First of all, let me make this clear: I am not against formula pictures in general. Done well, most inspirational, yet cliched, formula pictures can be entertaining, touching and moving in thier own little way. I am also pleased when the filmmakers think outside of the small box they create for themselves, and give the audience a surprise. When a film like Take The Lead sticks to formula, but offers nothing new to the table, and is too shameless in the cliches, it has to rely on the actors- and in this case, the two-step.
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Some films can be both equally admirable and alienating. Kids is a well-crafted yet ugly portrait of a group of adolescents living irresponsibly during a hot summer day in Manhattan. The three main characters are Telly (Leo Fitzpatrick), Casper (Justin Pierce) and Jenny (Chloe Sevigny). Telly is a bastard child, who’s only ambition is to have sex–specifically to deflower virgins. Casper is Telly’s best friend who spends most of his time drinking beer and doing drugs. And Jenny is one of Telly’s sexual conquests. A young Rosoro Dawson also stars in this movie, playing Jenny’s closest friend.
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Paris, 2054. Karras, a cop with a past and a graduate of the Dirty Harry School of policing, is put on the case of a missing young woman who is a scientist with the powerful Avalon Corporation. During his search for her whereabouts he uncovers a conspiracy.
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This film received rave reviews in the New York Times. The plot sounded unusual. As a teacher, I get so tired of these movies about the noble white guy (or gal) teacher who comes to the inner city school and turns the lives of his students around. Yet this film promised a twist, you see the “white guy” is a crack head (!) who forms a friendship with one of his 13 year old students. It’s Bad Lieutenant (1992) meets an ABC after school special, which, as combinations go, is rather interesting.

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If Luc Besson holds true to his claim that he will direct only ten films, Angel-A is his last movie ever (I choose not to believe him). Angel-A is a blend of Der Himmel über Berlin (Wings of Desire), It’s a Wonderful life and even shares a sentiment or two with Manhattan. A decidedly French endeavour (although without the over the top emoting that often comes with French acting) Angel-A is the tale of an angel’s attempt to get a consistently hapless man’s life back on the rails.
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The notorious Bettie Page is directed and co-written by Mary Harron, who previously made American Psycho. It focuses on a specific part of Bettie’s life story, and therefore can not be called a biopic. For those of you who have been living in a cultural vacuum for the last 70 years: Bettie Page is arguably the world’s most famous pin-up. She posed for photographs and films in several degrees of dirty, was brought in to appear before a senate pornography investigation and ultimately (re)found religion and abandoned the scene that had made her famous in favour of blissful anonymity.
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High quality, highly addictive series appear to be in abundance compared to say ten years ago. Perhaps it is my subjective perception, or perhaps the quality and quantity really has improved, whatever the case, I am very happy to be able to choose between the likes of 24, Lost, Rome, Desperate Housewives, The L Word (no comment on that quality) and now, Grey’s Anatomy. It’s a weird name for a series, but not so weird once I discovered it was taken from the book Gray’s Anatomy of the Human Body. Still, I had absolutely no idea what to expect from it or even that it was a medical series when I started watching.It is my most recent addiction.

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No one likes rejection. Accepted (2006) is a fluffy summer film for the underdogs of the world. It offers a straight forward and predictable formula. Lead character runs into trouble with the system. Lead character bucks the system in a quirky and mildly predictable way. Lead character has their comic/tragic flaw exposed. Lead character gets the hot girl. It’s been working since the days of Animal House (1978) (as far as I can remember) or even earlier. Yet if fun and predictable is what you are in the mood for, hey, why not?

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Yesterday I painted my front door. The unfortunate thing was that I had to wait for it to dry, because until then I could not close it. Being somewhat tired from sanding and painting I decided to put this in my DVD player. 93 minutes of Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz was just what the doctor ordered. But was it?

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In the tradition of cinematic classics such as Porky’s (1983), American Pie (1999) and Not Another Teen Movie (2001), comes a raunchy teenage sex comedy with a gay twist. Welcome to the fabulous world of Another Gay Movie (2006), from director Todd Stephens. It is a world were being gay is not an issue but getting laid is. This film is the “mother of all inside jokes” where I find it hard to imagine that even the most open minded of straight people will get it. Thoroughly enjoyable for members of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) community, sorry heterosexuals, this one is probably not for you. But hey, you’ve already got a virtual cornucopia of this genre to relish in.

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