Rent Your Face Off: two weeks, 11.5 movies

I've had comedy on the mind for some time now. And given the lack of good cinema fare, I decided to bring the cinema home to me. I mean, come on. My tv is the size of your mom before she "called Jenny." Bigger, even. And thus commenced the TiVo-tastic boob tube fest and Blockbuster rental-rama.

First up, an off-beat movie about cops. Or a cop movie about beating off? There is a lot of sexual innuendo enshrouded in the Reno Police force. You be the judge.

RENO 911: MIAMI
plot: Incompetent squad saves Miami Beach.
thought: Meow I wanna watch SUPER TROOPERS.
in five: 2.5/5
A little more Reno

Now, I know the show "Extras" isn't a movie, but I'd been dying to catch an episode for some time. Didn't get around to it until the season finale, and hey, it was two hours. So I'm counting it as half a movie.

EXTRAS: EXTRA SPECIAL SEASON FINALE
plot: Ricky Gervais gets cocky, loses dignity.
thought: Glimpse the natural Hollywood trajectory.
in five: 3.5/5
A few more extras

I liked the idea of the next movie (also a TiVo find), because I've never met a black guy who only dates white girls. Well, apparently, that man doesn't exist.

I'M THROUGH WITH WHITE GIRLS (THE INEVITABLE UNDOING OF JAY BROOKS)
plot: Black man dates black woman.
thought: There's no hope for interracials?
in five: 3/5
A little less biracial dating

I like Owen Wilson, and YOU, ME AND DUPREE was airing commercial-free. I don't like rom-coms, so I wasn't expecting to really like it...and I didn't...so there you go.

YOU, ME AND DUPREE
plot: Kate Hudson's husband thinks she's cheating (with co-star Owen Wilson).
thought: And we have to watch.
in five: 2/5
A little more Michael Douglas

Classic Jim Carrrey ahead! And isn't that his best stuff? I'm a mega-fan of TRUMAN SHOW, and I very much enjoyed FUN WITH DICK & JANE, but I think LIAR, LIAR is the movie--more than any of the Ace Ventura's--that explains why so many people would pay money to watch this guy contort his face and act the fool. He's over the top. He's a little annoying. But he's classic, comedy gold.

LIAR, LIAR
plot: A lawyer tries out honesty.
thought: Jim Carrey as a serious actor.
in five: 4/5
Full-length film on Hulu.com

Meant to catch IN BRUGES when it came out in theatres, so when my friend TiVo brought it over for movie night, I jumped at the chance. Colin Farrell does not disappoint. I want this film to win the Oscar for Original Screenplay.

IN BRUGES
plot: Hitman hides out in Lametown.
thought: Sweetly glorious in its simplicity.
in five: 4/5
A little more Belgium nightlife

Anthony Minghella was a very respected director, and I haven't been exposed much to his work. This is why I was thrilled to see THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY, which my friend Curly Beast counts as one of her favorite films. I liked it, but I wasn't prepared for where it went. And it left me with too many questions, the simplest being...why the heck didn't Mr. Ripley leave Europe to escape the mess he was in? No answers.

TALENTED MR. RIPLEY
plot: Matt Damon pales in comparison to Jude Law.
thought: See above.
in five: 3.5/5
A little more creepy time

After that darkness, I wanted something light, easy to handle. I'd heard that SHALLOW HAL was cuter than you might think years ago, and it fit the mood I was in. It was, of course, mildly ridiculous. And Jack Black hadn't quite found his big screen groove yet, I'd argue. But I saw where he was going, and I love him now. Go, Jack, go.

SHALLOW HAL
plot: Asshole unknowingly dates fat girl.
thought: Cuter than you might think.
in five: 3/5
A few more fat jokes

Another overlooked release from a few years back that ended up on the TiVo. It aired on the LOGO Network, which is a gay cable network I'd never watched before, but fast-forwarding through the commercials while leisurely taking in IMAGINE ME & YOU around 1am one weeknight, I've got one thing to say about LOGO: you look hilarious. I'm not in your demo, but I might just watch some of your shows anyway.

IMAGINE ME & YOU
plot: Closet lesbian discovers her vagina.
thought: Time to return wedding presents!
in five: 3/5
A little more lesbian love

Ohhhh Sacha Baron Cohen. You're too much. I love that he got so many lawsuits after making this movie, and I also love that he didn't break character once. Clutch move. Have you ever seen him as himself, like at an awards show? He's almost boring. That's a comedic gift.

BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN
plot: Faux-Kazakh man makes faux-documentary.
thought: Mocking America usually plays well.
in five: 3.5/5
A little more SBC craziness

I'd never even heard of TOOTSIE until about three months ago, but then suddenly, someone was bringing it up in conversation almost every five days. After some UCLA instructor told me I should see it, I finally said, "OKAY!" Had no clue what it was about. But turns out, that doesn't matter, because when a screenplay is well written, you get on board right away.

TOOTSIE
plot: Faux-woman becomes TV sensation.
thought: He's in drag...and it works.
in five: 3.5/5
A little more cross-dressing

TOOTSIE did run long, I'll say, but it was funny. The final and twelfth film I watched in the last two weeks was work-related, but I am so, so glad I got to see it. I am obsessed with the Nollywood phenomenon, partly because I'm Nigerian, and it was so cool to see it given a great portrayal. There probably will never be a film industry like Hollywood anywhere else in the world; it ain't gonna happen. But it's nice to see that in some parts of the world, that just doesn't matter. The best films are those that speak to our culture. The best films, like the best cookies, are homemade. So eat up indie and never get full.

NOLLYWOOD BABYLON (a documentary?!)
plot: Hark, the third-world Hollywood.
thought: Indie film is cool everywhere.
in five: 4/5
A few more home movies

So is the rental addiction over? There are just so many random movies--forget the AFI-recommended, IMDB top voted, Oscar winners, etc etc.--I have weird tastes. So I'm going to find a few more flicks to increase my cultural learnings to make benefit glorious mental film libraries of letop5. You are welcome, physically or electronically, to join me.