Ghost World Review

Ghost world is an obscure indie coming of age drama film about these two girls who are best friends in high school and how they get along after high school. They go through their differences especially when they older man gets involved with one of them and they grow farther apart but in the end they remain best friends.

Being 22 going on 23 here in the next month I can relate to movies like this. I have it on vhs and have seen it a couple times but I just revisited it looming through my vhs collection and put it on again. This one is a strange one for me. I had seen it numerous times at the video store, websites and later on at thrift stores but didn't actually see it for a good while. Rosy watching it again as an adult with a job and an apartment and having dealt with flying the nest more recently I can relate to this movie even more than any pervious time I've seen it.

Things like your first time in an adult store, finding an apartment, worrying about what the hell are you going to do with the rest of your life, disappointment after disappointment, relationships. This is a tough time for most when you're still growing up and all of a sudden the flow of your life that you've dealt with most of your life just abruptly stops and now you're in trouble. In this movie the main character has more going for her. She has an older man willing to be let her move in and be with her, she has her best  friend willing to let her move on with her and she has her father letting her stay with him. I didn't have all that and I know a good number of people who didn't either so some may look at this film and think she doesn't know the half of it but as I always say just because someone has it better than the worst doesn't mean they aren't suffering. This movie illustrates that point very well.

This is one of those drama films that ate really down to earth, tells it like it is and lets you experience and identify with the character and you meditate on your own life, revisit memories think of things you could've done or can still do to improve your life or help another's. The progression of the story is fine and the ending is abstract and artistic. It's not so much particular dialogue or even events that matter with a movie like this it's more of the whole experience of coming of age in general. It sounds kind of weird saying what happens in the movie isn't as important as what the movie means as a whole but that's how I feel about it. It's one of those movies you would suggest to a stranger in their 20s you start talking to at a college or a book store or an art gallery who starts telling you their own tragic life story and how lost they feel. This movie may help them gain perspective into their situation and promote brainstorming on new patterns on development in their lives.

All in all its a good down to earth indie drama that can help and heal certain people in certain circumstances. There aren't many like this out there and I'm glad it's there because I think it has some good potential. 

Blue is the Warmest Color Review

Oh man this movie. This one made me tear up a little bit at the end. It's an indie french drama film about a bi sexual school girl who falls in love with a blue haired tomboy. It's basically about her love life. The French title for this film is actually La Vie d'Adèle Chapitres 1 & 2 which translates in English to The Life of Adèle Chapters 1 & 2. Adèle is the main character the school girl. They describe this movie as an LGBT coming of age romance drama which explains it perfectly. She wanted to be a teacher so she becomes a teacher and moves in with her girlfriend who is an artist. They have their ups and downs and there's a couple amateur lesbian sex scenes in this one so just keep that in mind on who you watch it with. The ending is sad but I don't want to give away any spoilers so go check it out for yourself.

The movie came out in 2013 and was written, produced, and directed by Abdellatif Kechiche and stars Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos. I'm not really one for chick flicks but I did watch this one because the title interested me. I already knew it was a lesbian romance movie but yeah the title is what drew me into watching it. It is in French with subtitles as well just so you know. It moves fairly slowly but not too slow to make you bored of it which is a good thing because to be honest I usually get bored quick with korny romance scenes but this movie did it well. There were a couple times with no music which is an indicator that what the character is saying will be important and it creates tension and when you see the leads school friends and they do that you know they are going to say something nasty or nosey which makes you either listen closely for the drama or makes you hate those characters which leads you to be more empathic with the main character which is great for a drama film so they knew what they were doing.

Artistic indie films especially french ones (imho) seem to have a lot of meaningful symbolism like a good painting does that gives this some good replay value as you can come back to it from time to time and see a new meaning in the film which all great art does. Things like them mentioning Pablo Picasso who had his "blue period", the lighting being blue in the gay bar where Adèle meets Emma and Emma changing her hair color from blue to blonde towards the end of the film when the relationship starts to wane from its peak or the fact that they frequently have them eating a simple spaghetti when they have an enjoyable get-together be it with the art friends or with Adèle's parents. The blue I would believe is symbolic of something like the English title is a riddle to be solved. But art is always in the eye of the beholder so the things I mention you may not agree with and you may have your own opinion on what it means and that's what makes it so great I think.

I encourage you to watch this and find out for yourself what you think of the film. This is a gem of a film. Even if I don't like chick flicks I can appreciate what they did with this one it's like 3 hours long and if I can easily get through it I bet you can. ;)

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Be Kind Rewind Review

Be Kind Rewind is a little dramatic comedy film from 2008 written and directed by Michel Gondry starring Jack Black, Mos Def, Melonie Diaz, Danny Glover, Mia Farrow and Sigourney Weaver. It's a quaint movie about a small time video rental store in the town of Passaic, New Jersey and their struggles living in a poor area trying to get by and the people in that town.

Mos Def plays what I would say the leading character is with jack black supporting the role as mos defs friend in the movie and it goes through their struggles trying to save the video store both while the owner is there and while he is away. All the VHS Tapes get ruined and they make their own homemade bootleg versions of the entire video collection at the store and it gets a little out of hand. By the end of the movie you're going to have sympathy for the characters and the Be Kind Rewind Video Store and even the town passaic, new jersey and its history. It tugs at the heartstrings like you experiences their hardship and are rewarded with a happy ending. Its one of those kind of movies but the humour strewn throughout the film are really interesting and creative and close to reality. Its like you're in a ghetto town video store with some dorky fellows who were the geeks in school and never really had any success but they get by and have a humble existence.

Each event in the film is engaging it makes you want to see what happens next and you have the feeling like "oh my gawd i can't believe they did that lol" and you wanna see the consequences. It makes for good drama and the things that are so dramatic that they do are silly and just wonderfully dorky. Makes you really like the characters by how silly they are. Everyone loves a silly goose and we all know jack black is a big silly goose. It's definitely classic jack black comedy with a touching story.

Give it a try.. if you can find it. Not the easiest one to find but you know amazon is always a good place to get it but I wouldn't check your local video store that deals in new and used movies because it can be a hard one to find; very hipster they've probably never heard of it lol.

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