The title 11:14 refers to a time. On one fateful night, a lot of lives are drastically changed at exactly 11:14. People die, people are hit by cars, a convenient store is robbed, one girl is playing several people for money, and one guy even losing some very important bits in a bit of a car accident.
I wish I had heard of this one when it came out. I was really impressed with it. Some of the cast includes Hilary Swank, Colin Hanks, Rachael Leigh Cook, Jason Segel, Patrick Swayze, and Ben Foster. I’m not completely sure if this would be considered a neo-noir or not, but it definitely has a lot of those elements in it. This is another one of those films with multiple time lines and everyone being connected in the end. It might be good to watch this one without the movie talkers and question-askers.
Rating: 
Not many people I know would enjoy Shortbus, but I did. It was an interesting story with fascinating, memorable characters. The backstory behind the movie is also really interesting. I’ve been a fan of John Cameron Mitchell’s since I saw Hedwig and the Angry Inch in a Sevilla movie theater in 2002. Shortbus was his next directorial project, and I am impressed by his honesty as a filmmaker.
I loved the music and the heart of this movie. It’s the story of several men and women who are trying to figure out life, love, and sex. One woman, a sex therapist, has never had an orgasm. She befriends a couple of her patients, who lead her to Shortbus, a club for the “gifted and challenged.” There she begins a journey towards self-discovery, not just sexually, but emotionally, too. The people she befriends are also trying to make it through their lives.
Most people I know aren’t going to enjoy this movie because it’s absolutely full of sex. Not your average movie sex, either. The actors for this film were picked because they were willing to have sex on camera.
I would’ve found it a bit over-the-top if I didn’t know about John Cameron Mitchell’s intention of creating an American movie that features sex in a positive way, instead of in the European tradition of showing it as a negative thing. He also wanted to distinguish between sex in film as art and pornography.
It’s not for everyone, but I certainly think highly of the characters, the story, and Mitchell’s directing.
I’m going to start off by saying I thought this movie was mediocre. I think there were some great performances, but overall, it wasn’t tied together well.
First off, this was directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. He’s done some great stuff like 21 Grams and Amores Perros. I respect the guy. He does good work. Actors include Gael García Bernal, Adriana Barraza, Kôji Yakusho, Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt. These are all great actors.
The story - now here’s where I have the problems. My first impression, from the previews and the “buzz”, was that this was similar to Crash. Maybe I didn’t give this a fair shake, but let me know what you think. The film Crash was about a bunch of different people with different lives, of different races and of different socio-economic classes. All of them resided in the LA area and all of them were connected through one circumstance or another. All of them were important to the story and you got a peak into each one of their lives. The film Babel is centered around an American family and a few other people that are somewhat connected to them and/or the story. During and after the movie was over, I was left with a feeling of, “why did I need to care so much about them?” This wasn’t quite as extreme as in The Fountain when you never found out why it was so important Hugh Jackman’s wife lived, but there was nevertheless something lacking. You find out only a little bit about the American family through snippets of conversation but that’s it. The film is mainly based on the circumstances of what is happening. The circumstances were very important and quite dire, but at the same time I feel there is value to making the audience feel connected to the characters.
The story of the girl and her father in Japan felt very much like a “dangling shad” of a Florida election ballot to me in reference to the plot. The father is connected because of a weapon, but that’s it. His family is also messed up due to the death of his wife but if that whole part of the movie was cut, I don’t think the story would have changed much at all. Their story might have been fulfilling some stylistic element or something, but I think it could have been cut or beefed up in some way. If it had been cut though, I feel like the movie would have been even more lacking because then the story/plot isn’t very unique at all. I felt like there needed to be either something else connecting the Japanese family to the American family or another character and/or circumstance to add to the Japanese part.
As I said before, performances were great, but that doesn’t make the movie great. I think films like Monster and Ray are other examples of that. You may totally disagree with me here, and if you do give me a comment. I’d love to discuss this film with you. I think this this movie had a lot of potential, but it just fell short in my eyes.
Another decent movie with Gael Garcia Bernal. This is one of those movies where you have several stories and they’re all tied together somehow. It’s similar to Crash, Pulp Fiction or Sin City in that respect.
I really enjoyed the diversity portrayed in this film. It’s basically about love and it definitely showed many different aspects. You had the model going nuts over her dog trapped under the floor, a father and his daughter who didn’t know him, friends, a man and his dog, etc. In all cases one or more facets of this thing we call love was shown. Some were healthy and others not so. It’s really interesting how we use the word, ‘love’. Some are afraid to say it and others throw it around like last week’s lotto numbers. We may use it to describe that special someone, those cheese fries we get at our favorite restaurant, a close friend or a pet. Why are people so careless with words and feelings? Maybe this movie has a bit to that answer.
Another Netflix “rental”. This is one movie I thought looked really interesting and wanted to see and then never got around to seeing it. I think it was made out to be another ‘drug movie’ like Blow or Traffic or Trainspotting. There were some minimal drugs involved here, but it wasn’t really integral to the plot. I think I got a lot more out of this movie from little things rather then everything as a whole.
This movie has a couple stories going on that are kind of all connected. It also skips around a lot timeline-wise, but it’s not completely backwards like Memento or Irreversible. This isn’t an upbeat happy movie, but I still think it was good. Decent performances from Sean Penn and Naomi Watts. Great performance from Benicio del Torro.
There were some interesting topics to look at in this movie like religion, revenge, mercy, generosity, justice, kindness, responsibility, etc. I think this is another one of those movies that can be watched just for content, or can be looked at and thought about. Some movies only seem to fall into one category or the other.
Here’s my first review of a Netflix movie…..
City of God is the story of a photographer in Rio de Janeiro. It starts off, backtracks to his childhood and goes all the way up to the current situation and then ends. This is a story about life in slums in one of the larger cities in one of the larger countries in the world. It shows a bit about what it’s like to live on the streets and be a hoodlum vs. getting a job and trying to be a respectable citizen. This may not be a film for everyone just because of content. It’s nothing too terrible, just life on the streets and gangs running around doing their thing. This is a film that most definitely makes me feel grateful for living where I do, growing up with privileges that many around the world will never get a chance to have. So if you haven’t seen this one go out and rent it.
Just enjoyed this movie with Lana, Liz and Jenny. It was amazing. This is one of those movies where you have a lot of different characters going through different things and it all ties together in the end. Liz said she heard somebody compare this to Magnolia which is true only on the basest levels, but as a whole the movies are very, very different.
This movie deals with so many things it’s hard to know what to describe first. You have a woman dealing with anger. You have a man disgusted with his co-worker and trying to do the right thing on the job. You have several people dealing with racism on different levels. There is a son trying to do everything right and a mother who is worried about her other son. There are men trying to take care of their families and there children trying to protect their parents. There’s cops and robbers, country and hip-hop, love and violence….this movie has just about a little of everything in it.
One of the ‘tag-lines’ or quotes or whatever you want to call it is Don Cheadle talking about how we’re so worried about making contact with people. We’re so uptight about having our own personal space and not getting close to people. It’s actually pretty true if you think about it. When is the last time weren’t afraid to pickup a hitchhiker or accept a ride from somebody while walking? When is the last time you offered to help a total stranger when they obviously were in a bind? When is the last time you realized that everybody is human and no matter how weird or strange they are, they still feel awkward and vulnerable and just want to be liked and have friends?
After the movie we all agreed there was solid acting all around…even with Brendan Fraser in it - and that’s a bold statement. Bold like those A1 commercials. This film contains drama, comedy, tragedy and even a tad bit of action, depending on how you look on it. It even almost made me cry. I’d say this movie has the potential to stretch ya and make you think if you let it. If you’re a fan of Clint Eastwood you might want to check this one out. It sorta follows Clint’s anti-happy ending theme. This is definitely going on my buy list.
Hey Neville - I just looked here after posting and didn’t know you had just posted about the very same movie. Instead of deleting or trying to add a comment I’ve decided to just leave it and see if we said anything similar.
“Crash,” Paul Haggis’ directorial debut (he wrote “Million Dollar Baby”) is as impressive as great films come. I’ve heard people talk about “Crash” and sigh because they think all it was about was racism. But it is about much much more than that. It’s about the goodness in people, and about the bad inside all of us. It’s about how people—especially in L.A.—suffer from a lack of human-to-human contact, and emphasizes the needful craving we all have for relationships. And of course, it’s about more drama and more coincidences than you can shake a stick at, but that’s all well and good in my opinion. It’s been compared to “Magnolia,” which I can see but feel that it’s somewhat of an unwarranted comparison. Just because a movie juggles a dozen characters wonderfully and complexly doesn’t mean they’re “Magnolia” or worthy to be compared to it. But “Crash” has some elements similar to it, and so, I can see why people are saying that. Although it’s not nearly as brutally honest or provocative or shockingly intimate as “Magnolia” was and is, “Crash” is wonderful in its own ways, one of which being in the way it manages to take a group of characters and make them multi-dimensional and multi-layered. I was fascinated by where they all were going and I was intrigued and entertained by them at the same time. And for a film so dark and naked in its portrayal of racial and ethnic stereotypes, it still manages to make you laugh and make you laugh at yourself.
Also, if there ever was a movie that showcased my favorite Madeleine L’Engle chapter entitled “What Are You Looking For?” (from “A Stone for a Pillow”) it would be “Crash.” It proves—in the first 10 minutes—how people see what they want to see, and how people will find whatever it is they are looking for. Be it bad, or good, or ugly, or racist—it’s all out there….waiting to be turned into something meaningful.
“Crash,” like “Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle,” sees America as it is today–particularly in terms of language differences and culture clashes. It is a gripping little imperfect piece of cinema, that will most likely garner a spot on my top ten list for 2005. Despite a few things I would’ve changed had I been the one making the movie (i.e., the end song that closes with the credits just does not fit—and ruined the mood of the film for me) and the final, ambiguous, yet, could-it-be-preaching-for-or-against-illegal-immigration shot—also felt out of place to some extent. However, this is a film you should definitely see, as long as you’re in the mood for some tough entertainment. Beautiful score, unforgettable moments, powerful movie…period.
Sin City is a movie adaptation of the graphic novel/stories by Frank Miller. It was co-directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez with a Quentin Tarantino as a guest director. There are so many big name actors/actresses in this movie I’m not even going to try and name them all. Check out the link for yourself.
I’m most definitely not going to make a general blanket statement of telling people to go see this movie. This is definitely a comic book made into a movie - and I’m not talking about X-Men, Spiderman, Batman or The Hulk. There was some great cinematography and I loved what they did with the black and white with artistic splashes of color in all the right places.
As far as content in here that might turn people off there’s a decent amount of violence. Definitely nothing that bothered me, but I’m sure it’ll bother some. There was also a decent amount of T&A that I wasn’t necessarily expecting.
The story was great and captivating. I most definitely didn’t understand everything and will need to see it at least one more time. The timeline was also a bit confusing. Sort of like watching Pulp Fiction for the very first time. I’m going to need to talk to Lofton - I’m sure he can explain it all to me.
Overall I’m gonna have to say I liked this movie. Great acting, great directing, great story. It was intriguing as well as interesting. There’s a good chance I’ll be seeing it again with some other people and will hopefully get a better grasp on things.
I’ve really fallen behind in posting about movies so here I go….Saw this one with Elaine, Liz and Sarah. It was definitely the best example of existentialism I’ve ever seen. It’s one of those things I read a little bit about in a couple classes, but never really quite grasped the concept. Wonderful performances by Jason Schwartzman (Rushmore (1998)) and Mark Wahlberg. You also had Jude Law, Dustin Hoffman, Naomi Watts, and Lily Tomlin. Definitely a star-studded cast. Elaine had told me while watching this movie she was kept on the edge of her seat waiting to hear what they would say next. I’d have to say I concur. Definitely great dialog going on here. For some reason while watching it I was constantly reminded of John Cusack. One actress in here was the teacher he talked to outside the high school in Grosse Pointe Blank who he told still dresses like Mary Tyler Moore. There were also little things that reminded of some of his other movies. I thought Naomi Watts did an awesome job portraying how shallow everyone was in treating her after she quit trying to look “pretty” all the time. There were also a bunch of little things like when Jude Law threw up in the meeting and him crying at the end. I also loved when he admitted going to the existential detectives just to get Albert kicked out.
This is definitely a movie that can be appreciated on multiple levels. It’s entertaining and witty on the surface, yet is also much deeper if you want to sit and really think about what you’re watching. Definitely something to watch sometime.
Crash: Second Review
Just enjoyed this movie with Lana, Liz and Jenny. It was amazing. This is one of those movies where you have a lot of different characters going through different things and it all ties together in the end. Liz said she heard somebody compare this to Magnolia which is true only on the basest levels, but as a whole the movies are very, very different.
This movie deals with so many things it’s hard to know what to describe first. You have a woman dealing with anger. You have a man disgusted with his co-worker and trying to do the right thing on the job. You have several people dealing with racism on different levels. There is a son trying to do everything right and a mother who is worried about her other son. There are men trying to take care of their families and there children trying to protect their parents. There’s cops and robbers, country and hip-hop, love and violence….this movie has just about a little of everything in it.
One of the ‘tag-lines’ or quotes or whatever you want to call it is Don Cheadle talking about how we’re so worried about making contact with people. We’re so uptight about having our own personal space and not getting close to people. It’s actually pretty true if you think about it. When is the last time weren’t afraid to pickup a hitchhiker or accept a ride from somebody while walking? When is the last time you offered to help a total stranger when they obviously were in a bind? When is the last time you realized that everybody is human and no matter how weird or strange they are, they still feel awkward and vulnerable and just want to be liked and have friends?
After the movie we all agreed there was solid acting all around…even with Brendan Fraser in it - and that’s a bold statement. Bold like those A1 commercials. This film contains drama, comedy, tragedy and even a tad bit of action, depending on how you look on it. It even almost made me cry. I’d say this movie has the potential to stretch ya and make you think if you let it. If you’re a fan of Clint Eastwood you might want to check this one out. It sorta follows Clint’s anti-happy ending theme. This is definitely going on my buy list.
Hey Neville - I just looked here after posting and didn’t know you had just posted about the very same movie. Instead of deleting or trying to add a comment I’ve decided to just leave it and see if we said anything similar.