Dream a Little Dream

02.28.10
Dream a Little Dream
(1989)
Starring: Corey Feldman, Corey Haim



"Dream a little Dream" is the epitome of the Corey Feldman and Corey Haim glory days. A cheesy, but heartwarming and entertaining late eighties movie that deals with new-age mentality and an interesting new look at the coming of age narrative. Corey Feldman and his highschool crush get their minds switched with the minds of an elderly couple living near the high school of the kids. We travel with Feldman on his journey to try and switch back his brains and save himself, his girlfriend, and the old people who's minds are lost in the time-space continuum. "Dream a Little Dream was a mediocre movie that doesn't really stand out above the many other movies of it's genre or time, but it was quite entertaining and is something i would not be opposed to watching again. A great late 1980's bubble gum pop film, that in the light of Corey Haim's recent untimely, drug-related death, might be a great film to commemorate his passing with.

New York, I Love You

02.26.10
New York, I Love You
(2009)
Starring: Rachel Bilson, Ethan Hawke, Anton Yelchin, Chris Cooper, James Caan, and many other notable actors/actresses


New York I love you in comparison to it’s predecessor, Paris J’taime was extremely disappointing. Paris J’Taime was primarily focused on the many different ways love manifests itself and intermingling people’s great love for their city. New York, I Love You seemed to be based primarily on sex, which caused me to lose any respect and interest in the film altogether. It was surface level and uninteresting as a whole. I found the acting in the majority of the scenes to be poor. A few that stood above the rubble of the rest were the scenes with Anton Yelchin, Chris Cooper and his wife, and the scene of the painter and the Chinese herbalist. Overall it was a movie that tried to have heart and was able only to produced a Grinch sized sentimentality. To quote the famous words of Doctor Suess, “ I think that the most likely reason of all may have been that his heart was two sizes too small.”

EVIL

02.26.10
Ondskan/Evil
(2003)
Starring: Andreas Wilson, Henrik Lundström


Evil was a coming of age story presented in a very predictable manner. The mundane and bland construction of some of the characters caused the film to drag slightly. In the beginning we are introduced to Erik Ponti a troubled teenage boy who has run out of "get out of jail free" cards at all of the surrounding schools. In a final desperate attempt his mother sends him to a "posh" boarding school that has become his last hope of graduating highschool. When he arrives he finds he has been flung into a sea of bullies and unfair socio-political aspirations of the school board and students. Some of the pranks pulled by the students are disturbing and violent. Evil is very similair to "The Dead Poets Society," in it's surface level boyhood comraderie storyline. None of the struggles faced by Erik are new or interesting to any seasoned film goer. In conclusion, I would venture to say that, despite the predictable plot, the film still managed to be engaging and to ultimately come to a final point of restoration and equilibrium that left me satisfied as a viewer. Although, i wouldn't reccomend it or view it again.

There's More Than One Way to Shoot Yourself

02.19.10
Overnight
(2003)
Starring: Troy Duffy, Original Boondock Saints Cast members


"There's more than one way to shoot yourself," is the tag line for the documentary Overnight and it couldn't be more telling. Troy Duffy, the writer and director of Boondock Saints, slowly puts a hypothetical noose around his neck, every bitter step he takes and every unacceptable word he speaks only serves to tightens the knot. Troy Duff originally commissioned two of his "friends" to create this film with the purpose of documenting his projected rise to fame. In the end it became a film completely consumed with showing the unacceptable and disgusting behavior of the man who had initially set out with so much promise. It showed the transformation of Duffy into a menace to society with imagined “clout” in the film world I think that the film was well crafted and was not done in a distasteful manner,it simply showed the viewers the creature Duffy really was and still is today. This film expresses facts and opinions in a very realistic way, because all of the horrid insults, cocky posturing, and inane arrogance are all caught on tape with Troy Duffy as the red handed villain. This film begins with a very positive outlook and would appear to be the beginning of a difficult journey with a happy ending, it culminates as nothing of the sort. The two filmmakers obviously realized early on {obviously not early enough} that Troy was a terrible person to work with. This realisation and bitterness that was harbored in the hearts and minds of anyone who had the misfortune of working with Troy is captured here in “Overnight.”Troy is ultimately destroyed, left alone by his brother and anyone who used to be his “friend.” The quote at the end of the movie really did a wonderful job of summing up the documentary and Duffy’s character into one concise thought. “No man is really changed by success. What happens is that success works on the man’s personality like a truth drug, bringing him out of the closet and revealing…what was always inside his head,” written by Albert Goldman and used in the final five minutes of the film to really resonate the theme that became prevalent by the culmination of the documentary

Romeo + Juliet

02.14.10
Romeo + Juliet
(1996)
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes


Baz Luhrman's Romeo + Juliet is a bizarre, whimsical, and enchanting film. His innovative perspective as a director somehow managed to successfully integrate modern-day society and the classical verbiage of Shakespeare without making a mockery of the romantic masterpiece. Romeo is played by the handsome up and coming actor (at the time) Leonardo Dicaprio and Juliet by Claire Danes. Luhrman creates a “fair Verona” all of his own by distorting the original story setting like that of an abstract painting. Taking cues from an original work, yet making something distinctly unique. The use of guns instead of swords and the multicultural mix of characters brings an aspect never seen in the Shakespearean version. Baz integrated many of his own visual interpretations of the film, like his multifaceted use of water throughout the story. This is shown through Romeo and Juliet meeting through a fish tank and later falling into the pool. Many of the stylistic themes that appear in this film later surface in Luhrman’s later work of Moulin Rouge. Moulin Rouge uses many of the techniques seen in this film, such as sped up frames and oversaturation of color. Romeo + Juliet is a feat of 1990’s film born from the unique and abstracted vision of a revolutionary filmmaker that will continue to be a cult classic for many generations of Shakespeare lovers to come.