The Hit List

Rather than write a long review of a single movie, I'll give a short paragraph on a number of recent TV shows, DVDs and movies I've enjoyed recently.

Veronica Mars: Season Two - my favorite show on TV right now. Superbly acted and written, this show follows the title character as she endeavors through high school. She's smart, sassy and one hell of a detective. The first season was a tightly woven collection of 22 episodes with an overlaying arc that carried the whole season. The second season was even tighter with each episode essential to the season's big arc. Hearts break and surprises abound. Buffy fans, this should be your new devotion. It's always on the cusp of cancellation, so buy the DVDs and watch it when it airs on the CW in October, and spread the word!

Murderball - a really, really great documentary about the sport of wheelchair rugby, wherein the athletes can smash into each with bonecrushing results, hence the name Murderball. There's some real drama here, the kind you can't make up where a former American player, formerly considered the best in the world is cut from the team as he became older, and consequently slower. Feeling betrayed, he becomes head coach of Canada and helps them defeat the American juggernaut. "How does it feel to betray your country" he is rhetorically asked. A very insightful movie that will open your mind and smash your expectations of "lesser-abled" individuals. As one of the subjects says himself "I've done more in my chair than I've ever been able to do walking." Very compelling stuff.

Wonderfalls: The Complete Series - A great show with a great cast with a lead actress I defy you not to fall in love with or at least develop a small crush on. Of course it was on the Fox network and cancelled after 4 episodes. 13 were made and they're all in this set with a heaping of extras. It's a very quirky comedy that requires you to suspend your disbelief on a certain

Short Cuts: Criterion Collection - this 2 disc set is loaded with quality extras. You know movies like Crash that have large casts that interweave several stories together? Robert Altman is the king of them, and this is one of his masterpieces. 3+ hours long, but never boring, and always engaging.

We Were Soldiers - I remember the first time I saw this I didn't like it that much, but I didn't hate it either. I think it was because around the time the film was made, we were just overloaded with war movies. But the second time around was much much better. The movie is almost one big action scene where the audience is dropped into the middle of a particularly difficult battle. A very, very good movie. If you overlooked this the first time, give it another shot.

A Very Long Engagement - bought this recently because I saw it for cheap, but I would've gladly paid 10 times for this gem. From the director and star of Amelie, but don't think this is Amelie 2. A romantic epic set in WW1 follows Mathilde (Audrey Tautou) as she searches for her lover, despite being told of his death. Audrey Tautou has quickly become one of my favorite actresses and I've only seen her in a few movies. This is one of the most beautiful movies I've ever seen, and the cinematography on display in this movie will leave you breathless.

Superman: The Animated Series - Vol. 3 - The last and best set of this animated show, while not the definitive Superman, is still extremely enjoyable. Kudos to the producers for ending the show on a note that isn't typically "Superman" but fits with where the show was headed, a very gutsy move especially for a character not known for being dark.

Justice League - Season 1 - more enjoyable animated goodness from the guys that brought us the Batman, Superman and Batman Beyond Animated series. While this is probably the worst set of anything from the whole Paul Dini/Bruce Timm DC animated universe, it does have a few gems (Justice Guild!) and it also introduces us to my new favorite JLAer, Hawkgirl.

Justice League - Season 2 - the producers sat down and took all the bad parts of the first season of Justice League and fixed them. They kick things up a notch right from the very beginning and carry that momentum all the way to the slambang 3-part finale Starcrossed that really sets the tone for the future, and IMO, the best of anything they've done, Justice League Unlimited. October 24th can't come soon enough (Justice League Unlimited Season 1 releases then).

Born On The Fourth On July - got this in the Ultimate Oliver Stone collection, and this was the first flick I watched from it, because it is one of my all-time favorites. Forget all that Scientology and Katie Holmes bullshit, anyone who doesn't think Tom Cruise is a great actor hasn't seen this film. IMO, the best anti-war movie ever made. One of those movies that has a timeless message that's just as relevant now and maybe even moreso now than at the time it was made, and the time it portrayed.

Various Buster Keaton Short Films: Convict 13, Daydreams, Cops, The Playhouse, Hard Luck, The Blacksmith, The Electric House, The Goat, My Wife's Relations, and the list goes on and on - Let's get this straight upfront. Buster Keaton is a genius, he is one of the innovators of visual humour in the 20th century. He's been copied, studied and idolized so much by modern day actors from Jackie Chan to Johnny Depp. Many people see his gags used in modern day movies and think to themselves how original they are. Well, he did that back into the 1920s. Now that is really something for someone to still be original almost a century later. I could talk on and on about Buster Keaton because he's one of the few people I've truly idolized, so I'll just leave it at that. Go find his movies! They are frequently available for free from your local library! You can't beat that.

Wedding Crashers - Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughan are pretty much given free reign to really show off their comedic abilities to the fullest here. This is one of those movies where I would think about a joke that happened earlier and just laugh out loud even when something unfunny was going on. Rachel McAdams is great (wouldn't she be great as Susan Storm - Invisible Girl in Fantastic Four?). She has 2 very rare assets among actresses today, beauty AND acting ability.

Land of the Dead - Forget every other zombie movie. When it comes to zombies, no one does it better than George A. Romero. He's the real master, he created the genre, and no one else has even come close to what he's done. This movie wasn't just good, it was awesome and it just plain rocked. Please, please let there be more Romero zombie goodness. This is almost like a Romero best of mix tape; it's got action, drama, adventure, great ideas, and explores both the human and zombie aspects of living in the new world. Overall, an extremely satisfying movie.

Day of the Dead - Having seen Land of the Dead and enjoying the heck out of it, I decided to go back and give a second chance to Romero's only film which I disliked. With an open mind, I enjoyed and respected this film so much more. I think my original fault the first time was that I expected a film more akin to Night or Dawn. But what Day tries to do is so much different than those films. In this film, Romero really tries to deconstruct zombies and deconstructing the whole human-zombie differentiation. It's more of a talky-thinky movie unlike the more action and drama oriented Night and Dawn. I still place Day as the weakest of Romero's zombie films, but now I like it and respect it much more than I use to.

Once a Thief - A lot of people see Chow Yun Fat as this slick and cool character from films like The Killer and Hard Boiled. As great as he is at playing the slick and cool character, CYF may be even better at the comedic roles, and in this movie he gets to show off his more comedic side. Not to be confused with the far inferior english language remake, also made by Woo.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - A smartly written dark comedy starring two great character actors, Robert Downey, Jr. & Val Kilmer. I'm really beginning to like these guys more and more as they move away from standard Hollywood fair and towards sharply written, dialogue driven independent movies. Oh, and Michelle Monaghan sizzles, she could be the typical Hollywood big star if she wanted to be, but I hope she sticks with these little treasures.