The Couch Potato Report – October 2nd, 2010
This week The Couch Potato Report peels a broken movie, an Iron Man, and a box of Butters.
BSS ñ or Broken Social Scene ñ is a Canadian musical collective that ñ at times ñ features as few as six and ñ at others ñ as many as nineteen members. They formed in Toronto in 1999 and all the bandís members also play in other groups, and release solo projects…the most notable solo artist being Leslie Feist.
THIS MOVIE IS BROKEN is a pseudo-concert film starring Broken Social Scene that is also a pseudo love story about a guy named Bruno who wakes up in bed on the morning of the show next to Caroline, his long time crush.
But she only has one more night in Toronto before she heads back to France for schoolÖand there is nothing sheíd rather do than go to a Broken Social Scene concert and have some fun.
But Bruno is thinking something else. He wants something more long term…a lot long term!!
THIS MOVIE IS BROKEN features some great music and a nice young cast, but this is a film that takes risks, cinematically and sexually, and ñ unfortunately ñ not all of them pay off.
The concert scenes with Broken Social Scene are great as we get to see some good friends having fun playing music, and if you are a fan of the band donít miss itÖotherwise the film is okay, but what could have been a great little film is ultimately nothing special.
Also nothing special, but a heck of a lot more fun, is the summer blockbuster IRON MAN 2
Yes, IRON MAN 2 is fun, although it isnít as unique, as entertaining or as much fun as the first cinematic time that Robert Downey, Jr. became Marvel Comics’ armoured good guyÖbut that doesnít matter. In movie sequels such as this, story, plot and yes, sometimes even fun, have to take a back seat to well choreographed and planned action sequencesÖand IRON MAN 2 certainly has plenty of thoseÖtoo many at times for my likingÖbut if you like films based on comic book superheroes ñ which I really, really do ñ you absolutely must see this film!
It might not be anything special, but it is still very entertaining at times!
Scarlett Johansson, Mickey Rourke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle and Sam Rockwell round out the main cast of IRON MAN 2 and while the film is in no way perfect, it is an action-packed, turn your brain off before you press play type film that is very entertaining at times.
Never once as entertaining as the first IRON MANÖbut occasionally close.
I have a television show on DVD for you now.
SCRUBS was a show I once lovedÖthe first few seasons of this comedy drama about the doctors at the fictional teaching hospital Sacred HeartÖwere some of televisionís best!! The middle seasonsÖwerenít.
Luckily it rebounded and finished off its run after eight seasons very, very strong.
But thenÖit was announced the show would continue and nowÖone season too lateÖwe have SCRUBS ñ THE COMPLETE AND FINAL NINTH SEASON where only some of the main characters from the previous eight years appeared, mentoring a brand new group of med students.
A mostly useless, miscast group…and even though some members of the old cast are still present, even what they do doesnít seem fresh anymore.
You see Sacred Heart is now a Medical School, not a hospital, and you wonít care. Lucy, Drew and Cole try to replace J.D., Elliot and Turk, and they fail.
SCRUBS ñ THE COMPLETE AND FINAL NINTH SEASON is for fans of the show ONLYÖand maybe not even them. No, it isnít as bad as AFTER*MASHÖbut it comes close. Very, very close!
From a television show about some fictional doctors, we move now to a movie about a real child prodigy.
AndrÈ Mathieu was a Quebecois pianist and composer from Montreal. He spoke his first words at the age of 4 months, took his first steps before seven months, and began composing at the age of 4.
At the age of 6 Mathieu gave his first recital of his own composition at the Ritz Carleton Hotel in Montreal, and in 1936 he performed his Concertino No.1 for Piano and Orchestra as a soloist on CBC.
Mathieu was called a “little Canadian Mozart” and no less a musician than the great Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninov pronounced him, “Öa genius, more so than I am”.
THE CHILD PRODIGY is a film about AndrÈ Mathieuís travels around the world as a child and after he grows up, and it shows him warts and all
THE CHILD PRODIGY is a very good film about a once well-known Canadian that I can easily recommend. It is not excellent in any way, and it ends way to quickly ñ not unlike Mathieuís life itself ñ but this is still a film that is worthy of your time.
I have another film about a composer now in this weekís Couch Potato ReportÖ Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who is widely acknowledged as one of the most important and influential composers of 20th century music.
In COCO CHANEL AND IGOR STRAVINSKY he is now a penniless refugee living in exile in Paris following the Russian Revolution who is given a place to live by the fashion designer.
And once Chanel moves Stravinsky and his family into her country estate, an affair becomes inevitable, but it isnít happy ever after for these two.
COCO CHANEL AND IGOR STRAVINSKY is a well cast, well acted and well written movie that is very engaging, very entertaining and very, very good!
It is tres manifique, and I easily recommend it!!
I have a film for you now that is called GOOD. Is it good? No, the movie is all over the place, but because of the lead actor it might be one you are interested in, so I thought I would mention it.
GOOD stars Viggo Mortensen from THE LORD OF THE RINGS films as a man living in Germany, pre-World War II.
When his latest novel is enlisted by powerful political figures in the Nazi party to push their agenda, his career and social standing instantly advance.
But once he learns about the Reichís horrific plans for the future, he must decide whether or not to take a stand to help his friend and risk losing everything.
As I said, GOOD is not good, but I donít think it is bad eitherÖthis is one of those films that start, finish, and is neither good nor bad. It left no impression on me whatsoever, but if you are a fan of Viggoís, I hope that you enjoy it more than I did.
Truth be told, PERRIERíS BOUNTY is another film that left no impression on me whatsoever.
This one stars Cillian Murphy of THE DARK KNIGHT as a would-be-thief who owes a local gangster Perrier more money than he can pay, and when his suicidal neighbor kills one of the goons who have come to collect, he is forced to go on the run with her AND his foul- mouthed, death-obsessed ñ and maybe dying ñ father.
Made in Ireland, PERRIERíS BOUNTY features a great cast of character actors, but the cast is the only thing great about it. I think the filmmakers were aiming to make a film for fans of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and In BrugesÖbut they havenít.
That said, like GOOD, this film is neither good nor bad. It started, and then finished and left no impression on me. It isnít the worst film that is new on the shelves this week, and if you like any member of the cast, it might make a good rental.
And if you do pick it upÖonce again, I hope that you enjoy it more than I did.
Of all of this weekís releases, I must admit that the one I had the most fun watching is one that features nothing that I hadnít seen beforeÖin fact, because I am a fan of the television show SOUTH PARK, I had seen the episodes in the A LITTLE BOX OF BUTTERS collection several timesÖand I still laughed out loud and enjoyed every minute of them once again!!
Leopold “Butters” Stotch is a cheerful, naive, optimistic, and entertaining character and the 2-Disc Collectible Box set SOUTH PARK ñ A LITTLE BOX OF BUTTERS features 13 Butters-centric episodes, along with some fun goodies ñ including the “It’s Butters! A Trivia Game” interactive experienceand collectibles from his past misadventures.
But mostly, it features Butters! If you want to laugh, and maybe even sing along, pick up our final new release this week: A LITTLE BOX OF BUTTERS.
SOUTH PARK ñ A LITTLE BOX OF BUTTERS, THE CHILD PRODIGY, SCRUBS ñ THE COMPLETE AND FINAL NINTH SEASON, and THIS MOVIE IS BROKEN are available now only on DVD.
PERRIERíS BOUNTY, GOOD, COCO CHANEL AND IGOR STRAVINSKY, IRON MAN 2 are available now on Blu-ray and DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
The made-in-Kipling, Saskatchewan, film RUST; the 2010 remakes of the eighties films THE KARATE KID and A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. Plus, BEAUTY & THE BEAST debuts on Blu-ray, Iíll talk about a less-than-average Montreal West high school student who is at the centre of THE TROTSKY and documentarian Ken Burns adds on to his brilliant 1994 Baseball series with THE TENTH INNING.
I’m Dan Reynish. I’ll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.
For now, that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here again next time on The Couch!
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