tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88669810284698323242024-02-07T12:58:14.307-06:00Critiques by Greeple.There are two kinds of things in the world: things I dig, and things I don't dig. Dig it.Jon Griphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10154463630369580499noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8866981028469832324.post-42765107370411987192009-08-04T12:25:00.011-05:002009-08-04T13:03:22.522-05:00The Price Is WRONG, B*tch!Has anyone watched "The Price Is Right" since Bob Barker quit and Drew Carey took over? Well, I hadn't yet.Until today.I forgot how awesome capitalism is! ESPECIALLY DURING THIS GREAT RECESSION! The poor folks who made it onto the show looked more crazy with envy than ever, and the rich folks, who won and clearly didn't need the prizes, looked more smug and punchable than ever, too! :)I saw this Jon Griphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10154463630369580499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8866981028469832324.post-28249491473765753102009-07-28T16:31:00.004-05:002009-07-28T16:45:48.787-05:00Young @ Heart - May The Old Folks Teach Us How To Live!I've decided to let go of "Greeple" just long enough to laud this little documentary, Young @ Heart. I watched it in 3 separate sittings, which is why I have so little to write, but this film spoke for itself anyway. A group of elderly folks come together and build a community - that would not exist otherwise - around rock and roll music. Guess what? Life didn't stop. Mistakes were made. People Jon Griphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10154463630369580499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8866981028469832324.post-38602120397914614262009-06-10T22:00:00.012-05:002009-07-28T12:19:55.215-05:00Lars And The Real Girl: What Bologna.Part of me felt compelled to take this movie seriously, but I can't. When you make a film with such a bizarre concept like Lars and the Real Girl, why would you play by the rules set forth by average Hollywood drivel?Check it out: socially inept sweetheart (Lars, played by Ryan Gosling, the motivational crackhead teacher from Half Nelson - still a less ridiculous premise than Lars and the Real Jon Griphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10154463630369580499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8866981028469832324.post-7540203997881443322009-04-11T13:08:00.015-05:002010-04-06T14:48:45.318-05:00Tyson and Gonzo: Two Documentaries, Two Wild And Crazy Guys!When I told friends I wanted to watch the Mike Tyson documentary, Tyson, they were all like, "Why??" Not so when I watched Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. They were like, "You haven't seen it yet?" In retrospect, I don't know why. If I hear a doc is good, then I want to see it and don't care much what it's about. Someone was passionate enough about his/her subject to create Jon Griphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10154463630369580499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8866981028469832324.post-29717323789185096912009-03-31T09:45:00.008-05:002009-04-04T12:41:30.294-05:00Watchmen vs. Synecdoche, New York: Guess Which Won... Also, Bond Franchise Fizzled. Again.I saw Watchmen many weeks ago and thought it pretty dumb. Still do. This week, I watched Charlie Kaufman's latest foray into the psyche of an artist, Synecdoche, New York. I dunno. I suppose it's possible you thought since Watchmen is all about ass-kicking, it kicked Synecdoche's ass. But there's a problem. A movie about ass kicking - in my estimation - should also kick ass. I think Synecdoche, Jon Griphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10154463630369580499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8866981028469832324.post-39167671915291519142009-03-10T13:21:00.004-05:002009-03-10T20:28:04.361-05:00Ashes Of The American Flag and Me And You And Everyone We KnowLast night as part of CIMM Fest 09, Chicago's Music Box Theatre premiered the new Wilco touring documentary, Ashes Of The American Flag, to a packed house with a only handful of empty seats. Two evening screenings were fans' only opportunity to see the doc on a big screen, and directors Brendan Canty (also the drummer of Fugazi) and Cristoph Green fielded a playful Q & A afterward.Here's the Jon Griphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10154463630369580499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8866981028469832324.post-18957244801240822992009-02-27T12:16:00.009-06:002009-02-27T19:59:53.950-06:00Let The Right One In, and may The Comedians of Comedy Deliver Us From Evil.Over a month ago I saw Let The Right One In, a Swedish film that would've been seen by many more people if the mass populace in America weren't enamored with the schmaltz of Twilight, the stupid one of two 2008 movies involving youngins and vampires. But it's not really a fair comparison. Twilight is schmaltz, and Let the Right One In is actually worth a shit.I got people interested in seeing Jon Griphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10154463630369580499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8866981028469832324.post-9363704570010135712009-02-08T15:59:00.013-06:002009-02-08T17:43:25.242-06:00Beer For My Horses: Why Toby Keith Is A Moron.(In all fairness, some may feel I am also a moron.)So Toby Keith wrote a movie, y'all. It's called Beer For My Horses. It's about America. Perhaps not directly, but it sure had everything that makes me cringe about America...Fan of Ted Nugent, aka "The Nuge"? Look no further than Ted's Cat Scratch Feverin' shoot out at the beginning of this movie (which followed his stupid bow and arrow shtick Jon Griphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10154463630369580499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8866981028469832324.post-45236239257878657822009-02-03T15:38:00.017-06:002009-02-03T20:18:21.600-06:00Why Drinking As Much As I Did The Past Several Days Is A Bad Idea.For starters, it gives one too many options on how to title such a blog. Or begin it, for that matter. I just axed the title: "Birthday. Beer. Boobs. ..Err, No Boobs, Actually. Uhmm... Blas...Uhh. Oh! Barfights." It was misleading. I didn't see any boo...oh wait! I did! On some machine at the Tap Room that guys suddenly took interest in. My guess would be that interest was inspired by the Jon Griphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10154463630369580499noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8866981028469832324.post-64271411048503451572009-01-26T12:17:00.019-06:002009-07-28T12:32:27.263-05:00Zack And Miri Made a Porno. Kevin Smith Made Me Angry (Again).I hate Kevin Smith with a passion. The guy makes male fantasy movies that are dumb (Chasing Amy), have potential (I'll give him Zack And Miri Make a Porno) but suck anyway, pointless (Clerks II), or just... head scratchers, as in "How the hell could anyone fund, let alone agree to make, let alone be a part of, this fucking pile of stank ass garbage?" kinda head scratching (Jersey Girl). I do not Jon Griphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10154463630369580499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8866981028469832324.post-67153020584857586882009-01-11T17:34:00.007-06:002009-01-27T10:30:26.367-06:00Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler: Not As Stupid As It SoundsWhen I first heard that Mickey Rourke's "comeback movie" was called The Wrestler, in which he played a ridiculous pro-wrestler down on his luck, I giggled. Pro-wrestling evokes a strong reaction from lots of people, and it's usually negative. Even though I figured I'd dig this movie (I did, for the record), I didn't expect it to be like, all deeper than that and shit.Pro-wrestler Randy "The RamJon Griphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10154463630369580499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8866981028469832324.post-31434473455606157092008-11-29T21:00:00.005-06:002008-11-29T21:26:22.783-06:00And Critiques by Greeple's First Random Visitor Is... Er, That Greeple Knows of, Is...Steiny, from Mucca Pazza! I'm not sure which member of Mucca you are, Steiny, but I appreciated your sentiments enough to shout it out on my blog. Uhm, and quote it:hi jon, we're mucca pazza. just read your "what would Jesus buy" critique and appreciated it a great deal. smart blog my friend. nice to "meet" you.-steinyThat was left for me on my MySpace page shortly after I 'friended' Mucca Jon Griphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10154463630369580499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8866981028469832324.post-32975868164638542002008-11-09T18:58:00.005-06:002008-11-09T20:08:23.220-06:00What Would Jesus Buy? Not Rev. Billy's Bullsh*t, I'd Like to ThinkThe Reverend Billy Talen is kind of a douchebag. He's the reverend of the Stop Shopping Church... or something. I dig Billy's message - Americans consume too much. Wal-Mart sucks. We're entering a "Shopocalypse" every Christmas season (although I'm mad you made a good name like "Shopocalypse" lame and trivial), and it's gotten out of control (!!!).So Billy had a light bulb flash on in his Jon Griphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10154463630369580499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8866981028469832324.post-76906018657953885642008-10-26T19:26:00.014-05:002009-06-04T10:21:50.380-05:00A Walk to Beautiful Heavy Metal in Baghdad.Yes, that's actually two film titles that I decided to combine into one blog title for comedic and/or dramatic purposes (with mixed success). A Walk to Beautiful and Heavy Metal in Baghdad (both available for instant viewing on Netflix) differ drastically in content, but both convey similar stories of people struggling against that which they cannot control.In retrospect, I'm not entirely sure Jon Griphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10154463630369580499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8866981028469832324.post-76172098626091055842008-10-18T22:13:00.010-05:002008-10-21T23:08:59.710-05:00W. the Movie: 'Bout As Good As His Presidency. Oh, Also, Religulous.Oliver Stone - you fucking asshole. Fuck you. You decided to make this W. movie in January, okay, shot it in like, May or some shit, and fucking rushed it to theaters October 17th. And, it was a movie, that not only served zero purpose, no. It was also a movie that feasted endlessly on my balls. I cannot believe you didn't show Bush blowing coke once. Not Once!!! I'm sorry, but why would Jon Griphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10154463630369580499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8866981028469832324.post-24325914788541733172008-10-12T18:52:00.020-05:002008-10-12T22:36:54.267-05:00Persepolis: Movie About Iranians Who Are Not In Fact TerroristsI watched Persepolis today, Marjane Satrapi's true story of growing up in war-torn Tehran, Iran in the late 70s into the 80s. I know, I know - what interest might I have in the story of an inevitable terrorist cell? Well I'll say, I wouldn't have had any interest in this film if it had been about your prototypical Iranian terrorist, where they worship Jihad and eat their own babies (that's how Jon Griphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10154463630369580499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8866981028469832324.post-9515428978189683112008-09-13T12:55:00.019-05:002008-09-13T15:16:07.391-05:00Film Review Medley - from Arm Wrestling to Hitler.My memory sucks. I might have reviewed at least two of these before elsewhere, but save the Hitler movie, I just saw these all again recently. They're fun to talk about. Enjoy.To be assaulted by my critical fist:Over the TopSuper High MeThe King of Kong: A Fistful of QuartersDownfallOver the Top - Sly Stallone arm wrestles his way into your heart.If this ain't (or, tweren't) Ronnie Reagan's Jon Griphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10154463630369580499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8866981028469832324.post-61757706520486432252008-09-02T19:30:00.007-05:002008-09-02T20:55:24.198-05:00Award-winning journalist Amy Goodman was arrested @ RNC convention yesterday and I learned about it through an email alert from a cell phone provider....Today. Not yesterday, but today. At 3:38pm, I received this email.OMG! CREDO Mobile have better journalists than the New York Times! They linked me to this video:So I decided to do a Google News search for this story. Get an idea who covered it. Let's see...first result! Star Tribune, out of Minneapolis, MN covered it. The lead is more about like, how she's back to work now and stuff.Jon Griphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10154463630369580499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8866981028469832324.post-47093991750573869052008-08-31T10:45:00.007-05:002008-08-31T11:05:09.873-05:00Zombie Strippers.This movie, starring Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger) and Jenna Jameson (accountant), exists, and had a limited theatrical run in the United States. The proof is in the picture:...Eh, I needed to go with something less offensive here than my previous post. And yes, that is definitely Tito Ortiz in the upper left corner of the poster.Jon Griphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10154463630369580499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8866981028469832324.post-15735937041647901872008-08-30T13:47:00.007-05:002008-08-30T15:18:06.644-05:00Tropic Thunder and Tom Cruise and Retarded HumorNever did I think that 2008 would be the year I say, without sarcasm, "Tom Cruise was the highlight." In reference to...anything. But I saw Tropic Thunder last night and Tom Cruise was definitely the highlight.Screwball comedies, in my opinion, sometimes make the effort to be too ridiculous and lose a lot of laughs. I think a lot of people will find this movie to have its hits and misses (Jon Griphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10154463630369580499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8866981028469832324.post-64976354484437565042008-08-20T09:39:00.011-05:002008-08-22T11:21:57.029-05:00Dumb comedies rarely satiate my Giggle Palate like PINEAPPLE EXPRESS did.So my roommate Henry says to me, "Let's see a movie." All the times sucked for everything we wanted to see. The most convenient showing would have been Star Wars: The Clone Wars, but we both concluded that of the movies we'd be willing to see, shit sandwiches like The Clone Wars rounded out the bottom of the list. It would be Tropic Thunder or Pineapple Express.The last movie I saw starring Seth Jon Griphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10154463630369580499noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8866981028469832324.post-18348358588516789352008-08-14T17:05:00.003-05:002008-08-14T17:34:36.631-05:00Hey Wal-Mart - Don't Force Your Employees to Vote a Certain Way Because That's Illegal and StuffGee whiz, Wal-Mart. For being one of the most evil corporations ever, and having a reputation for being so, you sure have gotten sloppier than a basset hound galloping away from his water dish.A lot of people don't get their way all the time, Wal-Mart. It's a way of life. I understand how privileged you've been, what with terrorizing the world with (SMILEY FACE!) Everyday Low Prices and a Jon Griphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10154463630369580499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8866981028469832324.post-38740050581663428522008-08-13T16:21:00.011-05:002008-08-13T23:04:11.810-05:00Hey, Rod Blagojevich - Eat a Turd.Here's the thing, Rod. You're a turd. And your first name remains synonymous with words like 'cock' and 'johnson,' to name a few.I won't pretend like I know much about Rod Blagojevich beyond what a turd he is, but I can confidently claim that I know enough about Rod to state that he is, in fact, a turd. And he should eat himself.About a month ago, Rod signed a gun control bill, under which the Jon Griphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10154463630369580499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8866981028469832324.post-51021285306984187212008-08-07T17:33:00.004-05:002008-08-07T17:43:43.105-05:00Stanley Kauffmann says...A few years ago, Stanley Kauffmann was first recommended to me by one of my writing professors at Knox, Robin Metz, as a film critic I need to read. Until recently, all his reviews were for 'members only' or subscribers of the The New Republic magazine. Robin described him as a 90 yr old film critic still crackin' away at films with writing as brilliant as ever. Kauffmann just reviewed a film Jon Griphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10154463630369580499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8866981028469832324.post-50549755393660479142008-08-06T15:03:00.003-05:002008-08-12T16:19:32.244-05:00Cutco: Fellated by the Wall Street JournalFor those who don't know, I used to sell Cutco. I have an opinion or two about it. But first, an excerpt:The knife company in question is Cutco Cutlery, an Olean, N.Y., manufacturer with $198 million in revenue, according to Sarah Baker Andrus, director of academic programs for Vector Marketing, Cutco's sales arm. Ms. Andrus says the company brings in 60% of its sales over the summer, when a Jon Griphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10154463630369580499noreply@blogger.com0