JR took me to see the new X-Men movie on Sunday. It was awright. I guess if some people turned into mutants with superpowers, this is a fairly good representation of what would happen. In this installment, mankind has devised a "cure" for mutation, that takes away superpowers and any other disgusting growths. In the scene pictured here, Angel is fighting to keep his wings. His superpower is flight, go figure. Halle Berry can also fly in this movie or is she just getting blown around by her own wind? Who knows?

There is a flashback scene, early in the film, that shows Angel as a boy, frantically trying to cut his wings off in the bathroom before his dad sees them. As I see it, the X-Men represent the "new" minority struggling for acceptance by society, does that remind you of anyone? Society wants to help these freaks by "curing" them. The "bad" mutants, led by Magneto, don't want no stinking cure and the X-Men fight to defend Alcatraz (where the cure was developed) against Magneto, Phoenix, Pyro, Juggernaut, etc. It's a big battle and it cool to see them fight, but ethically, it made no sense to me. Should a minority defend the rights of those among them who want to forsake their differences in order to "fit in?"

Lots of character die or are "cured" by the end of the movie and the extent of how much that sucks is apparent. I'm not gonna spoil it. But I do have to say that Jean Grey is way cooler in this movie than the other ones. First of all, she comes back from the dead as a red-head in heat, starts dressing like Stevie Nicks and can explode people with her mind. I am so jealous.

If you go see this, keep an eye out for Ellen Page, who plays Kitty. She will be huge! Mark my words.... Ellen Page is Hollywood's new "It" girl.

In 2001, a film version of Wendy Hammond's play Julie Johnson was made starring Lili Taylor and Courtney Love. The film was never released theatrically but did play some festivals and won a couple of awards, including "Best Lesbian Feature" at the Philidelphia Gay & Lesbian Festival and "Best Actress: Courtney Love" at LA's Outfest. Finally, the film was rescued by here! TV and has made it's way onto DVD. Julie Johnson is not a perfect movie, but the performances are strong.

Lili Taylor plays the title character, a housewife who never graduated high school but secretly harbors a passion and talent for science. As Julie's best friend Claire, Love gets to play the girl next door (in New Jersey, no less) who finds herself in an unexpected relationship with Taylor's character. The movie is about self-realization and passion, it's about sacrifice and self-preservation, it's about life.

I have always thought that Courtney Love is a fantastic actress, when she is not creating tabloid headlines or mauling herself onstage. A little self-realization goes a long way. From 1986 to 1996, Love made five movies that went largely unnoticed, with the exception of Sid and Nancy in which she has a very small role, eclipsed by the genius of Chloe Webb and Gary Oldman. Then, she starred in The People vs. Larry Flynt opposite Woody Harrelson and Edward Norton. It was a breakout performance that seemed to get her nowhere in the film industry. She made the ensemble comedy 200 Cigarettes, and returned to Milos Forman (who directed Larry Flynt) as Andy Kaufman's girlfriend in 1999's Man On The Moon. Then came the unreleased Beat, where Love played Joan Vollmer who got shot in the head by Keifer Sutherland's William Burroughs, and Julie Johnson. Two unreleased films, back to back, do not bode well for anyone's film career, especially when you follow it up with a movie like Trapped, with Kevin Bacon and Charlize Theron. Trapped is a fairly crappy movie that ends with a plane chasing an SUV down the freeway. Not my kind of drama. Now, they say Love will star as Linda Lovelace in a biopic. I hope not. There was talk of the Scottish play being produced by Luc Besson, with Love as Lady Macbeth. That I would like to see. Hmmmm..... Deep Throat or Shakespeare? What is a girl to do?

Come back to the silver screen, Courtney Love, Courtney Love!

This weekend, NetFlix decided I needed to explore some good old-fashioned exploitation flicks. I was excited to see The Devil's Rejects because I have worked with Rob Zombie and I have a great respect for the man. He wrote and directed this sequel to House of 1000 Corpses, set in the late seventies and exploits the same elements as other horror films of the era, but with a modern twist. It's a disgusting, ugly, perverted film about disgusting, ugly, perverts doing disgusting, ugly, perverted things. I really liked it, though I realize it's not for everyone. If you are a fan of more traditional "horror" films, you might be disappointed too. This is weird stuff. Any filmmaker with the good sense to cast Sid Haig, is a genius in my book.



But their are other twisted filmmakers at work on their own self-indulgent work, like Werner Herzog, who culled through countless hours of footage shot by Timothy Treadwell, filmmaker/bear activist/crazy person. The resulting film, Grizzly Man is a fascinating portrait of a man on the edge. Treadwell lived near grizzly bears in the wilds of Alaska for 13 summers before one finally killed him and the pretty blonde he had brought along on his last trip in 2003. Herzog created a gorgeous mood, with music and details, though some of it seems forced. There is a tape recording of Treadwell and his companion being attacked and killed. Apparently, there was not time to take off the lenscap. Much is made of this recording, it is descibed in detail by the coroner and listened to on camera by Herzog, who tells the woman who possesses the tape that she should never listen to it and should destroy it right away. The horrific descriptions provide enough details, that I, as an audience member, am finally grateful not to be exposed to sounds that might "haunt me for the rest of my life."