Rambling Film

One of the greatest independent films of all time.   Oh Quentin Tarantino, how could I have gone all these years with my Indie Gems and not included this one. (Seriously, major wtf moment for me.)   A group of criminals are given a job to rob a jewelry store. They have fake names, they don't know each other personally, what could possibly go wrong? Well, the cops show up. Mr Brown (Tarantino) is killed. Mr Blue (Edward Bunker) is missing. Mr Orange (Tim Roth) is wounded and is brought back to their rendezvous point by Mr. White. (Harvey Keitel) Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi) managed to get the jewels and meet up with Orange,White, and Mr. Blonde, (Michael Madsen) but he is sure that someone ratted them out.   This is film is brutal - but it also became signature Tarantino. The way he handles violence is astonishing. We know right off the bat that this is not any ordinary crime movie. It doesn't start out with a shoot out or a robbery. It starts in a diner with causal c

I'm a little late on this one, but after reading so many fabulous lists I just couldn't stop thinking about it. Mettel started this blogathon, click that link to see his blog and other blogs that have participated. I'm no good at graphics, but I figured I'd give it a shot. 50/50 It's hard to make a light hearted movie about cancer, but somehow, they pull it off. Others: (500) Days Of Summer, 4 Months, 3 weeks, and 2 days, 10 Things I Hate About You, 127 Hours  American Beauty My all time favorite movie. Of course it was going to be on this list. Others: American Psycho, Amy Adams, Aaron Paul.     Batman I've been a Batman fan since I was a child, but Christopher Nolan's version made me love it even more. Speaking of which.. Others: Bryan Cranston, Brad Pitt, BASEketball, Black Swan  Christopher Nolan    He is one of my favorite directors today. His films are never boring. Others: Christ

While re-watching Jackie Brown recently, and being reminded of Samuel L. Jackson's horrible fucking ponytail, I decided to throw together a quick list of horrible movie hairstyles that I could think of off of the top of my head.  1) No Country For Old Men The first picture perfectly captures this bob in all it's horrible glory. The second picture was so damn funny I had to include it too. Luckily for us, Anton Chigurh was such a menacing presence that we didn't spend too much time looking at his awful hair cut.  2) Mouth to Mouth Thankfully Ellen Page's Sherry didn't have to spend the entire film with half of her head shaved. Only part of it until they shaved the rest. This horrible haircut pretty much sums up the life of this poor teen influenced by her gang like peers. P.S don't go dumpster diving. 3) Horrible Bosses Who's idea was is to put this terrible comb over on Colin Farrell's beautiful face? WHO'S IDEA WAS

Another chapter in Bad Parenting 101.     I had an interesting experience with this film. Around the time the movie was coming out, my friend lent me the book. I was researching child abuse cases for a class and this book was supposedly based on the author's life. I remember searching IMDb to see when the film was coming to DVD, then I found out the whole thing was fake. I was kind of disgusted, the things that happen in that book are so outrageous that I thought they just HAD to be real. In fact, the author wasn't even a guy. It was out there, looking back I was a little late on realizing the whole thing was fake.   The story is about Jeremiah (played by Jimmy Bennett as a younger version, then Cole and Dylan Sprouse as a bit older) and his relationship with his mother, Sarah. (Asia Argento) She had him while she was a teen, he was in foster care, then she rips him away from his foster family only to take him into her strange, drugged out world.   This isn'

The increasingly poor decisions of Seita.   Bambi's mother, the old lady that had to take Todd back to the forest, and Dumbo's mother in a cage have nothing on Seita and Setsuko of Grave of the Fireflies. If there were a prize for "Most Depressing Animated Movie of All Time," this would win by a landslide.   The movie doesn't sugar coat it. The first scene is our main character, Seita (a young boy, his age isn't specified, he seems around 14) dying of starvation, alone and on the streets. As we flash back in time, we see he has a younger sister Setsuko. (she's around 4 years old) She wasn't with him when he died, so we can all but guess what happens to her beforehand. They are living in Japan at the end of WWII and they're city has just been set on fire by air raids. Their mother dies, their father is off to war. First they stay with their stingy Aunt who points out that Seita is lazy and is doing nothing to earn his keep. Angry, he deci

We'll set a date.   Margot (Michelle Williams) meets Daniel (Luke Kirby) in an airport. They bond on the plane, share a cab, and find out they are neighbors. While the attraction is there, Margot admits she's happily married to Lou. (Seth Rogan) They have a seemingly nice relationship, full of inside jokes. However they don't seem particularly affectionate. When Margot's mind starts to wonder to Daniel, she realizes she's no longer happy. Can she have with Daniel what she already has with Lou?   I thought this was a very unique approach to a storyline about an affair. Margot and Daniel's affair is certainly more emotional than it is physical. There's a scene were Daniel tells Margot (very explicitly) what he would do to her, but they never go as far as actually *doing* anything. Michelle Williams plays Margot almost child like, and it's easy to see what her and Lou had in common. Seth Rogan certainly stretches himself as an actor here as well.

Do not fuck with the people that handle your food. If you've ever waited tables (I did for a few years) then this movie will speak to you. If not, then it probably comes off as just another raunchy comedy. Dean (Justin Long) doesn't wait to be a waiter forever. He's offered the assistant manager position at the restaurant and he has until the end of his shift to decide. He tries to keep it to himself, and goes about his day. We also get to know the rest of the staff. Womanizer Marty, (Ryan Reynolds) sweet Serena, (Anna Faris) always pissed Naomi. (Alanna Ubach) Add in crude cooks, lazy dishwashers and snarky bar tenders and we've pretty much met the whole gang as they prepare for their dinner rush. There are a number of things Waiting does that are pretty spot on. Some of the characters in the film are easily co-workers I had. The trash talking of bitchy customers, the cooks playing games, the fake smiles the servers put on as they hit the floor, it all m

    I wanted to do something a little different for LAMB Acting School this time around. So I came up with this. Here is a run down of the good, the fab, and the ugly of Nicole's impressive career.   The Good     Nine   I have a soft spot for musicals, even if they aren't that great as a whole. Nicole has a wonderful voice.   The Interpreter   This is a movie that would've been completely forgettable if it were anyone other than Nicole Kidman playing the lead. I remember seeing this, extremely hung over the day after my senior prom. I wasn't expecting much, but I just found it so interesting.    Cold Mountain   Cold Mountain makes me laugh because I had the shittiest expectations ever going in to it. I had watched Matchstick Men, Mystic River, and Cold Creek Manor all in the same day a few months prior to this, and I was ready to lump this one together with them for no particular reason. I'm glad I went, while I think R