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I love movies. I heart them so much that I’m starting a new series here on the ‘zine. The Academy Awards were just on TV, and after missing the show for the last few years, tuning in to this year’s gala reminded me of why I love the world of cinema so much in the first place.

You’re probably saying to yourself, “Hold up, Abe. You’re talking about the Oscars, with the Hollywood old-guard politics, the drama, the upsets, the glamorized red carpet CACA SHOW?!”. Yup. Besides the aforementioned fluff, the soul of the awards (supposedly) lies in recognizing the talented people that make us laugh, cry, and reflect at twenty-four frames per second. It’s about the people who tell the best stories in what is the hands-down most effective and digestible format to move and inspire others.

A big part of my personal mission is the proliferation of diversity in entertainment. It’s my dream to see the stories and characters you don’t read in textbooks or see on the news depicted on film and television. We’ve made leaps and bounds in this area in the last few years, but still have a LONG way to go before entertainment reflects the actual world around us. Congratulations to those like Jennifer Hudson, Alejandro Gonzales Iñarritu (BABEL, AMORES PERROS), and all the talented artists that are leveling the playing field.

Now we may not realize it, but we are increasingly shifting towards a “guru” driven society, relying on the opinions of experts in their respective fields to influence our decision-making processes when it comes to our daily consumption of goods and information. As Rene elaborated in his latest article on the skewy-eewy-ness of the map of the world as we know it, one person’s disinformation can go a long way in shaping the viewpoints of the masses. So why listen to crusty-ass Ebert and Roeper all the time for movie reviews? I’m not a film expert or anything, but I will call it like I see it through my brown ears and eyes. This series will take you deep into my Netflix queue as I share my thoughts on the good, the bad, and the uglies. Hopefully you’ll find something in these reviews that will inspire you to take a chance with a film you wouldn’t normally watch, or seriously reconsider a movie you blew past. Whateves. Enjoy. =)




The Departed Winner: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay



This movie is a fine example of a good idea turned GREAT. Contrary to the announcer at the Academy Awards saying that the story was based on a Japanese film (honest mistake, or Asian lump-summing? hmmm), this winner of Best Adapted Screenplay was actually based on the HONG KONG police thriller Infernal Affairs. Screenwriter William Monahan during his acceptance speech didn’t correct the error, which kind of irked me, but Scorsese did during his speech so it’s all good. I saw both the Chinese and American versions of this story and although I’ve been preaching the original versions of these Asian cinema remakes, The Departed flipped the script for me and blew the original out of the water. Tony Leung and Andy Lau are excellent at their craft, don’t get me wrong (see 2046, Chungking Express, or Fulltime Killer for proof), but the emotional stakes portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, and crew were explosive.

This was Donnie Brasco to the umpteenth power, with more moles than Fred Savage in Austin Powers. The setup of the story in The Departed was done in a way only Martin Scorsese could, turning the mean streets of Boston into a living, breathing organism that birthed crook and cop alike and slapping them both with matching leather jackets. If you like mafia flicks, watch it. If you’re swoon units for Leo, Matt, or Marky Mark, watch it. Mark Wahlberg should have won Best Supporting. His character Dignam was the hoordest mufugga he’s played yet. He had the best dialogue in the movie. The other performances weren’t the actor’s best per se, but still damn good. There’s this one scene in particular where Matt Damon’s character makes a phone call to DiCaprio from a dead man’s phone, and both actors play chicken by not making a single sound, trying to make the other break their “cover” first. They say good actors want fewer words, and bad actors want more words. This scene made the whole movie happen for me, the culmination of an elaborate game of cat and mouse by a man who was a better crook than he was a police officer, and a man who could no longer claim allegiance to either side. DOPE movie. Four out of Five stars.

-Abe

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