Oscar Boycott

I don't know if boycotting is always the answer. I know there have been incidents in history where it has made a difference.

My issue with certain boycotts is that it affects someone who is trying to make a living. I remember when there was a boycott against She'll Oil in the 80's. There were young black people working there. Not purchasing gas would have possibly put their jobs in jeopardy. I will probably watch the Oscars since Chris Rock will be hosting. The programs that I watch depend who is on the show. There will be a lot more controversy about the Oscars. It'll be interesting to see who shows up and uses the platform to make a statement. I'm sure Chris Rock will have a good time with it all. He could be the only one. Not all blacks get to have that experience. I only saw one film in the movie theater and that was Straight Outta Compton. It was a very good film, but I can't say if it deserves an Oscar nomination. Thanks for stopping by; keep an open mind and come back again. Follow me on Twitter or Facebook Dlonzo Oznold.

Over lapping blogs

Fruitvale Station (DDDD) -  I had heard about this film, but I didn’t know the story. So many films I’ve been watching have been relevant to what is happening in the world today. I often have conversations with family, friends and people I meet that eventually touch on those subjects. We all have opinions on the direction in which the world seems to be going. We ask ourselves if the world is worse than things were.
In my opinion, with technology being what it is today, it makes things seem worse. There has and always will be crime. We now hear and see it sooner in this digital age.
We used to have to wait for police reports to be filed or for someone to call 911. People are filming things as they happen. We are being bombarded with everything via the Internet, smart phones, texts and those that still use a television to get their news.
I new it was only a matter of time before we would actually see someone shot on television and yesterday I saw a police officer roll over someone in his police car at top speed on television and another man shot accidentally by a police. Too many police officers are calling the draw of their gun an accident. ( Feel police are scared. They are not equipped with what is needed to deal with criminals mentally. It’s a kill or be killed mentality similar to the military.)

The first time I remember seeing any get killed on television was when six women jumped from the Rault Center because of a fire. Days later Mark Essex would be killed atop the Howard Johnson’s on Loyola Ave. Many years later, I would find out that Mark Essex was the cause of the fire which caused the death of the six women.
Fruitvale Station is based on a true story that may have been the first incident where people caught the incident with their cell phones. Cops held and brutally beat several black men, but one was killed. There was no justification for this.
I had no idea where this film was going, but I was not expecting that outcome.
Watching anything tragic is not easy to watch whether on the big or small screen. Some people grow up seeing this sort of thing often; it becomes second nature.

Coming soon:  Lincoln, Silver Lining Playbook, Django Unchained, ARGO, August: Osage County,

The rating system - (d) it’s okay, if you like the stars (D) worth a look, especially if you are a fan of the stars (DD) Great cinematography and costumes (DDD) good script, cinematography, (DDDD) Not to be missed (DDDDD) I highly recommend this film



Check out my other blogs:
http://ArtbyDlonzo.blogspot.com
http://dlonzo-OpenYourMind.blogspot.com





Thanks for stopping by, and do come back again or become a follower. Remember to keep an open mind.

I'm on a roll with my movie watching.

Amoure (Love) (DDD) - This is a French film that I knew nothing about. It’s the story of an elderly couple that love each other, but when the wife becomes ill the story takes an interesting turn. At first I thought the film was going to be about Alzheimer’s and then it went in a different direction as the wife suffers a stroke and the husband takes on the responsibility of caring for her. There are quite a few surprises and some disturbing images, but this is definitely an interesting film, but watch it when you’re feeling happy. It can bring you down and make you think about getting old.

The Lone Ranger (DDD) - I was putting off watching this film, but I finally gave in. I like Johnny Depp, but in recent years, all of his roles seem to be the same. Ever since Pirates of the Caribbean I find the characters to be the same, but that’s just me. At first I thought perhaps this was a Tim Burton film. The stars were those he had worked with in several of his films. I do like Tim Burton and his dark side, but to my surprise this film was directed by Gore Berbinski and the music was by Hans Zimmer.
I was confused with the opening as we go into a museum. I am not a big fan of films that have narration or that tell the story in reverse. From time to time I have made exceptions, but its not always exciting to watch a film when you know how it is going to end. But if the story is told correctly, the journey that leads us to the end or perhaps beyond what we think is the end can be entertaining. Johnny Depp plays Tonto and Armie Hammer plays The Lone Ranger. This adaptation tells us how it all began. The film also stars Tom Wilkinson. There are some great realistic special effects which makes it a fun film to watch.

HER (DDD) - I had remembered seeing a preview for this film, but had totally forgotten the title. The film stars Joaquin Phoenix who hadn’t been in a film for a very long time. I believe he had even mentioned retiring at one point, but no one can really stay away from something that they enjoy. When you get a film that challenges your craft you definitely jump at the chance to play the role.
Joaquin plays a letter writer that starts an unusual relationship.
(This is the part I was talking about in my last entry. Do I give away the plot or do I let you discover it on your own? When it comes to films if I‘m not buying it or paying to see it in a theater, then I don‘t really care what its about unless I‘m in a mood.)
It’s definitely an unusual film that is worth a look.
The film was directed by Spike Jonez and also stars, Scarlett Johansen, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde and Chris Pratt.


Boyhood (DDDD) - I had figured with all of the hype that the film might not be that great. In Texas they really back their own so its only natural that they would praise a film whether it is great or not.
I was quite surprised. The film is really good and most of us can relate to different aspects of our own childhood. The film is unique in its story telling as its probably the first time an actor has played in their own aging since the film took 12 years to make. Also, what the actor is experiencing on the screen, he was experiencing for the first time.
It’s definitely worth a look, especially if you have any interest in film making.
The film was directed by Richard Linklater who brought us Slacker and Dazed and Confused, also great films.
Boyhood stars Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Ellar Coltrane and Lorelei Linklater, Richard Linklater’s daughter.








Coming soon:  Lincoln, Silver Lining Playbook, Django Unchained, ARGO, August: Osage County,

The rating system - (d) it’s okay, if you like the stars (D) worth a look, especially if you are a fan of the stars (DD) Great cinematography and costumes (DDD) good script, cinematography, (DDDD) Not to be missed (DDDDD) I highly recommend this film



Check out my other blogs:
http://ArtbyDlonzo.blogspot.com
http://dlonzo-OpenYourMind.blogspot.com





Thanks for stopping by, and do come back again or become a follower. Remember to keep an open mind.

I should have been a film critic.

The problem is I don't like to give away too much of a movie. I also feel that the fact that a film is made deserves to be seen no matter what someone else things. Each individual has the right to say what they like and don't like. We all have different tastes so we can't please everyone.

The Monuments Men (DDDDd) - It’s funny how I select films to watch. In my regular collection there are films that I watch once a year and then there are those that I watch every two years or a greater span just so I can enjoy the film again.
Of course I had never seen The Monuments Men before, but with the recent attack on a museum I thought it was interesting that I would watch this film at that moment.
The film is based on a true story of a group of soldiers selected to protect the great works of art during World War II. The film stars Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Cate Blanchett, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, Hugh Bonneville, Dimitri Leonidas and George Clooney who also directed the film.

Savages (d)-  I like films by Oliver Stone and since Blake Lively was in this film along with some other big names I thought I would really enjoy it. Perhaps I should watch it again, but on the first viewing I was not impressed.

The Kid With The Bike (DDDd)- My foreign film collection continues to grow. This is really a good film about a kid that is abandoned by his father because he can no longer take care of his son. The son searches for his father and when he sees his father has a job he thinks his dad will come back for him. His new guardian does her best to care for him, but he gets involved with the wrong crowd. It’s a touching film that makes you wonder why some people have kids when in reality they really don’t want them. The film stars Thomas Doret, Ce’cile France, Jeremie Rennier.

The Book Thief  (DDDDd)- Another foreign film. This film deals with a young girl during wartime in Germany as Jews are sent to concentration camps. A young girl is taken in by a family and her love of books takes her on a journey. The family takes in a border who is Jewish and they must keep him hidden or face the consequences. The film is filled with young love, adventure and heartache. The film stars Geoffrey Rush, Ben Sellnetzer, Emily Watson, Sophie Ne’lisse and Nico Lierscll.
The story is based on the novel by Markus Zusak. It’s directed by Brian Percival and the beautiful cinematography is done by Florian Bellhaus.

Lore (DDDD) This is the story of a young girl that must take on the responsibility of caring for her siblings when her parents are taken to a concentration camp. There are many surprises in this film. When you think you know what is going to happen, then something else happens out of the blue. Although tragic, this is one of the reasons why I like foreign films. They are true to real life. The film is written and directed by Cate Shortland and stars Saskia Rosendahl and Kai Malina.







Coming soon:  Lincoln, Silver Lining Playbook, Django Unchained, ARGO, August: Osage County,

The rating system - (d) it’s okay, if you like the stars (D) worth a look, especially if you are a fan of the stars (DD) Great cinematography and costumes (DDD) good script, cinematography, (DDDD) Not to be missed (DDDDD) I highly recommend this film



Check out my other blogs:
http://ArtbyDlonzo.blogspot.com
http://dlonzo-OpenYourMind.blogspot.com





Thanks for stopping by, and do come back again or become a follower. Remember to keep an open mind.

Two more Movies

Pinky - (DDD) In one of my film or books or in doing research, I had seen this film listed, but I never saw it. I had seen The Imitation of Life which has two versions about the same subject. Thanks to MoviesTVNetwork I was able to finally see Pinky. The film stars Jean Crane as Pinky Johnson, a fair skinned black woman who passes for white. Ethel Waters plays her dark skinned grand mother. This film deals with a lot of issues that are still relevant today. If you forget race, everyone should be able to understand this film. We are all trying to fit in somewhere. We all have to play the game of life at some point. The rules are different for us all. It depends on what you are trying to achieve. There is some truth in the phrase, “ All the world is a stage and everyone has a role to play.”

The Place Beyone The Pines - (DDDD) This was one of those films that I had never heard of. One of my friends had sent me a bunch of DVDs and they were just in those little white paper sleeves. This saves on shipping expenses. Sometimes the title may be familiar and other times I’ve never heard of the film. I like the idea of popping a film into the DVD player and experiencing a film without knowing the premise. It’s funny that I would watch this particular film, as two of the stars were at ZACH promoting other films. The film starts off going in one direction and then without notice it takes off in a different direction. I really enjoyed this film because it has several twists and turns. A man suddenly finds out he is a father and he wants to take responsibility, but is clueless as to how it all works. A few misfortunes lead him down the wrong path. He doesn’t like the idea of another man raising his kid and he finds himself turning to a life of crime to get money. At that point everything beings to unravel for everyone involved. We are then introduced to a new character and things take another unexpected turn and continue to go in that direction. I will not give away the second part of the film, but I was not expecting the out come. This is definitely a film to see.
The film stars Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendez.







Coming soon: The Monuments Men, Lincoln, Savages, Silver Lining Playbook, Django Unchained, ARGO, The Book Thief, August: Osage County, The Kid with the Bike,

The rating system - (d) it’s okay, if you like the stars (D) worth a look, especially if you are a fan of the stars (DD) Great cinematography and costumes (DDD) good script, cinematography, (DDDD) Not to be missed (DDDDD) I highly recommend this film



Check out my other blogs:
http://ArtbyDlonzo.blogspot.com
http://dlonzo-OpenYourMind.blogspot.com





Thanks for stopping by, and do come back again or become a follower. Remember to keep an open mind.

Dlonzo and his movies

The Counselor - (D) There are many films I’ve never heard of and The Counselor happens to be one of those films. When the film began I had no idea what to expect. I recognized Penelope Cruz so I decided I’d keep watching. I thought perhaps the title was in reference to Michael Fassbender’s character being a sex counselor.
The film opens with a couple in bed, the above stars, and then a sexual conversation ensues. The subject of sex throws you off as to which direction this film will take.
Sex and death do seem to go hand in hand. Through out the film there’s a lot of talk about sex. The film is about suspicion, betrayal and killing in the most bizarre fashions.
I made a post on Facebook, (If you want to see Brad Pitt bleed out on a sidewalk and then get beheaded, watch The Counselor.

The Hunger Games - (DDDD) The film stars, Jennifer Lawrence, Stanley Tucci and Woody Harrelson, just to name a few. I had never seen the film or read any of the books, so I decided I would watch. I didn’t know what to expect. The film seemed to move slow, but then it picked up and I really got into it. I found it quite entertaining. I don’t know how the film compares to the book, but if people keep going back, I guess there are pleased with the story.

The Dog - (DDD) A friend send me a bunch of DVDs and included in the stack were several documentaries. Of course I didn’t know that at the time. I figured it might have been a foreign film as they do tend to have interesting titles. The Dog is a documentary about the man in which the character played by Al Pacino is Dog Day Afternoon is based.
It’s interesting to see how art imitates life and how a man’s life can be affected by the art.
The Dog always wanted to be famous. Probably not the way things transpired, but he got some notoriety. The documentary was quite entertaining and the characters were quite colorful. Although some of the story is disturbing, it’s definitely worth a look if you enjoyed Dog Day Afternoon.







Coming soon: The Monuments Men, Lincoln, Savages, Silver Lining Playbook, Django Unchained, ARGO, The Book Thief, August: Osage County, The Kid with the Bike,

The rating system - (d) it’s okay, if you like the stars (D) worth a look, you are a fan of the stars (DD) Great cinematography and costumes (DDD) good script, cinematography, (DDDD) Not to be missed (DDDDD) I highly recommend this film



Check out my other blogs:
http://ArtbyDlonzo.blogspot.com
http://dlonzo-OpenYourMind.blogspot.com





Thanks for stopping by, and do come back again or become a follower. Remember to keep an open mind.

Two more movies

Mud, is one of those films I wanted to see. I believe it had played SXSW, but it didn’t make its way to ZACH, or if it did I had to work. I am a big Matthew McConaughey fan. I liked his films before, but after meeting him, it means something more when I see him on the screen. If I had met Matthew McConaughey under different circumstances I might have had pictures. I met him right after Katrina at the Austin Convention Center.
It was really by accident and he thought I might have been a plant. I was picking up some magazines and one of them happened to have Matthew McConaughey on the cover. A few minutes later I see Matthew McConaughey giving an interview and when he is finished, I go over to shake his hand and to get his autograph. I pull from my backpack an issue of Details magazine in which he happens to be on the cover. He was freaked out about it and asked if someone had put me up to it. Of course that wasn’t the case. We spoke briefly and after signing the magazine with his signature phrase, “Keep On Living”, he was on his way.

Mud is one of those stories that unravels. We think it is one story and it turns out to be another story entirely. It could have easily been called something else as we meet two boys who become infatuated with Mud. The film stars Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon. It’s a film about first love, love in general, betrayal, friendship and family. Matthew McConaughey is a great actor. He has taken on some great roles. Even minor parts which he makes very memorable.
This is also one of those films that makes sense at the end. This is one of the reasons I like to give a film my full attention whether I think it good or bad when I first start watching.

Many years ago I used to be on a screening committee for a film festival. They would only watch 15 minutes of a film to determine if it were going to get in or not. I never thought this was a good way to judge a film. Sometimes it takes 15 minutes for a film to get its characters together. Whether it is a short film 30 minutes or less, or a feature 30 minutes or more. A person has put a lot of time and energy in most cases to tell a story and I applaud anyone who can do that. Which means whether I am paying to see a film or if I get to see it for free, I should give them their props to watch it all the way through. Even if I don’t particularly like it doesn’t mean someone else won’t.
So Mud’s opening characters are very appealing, the real story doesn’t come together until the end, but each character is very memorable. I particularly like the story of the two young boys who befriend Mud. There could definitely be another story about the two boys as they grow up.
(DDDD)

I am not a big fan of Woody Allen. I think one of the reasons is that he always plays an annoying character. The other could be that I am not very fond of directors that want to act, but aren’t really that good at it. Woody Allen writes good material. He has a way with dialogue like that of Quentin Tarantino who’s work I really like a lot. I find his use of dialogue to be realistic. Real conversations or funny even when they aren’t supposed to be. The first film I believe I saw by Woody Allen was Everything you always wanted to know about sex, but were afraid to ask. I actually enjoyed it. Perhaps I was too young to understand some of his other work. When I got older I was talking to a friend about Annie Hall and I decided to watch it. I knew this film had won an Academy Award for best picture and I had seen scenes from the film. I just didn’t find Woody Allen or Diane Keaton appealing enough to watch the film.

This is probably why I have issues with being the face of my own videos. I don’t think people will find me appealing.

In recent years, I’ve seen films by Woody Allen in which he doesn’t appear and I’ve really enjoyed them. A couple of years ago I saw Carnage. I believe that is the correct name. It stars Jodi Foster and Kate Winslet. It’s a four character piece that I really enjoyed as they talk about the other two characters, but we never see them on screen. The film also takes place in one apartment. It reminded me of Rope by Alfred Hitchcock.
The most recent film that I’ve seen is called Midnight in Paris. I believe this is going to be my favorite of all of Woody Allen’s films. Perhaps its because I’ve been wanting to go to Paris and in recent years I’ve been thinking of spending a year in Paris to do some writing. Midnight in Paris is a film about that. A man, played by Owen Wilson is about to be married and he falls in love with Paris. He is an established screen writer, but now he wants to write his first novel.

Every night at midnight he experiences something in Paris that I think most writers would love to experience. To be among the greats and enjoy in their experiences. Their creative process. The heartache and the pain that made them who they became. The writers and artist that created such beauty in words and brush strokes. Imagine Paris in the 1920’s. There is a message in this film that most artists feel they were born in the wrong era. They believe they would have been better at what they do had they been born during a different time.
Midnight in Paris also stars Rachel McAdams, Kurt Fuller, Mimi Kennedy, Michael Sheen, Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody and Marion Cotillard.
I will definitely be watching this movie over and over again. Especially when I need some inspiration or until I can make it to Paris.
(DDDD)






Coming soon: The Monuments Men, Lincoln, Savages, The Counselor, Silver Lining Playbook, Django Unchained, ARGO, The Hunger Games, The Book Thief, August: Osage County



Check out my other blogs:
http://ArtbyDlonzo.blogspot.com
http://dlonzo-OpenYourMind.blogspot.com