Octoberfest…of movies!
This month was an almost perfect balance of the dreadful and the sublime, so let’s get on with it, shall we?
A Better Life
This movie stars the Mexican drug cartel guy from Weeds. You know, the one who tries to kill Nancy a million times and pisses us all off by failing? Yeah, so I started off already bitter at him. But slowly, in this story about an illegal immigrant trying to raise his son and steer clear of Johnny law, he wins me over. His performance is so steady and understated, just like his character. I actually found myself saying “oh please let this work out,” as he borrows money from his sister to buy a mobile landscaping business. And you all know how I hate lawbreakers! Good movie.
An American Werewolf in London
One sublime down, on to the dreadful. Actually, I guess I can’t really complain. It’s not the movie’s fault that it was made in the 1980s before people knew how to gin up a proper werewolf. Also, at least he’s wrecking havoc in London and not here in my sunny beautiful America. However, the plot is terrible. Two boys walk through a mysterious countryside and the villagers, instead of being all “hey, stupid Americans don’t go getting all eaten by the werewolf,” they sit idly by and watch ANOTHER werewolf get created. AND THEN, even though ALL signs point to his wolfiness, still no one believes him. Oy vey. Listen, if you’re a werewolf, you will only ever have to tell me ONCE. HECK…I’m pretty sure YOU ARE one. Yeah…YOU!
Pariah
Good, bad…ooh, good again! This low budget movie is the coming out story of a teenage girl. Now, I don’t like that it paints all tomboys as lesbians, but the story it tells was personal and plausible enough for me not to roll my eyes at some of the stereotypical parts. I likeded it.