Movie #209 - For Your Consideration

For Your Consideration
2006 - Rated PG-13 - 1 hr 26 min
Director: Christopher Guest
Starring: Catherine O'Hara, Harry Shearer, Parker Posey, Ed Begley Jr, Eugene Levy, Christopher Guest, John Michael Higgins, Jane Lynch, Fred Willard, Jennifer Coolidge, Rachael Harris

This is my least favorite of all the Christopher Guest & Co. movies. That said, it's not that bad. It's just not as good as his others, so it's a bit disappointing.

In this mock-umentary, Catherine O'Hara, Harry Shearer, and Parker Posey star in a movie that generates quite a bit of Oscar buzz for them.  It's meant to be a revealing and comical look at the road to Oscar, and of course, the road that fails to reach the Oscar.  The performances are good, but overall the movie is lukewarm.  You feel bad for them, rather than root for them, especially O'Hara's Marilyn Hack.  And Christopher Guest isn't in this movie nearly enough. Not my fave, not by a long shot.

Movie #80 - Blade Trinity

Blade Trinity
New Line Cinema
2004 - Rated R - 1 hr 53 min
Director: David S. Goyer
Starring: Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Parker Posey, Jessica Biel, Ryan Reynolds

Whistler's gotta step messing with us.  He doesn't die, apparently, and he's got a secret daughter.  No, not one of the ones killed by vampires, a self proclaimed "other daughter, born out of wedlock" and she's Jessica Biel! Surprise!

Thank God, too, because Blade's getting old now and he needs the Mickey Mouse Club to help him kill vampires now.  Honeslty, Ryan Reynolds and Jessica Biel have some cool action scenes but any scene with Reynolds quickly degenerates into a comedy special. It's not horrible but I don't really see it fitting within the Blade franchise framework.  Maybe Reynolds and Snipes, if they wanted to get these two in a movie together so badly, should have done a stand alone buddy-cop movie or whatever. The banter between them is kinda fun, but mostly I think Blade Trinity is just gratuitous cinematic noise.

Movie #69 - Best in Show

Best in Show

Castle Rock Entertainment

2006 - Rated PG-13 - 1 hr 30 min

Director: Christopher Guest

Starring: Parker Posey, Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy, Bob Balaban, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, John Michael Higgins, Jennifer Coolidge, Jane Lynch, Ed Begley Jr., Fred Willard
I can't help it. Next to Guffman, this is my favorite Christopher Guest and company movie. The characters are great, the dogs adorable, and the utter seriousness with which they handle difficult situations is hillarious.

Michael McKean and John Michael Higgins are probably my favorite characters, with Parker Posey and her hubby a close second. And of course, who doesn't love a good Jane Lynch character? Before she was Sue Sylvestor, she was kicking dog butt and taking names as Butch's butch dog handler Christie Cummings.

So if you always wondered what the "real" world of dog shows was all about, this mockumentary is one you can't miss. It's fun, it's funny, and it's full of that usual Guest charm.