Movie Frenzy

lately I've been going movie crazy between the theater, Comcast On Demand, Blockbuster, and stuff my mom taped off of IFC when they had the free movie thing...

7/30 - Step Brothers

Really funny if you like Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly and like really stupid humor...Ferrell's character is first seen with a "The Judds" ringer T...if you appreciate that you could very well love this movie. I love how John C. Reilly has gone from character actor to comedy star...

7/31 - They Live

Saw this on the On Demand...incredible late 80s John Carpenter starring "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Keith David where it is discovered that aliens live among us and you need special Ray Bans to see them...has the famous gratuitous alleyway fight scene between the two stars that was done in South Park with Jimmy and Timmy...one of my favorite movies in a while...yeah, definitely a bit low budget...a bit cheesy...but still a good premise and was done well. Piper does a good job as the drifter and the score is classic Carpenter. See this one after you've seen Escape From New York, Assault On Precinct 13, and Big Trouble In Little China (GOAT), but see it for sure...

8/1? - Hellboy: The Golden Army

Decent sequel. While I enjoyed the first one quite a bit, this one fails to completely deliver. Some of the comedy bits were just not that charming or funny, but the action was entertaining and the creatures were cool. The whole love story was just alright, but a decent, forgettable movie if you think you want to see it.

8/1 - Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay

Cruder sequel to the stoner comedy classic. Harold is still Harold and Kumar is still Kumar and this one is less funny, less charming, and less original than the first, but still worth seeing if you like Harold and Kumar. The love story and the message were fairly forgettable and the humor was far grosser and more over the top...not a movie to watch with you mom...

8/3 - Ma Vie En Rose

I can see why Marion Cotillard got the best Oscar for this...it was a very powerful portrayal of the famous French singer. The movie seemed a bit long and the pacing wasn't always to my liking, and the character of Edith Piaf got a bit grating, but definitely an achievement and worth seeing for those interested in her story.

8/4 - The Descent

One of the most intense movies I've seen in a while. As I've told people, even without the creatures, this movie would have been really suspenseful as a "women go spelunking and get trapped" movie. This is a great thriller and one of the better movies I've seen of its type in some time.

8/5 - Last Night

Canadian film from the late 90s with Sandra Oh, Sarah Polley, and Callum Keith Rennie (Leobin from Battlestar). The world is ending in 6 hours (at midnight) and the film focuses on how a bunch of different people are planning on spending it. They don't go into detail about why the world is ending (probably something having to do with the sun as it never gets dark) because the movie is not about science but how about people. It's a fascinating idea for a movie and it is quite successful. A nice, quiet, thought-provoking movie...recommended...

8/6 - Double Happiness

Part 2 of the Sandra Oh/Callum Keith Rennie Canadian movie double feature...Double Happiness features Oh as a 22 year old Chinese-Canadian who is at odds with her immigrant parents over her career and her love life. It is cute and funny and sad and definitely rings true as I've seen similar conflicts with Asian-American families. There is music by Shadowy Men From A Shadowy Planet throughout (the guys who did the Kids In The Hall theme song) and it all feels very late 80s-early 90s. Good movie if that sort of thing interests you...

8/6 - Batman Begins

My brother's favorite superhero movie. Mine might still be Iron Man, but this one certainly boasts the most impressive cast with Christian Bale, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Liam Neeson, Ken Watanabe, Michael Caine, and Morgan Freeman. It does a very thorough job of explaining how Batman came to be and the origin is handled very well...it flows masterfully and a lot of villains from the comic book are juggled. Definitely a classic of the genre.

Movie Response/Review #17: 13 Going On 30

Loyal readers, I suppose this is a moment you thought you'd never see, but let me explain. My friend has a habit of making copies of his movies and then giving them to me. When I saw this in the stack of stuff, my initial reaction was, "you kidding me?" He assured me that this movie is not as bad as I was assuming...and he was right.

13 Going On 30 for the most part, is exactly what you'd expect, but it does have a message and its heart is in the right place (for the most part). It is a fairly simple tale that is probably aimed more for the 13 year old crowd rather than the 30 year old crowd. It is a story where a young 13 year old outcast in the 80s ends up making a wish on some magical dust and all of her wildest, superficial, immature 13 year old in the 80s dreams come true. She is now 30 and is an editor at her favorite magazine (well when she was 13 at least). She went through high school as the leader of a powerful clique and now treats people much like she did in high school. She is living in a New York City apartment where everything is pretty and vibrant and clean and glamorous.

Of course she has no recollection of this and is experiencing her new life as her 13 year old self trapped in Jennifer Garner's body. She has long since been out of touch with her best friend at 13, a dorky kid whose passion was photography. She works with the former leader of her young clique (whom she replaced) and is dating a New York Ranger ("not the best one, but the one with the best butt"). She has everything she thought she wanted at 13 and of course throughout the course of the movie she finds out that those are all things she never truly wanted.

The biggest hurdle for enjoying this movie was the fact that I am not really a Jennifer Garner fan. I suppose she's not a horrible actress, but nothing I've seen her in really wows me and I happen to find her kind of annoying really. The supporting cast is great with Mark Ruffalo as her old friend as grown up sad professional photographer, Judy Greer as her bitchy friend from high school who works at her magazine, Andy Sirkis as her boss, and there's even a great cameo from Jim Gaffigan!

All in all it was a perfectly alright weekend afternoon movie. Anyone who thinks they will like this movie probably will. Anyone who doesn't should skip it.

Rio Bravo review at dreamlogic.net

Hi all,

I wrote this review a while back and it seemed appropriate for it to get posted this weekend of all weekends, as Grindhouse just came out and Quentin Tarantino has stated that Rio Bravo is one of his favorite movies of all time.

Check it out here

catching up...

Here are some movies I saw when I was on my big OnDemand kick a couple of months ago. This is what I wrote down so I could remember what to write, but I don't really feel like writing actual reviews, so here you go.

Stripes

Funny. See it.


Fortress

It stars Christopher Lambert of Highlander and Mortal Kombat (he played Raiden) fame, who in all honesty is like the poor man’s David Carradine, or is it the poor man’s Steven Segal? Entertaining movie if you can handle Lambert's awful acting (or just maybe the voice) and features the dad from That 70s Show as the villain.


Body Slam

While I used to be a fan of professional wrestling, when I see wrestling out of its element, it is usually cringeworthy. For example, seeing Chris Jericho on Celebrity Duets was painful cause while he seems witty and cool on wrestling, he just came off as pathetically trapped in the 80s and about as cheeseball as humanly possible.

Movies like Body Slam remind me just how cheesy and homophobic and stupid wrestling is.


Car Wash

Antonio Fargas in one of the best transvestite roles ever.

Movie Review/Response #16: The Cable Guy

When The Cable Guy came out in 1996, I had already had one of my favorite movie experiences with Dumb And Dumber. At the time, I thought that it may have been the greatest movie I had ever seen. A few more years and a lot more movies have since toppled Dumber's legendary status, but even that was not enough to get me to see The Cable Guy. Why? Because I simply heard that it was not funny. Critics and friends alike vouched for this.

While I was not aware of it, there was an audience for this "dark comedy" and it certainly has its share of rabid and loyal fans. Of course while this always intrigues me, it doesn't necessarily mean that I will actually like a movie. Over the years, I sort of came up with a theory about The Cable Guy. It is one of those movies you either love with a passion and think is a work of genius or one of those movies that makes you want your 5 bucks back.

I myself watched it Free OnDemand, which may have flavored my experience because after watching it, I found myself somewhere in the middle. I could definitely appreciate what was great about the movie, but I'm not ready to hail it as a classic. But there is one thing in the movie that is the stuff of unqualified genius: Jim Carrey. His performance as Chip Douglas, a fiercely loyal and talented yet psychotic cable guy who (much to his annoyance) befriends Steven M. Kovacs (played by Matthew Broderick) makes you take notice of Carrey as one of the most engaging, funny, scary, and profound actors of our time. Broderick is also pitch perfect as the wimpy hero of the story who never seems to truly understand Chip. The plot is not all that complicated as Chip installs Kovacs's cable and gives it to him free. Then he wants to be friends. Then it gets ugly.

There are a lot of really annoying (intentionally) scenes and creepy scenes but there are also moments that had me laughing very hard. Chip's karaoke rendition of "Somebody To Love", complete with an over-the-top imitation of Grace Slick's vibrato is some of the best karaoke ever on film and certainly one of the funniest movie moments of the 90s. The scene in Medieval Times is classic as well. The movie also attempts to make some sort of statement about the way that TV and pop culture have affected the kids of these generations and it sort of works. I'm not even sure how poignant it wants to be.

Certainly if you go into this movie not expecting it to be extremely funny, I think you'll enjoy it. While it was billed as a comedy, it is as much a thriller or a character study as it is a comedy. But don't let me or anyone else tell you if this movie is right for you. See it for yourself and thank me/threaten me accordingly.

Movie Review/Response #15: Hard Eight

Hard Eight, the feature film directorial debut of Paul Thomas Anderson, one of the most celebrated auteurs of my time, is a movie I wanted to see for a long time. I once rented it while renting two other movies, but for some reason didn't get around to watching it and returned it. I recently found that it was taped off of TV by my mother during one of those IFC preview weeks and was neatly labeled and tucked deep into one of our many cabinets of movies. Tonight I started watching another movie, but I suppose today I have been feeling sort of pointless and restless and unhappy so this seemed like a movie that would resonate more with me.

Hard Eight, while lacking some of the more epic and experimental qualities of Anderson's next three films (Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and Punch-Drunk Love respectively), it has all of the common elements of his movies as well as many of the same actors. While it has big name Hollywood actors in the supporting roles (Gwyneth Paltrow and Samuel L. Jackson), it stars Phillip Baker Hall and John C. Reilly (both who appeared later in Boogie Nights and Magnolia). Robert Ridgely, Melora Walters, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman (in a great cameo) also make appearances. This mix of Hollywood stars and soon to be Anderson regulars is one of the biggest strengths of the movie as the acting is top notch. Paltrow is maybe the only one in an atypical role, while Hall, Reilly and Jackson play up their strengths.

Film composer and music producer Jon Brion, Michael Penn, and Aimee Mann provide much of the score and music.

(next paragraph contains spoilers)

The movie centers around the relationship between Sydney (Hall) and John (Reilly). They meet as Sydney is about to enter a diner somewhere between Reno and Las Vegas, and John is sitting down outside. Sydney is curious about what John is doing there and finds out that he has just come from Vegas where he was trying to win $6000 to bury his mother. Sydney offers him a chance to get back on his feet. They go to Vegas where Sydney tells John how he can get a room at the casino and then the movie fast forwards to two years later where they are in Reno and we meet Clementine (Paltrow), a cocktail waitress/entrepeneur and Jimmy (Jackson), a loud and fun-loving thug. In typical P.T. Anderson fashion, intense and suspenseful scenes as well as intense and emotional scenes follow complete with a poignant ending.

Like all of Anderson's movies, Hard Eight deals with people who have inadequacies and make bad decisions and deals with them in a very compassionate and non-judgemental way. It is both a joy to watch and hard to watch at times, much like all of his movies. It seemed like Anderson had already perfected his style straight out of the gate. Now that I have seen all of his movies, I am nearly dying in anticipation for the next one.

Movie Review/Response #12: The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

From the moment you see the opening credits (which feature a closeup on the brass and percussion section of an orchestra), you know that this is Hitchcock's epic; it's his big movie with big stars and exotic locations and big suspense. This is the Hitchcock movie that spawned a number one hit in "Whatever Will Be (Que Sera Sera)" sung by the heroine. This is where Hitchcock appealed to the masses.

It stars James Stewart as Dr. Ben McKenna and Doris Day as his wife, Jo. Jo plays (more or less) Doris Day a few years after retirement and after starting a family with a doctor from Indianapolis. At the beginning of the movie, they are travelling from Casablancas to Marrakesh (in Morocco) with their son Hank. Jo is generally distrustful of everyone they meet while Ben is friendly and Hank is overly curious. They end up meeting a British couple who teach them about the culture. Through a series of wild events, Hank is kidnapped and the McKennas find themselves in the middle of an international murder plot. Ben ends up with some information about it but if he goes to the police, his son will die, so the McKennas try to save the day themselves.

The movie manages to be very charming as well as suspenseful. The interaction between mother and child is especially cutesy as they sing the hit song together. There are some physical comedy moments as well as some ridiculous and memorable scenes. But since this is Hitchcock, there is a ton of suspense. This would be the Hitchcock movie to see for people who aren't into the more psychologically intense films or don't want a movie heavy on the romance. This one is all adventure.

Dream Journal #3, August 7th, 2006

I am sent off on an adventure with some of the greatest tenor saxophonists that ever lived. At first I think I'm Sonny Stitt traveling with Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster (I am not recalling Lester Young but chances are he was there). We climb through strange almost futuristic landscapes rife with physical obstacles. I applaud the old guard for their willingness to try new things. We get to our destination. It is a house of some sort and it is completely dark. We are all trying to find one and I notice that we are not alone. There is some sort of creature following me around and I think it might be dangerous. In one fell swoop, I execute an attack with my saxophone where I dash at it and take it out. We find a light and it is this strange spiny hedgehog like creature. It looks like I may have killed a pet.

We explore the other rooms while I think Ben hangs out in the kitchen and we (maybe Hawkins and I) find a tomb. We open it up, prepared for the worst, but all we see is a little girl inside with no lower half. She does not appear to be dead, but asleep. We do not wake her. When we get back into the main room, it appears Ben has encountered one of the other residents. She looks like a normal girl, but when we get in closer, we notice she has the lower half of a horse. One of the girls in the house notices the pet is dead and I try to explain. I also tell her about who I am travelling with.

Then the dream starts to jump around even more. I find my dad, who is apparently also in this strange world and he has just gotten back from a fight to the death in the woods with a sadistic creature. At first this creature looked too beautiful to hurt, but suddenly turned into evil incarnate. My dad seemed shook up.

After that, I begin to walk through this strange world. There are people in strange get ups scattered throughout the woods. The dream starts feeling like it is about to end, but I consciously hold onto it somehow and it makes the dream less concrete. Now I have a bit of control over my actions. I eventually see a trail that looks familiar. I am entering the Balkan Camp section of my brain. I make my way to the main area where everybody is, and say hi and hug everyone. I see my brother and explain to him that I am sort of in control right now. This is after I greeted someone by kissing them, over and over again, till they kissed me back.

Then I went over and saw toothpickmoe. Strangely enough, he had food in his teeth.

Concert Write-Up #1: Mose Allison @ Yoshi's, August 5th, 2006

I had planned on trying to get up to Yoshi's to see Mose Allison, but with the whole recovery thing, I totally forgot about live jazz. Then yesterday I went to the Yoshi's site while I was browsing the web and went, "oh damn! Mose Allison is playing this week!", so I stayed up all night to order tickets over the phone. I went with my parents (it was the first time bringing my mother to Yoshi's cause she usually isn't into "jazz") and we got there around 6 and got our tickets and reserved our seats and went in to eat dinner. I had yakitori skewers, gyoza, miso soup, some spicy tuna roll, and green tea. It actually filled me up. Then we went for a stroll down the street and through Jack London Square. On the way back to Yoshi's, I saw Mose Allison walk out of his hotel and I pointed him out to my parents. He was wearing the same hat that he had on in the promo photos and was wearing a cream colored suit with adidas. I wasn't about to bother him so he walked right by us on his way to the gig.

We went inside and sat for a few minutes and then Mose came out with his band, Bill Douglass on bass and Pete Magadini on drums. Mose sat down at the piano bench and almost looked like he was going to say something, but then moved the vocal mic back and went right into an instrumental. It would be the only instrumental of the night but it was full of signature Mose Allison swagger and rhythm, double-fisted runs, and his unique melodic ideas. At this point I had a huge grin on my face that for the most part stayed there for the whole gig. Bill Douglass soloed with confident swing and real passion. Pete Magadini had a more uproarious solo which provided the loudest and most urgent moments of the night.

After they finished, Mose pulled the vocal mic in and they went straight into Fool's Paradise. His singing sounded just like on the old albums I have, maybe a little diminished in power since the 60s, but if so he more than made up for it by the fact that his timing has almost definitely improved since then. In fact, at almost 80 years old, his artistry has in no way diminished and if anything he has only become better, a better singer, a better pianist, and more clear in his conception of his music. He went into a solo after the vocal, and my mother later remarked on how jarring it is to hear the vocal with a spare chordal backing that is so informed by the blues (although so idiosyncratic it barely sounds like it usually) followed by one his solos. When he was finishing the first song, he said thank you during the applause, and before it was over went right into another tune. He would go like this for the rest of the night.

He performed a ton of songs including Certified Senior Citizen, Ever Since I Stole The Blues, Everybody's Cryin' Mercy, Ever Since The World Ended (my dad's favorite), Fool's Paradise, How Much Truth, I Love The Life I Live, Look What You Made Me Do, Meet Me At No Special Place, Monsters Of The Id, Stranger In My Own Hometown, a and Your Molecular Structure, songs that really spanned his career. Most of the songs were about 2-3 minutes long so he really gave the crowd their money's worth. Plus, after they finished, they came back for an encore and they played I Don't Worry About A Thing (one of my personal favorites) and Baby, Please Don't Go. We gave them a standing ovation (well my dad and I did at least). The 10 o clock show wasn't sold out, so they invited people to stay, but unfortunately my dad had a gig the next morning so we took off.

Mose Allison is definitely worth seeing for anyone who loves music that is truly unique, creative, humorous or has a partially cynical world view. This was definitely one of the most memorable shows I've been to, and I would definitely come to see him again if he comes back in town.

I can breathe!

Today I sat in a chair while my ENT went in my nose with tweezers and picked out scabs on the inside of my nose and sucked out the remaining mucous. Then he took out the plastic. At this point tears were rolling down my face so I wiped them on my shirt right before he gave me a kleenex. I didn't look down on what came out of my nose, but that might be for the better.

It's overwhelming how much I can breathe through my right nostril. It's so intense that it causes me to sneeze sometimes.

Tonight I ventured out for the first time since surgery to see my dad's new band peform.

Book Review/Response #1: Night

When my father was trying to get my life back on track after college when I was unemployed and completely unmotivated in finding a job, he decided that I should start reading more, but more specifically, that there are some books that deeply affected him that I should read. The two he lent me were Elie Wiesel's Night and The Gypsies by Jan Yoors. I am in the middle of The Gypsies, which is a fascinating celebration of a group of people that the world knows very little about, but in the course of three sittings (one very brief), I finished Night. While short enough (127 pages with foreword) to read in one sitting, I don't know that I could have. The images contained within were maybe too powerful and heavy.

Night is Elie Wiesel's firsthand account of The Holocaust. It follows him and his family from Sighet, a village in hungary, to the death camps of Auschwitz. It also about a boy losing faith in God through horrible experiences. The book is one atrocity after another, with incredible suspense and horror and heartbreak, and is that way from beginning to end. The scenes are extremely vivid and everything in the book has meaning. I won't speak too much about it, but I would say that this is essential reading for those who wish to discuss The Holocaust. I'm not sure that someone could read this book without being impacted.

Dream Journal #2, August 4th, 2006

I pull up to a house. I have obviously arrived at some type of informal gathering at a house, probably somewhere in this area. There is plenty of space for parking outside the front door on a concrete area walled off from the outside world. Apparently there are a couple of dudes inside with their girlfriends and the word gets out that I can draw. It has been requested that I draw the girls, and it sounds like I'd be drawing them maybe in some sleazy type of photoshoot deal. I gather my stuff, including all sorts of miscellaneous items I can't recall: old notebooks, clothes, backpacks, valuables. I have so much stuff that I'm trying to fit it all and take it in one trip. For some reason it is all laid out in front of the house. Nobody helps me. I finally get the majority of it into my backpack and on my person, when a guy comes out of the house. I think it is Colin Smith from high school, but he is a little bigger (even more built) and is very friendly. He gives me a manly hug and sort of play rough-houses with me. He reminds me a lot more of Adam Kirby with the way he acts. Before I even make it inside, one of the other guys comes out and sees some very sketchy, unrepresentative work of mine in some old notebook that in the real world, would have been tossed, crumpled up, recycled, or burned long ago. It becomes clear that I used to really love drawing superhero type characters and the guy thinks that it's great. I start to make my way inside, up the steps and I can see the three girls. I can barely make them out. One seems disappointed that I draw in a comic book style, so I assure her that I love to draw people, I say, sketch them or more fine art style or something along those lines. At that point some of them seem reassured, and then I notice one of the girls. She's nonchalantly sitting down, short orange-ish hair with a diagonal fade up and a little curly bang. She's wearing almost all white, with a jacket and a mini skirt and some shin high boots with little pointy heels and toes. She looks exactly like Dazzler, circa 1989, drawn by Marc Silvestri. She looked like she went to our high school. I ask her, "do you know Dan Means? Cause he would love you."

notes: Dan Means is a friend of mine who has the distinction of being the only person I know who actually collects Dazzler comic books.

This dream happened on my first attempt at sleep early Friday morning before my surgery around 3AM.

Movie Review/Response #11: Marnie

When I got up for a break during Alfred Hitchcock's 1964 psychological thriller romance classic Marnie, my mom remarked, "she is crazy!", and I fired back with, "some of the girls I've been with have been almost as crazy." While this was a bit hyperbolic, every person you meet has some strange idiosyncracies or weird tendencies or seemingly irrational fears. Love is about accepting or understanding those as much as it is about trying to find someone who is compatible with you. Marnie just happens to have a lot more of those than most girls.

Marnie stars Tippi Hedren as Mary or is it Margaret, ok, we'll just call her Marnie. Marnie is a young, pretty, intelligent woman who has made a career out of taking secretarial work and stealing from her employers. Sean Connery is Mark Rutland, a charming, well-read playboy who runs his own business and takes an interest in Marnie. He suspects that she may be the thief that just stole from one of his business partners, but is also intrigued by her. But Marnie is not well. Why is she so afraid of the color red? Why is she afraid of storms? Why does she have such a strange relationship with her mother? Why does she have such a big problem with men?

This movie was very intense and interesting and beautifully shot and directed and at times was charming. Connery turns in a great performance that is strong, charming, and surprisingly understated. Hedren is able to show a lot more depth than in The Birds, and does a good job of being fascinating enough that you can't take your eyes off of her. Another Hitchcock must-see.

Movie Response/Review #10: Rope

Alfred Hitchcock's 1948 classic, Rope, may very well be my favorite Hitchcock movie now. It has it all, technical mastery, pitch-perfect performances, extremely intelligent dialogue filled with double entendres, amazing suspense, a dark sensibility as well as a powerful statement about humanity.

It is about Brandon (John Dall) and Phillip (Farley Grainger), two prep-school graduates who commit a murder. Brandon is the snooty, intellectual type who does things for intellectual reasons and uses his charm and gift of gab mostly to manipulate other people and their emotions. Phillip is more sensitive, plays the piano, and immediately after the murder regrets it and becomes frightened of being found out. Brandon has decided that this is the perfect murder, one done for art's sake rather than a mere act of brutality. He also explains that murder is something that superior beings with a higher level of intellect have a right to commit.

What makes this murder epic though, is that Brandon has decided to throw a party, with the dead body hidden in the room, inviting all of their friends, including the deceased's fiancee, father, his mother's sister, the ex of the girlfriend, and most importantly Rupert Cadell (James Stewart) their former teacher at prep school and the man whose philosophies inspired the murder. Can Brandon and Phillip get away with the perfect murder under these circumstances, even with the conspicuous absence of the man they murdered?

This was the movie famous for its "ten-minute takes" which are another aspect of this movie that makes it truly astonishing. I also love movies that take place within very confined spaces, and the majority of this movie takes place in three rooms. John Dall is excellent as Brandon and much like Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates in Psycho, was not given too many opportunities to shine so it makes Rope an additonal treat.

It is a tale of arrogant intellectualism and social priviledge taken to a dangerous level and a beautiful attack on the idea that one human is intellectually superior to another; Incredible from beginning to end.

Getting Better

I can tell that I am getting better because that first image frightens me now.

I was also thinking that using a bloody face as an excuse to start a blog is a little Kanyesque of me.

Movie Review/Response #9: Notorious

I have to admit, at the beginning of this movie I was kind of bored. Neither of the performances really grabbed me that much, and other than the fantastically over the top driving sequence, very little seemed to be happening and the most it had going for it was that it looked nice. But about 40 minutes or so into the movie, I was hooked. From that point on until the end my eyes were absolutely glued to the screen.

Alfred Hitchcock's 1946 classic, Notorious, stars Ingrid Bergman as Alicia Huberman, daughter of a Nazi war-criminal who is asked upon by the US government to take on a dangerous mission for the US in Brazil. Cary Grant also stars as T.R. Devlin, who is her contact. Claude Rains is excellent as the man that they are trying to get information from in Brazil. I won't go too into detail about the plot as it is reasonably simple, but just that the chemistry between Bergman and Grant improves a lot as the film moves along and that once the plot moves into heavier territory, this film moves into must-see territory. And even though it is almost remarkably suspenseful, there is a subtlety to it all that makes the movie that much more impressive.

Of the Hitchcock movies I've seen, the last half of the movie alone puts it up near Rear Window. Notorious is a great old school romance and political intrigue movie that begs to be seen.

Movie Review/Response #8: The Missouri Breaks

My brother and I really enjoy westerns. I'm not sure what it is about them, but we both have a huge affinity for Leone and Eastwood and I loved Rio Bravo. I'm not exactly sure what draws my brother to them, but for me, it's the beautiful scenery, the serenity followed by intense action and suspense, the fun, and especially the themes that are explored. It is incredible how many interesting statements about life and about people have been explored through what on the surface, appears to be such a cut and dry type of movie.

The Missouri Breaks (1976) stars Jack Nicholson as Tom Logan, one of the leaders of a group of small-time criminals who make most of their money stealing horses. They do it because they want to make a decent living and because it offers them a little bit of excitement. The fun starts to end when one of their own is hanged by the local law establishment, and after one of the lawmen is hanged in a similar fashion, Lee Clayton is brought in to make those responsible pay and to keep these thefts from happening.

Nicholson turns in a very "Nicholson" role. He is understated, charming, mischevious, and just plain cool. He puts the daughter of the local lawman in her place when she just assumes he will be all over her. Of course in classic Nicholson style, she falls for him instead.

Brando is another animal completely. This movie, more than any movie I've seen, truly displays Brando's unfettered weirdness. Clayton is this sort of Irish, American Indian wannabe loose cannon with a penchant for theatrics and killing people. He is consumed by his job and his only friends are his horses, one of which I believe he calls a "harlot" in one of the final scenes. Brando is all over the place and you can tell that a huge portion of it has to be ad-libbed and in a couple of scenes, the audio is dubbed. While this is enjoyable and entertaining, I could have used a tad less of it.

All in all, this is a charming western with flaws, but worth seeing and there is a lot of humor mixed in with the action and drama. Really, there is something for everyone. Perfect for an early Monday evening.

Oh, and I forgot to mention...Jack Nicholson plays the clarinet. :D

Movie Review/Response #6: Psycho

Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 classic, Psycho, is one of those few movies that is completely ubiquitous. Everyone is familiar with it. We all know it for the shower scene, and most of us know who Norman Bates is even if we haven't seen the movie. My brother knows the theme song cause Busta Rhymes sampled it in his 1999 classic banger, "Gimme Some More". But for all it seemed I knew about the movie before I saw it, the only two things I really knew about it were the two shock twists of the movie. I honestly had no idea what it was about.

Psycho is one of those movies that must have been incredible to watch in the theaters when it came out, before people gave away the shock in the middle, and the shock at the end and before "the shower scene" had influenced a generation of filmmakers and the events and characters in the movie became more commonplace.

Psycho begins with Janet Leigh as Marion Crane, a secretary living in Phoenix who is romantically involved with a divorcee from Los Angeles but can only hope for a future between them due to financial constraints. She ends up with a bunch of money that she is supposed to deposit in cash through her job, but ends up leaving town with it instead due to a number of reasons. At this point, the movie seems like it's about Marion trying to escape the law and make it to her lover, but things take a sharp turn when she ends up at the Bates Motel. Of course the rest is history.

Everyone knows that Marion Crane is slashed to death in the shower, and the rest of the movie is about Norman Bates, the polite but odd young man who runs the motel and his mother, who lives in a creepy old house above the motel. People are looking for the money and looking for Marion, and neither can be found.

This may be the first time that I've felt like my ability to enjoy a movie for the first time was diminished by what I knew about it. I will say that Anthony Perkins is excellent as Norman Bates and there is still a lot to get out of the movie, even though the ending is a bit weak. I just wish I could have been in that audience in 1960, blown away by it all.

Movie Review/Response #7: Blow Out

The plan was that I was going to watch Blow Out, and then pass out. I was really enjoying the movie too, but the ending was really unsatisfying and now I don't feel like sleeping. It's weird too because The Theme From "Blow Up" is going through my head and yes I know they are different movies but of course thematically related but yeah. This is the first time that I've gone to IMDB and gotten a nice, well-rounded group of criticism from one of their message boards.

To appreciate Blow Out, I think you need to know that it is not a perfect movie. It is not one of those movies where are the loose ends are tied up and everything either makes sense or adds to the charm. There are moments (mostly near the end) that are bound to make you ask, why is this happening? Or maybe, what was De Palma thinking?

Blow Out (1981) stars John Travolta as Jack Terry, a soundman for trashy, low-budget movies that is out recording sounds and happens upon a car accident. The car veers off the road and into the lake and Terry saves a girl inside named Sally, but a man drowns. Later it is revealed that the man inside the car was a leading candidate for president.

One of the interesting things about this movie is that there are a lot of ideas and really, it is almost a couple of movies in one. On the one hand, it is about Jack saving Sally's life and a kind of love story. It is also about political intrigue and cover-up because Jack ends up believing that this was no accident, that the tire was shot out. De Palma also includes the element of serial killers in the film as well. The film is very exciting as it builds up and the truth is revealed to Jack.

The biggest problem with the movie is that De Palma isn't able to reconcile all of these great ideas meaningfully and the ending fits, but it just doesn't quite sit well. The motivations and actions of the characters are a bit strange and while it remains entertaining, this viewer was left unsatisfied. More minor problems are that Sally is a pretty annoying character and some of the music seems a bit cheesy and out of place. It's like the movie isn't sure whether or not it wants to be taken seriously at times. I would still recommend it because it is a solidly entertaining film, but I believe it could have been even better.

Movie Review/Response #2: Curse Of The Cat People

Despite being completely contrary to all logic (this movie has absolutely nothing to do with cat people), 1944's Curse Of The Cat People is a mysterious and charming slow-burning thriller about a strange (and creepy) young girl named Amy who has no friends and therefore relies on her imagination to keep her occupied. There is a whole thing with her dad's dead first wife and a weird lady who lives in a house nearby who doesn't recognize her own daughter and a butler and a wishing ring, but yeah, if you like old movies and have a couple of hours to kill, it's definitely worth seeing.


The most interesting thing about this movie for me was learning about Sir Lancelot who plays Edward, the butler. Apparently he was the first big Calypso star (before Harry Belafonte) in the US and even wrote "Jump In The Line" which you all might remember from Beetlejuice.

I guess there really are some cool and random old movies in the house lying around. I watched this as the second of a double feature with Night Of The Living Dead on Friday.

Movie Review/Response #1: The Night Of The Living Dead

I watched The Night Of The Living Dead on Friday night and it kicked off the movie marathon that I am still in the process of participating in.

I am not really a fan of horror movies in general but there are a few that I have really enjoyed, most being on the fringes of the genre (28 Days Later, Red Eye). I knew I had to watch this movie as it is a huge touchstone in the genre. Also, I pretty much felt like one of the living dead so it seemed appropriate.

The movie was great at creating a bleak and inevitable mood as well as a complete world on what I believe was a very low budget. The scenes of the dead eating the flesh of the dead humans was especially gross. I think that Romero was effective in conveying the message that as terrifying as the living dead are, human nature is ultimately more terrifying, even though I only mostly bought it. The best part was probably the ending. Classic.

As zombie as it gets

I took this picture of myself on Thursday morning at around 11AM, a couple of hours after I had the cartilage in my septum shrunk with heat and moved and reinforced with plastic sewn into my nose to put it in a more central place so that I can breathe out of both nostrils.

Obviously at this point I have a fever and the anaesthesia has not worn off yet. The blood was coming pretty regularly at this point.

But to the contrary of my appearance, things really weren't that bad.

Dream Journal Entry #1, July 29th, 2006

Last night/morning/this afternoon the first of my memorable dreams involved me in a huge department store with friends. It seemed as though we were on a field trip from school and I had picked out a matching women's power suit type outfit that I was determined to try on because I thought it would be hilarious. I remember distinctly that there was a pin striped pencil skirt (I blame What Not To Wear for that one). The strange thing is I never tried it on. I was however, sporting an impressive pair of breasts and some killer legs.

Mission Statement

This "blog" is where I will lay out every mundane detail of my recovery from deviated septum surgery. I will cover everything from music rants to movie reviews to food appreciation to my dreams.

Let's see how long I can keep up with this.