Video Store Blues

The Babysitters is an independent film that changes the scope of prostitution and puts it squarely on the shoulders of high school girls. The film interested me because John Leguizamo is in it, and as a Latino, I kind of like his skills. Although, truth be told, I find his best work was done in the meth movie “Spun”, which is a favorite of mine. This film follows the boring suburbia life a few teenagers that get caught up in a world of sex.

A babysitter has sex with her employer and that starts a chain reaction. The movie then goes onto be a public service announcement of sorts about the dangers of prostitution and instead of showing explicit details, it shows you formality problems. For instance, our main character and head girl ends up getting frustrated when a rival starts taking away her business. It’s the kind of problem that leads to bickering and violence, but it never gets too over the top. In fact, this movie is a lot tamer than I thought, considering the subject matter.

The Babysitters is an obvious independent film. The framing of shots, the way the camera moves, the edits, and the musical montages and ques are all independent film standards. It is either hit or miss with the audience, because at times you need more than the 20 second locking of eyes to kissing, to mysterious elbow or body part to avoid showing too much skin.

Writer and Director David Ross puts together an alright film. It’s not insane, but it touches on too many subjects too lightly to be good. The twist at the end, and overall violence is somehow muted. The best part of the whole film is the way the main character cries as if she’s some innocent kid, as she sees her own father involved with one of the girls that is supposed to be “babysitting”.

The Babysitters is not the greatest film in the world, and many critics already slammed it. However, I thought it held my attention long enough to watch it through the end. I don’t recommend it to everyone, as this really feels like a poor man’s Gus Van Sant or Sofia Coppola, and it’ll be interesting to see if this film will catch on later on in its dvd tenure much like “The Virgin Suicides” seems to be getting a lot more attention than when it was out in theaters.

When you consider romantic comedy, you don’t really think about Steve Zahn. At least I don’t. He has been in a lot of different films, none of which are memorable in a romantic way. In fact, some of my favorite films have him in it. “Saving Silverman”, “Strange Wilderness” and “Happy Texas” are three films that come to mind when considering this actor. Now, hiss costar in this film, that we are about to talk about, is someone that I would definitely consider ripe for romantic comedy. Jennifer Aniston plays a woman that works too hard for her own good, and has a fling while on the road. This fling is done in such a subtle, and comedic way that heart is brought forth despite the lack of overt sexuality.

I think romantic comedies are dumb. I’m not a big fan, however, this film managed to get me sucked in because of the loneliness that was presented. The loneliness was projected in such a way that I related to it in a way that isn’t too normal for me.

Mike Flux is a motel worker at a motel owned by his parents. He doesn’t really want to take over, but has no real options, so he just settles. Until Sue shows up and changes things up a little, and that drives a good portion of the film. However, like all movies, there’s a villain and this time Woody Harrelson plays that role.

The movie feels like an independent film, and has pacing like such. It is slow moving with a lot of shots dedicated to the outside looking in, rather than showcasing tons of musical montages, and random dialogue. There is a thoughtfulness placed to the reactions and story that is not seen in a lot of mainstream comedies. If you compare Management to “The Proposal” you’ll see a distinct and precise difference between the two, even though both are placed under the “romantic comedy” genre. While most romantic comedies seem to have an overtly comedic timing, this one doesn’t. This type of humor is sometimes implicit, and deadpan, with no real location for many to laugh. You really have to be keen on this one, or else you might lose sight of what the movie is really about.

Management came and went and no one really saw it. I think it’s a worthwhile romantic comedy to check out. I thought it was interesting, it had heart, and there’s some distinct dark humor to take hold of. Management is above the genre that it has been marketed into, which is a nice change of pace.

I don’t really like a lot of television. However, when television is written right, with a good poignant analysis of right and wrong and really makes complex decisions about their characters and how the audience will judge them, then I’m intrigued. I first heard about The Shield when I was working as a video store clerk, finishing up my degree. I started with Season 1 disc 1 and moved forward through years of watching the show, and then the final season started and I was ready.

Never before has a show captured the attention of not only myself but many other fans of cop dramas the way The Shield has and did. The show not only focused on dirty cops as a given, it brought out the best and worst out of the ideas that we take for granted somehow and fully charged the notion of gray areas amidst a sea of “what if’s” that aren’t usually addressed by any other shows.

While the show maintained a strong focus on the core dirty cops, the political stages of many characters, race, violence and more, there is also so much good to be found. While the entire show starts with a cop getting shot in the face, it is ultimately the last scene of the last show that hits hardest. It was last November that the final show aired and I was satisfied with the years spent invested in watching and following this show.

That’s why when news broke that this is out, I had to pick it up. I highly recommend The Shield. It gets some trouble starting out, but it fills the void and breaks through the cob webs of mediocre cop dramas past and present. This show is gritty, dark, and balanced. I loved it, and think it’s well worth the price. You get all 7 series, a book, and so much more. You owe it to yourself to check out The Shield Complete Series Box Set today.

Is it just me or does Clint Eastwood seem to be doing the same role in a different background all the time these days? It just seems to me that he’s doing the same thing all the time and no one is calling him out for it. I found myself comparing Gran Torino to “The Rookie” with the way the roles were working out, but that wouldn’t be fair would it?

Gran Torino was nominated for a lot of awards and once again Clint Eastwood’s passion for film shines through. The film caught me off guard with the length and character set up. The character “Walt” that Eastwood plays is so much like a lot of older people that I’ve met in my life, and just like I was able to worm my way into a lot of situations over time, he bonds with the next door neighbors in an unlikely way. The writing is so good, that even when you think the story is going for the cliché openhanded opportunities, it reminds you that it’s more than just a view of good and bad.

I enjoyed the film, I thought the story was good, and while I could see the obvious play on duality, I let myself be taken away through the story. The story itself has a lot of layers that you might miss if you’re not aware of foreshadowing, alliteration, and many other literary terms that you probably don’t remember from English II. The story has those, and plays with your emotions. One such example of the duality that I’m talking about is in the third act when the young priest comes to talk to Walt after a gang has attacked his friends. We see the priest’s face in clarity on one side, while the other side is embraced by the darkness, creating a great and play on the old “Dark Knight”, Two Face, style of duality that we see throughout many places. Some might argue that the duality is really something that is set up in the very first moments of this film, where the priest is talking about how life and death are bittersweet, but that’s not the case, as the ending really pushes you over the line.

This film really pulls you in with the characterizations of Walt’s family. Especially how they don’t understand their father, and how they treat him like he’s a child. Furthermore, his constant racist notions is something that many people might find a bit too much to handle. I appreciated the honest approach to the writing and figured it really fit the character and the time period very well.

Eastwood and the cast play off quite well. I thought the pacing was well done, and while I thought it was slow at times, I realized that it takes time to set up raw emotion and conclusions. The overt “Christian” message was seen throughout and the closing acts really reflect that notion. Eastwood as “Walt” seemed somewhat auto-biographical in a way and while I wanted to think of this film simply as fiction, I realize that it shares common ground with so many other stories, not just in my own life and the lives of others, but even in fictional films like “Up”. Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino really is a strong film with a great central message for both secular and Christian minds to enjoy. I thought it wasn’t half bad. I liked “Unforgiven” way better, but this one was top notch in a different way. Make sure you check out Gran Torino at least once.