Peter Jackson is Determined to Clear the Name of the 'West Memphis Three'

     Peter Jackson is the coolest guy ever.  He's from New Zealand, takes years to make epic, large-scale movies that win Oscars and make millions, and lost nearly 70 pounds in ten months.  What a badass. Now, he and Fran Walsh are funding an on-going search on the West Memphis Three case, nearly two decades old, surrounded by controversy, and recently brought to light with the release of all three suspects in the case, now presumed innocennt after 18 years in prison.  
    A bit of background for those of you that are not familiar with the case: the West Memphis Three was the name given to Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley after three young boys were brutally murdered, stripped, and hog-tied by a creek in Arkansas in May of 1993.  Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelley were three local youths accused of the murders.  They pleaded not guilty, defending their innocence, but due to some outrageous press spin, reckless forensic evidence, and a small community angry over such a hanous crime they attributed to satanic cults and witchcraft, the men were thrown into jail with life sentences; Echols was sentenced to death.  
   As with many cases today, fast forward, and lo and behold, advanced forensic evidence concluded that there was not enough evidence to without a doubt convict Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelley of the crime.  They were released last week, after pleading guilty as part of a bullshit plea bargain.  Peter Jackson described the bargain with more tact than I care to have, calling it a "whitewash", saying that justice had not been served, and that "there's a triple child killer who has walked free for the last 18 years". (guardian.co.uk)  

   When the guy who brought the Balrog to life is angry, just stay out of his way.  Or take his money. Jackson and his wife, Fran Walsh, as well as other celebrities including Eddie Vedder and Johnny Depp, are demanding a pardon and a clear name for the Memphis Three, as well as an on-going search for the real killer, and Jackson is throwing in his own money to make sure the case stays open.   

    The documentary made by HBO in 1996, "Paradise Lost: The Child Murders of West Memphis" is a great documentary for anyone looking for all the details of the case, the trial, and the media circus that ran it all.  I am personally on Jackson's side; the case was a Salem witch hunt, with high emotions over a disgusting crime and three troubled youths to pin it on.  Wrongful imprisonment for 18 years and sloppy police work, however, do not heal the wounds of any of the victims' families; it only makes more victims - keeping the innocent locked up, and the guilty to roam free.  And the fact that Peter Jackson is standing up to fight it makes him that much more of a cool guy BADASS.

(img sources=cinemablend.com / iwatchstuff.com)  

Things are looking up for Nicholas Cage.

     Oh yeah.

 

Documentary Wednesday: "Gasland"

      Among the many politically-centered environmental documentaries I've encountered this year, Gasland, a winner at Sundance and an independent film with an interesting trailer I posted here on BoomMic months ago, was one that intrigued me.  It seemed almost exactly like the Erin Brokovich story, only now she has a gas mask and a banjo, and travels around the middle and eastern United States putting people's flammable water into jugs and testing them.  This film is actually MUCH more disturbing than that.

    Filmmaker Joshua Fox tells the story of how he awoke one day on his beautiful 40-acre property in Pennsylvania to a lease offer by a natural gas energy company, offering to pay handsomely per acre if Fox would allow drilling and hydraulic fracturing to take place on his property.  The hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking", was stated by the energy company to be completely harmless to the water, soil, and general environment surrounding it.  Fox decided to do some investigating before he signed any agreement.  Nearly a month later, after traveling around the country to dozens of homes and properties, and witnessing the damage that fracking had done to both the places and people, he had incriminating footage, countless amazing interviews, and one hell of a story on his hands.  

    Fox's quiet, meek narration throughout the film may seem odd at first, but the crazy shit in this film honestly speaks for itself.  The narration is just to keep you calm, honestly.  Fox interviews dozens of home owners whose water was contaminated with fracking materials and chemicals, making the water toxic, and most of the time, completely flammable.  The consequences of the poisonous water were insidious; many property owners developed severe health problems, including brain tumors, migraines, and cancer.  The areas visited are almost exclusively rural, with low to middle class families raising animals and children, and trying to live a quarter of a mile away from leaking gas tanks that pollute their air and cause their pets and horses to lose hair, have mange, and die.   

     The scientific and concise explanation of the fracking process does not take away from these jaw-dropping tragedies.  Fox juxtaposes these images of misery and disregard for environment against those working for a solution in Washington, as well as energy CEOs working for profits.  

     This documentary, in the end, only went on a search for answers, and it did it in a genuine way.  This sincerity is sometimes lost in the documentary genre; once you watch enough documentaries, there are tell-tale signs if a director, writer, or producer set out only to confirm their already settled beliefs, or if they were only searching for truth.  Fox was indeed in search of the truth; his home was on the line.  Unfortunately, truth is what he got.  If you are ever in the mood to get angry or be in utter disbelief at human behavior, watch this film.  It is important.  It is well-made.  And it will never make you take your faucet water for granted again.  

(Img sources=news.fowl.org/media.jinni.com)  

An Apology, plus HANKSY!

     To all 10 of my faithful readers,  (ha)
     Sorry I haven't been posting a lot lately, but I've got some things on my plate, possibly an internship for a film studio here in Denver, and I haven't been keeping up as faithfully.  But I intend to pick it up consistently again. I have several reviews and news posts up for this week, including a "Documentary Wednesday" feature tomorrow for the film Gasland, which was awesome.  More to come, I promise!  
     I am also considering moving the blog to a more user-friendly site that might receive a little more traffic as well.  We'll cross that bridge when we get to it though.  Until then....I found a HANKSY photo!!  A hilarious spin off of Banksy.

   (dailywhat.com)

Awful Movie Trailer of the Day

     Oh man, I laughed...SO HARD...during this trailer.  So did everyone else in the theater I saw it in.  Case in point - comedy: this movie will have lots of it.

 

Review: "Beginners"

     Beginners is a slow drama about a young man dealing with the death of a parent, finding love, and trying not to remind himself that he is in his 30s with a life to get on track.  When I call it a "slow drama", I don't neccessairly mean it as a bad thing - the momentum of the film, however laggard, is carried and paced well by solid writing, a quirky score, and great acting.  And a scraggly terrier dog with subtitles.

      Ewan McGregor stars as Oliver, a loner whose world is rocked when his mother passes away and his father announces he is and always has been gay, and that he has a young lover.  That doozy of an announcement is soon followed by Oliver's father (Christopher Plummer) developing Stage 4 terminal cancer.  It doesn't sound like a funny film at all, but it has numerous moments of subtle humor that keep the film light and coherent amidst a somewhat somber and non-linear plot.  Oliver certainly seems to accept his father's life style and choices over his own, and his life continues to get more complex after meeting a quiet and independent foreign girl named Anna (Melanie Laurent from Inglorious Bastards) who is similar to Oliver - lonely, but afraid to do anything about it.  The on-screen chemistry and adorableness of their relationship eventually matures into an adult partnership, with serious discussions and montages of yelling that create a level of believability that sometimes seems immune to offbeat indie films.

      Oliver's journey throughout the film is accompanied by a simple yet grand piano score; the abstract narrative paired with part hilarious, part disturbing photos will probably seem pretentious and boring to inexperienced movie-goers and people looking for a plot and characters a little louder than Beginners has to offer.  But trust me, I have seen pretentious films, and this is not one of them.  It's touching and sad and funny all at the same time, and shows us when it comes to love and marriage and death and life, we are all amateurs.

(img sources = screenjunkies.com / freemoviecodes.blogspot.com)

Catwoman is a Terrible Driver in "Dark Knight Rises"

     It turns out the stunt double for Anne Hathaway, who is set to play Catwoman in the upcoming Dark Knight Rises, is not as stealthy or limber as a domesticated household feline.  She successfully drove the Batpod (um...what is that?) into a camera on set a few days ago at Carnegie Mellon University (um...where is that?). 

     Luckily no one was hurt, just some damaged equipment; but it begs to ask the question, how will Catwoman use her next eight lives?  Maybe she'll recite her Oscar-show performance with James Franco in front of Christian Bale until he jumps off a building without all his Bat-gear.  The possibilities are really endless.

     Nevertheless the suit for Catwoman is drawing very negative attention and reviews from fans and critics alike.  I actually don't mind it too much.  I mean, do I really have to remind everyone of the last Catwoman suit in a film?  I've seen people with leg warmers and shorts less tacky than that.

(img source - eonline.com/news / wellbitme.com)

Teaser Trailer Tuesday: "The Dark Knight Rises"

     For those that haven't seen it yet.

 

Useless Trivia of the Week: DiCaprio is Highest Paid Actor in Hollywood

   

 Today the Internet Movie Database released figures that show Leo DiCaprio made $77 million dollars in the 12-month period between May 2010 and May 2011, making him the highest paid actor in Hollywood.  Which is hilarious, because Johnny Depp came in second on the list, netting about $50 million.  I knew the Grape family would go on to do wonderful things.  They just had to get out of that shit-hole town Endora.