Twelve Years Amazing!

This year my son (he's 22) has invited me on a quest to see the top Academy Award nominated movies with him.

I'm honored that he wants to spend that much time with his mother and there aren't a lot of things we have in common to do together anymore, so I have accepted his invitation.  Some mom/son time is pretty awesome!

We are three weeks into the quest and so far we have seen three films:  Wolf of Wall Street, Dallas Buyers Club, and today we saw Twelve Years a Slave.  

I'm not sure why Wolf of Wall Street was even nominated; it was an orgy of excess, an unlikable protagonist, and I think the lead was miscast.  I found Leo to be irritating.  I know the character was not supposed to be likable, but I didn't see anything particularly memorable or award winning about that one.

Dallas Buyers Club was our second movie; I started to get interested in this odyssey with that one.  If Jared Leto does not win for Best Supporting Actor there is no justice.  He was amazing as a she.  I thought Matthew McConaughey was great as Ron Woodruff but I suspect the fact that Mr. McConaughey is a native Texan will work against him.  Voters will probably think that playing a Texan wasn't much of a stretch.  Even though he lost 40 pounds for the role and by all accounts he nails the portrayal of Woodruff as he battled both AIDS and the FDA.  

McConaughey would have a better shot at winning his Best Actor category if Twelve Years a Slave had not been made.  Chiwetel Ejiofor was absolutely riveting as Solomon Northup.  When I learned today that Slave was the next film on our list I inwardly groaned; "Not another Hollywood movie about slavery..." I thought.  

Boy was I wrong.  Twelve Years a Slave is definitely not just another movie about slavery.  It was painful to watch, naturally.  But Mr. Ejiofor's performance was like nothing I've ever seen.  Based on a true story, Solomon Northup was a free man working as a musician and living in New York when he is hoodwinked, kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1841.  

Mr. Ejiofor's eyes speak more about his plight than his words.  Throughout the film he continues to hope that somehow he will be freed from this injustice once word reaches the right people that he was a free man.  At one point there is a long, lingering shot of his face; he is all the way to the left of the screen and the landscape behind him is empty.  As the shot lingers, Northup casts his eyes downward, then slowly to the left and right.  Very slowly.  Then he brings his face back to the front and he stares directly into the camera, not just breaking the fourth wall, but shattering it.  He's staring right at you.  And stares.  As the shot lingers, you can see the confusion and pain in his eyes.  Then he looks ever so slightly downward again.  It was an amazing scene.  In that moment, it seemed to me, the director challenges the viewer to confront slavery, to see it as it was.  No Hollywood caricature or romanticizing here.  

The entire film was amazing.  There were many excellent performances (including Brad Pitt!) and were it not for Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club, I would pull for Michael Fassbender for the Supporting Actor category.  His performance as plantation owner Edwin Epps was just psychotic.  I was also pleasantly surprised to see Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) as one of the plantation owners.

While we haven't seen all the movies on our list yet, I can't imagine anyone beating Mr. Ejiofor's performance.

I think American Hustle is on our list for next week; and I really want to see Nebraska.

For someone who has a pretty low opinion of Hollywood, I'm really enjoying this quest!  But it could also just be that I love the mother/son time!

Two Movies in 24 Hours

I have seen two movies in 24 hours which is very unusual because I can't remember the last movie I actually went to see one in a theater.  Probably it was Runaway Slave.  Maybe True Grit before that.

Steve and I went to see Lone Survivor yesterday and today I went to see Wolf of Wall Street.

We wanted to see Lone Survivor because we'd both read the book when it came out and well, what a story it is!  I thought the movie was very good and it made me even more appreciative (if that's possible) of our military and what they are willing to sacrifice for this country.  Simply amazing.  I was sorry that the movie deviated from the book in the final scenes; wasn't the real story intense and dramatic enough without making up events?  That being said, it was well worth the time to see.  I highly recommend it if you get a chance.

I went to Wolf because my 22-year old son wanted to see it and asked me to go with him.  Yeah, it's not really a movie to see with your kids, no matter how old they are, but there we were.  I have mixed feelings about Wolf.  I thought that artistically the movie was well done, especially with regard to how it represented the eighties.  But there was an awful lot of gratuitous naked people and sex that could have been left out.  The three hour movie could easily have been done in 2 hours if some of that was trimmed.

My other problem with Wolf is that it seems the older I get the less tolerant I am about glorifying criminals.  The guy needed to be in jail (not a federal country club) and needs to be held to his restitution agreement.  I'm all for freedom of artistic expression and I know a lot of people enjoy movies like that.  I have certainly watched my share of Godfather movies and own a copy of Scarface.  I can't really put my finger on why this one bugs me; maybe it's because this real person defrauded other real people and so far doesn't seem to have paid much of a price.  Maybe it's just that I don't like Belfort.  There's nothing likable about him.

Leonardo DiCaprio probably did a fine job in his role of Jordan Belfort (although I think I would have preferred it if he and Matthew McConaughey had switched roles.  McConaughey would have been excellent in that role.)

I am content now to sit back on the couch and stick to reading books.  And considering the previews I've seen, that's probably going to be a very wise decision.

A New Underground Railroad

Holy smokes.  Via Red State, "the most incredible movie trailer I've ever seen":



I'm dumbfounded at the sheer blind idolatry of it!

Instead, how about a film about freedom?  How about a film that makes you feel good about your country without being preachy?  How about a film that lifts your spirits and fills you with optimism?



When C.L. Bryant's Runaway Slave hits nationwide, it is ALL anybody is going to be talking about.  I just watched it a second time and it was more powerful the second time.  Of course, after I saw the film this weekend I have read Star Parker's book and started Deneen Borelli's book, so I brought more background to the table this time.

This time around I was really watching the imagery and technical aspects of the movie.  It not only holds up on message, but it holds up as a technical work, too.  When I reviewed the movie I wrote that it has a "gritty, urban feel" to it.  Imagery of chains, bars, and locks are flashed across the screen.  Urban graffiti.

Most prevalent was the image of the railroad; one of the themes of the film is that it's time for "a new underground railroad" to escape poverty and the tyranny of big government oppression.

We see C.L. walking down railroad tracks, running on the tracks, and standing in thought on the tracks.  In the beginning he picks up a rusty railroad spike and you see that spike from time to time through the film.  At the end, as he shouts "Run!  Run away from socialism!  Run away from progressivism! Run!"  This is when you get chills up and down your arms.  He throws that spike off a railroad trestle into the river - freedom.

The image is there verbally, too, as AlfonZo Rachel says, "I must be on the right track!"

The most beautiful image to me was CL's visit to the Jefferson Memorial.  He stands, staring up at the statue of Jefferson, a man who once owned slaves, and the sun breaks through the columns.  The message?  It's a new day; look forward.  Don't look to the past.  Look forward and where we can go, together.

It's simply a beautiful film in both message and content.

Go see it.  Because when it opens up nationwide, everyone is going to be talking about it and you will want to be part of that conversation.

Demand Runaway Slave Shows Near You!

C. L. Bryant's documentary, Runaway Slave, is set for nationwide release July 27.

You are really going to want to see this film.

Demand the Movie!

Take a look at the theaters listed for the July 27 openings for RUNAWAY SLAVE. No matter where you live, take a minute and call the theater managers at the numbers listed and let them know you want the movie to open in their theaters. 

	Atlanta	AMC Barrett Commons (Kennesaw)	(770) 419-5848
	Charlotte	Stonecrest at Piper Glen Stadium 22	(704) 540-7558
	Chicago	AMC River East 21	(312) 596-0333
	Cincinnati	Springdale 18 Cinema Deluxe	(513) 671-0140
	Dallas	AMC Grapevine Mills (Grapevine)	(972) 539-5909
	Indianapolis	Rave Motion Pictures Metropolis 18 (Plainfield)	(317) 839-0525
	Jacksonville	AMC Regency 24	(904) 725-0885
	Philadelphia	Regal Warrington Crossing (Warrington)	(215) 918-1667

Please take a moment to call and let theater managers know you want to see this movie!

Otherwise, people like Michael Moore will have the only voice out there about what is happening in America.  Isn't it time for a pro-America documentary, for once?!

Film Review: Runaway Slave

When Runaway Slave comes to a theater near you, drop what you're doing and go see it.

Having heard Rev. C. L. Bryant speak before, I thought I had an idea what to expect but I underestimated the power of the documentary.  It's very powerful.

Visually, the movie has a gritty, urban, edgy feel to it that contrasts with rural rolling hills and scenic neighborhoods as narrator C. L. Bryant makes his way from one city to the next, crossing America, ultimately ending up in Washington, D.C., where he movingly stands at the Jefferson Memorial reading lines from the Declaration of Independence.  I have to say, I got a tear in my eye on that one.

Bryant drives across the country asking black individuals along the way "Are we free at last?  Are you free?"  He strides purposefully across the nation and listens inquisitively at both Tea Party rallies and NAACP rallies.  He asks black Americans what they are prevented from doing today because of their skin color.

The only person who wouldn't, or couldn't, answer that was Rev. Al Sharpton who refused to speak to Bryant in the documentary.

C. L. Bryant tells of his journey from liberalism to conservatism.  He was a chapter president of the NAACP in Garland, Texas at one time, a position he lost because of his pro-life stance.  He also lost the position of pastor of his church because of his conservatism.  But Bryant has brought his message to a much larger audience now with Runaway Slave and it's a message that everyone needs to see.

The thesis of the documentary is the enslavement of black society by big government.  Bryant tries to determine why 95% of the black community votes Democrat and why the nation is still so racially divided. People like Rev. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are described in interviews as "poverty pimps" because while they claim to represent the best interests of black America they are profiting from the continued degraded social status of blacks.

To support his thesis Bryant talks to many black leaders across America such as Alveda King who spoke strongly against Planned Parenthood and cited the high abortion rate in black society.  She noted the prevalence of Planned Parenthood in black communities and suggested they "target" black women.

I was particularly impressed with Marvin Rogers, author of Silence Makes the Loudest Sound.  Watch this clip:


Author Marvin D. Rogers Discusses his Highly Anticipated Book! from Marvin D. Rogers on Vimeo.


He really impressed me and I'm ordering his book today (there's no Kindle version).

Steve was impressed with Mason Weaver.  He wrote a book entitled It's OK to Leave the Plantation.  Watch this clip of Weaver speaking in 2009:



Bryant spoke with many other black leaders and the takeaway is that it is the Democratic party that has enslaved the black community to a life of poverty and entitlements.  You are not guaranteed success by the Constitution, you are guaranteed opportunity.  Nothing is handed to you.

Bryant also talks with well known black  leaders like Allen West, Herman Cain, and Thomas Sowell, but it was the lesser knowns like K. Carl Smith and Kevin Daniels that impressed me so much.

The movie opens July 27 in wider release; right now it's just in Bossier City.  The film website is here.  There you will find release locations and dates, all the interview participants, and video clips.

If you're anywhere close to Shreveport/Bossier, go to Regal Cinema on Shed Road and see this film.  We were pleasantly surprised to see C. L. Bryant himself striding to the front of the theater as the credits rolled.  We gave him a hearty round of applause and then he was swamped with people who wanted to shake his hand and speak with him.

The film is powerful, moving, articulate, and speaks to all of us.  It's one that I'll want to see more than once and if you get a chance to see it, drop everything you're doing and go.




Update:
Linked at The Dead Pelican - the one stop shop for ALL news Louisiana!
The film has been held over through July 19th at Regal on Shed Road in Bossier.
Buy tickets here.

Related Posts:
Andrew Breitbart Talks About His Legacy With CL Bryant
A New Underground Railroad
I Dare James Earl Jones to Watch "Runaway Slave"!
Trading One Form of Tyranny for Another

I Can't Wait...

...to go see this!

Let's Talk About Movies

Have you seen the new True Grit?  Are you planning to?

Bill O'Reilly has a review/comparison column of the two movies here.  In short, he liked them both but prefers the original.

As for me, I'm really tired of remakes.  I haven't been to the theater to see a movie since...I guess The Dark Knight.

I've heard they're remaking The Great Gatsby!  Horrors!  Mia Farrow was the perfect Daisy! 

Even worse, Robert Zemeckis wants to remake The Wizard of Oz.  Forget about it.

That's like remaking Gone With the Wind.  Sacrilege.

It seems there aren't very many original ideas in Hollywood anymore, what with all the remakes and sequels.  Perhaps that's why there was a decline in box office receipts for 2010, although the economy certainly could play a factor.  Maybe I'm just getting old and cranky.

I have heard, however, that The Black Swan is excellent and I did mean to catch Secretariat which I suppose is on DVD now.

I'll make a prediction, though.  I'll bet it's not long before talks are underway for Hillenbrand's Unbroken to be adapted into a movie.  You couldn't make up a story like that one.

So.  I know I'm cranky about movies.  But what about True Grit?  Have you seen it?  I might give it a shot...

Questions on the Funding of Machete

Drudge is now posting on the Machete film we've been talking about since last Monday.  Drudge links to this article at InfoWars which asks:

Why does such a production warrant the support of the people of the State of Texas? Will people standby as as tax breaks and other valuable resources– such as shooting access at the State Capitol, which likely required closing it off from the public– are poured into the creation of divisive, reductive and ultimately offensive portrayal of Mexicans and Americans alike, whether white, black, brown or otherwise.

At issue is the fact that the film was filmed mostly in Austin, Texas and received tax incentives and location access from Governor Rick Perry's office as likely many other films produced in the state do.  There's a similar set up in Louisiana which has brought a booming film industry to Shreveport.  (Right now Nicholas Cage is filming a movie a couple of blocks from my house which makes getting to and from point A to point B a challenge).

Perry's office was contacted by Infowars for clarification on the funding question and has received conflicting information, the latest being "that Rodriguez has applied for Machete funding but has not yet received any funding from the commission because the film must be completed first."

There's no question that the film encourages a race war.  Go to YouTube and search for a Machete trailer and you can find one but they're constantly being pulled.

There are reports from those who have seen early screenings of the film that it is much more "racially inflammatory" that the trailer suggests.  The trailer shows machete wielding Hispanics ready to do battle as one of the female leads stands with arms aloft shouting "Viva La Raza!" and "We didn't cross the border, the border crossed us!"

InfoWars has video clips here and links to the leaked script.  Disturbing as it all is, you can't buy much better press for a film than this, but the timing for such a film could hardly be worse.

I'll post the trailer again, but it may not work long:

Machete: Coming to a Theater Near You September 2010

Can you hardly wait to see this film?  (Trailer NSFW!)



It is, of course, Machete, an actual film inspired by a fake trailer from a 2007 movie.  The plot, in short, centers on a former Federale named "Machete" who is double crossed while trying to assassinate a corrupt senator who is deporting illegal immigrants.

Jessica Alba has the role of an ICE agent and her boss is played by Don Johnson.  She gets the plum assignment of hunting down Mr. Machete after he escapes from a hospital.  Steven Seagal is cast as, (what else?), a drug lord.  You also get the good fortune of a gun loving Lindsay Lohan (kidnapped by Machete) and a gang of pissed off machete wielding illegal immigrants seeking revenge on the guy that double crossed our hero.

Are you freaking kidding me?!

Try the LEGO version - probably better.






Update:  I might add also that the comments at the YouTube post of this video are just crazy!  To be honest, when I first watched the trailer I thought it was spoof.  Satire.  Imdb bills it as "Action" but even if it is campy satire I believe there's enough in there to incite the goofiest fringe out there, and no, I'm not talking about the Tea Party.  Irresponsible.

Back When Don Johnson Was Hot...

Heh - every Halloween I dig out this obscure Don Johnson movie, Sweet Hearts Dance, because I love this Halloween scene. It's the devil in me.

It's Chic to Celebrate Dictators!

I'm in a cranky mood right now. There are multiple reasons but one is that I just don't understand the world right now. I can point you to Bride of Rove; she said it all so much more eloquently that I can. What she said? That's exactly how I'm feeling these days. Go read it, then come back. I'll wait.

Okay. Let's just consider this one thing for the time being. Hugo Chavez. Over the past several days I've been reading about his star turn at the Venice Film Festival. Since when did it become so chic to celebrate dictators? WTF is up with that?!

Whats up is that Oliver Stone has made a film, a documentary, about Chavez which as IBDeditorials says, "emphasizes that the public has it all wrong about the clowning Chavez being a threat to the West. It's merely an image problem he has, brought on by unjust demonization from George W. Bush."

Can we just lock the doors and let Stone stay in Europe? Turn out the lights?

Does Stone seriously just not GET what kind of guy Chavez is? How about this recent deal Chavez made with Iran:

Chavez announced a "strategic" move to sell $800 million in gasoline to Iran, vowing to ship 20,000 barrels a day in exchange for Iranian "tractors." Sound innocuous? It isn't.

Chavez knows exactly what he's doing. Iran imports 40% of its gasoline and is vulnerable to sanctions on that vital commodity. For all the oil Iran produces, it lacks refinery capacity and must make up for its internal shortage with imports. Shutting off the gasoline spigot from the West is the mullahs' worst fear, given the damage it would do to Iran's economy as well as their grip on power.

That means gasoline is the one of the few points of leverage the West has over the Iranian regime as it seeks to check Iran's nuclear program. If Chavez's scheme succeeds, the West will have a potential economic weapon removed. Chavez's gasoline means the mullahs in charge should have nothing to fear from a shut-off.

This will give Tehran room for a more aggressive push to develop nuclear weapons to threaten the West.

How about his support of FARC terrorists (see here and here for starters.)

Listen to Stone defend Chavez (among others):



Does he have no grasp of history? Of what evil actually is? Does he not care? Oh, wait. We're all just paranoid. He's the normal one.

Stone says he's fearful that his film will have a difficult time getting play in the United States. I'm really not so sure anymore. Look at all the wackos wearing Che Guevara t-shirts and apparel. They'd go. It would probably get play at Sundance. Camp David. Here's the trailer:



It's not just Oliver Stone. We've also got Michael Moore and his capitalism is evil adventure - they loved it in Italy. Here's the trailer for that one:



So, let me get this right. Capitalism is bad. Dictators are good. What the hell country did I wake up in?

I don't understand the world anymore. Nothing makes sense.

Twenty-Five Years of A Christmas Story

It's been 25 years since one of my favorite Christmas films came out. There is just something about A Christmas Story that hits home for me. I don't know if it's the old-fashioned family Christmas aspect of it, or just the cute kids and the humor. There are so many parts that I can relate to and can remember from my own childhood.

I loved getting the family Christmas tree (ALWAYS a live one) and decorating it. And trust me, I did NOT come by my obsessive-compulsive-tree-decorating syndrome all on my own. Where do you think I learned that you have to hang icicles "one at a time." At least I'm not so consumed with being frugal, as my mother was, that I save the icicles from year to year, pressed in a Frank Sinatra magazine! The tree had to stand perfectly level too; I don't think we had a single tree in all my childhood years that was not leveled with the assistance of magazines under the stand. My dad would wander in and fling a couple of handfuls of icicles on the tree before being chased out by mom for not "doing it right." I think he did it on purpose!

Our trees always looked sort of like the tree in the movie though, with the big old-fashioned lights rather than the tiny mini-lights we have now.

A Christmas Story also brings back memories of all those Christmases with footed pajamas. I never had any that looked like pink bunny rabbits, but I did love my footed pajamas.

I love the movie and I can say that a couple of years ago I actually watched almost the entire 24 hour marathon on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day. I especially love the scene at the end when the parents are sitting in the chair together watching it snow out the window. We don't get snow down here very often, but maybe one day!

Home for the Holidays

God I love this movie; I watch it every single year over the Thanksgiving holidays. It came out in 1995 and has a fabulous cast: Robert Downey, Jr., Holly Hunter, Dylan McDermott, Charles Durning, Anne Bancroft, Claire Danes and directed by Jodie Foster. I remember Nikki and I going to see this at the theater and we both laughed until we cried, seriously. All these years later, I still laugh. If you don't watch this movie and see some of your family there, somewhere, you are way to normal for me!

In this scene, Tommy and his "friend" Leo Fish make a surprise appearance for the holiday.

Listening To...

Talking about Tom Hanks, I was reminded of his classic film "That Thing You Do" which I love. It's such wholesome, cheesy fun! If you've never seen it, you should (Netflix, Sarah!) Tom Everett Scott was adorable as Guy and Johnathon Schaech was the cutest jerk on film. But Liv Tyler stole the movie. I love that scene when she's putting letters in the mailbox, transistor radio in hand, when she hears Jimmy's song ON THE RADIO and takes off running down your "typical middle American main street" screaming her head off. She was gorgeous. Go ahead, click and take a little time trip! It's fun! If you don't tap your foot, there's something wrong with you.