Quill & Claw/Pen & Paw

I have this best friend, see, and he's a writer to. Damn good one at that. I trust his prose and poetry more than my own. He's got a wry wit and his opinion I trust. A few years ago, we decided to do something stupidly fun. We both wrote down our top ten movies.That's like asking a parent to pick which child should live.We elected to go the other route-picking movies that we personally felt connected to, regardless of the quality. That way, we didn't have the usual textbook answers of Citizen Kane and Streetcar Name Desire ad nauseum. The list became more a inkblot, showing the person who did the viewing.I'm not going to go write that list down right now.For there's been a change.I think I have a new movie to add to my list.Sky Captain is our current decade's Indy movie. But without the purely for profit sequels. This is a what going to the big screen is all about. It is a tale that can only exist on a big screen. I mean, giant robots meancing New York City?...

Oh gee, everyone, look another dead gay man movie. I am beginning to think that the only way gay men die is via violent reaction. Oh wait, this is from the eighties. I suppose that has something to do with it. You would have thought better...I mean, look at the pedigree--Stephen Frears from Dangerous Laisons, Gary Oldman actually being nice and good-looking (I usually recall him from Dracula , back in 92, a personal fave) and our current Spiderman 2 villian, Doctor Octopus himself, Alfred Molina. You would think they could have ended the movie without violence. Still, I had heard about the title from some friends and decided to take a look at it. I have to say, as I watched this movie, even tho the gay guy bites it, I kept thinking--it's not out of spite. It's not because the society at large wants him to die--something modern Hollywood still attests to. In the end of this movie, it's because the act of murder was a natural outpouring of the conflict of the tale....

I have come down on American remakes of overseas titles. They rarely get the images correct, choosing the fast route and quickest money moments to make the picture. Here? I find myself hoping some American takes up a remake for the first time of my life. This is the love story to two men in the military. Plain and simple. They love and no one knows, for it would be frowned upon. But there's the thing. THAT'S IT. I have no idea how they met or how they came together. There was no outward antigay sentiment, so where was the threat of being out? Don't get me wrong, I did like this movie, but my partner hated it, and I could fully see why. There was no build up of their relationship, so when hardship befalls one of them, it's hard to guage the impact. It needed to be explored more in such a short movie. Hence, could someone remake this? Make it a bit fuller? You might have something, then.

I heard about this title at the Oscars and watching a few second snippet there, I was hooked. If a picture is that visually tantalizing, I want to see the rest--besides, it's not everyday that a movie is merely nominated for direction. Something must have happened on that screen. Since coming to Netflix so many months ago, I have been privledged to see movies from around the world. Many good, many bad, but it has opened my eyes to how different filmmakers and cultures view things. It's been fantastic. Here is an example. This movie is South American, Brazilian. The storyline is pure American, in that it is non-linear, like Citizen Kane and Pulp Fiction. It bounces around, through flashbacks and reviews. It tells the tale about a young photographer growing up in a ghetto is Rio-the title's City of God. And through his history we meet various gang lords who rise and fall about as much as a Dallas family gathering. It should be titled "Politics of the Gun," ...

I feel I can't write a review for this movie. I know I've seen it multiple times, and, as the cliche goes, it means something different each time. I feel not unlike a journalist trying to explain colors to a blind person. I have the skills, but not the point of reference. The format of this story has been copied so many times. A young girl (a borderline proto-homo, I noticed this time) lives in the rural south during the depression. Her brother and her are given much of an education by the mere fact of exploration by their single father. They learn about racism and it's horrid impact and about the meaning of caring. As for the movie, well, it is very, very good. What I have noticed when I watch classics like Gone with the Wind , Streetcar Named Desire and the like, is that time flies when you are watching them. Today's movies, made to keep the MTV generation filling their pockets, are edited to different camera angles every three seconds or so. Here, the camera p...

Ahh, to return to the world of vices. You should know by now my love for Asian movies-especially the ones with lots of fighting. Yes, I'm admitting bias. Of course, this vice really only nails me out of money--and even then, if I didn't see it, I wouldn't have a myocardic infarction. Don't you just love that word? In-FARC-tion? It's so,I don't know, given to middle school giggles. I say that, because, well, there were several giggles during this magnum opus, Hero , Jet Li's new flick. I even saw it on it's opening night, which says volumes. If I'm willing to forego my Friday night nap, well, there's something to be had, I tell you. I knew I wanted to see this movie when I read about it two years ago. Yes, Miramax was sitting on this movie for two years. I'm sure they had no idea what to do with it--the audience was proof of that. It was filled with young men, filled with testosterone, from the nearby bases. They had no idea. Not one ...