In search of Magnolia
A movie blog. Searching for the thrill I first experienced when I saw Magnolia by P.T. Anderson. I'll try to review every movie I see, good or bad, and top that with some other movie related stuff.
Blow
How funny (or easy, schmuck, ..) would it be to claim that Blow (2001) blows. Except it doesn’t.
I have this movie in my rack for ages. Finally came to watch it because a somewhat younger very promising colleague, Renaat, pitched it. Well pitched, he called this his favorite movie in some casual talking, and I was like .. WHUT? Sure, there must’ve been a reason to buy this movie. Featuring Johnny Depp .. he rarely ends up in really sucky movies. Or maybe I heard some good critics about it. Or it was irresistible cheap. Whatever the case, I bought it but never watched it.
Renaat admitted there might have been some nostalgic feelings. Back from the old days. It’s like my Natural Born Killers (1994). When I saw this flick in theaters, age 14, this forever changed my view on cinema.
Time to give Blow a chance.
Renaat described it as a bit airy. Less serious than for example Scarface (1983). I see what he means. It’s one of these movies that have the main character giving offscreen comments. Telling a story so to say. Yes these movies have a certain flair, but in this case I wouldn’t call it all airy or light or whatever. The form of the story is less serious .. like the movie is putting itself in perspective, I sure can appreciate that. But after seeing it I dare to describe the movie in general as a bit harsh.
It’s a movie about ambition. How great and easy it is to follow your dreams, as long as you are bright enough and willing to work for it. But soon this ambition is leaving itself behind, turning in greed. Greed creating false friends, wrong judgements and a very narrow perspective. This obviously ends in hostility, pragmatic love and betrayal.
Blow is the story of George Yung, building a drugs empire in the 70s on the American west coast. Yung discovers throughout the movie what true values are, but he’s in to deep. He can’t escape the beast he created himself.
Yeah, I enjoyed the movie. But no, obviously I wouldn’t call it the best movie I ever saw :) Although Johnny Depp get extra points for his hilarious hair style. For Renaat, and others, if you like the style of this movie I definitely like to recommend 2 titles to you
- Boogie Nights (1997). From P.T. Anderson, the guy who made the movie this blog is named after. Boogie Nights is about the climb and fall of the porn industry. It’s worth solid gold!
- Goodfellas (1990). Bit back in the crime scene, the mafia in this case. It’s about the ambitious kid (Ray Liotta, who plays the father of George Yung in Blow) who is climbing up into the organization. Scorsese at his best.
Oh, and if you like eclectic movies, make sure to check out the Guy Ritchie movies before he fucked Madonna. Lock Stock and especially Snatch (with Brad Pitt in a very funny role). They’re epic.
