Darrell Aronofsky’s impressive film is one of the strongest cinematic debuts since Reservoir Dogs. Sean Gullette provides an intense performance as Maxmillian Cohen, a mathematical genius who discovers a string of numbers that gives the name of God. What happens when you have access to the most important information in history?

A perfect film for those who like something different. My gushing aside, the film does promote the concepts forwarded by Kabbalah, a Jewish mystic (read goofy) belief and Gammantria which is the belief that there is a numeric code in the Bible. Enjoy the movies, blow off the nonsense.



Richard Linklater's look at the lives of Texas high school kids in 1976. The film revels in drinking, pot smoking and all matter of low behavior. Even with these content issues, the film is one of the most genuine movies I've seen. The film is successful because it displays the thrill of adolesence with great verisimilitude (which is a fancy word that means it's lifelike - I gotta throw away my Gore Vidal word-a-day calendar). There are some excesses, these kids do consume booze and drugs and the film fails to condemn the acts, but overall the movie cuts a slice of life and Linklater's plain style displays it perfectly. If you're adverse to low behavior, especially by minors, this movie is absolutely not for you.



This is a small movie but it delivers huge. Looking over the span of his career, I have to say that this is my favorite performance from Penn. His performance as failed assassin Sam Bicke (Byck) is both heart wrenching and compelling. Bicke is a hapless loser who finds himself drowning in manhood. His private life is in shambles and his professional life is a journey of humiliation. Penn shows Bicke to be what he is, a loser. But thanks to a thoughtful script by Kevin Kennedy and Niels Muller we get to see this lost man for what he is, a victim of himself. Clinging to the American Dream of capital success, assuming it will bring happiness and respect, Bicke allows his life to implode. Eventually, he is “driven” to attempt to assassinate the President of The U.S., Richard Nixon.

Labels: movie recommendations