Commandments (1997)

I'm not feeling well but that wasn't a good enough reason to abandon my task so, here goes a simple movie with a simple plot. The Commandments, according to Netflix:

It's pay back -- in spades -- when [an] exasperated and bitter man seeks vengeance against God by methodically breaking each of the Ten Commandments. 

Primer

So a quick list for those not aware. The ten commandments are:

1. Thou shall have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shall bring no false idols before me.
3. Do not take the name of the Lord in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
5. Honor thy father and thy mother.
6. Thou shall not kill/murder.
7. Thou shall not commit adultery.
8. Thou shall not steal.
9. Thou shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
10. Thou shall not covet your neighbor's wife (or anything that belongs to your neighbor).

Plot

This is a late 90s movie so there are 3 different story lines happening simultaneously. 

Seth (Aidan Quinn) is in a bad place. His wife, Karen, is missing presumed dead, his house collapsed, he lost his job, got struck by lightening and his dog now has one leg that doesn't work. Needless to say, things haven't been going great, and he feels that God is mad at him; but that's besides the point, since he is mad at God too. 

Seth is staying with his brother-in-law, Harry (Anthony LaPaglia) and his wife, Rachel (Courtney Cox), Karen's sister. Harry isn't exactly a stand up guy. He's a journalist chasing a story about the chief of police and his mistress. Oh, but he's sleeping with the mistress, making her his mistress, too. Rachel is cute but a little naive. She's a lawyer for a big company. Currently, she's working a case where an older couple accidentally got an extra $250,000 in their bank account and now the bank wants to press charges in an attempt to get it back.

Now that you have the backbone let me tell you a little more about Seth.  He's Jewish and deeply religious, but with everything that has happened he felt it was time to strike back. He decides to systematically break all of the commandments, there by giving the middle finger to God.  

Seth starts slow and easy with the commandments (1-5) but after a late not fight with Harry, things change. Seth can see the hurt Harry is causing Rachel, but Harry dismisses him, telling him to leave his righteousness behind until he's broken some of the big ones. So Seth does.

Harry has a collection of rare and expensive guitars that he loves more than anything, so Seth steals them, puts them in the mistress' house and goes to the police station to "confess". He says the three of them plotted to move the guitars and call it a robbery just so they could split the insurance money. 

Things begin to devolve fairly quickly. Harry seeing Seth's quest as a personal attack. He can no longer be dismissive, he has to stop Seth.

Everything reaches a climax when Seth and Harry stand-off at a lighthouse at the peak of a storm. . . . but that's enough . . . spoilers.

Thoughts

This is a simple movie. There are no multiple layers here, just a simple story about losing faith in the face of desperation and loss. References to God and a few biblical stories, but altogether, straightforward. It moves at a fairly fast pace, so that there really isn't any opportunity to get bored as there's always another plot point presenting it's self. It's also fairly predictable. Once I knew the premise and the characters, I could see how Seth would begin to commit all his sins. 

During Seth's quest, he never really changes. Even though he is working to commit more heinous acts, in a way he's scientific about it.  Removing himself from the actions he feels he must do. I could see how some might see this as a flaw, but I appreciated this nuance. It could be construed as a flaw because it seems as though there are no real stakes. Seth appears to be disavowing religion, but in actuality he's chasing it. 

I enjoy Aidan Quinn as an actor and recognize he has an advantage. His eyes are a stunning blue and extremely captivating. The director took advantage of this. At every moment possible turn they do close ups of his eyes, having them penetrate into the soul of the viewer. I thought this was a little hammy. It wasn't the kind of movie that gained from using this technique over and over again. 

Aside from some of the hokey religious themes, I though this was a pretty good movie to enjoy. (NOTE: religious themes aren't hokey, just the way they are used in this movie was laying it on a bit thick.) It's definitely a movie of its time. Keep in mind, that this is not a serious dramatic work. Stakes aren't as important as moving the plot along to its conclusion. Serious questions are asked, but I can't imagine anyone watching this, can really expecting a thoughtful answer. If anything this movie is not so much about religion, as it is about the transference of fortune. 

The Babysitters (2007)

Yup, yesterday was a freebie. No. . . not really. I meant to schedule it but ended up publishing it instead. Figured that was my mistake and deciding to do another posting for today so that I could honor my Tuesday/Friday schedule. Anyways, I freely admit this movie is a little gross. I tend to watch Netflix on my Kindle and when I look at a movie, they automatically suggest four others. You can go down this rabbit hole of seeing other recommendations for awhile. I think I choose this one a little haphazardly. But I finish what I start, so here is The Babysitters, according to IMDb:

A teenager turns her babysitting service into a call-girl service for married guys after fooling around with one of her customers.

Oh, there will be a spoiler alert. You might not need it. The movie is less than 90 minutes long and could be used to kill time, however, it's also a little creepy and not something everyone would necessarily want to watch. 

Plot

The movie starts with, Shirley in jeans, a see-through white tee with no bra walking through a house full of older men and teenage girls snuggled up together. She narrates that giving fellatio for money is no more demeaning than flipping burgers. She then cuts to the beginning of the story.

Shirley (Katherine Waterston) is a high school student being told to think about the SATs  and college. At home, her parents seem simple but look out for her. She's a bit mousy, with thick pull-over sweaters and plain brown hair parted in the middle. Scheduled to babysit, but not having a car, Michael (John Leguizamo), the dad, comes to pick her up.

On the way back to drop her off he gets her a burger at a diner because her stomach is growling. Not yet wanting to go home, he takes her to this place with abandoned trains. They then proceed to make out. Initially, we never see more than that but it's implied, as the movie cuts to them back in the car. He looks worried, but she looks stoic. After dropping her at home and asking her not to say anything, he hands her a wad of money  totaling $200.

Shirley in a sex-ed class and Michael sitting in a marketing meeting. Other scenes  flash by, depicting  the two living their lives as normal. End of the day, Michael is at the same diner with his kids and Shirley is sitting outside with friends. All of a sudden Michael's wife, Gail (Cynthia Nixon), comes over and asks her to babysit again. This begins their ongoing play-for-pay relationship. 

Shirley's friend, Melissa (Lauren Birkell), coaxes the information out of her about her babysitting job and Michael confides in his friend, Jerry (Andy Corneau). Next thing you know people are getting set up. Shirley asking for 20%, just to keep it far, since she's booking all the gigs. Things keep evolving and Shirley gets business cards made.

After awhile, things start to go wrong. Michael is getting jealous of Shirley seeing other guys, and a girl, Nadine (Halley Wegryn Gross), gets involved. Nadine is Brenda's (Louisa Krause) step sister. She doesn't want to give a cut of her money to Shirley so starts using her own girls. Shirley and Melissa see this as encroaching on their territory and can't stand for it. The two take Michael and proceed to trash the school to make a point. It works though. It gets everyone in line.

After that, all the guys (eight) and girls (six) go on a "retreat". Jerry has a cabin in the woods, and for two days they all take turns having sex and take ecstasy to keep things going. But when everyone comes back, Brenda is different. She wants out, and bails on a babysitting job, calling her step brother to come pick her up. This sparks Nadine to start cancelling appointments out of spite as well.

Thoughts

I think if a movie is going to have a controversial theme then it should be interesting and compelling. I don't know if this is. Maybe. . . kind of. I've seen enough porn and the babysitter theme is prominent. This is the movie version of the surrounding events. The beginning of the movie is uncomfortable. Especially for someone who's not sure what they are getting into watching this.The middle has you kind of wrapped up in the glory of Shirley's business venture and eventually, the sharks involved. The end gets you back to uncomfortable and tense place. 

I wouldn't say this is a bad movie by any means. The men in the movie do an okay job acting (John Leguizamo hits and misses in places). Some of the guys in the periphery of the movie really stand out though. It's all about the girls though. They each have their own personality and are doing it for their own reasons. The actresses who play Brenda, Melissa, and Nadine all bring something interesting to an otherwise sleazy film. 

Some movies are good, but not something you watch twice. Requiem for a Dream, Trainspotting, and now The Babysitters are on that list for me.

After I finished writing this, I realized there as was still something bothering me. A flaw in this movie, I can't really justify or see past. All these guys have a lot on the line; family, jobs, children, and wives. Not mention, all the girls are minors and this is illegal. The girls are enterprising, but not self-reliant. These guys are putting everything on the line by being with these girls and doing things beyond a quick in the car. One scene in particular. I won't spoil it, but I will say it involves masks. I more than understand sex is a powerful desire, but these guys are acting stupidly. At $200-300 a session, they all have money, thus you would think they would be smart enough not to ruin the lives they've built.

Spoiler Alert

Upset at work and at home Michael calls up Shirley, taking her to the train depot again. He asks her to only be with him, but she refuses, getting angry at him for making their arransentimental. When a cop sees him at the abandoned train depot he leaves her there. Pissed, she walks to a pay phone trying to get in touch with Nadine or Brenda, their (step) brother denies her access saying Brenda's busy and Nadine's babysitting. That's the line. With her suspicions confirmed, Shirley calls Melissa, who's with Jerry, and they get Jerry to pick her up and go to the spot Nadine usually works.

Jerry busts into the guys truck and Melissa and Shirley yank Nadine out and hold her over a bridge. A moment happens, with the two, being so ruthless, they almost drop her, but Jerry pulls her back over. When the scare is over, Shirley looks over to realize the guy who was in the truck with Nadine is her dad.

Assassination of a High School President (2008)

So, I've decided that I'm doing to try post regularly on Tuesdays and Fridays. This particular movie has been in my queue for awhile. It looked fun and corny, plus I'm a fan of Bruce Willis. The older he gets the more fun he has with roles. Assassination of a High School President according to IMDb:

At a Catholic high school, the popular girl teams up with a sophomore newspaper reporter to investigate a case of stolen SAT exams. Once the duo target their suspects, a larger conspiracy is unearthed.

I again will forego providing any spoiler alerts. The ending of this movie needs to be watched. There's a slight twist that I don't want to spoil. Also, if you enjoy quirky mysteries you'll probably end of enjoying this too.

Plot

Bobby (Reece Thompson), a sophomore and aspiring journalist starts by setting the scene for what his high school is like. He narrators his life as though he's Dick Tracy. He's a part of the school newspaper, just barely. He's never completed a story, but is trying to get into a Northwest University Journalism Program. He's assigned the task of writing a puff piece on the student council president, Paul Moore (Patrick Taylor), but changes his course when the SATs testing booklets go missing and the president's girlfriend, Francesca (Mischa Barton), asks him to look into it. Upon some light digging he finds Paul has been acting suspiciously and doesn't have an alibi. He writes a piece implicating him. This piece gets Paul removed from office, suspended and detention until the end, and kicked out Cornell for which he was already accepted. The piece has the opposite effect on Bobby. It helps him get rocketed in the popular circle, short listed for the Northwestern program and dating Francesca. 

However, Paul's cry of innocence still ring in Bobby's ears so he keeps chasing the story. After checking out the story's of all the "delinquent" students, he moves on to those who seem above suspicion. His new placement with the inner circle allows him greater access to the people Bobby believes is at the heart of this mystery, the rest of the student council.

By pursuing this story Bobby has made the decision to antagonize the most powerful group in his school, but aside from Paul's insistence that he's innocent, he also has to prove to Northwestern that he's a good journalist and will check his facts until the story is solid. 

Thoughts

So I enjoyed this movie and if I were the type of person to movies on repeat would. But I get why this movie wasn't received with open arms. Plus, I am very aware that my taste in movies isn't necessarily for everyone. There are a lot of adult themes that enter this movie about high school. Gambling, rape, drugs, alcohol, nudity, the sexualization of minors. This is definitely an adult movie that just happens to be set in high school.

The are a lot of red herrings in this movie, and I actually enjoyed them. Most of them were divergent story lines that served the purpose of world building. This also would terrify any parent. In this story lines we see Bobby:

• Visiting a public high school, where Paul had a secret black girlfriend
• Going to a fraternity house where game fixing and gambling help keep the brothers stocked in beer
• A high school party with lots of sex, drugs, and beer

Out of all of the cast I thought Bruce Willis really shined in this movie. As the only adult with a reoccurring presence it's hard not to notice him, but the earnestness he brings to his character is fantastic. He is the high school principle, a former marine, slightly racist and someone will NOT tolerate gum chewing in school. While this character is tough on the students I think Willis brought this kindness to the role that another actor may not have. Instead of being this truly hateful character through and through, he gave you something to like about Principal Kirkpatrick. 

The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle (2009)

So this movie left me a little confounded. I suppose sometimes that's a good thing, but yea . . . still not sure what to make of this. I'm going to avoid a spoiler alert, since if I do this right, I think you'll want to watch this until the end. The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle according to IMDb:

After he loses his high-paying job, Dory takes a gig as a night janitor in order to pay rent. Alone late at night inside a market research firm, he soon discovers the company is experimenting on their other janitors ...

Plot Points 

So Dory's (Marshall Allman) sitting on the bluffs of a cliff reading the Bible and sees a message in a bottle floating up. He goes to reach for it, but falls in; can't get the bottle uncorked, so he smashes it and cuts his hand on glass; and when he finally reads the message, it says, "Fuck You". Thus starts Dory's meltdown. At work the constant office chattering leads him to freaking out and quit his job. On the way out a guy gives him a card where he can get a job as a janitor. After countless interviews, Dory caves in and goes to get a job with Spiffy Jiffy Janitorial Services.

At SJJS he meets a group of alternative-punk outsiders. There's O.C. (Vince Vieluf) who shows him the tricks and tips of the building. How to clean the bathroom, where to get thrown out food, rooftop access. Then there's Methyl (Tygh Runyan) and Ethyl (Tania Raymonde). They get the job done, but also find time to fuck on conference tables.

Soon into the story, Dory finds a wrapped cookie in the trash and tries it. Tracy (Natasha Lyonne) works at the office and catches him eating the cookie. She jokes that they are thermal cookies that are suppose to give you the feeling of warm home-baked cookie with every bite. Tracy mentions how a new batch has been tested and invites him to attend a focus group to determine the best taste. Dory and O.C. attend and from their, and other's expressions, many of the cookies are not good but one stands out.

Back at work, Dory is catching on. He quickly finds his rhythm and how to get a job done quickly. He's busting through his work one day, when a bathroom stall, with a huge mess, seriously alarms him. There's blue goo in the toilet and Dory believes something's moving around in it. He calls the others to help. They are in awe of the mess and call it a "Grade A Blowout".  They take a picture, flush, and move on to complete their tasks. 

Cut to Tracy and her boss talking about the results. They have found the right formula for the taste, however, are still concerned about one little testing abnormality. It seems that men test subjects experience serious stomach trouble from eating the cookies. To get a closer look at what happens Tracy proposes "giving" the cookies to the janitors. They leave them in bowls around the office and place a garage bag full of the them in the trash. They can't get enough. 

Overtime, you see the group eating the cookies, but the relationships start to alter. Tracy has been working her way into the group by getting closer with Vince. Methyl and Ethyl have had some problems. Aside from all the drugs, Dory slept with Ethyl. And them Ethyl goes mysteriously missing. Vince then comes into some money that lets him pursue his post-modern toilet art, effectively quitting SJJS. All this happens while the guys are dealing with constant stomach problems and vibrant hallucinations. 

Dory soon gets suspicious of Tracy's presence and the constant availability of the cookies. He imagines they are being used as guinea pigs and that the blue goo in the toilet is only a glimpse of what's going to happen to them. 


Afterthoughts

Something that's not really explored through conversation, but rather subtext and imagery is Dory's longing for peace and guidance and answers. He dabbles into several difference religions including what I assume is protestant Christianity to Hare Krishna. The beginning of the movie even has images of a T.V. evangelist preaching and kind of breaking the fourth wall by goading Dory into action.

I'm pretty sure I would recommend this movie. Not to people who see only what's popular and critically acclaimed. I don't think they would appreciate this. This is for people who like movie's with something to say. Now I'm not sure that the movie delivered what it hoped to, however, it's an original movie that allows you to walk out and discuss. You can discuss the layers or simply say, "What the fuck did I just watch?"

Riese (2009)

I'm Back

I know. I've been gone and completely inconsistent. I have a few days off and will be blasting through my queue on Netflix. The first one I chose to re-emerge with is Riese. As IMDb says:

Riese, a seemingly random wanderer, is being hunted by a terrifying religious cult, The Sect. Traveling from nation to nation for years, she is accompanied only by a wolf, Fenrir. Together they must evade the assassins sent by the Sect - who'll stop at nothing to complete the task they failed to achieve many years ago. 

Before I explain anything I need to admit something. For this blog I work hard not to look into any details at all. I choose the movie and as I'm writing I get on IMDb quickly to find the synopsis and links. But that's it. I cheated with this one, but mostly because once I was a half hour in, something felt wrong. The creation felt disjointed and incomplete. In fact, as I was watching I took the note that a lot of world building needed to happen and that it was better suited as a mini-series on Encore. Turns out this is a prelude to a webseries. You can probably find the rest of it on Hulu and/or YouTube. All that to say: I would spoil this movie just to save you from it, but I can't because that would require me to watch the rest of it and I'm not doing that. 

Synopsis

So, before I tear into this movie I'll give you a brief synopsis. Riese (Christine Chatelain) is a princess and on her 16th birthday her family is slaughtered so that her cousin, Amara (Sharon Taylor), may rule. Many years later, it is discovered that Riese is still alive. Amara, enraged, tells The Sect to find her. Since the beginning of Amara's reign, The Sect has infiltrated many villages, but a Resistance arose. They believe Riese to still be alive and fight to restore Riese to the throne and the tyranny of The Sect.

Soon into the movie, Riese suffers an injury, but avoid death because of her loyal wolf Fenrir. She asks for a room at a near-by village, but before she can be properly shooed away, she passes out. She awakes bandaged in a hospital bed. Though she is weak, she knows the Royal symbol on her back makes her a target for any Sect spies and thus works to leave hastily. On her way out she sees a room full of babies, which is unusual in these times. The doctor explains that women in the village are to give birth within the same month. At that moment a woman comes screaming in that someone took her baby. 

This sets the scene for Trennan (Patrick Gilmore). He is a Sect member who liaises between Amara's court and The Sect. He is cruel and disregards much of what Amara says but wants to find Riese. When she looking for the secret of babies, Trennan is on her trail and comes close to finding her, but she eludes him.

Next Riese is off to another township. However, when she arrives, it is obvious that this place has been abandoned for along time. Her and Fenrir stay the night to rest up. When she awakes she realizes she may not be alone. A young boy shows himself and lures her to where many others await. They are demented and have weapons, but she finds a building where a man lets her in and rescues her. 

However, it is soon clear this man is not friend, but a member of The Sect. He tells her how her little brother survived and was taken by The Sect. He is the chosen one but first they had to "fix" him. They tested the operation on a boy they referred to as the prototype and then executed the surgeries masterfully on him. It is then revealed that Trennan, the man who has been searching for her, is actually her brother. He works for The Sect, but his intentions toward Riese are still unclear. 

The prototype still lives in the village and barges in on the man and Riese. He kills the man and then runs after Riese when she attempts to escape. Fenrir wards off the boys and when Riese and the prototype fight she has no choice but to kill him. 

Riese goes off into the woods, but is confronted by Sect henchmen. When she thinks she is about to die, members of the resistance appear and save her. The movie ends with a stand off of the resistance and The Sect, with both Riese and Trennan facing each other.  

Thoughts

So, this movie has elements of a steampunk, dystopian world that is set in Sherwood Forest. Dystopianism, while always a genre, seems to have become quite in vogue the last five years, plus I enjoy the creativity that steampunk brings out in designers. Unfortunately, this movie let me down in the first ten minutes. Here my list of troubles:

• Exposition with obvious narration throughout. My God this was annoying. If a movie has to use narration, it should tell me something I don't know, or is hard to understand. In this instance it was used to restate facts that the characters had JUST spoken. Narration can often add to the essence of a movie by giving you knowledge from a wise, unseen storyteller. It didn't work in this case. It really just distracts.

• A map as prop used ineffectively. This may be a new tick I formed by watching Game of Thrones. GoT uses the map well and does a good job of dividing the land and helping the viewer/reader understand how the kingdom is divided and the characteristics of those particular people. The movie did not do that. The map was an ill-properly issued visual.

• No real sense of the antagonists. When Amara was the main antagonist it was clear what her motivation was. Get rid of Riese once and for all. However, when the new element of The Sect began to emerge it was not really clear who they are. I understand they wish to undermine Amara, but that's it. The tag line talks about a religious cult, but all you ever see is a simple secret ceremony. I think the story would have done some wonderful things by exploring the workings of The Sect. As it is now, the writers would have done better by calling them a dissenting regime, or given the group a name like the Bolsheviks.

• A resistance that exists but that is of no use until the end. Self-explanatory. The movie would cut to them for two minutes to check in. But it was actually distracting to the story. It would have been interesting to make them a mythical group that emerges at the end.

• Plot goes no where. When Riese is at the hospital and finds that the babies are being shipped to another lcoation I thought this would be a major item to explore. They did not. I don't understand what they were trying to do, but it would have been interesting to see what was happening with the babies and maybe it tied into the demented boys at the second village. This simply asked more questions than were answered.

• Mislabeled as fantasy, barely science fiction. No elements of this story ring as fantasy and not really science fiction. I suppose the operations on Trennan and the prototype make it kind of sci-fi, but it feels like a stretch. Steampunk to me is a fashion statement, but not a genre of movie and literature. Categorizing it as such, seemed like a way to lure in a certain audience and frankly, it was a cheap trick. 

Overall, I think it's obvious I think this is a waste of time. It's probable that a lot of my complaints and questions are answered in the webseries, however, I'm not invested enough to seek it out. I will say this though. This movie had a very ambitious story to tell. I don't think all was executed properly, but I think in the right hands it could be a fantastic movie/mini-series/book.