Last night I sat at home with a bag of popcorn and watched "Alpha Dog", mostly out of morbid curiousity...morbid indeed. outside of the fact that it completely pissed me off by the end and further justified my views on capital punishment which I will discuss later, it was an all around badly made film. The back of the cover said "controversial"... the only controversy I could find after finishing it was whether I should take it back to the video store, or save them the trouble and destroy it myself. It's not that the plot was even that terrible...in fact, the plot was pretty much the only good part of it, mostly because it was based on a true story, and, lets face it, real life is so much more messed up than even the most vivid imagination. The story was based in the Inland Empire, Ca...yes, the 909 (home, sweet home) and was based around 2 white drug dealers and their "posse"'s. For some reason or another, one owed the other money, so the one owed, Johnny, kidnapped the other one's 15 year old brother Zack on a whim, with every intention of returning him for the money, until one of his guys told him that he would get 25 to life if he was caught. Frankie, (Justin Timberlake) who was in charge of making sure Zack didn't escape, basically made it so that he didn't want to go home, and by the time the orders came through to kill him, Zack was looking to stay and become a part of the gang, until, of course, they shot him in the face with a semi automatic. engaging plot, right?
Every other element was a trainwreck. The entire script consisted of three primary words; "fuck", "bitch", and "fuck" again. Cutting out these words would have dropped the roughly 120 page script down to about 50 pages, so naturally, they had to fill it with something, why not a few thousand unnecessary obscenities just for good measure?
And really, who decided it would be a good idea to cast JT as a thug? It was like watching a dog try to dance on it's hind legs...sad really....and what's even more sad, is that he actually ended up to be one of my favorite characters, mostly because I was just waiting for his skinny, stick-on tattooed ass to bust out with "I just wanna love you baby, yaa yaaaa".
I honestly have no Idea what Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone were thinking with this one....do they really need the work that badly? There was one point where they stuck Sharon Stone in a fat suit, and she bore an uncanny resemblace to Wynonna Judd. I think the film's only saving grace acting-wise was the kid who played Zack. He was actually pretty good. The rest of the cast, outside of the kid, JT, and the two out of work A-listers, were brought in from movies like "Lords of Dogtown", and the stupid girl from "Mean Girls"...can we say "typecasting"?
I hate that it had subtitles for every other scene. e.g. " Circus Liquor, Claremont, California, 11:48p.m." and, "Mrs. Sublette and her black Toyota Sequoia, Pomona, California, 12:27a.m.". Absolutely frustrating, first, because they were there, and second, they didn't stay up long enough to read once you got over the annoyance that you would be lost if you didn't read them.
They did find an interesting way to edit the under lit, hard to watch, and poorly acted scenes, however, the off-center split scene editing momentarily took my mind off how bad the rest of the movie was.
On a personal note...
But, being the eternal cinematic optimist that I am, i did manage to find that although technically, and really, artistically as well, "Alpha Dog" was like watching the Titanic sink for the 99th time, it did piss me off...a lot...I mean other than they allowed this film to be released mainstream. The fact that these ass holes are still sitting on death row for murdering an innocent 15 year old kid seriously desturbs me. We as taxpayers are paying 100,000 dollars a year for each of these little shits so that they can sit on death row in San Quintin for the next 25 years. It costs $8 to administer a leathal injection. we could save the state of California $299, 976 this year, and $300,000 every year after that if we strapped these murdering little bastards down and injected them. better yet, I heard an idea on XM comedy that really didn't sound so bad, and yes, you'll probably call me bad names after this one, but que sera. Since there are so many American soldiers dying in Iraq due to mine fields, and freak accidents, I say, if people are given a death sentance, instead of setting them in prison for 30 years to live, and take up our tax money, give them a one-way ticket to Iraq, put them in thier little orange jump suits, and set them running out in front of our brave soldiers (who don't deserve to have thier leg blown off by a landmine or be mangled by a handgranade) and have them clear the mine fields Alquida can use them as target practice instead. Not bad, eh? I bet the murder rate in America would drop by 50%. It's rediculous that they use the "scare" and punishment" tactic for DUI's but heaven forbid we deter rapists and murderers with the death penalty. just a thought.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
The Last Kiss
Just got done watching 'The Last Kiss', yes, the OTHER movie with Zach Braff. Brielfy, it is about a guy named Michael who, has a perfect girlfriend, good job, the whole 9 yards, and they realize that Jenna, his girlfriend is pregnant. Michael has commitment issues as it is, and the pregnancy, as well as a close friend's marriage, send him into a state of "crisis", as the film says. At the wedding, Michael meets a cute little brunette who is ten years his junior, and who is also shamelessly hitting on him, all the while knowing full well that he has a girlfriend. At first he blows it off, until he has a fight with Jenna. One thing leads to another, a couple lies are told, he is found out, and 7 kisses later, Michael is kicked out of the house, and finds himself in the 19 year-old's dormroom. when Jenna refuses to take him back, after finding out that it was in fact MORE than just 7 kisses, Michael spends 3 days and nights on the porch, and realizing that all he wants is to be with her, he will "do whatever it takes" to get her back; including sitting on the porch, in the rain, no food or water for three days, until she finally opens the door and the credits roll.
Throughout most of the movie, after the first five minutes anyway, I found myself wanting to kick at least one of the characters in the head at all times. Whether it be Michael, for not walking away in the first place, the little slut Kim, for being a home-wrecker, or one of the various supporting characters for being absolutely stupid, even Jenna in the very end. As much as I did want her to forgive him, because, lets face it, realistically NO man would wait out on the porch for three days in the rain after being beaten and run away from, I couldn't believe she actually opened the door to him. I don't know if that shows incredible grace, or incredible stupidity.
I think the thing that had me the most confused was that here Michael had this perfect girl who loved him, yet he still found it necessary to go out and explore other options, which poses the question, are we ever truly able to appreciate what we have until we don't, or can't have it anymore? Is the grass always greener, or does it just appear to be so? And, does it take exploring other options before we can truly be happy with what we have? One might say that there's no doubt that Michael loved Jenna, but, as was pointed out in the film, it doesn't matter what you feel; what you feel only matters to you. It's how you treat the people you love that really matters. So no matter how he "changed" in the end, the fact still remains that he made the choice to go and explore other options. I thought it was very honest in how it showed the inability of people to control themselves, and the inclination to make poor choices, and the almost inevitable curse we have to hurt the ones we love the most. The thing that ruined it for me however is the dishonest depiction of Michael's remorse. I find it extremely hard to believe that if he loved her that much that he would sit out there in the rain with no food for three days, and was that devoted to her, he would not have cheated on her in the first place. He didn't have to go find Kim after the wedding. He didn't have to drive her home from school. I know that human beings all have the capacity to feel guilt and remorse, but the question still remains, what makes us do it in the first place? If we know we shouldn't, and we know it's wrong, why can we not stop ourselves?
Throughout most of the movie, after the first five minutes anyway, I found myself wanting to kick at least one of the characters in the head at all times. Whether it be Michael, for not walking away in the first place, the little slut Kim, for being a home-wrecker, or one of the various supporting characters for being absolutely stupid, even Jenna in the very end. As much as I did want her to forgive him, because, lets face it, realistically NO man would wait out on the porch for three days in the rain after being beaten and run away from, I couldn't believe she actually opened the door to him. I don't know if that shows incredible grace, or incredible stupidity.
I think the thing that had me the most confused was that here Michael had this perfect girl who loved him, yet he still found it necessary to go out and explore other options, which poses the question, are we ever truly able to appreciate what we have until we don't, or can't have it anymore? Is the grass always greener, or does it just appear to be so? And, does it take exploring other options before we can truly be happy with what we have? One might say that there's no doubt that Michael loved Jenna, but, as was pointed out in the film, it doesn't matter what you feel; what you feel only matters to you. It's how you treat the people you love that really matters. So no matter how he "changed" in the end, the fact still remains that he made the choice to go and explore other options. I thought it was very honest in how it showed the inability of people to control themselves, and the inclination to make poor choices, and the almost inevitable curse we have to hurt the ones we love the most. The thing that ruined it for me however is the dishonest depiction of Michael's remorse. I find it extremely hard to believe that if he loved her that much that he would sit out there in the rain with no food for three days, and was that devoted to her, he would not have cheated on her in the first place. He didn't have to go find Kim after the wedding. He didn't have to drive her home from school. I know that human beings all have the capacity to feel guilt and remorse, but the question still remains, what makes us do it in the first place? If we know we shouldn't, and we know it's wrong, why can we not stop ourselves?
Flags of Our Fathers
I went to see the new Clint Eastwood (who, I'm not a fan of acting-wise, but is an amazing director) "Flags of Our Fathers". In a nutshell, the film follows the lives of the three surviving men of the six who raised the flag atop Iwo jima. John "Doc" Bradley (Ryan Philippe), whose son the story is being told through, Rene Gagnon (Jesse Bradford), and Ira Hayes (Adam Beach) are the three surviving soldiers who were brought home from the battle as heroes. They came home to help raise bonds for the war efforts, and their heroism is almost exploited in order to do so. All the while the men maintain that they were not heroes at all, and the men that stayed and fought and died were the real heroes. Each of the men had to deal with their own issues on top of being "overnight heroes". They were fighting memories of the atrocities they saw on the beach at Iwojima, watching their friends die, and feeling guilty for leaving to become celebrities.
This movie showed not only the graphic side of what our soldiers go through during battle, but also the demons they live with the rest of their lives after fighting for out country. the film also portrays the flippancy that our country has come to view war with. The three returning soldiers were seen by the government as fundraisers, and by the public as moral boosters, not as men who put themselves in harm's way so that we can live freely. I loved how the movie showed the mens human side; Ira Hayes' alcoholism, Doc's sensitivity and pain from the battle, and Rene's pride and spotlight hungry girlfriend. I think humanity is what makes a film real and honest, especially with the "hero" of the film.
I was half expecting this film to have an "anti-war" tone to it, as much of what is coming out of Hollywood these days does, but instead it had a message of appreciation, and I think it intended to help people realize and be grateful for what the soldiers did (and still do) for us, and that they weren't necessarily looking to be called heroes, they did what they did for other reasons, and its more comfortable for us as civilians to call them heroes because we have no realization of what actually happens to them, and it's the easy way for us to deal with it, whether it is because we just choose not to, or are to ignorant to recognize the sacrifice.
This movie did have a lot of things in common with your run of the mill war films, like "Saving Private Ryan" and "We Were Soldiers", the blood, the gore, etc., but it didn't necessarily revolve around it or need it for shock value... the story and the realness of the characters I felt set it somewhat apart, and the cinematography and over-all feel of the film was very cool, not quite as shaky as "Private Ryan", but still very "in the middle of the battle". The majority of the movie's mood was very sentimental, especially towards the end; I'm not going to say that I cried, but I was moved by the emotion and sentiment. When a war film is more than just blood and gore, when there is actual interpersonal relationships between the characters, and also between the characters and the audience, because you do feel for these characters, it's a very rare and beautiful thing.
highly recommended...very heavy...but recommended.
On a personal note, I think this film totally pertains to our country's current situation, on how much of the American public do not appreciate our troops and all the shit they have to face on an everyday basis, shit that God-willing we will never have to even hear about, but I think for some it would be beneficial, and they do it for us, so all of us have the right to bitch and complain about whatever the hell we want...but hopefully we can all recognize their sacrifice and be grateful.
P.S. If you DO go see this film...after wards go listen to the Johnny Cash song "Ballad of Ira Hayes"....it matches....or maybe I'm the only tard who didn't realize....
This movie showed not only the graphic side of what our soldiers go through during battle, but also the demons they live with the rest of their lives after fighting for out country. the film also portrays the flippancy that our country has come to view war with. The three returning soldiers were seen by the government as fundraisers, and by the public as moral boosters, not as men who put themselves in harm's way so that we can live freely. I loved how the movie showed the mens human side; Ira Hayes' alcoholism, Doc's sensitivity and pain from the battle, and Rene's pride and spotlight hungry girlfriend. I think humanity is what makes a film real and honest, especially with the "hero" of the film.
I was half expecting this film to have an "anti-war" tone to it, as much of what is coming out of Hollywood these days does, but instead it had a message of appreciation, and I think it intended to help people realize and be grateful for what the soldiers did (and still do) for us, and that they weren't necessarily looking to be called heroes, they did what they did for other reasons, and its more comfortable for us as civilians to call them heroes because we have no realization of what actually happens to them, and it's the easy way for us to deal with it, whether it is because we just choose not to, or are to ignorant to recognize the sacrifice.
This movie did have a lot of things in common with your run of the mill war films, like "Saving Private Ryan" and "We Were Soldiers", the blood, the gore, etc., but it didn't necessarily revolve around it or need it for shock value... the story and the realness of the characters I felt set it somewhat apart, and the cinematography and over-all feel of the film was very cool, not quite as shaky as "Private Ryan", but still very "in the middle of the battle". The majority of the movie's mood was very sentimental, especially towards the end; I'm not going to say that I cried, but I was moved by the emotion and sentiment. When a war film is more than just blood and gore, when there is actual interpersonal relationships between the characters, and also between the characters and the audience, because you do feel for these characters, it's a very rare and beautiful thing.
highly recommended...very heavy...but recommended.
On a personal note, I think this film totally pertains to our country's current situation, on how much of the American public do not appreciate our troops and all the shit they have to face on an everyday basis, shit that God-willing we will never have to even hear about, but I think for some it would be beneficial, and they do it for us, so all of us have the right to bitch and complain about whatever the hell we want...but hopefully we can all recognize their sacrifice and be grateful.
P.S. If you DO go see this film...after wards go listen to the Johnny Cash song "Ballad of Ira Hayes"....it matches....or maybe I'm the only tard who didn't realize....
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