I am a sad excuse for a blogger by the way, seeing as how I watched this movie weeks ago. Nonetheless!
"Is this the face of a killer?", is the tagline for the film You Don't Know Jack. Al Pacino's face as the well known "Doctor of Death", Jack Kevorkian, adorns the poster for this informative (and long) biopic.
I only knew the basics about infamous Kevorkian prior to this film; He assisted his patients in ending their lives, was very controversial, and ended up in jail for going too far. You Don't Know Jack starts with Kevorkian as an unemployed doctor who believes if a person has little to no quality of life, and are living in suffering then they have a right to die. Kevorkian's sister, Margot Janus (Vaccaro) and his best friend and former colleague Neal Nicol (Goodman) are his two main supporters of the idea.
It starts with Kevorkian interviewing people that feel they are ready for end. Most with diseases that were rapidly on the decline and had no hope of recovery. People that wanted to take their lives due to depression were not considered and were advised to seek help.
He becomes friends and begins to work alongside Janet Good (Surandon) who is also an assisted sucide advocate; with help from Nicol, Janus, and Good, he begins to accept patients. Although Kevorkian is designing the machines and supplying the injections or lethal gases, he is not technically doing the deed and therefore with help of his high powered attorney Geoffrey Fieger (Huston), Kevorkian continues his right-to-die campaign. He is successful in over 100 assisted suicides and in an attempt to get the Supreme Court's attention on the matter, he himself administers an injection to a patient, then airs it on 60 minutes. This act, and Kevorkian representing himself in court is what ultimately landed him in jail for over 8 years.
The amount of information that we learn in this film and being able to see and understand Kevorkian's side of the story is truly thought provoking. After seeing footage of Kevorkian himself we can also see that Pacino did his homework to play the character flawlessly. The irony is.....as a movie, I got bored. All the content was there: he was a painter, a doctor, never married, compassionate for people's rights to live and die, an activist....but what fell short? Well I think the footage on the cutting room floor is the answer to that question.
One thumb up to subject matter and acting, one thumb down for editing and direction.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
The Social Network
It has been very deliberate that I have not seen this movie until now. I use Facebook as much as anyone but an entire movie that seems to be sweeping awards left and right.....are we that obsessed with social media? (I do realize the irony as I am writing a blog that I will twitter here in a bit.)
So I bit the bullet, ready to own up to my pre-slander if I did in fact enjoy this film, and now I must give credit where credit is due....to Jesse Eisenberg. His acting was phenomenal and he has totally earned his Oscar nomination. Garfield you also did not disappoint and your linguistic transformation impressive. I have a feeling that we will be seeing both of these young actors much more in the near future. Get on it while it's hot kids!
The story of course is about Mark Zuckerberg (Eisenberg), Facebook founder, and the conception of The Facebook. The story leads us through the legal battles Zuckerberg faced against his one time best friend and CFO, Eduardo Saverin (Garfield), and the Winklevoss twins (both played by Armie Hammer) who originally pitched the idea to Zuckerberg. We see that Zuckerberg is a brilliant and curt Harvard kid, that may have a bit of a "holier than thou" complex. Fortunately for him the founder of Napster, Sean Parker (Timberlake), shares the same syndrome and seeks out Zuckerberg as a party of interest, eventually wedging himself in as part of the company and between Mark and Eduardo.
Zuckerberg only has an eye for Facebook domination and doesn't have too many feelings on who he hurts along the way. I am still unsure from the movie whether the guy finished his degree, I'll wiki him later. But let's face it....at the end of the day everyone got a settlement and Zuckerberg is still the youngest billonaire in history...so boo hoo.
Ok, I admit, I enjoyed the movie. That does not mean that I think it deserves a Director or Best Picture nomination. Acting, Supporting, Adapted Screenplay, Editing -- you deserve your nominations, not necessarily the wins, but you can be proud of the noms.
So I bit the bullet, ready to own up to my pre-slander if I did in fact enjoy this film, and now I must give credit where credit is due....to Jesse Eisenberg. His acting was phenomenal and he has totally earned his Oscar nomination. Garfield you also did not disappoint and your linguistic transformation impressive. I have a feeling that we will be seeing both of these young actors much more in the near future. Get on it while it's hot kids!
The story of course is about Mark Zuckerberg (Eisenberg), Facebook founder, and the conception of The Facebook. The story leads us through the legal battles Zuckerberg faced against his one time best friend and CFO, Eduardo Saverin (Garfield), and the Winklevoss twins (both played by Armie Hammer) who originally pitched the idea to Zuckerberg. We see that Zuckerberg is a brilliant and curt Harvard kid, that may have a bit of a "holier than thou" complex. Fortunately for him the founder of Napster, Sean Parker (Timberlake), shares the same syndrome and seeks out Zuckerberg as a party of interest, eventually wedging himself in as part of the company and between Mark and Eduardo.
Zuckerberg only has an eye for Facebook domination and doesn't have too many feelings on who he hurts along the way. I am still unsure from the movie whether the guy finished his degree, I'll wiki him later. But let's face it....at the end of the day everyone got a settlement and Zuckerberg is still the youngest billonaire in history...so boo hoo.
Ok, I admit, I enjoyed the movie. That does not mean that I think it deserves a Director or Best Picture nomination. Acting, Supporting, Adapted Screenplay, Editing -- you deserve your nominations, not necessarily the wins, but you can be proud of the noms.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Temple Grandin
It's true that some things just couldn't be written as fiction. Temple Grandin is a movie based on the true story of Autistic woman Temple Grandin. Claire Danes is the lead, with Catherine O'Hara, Julia Ormond, and David Strathairn supporting. All did bang up jobs and I for one immediately rewatched my favorite parts.
Temple Grandin was an odd but very bright and misunderstood girl. She thought in pictures, had a photogenic memory, and a big heart for animals, but when it came to people she had some trouble. Her aunt (O'Hara) lived on a ranch that Temple first visited the summer between high school and college. On the ranch she saw how cattle were calmed as they were branded and tagged; having panic attacks and episodes herself she learned that this squeezing was actually very soothing and also calmed her down. She then built her own "squeeze machine" also known "hug machine" to help manage her anxiety and went on her way to becoming one of the most influential people in the field of animal husbandry.
Against what the expectations were at the time for a person with Autism, Temple went on to college and graduate school. Her masters thesis was on how to build a more functional and humane system to lead cows into being dipped and into slaughter. "Nature is cruel but we don't have to be. We raise these animals for us, we owe them some respect." Her methods and understanding of cattle were fascinating to watch and her success admirable.
Director, Mick Jackson, did a great job of illustrating to the audience Temple's thinking in pictures. We watch and feel for her struggles while awing her creativeness and drive. A lot has been learned about Autism and how it affects people from the 1940s when it was blamed on a mother for being cold. Grandin gives all hope and is truly an inspiration to other people with Autism as well as society as a whole. She is now a professor at Colorado State and it was nice to see her at the GOlden Globes, as Danes accepted the acting award for her role in Temple Grandin.
Temple Grandin was an odd but very bright and misunderstood girl. She thought in pictures, had a photogenic memory, and a big heart for animals, but when it came to people she had some trouble. Her aunt (O'Hara) lived on a ranch that Temple first visited the summer between high school and college. On the ranch she saw how cattle were calmed as they were branded and tagged; having panic attacks and episodes herself she learned that this squeezing was actually very soothing and also calmed her down. She then built her own "squeeze machine" also known "hug machine" to help manage her anxiety and went on her way to becoming one of the most influential people in the field of animal husbandry.
Against what the expectations were at the time for a person with Autism, Temple went on to college and graduate school. Her masters thesis was on how to build a more functional and humane system to lead cows into being dipped and into slaughter. "Nature is cruel but we don't have to be. We raise these animals for us, we owe them some respect." Her methods and understanding of cattle were fascinating to watch and her success admirable.
Director, Mick Jackson, did a great job of illustrating to the audience Temple's thinking in pictures. We watch and feel for her struggles while awing her creativeness and drive. A lot has been learned about Autism and how it affects people from the 1940s when it was blamed on a mother for being cold. Grandin gives all hope and is truly an inspiration to other people with Autism as well as society as a whole. She is now a professor at Colorado State and it was nice to see her at the GOlden Globes, as Danes accepted the acting award for her role in Temple Grandin.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Winnebago Man
Jack Rebney was an ornery man living in seclusion while old video footage of him went viral on YouTube. You may be familiar with these videos: footage of a man filming a Winnebago commercial,cursing, yelling at the crew, pissed off at the heat and the lines. It has been viewed into the millions and filmaker, Ben Steinbauer, found himself wondering what happened to this "angriest man on earth".
Steinbauer eventually tracked down Rebney to a small house in the mountains of Northern CA. When they first met, Rebney acted like a sweet old man who had found peace in the mountain air solitude. Fortunately, it doesn't take long for Rebney to contact the film maker and admit bulls*#$. He was still an angry old bird who loathed the internet, the dumb ass people that watched these "viral videos", and how politics and people were ruining the country.
Over a couple of years, Ben and Jack get to know one another well, in this time Jack loses his site, which shockingly doesn't seem to really affect his attitude. We get the feeling that regardless of how Rebney feels about his fans, he still enjoys being filmed and being heard. He is ultimately convinced to attend the Found Footage Festival as a guest, and we see eager kids lined up waiting for hours to see the "Winnabego Man".
As Jack enjoys his fans taking pictures and talking to him after the show, we start to wonder....How much of these documentaries are real? Is Rebney a cantankerous teddy bear?
Did he lose his familiarity with society so much that once he was reintroduced he decided that they were not all knit wits? After his fans cheer at his Dick Chaney jab, he immediately gives them all credit for being "quick". Who knows what was actually true and how much of the truth is laying on the cutting room floor.
Personally, I felt like despite Rebney's strong opinions, his age and condition became more apparent. He had been through a lot and was fine with his situation and the friends he had made (or more than friends?). The bit of attention and adoration that he received felt good and he couldn't pretend it didn't. An angry personality, is not the same thing as a bad person. Sad part about this, I actually was not that entertained. So even if this movie was clipped and pasted to be the most captivating story, it still fell a little flat.
Steinbauer eventually tracked down Rebney to a small house in the mountains of Northern CA. When they first met, Rebney acted like a sweet old man who had found peace in the mountain air solitude. Fortunately, it doesn't take long for Rebney to contact the film maker and admit bulls*#$. He was still an angry old bird who loathed the internet, the dumb ass people that watched these "viral videos", and how politics and people were ruining the country.
Over a couple of years, Ben and Jack get to know one another well, in this time Jack loses his site, which shockingly doesn't seem to really affect his attitude. We get the feeling that regardless of how Rebney feels about his fans, he still enjoys being filmed and being heard. He is ultimately convinced to attend the Found Footage Festival as a guest, and we see eager kids lined up waiting for hours to see the "Winnabego Man".
As Jack enjoys his fans taking pictures and talking to him after the show, we start to wonder....How much of these documentaries are real? Is Rebney a cantankerous teddy bear?
Did he lose his familiarity with society so much that once he was reintroduced he decided that they were not all knit wits? After his fans cheer at his Dick Chaney jab, he immediately gives them all credit for being "quick". Who knows what was actually true and how much of the truth is laying on the cutting room floor.
Personally, I felt like despite Rebney's strong opinions, his age and condition became more apparent. He had been through a lot and was fine with his situation and the friends he had made (or more than friends?). The bit of attention and adoration that he received felt good and he couldn't pretend it didn't. An angry personality, is not the same thing as a bad person. Sad part about this, I actually was not that entertained. So even if this movie was clipped and pasted to be the most captivating story, it still fell a little flat.
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