Movie Log: Day 25 The Weekend Review

Just to be clear here the definition of an acid house movie is thus: A movie that has drug themes relating to drug use, experience, or addiction. Visually it must play like a drug film, demonstrating unique cinematography, editing, and visual design choices. Its genre must not dip too far into a true historical film, cop film, or any thing other then a true drug film. That having been said lets take a look at two more entries from the letter "B" one that was near perfect and one that was not quite so perfect.


ACID HOUSE PROFILE








MOVIE: Brick
DIRECTOR: Rian Johnson
YEAR: 2005
DRUG INVOLVED: Heroin

When streetwise high school student Brendan receives a distressed phone call from his ex-girlfriend Emily he begins attempting to help her out, at first perhaps to win her back but it soon becomes much more complicated then that. With the help of his friend "The Brain" Brendan tracks down and gets to the bottom of a complex mystery involving vengeance, exploitation, drug dealers, and a missing brick of heroin.
What can I say about this fine piece of cinema other then perfect, perfect, perfect. Every phase of this film is just done so well starting with a story with twists and turns to spare, a killer ending, and keeps you glued to your seat from the first frame to the last. Next the killer script rife with lush old school film noir language in the vein of writer Dashiell Hammett. Moving right along to the cast of the film, which is also damn fine starting off with main character Joseph Gordon Levitt who's streetwise, cool and calculating Brendan is played with passion and also includes a litany of mainly unknown young men and women who all finish out this cast well. It finishes with some amazing camera work and visuals with interesting angle work, black versus white themes, and intense transitions. This is not only an excellent noir, drug film, and just film in general but it also passes the acid house test with flying colors and is giving the distinct honor of getting a perfect score. If you love films then you will be hard pressed not to like this one.

SUMMARY:
ACID HOUSE APPROVED: Yes, Yes, Yes
WHEN WAS APPROVAL CONFIRMED: I would say within the first few scenes
FAVORITE SCENE: The Tug/Pin showdown at the end of the movie
ACID SCORE; a perfect 10 hits out of 10 I only wish I could give it more


ACID HOUSE PROFILE







MOVIE: Bright Lights, Big City
DIRECTOR: James Bridges
YEAR: 1988
DRUG INVOLVED: Cocaine

When Jamie Conway, a disillusioned writer who recently moved to New York City, gets dumped by his fiancee he starts to go off the deep end. In an attempt to bury the misery of his breakup and before that his mothers death at the hands of cancer he begins hanging out with a drug dealer named Tad and doing cocaine. Slowly his dive into depression begins to effect his professional life and his health as he spirals out of control.
While "Brick" kept you nailed to the edge of your seat this film has you yawning more then watching. Two of my favorite guys star in this tale, Michael J. Fox ("Back to the Future") and Keifer Sutherland (TV's "24") however I was very unimpressed with their performances and the performances of the rest of the cast. What is supposed to be a heart wrenching look into the decline of a regular old guy with a dream plays more like another preachy anti-drug film. Nothing is all that interesting visually and it has a rather annoying sound track to put the finishing touch on this one. It was interesting enough to keep me watching to the end but I must say that is film is quite standard and if I may ascribe a flavor to it... bland.

SUMMARY:
ACID HOUSE APPROVED: Negative
WHY WAS APPROVAL DENIED: a rather boring film
FAVORITE SCENE: Keifer Sutherland giving Michael J. Fox the blowjob sigh standing behind a girl at his club
ACID SCORE: A rather bland 5 out of 10

Tune in tomorrow as the letter "B" begins to wind down.