conversations with friends

Friend: OH MY GOD JP I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN YEEEEARS

Me: It's been a while yes.

Friend: We have to talk about movies, I'm sure you've seen them all, what'd you think of Girl With The Dragon Tattoo?

Me: Didn't see it...

Friend: Oh, what about Sherlock Holmes 2?

Me: Nope...

Friend: Adventures of Tin Tin?

Me: Nada.

Friend: Tree of Life?

Me: No ma'am.

Friend: War Horse?

Me: Negatory good buddy.

Friend: Mission Impossible?

Me: Naw.

Friend: Okay you had to have seen Hugo.

Me: You'd think that wouldn't you.

Friend: HOW HAVE I SEEN MORE MOVIES THAN YOU

Me: I HAD A BAD YEAR

Mood: Chillin'

Derek237 at 09:06 PM Feb 01

You know what I'm actually still really mad at you about that Gene Hackman comment on your Drive blog.

Servo at 09:32 PM Feb 01

just think of it as a compliment for Albert Brooks c'mon

Servo at 09:32 PM Feb 01

baby don't be mad you know how i get

Read all 4 comments >>

DRIVE

Wow.

First off, Ryan Gosling is one cold blooded motherfucker in this movie, okay? He is cooler than any roided-up, cheesy-line spewing "HERO" Stallone thinks Hollywood needs more of because, y'know, "dese guy are duh real deal ey-yo." No. Fuck you Stallone. Cool is not some asshole with a buzzcut wielding two miniguns plowing through nameless stuntman chomping on a cigar mugging the fucking camera and rubbing his face in fake titties. You know what cool is? Cool is quiet. Cool is unpredictable. Cool is when you're eating at a diner and some dude comes up to you with an idea for a job and with his hand still on the fork he tells you, "Shut your fucking mouth before I kick your teeth so far down your throat I'll shut it for you" under his breath without batting a fucking eye. Ryan Gosling is the very definition of cool in this movie. He is brutal, but it only comes out when it is absolutely necessary, and when it does your heart is pounding out of your chest like after a fat kid just tried sprinting up the Great Wall of China. And when it's over, you don't have a shit-eating grin on your face nor are you cheering because you're so fucking enthralled and scared at the same time by the hell he just put some poor fucker through by kicking his face in until it's a puddle of goo. Gosling delivered this incredible performance of quiet intensity that only people like Clint Eastwood and Steve McQueen pulled off when the term "action movie" was first coined and it has seldom been accomplished ever since.

The chases were in the same vain. It wasn't like the Fast and the Furious films where you have this sense of being on a rollercoaster, I sincerely believe that what I felt while watching these chases is exactly what I would felt if I was in that car next to Gosling - tense as shit. These scenes delighted me but not because they were delightful to experience, but because it was done in such a grounded way that I was amazed at how the director had made me feel.

The violence in the film reminded me a lot of Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven. It wasn't obligatory or celebrated, it was tragic. Unforgiven was a bit more deep and exploratory in its message of the effects of violence, but this film needed no exposition to tell you how violence affects people, because it's there right in front of you. You feel sorry for Carey Mulligan having to witness something horrible. You're horrified by Gosling's detachment from humanity that he would commit the acts that he did. And you can't help but to feel sympathy for the poor bastard that decided to cross him.

Albert Brooks has the capacity to become the next Gene Hackman. He's disarming, and when it's time to go to work, fucking run. I think my favorite trait of his is how he handles his knives. It's his method of killing. In one scene he returns home to a glass case with a few blades, and you can tell that this is what this man specializes in, and like Gosling, it's affected him; it's dehumanized him.

The film's direction was way cool. Long takes, very necessary slow motion shots in a time when they're used so unnecessarily. I really dug the 80's soundtrack, and thought it really set the tone of a gritty Euro-80's independent film. The juxtaposition between the intense action scenes and the touching moments between Gosling, Mulligan and her son were seamless, which made both aspects that much more impacting. The script was fine. Nothing outrageously original or incredibly profound, but it was necessary for the type of film Nicholas Winding-Refn was trying to make.

I think the most recent film that accomplished what Drive set out to accomplish was Man on Fire, even though that film wasn't nearly as subtle and suffers from a lot of unnecessary flare.

Bottom line, when it comes to your standard non-superhero/non-high-flying-adventure action film, this is what I prefer. Fuck off Expendables. I want to see real people, real situations, and real consequences to violence without trying so goddamn hard to be cool. Sometimes all you have to show that someone's pissed off is a tightening fist with the sound of a straining leather glove.

Mood: Chillin'

Derek237 at 09:35 AM Feb 01

There is only one Gene Hackman, thank you.

Nite Owl at 05:12 PM Feb 01

Yeah, I mean what's Stallone ever done anyway? Writing and starring in an Oscar winning movie that becomes so iconic they erect a statue of you in Philadelphia? Phfft, that's nothin'.

JohnLocke2342 at 10:44 AM Feb 04

(nods engagingly)

Read all 7 comments >>

Weapon X at 09:57 PM Jan 30

@NiteOwl: But you'll get charged a fee for coming too late. Ka-BOOM!!

timmyd at 01:23 PM Jan 31

Now THERE'S some great literature . NICE ONE OWL .

Acerbus III at 02:29 PM Jan 31

NYMPHO MFCer

Read all 7 comments >>

brilliant

Righteous_faustus at 05:40 PM Jan 29

LOL this is so wrong.

goNADSgo69 at 05:43 PM Jan 29

I think this is from a Nostalgia Chick video when she was talking about how they changed Pocahontas xD

Servo at 07:03 PM Jan 29

yep

Read all 6 comments >>

cleva girl...

JenGirl824 at 10:56 PM Jan 26

i dont see it. i feel like willam in mallrats, ive been staring for a while, but i just dont see the picture everyone else does.

leesemarie at 11:25 PM Jan 26

i dont either. i've been staring at it for 2 minutes

JohnLocke2342 at 02:24 PM Jan 28

holy shit that's awesome..

Read all 9 comments >>