Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death (1988)

After gorging on Easter brunch, I stretched out on the couch to watch Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death (1988):

To avoid an avocado shortage, the government hires feminist anthropology professor Margo Hunt (Shannon Tweed) to find the man-eating Piranha Women tribe who inhabit the avocado jungle of Southern California. Assisted by a chauvinist named Jim (Bill Maher) and a dim-witted student named Bunny, Hunt must convince the tribe to move to Malibu condos. Meanwhile, Bunny's contemplating joining the Piranha gals -- but she must consume Jim first!

Someone once told me that any serious academic feminist had to see this movie. You know, I can't really tell if it's just making fun of feminism or doing a parody that uses feminism to make its point, whatever that might be. It's goofy and stupid and silly with a few laughs at how feminism is portrayed. I wish that I could get a jeep from our gender studies program! Two of the five stars.

ETA: Been checking out the IMDB entry linked to above and found out that J. F. Lawton, who wrote and directed Cannibal Women, followed this film by writing the screenplay for Pretty Woman. That does put Cannibal Women in a whole other light!

The Dead Girl (2006)

Tonight, it was The Dead Girl (2006):

A small close-knit community near Los Angeles is thrown into turmoil when the brutally desecrated body of a vibrant young girl is discovered in a field. A series of seemingly unrelated dramas in the lives of the town's residents ultimately converge and reveal answers to the murder itself. Toni Collette, James Franco, Giovanni Ribisi and Mary Beth Hurt star in this dark Independent Spirit Award-nominated mystery directed by Karen Moncrieff.

This was really good, different than I expected. When Da Man heard that it was a collection of disparate stories, he said, "You like those kind of movies, don't you?" Yeah, I do. And the stories were not connected like in Babel, which I expected. But, as Moncrieff says in an interview on the DVD, this is about the ripples of violence that affect multiple people. What is amazing to me is that Moncrieff wrote this script after she was a juror on a trial where a prostitute had been murdered. Witnesses included her mother, some johns, and other prostitutes including one that was her lover. The script was a way of dealing with some of the emotions that came up during the trial.

This movie had a lot of named actors in it. I'll see anything with Toni Collette. And Marcia Gay Harden plays a pivotal role. Piper Laurie is typecast as a freaky mother. It was dark, and I liked it. Four out of five stars.

The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

After Da Man went to bed last night, I decided to see The Darjeeling Limite.

Following the death of their father, three brothers (Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman) embark on a journey on the cross-India train the Darjeeling Limited and attempt to reconnect after years of physical and emotional distance. The trip also opens up some old wounds and proves that their sibling rivalry can never be completely erased. Natalie Portman and Anjelica Huston co-star in Wes Anderson's lyrical comic drama.

Okay, I'll be blunt. I was disappointed. I gave it three stars, but I waffled between two and three. I loved The Royal Tenenbaums. Yes, it's an acquired taste, but it was my kind of movie. I loved Rushmore, too. Darjeeling didn't have any of the elements that I loved in the other two movies. It had its quirks, but they did particularly speak to me. The scene in the village with the dead boy and the flashback to their father's funeral? Now, that was good. It felt like something was happening there. I wasn't thinking that the film was slow, which I was thinking about ten minutes earlier.

It may surprise some people that I chose a film based on a parent's death, especially when the point of the trip is to see the other parent who basically abandoned them. But I was in the mood for that. I think I wanted something more cathartic, and the film didn't deliver in that regard. Maybe it wasn't fair to judge it like that, but it seemed like it was going to be like that. And Tenenbaums did kinda go there.

Escape from L.A. (1996)

Tonight, it was Escape from L.A., about which Netflix says:

Kurt Russell reprises his role as antihero Snake Plissken. This time, a cataclysmic temblor hits Los Angeles, turning it into an island. The president (Cliff Robertson) views the quake as a sign from above, expels Los Angeles from the country and makes it a penal colony for those found guilty of moral crimes. When his daughter, part of a resistance movement, steals the control unit for a doomsday weapon, Snake again gets tapped to save the day.

My, this was cheesy. So cheesy! I like cheesy, but it did get ridiculous in spots, what with the surfing and hang gliding. The special effects weren't that great, either. Fine plot, though, for an action movie like this. Not enough to get it beyond two of the five stars, though.

The thing I want to remember about this movie is that a virus does play a central role in it. Snake gets infected with Plutoxin, being told that his neurological system will shut down in ten hours. So he must find the "black box" that was stolen by the President's daughter and bring it back to the president to get the antidote. In the end, the shot just gives him a fast case of the flu.

I've got a thing for virus movies, and I want to keep this on the list of 'em, even if the virus isn't that big of deal in it. Or if the movie is pretty damn cheesy.

Rocket Science (2007)

Here's what Netflix says about Rocket Science (2007):

When 15-year-old Hal Hefner (Reece Thompson) -- a New Jersey boy with a terrible stutter -- falls in love with the star of his high school debate squad (Anna Kendrick), he joins the team at his dream girl's urging. Next thing you know, young Hal finds himself caught up in the intense competition of debating. Jeffrey Blitz, who wrote and directed this charming tale, was awarded the Dramatic Directing Award at Sundance 2007.

I love high school movies becasue it was during high school that I made the first real friends of my life after spending my first fourteen years alone. Though I spent much of my high school years in afraid of and anxious about many things, it was also a time when i realized that there were people in the world who could know me deeply and love me anyway.

I wanted to see this ever since I saw that it was nominated for so many Independent Spirit Awards. It is a good one, not like a stereotypical high school movie (though I love many of those, too). As noted in the featurette on the making of the film, they avoided the cliches of cliques terrorizing each other and went for something a little more complicated.

While watching it, I could not help but think of Wes Anderson because it definitely had that tone to it, from the voice over that even sounded like Alec Baldwin from The Royal Tenenbaums to some quirky characters and family dynamics. I also couldn't help but think of Hal Hartley, maybe because the protagonist is named Hal Hefner of maybe because of the quirky characters.

I liked it. Four out of five stars.

What's Up With This Blog?

Hi, everyone. I've created a new blog for one reason. I watch a lot of movies on Netflix, usually one a week if not more. I've been doing so for over a year, and I'm starting to forget things about movies. So, this blog exists just for me as a way to keep a record. Just so you know, I'm not going to be offering insightful critiques or lots of depth. See Chuck for that! I'm just going to type out a few things that stand out at the time of the initial viewing. Basically, this is mainly for me, though you're welcome ot stay. If you stick around, expect to see a lot of movies with zombies, a lot set in high schools, some obscure gay movies, some mainstream Hollywood blockbusters, and general weirdness.