lack of updates

sorry about this. im traveling around a bit.
i ll resume normal updates from next week on

The Wackness (2008)

The Wackness is a little gem which won the Audience Award at Sundance.

It's about Luke Shapiro (As played by Josh Peck), an outcast and drug dealer, who during his graduation summer of 1994 enters into an adventure to get the girl of his dreams and deal enough weed to pay for tuition.

His sidekick in these times of mix tapes, gangsta rap and heat waves is Dr. Squires (played by Ben Kingsley), a stoner psychologist with marriage troubles (his wife is played by Famke Janssen - hmm, makes me dream of incredible achievements) who has Luke pay his sessions in ounces of weed.

Ben Kingsley's performance is OUTSTANDING.

The whole story is completely out of this world.
absolutely refreshing.

Straw Dogs (1971)

Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs is considered to be a masterpiece on the topic of violence.

In short it is the story about an american (Dustin Hoffman) and his english wife, moving to a small rural vilage in England.
As expected, their integration with the locals is difficult, and they end being harassed to the point where a nice intellectual man becomes an animal of vengeance.

Did I mention that the wige gets raped?
ah, sorry, I forgot.

Yeah, she gets raped.

Of course, the world being what it is, the rape scene created a huge controversy (people need to watch more porn - seriously).
It ended getting banned in the UK in 1984...for some years.
It also had a huge impact on its editing.
The irony is that because of the scenes getting cut, the rape scene ended showing a scene which gave the impression that Amy, the wife, actually ends up enjoying getting raped (its true, it kinda gives this impression). This, of course, created more controversy.
In the 2002 version, the new edition tried to solve this issue by clearly showing scenes where Amy enjoys the rape a lot less.

Did I mention the rape was gang rape?
ah, sorry, I forgot

In any case. I have read plenty of reviews about this movie. But none of them (the ones I read) come to the conclusion I came.
Everyone points out the fact that they get harassed, and how the transformation of Dustin Hoffman is an amazing piece of interpretation, direction, and everything else (which is true).
Few notice that Amy had flirted with the whole village.
It seems somehow that in general culture, it is widely accepted that women should flirt with men and then be a victim if it creates sexual desires in men that where not, in their education, prepared to handle (as city boys are) such flirting.

I am not saying that they were right to rape her, nor that she deserved it, but I am saying that she provokes it, from beginning to end.
The whole conflict that ends up in the death of several persons is clearly the cause of an attention whore.

While most "intelligent" critics praise Peckimpah's exploration of human violence, it is clearly one of the most machistic movies I have ever seen.
Only two types of women are depicted in this movie
1-good servile women (from the village)
2-an attention whore

I am still to read about the fact that when an american an a pretty city girl come to a rural town, in England, (or almost anywhere), the chances of them being well welcomed is almost none, NONE!!
All of Amy's attention whoring is the most destructive behavior possible in such a situation.

In any case, and however you look at it, Straw Dogs is a classic that deserves to be watched, so that you can make your own opinion.

Kidulthood (2006) and Adulthood (2008)

Kidulthood is the story of one day in the life of a group of teenagers in contemporary London.
by teenagers, I mean conflictive youngsters confronted with a world of drugs, violence, sex, gangs, crime and whatnot.

Noel Clarke,who plays the "Sam" character in both movies, the writer of both movies is certainly one of the UK's most promising actors/writers/directors.
While he did not direct Kidulthood, he did go on to direct Adulthood

Adulthood takes place 6 years after the final events of Kidulthood.
The whole story line is also fitted on the timelapse of one day.

Both movies deserve to be watched back to back.

Kidulthood Trailer:


Adulthood trailer:

The Wanderers (1979)

Another Gang movie released in 1979.
Except this time, the story is set up in The Bronx in 1963.

The Wanderers are an Italian gang, the only gang to be in, if you're Italian.

A story about racial conflicts and solving them for a common cause.

By the Way, they really insist on making a statement about The Baldies, a group of skinheads who shave their heads so the hair wouldn't get in front of their eyes (in true Rude Boys' spirit), not being racist as they have...ONE token black guy in the gang (well, he's not really a token).

Gotta love the 70's

The Movie is based on a novel from Richard Price.
a man responsible for The Color of Money, Streets of Gold, Sea of Love, and Michael Jacksons's Bad 17m videoclip among a few.

It is directed by Philip Kaufman, who went on to directing straight after: The Right Stuff (1983), The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988) and Henry & June (1990)
Philip Kaufman has also written all the Indiana Jones movies.

So, in short, the team behind this movie is pretty impressive.

And it showed...

Millenium Mambo (Qian xi man po) (2001)

Millenium Mambo is a phenomenal movie by Chinese Director Hou Hsiao-Hsien.

It is the story of Vicky.
as played by Shu Qi.
Vicky is a free spirited girl torn between boredom and action, between love and un-love.

The story is mostly set either in the nightclub scene (of Taipei) or in the apartments of her lover.

Most of all from the spectator point of view, it is an extremely voyeuristic movie.
Vick narrates her thoughts as you watch her watch herself in one setting or the other.

between the neons, the saturated colors, the slow motions, the controlled movements of the characters, the overall exuding sensuality, you can do nothing but sit back, and keep your eyes open...observing, waiting...

I won't put the trailer up, you can find it on You Tube yourself, but just watch the opening scene... I dare you not to fall in love.



Side notes:
-80% on Rotten Tomatoes
-Shu Qi was approached by Ang Lee for Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, but her manager pulled her out to do an advertisement in Japan...because he didn't think that the movie would be a commercial success. Hem, I hope that guy has been sent to a torture camp.
-Shu Qi started in softcore porn. She posed for Penthouse too, but you can find all that elsewhere :)

The Warrriors (1979)

The Warriors is the tale of a New York Gang called...well..."The Warriors" - based in Coney Island.

As the story goes, one day, some guy actually decides to do his math.
The result of his calculations are that there are more gang members in NYC than there are cops.
A lot more.
So, if they were to unite, they could run the city.
So he calls for a meeting. a big meeting with all the main gangs from NYC.
And, like any other leader of the US, he gets shot, by a guy from a gang called the Rogues
The guy blames the Warriors.

Now, the Warriors are far away from home, and they have a bunch of gangs after them.

Everything is set for the most epic gang movie of all time.

As the movie starts, in the subway, you immediately know you're in for a beautiful movie.
the style is amazing.
all gangs are dressed in completely ridiculous fashion.
I wasn't there in the 70's, but I have little doubt that plenty of the gangs you cross in the movie would have trouble getting any real cred.

For Example:
The Baseball Furies (my favorite, and I guess everyone's)




The Lizzies (mega bitches on acid)




The Hi-Hats (mimes,...wooo scary)




Satan's Mothers (actually...if I ever had a gang, that would be it's name)




The Panzers



The Punks (eeemmmm, they ride on roller skates...jeez)



The Rogues (the bad guys)



The Savage Huns (no disrespect to asians but...HAHAHAHAHA, have you seen these hats)



However, the whole thing, put together, brings one nice, I mean, THE AWESOMEST action movie, with a 70's slang/feel/in dirty 70's NYC.

One of my favorite movies ever

Christine (1983)

She'll possess you. Then destroy you. She's death on wheels

What can I say about Christine?

I should start by asking: who can I name?

I can name four very special people:
-John Carpenter (Director of hell)
-Stephen King (Writer of death)
-Alan Howarth (Composer of evil)
-Christine, a 1958 Plymouth Fury (the name speaks for itself)
The most terrifying combination in movie history.

Christine SCARED the hell out of me as a child.

First of all,
John Carpenter did a great job. the whole direction is amazing, the story telling, the editing, the photography...everything is top-notch.
The only thing that handicaps how this movie will go down in history is the fact that it is considered as a scary movie.
It is a pity, because from a purely artistic point of view, given the movies that were coming out in that same period, Christine really stands out as a very unique piece of art.

The story is from Stephen King, when he was in his absolute prime as an autor.

The music gives you the wrong kind of goosebumps, Alan Howarth truly masters the frequencies that scare a person's soul.



I could watch this movie over and over and over.

The story of a nerd, whose life changes for the best after he restores to pristine condition an old piece of Junk.
What he didn't expect is that the car would return the passion...with a vengeance.

The Spirit (2008)

I've just watched another trailer for The Spirit, due to come out during the next Christmas holidays.

I am not only unimpressed, I am disappointed.



This being said, I will watch it when it comes out. But there is a high lilelyhood that as minutes pass, I will get angrier, and angrier at Frank Miller.

The Trailer starts bragging about Frank Miller and the Fact that he was behind Sin City and 300. I loved both movies

Those two were great graphic novels. But since I refuse to be an pseudo intellectual geek, I still call comics, comics. And I love comics.

Frank Miller is also behind "The Dark Night" graphic novel, but nobody seems to pay too much attention to this since the movie only shared the title with Frank's version of the night avenger.

Anyway,

The new spirit movie is in my opinion, and the opinion of many a violation, or in lamens terms, an "ass-rape" of the work of Will Eisner.

You have to understand, while Frank Miller was all the hype in the comic book world in the 80's, and 90's I guess, Will Eisner, was a GENIUS. Will Eisner is considered as one of, if not the, most influential Comic Bok artist/writer....EVER. EVER !!!!

So, what a coincidence that the movie comes out in 2008, 3 years after Will Eisner's death. and that no single movie saw the light during his lifetime.

First of all, this movie is a total review of the original Spirit plot/story.
You can read about it in detail in this article: "How Miller is ruining The Spirit"

Personally I want to say something about the visuals.
The original spirit comic book is set in the 40's, a time of mystery, smoke, dark alleys and sexy women, think L.A. confidential.
Sure, the movie "seems" to be set in that time, but did they have MG-machine guns then? modern-era military helicopters?....what the hell.

Also, Will Eisner got to be famous for his mastery of black and white drawing. For his art in using shadows to add atmosphere. He has published numerous books on the subject. In time, colored versions of the spirit came out, but they could never match the originals.





Also, The Spirit is a tall, strong guy, he is mysterious, he is scary and seductive. He is a role model for little kids like me.



And seriously, can Gabriel Macht (please check out his filmography and have a laugh) play the role of the main character in the most important comic book of the most influential comic book artist ever?
They have Robert Downey Jr. playing fucking Iron Man (no disrespect to Stan Lee, but even him is little, artist wise, not creative wise, to Will Eisner), and they have Gabriel-fucking-Macht playing The Spirit.

on a side note, I recently noticed that Robert Downey Jr. had a part in Weird Science, and he had a gap in his teeth that doesn't exist today...hmmm,



This reminds me of one thing....When Billy Zane played The Phantom. Ruining it forever.

Then, the female cast.
women in the Spirit are all seductive temptresses, dangerous woman. sexy, shapely, morbid, intriguing, they were the sexy-goths of their time. Black widows.



and seriously...Scarlett Johansson, I mean, ok, she is hot. But she's over-exposed, and not that talented of an actress. She made a career because her eyes and mouth are devastatingly erotic, but everything else about her is completely common. She does not posess the elegance to carry her role.

Eva Mendes is also hot, and is probably more acceptable. But seriously, you need more elgance, you simply do. Charlize Theron would have been perfect.
But Cherlize Theron would be smart enough no to be in a movie where the lead male character is played by Gabriel Macht.

I don't know what else to say except that I feel that Frank Miller raped my childhood days of finding old spirit comics from my parents in the attic.

Fuck you Frank Miller....Fuck you !

Chopper (2000)

Chopper is the tale of Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read (born November 17, 1954)



By his mid-teens, Read was already an accomplished street fighter, and the leader of the Surrey Road gang.

He began his criminal career by robbing drug dealers, based in massage parlours in the Prahran area.

He later graduated to kidnapping and torturing members of the criminal underworld, often using a blowtorch or bolt cutters to remove the toes of his victims before killing them.

While in Pentridge prison's H division in the late 70's, Read launched a prison war.
His gang, dubbed 'The Overcoat Gang', because they wore long coats all year round to conceal their weapons, were involved in several hundred acts of violence against a larger opposing gang during this period.

Convicted of crimes including armed robbery, firearm offenses, assault and kidnapping, Read spent 13 months outside prison between the ages of 20 and 38, then went on to become a successful author of crime novels, selling in excess of 500,000 copies of his works.

The Movie was based on Read's first book,


Chopper: From the Inside, was collected from letters he sent while incarcerated in Melbourne's Pentridge Prison, and published in 1991. It contains tales and anecdotes of his criminal and prison exploits.

After reading this...all you can expect is one of the greatest crime/prison movies you will ever see.
Eric Bana is ridiculous...by ridiculous y mean ridiculously awesome. He is scary as fuck !
Also, the movies portrays an interesting era: Australia in the 70's. Not too many movies are set there, so its quite a refreshing story.
It is also refreshing because of the amount of blood.
But hey, spilling blood while speaking with a harsh Australian accent is so much more enjoyable !