Bruno is basically Borat, except this time it's a gay guy trying to become famous in the USA. It's like Candid Camera from hell, trying to shock the people that Bruno runs into during his jaunt across America.
The thing about it is that Bruno is not the work of genius some people believe it to be. Now I loved Borat, but the problem with Bruno is that it's basically recycling the Borat formula with another character. The trouble this time is that, like Mike Meyer's Scottish accent, it's been done before. Bruno does have its funny moments and its shocking moments (jaws were agape from the people I watched this with) but it really drags in certain places- and this is a short movie.
Bruno is about shock value. Yes, it shocks. It also fails to live up to the expectations the audiences has after seeing Borat.
Road House is one of those rare movies that are really, REALLY bad. But damn it, you can't help to watch it. It is so hokey, cliched, and bad that the mind can't fathom why you're watching this film. You know the plot- Patrick Swayze plays Dalton, the typical moral good guy with one name. He's a bouncer. He gets hired to bounce at some shithole town that is ran by the worst villain I've ever seen named Brad Wesley (Ben Gazzara). I don't get it. Who in the hell is going to be afraid of a guy named Brad Wesley? So Dalton takes it upon himself to clean up the shithole town, meeting a doctor in the process. They get it on in his rented horse stable loft.
Now an amazing thing about Road House is in its clientele. Before Dalton gets there it's filled with numerous women, dressed in the height of late 1980's fashion and hair taller than Kareem Abdul Jabar. There women look like they just walked out of a Whitesnake video. It's these women that are hanging out at this shithole bar in this shithole town, hanging out with a bunch of guys that look like rejects from a Deliverance sequel. BUT... when Dalton shows up, the male clientele gets better looking, dressing nicer, looking not as imbredish. That must be the power of Swayze.
That's what is great about Road House. You can't take it seriously. It's like streaking or drinking a marshmallow shake- you're not really getting anything out of it. It's mere junk food, but it mesmerizes you. Maybe it's the mullets? Maybe it's that rare appearance by the legendary Terry Funk. Or maybe it's the hippie Sam Elliott. Whatever it is, it's good, clean, American fun.
Once again, what is old is new again. Re-boot fever has taken over our favorite London detective in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes. No, this isn't Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, it's Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law as House and Wilson-oh, sorry- Holmes and Watson. The film centers around the duo capturing Lord Blackwell (Mark Strong), who has been involved in some odd rituals, other than tea time and depression. After being hung it seems that his Lordship rises from the dead and takes a shot at taking over England and points west, so it's up to Holmes and the recently engaged Watson to stop this maniac and bring order to the London.The first thing I want to get out of the way is the assumption that this Sherlock Holmes is an ass kicker and the film basically pisses on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's work. Yes, he is an ass kicker, but the mind of Holmes is still there. That over worked (or over drugged) mind that has mesmerized his audience for over 100 years. Of course this movie livens it up a bit, because we're in a post Bourne world where everyone is trying to rip that movie off (I'm looking at you James Bond). The film is a very entertaining romp that fires on all cylinders. Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law make a great team with Rachel McAdams playing the ever present femme fatale. The film clocks in at over two hours, but doesn't feel like it. That's always a good sign right there. It's CGI heavy, but it doesn't really feel that way- either they did a good job or we've been beaten in the head with it so much that we don't notice anymore. Sherlock Holmes is a nice little popcorn flick that delivers an entertaining two hours and with the weather being as craptastic as it has been lately, this probably wouldn't be a bad one to warm up to.
Wow. Two Moon Junction has to be the Citizen Kane of Skinemax films. There's a tiny little plot packed between sequences of lustful actions to an alto sax. I didn't expect much and got just that.
Here's the plot. Are you ready for this. I'm just going to go ahead and say "I'm not bullshitting you" because it's going to have to be done anyway, so we might as well get it out of the way early. The "plot" (snicker) is that a Southern belle (the girl that wants the girl that's pretending to be a guy in Just One of the Guys) is engaged, but suddenly decides to start having sex with a carnie (the dad from Kindergarten Cop or, for those of you playing the home game, Buddy Revell in 3 O'Clock High). From there the film is basically the two having sex, followed by the Carnie treating her like garbage, followed by her showing back up for sex. This is repeated over and over again until the Southern belle's grandmother (Nurse Ratched) decides that this is all bullshit and calls Sheriff Burl Ives (!) to take care of the problem. That's right, BURL IVES!!!
So the movie is garbage. We all know that and I don't have to go into it any further. The one thing I want to throw out there is Louise Fletcher. I know I gave Cuba Gooding, Jr. a lot of crap about winning the Oscar and then flushing his career directly into the toilet, but after seeing this piece of shit I believe that Louis Fletcher is hands down the queen of career flushing. She winds the Oscar for Cuckoo's Nest and follows that one up with Exorcist II: The Heretic. If you go back in the archives you can see what a great movie that was. So after a decade of crap she decides to do this work... AND IT'S DIRECT TO VIDEO SEQUEL! If she's that strapped for cash we need to start a collection for this woman. I eagerly await the day when she stars in a film with Cuba Gooding, Jr. Hold on a minute and let me check...................................... nope, just some Oscar telecasts (now that's ironic). Nope, Marisa Tomei doesn't work either.
In closing: Two Moon Junction, while being a title that is mildly suggestive, sucks. But at least Burl Ives is in it.
There are many reasons why I love Mulholland Dr. (and please don't point out the obvious, those of you who have actually seen it). The film is so many things at once it's hard to keep track. It's a thriller. It's a noir. It's a triangulated love story. It's a tale of vengeance. David Lynch has spun all of these things together to create his masterpiece. He is the true master of the WTF.
The film is about many things. I could go into detail about them, not because I'm afraid of spoiling the plot, but because it will sound complicated. Just sounds, not that it really is complicated. The film basically follows Betty (Naomi Watts) and Rita (Laura Harring) as they try to piece together who Rita really is due to amnesia. Betty is a small town girl in Hollywood to make it big in movies. Throw in director Adam Kesher (Justin Theroux) and his ultimate bad day and you round out the main plot of the film.
Or so you think because this isn't your typical Hollywood fare. This is a David Lynch film and what appears to be simple is not. But it really is. Are you getting this so far? There are so many layers to Mulholland Dr., you will have to watch it twice to get to the core of the film. Nothing is what it seems, not because of sci-fi or Doc Brown. It's the basic human condition that makes people see what they want to see and be what they want to be. It's a film about lost dreams. It's Sunset Blvd. for the kids that grew up on Star Wars. It's a movie that doesn't just sit there on the screen. It gets your mind going. You make it what you want it to be.
In a sense, David Lynch's career has been pushing forward to this point. Starting with the extreme avant garde of Eraserhead, to the very approachable Blue Velvet (kudos to Dennis Hopper), proceeding down the Lost Highway, he has finally ended up with his finest work. A film that tells a Hollywood story without us even knowing it.
As I said, David Lynch is the King of WTF. You will say WTF a lot during the first three quarters of this film, but you'll still stay interested up until the final sense when it all comes together. Mulholland Dr. is a film that keeps the mind racing, daring you to figure out what the hell's going on before the credits roll. This is one of the most cerebral films ever. This is a true masterpiece.
If Alfred Hitchcock was still alive he would have made No Country For Old Men. The classic story of a man that, in the midst of the daily grind, ends up walking into a situation beyond what he thought he would experience that morning. Then he has to face the consequences of all of it. In No Country For Old Men Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) stumbles on the remains of a shootout while hunting. As curiosity gets the better of him and he begins to examine the scene he discovers a briefcase full of money. Being the human being that he is, he takes the money and a pistol home and causes the dominoes to fall as he begins to be stalked by the psychotic Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), the epitomy of unstoppable hit men who kills his way to Llewelyn and the money. Throw into this Tommy Lee Jones as the sheriff that's trying to piece it all together and save Llewelyn's skin and you get a cat and mouse game between a guy that was just out hunting and a vengeful drug cartel.
Adapted from the novel by Cormac McCarthy and dircted by Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country For Old Men is a great thriller that follows that classic Hitchcock formula ala North By Northwest- the guy that stumbles into trouble and has to get out of it while running from the bad guys. Llewelyn thinks he knows how to get out of this mess, but is really just drowning in the situation he's gotten into. Brolin plays him as totally optimistic, even when bleeding and hiding in a Mexican hospital. Bardem is the philosophical killing machine, debating the significance on whether a coin is heads or tails while on his killing spree to get back his money. He's like the Terminator- he will not stop until his goal, and his own sense of duty, are fulfilled.
The Coen's have filled the film with suspense. Most thrillers such as this run around in circles, but they have kept this film on a linear path that doesn't repeat itself over and over again. Between the game between Moss and Chiguhr, Tommy Lee Jones' character tries to sort everything out and save Llewelyn's ass. The problem that all of the characters have to face is the Killer's Morality- he is described as being on a higher standard than most and satisfies everything he promises, right up until the end.
As I said, No Country For Old Men is a Hitchcock film for the new millennium. A film filled with a thrilling plot that delivers a great ride for the audience. A real classic.
There Will Be Blood follows the exploits of Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day Lewis), an early 20th century oil man going through California communities and exploiting not only the land but the people above it. After meeting a mysterious young man that directs him toward his families land that rests above a large amount of oil. Plainview travels there with his adoptive son and encounters the young man's twin brother Eli (Paul Dano), who is considered a local prophet and figure head of his own local church. The film basically follows the trials and tribulations on both sides and how these things tear apart and break down people and families.
Paul Thomas Anderson shoots There Will Be Blood with a majesty that is reminiscent of John Ford, using nature as a magnificent back drop for the conflicts being laid out before the audience. There is such an eye for detail that many shots appear as if taken from a turn of the century newspaper or scrap book. It's the dirty details that real make this film stand out as something special.
Of course you can't talk about There Will Be Blood without mentioning Daniel Day Lewis. He is one of the best actors of this generation and also ranks among some of the all time greatest players. Just as he did with Bill The Butcher in Gangs of New York, Lewis has totally become the role of Daniel Plainview. He is a realistic portrayal of evil. Not the kind of evil that shoots lightning bolts or something that was born with him. The evil that is Daniel Plainview comes from what he has faced- the trials of being a miner and oil man and the greed that he not only holds in his heart but the greed contained in everyone around him. You can see him change throughout the film as he becomes older, crankier, and bitter. Daniel Day Lewis fills the role with a soul that you can't find on paper. Anyone can write a character, but it takes an actor to breath life into it. He gives Plainview a pulse. It was a formality to give him the Oscar.
The funny thing is that in any other year this would have been Best Picture. It is a true masterpiece in a decade filled with drivel and harkens back to earlier times and epic pictures. There Will Be Blood is the heir apparent to those epics. Some films try to be epic, but this one is built as one. A classic morality tale where everyone loses in one way or another.
Bruno is basically Borat, except this time it's a gay guy trying to become famous in the USA. It's like Candid Camera from hell, trying to shock the people that Bruno runs into during his jaunt across America.
