Crips and Bloods: Made in America

First Hit: Powerful and interesting film providing a background and context to a 40 year battle.

15,000 people dead, more than the number of people killed in the British / Irish conflict, yet there are no heads of state going in to facilitate a resolution let alone the Governor of the State of California. 70% of the children in this community are growing up in a home without a male (father) presence.

The film tells a compelling story about how this area of Los Angeles grew after World War II with the infusion of blacks from the south to fill the need of manning the factories which were set up by Goodyear, GM, Firestone, Ford and Chrysler but then the work sector changed to one aligned with aerospace the factory jobs started leaving.

The oppression of the community by the LA Police Department and Mayor Sam Yorty along with the exclusion of the blacks from clubs like the Cub and Boy Scouts led to the development of other clubs. The film digs into these subjects and uses interviews, by the men who suffered under this exclusion, to explore how these clubs turned into gangs.

The interviews provide a compelling and strong backdrop and perspective on life in this part of LA.

The director effectively used these interviews along with old film clips and lots of old photos to paint the picture. I loved the opening sequence of this film as well. If you liked the opening sequence of “Star Wars” with the huge ship coming into the picture from an overhead perspective, then you will like the opening sequence in this film – I thought it was clever and gives a perspective as to how big LA is and how within this massive city is a section that is and has been at war with itself and us for 40 years.

Overall: I grew up on LA and recall the “Watts Riots” and the riots as a result of the “Rodney King” beating and this film put a much better context to this area in South LA. It was really worth the price of admission and the people of this community are paying the price with their lives.

My Oscar Selections

Below are my Oscar selections and why for some of the major categories:

• Picture: Slumdog Millionaire - because I was transported into this film. It showed a realistic view of poor India and I felt that the story and direction were unique. And I just loved the Bollywood dance scene during the credits. Milk and Frost/Nixon were a close second.

• Director: Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire). Although I have to say Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon) and Gus Van Sant (Milk) are a close second here as well.

• Actor: Micky Rourke (The Wrestler). Amazing performance. He was and is The Wrestler. Close second goes to Sean Penn (Milk) and Richard Jenkins (The Visitor).

• Actress: Kate Winslet (The Reader). Very close second is Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married). Note: If Kristin Scott Thomas (I've Loved Her So Long) would have been nominated she would have gotten my first place vote.

• Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight). Close second would be Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road) because his few short scenes were electrifying and to Josh Brolin (Milk) a subtle and meaningful performance.

• Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Varcelona). Very close second to Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler) and Amy Adams (Doubt).

• Animated Feature: Wall-E - This was an amazing film.

• Documentary Feature: Man on Wire - This man is amazing.

The International

First Hit: As far as thrillers go this was pretty good and it kept my interest throughout.

Clive Owen has the right kind of look, feel and intensity to carry off the character of Louis Salinger a government inspector hot on the trail of the members of the IBBC Bank. He was once foiled in his investigation a few years earlier when he was working for Scotland Yard and because it hurt his integrity, he’s on a mission and won’t give up until he gets the bank.

The bank, in this timely film, has its hands in everything and, according to the senior officers, is always a few steps from making tons of money from people’s suffering or suffering huge losses by these decisions. This bank, in particular, is involved with financing guns and weapons.

However, what the film does well is talk about that it isn’t the financing that makes the bank money it is the power, control, and influence they gain in owning the debt nations create to gain these weapons. This timely film touches and reflects on the absurd financial crisis our banks are experiencing.

The banks created debt and their choices were so bad that their strategy failed which resulted in their failing us.

The director was clear with his intent and made this film about the characters and not as much about the action. Although the big shoot out at the Guggenheim museum was a major scene, it didn’t out weight either the characters or the overall aim of the film. Naomi Watts was good as Eleanor Whitman, as Louis’ boss and as a New York based DA working with Interpol to make a case against the bank.

Overall: A very good thriller that kept a wonderful pace, didn’t over complicate the story and provided information as to how some banks might operate.

Push

First Hit: This film made very little sense and was confusing from the beginning.

Dakota Fanning is a wonderful upcoming actress and unfortunately she wasn’t able to make this movie very interesting.

What did take me slightly aback was seeing her in a short somewhat revealing skirt the entire film. This reminded me that she is starting to make a transition out of being a child actress. At the start of the film the audience must learn about people who have special powers.

There are “bleeders” people who scream so loud that they break blood vessels in others (why not themselves as well?), “movers” are people who can move and control things without touching them, “wipers” are people who can erase memories, and “shadows” who can hide people from being seen by “sniffers” and “watchers”.

This is where the confusion starts. In a few short minutes I have to remember the powers difference characters so that when they get introduced in the film I know what their special power is. Fanning plays Cassie Holmes, a watcher (people who predict the future) who is wandering around Hong Kong looking for a drug that was stolen from the US federal government that can help her mother.

Nowhere does this get explained well. She teams up with Nick Grant, a “mover” (played by Chris Evans) whose girlfriend, Kira (played by Camilla Belle) was someone the government experimented on with this drug and she lived. She also stole on syringe of this magical drug and now the government wants it back.

Sound confusing, well it gets worse so I won’t try to tell any more.

How all these young people ended up in living in Hong Kong was not explained and I kept wondering where they got their money to eat, sleep, and live. I’m not sure the director had much of a script to work with but the film seemed to move along quickly, then pause for a bit, and then move along again. So the effect was haphazard.

Overall: This was an aimless science fiction film which never seemed plausible. I’m sure the producers made it for teenagers and people in their early 20s. However, making sense of it would nearly be impossible for anyone of any age group.

Coraline (3D)

First Hit: I think I’m going to be at odds with most other reviewers of this film: I really liked the mixing of the old and new technology with the filming of the character models movement by movement using high tech 3D, but for me the pacing of the story dragged the film down.

This film is remarkable in the way it uses handmade puppets, which were moved and filmed bit by bit in 3D, so that the audience sees the film as fluid and amazingly beautiful.

This old time (claymation type) process married with a non-gimmicky 3-D was extraordinary in that it doesn’t push the 3D images into your laps or eyes. It uses the 3D to enhance the geographic scene and stage of the film.

The story is of a girl who is stuck in an old building apartment while her parents are busy writing a garden manual and catalogue. She wants to go out and work in the garden but her parents are too busy and keep telling her to explore the house, which she does. She discovers a small door in one of the rooms and when it is opened it opens to a brick wall.

While dreaming, dream mice lead her to this small door and in the dream it opens to a tunnel to an alternate reality. In this alternate reality she has a mom and dad who pay attention to her and say they love her. But the darkness of the film and the feel of these alternate parents we know we’re headed to something not very pleasant. She is befriended by a young boy and his cat which help her sort out the real from the unreal and how to help other kids stuck in this alternate space.

There was a lot of attention paid to the visualization of this film, as it needed to be, however the execution of the story unfolded in a way that was too slow, especially for children snoozing next to me and the restless kids in front of me. The graphics, 3D, and execution of the visuals are first rate and extraordinary but the movement of the story never caught up to it.

Overall: This was film was fantastic from a visual sense and mediocre from a storyline execution sense making the film too long.