S.G. Browne

Set in 1975 in Scotland, PA, with a soundtrack almost exclusively comprised of Bad Company songs and with everyone driving around in muscle cars and sporting bad fashion and long hair, Scotland, PA is a darkly comedic take on Shakespeare’s tragedy MacBeth.

James LeGros (Chad Palomino from Living in Oblivion) plays the title character, only instead of MacBeth, he’s Joe McBeth, an underachieving employee at a fast-food restaurant named Duncan’s, owned by Norm Duncan, who has made his fortune by selling a chain of donut stores. Duncan has repeatedly passed over McBeth for promotion while ignoring McBeth’s ideas for improving the store, including a french fry truck and chicken nuggets with dipping sauces.

At the urging of his wife “Lady” Pat McBeth (Maura Tierny of ER fame), McBeth kills Duncan so that they can take over the restaurant, which, of course, they call McBeth’s. (The similarities to another famous fast food chain are impossible to miss.) But when Lieutenant McDuff (Christopher Walken) shows up to investigate Duncan’s murder and suspicion gradually shifts to them, the McBeths begin to unravel.

Also starring Kevin Corrigan as fry cook Anthony “Banko” Banconi and Amy Smart, Timothy Levitch, and Andy Dick as a trio of gypsy hippie “witches,” Scotland, PA is a smart and amusing social satire on fast-food and the 1970’s. Don’t expect to hear any of Shakespeare’s dialogue (except occasionally playing on the radio in the background). But if you don’t take your Shakespeare seriously and enjoy good dark comedies, then go out and rent this one.

In honor of Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d review a movie about the personal connections that arise from the senseless and painful reality of human existence. And a movie that has the word “heart” in its title.

I Heart Huckabees (2004) is a film that’s difficult to describe. I’m not sure I can do it justice. Even director David O. Russell, in an interview, said he described the film to the people who financed the movie as:

“Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin are existential detectives who you could hire to investigate the meaning of your life. Their clients include Jude Law, Naomi Watts, Jason Schwartzman and Mark Wahlberg. Their nemesis is Isabelle Huppert. Hilarity ensues.”

Jason Schwartzman is a neurotic (surprise!)  environmental advocate fighting against the development of a big-chain department store (Huckabees), for which Jude Law plays a scheming, corporate-ladder-climbing executive, with Naomi Watts, the iconic face and voice of Huckabees, as his live-in girlfriend who has superficial tendencies. As mentioned, Lily Tomlin and Dustin Hoffman are the existential sleuths who attempt to help Schwartzmann solve a coincidence by teaching him about the universal interconnectivity of everything.

Mark Wahlberg (in a great role) is an anti-petroleum, bicycle-riding fireman who believes Tomlin’s and Hoffman’s optimistic approach isn’t working for him. So he teams up with Schwartzmann and the two of them go off on their own to work with Isabelle Huppert, who teaches them that life is meaningless and that they must disconnect from their problems in order to avoid the misery of human existence.

And you thought this was going to be a love story.

This is definitely one of those films that you either love or you hate. Obviously, I fall into the former camp and consider this one of my favorite films. It’s a quirky, playful, intelligent comedy about the meaning of existence with terrific acting, great dialogue, and an original story.

Just don’t expect a whole lot of hearts or romance.

Set in 1969 Paris, CQ (written and directed by Roman Coppola) is an offbeat and campy film-within-a-film starring a pre-LOST Jeremy Davies as a young film editor making a documentary about his own life while working on a science fiction adventure movie directed by the renowned French director Gerard Depardieu.

The sci-fi film stars Angela Lindvall as Dragonfly, a sexy super-agent who lives in a spaceship on top of the Eiffel Tower and charges ridiculous amounts of money to the World Council to help solve their problems. Her most recent assignment? To stop a revolutionary (Billy Zane) who lives on the far-out side of the moon.

When Depardieu is fired from the film and his replacement, Jason Schwartzman, backs out, Davies is thrust into the director’s role he has always coveted. But his obsession with the sexy Lindvall/Dragonfly causes unexpected results, not the least of which is the blending together of the sci-fi film and his documentary, with both eventually merging with his real life.

The humor is subtle, the cinematography top notch, and the dialogue smart and funny. This is another example of what I thought was an excellent film that made no money at the box office. Granted, it’s not for everyone, but if you enjoy campy films about film-making and you appreciate homages to 1960’s European sci-fi spoofs, then you’ll love CQ.

Kick-Ass starts out with a young, costumed figure standing atop a skyscraper as the hero narrates about why no one ever thought to be a superhero before him.  With all of the comic books, movies, and TV shows out there, he figures someone, one eccentric loner, would have made himself a costume.  He continues to wonder if everyday life is so exciting, if schools and offices are so thrilling, then how is it he’s the only one who fantasized about this?

He finishes the opening monologue by saying that, at some point in our lives, we all wanted to be a superhero.

And Kick-Ass does just that.  It makes you want to be a superhero. To go out and buy a costume and take some martial arts classes and learn how to use some nunchucks.  It makes you want to go out and kick some ass.

Directed by Matthew Vaughn (Stardust, Layer Cake) and starring Nicolas Cage, Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin from Superbad), Kick-Ass is one of the best superhero films I’ve ever seen. Why?  Because it’s not overacted or overproduced or overdone with special effects.  It’s not about mutants with unusual abilities or millionaires who feel the need to save the world.  Instead, it’s about real people trying to do extraordinary things, with some of them realizing they’ve gotten in over their heads.  And that’s what gives the film its heart.

The script is fun and filled with action, the acting solid, the characters engaging, and the story inspiring.  What more do you want in a superhero movie?

Oh, and Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall is scheduled for release in 2012.  I’m going to make sure to catch that one at the theaters.

I don’t know many people who saw this film when it came out in 1999, which is reflected by it’s meager box office take. But just because a movie doesn’t make any money at the theaters doesn’t mean it’s not worth seeing. Most of the movies on my Top 10 List of All Time Favorite Films weren’t considered box office successes. And while Mystery Men isn’t on that list, if you enjoy fun characters and riffs on the superhero films, then you’ll enjoy this one.

Champion City has been virtually cleansed of criminals by the corporate-logo-clad Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear), who is frustrated because his publicist can’t get him anything better than a battle with The Red Eyes at an old age home. It doesn’t help that Pepsi has just dropped him as a sponsor and that he’s in danger of losing his other endorsement deals. So Captain Amazing’s alter ego, billionaire Lance Hunt, decides to help argue for the parole of his nemesis, Casanova Frankenstein (Geoffrey Rush), so he can position himself for maintaining his sponsors and status. Unfortunately, Captain Amazing’s plan backfires and he’s captured by Casanova Frankenstein.

In the meantime, a trio of less-than-glamorous crime fighters – Mr. Furious (Ben Stiller), The Shoveler (William H. Macy), and the fork-flinging Blue Raja (Hank Azaria) – find themselves struggling for notoriety and respect. To improve their standing and help them to rescue Captain Amazing, they enlist the help of The Spleen (Paul Reubens), The Bowler (Janeane Garofalo), and Invisible Boy (Kel Mitchell).

With the help of the terribly mysterious and wisdom espousing The Sphinx (“He who questions training only trains himself at asking questions”), the group of ragtag superheroes takes on Captain Casanova and attempts to rescue Champion City’s superhero.

The dialogue is excellent, the casting pitch-perfect, and the art direction outstanding. Yes, the premise is somewhat silly and there are several minor plot issues but you’re not watching this film for it’s credibility or social commentary.

Put it on your Netflix queue.