only skin-deep. Do all Jews love liver and onion sandwiches? Do they all say `shtoop' and `meshuganah' in their daily vocabulary? Isn't there more important stuff that we should know about the culture?
I saw this movie at a Jewish community center in Berkeley, CA, and I was the only person in the room whose hair was not fully gray or white. (I have no gray or white hair.) There were 18 of us, and after the movie they stayed for about 20 minutes to discuss the movie. There were 2 main concerns expressed there: 1. The movie was way too light-hearted and future generations might not understand the gravity of what happened and 2. As the Holocaust survivors are dying off, future generations will not know what really happened. I thought that this second concern was ridiculous and I told them I thought they didn't need to worry because there is tons of literature out there and there will always be people who like to watch movies, like myself. The murder of 6,000,000 people by a very bad man will not ever be forgotten. I write this last paragraph because they charged me with telling others about my experience that day.
Otto, the German policeman actually knows this ghost's name because, the last thing he did before he died was said, in Yiddish, `Kiss my ass'. The policeman didn't speak Yiddish, so he asked around until he found the meaning. The `kiss my ass' left such an impression that everybody involved with that killing learned and remembered the comedian's name, Genghis Cohn.
There are a bunch of men who are murdered in the jurisdiction of the police commissioner, and there are no helpful clues. The men are murdered with a set of knives that are missing from the local butcher. The butcher announces that his knives are missing while the commissioner is in the store to get a liver and onion sandwich, so the commissioner is a suspect. The first man is killed while making love to the butcher's wife, so the butcher is a suspect. But the butcher maintains that he would be very busy if he killed every man that slept with his wife. All the men are killed immediately after the climax of lovemaking.
I think I might be a bit angrier than the ghost of Genghis Cohn if I was killed like he was. He seems to be very good-natured about it, as if he was just in a mild car accident. I can only guess that it is because it is a British movie and they are known for being a very polite people. He uses some of his material from his stand-up routing, and I just didn't find it very funny.
I gave this movie a 4 because it was just kind of goofy. I thought it should have been a little more serious than it was. The movie turns out to be a murder mystery (where did this come from?), and it seemed that Genghis should have been more helpful than he was. The movie gave me a tiny look into Jewish culture, but was only skin-deep. Do all Jews love liver and onion sandwiches? Do they all say `shtoop' and `meshuganah' in their daily vocabulary? Isn't there more important stuff that we should know about the culture?
I saw this movie at a Jewish community center in Berkeley, CA, and I was the only person in the room whose hair was not fully gray or white. (I have no gray or white hair.) There were 18 of us, and after the movie they stayed for about 20 minutes to discuss the movie. There were 2 main concerns expressed there: 1. The movie was way too light-hearted and future generations might not understand the gravity of what happened and 2. As the Holocaust survivors are dying off, future generations will not know what really happened. I thought that this second concern was ridiculous and I told them I thought they didn't need to worry because there is tons of literature out there and there will always be people who like to watch movies, like myself. The murder of 6,000,000 people by a very bad man will not ever be forgotten. I write this last paragraph because they charged me with telling others about my experience that day.
25th Hour
(2002)
What would you do on your last day of freedom?
17 January 2003
Warning: Spoilers
Wow, what a great movie. That's the first thing that passed through my head when the credits started rolling. This is the story of a man's last day of freedom before starting a 7-year prison sentence. Funny, how they almost never (if ever) use the words "prison" or "jail".
Edward Norton is great as Monty, and so is the inimitable Philip Seymour Hoffman, who plays one of his best friends. I always enjoy watching both these actors. Hoffman plays a prep-school English teacher who has the hots for one of his students. They run into each other at a nightclub where a big party is thrown for Monty on his last night of freedom. She's not innocent but she is naive. They have an intense moment together at the club.
The movie is not really about prison or even what Monty's crime was. It's about all the things Monty has to do to wrap up his life before "going away". It's about the things people do to get what they want. It's about the realities of "going away" and the difficult emotions of all those involved. There's a brilliant scene where Monty's deepest hate and rage surface, that is very reminiscent of a scene in another great Spike Lee Joint, Do the Right Thing. He basically says F everybody, and then at the end of the scene, F himself. He has nobody else to blame for anything. He alone has ruined his life.
This movie made me think about what I would do if I were in his position. How would your parents react if you were going to prison? How would you say bye to your mom or dad? How about your spouse? And your closest friend? What about your dog?
It is a thoughtful film that is not about one particular thing. It does not try to get in your face with a single message, but has many messages.
Edward Norton is great as Monty, and so is the inimitable Philip Seymour Hoffman, who plays one of his best friends. I always enjoy watching both these actors. Hoffman plays a prep-school English teacher who has the hots for one of his students. They run into each other at a nightclub where a big party is thrown for Monty on his last night of freedom. She's not innocent but she is naive. They have an intense moment together at the club.
The movie is not really about prison or even what Monty's crime was. It's about all the things Monty has to do to wrap up his life before "going away". It's about the things people do to get what they want. It's about the realities of "going away" and the difficult emotions of all those involved. There's a brilliant scene where Monty's deepest hate and rage surface, that is very reminiscent of a scene in another great Spike Lee Joint, Do the Right Thing. He basically says F everybody, and then at the end of the scene, F himself. He has nobody else to blame for anything. He alone has ruined his life.
This movie made me think about what I would do if I were in his position. How would your parents react if you were going to prison? How would you say bye to your mom or dad? How about your spouse? And your closest friend? What about your dog?
It is a thoughtful film that is not about one particular thing. It does not try to get in your face with a single message, but has many messages.
Apocalypse Now
(1979)
eerie
11 January 2003
Rented 1/10/03 Eerie. It was fun to see a young, almost unrecognizable Laurence Fishburne. This movie is right up there with the best Vietnam movies. I have spoken to many Vietnam veterans, and from what they tell me, this movie is pretty accurate. The Viet Cong using children to lob hand grenades into a helicopter lifting a wounded to soldier to safety. I had never seen this movie before, and it lived up to my expectations.
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