Rubin Recommends

(Part of the weekly Instant Gratification feature)

Sweet relief! Thanks to the new and mighty Netflix app for iPhone (and iPod touch), I can look forward to avoiding human interaction throughout my entire day (coverage restrictions apply)! You heard it right, the day has finally come. A new dawn. There’s a new sheriff in town. It’s a whole new…you get the point. The app is particularly helpful for you, dear reader, because you can browse, add to, and watch anything from your instant queue, wherever you have WiFi and 3G access. Yes, even over 3G.

So, you didn’t get grandfathered into the unlimited iPhone data plan? Well, odds are, watching those X-Files episodes in the stall of your work’s bathroom (completely hypothetical situation) can probably add up. No worries. You’re worth it, bro!

Nothing is perfect, and this app is no exception. When using 3G in a weaker signal area (“on AT&T?! I’m incensed!”), such as, say, a bathroom, you may experience a “buffer issue.” It’s annoying, no doubt, but the future isn’t easy. Now, on WiFi, we’re talking serious, pro-level shit here; movies and shows queue up quickly, no buffering, and the iPhone 4’s display is really put to work in a nice way.

If you haven’t downloaded it yet, do so now! It’s free. Get it here.

(Part of the weekly Instant Gratification feature)

Broken Embraces
Run time: 127 min | Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Netflix categorization: Foreign Steamy Romance
Watch Instantly

Mind the gap. It’s been a few weeks, and I’d venture to say: most of you are probably out enjoying the beautiful summer weather and not indoors, nailed to your Rokus and Playstations and internets. No worries, it’s only now beginning to feel like summer in the Bay Area (even if it’s only 2 days worth). But let’s face it, you’re ultimately a recluse (if you bother to read this, I hope), and you probably just prefer to draw the curtains and watch a good movie.

Well, there is nothing better to soothe the summer sweat like an Almodóvar film (or heat you back up). If you weren’t lucky enough to catch Broken Embraces in the theater, it has arrived on Watch Instantly! Hooray. As usual, Pedro (yeah, we’re tight like that) called upon his muse, Penelope Cruz, to deliver a riveting performance around a complex love…square? It wouldn’t be Almodóvar without a thorough examination of the tenuous and dangerous nature of love, sex, and trust.

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(Part of the weekly Instant Gratification feature)

Viva La Vacación!

Instant Gratification is on summer vacation in Mexico this week. So, instead of going out to the beach and enjoying life, you should sit indoors with the blinds pulled and watch these Mexican-inspired Watch Instantly treats!

Be back next week.

Duck, You Sucker!
Sergio Leone’s ridiculous heist film involves an IRA demolitions expert hiding out in Mexico (sounds like an A-Team episode) who synchs up with a wily thief in order to rob banks. According to Netflix, this movie is gritty. Indeed!

El Mariachi
Whether you love or hate his films, there is no disputing that El Mariachi, in all of its violent, bloody glory, was a crowning masterpiece (and major influence) that put Robert Rodriguez on the map. If you haven’t seen it yet, you have some serious explaining to do!

Romeo + Juliet (Baz Luhrmann edition)
Okay, so this isn’t set in Mexico, but believe it or not, most of the fake town of “Verona Beach” (How did we not think that was incredibly corny 15 years ago?!) was mostly shot in Mexico City. There is really nothing not to love about this movie (Oh, Leo), and it has a killer soundtrack, to boot (not to mention Jamie Kennedy and Paul Rudd!!!).

(Part of the weekly Instant Gratification feature)

Benny’s Video

Run time: 105 mins | Director: Michael Haneke
Netflix Categorization: Scary, Dark
Watch Now

“My films are intended as polemical statements against the American ‘barrel down’ cinema and its dis-empowerment of the spectator” – Michael Haneke

There aren’t better words to describe Haneke’s films, especially those of the more violent nature like Funny Games and Benny’s Video. While some may chide him for being overly violent just for the sake of it (Funny Games), it would be more important to look at the psychological underpinnings that drive us toward violent or horrific movies. I think Benny, the character, does exactly that.

Benny, a spoiled and seemingly ignored upper class Viennese teenager, is obsessed with watching violent videos. He spends countless hours in his room (which is probably decked out with more video equipment than an editing room at VH1) watching and re-watching videos like that of a brutal slaughter of a pig on his family’s farm. Beyond the videos, his other activities seem to revolve around trying to master a pyramid scheme his sister enacted, barely speaking, watching war footage, and listening to really shitty metal. Typical teenage shit?

After his parents go away for the weekend, Benny visits his local video store and encounters a teenage girl (their interaction has no audio). After returning with her to his crib, she examines his bizarre video setup (he has two video cameras recording both outside his window and a corner of his bedroom, respectively) and the two engage in a little “foreplay.” And by foreplay, I mean, Benny pulls out the bolt-action mechanism that slaughtered the pig in his favorite video and holds it to his body. The video footage toggles to Benny’s recording and the mood grows tense. Benny urges the girl to pull the trigger, but she won’t (how’s that for a first date). Watching via Benny’s video (get it?) makes the scene somehow distant, but not at all far away. “Feigling!” he cries (Coward!) and he points it at her. Benny hesitates and won’t pull the trigger, but this time, she calls him the coward.

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(Part of the weekly Instant Gratification feature)

Street Thief
Run time: 85 mins | Director: Malik Bader

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(Part of the weekly Instant Gratification feature)

Booty Call
Run time: (A whopping) 79 mins | Director: Jeff Pollack
Netflix categorization: Raunchy, Goofy

Watch Now

This is less of a review and more of a “May I have your attention!?” – since one of the greatest, and most frequently aired movies in Comedy Central’s history, Booty Call, is now available for your instant consumption (seriously though, it’s probably on TV right now, just go check). If you’ve never seen it, or just want to relive Jamie Foxx’s horrendous haircut, Tommy Davidson playing a “Buppie” (Apparently allmovie.com’s term for “black yuppie”…?), or Vivica Fox as the amazing “Lysterine,” get on it now! Fire up the xBox, log onto the laptop, wind up…your Wii….?

In addition to an incredible cast, the basic premise (essentially, two dudes need to find condoms in order to bone ZOMGgG1!) nails what it’s like to be in a new relationship and wonder when (and how) you’re going to take it to the next level. You know, THAT level.

Fun fact: this movie really brought the term “booty call” into common parlance with your father, who probably (constantly) misuses it!

Purchase Booty Call (The Bootiest Edition) on DVD at Amazon.

(Part of the weekly Instant Gratification feature)

Mala Noche
Run time: 78 mins | Director: Gus Van Sant
Netflix categorization: Understated, Romantic, Gritty, Steamy, Dark, Cerebral
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“Mala Noche”…bad night….whatever language you use, it’s an apt title for Gus Van Sant’s first feature film, based on the autobiographical book of the same name by poet Walt Curtis.  Shot on 16mm in black-and-white for a scant budget of $25K, the film is literally full of darkness and shadows. Within minutes, the light (or lack thereof) becomes a character in itself—scantly present to illuminate other characters’ inadequacies, hidden to keep quiet their desires (and perhaps understanding of them). Not unlike Van Sant’s later work (Elephant, especially), Mala Noche falls into a somewhat plodding, methodical rhythm that is not always entirely soothing.

We learn early on that “Walt”, a homosexual convenience store clerk (shittiest store ever, BTW) in Portland, craves the attention and love of a young Mexican patron, Johnny. At first, Walt seems hell bent on earning the boy’s love. But after Johnny’s ambivalence (we wonder, is it intentional?) to Walt’s advances and attempts, he abandons this plan and tries to buy it: sucks for Walt though, since he can’t even manage to scrape together the $25 Johnny will charge for sex.  Ah, Plan B. Invite him over for…dinner? Yes, unorthodox, but perhaps it might just work! Johnny and his brother Roberto “Pepper” come by Walt’s where the former quickly falls under the charms of Walt’s sister, Betty (thanks, Betty).

Tapping into something utterly primal (and sad to witness out at bars), a rejected Walt decides to go after the next best thing, Pepper. After all, Pepper and Johnny are brothers. But after a dangerous run-in with the cops (like, getting shot and killed dangerous), Pepper cannot reciprocate the misplaced feelings Walt throws at him. When Betty decides to hit the road and become a stripper in Alaska (really), Walt is left on his own to sort out the meaning of love and lust after a very weird, bad night.

Purchase the Criterion Collection DVD of Mala Noche at Amazon.

(Part of the weekly Instant Gratification feature)

Run time: 86 mins | Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Netflix categorization: Witty, Quirky, Goofy
Watch now at Netflix

What is Collinwood? Well, in the Russo brothers’ comedy, Welcome to Collinwood, I think a shithole filled with inept criminals would serve as an apt description. Set in a drab section of Cleveland, this caper satire follows an unassuming group of likely thieves (Sam Rockwell, William H. Macy, Isiah “I swear I don’t hate gay people” Washington, and Luis Guzman) come together, despite their mutual hatred of one another, for one last job: break into a jewelry store’s safe (classic, right?). It sounds formulaic enough to deserve its placement on the Watch Instant queue, but the film’s hilarious cast and excellent dialogue often make you forget about the heist entirely (not to mention several goofy, but fun, plot twists).

The Russos (who have also shared stints directing shows like Arrested Development and the more recent, Community) may have struck out with box office success with the film (it only grossed $75K in its opening weekend—for perspective, Kangaroo Jack grossed $16.6 mm), but the hapless straight performances of Macy and Rockwell play well against the unadulterated comedic rage of Guzman. Even George Clooney makes a cameo (and a good one at that) as a retired safe picker who offers the gang lessons in his craft.

Although at times a bit meandering, the film does well by not obeying some of the rules of the genre (which is especially great since Cloonicle’s Ocean’s movies seem to be exactly what Collinwood lampoons). Indeed, there is only a slight twinge of melodramatic love story (which selfishly serves a criminal end), an utter void of logistical planning (from which some of the best comedy of the film spawns forth), an inept ringleader, and absolutely no glitz or glamour.

And in case you were wondering, no, this is not a sequel or spinoff to Safe Men (I wish).

Purchase Collinwood on DVD at Amazon.

(Part of the weekly Instant Gratification feature)

Run time:  90 mins | Director: Laura Gabbert, Justin Schein
Netflix categorization: Inspiring
Watch now

Wrapping up a day that included visits to Target, REI and Chipotle (I know, I hate myself), I settled onto the couch with my girlfriend to eat Japanese take out and watch No Impact Man. It was clear within minutes that my level of self-loathing would be soaring to meteoric levels.

If you’re not familiar with the No Impact Man, aka Colin Beavan, he made headlines a few years ago with his attempt to reduce his family’s impact on the planet to nearly nothing for an entire year. The project kicked off with drastic reductions in consumption, eating locally (in his case, finding out more about where his food comes from), and getting rid of non-essentials like television. Brutality. Slowly but surely, Colin and his family let go even more and get rid of their electricity. In a scene shortly after that decision, Collin delivers an obvious “too far?” rant to his wife and laments that it probably was a stupid idea—especially when you think about caring for a young child without having a refrigerator.

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I’d like to welcome my friend Mr. Adam Wood to Rubin Recommends.

Adam will be doing a new feature here titled “Instant Gratification.”

The hook: “There are currently over 12,000+ titles available to watch instantly via Netflix. Many of them suck. Here are some that don’t.”