French Cinema Night: Breathless

Breathless IMDb

The second French Cinema Night is another film by Jean-Luc Godard.  Last month, I saw A Bande Apart.  This film is quite a lot like the other one.  I didn't really like it as much as I wanted to.  There were some cool little moments but the overall picture wasn't for me.  A little boring actually.  I hate to say that about films that are supposed to be considered very good in the cinema world.  This film has a simple story but they make it very interesting by making the characters more interactive and human.  So, for that, this gets points.  Story is about a car thief who kills a cop early in the film.  He goes into hiding but not too discreetly.  He meets this American girl and they kind of hit it off.  He wants her to escape with him to Italy.  A few more conflicts with the cops later, the movie turns tragic and it's over.  Pretty much it.

Next French Cinema Night, I'll be checking out something more modern.

 

Yari made Crepes a la Florentine (with Chicken and Spinach) 

Public Speaking

Public Speaking IMDb

At first glance, I thought this documentary was going to be boring.  Don't know anything about Fran Lebowitz so why did I see a doc about her?  Well,  Martin Scorsese directed this.  That's enough to get my attention and I'm glad I did because it wasn't that boring.  It was short and inspirational.  Yeah, there's some boring parts cause most of the time we are watching Fran Lebowitz speak at a famous New York restaurant.  Some of the things she says are pretty funny and awesome.  This doc is Fran Lebowitz, a  famous writer from the 70's and a voice for a bunch of independent women.  She speaks her mind her about art, race and gender issues, gay rights, and being a great writer.  She walks the streets of New York at times and man she makes a good point in one of those scenes.  Lots of people in cities, just walk and look at their phones and ignore the city around them.  They're missing out on most of the experience in enjoying the city life.  I walk Downtown Austin during my work break about three times a week, and every single time, I walk to enjoy everything.  Take in the city I'm proud of living in.  I love that this doc references Taxi Driver quite a bit. 

Overall, better than expected inspiring documentary.

Good to see if you're into literature, writing, art or if you're all into women power. 

Narco Cultura

Narco Cultura IMDb

Very crazy but interesting documentary.  It's a documentary about cartel violence and its influence in the "narco (cartel)" music industry.  This played at Fantastic Fest last year.  We follow two people. One person is a crime scene specialist in Mexico.  We follow him to all the crazy violent scenes in Juarez, Mexico.  Everyday is a war zone.  Lots of innocent people are being murdered by cartels.  They show lots of graphic crime scenes here.  This guy we follow is always in danger.  He's had a few people from his crew fall victim to this violence.  The other guy we follow is this singer and writer for a band that plays narco corridos (cartel themed music).  We see how he's inspired by cartels.  There's a big movement in the corrido music scene.  We go back in forth between the two main people.  It's both tragic and ironic.  The only complaint is that we get the message of the documentary within the first 30 minutes and there's really nothing else but an expansion of the message.

Overall, a good documentary worth checking out.

Machete Kills

Machete Kills IMDb

Now this was balls out fun!  I had low expectations with this one because I kinda got tired of the first one after a while and for some reason, I wasn't sold on this sequel.  Man, I should of seen this at the theatre, but it is what it is.  Director Robert Rodriguez delivers the grindhouse experience once again.  This is even more over the top and cheesy than the first movie and still lots of fun.  Love that the characters are exaggerated.  Never taken seriously.  Non stop action.  Also, kudos for killing off lots of big names early on.  Machete is back. He has orders from the U.S President to go into Mexico and capture and kill this big cartel boss named Mendez.  A few sexy girls and a few action scenes later, Machete gets his man but there is a catch: Mendez has a big missile ready to launch and the detonator is wired in his heart. So Machete can't kill him.  Meanwhile, a secret evil organization (led by Mel Gibson's character), a face changing bounty hunter, and some prostitutes are after all of them.  It's a hell of a ride.  I didn't like the unfinished ending to this story.  Instead of ending this story, they went ahead and transitioned it to the supposedly next movie (which they had introduced earlier in a trailer before this movie started).  It's okay though, I'll still see "Machete Kills Again...In Space," if Robert Rodriguez decides to really make it.

I won't recommend this movie to just anybody.  I would recommend this for those
who are in the mood for a silly, campy, action movie.  This one will satisfy that mood.

Weird Wednesday: Death Laid An Egg

Death Laid an Egg IMDb

Got to experience this very strange movie at Weird Wednesday (go figure).  Death laid an egg, ladies and gentleman.  Also known as Plucked.  This was a crazy experience.  It was a bit irritating especially the crazy sounds.  It's grindhouse all the way.  It's got a bad English dub.  The whole thing was scratchy and the color was all yellow.  What else can I ask for a midnight movie at the Alamo Drafthouse?  It's got a straight up story with a twist.  It's an artsy movie.  Basically, it's about this one guy who owns a chicken slaughterhouse with his wife.  He has a secret.  Every once in a while, he reserves the same hotel room and kills a prostitute.  There's a twist in that.  Anyways, the plot gets interesting when the main guy's wife's cousin meets this other guy and together they plan a scheme to take over the chicken factory.  So many chickens in this movie.  I had to order some chicken strips and queso to go along with this movie.  There's only one nudity scene (darn).  The soundtrack was trippy.

Overall, I liked it but probably won't see it again and I wouldn't recommend this to just any fan of exploitation cinema.  I guess the theatre experience makes it better.  I'm going to try to make it to at least one Weird Wednesday a month and see more rare goodies for only 3 bucks.  Damn, I love living in Austin, TX. 

Enough Said

Enough Said IMDb

I've kind of enjoyed this sweet romantic comedy.  It is one of the last roles by the late James Gandolfini.  It's a movie that felt a lot real at times.  It is a movie about a masseur named Eva who starts dating Albert and without knowing starts a semi friendship with one of her clients who happens to be Albert's ex-wife.  When Eva finally puts things together, things become interesting.  They also becoming annoying but that's part of the story.  Eva wants to know all the details about how Albert's ex-wife feels about him.  By doing that, it kind of starts ruining their relationship.  There are lessons to be learned here. There were some funny moments and some dramatic moments.

Overall, I thought it was okay.  I would of wanted more but this is a simple sweet story. 

Nothing else.

About Time

About Time IMDb

This was a pleasant movie to see for Valentine's Day.  It's got your romance, some comedy, and of course, time travel.  Good compromise.  I thought this was going to focus a lot into the romantic comedy side of it but actually it's more than that.  It's about Tim and his family.  There's a secret between the men in his family.  When Tim turned 21, his father (played wonderfully by the awesome Bill Nighy) told him the secret: men in his family can travel back in time.  Not to any time period just back into your own personal past.  How?  You go inside a closeted place and you concentrate on a specific time period in your own life and you're there.  Simple.  So, Tim decides to do that in order to find a girlfriend.  When he meets a girl and messes up the initial conversation, he goes into a closet and boom, he starts the initial conversation again but this time more smoothly.  He later meets and falls in love with Mary.  He goes back in time to help friends and family and of course to help his relationship.  They end up getting married and have kids.  That's when this time travel thing gets tricky.  Whenever you have a kid, you can only go back as far as when the last kid was born.  If you change any little thing, you might even have a different kid in the present.  Tricky.  Anyways, the movie then focuses on the relationship between Tim and his father.  Tim learns something important about how to enjoy life even without time travel.  Good solid movie.  I'm a big fan of time travel movies, so this one wasn't hard to win me over.  I wish I can go back in time and change certain things but gotta make the best out of life.

I recommend this movie.  It was nice time.  See it with a loved one. 

Western Wednesday: Rio Bravo

Rio Bravo IMDb

Got to see this John Wayne classic.  I liked it a lot better than The Searchers.  It's got comedy, western drama, and a little bit of romance.  My only complaint was that the villains weren't really developed.  I mean, I don't think there were any scenes where the villains were alone or doing something without our heroes there.  I guess, I'm not used to it.   I'm used to seeing ruthless villains have their moments here and there.  Anyways, this was a good old western.  Right in the beginning, Sheriff John T. (John Wayne) captures a bad guy who happens to be the brother of our main villain.  The Sheriff has two helpers: Dude and Stumpy.  They get trouble by our main villain who wants his brother out of jail.  The trio try to protect the town.  Another guy joins their group.  This movie is more about the moments and the characters rather than the story.  The Sheriff has his eye on a good looking lady named Feathers.  They share flirtatious but serious moments.  Not much going on concerning shootouts.  That happens towards the end.  It was cool to see a Western that is not too serious. 

Famous singer, Dean Martin plays Dude, a drunk deputy. 

Would of wanted some more guns and other typical Western violence but 

not bad for a straight up American John Wayne Western.

Dallas Buyers Club

Dallas Buyers Club IMDb

"Alright, alright, alright!" Famous words from a little stoner/coming of age/teen movie called "Dazed and Confused."  Matthew McConaughey has come a long way in his career.  Right here, he steals the show with his cowboy-ish attitude and as a sick ass person with AIDS.  Did I mention he lost over 40 pounds for this role?  That's an Oscar performance right there (which he'll most likely win).  My heart still goes out to Leonardo Di Caprio's performance in Wolf of Wall Street.  Anyways,  Dallas Buyers Club is a dirty but clever movie that made me want to get up and say, "F the FDA!"  It's an okay drama in my book.  Nothing special or anything.  Well, there's Jared Leto dressed up as a woman.  That was pretty cool.  He totally transform himself that I didn't even know it was Jared Leto at times.  It's based on a true story about a tough bull rider named Woodroof who gets diagnosed with HIV.  He is a big homophobic and doesn't accept others and just has a bad attitude.  Illegally, he gets treated by this experimental treatment known as AZT from the hospital.  His supply runs out and he decides to go to Mexico to find an alternative.  There, he finds out by the doctors, that AZT is actually making his illness worse.  The doctor in Mexico hooks him up with non toxic pills that will help fight his illness.  They work better than AZT.  So, now Woodroof starts hooking up the HIV community with these new pills and fights the FDA about it.  It was cool to see his character transform from an "asshole" to a more caring and accepting person.  It's a movie that has a lot to say about how the government decides which drugs are considered legal and which ain't.  If the drug companies pay the FDA a lot of money, their drugs gets approved.  For those little companies or drugs made in other countries, tough luck getting the FDA approval.  Money talks.

If you're in the mood for a drama, this one is okay to see, especially with those good

performances. 

Bad Grandpa

Bad Grandpa IMDb

Woke up this Monday morning to this laugh out loud comedy. Just within a minute, I was already cracking up.  I loved it.  I think I like this a whole lot more than the regular Jackass movies.  I love the fact this is all about tricking and fooling real people in the real world.  That's what makes it funny that no one except for the actors and the hidden camera operators know this is all an act.  They put it together pretty smoothly.   It is the story of an old man who loses his wife and he decides to celebrate his freedom except there is one obstacle on his way, his grandson.  The mother leaves the son with grandpa and takes off.  Grandpa hits the road to take the kid to his father. Along the way, they make several stops and cause lots of madness.  Oh yeah, dead grandma is inside the trunk the whole time. I think that's one of my favorite scenes: grandpa hires two movers who think they're moving furniture, instead, grandpa tells them to move "the body" from the bedroom to the trunk.   Very funny.   Didn't care too much about the stunts scenes.  That's good that they weren't that many. Just one or two.

In the mood for some laughs? Fan of toilet humor?  Check this movie out.  Good old time.

Kick Ass 2

Kick Ass 2 IMDb

I'm a big fan of the first movie that I didn't care about all the poor reviews and negative comments made. I was still wanting to check this sequel out one day. That day came today. Got it out of my system. With low expectations in mind, I thought this was okay.  It disappointed me from time to time but overall was okay.  Kick Ass is back and he's still pretty much the same. So is Hit Girl in the beginning.   It was the same old stuff in this first half. Hit Girl was awesome in the one. It was hard to like her this time around. Didn't really care for any of the characters.  Well, maybe one character is worth mentioning.  Mother Russia was badass. Good villain.   The rest of them didn't bring anything cool and exciting to the table.  Kick Ass teams up with lots of other superheroes including his friend all led by Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carey).  Meanwhile Hit Girl quits the costume and focus on teen drama.  We have our main villain, The Motherfucker (formerly known as Red Mist), who goes on a revenge plot against Kick Ass.  A few good violent fight scenes later, we have a decent war between heroes and villains. That's it.  Didn't like the story all that much.

This one kind of ruins the franchise.  So I recommend to stay away.

The Lego Movie (2014)

The Lego Movie IMDb

My first official 2014 movie is this fun Animation.  Took my son to see it.  A few years ago I saw an Animation called, "A Town Called Panic."  It was a cute movie about plastic animal toys that moved and told a story.  The Lego Movie has the same spirit of "A Town Called Panic" with the heart of "Wreck-it Ralph."  It was funny and well, awesome.  It's the story about an ordinary lego named Emmet.  He lives the same daily routine and a happy uniformed world.  Everything changes when he gets hold of a piece of resistance and few think he's the chosen one that will save the world from an evil tyrant.  Add in a few superheroes and famous iconic characters, some laugh out loud jokes, and lego madness and you got yourself a good old time.  For a second there towards the end, I thought this was going to get ruined.  Luckily, that second turned out fine and I was impressed overall.

"Everything is awesome!"  Great movie to see.  If you haven't yet, check out:

A Town Called Panic.  That might melt your heart as well.

 

My son playing before the movie started. 

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind IMDb

Very cool stylized dark comedy.  This is directed by George Clooney (his directorial debut).  I'm a fan of Sam Rockwell and he does awesome here as the main character.  He plays Chuck Barris and it is based on a book written by the real Chuck Barris.  Chuck is a TV show creator who tries to make a successful show mostly about dating.  On the side, he does contract killings for the CIA.  There, movie is sold to me.  Must be a tough job and life juggling between TV and hitman duties not to mention having two women in his life.  Drew Barrymore plays his main love interest.  Julia Roberts plays the mysterious lady connected to the CIA.  I had a great time watching this flick.  Didn't know what to expect.  This had an awesome soundtrack as well.  Got to have to have all them songs in my music collection.

Highly recommend this movie. Worth buying as well. 

The Act of Killing

The Act of Killing IMDb

Disturbing, shocking, dramatic, sometimes funny, and yet interesting documentary we have here.  It's a different kind of documentary.  In 1965, with the help of the U.S and other governments, the Indonesian military and gangsters killed about a million "communists."  Just like the title says, this documentary is about reenacting torture and death scenes that happened that year.  We follow this former executioner named Anwar and other gangsters and leaders.  They talk proudly about the history and about all the deaths.  In order for them to tell their story, the filmmakers asked them to act out the scenes and make a movie so to speak.   The disturbing part of it is that these people are proud of what they done.  They show how they killed people in different ways.  They become actors and play both the victims and the executioners.  Some scenes are bizarre and some scenes are unbelievable.  There's this one scene where they asked kids to act out in scenes.  These kids get into it.  They cry very hard on camera while being "tortured."  As if it's really happening.  Good actors everywhere.  I'm in shock about seeing all this and knowing that this actually happened in our world.  The story starts evolving towards the end and some of these people start dealing with the consequences.   The filmmakers went to Indonesia for 8 years to make this documentary happen.  It is picked up by Drafthouse Films and nominated at this year's Oscars.  

Good strong documentary that made me think a lot after.  It is a little long but different.  Worth your attention.  

Zatoichi Night: New Tale of Zatoichi

New Tale of Zatoichi IMDb

Zatoichi is back and this time it looks like he's ready to settle down.  This takes place after the last one.  Zatoichi meets an old friend and his family in the beginning and he tells him he'll be soon be ready to settle down. He is on his way to his hometown but he is being followed by a samurai who wants vengeance for his brother's death. Zatoichi and this samurai get interrupted by Zatoichi's master.  Zatoichi gets reunited with his master's sister and they both seem to fall in love with each other. There are a few fight scenes here and there but basically,  Zatoichi is ready to give up using his sword and marry this lady but stuff happens.  There's a battle between Zatoichi and his own master.  Good moment was when Zatoichi slices up some candles similar to what he did in the first movie.  Good western vibe.  Okay overall for a Zatoichi movie.  This is the first one in color. 

I wasn't into this story as much as the other ones but good to learn more about this character.  Zatoichi rules.