The body vs. the soul. The carnal vs. the spiritual. Meat eaters vs. vegans. Tantra vs. marijuana. Sex vs. drugs. Or sex and drugs. And that, my friends, is Hollywood. My personal holy grail.
*some info and pic from HBO
The body vs. the soul. The carnal vs. the spiritual. Meat eaters vs. vegans. Tantra vs. marijuana. Sex vs. drugs. Or sex and drugs. And that, my friends, is Hollywood. My personal holy grail.
*some info and pic from HBO
Single date turns into quadruple trouble. Well, not for Eric, who gets Ari's hot assistant Emily. And also Vince, who gets the I'm-still-über-hot-as-a-blonde Leighton Meester. Too bad for Drama, who gets the bodybuilder, and Turtle, who gets the psycho.
*some info and pic from HBO
Entourage does Jimmy Kimmel. Sorry, that's Vince Chase does Jimmy Kimmel. Only problem is, I've never watched a single Jimmy Kimmel show. Also hooray for cameos by Sara Foster, and Sarah Silverman, who like I said looks like a Caucasian Karen Mok.
*some info and pic from HBO
For those who love World War II, this is an early Christmas gift. To see war footage in full color, when they were formerly in black-and-white...now that is what I call true eye candy.
*pic from ngcasia.com
If Borat was so 2006, does that mean that Brüno is so 2009?
No. Because Brüno is light years ahead. In terms of subject matter, that is. Brüno wanders into taboo that will probably remain taboo for another hundred years.
Brüno follows the same structure as Borat, but the only problem is, Borat's structure was more defined, more solid. Brüno also has an assistant, by the name of Lutz, who does exactly what Azamat Bagatov did for Borat. But Lutz is less funny. Like way less.
Another problem with Brüno is that it is too short. The entire film only clocks in at less than ninety minutes. And that I believe is not enough to tell a decent story. Yes, we may get a lot of gags, but this is still a narrative, ladies and gentlemen, and so must still conform to a narrative structure. Or at least a semblance of it.
Brüno also fails to deliver the same gag quality as the television episodes it was based on. Unlike Borat, which captured the television essence dead-on, Brüno seems to only show us the tip of the iceberg. Some of the funniest Brüno antics, like making people change their opinion with the snap of a finger, were missing from the movie. But his other gags were magnified to laugh-out-loud proportions. Yet still, that wasn't enough to compensate for what the real Brüno fans were waiting for.
And finally, you know you're not gay when you watch Brüno and you still feel sick. Yes it is funny, even stomach-cramping hilarious. But it still is nauseating.
*some info from IMDb
pic from telegraph.co.uk
Brüno. USA. 2009.
Rating: Six and a half out of ten.
The Rolls Royce salesman was Deep Roy, who played the Oompa Loompas in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. And the girl who gave Vince Chase a hi-hello kiss on the lips was Jessica Alba. I hate you Vince Chase.
*some info and pic from HBO
Hooray for the Hollywood lifestyle, which is the lifestyle I've always dreamed of. There's something about HBO shows...they're always damn good. And Kevin Dillon is now my favorite Entourage character.
*some info and pic from HBO
Patrick Swayze may not be an Oscar winner. He may not have at least one movie a year. And his movies may not be considered box office hits. But he still managed to make his name synonymous with dirty dancing.
Patrick Swayze is like a Brazilian superstar. You could call him by just one name: Swayze. You can drop the "Patrick", they'll know who you mean anyway.
I also believe Swayze was one of the first male actors who didn't mind doing what was previously considered "soft," like dancing. And not just dancing like hip-hop dancing; I mean dancing like he's-too-smooth-to-dance-like-that-he's-probably-gay dancing. And that was already a big thing back then. So hooray to Swayze for helping push the gender role stereotype envelope.
And what can I say about Patrick Swayze? Mr. Swayze, you have a very beautiful face. When you were younger, it looked like it was computer-generated, even when modern CGI technology didn't exist in the 80s. And when you were older, your face looked like it was carved out of wood. Like a beautiful wooden statue.
Patrick Swayze. 1952-2009.
*pic from thesebootsaremadeforstalking.com
Okay, the color for today is yellow.
But seriously, that's just Tarantino's homage to the great martial arts icon, Bruce Lee. You have Uma Thurman in a yellow track suit, I mean, come on.
And this entire film is one big homage to the kung fu shows of the seventies, like the ones that starred David Carradine, who incidentally also stars here as the main villain, Bill. But we don't get to see his face yet. Just his voice.
Vol. 1 is of course the "girl on girl" action flick, since the two assassins that the Bride slaughters are female. Director Quentin Tarantino also makes sure that the Bride remains unnamed, putting in bleeps when her character's name is mentioned. Anyway, so the Bride kills Vivica A. Fox and Lucy Liu. She also gets to cut off Sofie Fatale's arm, and kill the pretty Gogo Yubari. But she doesn't kill Bill. Yet.
Great work on the music, by the way, as the original music score was done byt the Rza. I think Tarantino got the Rza on board after listening to the Wu-Tang Clan and their love for everything Eastern. Anyway, I don't know how much of the soundtrack was original music, and how much was simply remixed, but the Rza got the kung-fu mood dead on.
Tarantino's sets are spectacular, by the way. Especially that last fight with O-Ren Ishii. White and yellow plus light snowfall equals win. But the way the top of O-Ren's head got sliced off--disgusting. Reminded me too much of Hannibal.
I only have one problem though, and that is the editing. Especially during the fights. There were some cuts that just didn't feel right. Well, to pull off a well-edited fight scene requires storyboarding, and from what I remember about Tarantino, I think he storyboards in his head instead of on paper. I'm not really sure though, I might have forgotten.
So that, ladies and gentlemen, is Vol. 1. Tune in next week for Vol. 2. Same time, same station. Well, maybe not next week, as I still have to get a copy of it.
*some info from IMDb
pic from moviesfilmsmotionpictures.wordpress.com
Kill Bill Vol. 1. USA. 2003.
Rating: Seven out of ten.
Hooray for simple films that have no need for special effects. And also hooray for the European Union's eleven-year Cine Europa.
Well, it's quite easy really to pull off a good film sans special effects. You only need two things: 1) a great script; and 2) great actors.
I don't know exactly what genre this film falls under, since I do not believe in genres anyway. Well it's basically a teen movie which discusses teen concerns. Like falling in love, dating, first kiss, first fuck. Et cetera, et cetera.
See the kids in the picture? They're the stars of this film. So it's sort of like American Pie, only the humor is way subdued. In fact, I don't think this film is a comedy at all. Yes there are a lot of humorous moments. But that's about it. It's the drama that stands out. So I guess this film is a drama. And I just said I don't believe in genres.
And again, see those kids? They're all really good actors. They represent the typical teenage set, all males obviously, with typical teenage problems and typical teenage angst. And the one thing they have in common: typical teenage libido. Of course it doesn't help one bit that the girl involved is sizzling hot.
Hooray for Belgian cinema, for telling really simple stories, for not needing special effects, and for showing a lot of marijuana use without making the kids look like addicts.
*some info from IMDb
pic from cinebel.be
De laatste Zomer (The Last Summer). Belgium. 2007.
Rating: Seven out of ten.
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