Grab your friends and have them grab their friends. Then practice your Scottish accents and strap in for Trainspotting. Adapted from the Irvine Welsh novel, this British drama actually has nothing to do with the practice of Train Spotting. Instead the film follows the lives of four heroin addicts and their struggle to go clean, withstand poverty, stay alive, and find meaning in their lives. In 1997, it was nominated for an Oscar in the category of Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. (more…)

Boys don’t Cry directed by Kimberly Peirce is properly rated R because of the many disturbing scenes in the story line – scenes which I found myself skipping over since they were too uncomfortable to sit through. Surprisingly, I found myself returning later to those scenes to try and understand the story. If you can handle the violence and the sometimes difficult subject matter, there is a great deal to find here. This film is not just about the R rating or even the violent people the main character has to face. Instead, it is about the one thing we all can relate too, the on going endeavor to be true to one’s minority.
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"What would you rather die for the sex or love?"

What would you do if you found out you were HIV positive? Take time to fulfill your last wishes, maybe see those you loved every chance you got? How about instead you run around America without a care getting high on drugs, having sex and raising havoc through acts of  vandalism? Well that is the adventure Luke, a crazy suicidal outcast, takes John, an emotional movie reviewer, on in The Living End. This is a movie that is both reflective of the age old question “What would you do if you knew you were going to die?” and critical of it.

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Blood Simple, written in 1984 by the Coen Brothers, is one hell of a thriller. It was their directorial debut and really put the brothers on the map in the movie scene. The film is dark and violent filled with misunderstandings that lead to blood… then more blood. It is a kind of film-noir of its time.

The plot begins when bar owner Marty knows his wife is cheating on him with a younger man that works at his bar. Marty hires a greasy hit man to kill his wife and her lover. This is when things start to get far bloodier and far less simple than expected. The hit man deceives his client and a number of misunderstandings ensue. (more…)