Absolute Wannabe

I'm still trying to figure out what I just watched. Well, I know what I just watched: the 2008 Swedish horror/thriller/drama/romance (if you're into twisted romance) film Let the Right One In . I spent the first 30 minutes of this movie asking why. Why does an adult man follow a little girl around (besides the obvious)? Why is "piggy" this little boy's nickname? Why is this girl wearing white, especially since she's a vampire (more on that later)? Why does this kid not have a tissue in his jacket pocket? The list of "whys" goes on and on, but I'm worried that going on might spoil something for you. Yes, this is a vampire movie. No, this is not Twilight . It's so the opposite of Twilight . Here's why I liked this movie: even thought it's about a vampire, it's really not about a vampire. Stay with me. This movie about vampires is more about human nature, love and curiosity than anything else. More importantly, it's about...

Let's have a conversation about The Conversation . What I thought was going to be a high intensity action movie turned out to be one of the most interesting character pieces I have ever seen. Gene Hackman looks positively ordinary as Harry Caul, a surveillance expert assigned to spy on a seemingly ordinary couple couple. The bad hair, creepy mustache, dated wardrobe, and so many other things about Caul's first appearance in the film make it seem like he's the boring one of this bunch of sleuths. Then, you see this guy's paranoia, and it all starts to make sense. He's the focus of this story, not the people he's working with or the couple whose conversation he listens to. Caul is one of the best in the business, but not without sacrificing some of his sanity. Whether his paranoid nature is caused by his career choice or his career choice was driven by his paranoid nature is something we will never know, but there's no doubt they go hand in hand. His...

Ready? Okay! After a few weeks of writing about some particularly heavy movies, I decided to pick a title off the teen movie section of the list. When I realized that Bring It On was still on the list, I was a little appalled. After all, is it really a day in America if Bring It On hasn't played somewhere on cable? Even though this movie was released in 2000, I consider it an honorary member of the typical '90s teen movie family. Why? Here are just a few of the reasons: 1. One of the decade's most popular blonde actresses in a lead role (Kirsten Dunst) 2. One of the decade's most popular brunette actresses in the edgy, alternative sidekick role (Eliza Dushku) 3. A guy named Jesse with Prince Eric eyebrows playing the book wearing, punk listening, sensitive love interest who says things like, "I made you a tape" (Jesse Bradford) 4. Not-so-subtle product placement (Hey there, Diet Coke!) 5. Not-so-subtle references to now irrelevant pop cu...