DVD-MUST-SEE: INSIDE MAN

My name is Dalton Russell. Pay strict attention to what I say because I choose my words carefully, and I never repeat myself. I've told you my name: that's the Who.

The above is part of the opening narration from the film Inside Man. In this edition of Netflix This, I have a recommendation for a movie at least some of you have seen or heard of. I am referring to one of the best films I have ever seen, and definitely Spike Lee's best movie, or "joint" as the New Yorker refers to his films. This 2006 project is the crown jewel in Russell Gewirtz's writing repertoire as his only other legit project was the below average 2008 Righteous Kill (which I think was not great because of sub par writing). I must say that Gewirtz covered all his angles with Inside Man as it was one of the better written movies I have had the joy of watching. I always appreciate narratives that are not completely linear storytelling, and Inside Man dips into that cookie jar.

The ensemble cast is one of the best ever collected for any film. First off we have the intense game of cat and mouse between the great Denzel Washington and the devious Clive Owen. The two square off as Owen's character Dalton Russell enacts his perfect plan to rob a New York bank while the detective work of Washington's character Keith Frazier and the police-force try to spoil his attempt. Though Dalton seems to back himself into a corner by posting up in a bank with hostages, all his actions seem calculated and part of his masterful plan. The exchanges back and forth between these adversaries is not only brilliant dialogue, but it draws the audience into each man's deeper thoughts.

DVD-MUST-SEE: FOOD INC.

This week's version of DVD-MUST-SEE comes from a documentary called Food Inc. As Barrett Goetz recently interviewed the director of The Cartel, Bob Bowdon on theMovieMash.com, I felt it would be a nice segue to an article about another American staple that is also misunderstood like the education system. After watching Food Inc., the 2008 documentary by Robert Kenner, I am sure most of you like myself will be shocked to discover the business of bringing food to American's hungry mouths.

The documentary highlights alarming pieces of the food business like the industrialization of the meat market, the destruction of the old typical farmer in favor of mass producing farmlands, the laws set in place to regulate this very important trade, and even the implications from the rise of the fast food industry. There was not a dull moment in this entire movie for me. I literally spent the duration of Food Inc. in disbelief of the appalling practices of this gigantic and very important industry.

I believe this is a film all Americans need to see to promote understanding of how their food is brought to their plates. Food Inc. shows the monopolistic businesses that run America's meat/agriculture industries and how this is having negative side effects now and even more in the future.

Many of us have not even heard of one of this country's biggest corporations, Monsanto, but after seeing this film none of you will be able to stop yourselves from asking your friends, "Do you know what this corporation Monsanto has done to the agriculture industry?"

Another particular alarming piece from this documentary is how slaughter houses went from hundreds across the nation towards the beginning of the 20th century to under fifteen currently. Food Inc. discusses the transition from the commonality of a neighborhood butcher shop to the assembly line warehouse butchering of today. A butcher used to be a respectable and profitable job; but fast forward to 2010, and it is one of the most dangerous jobs in America that uses cheap laborers.

Robert Kenner definitely did his homework for this three year project to try and create some transparency for the food market most of us know little to nothing about. After seeing this film, you will at least have meaningful knowledge of the trade.  

Food Inc. not only brings the audience awareness about issues in the food business, but the film was also nominated for Best Documentary at the 82nd Academy Awards (but lost to The Cove) and has enjoyed critical acclaim receiving a 96% approval rating on RottenTomatoes. This isn't a movie you shouldn't miss, this is a movie that all Americans NEED to see.

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DVD-MUST-SEE: THE GREAT BUCK HOWARD

This version of DVD-MUST-SEE is The Great Buck Howard, a movie I am positive most of you have not seen. How could I know this? Well, the total worldwide box office take for this film was less than a million dollars at $790,195. It only played in 55 theaters. Chances are most of you missed your chance to see it on the big screen. Despite being accepted and first shown at the Sundance Film Festival and getting positive critic reviews (72% approval on RottenTomatoes), this film's run in theaters was short.

This film is based on the true life of The Amazing Kreskin.

The Great Buck Howard stars the, well, great John Malkovich. He plays a fading performer who calls himself a "mentalist." He is, in most regards a magician/entertainer. In the movie Buck emphasizes he is not a gimmicky magician, but a "mentalist." The story is told through the perspective of Troy played by Colin Hanks. Troy drops out of law school without his father's knowledge to pursue a career as a writer. Unable to keep up with his bills because of his new career choice, Troy is forced to take up the job of assistant to the maniacal and difficult to please Buck Howard.

Working for the mentalist, Troy discovers that he rather enjoys the pressing job of pleasing Buck. He is never short of impressed by the act Buck puts forth on stage. Troy even helps the fading star pick up some national recognition again. He achieves this with the help of a publicist named Valerie played by a woman I truly love, Emily Blunt. Together they work to get Buck back in the spotlight which they achieve to some degree.

The film headlines a star studded cast. Acting as secondary characters in this film are: Steve Zahn, Adam Scott, Ricky Jay, Matthew Gray Gubler, and Tom Hanks. I personally do not love Colin Hanks as an actor, but he fits this role perfectly. His chemistry with the supporting cast is picture perfect which is completely necessary in a character driven story. Though I do not approve of Emily Blunt being involved with other men right before my eyes, it is a pleasant secondary story arc of guy meets girl that a movie like this needs.

It is unfortunate this movie has not been seen by mass audiences because John Malkovich kills in his portrayal of this quirky character. I think it is one of his best roles though none could top Teddy KGB in Rounders. Even with him not being the main character in this story, the movie was made by his performance. Without Malkovich magnificently playing this role the other characters would have little to no conflict to make this story thrive.

The film features many cameos, making this movie much more enjoyable. When Troy's father (played by his real life father Tom Hanks) discovers he is no longer in law school he confronts him in front of Buck which turns catastrophic like a car wreck you cannot peel your eyes away from. In my opinion, it is the best scene of the entire movie. Tom Hanks' agitation is apparent as he sees his son working for the loony Buck instead of pursing a career in law.

To promote his act, Buck appears on many talk shows like: Conan O'Brien, Regis Philbin, and Jon Stewart. Also making cameos are: Jay Leno, Tom Arnold, Martha Stewart, Kelly Ripa, George Takei, and David Blaine....whew (wipes brow of sweat).

With all these working components, it is almost laughable to think this movie had such a small amount of commercial success. Hopefully, my recommendation to see The Great Buck Howard will motivate many of you to give this great movie a chance. The writing, the cast and their acting, and the overall execution of this project should put this on any movie lovers must-see list. If you do not like this film, check for a pulse, you may be dead.

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DVD-MUST-SEE: JENNIFER'S BODY

This recommendation of DVD-MUST-SEE features a movie many considered to be a sure miss. The ridiculous looking trailers had little appeal featuring Megan Fox displaying her wide range of acting skills, err I mean nothing but her sexuality (so, some appeal). Consider me one of this film's doubters. I recently had a chance to sit down and watch Jennifer's Body. The best way to describe it is a tale of two halves.

Jennifer's Body of course stars the very fine Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried as the film's two leads. The setting is a rural town that features a strange high school friendship between Jennifer (Fox), the desirable star cheerleader, and Needy (Seyfried) as her nerdy best friend. The trouble starts as the two venture out to a local bar to check out a traveling band. Jennifer has a crush on the band's lead singer and ends up leaving to hang out with the group despite Needy's protests. When Jennifer stumbles back to Needy's house late in the night, her behavior is freakish, aggressive, demonic, and she is not herself in any regard.

The set up for this movie is quite slow and so poorly scripted I actually considered turning the movie off. Diablo Cody (writer of Juno) in my opinion is one of the most overrated writers in Hollywood today. She is a one dimensional writer. She can create good overall stories, but when it comes to the contents within the beginning and the end she struggles. She has a great premise for Jennifer's Body, which I will give her credit for right now (good job Diablo).

But I must say the composition of dialogue in Jennifer's Body has to be some of the worst I have ever heard in film in my lifetime. The dialogue was so pathetic I literally could not stop myself from rolling my eyes in disgust accompanied by a chuckle of unbelieving laughter. It's almost like Diablo tried so hard to be cool and trendy she fabricated dialogue she could picture moronic high school kids saying and then forced the actors to spit this garbage. Example: You need a "mani" bad. You should find a Chinese chick to buff your situation (whaaaaat?!?).

I was so bothered by this annoyingly dreadful dialogue and how unmoving the story was through the first 40 minutes I asked myself, "Should I really keep watching this?" Well, I never quit watching a movie I have never seen, and Jennifer's Body is a perfect example why.

The second half of the film starts to pick up as the murders become more frequent, the details to Jennifer's "condition" are unveiled, and the tension is ratcheted to a breaking point. Megan Fox actually shows she has some decent acting chops at times in this movie too. One scene in particular had me fidgeting with discomfort as Fox begs with her screams of terror for mercy on her life. I was completely shocked that she was able to move me with that scene, and with her overall performance in this movie.

You may be shocked like I was when the credits roll and you find that you enjoyed or were at least disturbed by Jennifer's Body. The first half is pretty bad, but the conclusion more than makes up for it. Sure Diablo Cody writes dialogue like a neanderthal. But she has a real knack for storytelling, and once the film gets its feet moving it is actually a compelling tale. I absolutely despise bad dialogue, and I'm recommending you see this movie still. Don't write this movie off before you give it a chance, even if that means lasting well into the film's second act.

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DVD-NEVER-SEE: INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE

Interview with a Vampire

Even though this movie was released in 1994 I cannot help but embarrassingly admit I just saw it in recent months. After hearing people talk and talk about how awesome this movie was, I decided it had to be added to my long list of movies that need to be seen.

It has star power. Interview with a Vampire features Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas, Christian Slater (if you can call him a star, well he kind of was then), Thadie Newton, and a 12 year-old Kirsten Dunst. Kirsten found a movie where her real vampire teeth fit the role perfectly. That is probably the reason she was cast. The great acting in this film from the whole cast was the only real positive that stood out to me.

After a viewing, I really do not know why fans of this movie love it so much. I won't say I hated it, but this movie has one of the most abrupt and unsatisfying endings I have ever witnessed.

(THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS)

This movie generally sucks. Blood for the most part, and also as a broad description of the film. I was intrigued by the first two acts as the story was set up and began to unfold. Then, it just kept going on with seemingly no direction. More unique settings and locations, more introduced characters, and more human victims of vampire mutilation. There was no clear direction for the narrative except for more of the same. Nearing the end I was getting antsy for some closure to this 123 minute plot.

Is there an overriding theme of this narrative? It seems the answer is no. When the film's conclusion unraveled, it ruined the whole movie for me. Hardly any closure to the long drawn out plot and almost no connection to what the screenplay was building at the duration of the movie.


The end brings a reintroduction of an apparently dead but un-kill-able Tom Cruise, the disappearance of Brad Pitt's character without any regard to what is next, and Christian Slater racing off like a Nascar junkie. I want some closure, especially with the character I have identified with the whole time (Pitt's character). But in the end, he just disappears leaving the audience wondering why we are watching Slater and Cruise and not Pitt for the film's final scene.


Once the credits rolled I hardly felt any connection to the characters and wondered what the producers were trying to accomplish with this movie, or more specifically this ending. It felt like a waste of time more than any satisfaction for finally seeing this movie everyone was shocked to hear I had never seen. I am here to say it is overrated.



The decently written story had potential until the poorly composed ending. Anti-climatic-epic-fail. I will tell anyone who will listen til the day I die to not waste their time with Interview with a Vampire. I can understand people enjoying this movie, but claiming it to be a great movie is way overboard.

Just to close, looking at Tom Cruise smile with vampire fangs stirs ambition to arrange a meeting between his Scientology-Katie Holmes loving face and my clenched vampire beating fist. Next in line for a vampire beating, Edward Cullen.


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DVD-MUST-SEE: THE BOY IN STRIPED PAJAMAS

In light of all the movies I have been watching recently I thought it would be a grand idea to discuss some of the better movies I have seen. Some are soon to be released or just out on DVD, others have been around for awhile. Without further delay, I'll dive right in.

The Boy in Striped Pajamas

It causes me shame to admit I just saw this movie for the first time. The film is based off the same titled book of historical fiction written by John Boyne. It is a WWII period piece (which always stimulates my interest) concerning a Nazi officer who moves his family to the countryside so he can oversee the extermination of the Jews in a concentration camp.

His young son Bruno adventures to the camp against his parents consent and discovers another young boy in "pajamas" sitting behind a barbed wire fence named Shmuel. As Bruno sneaks away from home to see his new captive Jewish friend each day the two develop a friendship with the bliss of child ignorance preventing the boys from knowing they are supposed to be sworn enemies.

Vera Farminga steals the show as the distraught German mother trying to cope with the world that features Hitler's Final Solution and her husband carrying out the massacre. She distances herself from the reality, her children, and most of all her mass murdering husband. This is definitely the best role I have ever seen from her, and she is nominated for Best Supporting Actress in this years upcoming Academy Awards (Up in the Air).

Another thing I noticed while watching the morose parts of this movie was somber music that reminded me of the score just after Mother Tree is destroyed in Avatar. Looking on IMDB.com I noticed that the composer for both movies is the great James Horner.

This movie captivated my attention early and kept it all the way til the wonderful climax at the film's conclusion. It has great performances from all the whole cast, especially the two young actors playing the male leads Bruno and Shmuel. It is always hard to find children who can act, and both pull off impressive performances. This is a movie none should miss. If you like drama, great acting, WWII period pieces, this is a must see now.

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