A Congressman who snorts cocaine, hangs out with strippers, only employs young women in his office, never says no to alcohol, always finds the words to get a smile or a laugh (thanks to Aaron Sorkin, the writer ) and at the same time helps defeat USSR in Afghanistan ...
Seriously, what else do you need to watch Charlie Wilson's War?
For those who know me, it wouldn't appear to them as a surprise that I love a film about a character who does not hide his desire to never start a family, whose profession is to hop from companies to companies to inform employees that they are fired and cherishes the fact that he only has to spent forty miserable "days" at home and the rest between airplanes and airports.
More seriously, Up In The Air is an example of a film that makes you smile (and think a little along the way) and will let many of you surprised to have spent 90 very pleasant minutes despite its very bleak subject -in appearance.
By the way, girls, did I say George Clooney is in it?
2009. Directed by Jason Reitman. With George Clooney and Vera Farmiga.
I could write pages and pages about the movie of this week, but I'll just say once again that Pulp Fiction is easily among the top 5 of my favorite movie.
Yes, at 2 hours and a half, the film could easily be shortened by 20-30 minutes. And as far as originality goes, Tarantino is to cinema what Kanye West is to music: someone who recycles little-known works (sometimes more than just little-known) and lets the general public rediscover them.
Eric Bishop is a postman in Manchester, and the least you can say is that going through a rough patch.
His relationship with his two sons is deteriorating by the minute, his daughter still holds him responsible for the break-up between him and his ex-wife. In addition to this, he has to deal with the bad weather in Manchester. In short, his life is far from being a lot of fun.
One evening, as Eric adresses the poster of his idol Eric Cantona, the famous number 7 of Manchester United, he appears to him in real life and decides to help him regain control of his life.
By the way, if you don't know who is Eric Cantona, shame on you, first of all. And a little clip that would help.
Moon is one of those films that peaked my interest instead of lowering it, after I read the script months prior to its release.
Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is approaching the end of his solitary 3-year mission on the Sarang lunar station, where he is extracting helium 3, a renewable energy source that has replaced oil.
But Sam begins to hear and see some very strange things as the days go by. Initially thinking that his long period of isolation is playing tricks on him, Sam ends up face to face with his "clone". Hallucination? Reality? Manipulation?
Last week, a Cameroonian film, Quartier Mozart, was the DVD of the Week. Today, it's time for a movie from Ivory Coast to step forward, Bal Poussière.
This comedy may be older than me (produced in 1988), but it keeps all of its effectiveness after each new viewing.
The film follows Demi-Dieu (translation: Half-God), whose nickname comes from the fact that he's the one and only master in his village after God himself. He's decided to take a sixth wife. I think you understand that much (a lot actually) hilarity ensues as the film goes
Just like last week, you'll have to speak some French to understand what's going on, sorry ...
For those of you who didn't know it yet, the blog's name finds its origin in Jean-Pierre Bekolo's first film, Quartier Mozart.
I'm not pushing it too far when I say that this is the most internationally acclaimed Cameroonian film to date, with a participation at the Cannes festival as well as Locarno and Montreal. At the same time, this is a small admission of failure for Cameroonian cinema when you consider that the movie was shot back in 1992 and so far its success hasn't been matched by anything else.
The story follows the adventures of a young girl whose excessive curiosity led the witch of the neighborhood (yes, because there are witches everywhere in Africa...) to change her into a man.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find any clips with subtitles, so only the most courageous of you will give it a shot and try to understand what is going on.
Chelsea (Sasha Grey) is high-class escort girl who offers more than just a sex to her clients, she offers a "girlfriend experience"; she dines with them, goes to the movies, spends a whole evening talking with them and makes $ 2,000 per hour while doing so.
Nothing too surprising so far, except that Chelsea also has a serious "boyfriend", Chris, who is a fitness coach. Troubles begins when Chelsea start to fall for one of her customers.
The other important subject of the film is the economic crisis that began in 2008, and has affected our little couple. After all, when difficult times hit, $ 2,000 per hour starts to be a bit much, even for the richest of us. And the same goes for Chris' fitness sessions, who are not discounted either.
Some will be disappointed by the lack of sex in this movie (Sasha Grey is in it, what the hell!!!), the plot may not please everyone, but the photography by Steven Soderbergh (Ocean's 11, 12, .. ., 25) is gorgeous to look at.
PS: For those of you still pretending not to know who Sasha Grey, Google her ... "Aaahh, it's a pornstar, I didn't know that !"... Yes, of course you didn't know ...
Time will probably tell you that, but I can say it already: I love Woody Allen. Not all his movies are good, but when they are, they are excellent.
That's the case with Manhattan , a film he shot in 1979.
Isaac Davis (Woody Allen) is a writer and has a very hectic life. And when I say hectic, I mean it. His second wife (Meryll Streep) has left him for another woman, his best friend introduces him to his mistress (Diane Keaton) whom he ends up falling in love with, and he also has a relationship with a 17 year-old (Mariel Hemingway ).
In addition the funny dialogue,the black and white photography is admirable and makes you want to immediately teleport yourself to New York.
Exceptionally, the DVD of the Week is on Thursday and not Friday this week. The reason is simple: it's complicated to have a decent internet connection at 10 000 feet above the ground.
I came across Marock accidentally, reading an article describing the strong criticism on the film, due to the onscreen presence of Muslims drinking alcohol, smoking cannabis, and only thinking about going to nightclubs. Inevitably, I was intrigued.
The story follows a young girl at the French high school of Casablanca. She falls in love with a boy who's a little older than her. One little problem: he is Jewish. I honestly expected a melodrama in the vein of "The Young and the Restless", but ultimately, the director has kept exaggeration from affecting her film.
In some instances, the film was a little immature and gave too much importance to things that did not deserve it. But at the same time, how do you make a film about a teenage girl, without having her being a bit immature and giving too much importance to useless things?
In short, this is clearly not one of my favorite movies, but I rather enjoyed the experience to finally see a decent Moroccan film .
Directed by Laila Marrakchi. With Mathieu Boujenah and Morjana Alaoui
I remember seeing The Russian Dolls for the first time in a Spanish class during my senior year. I obviously did not pay much attention to the film, between all the chatting, laughing, and micro-napping. It was only a few months later that I was finally able to fully appreciate it from beginning to end.
Xavier is a writer approaching 30. As he often says throughout the film, his life is a big mess. Like many people who write, his work helps him try to restore order in his life - or at least navigate through the mess. We follow Xavier during the months preceding the marriage of Wendy 's brother, the English girl he met when studying in Barcelona in L'Auberge Espagnole (The Russian Dolls is the sequel to that film)
Special mention to Cecile de France who does a great job here playing a lesbian financial analyst who "usually likes black girls".
Directed by Cedric Klapisch.With Romain Duris et Cécile de France.
It couldn't be any simpler - and therefore any better. Brochant Pierre (Thierry Lhermitte) and his friends invite idiots to dinner every Wednesday and take pleasure in electing the "idiot of the night".
Unfortunately, this Wednesday, Peter is having back spasms. He finds himself trapped in his apartment with his idiot, Francois Pignon (Jacques Villeret).
And that's only where his problems start. Pierre also has to win back his wife -who just left him- with a little "help" from François, who will demonstrate his status as a WORLD CHAMPION throughout the night.
Somehow, I couldn't find any english clip to post here so here's the link to a short trailer. For the courageous ones, there's still the French trailer on the other version of the blog.
I was going to talk about an entirely different movie when I read that Julie Delpy was about to make 2 Days in New York , the sequel to her first film.
2 Days in Paris follows a Franco-American couple (Marion and Jack) during their brief stay in the French capital, after a long trip through Europe.
This little layover slowly turns into a nightmare when Jack discovers that Marion is still in contact with many of er exes and some of them don't hesitate at all to tell him about her past adventures with them.
But there is more, Jack also has to deal with his in-laws. The least you can say is that they are a bit special, with the parents having an obsession with sex.
And to make things easier, Jack -who doesn't speak Franch- must also face the language barrier.
Valentine's Day is 2 days away. It's sad, I know. It was therefore inevitable for me to talk about Before Sunset, one of the best romantic films in recent years.
Celine and Jesse spent a memorable evening together in Vienna (Austria) 9 years ago (in Before Sunrise, 1995). 9 years later, Jesse has become a successful writer and is giving interviews in a bookstore in Paris. The subject of his book, you guessed it, the evening he spent with a stranger he has not seen again since. Celine traced him back through the newspapers and pays Jesse a visit at his book signing.
The result? For those who didn't like, it's 80 minutes of people talking endlessly and doing nothing interesting (translation: no onscreen sex ).
For others, it's an excellent film that addresses issues of lost love, destiny and the pursuit of happiness ...
It's up to you to pick sides. I have already chosen mine.
Directed by Richard Linklater. With Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. 2004
Today is Friday. So it's time for the DVD of the Week.
It was about 1 in the morning the first time I saw this film back in 2007 at an old Pasadena movie theater where there were about 7 spectators, my two friends and myself included. No need to say that my expectations were very low for this one.
Yet ( Before The Devil Knows You're Dead ) was a great surprise. It was intense, suspensful, and beautifully shot. The story consists of a series of flashbacks and flashforward explaining the causes and dramatic consequences of the robbery of their parents' jewelry store by two brothers with pressing financial needs. As a bonus, Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler) spends half the movie in her underwear, in case you're into that kind of thing.
I would love to get into more story details but it would be difficult to do so without "spoiling" the movie for you. And the trailer is already doing much better job at that than me.
Directed by Sidney Lumet. With Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei. 2007.
