Crazyheart Review

Wow, def an interesting run for me this month. Just saw Crazy Heart with Jeff Bridges. Funny thing too. I was soooo not wanting to check it out but yet again I was like "Alright, just for a couple of minutes." Just the night before I'd put on the new Benicio Del Torro "Wolfman" flick (What? My Friend works for a major distributor...yeah, what can I say, if you're a film buff figure out a way to not have to pay for that ish ;-) and was literally falling asleep after 15 minutes. Wolfman was a pathetic excuse for getting butts in theatre seats. Crazy Heart on the other hand was a film goers wet dream. Excellent from the first frame to the last.

Sad thing is the Marketers for Crazy Heart had it all wrong. The movie preview for Crazy Heart put my ass to sleep. They seemed to be marketing for a 45 years and older crowd. There was no way I was going to see that film, even if Bridges himself called me up and was like "Hey Achilles, come see my new film..."

Then again maybe that's why the film was a total surprise to me. Seriously, after watching this film I literally have a new respect for Country music. Having lived in Texas for over 14 years I hated Country Music. Seriously HATED it. I still do, but after watching this movie I'm like "Alright, I won't judge anymore."

Everyone of the cast members was brilliant. The flow of the film was great and yes, you could say that in this film Jeff Bridges is like an older Big Lebowski (which is mad cool if you loved watching the Big Lebowski like I did, and still do ;-).

Bridges really shows his amazingness here. Then again I find him to have always been a very exceptional actor.

PLOT:

Bridges plays 'Bad Blake', a famed country singer who's past his prime and looking like his next gig is going to be in a casket. We see him at his worst driving in a beat up suburban from shitty gig to shitty gig. He still has an agent and he can still rock a show. The man has talent and integrity (which is what pretty much gets him through the whole movie...in a good way though... as it shows that hard work can build integrity, and with integrity you really are nothing).

He's an alcoholic, who lives what he writes and sings, comes with the territory. Through the film we see all the characters in Crazyheart having to change there ways to cater to their environments. Bad Blake decides to stay the same, from not wanting to put out new songs, or stop drinking etc. and in the end we see how much this will have an effect on his well being, and survival at that.

We know men like Blake far too well. He could be your Uncle or Cousin or even your Father. There's a bit of Bad Blake in all of us.

Why write about this film?

I don't even like Country music yet this movie def makes me keep an open to appreciating someones craft. I guess since I'm an artist myself I'm very keen to watch who and what I judge. I basically make it a point in my life to NEVER judge. Whether it's music, religion, sexual beliefs etc. Judging will get you in trouble, except when watching movies and seeing if they sucked balls or not ;-P

Who to watch this with:

Any super smart and witty film goer who understands and appreciates good drama and acting.

Cool chicks who appreciate good art and who are super hot and don't wear granny panties.

Positive high energy people.

Who not to watch this with:

Girls who wear Granny Panties, or who are boring. Someone who doesn't have a sense of humor. Older people who have a chip on their shoulder. People who are always feeling sorry about themselves.

Movie Review: Gone Baby Gone

Just finished watching a movie with one of the worst titles ever: Gone baby Gone.

But don't worry, the fact that this is one amazing film makes up for it, tenfold. As far as the title goes they could have named it "Jar Jar Binks is Back" and it wouldn't have mattered. This film holds its own: Originality, Directing, Acting, Cinematography...the list goes on and on.

Why am I writing about it when tons of good films come out each year and get the notoriety they "deserve", i.e proper marketing campaign? Because being in the age demographic of 21-30 I heard squat about this film. Matter a fact I'm wondering if this movie was only marketed to senior citizens who watch Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune every night at 6:30pm (eastern standard time). Sure I don't tend to ever "want" to watch thriller and dramas about kids being kidnapped but maybe that's why I found this film to be so amazing. For the fact that it was all of the above and turned out to be one of the most interesting films I've seen since Children of Men or District 9 (Two films that have nothing to do with GBG's genre).

It takes alot for me to post up a film on this blog. Seriously, movies are reviewed and reviewed over and over again whether good or bad. And yes, I watch almost all of them (because I simply enjoy watching movies), but for me to sit and write about it. Yes, shit better be cathartic...epic.

PLOT:

Cassey Affleck (In one of the best performances I've seen him portray ever in a movie since his bit part in Good Will Hunting) plays a sort of Private detective who helps find missing children/people with his Girl friend/partner Michelle Monaghan. When a child from the area is, you guessed it, missing, they child's Uncle and wife seek Affleck's services. As Affleck goes about investigating everything isn't what it seems to be. And yes, all hell breaks loose with Affleck caught right in the middle.

This movie had me sucked in from the first 5 minutes. Having just done an IMDB search 20 seconds ago I have just found that this film was directed by Ben Affleck. This is shocking to me. Very shocking. I went into this film not knowing who the hell directed it. Why I even wanted to watch it is still making me wonder (other than the fact that I saw that it had high ratings on IMDB and then having read the review by MikeKuch, which was awesome btw, I decided to give it a shot). I seriously love watching anything that Entertains and movies like this usually do the opposite.

WHY:

This movie will make you think about what's REALLY right and what's REALLY wrong. Do you have what it takes to do the right thing? And is the right thing to do REALLY the right thing to do? Can you live with and stand by the decisions you make when everyone (including those who you love and love you back) is against you...when those closest to you will more than likely alienate you.

Well acted with an all star A-list cast (and no name cast that also did an astounding job) that includes Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, and the fat dude cop who was in Beverly Hills Cop 2 and 3.

I personally love films that make me think about "What if this was me in that situation, or what if I knew people like this, how would I feel?" and GBG does that, flawlessly.

Just when you think the film is going end in the good ol' fashioned way we've seen all these types of films play out it quickly slaps you in the face with some "Hell No Muthafucka, this shit here is Original, Enjoy!!" and makes you sit back and say, "Damn, that felt good, thank you for bringing some clever amazingness to the table..." and then it makes you think that those in Hollywood actually do make decent decisions when making films and not all films in Hollywood are designed to appease the masses, i.e the people who don't like to think, or read and like watching reality TV more than actually trying to live in the Real Life.

Who to watch this film with:

Alone when everyone is asleep and all is quiet. With another serious film watcher who appreciates films like such. The fewer the people the better. This film is not what I would call a crowd pleaser. It will surface alot of guilt in everyone (and believe me, if you're over 21 you've definitely made some mistakes in life that made you think twice "doing" or not "doing" the "right thing."

Who not to watch this film with:

Anyone younger than 21 (unless they are very mature and act like an older person).

Girls you're trying to lay that same night (Go ahead and watch it with them if you've already had sex ;-)

Friends from High school or College. Parents.