Archive for July, 2006

Sling Blade

Published
by
Chalupa
on July 17, 2006
in Based on a play, Based on a short film, Drama, Independent, Murder, Racism and Revenge
. 0 Comments

I never really thought much about Billy Bob Thornton until after seeing this movie. Things just never made sense to me. The few roles I had seen him in were never that great or earth shattering. He was married to Angelina Jolie, and he never seemed to present himself very well in public. Little did I know, Billy Bob is a writer and a director besides being an actor. I’ve always heard other people (actors/actresses) rave about the talent this man has, but had never witnessed it myself. That’s because I hadn’t seen Sling Blade.

This movie is about a man named Karl Childers. Karl is retarded man that gets let out of the state mental hospital. Karl was in the hospital because at the age of 12 he killed his mother and one other person. Now at face value this sounds horrible and tragic, but as you take a peak into Karl’s life you start to understand why he is the way he is.

After being released from the hospital, Karl gets a job at a small engine repair shop repairing engines. He’s apparently a prodigy at it. His new boss also lets him live in the shop since Karl has no place to go and his living family wants nothing to do with him. Besides getting a job, Karl also makes friends with Frank, a local boy, while helping him tote his family’s laundry home one afternoon. Frank likes Karl so much that he asks his mother to let Karl stay with them. From then on we see the lives of Karl, Frank and Linda (Frank’s mother) unfold and we meet some of their friends as life goes on. I’m not going to much further into the plot because I don’t want to give anything away.

This is such an amazing movie, I’m not really sure how to give it justice by typing away on my keyboard. This film deals with family, friendships, doing what is right, justice, protecting your own, love, being willing to give up everything for somebody you care about, etc, etc. All of Karl’s life he’s been picked on and written off just because of his mental state. However, Karl understands a lot more than people give him credit for. He also ends up being one of the most understanding, caring and insightful characters in the film.

I was so amazed to learn that Thorton wrote and directed this film besides being the main actor. Whenever I had seen the cover, I always thought that was Ewan McGregor on the cover or somebody that looked similar. That’s Billy Bob folks. I also sat down and watched all of the extra stuff on the 2nd disc as soon as I could. It’s always rewarding to learn about some of the behind-the-scenes stuff.

Along with Thorton in the cast we also have Dwight Yoakam (Wedding Crashers, Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada), J.T. Walsh (Good Morning Vietnam), John Ritter (Problem Child, Three’s Company), Lucas Black (Friday Night Lights, All the Pretty Horses) and many other recognizable faces. I think this is one of Ritter’s best performances ever, mainly because we get to see him break out of some of his typecast roles and actually act. Thorton even got him to radically change his hair, something Ritter never did for any other director. Lucas Black also gives an amazing performance as a kid in this movie that you’ll be hard-pressed to match.

I feel like I could go on and on about this movie, but I don’t know how to appropriately tell you how much this movie rocked my world. So go see this one. Please.

Shower

Published
by
Chalupa
on July 17, 2006
in Comedy, Drama, Family and Independent
. 1 Comment

Shower is a Chinese movie about a Japanese businessman who returns home under the impression that his father is very sick/possibly dead. Luckily when he gets home, he realizes it was just some miscommunication between himself and his mentally challenged brother. At first he wants to return home, but soon realizes he really enjoys being with his family. His father owns and runs a public bath house and his brother helps out. Every day the same customers come in and there is literally a community existing inside those walls. Soon Ming doesn’t really want to go home.

There’s a little bit of drama here and there between some of the customers, but this movie is mainly about family. I would maybe put it in the same category as Amelie. This is a feel-good movie with good values and decent story. Worth checking out if you’re into foreign films.

Capote

Published
by
Chalupa
on July 13, 2006
in Based on a book, Based on a novel, Biography, Crime, Drama, Journalism, Murder and New York
. 1 Comment

I was going to see this three separate times while it was still in the theaters, but none of them worked out, so I guess the 4th time is a charm. We watched this last night for Movie Night.

If you didn’t know, this movie is about Truman Capote, who was an actual author. Some parts of the movie might make more sense to you if you didn’t know this earlier. Parts of it can be a little slow and some of the things that Capote does and says just don’t seem to fit. At least not for a ficticious character. This movie happens to be about his most famous publication, In Cold Blood. It’s about a family in Kansas that was brutally killed in their home. The movie chronicles Capote befriending the killers, all the while trying to get research for his book. It’s amazing to watch him manipulate people and situations while trying to get information. It reminded me a bit of The United States of Leland and The Chumscrubber in how a character is “befriending” someone just to get a story. In the same way, Capote pretends to be friends with the killers, while at the same time wishing they would just be executed so he could finish his book.

The part of Truman Capote is played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, who I have always found to be just amazing. The two killers are played by Mark Pellegrino (The Big Lebowski) and Clifton Collins Jr. (Tigerland, The Last Castle, Replacement Killers). Chris Cooper is also in here as the police chief and Catherine Keener as Harper Lee, Capote’s friend.

The movie can be a bit slow in parts, but it’s really good if you can stick it out til the end. I personally, had never realized how influential Capote was. I want to read some of his books. After the movie, Adrienne brought up that Capote was mentioned in the movie 10 Things I Hate About You. In the classroom somebody says, “Capote” with a long ‘o’ sound and the teacher corrects them with the proper pronunciation. I had completely forgotten about that. I guess there’s a movie I need to re-watch.

The movie also ended with some general information about Capote and the rest of his life following the book. There was one quote I really liked - “More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones.”

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

Published
by
Chalupa
on July 9, 2006
in Adventure, Crime, Drama, Forgiveness, Kidnapping, Mexico, Neo Noir and Western
. 0 Comments

I unfortunately missed this one in the theaters, but luckily netflix came through for me. This movie stars Tommy Lee Jones(Pete), Barry Pepper(Mike), Julio Cedillo(Melquiades), and Dwight Yoakam(Belmont). Tommy Lee Jones also directed this movie. This is his second movie to direct and I think he did a wonderful job. This movie has ‘three burials’ in its titled because it’s about a man that was buried three times. A mexican migrant worker is accidently shot by a border patrol officer and the officer tries to cover it up. The body was later found by the authorities and the victim’s best friend, Jones, starts his own investigation. Jones goes on his own personal vendetta to track down the man responsible and make the killer realize exactly just what he has done.

I think I was first drawn to this movie by the title. Then I was drawn to it by the setting, actors, and then by the story. This is a great story about having to face the music when we screw up. This is also a movie about intense friendship and loyalty. I’d like to think I would be willing to do the same thing for my friend.

After Jones tracks down the man responsible, they go retrieve Melquiades’ body and proceed to transport to his hometown in Mexico. It takes them a while to actually find the town and once they do, they immediately go to work. First they repair Estrada’s house. They then post a sign so anybody coming by will know what they’ve found. Lastly, they bury Melquiades Estrada for the third and last time.

It’s not quite over yet though. Pete now makes Mike beg for forgiveness. At first Mike tries to shirk this one final responsibility given him, but things don’t work out the way Mike would like. Even though nothing can be done to bring Melquiades back, and the whole thing was an accident, Mike is still responsible. I really felt like personal redemption was gained by the end for Mike. Some of this can be painful to watch, but I think it needs to be that way. So much of our culture today glorifies death, killing and violence. Many people view hispanic people as just “spics” or “wetbacks” and would probably even voice their opinion in support of Mike’s actions. I would like to think that these kinds of people would really feel this way if put into Mike’s shoes.

I also get the feeling that Pete is like a “ghost of Christmas past”. In the same way that Scrooge is made aware of the consequences of his actions, Mike is made aware of the consequences of shooting Melquiades. Mike also repents of his actions and comes out on the other side of his wild adventure a changed man. I’m not sure if this was done on purpose, but I think it could lead to some great discussion.

There’s definitely some objectionable content in here, but this is a film very much worth watching.

Superman Returns

Published
by
Chalupa
on July 4, 2006
in Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-fi and Superhero
. 0 Comments

I first wanted to go see the new Superman movie only because Lex Luthor was being played by Kevin Spacey. Even though Kevin Spacey is the man, he wasn’t the only bright spot for Superman Returns. This time around Brandon Routh is playing Clark Kent/Superman. He’s not a very well-known actor, but he plays the part with passion and emotion. I think I would prefer Routh over Christopher Reeve any day. Kate Bosworth also does an amazing job as Lois Lane.

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this one. So many times re-makes turn out to be bad apples, but I give this one two-thumbs up.

Oxygen

Published
by
Chalupa
on July 4, 2006
in Crime, Drama, Kidnapping, Murder and Thriller
. 0 Comments

I don’t have a whole lot to say about this one. However, if you’d like to see Maura Tierney (ER) and Terry Kinney (Oz) as police and Adrien Brody (The Pianist) as a psycho kidnapper/killer, check this one out.

The Shape of Things

Published
by
Chalupa
on July 4, 2006
in Art, Based on a play, College, Comedy, Drama and Twist
. 0 Comments

I must admit I wasn’t really into this movie until I got to the end…and it hit me like a fish in the face. This film is a great example of why you should stick out a movie and see it through because you never know how you’ll feel about it until the credits are rolling.

Paul Rudd stars in this film as Adam along with his two friends, Phil (Fred Weller) and Jenny (Gretchen Mol). Adam meets Evelyn, played by Rachel Weisz, while working at the museum one day and they sort of hit it off. She actually came into the museum to deface a sculpture. She’s an art student, you see, getting her MFA at Mercy College. She kind of fits some of the “artsy” stereotypes and soon starts getting Adam to change some of his ways to make himself more atractive, hip, and cool. At least according to Evelyn. She eventually starts trying to manipulate Adam’s friendships and relationships with other people. In my opinion, she was really starting to get out of hand.

Now we’ve come to the climax of the story - the ending. It pretty much wraps everything up and answers all of those unanswered questions. I sure didn’t see it coming.

The Anniversary Party

Published
by
Chalupa
on July 3, 2006
in Comedy, Drama and Independent
. 0 Comments

This is a movie I started watching a while back with Liz but never finished. It’s pretty good. It has a couple very real fight scenes between several sets of characters that are a bit different than your average screaming scene. The only thing I can compare it to is when Ben Affleck and Joey Lauren Adams have their big fight in Chasing Amy.

This was written and directed by Alan Cumming and Jennifer Jason Leigh, who happen to also be the main actors in the film. Rounding out the cast are John Benjamin Hickey, Parker Posey, Phoebe Cates, Kevin Kline, Owen Kline, Greta Kline, Denis O’Hare, Mina Badie, Jane Adams and John C. Reilly. That’s not everybody, but I think that pretty much covers most of the more recognizable people. You might have noticed a few Klines up there. That’s because it’s Kevin Kline, his wife, and two kids. You might recognize Owen Kline from The Squid and the Whale. Definitely a talented upcoming actor who takes after his parents.

I’ll just come right out and say it - there’s a bit of nudity in here. So if that bothers you, I’d stay away from this one. If you’re a big fan of Cumming, Kline or Reilly - I’d say you should really see this one. For the average movie watcher this could be a bit boring and slow to watch. I gave this one a 4 out of 5.

Welcome to Collinwood

Published
by
Chalupa
on July 3, 2006
in Boxing, Comedy, Crime and Remake
. 0 Comments

Welcome to Collinwood is a stupid funny heist of sorts starring William H. Macy, Isaiah Washington, Sam Rockwell, Michael Jeter and Luis Guzmán. If you know who these guys are, then you’ll know for sure that you’re in for a treat.

After Guzmán goes to jail for trying to steal a car radio he hears about a “bellini” or job-of-a-lifetime from a lifer in prison. So he then starts trying to hatch his plan to pull this heist and be set for life. The only problem is that he and his friends are more like the three stooges than those guys from The Italian Job. I’m sure you’ll laugh too as you watch them try, try and try to break into the safe of a jewelry store before sunrise.

Love Liza

Published
by
Chalupa
on July 3, 2006
in Comedy, Drama, Drugs and Suicide
. 1 Comment

If you like Philip Seymour Hoffman, this is a must see for you. Love Liza is about a man trying to cope with the recent suicide of his wife. Kathy Bates plays his mother-in-law and Jack Kehler (Marty, The Big Lebowski)plays his new found friend.

As can be expected, Hoffman’s character has trouble coping with his loss. He can’t even bear to sleep in his own bed because that reminds him of her so he sleeps in the hallway on a blanket. His performance starts slipping at work and he even starts huffing just to get away from it all. He tries to cover up his addiction with a hobby for model airplanes which is how he meets Jack Kehler’s character. All the while, he is avoiding opening a letter written to him by Liza and trying to avoid confrontation with his mother-in-law.

This movie definitely has it funny moments and it’s painstakingly real moments. I gave this a 4 out of 5.