Tyler Weir

Updates from April, 2008 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

• Tyler 12:07 am on April 9, 2008 Permalink  

  old movies 

  

  I think I’m going to try to embark on an “old movie” kick. So far I’ve watched The Graduate (1967) and half of Network (1976) (I stopped halfway only because a certain friend protested that I’d watch the movie without her).

  (It’s also interesting to note that Network was nominated for 10 Oscars and won 4 of them. Wow.)

  These old talkies give an interesting insight into the zeitgeist of the time in which they were made. The Graduate, for example, overflows with a 60s-style contempt for anything structured (corporate lifestyle, traditional relationships, marriage – Dustin Hoffman even wildly swings a cross at an angry mob in a Church) and its soundtrack is made up largely of Simon and Garfunkle songs.

  But the other interesting thing I’m noticing is that: things haven’t changed all that much. People are still making anti-adulthood, coming-of-age pictures like The Graduate, and the corporate environment portrayed in Network isn’t all that different than it is today (or at least, how it’s portrayed today in movies): big execs with the big offices; a success-hungry, up-and-coming, power-woman agitating some of the more senior employees with her risky ideas (Faye Dunaway), and of course the visionary being stifled by corporate red tape and number-crunchers (Peter Finch). There are no computers, though. (And, as a result, no “suspenseful” scenes in which our hero almost gets caught copying files off of some bad guy’s computer – why is that progress bar moving so slowly??)

  I think I need to check out some old Jack Nicholson flicks next.

   

• Tyler 3:43 pm on March 5, 2008 Permalink  

  zeitgeist the movie 

  

  I might be a little late to the party, but I recently watched Zeitgeist, a released-to-internet-only conspiracy doc. It touches on some of the issues discussed in Alex Jones’ Endgame, but presents these issues in a much less fanatical, less “conspiracy nutty” kind of way. Which, I think, is something you should strive for when you’re trying to convince people that Jesus was fake, 9/11 was an inside job, and that we’re all the puppets of uber-powerful international bankers.

  I don’t know how real or not the claims made by this movie are, so I’ve got some googling to do. So far, the criticisms I’ve seen mostly stop at saying that the movie is edited and presented in a manner to maximize shock and drama value. If this movie is bull dookey, I need someone to flat out tell me it’s wrong and why, ’cause that shit about the bankers and the World Trade Center? Well that just freaked me out. Check it out (for free) here.

   

• Tyler 1:44 pm on February 28, 2008 Permalink
  Tags: semi-pro, will ferrell   

  Semi-Pro – Update 

  I saw Will Ferrell last night and realized yet again that celebrities are just people.  Generally, richer more screwed up versions of the average person, but people nonetheless.  I was expecting him to do something hilarious, but if you’ve seen any pics or video from his interviews last night, he was really lowkey. He got up on stage and thanked everyone for coming, thanked the sponsors and the film began. No crazy antics, no shorty short shorts! 

  (More …)

   

• Tyler 10:16 am on February 27, 2008 Permalink  

  Semi-Pro 

  Tonight I’m going to the Toronto premiere of Will Ferrell’s latest sports comedy, Semi-Pro.  I’m pretty excited to see the movie and hope it lives up to it’s hilarious trailer. 

  Also, my pass says that the famous “fro” will be in attendance.  Not sure if he’ll just be sitting in the audience or whether he’ll get up and talk.  Perhaps I’ll have the opportunity to meet him and, if past celebrity encounters are any indication, it will go like this:

  Me: “Hi, Mr.Ferrell. Great movie..really funny”

  Will Ferrell: “Thanks…..(awkward silence)….Well, I should get going.”

  

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  • Tyler Weir 10:32 am on February 27, 2008 Permalink

    Sounds like when I met Jesse Keeler of Death from Above 1979.

    Me: “I love your music, super good!!!!”
    JK: “Great” [walks away]

  • drew 3:13 pm on February 27, 2008 Permalink

    Sounds even more like when I met the kid from “Ready or Not” that tried to defame Amanda and Busy on their first day of high school…she was in a production of RENT that I saw….

    Me: “You were in “Ready or Not.” You tried to bring Amanda and Busy down!”
    Her: “I have to go stand over there now.” [doesn't move]

  • randy 9:34 am on February 28, 2008 Permalink

    I once met “Randy” from the Trailer Park Boys.. and I said to him, I said, “Hey! My name’s actually Randy!” To which he replied “Awesome.” He wasn’t wearing a shirt.

• Tyler 6:24 pm on February 17, 2008 Permalink  

  Movies I Like To Watch 

  In my annual attempt to watch all the major nominees prior to the Academy Awards being doled out, Ty and I watched Michael Clayton last night. I will preface this by saying that the trailer was uninspiring and I had very little interest in this movie until it received 7 nominations. SEVEN!! Also, although I like George Clooney, I’ve never really understood the legions of Clooney-obsessed fans out there. Anyway, in this film he is pure charisma and is absolutely magnetic. The story is intriguing and with very little “action” it managed to keep us glued to the screen. Great movie – Definitely not as strong as No Country for Old Men, but still very good.

  Also, currently watching High Fidelity. Loving it and feel it would be a great double feature with one of my all time favourites – Empire Records. All part of my secret desire to work in a record store.

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  • Tyler Weir 7:21 pm on February 17, 2008 Permalink

    I like George Clooney more and more with every movie I see him in.

  • randy 10:14 am on February 19, 2008 Permalink

    Check out “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”, if you haven’t already, it’s Clooney’s directorial debut, and he also has a small role in it. Also, how have you gone this long without seeing High Fidelity? That’s a Cosby sweater. A Coooossssby sweater.

  • drew 10:27 am on February 20, 2008 Permalink

    High Fidelity is the greatest movie.

    “There’s no way your daughter likes that song….oh wait. Is she in a coma?”

    or

    “Do we look like the kind of store that has ‘I just called to say I love you?’ Go to the mall.”

    There’s an awesome cut scene in that movie where some jaded divorcee, played by Beverly D’Angelo, calls John Cusack to her house cause she’s selling off all her ex-husbands super rare vinyls and Cusack turns her down cause he couldn’t do that to someone like him.

• Tyler 8:06 am on September 12, 2007 Permalink  

  Random Happenings 

  Took in Cassandra’s Dream at the Toronto International Film fest last night.
  Woody Allen was there, he was funny and quite short.
  Ewan McGregor and Colin Ferrell were also there and not much taller than Woody.

  I played with another moviegoers iPhone, I did not want to give it back. I made lots of typos on the screen keyboard.

   

• Tyler 3:20 pm on March 11, 2007 Permalink  

  300: A review 

  Looked amazing, the plot was a bit thin, lots of nipples, lots of stabbing.

   

• Tyler 12:31 pm on December 10, 2006 Permalink  

  Review: A Scanner Darkly 

  We watched A Scanner Darkly yesterday. I suppose my review is something like; it was a weird movie that relied on the visuals far too much. I wouldn’t see it again and I wouldn’t recommend it. Maybe I didn’t get it.

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  • randy 2:07 am on December 14, 2006 Permalink

    where’d you watch that?

  • Tyler Weir 10:04 am on December 14, 2006 Permalink

    Laura got it from work.

• Tyler 5:35 pm on October 28, 2006 Permalink  

  Little Miss Sunshine. 

  As Laura pointed out, we’ve been trying to see this for a while and we finally made the time this afternoon.

  Fantastically good. See it.

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  • Laura 12:20 pm on October 29, 2006 Permalink

    YA!!! It was great.
    So funny, but so touching. The situations the characters were in were absurd…but the characters themselves were so believable. Great writing, great acting…loved it from start to finish.

  • tyler.weir 1:57 pm on November 6, 2006 Permalink

    I stole your thunder by posting this.

• Tyler 9:15 am on July 21, 2006 Permalink  

  Munich 

  I’m not a movie reviewer but here’s my take.

  The pacing of Munich is so slow it took me right out of the movie. That was disappointing.