Hitting the Big Screen  Sept 27 – Oct 3

Courtesy of Relativity Media

Courtesy of Relativity Media

Don Jon

Directed by: Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5

Release date: Sept 27, 2013

Don Jon is a confident & entertaining movie from Joseph Gordon-Levitt who wrote and directed the film in his debut behind the camera. There’s not much this young man cannot do from movies to television to his work with HitRECord, JGL is a true entertainment Renaissance man. In the movie he plays Jon, a bartender who prowls the nightclubs looking to score with women and score he does. He has a secret though – he’s addicted to porn, which causes him far more pleasure than actual sex. Until he meets Barbara (ScarJo) – a perfect 10 in his book. It takes him a bit longer to woo Barbara but he does it and man is he in love. Then she catches him in sneaking in some porn and flips out on him. He swears he can quit and that it’s nothing to him, as he lies through his teeth. Now she has hand on him forcing him into lying about his addiction to porn. She then begins to dig her claws in Jon by telling him what he can (go to night school) and can’t do (clean his apt, watch porn) which he willingly does at first until things reach the breaking point. Don Jon is a bold movie in that it tries to tackle headfirst the male obsession with porn and it’s ramifications. While there’s plenty of room for a more penetrating discourse the movie stays grounded in the world of the characters. The two leads have pretty good onscreen chemistry too, I could totally see them working together in the future. Tony Danza and Glenne Headly do a fantastic job in their few scenes as Jon’s parents. Brie Larson plays Jon’s younger sister who is always on her phone texting until her big Silent Bob moment. A bold and assured debut movie from JGL shows lots of promise if he wants to follow his muse down this road further. Be sure to see this movie and open up a dialogue with your friends about its topics.

Courtesy of IFC Films

Courtesy of IFC Films

Blue Caprice

Directed by: Alexandre Moor

Rating: 3 out of 5

Release date: Sept 27, 2013

Blue Caprice is the moody, atmospheric take on the events that led to the infamous 2002 Beltway sniper shootings on the East Coast. Director Alexandre Moor and screenwriter Ronnie Porto take some artistic license with the story to craft this disturbing riff on alienation in the 21st century. Lee (Tequan Richomnd) is left alone by his mother in Antigua until he meets an intriguing American John (Isaiah Washington) who takes him under his wing. John we will learn has lost custody of his children from what can only be assumed was a very messy divorce as the ex-wife took out a restraining order on him too. John and Lee soon become a surrogate father-son combination with John teaching him the ways of the world, as he sees it through his bitter eyes. Shacking up with his gun-obsessed buddy Ray (Tim Blake Nelson), John and Lee’s relationship starts to turn into a one-man cult. John’s grievances with the world become Lee’s too as their alienation leads them to random murder. The two buy an old Blue Caprice and head out to the ol’ East Coast to find John’s family. Along the way their alienation fuels a random killing spree that John hoped would spark a revolution in the country. His paranoia becomes Lee’s motivation as the drive the Caprice on it’s murder spree. Gorgeously shot with a fantastic, evocative score. This is not a didactic film that seeks to show the reasons for their mayhem, so don’t go expecting that. It’s not a sympathetic treatment either – it’s more of an peek into the ramifications of alienation in a country soaked in the myths of rugged individuals armed to the teeth with guns.

Other Films of Note

Rush – no it’s not a film about Canada’s premier rocknroll band (if you said Nickelback you lose). This movie is about Thor racing cars against the great German actor Daniel Bruhl. It’s directed by the guy who narrates and stars in the fourth season of Arrested Development.

Enough Said – One of the late James Gandolfini’s last movies. This one is middle-age romance between him and Julia Louis-Dreyfus who are both divorced. Sounds promising yet I’ve not really enjoyed director Nicole Holofcener’s other first-world problem pictures.

Money for Nothing: Inside the Federal Reserve – fascinating documentary on the 100-year old Federal Reserve that is still shrouded in mystery despite Ron Paul & Occupy’s attempts to bring it to the forefront of American’s attention. Looks like a good one.

The Trials of Muhammad Ali – a documentary about all of Ali’s most important battle – his conscientious stand against the Vietnam war.  If you don’t know much about him, go check this out. It looks very, very good. He is still one of the most fascinating figures of the last 100 years.