The Flats is an independent movie starring Chad Lindberg (October Sky), one of my favorite actors. It is a "coming of age" story about a young man who returns home to go to court and finds out he must report to a work farm in 8 days. This film easily could have been some sappy stupid story about how some drunken idiot turns his life around. Instead it was a very good realistic movie about how Harper spends the next few days of his life and the choices he makes, as well as the very real struggles the other characters go through.
What I loved about this movie is that these characters were very realistic. They could have easily been people I knew. For example it was easy to believe that Luke, Harper's best friend, was reluctant to introduce his new girlfriend to his parents because they were very conservative and he did not know how to deal with that.
Many times filmmakers portray characters as black and white instead of being well rounded. This was not the case with the brothers Kelly and Tyler Requa, were not afraid to show the gritty and sometimes upsetting side of the characters as well as the good aspects of their personality. Harper may be a drunken womanizer causing fights, and sometimes unable to remember the women he has spent time with, but he is also a good friend, putting others before him self for the good of the group. This is the case with Tully and Mark whose dispute he resolves (at the expense of his own good time) in order to ease the tension and repair friendships.
I highly recommend this hard to find and excellent movie by the brothers Requa. It is being shown on IFC (the Independent Film Channel) or if you don't get IFC you can order it from Indie Flicks, a new web based movie store featuring independent films.
Wednesday, November 1, 2006
Sunday, October 29, 2006
The Bluebird Cafe
Bluebird Cafe is a small vegetarian restaurant, that serves the best breakfast in the city. I can't vouch for lunch or dinner (which focuses on Indian food), as I've never had it, but I'm told its excellent as well. Although maybe not the best in the city. But breakfast is suburb.
They serve mostly omelets, but they do have a few egg less options as well, particularly the tofu scramble. But the German pancakes are divine. They are particular good with walnuts and bananas. They really don't need syrup either, but they can come with it.
The omelets are good too. They have a Mexican omelet with beans that is surprisingly good. All the omelets come with either whole wheat toast or whole wheat biscuits. The biscuits are actually quite good. They also have their own brand of coffee, which is pretty decent. Bluebird also serves very excellent quiches, which are large enough portions to make a meal themselves.
On the weekends,(particularly Sunday morning) Bluebird Cafe is pretty crowded and the service is slower. But it's still worth it. You might have to wait a while for a table, but not more than 15 or 20 minutes.
They serve mostly omelets, but they do have a few egg less options as well, particularly the tofu scramble. But the German pancakes are divine. They are particular good with walnuts and bananas. They really don't need syrup either, but they can come with it.
The omelets are good too. They have a Mexican omelet with beans that is surprisingly good. All the omelets come with either whole wheat toast or whole wheat biscuits. The biscuits are actually quite good. They also have their own brand of coffee, which is pretty decent. Bluebird also serves very excellent quiches, which are large enough portions to make a meal themselves.
On the weekends,(particularly Sunday morning) Bluebird Cafe is pretty crowded and the service is slower. But it's still worth it. You might have to wait a while for a table, but not more than 15 or 20 minutes.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
John Water's Cry-baby
Cry- baby (1990) is a spoof of 50’s teeny bopper musicals. It was conceived, written and directed by that twisted mind of a genius, John Waters, known for movies like Hairspray, and Serial Mom. Like most of his movies, this movie is highly stylized (think 50’s tv show’s Leave it to Beaver and that one with Mayberry and the sherriff). Cry-baby features a multitude of twisted and disturbed archetypal yet quirky characters. This movie has a rather simple plot, boy meets girl, boy can’t have girl, boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy wins girl back. But it still has a special little shine that makes it worth watching. Aside from the constant onslaught of 50’s music and the detailed period costumes and settings, the one thing that really carries this movie is the satire and gross (although mostly not in a vulgar sense) that is characteristic of John Waters.
The movie features a number of diverse characters, in particular Cry-baby (Johnny Depp) and Allison (Amy Locane). Crybaby, a charactature of a young Elvis, is a juvenile delinquent from the local trailer park (Turkey Point), whose parents were executed (he even has a tattoo of a electric chair). He leads a gang called the Drapes, and his inbred family consists of such quirky charters as grandma and her husband uncle Belvedere (Iggy Pop, also an excellent punk rocker). Allison , on the other hand is a sweet girl with a “good” boyfriend, Baldwin (Steven Mailer), whose Grandmother (Polly Bergen) is “the role model for all squares everywhere”. Both are orphans, which is one item that bonds the two characters.
There are a number of other supporting characters that are notable. Look for Ricky Lake as the young pregnant mother of two comically cute adult-like kids (Jessica Raskin and Jonathan Benya), T as the father of Hatchet Face (Kim McGuire), a rather ugly member of Cry-baby’s gang, and Tracy Lords (attempting to start a legitimate acting career) as another member of the Drapes. Another interesting character, a foreign exchanged student from the Netherlands, appears in a funny scene between Traci Lord’s character and her idiot “hip”, “enlightened” parents (Patricia Herst and David Nelson).
The plot of the movie follows Cry-baby's pursuit of Allison, and his arrest and release. It seems to be secondary, to the action, comedy, and musice of the movie. In the begining of the movie Alison's gradmother is holding a singing contest. Allison's boyfriend sings "Life would be a dream", followed by Alison her self who sings "Teenage prayer". On the other side of town the Rickets are having thier own show out at Turkey Point. Cry-baby sings an Elivis style song. All the music is lip-synched which is obvious after watching the end of bunny hop sequence in front of Allisons house.
There's a lot of symbolism and classic 50's elements in this movie. In one of the opening scenes an air raid siren sounds and the squares all hide under tables until the all clear. The rickets represent the bad side of town. They are lusty inbread white trailer trash who wear leather jackets and ride motorcyles and like to fight. In contrast, Allison's group, the squares are almost a sexual well bred society types. The Rickets dance the jitterbug infront of a confederate flag with negros, while the squares go to singing contest in a house that looks like a church. One of the most pivital scenes is fight between the Rickets and the squares. It's this duality that makes the film so endering.
The movie features a number of diverse characters, in particular Cry-baby (Johnny Depp) and Allison (Amy Locane). Crybaby, a charactature of a young Elvis, is a juvenile delinquent from the local trailer park (Turkey Point), whose parents were executed (he even has a tattoo of a electric chair). He leads a gang called the Drapes, and his inbred family consists of such quirky charters as grandma and her husband uncle Belvedere (Iggy Pop, also an excellent punk rocker). Allison , on the other hand is a sweet girl with a “good” boyfriend, Baldwin (Steven Mailer), whose Grandmother (Polly Bergen) is “the role model for all squares everywhere”. Both are orphans, which is one item that bonds the two characters.
There are a number of other supporting characters that are notable. Look for Ricky Lake as the young pregnant mother of two comically cute adult-like kids (Jessica Raskin and Jonathan Benya), T as the father of Hatchet Face (Kim McGuire), a rather ugly member of Cry-baby’s gang, and Tracy Lords (attempting to start a legitimate acting career) as another member of the Drapes. Another interesting character, a foreign exchanged student from the Netherlands, appears in a funny scene between Traci Lord’s character and her idiot “hip”, “enlightened” parents (Patricia Herst and David Nelson).
The plot of the movie follows Cry-baby's pursuit of Allison, and his arrest and release. It seems to be secondary, to the action, comedy, and musice of the movie. In the begining of the movie Alison's gradmother is holding a singing contest. Allison's boyfriend sings "Life would be a dream", followed by Alison her self who sings "Teenage prayer". On the other side of town the Rickets are having thier own show out at Turkey Point. Cry-baby sings an Elivis style song. All the music is lip-synched which is obvious after watching the end of bunny hop sequence in front of Allisons house.
There's a lot of symbolism and classic 50's elements in this movie. In one of the opening scenes an air raid siren sounds and the squares all hide under tables until the all clear. The rickets represent the bad side of town. They are lusty inbread white trailer trash who wear leather jackets and ride motorcyles and like to fight. In contrast, Allison's group, the squares are almost a sexual well bred society types. The Rickets dance the jitterbug infront of a confederate flag with negros, while the squares go to singing contest in a house that looks like a church. One of the most pivital scenes is fight between the Rickets and the squares. It's this duality that makes the film so endering.
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