Bannan's Talk

Vengo

This is not a musical but a movie about music, while displaying the great music of Andalucia, telling a story of a blood feud between two families. Tony Gatlif is doing what he does best, a good mixture of drama and music in a documentary style. Recommmeded to everyone who is interested in music, especially to the ones who love flamenco.

The Devil's Rejects

horror flick starring Bill Moseley, Sheri Moon Zombie, Sid Haig and William Forsythe. written and directed by Rob Zombie.

the sequel to 2003's House of 1000 Corpses, about a family of psychopathic killers in the late 1970s.

watched the first 45 minutes in hopes of finding something redeemable in this film, but after seeing a woman have a gun jabbed into her panties and then forced to perform oral sex on someone, I just couldn't subject myself to it any further. sadistic, brutal and just down right disgusting.

love your music Mr. Zombie, but sorry... I don't dig this kinda "entertainment".

American Psycho

horror-extremely dark comedy-thriller starring Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe, Cloe Sevigny and Jared Leto. based on Bret Easton Ellis's novel of the same name. directed by Mary Harron.

a wealthy and extremely narcissistic New Yorker leads a double life, as both an investment exec and a homicidal maniac.

I have heard so many great things about this film and it's performances, so I decided to give this one a try... for the second time.

I don't know if it's the fact that I don't care for films where women are brutalized or that I am not a Christian Bale fan *waits for gasps of shock from all of the Bale fans* but I just can't seem to get excited for this movie.

funny dialogue that made me chuckle a time or two and a pretty damn good 80s soundtrack, but other than that, I just wasn't feeling this one.

maybe third time's the charm? nah. two times was enough for me.

There Will Be Blood

drama starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano and Dillon Freasier. loosely based on the novel Oil!. written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.

... all the armies of my boot will kick you in the teeth, and you will be cast up, and thrown in the dirt, and thrust back to Perdition! And as long as I have teeth, I will bite you! And if I have no teeth, I will gum you! And as long as I have fists, I will bash you! Now, get out of here ghost! Get out of here, ghost! Get out of here, ghost!

the tale of ruthless oilman Daniel Plainview (Day-Lewis) and his quest for wealth in the early 1900s.

I have never been a big Daniel Day-Lewis fan, so I was hesitant when I first popped this into the DVD player. so glad I did! as the greedy Daniel Plainview, he delivers an amazing performance. as does the young actor Dillon Freasier, who portrays Plainview's son H.W. very talented young man. and how eerie was Paul Dano? great performance... made me just wanna reach through the screen and smack the lil prick.

beautiful cinematography, interesting story and top notch performances make this an all-around great film.

Sunshine Cleaning

comedic drama starring Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Alan Arkin, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Clifton Collins Jr. and Steve Zahn. written by Megan Holley. directed by Christine Jeffs.

Rose Lorkowski (Adams) is a single mother, struggling to make ends meat by cleaning other people's homes for a living. after a conversation with her lover (Zahn), she decides to start up her own Crime Scene Cleanup business with her sister, Norah (Blunt).

I knew this was going to be a funny one, but I didn't expect how sweet it was. wonderful performances by the entire cast, the female leads pulled off two great performances. I absolutely adore Adams and Blunt. the men were great as well, especially Collins. he is a new favorite of mine.

great little film! ♥

(500) Days of Summer

A great movie about love even though it claims that it's not one. Tells the story of a 500 day relationship in a mixed editing. It has some really original scenes, some funny moments and some references to classics like Persona and Seventh Seal. Everyone who has been in love, or came close, or even dated once, will find something familiar in this one. And some will find more..

I love the writers note in the beginning: "The following is a work of fiction.
Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Especially you Jenny Beckman. Bitch."

After summer comes the autumn, and I think autumn is great, summer is a bit overrated.

Burn After Reading

dark comedy starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, John Malkovich, Richard Jenkins and J. K. Simmons. written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen

I thought you might be worried... about the security... of your shit.

after being demoted at work, CIA analyst Osborne Cox (Malkovich) decides to write some inflammatory memoirs about his life in the CIA. meanwhile, Osbourne's wife Katie Cox (Swinton), who is having an affair with Treasury agent Harry Pfarrer (Clooney), decides that she wants a divorce. following the advice of her divorce lawyer, she makes copies of all of Osbourne's pc files and takes them to her attorney. however, the attorney's secretary accidentally leaves the disc at her gym, Hardbodies. enter Chad Feldheimer (Pitt) and Linda Litzke (McDormand), who is also sleeping with Pfarrer. the two Hardbodies' employees find the disc and assume that it must contain "secret CIA shit" and decide to give it back in hopes of a reward. but after an odd telephone call between Chad and Osbourne, their plan quickly turns to blackmail.

not as good as some of the other Coen films, but it certainly is nowhere near as bad as others. great dialogue and a great cast are what make this film. Clooney is pretty funny, his third time around, as yet another one of the Coen's idiot characters. but it is Pitt that is fanfreakintastic. his performance was my favorite part of this film. hilarious.

good stuff. ♥

Heathers

dark comedy starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater. written by Daniel Waters. directed by Michael Lehmann.

fuck me gently with a chainsaw!

Veronica Sawyer (Ryder) wants to be popular, wants to be part of the "in" crowd. but she secretly hates her friends, the popular clique at school, three girls named Heather. enter mysterious new guy J.D. (Slater). Veronica is intrigued and eventually the two start dating and joke about killing off the Heathers. but when a harmless joke goes wrong and they accidentally do kill one of the girls, things begin to spiral out of control and Veronica finds herself in over her head.

I looooove this movie! ever since I first saw it, yeah I watched it when I was ten-yrs-old, I have loved this film. hilarious script with dialogue that is quote worthy and of course, the amazing Mr. Christian Slater. sure, Winona is great, but Christian... ah, Christian. he is one of those actors that I will forever love and who with forever make my heart get all fluttery. XD

one of the best high school flicks ever made. ♥

The Skeleton Key

scary suspense flick starring Kate Hudson, Peter Sarsgaard, Gena Rowlands and John Hurt. written by Ehren Kruger. directed by Iain Softley.

when Caroline Ellis (Hudson) takes the position of a hospice care provider for an elderly man (Hurt), she starts to wonder if there is more to his condition. could it be that his wife (Rowlands) is making him sick? or is it something else, something that involves the history of the house and it's previous residents?

the first time I saw this flick it scared the bejezzus outta me and I had nightmares for weeks. this time around, I still enjoyed it just as much, but without freaking out. of course, I did watch it in the middle of the day this time.

Kate and Peter are both great, but it is Gena and John that steal this film. great performances from both of these wonderful actors.

good stuff. ♥

The Jackal

action flick starring Bruce Willis,Sidney Poitier, Richard Gere and Diane Venora. based loosely on 1973's The Day of the Jackal. directed by Michael Caton-Jones.

in an attempt to track down the assassin known only as "The Jackal", FBI Deputy Director Carter Preston (Poitier) and Russian Police Major Valentina Koslova (Venora) turn to former Irish Republican Army sniper Declan Joseph Mulqueen (Gere) for help.

the action is good. the story is okay. Poitier is awesome as always. Willis is good. Gere is okay. oh! and there's a cameo by funny man Jack Black, too.

the best part of the film for me? when I spotted LOST's Daniel Dae Kim in a minor role towards the end of the film. I got so excited I squealed! XD

an okay action flick.

Troy

action flick starring Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom, Eric Bana, Peter O'Toole, Sean Bean, Saffron Burrows, Rose Byrne, Brian Cox, Brendan Gleeson and Diane Kruger. directed by Wolfgang Petersen.

based loosely on Homer's Iliad as well as other tales of the Trojan War, the story opens with King Agamemnon (Cox) and his army on the battlefield preparing to engage with the Thessalonian king, Triopas. the two kings decide to settle the matter by having their two best warriors fight. Agamemnon summons his warrior, the great Achilles (Pitt), who ultimately defeats Triopas' soldier.

skip to brothers Prince Hector (Bana) and Prince Paris (Bloom) of Troy negotiating with Agamemnon's brother, King Menelaus (Gleeson), to end the dispute between Sparta and Troy. when Menelaus' wife Helen (Kruger), who also happens to be Paris' lover, steals away on the Trojan's boat, Menelaus vows revenge. Agamemnon, who had long wanted to conquer Troy, joins his brother's fight, getting together a vast army, including the great warrior Achilles.

I know that many people didn't care for this one, but I love it. historically flawed, maybe. but Roger Pratt's cinematography coupled with great CGI FX and Robert Cameron's set design make this visually breathtaking. Bob Ringwood's costumes are simply gorgeous, helping to make the already beautiful Kruger, Burrows and Byrne even more so. Pitt is awesome in the fight scenes, which are very well choreographed, and the action sequences are amazing.

Pitt. Bloom. Bana. O'Toole. Cox. Bean. maybe if there had a been a film like this when I was in high school, history wouldn't have seemed so boring.

one of my favorites. ♥

Adventureland

comedy starring Jesse Eisenberg, Martin Starr, Kristin Stewart, Margarita Levieva, Ryan Reynolds, Bill Hader and Kristen Wigg. written and directed by Greg Mottola.

when James Brennan (Eisenberg) graduates, he is looking forward to a Euro trip and attending college in NYC. unfortunately, his parents are having financial problems and are unable to help him. and with no work experience whatsoever, there is only one thing that James can do: become a carnie at Adventureland, the local theme park.

new twist on the same ol' story: young person enters new situation, meets interesting people that help to shape who the person will become and possibly falls in love in the process.

an alright flick, I just wish that Bill Hader and Kristen Wigg's parts had been bigger. Martin Starr was the shizz and I liked newcomer Margarita Levieva. Jesse Eisenberg was okay, he has that Michael Cera quality about him: in small doses he can be endearing, but in large ones he can be annoying. and lastly, Kristen Stewart. although this is one of her better performances, I still think she needs to work on her craft a bit more.

oh! and what the heck is with all of the vomiting in this film?

Starr, Hader, Wigg and the soundtrack = good stuff.
the rest of this film = meh.

He's Just Not That Into You

dramatic rom com starring Ginnifer Goodwin, Justin Long, Drew Barrymore, Kevin Connolly, Bradley Cooper, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Connelly, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Aniston. directed by Ken Kwapis.

the lives of twenty and thirty-somethings intersect in this film about relationships and love in the 21st century. based on the self help book of the same name by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo.

such a great story. very well written, with an all-star cast that delivers top-notch performances. but it is Ginnifer Goodwin's Gigi that stands out. I've been a fan of Ginnifer's ever since I first watched her as Margene, the third wife of Bill Henrickson, on HBO's Big Love. I absolutely love her.

I found myself saying "yep. been there, done that" on several occasions. lol
a new favorite of mine. love it! ♥

Zombieland

Your typical Zombie flick. 4 people stumble upon each other and seem to have trust issues amongst a world full of fleah eating zombies. It was rather funny in parts and Woody Harleson played his roll quite well as the zombie slaying nut who seemed to enjoy destroying them abit too much. A nerdy college guy and two sisters head towards Los Angles and play land and find it infested by zombies. Also has a cameo appearance of Bill Murray.
They call themselves by the towns that they came from and the Nerdy guys name is Columbus and has all these rules on how to stay alive.

Flixster - Share Movies

So if you haven't seen it and like zombies I'm sure you'll love this...