I watched Garden State.

[Mentalist]

Meh, pretentious indie crapola.

Ok, thats a bit harsh. I was left feeling rather disenchanted with the themes and the heart felt 20 something soul searching. Zach Braff, ok.. I have to give props to the guy, he is a fine actor and that does make up for a lot, also he did nail a lot of the born in the late 70's early 80's generational stuff, his friends for instance were very identifiable but it was pretentious to the extreme. I enjoyed the start quite a bit but it suffered from cliches and the fact that it was desperate to not be pigeon holed and be unique was ultimatley shoulder shrugging and sigh worthy.

Natalie... Mmm, oh yeah. She did a fine acting job but her character was too quirky, her character just is not based in reality. I was well too aware that the movie was trying to reach out to my generation and send a message of hope and understanding..blah..blah... Yeah, I'm too cynical to be honest.

It wasn't terrible and Braff does have scriptwriting shakes and I respect him more because of his quite obvious talents.

But there you go, I found parts of the movie to be very funny and other parts to be just lame and cheesy.

The photography was fine, directing was solid, a few photography tricks and techniques were implemented and colour was a theme I think Zach dealt with well. I would have cut parts differently though, I felt that some parts dragged or could have been cut or alltogether ommited.

I find it hard to rate this movie but I think I will give it 7 out of 10 but I am feeling generous, and it does deserve some recognition.

 

[Buttons]

She had a cool helmet.

 

[Eggs Mayonnaise]

I haven't seen it yet, what was her fuckability factor in this one?

(I'll throw that one out to the panel...)

 

[Mentalist]

She did have a cool helmet, yes. As for her fuckability? It was pretty damn stupidly high, reinforced by the fact that she played such a quirky, pullable character.

Hmm, Pictures.. we can do pictures.

During the blah blah blah la la dance. Heh.


I watched it again just now and I liked it more this time. I was seriously smoking some big damn spliffs last night so I was pretty fucked up. It is a good movie, I jus', I dunno.. well I stand by my original review, I may have been a little harsh it had some good acting and a lot of decent comedy though.

 

[Mentalist]

Good one Menty.

 

[Big Dick McGee]

I found it to be funny, and quirky, but not as "Oh my GOSH, look how QUIRKY I am, I'm SO WEIRD AND QUIRKY, DAMN YOU!!!" as Napoleon Dynamite was.

I agree wholeheartedly that a guy in his early 20's "soul-searching" is ridiculous. Talk to me in 10 or 15 years when you've got wife and a mortgage and a kid. People have mid-life crises during mid-life, not at the beginning of adulthood.

HOWEVER...I must give props to Ian Holm and Peter Sarsgaard. Sarsgaard is a fucking brilliant actor, easily the best of his generation. He's never the same in any role, he truly inhabits the character. And Ian Holm is just a rock. Never gives a bad performance.

 

[Tisiphone]

^I also liked it, which is weird because I loathed Napolean Dynamite. Whereas ND was just plain freaky, I could relate more to Garden State.

Agree wholeheartedly about Sarsgaard. Everything he has been in, he is the scene-stealer, and it's hard to believe that a man that young can have such range of acting. He mesmerizes me everytime, no matter the role he's playing, and whether I'm supposed to like him or not.
-Cy

 

[Big Dick McGee]

^^It seems unbelievable that Sarsgaard is the same actor who played the homicidal redneck in "Boys Don't Cry". He seems to disappear into his roles, and I think he deserves much, much more publicity than Mark Ruffalo, who is a critical darling but, frankly, seems terribly one-note to me.

 

[Tisiphone]

^Mark Ruffalo does absolutely nothing for me, neither with his acting or his looks.