moviefunforeveryone

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98: Death to Smoochy (2002): “Corrupt politicians make the other ten percent look bad.” so said noted war criminal and current resident of the fiery pits of Hell Henry Kissinger, and what this film presupposes is, yes, but the politicians are actually Kids entertainers. And Society. Imagine if you will that the lovable and extremely wholesome entertainers of our VERY children, were actually perverts drug addicts, crooks and of course, real jerks. Now imagine a movie where One Brave Man stands up against this rot and gives our children, and maybe ourselves exactly what it is we need. Well that is in the broadest strokes Death To Smoochy, and yet somehow it still fuckin rocks. Robin Williams is Rainbow (fuckin') Randolph beloved TV entertainer who among a myriad of flaws has been taking cash to put kids in prime locations on his extremely popular children's show. Unfortunately for Rainbow it is a pre 9/11 world (altho released in 2002 it is a very pre September 11 vibes time) and so the government actually had time to thwart his corruption. He is arrested for many crimes and most importantly loses his show. John Stewart the man in charge of Kidsnet shows (Marion Frank Stokes) has a problem, he needs his new host to be squeaky fucking clean, but when going through a list of potential replacements all he finds is reprobates, except for 'Absolute Sap' Edward Norton (Sheldon Mopes) the creator of none other than Smoochy The Rhino seen weekly at the Coney Island Methadone Clinic. Catherine Keener (Nora Wells) exec producer/child's tv host love maker is hard on Mopes until the time comes when she see that this Sap is strong as an Oak tree. No I don't really know what that means. Featuring winning turns by Harvey Firestein and Danny Devito (also the director) and one of the funniest line reads I have ever heard 'When Spinner Dunn punch drunk sweetie pie says “Don't go anywhere, Smoochy. I'll be right back after I take a dump ”' this movie is good. I mean obviously I have it on my list. DeVito as director is always interesting because the man himself is very interesting, when he's doing comedy I think he can sometimes go too hard for the 'dark' side of things, not in a shitty edge lord kind of way but from a pretty fair and correct POV. He is rare in mainstream celebrities in that he seems to have a good idea of what the problems are and more important the system that causes them (Capitalism BABY) but sometimes he just goes a step too far when describing it in comedy. I think that is where this film is not as tenable to a wide audience, ESPECIALLY back in 2002, even with the pall of 9/11 the world was still very gung ho about Crapitalism (patent pending) and any real critiques of it, especially ones that can verge on sour were really unloved by most people. A thing I will probably mention again and again is that I worked for almost 10 years in multiple video stores, and my experiences with this film were pretty singular. Women despised it back in the early to mid 00's. And I don't mean that in some shit head anti woman way, just that in my experiences women really hated this thing. I will update to say that in present day I have met plenty of women who enjoy the film and so I assume it is a cultural change not a gender change. OK COOL In closing I love this movie Williams is electric, Keener is really underrated and conveys anger and vulnerability expertly, DeVito is a good director heavy handedness or not, and he has some really lovely shots especially dealing with the taping of the Smoochy show. And look you're gonna find gentle reader that I am always gonna be into art that tells me not loving commercialism is good and if you don't that's a you problem.

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99: The Go Getter (2007): As author and noted outdoor kid Henry David Thorough once opined “The question is not what you look at, but what you see.” and what the 2007 film Go-Getter presupposes is, yes, and that makes for an enjoyable filmatic experience. The Go-Getter is a movie where not a ton happens, Mercer's mom dies and so he steals a car and goes on the road looking for his long lost brother, who he wants/needs to tell. Mercer is played by Lou Taylor Pucci, who also was terrific in Thumbsucker. Along his trip he meets an ever growing list of people his brother fucked over, and falls in love with the owner of the car, (Zooey Deshanel, right before she became the New Girl) who he talks to via a cellphone she left in her car. She has a pretty open mind re: car theft and re: matters of the heart and family. Throw in a dalliance with Jena Malone and buddy that's the movie. It may not sound like much but it is a imo very underrated entry into imo a very underrated genre, which is the mid 00's sad white guy maybe on maybe not on medication, and his yearning to “understand” although usually 'understand' just means have sex with a real babe, which to be fair NICE work if you can get it. Beginners, Thumbsucker and Chumscrubber all count as entries into that particular genre. I feel though that this one is slightly above the others because, M. Ward is both in it and singing on the soundtrack and there are few men on earth better equipped to soundtrack broad unspecific ennui better than M.Ward. Director Martin Hynes has yet to direct anything since but do not weep for Martin because he did co-write the movie Atlantis about the housing development Pharell Williams grew up in coming out in 2025 so actually things have never been better for the guy (?) In closing the joy of this movie is the vibes, beautiful shots of the beautiful United States (of America pal!), everyone looking kind of sad and maybe horny at all times and music to write letters to your ex-girlfriends to. It didn't recreate the wheel but it did give the wheel an appreciation for the collected works of Pablo Neruda so tell me it's bad? 10/10

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100: Fierce Creatures (1997): As the one and only Jesus Christ himself once said 'it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of A needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!' and what this 1997 comedic romp presupposes is . . . . he was right.

Bringing back all your favourites from A Fish Called Wanda and adding my favourite Assistant DA from Law and Order, Fierce Creatures is a movie that you just couldn't make anymore, manly because lead actor/writer John Cleese is very busy doing publicly funded documentaries about how you just can't say anything anymore! in the country he's from but doesn't pay taxes in and so he's too darn busy to make a movie that actually DOES confront the mechanisms of power and in my (surely charitable reading of a mostly silly movie) presents the fact that for the workers to receive what is rightfully theirs the mega-rich man (pig) they hand their labour to for pennies, must die. A quick rundown of the plot is as follows, Rod McCain played by Kevin Kline is Rupert Murdoch even while being in the film an adversary of Murdoch. His company Octopus Inc goes around the world buying businesses, mining them for any capital and then selling them for the next new business ready to be shelled for profit. He ends up acquiring a small Zoo in England sends Rollo Lee (John Cleese) to run the ship all while raising profits to the needed amounts for Octopus Inc. Cleese is almost immediately usurped by Jamie Lee Curtis as a former Executive whose original job was erased in a deal just as she signed her contract. 'Don't worry we'll find you a job, there';s always jobs' Rod assures her while ignoring his son Vince McCain, also played by Kline Once all the players are in place we watch as the workers eventually realize they control the means of production, the manager class either gain class consciousness or accept it in order to secure their own means, and in the end everyone is happy or dead. Of course my reading is maybe a little more didactic than the filmmakers, especially considering the final third of the movie is entirely re-written/reshot thus needing two director credits. But it's all there on the screen, it's not MY fault no one else gets it This movie is the first of a running sub-list of movies that I watched multiple times with my Mom or my Grandfather, this one was my mom and we both enjoyed ourselves immensely, specifically every thing Kevin Kline did whenever he was in spitting distance of the camera. The cast is a reunion of the admittedly superior A Fish Called Wanda, although now John Cleese for some reason has a terrible dye job. Kline is doing a LOT and while I could see people not enjoying it I think it's manic delight. Jamie Lee Curtis is the one left holding the bag as she's basically a walking sign for being horny and so doesn't have as much to do but the small moments she gets she uses fully. Small mention to Carey Lowell as a beautiful zookeeper (and the ADA I mentioned above who 15 year old TC had a lot of complex emotions about) and my man Ronnie Corbett the short British comic with huge glasses who has guided not many of my choices but idk we share a lot of descriptors!

Look this movie isn't perfect, and almost certainly not as good as A Fish Called Wanda but it takes me back to my youth and the fond warm embrace of a time when actually you could fucking hate rich people and the commodification of life. Miss those days RIP xoxoxox My favourite line is 'Excuse me gentlemen I need to be alone .. .I uh feel a bit . . . suicidal!' as spoken by Kline. Better heard then read I am sure. In closing I am a true contrarian and so when everyone says 'Oh this isn't as good as their OTHER movie I have to prove my punk bonafides and say ACTUALLY you're wrong and ACTUALLY I am right and it is GREAT to murder rich people. With Satire! 10.10

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Made a list on my Letterboxd a few months ago, an update of my top 100 films of all time, gonna rewatch them and then post reviews on this lil Tumblr. For all the cinema nuts and extended cries for help fans.