Movies This Week: Capsule
reviews of Revolutionary Road, Defiance, The Wrestler, and Gran Torino,
Mysterium 2009, and more…
Movies This Week.
Its movie award season and
for the next few weeks I’ll be dedicating myself to seeing movies. Some days,
I’ve been seeing three movies. This week I saw:
Twilight (YES)
Defiance (NO)
The Wrestler (YES)
Slumdog Millionaire (YES)
Revolutionary Road (YES)
The Punisher (YES)
Cadillac Records (YES)
The Curious Case of Benjamin
Button (YES)
Gran Torino (NO)
Page Six.
James Franco says Sean Penn
pushed the gay sex scenes in "Milk" further than he expected. "In the original
script I read, there was only one real kissing scene," Franco tells next month's
Elle. "A month after [director] Gus [Van Sant] asked me to do it, they sent me
another script, and on Page 5 there was a full-on love scene. And I was like,
'Gus, what the heck?' He says, 'Well, it was Sean's idea.' "
Not Titanic 2. She hates him. Michael Shannon deserves a Best Supporting Actor
nomination.
Directed by Sam Mendes,
“Revolutionary Road” is a strong, emotionally-charged drama about a 50s couple,
Frank Wheeler (Leonardo DiCaprio) and April Wheeler (Kate Winslet). Mendes knows
how to show the ugly, but truthful cracks in a “picture-perfect” marriage.
Mendes, as he did in “American Beauty”, crafts the Wheeler’s marriage as an
unsatisfied American dream based on privilege instead of merit.
Both Frank and April consider
themselves special but find, after marrying, that they are just a middle class
couple living in the Connecticut suburbs with their two children. They are
good-looking but not special.
April, who doesn’t have much
of a maternal instinct, admits they had their second children to prove their
first child wasn’t a mistake.
Frank has a colorless
Manhattan office job in a business machines company where his father worked for
twenty years. He has no hobbies or ambitions. April wakes up one morning and
realizes that she is stuck in the house taking care of their two children and
living in numbing boredom. She wants to be special as if it were a right, but
doesn’t know how.
April recalls that Frank once
mentioned Paris, so she proposes he quit his job, they sell everything, and move
to Paris. She’ll work while he finds his creativity. They are young enough for
this to work but when Frank’s plan to quit prompts him to write a blunt business
report, he is suddenly promoted as a go-to executive with a raise and an office
instead of a cubical. He not only has eclipsed his father, he’s good at
something. April doesn’t see it that way and is furious her romantic notion of
Paris is shattered. She has to stop packing.
Based on the true story of
the three Bielski brothers in Belorussia during World War II, Tuvia (Daniel
Craig), Zus (Liev Schreiber), and Asael (Jamie Bell), who at the end of the
war, had led and protected 1,500 Jews by setting up forest camps. They hid from
the maundering Nazis.
It begins with petty criminal
Tuvia killing the police chief who killed his father. The Nazis were going from
village to village gathering Jews to send off to the concentration camps. Zus
wants to kill not only Nazis but the collaborators and “desk-murderers”. And
there are plenty of them. The locals are hunting Jews for the bounty offered by
the Nazis.
The Bielski brothers
successfully challenged Stalin’s statement. However, “Defiance” alters the
story. Zus replaces Asael in the film as Tuvia’s secondary leader and is
positioned as Tuvia’s adversary. He’s hot-tempered and wants to attack and kill.
Furious with Tuvia’s more conciliatory, everyone gets an equal share of food,
leadership, he abandons the forest camp and joins a group of Red Army partisans.
This group is well organized, has lots of vodka and weapons.
After being found out, the
“Bielski Otriad” must find another even more remote part of the forest and begin
a form a community. Asael finds a girl, Tuvia finds a girl, a rabbi preaches, an
intellectual holds discourses, and the fighters demand more rations. When the
Germans locate them once again, Tuvia must lead his people, like Moses, across
water to safety. Also like Moses, Tuvia has killed, but he doesn’t have Moses’s
face-to-face intimacy with God. Though the rabbi sees the Messiah in Tuvia’s
eyes.
Walt hates everyone. He kicks his dog. He growls and spits. It’s Spitting Blood,
Old Man Dirty Harry.
Clint Eastwood, who stars and
directed “Gran Torino”, looks much more realistic as an old man than he does in
real life.
Mrs. Kowalski must have been
a saint to live her entire life with miserable Walt (Eastwood). But she hung in
there even though Walt still hadn’t gotten over killing Koreans during the
Korean War. No one told him it was an honorable, righteous peace-keeping
mission. The changing world never touched Walt, who spits and spouts every
racial epithet ever uttered aloud or under someone’s breath. In fact, he’s a
racist loud mouth. And hearing Clint easily handling the racist-speak is
shocking. His victims just ignore him. They are used to it. Who freely uses the
word “gook” anymore in the U.S.A.? Walt’s sainted wife has just died and his two
sons with their spoiled children let us know just how tough it was growing up
with Walt as dad. The neighborhood has radically changed and Walt now has his
past enemies, the Koreans, surrounding him. He just sits on his front porch
drinking beers and growling at the collapse of civilization. His next door
neighbors, from the Hmong community, just think he’s a lonely, constipated old
man. The large, generational family is being tormented by their cousin Fong (Doua
Moua) who leads a group of thugs. The gangbangers want to enlist 17-year old Tao
Vang Lor (Bee Vang) to join them. His rite of initiation is to steal Walt’s
precious love, his 1972 Gran Torino. Walt breaks up a fight between the gang and
Tao and he becomes the neighborhood’s hero. The entire block is being held
hostage to Fong and his boys. The neighbors start crowding his porch with food
and flowers. They burn incense to him. Walt becomes the neighborhood’s very own,
Spitting Blood, Old Man Dirty Harry.
Rourke
shows a charismatic sensitivity formerly hidden. He’s got nothing to lose by
holding back and it shows.
With “The Wrestler” Mickey
Rourke reaches the stature everyone thought he would attain 30 years ago when he
grabbed attention in “Body Heat”. He intentionally destroyed a promising career.
Only he knows why. I’ve read all the interviews and articles promoting “The
Wrestler” and I still do not know what happened to his career. I do recall the
report about Rourke turning up on a movie set not knowing what part he was
playing, the "accidental shooting" of his then-wife Carré Otis (supposedly she
shot “herself” while with Rourke), and those B&W photographs Rourke took of Otis
with his biker friends. I saw them, they were fabulously erotic.
Rourke hits the
right emotional notes as a bleached blond wrestling icon, Randy “the Ram”
Robinson, way past his sell-out allure. As we all know, these guys spend
everything they make, live in trailers, take steroids and soma, and continue to
wrestle even though they are not physically able to do so. (Rourke quit acting
and then quit his boxing career after his doctor told him he wouldn't be able to
count money if he continued.) The film is an indictment of the wrestling world,
but more importantly, the fans are shown as being more brutal than the
wrestlers. They are as bloodthirsty as the hordes of ancient Romans who spent
all day watching criminals eaten by animals and gladiators killing each other
for the mob’s amusement. The primal spectator bloodlust is alive and thriving in
the wrestling community. Are we headed towards a new age of enlightenment and
higher consciousness? I say “No”. Randy the Ram is too old to have a manager or
staff. He handles his own bookings and spends his days prepping himself for
outer-boroughs matches. He still has lots of fans. We get to see how the matches
are scheduled and stage-managed, but also the physical toll nonetheless taken by
the wrestlers. They use bug spray and staples for the pleasure of the crowd.
Randy cuts himself to thrill the fans. Randy is alone, lonely, living in a
trailer or his SUV when he can’t pay his rent. However, he’s got money for
steroids and lap dances! He’s got a crush on an older tough stripper, Cassidy
(Marisa Tomei). Here in Las Vegas, 18 year-old strippers reign supreme and a
woman Cassidy’s age would never go on stage but work the floor trolling for the
VIP room (that’s where the real money is. No stripper wants to get naked for
dollar bills and a club’s “stars” never go on stage). (Tomei, topless with
nipple rings, works the pole like a pro.) Clearly Cassidy has been a stripper
for a long time and she has rules: everybody must pay and she does not date
customers. Randy wants her to be his girlfriend. The 20th anniversary of Randy’s
bout with his arch-enemy The Ayatollah (Ernest Miller) is being arranged and
Randy agrees to do it. When Randy has a heart attack and undergoes open-heart
surgery, he decides he needs to re-connect with his angry daughter, Stephanie
(Evan Rachel Wood).
The best movie I saw and highly recommend is “The Curious
Case of Benjamin Button” starring Brad Pitt.
Mysterium 2009.
Is going to be held
the weekend of January 30th - February 1st, 2009, and, since I’ve been to VegasVortex Halloween events, I must encourage of all you curious to take a
chance and come join us! Mysterium 2009 promises that Alchemy, Magick and the
Fire Circle teach how to experience our day to day lives on a much deeper
spiritual and conscious level. Modern alchemy is not an esoteric study of hidden
things, but a joyful metaphor of discovery of the deeper mysteries we can
experience in everyday things, and in each other.
Registration now open: $65.00
if paid by Sun Jan 25th, 2009 and you can
Register Online. The $65.00
Registration amount includes all events, workshops, and a Bagel Breakfast on
Saturday morning.
This year, Mysterium is being
held in the Arts District at THE BOX OFFICE (1129 S. Casino Center Blvd). A
single location that allows for daytime workshops as well as evening dances
helps participants have a more connected and intimate experience. The Saturday
Mysterium all-night ritual is open to all community members, for $10 donation at
the door. The Tentative Schedule begins on Friday Evening, January 30th at THE
BOX OFFICE. Tthere will be a Potluck Dinner, CandleDance, and the Midnight
Welcoming to the Dreamtime ending at 1:00 am.
Saturday Afternoon, January 31st
at THE BOX OFFICE starts at 11:00 am with a Bagel Breakfast and Sharing of
Dreams. From 1:00 to 6:00 pm will be workshops relating to Alchemy, Fire
Circles, or Magick. Saturday Evening at THE BOX OFFICE will begin at 9:00pm. At
10:00pm is an Overnight Drum & Dance Circle with an all night drum, dance and
ritual experience with special performances and a midnight ritual. At 11:30pm
the door closes to new arrivals. At Sunrise: Greet the Dawn, 7:00 am: Closing
Circle, 8:00 am: Clean-up begins and 11:00 am: Last Departure.
Sunday Evening, February 1st
will be a gathering at the at McBride House of Mystery with a 7:00pm Potluck
Feast and Heartshares. At 10:00pm is the Great Banishing (the clean-up).
Registrar@vegasvortex.com
The best movie I saw and highly recommend is “The
Curious Case of Benjamin Button” starring Brad Pitt.
The above article is the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of Vegas Community Online, its editors/publishers, and/or other Vegas Community Online columnists. VCO respects the right of each author to express their opinion. If you have an opposing viewpoint or would like to send feedback on any article, please send email to feedback@vegascommunityonline.com; state the title of the article and your comments. VCO reserves the right to add any submissions to its feedback page.
Directed by Sam Mendes,
“Revolutionary Road” is a strong, emotionally-charged drama about a 50s couple,
Frank Wheeler (Leonardo DiCaprio) and April Wheeler (Kate Winslet). Mendes knows
how to show the ugly, but truthful cracks in a “picture-perfect” marriage.
Mendes, as he did in “American Beauty”, crafts the Wheeler’s marriage as an
unsatisfied American dream based on privilege instead of merit.
The Bielski brothers
successfully challenged Stalin’s statement. However, “Defiance” alters the
story. Zus replaces Asael in the film as Tuvia’s secondary leader and is
positioned as Tuvia’s adversary. He’s hot-tempered and wants to attack and kill.
Furious with Tuvia’s more conciliatory, everyone gets an equal share of food,
leadership, he abandons the forest camp and joins a group of Red Army partisans.
This group is well organized, has lots of vodka and weapons.
Clint Eastwood, who stars and
directed “Gran Torino”, looks much more realistic as an old man than he does in
real life. 
sons with their spoiled children let us know just how tough it was growing up
with Walt as dad. The neighborhood has radically changed and Walt now has his
past enemies, the Koreans, surrounding him. He just sits on his front porch
drinking beers and growling at the collapse of civilization. His next door
neighbors, from the Hmong community, just think he’s a lonely, constipated old
man. The large, generational family is being tormented by their cousin Fong (Doua
Moua) who leads a group of thugs. The gangbangers want to enlist 17-year old Tao
Vang Lor (Bee Vang) to join them. His rite of initiation is to steal Walt’s
precious love, his 1972 Gran Torino. Walt breaks up a fight between the gang and
Tao and he becomes the neighborhood’s hero. The entire block is being held
hostage to Fong and his boys. The neighbors start crowding his porch with food
and flowers. They burn incense to him. Walt becomes the neighborhood’s very own,
Spitting Blood, Old Man Dirty Harry. 
Rourke hits the
right emotional notes as a bleached blond wrestling icon, Randy “the Ram”
Robinson, way past his sell-out allure. As we all know, these guys spend
everything they make, live in trailers, take steroids and soma, and continue to
wrestle even though they are not physically able to do so. (Rourke quit acting
and then quit his boxing career after his doctor told him he wouldn't be able to
count money if he continued.) The film is an indictment of the wrestling world,
but more importantly, the fans are shown as being more brutal than the
wrestlers. They are as bloodthirsty as the hordes of ancient Romans who spent
all day watching criminals eaten by animals and gladiators killing each other
for the mob’s amusement. The primal spectator bloodlust is alive and thriving in
the wrestling community. Are we headed towards a new age of enlightenment and
higher consciousness? I say “No”. Randy the Ram is too old to have a manager or
staff. He handles his own bookings and spends his days prepping himself for
outer-boroughs matches. He still has lots of fans. We get to see how the matches
are scheduled and stage-managed, but also the physical toll nonetheless taken by
the wrestlers. They use bug spray and staples for the pleasure of the crowd.
Is going to be held
the weekend of January 30th - February 1st, 2009, and, since I’ve been to VegasVortex Halloween events, I must encourage of all you curious to take a
chance and come join us! Mysterium 2009 promises that Alchemy, Magick and the
Fire Circle teach how to experience our day to day lives on a much deeper
spiritual and conscious level. Modern alchemy is not an esoteric study of hidden
things, but a joyful metaphor of discovery of the deeper mysteries we can
experience in everyday things, and in each other. 
