Rambling Film

You know, when you said condition... Evan (Lou Taylor Pucci) has recently lost both parents. Lost in life, he takes a trip to Italy which mainly consists of him getting drunk and wandering around until he lands a job working on a farm. Then he meets Louise, (Nadia Hilker) a foreign student studying there. They began a relationship, but Louise has a mysterious condition that causes her to change form unless she takes her injections. The horror/romance genre is a tricky one. This might be one of the weirdest movies I've seen in a long time, but it certainly kept my attention throughout. The film gets off to a terribly slow start. So slow in fact that I assumed the film was going to be awful until he finally meets Louise and things start rolling. The beginning is swiftly made up. What I appreciated about this film is how they tried to explain the "science" behind Louise's transformations. It's so easy for horror films to explain a monster's origins in ...

This week's theme from Wandering Through the Shelves is cults. I've talked about my weird obsession with religious cults before. It's morbidly fascinating. It was easy to find three films that I love for this theme. In fact, It was hard settling on the 3rd choice. 1) Martha Marcy May Marlene Lizzie Olsen's debut movie is about a girl who escapes from a cult and goes to live with her sister after having zero contact with her family for over two years. The ending of this film is left open, but just imaging what could happen next is very terrifying in itself.  2) The Master Freddie is kind of a drunken mess when he happens upon Lancaster Dodd and his very persuasive Cause. Paul Thomas Anderson took inspiration from Scientology for this film and it features amazing performances from Phililp Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix and Amy Adams.  3) Red State This is the least "Kevin Smith" movie Kevin Smith has ever made. It's about three guys wh...

You should call more. John Hollar (John Krasinski) lives in New York working at a publishing office that he hates. His girlfriend Rebecca (Anna Kendrick) is pregnant, but he won't marry her despite her being a very caring and understanding person. He gets a phone call that his mother, Sally (Margo Martindale) has just found out she has a brain tumor and must go into surgery. He leaves back to his hometown in somewhereville, USA to spend time with his mother, father Don(Richard Jenkins) and his older brother, Ron. (Sharlto Copley, barely hanging on to an American accent) The Hollars gives off an immediate Garden State vibe, and unfortunately it can't shake it despite its wonderful cast. Don't get me wrong, the film has a lot of heart. And in those moments, it shines, but for the rest of it it staggers around between over the top and forced. There's a scene in the film where John is swinging on a rope swing over a river, fully clothed. You know that rope is g...

Another thing I've been slacking on. I haven't done one of these since Game of Thrones ended, but here's some thoughts on what I've been watching on TV lately. Agents of SHIELD SHIELD came back for its 4th season this past Tuesday, and they're heavily promoting Ghost Rider. I was a bit worried about how he would look on TV. Agents of SHIELD tends to get really over ambitious with their budget, and sometimes the SFX look awful, but Ghost Rider was not a casualty of that. He looked great, possibly even better than the film version. The move to the 10:00 pm time slot was welcomed too, as we got to see Rider murder a bunch of people.  Of course, the show still makes the mistake of focusing too much on Daisy. She's still the least interesting character and Chloe Bennett continues to be a very bland actress. It's a bit disappointing she's our eyes to Ghost Rider at this point. We still don't know who the new director is, only that Simmons has bee...

Okay, now I'm back on track. This is my 2nd Blind Spot for the month since I missed out in August.  What I knew going in: That Billy Wilder directed it.  CC Baxter (Jack Lemmon) is a lower level employee at an insurance company who has been letting his bosses use his nearby apartment for their liaisons. When he's up for a promotion, another big wig, Mr. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray) wants in on the arrangement too. Baxter finds out the hard way that one of Sheldrake's hook ups happens to be Fran, (Shirley MacLaine) a woman who Baxter has a crush on. Billy Wilder has been one of the more interesting directors to grace my Blind Spot lists. I notice that I don't often find classic films funny. I'm used to the raunchier stuff they have nowadays, I guess. But Wilder's films always make me laugh. This one is no exception. It's not a through and through comedy. Actually, the tone changes quite drastically with whoever is on screen. When it's Baxter, it...

Selective Memories. Three years ago, Isabelle, (Isabelle Huppert) an accoplished war photographer died in a car crash. Now, someone is planning on writing an article about her death and it brings her husband Gene (Gabriel Byrne) young son, Conrad (Devin Druid) and adult son Jonah (Jesse Eisenberg) together for the first time in a while and forces them to come to a mutual understanding of how they remember her. This is director Joachim Trier's first English language film, he did the wonderful Oslo, August 31st. He approaches Bombs in the same way. It's very quiet and almost cerebral. We spend a lot of time in our characters' heads listening to their narration. Sometimes they're not reliable narrators, or other people say what's in their minds. It's an interesting approach.  Devin Druid gives the strongest performance here, as he's tasked with being the most angry and kept in the dark about his mother's death. Gene is somewhat resenting he...

This week's theme from Wandering Through the Shelves is something we all go through; teen angst. This also happens to be a topic I suggested when Wanderer was asking for them. Why did I suggest it? As a one time angsty teen, I find those characters the easiest to relate to at times. Here's three of my favorite movies where teen angst plays a part. 1) Thirteen Tracey is the ultimate angsty teen. She's angry, she cuts herself, she does whatever her new friend Evie tells her so that she fits in, even if it means drinking, doing drugs and making out with strange dudes. I think this is the best movie about a rebellious teen out there.  2) Short Term 12 Though Jayden is not the star of this film, her anger reminds Grace of her own youth, and she knows Jayden has a very good reason for being the way she is, and not one she's going to be willing to admit any time soon.  3) Fish Tank Mia is angry, really angry. Her only outlet is dancing and even that'...

Since I fell behind on this last month I'm hoping to do two of these in September. What I knew going in: The plot The film follows New Orleans DA Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) as he attempts to prove that the murder of President John F. Kennedy was a conspiracy that involved more than one shooter.  We're all to the point where we kind of at least believe there was a conspiracy, right? That alone made me interested in checking this out. One thing I didn't notice before I put this movie on my Blind Spot list...it's over three hours long. THREE + hours of Kevin Costner whom I barely tolerate as it is. I suddenly started dreading this a bit. I attempted to watch it on an airplane (Which I found out later when I got the DVD in the mail was actually heavily edited so I had to start over anyways) and one minute I'm watching a long Kennedy montage, then the next "We're now beginning our descent into...." Whoops. (but bonus: I NEVER sleep on planes) ...

They're watching you. Edward Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a man who worked as a contractor for both the CIA and NSA. During his time there, he's shocked to learn just how deeply the U.S government is spying on its own citizens. The film starts in 2013, when Snowden means with documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras, (Melissa Leo) and journalists Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto) and Ewen MacAskill in Hong Kong. If you remember, they brought us the brilliant Oscar winning documentary Citizenfour.  The film is the told through flashbacks of how Snowden got to that point through his work, and through his relationship with Lindsay Mills (Shailene Woodley) The best thing a movie that's dramatizing something already covered in a documentary can do is not try to replicate it, and thankfully director Oliver Stone does that well. While Citizenfour spoke about a lot of what Snowden leaked, this film lets us get to know he was as a person as he goes along this journey. Snow...

This year's Emmys played a lot of things by the book, but they also had some nice surprises. Kimmel was a great host. He started out by saying there was a new rule that if the winner wasn't there, they would just give the Emmy to the next person on the list. Then he directed a tirade at Maggie Smith for never showing up and winning all the time. He also had a great joke about Transparent being in the comedy category despite being a drama (Born a drama, identifies as a comedy) and Matt Damon even came on stage at one point to harass him. Game of Thrones and Veep also took home the big wins of the night, so that makes me happy. Here's a list of the nominees and winners.  Outstanding Drama Series The Americans Better Call Saul Downton Abbey Game Of Thrones Homeland House Of Cards Mr. Robot I'm glad Game of Thrones won this. They were so bad in season 5, and to come back and give us a mostly perfect season 6 was great. I'll miss them next year when they won...

Now who's the worst? Rocky (Jane Levy) is sick of being stuck in Detroit with her abusive mother and dreams of a better life for herself and her younger sister. She and her boyfriend Money (Daniel Zovatto) and their friend Alex (Dylan Minnette) decide to rob a blind man's (Stephen Lang) house. He settled for a six figure pay out when a rich family causes the death of his daughter and they believe it to be hidden in the house. Of course, nothing about this robbery goes as planned. I usually stay away from home invasion movies, they tend to all feel the same to me, but this one was getting great reviews and I enjoyed Levy in the Evil Dead remake and what I saw of Suburgatory . I'm glad I gave it a shot, this movie didn't go where I was expecting it to at all. I love when movies make you question on who you should be rooting for. I haven't seen a film do it this well since I Saw The Devil . It relies a less jump scares (though there's definitely a f...

I'm only casually concerned about this dude I pissed off. Pierre (Anton Yelchin) is stuck in life. He left his small down in Wisconsin for college, then when his parents die he finds himself stuck there again. One day when his car breaks down, he hitches a ride from Shane (John Hawkes) a total douche that tries to steal Pierre's plant that he has with him. Shane kicks him out of his car, and Pierre ends up knocking his ass out with a rock and stealing a bag full of money he had in his truck. Not very smart, but hey, Shane's an asshole. Now he's an asshole that wants revenge.  It's still hard watching Anton Yelchin on screen. Especially like this, Pierre is so laid back. He's a good looking guy, he's infatuated with his new, mysterious love Stella (Zooey Deschanel) and a great friend to Carrie (Alia Shawkat) and even his reason for stealing this bag of money is kind of justifiable. You can't help but like Pierre, even with the poor judgement an...

This week's theme from Wandering Through the Shelves is Frats, sororities, and/or secret societies. When I was in junior high I thought it would be cool to be part of a sorority when I was in college. Then when I finally got there I realized that they were all kinds of fucking awful, at least at the college I went to. So it's only fitting that I find some awful movies I sat through to fit this theme. 1) Sorority Boys Three guys get kicked out of their frat and decide to dress in drag and pledge to an "ugly girl" sorority. It manages to be both sexist and unfunny. 2) The House Bunny A playboy bunny turns 27 and gets kicked out of the playboy mansion for being "too old" so she becomes a den mother to a sorority instead. There's a lot of funny people in this movie, unfortunately even they can't get any laughs from this atrocious script. 3) College Three high school kids tour a college campus and spend the weekend at a frat party. Th...

Blood always follows money.  Toby (Chris Pine) and his brother Tanner (Ben Foster) have been robbing a small chain of banks in Texas in order to save their family's ranch. Tanner is fresh out of prison, Toby is a divorcee who just wants a better life for his sons. They eventually catch the eyes of ranger, Hamilton (Jeff Bridges) and his reluctant partner Parker. (Gil Birmingham)  Hamilton thinks he has them all figured out, and Toby just wants to get this all over with. I hadn't planned on seeing this on the big screen, despite loving Ben Foster, but after hearing how unexpectedly great it was, I made it a point to see it before my theater loses it this week. It's a very simple story but performance by Foster and Pine completely enhance it. This was an interesting double matinee I saw with Don't Breathe (review will go up on Sunday) as both involved characters robbing others. There's a lot less grey with this one. Foster is so underrated. This guy has...

The 2016 Emmy Awards are next week. I'll be rooting hard for Game of Thrones considering their late premiere date next season will make them ineligible. Here's my predictions for who will win, and in some cases who should win.  Outstanding Drama Series The Americans Better Call Saul Downton Abbey Game Of Thrones Homeland House Of Cards Mr. Robot Who will and should win: Game of Thrones. If they can win for their shitty season 5, they deserve it more for their outstanding season 6.  Oustanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Kyle Chandler - Bloodline Rami Malek - Mr. Robot Bob Odenkirk - Better Call Saul Matthew Rhys - The Americans Liev Schreiber - Ray Donovan Kevin Spacey - House Of Cards Who will win: Kevin Spacey Who should win: Rami Malek. Rami is amazing on Mr. Robot, but the Emmys love Spacey. They might not stray, even though they should.  Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Claire Danes - Homeland Viola Davis - How To Get Away Wi...