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TilDuDor
Reviews
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations (2005)
Enjoyable show with an entertaining if pretentious host.
Anthony Bourdain is, foremost, pretentious. He's also an outright jerk. He can be cruel, he can be an ingrate- he can be many things of a language not allowed on the IMDb comment section. He is, however, a person who understands most of these things about himself, and, most importantly, he is a man who is just outright fun to watch.
Bourdain is a tall, middle-aged white dude secure enough in his masculinity and deep enough in his pretentiousness to wear an earring on occasion. He is a writer/food critic/chef who travels around the world sampling various cultures and their cuisine while sharing his ideas and commenting (sometimes unnecessarily) along the way either to the locals or in a voice-over later recorded. While some reviewers would obviously disagree with my perception of him in this regard, I find Bourdain likable despite his various negative qualities (though I'm not sure if I'd enjoy meeting him in person).
This show and the Andrew Zimmern's run back to back sometimes on the same channel, and they complement each other well. While Bourdain is acerbic and occasionally funny, Zimmern is a much more open and amiable guy happily along for the ride. They have actually met each other on screen (a youtube search could show you what I mean) and they are somewhat similar in a subtle way. Both arec a joy to watch. Neither show is to be missed.
Feeling Minnesota (1996)
Very enjoyable if imperfect film.
Feeling Minnesota is an entertaining movie, and though it may require some rewatching to be sure, it's probably now one of my favorites. From the beginning it reminded me quite a bit of a certain Coen brothers film with a similar title, only it is much more violent and a little darker.
For those of you who haven't seen it, and to sum it up without spoilers, it's basically a movie about two brothers- Keanu Reeves, the petty crook who has a habit of holding up convenience stores (again, remind you of anything?), and D'Onofrio, his jerky brother. If I got everything right, D'Onofrio does accounting for a dope dealer/club owner who gives him this girl (Diaz, not exactly stellar in this role) as a wife as a reward for him for finding money she stole and as a punishment for her (again, he's a jerk). Reeves pretty much steals her away from D'Onofrio, and D'Onofrio isn't havin' none of that.
The best thing about this movie is the weird sense of humor- it's rather subtle sometimes, and then out of nowhere there will be goofy physical comedy (the only thing Reeves excelled at in this, oddly enough) and weird situational humor. The tone is fairly dark through most of it, but there are plenty of hilarious scenes (however odd they are).
This might be my favorite D'Onofrio movie (I'm a big fan of the man), especially for how over-the-top he was in it and for all of the goofy outfits he wore. There are a bunch of scenes where he and Reeves are stumbling around or beating each other up and the nearly slapstick physical comedy was great.
D'Onofrio and Aykroyd especially are great as the whiny, violent brother with a bizarre taste in clothes and the crooked cop with the hots for Diaz. Reeves wasn't the best choice, though he's passable (especially in scenes involving sibling rivalry), but the rest of the cast wasn't exactly delightful.
The sex scenes between Reeves and Diaz (again, not exactly my two favorite performers) were pretty awful, there were parts of the ending that I didn't like, and I wish the film had omitted some of the more annoying romantic elements in general, but I really enjoyed it overall.
It's certainly something I'd recommend, though it's a little odd and very dark (pretty much all of the characters are simultaneously likable and disgusting), so it may not be for everyone