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True Stories (1986)
Quirky, but somehow light-hearted and funny
I don't know anything about David Byrne or Talking Heads, so it was my surprise that I was actually able to finish watching this movie. It is quirky and could be artsy-fartsy social commentary, but no. This is kinda light-hearted and funny, and I think it is because David Byrne is somehow a likable character.
I didn't expect this movie to have a plot. It's about a fictitious small town named Virgil in Texas, where the "Celebration of Specialness" festival took place to celebrate the 150 year anniversary of Texas' independence. David Byrne plays a narrator, who seems to be invited to this town to report the preparation of this event and the people of Virgil.
He is not a pretentious hipster, nor making fun of weird people in this small town, but seems genuinely curious.
I read in Wikipedia about the story behind how this script was written. David Byrne clipped articles from tabloids as Talking Heads had been on tour. And he made a ton of drawings based on the clippings (Hence himself reading a tabloid in the movie poster, I guess). He met Stephen Tobolowsky (the insurance salesman Ned in "Groundhog Day") and his girlfriend Bath Heyley at a screening of Jonathan Demme's film. Byrne showed his drawings to them, and asked them to write a screenplay based on his drawings. He ended up rewriting almost the whole script, but asked Tobolowsky and Heley to list their names as co-scriptwriters so the film would seem less like a "vanity project."
So I assume that the quirky characters in this film are based on the tabloid clippings David Byrne was intrigued by, and that's why it doesn't seem like he's laughing at them. He loves his characters.
I recommend this movie when you feel like watching an offbeat movie, but don't want to watch anything hipster-overload.
The Green Mile (1999)
Isn't this about systemic racism?
I watched this movie when it was released, but at that time I thought it was about miracles and friendship. It's amazing how naive and ignorant I was.
John Coffey is portrayed as a typical black man whom white people are afraid of. Big and strong, yet uneducated and simple. When a bunch of white guys with loaded guns found him with white little girls' corpses, they didn't have the slightest doubt that Coffey is the killer.
Coffey's lawyer thought Coffey didn't do it, but he says Coffey is like a "good dog", appears to be obedient, but his nature is violent. So the lawyer decided not to defend Coffey.
The death row guards who are led by Paul (Tom Hanks) are all portrayed as "good white men''. Fair, compassionate and respectful.
Except for one guard, Percy, who is of sadistic nature but untouchable because he is the nephew of the state governor. I think he represents the "bad apple" in the police in current America.
And I think Wild Bill, who is crazy, rude and violent, represents a real criminal, and the real criminal is white.
John Coffey took care of everything that the good white men couldn't have taken care of. Willingly! Even risking his health. The good white men use his power to solve the biggest problem, but can't save him, just thank him.
It seems like there's no way for the good white men to prove Coffey's innocence in the system. Isn't this systemic racism? Would Paul even doubt that Coffey's falsely accused without miracles?
And Coffey himself, *conveniently* is "ready to die" because he's tired of being treated harshly.
But at the end, aged Paul doesn't feel he's blessed to be long-lived. Rather, he feels condemned because he didn't save the innocent man. I guess it's also a comparison between cutting life short and being unable to die as a punishment, probably against death penalty.
Sex and the City (2008)
Princesses and Drama Queens
To my surprise, I've had this DVD!
I liked the original HBO series because the women were "independent" and not afraid to speak up. But I didn't like Carrie and Big because they were both "drama queen"!
This movie centered their relationship, so it's unavoidable to be melodramatic.
Carrie and Big decided to get married, but it's not because they want to, but because Carrie is worried about losing everything if they split up without marriage.
When Big didn't show up to the wedding, Carrie overreacted and left. Why don't they talk? In this movie, no women talk. Miranda and Samantha are the smart ones, but they even become drama queens like Carrie.
Then the girls go to Mexico to cheer up Carrie, but she is such a "princess"!!
Plus it's kinda irritating how easy for Carrie to buy back her apartment, or for Miranda to move out to have her own place. Yes, it depicts women's issues with marriage, but they are so rich, I can't relate to it.
Charlotte is the only one who has no problem with her marriage, and I think it's because she prioritizes it.
Anyway, Carrie, Miranda and Samantha have to face the music and make decision about their relationship, but "not by logic, but by emotion"!!
I understand Miranda and Steve get back together because they seem conformable with each other. And Samantha realizes she's not made for settling down. Fine.
But Carrie, she didn't even think about marrying Big in the first place. And I'm personally offended that Carrie and Big would have a "life-size" wedding at the city hall among people like me because they are obscenely rich!! Oh, I almost forgot, Jennifer Hudson is in this movie as Carrie's assistant. Carrie buys her Louis Vuitton bag which "young, black girl can't afford".
And why does Carrie and Big never have a sex scene? Their relationship is the center of the story, why didn't they show themselves intimate in the big f- - kin closet?! Rather, Miranda and Steve have to play an obscene sex scene. I don't like that Sarah Jessica Parker is protected from sex and nudity, while other actresses have to be bold about it.
I wonder if I still like the original series if I re-watch them now. I have no interest in the reboot. I don't know if anybody would be interested in the story of white privileged old women in current political climate.....
LBJ (2016)
Eventless
This is about Lyndon B. Johnson, the vice president who was thrust into the presidency following the assassination of John F. Kennedy. In this movie, he is portrayed as the one who actually passing Kennedy's historic Civil Rights Act.
My understanding is that LBJ ran against JFK in the Democratic presidential primaries, and lost. And Kennedy appointed LBJ to VP to convince traditional Southern Democrats to pass the Civil Rights Act.
Senator Richard Russell (Richard Jenkins ) is depicted as a typical Southern Democrat. In a lunch meeting with LBJ, Russell says "I, as an American citizen, shouldn't be forced to eat a hamburger next to someone in a restaurant I don't wanna bump elbows with?", in the presence of an African-American server. But Russell is friendly to the server at the same time.
LBJ's house chief (cook) is an African-American woman, who's working there for more than 20 years. But she told LBJ that if she had to drive a long way, she had to pee outside because there's no restaurant or place she can enter, because she's black.
LBJ thinks that's ridiculous that somebody who worked for a senator for 20 years is discriminated like that, so he worked hard to pass the Civil Rights Act.....
Robert F. Kennedy, JFK's brother and Attorney General, is depicted as a real a-- hole. JFK and Robert treats LBJ as a problematic elderly man, who suggests them to "compromise" if they wants to pass the Civil Rights Act.
I guess the drama is how LBJ handled the pressure from both sides, Kennedy's and Southerners, but that's kind of a cliché and eventless. There are a couple of times "Rob Reiner's funny dialogues", but that didn't elevate this movie.
It seems like people criticized Woody Harrelson's make-up, but I thought Jennifer Jason Leigh's nose was worse. It was so fake, almost a joke. I don't know the real Lady Bird (LBJ's wife), so I'm not sure that make-up served the purpose, but I think it would be fine without the fake nose.
I read somebody wrote "All the Way" is the better movie if you wants know about LBJ, so I looked it up and it casted Bryan Cranston as President Lyndon B. Johnson, Anthony Mackie as Martin Luther King Jr., Melissa Leo as First Lady Lady Bird Johnson. In addition, Ray Wise who played Leland Palmer in "Twin Peaks" is in it. I'll check this out next.