Something the Lord Made (2004)

I'm not entirely sure how this flick made it into my Blockbuster queue. I mean, I know I was interested in it and added it, but how it climbed to the top, I'm still uncertain. That said, I wasn't too impressed with the movie, overall.

It's the true story of Vivien Thomas and Alfred Blalock, who performed the first heart surgery in history. The surgical aspects of the film were pretty well-done, but I imagine, toned down a great degree for the more squeamish people watching. However, all of the subplot dealing with the racism inherent in the system and in the country, felt a bit hackneyed. I'm sure that's the way it really was, but it wasn't handled too well in the film, and often just dragged down the plot.

Speaking of plot, it was pretty boring for most of the movie. It has a very made-for-TV feel, despite HBO's production values. The performances were very good though, especially Mos Def and Rickman. The two really had a great chemistry, and it shows in the final product.

Not a bad movie, but it could have been far better. It felt very manipulative, to me, with the score swelling up and winding down at just the precise moments where the emotional impact would be most.

A Decade Under the Influence (2003)

Very well-made documentary on American cinema in the 1970's. Plenty of good interview footage from most of the key players; Scorsese, Copolla, Altman, Julie Christie, Roy Schneider, William Friedkin, and plenty of others I'm forgetting. It's pretty by-the-books, as it presents the influences first, in a great sequence, then goes year by year, examining what was going on in the world and how it influenced the work, with film clips littered throughout. A few good stories about productions, and insights from people like Paul Schrader and Francis Ford Copolla on their own work. Definitely entertaining, and provides a lot of information, if you're interested.

Kagemusha (1980)

Kurosawa is one of the directors that always intimidate me when I watch one of their films. Nothing against the films themselves, of course. But, Kurosawa's stature is so legendary and his pictures so rich and dense, it can be overwhelming at first. Then, of course, you start watching the movie and you're completely absorbed in it, throughout the whole running time.

As far as I understand, Kagemusha was a 'dry-run' for a movie Kurosawa wanted to do later, which became Ran. I saw Ran a while back, and I didn't get into it as much as I thought I would. Though, I'm determined to watch it again soon, because it's Kurosawa, and I think I must not have been in the right mindset for the movie, when I saw it. But, for a 'dry-run', Kagemusha is pretty damn good.

Kagemusha centers upon a powerful Japanese warlord in the 16th century, who is assassinated and soon passes away. A thief is hired to impersonate the warlord so that the warring factions don't realize he's really dead. He's reluctant at first, but then decides to take the offer.

I was surprised with how tightly plotted Kagemusha is. The story is engaging, and fairly easy to follow, which isn't always the case with movies that throw around many fuedal Japanese names. Kurosawa's mise-en-scene is spectacular, manipulating everything from color, to shadows, to the environment, perfectly.

There are many great scenes in Kagemusha, that catch your eye. One, early on, is a warrior running through a village, past many downed soldiers. As he runs by, the soldiers all get up in his wake, sensing the warrior's urgency. It does a great job of holding your interest, making you wonder what's making him run so fast. There's another great scene later, as they're putting the warlord's body out to sea. Enemy spies watch on, from a dilapidated shack, and you can barely see their eyes peeking out from between the logs. Unbeknownst to them, they're being spied on by somebody else hiding in the shack, whose eyes you can also see. Then, there's the awesome, surreal dream sequence. Oh yeah, then the big battle. Kagemusha is loaded with 'wow' moments.

Born into Brothels (2004)

Born into Brothels is the story of a group of young children, from 10-14, who were born and raised in the brothels of Calcutta, India. Zana Briski is a photographer and, upon seeing the children's interest in her cameras, decides to show the children how to shoot photographs. They slowly learn the craft, and Briski decides to help them rise above their surroundings in hopes that they'll get into a boarding school and get a good education.

It's pretty hard to judge most documentaries, so I can't pick it apart much. But I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed Brothels. In many ways, it's far more intimate than most documentaries out there. It focuses almost entirely on the children, never diverging to show much of their surrounding city. It would be easy to, but entirely unnecessary and uncalled for, which I think does well to speak for the filmmakers' intent. There's one brief moment, in reviewing one boy's photos, when Briski comments on a portrait of a boy, standing in the slums. She notes that the boy is in focus, front and center, but you can still see his surroundings behind him. And this could do well to sum up the documentary; it's a portrait of these children, and focuses on them exclusively, but it effortlessly shows their surroundings as well.

There are a couple of moments when the childrens' boundless enthusiasm is infectious. One scene in particular, where they're watching a video from an art gallery in the US with their photos on display. The children are practically bouncing with joy, and it warms your heart to see.

The only problem I had with the documentary is that it felt fairly lopsided. It did a lot to portray their parents as selfish, abusive, uncaring slobs, while Briski is shown to be completely single-minded in her quest to help these children. I don't know the story, so it may be exactly as portrayed in the film. But, I have my doubts, which took away from the documentary a little bit for me. But, overall, it was a well-made, moving documentary.

Got some new movies today. Kagemusha, Something the Lord Made, Born into Brothels, Hearts & Minds, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse and The Adventures of Robin Hood. Now that I'm learning a bit more about Blogger, I'm going to do some hardcore template editing to make this all great. It will be pretty, but will it be art? What a nerd.

Also, I noticed some Errol Morris sets are coming out next week, from MGM. The Errol Morris Collection, which has Gates of Heaven (which was what Morris made in response to Werner Herzog's bet that he'd eat his shoe), The Thin Blue Line (which I've yet to see, but sounds spectacular) and Vernon, Florida. Also due out is First Person, which just sounds incredible. The only question is do I buy them now or can I wait for the DDD sale?

Nights of Cabiria (1957)

Nights of Cabiria is my forth Fellini film, and if you remember, I was impressed with La Strada. I decided to go for Fellini's other early masterwork, Nights of Cabiria. I loved it, although not as much as La Strada or 8 1/2, but it was still great.

It's about a prostitute, Cabiria. The plot isn't the most compelling narrative, when you really break it down, as it's mostly just her nights spent in the city, looking for something, anything to give her life meaning. A while into the movie, it really hit me; this film is all about lonliness. Cabiria's life is simply full of lonliness, and that's what defines her nightly quests throughout Rome.

As usual, Fellini creates a great atmosphere, a comprehensive world for his characters to inhabit and interact with. Nino Rota's score is great as usual, however, not as obtrusive as his later scores. Not that it's a bad thing, his scores as usually always great, but Cabiria's doesn't call as much attention to itself.

There's a lot of underlying Religious aspects as well, Roman-Catholic I believe. Of course, the scene at the Church where the woman pray to Madonna. Also, the hynotist's scene where Cabiria is filmed from behind the stage, with a crown of brances on her head and the spotlight casting a white glow around her body. Not to mention Cabiria's assertion that Oscar is "a saint, an angel". And those are only from the first viewing.

I really liked the ending sequence, the way everything kind of came full circle for Cabiria, based on the opening scene. Although, I'm not entirely sure what the very end signifies, but it is very Fellini. Has she learned from her mistakes? Or, is she simply blissful in her ignorance?

Andrei Rublev (1966)

I've always wanted to check out more Tarkovsky. I own Solaris, and have seen it 2 or 3 times, liking it more with each viewing, because I'm always learning and noticing new things. An appreciation really grows. It's been a while, but what struck me most about Solaris was the theme of things never changing. I really don't know, it's hard to describe. Just the way that Kris' wife magically appears on Solaris, and he thinks everything will be serene and that he's learned from his past mistakes, but she's still the same, and continually attempts to kill herself. So, I read about Bergman, who's my personal favorite director, and I found this:

"Late one evening in 1971, Bergman and his friend and director Kjell Grede by pure coincidence stumbled upon a copy of Andrei Rublev in a screening room at Svensk Filmindustri. They saw it without any subtitles. He ranks it to be one of his most startling and unforgettable movie experiences ever."

Needless to say, seeing Rublev was a high priority after this. Plus, it's one of my good friend Brent's favorite films of all time. If you know Brent, you know he knows film.

It's hard to write about Andrei Rublev, especially if you're young and haven't seen it before. To tell you the truth, it's an overwhelming movie. At 205 minutes length, it's not an easy film to watch, by today's standards. The pacing is very slow and methodical, but it's never boring. I was expecting something more in the style of your plain ol' American biopic, but Rublev is much more than that. It's a work of art, plain and simple, one meant to be studied laboriously.

The plot follows a stretch in the life of Rublev, a Russian painter who lived at the beginning of the 15th Century. Despite being somebody else's story (not to mention one 500 years old), Tarkovsky has made this an intensely personal picture. It's a story about passion, faith, suffering, and guilt. I hate to keep gushing, but it's a movie of unquestionable beauty and importance. I really can't find much else to say about it.

It's strange, the movie's bookended by two sequences that have very little bearing on the main plot. In the opening, a peasant steals a primitive hot-air balloon and goes for a joyride and ends up crashing. As an epilogue, there's a story about a young boy whose Father was a bell-maker which runs almost an entire hour. A bell needs to be created, and the boy insists that his Father was the only one who knew the secret to bell-making, and passed it onto him while he was dying. The rest covers the creation of the bell in great detail, leading up to the nail-biting "will it even ring?" climax. At first glance, it seems wholly inappropriate for the film to end with this little story. However, once you think about it, it's so right.

Point Blank (1967)

Warner Bros. just released Point Blank alongside their Film Noir Classic Collection Vol. 2 (which I'd HIGHLY recommend you go buy). They didn't put it in the collection, which was a wise decision, and just goes to show how far they'll go to please the film buffs that buy their stuff. It was made in 1967, well after the 'golden age' of noir, was in widescreen, and in color. The purists might not like it, but they can't deny that it's an awesome film.

Truth be told, it's a great example of style over substance, but unlike all the other films that choose this route, there's still a good story to be told. It's a very straightforward, getting-revenge-and-the-money-that-the-bad-guy-stole story. However, the style and momentum of the film are what keeps you hooked on it. You know where the story's going, but it's such a great ride, that you're living every minute of it.

There's a number of great scenes that jump out of the movie and scream "awesome!" at you. One in particular that stuck out in my mind, was when the main character, played by Lee Marvin learns of where his traitorous wife is hiding. He begins walking down a hallway at a brisk pace, with a stone-cold look on his face, his shoes clapping against the hard floor in a rhythmic beat. The sound doesn't stop as the camera cuts to her in her bedroom, unknowingly brushing her hair, performing menial tasks. Back to Marvin's character, still silently walking down the hall. Another cut-away, the shoes still clapping on the floor. It's excellent, and really makes the entire scene such a great success in terms of creating tension.

There's not much to discuss about the film, it's very straightforward. But, it's a blast to watch, and an awesome movie overall.

Gimme Shelter (1970)

I've recently seen the Maysles' other film, Salesman, and really enjoyed it. So, I figured now is the time to check out Criterion's edition of Gimme Shelter. I'd known very little about Altamont, which, as I've found, is pretty much the norm for people these days.

As a documentary, it's extremely well-made. It's one of those cases of truth being stranger than fiction. You simply can't make up something like this. A group of Hell's Angels hanging out, drinking beers, presiding over 300,000 members of the love generation. It's pretty much a gigantic neon sign saying "DANGER WILL ROBINSON!" And yet, the footage is still horrifying to view. It's horrifying because this is REAL, there are no camera tricks, no stunt doubles, those Hell's Angels are REALLY beating a guy with pool cues.

The film really makes you think about the blame, and where, if at all, it should be placed. The Stones of course, they were just trying to raise some money and give a free show. However, you're left to wonder; how could they have done things differently, if they could at all?

It makes me think of a local station around here, they put on free concerts every summer, when local Alternative bands come through the state. Of course, along with the people who want to go innocently have a good time, there are those with nothing better to do who want nothing more than to ruin it for everyone else. If they cause trouble, they've got nothing to lose, really. I've seen many fights break out, plenty of objects thrown into the crowd with harmful intentions, balloons full of paint hurled at the bands, all just to ruin someone else's fun. It's nice to know that this was still carryng on over 30 years ago.

It's an incredibly powerful and effective documentary. Not only does it inform you and entertain you, but it genuinely makes you feel something.

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For anybody reading this, two new Hitchcock items were announced today. The first is 20th Century Fox's big holdout, Lifeboat. I haven't seen it, because Fox has been so stingy about it, but it's a must-buy anyway. Also, Universal has the Alfred Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection coming in October. Every property they own, which is 14 films, all (supposedly) newly-remasted, with an extra disc of bonus features. The current editions of Psycho and Vertigo are non-anamorphic, and the new discs SHOULD be, so that's a big reason there. Also, we're hoping Vertigo's original mono track is restored, instead of just having the butchered 5.1 remix like the current disc.

Gilda (1946)

The first time I heard about Gilda was in The Shawshank Redemption. It's movie night at the prison, and they all gather around to watch a movie they've seen many times before. Right before Rita Hayworth's entrance, Morgan Freeman says "I love this shit she does with her hair." Why am I sharing this pointless bit of information? No idea, but I kept thinking about it through the movie.

I really dug Gilda. It's not as much of a traditional noir as many others, but it's still got plenty elements, and in spades. The shadows loom around, menacingly, as vertical and diagonal lines divide the frame. There's a great scene, where Johnny arrives home with Gilda, and her husband is waiting for them. You know that he suspects something, and he dominates the frame in the foreground, in silhouette, his neck and head out of frame, grilling them as they walk in. Hello, symbolism!

I've always been a fan of the femme fatale in film noir, and Gilda's one of the best. From the moment she first 'does that shit with her hair', she's as seductive as they come. However, she seems to enjoy it all on an almost innocent level. She smiles and giggles in a very honest way as she playfully teases just about everyone, especially Johnny. Hayworth, at least in this film, had less of a glamourized look and more of a down-to-Earth look, contrary to the rest of the Hollywood bombshells of the time. She was still quite glamourous, of course, but there was a raw sensuality that she brought to the screen as well.

The Station Agent (2003)

I wasn't sure of what to expect from the Station Agent, but it turned out great. It's the story of a dwarf who works in a model train shop. He's stared at and laughed at in the town he lives in, but he doesn't let it bother him much. His only friend dies and leaves him a tract of land in a secluded area in New Jersey, with a Train Depot on it. He decides to go live there, seeking the seclusion as a way to concentrate on his studies on trains. Instead, he meets up with a hot dog vendor who won't shut up and a klutzy woman who seeks his companionship.

It's a really great character study, and a study on lonliness, isolation and seclusion as well. It's interesting to note why the characters are so lonely. Fin obviously chooses it, and is annoyed by peoples' attempts to reach out to him and bother him. Joe is an interesting character. He's tall, dark and handsome, very well-built and athletic and charismatic. Yet, he spends most of his time in solitude, reaching out for Fin's friendship. It's definitely an interesting dynamic. Olivia obviously has her own issues to contend with, and rejects Joe's overbearing attempts to converse, and yet she's drawn to Fin's shy, reclusive nature.

The plot's very loose, but the film's more about characters anyway. You really don't mind, since you're drawn into the world and you care for the characters, that you can't wait to see what does or doesn't happen to them. It's very funny in spots, but it's definitely more of a dry, character-based humor. But, like everything else in the movie, it works well.

I was surprised when watching the opening credits, to see Original Music - Stephen Trask. I loved Trask's work on Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which he wrote the songs for. The Station Agent's music was very good overall, very sparse but relaxing. The overall design was good too, with a ton of little details in the background of the sets, just to add to the atmosphere of the picture.

I was surprised at how good The Station Agent was. I'd advise anyone reading this to go check it out and fall for it.

The Complete Monterey Pop Festival

I've wanted to check out Criterion's Complete Monterey Pop Festival set for a while, but didn't want to rent each disc one at a time. So, I finally got ahold of it and I can say that it's well-worth your time and money. It's as close to definitive as you can get, as a document not only of 3 days of music, but of a time and place in history.

Monterey Pop (1968)

Monterey Pop is the main feature, released in 1968, containing the entire festival, scaled down to a 79-minute feature. Naturally, when you condense something down this much, a lot is lost. Though, through a great job of editing and some good musical decisions, documentary master D.A. Pennebaker has managed to get across the overall message and feelings behind the festival. Yes, Monterey Pop is an examination of the 'hippie' movement and culture in itself. But, more than that, it's simply a celebration of music, and of life itself.

It's kicked off with a montage of footage showing the setting up of the festival and all the folks arriving, wide-eyed and bushy-tailed, to the sounds of Scott McKenzie's "San Fransisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)". Some more prep footage follows after this, with many 'executives' setting up the artistic aspects of the festival. After this, the Mamas and the Papas take the stage and belt out a couple great tunes, "Creeque Alley" and the legendary "California Dreamin'". I'm not a huge Mamas and Papas fan, but they pretty much set the tone for the festival, and put forth a great performance. Canned Heat keeps things going with "Rollin' and Tumblin'," a nice, down-home, bluesy comp. At the end of the first night, Simon and Garfunkel finish things off with "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feeling Groovy)". They always put on a good, relaxing show, so it gives you a pleasant breather.

Hugh Maskela performs "Bajabula Bonke (Healing Song)" which I wasn't too impressed with, but it's not too bad. After that, fan favorites Jefferson Airplane belt out "High Flyin' Bird" and definitely pull out all the stops. They slow it down after that, and Grace Slick shows off her chops by singing "Today". After this comes one of the highlights of the show, Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin playing "Ball and Chain". If you've never seen Joplin perform (and even if you have), you're in for one hell of a treat. After the intro, once Joplin starts to sing, the camera doesn't move off of her, and for good reason.

Eric Burdon and the Animals perform an interesting rendition of the Rolling Stones' "Paint it Black" along the backdrop of some psychedelic imagery. Although I much prefer the Stones' version, it's a great inclusion. After this, another high point in the show, as The Who comes out firing on all cylinders, pounding out an awesome rendition of "My Generation". One of their most legendary performances, culminating in the destruction of many instruments. Country Joe and the Fish pull out some blues-inspired psychedelia with "Section 43" to some nice footage of the crowd. Then, Otis Redding takes the stage and whips out a double shot of "Shake!" and "I've Been Living You Too Long". Then, Hendrix follows up with an amazing performance of "Wild Thing". Their respective sets are captured in full on disc 2, as well.

The Mamas and the Papas show up once more to slow things down with "Got a Feeling". Finally, Ravi Shankar ends it all with a beautiful, 15-minute long performance of "Raga Bhimpalasi". This is the definitive moment of the show, because, not only does it transcend popular music in general, but it offers a good chance to see a lot of the crowd and really soak up the atmosphere. Like I said, more than anything, this is truly a celebration of music.

Jimi Plays Monterey and Shake! Otis at Monterey (1986)

Disc 2 is, admittedly, my personal favorite. It's my favorite because not only are these two of the best performances ever, not just of the show, but it's pure, undiluted performance. These are two complete performances from Monterey, and they're amazing to watch.

Jimi Hendrix has always been one of my favorite artists of all times, and this is one of his greatest performances. It starts off with a man splashing paint against a brick wall in what seems to be a random fashion to Jimi's "Can You See Me?" After a while, you recognize shapes and realize that he's doing a great job of painting the famous silhouette of Jimi's face. It's a great moment, and an awesome way to start out this 49-minute show.

Everything comes together here, for a brilliant performance featuring "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", "Monterey", "Killing Floor", "Foxy Lady", "Like a Rolling Stone" (which is just awesome), "Rock Me Baby", "Hey Joe" and "The Wind Cries Mary". It's all topped off beautifully with "Wild Thing", which can also be seen in the main feature. The end of this shows Jimi's famous act of lighting his guitar in fire onstage, in an act of sexuality, protest, and ultimately, beauty.

Shake! Otis at Monterey is another defining moment of the festival. It's great to see Otis, a black soul singer, able to reach out so successfully to the hippie crowd out there. Due in no small part to his incredibly charismatic performances, he keeps anyone watching enthralled with his renditions of "Shake!", "Respect", "I've Been Loving You Too Long", "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and "Try a Little Tenderness". Truly an incredible, electric performance, that no true music fan should miss.

The third and final disc is a treasure trove of Monterey Pop. It features 30 performances from the festival, from many different artists. All 'outtakes' from the film, the quality varies depending on your own personal tastes, I suppose. There are some great ones here, like Simon and Garfunkel, Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother and the Holding Company, and The Who. On the other hand, there are some less-than-impressive performances here as well. However, including this much of a range of stuff on the disc just shows how committed Criterion was to showing as much of the whole festival as they could.

As you'd expect, everything in the set is incredible. The audio is stunning in quality. I listened to the DTS tracks, and they were beautifully restored, and all sounded very full and rich. There were a couple songs in which the bass is almost obnoxiously loud, but those moments are few and far between. The outtakes are presented in 2.0 stereo (2 have 5.1 remixes), and all sound pretty good. The video has been restored pretty well, but due to the fact that it was such a huge undertaking, the quality of the original film suffers quite a bit. There are plenty of hairs and other forms of damage on the original print, but Criterion did the best they could with the source elements, and the image is still very watchable.

Being a 3-disc set, the extras are quite extensive. I haven't had a chance to go through all of them yet, but there's a lot here, as you'd expect. A commentary by Pennebaker and Festival Producer Lou Adler, plenty of interviews with many folks involved, and a few promotional materials for good measure. On disc 2, there's an audio commentary on Jimi by music critic Charles Shaar Murray and a great video excerpt from an interview with Pete Townshend of The Who, who fought with Jimi over who should play first. Otis contains two commentaries by music critic Peter Guralnick with one covering Monterey and the other discussing Otis himself. There's also an interview with Redding's former manager here. Disc 3 in itself is a great extra, so kudos for it even existing. There's also a thick 62 page book with no less than 5 essays all about the festival, which are all great. They can also be read at Criterion's site. The packaging is gorgeous, replicating the style of the original 60's-style posters.

It's another great set from Criterion, worthy of any real music fan's purchase.

Le Cercle Rouge (1970)

I bought Melville's film Bob Le Flambeur as a blind-buy when I was first getting into Criterion, and cinema in general. First time I saw it, being weaned on modern American gangster films, I wasn't too impressed. It was decent, but didn't scream 'genius' to me. A while later, I put it in again, after seeing a bit more of film in general, and immediately realized how great it was. Sometimes you just need time and experience to truly appreciate something. Despite the fact that he's held in such high regard, there's very little Melville out on disc, at least here in the USA. Criterion released Melville's Le Cercle Rouge last year in a great double-disc set, which is another good step in the right direction.

In Le Cercle Rouge, Alain Delon plays Corey, a master thief serving time in prison. As he's being released, a guard tips him off as to a good opportunity, and Corey decides to follow it, instead of going down the straight and narrow. He meets up with Vogel, who's just escaped from Police custody and the two decide to collaborate towards a common goal, based on what the guard told Corey. The two hook up with ex-cop Jansen, unaware of Mattei, the officer who Vogel escaped from, who is hot on their tail.

Le Cercle Rouge is a great piece of filmmaking. It's a great exploration of crime, from both sides of the law, and the extents to which both sides will go to. Melville's characters are often in control of the situation. They're the very definition of calm, cool, and collected. The film is very accessable, and can be enjoyed on many different levels. It's exuberant and fun, simply a blast.

Fate and destiny play a large part in Le Cercle Rouge. You get the feeling that very early on, the characters are simply following a preset path along to their eventual destiny. Of course, I think the title itself ties into this idea. Le Cercle Rouge, or The Red Circle, is one of blood, a trail of it, signifying the circle of life itself. Not in the Lion King way, however, but simply a path that we all follow that begins with birth and ends with death. At least, that's what I got out of it.

The film is so elegantly executed, it's hard not to fall under its spell. Like I said, it works on many levels, so it's not just your standard 'epic ganster film'. There's a high level of professionalism in the film, on both sides of the camera. It's interesting that Melville is considered one of the truly great filmmakers, yet he made almost gangster movies almost exclusively, a genre generally considered to be low-brow and preachy.

The Harder They Come (1973)

I've wanted to see The Harder They Come for a while, mostly because it was supposedly responsible for putting reggae on the map. Since Criterion recently gave advance notice their disc is going out of print, I figured there's no better time to check it out. I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting from the film, but I came away slightly disappointed.

For one, the film had a very small budget, and it really shows. None of the actors seem to be professional. This wouldn't be a problem in, say, a Bresson film, but in The Harder They Come, they're really the heart of the story and it sucks to see them delivering such amateur, film school-style performances. The plot is stretched wafer-thin, and there's very little to keep you interested in it. It starts off slow, then slightly picks up a little ways into the film, but never really gets off the ground, I felt.

The music, however, was great. The handful of songs are incredibly catchy, and will probably be stuck in my head for days. It wouldn't be bad if the film were entirely focused on the music, but it seems to be more focused on Ivan's blaxploitation-style journey, which just isn't compelling.

One thing the movie does right, though, is showing the side of Jamaica that most people don't get to see. We're used to seeing beachside shanties, and luxurious resorts and mixed drinks in the sun. However, the film portrays it much closer to what I'd imagine the truth was, a gritty, poverty-stricken shantytown, where the residents are all struggling to make ends meet.

And don't even get me started on the dialect used. I imagine it's for realism, but you can't understand anything being said. Within the first sentence spoken, I turned the subs on and I kept them on. Didn't bother me much, but I can only imagine how it must've been to see the movie in its original run, without the aid of subtitles.