m-m-movies

The Golden Globes are on Monday and while I don't usually watch the Globes I do like to see who won. The Globes are usually a good harbinger of who will win the golden boy. So far of the 47 main nominees (acting, picture and directing awards) there are still 10 performances/movies I have to see. Those are from the films Mrs. Henderson Presents, The Matador, Match Point, Transamerica and Pride & Prejudice. Mrs. Henderson, Matador, Match Point and Transamerica have yet to open in our area. As for Pride & Prejudice it comes out on video in February. The Globes separate drama and comedy so there's certain to be some Globe nominees that are left out when the Oscar noms are announced. I'm also hoping that Peter Sarsgaard will get a nom for either The Dying Gaul or Jarhead and Amy Adams should get a nom for Junebug. Here's hoping Oscar gets the finalists right.

Speaking of movies, my spouse and I just watched a very bizarre but very well directed absurd indie dark comedy. The Chumscrubbers is a film which was released last year and probably not heard of by many people. It's set in a picture perfect suburban utopia, much like Desperate Housewives, in which everything looks great on the outside but every family has something that is flawed. It all starts when Troy hangs himself. Troy is found by Dean, Troy's best friend, then Charile, Dean's brother, is kidnapped by Billy, Lee, and Crystal and will be returned when Dean gives them Troy's stash of drugs. The twist is that the Charlie that is kidnapped is not Dean's brother; he's the son of Terri who's getting married to Michael, the mayor. Terri is the ex-wife of Charlie's father, Lou, who is also a police officer. Meanwhile, Terri's wedding is being held on the same day as the memorial held for Troy. Terri is so wrapped up in preparations for the wedding that it takes her three days to realize her son is missing. It's well directed and well acted. It's billed as a dark comedy but there are very few comedy scenes. It's certainly dark and absurd and takes the miscommunication and disconnectedness of our society to extremes. The film does boast an impressive cast: Ralph Fiennes, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jamie Bell, Glenn Close, John Heard, Rita Wilson, Rory Culkin, Allison Janney, Lauren Holly, and William Fichtner. The standout female is Glenn Close who once again proves how versatile and talented she is; she plays Troy's mother. Jamie Bell (from Billy Elliott) is the standout male lead as he deals with the death of his best friend and has to rescue Charlie. For an indie film one could do a lot worse.