The Departed
Lengthy, boring, and somewhat confusing. Oh, but Mark Wahlberg, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, and Leonardo DiCaprio were in it, so it must be good! It was difficult to take Wahlberg’s “tough cop” character seriously, being a fan of Boogie Nights – call it denial. Damon smiled. Nicholson’s “evil” character didn’t come close to Mr. Torrence. DiCaprio, however, gained some respect, as his character was the most believable. Zzz.
When the Levees Broke
I have mixed feelings about this Katrina documentary. On one hand (how else can you follow-up to a “mixed feelings” comment), I’m glad the people of New Orleans who went through this ordeal had an avenue to share their feelings. On the other, because such strong emotions were involved, and considering that people aren’t usually rational when emotional, some of the comments were frustrating to hear. For example, one woman who was interviewed suggested that explosives were used to breech one of the levees. What evidence suggests this? The loud boom she heard. The obvious ignorance of a couple of others discounted the general credibility of the documentary. Other conspiracy theorist ideas were thrown in the air, such as the speculation that the levees were purposely underbuild in order to flood the citizens out of the lower 9th ward. And, unsurprisingly, the race card was played numerous times. The topic of slavery was brought up in relation to refugees – I mean “evacuees” (another topic) – being shipped off to various cities/states. Did I mention Levees was directed by Spike Lee? I try to boil issues down to what they’re really about and, in this case, it was already obvious to me that the Federal Government didn’t care about poor people, so the response (or lack thereof) wasn’t surprising. The problem isn’t specific to New Orleans or certain minority groups – the dialogue should be about the bigger picture.
Heat
Very entertaining. Had the right ingredients – Pacino, De Niro, and Kilmer; all things good and bad that come along with power, selfishness, and greed. I could have done without the romanticism, but it was tolerable. The Pacino vs. De Niro “night vision scene” was great. I loved the loud, lengthy gunfight downtown after a bank robbery. Recommended if you like macho/crime/action kinds of films.
Casino Royale
Ridiculous. Still, I think incorporating Texas Hold’em was appropriate, considering it’s newfound popularity and that Bond is known for being a good card player. The in-game situations, however, were completely unlikely.
Firewall
As bad as I expected it would be.
Carlito’s Way
Favorable, but no Scarface. Granted, I’m only comparing the two because they’re both Al Pacino flicks, which I’m a newbie to. I appreciated that Carlito’s reputation wasn’t just based on his fighting skills, but his intuition and “street smarts” as well, as observed in the bar with the pool table.
