Movie Reports

Two friends have an offbeat hobby, they make cheesy low budget sci fi actions films.  One of them, the black guy, gets super serious and dreams of making it big with their films so they buckle down and try to make a thirty minute low budget sci fi epic.  Once they screen the film they're kind of shocked that audiences find it funny and not some amazing action epic.

This is a fun little documentary about how dreams can get the better of you.  If you like films about film making, then this one is for you.  Catch this one on Netflix instant.

This creepy claustrophobic film is about a house owned by a couple of Argentine men who worked for the military dictatorship of the 1970's.  They've grown old now but they still love to torture and maim young people.  Some sexy young people stumble in to this house of horror and things get explosive.

I quite liked this one.  It's on Netflix instant.

 George Takei has led a remarkable life.  He was interred at one of the interment camps that FDR ordered during WW2, he went on to become a well known actor, who was a role model for many young Asians who grew up seeing only white people on TV, a politician and a public servant, a player in the LGBTQ community, and a true showbiz legend who has used his fame and celebrity to make the world a better place.  This cute documentary tells his story from several different perspectives.  Takei's husband is a big part of this film and rightfully so, he's a huge part of Takei's current success and Takei admits that without him, he'd be a mess.  Their relationship is a shining example of what marriage should be, people who love one another who work, play, and march through life together.

I highly recommend this sweet documentary, it's on Netflix instant.

An uber wealthy pampered woman's life falls apart after her husband's dubious business dealing are uncovered.  He goes to prison where he ends his life and she moves out to San Francisco to start all over with the help of her poor but proud adopted sister.  She tries to fit in and become what we would think of as 'normal,' but her sense of entitlement and the memory of her wealth gets the better of her and she fucks up the new life her sister helps her build.

I had mixed feelings watching this one but in the end I really liked it.  I despised Blanchett's character throughout most of the film, as I think we're supposed to do.  I quite liked Sally Hawkins, she turned in yet another solid performance but for me, the performance that stole this film was the one turned in by Andrew Dice Clay of all people.  His working class roots allowed him to tap into the impotent rage that  his working class character has after he loses all his money in the financial double dealings.
This one if one of Woody Allen's better later films.  It works because Allen knows these wealthy New York types.  It also works because Allen isn't in it and none of the characters are a stand in for him.  I recommend it, and I bought it on Amazon's streaming service.

More Monkey Movie Reports

I had seen this film years ago when it first came out on video but I had forgotten most everything about it except for the relationship between Gina Gershon and Billy Zane's characters.
It's based on a Jim Thompson story so if you are familiar with his hard boiled crime fiction then you know what you're in for. Gershon and Zane play incestuous twins who have a penchant for crime and grift. Rue McClanahan plays their guilt and drug addled mother and Sheryl Lee plays a female cop who may or may not be playing them all.

This film is full of twists, turns, smoldering sexuality, and more. I'm almost ashamed to say that I had forgotten how good it is and how good everyone in it is. The phrase 'hubba hubba!' was invented for Gershon and Lee's performances in this movie, both are knockouts who make great femme fatales. Zane and McClanahan are wildly over the top both both are oddly compelling to watch.

I recommend this crime noir film highly but be forewarned, it's full of murder and violence. And quite a bit of the violence is between a man and a woman and the woman gets hit and knocked around some. It takes place in the 1950's when guys were tough as nails and women were dames who knew how to take a punch or a slap. It's hard to watch Lee get slapped and knocked about but it's very germane to the story and faithful to the noir style the original story was written in and the film catches perfectly.

I was pleasantly surprised by The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I liked it a lot more than I thought I was going to. The story sucked me in and kept me interested.

Based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald story this film tells the story of a man who is born old and who gets younger as his life progresses. While he gets younger all those around him get older. In the wrong hands, like say those of the master of fake film sentiment Steven Spielberg, it would have been a sappy disaster. But director David Fincher pulled it off and made a very good film. Pitt is very good and despite my refusal to buy Blanchett as a 20 year old at one point in the movie she was good as well. The weakest parts of the movie are when we're in the present and Blanchett is on her death bed, had they cut those scenes out entirely the film would have been much tighter and more cohesive.

All in all though, this is one worth investing three hours in.