Hey folks, Harry back in place here in the real world of Austin. My god, I'm tired. But not so much so that I can't write a few lines here and there for all you lovely readers. Now I know... a review of FREE ENTERPRISE is not so timely for theatrical release... it unfortunately has left our theaters... HOWEVER... there is a really really great DVD on the film that is just now hitting places that sell it. It has tons of extras and frankly folks... if you are a film geek... you should own this movie. It's really that simple... Then GENGHIS BLUES? Well... read and find out. This all comes complements of PH... hmmmm... Paul Harvey? Paul Henreid? Will we ever know? Not likely! Here he is...
Hi Harry--call me pH. I was just at a couple of small movies as part of the Saint Louis Film Festival this weekend, and since I liked them and hadn't seen anything about them on AICN I thought I'd give you a few brief thoughts. I hope they're of use to you.
_Free Enterprise_: If you are a geek, this movie is for you. It is written by, for, and about geeks. It's sprinkled with geekness, marinated in geekitude, and dredged in geekosity, then baked for an hour at 325 degrees. If you are the kind of person who can be hanging out with your friends and say stuff like, "Believe it, bub--I've the best at what I do" or "Ruh-roh" or "Gort, merenga" or "A lie is a very poor way to say hello" or "Ship--out of danger?" or "I find your lack of faith-- disturbing" or--well, you get the idea--all with equal ease, not having to worry about the others not getting it, you will have a blast at this movie.
It's not perfect--one plotline wraps up a little too tidily for me to believe, while another one never really does. And I've never seen a geek who got laid as regularly as one of the two lead geeks in this movie--but then, I've never seen a girlgeek who was simultaneously (a) fully as geeky as the guygeeks she hung out with, and (b) as physically attractive as the one in this movie was[1]. A couple of geek wish- fulfillment fantasies that I can readily forgive. Heck, the main plot of the movie is a geek fantasy (getting to develop a project with William Shatner).
If you're _not_ a total geek? Well, my wife is only about, hmm, maybe a quarter as geeky as me, and she had a blast too. I'm not sure she got all the references, but heck, _I_ didn't get them all (although some of those were because they were stepped on by laughter from the previous gag). I may have to buy this when it's available on video, just to see how many I missed.
So all in all, great stuff. And say what you like about Bill Shatner's acting, he raps way better than Warren Beatty. Oh, and stay for the end credits, too.
_Genghis Blues_: production values are low, but this documentary spins a fascinating tale, of an extraordinary musician from the West (blind bluesman Paul Pena) and his exploration of an extraordinary musical culture (the "throat singing" of the former republic of Tuva). Not only will it open up a whole new sonic world for you, but getting to know Paul and the people he brings and/or meets on his journey of discovery is a treat as well.
[1] All you gorgeous girlgeeks, or friends thereof, who are about to tell me I need to get out more, don't bother; I already know. And if it's just to meet gorgeous girlgeeks, my wife's gonna veto it anyway.
PH
