Eastern Promises

Definately one of the better films I've caught in the theater this year (including Children of Men in that count, so that's high praise). Easily the best and most accurate portrayal of the Russian mob (vory v zokonye) committed to film, with a good (but not perfect) understanding of the language of tattoos, the nuance of relationships and symbolism, and the vory code vs. its wolfish nature. No gun use at all in the entire film, which is a pleasant surprise, until you see the knives come out - when Viggo Mortensen is naked.

Go see it.

Speaking of Parties...

I saw a fantastic film yesterday - Bastards of the Party, an HBO documentary on the birth and evolution of the LA street gangs. Directed by Cle "Bone" Sloan (most notable from his small part as a Blood in the Jungle in Training Day), the film is insightful both for its examination of the gang as a follow-up to the vacuum left by the Black Panthers and US Organization (the arguement that the Crips started as a social committee was fascinating) that was eventually transformed by 70's "me" culture, the loss of jobs for young black men caused by LA's diminishing industry and the influx of cocaine from Iran-Contra, AND the view from hardcore gangbangers (including Sloan himself). There was an amazing historical tapestry behind the entire life of LA's gangs, examined by everyone from the aforementioned gangbangers to former Panthers to UCLA professors and the US foreign relations liason!

Sloan, as our Virgil on this tour, is both eloquent and vulnerable as he discusses his own time as part of the Athens Park set of the Bloods. His passion for the topic seeps from the screen, and the montage of life in LA remains a factual, historically-minded tone with an understandably slight slant against the LA government and police who have made a bit of sport of harassment in South Central LA.

Though as a sociology student and crime buff, I was a shoe-in to enjoy this film, Becky liked it quite a bit too. Watching this film, I realized that the events depicted in this film have affected my life directly - I grew up with some of these displaced gangsters, and lived through the gang wars, crack, prostitution and fear that plauged my neighborhood when I was young. I would strongly recommend this movie to anyone with an interest in American urban life, true crime, race relations, or just insightful documentaries. I can say with confidence that Bastards of the Party is the best crime documentary I've seen since The Thin Blue Line over 15 years ago.

Why Beloit Rocks

People sometimes ask me why I went to Beloit College in Wisconsin when I lived and always intended to live in Portland after graduation. The simple answer? Because we produce archeologists.

Yeah, no kiddin'. Plus the guy who inspired Indiana Jones, and the guy who played Indiana Jones, attended our school (even if only for a semester in the latter case).

Move Over, Snakes on a Plane.

New Zealand's newest horror romp will own your soul...or at least, the soulless husk you turned out to be.

Been a While.

Work is hell, so I've decided to consult the oracle of the 21st century, the Internet, to help me come to grips. This is the result of which film I currently belong in.


Fight Club!

I'm in trouble.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
What a disappointment. Sure it has great action, but...where's the story? Arny is too funny too often, you don't have enough time to get to know the characters, and the ending leaves it off begging for a sequel (I called this "Terminator Reloaded" after seeing it). I want Jim Cameron back!

wh00t!
Well, the move went swimmingly - only 6 hours from house-to-house on the hottest day of the year with about 1200 lbs of trash and garage sale stuff in between. Cleaning was another story...but I digress. I'm approved for my loan, with a few minor conditions, and should be signing the papers in a day or two. BOOYAH! I'm still without phone on the homefront, and broadband is at least 12 days away, but I'll live - more time to finish the next 2 proposals for our friends at Paradigm, knock out the Dragonstar material and do a little pinch-hitting for the 2003 Shadowforce Archer Threat Book (the Shop, for those in the know) and Stargate. Now to set up my desk...

28 Days Later
***WARNING: Some Spoilers Follow***

A good friend of mine's favorite movies are zombie movies - if he could get a picture of George Romero tattooed on his ass he would - so I ended up seeing 28 Days Later this Friday for a little A/C and relaxation before the big move. I'm sure you can read a boatload of reviews on the film on the web now, but my impression was that the movie is a very good, very intense film for the first half, then turns into Day of the Dead (3rd in Romero's trilogy) for the second. What bothered me the most was not so much the plot (which is never the strong suit of a zombie film - it's always a few humans clinging to their humanity while trying to repel wave after wave of undead) as it was the inconsistancy of the characters.

It's like the screenwriter wrote the first half of the script, set it aside for 6 months, then returned to it without rereading what he had written. Jim, our hero, who is allegedly reluctant to kill, flies off the handle and brutally murders a soldier (sure, it was the guy who shot the bleeding heart sergeant, but still, like that?), while Selena, who hacked apart her compatriot of 4 weeks when he had a cut on his arm after the zombie attack, doesn't try to fight or cut her way out of the situation with the soldiers (the 'give me my knife back' scene wussified her in particular). Unlike Day of the Dead, in which the characters are all trapped underground, the soldier's compound was not secure - they could have bailed. I liked it, but the second half, I feel, detracts greatly from the mood set by the first.