Withnail & I (1986)

This is the first review of someone who just happened to send us an e-mail expressing her interest to write reviews for this blog. If you want to try your hand at reviewing movies, books, TV shows, or whatnot, mail us at dacouchtomato@gmail.com.


One of the most popular cult classics of the 1980s is Withnail & I – the endlessly quotable, booze-addled tale of doomed thespian Withnail (Richard E. Grant) and his long suffering housemate known only as "I" (Paul McGann). In fact it seems that ‘I’ is based on the director, Bruce Robinson, who also wrote the film as a semi-autobiographical account of his early years as an aspiring actor in London. Robinson also lived with a flamboyant, substance abusing wastrel, Vivian Mackerrell─no prizes for guessing which character he’s based on! The 1980s was one of the most prolific eras in filmmaking history. Advances in technology saw the rise of blockbuster epics, film franchises, and the emergence of teen comedy and cult classics. Some of the highest-grossing films of all time were made in the 1980s (think E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial), and many are still well loved today.

The Newsroom

Blog Critics

I honestly thought that the time between Game of Thrones and Doctor Who would give me one of the worst television slumps this year. Yeah, Suits is a good show, but it's not great television. If some wise ass decides to interject that Doctor Who isn't great television, I have two words for you: Steven Moffat. Now shut up.

World Icons: Neil Armstrong

The Register

The man we know as Neil Armstrong may have passed away yesterday. But what you may not know is that he has lived before, and that Neil Armstrong is just one of his many incarnations on this earth.

Film Icons: Tony Scott

Telegraph

As of this writing, the circumstances regarding the death of Tony Scott are still unclear. However, based on the evidence, a logical conclusion would be suicide. But the obvious question is: why?

The Bourne Legacy

YouTube

The Bourne Legacy will go down as a misnomer. People will go, "Hey, it says 'Bourne' in the title, but Matt Damon only appears in a passport photo that was clearly taken circa Good Will Hunting."

Universal

What a dorky haircut.

Would You Change Your Feet? (Brave 2011 Review)

Last Friday, I saw Brave.

I chose this poster because Russian.

Brave (2012) "Determined to make her own path in life, Princess Merida defies a custom that brings chaos to her kingdom. Granted one wish, Merida must rely on her bravery and her archery skills to undo a beastly curse.

I will first point out here that Brave is more of a(n atypical) Disney Princess story (tell you why in a bit) than a mature Pixar film. I agree that it didn't turn out as advertised; they sold it as an epic adventure with tons of magic. I think guys would call this a total bait-and-switch, at least my boyfriend did. He thinks it's like Brother Bear. I haven't seen Brother Bear yet btw. That didn't bother me, though. In fact, poofy redhead Merida is now my favorite Disney princess.

Raining on B-Meg's Parade

For the first time ever, the PBA franchise Rain or Shine won the championship in this season's Governor's Cup. The pressure was on both teams, actually. B-Meg, being the past conference champs, were pressured to win again because of their line-up that runs deep (they have three freakin' point guards), and of course their championship experience. They have Tim Cone on their side, too, who was poised to win his 15th PBA title, on his way to tying the current PBA record-holder, legendary local coach Baby Dalupan.

Rain or Shine (or ROS from hereon) got walloped for two straight games following a 3-1 lead that they blew, due in large part to rookie sensation Paul "The Lethal Weapon" Lee's exit from the conference in Game 2 because of a shoulder injury (which I believe requires surgery). So they, too, were feeling the pressure to redeem themselves. And what better way to do it than to win in Game 7! All in good time, mates! All in good time.

Thanks for the timely advice, Gallagher brothers!

Posas

This indie flick ain't best picture for this year's Cinemalaya festival for nothin'. First of all, it included my long-time bud Jerico Antonio (a.k.a. "Nico Antonio"). All my buds are great, you know!


The poor dude was forced to use his childhood name, thanks to this jerk!

Second, it was produced by someone who actually has the means to produce it (Jerico's mom, who also produced last year's Cinemalaya winner, Ang Babae Sa Septic Tank), so it doesn't look like your crappy, rudimentary indie flick.

Third, the story is kinda' cool. It shows hardcore Quiapo and what it really is like if you're there. You couldn't really find a snatcher in a sea of bodies man! And the story, too, is convincingly real. You could just feel it in your bones, that chill that taps your spine when you think that stuff like police corruption is very rife.

Brave Rave

So, I saw Brave with my friends. Let's call them H and Z.

Our Facebook feeds and tumblr dashboards filled with links and quotes and rants and raves about it, we expected a lot.

Magic Mike

"It's not really a feel-good movie but you really feel good after watching it," a friend overheard someone saying on our way out of the theater. I'd have to agree. For the following reasons:

1. Channing Tatum

I actually wonder how it is to see him dance in the flesh—literally—in front of me. And he has credible actual experience to fulfill the fantasy. So if you went to see this movie to feel Mike's beat, "Honey, dance for me and feel free to lead."

Don't mind the ooohh's and the aaahh's, it simply cannot be helped.

Brave

YouTube

This is Pixar's latest flick, an' contrary tae wha' ye might think, this isnae a story aboot Princess Merida.

This is a story aboot her hair.

Once upon a time, there wis a bigshot at Pixar studios whae said, "Hey, why doon we make a fairy tale?" So he developed his concept, an' decided tha' the lead character should be a big, frizzy mass of fiery red hair. One of the interns at Pixar asked him, "Doon ye mean the lead character should be a princess with a big, frizzy mass of fiery red hair?" The bigshot looked at the intern an' said, "Naw, the lead character is hair. Jis hair. Which jis happens tae be attached tae the head of a princess." An' then the intern wis fired.

Fan Pop

Fir asking too many hair-related questions.

John Carter (of Mars)

YouTube

Let me begin by saying this film was a flop.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let me say that despite being a flop, I liked it. For four reasons.

1. The story predates the giants of science fiction.
When you say "science fiction", the first thing that comes to the minds of ordinary Americans would be Star Trek. For ordinary Brits, it would be Doctor Who. For hardcore sci-fi geeks, it would be Dune.

YouTube

Electric blue lights = science fiction.

To put things into perspective, Star Trek came out in 1966, Doctor Who came out in 1963, and Dune came out in 1965. A Princess of Mars, from which this movie is adapted from, came out in 1912. And for a story as old as that, it's actually pretty good, and will still hold up in this day and age as a decent work of science fiction.