Alright I'm Done With All The Sports For Now. Had To Get Those Out... On To The Entertainment.
FILM:
As Nothing Of Interest Is Currently In Theaters, I Have Resorted To My Usual Online Film Hunt, In Order To Catch Up On The Many Indies I Have Missed Due To Limited Release. I've Got Three To Talk About In This Particular Installment.
The First Film That I Will Talk About Is Entitled Downloading Nancy. Wow... Where To Begin With This One? This Movie Is Not Due Out For Limited Release Until June 5. And I'm Not Saying That This Film Was Bad But I Certainly Could Have Waited Another Few Weeks To See It. However, In No Way Am I Saying To Avoid This Movie. On The Contrary, Just Know What You're Getting Yourself Into Before You Start Watching. This Movie Is Vaguely Reminiscent Of Requiem For A Dream. Not Stylistically As You Might Think. Almost In No Way Are The Two Films Similar. The Only Reason I Can Even Draw This Parallel Is Simply Due To The Feelings Of Disparity And Revulsion You Will Feel After Having Watched It. Once Again Don't Jump To Conclusions. While The Dialogue Was Sub-par The Themes Were Extremely Heavy And Heart-Wrenching. This Was Mostly Thanks To The Terrific Performances By The Three Lead Rolls. Nancy (Maria Bello) Is A Woman Tortured By Her Past And Struggling To Find Happiness In A Suffering Marriage To Albert (Rufus Sewell). Though Most Of Nancy's Problems Predated Her Declining Relationship With Her Golf-Obsessed Husband, She Slowly Falls Into The Habit Of Self-Medicating By Cutting Herself. To Escape The Pain She Ultimately Turns, Via Internet Personals, To An Equally Troubled Man, Louis (Jason Patric), To End Her Suffering. The Majority Of The Film Chronicles The Final Days Of Nancy's Life During A Bender Of Sexual Deviancy, Bondage, And Mutilation, Both Assisted And Self-Inflicted. These Scenes Are Not For The Faint Of Heart And Are Some Of The Most Disturbing Minutes I've Ever Watched On Screen. Unfortunately, The Movie Relies Too Much On Shock Factor Instead Of Diving Deeper Into The Pasts Of These Characters, Which I Felt Was Greatly Needed. Otherwise The Audience Is Just Thrown Into This World Of Disturbing Images Without Fulling Connecting To These Miserable People. If The Writers Goal Was To Send A Message I Think They Missed On This One. However, If They Meant To Make Us Feel Like Killing Ourselves Along With The Characters In The Movie... Job Well Done.
Secondly, This Film I Found A Good Bit More Entertaining Than The Previous One. Bronson, Is A Dramatic Biography Of Michael Peterson AKA Charlie Bronson (Tom Hardy), Britain's Most Infamous And Violent Prisoner. This Story Travels Into The Mind Of A Crazy Man Trapped In A World Thirsting For Chaos. Charlie Bronson Originally Started As A Small Time Crook And Was Sentenced To A Pithy (According To Him), Seven Years In Prison. However, Due To His Violent And Psychotic Nature, Seven Years Slowly Turns To Thirty-Four (Thirty Of Which Are Spent In Solitary Confinement). The Film's Entirety Follows Bronson Throughout His Many Experiences In The Various Cells He Refers To As Hotel Rooms. We Also Get To See Some Of His Most Troubled Stays In And Out Of Wards For The Criminally Insane. This Movie, In My Mind, Is What It Would Be Like To Watch Clockwork Orange When Directed By Guy Ritchie (And Not Just 'Cause It's A British Film). Stylistically, I Felt The Movie Was Well Executed, As We Are Able To View The World Through The Perspective Of A Mentally Imbalanced Man. The Monologue Scenes Were Both Theatrical And Humorous. The Acting Was Also Really Great. I Was Rooting For This Crazy Asshole During The Whole Movie. The Only Complaint I Had About The Movie Was That Since Much Of The Film Takes Place In A Prison There Is A Bit Too Much Male Nudity For My Taste. None Would Have Been Just Fine. But Whatever, It's A True Story. Overall I Really Enjoyed This One And Definitely Recommend It.
Saving The Best For Last. Noah Baumbach, (Squid And The Whale, Life Aquatic, And The Upcoming Fantastic Mr. Fox) Throws Us Into The Lives Of A Eccentric, Bohemian, Disjointed Family. The Movie Stars Such Actors As Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, John Turturro, And Jack Black. This Film's Cynicism And Wit Captured My Attention Right Away. One Thing I Liked About The Style Was That The Movie Combines The Humor Of A Wes Anderson Classic With The Dysfunctional Family Dynamics Portrayed In American Beauty. The Film Let's Us View This Family Without Any Prior Knowledge Of Their Problems, Which Allows The Audience To Make It's Own Conclusions About The Lives Of These Characters. It's Because Of This That The Audience Can More Easily Identify With The Two Sisters, Margot (Kidman) And Pauline (Leigh). Both Women Contend With Their Separate Identity Crises. All Of This Thrown Into The Backdrop Of The Upcoming Wedding Of The Unsure Pauline And The Oddball Malcolm (Black). The True-To-Life Themes Explored, Involve Family Boundaries, And Disconnected Emotions, And Are Clearly Recognizable Thanks To The Sardonic Dialogue Which Is Delivered By First-Rate Actors. The Protagonist Margot Struggles With These Her Self-Image; Being More Concerned Of What Others Might Feel About Her, Than What She Actually Thinks About Herself. She Therefore Loses Touch With Her Own Sense Of Self And Reality. This In Turn, Forces Her Character To Ultimately Form A Feeling Of Self-Loathing And Paving Way To Her Slow Implosion. This Is Mostly Why I Liked This Movie. It Strays From The Standard Coming-Of-Age Formula. While Normally We Might See The Protagonist Developing Towards Self-Actualization, Here We Are Taken In The Complete Opposite Direction. The Only Complaint I Had Was That The Ending Was A Little Too Abrupt. I Would Have Liked A Little More Resolution, But Then Again Life Doesn't Always Wrap Up Nicely. This Movie Was More True-To-Life Than A Majority Of Other Films I Have Seen In This Genre. I HIGHLY Recommend This One.
