The Girlfriend Experience

Steven Soderbergh's The Girlfriend Experience is a unique depiction of a semi high end to high end call girl in New York City played by pornstar Sasha Grey, who plays the role quite well. The film is not about the escort experience but more about the experience of being a escort. Chelsea (Grey) is a rising star within the escort scene and has aspirations on growing her clientele into more prestigious circles. This involves meeting with insiders within the escort world to put a good word to your name. Soderbergh depicts this process wonderfully with creative cinematography much like his HBO series "K Street."

The film's narrative is very nonlinear, which certainly makes the audience stay on their toes and pay attention to details, but it certainly does not deter the viewing experience.

If you are looking for a compelling sex centric movie regarding the escort scene then you might want to skip this and turn on Cinemax. On the other hand if you are interested in an authentic portrayal of what the day and the life of a New York call girl consists of then I would check this movie out.

The Getaway

Steve McQueen shows off his classic persona (you know the one where he doesn't say much but instead conveys more what he is talking about through a simple look) in The Getaway. This was a very popular movie in its day due to the fact Ali MacGraw had an affair with McQueen during the making of this movie and would later marry him. The studio would exploit this Hollywood gossip to help generate buzz to drive up ticket sales. Regardless of this Hollywood hoopla The Getaway is a good film. It is hard not to appreciate well choreographed car chases that use zero CGI and special effects, and this movie has several. What is more amazing about this film is that it was a big studio movie in 1972. However today it would be deemed a small independent picture, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

He Was a Quiet Man

What really sucked me in and got me excited to watch this film was the premise. A man (Christian Slater) brings a gun to work with the intention to shoot the place up, but instead gets beat to the punch by another disgruntled employee who starts to go on a shooting rampage within the office. Meanwhile Christian Slater's character uses his gun to stop him and becomes a hero. Unfortunately all that happens within the first ten minutes and the rest of the film is pretty much garbage. It really tries to have an American Psycho type edge to it but fails miserably. This movie has no idea what it wants to be. Is it about corporate corruption, psychotic employees, quadriplegic issues, mental disorders? Choose one please, and surround it with the initial genius premise, then roll the camera.

Funny Games

Sick, twisted, repulsive, perverted, the list can go on forever. Strangely though I sat through the entire thing, mainly with the hope that the victims played by Tim Roth and Naomi Watts eventually would redeem themselves by escaping or killing these murderers, however that's not the case. The second reason why I stuck with this movie is because it's anything but conventional and I like being thrown curve balls and stories that are nonlinear. On the other hand if I knew what I was getting into I would have skipped this. How there is not a disclaimer warning the audience about the revolting violence in the film and an NC-17 rating is beyond me.

Ghost Town

No one is more of a Ricky Gervais fan than me; however there is no way I can recommend this movie. How many movies have we seen where someone can all of a sudden see ghosts, the ghosts acknowledge they can be seen by this person, and now they want their help to take care of some unfinished business before they go to heaven. This film isn't clever or even put together in an intelligent way. For instance there is a scene when Ricky Gervais is interrupted by a ghost that asks to him kill someone for him. It would have been interesting to see how he would have helped that ghost without killing someone, but no it's completely ignored. As for the editing, it is absolutely atrocious. So many scenes just abruptly end or seem week because there wasn't enough good material to work with.

Appaloosa

Ed Harris’ attempt to create a modern western with Appaloosa is a success, but it takes a different direction than films like Unforgiven or Open Range. This might not be the movie for people who need to see a good old fashion shootout if they are going to spend their time watching a western. This film focuses more on the threat of suspense rather than creating suspense with events like a shootout or a horse chase. Instead there are lots of stare downs or guns drawn but never fired, and the advantage to this is the creation of a more realistic story. However, don’t get me wrong there are plenty of guns fired; they are just fired at a different pace.

The Wackness

Ben Kingsley and the corky once chubby kid from Nickelodeon's Drake & Josh put on quite a show in this film. Both characters come from completely different spectrums of life yet they have one major thing in common, the need to find an identity for themselves. This common ground between the main characters creates a unique humorous duo that by itself makes the price of admission worth it. But as an added bonus there is more to the film than just the main characters, such as, the brilliant assortment of music from the early nineties, the well presented harsh realities of life, and the look and depiction of New York City in 1994.

If I had one complaint about this film it would be the very stoic personality the Josh Peck character portrays for half the film. It eventually gets better once his character starts to grow but for awhile you wonder if this kid has any personality at all. However, despite that little complaint I highly recommend this movie.

Towelhead

If there ever was a film to not watch with your grandmother it’s this one. Towelhead is a very provocative film with some of the most uncomfortable scenes in a movie I have ever seen. Writer and Director Alan Ball creates a basic middle class setting for the film, but inserts issues such as child molestation, racism, reverse racism, abuse, and the list goes on. But don't refrain from seeing the film because of these issues; everything is presented through the eyes of a thirteen year old girl in an effective thought provoking way. This film is not meant to shock the audience, but rather create discussions and opinions on these matters.

On a lighter note, despite the tension and sometimes awkwardness the movie generates, there are some hysterical moments which actually had me laughing over some of the dialog.

The Kid Stays in The Picture

A uniquely presented documentary that examines the interesting and entertaining life of movie mogul Robert Evans. Evans' narration of the film, and how he gives his perspective on things such as the rise of Paramount, The Godfather, and how he came to fame are quite spectacular. The images and editing used for the film creates an engaging story that will certainly not disappoint.

The DVD has many worth while features that complement this terrific film very nicely. The commentary by film makers Nanette Burstein and Brett Morgen provides further insight into not only the film but documentary film making as well.