The American(o)

The American, directed by Anton Corbjin, is a slow burn, but a warm one. Clooney, playing Jack, evokes tension and terror as an assassin hiding in out rural Italy after a mishap in Sweden. His job is to craft a tricky gun for a woman, Mathilde, too beautiful to be an assassin. While doing this Jack falls for a woman, Clara, too beautiful to be a prostitute. The film does everything with taste and class. The sex is poetic. The violence is discreet. Jack’s craftsmanship is inspiring. This is a departure from most of Clooney’s resume, as he plays a tense and rather private portrait of a careful man, destroyed by his human side. The only issue is we do not see the antagonist until the third act. But it’s solving this mystery of antagonism that drives the movie: who is following Jack? How do they know about Sweden? Is Clara divulging information? Just as the majority of the movie operates in shadows, some of the films best scenes are spent in the shadows.



Clooney on the run. Props to the 70's style onesheet.

In light of this, I present you the Americano:

2 oz. Sweet Vermouth
2 oz. Campari
Club Soda

Pour vermouth and Campari into ice-filled highball. Fill with club soda and stir. Add a twist of lemon peel.

Campari is an apertif that is very delicious and sweet. This is best served, or drank, before dinner or some form of food consumption. Much like the slow pacing of the film, this is best drank slow and savored, thought and mulled over. Maybe while cooking something Italian this will give you something bubbly and tasty to sip on.

via Mr. Boston

The John Daly

1 1/4 Vodka
Finish with equal parts iced tea and sweetened lemonade
Garnish with a lemon

The Arnold Palmer drink, popularized by Arizona Iced Tea Co., is equal parts lemonade and sweetened iced tea. Arnold Palmer was an incredible golfer and, I believe, the drink first came around when he ordered it at the Masters in Augusta. Before it was named after him it was called a Half & Half. Arnold Palmer has since retired.

John Daly is a contemporary pro golfer who is generally conceived as an alcoholic redneck, although a wonderful golfer. He is, essentially, a fan favorite amongst the younger and rowdier crowds and this drink is why.

It's an alcoholic Arnold Palmer.

Start with the vodka in a highball glass with ice. Finish it with the two essential ingredients and then throw a nice lemon slice in there and booyah, you got yourself a delicious drink good for anytime between May and late September. Or any time you happen to be at a golf course.

500 Days of Summer!

Growing up in an age of extreme technological evolution and influence has created an Industrial Revolution with a 21st Century twist on my generation. And, by my generation I mean anyone aged 18 to 25.

This revolution has had it's goods (AIM, iPhones, iPods, super computer cellphones, etc...) and bads (general feeling of obsoleteness, lack of passions or cares, rampant materialism, etc...) to which I am certain the bads have outweighed the goods (call me Romantic, I don't care). This horrible imbalance has created a shift in romance among todays youth. A shift that I don't understand and still trying to figure out. Luckily, a film like 500 Days of Summer has been created to perfectly execute and display the "Tech Generation"'s views on love and romance.

500 Days of Summer is not just an excellently communicative and creatively written story, it's a very well thought out and thoroughly made film. Finally, a director (Marc Webb) has arrived who still cares about the essential and unique aspect of cinema of being able to replicate and further tell the story at hand through aspects such as costumes and mise-en-scene (what is put in the frame).

The story is about Summer and Tom. A boy meets girl but not a normal one, as the narrator will explain to you (this film, by the way, has an excellent balance between narration and character dialogue. Nearly perfect.). Summer believes love is fake, Tom believes thoroughly in it as well as fate. Tom, represents the old kind of romance, the one that's dying, the one that people of a technologically-limited generation grew up with and existed in. Summer represents the new romance that has confused the hell out of me as well our Tom.



Summer is fickle and teasing. Yet, when she's on she's on and when she's off, well, she's dead fucking off. The two blossom a romance despite her warning of only wanting something casual. What is casual? What is not casual? How is this difference defined? Is it by emotional investment? Time investment? Is it strictly one sided or does it have to be mutual? Either way, Summer knows what she wants.

She wants the good without the bad. She wants the pleasure of being loved by someone, the unique feeling of being special and appreciated, without the risk of failure, or disaster. This is shown by the influence her parents divorce has had on her (another side effect of being part of the Tech Generation: 50% divorce failure/success rate.). This not only want but execution of the act of only giving enough to reap the benefits and keeping enough to save yourself if it goes to shit may seem universal, but has lead to much conflict in relationships; as displayed in this film.

Tom is much more old fashioned: You can't treat somebody special without being a couple. Friends don't just hold hands in Ikea, have shower sex and sleep overs. Tom thinks they're a couple. Tom gets his heart broken because in this situation girls will bring up the theory of being "just friends".

My ass.

Apparently the shift in romance has created a shift in what's Platonic and what is not. Is this culture looser? Or looking for love without hurt? Being special without the worry of losing it?

I sympathize with Tom, while, at the same time, the character arc he goes through and the ending he comes to is satisfying (trying not to reveal too much). He grows, in the end, and two hours later we grow with him. I still may be perplexed by the modern female (as to be expected forever) but this film helps one understand the dynamic between the two modern sexes. And, it does it in a way that fulfills all the classical aspects of the film language. My hat goes off to 500 Days of Summer. It is officially included in my heart as well as artistic Canon.

Hilariously Frightening

Sam Mendes' Away We Go is terrifying. It is also hilarious, heart-felt, touching, intelligent, and inspiring.

The story of a newly pregnant couple (John Krasinksi and Maya Rudolph) who travel the country meeting new friends to find the perfect place to start a family was written by Pulitzer Prize Finalist author Dave Eggers and his wife Vendela Vida. The story, originally, came to me as non dramatic while at the same time incredibly tense. And, I suppose, that's what they wanted.

The dramatic structure isn't normal, there's no Act I, II, and III. There's the Instigating Event (the pregnancy) and the Dramatic Question (will they ever find a place to settle down?) but nothing "bad", so to speak, happens. The conflict isn't between Burt and Verona, the two, instead, function as a team in this film. They're conflict never reaches the brink of separation but instead generally revolves around break downs in armor, glimpses of fear, that get rebuilt and blinded beautifully by the other member of the team.

The conflict, instead, is battled on the fields of hopes and dreams. Each new city they go to is greeted with incredible optimism and promise and then gets batted down by those they visit. Every planned trip is foreseen as being incredible but ends up being a vision of what they never want to happen to them, their worst nightmares being lived out by old friends and acquaintances. It's not until an unplanned visit to Miami when Burt's brother's wife leaves him that the two start to find what they were looking for.



Overall this film will forever be held close to my heart. It will never win an Oscar, let alone get nominated for the ones it deserves. But it's unique, lively, and creative story telling is something that will not be surpassed for a very long, long time. Or, at least, until Eggers comes out with another film.

"You have to be better than you ever thought you could be."
--Away We Go

The Kid In Me

Up is Pixar's best. And that's saying something.

This film tells the extraordinary tale of Carl Frederickson and Russel. Carl ties thousands of balloons together and escapes to Paradise Falls instead of spending the rest of his years in a retirement home. Accidentally joining him is Russel, a Boy Scout trying to get the one badge he doesn't have: Elderly Assistance.

The two of them meet up with Kevin, the large, goofy, loveable bird who is unable to fly and just wants to feed her kids (yes, it's a girl bird named Kevin). They also meet up with Doug, the dog with a talking collar who is supposed to track and capture Kevin but, being the black sheep of the slew of dogs living in the area, decides instead to help his new found owners and friends. The four of them make together create a hilarious team.

The jokes themselves are juvenile and silly, baring no serious thought nor satirical depth, they are perfectly timed slapstick comic relief. This is hard to achieve with animation but is done expertly in this film. That's also the only "kid" part to this "kid" movie.

At the core of this film are issues of love, loss, grief, letting go, and getting by. All of which are dealt with during the first twenty minutes of the film (which could be given it's own Oscar for Best Picture). Carl has to get over the loss of his wife and the "old, simple way". He needs to get over the dreams that he has held onto since he was a small child and move onto things that give him his own meaning. Due to a miscarriage from his wife, who passed before he did, he has had no children and, therefore, is left all alone; causing his late-life crisis. Fortunately, Russel provides the perfect companion. Russel not only needs his Elderly Assistance badge but also a father-figure as he deals with the frighteningly popular issues of today's children: a father who is never there and a step-mom who he doesn't trust enough to call Mom. Thereby giving Carl the chance to get meaning by giving meaning. Doug and Kevin also have their ambitions: Doug, being the only retriever in a group of guard and attack dogs, is goofy and kind. He doesn't fit in with the rest of the litter and knows it. He wants out and finds Carl and Russel. Kevin just wants to live peacefully in Paradise and raise her kids but the group of dogs is trying to hunt Kevin. We quickly grow to love Doug and Kevin and root for them just as much as we root for Carl.

All in all this review can't do justice to Up. The fullness of character as well as the creativity and execution of the story are beyond comparison to any film that came out this year, let alone this summer. Another instant classic from Pixar.

Nick and Norah's Finite Playlist

Despite being a perfect date movie, this film is a desperate combination of Juno and Afterhours, pegging itself into the demographic still stuck on The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, directed by Peter Sollet and written by Lorene Scafaria, is based on the book of the same title by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. The story of high school seniors who go out one fateful weekend night in Brooklyn, searching for a secret surprise show for their favorite underground indie band known as Where's Fluffy?, is an attempt at capitalizing off of the success of Juno, the quirky indie hipsters guilty pleasure and box office dark horse of last year.

Michael Cera does an excellent job at being his awkward self. It appears as though he's forever caught in that type casted trap and will become the Ben Stiller of the burgeoning ultra-awkward indie dramedy genre. Kat Dennings tries to pull off an Ellen Page with boobs but can't quite cut the sarcasm and acting chops required to make the pairing work. Although the stage is taken by the immaculate and hilarious performance of Ari Graynor as Norah's Drunk Best Friend

The script by Scafaria is full of Diablo Cody-esque dialogue that often times overruns the basis of all writing: conflict. Too many scenes were acted out without a conflict, climax, or resolution. And the static conflict of awkwardness, albeit popular and cute, is a common mistake amongst writers. Creativity is being able to compose all the required elements of an art form into an original work. Cody had it with Juno and Woody Allen invented it before her. Adapting Nick and Norah was not the best choice.

Furthermore, the similarities to Juno and other works of art found in the canon of the quirky, teenage, socially awkward, indy kid tells me that this was a project done out of exploitation of a demographic that has risen to mainstream attention. This rise in power is in part of the efforts of the few mentioned before, Cody, Perks of Being a Wallflower and the like, and there true efforts of just making a GOOD movie to the best of their abilities. The focus of this movie is so greatly embellished in the way the characters are that Nick's character arch is barely discernible at the end of the script and Norah's isn't even there.

Too much focus on what made the great movies it draws inspiration from popular and not enough on what ACTUALLY made them great movies.