CaptainRyannn Blog

Under discussion:

Battle Royale  (2001)

Death Race  (2008)

I’ll admit, the only reason I went to go see Death Race is because I wanted to get out of the house and my dad just so happened to want to go see this, so I agreed. I knew I wasn’t going to get anything mind-blowing or revolutionary, but rather some dirty, bloody entertainment. Unfortunately, I didn’t get much of that either. Jason Statham is back in, surprise surprise, another bland cliché action role. He plays Jensen Ames, former professional racecar driver, turned loving father / husband. That is until his wife is murdered and he is put to jail for it. (You know, just once, I’d like to see a protagonist actually go to jail for a crime he / she did commit. Enough with this “I was setup.” bullshit.” Anyway, he lands himself into a prison where an annual race is held where prisoners have the chance to earn their freedom. They compete in a three-part race and the first to win five races in a row gets to walk free. The event is broadcasted over pay-per-view and millions of people buy. Why? Because Americans love violence. The movie was pretty predictable from start to finish and didn’t have anything new to offer. I’m also getting sick of the plot where ‘prisoners fight each other for their freedom’. It’s getting to the point where it’s overdone. But that’s kind of the only way you can get people to go one on one with each other without deep back-stories. It allows the viewers to be unsympathetic towards them because they are prisoners. If everyone was innocent such as in 2001’s Battle Royale, it wouldn’t get released in America. Anyway, I’m getting off topic. Bottom line: If you’re looking for cheap thrills, go for it. If you want anything deeper than that, pass on it. It’s not that great.

Under discussion:

George Washington  (2000)

Undertow  (2004)

 After falling in love with David Gordon Green’s Undertow, I checked out some of his other films. George Washington was first on the list because I saw that it was also part of the Criterion Collection. George Washington is not about a white man from the mid-1700’s, but rather a group of children set in a small, rural southern town. With not much to do, they spend their days wandering around the broken community and have conversations that form into a collage of innocence. After a tragedy happens amongst the group, they all come together and attempt to cover it up which leads to their individual quests for redemption. In one of the most poetically beautiful films I’ve seen recently, David Gordon Green tells the heartbreaking story of kids who are forced to enter the adult world early and make decisions that they shouldn’t have to make. Although I’m sure not everyone has had to go through what the kids in the film had to go through, I believe it is the perfect metaphor for teenage friendships. A group of kids who are as tight as can be part away from each other for something or another or perhaps no reason at all. Green manages to create some of the most real characters I’ve seen on film in everyway from their dialogue to their simple hand gestures and reactions. I think I might’ve been close to tears because of how magnificent this one was. Damn, it was good.

Under discussion:

Bonnie and Clyde  (1967)

Considered by many to be one of the groundbreaking films of the 60’s, Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde offers a romanticized vision of two of the most famous outlaws in American History. A bored, small-town girl, Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunnaway), meets up with recently released bank robber, Clyde Barrow (Warren Beaty), and they set off across the Midwest robbing banks and on the run from the law. They team up with gas station clerk, (Michael Pollard), Clyde’s brother, Buck (Gene Hackman), and his nuisance of a wife (Estelle Parsons) during the journey and that’s when things start to turn bad. Ultimately, this is a road movie. It’s about average people caught up in the life of crime and on the run from authorities. When I first saw this a few years ago, I hated it. I couldn’t understand for the life of me what made this thing so special. Like many movies however, you have to mature into the right state-of-mind and after a second viewing, your mind could change completely.  One of my biggest complaints lies in the film’s climax. Many of you probably already know what happened of the notorious outlaws, but some of you don’t so I’ll refrain from spoiling it for you here. Anyway, it features a series of quick cuts that pretty much ruin the entire mood and build-up for me. I once watched a program on the History Channel on the life of these two and I’m pretty sure that if they would’ve stuck to what had actually happened, it would’ve made for a much better ending. Despite all the violence, which was pretty graphic for the 60’s, the movie carries quite a light mood. If the soundtrack hadn’t been filled with cherry bluegrass music, we’d have a much different movie. The characters are all pretty solid. Every one of them did a great job. Although if you get annoyed easily, I’m going to warn you, because Buck’s wife is possibly one of the most annoying characters I’ve ever seen on screen. All she does is nag. So check this out if you’re down for an adventure movie about two of the most famous criminals this country has ever seen. I’m against a lot of remakes but if one were to come from this, I’d be the first in line.