Movies « Agnew's Mind

21Sep/092

Cashback…and some other movies

by Mike Agnew Jr.

A few days ago Amanda, a girl who follows me around and shows adoration towards me, and I figured out how to use her Netflix account on my XBox. It's pretty sweet. I had previously been downloading and ripping dvds to harddrives and playing them on the XBox. Now I just scroll through, pick the movie, and it starts playing. Sometimes it plays in HD as I discovered for all 4 seasons of LOST.

This brought up a new opportunity for movie watching not just because of the instant on demand aspect but because of the variety as well. One of the hardest things to do is find a movie that you will enjoy and you have heard nothing about. Well let me say first that the Instant Play List for Netflix movies is good but there is a whole lot of crap in there. I stumbled upon Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus right off the bat. Ironically Preston and Steve did as well because they were talking about it this morning on the radio. However I didn't find it as enjoyable as they did. Although it was as campy and as cheesy as the title, it still gave me less than expected. It was just too easy to make fun of. After about 10 minutes I stopped laughing and moved on to another selection. Don't fall into the internet gap of thinking this is funny. It's not. give me a Mystery Science Theater 3000 any day.

After some trial and error, we ended up finding a gem by the name of Cashback.

Plot: "After a painful breakup, Ben develops insomnia. To kill time, he starts working the late night shift at the local supermarket, where his artistic imagination runs wild."

This movie is the first movie I have ever scene that depicts how a person feels after a big break-up. The way your mind wanders. They way all you want is for time to pass and for some reason it starts to slow down. The main character, played by the guy who plays Wood in the Harry Potter movies, find himself unable to sleep. He takes a job at a 24-hour supermarket. His imagination and reality begin to get blurred. It gets a little confusing as to whether you are watching a drama or a sci-fi movie for a bit but once you chalk it up to artistic story telling you will get back to enjoying the movie. I would also like to make a note that there is a handful of nudity in this movie similar to the way it was in Titanic. He's an artist and likes to sketch. I suggest watching this movie. Do it now.

Some other notables:

The Express : Being as I hate the movies Remember the Titans and We are Marshall, I finally have a Racism/Football Movie I can stand behind. The Express is about Ernie Davis' journey towards being the first African American Heisman Trophy Winner. The story is solid. Dennis Quad as Coach Ben Schwartzwalder is perfect and even gave me chills when some of his lines sounds just like my high school football coach, Dr. Algeo. There is no silly resolution where an Aretha Franklin song brings together the team and racisim is erased in 5 minutes in the middle of the movie. There is no key bad guy. There is just the sport and the respect it has for talent no matter the race. One of my favorite lines comes as the linemen are lining up. Bad guy: "I'm gonna send you back to Africa." Good Guy: "Too bad I'm from Philly!" I stood up and yelled with my fist in the air in the middle of the lab. I loved this movie.

New in Town: Now this movie is a chick flick and stupid and campy and predictable. But I still loved it and all because of two actors/characters in the movie. The actors were NOT Renée Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr. They were Siobhan Fallon as Blanche Gunderson and J.K. Simmons as Foreman Stu Kopenhafer. Siobhan plays a delightful Minnesotan with an amazing accent. I guarantee after you watch this movie you will be saying Tee-ap-e-o-ka for the rest of the day. Don't cha know.

Filed under: Agnew Vortex, Movies 2 Comments

27Aug/095

A Letter to Ryan Reynolds

by Mike Agnew Jr.

Dear Ryan,

My name is Mike Agnew and I have something very dear to ask you, but first I would like to say a few things. I have included pictures so you can remember along with me.

Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza place

Now I have been with you since the beginning. Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza place was a long name for a show and I bet that had something to do with it's success. However when they shortened it to Two Guys and a Girl.....I missed the pizza place. I guess you just don't know what you got till it's gone. I definitely remember a feeling that the show jumped the shark. I remember your character ended up becoming a doctor or something and then there was no fun left in the show.

But none of that matters because then you hit stardom with your roll....... VAN WILDER.

I loved Van Wilder. I thought it was the perfect break out movie for you. Everyone wanted to be your character in college; riding around in a golf cart, knowing everything about woman, and gaining the adoration of the entire student population. Also doing a movie with Tara Reid before her ab re-arranging must have been pretty amazing. What is Kumar like in person? Is he really as smart as everyone says?

Fat Ryan in Just Friends

Van Wilder was the role that was made for you. Your quick wit, subtle coolness, and ability to draw out a lot of silent joke and reaction humor matched perfectly with this character. I think this acting also translates into many romantic comedies too: Just Friends and Definitely Maybe being a couple. I enjoyed both of these movies even though they bordered on chick flicks. "It's a town full of losers and I'm pulling out of here to win." Haha Awesome. At the end of Just Friends did you sing that song in one take? It looks like you did cause you missed some of the words but that's cool. It makes it more real just like the music videos I used to do when I was younger. (check out my agnewsmind blog).

It's close to Miiiiiid...Night

I also saw Amityville Horror. I really liked the original and I had hoped this would just be an updated and more enjoyable rendition. What I got was an extreme version of the original. Everything was TO THE EXTREME. In the scene with the flies, it became flies TO THE EXTREME. In the scene with the blood, it was blood TO THE EXTREME. It should have just been called Amityville Horror :Extreme Edition. I liked how crazy you got in that movie. You were scary. There was just one thing I would have changed and that is the contacts that you wore every time you went crazy in the movie...it was kind of like watching Thriller.

Anyway....there is a reason for this letter. I need to ask you something. We have had a really good really healthy movie star-fan relationship and I want that to continue. I have been burned in the past by some others (T. Burton, H. Ledger, T.Office). I want what we have to continue. I read the other day that you have take up the role of the Hal Jordan Green Lantern. Now I think you really deserve a good comic book role. And I have no issue with you being the face of both a Marvel and a DC character. I hope you do great things with the Deadpool movie. I never read Deadpool and frankly know nothing about him but I welcome your portrayal and hope that it does the comic justice. I am going to ignore the Wolverine movie as that was just a terrible movie all around. So you have a clean slate. Blade III was a little iffy too but that series of movies was going down hill fast and if you ever watched them in HD...wow...they are the perfect example of action movies they get worse when up-converted.

Green Lantern is a great mantle and the great thing about it is there is an almost limitless amount of Green Lanterns that you could be but Hal Jordan just isn't one of them. If you have ever looked at the comics...you just don't look like him. If anybody he looks just like Dennis Quad.

Booster Gold

I think this might be a good way to give a tip of the cap to the comic book community and name another role you would want to play. I mean jeez I would think you playing the Flash or actually Booster Gold would be perfect for you. Sure he is a mid-carder but he was the first one on the scene when Doomsday, the guy who killed superman, came around. He held him off till Superman arrived. he also played a huge role in the recent 52 series. It just fits better and I hope you would consider it.

Thanks for listening.

Your Friend and Fan,

Mike Agnew Jr.

P.S. - My girlfriend thinks your hot.