#2: Death at a Funeral (2007)

Death at a Funeral is a 2007 British Film directed by Frank Oz, The Stepford Wives (2004), Bowfinger (1999) [with my guy, Robert Downey Jr.]. He is famous for such voice acting as Starwars' Yoda and pretty much every Sesame Street character there is.

'Chaos ensues when a man tries to expose a dark secret regarding a recently deceased patriarch of a dysfunctional British family' is the synopsis of this retched film.

I'm about to go on an angry rant, if you were a fan of this film and wouldn't take kindly to me picking it apart until there's nothing left but a sad, little, old man doing a Yoda impression banging on the front doors of Lucas Ranch, screaming for another chance, click the red X in the top right hand corner of this window, thanks.

Not only did I find this dark comedy neither dark nor funny but I also found it slower then George Bush, on a good day. It just dragged on... and on... I saw so many perfect cutting points, but this film was so full of itself it let every single scene drag out as if hoping a joke might find itself on the way. I found no jokes. It's trying so hard to be dry but it always end up slap sticky. "Oh look, that man has feces on his face! Check that out, the creepy dwarf is a black mailing, house wreaking gay! Look there, it's the pasty naked guy from A Knights Tale and he's naked again! Ha-ha-ha!" Don't get me wrong, I love slap stick (hello, huge Kevin Smith fan typing!) but it all falls flat. I saw every joke before they were said, every plot twist before they happened. It's a frustratingly unfunny and agonizingly predictable film I beg you to avoid at all costs.

You've seen it before.

What a waste of 90 minutes.


Courtenay, out.

#1: The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Hey, I'm Courtenay of itscourtenaymmkay.

I'm a high school drama/film student who loves everything about the film industry. In 10 years I'd really like to see myself doing something in the field, whether it's directing, writing, acting, fetching the director coffee... Whatever!
I just want IN!

Thanks to my mother, I spend 99.98% of my free time watching movies. If it weren't for movies I really don't know what I'd do with myself... eat, probably.

For my first blogger review I'm going to go with the last film I watched. It's a 1991 film directed by Jonathan Demme, starring Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins, called 'The Silence of the Lambs'...


Silence of the Lambs is about Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) a promising FBI trainee who is sent to Baltimore state hospital for the Criminally insane to interview inmate, Dr. Hannibal -The Cannibal- Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) figuring 'it takes one to know one' will come into play with the case of Catherine Martin, daughter of United States Senator Ruth Martin, who is presumed kidnapped by the psychotic Buffalo Bill, a serial killer who likes to 'skin his humps'...

So, I love this film. It's extremely well acted, Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins are wonderful! I don't think I've ever seen anything with Anthony Hopkins before this, so it's a good introduction to this work. I've seen a couple Jodie Foster films; Taxi Driver, Home For The Holidays (Which she directed). Both are swell for different reasons...

It's also written beautifully, directed masterfully, and paced goodly. There was never a moment where I was uninterested or bored, which is surprising seeing as my attention span is... short. The only problem I had was that Buffalo Bill wasn't developed enough as a character. I wanted a back story, something to put his actions into perspective. I guess I'll just have to read the books.

I think the coolest thing about this movie is the effect it's had on popular culture. I burst out laughing when I saw the part that 30 Rock had spoofed, even harder at the scenes Kevin Smith has spoofed.

So, out of the seven Oscars this film was nominated for it won five!
-Best Actor in a Leading Role - Anthony Hopkins
-Best Actress in a Leading Role - Jodie Foster
-Best Director - Jonathan Demme
-Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium - Ted Tally
-Oh, and Best Picture. No biggie.

So, check this film out, that is, if you haven't already. It truly is fantastic.

Until next week... Courtenay, out.