I had high expectations going into this. The synopsis really set up what sounded like a thrilling heist-type movie, a sort of Natural Born Killers but good. Instead I got an uncomfortable movie about drug addicts. This was a middle of the road experience for me. It wasn't fantastic, it wasn't too bad. Nothing really stands out though, which is it's major flaw. It has no defining moment or quality. However, for an early van Sant film, you can definitely see a connection to his later films, to the point where I would even say a film like this bridges together such opposing styles as Elephant and Good Will Hunting.
7/10
Film#17 - The King Of Comedy, 1982, dir. Martin Scorsese
I don't even know what genre this film fits into. It has what could be a very serious story of psychotic fans struggling to find happiness, but at the same time has so many hints of humour that I just didn't know how to take it. Beyond forming genre labels, this film was quite good. A real character-driven narrative that relies so heavily on the spectacular performances, which works all too well.
8/10
Film#18 - Life Is Hot In Cracktown, 2009, dir. Buddy Giovinazzo
Absolutely brutal. This film has a cast of familiar stars you just can't exactly name (like Quinn from Dexter) and is highly overlooked. It's understandable as the content is difficult to stomach. From the opening rape sequence, you can quickly get the tone of this film, and it truly never lets up. Moving from rape to drug abuse, ruthless domestic disturbances, murder, and unbearable racial, sexual and gender issues, this film is as serious as it gets. This film is immensely significant in the way it addresses so many cultural issues in an interweaving narrative of hopeless characters and situations.
7.5/10
Film#19 - Up In The Air, 2009, dir. Jason Reitman
Delightful.
10/10
Film#20 - Race To Witch Mountain, 2009, dir. Andy Fickman
Although this is a major change of pace from what I usually watch, this film was actually fairly enjoyable. Maybe this is bizarre, but I imagine this would be a great film for parents to take their kids to. Full of clean action sequences, Dwayne Johnson's occasional one liner and a pair of teen actors you just can't help but hope will never find work again, this film has all the elements of a mindless late night movie experience. I'm sure most people already have some sort of bias towards any movie starring The Rock, or even from the title alone, but I believe this movie accomplished what it set out to do. It doesn't for one second pretend to be anything more than a fun hour and a half of silly plot twists that often make no sense whatsoever. You probably don't need to see it.
6/10
