The Notorious C.H.O., Gridlock'd and Igby Goes Down

• Notorious C.H.O. (2002) Margaret Cho is a woman with a cause. Notorious C.H.O. is her second concert film in Seattle as a more mature and even more biting follow-up to her first film I’m the One that I Want. Her act can be summed up in four words; sex, sex and more sex! This obnoxious, less than model perfect, Korean-American is often incorrectly labeled as a bisexual. Cho herself would more accurately describe herself as just plain slutty.
  Aside from her drawn-out comedic pauses and political speeches tacked on at the beginning and end of her act, C.H.O. certainly proves Cho’s staying power especially with her imitation of her immigrant mother. Cho is bound to have a loyal fan-based consisting of ethnic minorities, gays and lesbians and everything inbetween!



• Wanqui gave us a review of the overlooked film Gridlock'd starring the late Tupac Shakur, Tim Roth and Thandie Newton. The three actors are friends in a band that's part performance art and part spoken-word jazz. After the death of Thandie Newton's character, Cookie who dies from and overdose, Spoon (Tim Roth) decides it's time to go clean. Much like the title suggests, Spoon and Stretch's (Tupac Shakur) efforts are met with many preposterous obstacles and for all their noble efforts, the two characters are always seeming to end up in catch-22 situations.



• Igby Goes Down (2002) Kieran Culkin shows surprising depth starring in this dark comedy. He plays the sarcastic and rebellious 17-year-old trying named Igby, trying to break free from his staunch “old money” upbringing. With a vindictive mother (Susan Sarandon), a schizophrenic father (Bill Pullman), and a shark-like Young Republican big brother (Ryan Phillippe), Igby is in search of a better life. His search lands him at the doorstep of his godfather’s (Jeff Goldblum) mistresses’ place (Amanda Peet). There he encounters a bored Sookie Sapperstein (Claire Danes). In his quest for freedom, Igby slides from comedy to tragedy in hopes of keeping himself from “going down.” In addition to Sarandon’s steady performance, Keiran and Goldblum are the anchors of the film. This is director Burr Steers’ first film. He was also the screenwriter for the romantic comedy, How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

Film theory with Peter and Wanqui talks about White Oleander

• The long take versus the long shot. I've always used the two interchangeably assuming they were the same. Thanks to Peter's film theory lesson today, I have a greater appreciation for the subtle yet major difference between the two terms. Thanks Petey. By definition, the long take refers to an overextended length of time for a shot, whereas the long shot refers to the extended distance between the camera and the subject on-screen. To illustrate the wondrous effect of long takes, Peter talked about films such as Goodfellas by Martin Scorsese, Orson Welles' Touch of Evil and Doug Liman's Swingers. Peter described one scene in Goodfellas, where Scorsese uses a long take as a means of explaining what it must be like to be the protagonist. The camera follows Henry Hill (a career defining performance by Ray Liotta) as he escorts his girlfriend past line-ups and through extended hidden corridors of the Copacabana club dropping twenty dollar bills left, right and centre. As spectators, we experience the rush and opulence of the gangster’s lifestyle, as well as the sheer power this man commands in a room. Simply amazing.



• After Wanqui started off by telling us that White Oleander seems like the type of film that would be recommended by Oprah, I couldn't help but think great another 'chick' flick. But Wanqui assures us that the film is not a 'chick' flick and it's the themes within the film that lead her to say that. After reading the synopsis, I could see why Wanqui would say that this would get the Oprah stamp of approval. I believe that if the film was called The Deflowering, it would've attracted a larger male audience, but that's just me. With four babes like Alison Lohman, Robin Wright Penn, Michelle Pfeiffer and Renee Zellweger all starring in the same picture how could you lose? And you'd still have the flower theme in the title!