Blow : Summer Pick

"El... el weed."

4 Stars
Summer movie pick

It's summer time and that means good times. This movie has some of the best 70's and 80's good times montages put on film. And I'm all about the good times montage.
Cocaine, disco, cash, and Cuban music. Yessss.
During this time of year I also breakout the soundtrack and cruse. There are some awesome tracks on it, and you should do yourself a favor and buy it.

Blow is the true story of "Boston George" Jung, played by Johnny Depp. Moving to California from Boston in his late teens he quickly became one of the most success full drug lords of the 70's and 80's.
Yet George's true addiction is the high he gets from being the best at what he does. When he truly feels that he can give it up, it's too late, and looses everything.
Jung is currently in prison and is scheduled for release in 2014.

Penelope Cruz co-stars as his Colombian wife Marta. It was after watching this movie that I really recognized her a talented actress. Since then, I've been slowly working through all of her work.
A true talent.

Also my favorite character is played by Paul Reubens, as gay hair dresser Derick, and George's "business partner" for many years.
He has some great lines, and at the time the film was released it was great to see him really act! He's great.
Love, love, love him. "Barbie!"

The many other names include Ray Liotta, Rachel Griggiths, Franka Potente, and Bobcat Goldthwait.
Directed by Ted Demme who ironically died less than a year after making the movie while playing basketball, and cocaine was found in his system. He was 39 years old.
He was really passionate about this movie, and telling Jung's story. This DVD includes the infinifilm feature that lets you click on an icon during the movie, and watch behind the scenes clips of that particular scene. It even includes interviews of the real George Jung, and his real experience of that scene.

This movie is so cool! When it's super sunny and hot, I put this flick on and watch George prance on the California beached in the 60's, and feel the heat of a big money Colombian wedding in the 70's.

That's hot.

The King

"We're going to hell."

3 Stars

Eh.. I guess I was just expecting more. The previews of this really looked along the lines of Down in the Valley. The difference being that this movie lacked passion, because the story just didn't let you in on it.

After serving time in the Navy, 21 year old Elvis (Gael Garcia Bernal) decides to look up the father (William Hurt) that abandoned him as a child, only to find him working as a small town pastor with a new wife, and two teenage children. While his father is unwilling to disrupt his life to reconcile with his son, Elvis refuses to be ignored, taking drastic measures to insert himself into the family.

Well that's what the jacket says. I didn't get that too clearly. From the beginning I wasn't really sure of the relationship between Elvis and the pastor, but it seemed like they were father and son. And if so, is he really hooking up with his sister?! Elvis really feels like he has some sort of motive for everything he's doing, but I just wasn't able to see what. I can only assume it was payback.

Bernal is such a great actor. Is it just me or have you noticed that in most films starring Bernal they waste no time getting him in a sex scene. And lots of 'em. What sign is he?
Also in this movie is that silent guy from Little Miss Sunshine. He's a little intense actor too. During the last World Series of Pop Culture I lost a question that had his name in it. So just in case you find yourself in the same situation his name is Paul Dano.
Impress your friends.

Black Snake Moan

"Like Jesus said,
'I'm 'onna suffer you.'"

3.5 Stars

A true, good versus evil story. As much as I loved so many little things in this movie, it wasn't great. Having a hack actor like Justin Timberlake didn't help either. He's a graduate of The Keanu Reeves Acting Academy.

After finding sex-addicted 22-year-old Rae (Christina Ricci) beaten and near death, blues musician Lazarus (Samuel L. Jackson) acts as a father figure to help redeem her in this Southern-fried drama.

This movie was almost a story of an exorcism with voodoo tendencies. The character Lazarus is true to the parable of Lazarus which teaches the terrible result (hell) of neglecting others in need. I'm shure there are many other biblical reference in this that I just didn't catch.

This was the first movie I was able to watch for a while. I am currently afflicted with hives, and can't really concentrate on much else but my burning skin. I felt much like Ricci as she wiggled around on the couch during on of her spells.

The music was great too! I really love that music of The Black Keys was largely featured in the film. I've seen that band a number of times, and I can watch that guy play guitar all day long. He gets into a trance, and violently thrashes out the best blues riffs. Knowing his performances, it really matched the tone of the movie.

I really expected more from this movie, but in all honesty I can't stop thinking about it.


Plot summary courtesy of Netflix

Transamerica

"'-Beauty is relative.'
-Not my relatives.'"

4 Stars

I didn't want to see this movie for a while. Honestly I was afraid of how the transgendered would be portrayed. I don't feel it's a joke, and when I first saw the previews, it looked like a comedy. After some time, and listening to the great reviews it got from my trusted movie buddies, I said yes.

Transamerica is not only a portrait of a transgendered man but, a great road picture as well.
Bree (Falicity Huffman) is a week away from her final gender reassignment surgery, which for her is the final missing element in her life to make her feel whole. She receives a strange phone call from a Toby, apparently her son, who must be the product of a somewhat clumsy sexual encounter years ago when she was a man. He's in jail in New York, and hoped his father would bail him out. Bree tries her best to sweep the issued under the rug, but her therapist won't sign her surgery approval until she faces her past.
She bails out her son for one dollar, under the guise that she's from the church. Hoping to drop him off where he was raised, they hit the road.

I guess a story like this is predictable enough. They bond, the kid finds out, they have car trouble, tears, rage, laughs, the gamut. Doesn't mean it's not entertaining or moving.
She now has a son, who has no one, and believes his father is a rich playboy in LA.
What a huge change for someone whose never had to care about anyone but themselves. When you have a child, the child comes first, and that lesson was a fast and hard fact for Bree to grasp.

Now there was a little Victor/Victoria thing going on in the movie. Huffman, a genuine woman, plays a man, who is living as a woman. I thought it would be hard to look passed that, but she did such a great job! A very deserved Oscar nomination for her.
The subtleties of Bree's insecurities where great. She is constantly primping, tugging at her top, making sure that she is presentable. Even more, to be acceptable as a woman.
Her voice was great, and so what the greasy make up. It has always fascinated me why men or women who've had plastic surgery have oily, shiny faces!
Get some blot sheets girl!

Transamerica really reminded me of another great road flick, Around the Bend.
Though not the same situation, it did deal with father and son issues. In both films the sons have one idea what their father is, and they don't want to hear different.
From personal experience there is something magical about a road trip, that opens a person up. Maybe we feel this way on the road because it feels like we're never going back.

Children of Men

"Very odd, what happens in a world without children's voices."

4 Stars

That quote has left a stain on my memory.
I can't stop thinking about that statement. These sounds that we may find annoying or intrusive are given new meaning after this film.

2027. The human race has been plagued with a mysterious affliction that has caused all women to be infertile.
We are introduced to this new world by the tragic news that the youngest living human has been killed at the age of 18. Making it even more painfully clear that the human race is quickly dying with him.

The ongoing phenomenon has resulted in rioting, terrorism, and protests. The world is so hopeless, the popular pharmaceutical is Quietus. A peaceful at home suicide kit.
There is also a large problem with immigrants in the picture, which I didn't feel was fully explained. But after watching the special features I understand. The special features by the way are real downers. Failing Eco-system, end of the world. Bad times. The short of the problem, people are illegally migrating to better ecological countries. Too many immigrants mean less resources available. So they've got to go.

Our hero, Theo (Clive Owen) was once an activist with his ex-wife Julian (Julianne Moore). After the loss of their son he lost all the fight he had. Julian "reconnects" with Theo (We're not talking a chat over coffee.) asking for his help to transport a young immigrant Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey) out of the country to The Human Project. Not really knowing why, Theo agrees and is quickly overwhelmed with the consequences.
He soon learns the truth of Kee's significance. She is pregnant.

This movie has had my mind racing. No more children.
I have never wanted to have children. Still don't. But this movie has me asking, if the world depended on it, would I try? I've had 2 dreams so far, that I am trying to get pregnant by strange means and keep failing.

A scene in an abandoned elementary school had me thinking, "I guess so.". No need for them anymore. Along with playgrounds, toys, or pediatricians. Kee is so young she has never seen a pregnant woman before, and has no idea how long she'll be pregnant for. I would think most prenatal care has been forgotten or at the least very hard to find.
Very thought provoking.

I had read a profile of Claire-Hope Ashitey in NYLON a year or two ago. I was so intrigued by the plot of the film she was working on, I wrote it on my movie list. Imagine my surprise during the preview to see Clive Owen starring. I thought I was in, but now I was all in. Hands down one of the best looking men I have ever seen.
And his voice? Like butter.
Michael Caine is fantastic as Theo's elder pot growing hippie friend. I was really close to choosing the quote "Pull my finger. Quick!" for this review.

The special effects are few but quality. The details of the environment put the viewer in the future.
Forget flying cars, I agree the future is going to be all about advertising.
Last about the effects, two words. The Birth.

Not only thought provoking, but exciting! A great action movie as well. My boyfriend pointed out that most action shots were one long take.
Very impressive.

Great movie. The missing star is for the cinematography. I really didn't care for
"the look" of the film.
That's just me.

Whitney was right. The children are our future.

Of Mice and Men

"I'll break that god damned cat's neck!"

4 Stars

What are the odds? I just said in my Places in the Heart review that I wanted to revisit Of Mice and Men, and it was added to my On Demand this weekend! Cool.
I remember seeing this film with my mom in the theater. My mom was a big John Malkovich fan, still is too, and was really excited to see this when it came out.

Most folks know the story but just in case you missed class that day here's quick summary.
The classic John Steinbeck tale of two friends - George (Gary Senise) and Lennie (Malkovich) - who wonder the country during the Depression. Lennie is mentally retarded and doesn't know his own strength causing frequent problems for his companion George.

Gary Senise not only stars but directs. Sherilyn Fenn (who will always be Audrey Horne from Twin Peaks to me) is in this as well. And for the record, she is quite simply one of the most stunning women I have ever seen. Gorgeous! Also Casey Siemaszko stars. He has been in so many movies Biloxi Blues (one of my favorites), Back to the Future, and Stand By Me just to name a few. Not too well known, but he always stands out to me for some reason. Great face on that kid.

Recalling the movie, I was always more sympathetic for Lennie. Killing animals by mistake, and not quite understanding his strength, but the facts of life as well. I'm pretty sure because I was a kid watching or reading the story I was able to identify with a guy who was as mentally developed as I was.
But this time around being a little older, I really felt for George being Lennie's caretaker. Much how I've seen my mom take care of her parents, it can be at times a physical and emotional burden. But as so many people do, they put that aside to care for someone they love.
George was sick of not being able to work on his own, to go out on the town with out making sure Lennie stays out of trouble while he's gone. He has given up a part of himself.

Honestly I had forgotten the ending. My mouth was genuinely agape!
He had to do it.

Here's to tending the rabbits.


Plot summary courtesy of iMDb.com

The Pusher

"......"

1 Star

I didn't even get 10 minutes into this film therefore I have no real quote. I read about this trilogy in NYLON magazine, and it sounded awesome. Now that I think of it, I think they were reviewing the last one which was released 2006 subtitled I'm The Angel of Death. So I decided to start from the beginning. Mistake...
I think.

Danish writer-director Nicolas Winding Refen achieved cult status with his feature film debut, the tale of a small-scale pusher named Frank who blows a big-time heroin deal and gets in trouble with a powerful drug lord. As the week drags on, Frank scrambles to pay back the money he lost, but attempts to raise serious cash take him into dangerous territory.

Drugs, violence, and that cool looking guy with the glass eye from the last 007 film Casino Royale sounds like fun! But I had a hard time. I have since read a couple of independent reviews and most really liked it.
Some were luke warm, but most liked it. I don't know.

If anyone else has seen it, and feel it gets better after the first 10 minutes let me know.
I've already returned it, but I might try it again. The next 2 movies sound great!
I'm not completely sold with my own opinion, so you may see this film re-reviewed.


Plot summary courtesy of Netflix