Netflix 2013 - Cinema Crespodiso

Netflix pick for 10/21/13 – ‘Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior’

When “Ong Bak” got a U.S. theatrical release in 2003, it was one of those limited release deals, playing in only one theater in town, and only playing there for a couple of weeks. It wasn’t even one of the better theaters, either. It was a dingy piece of crap that ain’t even open anymore. But still. I have fond memories of that shithouse. Because that is where i saw “Ong Bak” on the big screen and it thoroughly kicked my ass and I have never forgotten that.

From my original write up on Examiner.com:

“Martial arts movies are made all the time all over the world, but it is only on occasion when a movie is made that signals the break out of the world’s next big martial arts action star. And in 2003, one of these movies was released. And it was good.

Ong Bak: Muay Thai Warrior features stuntman turned lead actor Tony Jaaa and it is pretty easy to see how this movie positioned him to be the Next Big Thing. Of course thanks to hindsight we all know he went a little nuts and buckled under the pressure of making Ong Bak 2, but back in ’03, people were throwing around the ole “the next Bruce Lee” adage in reference to his incredible work. And it all really started with this movie.”

Netflix pick for 10/14/13 – ‘Bernie’

“Bernie” is a rare kind of movie, because it is a mockumentary about a real life story, so while it has recognizable actors like Jack Black, Matthew McConaughey and Shirley MacLaine, it is also shot and presented as if these are real people telling their sides of a real story. Helping to blur the lines between reality and cinema are real people involved in the real story, being interviewed for this movie as if they were in a normal documentary, and not a weird yet delightful little movie featuring reenactments of real life events by real life actors.

From my original review of “Bernie:”

“Hiding her body, he then went on a shopping spree with her money by spending it on the community, helping some townspeople start businesses and sending local kids to college. But of course it all crashes down on him eventually, and the local DA Danny Buck (Matthew McConaughey, Killer Joe) finds that he needs to request a change of venue in order to get a fair trial because Bernie was just so well liked by everyone. And it didn’t help that conversely Mrs. Nugent was remarkably disliked. It’s because of stuff like this that makes this story, and this movie, so fascinating. People accused Bernie of stealing from Mrs. Nugent, but even if he did, it was evident that he was giving all of that money away to other people, like a small town Robin Hood. Everyone likes Robin Hood.”

Netflix pick for 10/7/13 – ‘Super’

Think you’ve seen every superhero movie there is to see? Think you know what a subversive comic book movie looks like? Well unless you’ve seen “Super,” you are sorely mistaken.

From my original April 2011 review of “Super“:

“We are just about at full saturation when it comes to superhero movies; there are at least five major blockbusters coming out this summer based on comic books (and a sixth summer movie based on a toyline that was turned into a comic book, cartoon series, animated movie, dishware, bedsheets, lunchboxes, Trapper Keepers, etc.), more major superhero movies are coming in 2012, and we’ve even had our first R-rated superhero movie in the form of Watchmen, and meta “what if” scenarios about real. everyday people trying to be costumed crime fighters with Kick Ass, Special, Defendor, hell, that set up actually goes all the way back to Blankman, so how on Earth can a new superhero movie find a way to differentiate itself from the pack?

It can be batshit insane, like Super. For both good and ill, this is something of a low rent masterpiece in genre subversion – it takes a hard look at the concept of the costumed crimefighter and pokes this concept in the belly with a sharp stick. The movie starts with repressed, twerpy and dull Frank D’Arbo (Rainn Wilson, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) losing his ex-junkie wife Sarah (Liv Tyler, The Incredible Hulk) to slimey strip club owner Jacques (Kevin Bacon, X-Men: First Class). Frank’s life sucks, but a vision from God (because he sees visions) tells him to put on a costume and fight evil in all of its forms. This leads to him donning the identity of the Crimson Bolt, adopting the slogan “Shut up, crime!” and utilizing a pipe wrench as his weapon of choice. He goes around town for a little while and fights all manner of “criminals,” ranging from drug dealers to line-jumpers, and he leaves them all lying on the ground with heads split open by his wrench. It’s not really made clear why he has to spend time fighting crime on the streets before he gets the chutzpah to go get his wife back from Jacques, but he does so anyway, eventually enlisting the services of comic book store clerk Libby (Ellen Page, X-Men: The Last Stand), who becomes his sidekick Boltie and proves to be even more unhinged and sadistic than he is.”

Review: ‘Rush’

Not the epic biopic featuring the three-piece Canadian rock outfit that we were all hoping for, “Rush” is the story of a pair of Formula-One racers in the 1970’s who developed one of the most intense and interesting sports rivalries ever. Directed by Ron Howard with consummate skill and featuring very good lead performances from Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Daniel Brühl (Inglourious Basterds) and a tight script from Peter Morgan, “Rush” is actually better than I expected it would be, and is definitely worthwhile for people to check out.

What makes this movie work so well is that it is all based on a true story, which allows for some thinner characterization, as the real story is inherently appealing enough to carry the dramatic weight of the film. It doesn’t matter that English driver James Hunt (Hemsworth) was merely portrayed as a playboy and party animal while the German driver Niki Lauda (Brühl) was shown to be an overly serious fuddy-duddy with a penchant for pissing everyone off by being truthful to a fault; what matters is that we see these two excellent drivers push each other to the limits of their abilities in a sport that was as close to legalized Russian Roulette as any sport could get thanks to the very high death rate of drivers up to this point (the great documentary “Senna” goes into how Formula One managed to make their races much safer, but only after more tragedy hit the sport).Continue Reading …

Netflix pick for 9/30/13 – ‘Dumbstruck’

“Dumbstruck” is a wonderful little documentary about one year in the lives of several ventriloquists and how they ae trying to do the best they can with their chosen hobby or craft, which happens to be speaking through little dummies. This is a balance, well-made and respectful film about a group of people who are easy to mock, and really it is quite a touching movie filled with people that are pretty easy to like…once you look past the ugly dolls that they keep playing with.

From my original review of “Dumbstruck“ after I saw it at the 2010 Florida Film Festival:

“While Dumbstruck does go into the art of ventriloquism and puppet manipulation, and also shows a bit of what goes into honing a respectable routine, it is the stories of the people themselves that takes center stage. And perhaps it is a testament to how interesting these stories are that the movie feels like it ends a little early. Most of the movie’s subjects, if not all five of them, would have benefited from a little more filming. While the film is chronologically set up to be book ended by Vent Haven conventions, it feels like none of the stories wrap up after a year (with the exception of Terry Fator, who by the end of the film only has one place to go, which is down. And we don’t want that, he seems like a nice fella). Another year of following these people around might have resulted in a little more closure story-wise. Then again, it might haven resulted in more opened ended questions and plot threads. Such is the danger of documentary story telling.”

Netflix pick for 9/23/13 – ‘Manufactured Landscapes’

“Manufactured Landscapes” is an arty documentary about the toll human living and consumption has on the Earth and the places where live, namely, in how we just have taken everything over in this habitat, to the point that certain parts of the world have been wholly transformed into places comprised of and now existing for only human residenency and exploitation.

From my original write up on Examiner.com:

“Manufactured Landscapes is a movie that will take all attentive and thinking viewers and shake them down to their very foundations. This movie is about the dramatic effect humans and progress and technology have had on the world, focusing heavily on some of the developing nations of the world. The opening shot of the movie is harrowing in a strange way, as a camera slowly tracks along a factory, and four minutes into this eight-minute one-take shot you realize that you are looking at more people gathered under one roof using an ungodly amount of resources than you could even fathom. It is explained, in a voice over from the director, that this movie is not meant to condone or condemn, but instead it is just a record of how things are. Point the camera and observe, it is that simple. Just sit back and watch as a panning shot of a Chinese city, buildings stacked on top of other buildings, goes on and on for what seems like forever. And then ask yourself what images like this mean to you and your world and your future. You might not like the answers you come up with.”

Netflix pick for 9/16/13 – ‘Dredd’

Almost like a throwback to the stripped down, awesome action movies of the 1980’s, “Dredd” is the little movie that could, as someone (namely actor Karl Urban and writer Alex Garland) decided that they were going to make a bad ass movie about the iconic British-created comic strip character that totally erases the memory of the 1995 filmatic abortion of a movie that is “Judge Dredd,” and lo and behold, these wonderful folks succeeded, giving us the awesome and over the top Judge Dredd movie for which fans of the character have been waiting for years, and which non-fans never knew that wanted or needed, at least until they laid eyes on this gem of a film.

Here is a small excerpt from my original review when the movie came out last year:

“And of course there’s one super bad ass judge amongst them all, the one whose reputation exceeds him, and that is Judge Dredd (Karl Urban, Star Trek). He’s totally by the book, though that doesn’t mean he won’t give you a second chance or a good deal – it’s just that the perp has to be able to recognize when Dredd is actually offering said deal. Sometimes what amounts to compromise for Dredd is simply allowing the criminal offender to pick their poison. And if Dredd gives you an option, you better make a choice quick, cause he’ll shut down negotiations almost faster than you realize you were negotiating, and if he makes the decision for you, it won’t be the one you would have preferred. And Dredd does is all with a permanent scowl and deadpan humor, like a slightly more human version of Robocop…slightly.”

Netflix pick for 9/9/13 – ‘Tabloid’

What’s better than a super juicy, scandalous, over the top, so crazy it has to be true tabloid story? Getting all the facts and claims from the people directly involved in said juicy scandal. And that’s ‘Tabloid,” a retelling of a very notorious sex crime case which fascinated the world in the 1970’s involving a former beauty queen, a Mormon missionary, and a sex-filled weekend that the beauty queen claimed was consensual and which the missionary claimed was rape.

This crazy story and it’s various players are all brought under the microscope by the great Errol Morris, he of the great documentaries “The Thin Blue Line,” “Standard Operating Procedure” and “The Fog of War,” and as per usual, this is a great Errol Morris documentary because not only did he find a fascinating story with incredible real-life characters, but he also uses his great storytelling style and techniques to wrap up this crazy story in an aesthetically pleasing package, and BOOM, we have “Tabloid.”

And possibly the most interesting aspect of this movie is how this particular story made huge news in the UK tabloids in the 1970’s and was an even bigger story there than it was here in America where the crime happened, and this intense focus from the rags and papers of the 1970’s closely echoes the horrible tabloid-filled celebrity culture in which we currently live, a culture in which a person who commits a crime and gets tried in public ends up attaining a level of noteriety and celebrity that shouldn’t even exist for these people, yet it does. And that’s a shame.Continue Reading …

Netflix pick for 8/26/13 – ‘ParaNorman’

“ParaNorman” is a fun, horror-themed stop-motion animated film that is great for most of the family…at least those families that don’t mind family movies about the walking dead and witches’ curses, cause “ParaNorman” has both of these.

This movie is great fodder for right wing conservative weirdos to decree about how lefty Hollywood liberals are constantly pushing their agendas on the rest of the country blah blah blah. At the center of this whole movie is the simple concept of not judging a book by its cover, or even by its contents, at least not until you can come to a full and complete understanding of said contents, and they even throw in an openly gay character at one point just to drive the point home in a more real world way, since this movie is about a witch and zombies and a boy who can communicate with the dead and gets some intense visions of impending doom every now and then.

Also check out this awesome articleabout some of the technology behind the making of this movie, which includes some videos as well, definitely worth checking out if you are interested at all in film production in any way.Continue Reading …

Netflix pick for 8/19/13 – ‘The Ice Harvest’

“The Ice Harvest” is a little dark-comedy crime movie set during the Christmas holiday, and movies juxtaposing crimes and violence with the joy of Christmas are always fun to watch. Nothing says “reason for the season” like a seedy strip club in Kansas and a mob lawyer teaming up with a pornographer in an attempt to steal millions of dollars from a crime boss on Christmas Eve.

John Cusack plays the mob lawyer and Billy Bob Thornton plays his buddy with whom he is trying to steal some ill-gotten money from a bad dude (played by Randy Quaid), but after they get the money, they realize that their escape routes out of town are blocked due to bad weather, meaning they are forced to hide out in town while some mob enforcers look for them. Meanwhile, Cusack’s lawyer character bounces back and forth between trying to impress a good looking strip club owner (Connie Nielsen) and hanging out with his best friend (Oliver Platt), who happens to be married to Cusack’s ex-wife. So life is pretty shitty for this guy. No wonder he’s willing to risk his life to steal a couple million bucks.Continue Reading …