f13.net

Thanks to the miracle of Showtime's Movies on Demand, I've recently had the opportunity to watch some movies which I never knew existed.  Recent movies which just went under the radar or perhaps straight to video; but nonetheless movies with some redeeming values.

The first of these "finds" (for me, anyways) was The Machinist.  Check out the review of it on Haemish's site if you're not familiar with this little-known film from Christian Bale's canon.

This past weekend we gathered around the tube and I turned again to the MoD channel and we hmm'd about this title:  Employee of the Month (http://imdb.com/title/tt0362590/).  Hadn't heard of it.  Has Matt Damon, Christina Applegate and Steve Zahn.  Some genuine "B" list material to be sure but Zahn sells us on giving it a try and the capsulation says something like... ""Employee of the Month" is about a guy (Matt Dillon) whose day spirals from bad to worse when he gets fired from his dream job at the bank and is dumped by his fiancee Sara (Applegate)..." and Zahn obviously is in the "buddy" role.  Standard comedy setup we figure we'll be in for some cheap laughs, and how bad could it be?

OK, I won't give it all away but if you decide to give the movie a try please consider seeing it through to the end; the payoff is nothing like what you'd expect after the first 30 minutes or even hour and I don't think you'll be disappointed by the twist(s).  If nothing else, just enjoy Steve Zahn going absofuckinglutely off the deep end in an indescribably hysterical performance.

If you HAVE seen the movie, please explain for me the meaning of Steve Zahn's monologue in the back of the Coroner's van if you can.

I'll have to check this one out. I love Steve Zahn. When he's got a good role, he can just hit one out of the park.

The Machinist is also pretty good.

I wouldn't say The Machinist is little known. It had advertising everywhere.

Problem with Zahn is his best work is still "That Thing You Do."