And then this woman set her head on fire...

I rented I'm Not There, the film about Bob Dylan that came out last summer. I was really looking forward to seeing it; I'm not the biggest Dylan fan, but I thought a story about him would be worth seeing. I watched the whole film, and I still have no idea what I saw.

First of all, the film is not really about Bob Dylan. It's a pastiche of representations of different personas Dylan is mythologized to have inhabited at various points in his personal and artistic evolution. Yep. Apparently, he was an African American child riding in boxcars with hobos and playing old blues songs, a folk singer, an actor who played that folk singer in a movie while his marriage fell apart, a crazy drug addict and Billy the Kid.

The film tells all these different stories that are clearly not all the same person, and none of whom have the same name. There are narrative portions, there's a kind of surrealist piece with a circus theme, and a mockumentary. The film has no real purpose, is excruciating to follow and, apart from the part with Cate Blanchett playing Jude Quinn, nothing is really all that recognizable as Bob Dylan. It's awful (except for Cate).

At the same time, however, I also rented Hamlet 2. I truly expected this to be the worst drivel ever. I mean, the film's trailers featured a song called "Rock Me, Sexy Jesus." But, I normally like films from Focus, and I think Steve Coogan is really funny. Surprisingly, however, the movie is actually really smart and funny.

The film is not so much about putting on a musical sequel to Hamlet, but is actually a parody of all those awful inspirational teacher films, like Dangerous Minds, where a white teacher goes into the ghetto and turns his or her gangbanger students into model citizens by sheer force of will and an emerging street cred.

Steve Coogan is a failed actor who becomes a high school drama teacher. He's broke, his wife, who recently gave up her job dealing pot, wants to have a baby despite his low sperm count, and they've taken in a boarder to help make ends meet. His drama class, which usually consists of 2 students and puts on stage adaptations of Hollywood films, is filled with Hispanic students whose electives of choice (shop, computers and ceramics) have been cut out of the budget.

The movie is totally pointless, but it's really funny. Coogan is just so clueless about his own patheticness, and David Arquette is just sort of randomly in the film. "Rock Me, Sexy Jesus" is annoyingly infectious, and there's a very unsettling tune called "Raped in the Face" that completely exposes the film as being by the makers of South Park.

In short, if you like to watch a movie where you know what's going on, skip I'm Not There. If, however, you enjoyed Cannibal, The Musical, see Hamlet 2.

Also, the film The House Bunny is surprisingly smart and funny.