May 2009 Archives

I love a good caper. I even love the word caper. Capers are my favorite kind of movie. "The Thomas Crown Affair" is a good one. "The Imposters" another. And now comes "The Brothers Bloom," more mad-cap than most perhaps, but thoroughly, utterly satisfying. I want "The Brothers Bloom" to be this summer's indie sleeper hit so badly--it's confusing and suspenseful in the best way (think "The Usual Suspects" but way more lighthearted), it will definitely make you laugh until you can't breathe in certain moments, and it will likely make you cry, too.

All this, plus an unbelievable cast: Adrien Brody, Rachel Weisz, and Mark Ruffalo, and it's a literati dream--it's got all sorts of meta going on about "written" and "unwritten lives" that have to do with cons (on a basic level) and then the Big Meaningful Stuff that makes a well-lived life.

Sigh.

Without going into too much plot detail (and really, I couldn't if I tried--this is one of those movies that I want to go back and see again to capture the full, layered story now that I know the end), the Brothers Bloom are con artists born at a tender age, with the first con "written" (literally as a story with a plot and a romantic interest) by the older Bloom, Stephen, so that his younger, shier brother called, simply, Bloom, might have a reason to talk to a girl he's sweet on. Thus begins a life of con after con until Bloom tires out of the life and wants something real. He wants to live his own story and not the tales of lies his older brother has spun for twenty years now--or so he thinks he wants "an unwritten life" for once.

I am glad to hear several Christian radio stations remind contemporary Christian music fans that it has been one year since the tragic loss of Steven Curtis Chapman's daughter Maria Sue Chapman. Over the last year the Chapman family has bravely shared publicly--on shows like Larry King--the difficulties in their journey through grief, while at the same time somehow remaining a truly inspiring picture of faith. Now, on the anniversary of her daughter's death, Chapman's wife, Mary Beth has written a beautiful and heart-wrenching post on her blog.

While I know summer is here and we are all looking for perhaps lighter fare to watch on a Friday night, I stumbled across a fairly recent release that is haunting but yet not overly dark. "Shotgun Stories"is the tale of two sets of brothers who must decide if they will carry on a longstanding blood fued with each other, or if they will forgive and move on with their individual lives. It's a movie that lingers but doesn't bludgeon you with its sometimes unsettling subject matter, which is why this unsung treasure is my DVD pick for this week.

The movie opens in rural Arkansas at the funeral of a man who was an absentee father to three boys he dismissively named Son ,Kid, and Boy. At the funeral these sons collide with the four young men who comprise the second family of the dead man who remember their father as a good Christian man who had changed his ways and had become a community legend. Hate, bitterness, and revenge fester between the two families threatening to destroy all of them bit by bit.

This touching documentary--which won the 2009 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject--follows a young Indian girl born with a cleft lip, and her journey to get an operation that will allow her to live a better life. The film premieres on HBO on June 3.

Watch the trailer below.

Apparently there is serious talk about a new big-screen "Buffy" flick! My heart went all a flutter when I read the recent article, ""Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Returning to Big Screen" sent to me by fellow Idol Chatter blogger Kris Rasmussen (who knows I'm a huge fan of all-things "Buffy" and vampires in general).

It begins: "A new incarnation of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" could be coming to the big screen, courtesy of the director of the original movie."

My reaction: EEEeeeeeeeee!

But then the joy thudded to a halt when I read that "'Buffy' creator Joss Whedon isn't involved," and "The new 'Buffy' film, however, would have no connection to the TV series, nor would it use popular supporting characters like Angel, Willow, Xander or Spike," and "The producers do not rule out Whedon's involvement but have not yet reached out to him."

Why? Why would Joss and the original cast not be involved? How could they not be?