Silver Linings Playbook

Every year Harvey Weinstein sells his soul to promote an indie movie that ends up surprising people at the Oscars. Not many people at home have seen these movies, but they find themselves cheering for them because they are "the little film that could". The funniest part of this strange phenomenon is that its no surprise anymore. Just look for the movie you haven't seen on the nominations list and that is probably who is going to win. This year's film is "Silver Linings Playbook".

This movie is good. It is not the greatest thing. When I watched I found it to be more enjoyable than rewarding. It certainly is unique because you find yourself leaving the theater loving the movie, but you don't know why -- similar to the feeling I had when I first saw "Garden State".

The movie follows Pat, played by Bradley Cooper, who went ape-shit on some guy he caught with his wife in the shower. He goes to a mental institution as a plea bargain and the film picks up 8 months after the incident when he gets out and tries to get his wife back. I know its pathetic but somehow you are rooting for this guy. Pat in the movie has bi-polar disorder and I think they do a good job of portraying it and they stay away from the "I'm a teenage girl and everything is emotional, thus I have bi-polar disorder" portrayal of it. The best part of the movie is the climax, which centers around a ballroom dancing competition. The only other movie that has a dance as the climax that I know of is Napolean Dynamite. Maybe this is a winning recipe.

Jennifer Lawrence has come a long way from killing teenagers in this movie. Her performance is very good and she has the intriguing face and the rocking body that any guy would become infatuated with. But her acting ability is very good. She too plays a loon and may do it even better than Bradley Cooper. Of course DeNiro is DeNiro, he plays the same role he always does, except a little cooky-er, and he's fine. Chris Tucker is in it, which is weird. He does okay but the entire time he's on a screen, you sit there and think "Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth!"

Overall, this uniqueness I have spoken of in regards to this movie rests in something that this film far surpasses any of the year in and that is realism. Two examples will illustrate this point. There is a scene will Bradley Cooper pisses off Jennifer Lawrence in a diner and she leaves and flicks him off through the outside window. That is something I would have done. It's not raining in this scene, which we know never happens in real life, and its not slow motion. Its not overly dramatic, it is merely real, which makes it strike home even better. Another example runs throughout the entire movie and that is what I like to call the Robert Altman technique. That is people talking over people. Throughout the movie there are many points where three or even four people are talking at the same time, which we know actually happens in real life. Whether it is at the dining room table or an argument in the living room, we don't wait for the other person to stop talking before we start talking, we just don't. So much like Robert Altman movies, this film captures a natural dialogue, where there is a controlled chaos, essentially. It makes it feel real and thus makes the experience touch deeper to the heart.

The most memorable part of the movie is when Bradley Cooper has a breakdown after reading Farewell to Arms by Hemingway. This is the first time his bi-polar disorder comes out and it is when he wakes his parents up to explain how terrible Hemingway is for writing this book that you realize this guy is actually crazy.

This is NOT the best film of the year, despite what every stupid critic and news source will say. It is well worth the 10 bucks though. It is fun, endearing and natural.

Grade: B

The Corruption of Michael Corleone

Hey all, sorry its been so long.... as if anyone cares.

I just rewatched the Godfather part I and II so I figure I really should write something about them. I really think that the Godfather part one is the best film of all time. I know what you are all thinking... what about citizen kane or casablanca or twilight?! Well I'm sorry to disappoint you but it's true and I'lll tell you why...

The Godfather (part uno) more than any other film displays the corruption of the human person. Michael Corleone played by Al Pacino, of course, at the beginning of the film is innocent despite his family's nefarious habits. You can see him tell Kay, "That's a true story.... Kay that's my family not me..." You can seem him walk down the streets of NYC giggling with Kay with gifts in his hands, judging by the shape of the boxes they were probably for her. Until, they saw the newspaper with the headlines saying that his father was thought to be dead. You can see in his left grip the newspaper crumble in consternation. Of course the story goes on.... Michael becomes closer to the family business, but it wasn't until the seen where the camera slow creeps in on his professional stance in the chair as goes slowly and declaratively details how he is going to kill the men responsible that you see a new Michael Corleone.

Yes, there is at the great scene where he shoots the cop and drug dealer in the head in Louis'. But that was not when the audience was supposed to know he had fallen, truly fallen. The point of no return was breached probably an hour later. Toward the very end, Coppolla leaves us with a very important scene, very underrated and very misunderstood.

Michael had Carl, his brother-in-law, killed for arranging Sonny's death and he had just confessed. Of course Michael has him strangled in the passenger seat of a car. The aftermath ensues. Connie, his sister, comes running into his office, screaming and hitting him, crying "you killed him, you killed my husband." Unfortunately for Michael, Kay was there, witnessing this. '

Kay asks Michael after Connie is carrie out of his office,

"Is it true?"

"I have told you, you are not ask me about my affairs"

"Is it true Michael?" He slams his hand down on the desk and screams. "Stop it! You are not allowed to ask me about my affairs!"

Kay is crushed, Michael can see it. He comes up, having calmed down and consoles her.

"Okay, this one time, this one time you can ask me about my affairs." She looks up still crushed and asks again, "Is it true?"

He looks her dead in the eye, stone cold and says, "No."

And that ladies and gentlemen was the point of no return. Lying to the face of someone he once loved, proved to be the ultimate threshold of Michael Corleone's corruption.

It was not a murder that corrupted him or his elaborate plan of vengenance. But it was merely the culmination of all of that expressed in that one lie that was supposed to show the audience of his falling. The woman he once giggled with down Manhattan streets was now merely another tool, like one of his errand boys. Here job, as the tool she was to become, was to bear him an heir, because now the family business meant more than the family itself.

Watch it again, it really is the best portrayal of a corrupting soul ever filmed.

Speaking of Good Acting

The King's Speech was an incredible movie driven by the best cast of the year. Unfortunately, because of Colin Firth's incredible performance, which I'll get to shortly, the other performances are overshadowed. In this movie you got Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Ian McKellen and Guy Pearce among many others. What they did was they for once didn't over play their parts. Its easy for Colin Firth for instance to overact his stammer or wow the academy like Daniel Day Lewis in My Left Foot or Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight. What Colin Firth does is he holds a lot of restraint in his role. Why? Because real people don't overact in every day life. We are a lot more placid and stoic than the majority of characters on screen. By acting more like a real person with a stammer as opposed to an academy award hungry thesbian, Colin Firth allows the audience to sympathize with him more.
In Cinderella Man you were rooting for Russel Crowe not because of his performance but because of the story, in 127 Hours you were rooting for James Franco out of sympathy for his situation, but you find yourself rooting for Colin Firth in this movie because of his performance. His perfomance evokes the emotion from the audience. Yeah its a great story but who the hell cares about England anyway? We don't. We care about his character because of the way he is displayed as one of us.
What a symbolic aspect of the movie, that one of the hardest words for him to say is "king". He doesn't advertise it and the dialogue never addresses it, but subtly he shows his difficulty with saying that word above all the rest. Just by something so small, he allows us to enter is psychi and see his disillusionment with the throne. Let us not passover Tom Hooper's directoring either. I have and always will think that smoke looks cool on screen. It somehow enhances the imagery of the film. He used it often and very well. Another technique he used frequently was the orchestral background stringing Colin Firth's words together. With good patience and timing the forte of the music escalated to a triumphant conclusion, leaving the audience in awe of the climatic speech at the film's conclusion. The King never stammered in his speech, as the movie never stammered or hiccuped once throughout its entirety. The audience could only marvel as it watched the fluid motion of the film culminate in the King's Speech. This film, in my humble opinion, is the best movie of the year.
-Brian Gallagher

Jury's Verdict: A

Been Awhile....

I know I have no fans and I know this is more of a journal than an educational site. In short, watch 127 hours. It did was Robert Zemeckis failed to do in Cast Away. Most of the movie is just him and rock and its brillant. You never bored and that says something, also I think James Franco's performance was nuts incredible. I also saw True Grit and I thought it was good but unfortunately everything they do is good, in comparison to the rest of their movies it wasnt anything that special. I'm seeing the King's Speech tonight so I'll post about it later.

127 Hours

Jury's Verdict: A

True Grit

Jury's Verdict:B

Salt

Women Can't Lead a Movie

I just saw Salt and I loved the story. The whole time your wondering where her loyalties lie, but I have one huge criticism. Why hasn't anyone realized that Angelina Jolie can't act? First of all everyone is to distracted about her over-sized lips to pay attention to the movie and of course she tries to be sexy. There's a part where she takes her underwear off from underneath her skirt to put on a security camera.... Necessary? No... but thats just how pathetic her movies are.

There is always this 'a woman can kick ass' mentality in movies, ranging from Kill Bill to Planet Terror to Catwoman. Hasn't anyone learned that in reality women can't kick ass? They are fragile delicate things... So I'm sorry but Jolie jumping onto the top of a semi, speeding down the highway at 90 seems a little retarded. With that being said, the shifts in the plot were predictable in my opinion, although there was one good surprise in the movie. I liked the idea of it and they set up for a sequel, which I can't say I won't see but then again I see everything.

Russian spies is always an exciting storyline, I just can't stand Angelina Jolie. Oh and there was a woman priest presiding over a Catholic funeral. The action sequences of this movie were not good but even still the storyline was intriguing. I think Angeline Jolie needs to quit trying to be something she is not --- sexy. Phillip Noyce is a decent B rate director though and so he pulled off about a B rate movie. It'll make some money and comfort women by encouraging them to jump off overpasses onto 18 wheelers. I wish Jolie missed the truck and got nailed by another semi in the first 15 minutes of the movie. I don't buy her badass sexiness... its a little too forced to me. If you want to see it, go into it knowing that its just another typical 'girls rule' movie.

Jury's Verdict - C

Who should play the new Batman villains?

My opinion:

Joker -- Daniel Day-Lewis

Penguin -- Phillip Seymour Hoffman

The Riddler -- Johnny Depp

Catwoman (God Forbid) -- Maggie Gyllenhal coming back from the explosion with burns all over her, hence the latex suit.

What do yall think?

Top Ten Endings

I usually favor surprise endings, but I figured I would put some very meaningful endings on here as well... When I speak of the endings, there are no spoilers -- no worries.

1. The Sixth Sense

Come on guys, everyone knows that this is the biggest surprise ending of all-time. It was right under our noses the entire time.

2. The Usual Suspects

What an amazing unforgettable image of the footsteps down the sidewalk. Incredible. Bryan Singer's debut couldn't have been better. Keyser Soze!

3. On The Waterfront

The heroes march, all you can do is root for him. He's beaten to a pulp, but stays on his feet.

4. Silence of the Lambs

From Hannibal Lector's ingenious escape to the famous night vision scene in Buffalo Bill's basement. The ending is keeps you on the edge of your seat for so long that your back gets sore.

5. Matchstick Men

I didn't see it coming. And like the Sixth Sense, the ending elucidates what you have been seeing all along.

6. Ocean's 11

The entire movie you are wondering how in the world are they going to pull this off. And most of the movie is them explaining how they are going to as Soderbergh shows them doing it. How it culminates is incredible.

7. Seven

I don't know what's better, the plot twist or Kevin Spacey's character, John Doe. The ending is sad, but so fitting to the characters.

8. Signs

I just loved how this ending had everything come together in the end. M. Night Shyamalan gives us these little elements associated with each character throughout the movie and brings them together for the grand finale. Also when Jacquain Phoenix is inside beaten the shit out of the alien and Mel's outside with his son, the camera pans over to the window to look through it, and James Newton Howard's three-note, chilling original score picks up.... It's just so great movie making.

9. The Blair Witch Project

What a chilling last image and then BAM! the movies done. With how the movie is filmed with a camcorder, the ending is perfect for it.

10. Shawshank Redemption

There's a great shot where the Frank Darabont (the director) shows the warden's face peer down the rabbit hole after tearing the poster off. It's just so cool. And of course its raining, how classic.

11. The Thomas Crown Affair

I just loved this ending, cause its smart and you look at Pierce Brosnan's character and you just have to say.... "You're a clever little devil aren't ya?"Especially that whole mixed up maze of men with bowler hats in the art museum. That's so cool.

12. Casablanca

Are there many more classic scenes than Humphrey Bogart at the airport sending his love off in the plane? The guy has a heart! He isn't just some smooth, talking George Clooney. He's Rick! And I think he's OK.

13. The Village

Most surprise endings focus on a how or a who? But Shyamalan pulls off a when.... That is so original and creative to me. And he gives a reason behind it. Its not a surprise ending for the sake of a surprise ending. Its a ending that fits the story and psychi of the characters. Reminds me of Christendom College, actually....

14. Citizen Kane

After 2+ hours of seeing the corruption of a successful man, we see Rosebud -- one of the most classic iconography names in Hollywood. And your wondering what or who Rosebud is the whole movie, only to be surprised of what it is to such a corrupt man.

15. Memento

The ending is really the beginning, because of the ingenious reverse timeline idea by Christopher Nolan. But how the story actually begins (and the movie ends) is quite the shocker. It plays perfectly off of Lenny's short-term memory loss condition.

16. Fight Club

Now lets get this straight. The big penis that flashes on the screen at the end is not why I love this ending. I love the ending because it calls into question the legitimacy of everything you have seen thus far. Who is Tyler Durdan? It's fast paced and intense for the last 20 minutes, only to end with an explosive show and the Pixies singing "Where is my mind?". Beautiful, just beautiful.

17. Saw

What you thought was a prop the entire movie became the last "Jigsaw" puzzle piece. I love its simplicity and delivery. The music picks up and sends shivers to your ass. I didn't like the whole "Game Over!" line, it reminded me of those tragic years trying to beat Mario.

18. The Game

Its just a cool concept. The whole movie your thinking this some terrible stuff that is happening, but those two words bursted out when the rooftop access door opens sends your head for a spin.

19. The Others

This is one of the most underrated endings, because it was out the same time as the Sixth Sense. Bad timing from the producers, but if watched now the ending would be great and no one would say... "hey that's been done before". Plus Nicole Kidman looks good as a 1800's estate owner, so modest, so modest.

20. Pulp Fiction

How could I not put this on? Tarantino pretty much invented the skewed timeline, which would be used for many shocking endings there after. The delivery is pretty decent, of course the lines are funny, but what puts this on the list is how it revolutionized film making. Memento would have never been made unless it was for Pulp Fiction.