R
This was fun for the most part, but not amazing or anything. A very odd
and quirky film about a color blind man who has a passion for stealing
18 wheelers for joy rides and a knocked-up singer/punk girl who is
determined to go to the coast and have an abortion. Their paths cross
when he steals a fancy red truck, that unbeknownst to him as some very
secret and precious cargo in it, and she forces him to take her for a
ride. It also just happens that on the day this all happens, civil war
breaks out in Yugoslavia.
It's a strange mix of grim and ludicrous as
they travel through escalating violence and chaos and yet remain for the
most part in their own little world of personal issues and fantasies.
The girl annoyed me, as she had a tendency to do a lot of stupid bravado
type things and act like a big tough jerk, getting them into more
trouble than helping out. The guy is a total sweetie, if a bit bizarre
and weird. But a good guy who lets her push him around for far too long
IMHO with little to no thanks for all the nice things that he does for
her. For the most part charming, silly, and entertaining. A bit uneven
and random at times, but I stayed with it till the end, which is both
funny, oddly unexplained, and sweetly romantic.
Return to the Index
A very fluffy cute film about a woman who runs the most successful
Haiwanese Chicken Rice restaurant in Shanghai and has raised three sons
practially on her own, the first two of which have turned out to be gay.
Desperate for grandchildren, she takes in a young French exchange
student in the hopes of enticing her youngest son to be interested in
girls rather than boys.
Though a manipulative move on her part, you
understand her desperation and she merely sets the stage in hope, her
careful arrangements and plots sweet and charming rather than annoying
or mean-spirited. It was a very fluffy sort of film and some of the
acting (the sons) was rather stilted. The mother and the French girl
were the best part of the film, both in terms of their characters and
their performances which were entertaining and really carried the film
and made it quirky and charming. Unfortunately the story devolves
toward the end with some rather unpleasant behavior from the mother and
a a rather random cooking competition that
made everyone go, "Huh?"
Return to the Index
Okay so first off I just gotta say that anyone who loves music, heck
even just likes it, should see this movie. It's a documentary about the
guy that the movie The
School of Rock was based on. Paul Green is a man who has some very
unorthodox ideas about how to teach kids about true rock and roll, which
seems to mainly consist of playing "good cop/bad cop" with them (his own
words), doing a lot of yelling at them, telling them that they suck, and
cursing a blue streak. He's one of those cynical/hopeful kind of guys
who has rough edges all over his body but a heart of gold. Even though
it's clear that he often drives the kids crazy and pisses them off as
much as they piss him off, they are devoted to the man. Many call him a
"second father" and as much as he rags on them he also gives them props
and affection and support. Basically he doesn't act so much like a
teacher or an adult, but acts like one of them, interacting with them on
a very even and direct level while still remaining "the boss".
The best
reason to see this movie, however, is to see CJ, a kid who at the age of
12 could play better than most professional rock star guitarists, IMHO.
The kid is FUCKING AMAZING!!! Really. It will blow your mind. The
highlight of the film is when the kids get invited to play Zappanale, a
5-day musical festival held in Germany where only music by Frank Zappa
is played by cover bands and musicians who used to work with Zappa.
These kids take the stage and play what is most likely the most complex,
difficult, unique, individual and astonishing music ever made in rock
and roll, fusing lyrical harmonies, classical music, rock, jazz, blues,
funk, you name it. This is HARD music to play, but these kids do it. And
when CJ does his solo? Even Napolean Murphy Brock, who played with Zappa
and collaborated with him for many many years, walked to the front of
the stage, turned to the audience and said, "Everybody with me now," and
then turned back to face CJ, got down on his hands and knees and bowed
to the kid. Amazing. Astonishing. There are clearly other really
talented kids in the group, but .... daaaaaaaaaamn. Seeing CJ alone is
worth seeing the movie.
Return to the Index
|
