A MOVIE LOVER

The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time. - Mark Twain. This is not quote from this new documentary "Obit". A film that, to some degree, glamorizes the work of the obituary writers at the New York Times . By "glamorize", I don't mean "making it fashionable," but, rather, this film shows the alluring side of a job some would usually associate with a rather depressing, dark, sad character. It is not. At least that's what the characters - the real life reporters of the New York Times' obituary department are trying to convey to the audience throughout the film. According to them, their obituaries are more about "life" than "death," more about celebrating the lives of the deceased rather than talking about the end of it. Of course, while at a journalism school, not many writers to be would plan wishfully to be ending up writing about "deaths", but ...

Courtesy of Paramyth Films by Nika Agiashvili. The last time I’ve seen a movie that somewhat reminded me of “Once upon a time in America” , a 1984 Italian epic crime drama film co-written and directed by Sergio Leone and starring Robert De Niro and James Woods was last week, when I watched A Green Story , minus the mafia and crime. But what a delight and how refreshing it is to see a film that not only engages, but that also inspires!

It's a common belief that a consequence to a movie would not be any good with an exception of just a few films that have proven to be not as bad as the first movie. Say, Meet The Parents - Meet The Fockers did live up to our expectations, and maybe even more. Say, Agent 007 . But that's from another category of the sequence movies - it's like a new movie every time they make a 'sequence', beautiful women change, villains change and even James Bond, once in a decade - changes. However, for the most part, as a general rule, one expects very little from the sequence, especially when the first movie was about the human trafficking and sex slavery, who would want to see the sequence to it? What's else new could have been done for the second part - a new villain? A new victim? A new  hero? Taken-2 - a sequence to the blockbuster success Taken - is a movie that has it all: love, action, family and - the locale!Although, this is definitely not the movie to pr...

What's the idea behind the movie? I kept asking myself this question throughout the movie "Shame"  , directed by Steve McQueen , as I watched a scene after scene of the main character's full frontal and endless sexual activities, including very graphic masturbation scenes. I wanted to 'read into the lines' to see if there's a point to all of it for the director to actually make a movie that is both disturbing, dark, sad and solves nothing. However, some of you might have no doubt, what the director wanted to show. A man's despair? Perhaps. A sexual deviance? Definitely. A today's modern family? I'd say so. A lonely New York City? This could be possible too.

If you choose to not believe in the magic, at least do not choose to do so during Christmas and New Year's Eve. These should be magical for any age and any gender - always and forever. Do believe in Santa as long as it's possible, it'd be than easier for you to tell and pass a holiday magic onto your kids later in life. Personally, I believe that if believing in magic - [and in love and romance] - is not present in one's life, this person is pretty much dead. He or she is not longer living fully and hope-fully. That's why I'm a strong advocate for the holiday movies, especially when the plot is all about love, dreams and hopes - even if it's a bit on a cheesy side - it's all good, it's all healthy. The whole premise of such movies is to become more hopeful and optimistic about the future, to forget problems at home and work and to start believing in good and bright again - even if it's just for two hours...

I never had any doubts and/or disillusion about the loneliness of Hollywood. In the glamour, popularity and fans' obsession, one can overlook the fact that those Hollywood stars - [most of them]- are very lonely, very sad people in real life. Most of them don't even have the same 'character' as they portray in the movies, where one sees them making jokes and being fun and witty, etc. As a matter of fact, most often, the Hollywood stars are very sensitive and vulnerable individuals who are surrounded by people, most of whom don't really care about them. Just think of Judy Garland, Michael Jackson, Marilyn Monroe - when in the spotlight, they are beaming and the fans around them are screaming for their attention. Once they are back at home - they are alone, pain-relieving with drugs, dissolving in alcohol and being forgotten by the loved ones.

There's something about an art-house movie - it's honest, it's real, it's applicable to real life, it's natural, it just touches heart, soul and mind. This is the kind of a movie I'd prefer over any blockbuster with special effects, colorful scenery, beautiful actors... But I've already said that many times before, that's why more often I do reviews of independent, foreign and/or art-house films. Yes, I'm being a bit subjective to it. And, of course, there are exceptions to the rules - sometimes those films end up to be too 'artsy', too far from the action plan on how to apply an art form of a film to the reality. Sometimes they are just too 'weird' to be taken both as a life lesson and as a pure entertainment. In this case, although, the film Like Crazy did serve the purpose of bringing real life scenario - or what might happen to everyone in this life - to a film.

Do not let the name of the movie fool you - it's not a sci-fiction. But at moments I wish it was. The characters do engage in certain super-natural tricks to stop the time - like controlling ocean tides and moon. The cat in movie does talk. And a t-shirt - a safety blanket for a 'her' character - is capable to crawl. Described as a 'cute comedy', some of the film critics are too far from the reality to realize that there is nothing cute about this movie. It's a rather sad slow film that features a couple, who are far from normal. They are, actually, schizophrenic and I wish the audience did see the fact that what the characters say and do - can not be explained, but rather studied by the likes of Sigmund Freud and Nancy Andreasen - they are the perfect 'cases' for the psychiatrists to study.  Please watch the trailer before reading further, the review would make more sense to you then.

The film "Friends with Benefits" , or FWB as we've been casually abbreviating the "relationship" that became a prominent part of the 21st Century ,ended up to be too predictable. It's the kind of movie that everyone knows in the first 5 min how it's gonna end - because, as most of us - adults, know - friends with benefits either do NOT work or they DO work. Friends with benefits either become strangers or they become - a couple. There is no perfect "middle", as much as many of you out there hope it to be. This "relationship" has become to exist in our vocabulary not long ago - most likely at the same time as the slogan "Make love, not war" was created.

I must admit, there are certain actors on this planet, whose films I would see regardless of a plot and/or level of my tolerance for a disguise. It does not matter if these actors would be eating vomit or have sex with a goat - I just know that not matter what they'd do in a movie, they'd do it it superbly. Among such actors - the actors, whose work I greatly admire - are Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Cate Blanchet, and Tom Hanks. Tom Hanks was one of the reasons I went to see Larry Crowne , and not on an opening night, not even on the next day - due to the fact that I have a pretty good natural intuition for a good vs. bad movie. I felt  from the very first day of its promotion that this movie would not live up to the hype. And it didn't, even despite the fact that it had Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks in it - ones of the most respected, great actors working in Hollywood today. Their acting couldn't even save the poorly-written, cheesy plot.

There is not a better way to feel good about the national traditional press than seeing what's happening at one of the most prominent respected newspaper in the country. There is not a better way for a journalist to feel good about his/her job than seeing what goes into a real hard-core journalistic work at a newspaper that's "produced" some of the best journalists in the country. If you agree, than you, as myself, looked forward to the release of "Page One: Inside The New York Times" - a documentary about the newspaper and the people who put it together.

Don't blame him for wanting to be in front of the people. It's his nature. He was born to do stand-up, even when he's soaking wet, giving autographs, and answering to the press - as much as he is complaining about of all the attention and overwhelming love from his fans, Conan O'Brian loves it! The documentary "Conan O'Brian Can't Stop" reveals the true nature and personality of the popular late night talk-show host Conan O'Brian with all the good, bad and the ugly. For the ones who does not know, last year Conan O'Brian, promoted to take the spot of the no less popular talk-host J ay Leno , who retired to a different time slot, was then fired by NBC because of ceasing ratings. O'Brian took a $45 million cut and agreed not to appear on TV for six months, while Jay Leno resumed his former time slot position of late night talk-host of 'The Tonight Show'.

I finally saw it - the film "Beginners", just in time to beat the crowd that has been just finishing up seeing Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” – the latest melodrama from the director who refuses to do any main stream blockbusters and staying true to the old school cinematography. (The show has been solidly sold out for the past two weeks in DC….)

Frances Ford Coppola might be the one who introduced The Godfather to the world, but it was Serge Eisenstein who invented "methods of montage" and up-close shots of "shooting in the eye through glasses" and "a child carrier strolling down the stairs" he used in his The Battleship Potemkin, later recreated by Coppola. Battleship Potempkin - Odessa Steps scene (Einsenstein 1925) - a scene that was many times replicated in great American films: Francis Ford Coppola talks about stealing art: