Quote of the Day (Has Returned)

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TobTobias:You know, first of all, we are doing this for her, okay, because neither one of us wants to get divorced. And second-of-ly, I know you’re the big marriage expert. Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot. Your wife is dead. I’m sorry. That was 100% inappropriate, and I do apologize profusely. I’m… Oh…

-Arrested Development 

Movie Review: Once

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I’m not too big a fan of musicals. In fact, I usually despise them. There are few however, that I take exception to. Those are the ones which don’t contain over elaborate and unrealistic sets and don’t break out into musical numbers randomly. The music should be used almost as another character and as a way to guide the story, rather than slow it down. Once I can happily say fits into this category, but at a cost.

Once is an ultra low-budget semi-musical movie. It takes place on the streets of Dublin, Ireland. The two main characters have no names, but the only thing that’s really important is there bond. The guy (Glen Hansard) is a nearly penniless vacuum fixer with a talent for singing and the guitar. His songs are inspired by his former love who has long left him. The girl (Marketa Irglova) works in a flower shop and finds something deeply moving in the music guy makes. They soon enter a strange relationship (out of love?) in which songs are the only way they learn about themselves.
The songs in Once are perhaps the best part of the movie. The song “Falling Slowly” deservedly picked up the Oscar for best original song for it’s sweet simplicity. Once’s music is not simply there as a background, it is the story. The songs turn into the narrator and give the audience insight on love and this relationship. In this great musical device however, forms the film’s biggest problem.
The songs moved Once along so beautifully that I almost forgot that there really was no story. The music is relied upon so heavily that writer/director John Carney seemed to forget that Once was missing a true plot. The guy and the girl are in love, but that’s it. Where’s the conflict? What difficulties did they have to go through? There are a few little difficulties along the way but they seem mainly trivial. What did they have to go through to make this work? Are they even in a relationship? Are they even in love? All of this information seems basically left out.
Once is only a rough draft, not a finished movie. With a little more attention to character development and writing, Once could’ve been a model of romantic story and musical. Instead, Once is a movie worthy of seeing maybe only, once. Or better yet, just buy the soundtrack. That’s basically the entire movie.

Eastwood Vs. Lee: The "Race Card" in Hollywood

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I guess this news is already a few weeks old and Lee has said that he is taking the “Obama Road” out on this one which I guess means this fight has basically ended. However, I feel the issues brought up from it are too important to ignore.

It began with Spike Lee at Cannes promoting his new WW2 movie about black soldiers. First he did what no man should do and dissed out the Coen Brothers. He commented that “they treat life like a joke. Ha ha ha. A joke. It’s like, ‘Look how they killed that guy! Look how blood squirts out the side of his head!’ I see things different than that.” What bothers me about Lee’s statement is that this shows that Lee has never watched Fargo and therefore doesn’t realize how much the Brothers value a life and find great tragedy in death. Also, this comment was a little…shall I say…smug. “I see things different than that”. What,
Lee, are you the first person in Hollywood who cherishes life? Ever heard of Steven Speilberg.
Now, the next director Lee bashed happens to be another one of my idols. Was this next bashing a tool of self-promotion or a serious crusade of social justice. I think it was an attempt at the latter but it was so badly a misfire. As he promoted Miracle at St. Anna, he decided to call out none other than 78 year old legend Clint Eastwood. He accused him as being a racist, citing the lack of African American actors in his WW2 films Flags of our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima. What nobody told Lee before is that nobody (and I mean nobody) messes with the Man with No Name.
Eastwood didn’t take too kindly to this insult and fired back; telling Lee to “shut his face”. He also claimed that according to the history books there were no black soldiers who raised the flag at Iwo Jima. So, putting a Black man in would be totally inaccurate. Sorry Lee, not every movie can be made to your taste. Historical accuracy is important, too.
I admire where Lee’s heart is at, however he tried to attack the wrong target. Why not someone like Al Sharpton? Or tons of other filmmakers who leave out African Americans and can’t even make a piece of art like Eastwood does. The irony of it all is that both Flags and Letters are both films which have radically new portrayals of two different races: the Native Americans and Japanese soldiers of WW2. Few other films show Natives in their true state or bring sympathy to the Japanese army. Eastwood managed to do both within two films and should be commended, not punished for doing so.
Now, has this changed my opinion of Lee as a filmmaker? Absolutely not. Even after Mel Gibson’s drunken anti-Semitic rant I still thought Braveheart was a great movie. Even after Lee’s outburst, I still believe Do the Right Thing is the best movie ever made about racism (that’s right, Crash-lovers). After I saw that movie, I always thought of Lee as a rebellious hero trying to find a way to break down racial barriers in a world where it seems nearly impossible to do so. He stood for the power of the little guy instead of those in higher positions of power (further proven in his harrowing Hurricane Katrina doc When the Levees Broke). But when looking at this dispute, Lee is no better than Al Sharpton; going around accusing everyone of being a racist for their own self-gain.
Funny, I always thought that Do the Right Thing was trying to show how awful and chaotic things get when people are only looked at for their race. Basically, someone shouldn’t be considered a racist if they don’t use many black actors in their film. I actually would consider a filmmaker more of a racist if they use just one black actor in their film, have them just stand there, and act like their such a good person because they used a black person in their film. Lee, those are the kind of people you should be going after.
Next time Lee, choose your victims wisely. Until then, fight the powers that be.

My Latest Discovery: Undeclared

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I actually wouldn’t call this a totally new discovery. I first discovered Undeclared while I was first discovering Freaks and Geeks. It’s the second TV series by Judd Apatow (once Freaks was cancelled) and I wasn’y hugely impressed by it. Maybe it was because I was expecting a more dramatic hour-long show along the lines of Freaks. Instead, it was more comedy than drama and ran for a paltry 30 minutes (seems like barely enough time for any depth). 

Then, recently my sister was watching it and I decided to give it another try (mainly because I saw Jason Segal’s face). And I found something unexpected: even as it was more a comedy, it still contained Apatow signature moments of poignancy as well as extremely lovable characters. As always, Apatow allows us to look past the character’s flaws and seem them all as real people with tangible emotions and problems.
I would say to watch Freaks and Geeks and then Undeclared. Undeclared focuses on Steven (Jay Baruchel) an awkward high school nerd who hopes to reinvent himself and forget his past high school years once he gets to college. While there he forms a friendship with his roomates, womanzing Llyod (Charlie Hunnman), and oddballs Ron (Seth Rogen) and Marshall (Timm Sharp). He also tries to make things work with a girl above his league (Carla Gallo) and deal with his parents’ recent divorce. 
The show balances brilliant humor, painfully awkward experiences, and a great human story. The show has a brighter, less moodier feeling than Freaks had. That’s because it is a more optimistic show, instead of being stuck in the hell of high school it’s about moving on daring to be change, explore and be a new person.
Why the hell was this cancelled (after just one season)? It’s a mystery. But Fox might’ve wanted it cancelled badly for some reason, especially with the fact that it was aired out of order. If it had given a chance, it could’ve gone slower and been able to progressively slow down the character development and find out even more about the characters. Along with guest star appearances from Adam Sandler and Will Ferrell who wouldn’t want to watch this show? Well, you should.

The Most Vile and Corrupt Thing On the Planet: The MTV Movie Awards

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There was a time when I loved and valued the MTV Movie Awards. After all, they were one of the few award ceremonies smart enough to recognize Kill Bill. As MTV’s TV shows progressively worsen (I’m talking to you My Super Sweet 16 and The Hills) so has their awards ceremony.

The MTV Movie Awards were designed as sort of a counterpart to the Oscars, choosing what audiences really want to see win an award. From the looks of the winners, either the MTV Movie Award voters are on crack, or there’s something seriously wrong with audiences movie taste nowadays.
The winner? Transformers. TRANSFORMERS. Guess my Michael Bay boycott hasn’t been working as the biggest d-bag in the industry went up to accept the only award he’ll probably ever win (except for a Razzie maybe). Well, Transformers beat out loved-by-everyone Superbad and Oscar nominated Juno.
Many other things saddened me over the course of the ceremony as well. As great and actor as Johnny Depp is, he was quite an awards hog last night, taking home two trophies for categories he didn’t deserve. While I didn’t see Pirates 3 (and never plan on doing so) I did see Sweeny Todd for which he picked up the best villain award. And while I thought it was fantastic and he gave a chilling performance, in no way did he deserve best villain. It belonged in the hands of Oscar-Winner Javier Bardem, whose chilling Anton Chigurh still haunts my dreams. Why he lost is inexplicable.
The other award Depp picked up was Best Comedic Performance for Pirates 3. While I didn’t see the third installment I did see the first two. As funny as he was in it his antics grow kind of tiring as the film reaches close to the 3 hour mark. Shouldn’t a great comedic performance never grow tiring and always make you laugh? That’s why it’s a shame both Jonah Hill’s performance in Superbad and Seth Rogen’s turn in Knocked Up both lost the award. Both were risky and made you laugh the whole way through. Two of the best comedies of the year went home from the ceremony totally empty handed. Tear.
A few other shameful events include Zach “Zaquisha” Efron winning best breakthrough performance for Hairspray even when he already broke out in High School Musical. He also managed to beat out three actors from Superbad who were nominated as well. They all had true breakouts this years. Also, Step Up 2 won an award which hopefully wont inspire another sequel.
Host Mike Myers was very funny as usual. His Wayne’s World reunion was a hilarious and welcome surprise that answered my question as to whether or not Dana Carvey is still alive (answer: yes). The only thing that bugged me about Myers’ hosting is the fact that it was all a plug for his upcoming Love Guru, a summer comedy I encourage nobody under any circumstance to go see.
Hopefully, next year MTV will realize these mistakes and make a better awards ceremony next year, one that includes films with at least one brain cell. They could’ve this year: No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood may’ve been Oscar winning “adult” films but they were both hip and are loved by teenagers as well as adults. Maybe MTV needs to interview a few kids before they pick their winners.
Next goal: Get MTV to put Beavis and Butthead back on the air.

Movie Review: Drugstore Cowboy

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What do you see whenever you think of a cowboy? The glamourous image of a hero riding on horseback, cigar in mouth, maybe shooting up some bandits. Or, a junkie getting high off prescription medication? You’d never think of the last one but that’s the cowboy seen in Drugstore Cowboy, a harrowing drama about how far one can drift from consciousness, and if one can ever return.
The story revolves around Bob (brilliant Matt Dillon), his wife (Kelly Lynch) and the rest of his “family” (Heather Graham and James LeGros). They are a “family” of junkies living as outsiders in Portland Oregon. They go around robbing drug stores for all of their prescription drugs to add onto their worsening drug addicts. As the cops begin to crack down on them, Bob and the rest of the gang flee and travel around the Pacific Northwest, robbing more stores and end up on a journey of regret, enlightenment, and redemption.
Drugstore Cowboy was directed by Gus Van Sant who also directed the masterpiece My Own Private Idaho. In a way, Cowboy can be seen as a predecessor to Idaho: both films take place in Portland amongst those who don’t live normal, wealthy lives. It concerns those in the drug culture, trying to stray as far away from the “straight” life as far as possible. However, as Cowboy Bob and Idaho Mike and Scott soon find out that the more involved they get in drugs and crime, the more they long for a “normal” life. Both films contain characters so overwhelmed by the hallucinations of drugs and narcolepsy that neither the audience or the characters can distinguish between reality.
What differs between Cowboy and Idaho is that in My Own Private Idaho Mike wanted so desperately to escape his lonely impoverished life but just couldn’t get away as Scott did everything he could to get away from his rich life and live in the hood. They represented the battling forces of fate and freewill and in the end the movie left you with a question mark of which would win in the end. Drugstore Cowboy contains only Bob trying to escape his drug-riddled life but finding himself being pulled right back in. What Van Sant is proposing here is that in the end, your past will always come back to haunt you.
Along with stirring up the emotions, the film is also technically and visually stunning as well. Between the drastic backdrop of Mt. Hood amongst the old industrial section of Portland and the grainy old home video footage, it makes us wonder more and more, will Bob ever escape or be condemned to his pharmacudical-drug laced fate?

This Week’s Sign of the Apocalypse

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…ABC sitcom According to Jim is being renewed for an 8th season? 8TH SEASON?! Does anyone even watch this show (or find it funny to say the least)?

Sidenote: Arrested Development was canceled after three seasons, Freaks and Geeks after one season, and 30 Rock may be getting canceled after just two seasons. What is the major malfunction of these networks?

Something is wrong with this nation when smart shows are canceled and the dumb ones succeed…I blame George Bush. And Larry the Cable Guy.

Movie Review: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

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If I could regret anything from this past year it would be that I hadn’t seen The Diving Bell and the Butterfly earlier and this masterwork was denied a well-deserved spot on my top 10 list.
The directing choices are daring and groundbreaking. The cinematography is stunning. It is a story that is both emotionally devastating but at the same time one of the most optimistic films in years.
The film is based on the true story of “Jean-Do” Bauby, the editor of French magazine Elle who unexpectedly gets a stroke. The stroke leaves him in “locked-in syndrome” in which Jean-Do can think, but can’t move a single part of his body or speak. All he can do is blink his left eye, indicating yes or no. Every thought he has, is locked up inside of him.
He is soon introduced to a system which ends his silence. A speech therapists dictates the alphabet to him and through a long and strenuous process, Jean-Do writes an entire book without writing down a single word.
The director, Julian Schnaebel, was a former painter; and it shows in this work. Many images are like paintings, some you could stare at for hours. What makes this film so unique is it’s treatment of the character’s illness. Instead of showing his suffering from other perspectives, we see it from inside of his head. This way we understand the terrible pain he goes through being imprisoned in his own body but we also are able to see him beyond being a vegetable. We can hear him speak and see him through his own imagination. Although we pity him, we still see him as a living human being and Schnaebel succeeds in making him real.
Doing this also helps to make the story so optimistic. It is saddening to see his illness, but uplifting that no matter what he’ll never give up. His imagination and his memory almost make up for the loss of everything else he could once do.
Diving Bell is so uplifitng in it’s belief that no matter what, the human spirit will always triumph. The fact that he can still blink one eye shows the fight that’s left inside of every human being. Those obstacles that everyone must go through in life, no matter how severe, can never stop you from doing what you love. This is the kind of movie that needs to be seen by everyone, it’s the kind that reminds you of the goodness in the world and that with every tragedy, there is hope.