Rambling Film

A circus of depression. Jacob (Robert Pattenson) is a veterinary student who is just about to take his final exam when he is informed his parents have died in a car accident. Their home belongs to the state, so Jacob is left with nothing. To rub it in the officer that tells him this delivers the gem of a line "Well if you hadn't gone to college maybe this wouldn't have happened." Nice. Jacob packs his bags and sets out for work. He hops a train that happens to be a traveling circus run by August. (Christoph Waltz) August is a hard ass and initially wants to throw Jacob off of the train, he eventually gives in to the fact that Jacob was becoming a vet, and keeps him aboard to assist with the animals. Jacob begins to form a close relationship with Marlana, (Reese Witherspoon) August's wife and star of their main attraction. Eventually they acquire an elephant named Rosie, and August puts Jacob in charge of training it. Rosie is what brings Jacob and Marlana togeth...

In control. I'm going to try to make Indie Gems an every Friday thing, depending on my seemingly ever changing schedule of course. Sam (Rory Culkin) is being beaten up by local bully, George. (Josh Peck) His older brother, Rocky (Trevor Morgan) has seen enough. Rocky decides he's going to trick George into coming with him and his friends on a fishing trip for Sam's birthday. They plan to teach him a lesson. When Sam and the others spend this time around George, they realize that he's just a troubled kid and want to back out from what they are about to do. Their friend Marty isn't ready to back down. Will things follow through? Today my friends and I saw the new Super 8 trailer and got on the discussion of good movies with children/teens as the central characters. This one instantly came to mind. I've always thought Rory was the most talented of the Culkin clan, and this movie is one of the reasons why. Josh Peck also particularly stands out. (this was pre Drak...

My blog is getting a bit sporadic, so I wanted to try and do something on a weekly basis. I'm going to post a trailer breakdown every Thursday. It will mostly be trailers for movies that are coming soon, occasionally I might take an older trailer just for fun. I'll break it down with what I thought worked, what I think might not, and I'll bring it home with how excited I am to see it. What better trailer to start with than Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II What works: The entire trailer feels more epic than any other Potter film. As it should be, DH1 had a somber feeling for most of the film, this one won't have any. From the looks of it, it will be nonstop action throughout. Just what Potter needs to go out with a bang. I liked how the trailer showed a lot of different characters and not just our trio. (Lots of Snape love!) Everyone plays a role in the battle of Hogwarts, it's good to see them get a little love. The Prince's Tale: Aka Snape...

Shut up, crime!! Frank Darbo (Rainn Wilson) has lost his wife Sarah (Liv Tyler) to a manipulative drug dealer named Jaques. (Kevin Bacon) Frank has always been the loser in life, and Sarah was the one thing he loved most. Now she's gone. Frank has a vision that he is touched by the finger of God (campy CGI at it's best) and that he must rise against. The only thing that makes someone a hero is that they stand up for crime, and that's what Frank is about to do. He creates The Crimson Bolt, and runs around bashing druggie's, pedophile's, line cutter's, and other wrong doer's faces in with a wrench. Along the way he picks up a side kick, Boltie, in the form of Libby. (Ellen Page) She's a comic store clerk that initially gives him ideas for his hero, she probably has ADHD and is perhaps a little borderline. She gets out of control, but it turns out that's what Frank needs. I imagine Super is what Kick Ass was trying to do. (and maybe would've suc...

If you're a member of LAMB  chances are you've heard of the LAMMY's : The annual voting for Best Movie Blog, etc. I'm not the best, nor the funniest, nor the most creative blogger, but I am a new LAMB and I think my layout is easy on the eyes. Feel free to vote for me in these categories, or any others. I'm not picky. :) 

This is what happens when David Bowie reads you Sci Fi books for two hours every night. At least that's what director Duncan Jones said in an old interview about his father. Jones has been a huge fan of sci fi every since. It showed with his spectacular and highly underrated first film Moon. Now he follows up with Source Code; Jones seems to have a bit of a theme going here, but I can't tell you what exactly that theme is without spoiling the whole thing. Capt Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up on a train. He doesn't know how he got there. When he looks in the mirror, he's in somebody else's body. Everyone seems to know him as this person, but before Colter can do anything else the train explodes. He finds himself in a pod, talking to a woman named Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) via video chat. He's part of a mission that puts him in another person's body during the last 8 minutes of their life. He's not there to alter the event, but to find the bomber ...

Money is everything. At least it is to Arthur. ( Russel Brand) He's a rich, boozy, man child that's heir to a $950 billion dollar fortune. His erratic behavior doesn't set well with his mother, who tells Arthur he has to marry an uptight go-getter, Susan. (Jennifar Garner) Arthur isn't too keen on this idea after he falls in love with a aspiring writer/illegal tour guide named Naomi. (Greta Gerwig) Arthur tries to hide the fact that he's set to be married and sees Naomi behind Susan's back. He does all of this while under the care of his very patient nanny Hobson. (Helen Mirren) I never saw the original Arthur, so it's impossible for me to compare this remake. Arthur had a lot of funny moments, but it soon treads into downright depressing waters. The ending involving a bunch of school children briefly redeems it, but it still felt like a harsh turn to such a light hearted comedy. I'm a big fan of Brand, but I think he does better when he can be at his ...

Almost.. Craig (Keir Gilchrist) is a suicidal teenager. He walks into an emergency room expecting to be given a pill and sent on his way, but ends up being admitted for 5 days in the psych ward. He doesn't think he belongs there. He couldn't possibly be as crazy as some of the other residents. However it's his 5 days here that are going to shape him for the rest of his life. His interactions with his fellow residents, Bobby, (Zach Galifianakis) Noelle, (Emma Roberts) and others will change him. I didn't find It's Kind of a Funny Story to be particularly funny. Or moving, or sad. I felt myself somewhat rolling my eyes at the way things were being handled in this psych ward, because things like that could never be so laid back in real life. I was expecting not to be impressed but I actually really enjoyed the film. It's not that humorous or moving, but it had a nice quirk to it. I liked the story, and all of the actors were interesting. I never really felt conn...

I got this idea from Anna at Defiant Sucess . so here it goes. My favorite movies beginning with each letter of the alphabet. (sans pictures since my computer hates me right now) A - American Beauty B - Brick C - City of God D - The Dark Knight E - Eastern Promises F - Friday the 13th (1980 version) G - Gangs of New York H - Halloween  I - Inception J - Judgement at Nuremberg K - Kill Bill vol I L - The Last King of Scotland M - Mysterious Skin N - The Nightmare Before Christmas O - The Omen (1976 version) P - Pan's Labryinth Q - Quiz Show R - Requiem For a Dream S - Star Wars T - Thirteen U - Up in the Air V - The Vicious Kind W - What's Eating Gilbert Grape X - X2: Xmen United Y - Y Tu Mama Tambien Z -zodiac

Lets step into Zack Snyder's mind.. Apparently in his deepest fantasies, mental institutions are cover ups for brothels. Scantily clad babes battle Nazi zombies, dragons, and travel to Middle Earth to battle orcs. Everyone wears fake eyelashes, and 90% of the men are rapists. (or at least attempt to be) Yep, Zack Snyder loves pulp. He's got a very unique vision, which I've always admired about him. But his first original screenplay is all over the place, despite the awesome scenery. We meet a 20 year old girl known only as Baby Doll. (Emily Browning) Her evil stepfather has thrown her into a mental institution and has scheduled her to receive a lombotomy. Baby Doll happens to be a mesmerising dancer, and everyone stops what they are doing to watch her. As a coping skill, she escapes into a fantasy land where she must find objects to help her escape. She's joined by a group of fellow patients, Sweet Pea, (Abbie Cornish) Rocket, (Jena Malone), Blondie, (Vanessa Hudgen...