Entries from September 2009 ↓

Black Irish (2007)

IMDB: Black Irish

Basic Plot:  The inner workings and actions of a truly dysfunctional family in South Boston.

Outburst:  This movie made me think there must be a better way to structure families in general.  The traditional nuclear family with two parents and a horde of kids only works for the Brady Bunch (and see how they really turned out offscreen).   It just seems to crack under stress when you add in outside influences, illness, disaster, financial difficulties, volatile tempers, or alcohol abuse, let alone any combination of those things.

 — A good film, it might make you cry.

http://blackirishmovie.com/

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

IMDB: Sweeney Todd

Basic Plot:  Based on a hit Broadway musical, the story of Sweeney Todd, a murderous barber, and his devious accomplice Ms. Lovett, a seller of suspicious meat-pies.

Outburst:  Everything we love about Tim Burton wrapped into a wickedly sinister horror film. It’s always fun to see a film for the first time and know it to be an instant cult classic.

/CULT DVD — Unless you are adamantely opposed to horror films or musicals (in which case you win a pass) you must see this film. Go ask your cult-film-loving friends to borrow a copy of their DVD.

Official Website: Sweeney Todd, The Movie

Wikipedia: Sweeney Todd, original musical
Wikipedia: the character of Sweeney Todd, who originally appeared as the main protagonist in a penny dreadful serial titled The String of Pearls.

September Issue, The (2009)

IMDB: The September Issue

Basic Plot:  Documentary taking you inside the world of Vogue magazine. It focuses on editor Anna Wintour, whose inscrutable demeanor inspired the movie The Devil Wears Prada.

Outburst:  She really is like her fictional movie namesake. While I am not a fashionista, the artist in me caught the visual message in the prints portrayed. The cynic in me was able to laugh along at the ridiculousness of it all. If you like fashion, you will love this documentary; it casts a surprisingly deep glimpse into the world of a woman not known to be kind to the press. If you don’t like fashion, you will still love this documentary. It is one of the best pieces of non-fiction work I’ve seen in some time.

— Highly recommended, but go see The Devil Wears Prada first if you haven’t already.

Official Website: The September Issue