Release Date: November 23, 2006

I was a generation too late to experience the overwhelming popularity and immensely saddening death of Robert Kennedy. But even though being an 80s child forced me to miss out on this time in history, a 120 minute film written and directed by Emilio Estevez has taken me back to that time and given me an overwhelming vision of the man they called Bobby, and the legacy that he left behind.

The film, Bobby, does not just attempt to tell the story of his death – it brings forward some of the most impactful things about his life. At the center of this story is a message of hope, and it is visualized through the eyes of those people who were present on that fateful night at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. As if channeling Paul Haggis’ concept from last year’s Best Picture winner Crash, Estevez’s film sets up by showing the stories of 22 people who were present on that day. Then as the film develops, we watch each of these separate storylines converge as part of this much larger tragedy. Therein lies the initial brilliance of the film.

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Release Date: November 10, 2006

Casting Russell Crowe as an insufferable prick is like casting Alec Baldwin as a soul-less asshole – it is frighteningly accurate. And although Crowe doesn’t get to punch anyone in A Good Year, he does get to over-embellish the pomposity of his character, adding to the effect of a later life changing event that would make him a happy go lucky lover boy. It is both all too familiar and all too boring.

By now audience should be growing tired of these films that deliver the message that if you are a terrible human being, then all you need is a château in France and a beautiful mate and that will cure your personality defects. Not only does this sort of film not ring true to any part of human life, but it always plays out the same way. We begin with a character – in this case Russell Crowe as Max Skinner, a day trader who loves only money and is hated the world over by his peers. We then add a back story about his childhood that should have made him a good person – case in point, visions of the delightful Albert Finney as Skinner’s wine loving, romanticizing uncle who teaches him to never take things for granted. Then comes the denial of these learnings, whereas Max has not spoken to his uncle in 10 years; and the event that would bring it all full circle, the uncles death.

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Quite a lot of things happened. Due to an unfortunate circumstance, both The Modern Guy (www.modernguy.net) and The Columbus Movie Guy were deleted. This forces me to start all over… Bummer, right?

For now, though, I am going to be working to reinstate The Columbus Movie Guy as quickly as possible. It will have a new look, a new flair, and an all around new-ness. The Modern Guy, on the other hand, may make a comeback at a later date. For now, there are no plans to rehash my original creation.

So until I get things back up and running around here, please visit Film School Rejects. All of my work can be seen there as well as the work of some of the brightest young journalists that the web has to offer!
Cheers,

Neil

The Columbus Movie Guy

Release Date: November 7, 2006

Cliché. Ephemeral. Pretentious.

Just a few words that modern day film critics (something I aspire to be someday) use to describe bad movies. It is words that we put into motion to bring to life our feelings, perspectives and analysis about a particular film. In the case of the documentary Wordplay, none of the afore mentioned words would be needed.

Wordplay is like a great crossword puzzle, intelligently crafted and captivating. It seems fitting, then, that the entire purpose of the film is to bring to life the world of crossword puzzles – and the dedicated puzzle solvers who are addicted to them. In the center of it all is Mr. Crossword Puzzle himself, Will Shortz, who makes his living as the crossword editor for The New York Times. Famous for their ingenious nature and their sometimes immense difficulty, Shortz’ puzzles are often heralded as the best around – so great, in fact, that he catches the eyes of some of New York (and America’s) most notable names. From celebrities like comedian Jon Stewart and Yankees’ pitcher Mike Mussina to political icons like former President Bill Clinton and Senator Bob Dole, it is apparent that Shortz’ fanbase stretches far beyond that kid who you cheated off of in 11th grade English class.
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Borat came to the U.S. and A to make a movie-film. He wanted to learn about the “greatest country in the world” and make a documentary to benefit his homeland of Kazakhstan. The result? To say the least – a film that shows off how not so great America is; and a man, Sacha Baron Cohen, who has quite possibly exposed himself as the funniest man on the planet.

As the sex-crazed, Jew hating, tactless Borat, British comedian Baron Cohen lights up the silver screen with hijynx, and stuns his audience with painful amounts of laughter. The film is an outward gesture of gratuitous irreverence, following Borat as he travels through America, meeting with some of the most unbelievable characters that our country has to offer. From the edgy New Yorkers who threaten to kick his ass on the subway to the anti-homosexual, gun toting Bush-ite Rodeo manager who advises him to shave his mustache to make him look less like a terrorist to the Right wing Evangelists that try and save his soul and introduce him to Jesus – it is America that seemingly becomes the butt end of each joke. The film, on some higher level of genius on the part of Cohen, exposes some of the “lows” of American culture – a tragic but hilarious sight to be seen.

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