Rambling Film

A somber look at the last day of Oscar's life. Oscar Grant was a 22 year old man that was fatally shot by a police officer on New Years Day in 2009. In the film, he's played by Michael B. Jordan, and we follow him through his last few days. He's set on bettering himself, and his life with his girlfriend, Sophina (the always enjoyable Melonie Diaz) and their young daughter Tatianna. (Ariana Neal) Michael B. Jordan, wow, he just gives a really good performance here. (Plus he was in Hardball when he was a kid, and I have a strange soft spot for that movie) Octavia Spencer, who plays Oscar's mother is brilliant in every scene she's in. But one thing I really appreciated about this movie is it viewed everything from a neutral stand point. Oscar had a criminal record and a bit of an anger problem, the film didn't choose to hide that, we got to see that and Oscar at his best, when he's with his young daughter or being helpful to strangers. The police wer

I wrote this piece for The Large Association of Movie Blogs annual ' LAMB Devours the Oscars .' This year I'm taking a look at the Best Supporting Actor race. I'm going to highlight 3 things that each actor brought to the table in their respective films. Barkhad Abdi: Captain Phillips 1) It has to be pointed out that this guy was a cab driver in Minneapolis prior to this. I love stories like his, this is his first (and only) role, and he gets recognition on the biggest stage of them all. That is impressive. 2) The Pirates in this film could've easily been one dimensional nobodies. This film really was the Tom Hanks show, everyone could've played 2nd fiddle. But Abdi didn't. He made us feel for Muse. What he was doing was wrong, but he humanized him and convinced us that not only was he to be feared, but he was extremely conflicted. 3) Plus you know, Hanks got snubbed, so technically Abdi IS the captain now. (He's also the only actor not nomin

Beer me. Kate (Oliva Wilde) and Luke (Jake Johnson) are two co-workers at a Chicago brewery who seem like they're quite perfect for each other. Only, Jake is happily in a long term relationship with Jill (Anna Kendrick) and Kate sees Chris, (Ron Livingston) who just don't seem like they have a lot in common. When Chris and Kate go their separate ways, Kate and Luke fall into serious "will they or won't they" territory.  I'm personally not much of a beer drinker, but I went to an art show/beer tasting thing recently and I drank a lot of good beer. This movie has beer in nearly every scene, and God did it make me want more.. Back to the movie, I thought Olivia Wilde was fantastic in this. She's mostly been a background character to me, either not being given enough to do, or not doing enough with what she's given, but she really shined here, as did the rest of the cast. Obviously, she had great chemistry with Johnson, who also had great che

The Walking Dead comes back in 2 weeks, we all know where I'm still at with this. True Detective - episode 1.3: The Locked Room gif via artyucko *Shea Whigham showed up! This guy has been in everything lately. He plays a very suspicious preacher, and he was pretty damn good. *Woody Harrelson is terrifying. He is really spectacular at playing a scary looking dude. The way he irrationally freaked on his fling, Lisa (Alexandra Daddario) was intense. *Cohle just casually hanging to with Hart's family, and Hart's "Yeah, STAY for dinner." remark was hilarious. *The final scene in this episode was so fucking creepy. It reminded me of the first time we get a good look at Leatherface in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I didn't get to watch Sherlock this week because my dish decided it isn't going to work anymore. Now I'm switching back to basic cable with less interesting channels, but hopefully less problems. Go fuck yourself, Dish N

A very interesting concept. Stories We Tell actually addressed my main issue right away: why should I care about this one family's story? Every family has a story. Sarah Polley interviews several family members and friends of the family on their "secrets" mostly involving her deceased mother. The film is laid back, everyone looks comfortable in their homes, and I'm sure to them, these stories are very interesting. I love Sarah Polley. She's easily one of my favorite female writers/directors out there today and I saw this mainly for her, but unfortunately, what they said at the beginning was true. I don't really care about her family history. That sounds a bit harsh, especially when I love when Polley writes, but it's true. I think the concept of this documentary was great and unique, but at the end of the day, I was just kind of bored with it. It's not the worst documentary I've seen this year, but it's the least memorable. I

 7 years in the making. I knew I was always going to include this film in my Indie Gems, whether I loved it or not, just because I've never actively followed a film for so long. If there was ever a blogger/journalist that inspired me to get online and join the movie loving community, it was Larry Richman . He' a rseally friendly independent film enthusiast that I came across on IMDb. When I started my blog, he immediately followed me on Twitter and encouraged me, and that meant the world. I mention Larry (or Larry411 as he's known online) because it was actually his review of the film that initially got me interested - way back in what, 2007? I think he saw it at SXSW, but either way, I love a campy slasher, so I set my sights on this. Little did I know that it was going to go in distribution hell for years before FINALLY turning up on Netflix. Well, the time came for me to finally see it. I had read spoilers, because I wasn't sure if I would ever see it, bu

This lovely new blogathon was started by Nostra over at My Film Views and Karamel Kinema  (a blog I wasn't familiar with until this was posted, but head on over there because its GORGEOUS) They ask us to answer questions about life, love and the movies. Here are my answers!  Life   1. What was the first movie you saw in the cinema and what do you remember about that visit? The first film I can remember seeing in theaters was The Lion King, and I remember loving it. My dad took me, and I remember immediately afterwards we went out to whatever burger joint had the Lion King toys in their kid meals so we could get them. 2. Are there any movies you have very strong memories of which are not because of the movie (for example something which happened at the time you were watching it)? Whenever I think of Jurassic Park, my mind goes back to an old friend I had when I was younger who wasn't allowed to watch it, so I had to turn it off when she came over. Th

Well, it's that time of year again. Here are my favorite films that 2013 had to offer, in no particular order . I should note, that I was holding off on this until I saw Short Term 12, but since I keep getting skipped over in my Netflix queue, I don't see myself getting that DVD any time soon. *sigh* 1) American Hustle: Great cast, great story. 2) Prisoners: One of the best thrillers I've seen in a long time, I was on the edge of my seat through out the entire film. Plus, the experience I had watching this is one of the reasons I love the movie theater so much. The crowd gasping along with me was awesome, and just heightened everything. 3) Star Trek Into Darkness: Plot holes be damned, I love this movie. Plus the sound track is awesome. 4) The East: Don't forget this little indie gem. A clever story that should help the very promising career of Brit Marling. 5) The Hunt: Mads Mikkelson was fantastic, and this film was wonderfully frustrating. That is hard

Rambling TV is back! I finally have some new shows to watch. (and I'll have to find more considering Breaking Bad is done. True Blood, Boardwalk Empire, AND The Newsroom will all end this year. ) This is also going to be the true definition of "rambling" because I have two weeks worth of stuff here. True Detective - Episode 1.1: The Long Bright Dark *This is a new series on HBO starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. While that sounds like a great cast, apparently each season of this show may feature different characters, kind of like American Horror Story, only they won't reuse the actors? Or so I've heard.. *Hart (Harrelson) and Cohle (McConaughey) are easily the two most pleasant guys on the planet. They are detectives that come together to solve a strange murder in 1995. We're being told this story in 2012 via interviews by these men, who had an apparent falling out in 2002. We don't know over what yet. *I was getting series West Me

There are people that enjoy doing porn. No, really. Porn gets a seriously bad rep in most films. Everyone is either shady or being forced to do it as a last resort. If there is one decent thing that can be said about this film, it's the perspective it offers. Angelina (Ashley Hinsaw) is an eighteen year old girl at the end of her rope. She's stuck at a dead end job, hates high school, her mom's an alcoholic, her step dad is a rapist in waiting, so she and her friend Andrew (Dev Patel, who along with Hinsaw cannot pass for 18) decide to ditch school and move to San Francisco. There, after taking a few pictures for money, Angelina adopts the name Cherry and moves onto pornography. We follow her as she meets a coked out lover, Frances (James Franco) and catches the eye of her director, Margaret. (Heather Graham) Like I said previously, it's refreshing to see a movie involving porn that isn't operated by a bunch of creeps. Margaret is actually a very in

Here's a list of the 2013 SAG winners! The winners are in bold. My thoughts as always follow in green .  Ensemble Cast 12 Years a Slave American Hustle August: Osage County Dallas Buyers Club The Butler Honestly, I thought 12 Years a Slave deserved this, and this is coming from someone who actually gave American Hustle a higher grade. The actors in 12 Years had harder jobs than American Hustle, IMO. Lead Actor Bruce Dern,  Nebraska Chiwetel Ejiofor,  12 Years a Slave Tom Hanks,  Captain Phillips Matthew McConaughey,  Dallas Buyers Club Forest Whitaker,  The Butler I need to wait for the BAFTAs to decide if McConaughey is a lock for Oscar or not, but he gave a wonderful speech. Lead Actress Cate Blanchett,  Blue Jasmine Sandra Bullock,  Gravity Judi Dench,  Philomena Meryl Streep,  August: Osage County Emma Thompson,  Saving Mr. Banks I saw this coming, but I'm happy for her. Her speech was great too   Supporting Actor Barkhad Abdi,  Captain Phillips Daniel B

Sheltered. Francis (Aidan Gillen) is a sheltered 30 something man that's been living in a trashy apartment complex with his alcoholic step mother,  Sal. (Susan Tyrrell) He's taken to spying on his sexy neighbor, Gloria (Emmanuelle Seigner) and she unexpectedly starts taking a liking to him too. She tries to help him come out of his awkward, stuttering shell. Before all this, Francis only has his Catholicism to seek for solace, but now he's starting to question God, and Gloria too for that matter. I can't for the life of me remember who recommended Buddy Boy to me. (Forgive me, I still love you!) It showed up on list someone made, and I've had it in my Netflix queue ever since. I've only been familiar with Gillen through Game of Thrones, so seeing him in this different light was fascinating. I thought both him and Tyrrell gave very convincing and haunting performances. The film has plenty of twists and turns, yet still leaves much to the imagination. It

I had this really strange dream the other day. I dreamt that I was one of the people sorting the Oscar ballots. I was quite literally being handed slips of paper with people's names on them, and sorting them into piles. Then I had to count the piles when I was done to see who got the most. I kept getting Bruce Dern for Nebraska, and I was being totally smug about the whole thing. Like, "Oh Bruce Dern is getting nominated. derp de derrr." This makes zero sense because 1) I've never seen Nebraska. 2) Without looking at IMDB I couldn't name a single film Bruce Dern has been in, so why am I being such an asshole? and 3) Oscar ballots probably aren't hand sorted behind a cash register like I was doing. Anywho, I had to share that, here's a list of the 2014 nominees. My thoughts as always follow in green .  Best Picture "American Hustle" "Captain Phillips" "Dallas Buyers Club" "Gravity" "Her" "Nebrask