azguki Blog

Under discussion:

I Heart Huckabees  (2004)

      I am a fan of all of David O. Russell's films.  This one might be my favorite.  Who would have thought that a movie about existentialism could be this cool?  I absolutely die laughing when Marky Mark looks at that guy across the dining room table and says, "You're the destroyer, man."  Kills me every time.  I absolutely love this movie (too bad Jean-Paul Sartre's dead....he would have liked this one, too).  He also would have liked Isabelle Huppert.  Wow.....

      Has anyone seen the video of Russell screaming at the top of his lungs at Lily Tomlin on the set of this movie?  It's on youtube I believe.  Seems he has some work to do on the whole being-content-with-yourself and-your-place-in-the-universe thing.  He sounds like a total #@%#@!#@.  Oh well, his movies are still good.

Under discussion:

The Motorcycle Diaries  (2003)

   What a beautifully crafted film!  Having a bit of a travel bug myself, I thought the cinematography alone was reason enough to see this picture.  Add a little of the developmental experiences of a young man's life (and what an extraordinary life it turned out to be in this case!) and you have a truly engaging and pleasant film experience.  A friend I talked to after just seeing this movie, because he had made a trek to Macchu Picchu himself, told me that he preferred the book (you'll have to excuse him, he's a self-proclaimed poet).  I can't imagine the book accurately capturing the sheer intense awe that is Macchu Picchu (or the South American west coast).  Gael Garcia Bernal is going to be one of the biggest stars of the next decade.  In any film I've ever seen him in, it is totally impossible to take your eyes off of him.  Geez, I wish I was gay! 

Under discussion:

The Proposition  (2005)

  I just saw this one a few weeks ago.  I know all of my reviews are raves, but that is only because I can't bother writing about movies that don't greatly affect me.  This is another one of those films I just have to shout about.  Is it in the top 10 westerns of all time?  Probably not.  Is it the best western I've seen in the last 10 years?  Yes.  The cast alone is enough to make a grown man want to wet himself.  John Hurt is flawless.  Ray Winstone's character is actually too complex for your average western, and that is one of the reasons this film actually transcends the genre and becomes a work of art.  Emily Watson pours it on with blurry eyed intensity (what else is new from her). And even Guy Pearce, who is always great, seemed to give an above-average delivery.  Yes, the acting is superb, oh I almost forgot, even all-of-a-sudden-everywhere factotum actor David Wenham is in this, but that doesn't matter.  They could have cast this with the kids from the Las Vegas High School Thespian Society and it still would have been impressive.  The writing and the characters are so precisely drawn and scripted out that it becomes, as previously stated, a work of art.  This movie is truly beautiful with its long Australia camera sweeps and gritty violence.  I absolutely loved it.  As a matter of fact, I might go and watch it again right now.