Number One With A Bullet

Warning: I would like to state, for the record, that I am a fan of Tyler Perry. I follow his work closely and for this reason may have a bias towards the movies he produces. However, I will say that I have not enjoyed every film that he has created. Daddy’s Little Girls was a lacklustor attempt to be more serious, to show a flair for the dramatic. Though I believe he is capable of creating more than his Madea laced comedies, this wasn’t one I hurriedly added to my DVD collection.

Based on one of his screenplays, Madea Goes to Jail, is Tyler Perry’s newest film, a comedic skeleton draped in a blanket of real life. It is a mixture of laugh-out-loud humour and thought provoking sensitivity, and is a fine balance between parody and drama.

In this latest film from Perry, Mable “Madea” Simmons (played by Perry himself) has finally been captured by “the popo”. The gun toting grandmother with an attitude has been taken down after trying to outrun the authority in a high speed chase.

As the story opens we get a glimpse into Madea’s criminal record, a rap sheet that shows how she has been in and out of trouble all of her life. Narrowly escaping jail time due to an error in processing, Madea resumes her usual behavior, causing trouble for herself and everyone around her.

Though it is common sense that Madea will eventually end up in prison, it is awhile before we see her behind bars. This gives the viewers plenty of time to experience Madea in all of her glory.

Seeing her open fire at Uncle Joe’s house party or bantering back and forth with Dr. Phil on why she isn’t angry reminds us of why Perry is a master at creating memorable and likeable characters.

While Madea is awaiting her inevitable jail time, we see another story unfold in the wings. In between her illegal antics Perry introduces the viewers to Joshua Hardaway (Derek Luke), a young lawyer who grew up in the projects.

While Hardaway seems to have it all, a great career and a successful fiancé, his world is shaken when an old friend from his past walks back into his life. Candace “Candy” Washington (Keshia Knight Pulliam), who once had strong connection with the young lawyer, ends up in court under Hardaway’s legal care. Though he quickly turns down the case, stating conflict of interest, his heart goes out to his old friend.

Realizing life has gone terribly wrong for Candy, Hardaway is desperate to help the streetwalker turn everything around. Though he is doing right by helping a friend in need, backlash from his high profile fiancee Linda Holmes (Ion Overman) ensues. While she tries to mask her jealousy by saying that Hardaway shouldn’t feel guilty for making a better life for himself, it is evident that she is repulsed by the thought and sight of a prostitute interrupting her “squeaky clean” life.

Madea Goes to Jail, though funny and endearing, challenges the viewer to think about sacrifice. Each character, in their own way, sacrifices something for the good of another person or for the betterment of their own life.

While the comedy is a bit over the top and a tad unrealistic (the whole reason why we love Madea), the dramatic side of the film does make the viewer pause and reflect on how sacrifice, whether it be compassionate or selfishly drive.

Though many may say that Perry will never win an Oscar, or be terrifically recognized for his film making ability, there is excellence somewhere in his talent.

With two hit shows (House of Payne and Meet The Browns) and a new studio to tend to, it is hard to ignore the success Perry has been awarded. Still, many critics claim that he has leaned on his Madea crutch one too many times. While Perry’s spiritually based messages may be too overt for some, they are the foundation for each of his creations, and Madea is an obvious crowd pleaser.

While Madea Goes to Jail was a great attempt at telling an important tale, I believe we haven’t seen the full capacity of what Perry can do.

Art Depicts Life

The Wrestler, by director Darren Aronofsky, is a compelling story of pain, loneliness, failure and the fear of letting go.

Mickey Rourke, playing Randy “The Ram” Robinson, delivered a stellar performance as a wrestler well beyond his peak.

Rourke, who was once touted an actor with tons of potential, lived a life that, until just recently, led him far from the spotlight.

After an arrest for spousal abuse in the mid 1990s, Rourke made the decision to enter professional boxing, something he loved even before his acting days. By doing this he took himself out of the running as an actor, claiming it as a way to keep from self-destructing.

Though it did give him the chance to fight in countries like Spain, Japan, and Germany, Rourke’s boxing career left him with many injuries. A broken nose, split tongue, and compressed cheekbone, as well as reconstructive surgery, are to blame for the evident changes in his physical appearance.

Though Rourke did have some success in the ring (an undefeated eight fights) he was told by boxing promoters that he was too old to succeed. While entering the ring had been a personal test, Rourke decided to bow out and return to acting.

Though he has remained a Jobber over the years (which, as explained by my sports fanatic husband, is a wrestler required to lose to an opponent) Rourke recently reemerged with his resurrection performance in The Wrestler.

Randy “The Ram”, as he is known by his fans, is a wrestler who was at the top of his form in the 1980s. Though he is still physically fit, his body relies heavily on painkillers and he wears a hearing aid in his left ear.

While his career is nearing a complete collapse, Randy is unable to let go of his past, and continues to fight in small-town venues. Although he needs the money to pay for his trailer and basic living expenses, it is evident that he does not want to shut the door on what he feels defines his entire life.

While Randy is still able to feed his need to fight, the viewers see the struggles he faces each time he steps into the ring, and the surmounting mess that is his personal life.

Aside from a surface friendship with his regular stripper named Cassidy (Marisa Tomei), Randy is alone in the world. Though he has a daughter from a previous relationship, he has had no contact with her for many years.

The Wrestler, created to be gritty, dirty, and uncomfortable to watch at times, is a film that depicts Randy’s fall from fame, and the very real struggles that wrestler’s must face at the end of their career.

Between bloody fight scenes and heart wrenching personal battles, Rourke really allows the viewers to feel for Randy. It is as if he actually knew the pain “The Ram” was going through, and could relay this through the screen.

Through the battles of failing health, and a crumbling life outside of wrestling, Rourke pulls Randy “The Ram” from the screenplay page and makes him a real person.

While the film doesn’t have amazing special effects it does have the power to evoke strong emotions. It had me in tears long after the credits rolled.

Watch the Preview Here

I give The Wrestler 5/5 Light Bulbs.

Post Oscar Wrap Up

So I wasn't exactly on the money when it came to last night's 81st Annual Academy Awards. It wasn't rocket science that Heath Ledger would win Best Actor, Supporting and that Slumdog Millionaire would walk away with Best Picture, but I do feel there were a few people who were robbed for the sake of making a political statement. Sean Penn for Best Actor, Leading? That should have gone to Mickey Rourke.

All blunders aside, the show was really top-notch. They seemed to be pulling out all the stops in a mad dash effort to improve ratings. I especially enjoyed how more respect was paid to each person nominated within the acting categories. Speeches delivered from past recipients were a very nice touch. We often forget the human side of the award show, and should appreciate the hard work and dedication they put into entertaining all of us.

Winners of the "Big Five":

Best Actor, Leading: Sean Penn for "Milk"
Best Actor, Supporting: Heath Ledger for "The Dark Knight"
Best Actress, Leading: Kate Winslet for "The Reader"
Best Actress, Supporting: Penelope Cruz for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
Best Picture: "Slumdog Millionaire"

And The Award Goes To...

Each year I sit, glued to the television, ballot in hand, ready and excited to watch the Academy Awards. Of course I tune in for the red carpet shows, I drool over the fashion, and wonder what it would be like to walk that infamous line of photographers, reporters, and nosy paparazzi.

But, what really matters, what keeps me coming back year after year, isn’t the Harry Winston diamonds, or the Ralph Lauren gowns, it is the talent and passion that can be seen from every nominee gathered together in the Kodak Theatre.

As is my tradition, I make my annual predictions. Sometimes I’m right, there are many times I have no real idea, but the fun of it never fades. So, as the countdown is on, here are my picks for this year’s “Big Five”.

Nominees: Best Actor, Leading:
Richard Jenkins in “The Visitor”
Frank Langella in “Frost/Nixon”
Sean Penn in “Milk”
Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler”

My Pick: Mickey Rourke, hands down. This role was a total comeback for him. It was a chance to prove just what he was made of, and allowed him the opportunity to portray a character that moved me to tears.


Nominees: Best Actor, Supporting
Josh Brolin in “Milk”
Robert Downey Jr. in “Tropic Thunder”
Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Doubt”
Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight”
Michael Shannon in “Revolutionary Road”


My Pick: This isn’t a tough one; Heath Ledger should walk away with the little gold man. Anyone who has seen this movie will agree that Ledger brought something to the screen in his portrayal as the Joker that will never be topped. It will be a bittersweet moment if his name is called, I’m sure there won’t be a dry eye in the house.

Nominees: Best Actress, Leading
Anne Hathaway in “Rachel Getting Married”
Angelina Jolie in “Changeling”
Melissa Leo in “Frozen River”
Meryl Streep in “Doubt”
Kate Winslet in “The Reader”

My Pick: Wow, this one is hard to predict. There are some really amazing actresses in this category, ones who are not strangers to the Academy Awards stage. You have Meryl Streep who is enjoying her 15th nomination (two wins), Kate Winslet who has six nominations under her belt, Angelina Jolie with her second, and Anne Hathaway with her very first. They’re all great in their own respect, but since I can only pick just one, I will have to say that Kate Winslet will walk away with the Oscar. Though I really love Anne Hathaway, I believe she isn’t seasoned enough to leave names like Streep, Jolie, or Winslet in her dust.

Nominees: Best Actress, Supporting
Amy Adams in “Doubt”
Penelope Cruz in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Viola Davis in "Doubt"
Taraji P. Henson in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Marisa Tomei in “The Wrestler”

My Pick: I’m going back and forth between the aging and past her prime stripper and the woman who made famous the line “It’s hard out here for a pimp”. Though Taraji P. Henson, who played a pimp’s caretaker in Hustle and Flow, gave a surprising and on-the-mark performance in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” my money (if I had any to put down) is on Marisa Tomei. Aside from the fact that she looks amazing naked, and had the courage to bare it all at 45, she really made the audience connect with her character. When all was said and done I felt that we got a sense of what life would be like if you were stripping at that stage in life.

Nominees: Best Picture
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Milk”
“The Reader”
“Slumdog Millionaire”

My Pick: Though my prediction isn't surprising to anyone following the award buzz, I would like to take a moment to say “The Wrestler” really should have been given more consideration. Though it hasn’t garnered the press the other films in this category received, it left me feeling for the character, and crying long after the last scene went black. When this happens I realize why it is I love watching a great movie.

However, my pick for Best Picture is...
What a surprise, Slumdog Millionaire is goin’ for gold! This film was the greatest I have seen in a long time, the total package. It had awesome cinematography, believable characters, a touching plot line, and a soundtrack that really suited the mood of the film.

Though you may just be interested in the celebrity faces and who they are wearing, I hope that you tune into the 81st Annual Academy Awards to see if my predictions were correct. Go ahead; make a few of your own!

The Notion of Secrecy

“ The notion of secrecy is central to literature…”

Have you ever had a secret that you felt compelled to keep? Has guilt ever been an overwhelming demon stabbing you from within?

Secrets and guilt fuel and drive the main characters in Bernhard Schlink's best-selling novel-turned-film The Reader.

Set in post WWII Germany this film, directed by Stephen Daldry (The Hours), is a captured moment framed by German war guilt. Mixed with love and lies, the dismal feeling of a haunting past is brought to life through a series of secrets that change and chart the course of two lives forever.

The story begins in Germany, 1958, where Hanna Smitz, played by Kate Winslet, and 15-year-old Michael Berg, played by David Kross and Ralph Finnes (adult Michael), get caught up in an affair that will last a lifetime. Though the physical nature of their relationship lingers only for one memorable summer, their lives remained inevitably intertwined.

Hanna, a simple and plain woman living on her own, finds Michael outside of her building, sick and helpless. She comes to his aid, ensuring that he arrives home safely, and during which captures the young and impressionable boy with her womanly, yet slightly stifled, beauty.

When Michael returns, flowers in hand, to thank Hanna for her kindness, they are soon swept into a passionate affair that borders on uncomfortable. Though much of their relationship seems to be centered on sex, Hanna has Michael read to her, a touching yet slightly strange ritual that becomes the theme of the entire movie.

Their relationship never develops beyond the walls of Hanna’s apartment. Secrecy shrouds their courtship as neither divulges to anyone what they have come to feel for one another. As well their lives, beyond what they have developed together, have remained secret to one another, something Michael brings to light more than once in the first half of the film.

Though it appears that they are in love, everything comes to a grinding halt when Hanna suddenly leaves town, and leaves behind Michael’s broken heart.

Flash-forward--- Michael has grown into a young law student. He has been assigned the task of attending a war tribunal in relation to six female guards that are standing trial for crimes committed while working at Nazi a concentration camp.

Though Michael and his classmates are meant to ponder the ideas of justice, and to see the difference between what is law and what is moral, he is laden with another emotion. During his first visit to the courthouse Michael realizes that his first love, Hanna, is standing with the defendants, awaiting the verdict.

Hit with the truth that had, until that very moment, remained Hanna’s secret, Michael is troubled by a love tainted by war. What was once pure and exciting had become part of the desolate past facing generations of Germany yet to come.

If you can get past the first 45 minutes of Kate Winslet nudity, the rest of the film is saturated with thought provoking metaphors, dialogue, and plot.

The idea of secrecy runs throughout the entire film, weaving together a convoluted web of deceit, that if spoken aloud may have changed the course of the lives that Hanna Smitz and Michael Berg came to live.

The question of whether keeping secrets is noble or perverse is presented to the viewer on more than one occasion. This is meant to leave you wondering whether it is better to seclude information and in turn seclude oneself, or face the consequences of disclosing the secret.

Aside from her naked body, Winslet brings to the screen a well-crafted character that you will both love and hate in equal amounts. Her performance is the best I have seen from her, and should she win is certainly worthy of the Oscar for which she is nominated.

Though the film left me thinking about a great many things, at the forefront is the idea that secrets, if left for too long, can eat you from the inside out.

I am rating this movie a 3.5/5 Light Bulbs. I would have given it more if I didn’t have to stare Winslet’s high beams for so long.

Parental Note: This movie contains many scenes of nudity, along with varying depictions of sexual situations.

** Photo courtesy www.telegraph.co.uk

Poverty Porn or Movie Going Riches?

Though I have no intentions of reviewing many pornography flicks on Name In Lights, some may say that I’m doing just that by putting my two cents worth in on Slumdog Millionaire.

Dubbed “poverty porn” by many Indian protesters, and sparking controversy over everything from the depiction of India’s economic state, to the film’s title, this is one Oscar contender that has been hard to ignore.

With all of the hype surrounding the film, and director Danny Boyle, it has been tough to turn a blind eye to the impact it has made on film enthusiasts.

Whether you are a fan, or you agree with the protests, one cannot ignore the engaging nature of this unexpected film about the slums of India.

The screenplay, written by Simon Beaufoy, takes the viewer through an interwoven story of past and present. As the plot is pushed along by the infamous “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire” game show, the life of Jamal Malik, played by actor Dev Patel, unfolds with each new trivia question.

A cast of talented unknowns brings to life the age-old quests for love and money, the hope in a greater destiny, and an urgent determination to survive. With an innovative soundtrack, and a gritty look at the landscape of India, Slumdog Millionaire is a refreshing standout and a great example of storytelling done right.

Though the film has bits of humor and rays of happiness, for the most part viewers can expect a dirty and often disturbing tale of life in the slums.

If watching a movie about rainbows and lollipops is what you’re after, walk right on by this selection. But, if you want a movie that will make you go hmmmm, Slumdog Millionaire is it.

I give this film 5/5 Light Bulbs, and that doesn’t happen too often!

** Picture courtesy of www.firstshowing.net

Clarissa's Guide To Movie Watching

Here is a list of the Top 100 movies that I believe everyone should say that they’ve seen, or should make an attempt to watch. I haven't decided if they're all worthy of "rewatch" stardom, however I will eventually figure that out.

I have compiled this list using Academy Award Best Picture winners, Time Magazine’s Top 100 Movies of All Time, and IMDB’s Top 250.

Currently I am working my way through the list and have identified which I have watched, and what I have rated them.

On “Name In Lights” each movie I review receives “Light Bulbs” instead of stars. The maximum amount of “Light Bulbs” a movie can score is five. These ratings are based on concept, plot, dialogue, characters, originality, and pure likeability.

I will continue to update this list as I watch and rate the movies so check back frequently!

The Top 100 Movies Clarissa is Attempting to Watch:

1. 12 Angry Men
2. A Beautiful Mind
   
3. A Clockwork Orange
4. A Street Car Named Desire
5. All The President’s Men 4.5/5
6. Amadeus
7. Annie Hall
8. Apocalypse Now
9. Babel
10. Benny & Joon 3/5
11. Blade Runner
12. Blood Diamond
13. Breakfast at Tiffany’s 3.5/5
14. Bourne Ultimatum
15. Boys Don’t Cry
16. Caddyshack
17. Capote
18. Carrie
19. Cars
20. Casablanca
21. Cat On A Hot Tin Roof
    
22. Chicago
23. Chocolat 3.5/5
24. Cinderella Man
25. Citizen Kane 4/5
26. Coach Carter
27. Coal Miner’s Daughter
28. Cool Hand Luke 3.5/5
    
29. Crash
30. Darfur Now 4/5
31. Departed 2/5
32. Devil Wears Prada
33. Don Juan DeMarco 3/5
34. Driving Miss Daisy
35. Dr. Strangelove 3/5
36. Dr. Zhivago
37. Easy Rider
38. Ed Wood
39. Fargo
40. Fast Times at Ridgemont High
41. Four Weddings and A Funeral
42. Gangs of New York
43. Ghost 3/5
44. God Grew Tired of Us 4/5
45. Godfather
46. Good Night & Good Luck
47. Gran Torino
48. Hook
49. Hoosiers
50. Hotel Rwanda
51. Hot Shots 1.5/5
52. I Am Sam 3.5/5
53. Jailhouse Rock
54. Jungle Book
55. Love Story
56. Major League
57. Mary Poppins
58. Match Point 5/5
59. Meet Joe Black 4/5
    
60. Memento
61. Moulin Rouge! 3.5/5
62. My Best Friend’s Wedding
63. Mystic River
64. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
    
65. Out of Africa
66. Perfect Stranger 3/5
67. Philadelphia
68. Platoon 2/5
69. Proof 5/5
70. Ray
71. Requiem for a Dream
    
72. Roman Holiday
73. Runaway Jury
74. Scoop 3.5/5
75. Se7en
76. Shawshank Redemption
77. Shake Hands With the Devil
78. Sideways
79. Singin’ in the Rain
80. Slumdog Millionaire
81. Some Like It Hot
82. Strangers On A Train
83. Sweeney Todd 4.5/5
84. Taxi Driver
85. Terms of Endearment
86. The Black Dahlia
87. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
88. The Dark Knight 4/5
89. The Divorcee
90. The Graduate
    
91. The Grapes of Wrath
92. The Great Escape
    
93. The Jerk
94. The Last Samurai 2/5
95. The Purple Rose of Cairo
96. The Silence of The Lambs
97. The Wizard of Oz 5/5
98. The Wrestler
99. Wall Street
100. West Side Story