‘Imaginarium’ really a love story

I am mystified by those who don’t get the 2009 movie “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.” While complicated, it’s really rather simple. It’s a love story. So don’t be discouraged by those who say the movie is really bad. And I will admit, any movie that features Johnny Depp and Colin Farrell already has my attention. But there was something else. I was also intrigued by the fact Depp, Farrell along with Jude Law, would be playing the character originated by Heath Ledger. We all know Ledger died while filming the movie.

So here’s a little something about the movie. Maybe it will make you check it out. Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) was a vaudeville-like performer, who possess mystical powers, fell in love with a mortal woman. Parnassus, who claims to have lived more than a thousand years, made a deal with the devil, Mr. Nick (Tom Waits), which involved giving up his first born once he or she turned 16. Parnassus also had to give up his immortality. In this case, Parnassus has to let his daughter Valentina (Lily Cole) go with Mr. Nick. She was none the wiser because her father had never told her what was really going on while they were performing around the streets London in their rickety-looking caravan. Longtime companion Percy (Verne Troyer) and Anton (Andrew Garfield) also trek with Parnassus and Valentina. Their show involves the audience getting involved and

One night, after a performance the group discovers Tony (Ledger) hanging by the neck and decide to save him. Once he regained consciousness, he has “amnesia.” All the time Mr. Nick is lurking in the shadows because Valentina is nearly 16 and there might actually be a connection between him and Tony.

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Tony sticks with the troupe and becomes part of the act by selling tickets and attracting onlookers, formerly Anton’s job. Resentment grows between the two especially when it seems Valentina and Tony might be in to each other. Anton is secretly in love with Valentina. Resentment seems to grow even more as Tony convinces Parnassus to change the routine. The changes work. They market to a higher income bracket and attract women into the imaginarium. So what is the imaginarium? It’s a place that’s controlled by Parnassus where almost anything is possible. Tony is super curious about the imaginarium and decides to check it out. Once inside, he’s no longer Legder. Parnassus’ thoughts have changed him into Depp. Inside the imaginarium is where we learn something is up with Tony. As Law, this time, we learn Tony is actually running from some goons who have also entered the imaginarium.

Tony learns of Parnassus’ predicament and suggests that he take Valentina away. The two run into the back into the imaginarium, after a scuffle with Anton (he’s the new Spider-Man). There Valentina learns about Tony’s (who is now Farrell) past and makes a decision to go with Mr. Nick. It’s also revealed that Mr. Nick has been after Tony for some time. And he decides to make another deal with Parnassus. If Tony dies in the imaginarium, Valentina will be returned. But can you really trust the devil?

Terry Gilliam creates interesting imagery in this movie. And what’s most amazing is that it’s not as cheesy as the images from the upcoming “The Amazing Spider-Man” movie. In addition, Gilliam made me question whether they were in modern-day London.

“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” surprised me. I went in expecting the worst from the movie. I also expected I would be confused and have to view the movie more than once to get it. But I didn’t. While it’s not my favorite movie, or even in the top 20, I really enjoyed it.

‘Unstoppable’ train keeps you moving

So what do you get when you combine an unmanned runaway train, school field trip and manually disconnected air brakes? Tony Scott’s 2010 movie “Unstoppable” starring Denzel Washington.

One might think the movie is all about this multi-car locomotive racing across Pennsylvania at over 70 miles an hour. Okay, it really is. However, the movie is also about the uncharacteristic yin and yang. Washington portrays Frank Barnes and is the yin; the old timer who might be a little bitter and is being forced into retirement. Will Colson (Chris Pine) is the youngster who appears to be a know-it-all and possibly landed his job via nepotism; is the yang.  Here’s the big question: How the hell does a train with tons of fuel leave the yard unmanned? Human stupidity and laziness. Does that surprise anyone? To be fair, Dewey (Ethan Suplee from “My Name Is Earl”) did his best to jump off the moving train to change the track and then jump back on. That was sarcasm.

As Barnes and Colson put-put with their overextended cargo, thanks to Colson, towards central Pennsylvania, they begin to work on their differences.  In the meantime, Dewey’s train is moving along the tracks at lightning speed and unless the control room (Rosario Dawson and crew) successfully clears the tracks, the two trains will collide.

Despite an impending collision, Connie has answer to the runaway train before it reaches the very populated city of Stanton.  She suggests to “the suit” that the train should be derailed around the cornfields. “The suit” isn’t interested because of the “precious precious” (think of Gollum from “Lord of the Rings”) cargo and devises a plan which the head car from another train rolling in front of the runaway to slow it down.

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Once under 40 miles, they plan to lower an Iraq vet turned conductor onto the train. Sound like a good plan? It wasn’t. The vet was knocked unconscious mid air and conductor for the train skidded off the trains and died.

“The suit” decided to try another plan, but still not Connie’s and it failed. The train kept going at its current speed, narrowly missing Barnes and Colson and heading to Stanton. Thousands would die if the train reached Stanton, so Barnes devised a plan that would involve them chasing down the runway to slow it down. How? Well Dewey was so efficient (sarcasm again) in how he connected that trains, he left one open. Barnes figured that they could pull the train in the opposite direction to slow it down. But could they?

I will say this, finding out if they could was exciting because the train traveled along this a curve which is the point of no return. They could topple over. I forgot to mention that Denzel is running on the top of the moving train. Action hero. Not to forget about Pine.  He tried to connect one train to another while both are moving.

BTW, this story is based on actual events. That doesn’t mean that everything that happened it true.

Great Casting Works for this ‘Night’

Lovers reunited (or actors pretending to be lovers) — I think that’s why I decided to check out “Night Catches Us.” But unlike Spike Lee’s “She Hate Me,” where Kerry Washington portrayed a lesbian and Anthony Mackie fathered numerous children, this movie attempts to defuse an explosive secret. One that would rock director Tanya Hamilton’s 1970s post-Black Panther circle in Philadelphia.

So close your eyes. Use your imagination. Picture a black screen, and then a “We Shall Overcome” chant begins. African-American men precisely lined up sporting those recognizable black berets greet viewers as the movie opens. And then a voice comes in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance as black-and-white Black Panther images greet viewers while the movie opens. It appears that something heavy is about to happen, so get your mind right. However, then director Tanya Hamilton uses cartoon a variety of black-themed cartoon images, some which remind me of Cuban-themed “Chico and Rita” infused with instrument heavy music by the Roots.

However, when the action finally begins, I was completely confused.  In the beginning, the two stories (one with Washington and then another with Mackie) seem to have nothing to do with each other. Initially, I thought one of those scenes with the children playing in the street had to be a flashback. But it wasn’t and I was confused by the time line. Iris (newcomer Jamara Griffin) watches as her mother Patricia (Washington) receives a gift from her boyfriend (Ron Simons), who happens to be an attorney. You get the impression that Iris doesn’t like their embrace, but then it cuts to Mackie who has been MIA for four years. The ex-Black Panther Marcus (Mackie) comes home to bury his father, but encounters obstacles from his brother Bostic (played by the Roots’ Tariq Trotter),  who has already sold the house they used to live in.

As the story follows Iris, you get see how some of her day is spent—helping slightly unstable Jimmy (Amari Cheatom) collect cans with his young brother. We later learn that Jimmy and his brother are staying in the house with Patty and Iris. We also learn this is the same house where Neil was killed and Patty is very reluctant to leave when given more than one opportunity. While Patty is hiding from her past and refusing to tell Iris about what happened to her fathered Marcus encounter his other obstacles which include the neighborhood and its residents, who have branded him a snitch. They, specifically Dewayne “DoRight” Miller (Jamie Hector), think Marcus sold out their leader Neil, who was married to Patty and was later gunned down by police. It appears his biggest obstacle includes Patty. Despite knowing this, Marcus decides to move in with Patty and tension within the house and neighborhood begins, which include kicking Jimmy out. As a result, Jimmy’s instability is tested and he ends up killing a police officer.

At some point you wonder will Marcus make it out of the neighborhood alive. He has Miller on his back, and then one of the detectives (Wendell Pierce) wants him to plant evidence.

There is a connection between Marcus and Patty, and you definitely feel that from the beginning when Marcus decides to sit outside of Patty’s house when he first arrives. And of course there is a sex scene. Blah, blah, blah.

Hamilton had an interesting ending that I wasn’t expecting, but then again it made sense if you knew Patty’s character. Despite the shaky beginning, I enjoyed “Night Catches Us.” The main reason is because it made me want to learn more about the Black Panthers.  Being in Chicago, you often hear the stories about Fred Hampton and how he was killed in his home, much like Hamilton’s Neil.

If you are a Netflix subscriber, “Night Catches Us” is currently streaming.

Books about Indian culture turn into good movies

There aren’t movies I love or even actors for that matter. This is ironic because I watch so many movies, but do it out of love for a good story. That is what I found when I watched Brick Lane via Netflix streaming.

This story of an Indian girl married off to unknown man reminded me very much of Water. The good news is that was a significant difference. Water, based on a book of the same name, follows eight-year-old Chuyia (Sarala) who literally married a senior citizen. Within a week, the old man died and she was sent to live in poverty with other widows at an ashram in Varanasi, India during the late 1930s.The problem was that Chuyia had the energy of a child and was supposed to spend the rest of her life in a dilapidated two-story building with other widows who have been exploited. The movie does a good job of creating empathy. As you watch elders shave Chuyia’s long black hair, you begin to wonder why she can’t be an exception. Or you wonder what man created this form of grief?

On the other hand much of Brick Lane, takes place in London circa 9/11. The movie, based on a book of the same name, follows Nazneen (Tannishtha Chatterjee) around as she battles with martial, identity and fidelity issues. When she was 17-years-old her mother committed suicide and as a result, Nazneen had to start a new life in London. Over the course of 16 years, she had three children and longed to return to India and her younger sister.

One day in her complex, she runs into a new neighbor and liberated woman. Her hair has been cut to just above her shoulders, she’s divorced and smokes like a chimney. She is the complete opposite of Nazneen who still wears traditional Indian attire, covers her face when speaking to men and has really long hair. Nonetheless, Nazneen is intrigued by her especially because she earns money by sewing.

Nazneen soon after begins to work for the neighbor and encounters clean clut American-looking Karim (Christopher Simpson), who brings the women materials for them to sew. When Karim first arrives, Nazneen seems to be thrown off because she wasn’t told about him. She eventually lets him in the apartment and an interesting relationship develops between the two.

I think they are drawn together because Nazneen feels stifled by her husband, Chanu (Satish Kaushik). He’s been fired and Nazneen’s meager sewing income, unbeknownst to her, pays for a computer she can’t touch. Also, he’s overweight and overbearing. Karim is young and the complete opposite.

All the characters evolve in this movie. Nazneen yearns to be on her own and eventually becomes independent of Chanu. Chanu gives in to Nazneen’s desire to return to India. However, he lives her and the children behind. Karim physically transforms. He has a long beard and has done away with the jeans and polo shirts. He wears more traditional garb and becomes very active in the Muslim movement.

Both movies are totally worth the time. Water, the book, is part of a series. The Brick Lane neighborhood exists in London.

I must also admit, I am completely smitten with Simpson. I had to find more movies with him. And I did.

You Have Been Warned

This year I have been to theater to see more movies (The Princess and the Frog, Avatar, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Precious, The Hangover and Good Hair) than I have in the previous three years. I only remember seeing Slumdog Millionaire, some movie with Colin Ferrell and Ed Norton, and something else. But I still like to use Netflix. So I have compiled the top ten movies to avoid in your lifetime. I want this time back, but it’s not going to happen.

 

10. Man on the Moon – The theory behind this movie about comedian Andy Kaufman. I always say that a movie has to have a beginning, middle and end. I don’t have to like it, but I can appreciate it. This 1999-movie starring Jim Carrey had the most bizarre beginning, which did not create any interest for me. As a result, I was somewhat confused. The reason I decided to check this movie out is because I remember Kaufman, who was known as a prankster, on Taxi. I remembered how his appearance had changed. As a kid I didn’t understand, but I knew something was wrong. I remember when he died because it didn’t make sense to me much like other people. Kaufman who wasn’t a smoker, according to the film, died of lung cancer in 1984. The good news was that Kaufman seemed to have a good attitude about life. The movie ends weird because the story makes it seems like Kaufman faked his death. You have been warned.

9. Pineapple Express – Somewhere on some planet this movie is funny. I just don’t know the planet. I’ve been watching too much Doctor Who.

I think this movie starring James Franco and boy boy a.k.a. Seth Rogen (they both were on Freaks and Geeks). Boy boy is so not funny. He’s was in the right place at the right time with the movie Knocked Up. The more and more I watched this movie, the more I thought it was trying to be like Half Baked. Tremendously huge difference: One movie was funny and one was not. And to me honest, I don’t remember this movie. The thing I remember is that Rosie Perez was in the movie. Who knew?

8. Knowing – What exactly did Nicholas Cage and ‘nem know?

The most bizarre thing about this movie was that the kids to seemed to all look alike to me. And if aliens are coming to continue the human race, why did they only pick white children? Doesn’t make a lot of sense. Unless the white children represented America? Which is totally inaccurate. Despite that, the movie made no sense to me. The end of man was all based on a 50-year-old prediction. There were also other predictions that Cage deciphered based on notes from an eight-year-old girl.

7. The Hitcher – Here’s the scary part about this movie: it subtlety said it was stupid.  Grace Anndrews (Sophia Bush) and Jim Hasley (Zachary Knighton) didn’t want to pick up the hitcher, John Ryder. Yet they did. The couple met Ryder (Sean Bean) one rainy night. During there first encounter they were freaked and decided not to help him. But then they stopped at a gas station and who shows up a few seconds later? Ryder.

Grace doesn’t want Ryder in the car, but Jim feels guilt by leaving him in the car and offers him a ride. Of course he regrets it because they find out that Ryder has already killed a family. This movie is remake. When you factor in this aspect, one wonders when something original will be produced because another movie I saw was a remake. This movie was eventually taken from theaters because of poor performance.

6. Friday the 13th – Ahhh the other remake starring the Supernatural’s Jared Padalecki. Here’s my initial problem with Friday the 13th: I thought Jason was dead. And then I thought he was Michael Myers (he’s the killer from the Halloween series. I could never differentiate them and I don’t think I was the only one.)

 The movie opens with what seems like footage from the first movie and then young adults discover the camp present day. Jason who survived his drowning kills all but one because somehow she looks like his mother. If that’s the theory, shouldn’t they be related? That would have made a more interesting story. He keeps her captive for some odd reason and she turns out to be Padalecki’s sister. I was hoping Paladecki was Jason. So blah blah blah…. He’s looking for her people, people die, Jason dies finally or does he?

 5. P2 – I was completely intrigued because of who was starring in this movie (Wes Bentley from American Beauty) and not the story line itself. That totally seemed stupid.

So it’s Christmas Eve and Angela (Rachel Nichols) is headed to her sister’s for dinner after work. But uh oh, her car in one of Manhattan’s underground parking garage won’t start and she’s basically the last person to leave. She seeks help from Tom (Bentley), but he’s useless. So she calls a cab and waits in the lobby for the ride. Somehow, she misses the ride because the doors are locked. So Angela tries to run through the parking garage to the cab but all the lights go out and this when crazy Tom kicks. He drugs her, changes her into some skimpy dress and proceeds to have dinner with her. The thing about this movie is that it was smart at times but still a waste of time.

4. The Unborn – I would just like to say that I always confuse Odette Yustman (who portrayed Casey Beldon) with Megan Fox all the time. With that being said, I didn’t really like this movie. I appreciated that Meagan Good (Casey’s best friend) wasn’t the first casualty in the horror movie.

 That’s it. Oh. I really didn’t get why Casey’s eyes were changing color.

3. The Happening – this movie had totally been erased from my memory it was so bad. What’s so sad about M. Night Shyamalan set a high standard for himself with The Sixth Sense. Nothing has compared. And I liked all of his movies up until this one. The damn trees did it.

Maybe he’s just too deep. I thought that after I saw Signs. When I saw it the second time I got it. Avoid The Happening. The good news is that it could end up like Bringing Up Baby with Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. And the time reviews were the movie were horrible, but now it’s considered one of the best movies.

2. Southland Tales – blah blah blah

1. Forgetting Sarah Marshall – Another Freaks and Greeks person starred in this movie. I can honestly say I didn’t through this movie. I actually stopped in the middle and sent it back. So Freaks and Geeks guy is a writer dating an actress (Kristen Bell). She breaks up with him. He’s a wuss. He decides to get away to an island from everything that reminds him of her and low and behold she’s there with her new boyfriend. Surprise! Surprise! So he does something. The DVD went off at this point. While the marketing was brilliant, I want to forget Sarah Marshall.

All these movies were train wrecks. And much like the actual accidents (unless you’re part of the crew to help), don’t stop. Keep going.

**Honorable Mention (or not honorable) Paranormal Activity. That movie truly pissed me off!**

A Variety of Favorites

I love movies. Wait let me rephrase. I LOVE good movies. Those that tell a good story with a beginning, middle and end. While I don’t have to like the story, I can appreciate that there is one. With that being the case, I refuse to buy movies if I’m not ready to marry them.  So as many movies as I watch, I don’t own that many DVDs.  I can’t seem to invest ownership  in many movies I can’t watch over and over again.

The good news is that I have found movies to invest in like “Carmen Jones” starring  Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belfonte. Somehow I found this movie. Maybe it found me.

I started watching in the middle when the characters where celebrating fighter Husky Miller (played by Joe Adams) in a Louisana nightclub. I was completely fascinated by the scene I flipped to because there were a bunch of black people singing and dancing who looked classy. There were a couple of people I recognized like Diahann Carroll (who I just love and who I feel is completely underappreciated), Pearl Bailey and Harry Belafonte.

The story centers about parachute maker Carmen Jones (Dandridge) and  how she literally puts military man Joe (Belafonte) underneath her spell while in North Carolina after being taken into for being way too sassy circa World War II. While in his custody, Carmen manages to escape during the night and Joe is arrested the next day. Joe is whipped already, not to mention that  his plans to marry his longtime goody girlfriend Cindy Lou (Olga James) and  advance his military career are out the window after his encounter with Carmen.

Carmen, on the other hand, is incredibly selfish. She got what she wanted from Joe plus took advantage of a chance to escape. Despite knowing Carmen is out for herself (she eventually runs off with Husky Miller) I, like Joe, still like her and hope that she will have this epiphany. The only thing she realizes is that she has to live every minute because something bad is going to happen.  

While Dorothy Dandridge grew up dancing and singing, “Carmen Jones” helped to proprel her short-lived movie career. Dandridge was the first black woman to be nominated for an Academy Award. Pearl Bailey, Harry Belafonte and Diahann Carroll went on to have lengthy movie careers.

I loved the singing in the movie and was saddened when I learned years later that both Belafonte and Dandridge vocals weren’t used. I loved when I heard Carmen sing “Dat’s Love” with much swagger and my favorite “De Cards Don’t Lie.”

The reason I like this movie is simple; there is a beginning, middle and end. There is an actual story. I also like the musical aspect of the movie because it doesn’t distract from the story.

In 1992, “Carmen Jones” was added to the US National Film Registrsty by the Library of Congress for being being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

I have come to rely on Netflix. They have come to recommend movies that I have come to love. One of them being “Amélie.” Previously I had seen one or two foreign movies, but I started watching this movie I didn’t realize I was reading it. 

Again, simple and old story; girl dreams, girl meets boy and they go off together.  The magic of movie is that is that I began to identify with Amélie (Audrey Tautou).  Her parents had really weird quirks. So did mine. Amélie grew up an only child. So did I. Her mother died. So did mine.  But Amélie isn’t a real person.

Despite this, Amélie seemed to do some weird yet logical things. I loved how she lived in the city and would take the public transportation to see her father. Once she had to sleep in train station because she missed the last one.  That night Amélie took the gnome out of the garden and gave it to her flight attendant friend in order to encourage her father to travel. The friend took pictures with the gnome at various places around the world and sent the pictures back. If the gnome could travel, so could he. Also at the train station Amélie discovered the boy Nino (Mathieu Kassovitz).

Nino was bizarre in his own right because he would collect the discardedd pictures from photo booths and working in a sex toy store. After collecting pictures for years, Nino finds a photo of one man and is determined to find out who he is. In pursute of this mystery man, Nino drops the photo album where he keeps all the discard pictures. Amélie finds the album and reclusive neighbor “the Glass Man”  dares her to find Nino and then decides creates a game.

Amélie is a story about a young lady who is trying to find her place in the world, like I did (we were about the same age). In turn Amélie opens up and becomes a stronger person, but aslo a prankister, a matchmaker and guardian like when she describes everything that happening to a blind man.  And in the end she gets up with the boy.

It took me a year to purchase this movie, but when I did I watched every night after work for a week. I recently read some posts about the movie with people saying they did exactly the same thing, but now they think the movie is sad. I hope they never happens to me. This one of the few movies that made me feel optismistic. Why? I identified with the character. Paris seemed so romantic. Not love romantic. The movie always seemed bright in terms of color and feeling.

I am very happy I bought these movies and a couple of others.

Some Movies are Not for Everyone

Over the course of the week, I watched four movies. And it never fails that I want those two hours back. That is exactly what happened in “Southland Tales.” I swear, I swear I don’t know what was going on in that movie. It opens with some kids with a camera shooting footage at a barbeque. As the boys are shooting, through a window there appears to be an atomic looking explosion. People run outside to see what’s going on and this voiceover begins. All the time I am hearing this person talk, I keep thinking he sounds way to familiar and it turns out to be Justin Timberlake. 

Justin Timberlake during a singing and dancing scene.

Timberlake plays Private Pilot Abilene who seems to be scoping out the Los Angeles perched atop a turret with binoculars.  Timberlake makes an attempt to tell World World War III over oil between Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria and North Korea began. Stories about how Americans need a passport just to travel from state to another are told. Timberlake also talk about how Los Angeles came to be very political time which centers on Dwanye “The Rock” Johnson (Boxer Santaros/Jericho Cane) who is kidnapped by a political group and turns up in the desert. Due to being held captive Johnson is confused about who is really is—either Boxer Santaros or Jericho Cane (a character he created for a script). If that isn’t confusing enough, once Santaros is free he shacks up with porn star Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar). Krysta has a reality show with more porn stars and song that makes an attempt to excuse teenage horniness. I forgot to mention that Santaros is married to political darling Madeline Frost Santaros (portrayed by Mandy Moore). I am assuming this is the A story.

Meanwhile Zora Charmichaels (Cheri Oteri) is part of the Neo-Marxist group and seems to have an agenda to overthrow “the man” and has teamed up with Dion Element and Dream (Wood Harris and Amy Poehler). They have kidnapped Roland Taverner (Seann William Scott) who is impersonating his cop twin brother (or is he).  Something happens and then I became disinterested.

Neo-Marxists plotting.

There’s something about space and time and blah blah blah. But according to “Doctor Who” and “Back to the Future” something things that happened in this movie shouldn’t have happened.

“Southland Tales” made me wonder because I didn’t understand. It wasn’t event that deep. But then I started to wonder if I would have to watch it again like I did with “The Matrix” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings?” This time there is a huge difference—I don’t want to. I don’t want to figure it out.

I did devote some time to a series. Can I call it a series? There were only two movies —“Motives” and “Motives 2: Retribution.”  I actually thought a couple of things when I saw these movies: Why is this considered a black movie? There are characters who are non black. “Disturbia” wasn’t called a white movie, while there were non-white characters (who were incredibly important to the story and not advertised).  The last good original script I can remember was “The Sixth Sense.” So why would this movie get little attention for its love triangle theme? How many have come out already this year? These movies had a beginning, middle and an end. I can appreciate that.

Emery (Shemar Moore) tries to make sure Constance (Vivca A. Fox) doen't find Allannah (Golden Brooks).

In “Motives” Emery Simms (Shemar Moore) is powerful married to Constance (Vivica A. Fox.) and has a roving eye. Allannah James (Golden Brooks) caught his eye and they began a relationship which results in a pregnancy. Emery is having a string of bad luck because besides the unexpected pregnancy, the cops are following him because a business associate is found dead. Things become worse for Emery when Constance finds out about the pregnancy and Allannah is later found murdered. Emery is prosecuted and sends the rest of his life in jail.

This is where “Motives 2: Retribution” picks the rest of the story. While in jail Emery is murdered and he leaves behind stock in his company to his brother Donovan Cook (Brian White). Donovan finds out that Emery was framed and sets out to clear his brother’s name. Most of the actors like Vivca A. Fox, Mel Jackson, Joe Torry, Sean Blakemore and William L. Johnson reprise their roles. But there is an added Constance being married to Emery’s best friend Brandon Collier (Blakemore), something is a little different about Detective Morgan (Jackson).

Donovan (Brian White) and Detective Morgan (Mel Jackson) exchange words.

“Dough Boys” was my second movie in a week with Wood Harris who portrayed dope dealing Julian France. France has eyes all over the street and was a little upset when small time hustlers Smooth (Cory Hardict), Long Cuz (Lorenzo Eduardo), Cory (Arlen Escarpeta) and Black (Mo) break into his storage space.

The four guys decided that they didn’t want to deal with drug hustling so they

Don’t get it twisted, this movie did not have the production budget similiar to movies like “Casino,” “Blow” or “The 25th Hour.”  I enjoyed the movie because I understood Cory’s life and how his girlfriend Toni (Kerisse Hutchinson) and the neighborhood mailman (Gabriel Casseus) attempted to introduce a way out for him. I also saw how Beauty (Reagan Gomez) saw that Cory was looking to get out and would help whenever she could. As the movie went on, its characters began to remind me of the movie “Set It Off.”

For the last three movies, all I can say is that simple is always good.

“Towelhead” boobage makes teen think about sex

After being with Netflix since 2003, there are few movies I can sit all the way through. Sometimes I get up and go wash my hair. Or a couple of days ago, I went and started washing dishes although I was supposed to watching “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.”  Love Rory (Alexis Bedel) from “Gilmore Girls” fame, America Ferrera  of  “Ugly Betty” and “Real Women Have Curves” and Amber Tamblyn from “General Hospital” and “Joan of Arcadia” (I have never seen “Gossip Girl” so I can’t really comment about Blondie. I don’t even know her name.)  Something happens in that movie and then something else. After a pregnancy scare, a hater encounter and family resolution the girls then end up in another country chasing a boy. See, blah, blah, blah. I enjoyed the first movie (also based on a book).

 

Summer Bishil

Anywho, after “Towelhead” sat on my DVD player for a couple of days I decided to watch it (especially after nearly three hours of my life were sucked up by “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” the day before.).

This 2007 movie, originally penned by Alicia Erin, is directed by Alan Ball from “American Beauty” and “Six Feet Under” is unlike any other coming-of-age movie I have seen for several reasons. It’s not about teenage white guys trying to score and tons of boobage.  Centered around a Weeds-inspired cul-de-sac neighborhood (I thought I heard the music *Little houses made of ticky tacky…*) in Houston and splashed with acid wash jeans, “Towelhead” is about a 13-year-old Lebanese-American girl trying to figure how she fits in society circa the first Gulf War. Jasira (Summer Bishil) was raised my her mother Gail (Maria Bello) in Syracuse, New York until a weird sexual encounter and then she is forced to live with father Rifat, (Peter MacDissi) who is overbearing and completely self absorbed,  and he is supposed to tell her about men.  Jasira’s interaction with her mother (who I wondered if she was her birth mother . . . It wasn’t so clear in the beginning) is the complete opposite of her father at times. Her mother is affectionate hugging

Bishil and Maria Bello

 her at the airport, and is spontaneous. Her father on the other hand, is completely linear saying that she was an hour and half late when she arrived in Houston and seems to have something stuck up his butt.

But something that her parents share (besides Jasira) is the ability to blame the teen for things when they go wrong. “This whole thing is your fault,” the mother says as she hugs Jasira at the airport. “Alright? The way you walk around with your books stuck out, it’s impossible for him not to notice.”  Jasira’s father later blames her for something that couldn’t be her fault.

One person who doesn’t seem to blame Jasira for what she does is her philandering neighbor Travis Vuoso played by Aaron Eckhart. Jasira, whose voice whispers like a new millennium Mariah Carey song, first babysits for the Vuosos (thanks to her father for her college fund) and then becomes the object of Travis’s affection, literally.  But it’s during her babysitting sessions that things happen for her.  Ten-year-old Zack Vusoso (Chase Ellison) resents Jasira babysitting and calls her Towelhead, Sand Nigger and Camel Jockey. Despite Travis’s attraction to Jasira he seems to be a closet racist. That is the only way to his son calling Jasira names and saying he will be a slut if continues to hang out with Thomas (Eugene Jones), who happens to be black. But strangely enough Jasira, who often rocked denim skirts and pink high tops, and Zack find something in common when they had are both drawn to Mr. Vuoso’s skin mags. 

Aaron Eckhart

 Boobage enters here, but it’s more of a symbol of Jasira trying to understand her own sexuality.  Her parents are to blame, for her confusion. But since she is now living with her father and he’s more obsessed with upping Travis, who happens to be a U. S. Reservist than understanding his teenage daughter it seems that Jasira is on her own. Her father resents that people assume with he is a Saddam Hussein fan because he is Lebanese.  Rifat’s actions add to Jasira’s social confusion. He wants to flaunt his lifestyle. Jasira can’t have a black boyfriend. He dictates a letter to Jasira for a grandmother that she has never met and tells her to say that he is engaged. He’s not. He’s just dreaming. He refused to admit Jasira to a city school “because the schools in the suburbs are better. Everybody knows that,” and expects her to fully comprehend French after a few weeks. One morning Jasira greets him with a smile although wearing shorts and a shirt that slightly showing her stomach, he slaps her and tells her to go put on “proper” clothes. She runs to her room and he then apologizes. Jasira can’t use tampons because “only married women use them.”

Unfortunately, Rifat found Jasira’s skin mag and started to beat her. The good news is that she found refuge with a very pregnant neighbor Melina Hines (Toni Collette). While Rifat was out with his new girlfriend, Melina and her husband Gil (Matt Letscher) noticed that Travis was paying too much attention to the teen and gave her a key. There Jasira stayed and began to learn about sex from Melina. What was very interesting was that whenever Rifat came over to see Jasira, Gil checked him in Arabic saying, “You’re not going to disrespect my house.” Everyone also learns about Jasira’s sexual encounters.  As a result, Travis is later arrested and charged with statutory rape.

Bishil and Peter MacDissi

This coming-of-age story is not about boobage. This story takes a look at issues like understanding sexuality, sex and race. Unfortunately, Jasira is ill-equipped to deal sexuality and sex to her because no one has explained it to her. And she is trying to follow her father’s rules when it comes to race, but it clearly doesn’t make sense it to her. She points out to her father that another friend who wants to spend the night is white.  Between, “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2” and “the Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” I enjoyed this movie the most.  I didn’t know what to expect with this one.