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Sadly, I haven't had time to watch too many films lately. Working more than may be psychologically safe and laughing my ass off to the original (UK) version of The Office on dvd has kept me busy. Even worse, the first film I'll be mentioning in this blog is the American remake of Bangkok Dangerous. Gah, I know.


Bangkok Dangerous
Directed by The Pang Brothers, starring beautiful locations, unnecessarily loud gunshots, and bad hair. It pains me to recall anything from this "film". Nic Cage gets top billing in a horrid exercise in excess. It was as though The Pang Brothers were trying so hard to please the audience, they ended up losing sight of what they were supposed to be doing. If you absolutely hate yourself, or have a penchant for seeing terrible actors in bad wigs, by all means, go see Bangkok Dangerous.

Once
Directed by John Carney, starring Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. Once is one of those wonderful films that looks so simplistically fantastic that you'd think it couldn't possibly live up to your expectations. However, it surpasses them in every way. Hansard and Irglova play two musicians that happen upon one another on the the streets of Dublin. Their loneliness and their love of music bring them as close together as platonically possible, and they discover a bit about themselves and the world. Simply a terrific film, filled with honest performances, brilliant direction, and some of the best music you will ever hear.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog
Directed by Joss Whedon, starring Neil Patrick Harris, Felicia Day, and Nathan Fillion. I'm not sure what I can say about Whedon's Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog that hasn't already been said by legions of fans. If you haven't seen it, shame on you. Shame on you for not having introduced yourself to the Whedonverse. Go now and watch Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog on iTunes, catch Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, or Serenity on dvd; and/or read Whedon's runs on Astonishing X-Men and Brian K. Vaughan's Runaways. All of the aforementioned forms of entertainment will astound and delight, as Joss Whedon is one of the greatest writer/director/thinkers of our time.

Burn After Reading
Directed by The Coen Brothers, starring George Clooney, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and Brad Pitt. To explain this film would give far too much away. If you are familiar with the works of The Coen Brothers (The Hudsucker Proxy, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, The Ladykillers, No County for Old Men) then you know what to expect. If you aren't well versed in the filmic world of The Coen Brothers, Burn After Reading would be a great place to start. Every bit as sly as their other works, Burn After Reading posseses humor and intrigue, but in a light-hearted way more akin to The Ladykillers than their last flick, No Country for Old Men. For a good laugh, and a good experience, check out Burn After Reading.

Next Blog: The, more than a simple romantic comedy, romantic comedy Meeting Daddy.