R A M B O

I admit it, I paid money to see "Rambo" on opening day. I didn't get any popcorn with extra butter, and I didn't ball out and get slushie, I just spent seven bones and got to see an awesomely bad, yet outrageously awesome movie. I won't review the movie, the New York Times review is spot on with how I feel about it. Check it out here. Here is a sample:

"Mr. Stallone is smart enough — or maybe dumb enough, though I tend to think not — to present the mythic dimensions of the character without apology or irony. His face looks like a misshapen chunk of granite, and his acting is only slightly more expressive, but the man gets the job done. Welcome back."

People frequently say to me, "I don't know how you can think that movie is good" or "Why would you ever see that?" For me, certain movies are about the experience of being in the theater. For me, going to see some crazy big budgeted action movie in a packed house with everyone screaming and going nuts is equal to a sporting game. My first memory of this phenomenon is watching this scene with my Dad and my brothers at a "guys" night at the film.

For those who can't remember, in this scene, Ethan Hunt has to break in (check out how massive that computer is). In the end that knife falls on the table. I remember that knife falling and the whole theater gasped in a huge way, and then breathed a sigh of relief when it stuck in the table.

And "gasp" is what I went to see Rambo for. When Rambo shot an arrow through a dude's chin, did the entire crowd yell, you bet they did. And that yell was worth my seven bones.

There Will Be Blood

THERE WILL BE BLOOD (AND ALSO A WAY OVER-HYPED MOVIE)

So I managed to see "There Will Be Blood" the Academy Award Nominated darling from P. W. Anderson. I must say I was extremely impressed with the power of the movie, but maybe I've been watching too much Die Hard, but I didn't like it. There I said it, let the movie gods who have labeled this film "Citizen Kane" for the 21st century douse me in oil and set my aflame.
This guy, Mr. Daniel Day Lewis. Oh damn, talk about a thundering performance. If he wasn't in the film I wouldn't have really cared for it. It looked pretty, but seriously this guy is a monster. When is he going to chew into a really meaty when known role. I'd love to see him tackle a historical figure or maybe even a fictional character like Captian Ahab in a new "Moby Dick" film.


It was the first movie I have ever seen that I was completely mesmerized but also completely bored by. Also mad props to Ciarán Hinds, who is a fine actor who frequently goes un-recognized in his roles.

P.S. If you are not looking for a wildly intense movie like this go see "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" you will not be disappointed.

A Christmas Classic

During this Christmas season, it's easy to think fondly back to holiday classics such as "It's a Wonderful Life", "A Christmas Story" and "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation." But often times we overlook a gem of a holiday film. If you didn't recognize the picture from above, I'm talking about "Die Hard" from 1988.



Because this movie succeeds as an action film, it is often forgotten as a Christmas movie. The reason it works well as a Christmas flickis because like all great holiday films, it's about the power of giving and the importance of being with the ones you love at Christmas. And as everybody knows, there are always complications. Flights get delayed, the store is sold out of the gift someone needs to survive, the cornbread gets burned, you know the deal. All these roadblocks are represented in this guy the terrorist Hans Gruber:
In his first feature film role, Alan Rickman(who would perfect this weasly character by playing Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films) nails the role of the nefarious villain who stands in the way of the good guy John McClane.
Over the course of the film, McClane uses various Christmas related supplies including Santa Hats, gift wrapping tape, and sub-machine guns to save his wife and family (and many other hostages) from the forces of the world that hamper our Christmas enjoyment.

So, it may have higher body count than "It's a Wonderful Life" (Hey that film has suicidal thoughts, "Die Hard" just has evil Eastern European bad guys), but you are looking to snuggle down with an exciting film while the yule log burns, "Die Hard" consistently delivers the goods. Merry Christmas.

This is a movie about fear. In an era of movies like Hostel and Saw that try to freak the viewer out with gore, Will Smith and Francis Lawrence have a created that isn't inherently scary, but rather a study on fear and the effects of it on the human mind. Why is this important, because as a culture we are obsessed with fear and in this upcoming election, FEAR is the crucial part of it.


But enough about politics, let's talk about "I am Legend" and how this movie captures the mood of our time. In the film, Will Smith chills out in the day time doing the things that people do: wake up, workout (maybe not everybody get's jacked in the morning), goes to work, drives around, watches TV, listens to music, and then goes to sleep. Normal day, sweet life. It's all in the preview



But then at night as you can see, all the monsters roam the streets. Essentially Will Smith gets jiggy with it in the day time, and then once the sun sets has to deal with all the problems in the world. How does he deal with it, by locking himself into his fortified and extremely cozy brownstone.

In one sequence of the film, Smith goes into a building to look for his dog. It is here, where Will Smith's flashlight cuts through the darkness that we finally sense that even though Will Smith has a groovy life in the day, he is petrified of the darkness, i.e. the true problems in the world.

And this is how the world operates today. We go about our lives, very consciousness of the world's problems like Global Warming



War


And Poverty
These are just some of the problems that are lurking in the dark of the world today. I am Legend is a great movie because it captures this mentality of the material life that we live (myself) and the problems that are lurking when we go to sleep. Hopefully someone will come and deal with all of them. That person would truly be a legend.