Next week, I have two movies screening on the same night, and I'm in a bit of a quandary about which one to see/review.
The choices:
Nacho Libre
PROS:
- Jack Black is a love him or hate him kind of actor, and I've been a fan ever since his Tenacious D days.
- I also enjoy the manly spectacle of lucha libre, so much so I almost fired off an angry letter to the editor of the New York Times after Lewis Beale incorrectly described Nacho as the first movie to bring Mexican wrestling to the big screen. I would've signed it "El Santo," however, which might have ruined the effect.
- Midgets, I'm told, are always funny.CONS:
- It's directed by Jared Hess, the man responsible for the criminally overrated Napoleon Dynamite. If his latest effort continues Napoleon's trend of deliberate peculiarity, I'm in for a long evening.
- Even I might be forced to admit that Black's shtick is getting a bit old.
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
PROS:
- Forgive me, but this looks hilarious. I love the idea of the redneck gaijin (Lucas Black) using his Grand Theft Auto skills to compete with - as Pink Floyd once referred to them - the "wily Japanese."
- Black was good in Jarhead...and American Gothic. Granted, he was all of 14 in the latter, but still.
- Sonny Chiba is in it.
- They destroy over 100 cars. That has to rival The Blues Brothers.CONS:
- Uh, it's a Fast and Furious sequel, and one in which Paul "Into the Blue" Walker didn't deign to return. That can't be good.
- "Drift racing" just sounds dumb.
Thoughts? I promise to take any and all feedback to heart when making this difficult decision.
Obviously, I meant to say "whether to see the Jack Black movie."
I'm with Curmy. I know that I'm not going to see a sequel to two movies that didn't appeal to me in the first place. I'm not sure if Nacho Libre is worth it, so I'd like a perfectly cromulent opinion.
Oh, come on. Seeing Jack Black and friend recoil in horror from the two freaky looking midget wrestlers didn't sell you on this movie?
Incidentally, my wife and I caught Napoleon Dynamite at a screening before wide release, laughed our asses off during the whole thing (tell me you didn't think of Paul McCann immediately when you saw it), and predicted it's cult hit status among the teenage crowd. Go and enjoy Nacho Libre before it's quoted to the ground by throngs of zit-faced kids everywhere.
Of course, if you had a mexican wrestler's mask you could get into the special screening that the Alamo roadshow is holding this weekend in Austin, complete with Lucha Libres performing (including, I hear, at least two midgets)
http://www.originalalamo.com/rrs/frames.asp?b=/online_tix/show_details.asp?show_id=3703
Or, for just as much entertainment value as either movie, you could stay home and gouge out your eyes with a rusty grapefruit spoon.
Napoelon Dynamite "criminally overrated"? As Napoleon himself would say: "Id-iot!"
I didn't realize Nacho was directed by Hess. I was planning to avoid it just based on Jack Black's presence. I liked him in High Fidelity, and enjoyed School of Rock despite him, but that's about it.
However, the combination and Black and Hess may be a car wreck I can't help rubbernecking. Yeah, go with Nacho, just so you can report back on the carnage. Though your opinion of ND makes anything you'd say extremely suspect.
If only Wayne Dolcefino was as cogent as Dwight Silverman...
Your legion of fans have spoken. You must go see Nacho. I have to admit, I laugh every time I see the preview when the little people jump into the ring. "I thought you were ... circus midgets."
Uhhh what's funnier than Jack Black and Mexican wrestling?????Certainly not FandF zaniness in the land of You Only Live Twice. I think you're stuck between a rock and a hard place. Go with Jack but hold your nose.
Skip them both, ditch the munchkin at a friend's house (not mine!), stay home and make loud, sweaty, sticky love to your wife on at least three non-porous surfaces in your home.
She will wonder WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON for at least two weeks.
It's directed by Jared Hess, the man responsible for the criminally overrated Napoleon Dynamite.
Pete, if I wasn't madly in love with you before now, this comment surely did it.
However, I have to agree that, between these two movies, Jack Black would win over any FaF movie.
But, sweet Jesus, I hated Napolean Dynamite, even moreso due to the incomprehensible cult following.
Dude, you have to go with Nacho Libre. Think of your readers! Odds are that Tokyo Drift will draw its viewers no matter what reviewers have to say (especially since I suspect most Fast and the Furious fans can't read reviews anyway).
Meanwhile, many people -- both on Film Threat and here at APCB -- might be waiting on reviewers' input to decide whether to see the movie.
Our moviegoing money is in your hands. You hold our fate. We're all counting on you now.