September 29, 2005
TV Show: My Name Is Earl
Thank goodness it's getting decent ratings. It's funny, clever, inventive, and appropriately crass. It's probably the second-best comedy after Arrested Development (which continues to languish, ratings-wise.) Anyway, if you like to laugh, set your Tivo to Earl.
Movie Review: Crimen Ferpecto
In an effort to use discount cards before they expire, we headed to see Crimen Ferpecto(unfortunately retitled "El Crimen Perfecto" in the US), an intense, madcap Spanish farce about a lothario whose life goes... awry. I'm wary of saying more about the plot because this is definitely a movie where the less you know, the better. I will say this:
It's a good movie. Not great. Not very good. But good.
It's inventive and stylish.
It exploits the fact that it's a movie -- leave your desire for realism at the door.
I love that it has a strong directorial voice. So many American movies have stunted points of view. This is a film with vision (however flawed).
When the plot sags (and it does... capers are difficult to maintain), the film is saved by some great, simple, humor. Malevolent children, a bathroom-door bit that will make you wonder why you hadn't seen that before, and other silly gags keep things moving.
This flick seems to be at the end of its run here in the states (there were 5 people in our theater last night), but its definitely worth a view on DVD.
