Movie Roundup
I wrote my reactions to these flicks back on Jan 10, but was too lazy to post.
Casino Jack - Kevin Spacey does a corrupt super lobbyist just playing the game, friend!! Hate the game, not the playah! Lobbyists are fucking bribe mongers and these guys just went a little further is all. The politcal machine is fucked,
Stone - DeNiro is a parole officer, prison worker guy, Ed Norton is the con trying to work him to get a recommendation for parole, and Milla Jovovich is the loyal girlfriend willing to do whatever it takes to get him out. DeNiro acts all moral and judgmental and he's worn out from doing this for so f'n long. Norton made a mistake when he was a young addict, or is he a scumbag for reals? Can you trust anyone ever or all they all amoral, selfish and fronting? There's some spiritual stuff in here that I felt elevated the material. People are always talking to cross purposes, what they say is not what the other person hears. Decent noirish thriller that doesn't really deliver the typical violence, and leaves you with an ambiguous ending. De Niro especially reminded me of my Dad, which made the sex scenes somewhat uggo, but his scenes are inherently kinda uggo anyway. De Niro is too old to be f'n Milla without it being super sleazy.
Gendernauts - documentary on transgender and gender queer folk. Was less interesting than I thought it would be. I had to stop 1/2 way through and pick it up later, because I got bored hearing them talk....most of the trans folk just seemed fucking full of themselves. This is often true of trans folk I've met, queers too. "I am a magical 2 spirit" Meh. I don't like people that want to be adored for how special and different they are. You're not special. Well maybe you are, but fuck if I'm gonna praise you or like you based on your identity politics. I don't like superstars. I dunno. I'm being harsh here, but yeah. I didn't much care for this.
Rare Exports - off kilter Finnish Christmas story. Totally has the look and feel of a cult classic from the 80's but it was made this year. An American mogul is funding a dig into a moutain in search of Santa's grave. yeah, I know. It's ridiculous, but it's based on the older pagan myths of Santa type figures who weren't into leaving presents. It's a prequel to a couple shorts and is a fun non-taxing flick with a few spooky chills. On the whole, mostly a silly adventure story that at times reminded me of The Thing, except more lighthearted. The little boy in it reminded me of the girls; he more resembles the younger one with his almond eyes and serious face.
127 Hours - based on the true story of a Aron Ralston, an adreniline junkie who went out hiking alone in Utah. Gonna spoil it,if you don't know the story, but he falls in a narrow canyon and his arm gets trapped under a rock. He eventually cuts his arm off and hikes out. I was surprised that this movie actually managed to be as interesting as it was. I knew he was going to survive, so that wasn't a factor. A lot of it was anticipation of when he'd get trapped and then when he'd cut off his arm. And I couldn't watch that part. I was all squirming around and screaming when he started breaking his arm and hacking into his flesh. I had to fast forward the actual scene. I can distance myself from gore in a film if it's a story, critique the ridulousness of the violence or the artistry or lack thereof of the FX, but if it's supposed to be something that really happened? OMG I can't take it. I literally felt like I was going to throw up.
Casino Jack and The United States of Money - documentary on the circumstances surrounding the Jack Abromoff scandal. You get more of a rundown on how he got to where he was and the principal parties involved. It's more inneresting than the movie, but I fell asleep watching it. Gonna give it another go eventually. Knew I couldn't watch this before the movie or the movie version would have suffered in comparison.