Check out My "Inception" Review over at Cinemaniac

http://the-cinemaniac.blogspot.com/2010/07/review-inception.html

I'm Cheating on My Netflix with Redbox and Hastings But I Want To Work It Out

I’ve been having an affair. I’ve been cheating on my Netflix subscription off and on for over a year now. It has just been a flirtation with Redbox and Hastings. It didn’t mean anything. I want to work on my relationship with Netflix so we can be stronger and avoid a nasty split. Everything was wonderful. I don’t know how it happened.

I was in an exclusive relationship with Hollywood Video for six years. It was over when Hollywood Video skipped town with no notice, no phone call, no email. I was on the rebound. I started a Netflix subscription. It was nice to look forward to mail again. It was so exciting to watch a movie and as soon as it was over, drive to the Post Office at night to drop it off so the Netflick was on the road the next day.

Things were going great. Then I moved to two movies at a time, then three movies. Maybe we got too serious too fast. The more serious we got, the less time we had for each other. Sometimes I wouldn’t watch a movie for weeks. Things started to get complicated.

I love everything about Netflix but it isn’t the same Netflix I fell in love with. The inventory had been compromised. “Taken” was number one on my queue for six weeks and I still hadn’t received it. I ended up going to a grocery store and noticed a Redbox. It was all so innocent. I just wanted to see if “Taken” was available. For the first time in two years, I rented a DVD that wasn’t with Netflix. Our relationship has never been the same.

It happened again when “Inglourious Basterds” had a “Very long wait” next to the title in my queue. It was so easy. I even started seeing Hastings when I knew films had a long wait attached to them.

In 2010, the lack of inventory wasn’t the issue. Sometimes I can time it to get a movie the day it comes out. Netflix started cheating on me, dealing with studios to hold off on releases for a month or so in an effort to get me to purchase DVDs rather than rent them. Supposedly Netflix did this all for me, in order to get more streaming content. That is a good thing but I haven’t seen a huge boost in streaming content.

Netflix and its lack of inventory have caused me to run into the arms of Redbox and Hastings when I want to see a movie. This is the problem. I rarely get a movie in my top five. This leaves me with movies coming off the bench, movies slotted in the 5-10 slots.

Since we’ve been having problems, Netflix has tried to woo me. I can’t say Netflix didn’t try. Netflix released the PS3 streaming disc. It was fun. Spent the holidays watching the first two seasons of Dexter. After the initial surprise of the effort, the stream wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. There are some good TV shows but not all the shows I want aren’t available. There are some movies that are good but not many major studio releases. A friend compared the streaming selection to “A $5 bargain bin at Wal-Mart.”

There are some things I can do and Netflix can do to help our relationship. I love instant streaming but there needs to be more content available, more copies of DVDs to meet demand and release the DVDs on their actual release date, not some Netflix timetable Bizaro world release date. My needs aren’t being met.

I’m not excited to see Netflix anymore so they stay with my mail and end up taking longer to get watched. I end up watching less and less and keeping movies longer. Maybe it’s Netflix Kharma. If I hold onto movies too long, movies I want will stay gone too long. Maybe if I get them watched and back in the mail, more of my movies will come back to me. I will start treating Netflix better and hope that my love will reciprocate. Netflix, I want our relationship to work. I want to give this a chance.

Michael Keaton and the Milk Carton

Michael Keaton is the voice of Ken in Toy Story 3, the first high profile film he has been a part of in over ten years. He will also be in Adam McKay’s film The Other Guys this summer. Keaton is getting more action this summer than he has since the Clinton administration.

In Toy Story 3 interviews, he has talked about wanting to do a sequel to Beetlejuice. Please don’t back to Beetlejuice. It would be all CGI and 3D and everything you loved about Tim Burton was killed by Hollywood years ago. I know it seems retro to go back to your old role. Bruce Willis did it with Die Hard. Stallone did it in Rambo and Rocky. Trust me. No one wants to see Beetlejuice and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Like a lot of our older actors, I’m sure he would love to get in a hot tub time machine and go back to the 80s. where Keaton was a star.

Night Shift was his breakout performance next to the Fonz directed by Ron Howard. Mr. Mom was great because it was such an outrageous concept for a man to stay home. Gung Ho to this day is the only film about unions that is funny.

Johnny Dangerously was funny. The Dream Team showed us mental health in a comedic way. Beetlejuice was a great character and film directed by Tim Burton. Before Burton had Johnny Depp play everything in every film, he had Michael Keaton. Michael Keaton was Batman in 1989, showing us a dark, serious superhero film 19 years before The Dark Knight. Batman was such a departure from not just superhero films but almost every 80s film. After Batman, Keaton took on more serious roles like My Life, Pacific Heights and Clean and Sober. Go ahead show a little range.

“And like that, he’s gone.”-The Usual Suspects (Michael Keaton isn’t in this but there is a character named Keaton)

What happened after Batman Returns? I read on Wikipedia once that he turned down $30 million for a third Batman that Burton wasn’t directing. Did this blacklist him? Is this story even accurate? Keaton had a genuine uniqueness in his films. Why did the offers dry up? He still did solid work before the millennium. The Paper reunited him with Night Shift director Ron Howard in what is a very underrated film.

Keaton was good in Multiplicity, a film by a past his prime Harold Ramis.
Why hasn’t he been on a TV show that has kept him steadily working? While Gary Sinise has a huge show, Charlie Sheen is paid a ton, even Howie Mandel is a prime time regular, Keaton is hurting for work.

John Travolta got the resurrection of a lifetime with Pulp Fiction. No one gets that kind of rebirth, even other Tarantino actors. Michael Keaton was in Jackie Brown. He was good in Jackie Brown. Maybe that was supposed to be his comeback. For some reason it wasn’t. How did this man go from Batman to Jack Frost? Live From Baghdad is great work. Why is he in these films with tweens like Herbie Fully Loaded and Post Grad.

I’ve never heard about him being a jerk on set or drug problems. I had read about Chevy Chase sabotaging his career. We all know what happened to Lindsay Lohan. Where is Michael Keaton?

Michael Keaton could still be very productive in a film, maybe not above the title but still contribute. A young director who remembers what he’s capable of should take him for a spin. Someone like Jason Reitman or Rian Johnson.

I want to know the mystery behind what happened to Michael Keaton and why he has been robbed from the public? Is he picking terrible scripts like the one where he’s a prisoner getting an organ transplant? Or is he relegated to family films now with the good work he’s done in the tween demographic?

Maybe Quentin will give him another shot.

Strong Females in Film Have Driven Off A Cliff

I am taking a graduate course called Contemporary American Drama. I took the course based on the fact the class would be viewing Thelma and Louise and reading the shooting script from Ridley Scott. I wrote an atomic paper, writing about of the prompts, the one student who did that. I even wrote about things outside the scope of the prompts. I tried to lay low in class not wanting to look like a brown noser or overachiever. This is that paper.

Strong Females in Film Have Driven Off A Cliff


Ridley Scott talks about Thelma and Louise being about freedom. The Thunderbird is the vehicle that gives Thelma and Louise that freedom. This brings to mind another film about a road trip, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. As Ferris plays hooky and takes Cameron with him, they open Cameron’s garage to find a 1958 Ferrari 250 GTS California. It is said less than a hundred were made. Cameron says the car is his father’s love and passion. Ferris says it is Cameron’s father’s fault he did not lock the garage. Cameron informs Ferris that his dad never drives it. He just rubs it with a diaper. Thelma embodies the erotic red hood of the 1958 Ferrari in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. She has been cooped up her whole life. She is a car that is never driven. In Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, when that car gets out of the garage, it is taken on an incredible ride at breathtaking speeds just like Thelma and Louise.

Lightning struck with Thelma and Louise. It had a great director with box office appeal who could make the film he wanted. The budget was under $10 million and as a result, executives were not breathing down Ridley Scott’s neck. There was an incredible script to work with. Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon had been in several movies, but they were not such huge stars that it got in the way of the film. The audience was not thinking to themselves, “Oh my God, Julia Roberts and Sandra Bullock are really good in this.” Davis and Sarandon are easily able to become Thelma and Louise. These elements are what made this film work.

It is obvious after the success of Thelma and Louise, Hollywood tried to reproduce that success. Many films took parts of the film and added another something new where others took every concept from Thelma and Louise. Bad Girls seems to take from Thelma and Louise more than any other film. According to Netflix, “Cody, Anita, Eileen and Lilly are four tough Wild West women on the run from the law. To make matters worse, as they’re withdrawing cash from a Texas bank, bank robber Kid Jarrett takes it. With two Pinkerton men after them, the rugged girls are determined to get their money back along with a little revenge in this six-shooting western adventure.” While it seems to take on many of the same themes of Thelma and Louise, audiences did not connect. It only took in $15 million at the box office.

A few years later, Set It Off was released. According to Netflix, “Sick of being victims of circumstance and fighting a system that keeps them from reaching their dreams, four black women from the Los Angeles projects opt to knock over a bank. Emboldened after pulling off the heist, they continue their crime spree.” This film was for an African American female demographic. It takes many of the women’s liberation ideas touched on in Thelma and Louise. This movie was much more successful at the box office than Bad Girls, garnering more than $36 million. With a production budget of $9 million, this is successful across the board. As a film about women, specifically African American women, this was a huge success. Unfortunately, this film has not stayed in the American conscience as Thelma and Louise has.

The 1990s saw more films about female action heroes, a trend that would continue on into the 21st century. For every Carrie Ann Moss in The Matrix, we get Pamela Anderson in Barb Wire. It takes more than leather pants, cleavage and a gun to make a strong female character. Quentin Tarantino has made films with strong female characters like Uma Thurman in Kill Bill and Pam Grier in Jackie Brown. Angelina Jolie has become an action heroine franchise with films such as Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Wanted and Tomb Raider. While these films may be fun, they are usually over the top and never attempt realism. Many of these films make money and why not make an action star out of a legitimate actress like Geena Davis? In 1996, Geena Davis would go back to the well that gave her success with Thelma and Louise. The Long Kiss Goodnight would make her an action heroine for the 90s. According to Netflix, “Samantha Caine can’t remember anything before the day she woke up eight years ago, injured and two months pregnant. Now a schoolteacher with only vague memories, she starts to exhibit bizarre, violent impulses.” It is only after hiring a private detective that she discovers that she was once a top CIA assassin named Charlie. With a production budget of $65 million, overseas The Long Kiss Goodnight grossed over $56 million, while domestically only grossing $33 million. This began a decline in films starring Geena Davis as far as strong female characters. In 1999 she played Mrs. Eleanor Little in Stuart Little, then try a few television shows along with sequels to Stuart Little. She eventually played a strong woman for one season as President of the United States in the ABC show Commander in Chief. Davis was never able to retain the status that Thelma brought her.

Susan Sarandon would play strong female characters in The Client and Dead Man Walking before fading into more conventional female roles.

Ridley Scott is a great director for women. In 1979, he gave audiences Alien putting Ellen Ripley played by Sigourney Weaver as the last one standing who defeats the alien. In 1986, James Cameron would make Ripley a stronger character able to fight in Aliens. In 1991, James Cameron would take that sensibility to Sarah Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. In the first Terminator film, Sarah Connor is scared and confused. She needs a man to keep her alive. In the second film, learning from her experience, she is ripped, smart, armed and ready to take on the machines. In 1991, Jodie Foster plays FBI trainee Clarice Starling who has to go toe to toe with imprisoned Hannibal Lecter in order to catch a killer in Silence of the Lambs. Foster would win the Best Actress Oscar over Davis and Sarandon.


Jim Emerson wrote about the glossy feel of the film. He was focused on what the film was not and not what it was. Emerson wants Thelma and Louise to be “a low budget production by Robert Altman or Bob Rafaelston or someone with a feel for the raw and messy-but sometimes extraordinary-possibilities of human life.” He said Scott, “packaged it as a feature-length perfume commercial targeted at knee-jerk ‘feminists’. Thelma and Louise is a movie that is all dressed up and has no place to go.” Emerson wants the film to be more like Badlands, They Live By Night and You Only Live Once.

Ridley Scott is one of the few directors in Hollywood whose track record gives him considerably more power in making his films than other directors. Emerson acts as if the source material from Callie Khouri’s screenplay was a gritty, dangerous and unpredictable journey. It was not. Scott was true to the screenplay to a large degree. A few things are different, but that comes with the territory of taking the printed word and putting it to film. Ridley Scott and Callie Khouri were not out to make the film Emerson wanted for Thelma and Louise. Khouri’s script is fresh and fun. At no point does the reader see this screenplay as dark and gritty.

Second of all, this is a studio picture. In the Thelma and Louise Extended Edition DVD commentary, Ridley Scott said, “It needs to be fun. It costs a lot to make a film so you have to get the audience into the seats.” The departures from the screenplay are there to do just that. The goal is to make an enjoyable film with universal appeal. That is what the studios want from every film and the source material does not make it impossible to make a film that does that.

This was a small film especially for Ridley Scott who had made films like Alien and Blade Runner. The two leads for Thelma and Louise were two actresses who weren’t big stars like Meryl Streep, Sally Field or Julia Roberts. Everyone else in the film was probably paid scale or slightly above. The production budget of the film was $16.5 million according to boxofficemojo.com. The opening weekend of the film is usually the best time for a film. It opened at fourth place at over $6 million. A movie that opens up at fourth place is almost assured to drop like a stone in the following weeks. Thelma and Louise ended up grossing $45 million. The way a film is able to have that kind of longevity is word of mouth and repeat viewings. People took Thelma and Louise and identified with the characters and went on this ride. Many people who saw Thelma and Louise probably did not even know what feminism was. People who saw it probably had never seen Badlands or You Live Only Once. The opinions about Thelma and Louise were not lukewarm. People had big opinions about this film that have nothing to do with Ridley Scott or Callie Khouri.

In the DVD commentary for Thelma and Louise: Special Edition, Callie Khouri said, “The roles for women are very narrow. Did it revolutionize women’s roles in film? Absolutely not. I wish it had more of an impact in opening things up. It was a chink in the armor. It’s going to take huge audiences of women to support these kinds of films. The idea that women only respond to emotional things or issue movies, I don’t feel that way.

1991 was a golden age of women in film, an era Hollywood will not be eager to revisit even though it meant big box office numbers. Another film in the summer of 1991 was Terminator 2: Judgment Day. According to Boxofficemojo.com, its budget was $102 million. Its opening weekend take was over $31 million. It would go on to gross $204 million domestically and $315 million overseas.

According to boxofficemojo.com, Silence of the Lambs had a production budget of $19 million. It opened up at number one with $13 million, going on to gross $130 million domestically. Silence of the Lambs is the only movie in the top ten box office films from 1991 that stars a female character.

According to boxofficemojo.com, Fried Green Tomatoes opened with $5 million and would go on to gross $82 million.

If there is a good script and real characters with women the audience can believe in, it will be a success. Studios keep running the same formula thinking women only want to see romantic comedies or romances. They do not. Women are craving strong female characters in a strong original story. Looking at film since 1991, no year has come close as far as strong female characters and viable box office draw. Sleeping With The Enemy with Julia Roberts is about a women getting away from an abusive husband. Soap Dish with Sally Field is about an aging soap star coming to terms with her career. My Girl is the coming of age story of a strong 11-year old girl.

In 1992, there are three standout films with strong female leads and box office power. There is Sister Act, A League of Their Own and Basic Instinct. Geena Davis stars in A League of Their Own as the leader of the women’s professional baseball team. Basic Instinct shows that a female lead is a killer who is able to use her sexuality and brains to slither out of getting caught. This made Sharon Stone a star. Hollywood begins making strong female characters if the right actress is in it.

Julia Roberts was in The Pelican Brief in 1993. She won an Oscar in 2001 for Erin Brockovich, a film about a broke single mom working as a law clerk taking on a huge cover up.

Hillary Swank has taken roles that have given audiences something new. In Boys Don’t Cry she played a woman posing as a man, and is ultimately killed for it. In 2005 she played a female boxer in Million Dollar Baby, who is so strong in life, after an accident, chooses death. Choosing death is also the final decision in ‘Night Mother.

In 2009, after a career of romantic comedies, Sandra Bullock played a strong female character in The Blind Side. 2007 saw the strength a teenager has to have to deal with pregnancy in Juno.

As month subsides to month, it becomes clear that there will be fewer films with strong, dynamic female characters. These films usually require a Julia Roberts, Hillary Swank or Sandra Bullock level star just to get made. Thelma and Louise was able to thrive without a heavyweight movie star.

In the screenplay, blood is found in the car. In the film, this is not mentioned. What is the impact? If Thelma’s blood is on the car, it proves to be the thing that puts everything else into a chain of events. Maybe the blood could get Thelma and Louise an insanity plea. Maybe the blood gives them an out, and they would be able to come home. Ridley Scott’s decision to omit it seals that there is no going back. It pushes the stakes. It increases conflict. The characters see their journey through. It does not give the audience a cop out ending. It is almost like everything was just a dream and they would wake-up back in Kansas. It takes the film in a direction that gives a sense of permanence. They did what they did and there is not any going back.

In the screenplay, Harlan is shot in the face. In the film, he is shot in the heart. The film gives it a more symbolic touch where the screenplay gives a more realistic scene. It makes sense in the screenplay. Louise shoots him for what he says. It makes sense to shoot him in the head where he is mouthing off. Shooting him in the face is going to be gory. A movie made for a female demographic could be turned off by someone getting shot in the face and blood shooting out everywhere. Shooting him in the heart means less blood and is more poetic.

The screenplay ends with a B.B. King song. After listening to this song, it is easy to tell why this would not work as well. Most people want their Hollywood endings wrapped up in a nice little bow. For some people, this is the first time they have seen an ending that does not end happily. Audiences are going to have a hard time taking that in. They are going to be wondering if Thelma and Louise dove out. Did they get away? If Scott had added music and lyrics that adds to the scene, it would be information overload for most audiences. Ridley Scott has instrumental guitar in the scene as the car drives off the cliff in slow motion, letting the audience soak in what has just happened. There is no going back.

In the scene with the trucker, Thelma and Louise ask what if someone made obscene gestures like that to his mother, his sister or his wife. It is a good line. It adds to the scene because the guy is not a monster. He is just a man. This is a guy who does not know how to treat people, and he needs to think about his loved ones. Setting this man right is something a mother would do. It adds to the film in a very organic way.

The scene with Jimmy and Louise where she asks what color her eyes are was not in the screenplay. This is a quick addition that feels organic. It shows how flimsy relationships are.

The screenplay is the foundation for the film. A great majority of the script survives. When adapted to film, there are going to be differences due to the changing of hands. It is almost like a game of telephone. The director brings something to the script. Ridley Scott said he spent a great deal of time with Callie Khouri. Scott said this way you have spent your time with the writer and you know everything about the story. This is how so much of the screenplay remains unscathed. The actors and actresses are going to take the lines and can change the complete tone of a scene with their delivery.

According to Scott, the state trooper crying was something the actor did in the audition and he loved it. Brad Pitt starts out with a limited number of lines. Brad Pitt is engaging and on the way to becoming a big star. It is important to play your strengths and increasing Pitt’s screen time enhanced the film.

When a director is on board with the screenplay and has communicated with the writer, the director knows the key to the film is the script. Ridley Scott changed a few things but he made it to fit a mainstream audience film. After the director, actors and editing, the screenplay survives.

In the DVD commentary, Scott says the gun was an implement to avoid violence. It was to be used against wild animals at the cabin. It does not fall that way. A gun is nothing but potential. A gun is how bad things can happen to good people. At the beginning of the film, Louise is in control and she has a gun in hand. As the film progresses, Thelma is in control and she has the gun. A gun is power. With a gun, Louise takes a life and Thelma robs a convenience store.

The adventure goes through unpredictable turns. It is easy to forget this started off as a small vacation, a weekend getaway. When Louise is yelling for Thelma to get in the car to leave the hotel, Thelma is in her bikini out by the pool.

In the commentary, Scott talks about J.D. taking the money from Thelma and Louise. It was a split second decision. He liked Thelma but decided money was more important. How many times do people make the wrong choice because of money? People take a job they hate. They marry someone they do not love. Life is hard enough without having to put a price on everything.

As the film progresses, the women find out who they are, what they are made of. Scott says, “They look more attractive as the film goes on. Metaphorically they are letting their hair down.” As far as the ending, Scott say, “If they got away, the legend would not be complete.” This echoes Dr. Hoffman’s reference to a Christ Complex.

Stephen Tobolowsky plays FBI agent Hal in Thelma and Louise. An email to the actor resulted in a quick response to discuss with the class. An email was sent back to report the discussion.

Dear Stephen,
I read your email to my professor who thought it was very interesting and wanted me to make copies of it for everyone in the class. My laptop was freaking out before class so I couldn't make copies for everyone. Dr. Hoffman asked me to read the email at the start of our discussion.
Just so you know, the class is 10 women and 5 men. When I began to talk about the state trooper being put in the car and being killed, a girl interrupted me. She said he didn't die. I brushed it off, ‘Well maybe that was in the story at some point, I'm not sure, he may have misspoken.’ Then one of the guys said, ‘He wouldn't have lasted long in the trunk with that heat. They didn't show him dying but they didn't show him getting out either.’ I was able to finish the email.
The women in the class erupted disputing the victim mentality you described. They didn't see that the wheels were in motion before they left. They didn't see that Thelma could've just walked away from her husband, that Louise could've quit her job. Your email was taken I feel as an attack on women, which I didn't agree with.
My professor who is a man, wanted copies made so I feel he thought it was interesting. Then after a break, I told a guy next to me, ‘I thought it was interesting. There were some things I didn't think about. I wasn't expecting such outrage.’ The guy said, ‘I liked it too.’ Then another guy said, ‘I liked that he said it was over before it started. That was really good. I had thought about that too.’
I guess the reaction proved your words right that women gravitated them as if they were Joan of Arcs.
I had told my professor about how you were eating a lot in the film and how that came out of some improvisation and he had me tell that story.
I think my professor loved that it sparked a heated discussion. Thanks for your insights. You definitely made class more interesting.

Five minutes later, a response was waiting in the inbox.

I guess the question I would ask the irate women is what did Thelma and Louise do? What good did they accomplish? If they were on a quest-what was the quest? Express it in words. If they were heroic what were they fighting and in the end where had the argument advanced? Again express it in words. And try not to have the sentence not start with ‘Well, I just feel……’ Ideals have to do with principals and not feelings…..so what were the principles involved?”-Stephen Tobolowsky

Thelma and Louise are not Secretaries of State like Condoleeza Rice or Hillary Clinton. They are not a House Majority leader or a running mate on a Presidential ticket. They remain outlaws on the run from the law in a world where there is no justice. Just like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, they go on a wild and unpredictable adventure. It is fast. It is heart pumping. It is dangerous. In Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the film ends with the Ferrari freefalling to its destruction, just like strong female characters in film, just like Thelma and Louise.

I'm Pining Like John Cusack For Cameron Crowe

Cameron Crowe’s current project “Deep Tiki” has been posponed from shooting in 2009, after Ben Stiller and Reese Witherspoon were cast in 2008, to shooting in 2010. That’s an awfully long delay. Surely someone of Crowe’s stature within the industry and actors who want to work with him could get the ball rolling quicker? Why didn’t this happen? What happened to Cameron Crowe? His films have either been cultural artifacts or universal timeless films.

Which brings me to Noah Baumbach. He is married to “Fast Times” Jennifer Jason Leigh. Noah Baumbach’s latest film, “Greenberg”, starring Ben Stiller as a man who is taking some time to do nothing. This is the type of film Cameron Crowe should’ve already done with Ben Stiller. What is Crowe’s film going to be because I know none of us want a rehash of the disaster of “The Heartbreak Kid.”

Hopefully this is Crowe’s choice. Hopefully the studios aren’t giving him the runaround. You know he stops at 7 unreturned phone calls.

I have many of Crowe’s soundtracks to his films. What he does with music is now being compared to what Jason Reitman, Quentin Tarantino and others use music for their films. Crowe was there first. Since 2005 we have not seen Cameron Crowe. I feel like we’ve lost something with him missing. We need him back. His stories aren’t perfect but a few are timeless and others are at least exciting and engaging upon first viewing.

If you look at it, all of Crowe’s films are about examining your life, which isn’t something that wasn’t done before and hasn’t been done in his absence, but he did it so well. “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” was a sign of the times, high school in the early 80s. Should I have sex? Is sex overrated? Should Mark Rattner explain to everyone he is not related to Bret Rattner?

“Say Anything” is timeless in that it could happen at any time period, with the exception of teenagers listening to Peter Gabriel or anyone thinking kickboxing is the sport of the future.

"A career? I've thought about this quite a bit sir and I would have to say considering what's waiting out there for me, I don't want to sell anything, buy anything or process anything as a career. I don’t want to sell anything bought or processed or buy anything sold or processed or repair anything sold, bought or processed as a career. I don’t want to do that.”-Lloyd Dobbler

What kind of job can you have if you are not selling anything bought or processed, buy anything bought or processed or have anything to do with anything that is bought or processed? How did Ione Skye not become a huge star after this? Is it worth taking a big risk for love? How could this result in anything less than a restraining order unless you’re in a Hollywood movie?


“Singles” had the setting of Seattle one year after the floodgates of “Nevermind” opened up the doors for every Seattle band to hit it big in the grunge era. Pearl Jam even has speaking parts as Matt Dillon’s band mates. “Singles” is about what it means to be young and forge a life for yourself. Do you need a significant other? Is it worth it? Is love what makes life worth living? How could I have cashed in on Seattle before the whole experience of Starbucks, grunge, Microsoft blew up


“Jerry Maguire” could be a cultural artifact in the terms it is about the huge money for star athletes in the 90s along with the last time the American economy was rolling for most people. It also is a film about examining what you want in life, a theme that has been captured in many films sense. Jerry Maguire was examining his life of bottom line, profit, salary at all costs mentality over relationships and human connection.

“Almost Famous” was his masterpiece, timeless yet a love letter to his youth touring with Led Zeppelin in the 70s. Another soundtrack I had to have after leaving the popcorn littered theater. I loved Almost Famous. It’s about finding yourself in your first time away from famiy, carving out a niche for yourself while writing for Rolling Stone under false pretenses. How did Kate Hudson not keep taking good roles after this?

“Vanilla Sky” was about losing that human connection and going to any lengths to retrieve it, even if that means being frozen in a cryogenic state. I think Crowe directs Cruise better than most. I haven’t seen it in years but thank god for Crowe giving us Jason Lee in “Almost Famous” and “Vanilla Sky

A few years later, after a recut, change in lead actor, we were delivered “Elizabethtown” with Orlando Bloom. On first viewing on the Friday night opening, I loved it. I loved everything about it. I bought the soundtrack that night and saw it again on Sunday afternoon. When I called a girl and talked for hours, I thought of “Elizabethtown.” That film is still enjoyable but has not aged like a fine wine. More like Marcellus Wallace’s quote, “If you mean it turns to vinegar, yeah.”

I want Cameron Crowe back. I want to be moved by the underdog. I want to be moved to buy the soundtrack upon leaving the theater. I want to believe in love in the way Cameron Crowe paints it. What are you waiting for Crowe? Get back to work. This is your dare to be great situation.

M&M Mini Review: An Education

"An Education" started playing at my local Cinemark. Knowing it was a nominee for Best Picture plus it was set in England minus the fact it didn't have any Avatars in it, I knew it might only last a week. I saw it at the bargain price of the Early Bird matinee and was the only one sitting in the theater. It's a shame. Everyone, especially every female in the country should see this movie.

This movie deals with issues that aren't dealt with in the film, a dilemma of following your heart or your head. Something that I imagine doesn't arrive at the same place as "Avatar" stopper "Dear John". The movie deals with a girl who has been spending her nights learning Latin, reading, writing and studying to get into Oxford only to be swept away by an older man. Soon she must deal with the issue of following through on Plan A or doing what feels good right now which is going to jazz clubs, Paris and dog races. Fun now is always the better seductress over working hard for something later. Do we spend the paycheck now or do we put some in the savings account?

Love is fleeting and has the ability to feel eternal and above all things. Pop songs have enriched that narrative but few people, especially young people understand how unpredictable and unforgiving love can be.

It's a shame a film this good will have an uphill box office battle. It's sad to see "Dear John" as the female film that has girl power.

M&M Mini Review: Crazy Heart

First time Writer/Director Scott Cooper has done a great job on his first film, "Crazy Heart" with Jeff Bridges, the man he wrote the script for. Its comparisons to "The Wrestler".

The Hollywood marketing and hype have compared this story of a has been down on his luck has drawn comparisons to last year's comeback of the year, "The Wrestler" for Mickey Rourke. There are parallels and similarities but Scott Cooper is not Darren Aranofsky. Aranofsky had many films under his belt and Rourke had something to prove. It was a role Rourke had been unconsciously method acting the last twenty years.

Jeff Bridges plays Bad Blake, an older country singer run down by decades of alcohol and life on the road. This movie takes time to get rolling. What is surprising is you don't like Bad Blake. He's a jerk for the first hour or so of the film. His drinking keeps him from functioning. The film gets its energy from Collin Farrell, Robert Duvall and even Maggie Gyllenhaal who I don't like but keeps sneaking into good films. The story is true to itself and doesn't get wrapped up in a nice bow for everyone. It's good it just isn't great every frame.

It is unfair to compare it to "The Wrestler" because it's not trying to be that film and it is not anywhere in its scope going to be "The Wrestler."

Mickey Rourke's Randy the Ram, you were with him the whole film. You were with him when he was wrestling. You were with him in his struggle to work at a grocery store. You were with him when he tried to patch things up with his daughter. Your heart fell for him when he blew it time and again.

You don't have that same love and investment in Bad Blake and Jeff Bridges. This is still an enjoyable film but it's not going to make you cry. It's not going to make you cheer. It's just what it is. No harm in that.