February, 2009

Gran Torino is a film that exemplifies an individual’s struggle within the ever-evolving society of modern America.

The film begins inside a church with the funeral of Walt Kowalski’s (Clint Eastwood) wife, Dorothy. Walt greets those that approach the casket to give their condolences. His grim, bitter-old man disposition is evident in the opening scenes. One could immediately assume that his demeanor is not solely a direct result of his wife’s passing. His emotional underpinnings are questionable and disquieting. This personality perplexity is unraveled when it is later explained that Walt is a Korean War veteran.

The funeral scene introduces a character that is prominent throughout the film: Father Janovich. As Father Janovich gives a profoundly dim eulogy about life and death, Walt sneers in disgust.

Following the funeral, people visit Walt’s home for lunch. There, Father Janovich presents himself to Walt mano y mano to outline his intentions. Janovich was close with Walt’s wife and explains to him that she wanted Walt to attend confession. Walt dismisses Father Janovich by stating that he is an overeducated, 27-year old virgin fresh out the seminary, and walks away. In this scene, it is made clear that Walt is forthright with everyone, including his two sons, which he disapproves of and doesn’t get along with. After lunch, people vacate and the storyline builds from this point.

The neighborhood in which Walt lives is occupied by many Hmongs. Walt’s neighbors, the Vang Lors-a Hmong family with two teenagers, a mother and a grandmother-always seem to irritate Walt. The grandmother speaks unfavorably about Walt constantly in her native tongue. Through Walt’s interactions, we realize that Walt is disconnected with the younger generation and subconsciously still stationed in Korea 1952. We later see that the teenage boy, Thao, and his sister, Sue, will be Walt’s connection with the young generation.

But in the relationship between these neighbors, conflict precedes concord.

The conflict between the neighbors is generated from a conflict within the veins of the Vang Lor bloodline. It all begins one day when Thao is walking down the street. As he walks, a Hispanic gang begins to harass Thao by calling him racial slurs, questioning his sex, and other things of demeaning nature. Thao’s cousin Spider and his Hmong gang see this and threaten the Hispanic gang with an Uzi. The Hispanic gang soil themselves and flees the scene. Spider and his gang begin to pressure Thao to join their gang in return for saving his tail. Thao refuses and makes on his way.

Later, Spider and his gang go to the Vang Lor household and continue to pressure Thao to join their gang. Thao eventually concedes. For his initiation, Thao is forced to do something that will trigger a chain reaction of problematic events; he is forced to steal Walt Kowalski’s 1972 Gran Torino.

Later that night, Walt is awakened from his sleep by noises from inside his garage. He immediately loads his shotgun and heads to the garage, prepared to waste the infiltrator. As Walt enters the garage, he points the shotgun at Thao’s face, driving him back until he runs away.

Spider and his gang return to the Vang Lor home the next night, and use physical force to make Thao finish his initiation. A fight breaks out, which causes a few elves on the Kowalski property to be destroyed. The next thing you know, Walt is pointing his shotgun at the gang members and telling them “Get off my lawn”. He says this in such a voice that will erect the hairs on your chinny chin chin. Spider and his friends are forced to retreat. The Vang Lors thank Walt repeatedly but Walt simply replies that he wants to be left alone.

Interjected between these incidents are the visitations of the persistent Father Janovich, bound to get Walt to confess. Walt continues to dismiss him, despite the father’s best efforts.

Walt’s birthday arrives amongst all the turmoil. There is a scene where he is sitting on the porch reading his paper. This scene is important because his horoscope in the paper says that extraordinary events will culminate at what may seem to be the anticlimax of his life. Walt dismisses this horoscope as he does Father Janovich and continues with his day. Later, as Walt is relaxing and drinking beer, Sue walks over and invites him to a barbecue that the Vang Lors are having. With it being his birthday, Walt feels inclined to accept her offer. It is at this barbecue where he meets many of the Hmongs, speaks with the family, begins to accept their culture, loosens up a little with Thao, and gets interpreted by a shaman. The shaman interprets Walt as not being “at peace”, which has implications for further along in the film.

Some days after, Thao, Sue, and their mother approach Walt and make a proposition to have Thao work for Walt for his attempted grand theft auto. Initially, Walt refuses his services downright. But after Sue insists and explains that a refusal of their proposition would be an insult to their family and their tradition, Walt agrees.

Thao begins work at Walt’s home the next day and everyday after that for two weeks. Walt and Thao unintentionally bond through the work, and eventually become friends. Sue also becomes close with Walt, and they begin all hanging out together. They conversate about many things, like how Thao needs to get a job to pay for school. When his second week of work nears completion, Walt gets Thao into the construction circuit, for which he has connections.

One day after Thao is returning home from a day of work at the construction site, his cousin Spider and his gang jump him and burn a cigarette into his cheek. After Walt sees this, he pays a visit to the member who got cigger trigger happy with Thao, and gives him the lambasting of a lifetime. This doesn’t seem to have much effect though, because later the whole gang brutally shoots up the Vang Lor home. Why they shoot up the home of Spider’s relatives and not Walt’s is unexplained. Fortunately, the aftermath is only a minor neck injury to Thao. Unfortunately, Sue, who was not home at the time, returns home later battered and raped.

This leads to a final confrontation.

Walt, enraged by these vicious acts, plots revenge against the assailants. He prepares himself, and then departs to the gang’s place of occupancy. The gang spots Walt from inside and each one emerges from various crannies of the house to point their guns at him. One would assume Walt had some sort of plan for defeating this pack of “gooks” as he so frequently and eloquently identifies them as. After he cautiously reaches for a cigarette, he quickly grabs what turns out to be a lighter from his pocket, and the gang opens fire. And there on their front lawn, Walt Kowalski lays, brutally murdered. The end.

Just kidding….among all the commotion, the neighbors see all of this happen and report it to the police, resulting in the incarceration of each and every gang member. So Walt did indeed have a plan.

His plan-to abolish the filth that plagued his friends, the Vang Lors -was the climax of Walt Kowalski’s life. Having enacted this plan, Walt is at peace.

The movie concludes with the funeral procession, which Father Janovich gives the eulogy for, and the declaration of Walt’s will. Thao Vang Lor gets the 1972 Gran Torino.

I enjoyed Gran Torino a lot. Clint Eastwood is tremendous in it. He is the director, producer, and star of the film. His candid quips and racial slurs incite much hilarity. The only negative aspect of the film was the acting of the Vang Lors. Thao and Sue could have been more convincing in many scenes. Additionally, Father Janovich was quite contradictory. One doesn’t have to be “fresh out the seminary” to know priests aren’t supposed to use God’s name in vain.

Renting “Zack and Miri Makes a Porno” offered a first time experience for me: the first time I’ve ever received a dirty look for renting a legitimate movie. I guess the cashier (a middle aged woman) was aghast that such an aptly titled film could sweep its way onto the shelves of a family oriented video store. (Come to think of it, I don’t even recall receiving a dirty look for renting an actual porno movie.)

I rented this movie because I am a Kevin Smith fan and I think all Judd Apatow fare is merely wanna-be Kevin Smith fare. Smith was the first (and best) to master the raunchy sex-comedy genre and his best films: Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma etc. are all better than anything Apatow has ever tried. Seth Rogan, star of ‘Zack and Miri,’ has even admitted his reverence for Smith in interviews, stating that he hopes to make comedies as great as Smith’s mid/latter 90’s output (hey, Superbad! came close).

Indeed, there is only one Kevin Smith, but there is also only one Seth Rogan and it’s a treat to see these two comedic geniuses sharing the same bill. The film is a showcase for Smith’s trademark repartee, acted masterfully by Rogan and angelic Elizabeth Banks, two characters you want to root for (maybe a little extra for Banks because she is undeniably gorgeous).

The title encapsulates the film; these are two roommates down on their luck, who in turn discover love through the making of a porno film. It’s vile, it’s crass, it’s Kevin Smith at his best and it’s the perfect rental if you’re looking for a good laugh (and don‘t mind a little nudity with your humor).

Another season, another batch of low wattage stars getting ready to strap on their dancing shoes. But the D-List stars aren’t the only common element of the “DWTS” cast. Just as every season has stars with the same typical occupations, the new cast also consists of familiar people like Olympians, athletes, funny guys, and “who are they?” stars.

On a special all-night name drop during ABC’s Sunday primetime shows, host Tom Bergeron unveiled the new cast for the dancing competition’s eight season premiering March 9 ( 8 ET/ PT). Start placing your wagers (and Googling them to find out who they are!) because here’s the new cast:

Biggest Star: Actress Denise Richards

Best case of nepotism: Country singer Chuck Wicks who will be paired with his real-life girlfriend, dancer Julianne Hough

First married couple to compete in the same season: Singer Jewel and professional rodeo champ husband Ty Murray

This season’s funny guy: TV prankster and stuntman Steve-O

This season’s other funny guy: Comedian David Alan Grier

Loosest interpretation of “star”: Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak

This season’s Olympian and youngest contestant to date: Gold medalist gymnast Shawn Johnson who’s 17

Resident bad girl: Rapper and actress Lil’ Kim

This season’s stud: Actor Gilles Marini (FYI: he’s from “Sex and the City”)

This season’s football player: Former NFL star Lawrence Taylor

More of an ‘80s star: Singer Belinda Carlisle from the Go-Go’s 

Reporter to the stars: “Access Hollywood” co-host Nancy O’Dell

Got “Milk”? You better because it’s up for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards later this month. I only wish we learned more about Harvey Milk the person and not just Harvey Milk the politician.

In this fact-based account, director Gus Van Sant (“Good Will Hunting”) tells the story of Milk (Sean Penn) who went from a 40-year-old San Francisco hippie to become the first openly gay man elected to city office. We watch as Harvey builds an alliance of enthusiastic supporters, goes through relationships, and cuts off his long ponytail to put together a clean-cut façade to become a politician.

But what’s great about him is that even though he swapped flared jeans for a business-like three-piece suit, Harvey didn’t lose his inner spirit and initiatives. Never one to give in to the status quo, he’d personally run around and pick up dog poop to score votes from the people and challenge his opponents to debates. When one opponent asserts that gay teachers will in turn produce gay students, Harvey quips that if that were true there’d be a lot more nuns running around.

That kind of attitude makes Harvey endearing and inspirational along with one poignant scene where he pins a death threat on his refrigerator telling boyfriend Scottie (James Franco) that the threat is only as scary as they allow it to be.

The problem is that most of the other characters are not all that endearing. While Franco’s performance is good and is virtually in disguisable from his “Pineapple Express” stoner role, his character isn’t there when Harvey needs him the most and tells Harvey’s business acquaintance “Sorry I pissed in your pool.” He really did.

Diego Luna, as another of Harvey’s love interests, is stuck to a pouty, one-dimensional role, and Emile Hirsch and Alison Pill as Harvey’s campaign workers have some of the better performances. Unfortunately, Penn wasn’t as outstanding as I was anticipating. In fact, he’d often lapse too far into his “I am Sam” character. 

The story itself was also not quite as outstanding as expected with a slow storyline. The film mostly consisted of a never-ending stretch of loss after loss during Harvey’s campaign until he finally at last won. We also know that ultimately Dan White (Josh Brolin), Harvey’s colleague, ultimately assassinates him and due to the framing device of Harvey recording his story for it to be told in the event of his assassination heightening the tension throughout the film, the actual assassination scene is very anticlimactic.

We’re also left wanting more in terms of the emotions and motives of the characters. For example, why exactly did White kill Harvey? He always seemed off-kilter, so what was he going through to make him the way he was? What did Harvey did his whole life before he got involved in politics? Why was Harvey involved in the shallow, one-dimensional relationship with Luna’s character and wasn’t he affected by what eventually happened between them? Van Sant recently told Entertainment Weekly, Harvey’s life was quite romantic but it really didn’t seem that way in the movie.

So get “Milk” but know that it’s kind of like milk. Just as you should drink it but it’s not as good as soda, you should see “Milk” but it’s not as good as the other four Best Picture nominees.

Shortened by the writer’s strike, the 4th season of ABC’s “Lost” features only 4 DVDs of episodes but two discs crammed with fascinating Bonus Features about the most addictive (and question-prone) series on TV today.

If you’ve never seen Lost, please don’t mention that to anyone, what you should do however, is set Disc One of Season 4 in your DVD player and select the Bonus Feature titled “Lost 8:15.” Here you will be whisked through seasons 1 – 3 in eight minutes and 15 seconds and ready for your first full episode of Season 4.

Some other Bonus Features sure to treat any new fan or loyal follower:

The Right To Bear Arms – Want to be reassured that there are more stressful jobs out there than yours? This featurette documents the work-life of the man who keeps track of all the guns on the show including whose hands they are supposed to be in and how they got there. Two words – “flow charts.”

The Oceanic Six: A Conspiracy of Lies – Uncover the conspiracy theories of the Oceanic 6 as if the show “Lost” didn’t exist, but the mysterious crash of Oceanic flight 815 actually happened. Some of the investigative questions revolve around Jack’s short hair, the Losties clothes, and why Hurley’s not the only one who hasn’t lost a lot of weight.

Soundtrack of Survival – (a personal favorite feature) Discover each character’s theme song, watch as the musicians create the music to an episode and even learn how the infamous Lost noise was created (you know the one that happens right before the screen goes black after something monumental has just been revealed). And watch clips from a live concert performed in Hawaii offering a more orchestral take on the music that makes the show come alive.

Course of The Future: The Definitive Flash-Forwards – This is the most useful Bonus Feature in the DVD collection because it strings together the flash forwards in chronological order helping out everyone establish what day, time, year and show we are actually watching again.

Lost Missing Pieces – This feature is the most fun, I think.  These ‘mobisodes’ or ‘webisodes’ were originally for Verizon subscribers, but eventually placed on the Lost site for a broader audience. Each short snip-it offers clips from episodes that were not actually in any episodes and in some cases provide that extra bit of information avid fans crave. There’s a steamy one with Sun and Michael, wink wink.

Yet another musician fed up with Ticketmaster. AP reports that Bruce Springsteen is furious with the company, calling its selling practices a “conflict of interest.”

These comments come after complaints that the vendor was redirecting fans to a more expensive ticket seller owned by the company. When tickets for Springsteen’s show at the Meadowlands went on sale Monday, some fans got an error message on their computer screen that shut them out. An ad then appeared for TicketsNow offering tickets for hundreds of dollars more than face value.

Shame on Ticketmaster. When will they ever learn? I feel your pain Springsteen fans.

Those romantics out there looking for a better ending to the one Kate and Leo suffered at the end of “Titanic” may be disappointed to see what their relationship is like in “Revolutionary Road,” their first film together since the big boat sank twelve years ago.

Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio play Frank and April Wheeler, a young, idealistic couple in the ‘50s based on the 1961 book by Richard Yates. They meet at a party, find each other interesting, and get married. Soon they have the stereotypical American dream with two kids living in a quaint house in the suburbs. He goes to work joining the other carbon copies of husbands just like him who are like workers in an assembly line everyday marching to and from work moving in a sea of hats. You don’t even know who is who – they’re all just hats that look exactly alike.

Being just like everyone else is adamantly not enough for April who meanwhile stays at home everyday with all her unfilled goals, fantasies and desires bubbling dangerously close to the surface. Finally, she gets the brilliant idea: “Let’s escape all this and move to Paris!” she tells Frank. Hesitant at first, he eventually agrees and they’re off to Paris – or at least that was the intention. Conflicts arise like Frank getting a job promotion and an unexpected pregnancy. Will they stay or will they go?

Meanwhile Frank and April are crippled by their incessant fighting. They got together because they thought they saw the same idealistic, ambitious, individualistic goals in each other; but, it turns out they don’t actually want the same thing lending to a film that consists of mostly just bickering. The film barely showed any happy moments so it’s hard to grasp that they ever did love each other making it hard to care if they do ever end up happy together.

While DiCaprio’s performance is satisfactory, it seems as though he prepared for his role by watching too much of Pete on “Mad Men” with an uncanny similarity of speech pattern. Actually much of the supporting cast is also just a big parody of the ‘50s with them acting as caricatures of the decade’s desperate individuals. “No Frank, he’s not welllllll,” Kathy Baker wails a little too dramatically.

In fact, the whole film comes off as a cliché of the 1950s. While the characters incessantly puff away at cigarettes and lunch over a wee bit too many martinis, the film doesn’t go beyond the surface and lacks the book’s emotional depth. It’s easy to see that, yes, Frank and April are both deeply unhappy but why? What’s more is that we don’t know who to side with or who to root for because we don’t really understand why they’re both so thoroughly messed up and mean to each other.

The stand-out performances are Winslet and Michael Shannon. Winslet gives it her all both verbally and through her subtle facial expressions. With just one slightly sullen look in her eyes and a pursed together smile, we can clearly see that she is trying to act excited over seeing her new suburban house for the first time even though she views it as a prison.   

Shannon, who plays the son of their friends, is the only one to garner an Oscar nomination for this film; and, while he isn’t in the film for that long he sure makes his presence known to the Wheelers. As a brilliant mathematician who’s spent time in a mental institution, he’s the only one who sees – or dares to – see through the Wheeler’s façade and to call them out on it. Wearing a squished up scowl on his face, he strolls into their perfect little house like a wrecking ball bringing all their true emotions, desires, and motives to the surface. His only crime is making people see themselves for what they really are.

So it’s quite ironic that the “crazy” guy is the only one who really knows what’s going on. Meanwhile, all the “normal” characters in the film are depressed and repressed. If that’s the way it is, “Revolutionary Road” will make you wish that you’re crazy.