It’s very rare in pop culture today, where you can watch a film that is a drama and comedy, composed primarily out of performances with expressions and idiosyncrasies rather than endless diatribes and emotional outbursts drowning us in dialogue. With “The Kids are All Right,” the reactions and undertones of sadness are there within every single character. And it’s most important to ignore what they’re saying, and pay close attention to what they aren’t saying. Lisa Cholodenko’s dramedy about the modern family, and the plight of the odd structure of said family is a sad and typically miserable film about worshipping the wrong people, and reaching for a goal that is unobtainable. Every individual in this piece are looking for something to fulfill their lives, and sadly they will have the most difficult time looking for it.
Tag Archives: Drama
The Long, Slow Death of a Twenty-Something (2011)
Ben Baker is the classic male of the western society. He has no identity. He’s too old and mature for his teenage antics that involve gaming, bullshitting, and heavy alcohol, and he’s too young and immature to accept the doldrums of adulthood that involve committed relationships and responsibilities. Too adult for childish things, and too childish for obligations, both of which are worlds where Ben is incapable of being himself and expressing of his true feelings on any given topic. With a very symbolic prologue involving a blue square, director Larry Longstreth basically sets the stage for a story about growing up, moving on, and trying to find a place in a society that demands everything of you but yourself.
The Walking Dead, Season One: Final Thoughts
The year of 2010 is the year that many hardcore fans of “The Walking Dead” were finally able to see their favorite comic book series come to life on the small screen with an incredible cast of actors. Free of clichés, free of science fiction doldrums and flash, fans who have stuck by the comic book series since the beginning were finally able to see their fantasies realized in an epic television series. And much like the comic book, every episode of the first season tested the fan’s devotions by completely twisting and mangling every sub-plot imaginable to the point where the band wagoners were shaken off and moved on to other things, while the true fans and new fans stuck by it.
Nothing Like the Holidays (2008)
Truth be told I’m not too surprised that “Nothing Like the Holidays” has become an obscure holiday film in spite of doing everything right in terms of holiday films. It’s called “Nothing like The Holidays” for a broader appeal, considering most Puerto Rican families celebrate Christmas strictly, and yet it’s still a shelf filler after its release in theaters because let’s face it, there’s not a Caucasian face among the cast. America loves the plight of the American family filled with blondes and brunettes while something like “Nothing Like the Holidays” which is essentially a film about a family trying to deal with their demons and unrequited emotions, is pushed to the wayside.
The Fighter (2010)
I’ll admit I had little to no expectations for “The Fighter” primarily because the stylish trailers have made it feel almost like a clone of the Channing Tatum clunker “Fighting,” when in reality it’s truly an Oscar caliber drama about a man who has the potential to become a boxing legend, but cannot escape the clutches of a family who refuses to let him rise above their lower class pit of despair, regret, and broken dreams. “The Fighter” is based on the true story of Mickey Ward, a low level boxer out of Boston who dreams of becoming the legend his brother Dickey touts himself as.
Let Me In: Crossroads #1
Intent on following on its own path from the original film, Dark Horse releases the official prelude to the 2010 film “Let Me In,” an introduction four part comic book that takes the time out to remind us that this is its own beast but also very much like the story it takes from with this new version. And much like the remake currently in theaters, the prelude is about as dull as the live action narrative primarily because as a story about a vampire the entire atmosphere drains the life out of the reader from page one. Rambling and meandering, the entire comic takes so many pages of dialogue and drab art to set up the ultimate hook of the entire prelude which will lead in to Abby and Thomas moving in to the apartment tenement that leads Abby to meet Owen.
True Grit (2010)
When Mattie Ross first meets Rooster Cogburn, it’s behind the walls of a ramshackle outhouse behind a farm house where Rooster is attempting to ward off his young hire while pushing off the runs in his privacy. He holds no pretense about keeping his respect or dignity for her nor does he try to show her his face in the midst of his groans, he just continues with his acts showing her all of the regard he thinks she deserves. When Mattie Ross finally sees Rooster he is a man she is unprepared to confront and has no idea how to approach him. He has one eye, speaks in an unintelligible mumbling monotone of voice that would indicate he is half asleep and drunken during his trial, and his recollections of pursuing and killing criminals are foggy at best. He is a man of loose morals and zero ethics, but Mattie is ready to meet Rooster and woo him with dollar signs and enthusiasm, to which Rooster is neither impressed nor amused by.