As the carpool of Jeeps (tops down) and Mustangs (tops down) was peeling out of town on its way to PCBeach (Club La Villa), I was finalizing an itinerary for movie watching (I'm that awesome). Netflix, Redbox, HBO app, Insight Cable, and actual movie theaters made up the destinations. My bike (no top), a rental car (top that doesn't retract), and public buses (windows slid back), were the means of transportation. The only things missing were some DrangonBallZ shirts (three! buttons undone) and body shots. Here's the story (to be read in hungover, scratchy voiceover): "Dude. Like. You should have seen it, I mean like, you wouldn't believe it..."
On the Road
I'm not sure our generation has enough to rebel against. We have plenty of blogs and LGBTQ clubs on college campuses to harness most 'On-the-Roaders'. We also have plenty of cars. Road-trips just aren't what they used to be--daring and exotic. I mean we have cruise control and AC and auxillary cords. It's like taking your apartment with you. As a result, when I first read On the Road, at the end of each narrative wherein Dean destroyed any semblance of boundaries, I mostly exhaled and said something like, "Gosh, that sounds exhausting. Should I skip class tomorrow?" That was in 2004. Since then we've wondered how this book would play-out on screen. Could they capture how necessary Kerouac made the wandering seem? Would it be sweaty, smelly and cold enough? How could they, without an over-saturating voiceover, bring in the commentary on the suppressive state of things? I liked this movie. I thought it was creative and amounted enough toughness to make me shrug like I did when I first read it, "Gosh, that looks exhausting. Should I skip work tomorrow?" The acting was basic but good. The state of things came across and it sure did look sweaty, smelly and cold. For that, this movie gets an OK from me. If the book was important for you then see this movie. If the book passed you by then this movie is sufficient for letting you know what you might have missed. You'll know enough to decide if you should read it or not. If you see it, look closely at Vigo, his presence is subtle but memorable.
Killing Them Softly
Lots of talking. Pitt doing his Pitt thing--cool and tuned in. Ray Liotta is excellent. There are some Matrix elements, as far as camera tricks and all that. I feel like this movie went under the radar a little bit. I think it's due to the talking, lots of it. Sometimes I'm not in the mood to watch low life dudes do low life stuff. Sometimes I am. I wasn't really feeling it though in this one. There's not much redemption in Killing Them Softly. It's mostly despicable people, sometimes comically, carrying along a catchy title while they try and make smart decisions in a space not so friendly to intellectuals. All that to say, leave it to Pitt to find a way out--a suave way out. This is worth seeing but it's nothing special.
Borg/McEnroe: Fire and Ice
Having read Agassi and Sampras' books, and now having seen this HBO documentary on Borg and McEnroe, I'm anxious to see how Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray are going to raise the bar. They'll have to work hard to surmount the overflowing ego their predecessors pontificate on. For real, these guys get all meta and talk about their own ego as if it existed as its own entity at a point in time. It's awesome. Regardless, it's fascinating to me to see how tennis players talk about their rivals. The mixing of media, personal life and performance is as close as we can get to the kind of stuff Greeks loved. If you're like me and only know McEnroe through famous YouTube clips and Borg only through his courtside patronage to watch Federer and Nadal break his records, then you'll appreciate learning how and why we still see the two of them. They were really freaking good at tennis. They also were really different dudes. Also, if you geek out on tennis like I do you'll be left wondering, "How cool would it be to see Federer and Borg play, both in their prime?"
The Swell Season
Not sure why I started watching this. I've been watching documentaries on music and food recently. Not sure why I've been doing that either. At any rate, this is one of those super dramatic, overly sentimental documentaries about the guy and girl that made the movie Once. I guess the producers and director had the idea to follow around an Oscar winner right after they win the Oscar. They chose this couple. I made it through about 30 minutes and was working hard to make it that long. It's just sappy and I wasn't feeling the sappy. They seem like really cool people. I respect what they're doing and what they've done--the musicians that is. But the documentary kept making me cringe so I turned it off. The spoiler alert is that their lives changed a lot after they won an Oscar.
Nitro Circus: The Movie
I'm waiting for Sal Masakela and other commentators/writers that have made their living on XGames to have a serious conversation around an oak table, dimly lit, in an ESPN studio. They'll be, in lowered, less boisterous voices, discussing the future of extreme sports. The question on the table between their expensive looking chairs will be, "How far can this go? What is the limit?" Travis Pastrana, in the mean time, will be doing less talking and more limit finding stunts. There is some cross-over between Jackass and Nitro Circus. They both grew out of MTV and laugh a lot when people get hurt. The only difference, as they talk about in this movie, is that the Nitro Circus guys are for real athletes and really do stuff that could (and maybe will) kill one of them. There was a death at this year's Winter XGames. As we become more obsessed with concussions in football, I wonder how we are going to sculpt the vernacular for talking about dudes (girls included) dying on television in prime time. All that to say that I was really gripped by this movie. They gave it a whole vibe of, "I dare you to stop us, establishment." They often have to leave the United States to do some of their stunts cause they are illegal here. These stunts involve jumping tricycles from one roof to another, 600 feet up. So, I don't know. I watched this and liked it. I think I'm mostly interested in Travis Pastrana though. The dude is really good at stuff and seems more level headed about this whole endeavor of pushing limits and all that. That's what's interesting about it--being level headed about pushing death, and laughing during.
Side by Side
Bearded Keanu, I knew there was more to you, man. I mean, I knew it. I bet you and the Wachowski brothers get together, surround yourselves in trip crystals, imbibe in Eastern meds and re-imagine the future. I'm so glad that you made this movie. I wonder if I'm as glad as the movie-making royalty was when you called and said, "Hey George Lucas, I'm sitting here with David Lynch, he says I should talk to you next about the future of digital film making. I mean, George, what is the world gonna be like when there is not, when there is, um, when there isn't any actual film?"
The front stage content of this documentary, "What is the future of digital film?" took a total back seat for me. I literally spent the entire 90 minutes really enjoying the fact that Keanu was intently, dedicatedly, passionately, putting his questions to big time movie makers. They could have been talking baseball or Zen, I didn't care. I just liked watching them interact. Others might actually want to watch this for the intended content. I sure would like to know how that's possible, though. Keanu is just too other-worldly for me.
Undefeated
Whoa. You definitely need see this. There is something for everyone. Take your pick on how to view this and talk about it. Race. High school football. Poverty. Religion. College football. Teaching. Education. Coaching. Violence. Capitalism. Hollywood. And a whole bunch of other stuff all surfaces in this story about a high school football team from inner-city Memphis. I can see how someone would think this movie is total Hollywood hogwash. I can also see how some folks could be really moved by this story. I think I was both. See it and let me know what you think.
Spring Break Recap
So I don't have any stories that involve balconies or cops on the beach but I've seen some cool movies. I didn't have to hear anyone strum C and G chords while singing Wonderwall either. I'm not sure what this says about the state of Spring Break in your late 20s but I do know that if you visit the same RedBox three days in a row you might be lucky enough to talk movies with Circle K employees that watch more movies than you do.
