Be Kind Rewind - Trailer
January 30, 2008
Mos Def & Jack Black star in what could be the funniest movie of 2008.
This is Michel Gondry’s fourth feature film. Did you like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? Well, Gondry was the director and co-writer. He also directed Dave Chappelle’s Block Party as well as numerous music videos, many of which can be seen in my music section.
Is anyone else anticipating this creative comedy?
This looks like a interesting movie. Eternal Sunshine was a great movie (one of Jim Carrey’s best performances) I think Mos has blossomed into a good actor and this movie will show his versatility. His guest appearances on Chappelle show were halarious (Black Bush and the Racial Draft come to mind) Look forward to this movie
Good call on Black Bush! I added that vid now… Black Head of the CIA and Some Black Dude KILL it.
I agree that Mos Def has proven to be a solid actor and I know he’ll shine in this movie just cuz you can tell he and Jack Black had a lot of fun making this film. Sadly, I think his music has suffered as a result..
I’ve seen only 2 films with Mos: Hitchhiker’s Guide (fell asleep…not his fault though, I was tired) and 16 blocks (I liked his performance). Usually Black plays comedy characters pretty well (like Nacho Libre, Dewey Finn in School of Rock, Hal…) but not so well in non-comedies like King Kong. I expect to see Black at his finest in this movie…thanks for your post!
Just curious, how many times have the user ratings at IMDB FAILED to give an accurate measure of the quality of a film? For me, almost zero (there are a few). I love their simple 0-10 rating system…and when a film makes it inside the top 100 (out of 250) I usually make it a big deal to go watch it. Be Kind Rewind got an IMDB rating of 8.1…pretty good!
Here are other notable films ranked high on IMDB:
“City of God” #17, “There Will Be Blood” #14, “No Country For Old Men” #33, “The Great Escape” #83, “Ikiru”, #230 (1952 version-badass movie!).
One of my favorite documentaries: “Fog of War” (8.3 IMDB rating).
Have you seen any of these?
Alright Steve, you mentioned some good movies there!
I’m a HUGE fan of the Coen Brothers (Big Lebowski and O Brother are my favorites), so I had to check out No Country For Old Men. While I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, it left me wanting more (maybe that’s what it was supposed to do).
City of God is a great flick. I saw it AFTER seeing Life Aquatic w/ Steve Zissou (another favorite), so what I found fascinating is how musician turned actor Seu Jorge turned into a badass killer after portraying such a chill, gentle Team Z member.
I saw Ikiru recently as well and found it to be a very poignant film. A great perspective on how one deals with his own mortality. Looking at my Netflix rating, I only gave it a 3 out of 5, but that’s probably because I was working on making this site as I watched it!
Haven’t seen the Great Escape or Fog of War. There Will be Blood is the new oil tycoon film? I definitely want to check that out.
Another Mos Def movie I would recommend is Bamboozled. While it’s not my favorite Spike Lee joint (I prefer the subtlety of Do the Right Thing), it’s satire to the Nth degree and should be watched by all. In fact, I haven’t seen it in awhile so I’m going to add it to my queue.
Regarding IMDB ratings, yeah it’s definitely a great tool. I haven’t seen many 8+ movies that I didn’t like, but at the same time I don’t like how they use a weighted average.
I get this feeling that the people whose votes count for more (mostly film critics I presume) are sticklers for what is SUPPOSED to make up a great movie, but then often fail to see the genius of originality for certain films that do not “call out” to them like they do for others with less rigid standards. Hence, many “cult favorites” are underrated IMO.
For example, Repo Man (1984) has a rating of just 6.7.
http://imdb.com/title/tt0087995/ratings
This rating is ridiculous because the median score is an 8 out of 10. 20% gave it a perfect 10, 32% gave it a 9+, and 50.4% gave it an 8+. Over half the people who’ve seen it have considered it to be a very good movie, yet it’s rating is just 6.7? So I actually prefer the total % of 8-10 votes over IMDB’s “weighted average.”
Another thing I look at is how many people gave it a 1 out of 10 score. If that number’s over 2.5% (and the % of 8+ votes is 50% or close to it), there’s a very good chance the film will actually be fantastic and those people are hating simply because it’s unique and they’re not used to that. Those people are obviously morons, so it’s a good sign when they give hate hehe.
For example, Bamboozled’s IMDB weighted rating is a very average 6.3, but look at the vote breakdown: http://imdb.com/title/tt0215545/ratings
45.7% gave it an 8+
6.3% gave it a 1
That’s a perfect example of a poorly rated movie that’s worth watching after a closer examination of the vote breakdown!
That’s why I like Netflix ratings so much. If gives you an average rating for each movie, but then an “Average of Raters like you” rating which can vary drastically from the norm depending on your tastes. Using some of the examples above:
Repo Man:
Average of raters like you: 3.9 stars
Average of 200,827 ratings: 3.4 stars
Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou:
Average of raters like you: 4.1 stars
Average of 915,275 ratings: 3.3 stars
Bamboozled:
Average of raters like you: 4.0 stars
Average of 69,591 ratings: 3.1 stars
Fog of War:
Average of raters like you: 4.3 stars
Average of 363,316 ratings: 3.9 stars
See? So now I’ll definitely check out Fog of War. Most people seem to like it, but this tells me that I’ll REALLY like it. I haven’t reviewed any movies on Netflix, but I may start making some lists, so let me know if you want to be added as one of my friends on there.
It’s nice to have people with good movie tastes posting on here!!!
hey Evil E…I just saw Repo Man…had you not pointed it out, I probably would never have seen it (mainly because I usually stick only to films with high ratings on IMDB and, as your previous post mentioned, it had a rating of only 6.7). Your theory that IMDB displays a “weighted average” (versus a % of 8-10 votes) seems to hold water and I’m glad you elaborated on that because, now that I think of it, these shortcomings also seem to apply to foreign language films (one of my favorites being the Chinese action thriller “Time and Tide” (released 2000)–IMDB gave it an average 6.8 when 47.4% gave it 8+)
I liked Repo Man…there was comedy on so many levels: consumerism, religion, sex, drugs, fraternity, sex, being yourself…. I was floored with laughter at least a dozen times. Also, I cant believe it was made in 1984! It had the feel of and relevance to our current times.
Dope! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Repo Man is a classic for sure. Emilio Estevez is perfect for young Otto and Harry Dean Stanton is brilliant: “A Repo Man’s life is ALWAYS intense.”
One of my favorite parts is where the old guy by the fire is talkin about the “lattice of coincidence” that lays on top of everything. Some people just refer to it as synchronicity, but I had never heard the subject mentioned quite like that in a movie before.
But yeah, the movie is brilliant. Alex Cox (the writer and director) actually came to my campus to talk about the movie and he added some tidbits that made the film even more interesting (none of which I can remember now).
I am by no means a Roger Ebert fan (in fact I rarely read movie reviews), but his comment hits the nail on the head:
“Repo Man comes out of left field, has no big stars, didn’t cost much, takes chances, dares to be unconventional, is funny, and works. There is a lesson here.”
Dammit, I may have to give Repo Man it’s own post now…
Yeah, POST IT! Repo Man Reloaded…haha!
Here are some tidbits (I’m not going to add any extra sauce here cuz the scenes they’re used in are gems):
Otto: “Excuse me while I fold my pants”
Lady at the stoplight: “Mmmm…how utterly charming”
Otto: “Looks like sausage!”
Otto: “You eat a lot of acid, Miller, back in the hippie days?”
Sign: “United Fruitcake Outlet”
Oly: “A lot of straight guys like to watch their buddies fuck! I know I do!”
Otto: “Debbie…uh…do you think it’s too late for us to get romantically involved?”
Agent: “Not my face!!”
Otto: “…we take the money, we split it 60/40, you and me”
There are a plethora of classic lines in Repo Man. Hollywood writers should take notes on this film!
Bump for Be Kind Rewind’s opening weekend.
If you see the movie, post your rating and review here!