Brian Bentley

“Monster House”
Run time: 1:31

I can’t remember the last movie I saw in 3-D, and to be fair, this “3-D” version of Monster House was not full of the things you associate with 3-D movies like cheesy effects, things flying out at the audience, or people reaching towards the camera for stuff. The 3-D was used to accentuate the wonderful computer animation of the film by providing incredible depth of field to the cartoon. I’m not sure it was worth the extra $1.50 for the glasses, but I thought the 3-D was a nice touch and something different. Of course, the movie is not marketed to grown-ups like me and Melinda so I guess the point is moot.

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“School For Scoundrels”
Run time: 1:40

Anyone heard of the theory that bad movies put all the funny parts into their trailers and hope it sells tickets? If you haven’t, then go watch the trailer for this turd and then go drop $8 to see it proven. I really wanted this to be funny because I laughed out loud the trailer all 3 times I watched it.

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Rating: 0 out of 5

Melinda and I spent the weekend in LA for the premiere of a short film I did, and I got to audition for The Second City Conservatory program. The Second City is a world famous improvisation school that has spawned such comedy geniuses as Mike Myers, Steve Carell, Steven Colbert, Amy Sedaris, Dan Akroyd, John Belushi, Eungene Levy, John Candy, Catherine O’Hara, Jim Staahl, the guy that played TV’s “Sledge Hammer” and countless others….possibly to include me. I mean “me” as in potential graduate, not as in comedy genius. The audition itself was very short (less than 3 minutes), but fortunately I knew my audition partner who is a wonderfully talented person so I felt comfortable. The tough part is the waiting since I won’t know anything until the end of the month. And yes, I do see the obvious corollaries to several jokes here involving 3 minutes, a partner, and waiting until the end of the month but I won’t be so cheap.

Melinda and I have discussed all the possibilities, but I won’t be moving out to LA anytime soon. I’ll probably commute to LA weekly for the classes if i get in, but you might ask “How long will you have to do this?” Well, thank you lone reader of my ramblings that asks pertinent questions in the middle of my post. The Conservatory program is made up of 5 levels and each level takes 8 weeks so using my conversion chart 5 x 8 = alot of frequent flyer miles.

So, I’m back home and toying with several script and sketch ideas along with the book of essays (which no one submitted any title ideas for, but who am I kidding I know nobody reads this). I do, however, know what I’m going to write for the foreward of the book so I’ve got that going for me….

UPDATE (09/22): I just got word that I have been accepted into the Conservatory program and have been assigned to the Sunday class. Thanks to all 3 of my readers for their well wishes, it is appreciated.

“The Black Dahlia”
Run time: 2:01

This will be two reviews: one for the movie itself and one for the theater in LA where we saw it, The Arclight.

The movie is very loosely based on the famous unsolved Black Dahlia case. It’s a movie with 4 leads and what seems multiple storylines, but none of them seem to be the Dahlia case itself. Being a work of fiction, the murder does get solved, but when it’s solved you’re left wondering where the hell you where when that plot point arose. Scarlett Johansenn was horrible. She goes for the breathy, 40’s era starlett performance but sounds like she’s missing her asthma inhaler. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Mia Kirshner is incredible (and very sexy) as The Dahlia, but the movie left me wanting to see more of her story.

Rating: 1 out of 5

The Arclight Theater is top notch. Every seat is reserved and each theater is staffed with ushers to make sure cell phones are off, you can find your seat, or keep people from coming in after the movie starts. It has a restaurant and reasonably sized gift shop that held our attention for a good 40 minutes before the show. The staff was freindly, the theater was spotless, the seats were ultra-comfortable and the popcorn had real butter. But “The Black Dahlia” still sucked.

Rating: 5 out of 5

“Beerfest”
Run time: 1:50

I don’t drink, but I do enjoy Broken Lizard and “Beerfest” was funny. Not “Super Troopers” funny, but I wasn’t wishing I had passed up the opportunity to see it (see “Idiocracy”). The story is about two brothers that stumble upon the uber-secret (see what I did there) drinking contest called, Beerfest. They challenge the Germans to a rinking contest and are subsequently embarrassed. The brothers come back to America and decide they will return next year with an Amercian all-star team of drinkers.

There some familiar faces in this one, and tons of great references to other movies. I’ll probably own it, being a Broken Lizard fan, but I won’t necessarily pay to see it again. A very solid 3 on my scale.

Rating: 3 out of 5

“Idiocracy”
Run time: 1:24

Ouch. The name fits. I love Mike Judge’s previous work and I can see the political satire he was going for here, but…wow. There were some laugh out loud funny parts, but not enough to sustain me through the whole movie.

Luke Wilson must owe Mike Judge a favor. Fox dumped this movie into only 130 theaters in 7 select cities and I can see why. This is 2 stinkers in a row for Wilson.

All of the sudden, I liked “The Illusionist” more.

Rating: 0 out of 5

Thanks to YouTube, I have added the short films “180″ and “Lee” to the site, with links on the demo reel page.

And through my new MySpace page I have a higher quality version of my demo reel on the site now, too.

I hope you enjoy them. If not, Drew directed them. :)

“She’s The Man”
Run time: 1:45

Based on William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night”, this movie is a modern day take on “woman posing as man” and it is funny. Laugh out loud funny. Amanda Bynes is flat out genius in this. Her facial expressions were priceless throughout and she had me rolling with her performance as her brother Sebastian. It’s everything “Just One of the Guy’s” wanted to be back in the 80’s, but wasn’t. It’s light, fun and safe for the whole family. I would own this. David Cross is hilarious in his role as the school’s headmaster.

The DVD had some decent special features (gag reel, commentary, some deleted scenes, 2 featurettes, and a music video). I highly recommend this film and think big things are in store for Amanda Bynes.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5