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another stylish con movie
the brothers bloom is similar to any other con artist movie ever made. plenty of cons, people conning eachother, hard to tell who's really conning and who they're conning, etc. to me it gets old fast. this film is rather enjoyable, but overall it's a tired story and i felt like i've seen it many times before. adrian brody (bloom) is in love with rachel weisz (penelope), the woman they're scamming. the story gets repetetive fast, as brody wants the same thing from his brother mark ruffalo (stephen), the mastermind. there are some funny parts, lots of enjoyable moments, but as i said it's been done before. see matchstick men, house of cards, dirty rotten scoundrels, etc.
disturbing, funny, sad.
i found out about bob flanagan very recently and wanted to see this movie immediately. bob flanagan was born with cystic fibrosis and a hankering for masochism/bondage/torture. most people with cf die very young, but bob lived into his 40's. this documentary shows some of bob's final days and documents his career as a performance artist and comedian. he often incorperated his sexual fetishes into his performances. his wife collaborated with him to bring his fetish and art to life, and overall bob flanagan is an interesting person. he lived his entire life in pain and sickness, and his passion was masochism, pain he had control over.
the documentary is very well made, and shows plenty of very intense and extreme examples of his masochistic ways. including: his wife shoving a large ball up his ass, nailing his dick to a block of wood, piercings being performed, cutting, etc. in some ways bob flanagan is similar to gg allin, they both were masochists, ate shit, died young, and performed on stage. bob however is a likeable person, he is funny and had a sick sense of humor about everything. he had control over his obsession. gg however was unlikeable and had no control over his habits and addiction. sick is a very difficult film to watch. i often paused the movie to get over some of the disturbing imagery. bob died during the filming of the documentary, and we see plenty of footage of the death/burial. his wife seemingly exploited him in the end, and that was upsetting, but all part of the story i guess.
anarchism personified
after seeing the hangover and looking up director todd phillips' filmography, i stumbled upon this early documentary he made about the infamous punk rocker g.g. allin. the film was very well made, and informational.
i've heard some of allin's stuff, and it never impressed me much, but his stage presence and overall appearance always interested me. he was basically the most extreme punk rocker in history. he'd often shit on stage, hit fans in teh face, pull women by the hair, shove things up his asshole, cut himself, etc. all while performing. this documentary does a great job displaying g.g. and his life, and that makes it worth seeing. note that we see plenty of amazing spectacles that i mentioned. unfortunately, g.g. died during the post production of this film, so the final scene after the credits is of his death/funeral. in the end he died a loser, nothing heroic or punk rock about it. he overdosed on heroin.
i came away from this doc understanding g.g. allin a bit more, but still not giving much of a fuck about him. he was a rebel, anarchist, and a complete loser who had some fame and notoriety. i appreciate people like him however, and wish more people would try to be different, but alas punk is dead. 
it's old school, but in vegas
the hangover is a very funny movie, and it's obvious that it's by the director of 'old school'. 4 buddies go away to vegas for a weekend bachelor party, and all hell breaks loose. they wake up and can't remember anything that happened, and the groom to be is missing. this leads them on an adventure of epic proportion. there are many lulz and some great gags. the film overall isn't original or anything like that though, but that's ok. the film is a lot like very bad things, but less black comedy and more raunch. speaking of raunch, there's plenty of cussing, male nudity, some violence, etc. awesome! oh, and we see heather graham's boob, while she starts to breast feed.
spinal tap, but for realz
the story of anvil is quite a sad and hilarious one. anvil is a big hair 80's metal band that is still together after all these years. their story has ups and downs, but mostly downs, and we get to see it all with plenty of humanity/hilarity. lips (lead singer/guitar) and robb (drums) are the 2 remaining members of the group, and they have been rocking since they were 14. in the 80's they saw some fame, but didn't really go anywhere... even though they were respected by their peers, and had plenty of die hard fans. now, almost 30 years later they are still performing and searching for another big break. they often perform in front of less than 100 people, don't get paid much, and work shit jobs to make ends meet. this film will make you laugh, possibly cry, and certainly cheer. great stuff in this rock documentary.
a classic, maybe a bit dated
i have wanted to see midnight express for years now. there are many memorable quotes and scenes from it that have appeared in numerous current films. the film is based on the true story of billy hayes, an american who gets caught smuggling hash out of turkey. his experience in the turkish legal system and prison is brutal. the film exaggerates a lot, but it makes the film pretty gripping. some of the acting was just shit in my opinion. billy was good for the most part, but some parts he was trying too hard. also, the guy who plays his father sucked, bad. randy quaid has a part as a nutty inmate trying to escape. i've heard over the years how brutal the film is, and how badly they were tortured, etc. but in this day and age, it's not that shocking at all. i've seen much worse in film, and even on the news... whatever.
hyper realistic, but without purpose
the girlfriend experience is the latest film by steven soderbergh, who is generally hit and miss as a filmmaker. this is a miss on his part. the film is only 79 minutes, and almost all of them pointless. sasha grey (the pornstar) stars as chelsea, a high end hooker/girlfriend experience chick. meanwhile she has a real boyfriend who's ok with this all cause she makes great money. that's the whole film basically. it's shot kinda like a documentary, but the best part is the very realistic acting. the conversations are incredibly realistic, and seem unrehearsed. that's the good part, otherwise it's just a pointless little film. the story takes place during the 2008 presidential election for some reason. so there's tons ot discussion about the election, the economy, the state of israel, etc. but it serves absolutely no purpose. there isn't much conflict, and the film ends with us wondering why the hell we wasted our time.
by the way roger ebert gave this film 4 stars. he is quite the prostitute. any indie film that's not in the mainstream gets a great review. so damn annoying.
great coming of age tale, with some brilliant acting
ok, so it's been done before... a seemingly normal family has plenty of problems beneath the surface, but lymelife is fresh and original in many ways, and is very well done. scott bartlett (wonderfully portrayed by rory culkin) is a long island kid who is pursuing his first big crush, meanwhile his parents are having many problems including infidelity. adrianna is scott's love interest, and her parents are having plenty of problems as well. her father has lyme disease (hence the interesting title) and her mom is cheating with scott's father (alec baldwin). every actor does a very good job in this film, and there are a few funny parts that ease the tension.
it was fun seeing scott get his first love and the struggles of growing up, as it reminded me of my youth. alec baldwin and jill hennessey have a few great "fight" scenes, that seem a bit too real and that's what makes them so great. the film overall is unsettling and kinda depressing, but so well done that i thoroughly enjoyed it.
some of the best scenes featured kieran and rory culkin bickering like brothers... which they obviously are, so they were entertaining as hell.
political horror? this may get ugly...
so david arquette decided to make a horror film that is a scathing expose on the right wing conservative movement. we end up with the tripper... which features a serial killer who dresses up like ronald reagan, anti environmentalist loggers setting booby traps, a greedy concert promoter, a jealous right wing ex-boyfriend with a gun, and many more retarded little elements that don't do anything but push the agenda of the film (which i have no problem with btw). all this is supposed to be gripping political fodder... but of course it is not. it's just another slasher film, and some disjointed hippie vs. redneck mayhem thrown in.
the story is simple: group of teens head into the woods for a woodstock style festival with a bunch of hippie people. but there may be a killer on the loose, so the show gets shut down and people still party and die anyways. blah blah blah. seems like any friday the 13th film.
arquette has nothing original to say, and his direction was quite amateurish to say the least. the shots of hippie after hippie getting high was very lame. now there are some good things in the tripper to be sure. including jason mewes as a stoner who gets his hand cut off. his response to this act is, "WHAT THE FUCK, MAN?" and paul reubens is good as the sleezy festival promoter. david arquette has a small role as a redneck, and has top billing in the final credits as it is 'alphabetical'. what a douche.
a very moving film
