Rambling Film

Metal and Motocross Jacob (Josh Wiggins) is your typical angry 13 year old. He's into motocross, metal, and causing trouble with his friends. Eventually that trouble leads to his 10 year old brother, Wes (Deke Garner) getting taken away by CPS to live with their aunt. (Juliette Lewis) Their father, Hollis (Aaron Paul) has been drinking heavily since the death of his wife, and has been leaving them to fend for themselves. Both he and Jacob need to clean up their acts in order to get Wes back. Aaron Paul continues to be amazing, this is a far departure from Jesse Pinkman. Garnder and Wiggins were wonderful as well. This film reminded me a lot of Hesher, and I think that contributed to me liking it so much. The story was interesting, and it didn't make CPS look like the bad guys. (I always appreciate that, because I hate that so many people view them) The way the film escalates felt organic, and it could've very easily been over the top.  Grade: B Memorable ...

Ideals are peaceful. History is violent. Fury takes place in 1945. WWII is coming to the end, but the United States Army is still trying to subdue the rest of the German forces. On board the tank that the film is named after, we have Don 'Wardaddy,' (Brad Pitt) Boyd 'Bible,' (Shia LaBeouf) Trini 'Gordo' (Michael Pena) and Grady 'Coon-ass.' (Jay Bernthal) They've been together for years and when one of their own is killed and replaced by the young Norman, (Logan Lerman) they're sent off on another mission with the inexperienced kid.  One major complaint I've seen about Fury is that "it's just another war movie." Maybe that's true, but honestly I don't watch a lot of war movies, so this felt fresh enough for me. I loved the main cast, they were all wonderful with Shia LaBeouf in particular being a stand out. Lerman, I'm usually on the fence with, but I think he gives his best performance here. Even topping...

I've been racking my brain over what to do as a Halloween theme this year. I've done lists, horror themed Indie Gems, films that scared me, but since I've been on a movie/TV title kick this year, I figured it fit. Here's a list of my favorite Halloween/Horror/Thriller related titles. Keep in mind, I don't necessarily like these movies, but their titles are awesome. A n American Werewolf in London B ehind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon C annibal Holocaust D ead Hooker in a Trunk E vent Horizon F right Night G inger Snaps H atchet I Saw The Devil J aws K iller Klowns from Outerspace L et The Right One In M idnight Meat Train N ightmare on Elm Street O rca: The Killer Whale P lanet Terror Q ueen of the Damned R ed, White, and Blue S leepaway Camp T he Texas Chainsaw Massacre U nderworld V alley of the Zombies W icked Little Things X tro Y ou're Next Z ombie Strippers

Boardwalk Empire The series finale of Boardwalk Empire is definitely something I'm still thinking about this morning as I write this post. Yes, it did feel rushed, but while some parts were satisfying, others were not. Yet, I wouldn't call it horrible, but it did leave me with a lot of questions on one particular characters. Let's breakdown where we left each of our cast. Luciano and Lansky are head of their crime organization, and they take out Narcisse at church. The Narcisse part felt rushed, but we always knew that's where Luciano and Lansky were. Margaret makes a ton of money in stocks for herself, Nucky, and Joe Kennedy. And when he tries to make a move on her, she puts that bastard in his place. She visits Nucky before he leaves NYC and they dance together one last time. Al Capone is heading to court for tax evasion, but he can still have a tender moment with his deaf son first. Stephen Graham is amazing as Capone, I don't care what everyone says....

What I knew going in : Not much, only that when I asked for recommended Bergman films, this one came up frequently.  Igmar Bergman was the director I had in mind when I started my Blind Spot list. His films occupied 3 spots in my 2014 list, and 2 more in my preliminary 2015 one. This one was almost always recommended. Dr. Isak Borg (Victor Sjostrom) is a professor that's been isolated from nearly everyone for many years. He's on his way to a University to pick up an honorary award and decides last minute he's going to drive there. Along the way with his daughter in law, Marianne (Ingrid Thulin) and eventually a few other passengers (including Bergman favorite Bibi Andersson) he reminiscences about his life and comes to the realization that maybe he's been a little too distant. I kind of felt like this movie was a few beats away from being a road trip comedy. At least Bergman road trip comedy. Parts were amusing, other parts very ethereal. I think the pacing kin...

Remain calm. I'll admit, I was determined to like Obvious Child before I saw it. The story follows a stand up comedian, Donna (Jenny Slate) who gets dumped by her boyfriend and is about to lose her job all within the same week. She has a one night stand with a very nice guy, Max (Jake Lacy) but ends up pregnant. She knows very well that she is in no place to be a parent, so she decides to have an abortion. People saw the word "abortion" and jumped on this movie like white on rice. "I can't believe they'd make a joke over killing babies!!" people cried. of course, all these people bitching never even saw the film. I knew there just had to be more, and thankfully there was. Obvious Child doesn't handle this topic lightly, but it handles it realistically. It's Donna's choice, she has her reasons for doing it, and really, it's not the focal point of the film at all. Donna's relationship with Max and subsequently getting h...

This week's theme from Wandering Through the Shelves is Vampire movies. This was hard to narrow down to three. You will find no Twilight shit here.  1) Let The Right One In This will always be one of my favorite movies, and I don't think I'll ever see another vampire movie I like more than this. Eli and Oskar's relationship is so sweet and free of judgement. I love it.  2) Thirst This South Korean film is a real gem and Kang-ho Song and Ok-bin Kim are fantastic in it. 3) Interview With a Vampire This is one of the few films I actually like Tom Cruise in. It also started my fangirling over Kristen Dunst. 

All this Fincher talk lately gave me the idea for this post. So many bloggers were pointing out how awesome Rooney Mara was in her short time in The Social Network, that it gave me this idea. Sometimes a simple look an actor gives is nothing short of brilliant. So here are my favorite examples of great acting in one particular scene. Rooney Mara in The Social Network - When Erica finds out what Mark has been saying about her online. Just look at her face. Mara shows she's one of the best actors in this movie with this look alone. Denis Leary in Rescue Me - The look on Tommy's face when he finds out his son has died is absolutely heartbreaking, and is the only time I've ever cried when watching a TV show. Sophie Turner in Game of Thrones - Sansa's gone through hell in King's Landing. And when Margaery, a proper lady she admires offers friendship, Sansa is so happy she nearly cries. Look at her face. She was perfect. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and B...

Technology ruins everything...or maybe it just enhances it? Jason Reitman is one of my favorite directors, but recently he's been lacking. Young Adult and Labor Day were both pretty lackluster. Men, Women, & Children is a step back into the right direction, but it makes me wonder if Reitman actually saw Disconnect ? Because his movie feels incredibly similar. Interwoven stories about people and how the internet effects their lives make up this film. There's Don and Helsen (Adam Sandler and Rosemarie DeWitt) who's unhappy marriage leads them to seek out other comfort online, while their teenage son Chris' (Travis Trope) online porn preferences are ensuring his relationship with Hannah (Olivia Crocicchia) will never be normal. Hannah is very overt with her sexuality and her mother (Judy Greer) even helps her take seductive pictures for her website in hopes of landing an acting/modeling career. There's Patricia (Jennifer Garner) playing the ultimate heli...

Don't forget to click those gifs to be redirected to their makers. Boardwalk Empire There's only one episode left, and we said goodbye to another fan favorite tonight. Okay, fan favorite may be stretching it, but fuck you. Mickey is awesome. Nucky arranges to have Benny kidnapped so he can gain some leverage on Luciano and Lansky. So what do they do? Seconds after a newly back in Atlantic City Eli meets up with his son, Willie, Luciano and Lansky have him abducted right in front of him. Touche. Benny was golden in this episode, even when he was singing a song about vagina. I actually cared more about Benny then I do Willie. I wouldn't have been too broken up if Willie had been killed. When both sides meet to agree to terms, Benny punches out Willie and his goons grab him again. Nucky has to agree to give Luciano and Lansky his empire, AND kill Salvatore Maranzano. Mickey Doyle and Nucky's Cuban bodyguard are also killed during the melee.  This week's fl...

Bubbawheat over at Flights, Tights, and Movie Nights (another blog title I'm jealous of) passed me the baton to his very interesting 10 Best Super Heroes relay . This isn't just any old relay where you swap one, add one, and keep going. His rules are very specific: 1. The list of movies will be passed to another blogger who will post their list within a week. 2. The blogger will take their list, remove 3 movies – with explanations, and replace with 3 new movies – with explanations. 3. If a movie lasts five rounds without being removed, it becomes locked in; it is permanent and can no longer be removed from the list. 4. If a movie is removed three different times, it is locked out and can no longer be put back onto the list by someone else. 5. Once four movies are locked into place, bloggers will replace 2 movies. 6. Once eight movies are locked into place, bloggers will replace 1 movie. 7. Once all ten movies are locked into place, the relay will be complete. ...