New Release Tuesday: Chicken With Plums

Chicken With Plums
Read the graphic novel a few weeks ago because I knew this movie was coming out. It is from the same author who did the Persepolis graphic novel.  As far as the story goes, I enjoyed Chicken With Plums a lot more.  The movie was very similar to the book.  Just a few minor details were left out.  But, it was enjoyable.  This is the type of artsy movie I like (not that Tree of Life crap).  Nice imagery here.  Story was cute and depressing at the same time.  It was like a dark comedy.  A story about lost love. And how true love lasts forever.  It's a tragedy.  I love every moment in this film: the annoying son on the bus, the angel of death scene, the suicide attempts inside our main character's head.  This is a must for the Comic/Graphic Novel section.  I felt adventurous today and found an Iranian recipe made Chicken With Plums today.

Oscar Sunday: Kramer vs. Kramer

Kramer vs. Kramer IMDb
Well today is Oscar Sunday, not only for my personal movie night and blog but for the rest of the world.  The Best Picture this year will most likely go to Argo, unless there's a surprise.  Today, I decided to watch the Best Picture of 1979.  I always heard about this movie but never really knew what was it about.  It's actually a pretty good movie.  I had no idea this was about divorce and being a single parent.  Now, this hits close to home because I'm in this situation.  So, I can kind of relate to some of the things here.  It is messed up when families break apart (in my case, it was my fault), but after a while, sometimes everything is better for everyone.  People make mistakes.  People learn.  Here in this story, the dad is forced to take care of his kid.  He struggles at first but then he becomes a better dad than he once was.  Love the French Toast scene.  I love cooking and I love it when I put my son on the counter and he watches me cook.  Anyways, I can go for hours on this so let's just stick to the movie. I thought it was going to be a bit boring, but it delivered.  Must watch with French Toast.

Perks OF Being A Wallflower

The Perks of Being a Wallflower IMDb
Pretty decent independent movie.  Was curious about this one last year, but missed the chance to see it in the theatre.  It has its flaws but the main thing here are the great performances by the kids.  Hey, how about Tom Savini? Nice to see him in a modern movie that's not Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez related.  He has a very small part but, hey, no complaints.  This movie has a great performance from that one creepy kid from "We need to talk about Kevin." Music was pretty cool too. I wanted more out this movie.  It has its charms but I guess it didn't touch my heart as I thought it would.  It was just a simple little story about high school kids. 

End of Watch

End of Watch IMDb
Woke up this morning to this cop movie.  The first half was okay.  A little annoying.  Then things get really interesting when they unintentionally mess with the Sinaloa Cartel.  The ambush scene was intense (probably my favorite scene).  The ending was a little too dramatic for me.  It became a bit predictable.  It's basically the relationship between two cops (both professionally and personally).  They're like brothers.  They do some messed up shit and they do some heroic shit.  I don't know why, but I don't like how people who play street gangsters act in movies.  It gets tiring.  I mean, I guess that's how they are in Los Angeles. It just doesn't feel authentic here and most other films.  Didn't know this was somewhat of a found footage kind of film.  This was good for a one time deal. It didn't suck.  Glad I saw it, but probably won't ever watch it again.

It's only appropriate to have coffee and donuts with this movie, especially a bear claw (Natural Born Killers reference: "Gerald came walking out with our coffee and my bear claw").

New Release Tuesday: Hipsters

Hipsters IMDb
I was having a hard time deciding what to watch today for New Release Tuesday.  I already saw Argo.  I didn't want to see Anna Karanenina. or however you spell it.  Then I saw the trailer to this Russian musical.  Not bad. So I had me a Russian night.  This takes place in the 1950's.  It was a cool Foreign film.  Good music.  Funny moments. The kids weren't annoying.  I enjoyed it.  Nice colors.  It gets a bit political and I didn't mind that either.  It's not everyday I see a Foreign musical (especially not from Russia).  This was a nice treat.  My favorite song is an evil song sung by a girl who can be Hitler's niece and a whole class of uniformed students.  It was evil and brilliant.  I would of wanted something bad to happen to that girl in the end but it wasn't about that.  It was about belonging in a group.  About being able to be cool and hip and being rebellious.  I think we might add this to the Musical section.

I searched online for a traditional Russian recipe to make for this movie and found an easy one.  I made Sauteed mushrooms and potatoes.  Served with a Baltika Golden Lager.

Skyfall

Skyfall IMDb
Went to the cheap theatre in Round Rock to watch the latest Bond movie in the big screen.  It was entertaining. Beautiful shots.  Good action. Javier Bardem is an awesome villain here.  I think comparing to the last two Bond movies, the villain here is more defined.  I just didn't like his intentions in the second half.  All of a sudden he's after "M" because of some beef from a long time ago.  Another thing I didn't like was that there was at least two big opportunities for the bad guys to kill Bond.  Of course you can't kill Bond.  He's the movie.  So make the bad guys very stupid in those moments but way smarter in other moments.  They shouldn't put Bond in those moments in the first place.
Just suspend your beliefs again and go with it.  Kudos on the shots and music.  Kudos on the escape scene.  This was pretty good but not as good as Casino Royale.

Quantum of Solace

Quantum of Solace IMDb
I thought this was going to be a bad movie because, first of all, it's a sequel, and second, what I heard from people.  So I had my expectations a little low.  That's a good thing because it was better than expected.  The action continues.  Actually, this picks up right after the first one.  I once again enjoyed it.  Yeah, there were some scenes that were a bit boring.  The story kind of sucks here but the action is pretty decent.  It's got a little bit of a revenge story.  There were some dumb scenes like people always giving away valuable information for no reason.  Still, cool spy movie.  I can't believe bad guys who know exactly who James Bond is, still have the guts to say that he's easy to get rid of.  Well, to their surprise, he's not an easy target.  If he were, then there wouldn't be a franchise, would it? Now, I'm ready to watch Skyfall.  Hopefully tomorrow.  

Casino Royale

Casino Royale IMDb
Can you believe I've never seen any of the Bond movies ever?  At one point I was considering having a Bond Night every month to catch up on some.  Maybe one year.  In honor of the dvd release of the latest Bond movie, Skyfall, I decided to catch up with the latest series.  This movie is filled with action.  Lots of action.  I enjoyed it a lot. I don't know why I waited this long to see it.  I mean, there's nothing wrong with spy movies.  I love the characters.  Love certain moments like the gambling scenes.  You have to suspend your belief here.  If there's a person who's playing cards and gets into cardiac arrest one minute and then gets back to gambling table the next, that person has to be James Bond.  Very classy.  I enjoyed it a lot and I didn't even mind that this movie was over 2 hours and 20 minutes.  I felt good.  Ready for Quantum of Solace next.

Cult Classic Friday: This Is Spinal Tap

This Is Spinal Tap IMDb
Man, wouldn't it be cool to be a drummer for Spinal Tap?  It would be my pleasure.  I really enjoyed this mockumentary. I had no idea Rob Reiner directed it (and of course that he's the director making the "documentary").  There was a lot of good moments like the pod malfunction on stage and the scene where they get lost backstage trying the find the actual stage.  Those moments were hilarious.  The idea of having an album cover all black was also good. Kudos! Everything sounded so natural I think they improvised a lot. I mean, they had to.  Now, I gotta get me a Spinal Tap T-Shirt and sell my soul.  Shame on me for not having seen this movie before.  Thanks to Cult Classic Friday for giving me the excuse to see it, and to my friends Ramon Sanchez and Mike Canales for always talking about this movie. 

Vampire Thursday: The Hunger

The Hunger
Came home to a chocolate covered feast that included: strawberries, pretzels, and bananas.  Oh wait, let's comment on the movie.  This Vampire Thursday landed right on Valentine's Day, so that explains the chocolate feast.  I been wanting to watch this Tony Scott movie for a long time.  I mean, it has David Bowie for crying out loud.  Too bad Bowie only comes out in the first 20 minutes of the movie.  Needed more, goddammit.  The movie was a little too artsy for me.  I'm okay with artsy films but when they go too far and weird, I just can't get into it.  Susan Sarandon shows her nipples here.  That's pretty cool.  All in all, I didn't like the movie.  I wasn't getting it that much.  Needed some vampire kills.  There was one or two scenes that were good for the vampire genre but the rest was boring for me.  I was wanting more out the movie and more David Bowie screen time. 

New Release Tuesday: The Sessions

The Sessions IMDb
Nice little indie comedy. I like John Hawkes.  Here he carries the weight of the movie as a guy with polio who can't move most of his body.  There's hope for everybody if this guy gets laid.  He does so with the help by Helen Hunt.  Some nice comedic moments brighten up this movie a bit.  This is based on a true story written by the actual guy who went through this.  How can this disabled guy can still steal women's hearts?  He was able to do it with poems and with his sense of humor.  That's life.  Love is a hard subject (both physical and mental aspect of it). The ending made me thing a bit.  I wonder who will show up at my funeral when I die?  This movie is okay to see.  William H. Macy plays a priest who drinks beer.  That's pretty cool, right?

Amour

Amour IMDb
Sweet but a little too long.  A lot of scenes could of been shorter while still keeping the message.  This movie made me not want to get old at all. I mean, I already don't see me getting old.  This movie just made the fears even worse.  It's a tragedy that we all start breaking down after a while. This is from director Michael Haneke.  The guy responsible for the original and remake of Funny Games.  This movie here is nominated for Best Picture and Best Foreign.  I'm pretty sure it's going to win the latter.  Me, personally, didn't feel this movie was all that.  The ending was kind of done before in certain movies.  Did like some moments and a lot of the shots.  The experience was also good watching this for the first time at the Violet Crown Cinema theatre in Austin.  The food was and place is a little too fancy but the actual theatre room was small and cute.  Good movie to see with some tea on a given morning.

Searching For Sugar Man

Searching For Sugar Man IMDb
Very awesome feel good documentary.  Gotta get this for my documentary section.  I first heard about this from a review sometime last year.  I'm a big fan of music in general. This focuses on a mysterious folk musician. Loved it. As a matter of fact, after the movie, I downloaded all the songs by Sixto Rodriguez.  The documentary was touching. Didn't know what to expect.  This has won a lot of awards and it's nominated for an Oscar this year.  There was one scene that made cry a bit out of happiness.  Awesome, so awesome.  It's better not to research or no anything before the documentary.  Just know what the trailer tells you. Who is Sugar Man? Where is he? All answers are here.  The only thing I gotta to say is that this guy is as big as Elvis in South Africa.  My favorite songs: Sugar Man, Cause, and I Wonder.  Must see documentary.  Short and sweet. Now, I want to put on Devil and Daniel Johnston (another great doc about a musician) to make it a double feature.

Flight

Flight IMDb
This was a very good movie.  A little predictable towards the end there.  I kind of had that feeling what was going to happen.  Good story, though.  I was hooked on the dialogue and performances.  And what about John Goodman? He was in about three scenes but one of those scenes was badass.  If I ever need cocaine, I want that guy to take care of me.  And when he comes to deliver, I better hear my favorite Rolling Stones song playing (Sympathy for the Devil).  I like Denzel Washington's performance.  I got into his character.  There was a scene that he had to decide to drink or not and drinking will jeopardize his hearing, that scene pissed me off when he decided to go open that bottle.  I mean, if I was in his shoes I would open that bottle after when I don't have to worry about no hearing.  But, it's all part of the story. It became a little preachy there in the last part.  The ending was a little emotional too. Worth buying.  Maybe I should start an Airplane section.  Maybe.

Forbidden City Cop

Forbidden City Cop IMDb
Decided to watch the only film left that I haven't seen that's directed by Stephen Chow.   This is his weirdest movie yet.  It is also my least favorite but that's not necessarily bad.  I enjoyed some of the cheesy moments.  Like a bunch of ninjas doing a little dance before attacking the doctors.  This has kung fu all over it as well.  This was very cartooney.  A lot of exaggerated stuff.  The story wasn't overall funny.  There was some funny stuff and a lot of not so funny stuff.  It was a little too weird for Stephen Chow and that's a bold statement, I guess. There was the guy that had two bodies (one of them is girl with an annoying laughter.)  There was our main villain who has no face.  Yup, there was some bizarre characters.  This is almost like one of them weird over the top Japanese movies.  But, I did have a good time with it. 

New Release Tuesday: A Late Quartet

A Late Quartet IMDb
Music to my ears, music to my ears.  It was a long fun day with my son today, after he fell asleep, I made some hot tea and enjoyed this dramedy.  It's got Christopher Walken and Philip Seymour Hoffman. What can go wrong?  Yeah, this wasn't anything special or something to make a big fuzz about.  It was just simply a little cute story about a quartet falling apart and moving on.  The classical music went well creating the mood.  There was some sad scenes.  There was scenes that I didn't like. Overall, everything was okay.  For what it is, it was okay to see.  Now, throughout this movie, I kept thinking about the movie, "Sound of Noise," and how badly I wanted to see it again to make this a double feature.  The only two things both movies have in common is that they both feature an orchestra scene and of course they're both about a "band" of musicians.  That's it. Just thought it would be a unique weird double feature.

Samurai Monday: Shogun's Shadow

Shogun's Shadow IMDb
Pretty cool flick.  Too bad Sonny Chiba was hardly in it.  The scenes that he was in made the movie great.  A lot of action scenes throughout the movie.  Usually samurai movies develop slow until the action but this one starts right from the beginning.  It wasn't until the 30 minute mark when the movie finally explains what was happening.  It's all about saving the Shogun's rejected son.  That kid was a little annoying so I didn't care if he dies or not.  The sword fighting scenes were badass.  Some of the music sucked though especially that bad 80's rock music that didn't go with the movie.  My favorite parts were near the beginning during the surprise attacks.  Loved the pace of the movie and the ending.  I'll be watching another Sonny Chiba samurai movie in the coming months for Samurai Monday. 

This movie was served with Shrimp Noodles and Peanut Sauce.

The Trotsky

The Trotsky IMDb
Great comedy from Canada.  My friend Ramon told me about this movie.  Glad that I finally got to see it.  Love movies about rebellion and social justice.  This was a great spin-off.  I did not feel annoyed by this movie.  Sometimes high school movies piss me off. This one delivers.  A feel good movie that makes you want to get up and stick it to "the man."  Of course, this is all part of a plan from a genius who claims he's the reincarnation of an old revolutionary (Leon Trotsky).  I enjoyed it. All the characters were great.  Favorite part: when our main character goes to the new school and starts finding a cause to fight for.  Love that he volunteered himself to detention to start protesting against the school system.  Love the outcome as well.  Maybe I should start a social justice section and have this there among others like V for Vendetta and stuff.  Maybe.