Movie review times 2

I'm not huge on animated films, but I do enjoy the odd one every now and again and I must say I really liked this one:
It tells the story of a monastery in Ireland that is about to be over run by Vikings and the struggle to save an illuminated manuscript. The young monk who puts himself in harms way to save it befriends a forest faerie and together with the old monk who started the manuscript the three manage to save it and civilization in the process.

This film is beautifully animated, it has a spare style that reminded me of Nina Paley's Sita Sings the Blues. The colors pop in this film and the whole thing is really visually stunning. I highly recommend it, despite the religious elements.

How I managed to miss seeing this film for so long is beyond me. My friend, the smartest man in the world, Joseph F. told me about it and when he recommends a film, you better believe I'll see it, sooner or later

This film tells the story of a young undocumented woman who comes to the USA from Mexico. She joins her sister, who is already here and citizen of the USA who is married with 2 children. She joins her sister on the janitorial staff at a big office building in LA and they get involved with an effort to unionize the janitors. One sister is against unionizing, the other is for it. The film concentrates more on the story of the sister who is for the union but since they are sisters, their stories overlap and intertwine in ways you don't expect. It's a rousing and unexpectedly funny and touching tale that's done very well.

As the sisters Pilar Padilla and Elpidia Carrillo stand head and shoulders above everyone else performance wise. They share many heartbreaking and beautiful scenes that are so touching they may make some of you shed a tear or two. Adrien Brody is also good in his role as the loosey goosey young union organizer. And George Lopez turns in a great performance as the sleazy head supervisor of the janitors in the building, it's kind of disconcerting to see him play one of the villains but he pulls it off so very well.

Ken Loach did a hell of a great job with this film. I highly recommend it. And if you have Sundance On Demand on your digital cable, this film is currently playing for free so check it out.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I've got a lot of mixed emotions and feelings about St. Patrick's Day. On the one hand I'm glad we've set aside a day to honor the country where my mother's people came from because I identify with that side of the family waaaaay more than I do with my father's side. On the other hand I hate that most people celebrate the day like this douchebag:
Would it be okay celebrate MLK day by dressing in baggy clothes and wearing lots of bling bling or to dress up in outrageous pimp outfits? Is it fine to dress in a wife beater t shirt and shiny vinyl sweat pants and act like Tony Soprano on Columbus day? Nope. Then why is it permissible to get shit faced and act like an ass on the day that is supposed to honor the contributions of the Irish to this country?

Well, okay we may have brought it on ourselves what with our entertainment Irish American role models, case in point, that skeevy asshole Dennis Leary. Oy vey, I may have to start claiming my German heritage if that misogynist prick Leary says another stupid thing that brings shame and dishonor on all of us Irish Americans. And there's Shane McGowan lead "singer" of the Pogues. True, he's not an Irish American but he's close. And don't get me started on Bono, Enya, and all the Irish singers who do the never ending PBS fund drive specials.

Celebrating the Irish experience in America shouldn't begin and end with watching Darby O'Gill and the Little People, The Quiet Man, and stuffing gobs of corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes in your pie hole while you suck down Guinness after Guinness. It should begin with you watching that great movie about Bloody Sunday that starred James Nesbitt, finding a pedophile priest and punching him in the nads, and then running some guns to the Provisional IRA outpost nearest to you.

Now, you'll have to excuse me I have to run, my potatoes are boiling over, I need another shot of Irish whiskey, and my god damned U2's Greatest Hits CD is skipping. Oh the feckin' humanity. I curse my rotten Irish luck!

In the new year you can...

...become cleaner and drier!


...get a new job!

...get bigger boobs!


...become a song writer!
Or you could just stay the same old you that we all know and love.