Lycans who stare at goats

 

I should have said this long ago (maybe I have…), my movie opinions are not opinions by which you should make your movie selections.  Probably 8 times out of 10 my movie favorites are the detested of others.  That’s ok with me but I thought you should know.

I saw a movie that I liked, Men Who Stare at Goats (2009), but I’m guessing most thought it was fairly stupid.  I can see that.  This is the description from Netflix:

 

Journalist Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) latches onto an unbelievable story in Iraq when he meets Lyn Cassady (George Clooney), a man of mysterious origins who reveals he was a "warrior monk" trained by the U.S. Army to develop psychic powers. Jeff Bridges co-stars as Lyn's mentor, the man who dreamed up the top-secret operation.

 

Unfortunately, I saw this film over a month ago and my memory isn’t strong.  Reading the reviews now, I’m wondering why it appealed to me but I do remember enjoying the absurdity.  For instance, there’s a guy interviewed in the beginning who claimed that he was a member of the New Earth Army (an official branch of the US military at one time, in the movie that is, not in real life) and could kill a hamster by staring at it.  He showed a video of this but the hamster was just stunned.  It does all seem pretty stupid.  I still recommend it. 

 

I’m wondering if my movie tastes would be different if I had a quiet life that didn’t crave escape at the end of the day so much that movies like this really made me laugh.

 

Anyway, George Clooney’s performance is great and really underscores his range as an actor.  Also the “more of this is true than you think” aspect is intriguing to an amateur conspiracy theorist like myself. 

Just to prove my good movie judgment, a day later I watched Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.  I’ve never watched the previous Underworld movies.  This one was ridiculous!  Netflix synopsis:

 

A prequel to the first two Underworld films, this fantasy explains the origins of the feud between the Vampires and the Lycans. Aided by his secret love, Sonja, courageous Lucian (Michael Sheen) leads the Lycans in battle against brutal Vampire king Viktor. Determined to break the king's enslavement of his people, Lucian faces off against the Death Dealer army in a bid for Lycan independence.

 

The most hilarious thing was that Michael Sheen was the king of the werewolves or something.  Michael Sheen was David Frost in “Frost Nixon” and Tony Blair in “The Queen”!  To see him with long hair and shirtless all serious was…wow, funny. 

 

Ok, this is him as Tony Blair:

This is him as Lucian the Lycan:

Um, don’t see the movie unless you are a Michael Sheen aficionado.