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nickorris67
Reviews
FDR: American Badass! (2012)
FDR - THE American Badass, werewolf huntin' war machine!
Alright so I saw this movie and it was absolutely ridiculous! As in crayz hilarious! FDR was sooooo nuts in this movie it was hilarious, just imagine Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, but Scary Movie style. FDR the Werewolf Hunter! Not to mention that had these great cut scenes with Hitler, Mussolini, and Hirohito as Werewolves! FDR is kickin werewolf ass in a supped up Wheelchair with silver bullet machinegun wheels and rocket launchers! What really made me think of Scary Movie was the very Slapstick and sexualized jokes that were in the whole film. It also didn't mind using jokes about black people in the 1930s and 40s or some marijuana in the white house. FDR even has a stoned dream of flying with Abe Lincoln! It's hilarious! What's also funny is that they make FDR use a lot of hip hop lingo and speak over the radio as if he was a DJ, "You're listenin to the Delan-O!" What made the film work was that it knew it was ghetto and tried to be, and that ghettoness was what made it soooo funny! I really enjoyed it and I think if people like the Scary Movie style films that should totally check this out, it was a great spoof knock-off!
Music from the Big House (2010)
Musical Talent from Angola
Music From the Big House was an incredibly touching film that shows us an aspect of the prison system that is usually overlooked, the talent of the individuals within the prison. All of the individual inmates who get interviewed in the film are very musically gifted. Showing us several different bands that formed within the prison, the final concert that Rita Chiarelli put on with them has varied musical types: Country, Blues, Jazz, and Gospel. Rita acts as a guiding force or narrator as we follow her specific journey into Angola prison. Her unique viewpoint on the prisoners' situation makes any viewer question what is really going on inside these prisons. She makes a great point in saying that "we" on the outside feel like we are unaffected by what goes on inside the prisons, but the pain of those individuals trickles down through their families and friends. But Rita also is sure to keep in mind that there are victims out there who are suffering the loss that these men now hold the guilt for. She feels a strange moral quandary when working with group, for she begins to love them, they are good people. From the viewers perspective we pick up on this as well. With many interview bits jumping in- between the musical numbers, we get to know each character, each person relatively well. The film does a good job of putting us into the shoes an perspective of the Angola prisoners and how they deal with "the knowledge that they are going to die in there." For many men, coming to prison was actually a saving grace that allowed them to leave their foolish youth behind and accept a more compassionate and loving lifestyle through the church. Overall the film leaves you off feeling like, WoW, these are changed people, good people, talented and inspirational individuals living within Angola prison, but then the carpet is pulled out from under you as their violent and malicious crimes are revealed to you. It makes you question whether or not you can forgive people for such horrific crimes, whether people can actually change or not.
American Animal (2011)
Matt D'Alia - A True American Animal
American Animal was a very unique film. This piece pushes the boundaries on what we are familiar with seeing. In an almost Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas atmosphere, Writer/Director/Star Matt D'Alia takes you for a wild ride through anything that crosses his mind. Matt stars as Jimmy, the dying son of rich parents who lives with his best friend in a high rise apartment. This apartment ends up being the only environment Matt needs to give you a visual tour you won't forget. With a great use of framing, Matt visually shows you the character dynamics between the only four characters you see: Jimmy, his roommate James, Blonde Angela and Not Blonde Angela. The women end up being pawns that Jimmy (Matt) uses to drive home some points, and show the differences in their characters. James, played by Brenden Fletcher, wants to finally branch out of the imaginary playland their apartment is for them and make an attempt to affect the outside world. Jimmy is much more concerned with releasing the internal world that now has free reign over the external world. Where James begins to see their apartment as isolated and hindering, Jimmy sees it as the apex zone for the animal's desire to rule reality, the ultimate American dream. Having no worries, no needs that aren't filled, Jimmy decides to take his desires to the extreme, which are relatively simple and rather animalistic. In an explosive scene between James and Jimmy, Jimmy explains how incredible he feels his opportunity at life really is, considering all the men and animals that worked so hard for him to have this opportunity to express his pure self freely with no chains attached. In a very telling statement Jimmy(Matt) says "I am scared of nothing, I think that's why they are scared of me, they see I am not scared, and that scares them." Not afraid of being who you want to be, free expression of what you are, an animal. Just see what Jimmy decides to do while James is at work.