DVD Killed The Laserdisc Star

Netflixing

The World's Fastest Indian - "Do you know how fast you were going?" "Oh, 140, 150..." "Yeah, that sounds about right."
We didn't see this in the theatres, but we sure were tempted. We almost bought the DVD out-right, but it's a little more
expensive than the average movie. Of course, it's a little better than the average movie. We decided to rent it first.
Now, we're definitely going to buy the DVD!
Based on the true story of Burt Munro, lovable ol' New Zealandish coot who only wanted one thing out of life: speed.
He tinkered with his 1922 Indian Scout motorcycle until he was satisfied he could take on the salt flats of Bonneville,
Utah, and set some new land speed records. Then he had to actually leave his native New Zealand to get to Bonneville.
Sir Anthony Hopkins slips into the role of Burt Munro with apparent ease. When compared to footage of the actual "Indian
Racer", you'd be hard-pressed to tell them apart. Okay, maybe not, but Hopkins does a really good job in this.
So you see Burt in his shed, tinkering at his bike, and you're wondering how the heck he's gonna get to the US. He's such
a charming, courteous and lovable guy that you can't help wanting to help him. He does make it to the US, and the fun
really starts when he comes in contact with early '60s America.
It's a really charming movie with the occasional bouts of excessive speed.
Highly recommended.

Capote - Philip Seymour Hoffman won this year's Best Actor Oscar for playing Truman Capote in this. He deserved it.
Remember what I said about "Ambient Movies"? This is definitely one of them. It's filled with beautiful scenery and quiet
piano music, and there's a lot of emotions and moods churning under there. So, basic plot outline: Truman Capote sees a
story in the New York Times about a family of four being brutally murdered in their Kansas farmhouse. Something about this
intrigues him and off he goes to investigate further, with his research assistant/bodyguard in tow. As he uncovers the
details of this horrible crime, he decides to center hiw new book around it. This book would be titled "in Cold Blood".
I was wondering if Capote would play detective and try to solve the crimes himself, but he didn't. He let the police do
its job. And for that, I was grateful. The police caught two suspects and Capote obtained full access to them in order to
understand their motives and what pushed them to commit this crime. Along the way, he developed a strong emotional bond
with one of the suspects, and this caused him a lot of problems and torment.
The preface to the novel "In Cold Blood" reads as follows:
"More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones."
Once you see this movie, you will understand exactly what that means.
So, a masterpiece, a tour-de-force performance, yatta-yatta-yatta, it's really good.
Keep tissues handy.

Casanova - in which Jeremy Irons returns to Venice, not as a merchant but as a Grand Inquisitor of Rome.
Yes, last time I saw Jeremy Irons, he was pitted against Robert De Niro's Shylock in "The Merchant Of Venice".
But the movie is all about the man, the myth, the legend! Jacomo Casanova, played here by Joker-to-be Heath Ledger.
And for some reason, Heath looked a little bit like Ben Affleck in this thing.
I rented this mostly because of the sibling's interest and I dreaded sitting through a romantic movie.
My dread was quickly dispelled 2 minutes into the movie. This was a romantic COMEDY! With funny stuff! Huzzah!
It's a whole lotta fun, with gorgeous costumes, solid performances from all, and filmed entirely in Venice, Italy.
So the locations are equally kick-ass. Aside from Ledger and Irons, I was pleasantly surprised to see Omid Djalili,
our stinky friend from "The Mummy" (1998) and a veteran of "Sky Captain". Since this is Casanova we're talking about,
there are many romantic interests, but the one he's really after is Francesca Bruni, played by Sienna Miller.
Ms. Miller is not familiar to me, so a quick trip to IMDB informed me that she was previously in "L4yer Cake",
which I rented not too long ago. And she has 5 movie roles lined up for this year and the next, including a turn at
playing Edie Sedgwick in a movie called "Factory Girl". Said movie also stars Guy Pearce as Andy Warhol (oh my!),
and includes Hayden Christensen ("Nooooooooooooooooo!"), Jimmy Fallon and Beth Grant in various supporting role.
"Casanova" is directed by Lasse Hallström, responsible for "What's Eating Gilbert Grape", "The Cider House Rules" and
"Chocolat", which are all movies I have not actually seen. He's got a movie coming out this year, titled "The Hoax".
It stars Richard Gere as Clifford Irving, a writer who, in the early 70's, claimed to have written a biography of
Howard Hughes based on conversations with the reclusive tycoon himself. Irving is profiled in Orson Welles' obscure film
"F Is For Fake", so that gives you an idea of how plausible the whole thing was. This could be fun.
So anyway, "Casanova" gets a big thumbs up from me. It's definitely worth the rental!
Dalfonso (Inquisitor): "Eternal damnation for one night with Casanova."
Sister Beatrice: "Seems fair."

Wolf Creek - "I mean, you get to go around saying things like 'That's not a knife, _that's_ a knife'."
Another one rented for the sibling. He likes his horror movies. I wound up watching it too. Holy crap!!!
If you can conceive of an evil gun-toting Crocodile Dundee playing the role of Leatherface in a sort of "Australian
Chainsaw Massacre", you're coming close to what this movie is like. This is some seriously creepy, scary shit!
We didn't know where the movie was going, we couldn't tell what happened next.
It's a low-budget indie Aussie film with 15 different company logos in the opening credits, but don't let that deter you.
If you need a creepy-scary fix and don't mind a strong Aussie accent, this is it!

Why We Fight - "Makes you think, don't it? DON'T IT!?!?!?" (Joel And The 'Bots - MTS3K)
This little documentary attempts to answer the burning question in the title. What are we fighting for? Why do we fight?
Because no one else will. The rest of the world is just content to sit on its collective ass and do nothing.
The Europeans did nothing about Kosovo. And they sure as hell won't do nothing in the Middle-East, 'cause that's where all
their oil comes from and they're already paying through the nose for it. And remember when Paris was getting hit by one
terrorist bomb a day!?!? Probably not, 'cause that was in the '70s. I remember seeing it on the French TV news growing up.
This is, of course, my personal opinion, and being human, I could be completely wrong.
Anyway, this documentary prefers to center on the whole "war is good business" angle of things with a heaping helping of
political collusion plus all the usual CIA shenanigans. You know, I seem to remember massive cuts in military spending in
the '90s, causing many programs to be canned. According to this DVD, military spending has gone back up.
This DVD would make a good double-bill with "Syriana".
Overall, I have the feeling I wasted my time watching this. I learned nothing new and my mind was not changed.
Your mileage may vary.

Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig - DVDs 5 and 6 - We're getting into the homestretch here.
Well, it's still very talky, but it's going somewhere. And I know who this "Kuze" person is, as does the Major.
The occasional break from the Individual 11 storyline is appreciated, like the "Angel's Tears" operation in Berlin.
And I like it when Batou gets more screen-time. One more DVD to go, and it's not even out yet! ARGH!!!

Battlestar Galactica: Season 2.0 - DVDs 1 and 2 - You know, this just keeps getting better and better.
Things are progressing nicely, this is getting as interesting to watch as "Babylon 5", but it needs more humor.
I mean, holy crap, TEH ANGST!!! Though it makes sense, considering the environment and situation.
One more DVD to go, then it's "wait for Season 3.0 to end and DVDs to come out".
No, I don't have TIVO. If someone can get me the Season 3.0 episodes aired so far on tape, I could then catch up then
continue watching the show as it airs, since I do have cable and a VCR. No, I can't get Torrent to work.




Borrowedflixing
City Of God - borrowed from the Parteehouse Master
Brazilian flick from 2002, won a lot of awards, and I can see why. It's really really good.
It tells the stories of kids growing up in Rio De Janeiro's most infamous barrio: "Cidade De Deus" (see title).
It makes all the gangster films I've seen look like Sesame Street, except maybe "Scarface" (that's just MEAN!).
The poverty and savagery is just mind-numbing, all the more because it's based on a true story.
The movie does a lot of timeshift and perspective changes, since it tells the story of every major friend and enemy of
the main character. If you just watch, you'll be fine. It's not disorienting at all and keeps things interesting.
It's nice to see all the pieces of this jigsaw fall into place and resolve more and more plot threads.
If you're down and you feel that your life sucks, this quickly puts it all in perspective.