![]() ![]() With his hobo beard and his folky threads, singer-songwriter Will Oldham, aka Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, looks every inch the traveller in Old Joy, Kelly Reichardt’s minimalist road movie. But that’s also what’s so romantic about this vision: two men, two wheels, and of course, the epic mountain vistas and endless dusty tracks of South America. After all, a bike can’t provide shelter when the heavens open up, or space for tools and drinking water when that inevitable breakdown happens. What makes this a singular road movie, though, is the bike. ![]() The plan: to travel from Buenos Aires to Guajira Peninsula in Venezuela via the Andes, the longest continental mountain range in the world, to see things they’ve only read about in books, to be enlightened. Yes, this is a biopic, but its focus is Che Guevara’s pre-revolutionary years, specifically the time he hopped on a Norton 500cc motorbike with a friend for the trip of a lifetime. Set in 1952, it follows 23-year-old medical student Ernesto Guevara de la Serna (you know him best as ‘Ernesto Che Guevara’). Seeing this film, it’s obvious why director Walter Salles was plucked as the favourite to adapt Kerouac’s On the Road. Frank’s ‘Milk and Honey’ – and how it captures the loneliness of long-distance driving. What’s more important is that the viewer surrenders to the film’s visual poetry, its rhythms – the long takes, the piercing lens flare, the sombre strains of Jackson C. But Gallo isn’t interested in explaining why this guy – a motorcycle racer on a cross-country trip from New Hampshire to California – is so glum. The mood is contemplative, the man reflecting on a life-changing incident in his past. The man is Vincent Gallo, also writer, director, editor, cinematographer, costume designer, makeup artist, you name it, of this movie. But the image that really encapsulates this existentialist movie is less explosive: a man looking through a windshield smeared with dead flies, staring blankly at the open road unraveling in front of him. 8 stars out 10.It’s hard to talk about The Brown Bunny without mentioning its infamous fellatio scene and the hearty boos that greeted its Cannes premiere in 2003. My favorite guilty pleasure at the moment. Up until now, every episode felt like an injection of pure testosterone (and let's be honest: sometimes, that's just what the doctor ordered). The production values are among the best I've seen on TV and the cast is fantastic. ![]() Granted, it's pulpy, trashy, sometimes even down-right ridiculous – but I loved every minute of it so far. This show is raw, gritty, brutal and over-the-top it's got everything most action films lack these days – and it's absolutely NOT PG-13. What I got instead is high-octane pulp cinema that gets your heart pumpin' with adrenalin from the first second, and an opening chase/shoot-out that wouldn't have to hide behind any mega-budget action production Hollywood has churned out recently. When I started to watch the first episode, I expected a decent, but low budget 'neo-noir' crime show with some sexy women and a few good shoot-outs. It has its fans, sure, but as far as the amount of steady viewers is concerned, it's nowhere near playing in the big leagues – yet. It's amazing this show hasn't found a bigger audience. ![]() That's what happened to me with 'Banshee'. Every once in a while a show comes along that catches you completely off guard you only want to check out the pilot because you've read a comment or two on IMDb comparing it to some other show you kinda like – and BOOM: you're blown away. ![]()
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