DVD Recomm: Bound

Did you ever wonder where The Matrix came from? Did you wonder where Andy and Larry Wachowski came from? It seemed like they dropped right out of the clear blue to make one of the most impressive movies in the last twenty years. If you're curious about them and their previous work then you might like to check out the movie of theirs that preceded The Matrix. Bound stars Jennifer Tilly, Gina Gershon, Joe Pantoliano, and a really young Christopher Merloni from Law and Order fame.

Bound is the kind of film that keeps you on the edge of your seat in so many ways. It's visually arresting and many of the things seen in the The Matrix are all over Bound. It's like the two brothers, who are now brother and sister cut their teeth on Bound. If you can't find anything to watch and you're in the mood for something I think is a special movie, one of my favorites in fact, then I highly recommend checking out Bound. You'll love it and I'll meet you on the sofa.

The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete

The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete, the latest film from director George Tillman Jr. is a heartbreaking, charming, and tragic telling of one Summer in the lives of two little boys who are forced to survive on their own. This is not a happy movie, but it is profound. There are truly magical moments on screen in this film and because of that I give The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete three buckets of Killer Korn.












The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete is the kind of movie that you will be proud to say you saw in say, ten years. Why is that you ask? It's for one reason and one reason only, well actually two reasons, and those are Skylan Brooks and Ethan Dizon. Skylan Brooks plays the indefatigable Mister and Ethan plays the vulnerable Pete, and they are absolutely amazing. The reason Defeat will be a movie you will be proud to have seen is because you'll be able to say that you say Skylan or Ethan in their first movie all those years ago. Yes, this is the first movie for both young men and you would not know that based on their performances. George Tillman surrounds the two young actors with some of the industry's very best and they not only carried their weight, they carried the film.

The movie is takes place over the summer in a Brooklyn housing project. It starts on the last day of school and we meet Mister as he realizes he's not going to get promoted to the ninth grade. The movie gets no better for Mister. He comes home to find his strung out prostitute of a mother, Gloria, played by the multi-talented Jennifer Hudson on the sofa and the diminutive Pete in his room playing his Playstation. When the inevitable happens to Gloria, Mister and Pete struggle and fight to keep going. All the while Mister holds onto this dream of becoming an actor and wants to get to an audition that once he gets the role will have him Beverly Hills. The boys starve, steal, beg, hustle, and have every right to lose the grip on their humanity, but they never do. They never give up, their will is never broken, Ethan is able to keep going because of Mister. What keeps Mister going, God only knows.

Inevitable Defeat also stars Anthony Mackie as Kris, Gloria's pimp and neighborhood drug dealer, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as the relentless Sergeant Pike from the Housing Police, Jordin Sparks as Alice, a one time neighbor of Mister's whose moved on to bigger and better things, and Jeffrey Wright as the neighborhood bum Henry. It's an impressive cast and yet they all pale in comparison to Skylan and Ethan. Inevitable Defeat was an impressive looking film to be an independent one. Shot by cinematographer Reed Morano, you definitely get the feeling of what summertime is like in a New York City housing project. He captures it from all angles, from aerial views to down on the ground, bringing the viewer the beauty and brutality of survival of those that live there. With music by the greats Mark Isham and Alicia Keys, the music is mostly hip hop based, heavy on Alicia Keys music (she's one of the producers so that just stands to reason) while Mark's contributions were light and still impactful. I highly recommend The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete, if for no other reason than to say you saw the first movie of these two burgeoning stars, and I'll see you that the theater.

The Fifth Estate

The Fifth Estate, the latest film by director Bill Condon centers around Julian Assange and the Wikileaks scandal that occurred back in 2010 when it published classified information stolen from the U.S. Military. The movie fails on almost every level in trying to make the audience give a damn about any of the characters, but the performances were incredible. That's the only reason I am giving The Fifth Estate two buckets of Killer Korn.










The Fifth Estate by Bill Condon, fresh off his directing Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 and 2 look like a movie that's part Hackers, part the social network, and something akin to a documentary about the homeless living in abandoned structures. The movie stars the incredibly talented Benedict Cumberbatch as the man behind the creation of Wikileaks, Julian Assange. Benedict plays a character who you eventually stop caring for to hoping he fails at everything he does. Julian is portrayed as a megalomaniacal, paranoid, and lying man hell bent on becoming a star no matter who he hurts in the process. Daniel, Julian's partner on Wikileaks and the man who wrote the book the movie is based on is portrayed by Daniel Bruhl fresh off his turn as Niki Lauda in the film Rush. He's an actor who seems determined to become a household name.

The movie opens up with the scandal of 2010 and the publishing of the classified documents and cables of the U.S. military by the New York Times, The Guardian, and Wikileaks simultaneously. Then it immediately jumps back in time to when Daniel and Julian meet each other. Julian convinces the eager and hungry for any kind of action Daniel to come on board Wikileaks. He convinces Daniel that there are hundreds of volunteers that makes up Wikileaks. When he finds out that was all a lie he almost leaves but Julian convinces him to stay, and the thought of being famous didn't hurt. Those two men started releasing information on everything to police corruption, illegal elections, and banking fraud. They began to topple industries and leaders and were making a name for themselves by allowing whistleblowers a safe place to do just that.

The biggest problem I have for The Fifth Estate is that they don't introduce a character you really care about until three quarters in. By then it feels forced and it's too late. It's like the director and the producers realized they needed to show just how much pain Julian's scoop could cause, that they realized the movie needed a character the audience could relate too. They blew that one in a major way. Maybe had the character been introduced up front, maybe even before we meet Julian, that probably would have worked, but when you don't meet that man and his family until the movie is practically over, fail. The music was done by Carter Burwell, someone I have not been overly impressed by and that continues here. The music was forgettable to the point that I didn't care who was behind it. The cinematography by Tobias A. Schliessler was interesting at times, but there was nothing daring about it. The Fifth Estate is a movie worth skipping, unless of course you care how Wikileaks came into being and the men behind it. If you don't, skip it, see something else, and I'll see you at the theater.

Trailer Alert! Last Days On Mars

Okay, anything Liev Schreiber is in, I'm seeing. Why, because I trust him and his choices. He has never let me down before and judging by this trailer, he's not about to start. It's called The Last Days on Mars and it's already playing overseas so it'll be here shortly. It looks like a cross between Alien and Contagion but on a hostile planet (can an uninhabited planet be hostile?). All I know is this movie looks intense and I am definitely looking forward to it.

Trailer Alert! Filth

Raise your hand if you're a fan of James McAvoy? You know, that guy from that movie where they made bullets curve (as if), with Angelina Jolie? Wanted I think it was called? Well anyway, I became a fan of his after seeing him in a movie called Starter for 10 and his latest movie looks absolutely hilarious. It's called Filth and while it's already playing in the UK, it's yet to be released here, so give it a month to six and it'll be here for us to enjoy. Judging by the trailer, that's exactly what I'll be doing.

Trailer Alert! Out of the Furnace

Now THIS film not only has the most impressive cast to date, it just looks absolutely incredible. Brought to you by Scott Cooper, the director of Crazy Heart, a damn good movie in its own right, Out of the Furnace boasts a cast full of Academy Award winners and nominees. With the likes of Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe, Casey Affleck, Zoe Saldana, Sam Shephard, Woody Harrelson, and Forest Whitaker I really don't see this movie sucking. And when it drops on Dec. 6th, I will definitely be in line. Will you?

No Charlie Hunnam? Oh well.

Is anyone surprised that Charlie Hunnam pulled out of the 50 Shades of Grey movie?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Bueller?

Yeah, didn't think so.