Films

This has been a pretty damn good year for movies. I would highly recommend you direct your eyeballs to the following films if you can. If not in the theater, as the Gods intended us to see movies, then on DVD:

• Smokin' Aces - Its violent but its well done violence. Some great characters.
• Perfume - A wonderful period piece about a nasal savant. This film was a rich tapestry of filth. Great to watch and not predictable.
• Children of Men - Gritty dystopia fare that looks more like a documentary.
  
• Pan's Labyrinth - Wonderful and dark. A true old school fairy tale.
  

And now a tangent...

I watched Man on Fire last night and am still convinced that it is one of the best damn vengance films ever made. It's right up there with Tombstone in its sheer badassness. It came out at about the same time as The Punisher and although the punnisher tried to be hardcore, it failed miserably. It was standard action-film fare with stock bad guys and lots of explosions and gunplay blah blah.

Man on Fire takes place in Mexico City and feels real. It's shot in oversaturated colors with characters that are interresting, flawed and very himan. Denzel is great as a former military operative who drinks excessively and is obviously haunted by his past (although they thankfully do not give us the standard flashback scenes). Tony Scott, the director is guilty of over and undercranking the camera a bit much, and is guilty of using Opera (Pagliachi) in a scene where it was not needed. But it doesn't take away from the overall story. The soundtrack is awesome. Go rent this and tell me I'm wromg. Best vengance film ever.