Survivor: Nicaragua Episode 3 - Random Thoughts

* Marty might have won the battle, but methinks he is going to lose the war. He seems like a generally smart guy, but his Jimmy Johnson paranoia was truly bizarre, as was his unflinching desire to oust him from the team as soon as possible. For starters, I don't for a second believe that anyone - anyone - would grant Johnson the million dollars. But let's suppose that Marty is correct in his assumptions. Why not dump Dan this time and Jimmy next time? Clearly, there was enough support to get rid of Jimmy. Congratulations, your tribe is now weaker.

* It's early yet, but I'm fairly certain that my two favorite players thus far are Tyrone (aka "The Eyebrow") and the woman that looks like she should be playing Peter Pan in a stage production (Jill?). Sadly, there's not a single appealing player from the younger tribe.

(This is the part where Kid Vegas will come in and comment about some nubile young female from that tribe and say how I'm not salivating all over her because my wife might read this post or something like that. Sadly, this is not the case - there's really no one that stands out, aside from the really annoying people like Naonka ow whatever her name is. Jud, while an idiot, is at least an entertaining idiot - he hasn't really gotten on my nerves yet. Anyway.)

* The Jimmy T. vs. Marty struggle for power ought to be mildly grating; each is wildly insecure, and each is most likely willing to ostracize themselves from the rest of their tribe in an effort to prove their dominance. How predictable and boring and lame - I won't miss either of them.

* I feel genuinely bad for Dan, but he has no business being there, much less claiming that he's a "strong player" (more on this in a sec). Your guns aren't doing you a damn bit of good, Danny Boy - unless there's a bench press competition coming up, you and your bum knee and arthritis and general old-man-ness (he's 63) are doing nothing but dragging your team down.

* The most telling part of the show for me was towards the end of Tribal Council. Probst asked each and every one of the tribe whether or not they thought they "were one of the weaker players on the tribe."

Not a single one of them responded with "weak in what way?" or answered anything like that - they all claimed that, no, they were not weak, which indicated to me that they all assumed he meant physically, and no one would claim to be that save for Jimmy, something that I predicted. A true leader will admit to their strengths and weaknesses. Remember, the fools that claim "I'm too weak to play the game" are often the same people that end up sticking around for awhile; the vain ones fooling themselves by claiming strength are sent home. Yes, Jimmy went home, but I think his fate was sealed prior to giving that answer.

* I still can't believe that guy's name is "Benry." Next year, I demand a player named "Billiam."

Until next time...

And then...

30 dAyS oF cRaZy: The Shining

And so...it ends. 30 crazy days. 30 days filled with memorable characters and memorable movies, all overloaded with nuttiness. With schizos and serial killers and "happy friendly" insanity and "angry scary" insanity.

My many thanks, once again, to the 25 people (I think I counted right - a few super awesome folks did more than one) who contributed to this madness. All kinds of movies and all kinds of writers = all kinds of styles and all kinds of awesomeness. We cap it off today with Jason (of Invasion of the B Movies) and his "review" of The Shining.

Click here for the full lineup, and click here for prior entries.

Based on a true story...



The Shining.

The Shining, The Shining, The Shining, The Shining.

The Shining.

The Shining was at first a novel by Stephen King, which I've read and enjoyed. Then Stanley Kubrick decided to turn it into a movie. And that movie is what I'm talking about now.

Ok, let's be honest. It's the fucking "Shining". Everybody seen the fucking "Shining". Even anti-horror people like Dylan here seen "The Shining". What could I possibly say about it? It's a classic movie with great performances.

But I was not about to flake out on this review. Dylan is counting on me, and dammit, I must get a 300 or more word article about "The Shining" to him. So while looking at the DVD and the release year (the '70's), I had an idea.

I'm about 30 years old, give or take. Of course I'm gonna love "The Shining". But what does the youth of today think? I decided to go out onto the streets and grab two random teenagers. And they are over 18. Cause anyone younger kinda freaked out when I ran up to them and said "You must come to my place so I can show you something old!" Didn't help I forgot to put a shirt on.

So I got two guys named Brent and Tyler.

Brent (top) and Tyler (bottom)

They are 18 years old. I sat them down and they watched The Shining. Afterwards I simply asked them "Tell me, in your own words, what you just saw." The following is what they said, word for word.

Brent: "So, like, this movie starts off and I thought it was like a drama or something. Cause it's about this dude-who played that dude?"

Tyler: "Jack Nichol-something."

Brent: "Oh. He's that golfer guy, right? Anyway. He was a drunk but now he's not and he gets a job to live in a hotel for a year or something."

Tyler: "Dude! Is that an actual job? Can you really just live in a empty hotel for a year?"

Brent: "I don't know but we should get that job. Just live in a hotel, party, and drink! WOO!!!"

Tyler: "Anyway, like, I guess this Jack guy is a hipster cause he had a typewriter. Why he didn't bring his computer is confusing."

Brent: "Well, duh. Computers were, like, huge back in like the 60's or whenever this movie happened! They had to leave them at home. Plus I doubt they got wifi up in the mountains."

Tyler: "'ight, 'ight. So Jack is married to this skinny chick, I think she was a model-"

Brent: "Yeah, dude, she was a judge on America's Next Top Model. Twiggy or something. Bree watches it."



Tyler: "Oh. Well, so Jack, Twiggy, and this kid named Danny all live in this hotel. And Danny he's like psychic or something cause he can read the thoughts of this old black dude."

Brent: "Yeah. And not a whole lot happens in the first hour of this movie. Just Jack writing, Twiggy being skinny, and Danny riding this weird bike thing."

Tyler: "But then, he comes across twins! And they came out of fuckin' nowhere, dude!"



Brent: "It was intense!"

Brent & Tyler (Singing): Double girls alll the way across the hall!!!!

Tyler: "They talked and it turns out...they're fucking ghosts!"

Brent: "Yeah, and this entire hotel is haunted! There's ghosts all over the place! And Jack is talking to them like they're still alive. Danny keeps seeing them. The only one who didn't was Twiggy."

Tyler: "Probably cause she was too skinny. When you're hungry, you can't see ghosts, dude."

Brent: "Tru dat, tru dat. Oh, so winter arrives and Jack is going crazy or something. He walks around. More ghosts. Twiggy is skinny. Danny talks in this demon voice. It's all kinda slow. Then, fuckin' Jack goes into this hotel room."

Tyler: "Oh dude. That scene, man. That chick was all hot at first. Then she turned into Kathy Bates! I guess this was before that one movie where she got naked in that hot tub with that guy. What was his name?"

Brent: "I don't know what the fuck you're talking about, man. Anyway, so Kathy Bates is a ghost and she's all rotting and shit and this freaked me out. Then it got boring again. I was like "Dude, why do you bore us for an hour, scare us for 5 seconds, then bore us again? The fuck kind of horror movie is this?"

Tyler: "Yeah, dude. Like where were all the scenes of cats scaring people or it only being a dream! That's a fuckin' horror movie right there!

Brent: "More stuff happened and a bunch of blood came from an elevator. Jack just loses his shit and-oh dude! The Simpson's did this movie! Remember? Homer was like out of beer and shit so he went crazy! I thought this movie seemed familar!"

Tyler: "Ohh, yeah. That episode was funny. This movie...not as much."

Brent: "There was an interesting chase scene through some bushes."

Tyler: "No, dude, you forgot something. Danny psychically calls the old black dude and the old black dude spends half the movie driving to this hotel in a blizzard and the moment he walks into the hotel, he gets fuckin' stabbed. Like mothafuckin KA-BAM! In the FUCKING CHEST! I mean, Jesus, what a fucking waste of time!"

Brent: "The ending I didn't really understand. Ok so Jack is chasing Danny around the bushes with an ax. Danny and Twiggy reunite and they kinda leave. Jack is just frozen and we get a picture of Jack back in like some olden time. Like 1980 or some shit. So...did he time travel? Is that what happened?"

Tyler: "Dude! He froze himself...backwards! That's so awesome!"

Brent: "So is this movie going to be remade? That 'Transformers' guy could remake this movie! And get Justin Bieber to play Danny!"

Tyler: "Dude, Bieber would so kill in this role!"

Brent: "Anyway, that was this boring ass movie. Where's our money?"

So I paid them in 200 Twitter Bucks (That's a real thing, right?). Goes to show you what this generation knows.

For real, "The Shining" is pretty good. Brilliantly acted and filmed. And it is creepy as hell. If you honestly haven't seen this movie, and you're over the age of 25, then do yourself a favor and watch this movie. You won't regret it.

-Jason

Tomorrow: Is October. 30 Days of Crazy be finished. Back to regular programming.

And then...

The State of the Cabins (9/29/10)

Things to Click On
* If you haven't checked out Rachel's unique take on the old Screenshot game, you must, and soon. She's done four of them now (new ones released every Saturday), and the latest was my favorite yet. (Rachel's Reel Reviews)

* I love it when Daniel gets all thoughtful and introspective. Really. (Getafilm)

* Well, Nick's got his Vlog, but Jason's got his new "Jason Made a Video" series. Like Rachel, it's pretty young (he just posted #5). Though all are entertaining, #3 was far and away the tops. Outstanding! (Invasion of the B Movies)

* Speaking of Nick, in honor of our fellow LAMBcaster James, he counted down his Favorite Tree Moments. Ha! (Random Ramblings of a Demented Doorknob)

* I have some serious issues with the choices here, but countdowns of Ahnuld's top flicks should always be rewarded. (Anomalous Material)

Movies watched for the first time (non-theatrically) since last week:
* G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra - I really don't know what I can possibly say about this while still respecting myself. It's like it has a built-in excuse: if you watch this film on purpose and then proclaim it to be idiotic, then you're the moron for watching it in the first place. What else did you think it was going to be? I mean, have you seen the cartoon?

I grew up on the cartoon - it was probably my favorite at age 10 or so - and had little interest in seeing this. I had hoped that they would have either a) taken it a bit more seriously or b) go full-on cartoony - my biggest gripe with this adaptation is the lack of color. Joes wearing all-black outfits? I wanted this and this and this. Instead, we got a movie that had no shortage of ridiculous action...with booooooooooring characters. Sure, Jo-Go was a great get to cast as the future Cobra Commander, but he spends 95% of this flick bottled up as some scientist with crap covering up his face. The stage is setup for Destro, but again, 95% of the flick he's boring old Christopher Eccleston. Channing Tatum and Dennis Quaid? Two of the most boring movie stars of the last 30 years.

At least there were a few plusses. Marlon Wayans was a welcome sight as some G.I. Joe character I don't even remember. They brought on two of my favorite character (and foreign) actors in Said Taghmaoui and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, but of course, both have glorified bit parts as we focus on the boring white guys. Sienna Miller is appealing in many ways as The Baroness, and it's always nice to see the Bizarro Billy Zane (aka Arnold Vosloo), playing Zartan here.

It's just ok. Stupid as hell, but if you must satisfy your nostalgia bone and give it a watch, I won't blame you.

Fletch's Film Rating:

	Expectation: "I want you to punch me as hard as you can."
	Reality: "Whatever.."

LAMBScore:

P.S. - I still have yet to figure out - at all - why Snake Eyes has lips. It's fucking weird, and worst of all, pointless. If you're gonna change a beloved character like that, at least make it worthwhile.

Music I'm currently obsessed with:
Is it possible to be obsessed with something I haven't heard yet? Royksopp's Senior was released on September 13, but even the great Amazon doesn't have anything other than the dreaded "Import," a license to charge 2-3x as much for essentially the same product. Much as I want it, I can wait.

Book I'm currently reading:
* Still Chuck Klosterman's novel Downtown Owl. Still digging it just as much as I did the first time around. The only downside to this thing is it's length - it's only around 250 pages, and when you get a book that you really love, that's nowhere near enough.

Next up? Well, I put out some feelers on the Facebook page and got some recommendations (thank you very much). Put a few of them on the list, so stay tuned.

And then...

30 dAyS oF cRaZy: Nurse Betty

Remember back when Neil LaBute had a good reputation? Ah, those were the good old days. Steve Miller of Cinema Steve is back and takes on his third feature - after In the Company of Men and Your Friends and Neighbors - the black comedy Nurse Betty.

Stay tuned throughout September for nuttiness and zaniness of all varieties - click here for the full lineup, and click here for prior entries.

Nurse Betty (2000)
Starring: Renee Zellweger, Morgan Freeman, Chris Rock, Greg Kinnear, Tia Texada, and Crispin Glover
Director: Neil LaBute
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

The shock of witnessing her husband's murder drives Betty (Zellweger) into a fantasy world where she believes she is the first love of her favorite soap opera character. She sets off for California to reunite with him. Meanwhile, two hired killers (Freeman and Rock) are tracking her, intending to eliminate the only witness to their crime and to recover drugs they believe she has stolen.


"Nurse Betty" is a sharply written comedy that delivers a multi layered message about how expectations and dreams drive us forward and shape our actions. Three of the film's major characters are in love with an ideal that has a physical counterpart but really doesn't exist outside their imagination. (Betty is in love with a kindhearted, romantic heart surgeon whose personality is very different from the actor who portrays him; Betty comes to represent the perfect woman to the hit man played by Morgan Freeman who falls in love with her picture as he tracks her westward; and Greg Kinnear comes to view Betty as his ticket to the next stage of his career, as he believes her to be a fantastically talented improv performer instead of a poor woman suffering from a dissociative disorder).

As is often the case when supported by a good script, every actor in this film is at their best. Even Chris Rock, who usually annoys the heck out of me, is funny at the right times and dramatic at the right times.

Of particular note in this stand-out cast is Morgan Freeman. While Freeman is playing the character he seems to play most often--a professional killer who is smarter and a little less psychotic than is typical for members of that profession--he is perhaps better here than any other of the times he's played it. While he usually manages to present a charming and somewhat sympathetic character no matter how amoral he ultimately turns out to be, his character here is one that you will find yourself having real sympathy for when all his hopes and dreams are shattered toward the end of the movie, and he ends up paying a heavy price for his life of violence.

This is one of those movies I sat down to watch with no idea what to suspect--the leads have all appeared in a wide variety of genres--but it was a pleasant surprise. The script is well written with not a single moment wasted, and every performer featured gives a top-notch performance. It's definitely worth checking out by anyone who enjoys a well-crafted romantic comedies. While "Nurse Betty" might not have a storybook ending, every character who deserves a happy ending gets one, and you're guaranteed to be left feeling warm and fuzzy as the end credits roll.

Tomorrow: Jason finishes this thing with The Shining.

And then...

30 dAyS oF cRaZy: Taxi Driver

I did not receive a post from Travis today for Taxi Driver, but at the least, I can offer you this sequel that will never happen.




Tomorrow: Steve returns fresh from a visit to Nurse Betty.

And then...

March to Box Office Madness 2010 Final Results

We have a winner! Some six months later, the spring/summer box office season can finally be declared finished, and with it, the March to Box Office Madness 2010 game.

It was a tight race all the way down to the wire, but our winner, with 65 points (out of a possible 76) is Justin G., who topped the "record" for total points (I say "record" because this is only the second year of the game) of 64 points by last year's winner, Wayne (of Reel Whore). (Wayne ended this year tied for 14th with 49 points.) Bringing up the rear, with an impossible 10 points, was Clarabela, who obviously will need a partner next year (sorry, I had to call you out - it takes talent to score that low in this game!).

As it happens, I got 2nd place with 62 points, but since I was one of the prize-givers for 2nd place (see below), I'm going to defer. The prize I was scheduled to give to the 2nd place winner will be added to the 1st place booty; likewise, I'll ask Wayne to transfer his 2nd place offering to the 3rd place player, Neil A, who tallied 60 points. I will be in touch with all prize winners and offerers in the next few days to co-ordinate efforts.

First place:
* From Rachel of Rachel's Reel Reviews, a $25 gift certificate to a large movie theater chain (one in the area of the winner),

* From Joshua of The Discordic Adventures of Fnord, a set of five DVDs, including A Nightmare on Elm Street (Limited Special), My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, and Revolver.

Second Place:
* From me, the standard DVD of your choosing (up to $19.99) from Amazon, (going to the first place winner)

* From Wayne, a set of two DVDs, Transformers and Spider-Man 3. As Wayne stated, "Both of those should be appropriate since they are summer box office breakers." (going to the third place winner)

Third Place:
* From This Guy of This Guy Over Here, "If I finish my eBook by then, I'll be happy to throw that in the pool of prizes... value will be $4.99 haha... but that's a big IF,"

* From me, a brand new t-shirt of insignificant value.

To view the final bracket in PDF form, click here (or if you wish to save, do a "Save Target As"): http://blogcabins.webs.com/march2madnessmaster2010final.pdf

Here are the complete and final standings; if you think I've made an error, be sure to let me know within three (3) days of this post. Due to the possibility of an error, prizes will not be sent until such time has passed. Click here to read all about the game.

Finally - THANKS FOR PLAYING! I look forward to doing it again next year.

NAME	TOTAL
Justin G.	65
Dylan	62
Neil A.	60
T.L. bugg	57
Joshua R.	57
Lindsay S.	55
Fitz	53
Keith	52
This Guy Over Here	51
Luke T.	51
Ruben	51
JacksSmirkingRevenge	50
Dodge This!	50
Nick	49
Wayne	49
Jess	48
Andy H.	47
Matt N.	47
John B.	47
Alex S.	47
Scott K.	46
Sebastian G.	44
Mike M.	43
Daniel	43
BD79	41
Travis M.	40
Linda S.	40
Jason S.	38
R.D. P.	37
Rachel	37
Scot N.	37
Joaquin	35
Kid Vegas	34
Vancetastic	33
Aiden R.	32
Andrew K.	32
Michaël P.	30
Clarabela	10

All box office data from Box Office Mojo.

And then...

Fletch's Film Review: Iron Man 2

Iron Man 2 is not going to age well.

It's been less than five months since I stepped into the theater for Jon Favreau's follow-up to the surprisingly good (great?) and wildly successful premier entry to the cinematic telling of Tony Stark's story, and it's already paled quite a few shades. The over-the-top (he wuvs his birdie) Russian villain played by pentagenarian Mickey Rourke, the reduction of Robert Downey, Jr.'s character from human to quip-mobile, several poorly developed characters (Black Widow, Sam Rockwell's Stark clone), and the blatant commercialization of the upcoming Avengers movie(s) will all overshadow any pluses the film might've had to its credit.

It's a shame - the film starts off strong, with Stark taking his bravado to Congress, declaring himself to have successfully privatized world peace. But before long, we're shoehorned into an awkward action sequence that forces Stark to commandeer the race car he owns merely so that Rourke's Vanko can slice the vehicle in half. Tony's arrogance aside, his move is the equivalent of Jerry Jones demanding that Tony Romo tosses him thee rock. The man wouldn't make it onto the field, and if he did, he'd be killed in mere seconds. Bizarre as that sequence is, it's not exactly smooth going from there. The rest of the film can probably be summed up as such: Tony drunk, Tony bickering with Pepper, Tony fighting with War Machine, Justin Hammer bickering with Vanko, Tony reconciling with his dead father, the longest, most pointless chase scene that results in a completely underwhelming, over-too-quickly showdown with Vanko. Movie over.

It may not be a step down quite as severe as the one from Batman Returns to Batman Forever, but it's not far off.

Fletch's Film Rating:

	Expectation: "Darn tootin."
	Reality: "You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you."

LAMBScore:

And then...

30 dAyS oF cRAzY: Primal Fear

It was a wise choice casting an unknown for the part of Aaron Stampler in Primal Fear, but it was a downright genius move to have that unknown be Edward Norton. I hope that whoever made that decision won the award at that year's Casties or something, and that they get perks to this day from Ed. MovieNut14 explains why.

Stay tuned throughout September for nuttiness and zaniness of all varieties - click here for the full lineup, and click here for prior entries.

I like seeing or reading debuts. Some authors (The Catcher in the Rye, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), directors (The Shawshank Redemption, Moon) and actors (To Have and Have Not, Primal Fear) seem to get off on the right foot. Then again, it isn't the case for all.

Arrogant high-powered attorney Martin Vail (Richard Gere) jumps at the chance to represent Aaron Stampler (Edward Norton), an alter boy accused of murdering the Archbishop. As Vail gets more into the case, he discovers there's more than it seems...

Much like how Vail learns more about the case, as I get more into the movie I learned more about Norton's role. When we're first introduced to Aaron, you couldn't believe that he would be responsible for such a vicious murder. But as the movie goes on, your thoughts drastically change.

The main reason for why Primal Fear hasn't slipped into obscurity is because of Norton's performance. I'm trying not to give away too much, but I can honestly say that Norton deserved the Oscar instead of Cuba Gooding, Jr.. Much more.

As for the rest of Primal Fear, it's a very good courtroom drama. Gere and Norton act alongside a good supporting cast including Laura Linney, Frances McDormand and Alfre Woodard. When it's over, expect to have your mind blown.

My Rating: ****1/2

Tomorrow: Travis takes a ride from the infamous Taxi Driver.

And then...

Poll results; new poll

The winner - in a barnburner - of the Grindhouse faux trailer you'd most like to see next is..Werewolf Women of the SS. Yeah, good luck with that one. Who knows - it could happen, but I seriously doubt it. Thanksgiving, on the hand, I'd say that's almost a certainty.

New poll takes a look back at the 30 dAyS oF cRaZy blog-a-thon, asking you, from a select group - who is the nuttiest of the nutty?

And then...

30 dAyS oF cRAzY: A Beautiful Mind

So, John Nash - crazy, genius, conspiracy theorist, schizophrenic? More like all of the above.  Today, Jess from A Nerd Like Me gets inside his...no, I just can't say it.

Stay tuned throughout September for nuttiness and zaniness of all varieties - click here for the full lineup, and click here for prior entries.



I have a confession to make... I chose 'A Beautiful Mind' as my blog-a-thon film because I thought I hated it.  I'd popped the film into the little box in my head marked 'crappy' and left it there since I first watched it years ago.  For some reason though, I was looking forward to re-watching it for this post, and here is the conclusion I have come to... it's bad... really really bad.

'A Beautiful Mind' tells the story of John Forbes Nash Jr.  He looks like this.



The film is based on a biography of the same name, written by Sylvia Nasar. It tells of his struggles to achieve greatness in the field of mathematics and, more interestingly (apparently) with his struggle to overcome paranoid schizophrenia.  It's written by Akiva Goldsman and directed by Ron Howard.

The film opens with Nash studying at Princeton.  He is coarse and uncomfortable and Russell Crowe festoons the character with a remarkable array of ticks.  He doesn't make eye contact, rubs his forehead, stutters and is painted with 'crazy' from the start.  His eccentric English roommate Charles is a lovely contrast to John's awkwardness. John is obsessed with having an 'original idea'.  He doesn't go to his classes, doesn't eat and takes his work to the campus bars.  The pretense of the film is therefore, ruined from the start.  John Nash is so obviously crazy that the audience immediately begins to question the set up. Why do none of his other friends talk to Charles?  

By the time I got to the main event - John's obsession with the Russians and certainty that he is being followed, the rest of the film is completely obvious.  What follows is a patronizing rundown of 'crazy man' cliches.  He's laughed at and mocked by students at the university.  He leaves his baby in a bath of water.  He falls out of his wheelchair in the mental hospital.  He realises his imaginary friends aren't real. He asks for another chance at Princeton.  He wins a nobel prize! Victory!  All is well again.  And he does all of it with perhaps the most syrupy, overly sentimental soundtrack I've ever heard.



The film takes a number of liberties with its source material.  Firstly, Nash's hallucinations were only ever auditory.  He never actually saw things that weren't there.  This would obviously present the filmmakers with a huge challenge and so the characters of Charles and Parcher were included to show his breakdown in a much more dramatic way.  The film describes Nash as taking 'newer medications' later in life when in fact he took none after 1970.  This was changed by the screenwriter in order to avoid the suggestion that denying medication can work for all schizophrenics. The film also misses out that Nash fathered a child before meeting Alicia but abandoned the family before the baby was born and that he and Alicia divorced in 1963, remarrying in 2001.  Again, I understand the reasons for missing out these facts but I can't help but feel, had they been included, the film would feel more real and less cliched.

I realise that many people love this film so, to make this a little more well rounded, there were things I liked.  The film looks lovely.  The period details are spot on - I love the Nash's kitchen.

You can't deny that Crowe puts in an impressive performance, especially in the later part of the film.  When they begin to age him and he returns to Princeton, his performance feels much more authentic and calm.  



Paul Bettany is wonderful in most things and he doesn't disappoint here.  The character was originally American but, after seeing Bettany in A Knights Tale, Howard and Goldsman changed their mind.  And who can blame them? If he played a variation of that character in everything he'd do all right.  



I think the heart of film belongs to Jennifer Connelly.  She won an Oscar for her performance and I really think she deserved it.  She is strong, vibrant and a pleasure to watch.  



I've been trying to decide what this film adds to the debate about the portrayal of the mentally ill in Hollywood.  I think films which deal with subject in a realistic way can be powerful and interesting, as well as entertaining.  Unfortunately 'A Beautiful Mind' is the other kind.  It’s a film that exploits sentimentality and cliché in an attempt to win awards.  It's a shame that the story of an obviously brilliant and complex man can be reduced to this.

Tomorrow: MovieNut14 isn't scared of Primal Fear.

And then...

Stained Glass Cinema Sunday (#111)

BEGINNER


EXPERT


Standings:
J.D. - 34
TheGreatWhiteDope - 26.5
Dreamrot (smacdonn) - 7
Nick, Wendymoon - 6
Clive Dangerously, Justin - 5
simoncolumb, Steel11Kane (Kano), BD79, Rachel - 4
Jason/Daniel, David Bishop, JLG - 3
TJMAC510 - 2.5
Evan Derrick, Jason Soto, Andy, TheAnswerMVP2001, Alex - 2
TonyD, Luke Harrington, Adam Ross, Anders, Dave, Big Mike Mendez, Nic Cage, CaptainRon19, Anh Khoi Do, Tom - 1

Here are the altered/actual posters from last time:

And then...

LAMBcast #40: Summer wrap-up

Kai, James, Nick, Dylan and long-ago LAMBcaster Paul put a bow on the films of the summer of 2010. Highs, lows, and everything in between. Also on tap:

* Listener Feedback
* LAMB of the Week: Japan Cinema
* Trailer Talk: The Fighter
* Last LAMB Standing (x2)

For the LAMB of the Week, we take a look at Japan Cinema:



If you'd like your site to be a future LAMB of the Week, hit me up via email and I'll add you to the queue.

Music provided royalty-free by Kevin MacLeod's Incompetech website. Big thanks to Kevin for providing this service. The LAMBcast loves feedback, too. Either here in the comments section or to blogcabins@yahoo.com or to our Facebook page. Also, we're on iTunes, and would still love a review, even if it's a bad one.

Thanks for listening!

And then...

The CoW (9/19 - 9/25)

The winner of the Chong Li Memorial Comment of the Week is...

The Comment of the Week goes to...

Blake, who in response to my zombie movie/electricity query, responded with:

"Hmmm. I think in a world where the dead come to life you just have to accept that they're not playing by the rules."

And then...

30 dAyS oF cRAzY: Falling Down

There's a point where something crosses over from beyond a black comedy into something darker, where you go from laughing ath things you probably shouldn't be laughing at to catching yourself thinking "whoa, this isn't funny anymore." Falling Down is all over that point, that place of darkness, and today, The Lightning Bug examines just why that is. Great movie - I really could go for another viewing.

Stay tuned throughout September for nuttiness and zaniness of all varieties - click here for the full lineup, and click here for prior entries.

From the first shot, a intense close-up of teeth that pulls out slowly to reveal the sweaty upper lip, the eyes, and the horn rim glasses of William ‘D-Fens’ Foster, director Joel Schumacher establishes the pressure cooker feeling pervades his 1993 film Falling Down. As he sits in a traffic jam, the inside of his car seems to be visibly steaming with heat as he sits motionless. The world is a cacophony of sound. The air conditioner doesn’t work. The window won’t roll down. A child stares. The sharp, pointed,painted on teeth of a stuffed Garfield doll suddenly become filled with malice. William Foster has had enough, and all he wants to do is go home. So he gets out of his car and begins a journey that will take him far into the depth of Los Angeles and far out of his mind.

These days Joel Schumacher is best remembered as the man who put nipples on Batman, but in the late ’80’s he was on an incredible run of films that conventional wisdom would say started with 1985’s St. Elmo’s Fire. If you ask me it kicked off two years earlier with D.C. Cab. I mean that film had Busey in it, and that alone merits it a mention in a post about crazy people in films. After looking at all sides of death with Flatliners, The Lost Boys, and Dying Young, Schumacher turned his eye to the world of the living with Falling Down. The script by actor and occasional screenwriter Ebbe Roe Smith was so prescient of the tension building on the streets of L.A. that while the film was being shot, the riots that followed the O.J. Simpson verdict broke out.

After Falling Down came out, Michael Douglas’ performance as the out of work defense worker William Foster became the poster child for the “angry white man”. In many publications his character was cast as the embodiment of the marginalized white male. A man feeling attacked by the wilting economy, his broken marriage, and the perceived infringements of his liberty by government, immigrants, and big corporations. While there is always a fringe element that’s political or moral beliefs stray outside the norm, it always scared me that Foster was sometimes perceived as a heroic character. Falling Down is being included in 30 Days of Crazy not because the world around the protagonist had gone mad, but rather because Foster becomes completely unhinged, disregarding anything but his own rapidly warping moral compass. In simple terms, he was a massive, massive wing nut.

Many of us might have a passing daydream that we could leave our car in traffic, demand that the fast food place serve breakfast after the cut off time, or call shenanigans on a construction crew repairing a road that seems just fine. The average person will stay in their car, settle for an apple pie and just call it breakfast, and just find an alternate route around traffic all the while saving up their anger to take out on friends, wives, husbands or other relations like normal people do. ‘D-Fens’ Foster felt that the world had taken everything from him and it was time to take something back. When I watch the news and see some extremist, homegrown or foreign, taking lives to prove their point or moral stance, my thoughts instantly go back to the special insanity exhibited by Michael Douglas’ character.

While Falling Down also features an excellent performance by Robert Duvall as the cop spending his last day on the job following Foster’s bloody path, Duvall’s solid acting is quickly overshadowed by Douglas’ more inspired character and performance. In 1993, Falling Down served as a warning to a world that would see homegrown terrorism and radicals rise up in the next few years during events such as Waco, Ruby Ridge, and the Okalahoma City bombing. All of these groups were lead in some way by white American men who felt like their voice had gone unheard and had clearly also gone Kookoo for Cocoa Puffs. Today we live in a world where folks regularly show up at political rallies with a firearm in tow, and people like William Foster that sit in their homes absorbing a stream of politically television designed to feed the ostracized‘s paranoia. Falling Down should serve as more than just a reflection of the early nineties tensions. It is also a warning that there will always be a danger in society lurking as close as the next disturbed person that gets pushed too far.

Tomorrow: Jess gets all cozy inside A Beautiful Mind.

And then...

30 dAyS oF cRaZy: Secret Window

What is it about writers and insanity?  There are lots of famous ones, and there are plenty of famous fictional ones.  Mort Rainey might not be all that famous, but Stephen King is pretty familiar with the concept of nutty authors, as is Johnny Depp.  Steve Miller of Cinema Steve gets inside Mort's head.

Stay tuned throughout September for nuttiness and zaniness of all varieties - click here for the full lineup, and click here for prior entries.

Secret Window (2004)
Starring: Johnny Depp, John Turturro, and Maria Bello
Director: David Koepp
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

Mort Rainey (Depp) is a novelist on the verge of a burn-out when his life gets even worse: A maniac (Turturro) accuses him of plagiarising a story he wrote, and begins an ever-increasing campaign of violence and terror against Mort and those closest to him.


Based on a short story by Stephen King, "Secret Window" features a number of themes related to the darker side of the basically lonely professional life that every writer leads... and if one is familiar with those themes and how they've played out in King's works, where this movie ultimately goes is very predictable.

However, the cast is made up of competent actors--Depp once again shows what an excellent actor he is, and Turturro was downright frightening in most of his scenes--the script is well done, and the director clearly knows how to use all the tools in his bag of tricks to keep the suspense up.

Even if I realized early on that I was watching yet another movie about a crazy writer being stalked by himself, through a twisted part of his broken mind that has taken over, Koepp delivered a film that kept me watching due to nicely staged scenes and by managing to provide enough twists to keep me wondering if I was wrong about my assumptions. The script was also well enough written that I cared about the characters. I didn't want Johnny Depp's beleaguered writer to be a maniac, because
I liked him, and I certainly didn't want Maria Bello to end up in a shallow grave. It's one of those rare mystery movies where there really is no mystery if you've seen enough of them, but it is still well-crafted enough to make it worthwhile.

And it could be that this film was predictable to me because I've seen so many horror, mystery, and suspense films. Maybe viewers who haven't watched quite as many movies, or are as familiar with Stephen King's Package of Repeated Themes and Stereotypes would be taken aback by the "shocking twist ending."

Tomorrow: The Lightning Bug keeps Falling Down.

And then...

Burning Questions: Zombieland (and probably just about every other zombie movie)

Take a good hard look at the image you see below. I'll give you a second....

Do you see anything wrong with this picture? (Hint: You should.)

The lights are on but nobody's home

Maybe this is like some obvious zombie movie question and my zombie ignorance has kept me from knowing the answer, but the question was one that Mrs. Fletch actually posed whilst we were watching Zombieland:

Why is there electricity in this grocery store, or for that matter, anywhere within the world of Zombieland (or most other zombie flicks)?

We're not given an exact timeframe, but it's safe to assume that it's been at least 4-6 weeks since the zombie outbreak, and at the point in which the movie's events take place, we see less than 10 remaining humans.  Who's running the power plant?  There are probably half a dozen other similar questions to this regarding the world of zombies, but this one is burning the most.

And then...

30 dAyS oF cRaZy: Girl, Interrupted

I'd offer up something witty or meaningful about Girl, Interrupted, but frankly, I've not seen it and have never really had a desire to do so. Perhaps filmgeek's (of Final Cut) well-researched article will help to change my mind on that point (it has).

Stay tuned throughout September for nuttiness and zaniness of all varieties - click here for the full lineup, and click here for prior entries.

Girl, Interrupted

Say what you like about Girl, Interrupted – ‘it’s historically inaccurate’, ‘it’s an unfaithful adaptation’, ‘it glamorizes mental illness’ – it boasts career-best performances from most of its primarily female cast.

The film is based on the memoirs of Susanna Kaysen, who spent 18 months in a mental hospital as a teenager in the sixties. Despite the fictitious elements of the adaptation and the way each young actress plays a different ‘type’, I can’t help but feel that they did the issue of mental illness amongst teenage girls justice. As Winona Ryder notes in the DVD’s ‘making of’, this film could have been set in any time period and it would still resonate with viewers.

Ryder, along with Angelina Jolie and Brittany Murphy, gave her best performance to date in this film, yet all too often this is a mere side note in most articles on a film that ‘turns to melodrama’ (Ebert).

Winona Ryder – Susanna Kaysen

Pre-Girl, Interrupted films: Beetle Juice, Heathers, Edward Scissorhands, Beaches, Reality Bites, Little Women, Alien: Resurrection.

Post-Girl, Interrupted films: Autumn in New York, Mr Deeds, The Darwin Awards, A Scanner Darkly, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, Star Trek, Black Swan.

What I love most about Heathers is the concept and story, as opposed to Ryder’s role. As in Edward Scissorhands and Little Women, I had more of a fondness for the film as a whole than her performance. However, there’s no denying that her leading role in James Mangold’s drama marked a turning point in her career. She was offered more adult parts although her private life overshadowed her on-screen career and she quickly fell into obscurity. She arguably made a comeback with the animation A Scanner Darkly and her supporting role in Black Swan could see her edge her way back onto the A-list.

I found her performance in Girl, Interrupted to be subtle, vulnerable and under-stated and her career-best.

“In conveying her character's volatile emotional life Ms. Ryder gives her most penetrating screen performance, one that deserves extra credit for not pleading for our love.” – Stephen Holden, NY Times

Angelina Jolie – Lisa Rowe

Pre-Girl, Interrupted films: Hackers, Foxfire, Gia, The Bone Collector.

Post-Girl, Interrupted films: Gone in Sixty Seconds, Lara Croft: Tom Raider, Life Or Something Like It, Lara Croft Tom Raider: The Cradle of Life, Beyond Borders, Taking Lives, Shark Tale, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Alexander, Mr and Mrs Smith, The Good Shepherd, A Mighty Heart, Beowulf, Kung Fu Panda, Changeling, Wanted, Salt.

Jolie won the SAG, Golden Globe and Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Girl, Interrupted and it’s not surprising that the only other Oscar nomination she has received was for Changeling. Jolie excels in strong dramatic roles yet she always seems to end up in Hollywood trash like Tomb Raider, Mr and Mrs Smith and Salt. In Girl, Interrupted she was smart, funny and sexy and portrayed Lisa as both feisty and emotionally detached.

“Girl, Interrupted is always worth watching when Angelina Jolie steps to the fore. Somehow, she takes a thuddingly ill-conceived role and turns it into gold.” – Stephanie Zackarek, Salon

Brittany Murphy – Daisy Randone

Pre-Girl, Interrupted films: Clueless, Bongwater, Drive, Falling Sky, Zack and Reba, Drop Dead Gorgeous.

Post-Girl, Interrupted films: Cherry Falls, Sidewalks of New York, Don’t Say A Word, Riding in Cars With Boys, 8 Mile, Just Married, Uptown Girls, Little Black Book, Sin City, Never Was, Love and Other Disasters, The Dead Girl, The Ramen Girl, Deadline, Across the Hall.

Considering her break-through role was as alternative teen ‘Ty’ in Clueless, Murphy quickly went down the typical Hollywood starlet role. Following Girl, Interrupted she tried her hand at horror with Cherry Falls, thriller opposite Michael Douglas in Don’t Say A Word and went ‘edgy’ with 8 Mile. Then followed a string of under-the-radar rom-coms, the most noteworthy being Just Married which I have a particular soft spot for. With the exception of her supporting role in Sin City, Murphy went pretty much unnoticed on the big screen until her tragic and unexpected death last year. I’ve always favoured supporting characters in films and Daisy was the most interesting in Girl, Interrupted. The others didn’t have much of a back story (Lisa’s was never explained, Georgina’s and Polly’s varied depending on who was telling the story and it was never clear if there was actually anything wrong with Susanna besides a bit of acting out and a refusal to accept the way her life was turning out) and, in the wrong hands, Daisy could have been hard to identify with. Murphy’s performance was heartfelt and heart-breaking.

“No less effective is the sad and spooky Brittany Murphy as Daisy, a blank-eyed abuse victim.” – Liese Spencer, Sight & Sound

The trio’s personal lives may have received more media coverage than their film roles but more than ten years after the release of Girl, Interrupted, maybe it’s about time we remembered what they are (or, in Murphy’s case, were) capable of.

“Two reasons to see the film: Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie. Their characters never really get a plot to engage them, and are subjected to a silly ending, but moment to moment, they are intriguing and watchable. Jolie is emerging as one of the great wild spirits of current movies, a loose cannon who somehow has deadly aim. Ryder shows again her skill at projecting mental states; one of her gifts is to let us know exactly what she's thinking, without seeming to. Their work here deserves a movie with more reason for existing.”

Roger Ebert

Tomorrow: Steve Miller enters Bruce Springsteen's Secret Garden Johnny Depp's Secret Window.

And then...