Sunday, August 04, 2002 :::
King of the Jungle
If you were looking for a good independent film, I’d recommend this one.
Semour (John Leguizamo) “was just a kid in a man’s body until his mother’s killer made him a man with a gun” (from the front cover). He’s a simple man who wants simple things until that day that forced him to grow up faster in the “urban jungle.” Leguizamo demonstrates versatile acting abilities, distinct from other roles in other movies. Incredible of depicting Semour’s disability with body movements from shooting hoops (one of Semour’s joys in his life) to the uncontrollable, gawky movements of an autistic person. Leguizamo performs a very convincing role in which one feels for and from the embarrassing moments to the crying times, he captivates your feelings to sympathize for the character.
His mother, Mona, (Julie Carmen) takes care of him and loves him. She’s also heads up the protest against police brutality, all in which apparent tension between the cops and Mona disillusion us of the ones that serve to protect us are as faulty as the movie presents them from the papers we read on the issue. Carmen plays the serious and loving role pretty well. Mona’s girlfriend, Joanne (Rosie Perez), is played well, and a little bit about the character, she is caring in spite of her pot smoking self. The dramatic scenes and dialogue are touching, as it is tragic.
Jack (Cliff Gorman) is a “borderline genius” and writes poetry. He loved Mona. Their relationship is rocky, as their different takes on Semour have affected their relationship. He sees Semour as a “hussler,” that he really isn’t “retarded” or “crazy,” that he should go out and lives on his own. Gorman plays well in a character we see as misguided and such a jerk, yet dramatic sequences towards the end hold him in higher regard.
The acting was pretty good I would say for an independent film. The story-line was easy to follow along, as was the intense emotions at many scenes just provokes the joys, the tragedies, the rage into a bundle felt.
I still wonder why Mona was killed, although a disturbed teenager and his commentary to his mother suggests his grudge with Mona for not accepting him when he asked if he could live with her, as Mona used to be a social worker. The movie was well casted, as actors and actresses played convincing roles and showed powerful emotions and gestures, which typical Hollywood films and mainstream actors and actresses seem to lack in great intensities as this.
I highly recommend this movie if you’re up for something dramatic and heartfelt.
::: posted by Brian at 8/04/2002 01:41:00 AM
Monday, January 21, 2002 :::
movie: A Beautiful Mind
working on it.
::: posted by Brian at 1/21/2002 11:21:00 PM
Monday, December 31, 2001 :::
movie: Tape
(independent)
Tape took place in a motel room for the duration of the entire movie. There were intense emotions from the dialogue between the characters, which were portrayed well by the actors. The conflict in the film was interesting and I hadn't seen it before. Check it out.
Plot summary: Uma Thurman played Amy and Ethan Hawke played Vin and this other guy I don't really know played Jon. Vin is a volunteer fireman, but deals drugs, and Jon is his high school best friend that is showing his film at the filmfestival, hence why Vin has come over. But they have a long conversation as Jon lectures to Vin about getting his act together and doing more than he does (drug dealing) until they talk about Amy, Vin's old high school love who got together with Jon the end of senior year after Vin and Amy broke up, where the tension begins. Vin believes that Jon raped her, and tapes the whole conversation up to Jon's confession. Vin wants Jon to appologize to Amy even though Jon says she's probably over it and it was ten years ago. Vin expects a phone call from Amy to have dinner that same night. Jon feels guilty and tells Amy that he's sorry, but there is a long, interesting, and emotional conversation and tension between the three people and the whole picture is revealed through the dialogue and through the reactions of each character through every last response that confused, but came together in the end, and then it was over.
::: posted by Brian at 12/31/2001 12:14:00 PM
Thursday, December 20, 2001 :::
movie: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship
J.R.R. Tolkien's epic story Lord of the Rings comes to the big screen. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship is part one of three movies that was just released in theaters.
The Ring of Power, forged by the evil Sauron to destroy evil Middle-earth, was lost when he fell from the great war thousands of years earlier. Now a young hobbit, Frodo Baggins, inherits the ring and dangerous burdens from the ring that wants to found and corrupts the ones who wear it. Sauron's spirit lives to find the ring, and his minions search for it, so begins the adventure of this young hobbit to destroy the ring before Sauron rises to power again. The "Fellowship of the Ring" was created as companions of Frodo to destroy the ring at the fiery Mount Doom from where it was created, which is at the very core of Sauron's dark kingdom.
"The greatest fantasy epic of our time" is read in the covers of Tolkien's books. The costume design and make-up was superior, bringing to life the humans, the elves, the dwarves, the hobbits, the wizards, the orcs, the Ringwraiths, and any creature you may see. All three parts of the movie were filmed in New Zealand, which brought the wide-array different landscapes and scenes that fit the description of Tolkien as if that's where it took place. The special effects was great from creating mythical creatures, scenery, or visual effects to simple camera tricks to make real sized actors look like little people. Each actor will be forever associated with the character he/she plays, and they did all but disappoint, for they played their characters as if they lived the part. Overall, the movie was fantastic! About three hours long, and it is worth your time and money to see it more than once.
::: posted by Brian at 12/20/2001 11:29:00 PM
movie: Not Another Teen Movie
Not Another Teen Movie is a spoof of teen movies. I got all the jokes and I saw where they've spoofed, but it wasn't as funny as I thought it would be. I've seen a few teen movies, and there were a few parts that were fun to watch. I especially liked the scene (which was used in the previews) of when the girl comes down the stairs with her new look, as in the movie She's All That, but the stairs collapses and she falls to the basement and the surrounding objects fall down on her and she yells out "I'm alright." Other than the funny spoofs you recognized, there are lots of other spoofs that you'll miss out on the humor in (I guess that's what Jeff meant in his blogged movie review on the same movie, so go read up on his blogs). There was a few sexual scenes, plenty of sex talks and lingo, plus female nudity throughout. I wonder how my high school English teacher reacted when she watched the movie consider the above! Some stuff was funny as you can recall where the spoof came from. I can't exactly sum up an adequate plot summary because of all the spoofs, but go see the movie if you don't have anything better to do and have the extra bucks.
::: posted by Brian at 12/20/2001 11:26:00 PM
movie: Star Maps
Star Maps is an independent film, and I particular find the themes and a lot of character development to be extremely fascinating (not to mention it is much different from Hollywood films). The acting was amateurish, but consider the low-budget of independent films overall. The themes were interesting, but could have been more effective if character development was worked on more. Overall, I found the characters and the situations they had to face different from what I'm used to, therefore, unpredictable.
A Mexican-American teenage boy, Carlos, returns to L.A. from Mexico with aspiring dreams to be an actor. The driving conflicts are from his dysfunctional family, especially from his abusive father, Pepe, which is probably why his mother sent him to Mexico. But Carlos wants to be an actor, but driving conflicts revolve around his father and the "star maps" business he runs (selling celebrity homes maps in the street corners), which is actually a cover-up for male-prostitution of poor Latino boys. His mother, Teresa, suffered from a nervous breakdown. His brother, Juancito, is a little off in the head and a couch potato as well. His sister, Maria, takes care of their mother with a little love interest situation with Fred, the pharmacist that she buys her mother's drugs from, is soon shattered when he comes over for dinner to meet her family. Letti is Pepe's girlfriend (and a hooker) that he deceived (told her that Teresa was dying), and helps Carlos with the business despite Carlos's resentment for her and his father's affair. He's used to growing up with the idea, and he desensitizes himself during each time he's pleasuring either men or women by looking at it as an acting job, like when he asks each client "what do you want me to be," or what goes on in his head each time as he imagines himself getting' an award or adoring fans, or even to when he's reminded by painful memories or the thought of his dreadful dad. An escape to all this is from one of his clients, Jennifer, who is a soap TV actress whom offers a part in her show. His father forbids him seeing her and manipulates his mind making him question Jennifer and her motives because, after all, she's into the sex.
Star Maps presents how the American dream can actually be a nightmare. Rather than presenting a typical Hispanic family, the movie exaggerates the fictional situation with the combination a dysfunctional minority family ranging from an abusive father to a mentally ill mother, male-prostitution to make the money and survive, and the ambitions of a dream to come true despite the above problems. The combination of all those ideas is unrealistic, but as the characters deal with the situations internally and externally are what make the movie fascinating.
::: posted by Brian at 12/20/2001 11:25:00 PM
