Category Archives: Vulgar

2008, Drama, Drugs, Explicit sex, Nudity, Sports, Violent, Vulgar

Rudo y Cursi (2008)

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From NetFlix:

Stuck working on a banana ranch, two super competitive soccer-playing brothers dream of getting off the farm and finding stardom: Beto (Diego Luna) as a pro goalie and Toto (Gael García Bernal) as a singer — but it might break them. When a professional soccer team ignores Beto’s goalie skills in favor of Toto’s fancy footwork, Beto signs on to a rival team, and the battle between brothers is on. Carlos Cuarón directs this comedy.

In Spanish “rudo” means rough or rude whereas “cursi” means precious or fussy or affected. The soccer culture in Mexico City nicknames Beto as “rudo” and Toto as “cursi”. If there were not such large numbers of people, especially crowds, involved, you might think of this as an independent film. You watch two hicks (apparently anyone who is not from Mexico City is a “hick”) get taken by a talent scout to the city to play soccer. Toto fancies himself a singer (he is not that good). The story is the usual rise and fall of two country boys in the big city. At first I thought “I’m never going to last this whole film”. But the details are somewhat captivating: just sit back and watch the happening (think “Rake’s Progress”).

It is not just the language that is Spanish. Notable are the extreme emotional reactions, especially anger, in most cases. If the movie fairly represents the culture of soccer and Mexico City, then corruption touches every aspect of life: team manager decisions are motivated by bribes, gamblers try to get players to lose on purpose, players are lured into gambling and losing big time, camp followers only sleep with the winning players, players are introduced to drugs, and the list goes on.

WARNING: The script is very, very vulgar. Crowds yell amazing and unprintable streams of taunts and invitations to the players. There is nudity such as female breasts and initiation scenes in the mens’ shower rooms. There is only once fairly modest sex scene.

Constant excitement kept me interested. In fact there is never a calm moment. This is NOT a soccer mom’s film. Have fun!

2008, Drama, Nudity, Suspense, True Story, Violent, Vulgar

The Bank Job (2008)

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From NetFlix:

Play Preview Based on actual events in 1971, this thriller tells the story of a car dealer (Jason Statham) who becomes involved in a London bank heist, only to find that the contents of the bank vault will draw him deeply and irrevocably into the city’s criminal underbelly. Murder and scandal abound in this tale of corruption populated with a surprising mix of offenders, from low-level thugs to government officials — all the way up to the royal family.

Just a fun B-film but probably the best Jason Statham film I have seen. There are no car chases. There is only one fight scene. Instead there are several groups of bad guys (those are the ones that all go to the same tailor) who do not know the existence of one another but each of whom has their own dirt-filled safety deposit box.

There is one torture scene. But the tension is worse than the actual torture which you hardly see.

Jason Statham should definitely NOT do love scenes. He actually smiles at his wife and kids in this film.

I am surprised that they actually name Princess Margaret as the subject of the porn photos.

Be sure to watch the explanatory text screens at the end because this is a true story and you get to see what happened to all the bad guys (of which there are many).

1000NYTimes, 1974, Comedy, Detective, Drama, Old-Fashioned, Suspense, Violent, Vulgar

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

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From NetFlix:

Mr. Blue (Robert Shaw) and his crew take hostages on a subway car. If Blue and Co. don’t get a million dollars in an hour, Blue will start carving graffiti on the passengers’ foreheads. Quentin Tarantino borrowed a lot from this unsung classic of crime cinema — including criminals using colors for code names — for his film Reservoir Dogs.

This version is the original “Taking”. Note that the numbers in the title are spelled out. I decided to see the first version before seeing the second version. It is recommended in the “NY Times Best 1000”.

For sure, this version does not take itself too seriously and has a grand time making fun of just about everything. For example, the mayor is played as a bumbling idiot with the flu who is booed every time he appears in public. There is a ton of swearing. Walter Matthau runs the show. If anyone out there is too young to remember Walter Matthau, he was the slob half of the “Odd Couple”. Near the beginning of the film, Matthau is showing a Japanese contingent the wonders of the New York subway system but all the visitors can do is bow because it seems they don’t understand English. When notice of the hostage taking arrives Matthau says (about the visitors ) “Get these monkeys outta here”. At that point one of the Japanese answers in perfect English, “We understand. Thank you for everything. This is very exciting”. And so it goes for most of the film. There is music only at beginning and end and it sounds exactly like the music used in the very early James Bond movies. It ends with 10 really clever seconds.

2006, Could Be Hard To Watch, Detective, Docudrama, Explicit sex, Nudity, Occasional gore, Suspense, Todd Robinson, Violent, Vulgar

Lonely Hearts (2006)

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From NetFlix:

In this unnerving docudrama, John Travolta and James Gandolfini play homicide detectives assigned to pursue lovers Martha Beck (Salma Hayek) and Raymond Fernandez (Jared Leto) — dubbed the “Lonely Hearts Killers.” Luring unwary war widows and spinsters through personal ads in the late 1940s, the couple stripped respondents of their savings before slaying them in a sexually charged frenzy. The supporting cast includes Laura Dern and Scott Caan.

Well worth seeing, this film is violent and could be hard to watch if only because there is a very explicit execution by electric chair (which you know immediately at the start of the film). Children not invited to watch because of the grisly shootings, the explicit sex, and the coarse sexual banter of the police officers.

Over the years I have seen John Travolta become a fat actor playing himself. In this case his face has changed so much (no, it is not makeup) that I almost did not recognize the face, although the body type has not changed. In all fairness, he does an excellent and sullen job as a man wounded by and unable to recover from his wife’s suicide. James Gandolfini is not just Tony Soprano and can, in fact, act well in certain kinds of roles including this role as Travolta’s sidekick.

Salma Hayek throughout the film is drop-dead gorgeous, especially when she is dolled-up in a smart black outfit plus big hat plus decolletage. She plays a wonderful sociopath right down to her never-give-in demise.

Not bad at all!

2008, Acceptable Trash, Comedy, Explicit sex, Vulgar

Choke (2008)

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From NetFlix:

With his mother (Anjelica Huston) suffering from Alzheimer’s, medical school
dropout Victor Mancini (Sam Rockwell) devises a plan to pay her hospital bills.
At high-class restaurants, he pretends to choke, waits to be rescued and then
later asks his saviors for money. In addition to being a con man, Victor is a
sex addict who works at a colonial theme park. This film is based on the novel
by cult literary phenom Chuck Palahniuk ( Fight Club).

Sex is the subject, pure and simple. The film is so vulgar that after awhile you don’t even notice all the sex talk and acts. In fact that is the point: a sex addict learning to really love someone. Nonetheless, you could easily be offended by this film (especially if you are Christian). Just as some contemporary films use violence to a comic end, the sex is so outrageous that it comes across as comedy.

A challenge to anyone who takes a chance and watches this crazy film: at the sexaholics anonymous meetings there is an old man. Without taking a peek at IMDB, do you recognize this actor ? I nearly dropped dead, he has changed so much!

2005, Musical, Unusual, Vulgar

Romance & Cigarettes (2005)

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From NetFlix:

From the Coen brothers and John Turturro comes this twist on the not-so-ordinary tale of adultery and salvation. Nick (James Gandolfini) engages in a torrid extramarital affair with a younger woman, Tula (Kate Winslet), while his wife, Kitty (Susan Sarandon), grows ever more enraged by his behavior. As her world crumbles around her, Kitty grapples with her husband’s infidelity, but will Nick ever realize the magnitude of what he’s done?

This is one wierd film as follows:

o It is a musical. Yes, you get to hear James Gandolfini and Susan Sarandon sing.
o You get to see firemen etc dance in the street.
o It is exclusively about sex.
o It is one of the most vulgar movies I have ever seen.
o It has a happy-sad serious ending despite all the preceding nonsense.

You have to really like strange and different films to tolerate this kooky film.

1001BeforeDie, 2006, Acceptable Trash, Comedy, Could Be Hard To Watch, Gay theme, Unusual, Vulgar

Borat (2006)

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From NetFlix:

Fans of the HBO comedy series “Da Ali G Show” will be delighted to join one of their favorite characters — the Kazakhstani reporter Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen, in a Golden Globe-winning role) — as he travels to America to report on the “greatest country in the world.” Camera in tow, the boorish journalist sets off on his cross-country road trip, but his original purpose is soon subsumed by a much greater quest — finding and marrying actress Pamela Anderson.

If you think Mel Brooks (think “Blazing Saddles”) was politically incorrect, wait until you watch “Borat” which has the dubious distinction of offending the entire planet. Let’s call this film “acceptable trash” although I admit it is really funny in some parts. At other times I could hardly believe what I was seeing in a film. Today fims show extreme violence as comedy (“Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels”) as well as explicit sex as comedy (“Choke”). So bad taste as comedy has become part of our culture. For another discussion see the Wikipedia Borat article.

Recall that in each scene there is a camera somewhere. Consider, therefore, the “healing” fundamentalist revival service. What was in the minds of the congregation during the filming ? Was this whole thing just a put-on ?

In any case, you are warned that you too might be offended by this film which, believe it or not, is one of the “1001 Films To See Before You Die”.

1987, Biographical, Drama, Drugs, Explicit sex, Gay theme, Non-physical Violence, Nudity, True Story, Unusual, Violent, Vulgar

Prick Up Your Ears (1987)

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From NetFlix:

Gifted British filmmaker Stephen Frears brings to the screen the troubled life of bold 1960s writer Joe Orton (Gary Oldman) in this portrait of an obsessive, controlling coupling set against history. Orton’s infamous relationship with his tempestuous lover, Kenneth Halliwell (Alfred Molina), fueled but also eventually destroyed Orton — literally and figuratively — at a time when the world didn’t at all embrace or understand homosexuality.

Absolutely not for everyone. Vulgar, explicit, no-holds-barred British film about a possibly talented playwright who was egocentric, cruel, and enjoyed taking chances. Watching this supposedly true biographical exposé was a bit like playing peeping tom. However, it WAS interesting. You are warned!