James Gray. Like I said, we saw "The Yards". Then later in the month we saw "Two Lovers". You can bet I was scared about that title. I was pleasantly surprised. The head case survives! I think.? We'll be looking for more of this fellow's stuff. He has a new one coming out in 2012. Good director-he seems to favor Joaquin Phoenix. That's not all bad.
WEBSITE HERE
UPDATE 2/25/11-Saw this director's other 2 movies, "Little Odessa" & "We Own the Night". Not as good as the other two. He's got one coming in 2012.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Go Team Go
Just when I was thinking "There ain't no good DVDs to see anymore" we got back-to-back homers in the bottom of the ninth. One about corruption in NYC (who woulda thought?) could've been about sanitation engineering (that's garbage collection) I suppose, but it was about crooks in the train parts business. All-star cast in "The Yards" (2000 release) includes: James Caan, Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Faye Dunaway, Joaquin Phoenix. All straight A+s for dose guys. Ellen Burstyn, giv'er an A too. Problem was, the library copy was ruined right where the crux of da movie took place. I think Joaquin (Willie) did the deed though. All dese guys did dose accents great, weze loved it.
And before that we saw "Truth or Consequences, N.M." (1997), not quite as all-star a cast but not shabby neither. Kiefer Sutherland stars in a great directorial debut. Vincent Gallo is great. Rod Steiger too cool. Martin Sheen as Sir gets 'er done. Boy his kid's a mess though ain't he? Now he didn't just mess himself, he put 300 coworkers on the unemployment line (who work on his TV show) while he goes to Club Rehab.
So anyway, we tie the game in the bottom of the ninth with those back-to-backs and we feel pretty good about it with "Zodiac" (2007) comin' up. Robert Downey, Jr., Jake Gyllenhall right? Downey had straightened up by the time that he took this role, but he still could play a screwball pretty good.
So we're lookin' for one more long one and we're goin' home a winner, but there's two outs. Well, like Mighty Casey "Zodiac" struck out. Well we'll get 'em in extra innings.
Funny, all three of these got 3-4 stars, but I don't think so. I like the first two.
Visit my web site here.
And before that we saw "Truth or Consequences, N.M." (1997), not quite as all-star a cast but not shabby neither. Kiefer Sutherland stars in a great directorial debut. Vincent Gallo is great. Rod Steiger too cool. Martin Sheen as Sir gets 'er done. Boy his kid's a mess though ain't he? Now he didn't just mess himself, he put 300 coworkers on the unemployment line (who work on his TV show) while he goes to Club Rehab.
So anyway, we tie the game in the bottom of the ninth with those back-to-backs and we feel pretty good about it with "Zodiac" (2007) comin' up. Robert Downey, Jr., Jake Gyllenhall right? Downey had straightened up by the time that he took this role, but he still could play a screwball pretty good.
So we're lookin' for one more long one and we're goin' home a winner, but there's two outs. Well, like Mighty Casey "Zodiac" struck out. Well we'll get 'em in extra innings.
Funny, all three of these got 3-4 stars, but I don't think so. I like the first two.
Visit my web site here.
Monday, January 3, 2011
quirkysmirky Jennifer, like father like daughter
Yeah, talkin' about David Lynch's spawn. The critics panned her "Surveillance", but I say see it.
It's easy to see that the cops "got what they deserved". And probably ditto the high gal & guy. But the little girl's family? Try to reconcile that! Yeah, the son was a snooty teenager I guess.
Can't divulge more. I'm giving it 5 stars, in your face critics. Smirky & quirrrrrky Julia and Bill are the film's stars.
In all fairness to the critics, I didn't get "Boxing Helana" too much, just like them. It was pure weird enough though. What ain't from this family?
Visit this creep's web site here.
It's easy to see that the cops "got what they deserved". And probably ditto the high gal & guy. But the little girl's family? Try to reconcile that! Yeah, the son was a snooty teenager I guess.
Can't divulge more. I'm giving it 5 stars, in your face critics. Smirky & quirrrrrky Julia and Bill are the film's stars.
In all fairness to the critics, I didn't get "Boxing Helana" too much, just like them. It was pure weird enough though. What ain't from this family?
Visit this creep's web site here.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Macabre Macrame'
There is more to Edgar Allan Poe than "Quoth the Raven, nevermore." He is difficult, as he quotes Latin without interpretation and is prone to rambling "Old English" drug induced wordiness. I have a copy of his "complete tales & poems" (Dorset Press), and can only highly recommend a few as will follow. I can't imagine a reader sitting through all thousand plus pages while remaining upright. The fellow was indeed a natural genius of the dirge mentality. He is however, too depressing for the sane of us. Too much downers my man. One sentence should be one sentence, not two pages: "The Purloined Letter" for instance. It could have been jolly good but the punchline is in Latin. And E. P. regurgitates and ruminates for 1 1/2 pages. The 5 (pfft) star story has one of my favorite lines in it however: "We gave him a hearty welcome, for there was nearly half as much of the entertaining as of the contemptible about the man..." For my money, nothing worse than a seven star out of ten is worth a read. "The Pit and the Pendulum" is the dude's best, 9*. 8* star stories: "The Black Cat", The Masque of the Red Death"-that's it! 7* (so readable), "The Gold Bug", "The Fall of the House of Usher", "A Descent into the Maelstrom", "Ligeia", "The Tell Tale Heart". Those 4 famous stories are still tough to read after the titles. Forget "The Murders in the Rue Morgue". It could have been a 7. It's a good story (the monkey did it), but again the punchline is in a language that I did not study; French.
here's the website
here's the website
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Pasted from Ezine/One of 2002's Best Films="Spun"
...on meth that is.
My own personal preface: I will always feel that "crank" chefs deserve the death penalty.
Having said that I will proceed.
I'm just a bi-polar old man but I think this film is so hilariously nasty that it is a must-see.
"I can smell the snail trails all over the store."??? If you are not familiar with that phrase it's in here. It is uttered by one of the quintessential Spanish sleaze princesses. Let's see, what else? The decongestant used to make speed is kept behind the counter as it is supposed to be. But the clerk has no problem selling thirty bottles at a time, as long as it is for a good cause. I almost busted my stitches when the nude blonde in the handcuffs was blank down below, a la 1950's mens mags or "Barbie". We can see a meth factory, but no hair please. A brilliant commentary. This whole epic is an absolute symphonic cacophony.
WARNING: Careful with that axe Eugene. This one is a hard "R" rating. I mean R leaning on X.
If this movie isn't a cult classic it deserves to be. Don't get me wrong. I'm not nostalgic for the homemade poison which it revolves around; never got into it, thank goodness. I did some equally dumb things maybe. Want to snort some aerosol spray cooking oil?
Sometimes it helps to laugh at this mean world. This movie did make me do that. Edgy would be a mild description. I rate it a thousand stars. Seldom does a film hit its mark so perfectly. It's a bulls-eye for director Jonas Ackerlund. The characters are brilliant caricatures in a very sad theme and Mickey Rourke absolutely "cooks".
The writing deserved an Oscar. Just genius.
The animation deserved an Oscar. No airbrushing there.
The makeup deserved an Oscar. They took some really good looking actors and made them look like trash. Except for Mickey. He probably didn't need a lot of help, as he fits the niche. And Mom didn't need much help. Don't look too close. She's just your average American, but I had to turn away.
I cannot tell any more. Just hold on tight.
Seriously though, this film is disturbingly desperate when the laughs are over. The bad thing is, it can really get this horrible. I've seen a friend pick up lint out of the carpet hoping that it was crank. Just tweaking man. This junk is rife in America and it makes me cry, not laugh. SPEED KILLS!!
Jim William knows what he is talking about. He was a drug-induced catatonic schizophrenic for a short time. Much was lost then. Much bonus time was gained, along with a multi-faceted identity.
WEBSITE: http://themaven.synthasite.com
My own personal preface: I will always feel that "crank" chefs deserve the death penalty.
Having said that I will proceed.
I'm just a bi-polar old man but I think this film is so hilariously nasty that it is a must-see.
"I can smell the snail trails all over the store."??? If you are not familiar with that phrase it's in here. It is uttered by one of the quintessential Spanish sleaze princesses. Let's see, what else? The decongestant used to make speed is kept behind the counter as it is supposed to be. But the clerk has no problem selling thirty bottles at a time, as long as it is for a good cause. I almost busted my stitches when the nude blonde in the handcuffs was blank down below, a la 1950's mens mags or "Barbie". We can see a meth factory, but no hair please. A brilliant commentary. This whole epic is an absolute symphonic cacophony.
WARNING: Careful with that axe Eugene. This one is a hard "R" rating. I mean R leaning on X.
If this movie isn't a cult classic it deserves to be. Don't get me wrong. I'm not nostalgic for the homemade poison which it revolves around; never got into it, thank goodness. I did some equally dumb things maybe. Want to snort some aerosol spray cooking oil?
Sometimes it helps to laugh at this mean world. This movie did make me do that. Edgy would be a mild description. I rate it a thousand stars. Seldom does a film hit its mark so perfectly. It's a bulls-eye for director Jonas Ackerlund. The characters are brilliant caricatures in a very sad theme and Mickey Rourke absolutely "cooks".
The writing deserved an Oscar. Just genius.
The animation deserved an Oscar. No airbrushing there.
The makeup deserved an Oscar. They took some really good looking actors and made them look like trash. Except for Mickey. He probably didn't need a lot of help, as he fits the niche. And Mom didn't need much help. Don't look too close. She's just your average American, but I had to turn away.
I cannot tell any more. Just hold on tight.
Seriously though, this film is disturbingly desperate when the laughs are over. The bad thing is, it can really get this horrible. I've seen a friend pick up lint out of the carpet hoping that it was crank. Just tweaking man. This junk is rife in America and it makes me cry, not laugh. SPEED KILLS!!
Jim William knows what he is talking about. He was a drug-induced catatonic schizophrenic for a short time. Much was lost then. Much bonus time was gained, along with a multi-faceted identity.
WEBSITE: http://themaven.synthasite.com
Monday, July 26, 2010
More "Best of the Decades"? Books
JAMES HILTON's "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" (1934) rates 5* only because of its brevity and ease of reading. Rather than being touched by Mr. Chips's personality I became extremely annoyed by his umph-ing interspersed speech. As my school Latin is quite rusty, I missed almost all the jokes, too. JA
MARJORIE KINNAN RAWLINGS's "Cross Creek", published in 1942 is a mildly interesting perspective on daily life in rural 1940's Florida, including outrageous political incorrectness as well as some insightful ecological concerns. 5*. non-fiction. JA
L. H. Oswald is the "Libra" in DON DELILLO's novel published in 1988. Unless one is a big fan of J. F. K. assassination theories, the feeling and ambiance are the thing. I was only 11 when this thing went down. So which characters are unreal in this "historical fiction"? I wouldn't know. But the tension is palpable and Jacqueline still gets brain matter on her. 7*. JI
I tried to read "Midnight's Children" as my '80s book. No Way! 60 pages in I gave up, and had no clue what I had read.
"The Evolution Man or How I Ate My Father", by ROY LEWIS (1960), is a humorous tale of the Pleistocene Age, including the discovery of fire, with amusing insight into humans' progress. 7*. JA
BERYL BAINBRIDGE's "The Birthday Boys" (1991) features strong characters in a descriptive, touching fictional account of a 1912 try (Wales) for the South Pole. 8*. JA
MARJORIE KINNAN RAWLINGS's "Cross Creek", published in 1942 is a mildly interesting perspective on daily life in rural 1940's Florida, including outrageous political incorrectness as well as some insightful ecological concerns. 5*. non-fiction. JA
L. H. Oswald is the "Libra" in DON DELILLO's novel published in 1988. Unless one is a big fan of J. F. K. assassination theories, the feeling and ambiance are the thing. I was only 11 when this thing went down. So which characters are unreal in this "historical fiction"? I wouldn't know. But the tension is palpable and Jacqueline still gets brain matter on her. 7*. JI
I tried to read "Midnight's Children" as my '80s book. No Way! 60 pages in I gave up, and had no clue what I had read.
"The Evolution Man or How I Ate My Father", by ROY LEWIS (1960), is a humorous tale of the Pleistocene Age, including the discovery of fire, with amusing insight into humans' progress. 7*. JA
BERYL BAINBRIDGE's "The Birthday Boys" (1991) features strong characters in a descriptive, touching fictional account of a 1912 try (Wales) for the South Pole. 8*. JA
Monday, July 5, 2010
Genius...Brilliant......and ?Blonde?
Originally published in installments in Harper's Bazaar, 1925's "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" by ANITA LOOS fits all the criteria for a great book: 1) It's very good. 2) It's very short. 3) It's good and short.
It is a diary by a blonde for blondes. Just by co-instance, nothing much practically happens (as Lorelei would say). One thing I did learn: "...it seems that Munchen is practically full of Germans..." She means Munich.
I can only give it 8 1/2* as it can get a bit over-underwhelming (cause I'm not blonde). JI
WEBSITE
It is a diary by a blonde for blondes. Just by co-instance, nothing much practically happens (as Lorelei would say). One thing I did learn: "...it seems that Munchen is practically full of Germans..." She means Munich.
I can only give it 8 1/2* as it can get a bit over-underwhelming (cause I'm not blonde). JI
WEBSITE
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
