Rambling Film

This week's theme from Wandering Through the Shelves is father/daughter relationship. The only stipulation is that they must be biologically related. Here are my favorites: 1) The Ballad of Jack and Rose This is a fascinating little movie with excellent performances from Daniel Day-Lewis and Camilla Belle. Though it could also be a lesson in not sheltering your children.  2) Dreamland Audrey's father is so dependent on her that she feels like she cannot leave home to go to college. (He can barely leave the trailer park without having panic attacks) It's a very interesting dynamic of the father not wanting to hold her back, and the daughter being too afraid to let go. 3) The Descendants  I was late jumping on the Clooney bandwagon, but this is one of my favorites of his, and I loved his interactions with his daughters. Plus Shailene Woodley is very good when given strong material. She was great here. 

Perhaps you should change your approach? Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) is a coder for an Internet search engine called BlueBook. He wins a contest to go meet BlueBook's creator, Nathan (Oscar Isaacs) and participate in a revolutionary experiment. After signing the mother of all NDA's, Caleb is off to see said experiment: Ava (Alicia Vikander) an AI that Nathan has created. He wants Caleb to test her to see if he can really separate man from machine. However Ava clues him in on Nathan not being all that he seems. This film was fascinating. Writer/Director Alex Garland definitely turns out solid work, so I had high expectations. At this rate, Gleeson could have a career that rivals his father's if he keeps being a part of films like this.  Isaacs was especially great too. I can now forgive him for boring me to tears during Inside Lewelyn Davis. (okay, maybe that wasn't his fault) Vikander was intriguing as well, though it's hard to grade her on a performance lev...

Game of Thrones: Sansa perfectly demonstrating how I feel about her story Winterfell - Uggghhh here we go. Littlefinger, who at some point apparently suffered a traumatic brain injury is now marrying Sansa to Ramsay Bolton against her will. Sure, she goes along at the promise of avenging her family, but Littlefinger says he doesn't know much about Ramsay and he's about to LEAVE HER THERE ALONE. Way to go, Turbo. (Though Sophie Turner was absolutely brilliant in this episode. Especially in the above gif and when she meets Roose Bolton for the first time.) Moat Cailin - Brienne and Pod had this beautiful moment where Pod says he's proud to be her squire then she ruins it by talking about killing Stannis. Brienne, bby, join Stannis, don't kill him. Renly sucked anyways. King's Landing - Ewwww Tommen and Margaery. But the amount of shade she threw at Cersei was glorious. We also got to meet the High Sparrow.  Castle Black - My favorite scenes ...

Slacker nation This film centers around a group of teenagers/early twenty somethings trying to pass the time in Athens, Arizona. You have Jimmy, (John Patrick Amedori)a small time drug dealer who's got some big problems. Jessica (Jill Ritchie) leaves the young girl she's babysitting home alone and drags along her friend Carlos (Michael Pena) as she tries to find someone to kick her boyfriend's ass for her. (He's pissed because she gave him an STD) Then you have Corey (D.J Qualls) and Pedro,(Jorge Garcia) a couple of slackers that are trying to come up with rent money to get back into their house after their landlord shuts them out. Finally there's Heather, (Erica Leerhsen) who's convinced her cop boyfriend is cheating on her and frequently takes her anger out on her friend Ali. (Rachel Miner) All of these characters' lives are intertwined and they all end up at the same party at the end of the night. This film feels really authentic in capturing w...

How fitting that as Age of Ultron approaches us that this week's theme from Wandering Through the Shelves is something that people either really love, or are really getting sick of: Superhero movies. Lucky for me, I'm still in the camp that loves them, so here are my favorites. 1) The Dark Knight This is my all time favorite superhero movie, and I'm not sure if anything will ever top it to be honest. Avengers came close, but Heath Ledger's Joker is always going to be perfect for me. 2) The Avengers I wanted to scream "THIS IS AWESOME" several times during this film. I hope Age of Ultron is just as good. (Even though after reading some of the spoilers, something is going to piss me off greatly) 3) Super In the first time in my Thursday Movie Pick history, I'm doing a revision. It dawned on me after I posted this that I left out one Superhero flick that I really, REALLY love. So I had to swap out X2 for this little gem Super. He might ...

The wonderful Sati over at Cinematic Corner has come up with a great idea for a blogathon . She asks us to pick characters to showcase their "white swan/black swan" So basically, to show how they have wildy contrasting traits that they show to some, and now others. Here are the rules: 1. Choose max 3 characters to write about. 2. You can also feature characters from TV series. 3. We are not looking for doppelgangers - we are looking for one person with two sides. For example in Black Swan you can write about Nina and her alter ego but not about Lily and Nina, which are two different people. You can write about Gollum/Smeagol but you cannot write about Bette and Dot - the Siamese twins from AHS: Freakshow - because technically they are two different people. 4. Write about why you chose the character  5. Provide a theory on what causes the two different sides and what are the signs and contradictions between the two, for example you can write about things like that: ...

What I knew going in: The big reveal - which did not play out like I thought it would. *****Spoiler Alert!***** Ah, The Crying Game . This movie is rather infamous by now, isn't it? I have a friend who saw this in theaters and said people actually walked out. I wish I had been old enough to be there and yell "Y U MAD BRO!?!?!" after all of them.  Jody (Forest Whitaker) is an English solider kidnapped by some IRA soldiers. Fergus (Stephen Rhea) sympathizes with him and in the three days he's held captive, they share stories. Jody talks about his girlfriend, Dil (Jaye Davidson) and how if something happens to him, he wants Fergus to find her and tell her that Jody loves her. Well, something bad happens, so off Fergus goes to find Dil. Okay, I think everyone knows that Dil is a guy. Literally everyone knows that about The Crying Game, but what surprised me was this is actually revealed in the middle of the film. I expected them to kind of go the Sleepaway Cam...

Game of Thrones The acting in this episode was wonderful. Wow, I just loved it. King's Landing: Cersei going full bitch at the Small Council was great, but I hate how pussy whipped they are still making Jaime. The Inn - Littlefinger, his TBI, and Sansa really bothered me in this episode with their snobbish behavior, but not as much as it bothered me that Brienne didn't even mention Arya was alive. Why the fuck would you not say that? Or bring Pod with you, Sansa might be comforted in seeing him! Ugh. Dorne - Yes Areo and Doran! Beautiful water gardens. Ellaria needs to chill the fuck out. On the way to Volantis - Varys praising Tyrion for his duties as hand gave me life. And Tyrion almost drinking the bug. "You might accidentally eat something solid." lol The Wall - These were my favorite scenes of the episode. I loved Shireen teaching Gilly to read. Jon's scene with Stannis, and Jon being elected Lord Commander. It was perfect. Meereen - Dany,...

When words fail you.. Junn (Pei-Pei Cheng) Is a Cambodian-Chinese woman living in a retirement home in England. Her son, Kai (Andrew Leung) recently died in a car accident. He was her life, and she's having trouble adapting. Also having a hard time is Richard (Ben Wishaw) his boyfriend, though Junn thinks they're just room mates. He struggles with wanting to grieve Kai openly and talk about their relationship with Junn as she doesn't like him and they don't speak the same language. He hires a translator, Vann (Naomie Christie) to make things easier. Wishaw is an actor that really had to grow on me. I always associated him with that creepy Perfume movie and it was hard to get behind him as anything else. He's really wonderful here. Very subtle and pained. His chemistry with Leung is incredible. We only see it in a few flashbacks, but I wish there was more. Cheng was wonderful as the grieving mother as well. This film is very touching and quiet, and wit...

This week's theme from Wandering Through the Shelves is dedicated to those who protect and serve. I've been binge watching The Wire recently, so I feel like I've spent a lot of time with police on my TV lately. Here are some of my favorites, but honestly there's so many good ones it's hard to narrow it down.  1) Se7en One of my all time favorite movies, you can't help but love the detectives in this film. It's so creepy and fascinating. 2) The Departed How can you not have a higher respect for undercover police work after watching this? I love The Departed, it's just smart film making.  3) End of Watch This one is completely different from the other two just by the way it was shot. It's all done documentary style and it feels so real. The ending gutted me. 

In case you ever wondered what doing schrooms was like... Billy (Christina Hendricks) lives in the run down city of Lost River with her sons Bones (Iain De Caestecker) and Franky. (Landyn Stewart) They are in danger of losing their house, so Billy takes a job at a gory club where they reenact murders. Bones had been stealing copper from abandoned houses to earn extra cash, but now he's being pursued by Bully. (Matt Smith) Bully starts to not only terrorize Bones, but also his neighbor/girlfriend Rat. (Saoirse Ronan) This film feels very disjointed. On one hand, Bones, Rat, and Billy are very intriguing characters. Especially the first two. Their scenes together were the best in the film. I feel like director/writer Ryan Gosling tried too hard to make an "art film." He comes off as pretentious with the imagery. There were times his actors were giving very emotional performances, but the camera was everywhere except their faces. While some of those shots were bea...

Game of Thrones I feel like I'm going to have to split my thoughts this seasons from "Show POV" and "Book POV" The opener was a slower episode, but still fascinating and it got the ball rolling.  Show POV : I loved Tyrion and Vary's scenes, Dany's scenes, and everything involving Jon and Stannis. I like that they included Cersei's flashback (though it sucks they cut it off, I'm assuming we'll revisit it later if not, see book POV) It's about fucking time Dany said the name of her other two dragons on the show too.  Book POV : If this is actually the end of Mance's story, what a fucking waste. Knowing where Sansa's story is going (Me? Avoid spoilers? No.) is going to make me rage. Also no valanqor mention? None at all? Come on, man! Better Call Saul It's funny that the season finale was the weakest episode of the season. It wasn't bad, it just didn't have that top notch quality the others did. The last commen...

How far would you go? Sarah (Alex Essoe) is an aspiring actress in LA who's blown a few too many auditions. After one she was particularly excited for, she retreats to the restroom to throw one hell of a fit, pulling out her own hair. But strangely enough, a casting director (Maria Olsen) sees this and tells Sarah that's exactly what they're looking for. Soon, her auditions grow weirder and weirder and Sarah finds herself going to dangerous lengths to get what she wants. For a film that stars mostly unknowns (though the wonderful Amanda Fuller and Marc Senter from Red, White and Blue have supporting roles) and was shot on a very small budget, this film looks great. The music is eerie, the cinematography is excellent, and the make up and effects are perfectly gory. It's one of the best looking indie horror films I've seen in a long time, and it's creepy as hell. Then it gets even creepier. Essoe is a perfect fit for this role and she gives a hell ...

This week's theme from Wandering Through the Shelves is dance movies! They cannot be musicals. I almost did this post on the worst dance movies I've ever seen, since I've suffered through You Got Served , Honey , and Step up , but I decided to stick with things I like, so here are my favorites.  1) Save the Last Dance You have no idea how many times I watched this movie as a teenager. Just writing about it now makes me want to watch it again.  2) Black Swan I know I've used Black Swan on a past theme, but I have to use it here as well. I just can't skip it. It fits perfectly. This is a film I could watch over and over. 3) Billy Elliot This is the movie that introduced me to Jamie Bell. He's excellent in it and it's very endearing. It did become a musical eventually, but since it didn't start as one I think it counts.  Bonus: Drop Dead Gorgeous - Not a dance movie, but I love Amber's tap dance scene.  Bring It On - Hey, they s...

Nostra of My Film Views, in conjunction with Karmel Cinema and MovieInsiders came up with another wonderful idea for a blogathon . He asks us to name five films that remind us of the five senses. Here are the rules: The idea As you know the body has five senses (although some movies might suggest there is a sixth one): Sight, Sound, Taste, Smell and Touch. So what’s the idea behind this blogathon? For each of these senses you will have to describe the movie related association you have with it. This can be a particular movie or even a scene, but also something having to do with the movie going experience (so for example the smell of popcorn in the theater). What do you have to do? – Write your entry to The Five Senses blogathon, where you describe the association you have for each of the senses – Include the above blogathon logo in your post – Add a link to this blogathon announcement so others can participate as well – Leave a link to your entry in the comments so peopl...

Better Call Saul WHY CHUCK!?!?! WHY!?!?!?! Did that final scene not break your heart? It made me so angry. I love seeing Mike in his element though, and that "criminal" speech he gave was perfect.  Agents of SHIELD After last week's episode fell on its face, this one was better again. We got to see what really drove Mack and Bobbi into the "real SHIELD" Skye also escapes with that eyeless guy whose name I keep forgetting. FitzSimmons held hands! But next week's preview shows him leaving everyone else, the fuck is that? 19 Kids and Counting Duggar snark must be picking up on Twitter because I'm interacting with a lot more people that appreciate the comedy gift that keeps on giving. This week's episode was the two hour Jessa/BenJERmin wedding extravaganza. Here are my thoughts: Jim Bob is still a creepy pervert and he and Michelle still managed to try to make a lot of this wedding all about him. (Like when Jessa said she didn...

Nerd school! 13 year old Hiro (voiced by Ryan Potter) is finally convinced by his older brother, Tadashi (Daniel Henney) to go to the tech college he attends. He shows Hiro Baymax, (Scott Adsit) a health care robot he has been working on, and that pushes Hiro to create something equally as extraordinary. But when tragedy strikes and his invention is stolen by an evil masked man. Hiro and his friends must band together to stop him. Well, at least my kid loved this movie. He's been wanting to see it for ages, and it was at our discount theater, so why not? I know I went into this movie with a mini chip on my shoulder because this one the Oscar over How To Train Your Dragon 2 . But I was right, this wasn't better. It's not a bad kids movie, it just feels like several other ones that are already out there. I know it's based on a graphic novel, but that still didn't stop it from looking like another version of the The Incredibles or Miles from Tomorrowland or ...

I'm not sure what I just watched but man, did I like it. That's a thought I had frequently when watching Synecdoche, New York for the first time. Several times I was like "wait, what?" but never in a bad way. Caden (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a theater directing suffering from somewhat of a mid life crisis, despite him being very good at his job. He wants to achieve something different, so he takes a crew to a warehouse to build an elaborate mock up version of New York. As he gets deeper into this, the rest of his life takes a strange course.  It's very depressing for me to watch movies with Hoffman in them now, knowing he's no longer with us. He's so talented, and it's a shame he's gone. But at the same time, I love seeing this films of his I missed for the first time. He really is a powerhouse here, and the expansive cast is wonderful as well. The make up also stands out as we follow these characters through several years. The...

This week's theme from Wandering Through the Shelves is teen comedies. I think these type of films hold a special place in everyone's hearts. I've used a few teen comedies in other themes for this meme, so I'm going to try to pick different ones here. Here are my favorites. (And yes, I realize I didn't even try to be original this week) 1) American Pie This was the big raunchy teen comedy of my high school years, even though I was technically only in junior high when the first one premiered. I love these films, with the exception of American Wedding. That was terrible. 2) Superbad I about pissed myself the first time I saw this movie because it reminded me of so many people I went to high school with. 3) Jawbreaker This was another one of my junior high favorites. It's even more comical to me now because Jesus, no one looked like a teenager in it. And no school would allow that dress code.