A few recent watches

Thanks to Judd Apatow, I'm now wary of films about youthful aimlessness. They've typically revolved around jerking off, getting laid, dildos, taking it up the pooper and not much else. Adventureland is a definite exception, a rare, truthful and pretty smart coming of age film that doesn't play every scene for cheap laughs or maximum shock value. It's got a Freaks and Geeks quality to it that makes it a worthy timewaster. Recommended.

After reading some solid reviews, Sunshine Cleaning however, was a bit of a disappointment. It's melancholy but not terribly moving, humourous but not all that clever and never quite gets around to telling us much about its characters hopes and dreams. A mediocre film at best and about half as good as Little Miss Sunshine.

Despite its cast (Val Kilmer, Sharon Stone, etc.), the bland and generic sounding Streets of Blood is, not all that surprisingly, a bland and generic crime saga. I don't know what happened to Kilmer – this guy use to be an A-list actor and I've always liked him. He seems mired in an endless string of crappy direct-to-video projects lately however. A shitty TV movie of the week with a tenuous connection to its post-Katrina New Orleans setting at best that should be avoided. Oh and 50 Cents is in it, as if anyone needed another reason not to watch this.

The best thing I've seen lately is a trailer for Mike Judges new film Extract. Looks great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0cbA5qTvBY

Tyson is worth a look too.

Sporgey