Philip Seymour Hoffman as Lester Bangs (Almost Famous)

Philip Seymour Hoffman is a great character actor, and everybody can remember him in half a dozen of great roles, where he plays everything, from an introverted nurse, into a world class vilain, but his portrayal of Lester Bangs in "Almost Famous", is still one of his finest, and for various reasons.

The first reason is because Lester Bangs was one of the greatest Rock Critics of all times which means that it will inevitably lead to a direct comparing, and how do you compare to somebody with such a charisma or even give him justice on screen, and the second is that "Almost famous" is semi-autobiographical, it's about the life of the writer-director Cameron Crowe, when he was a teen journalist for Rolling Stone Magazine, and touring the untied states with bands like The Who, or Led Zepplin, in the same fashion depicted in the film, which means that the film is also personal, and everybody knows what personal often means in cinema.

Lester Bangs was famous for his irreverance towards the "Rock Stars" which he saw as "people who were not that special", he is still very influencial as a rock critic years after his death at ayoung age, but the most important fact is that in the movie he acts as the mentor for Henry Miller (Cameron Crowe's alter ego), and that means that the task was not easy, considering the small screen time offred to SHH, who had to make the mentor-student believable to the student himself years later.

The movie is about the journey of Teenage William Miller and the audience into the glamourous world of seventies Rock music and touring, and it's fast paced life, pretences, and the whole "industry of cool" when it was just starting, and Lester is the Equivalent of a Yoda to a Luke SkyWalker, being more of a spiritual guide then a teacher, William calling him everytime he has a problem or an issue with the scary Rolling Stone editors, especially when he is writing the assignment of his life, for Rolling Stone magazine (of which Cameron Crowe is still the record holder as the youngest contributor)

Portraying vivid characters is difficult especially those who did actually exist, portraying Lester Bangs, is almost impossible, but PSH was right for the job, he makes you love the guy and care for him, and want to be tutoured by him about music and life, he has roughly four or five scenes in the movie, but these are probably some of the most memorables ones, he is the one who "been there, done that", so he helps the movie to advance, and of course makes you nostalgic to these days where journalist could write the way he did, or the way Hunter Thompson did, the days there was a margin of freedom in artistic press, way before MTV.

Philip Seymour Hoffman did not win an oscar for that performance, but he did win for his portrayal of another larger then life figure "Truman Capote", but I am sure that the Academy voters had his portryal of Bangs in mind when they casted their votes, i sure would have voted for him !!

and one last quote for the road...

LESTER BANGS
The only true currency in this bankrupt world if what we share with someone else when we're uncool.

I don't know if he ACTUALLY said that, but man it's so true !

Zong heng si hai / Once a Thief (1991)

First of all this title might be confusing, it has the same title of an alain delon movie i didn't know existed, and of course it has the same title as the remake which was made by the same director in 1996, but the latter was an attempt to please western audiences anyways, after his immigration to North America, but today we are talking about the greater one with Chow Yun-Fat, and Leslie Cheung.

So you have Joe , jim and "red bean" Cherie (Chow Yun-Fat, Leslie Cheung, Cherie Chung) who are orphans who were raised in the streets of Hong Kong, by their ruthless tutor hung, who is the one who taught them pickpocketing and other theft techniques, and their other parental figure, a cop who is the one who taught them about dignity and lover and loyalty.

Years later the trio has evolved and their techniques too, they are now a high tech (by the standards of 90) Art Burglars, who go only to the most expensive and safely keeped artworks, naturally in the south of France, which is somehow the officious capital of art burglary in the world.

So the First deal goes right, and they say "hey, let's pull up a last one before retiring" this is the one of course which goes wrong, and then escalating the stakes to a place where their loyalty to each other, to their parental figure is severly tested, in a journey that takes them back to Hong Kong.

Of course this story is a "seen it before" one and the reason is obvious, it's a John Woo movie, and a Hong Kong movie, which means that the story is a vehicle for two things which are the most important in this genre, the action scenes, and the stories of male loyalty, which is the righteous heir to the martial arts code of honour one, which is seen in all Hong Kong martial arts movies.

The action scenes are beautiful, from the car chases in the south of france (non digital, good old stunts) and the martial arts scenes, the acrobaties, and the world famous John Woo gunfight scenes which no one does better then him.

Speaking of which, i mean this movie has one vilain throwing cards as weapons, like in 90's videogames, and another one who attacks using flames, there is one thing you must be sure of, the John Woo influence on the Video Gaming industry is so enormous that they should pay him a percentage of every action game sold.

The rest is the obvious love they are forming, which center's shift throughout the film, and the beautiful loyalty between the characters played by Chow Yun Fat, and the late and great Leslie Cheung, and the relationship they have with their two parental figures, one representing the good in them, and the other one representing the evil.

You also have the stealing scenes with the laser beam classic scene and the locked in the safe one, these are some kind of genres musts, and when it comes to respect genre's codes, or to invent new ones, Mr Woo is the man.

So this is a Hong Kong movie like we love them, with an ounce of humour, and romance which is really well welcome, and please remember that this movie is about Hong Kong before it returned to China, and before Woo and Yun-Fat immigrated to United States, now making movies which are fit for western and international audiences, thus alienating their old fans.

And of course you have the multi talented and awesome Leslie Cheung, who died too young infortunatly, making him the right equivalent of a James Dean, or lately, a Heath Ledger.

To Catch a Thief (1955)

So many of you have heard critics and journalists say that George Clooney has “that” Cary Grant thing, and if you have been wondering about “that” thing, this movie will come with the answer.

John "the cat" Robie (Cary Grant) was notorious jewels thief, from the old school of "cat burglaras" a former trapezist who had converted to a more lucrative form of jumping around, he is now a retired gentelman of leisure in the south of France and attends to his vineyards.

but "The Cat" is back, a lot of rich tourists are robbed of their jewels diamonds or pearls, and Robey is the usual suspect, and as if it was not enough, a lot of his former resistance buddies during WW2 who work now at a touristic restaurant and who are on a fragile parole, are mad at him because of the suspicion around him, is jeopardyzing their new "respectable citizen" status.

The boss of the restaurant Mr Bertani introduces Robie to an important insurances man Mr Hughson, in the hope of unveiling the identity of the true cat, Mr Hughson introduces him to a new rich oil billionaire widow Jessie Stevens (Jessie Royce Landis), and her good mannered daughter Francie (Grace Kelly).

As the plot advances, Robie and Francie get more and more into each other, thus forming a love triangle with Robie's old flame, a gorgeous french girl, daughter of the wine waiter at mr Bertani's restaurant, this triangle's outcome leading into some dire consequences and revelations.

Now Picture this young fellas of the dot come generation, you have Mr Cary Grant in all his glory, Ms Grace Kelly in all her Charms, and of course the French Cote d'Azur in all it's glamour before it lost it thanx to zillions of Russian Businessmen, Gulf oil princes, Paparazzis, Japanese industralists, and shall i go on, even hip hop moguls.

This movie is a true witness to the post WW2 optimism, when wealthy but unexperienced America was meeting the magnetic glamour of France, and europe in General, Mr Hitchcock in all his genuis captures this energy with all the details and the beauty of technicolor, and you can see the old Nice with it's ever glamourous Carlton Hotel.

The "grace" of this movie is like an old french wine, surprising, uplifting, classy, and charming, and you can see why they say that George Clooney is the heir of that elegance, and that style, i mean, Clooney even has a villa in lake Como Italy, so similar to the one Cary Grant owns in the movie, and i really wish he would do a remake of that movie (wait !, wasn't it their intention with that movie "Oceans 12", sure it tanked like an old yacht in the french reviera)

Anyways that's a movie is one you can't afford to miss, especially that it was Grace Kelly's swan song before she became Princess Grace of Monaco just a few miles away, boy she surely looked royal in that golden dress.

Fort the rest, you can catch the Vanity Fair photoshoot , with Clooney and Gema Ward posing as Grant and Kelly, and frankly, as classy as they were, it was an impossible task to match the glamourous Nice couple of 55.

Mission Impossible (1996)

If you are like me, then you have probably watched Mission : Impossible as a series, matter of fact i did not watch the original one, but the twenty years after version when Jim Phelps got old and cool, so in the mid nineties there was a movie based on a serie (loosely based i may say) starring Tom Cruise, and directed by Brian DePalma.

So when an iconic director and an A-list Star join forces, with such co-stars as Jon Voight, Ving Rhames Jean Reno and Vanessa Redgrave, the movie goers shall pay attention, and their attention was ... rewarded since M:I was probably one of the best action movies of the nineties.

Ethan Hunt is a member of the IMF (impossible mission force) who are dispatched to Prague, to uncover a mole selling a high end document to some international arm dealer, of course the deal goes wrong with many people killed and Ethan Hunt taking the blame.

After a brilliant escape Ethan Hunt along with some remaining team members and new hired experts attempts a very daring heist in one of the most secure locations in the world, and contacts the arm dealer himself to find out surprising revelations about the mole, his fellow team members, and the IMF.

This movie is like Kill Bill in many regards, the plot line is used to tie impressive action figures, and brilliant filmmaking by DePalma, the film is not really convincing and relies on suspension of desbelief, but neither was the series anyways, and it was part of it's charm (now if you can believe that it's actually possible to make a mask that imitates excatly the face of a person ....), but that's Mission Impossible, Impossible is even in the title, so you can't act like you did not know.

Fans or the real series might feel alienated by the portrayal of Jim Phelps by Jon Voight, but then again this movie is in many cases a reboot as our fellow comic book lovers like to call it, and it's part of the enjyoment, another part are the exotic shooting locations, Prague, London, Virginia, and France to name a few, and the international cast, especially the use of french actors Jean Reno, and Emanuelle Beart.

So yes, this is a good movie, and still relevant today, it sadly did rise the anticipations for the second installment, which turned out to be more profitable, and really a disgrace to the spirit of the series, with the oh my god so boring Thandie Newton as the female lead, and the once good director John Woo, and his pigeons coming out of nowhere.

The Karate Kid (1984)

Some Movies are made to stick in memory and serve as life lessons, for instance "The Shawshank Redemption" or "Dead Poets Society", "The karate Kid" is one of such movies, and just the thought of the last scene still sends shivers of excitment to my spine.

Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) moves from Newark to a town in the San Fernando Valley, ner Los Angeles, looking for a new beginning, Daniel is rapidly attracted to the beautiful Ali (Elizabeth Shue) thus earning the animosity of her ex boyfriend Johnny, a Karate student in the Cobra Kai Dojo run by Sensei Kreese (Martin Kove) an ex special forces who served in vietnam, and who teaches a pragmatic and unethical form of Karate.

Johnny and his friends bully Daniel everytime they see him, one day Mr Miyagi (pat morita) a humble handyman from Japanese origins is witness to the bullying, and manages easily to sweep the the attakers, the impressed Daniel asks him to be his karate teacher.

Reluctant at the beginning Mr Myagi accept to be his karate trainer, and through the training we learn tragic and inspiring aspects of mr Myagi's life, who slowly becomes a father figure to Daniel, through unorthodox training techniques, he slowly becomes elligible to fight in the town highest Karate contest, and to learn important life lessons, about peace harmony, and the true essence of martial arts.

This movie was important due to it's approach to martial arts, and to it's emphasis on the beauty of eastern culture, it also was important in changing the public image of Italina Americans victim to decades of mafioso sterotypes, the Oscar worthy portryal of Miyagi sensei was one of the most influencial parts in eighties cinema, with a big load of life lessons to overcome tragedy and reach out for redemption.

This movie is as relevant today as it was back then, or even more, it teaches simple and powerful lessons about self worth, master disciple relationships, and just the inner beauty of martial arts, eclipsed by all the Tony Jaa's and Jet Li's jumping in all direction

The "crane kick" at the end is an everlasting image which deserves to be seen by any teenager, wether he is or is not interested in martial arts, because this movie is one of the rarest to capture the beauty and fragility of this important period in anyone's life, and that's what makes this movie, more then just what you expect from a movie theater experience, it is actually a life lesson !

The Dukes Of Hazzard (2005)

How much sense is there in sensless, the answer would be, not much ! , but then again is sensless forcely a synonymous of bad, I watched this movie yesterday, and my answer is, not all that much!

So here is the story, three cousins living in Hazzard county Georgia, Bo (Sean William Scott), Luke (Johnny Knoxville), and Daisy (Jessica Simpson), the boys run a monshell business in the farm of their uncle Jesse (Willie Nelson), and they use a 69 Orange Dodge Challenger for transportation, and also for fun, since Bo is the five times consecutive winner of the Hazzard Rally.

Trouble Occurs when Boss Hogg (Burt Reynolds), manipulates the local sheriff to seize the farm of the boys and their vehicle, the boys investigate to find out that Boss Hogg has sinister plans for the whole county, and that he is using the Rally as a diversion device by hiring the services of the local stock-car champion.

Now what do you expect from this, you have Stiffler from American Pie, and Johnny Knoxville from Jackass, with a bimbo pop star, this movie is not brilliant by any means, but it's not a terrible movie neither, it's just a sensless entertainment, and as far as I am concerned, it beats the hell out of watching House Md episodes for the zillonth time.

Funny fact is that Jessica Simpson's only purpouse in this movie is to show off her body, to advance the story, that's the only plot use of her character, the rest is an excuse for johnny knoxville to do some Jackass type stunts, for SWS to be as silly as the character which made him famous in American Pie, and for Willie Nelson to be Willie Nelson, the bad note in here is Burt Reynolds, well I am sure the check was tempting, but this man should be more careful when picking his roles.

So here is the deal, watch this movie because it's worth watching just to see the Dodge Challenger cruising through Atlanta, and to have a nice look at Jessica Simpsons Bombshell body, then go to youtube and watch her video from the movie "these boots are made for walking", because you can't watch "On the waterfront" class movies everyday, sometimes sensless is good, would it be for the sake of opening a mental parenthesis.

How To Lose Friends & Alienate People

The memoirs of some very misunderstood guy

Sidney Young is on his way to the top, unfortunately he thinks he already arrives at where he always wanted to be – as close as possible to the beautiful world of Hollywood glamour and the stardust surrounding it. He's got an offer from „Sharps“-magazine and hell yeah he's gonna take it! He's even going to wear his best dumbass shirt and pay the taxi to his new living – if only he could.

It turns out as it had to. His new home is worse than the only one if that's possible and the magazine – well Sidney doesn't really know what exactly is his job there. Nobody gives him a story to work on and nobody either cares about where he is, what he does and what he gets payed for. He doesn't fit in and the new colleagues don't even let them selfs down to make him feel it. An English boy in New York? Not that big a chance to make it to the top. He messes up with his boss, with the stars he should write about and if he makes a smart move it's mostly out of pure luck. But in the end he is where he always headed to – and doesn't like it there!

“How to make friends & Alienate people” is based on the memoir of writer Toby Young and it feels like one of those “I wanna make it to Hollywood, which way should I take?” movies, not the ones of the best kind usually.

And who could play the role of the smart kid from England who stumbles over his own feet into the star scene than Simon Pegg. Wait, who's that again? Yea right, it's the guy from „Run fat boy run“, who could forget about that „classic“ - which we have all seen, haven't we? No, we haven't, I haven't. I actually read it at the filmography and I've never seen Simon Pegg before. But that's good so I can comment only on his performance in this one movie right here.

I found it – not bad, but not so great either.
He fitted into the role, he really did. But that's it. Really.

Well it started up so funny but in the end I must say it was more the kind of movie you watch when you're not planning anything for the evening and quickly need to find a film that fits for all your friends. Then you should take this one, seriously. A bit funny, a bit interesting and a bit of a performance but well, there were better ones than this.

How To Lose Friends & Alienate People – Released Oct 2008

Ghost Town

A typical Gervais and a good one, too

Frank just accidentally let his wife know that he cheats her with his gymnast when his estate agent called her about the apartment he bought for his girlfriend. And just that second Frank gets run over by a bus. Shit happens. What also happens is the dentist Bertrand Pincus, the ultimate asshole who hates all his clients and basically every human being that ever tried making
contact with him. He goes to the hospital for some small surgery and when he is released he sees people and for the worst – they are talking to him and asking him for favors! Well actually what he sees are the ghosts of the street of Manhattan who got unfinished business with their former loved ones and he is the first to be a link between them and the living in a long time. So he has to
help them or does he.

Frank is the most bothering of them and jumps on Pincus right away with the “small favor” of getting his former wife away from the suspicious new boyfriend of hers she is in love with. Not that he had much of a reason, he just thinks that is what he has to do. And Pincus – accepts doing him this favor under the condition that after this one they all leave him alone and he can go on quietly hating everything living.

Greg Kinnear and Ricky Gervais make such a great “couple” in this movie and Gervais is once again so … himself! Seriously – every time I see Ricky Gervais pissing of people I think to myself “man, you gotta learn from this guy!”.

There's nothing really bad to say about this movie. Good set up, funny as hell, great actors, a Gervais on his best and even a good soundtrack. It's one of these movies you gotta love, for real. It must be such a boring review to you ending with that critic, but well: Face it, we got a really good movie here!

Ghost Town – Released Sept 2008

Gran Torino

Short review

After his wife's death Walt is looking for a new target in life. His family left him alone, his grandkids just want his money and lately some Asians moved into the house next to his. He can't stand the world anymore.

But then by mistake he rescues the life of one of his neighbors when he wants to scare some gang members off his loan. The neighbors appreciate it and fit him into her community. And Walt finds a new chance to change - which is to make the shy boy Thao a tough guy with a job and some self esteem.

But Walt doesn't have a clue what he's doing when he pisses on the legs of the gang members he scared off earlier and he also is struggeling with cancer that is killing him faster than he thought.

I was sceptical watching "Gran Torino" but it turned out a really good movie in the end. A bit funny, a bit drama and a story that could be kinda taken outta daily life. And Clint Eastwood - well you gotta like him somehow to like his movies. I don't but I give him alot of credit for this one!

Memento

Step by step back in time


Meet Lenny. He hates to be called that and its by far the only thing he remembers when he suddenly find himself shooting a man without the benefits of knowing why. Because Lenny can only remember the last few minutes of his life and every few minutes a new circle of finding out the previous events starts. Lenny finds himself having tattoos all over his body with clues to who murdered his wife. He wants revenge but he never remembers what else happened since he started searching for the man. Now that's why he makes polaroids of everything and the really important stuff he just tattoos on his skin.

"Memento" is the only movie of his kind that starts with the ending of the story and traces the steps back in short episodes to how it all began. And between those steps there are sequences going even further into Leonard's past, kept in black and white.

What makes this movie interesting is that you can think about what may have happened to get to the events but you never know more than what Lenny remembers and thats only just a few minutes each episode. Sounds confusing? Actually not, somehow director Christopher Nolan did the trick to keep the movie interesting and catching till the last minute. If you like a good thriller, don't miss this one!

Frances McDormand as Marge Gunderson

Some characters have a short life span, who for example remembers Tommy Lee Jones' character from "Volcano", or Bruce Willis' character in that movie i forgot the name of, but i betcha that nobody will be able to forget Marge Gunderson from "Fargo".

After a series of violent and senseless murders occurs on the road around Fargo Minnesota, and the person who is investigating is police chief Marge Gunderson, and she is not what you'd expect her to be, not this wanted-to-be-a-man cop, who plays it tough, she is just a smart seven months pregnant cop, who is married to a stamp painter, she is a good chief and a good wife.

Marge starts investigating, quickly figuring out that these murders were linked to a story involving the kidnapping of a housewife, two very violent small timers who are after a lousy ransom, and sneaky son in law who is the dumb mastermind of this whole situation.

Of course i'm not giving away the plot of "Fargo" one of the best movies of the nineties, that being sad, you can't help but love marge gunderson, her modesty, her smarts and her true belief in good, Marge is supportive to her husband even if he does a lousy job, she supports an old highschool friend who is desperate in his private life to find out that he is a compulsive liar, and she is slowly able to follow the leads that will take her to find a solution to these gratuitous murders, and to the roots of the basic greed behind them.

Marge Gunderson is a hero, not one like these ones you see on TV, but she is a hero anyone can be, she is a good person, she is good at her job, supportive to her husband, and above that, smarter then everybody around her, but she doesn't feel the need to show it off, and that's what made her one of the most loved character in cinema history (she is number 33 at the AFI 100 heroes list), and let's not forget the movies signature Minnesotan accent, which is so pleasent to listen to, and so hard to forget, along with the iconic main theme which has the ryhthm of a Scandenavian chant.

This masterpiece of a character is due to two reasons, one is Frances McDormand's performance, and the second being that the script is written so good, Frances Mc Dormand (the oscar winner that year) played marge gunderson as if it was an alter ego, with honesty and wit, it is really impossible not to root for her, as she is the only character with a clear moral compass in the middle of all the others, blinded by greed and incompetence, or by selfishness, matter of fact this is a movie you should watch only to see that seven months pregnant woman saying at the end of the movie after all that blood spilled and all these people dead “And for what? For a little bit of money.... There's more to life than money,you know.... Don't you know that?... And here ya are, and it's a beautiful day...”

Five Fingers

And Ryan Phillippe at his Best

I stumbled about this movie when I was lately looking through the newer DVDs at the store. Thought to give Ryan Phillippe a chance once more. I must confess I am not a big fan of his movies, he somehow always belonged into teen movies, couldn't imagine him in something serious. The only thing I liked him in, but didn't we all, was in "Cruel intentions" in '99. But surprisingly his recent works feature a really grown up actor who doesn't need to hide behind all the good ones out there.

Now not to spoil the movie for ya, bcs I really liked the ending, I can't tell you so much about it, unfortunately.

Matijn (R.Phillippe) goes to Morocco to "change the world" with his food program. He gets himself a guide and jumps on the plane, leaving his sad girlfriend behind. But when arrived he suddenly gets caught by terrorists and held hostage. They ask him questions he could not answer and suspect him working for the CIA, while he just wants to help the people - now does he. For every answer they don't like they go on cutting one of his fingers off, since he is known to be a good pianist in his spare time. How many fingers will it take till the truth comes out?

Since I didn't know the story - if I find a good lookin DVD I don't really care about the movie till I've seen it - I was kinda impressed by it. As I started up with, Ryan Phillippe really does some good work on there and however the story doesn't even get boring, even though only 6 people are involved in it. So if you are a fan of carefully made up stories, you might like this one, I guess!

Iron Man

When "Cartoon" is not synonymous of "Cheesy"


Lately superhero movies got better and better, the Spiderman series revived the genre, the Hulk series were disappointing, Dardevil don't even deserves being mentioned, but The new Batman series and the new Superman movie were great as well as the X-men, the second installation in the Batman series turned out to be industry saving with earnings that threatned the most supreme "Titanic" on the top of all time box office, beating all the star wars and the lord of the rings and the pirates of carribeans in the way.

Iron Man is one of these movies, the story is really simple, Tony Starks was a genius boy, son of a multimillionaire scientist who was a science legend himself, now he is the CEO of his father's company all the parties, girls and the ferraris a super playboy needs, and with achievments that would take a hundred lifetimes for any other, the only problem is that his company makes weapons, some of them he personaly invented.

A weapon's showcase goes wrong and Tony Starks is a prisoner and he has to face the fact that his weapons are not only in the hands of people who pretend to use them to protect America but in the hands of crazy extremists, who threaten him to build them the ultimate weapon, and instead Tony becomes the Iron Man, and has to make difficult choices about his allies, his life's work, and about the way he was raised to think.

The original story of Iron Man is as dark as the one of batman, his parents died both in a car accident, he has alchoholism problems, and he is somehow disgusted about his playboy life, but this movie choses to eclipse this part in the favor of a more cartoon like approach, you don't really see him very depressed save for one scene (and let's face it, we have batman to be depressed and gloomy), his worldview is incredibly simple for somebody that smart and that powerful, but he is always convinced he is doing the right thing, and the performance of Robert Downey Jr, is really good in the sense of that he is exactly the best choice for a guy who hit botom several times, and came back to top once again.

Jeff Bridges is almost a miscast, because he is a victim of his superperformance in "the big lebowsky", Gwyneth Paltrow is really surprising in the role of Starks personal assistant, and then again we shall remember that this is the first movie of a trilogy, so comparing it to "the dark knight" would be unfair, because it has to carry the weight of character introduction, and it is just a good example that even the cartoon approach can be successful if handled with creativity, and frankly we don't need Iron man to be as gloomy as batman, one Gotham City is enough !

The War of the Roses

Ever After / Never After


Okay you find the perfect person, your second half your media naranja, you complete each other's sentences, you fit morally, mentally and physically, isn't it a receipt for a perfect life, or is it just a slow falling down the hill to meet his highness the divorce attorney, well then this black comedy is just made to answer these questions.

Oliver and Barbara Rose (Micheal Douglas, and Kathleen Turner) met on a vacation on an island, they caught up immediately and were so happy together that they decided to marry, Oliver is a beginner lawyer in his firm, and Barbara is a waitress, move five years forward, Oliver is becoming more successful, and Barbara is still doing small jobs to help, they have a boy and a girl, over-spoiled overweight kids, but they are happy together, move forward and Oliver is a very successful lawyer, and she has started her catering career, the kids grew to become ivy league athletic young people, and they bought a dream house that Barbara took years to furnish with all the patience and the taste you can think off, but are they happy now ?...... think again !

Oliver experiences a traumatic event, and Barbara has a reaction he did not expect, so they find themselves less and less found of each other, which will lead them to the path of destroying property, shattered porcelain, sauna accidents, and to be stuck in a huge chandelier (both of them)

Well, think of this movie as the anti fairytale, a movie that will make you wonder about what you thought granted about love, marriage, and mutual life, when you see a super wealthy couple with everything you could dream off entering into this path of self destruction and mutual destruction, the most original part of it, is that it's narrated from the point of view of a divorce attorney (played by Danny DeVito, who also directs), but then again this is a comedy which means that it's still funny, and that's what makes it so enjoyable

So while strongly advising the engaged and the newly married to avoid this movie, the others are welcome to watch it, and enjoy really one of the couples with the best couples in American Cinema, with an unprecedented level of alchemy, and then you can project yourself twenty years later in 09 and it hasn't changed much, so it's really a movie for all seasons, but not for the weak at heart !.

King Of New York

"That" old feeling of analog filmmaking


Picture this bill, Christopher Walken as a criminal mastermind, Laurence Fishburne as his first lieutnant with a big mouth, two guns and a Run Dmc Style, David Caruso as a nervous irish cop, miles away from the one he portrays in CSI:Miami, and Wesley Snipes as an angry cop, and you get King of New York, one of the forgotten gems of a genre that doesn't exist anymore.

Frank White is a criminal mastermind, just out of jail, he is ambitious and philantropic, and has a posse of black gansters who listen and dress like old school hip hop (these days, sweet), and he has to secure his territory from the Columbian Mafia, the chinese Mafia, and the triades, he is followed by a special police unit, and his girlfriend is his lawyer, and she gets him out of trouble all the time.

It sounds pretty cliché second rate film, but add to that, the whole other ingredients, Electric camera moves, ambiguous characters, and New York by night, becoming a character by itself, and thie whole style of filmaking, see these days everything is too digital, movies seem to be fast packed and designed to look the best on home cinemas, but a movie like that is made to be watched at an old movie theater, preferably on a winter evening, back in the days, it really filled you with a wonderful feeling.

The storyline is pretty straightforward and simple, but the filmmaking is brilliant, the actors give a good performance, and it's a good movie for the internet generation to watch, just to remember the world before Terminator 2, which was the first blockbuster i remember (i'm sure there were ones before), and then all this magic of the silver screen started to change, that's something that doesn't exist anymore, neighborhood smelly theaters, and JVC Vcr's but this movie will bring you back to it, and to all these movies you watch on a saxophone solo, with city lights, and no computers, no mobiles, no internet, just tangible stuff, the level of sex and drug and violence is really on a level that the kids are not used to, but these excesses were what made these movies special.... Abel Ferara is surely Brilliant.

Vertigo

Obsessions & Masterpiece

Vertigo, Agoraphobia, fear of heights, well it seems as common and sensless as seasickness, not to Mr Hitchcock though, who made it the title and the theme of one of his many masterpieces, about obsession, possession, and identity

John "Scottie" Ferguson is a former police officer, who left the force after a traumatic event, which makes him agoraphobic, he spends his days in the atelier of his artist friend Midge, when he is contacted by a former college friend to invistigate the strange behaviour of his wife Madeleine.

Scottie accepts Reluctantly and he finds out that Madeleine is quite strange, and that she is from a cursed lineage, and he gradually becomes obsessed with her, which leads him to cross paths with suicide, double-identity, heights, and a woman who died one hundred years ago.

This movie is quite a masterpiece, it has a precise rhythm lifted by Bernard Hermans famous score, John Stuart's quite heroism, and the scenery of a San Fransisco that doesn't exist anymore, without forgetting the brilliant Title Design by Saul Bass, which was ages before it's time, and also beautiful experimental camera techniques, which led to the classical "vertigo" camera move.

As Scorsese Said it's quite surprising that a movie made in the studio system could be that personal, but Mr Hitchcock was one of the only ones who could get away with the holy graal, working for the man without becoming the man, the inventivity in this movie is deep, and it has diffrent levels of meaning, but it's main theme which stitches it all is Obsession.

Obession will lead Scottie Ferguson to a series of encounters including ones with his own fear, and his own demons, this movie can be a solid entertainment, and can also be seen as an exploratory piece on human nature, and how a man always hunts what he can't get, and sometimes what he just wouldn't get

Anyways, you can't call yourself a movie fan without watching this one, better late night, the production company did a beautiful restoration job, and maybe it will cure your own phobias, with the magic of silver screen, you never know.