Jon The Blogcentric

VIFF 2014 Review: 1987

2 October 20147 October 2014Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

1987 is an autobiographical movie about the director in his teen years pleyed by Jean-Carl Boucher (extreme right). — *1987* is an autobiographical movie about director Ricardo Trogi in his teen years played by Jean-Carl Boucher (extreme right).

Remember last year when I talked about movies from other countries as much as I talked about films? Well I had the good luck of catching my first movie at the VIFF just recently. It’s a movie from Quebec called 1987 and it’s very entertaining.

The film begins with 17 year-old Ricardo Trogi breaking up an organizational meeting where the ‘powers that be’ organize that a teen should decide at 17 what he wants to do with the rest of his life. Ricardo breaks it up because he knows it won’t work. He’s 17 and he can’t decide.

Flash forward to the plot. Ricardo is about to graduate from high school and he has four big goals for this year: lose his virginity to his girlfriend Marie-Josee, get into night clubs, get a car and strike it rich with his big plan. Sound like big dreams but it’s not going to come true easily. His parents want him to get a job to learn responsibility. All the attempts from him and his three friends to get into Quebec’s top club fail. Marie-Josee is reluctant to go all the way. And his big goal is to open a night club for teens. That takes some doing since he has a $50 bill from Columbia House after falling for their 10 tapes for a penny ‘deal.’ Yeah, I fell for that too.

Things start pretty bumpy. He does get his first car but it’s a shabby Lada. He has a chance to lose his virginity but it’s postponed as he starts work on the one day Marie’s parents are away. His moneymaking chance flops with his first job as a valet. Hey, totaling a BMW will get you out in a record-short two hours. Then it’s by chance with his friends that they notice an expensive car stereo. Fortunately for them, no one’s around to see them steal it. That gives Ricardo an idea of being a stereo peddler to get the money for his night club. It starts to pay off. The more stereos he and his buds get, the more they can sell. Once he reaches 18, he can get into night clubs with his friends and be ‘the man.’ He even gets the notice over there of a Sara, female classmate he liked but the other boys called ‘STD’ behind her back.

However things don’t work as planned. First he finds out Marie-Josee kissed another man. He hears it right on prom night. He leaves her and then goes to the night club where he’s able to win over Sara. However he finds out that ‘STD’ is actually a virgin and confused with life. To make things worse, he finds out his friend and ‘partner in crime’ spends too much time with Marie-Josee. Then comes the Waterloo for him as the police know of his stereo theft. It all ends there. Nevertheless it ends with the director giving a final reflection at the end.

The thing that grabbed me most was that this movie was possibly the most truthful about the 1980’s of all 80’s-themed movies. You know how sometimes when you see a retro movie they don’t entirely get it exactly retro? They include some modern stuff but try to make it look classic? Like those 70’s-like hairstyles worn by the teens of Happy Days? Not in 1987. It grabbed me that this was the 80’s retro film that had to be the most exact when it came to 80’s style from multitude of armbands to plastic glasses on women and aviator glasses on men to girls in big hair to guys in tight jeans. I noticed very little present styles in this. And I’m an 80’s teen! Also that talk of opening a night club for teens. That was a unique 80’s thing. I even remember a teen night club in Winnipeg in the 80’s called Changes.

It’s not just the clothes and teen clubs that made it very precise in depicting the 80’s but also the entertainment they talked about and music played in the soundtrack. They played a lot of signature 80’s songs like Forever Young and Cum On Feel The Noize and there was talk about a U2 song affecting Marie-Josee’s mood. Having the Pet Shop Boys’ It’s A Sin fit the chase scene perfectly and even reminded me that I liked it. There were also a lot of lesser known 80’s gems in there too like Flock of Seagulls’ Space Age Love Song (which I prefer over ‘I Ran’), Run DMC’s It’s Like That and even uniquely Canadian 80’s gems like Luba’s Every Time I See Your Picture and even a Quebec 80’s gem from Martine St.Claire. Another such is the movie poster of The Untouchables which Ricardo thinks it’s about Al Capone being tough. The poster actually is a symbol of Ricardo’s teenage delusion as The Untouchables was about Al Capone getting caught. Eventually the Quebec police would become Ricardo’s Eliot Ness.

Another thing about it is that it was able to make light about a lot of teenager difficulties. Especially the age of 17 when you’re expected to decide what you want to do with your life and a lot of unexpected changes happen. Sure, you graduate high school but often your friends and even your high school sweetheart move on to pursue other things. First off the movie was able to make light of the shitty attitudes in both Nadia’s reclusiveness and Ricardo’s frustrations. It was also to make light of the romantic confusions of Marie-Josee and Sara. It was also able to showcase a lot of the typical teenage stupidities in a funny way. Especially Ricardo’s stupidity of thinking he’s ready to take on the world with his idea and that he can make it big on stealing car radios. The radio heist was especially amusing because he was acting like he was Don Corleone but he was a complete amateur. 16 year-olds in the ‘hood are better at playing the game than Ricardo. Nevertheless it’s funny to watch as most of us have passed the age of 18 and can even see their own past in it. We laugh because all Ricardo and his teen friends go through, even the toughest stuff, are all a case of ‘you live and you learn.’ Even cruel stuff like Sara being nicknamed ‘STD’ can be laughed off as the stupidity we once had.

I didn’t know until recently that 1987 was actually a sequel to 1981, another autobiographical film by Ricardo Trogi in which Jean-Carl Boucher also played Ricardo. I’ve never seen it so I can’t compare 1987 to 1981 at all. I will say it’s a very entertaining film in its own right and Trogi should be very proud of the movie he delivered. Like I say, any 80’s teen can identify with this and laugh along to it. It’s almost like they’re laughing at themselves. Jean-Carl Boucher was very good in his role as Ricardo. He was naturally comedic in the role without coming across as too stockish of a character. He made the comedic side of teen awkwardness look 3D. Actually all the teen actors were very good in their roles as they came off very believable especially in terms of showing teenage confusion and frustration in both comedic and serious lights. The adult actors were also good but it was Sandrine Bisson as the mother who was the best scene stealer. She reminds you of every mother and the crazy frustrated attitude they have. Yeah, juts when you though your mom was weird, it becomes apparent it’s a mom thing.

1987 is a funny movie that can appeal to all sorts of people like teens and grown adults or even people who just like 80’s stuff. It will bring back memories of the time. And of you.

VIFF 2014 Review: Li’l Quinquin

1 October 20142 January 2016Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

Li'l Quinquin is a story of a young French boy and the summer that changed his life forever. — *Li’l Quinquin* is a story of a young French boy and the summer that changed his life forever.

Last year the first film I saw at the VIFF was a French movie that was three hours long. I’m sure most of you know which one I’m talking about. This year the first movie I see at the VIFF is another three hour long French movie. This time it’s titled Li’l Quinquin and it’s a very different French film.

Quinquin is a young boy growing up on a farm in northern France where his parents for the Lebleu family. He likes playing games with his friends and being bad by razzing people with his firecrackers. He also has a crush on Eve, the girl from the neighboring farm who plays trumpet for the legion and has a sister Aurelie with singing ambitions. It’s the summer and it should be fun time for all the kids in the village.

However the village is hit with shock as one of its people was murdered. Mme Lebleu’s remains were found stuffed in the carcass of a cow found inside a war bunker located near the Lebleu farm Quinquin’s family works. On the case is Commandant van der Weyden: an incompetent officer with uncontrollable facial twitching and a suspicion for certain people like young people like Quinquin. He is assigned to look into this along with his partner Lieutanant Carpentier.

After the funeral for Mme Lebleu–which was bizarrely conducted with a happy organist, Aurelie singing her pop song and the baton team Lebleu instructed twirling at the burial– another murder happens with the remains also stuffed in the cow. This time it’s Mr. Bhiri, the African father whom Mme Lebleu had an affair with. The suspicion continues to grow and van der Weyden pursues others he feel may be linked like Mr. Lebleu and even Mme Campin, the new leader of the baton team who has been known to have an affair with Mr. Lebleu. Meanwhile Quinquin and the kids are still trying to be kids swimming in the ocean, performing during the Bastille Day parade, playing games, Aurelie competing in a local talent contest and winning and Quinquin falling in love with Eve.

Not all of it is innocent fun as two boys of African and Moroccan descent are harassed by Quinquin and his friends. One boy, Mohammed the African who was the son of Mr. Bhiri, is especially harassed. The harassment gets to him as he is interrupted by them as he’s sharing an intimate moment with Aurelie. Meanwhile van der Weyden and Carpentier are being pressed by their superior to find the killer behind all these murders. They try to find out more information like the bunker near the Lebleu farm, the connection with Mme. Campin and even the feudal situation with led to the younger Mr. Lebleu owning Dany, the mentally impaired nephew.

Then things take a turn for the worse in the town. Mohamed goes on a shooting rampage from the top of his house. The rampage ends with him committing suicide. Aurelie finds the news hard to bear. Soon she is found dead inside of a pig. Possibly also a victim of murder. Then Mme Campin is found murdered on the beach but all in one piece. This soon leads van der Weyden to pursue a final answer to who the murderer is. This leads to an ending that is unexpected and anticipated by nobody.

One of the things about this film is that it tries to blend bizarre humor in the midst of what is a grisly set of murders. There are a lot of tragic parts to it but the humor mixes itself into it. The humorous bits seem bizarre at first but later on you think that it did fit the film well and helped make it. I’m unsure what is big in terms of French comedy but it definitely worked well. Even a character like Commandant van der Weyden will remind a lot of people of Inspector Cluseau with his bumbling. One thing about van der Weyden is even with his clumsiness and his twitchy face, he does have a serious side. I think that’s what the focus of the film was: ironies and humor in what is a horrific situation in a town. The humor does fade away after each additional murder happens and as it leads to its conclusion.

The funny thing is how this story of a string of murders intertwines with the life of the little boy Quinquin. Quinquin is just a young farm boy doing what most boys his age do: play games, act tough with his peers and fall in love. He may have been questioned about the murders at first but they don’t begin to affect him. It’s only once those he knows dies within that circle that it does start to change him. Especially since one victim is his girlfriend’s sister. It becomes more obvious later on.

The crazy thing is that the ending is not the clearest. You first think it’s a murder story and we’ll get the answer to who did it at the end. However those who saw it were still left both surprised and confused. Almost as if to debate what the point of the film was. Or maybe the main purpose of the film wasn’t to be about the murders but rather about Quinquin. One thing we notice is how Quinquin only has simple curiosity in the murders or just giving Commandant van der Weyden a hard time at first that is until the victims become people he knows or had somewhat of a connection to. He didn’t have too much of a connection to Mr. and Mme. Lebleu or Mohamed’s father but he knew Mohamed and he knew Aurelie. He went from a typical boy who liked playing naughty games and just falling in love with Eve to having his childhood fun end and being the one person who can console Eve. That could be the main theme of the film rather than it being a ‘whodunit’ story.

The film features a wide variety of themes added into the story. One of the two most present is the theme of nationalism with the whole situation happening in the summer especially around Bastille Day. The theme of racism is present as France may be a country with a lot of immigrants from central and North Africa, there’s still a lot of racism and xenophobia especially in the smaller towns. The second is the theme of disabilities or physical awkwardness. Quinquin is a boy with a harelip. Commandant van der Weyden has uncontrollable facial twitching. Dany is mentally impaired and there’s even a conversation between van der Weyden and his superior in a restaurant while a British family with a mentally impaired son is trying to dine. I feel Dumont is trying to add a point here. I’m sure Dumont was trying to add in more points with bodies being found in animal carcasses or even about Aurelie’s song ‘Cause I Knew’ or even the ties of French inheritances but it’s too much to say and will require a lot of afterthought.

Overall this may be a long film by Bruno Dumont but it tells an intriguing story. Actually it’s not really a film but a four-part miniseries compiled as a big screen film. Most outside of France wouldn’t know this was originally on television. Nevertheless Dumont does a great job here by taking a dark story and mixing surprise humor in there but still keeping the story sensitive. I think he aimed for irony in this series. Bernard Pruvost was a great scene stealer as the commandant. He could have easily been seen as a ‘rip-off’ of Inspector Cluseau’ but he didn’t go over-the-top in terms of his character’s awkwardness or his klutziness. He also made his character’s facial twitching look natural as if it was uncontrollable rather than wooden. Alane Delhaye was very good as Quinquin. He was good at playing a child who was natural and not your typical sugar-coated child character. The end especially was the best part of Delhaye’s performance. Lucy Caron was also good as Eve as she was able to go from your typical carefree girl to a girl now hurt. There were additional good performances from Lisa Hartmann, Stephane Boutillier and Jason Cirot.

Li’l Quinquin is an intriguing film to watch despite it being long and despite the ending being unexpected. Actually it does fare best as the miniseries it originally was. Nevertheless regardless of the format, it will keep your attention onto what will happen next.

2014 Box Office: Bumpy Summer, Bumpy Year

30 September 2014Jon The Blogcentric1 Comment

You may have seen my blog about the VIFF already. One thing some people may not have noticed about my blogging is that I haven’t been doing tracking of the year’s box office pace. Normally I do. Maybe one or two of you have noticed. Anyways this is my first look at 2014 at the box office and it doesn’t look too pleasant right now.

Decent Winter

The first quarter of 2014 didn’t make as much as the first quarter of 2013. Nevertheless it did provide for an excellent January and February. Neither January or February set a box office record for that month but both outgrossed their respective month from 2013. January 2014 was almost $60 million higher than January 2013 thanks to hits like Frozen, Lone Survivor, Ride Along, The Wolf of Wall Street and The Nut Job. February 2014 was almost $175 million higher than February 2013 thanks to the phenomenal success of The LEGO Movie and other hits like The Monuments Men, About Last Night, Three Days To Kill, Non-Stop and Son Of God. However all that extra wouldn’t be enough to outgross the winter of 2013 thanks to March 2014 grossing almost a quarter-billion less than March 2013. Strong openings for the 300 sequel, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, Divergent and Noah didn’t carry far enough in the end and the winter of 2014 just missed by that much.

Spring Falls Slightly Short

Don’t get me wrong. Spring was loaded with movies to get people to the cinema but it didn’t outgross last year’s spring. Once again no month set an all-time high but April was more than a quarter-billion higher than April 2013 thanks to Captain America 2, Rio 2, Heaven Is For Real and The Other Woman. May 2014 was more than $225 million shy of May 2013. Some could say there was no real big bang like Iron Man 3 from last year. Others could say too many competitors like The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Neighbors, Godzilla and X-Men: Days of Future Past opening at once.

However don’t get me started on June. June was the month that sent the message that 2014 was going to have a tough summer at the box office. First off June had the only weekend where a movie released in 2014 grossed more than $100 million on its opening weekend: Transformers: Age of Extinction with a paltry $100,038,390. That’s only 27th on the all-time list. Secondly were the ho-hum openings of movies like Maleficient, The Fault In Our Stars, 22 Jump Street, How To Train Your Dragon 2, and Think Like A Man Too. At the end of it all, June only grossed $995.4 million: $230 million less than June 2013 and the first June since 2003 to gross below $1 billion!

Summer’s Bumpy Road

You shouldn’t rely completely on the totals over at Box Office Mojo because the list of July totals shows July 2014 telling one story and the Weekly chart of 2014 and doing quick math in adding the July weeks telling another. One thing is certain is that this July didn’t outgross July 2013 despite continuing success of Transformers 4 and openings for Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes and Lucy.

The bright light not just of the summer but of the movie year so far has to be August. This is the one month that set an all-time record this year: $983 million. Definitely the success of the Guardians Of The Galaxy has a lot to do with it. There were other box office pumpers that month too like the Ninja Turtles, Into The Storm and Let’s Be Cops.

I decided to pass up reviewing September even though it hasn’t grossed as much as last year. Nevertheless the next three months will be a challenge. I don’t think 2014 will set an all-time box-office record but it will draw huge crowds with Fury, Nightcrawler, Horns, the latest Hunger Games movie Mockingjay Part. 1 and sequels for Night At The Museum and Madagascar. I’m confident 2014 will end past $10 billion but that’s something only time will tell.

WORKS CITED:

“Yearly Box Office Chart” BoxOfficeMojo.com. 2013. Box Office Mojo. Owned by IMDB.com. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/

“Monthly Box Office Chart” BoxOfficeMojo.com. 2013. Box Office Mojo. Owned by IMDB.com. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/monthly/

“Weekend Box Office Chart” BoxOfficeMojo.com. 2013. Box Office Mojo. Owned by IMDB.com. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/

It’s VIFF Time Again

24 September 2014Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

Yes, it’s that time of year again. The Vancouver International Film Festival will be back up and running. It will open Thursday September 25th and run until Friday October 10th.

This year’s festival looks to be optimistic. As you may remember, last year’s festival could be considered a test pilot for the new way of doing the VIFF. They had no choice. The Granville 7–our main venue for years–closed in 2012 and a whole new system had to be created. It took finding new venues like the Vancouver Playhouse, the SFU Arts Centre, three cinemas of the International Village and the Rio Theatre and relocate their gala shows from the Vogue Theatre to the Centre for the Performing Arts. The end result was a success as it had one of the best per-screening averages. Sure there was a slight decrease in the number of films shown and the number of screenings but it payed off and kept the VIFF in a very healthy state.

There are not too many changes as far as screenings of films. One cool thing is that there will again be 11:30 showings at the Rio Theatre during certain nights. The festival promises to show 365 films from 70 countries during its duration. Some of the hot ticket films include:

Mommy– The latest film from 25 year-old Quebec directing phenom Xavier Dolan
Wild- A film starring Reese Witherspoon from Dallas Buyers Club director Jean-Marc Vallee
Maps To The Stars – A film by David Cronenberg with an excellent performance from Julianne Moore
Whiplash– a musical drama featuring drumming phenom Miles Teller
Welcome To Me– A dramedy starring Kristen Wiig that’s surprisingly very personal
Clouds of Sils Maria– A humorous but personal story starring Juliette Binoche and Kristen Stewart
Foxcatcher– An Olympic story directed by Bennett Miller that ends up being far from the Olympic dream
Men, Women and Children– The latest Jason Reitman film that shows relationships of teenagers and their parents’ relationships and the complications coming with it
The Riot Club– An intriguing look at special clubs and establishments in England in the 1800’s
Winter Sleep– Cannes’ Palme d’Or winner this year from Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Goodbye To Language 3D– The latest from Jean-Luc Godard that caught the attention of crowds at Cannes.

The biggest change would be in the case of volunteering. In the past, volunteers would be kept strictly to a single theatre throughout the running of the festival. This time they can volunteer at any theatre or theatres they want. I myself have chosen to volunteer at three theatres so far. Yesterday at the volunteer orientation, all volunteers had to learn the five different duties which they will be assigned. This was the first time ever that the VIFF has given us instruction during the volunteer orientation. Nevertheless it’s a good thing for when they have to do their duty.

Anyways the festival begins tomorrow. Expect a lot of excitement. And expect to see a good number of reviews from me. For more information or to purchase your own tickets, go to the VIFF website.

Move Review: Lucy

23 September 2014Jon The Blogcentric1 Comment

At first I was not interested in seeing Lucy. What got me seeing it was all the talk so many people who’ve seen it have said about it. I thought I’d check it out myself.

For those who haven’t seen the movie, it’s about a young woman who goes by the name of Lucy caught in a crime heist by surprise thanks to her shady and no-longer-living boyfriend. She then becomes a drug mule for a set of mind drugs that expands the brain’s use at one time from the alleged normal 10% to as much as 100%. This sets her up with getting even with her crime bosses, connecting with the other drug mules involved and making sense with the human race thanks to a college professor and her own mind’s supernatural ability to travel through time. Sound confusing? Well, you be the judge after you see the movie.

The funny thing about the movie is the whole plot of trying to make a connection between brain use at one time to the evolution of humanity coinciding with a criminal act. It’s a movie that tries to be humorous as in the case of Lucy telling her roommate of her health condition as well as action-filled in the story of as well as try and provoke thought about the human race and people’s ability to think. This is a complicated mix to try and create a good script that can entertain moviegoers.

One thing about the film is that it doesn’t make complete sense. Yes it’s a complicated story and yes there are parts that try to make it make sense over time. In fact the movie looked very ambitious at the beginning and appeared like it would deliver something to think about as the plot unraveled. However there are many times in which I wonder if it could have been organized out better or even played out better. Like those parts where Lucy connects with the ape-like human from eons ago made me question its purpose and whether it really worked or not. This is one case when I leave the movie theatre thinking of what scenes could have been done better and how. I will give credit to the effort by director/writer Luc Besson given to make such a movie that includes an intriguing story. In fact I found the best thing about the movie is the fact we never know Lucy’s real name. But all the elements included in this story don’t blend together well as a whole. I felt it to be uneven and confusing at times.

The movie did have a lot of positive qualities. The best thing about it had to be the acting. I can’t complain about that. Scarlet Johansson and Morgan Freeman were good in their roles. They knew how to work their roles well otherwise the movie would have come across as completely ridiculous. They also knew how to keep our intrigue to the unfolding events. Choi Min-Sik and Amr Waked also acted well enough to keep the story intriguing and intact. The movies’ special effects were also excellent, and for not even $40 million. The score to the film by Eric Serra also fit the story well.

One thing I have to say about Lucy is that it was actually successful in getting people to talk about the movie’s topics. From the 10% brain-use hypothesis to the belief of evolution, that got a lot of people thinking, despite how disjointed the movie seemed. In fact I myself went to see it after two people I knew mentioned they saw it and gave their comments of what they thought of it. I find it interesting. That’s all I will say. It also paid off at the box office too. It’s still in theatres but it has made almost $125 million in North America and $378 million worldwide. I think the topic of the plot paid off in getting people to come. One feat it has achieved is this is Besson’s highest-grossing film to date.

Lucy is an ambitious science fiction movie that tries to make us think while keeping us fixated on the story and the action along the way. However it’s not all that together of a movie. Attention-grabbing, thought-provoking, but not really together.

Movie Review: Guardians Of The Galaxy

22 September 2014Jon The Blogcentric3 Comments

Meet the Guardians Of The Galaxy: a superhero quintet that went from misfits to household names this summer. — Meet the *Guardians Of The Galaxy*: a superhero quintet that became household names this summer.

Oh boy. Now my time to catch up on movie reviews. This is the first of two reviews of summer blockbusters I saw. I will admit I’ve been a bit laxed in watching big movies this year. One of which I did feel I had to see was Guardians of The Galaxy. I’m glad I did.

I won’t go into giving a brief description of the story since it’s safe to assume most people have already seen it. This is one of those superhero movies that tries to balance out the comedic parts with the dramatic parts and the action parts. It does a very good job of it. It succeeds in giving the movie intriguing characters like Peter Quill, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket and Groot. However like every first movie or introduction movie of a superhero or superhero ensemble, it has to have a very good story of how the superheroes came to be or in this case, came to be an ensemble. It does a good job of creating an introduction movie of such. It may not be as heavily dramatic as your typical superhero movie. It’s a mix of drama and comedy that many will find entertaining. I will admit there are a couple of cornball scenes in there but the movie does a mostly good job.

I will admit that when I first saw the trailer for this months ago, I thought this would be a cheesy movie. I think what got me thinking it would be cheesy was seeing a raccoon as part of this superhero ensemble. It wasn’t until I learned the Guardians Of The Galaxy movie is based off of a Marvel Comics series that I thought that this might be something good. I will admit I’m like a lot of people that probably never knew of the Guardians Of The Galaxy until I saw this movie. Anyone else? Yeah, I’m sure there are a bunch of you guilty of it too. Guardians Of The Galaxy has probably been one of Marvel Comics’ least known comic heroes or hero ensembles. Actually the Guardians we know of are not the original Guardians. The first Guardians came out in 1969 and consisted of a different set of Guardians including one named Captain Marvel. Then came the 2008 ensemble of Guardians that consisted of some of the original characters but added in others like Groot, Rocket, Star Lord and Gamora but the total number of Guardians is in the dozens.

This also makes for an additional point for the challenge it had. Marvel and the producers had to work with creating a hit movie about a superhero ensemble that most of the general public are not very familiar with. It’s definitely more challenging as doing such a movie with a more celebrated superhero like Superman or Captain America. The example of John Carter demonstrates the challenge; Disney hoped to introduce the world to John in a big way but it didn’t work. Here it’s Marvel’s challenge to introduce the Guardians to the world and no doubt it would be a huge cost risk: $170 million to be exact. It paid off as it was the #1 movie for a total of five weekends. Its total box office is $313.7 million in North America and $632 million worldwide which is a modest number for a movie of that much success. Nevertheless I’ll save it for when I give my upcoming movie year forecast. The movie’s success also has paved the way for an upcoming sequel in 2017. The question is will they stick to the original five Guardians or will they add some additional Guardians in?

The first person who deserves acclaim for the success is director James Gunn. He hasn’t had too huge of a resume as far as directors go. Actually he has a major blemish as he is one of the many directors with the atrocity Movie 43. However this is his breakthrough and should make a good name for him in the future. Possibly even a director of the sequel. Additional kudos to Nicole Perlman who co-wrote the script with Gunn. The collaboration paid off in giving a story full of action and humor and being what a script for a superhero movie should be.

Chris Pratt was entertaining as Peter Quill. He does a good job of balancing the role of a superhero with adding comedy plus he doesn’t make dealing with his late mother too seriously dramatic. Zoe Saldana seems to be the actress made for sci-fi. First Avatar, then Star Trek and now this. Nevertheless I can’t think of a better choice as she nails it again here. Dave Bautista also did a good job. And it’s good to see since I don’t normally think wrestlers make good movie stars as seen by past wrestlers. Bradley Cooper added great character to the voice of Rocket and Vin Diesel was good as Groot. Actually some of his better acting as of late. Other highlights include the visual effects of the movie which are probably some of the best of the year. Another plus is the inclusion of 70’s music. At first you’d think it was cornball. However it becomes more evident why it’s incorporated as it’s this music that connects Peter to his mother. It also adds to the humor too.

Guardians Of The Galaxy is not just another good movie from the Marvel Comics team but a commercial achievement too in making household names of their lesser-known comic book characters. Good job.

Movie Review: Boyhood

21 September 20142 January 2016Jon The Blogcentric1 Comment

Boyhood is a movie of the growing years of Mason Evans Jr. (played by Ellar Coltrane) shot over a period of twelve years. — *Boyhood* is a movie of the growing years of Mason Evans Jr. (played by Ellar Coltrane) and was shot over a period of twelve years.

I know there have been a lot of people who liked my World Cup blogs but there are still some who feel like saying: “Jon, when’s your next movie review?” For those wondering about that, yes I have been watching movies over the summer and I have a few reviews to share. To start with, I’ll do Boyhood: a good choice for those who want something different.

The movie starts with six year-old Mason Evans Jr., a boy growing up in a small Texas town who’s more interested in nature and collecting arrowheads than playing football. He lives with his slightly older sister Samantha, single mother Olivia and her boyfriend. Things are not the best as Mason has to share a bedroom with his sister and that causes typical brother-sister issues. Then it changes one day after an argument with Olivia and her boyfriend which she claims she has no free time. She moves to Houston with the children. This causes concern for mason wondering if he’ll ever see his father again.

Life in Houston starts to work out fine for Mason and the family. Olivia is able to attend classes at the University of Houston while Mason and Samantha attend school. They’re able to meet up with their father Mason Sr. but it’s not so frequent. Even as Mason Sr. drops the kids off, friction between him and Olivia come back. In the meantime, Olivia meets up with Professor Bill Welbrock. He appears to be a good man with a head on his shoulders and even takes a liking to Mason, willing to introduce him to his own son Randy who’s a similar like. The two marry and his children Mindy and Randy move in together. The family appears close knit as the stepsiblings have fun together and Bill appears to be the ideal husband. However things turn for the worse as Bill develops a drinking problem he first tries to keep secret only to have it exposed as he becomes abusive to Olivia and the children, even forcing Mason Jr. to get his head shaved. Olivia immediately leaves the household taking Mason and Sam with her.

The three find a new life in a town close to Austin. Olivia becomes a psychology teacher and falls in love with one of her students Jim who’s a former Afghanistan War veteran whom she eventually marries. Mason Sr. has married and has become a father to a newborn. In the meantime, Samantha and Mason Jr begin social interaction of their own as they make friend and start dating. However Mason’s drinking and earrings have gotten on the nerve of a visibly drunken Jim. Not surprisingly Olivia divorces him.

In the meantime Mason has a girlfriend named Sheena, works part-time at a seafood restaurant and has developed a passion for photography. His work in taking pictures and developing in the darkroom inspires him to be an artistic photographer. However it doesn’t sit well with his teacher because he knows how competitive of a field photography is and how gimmicks are easier moneymakers than art. The teacher then makes Mason photographer for the football team.

Grade 12 is a life changing year for Mason Jr. Sam has moved onto college but she does allow Mason and Sheena to ‘visit.’ Sheena soon breaks up with Mason for a boy on the high school lacrosse team. Mason also wins second prize in a photography contest and receives scholarship money. His graduation is celebrated with family and others close in his life like his teacher and his boss at the restaurant. Going to college is the next chapter in Mason’s life. However it’s not without heartache as his mother finds it hard both her children have moved out and wonders of her own life. The film ends with Mason attending college, becoming friends with his roommate and being introduced to his roommate’s girlfriend’s best friend who shares a lot of common interests and common dreams with Mason.

Now this is something. Director Richard Linklater tells a story of Mason Jr. over the years and the people around him. He uses all the same actors, no replacements. This was very chancy because a lot can change over a period of twelve years. It’s possible Ellar could have gotten tired of acting and wanted nothing to do with it anymore within that time. It’s even possible one of the actors in one of the main roles could have died. Any one of them. But it worked. And it wasn’t just simply the technical bits. It was also a story about a boy whose life over the years catches our intrigue. We’re astonished to see Mason Jr. (or should I say Ellar?) grow over a twelve year span. We also see the lives of his mother, father and Sam pave their way too. All those who were part of the film and its ‘aging process’ contributed significantly. Also as it progresses over the time, Linklater doesn’t leave anything out as far as aging goes. He doesn’t get the adult actors to hide their facial aging. He doesn’t replace the child actors if any one of them go through the ‘awkward stage’ or get braces. He keeps it all as is. That’s another quality.

The thing is the film doesn’t really tell the typical story that has a beginning, middle and end. Rather it tries to paint a portrait of Mason Jr. growing up over the years and of the boy he was and would grow up to be. It’s not too thick on a plot but rather lets time unravel itself and tell the story as it goes along. Almost like childhood through Mason Jr’s eyes. It’s common with Richard Linklater’s movies that they’re not too heavy on the plot and give more of an atmosphere. Another thing this film can do is remind audience members of their own childhood growing up. It may tell a story of a boy who’s not into sports and more of a dreamer but I’m sure there are some parts of Mason’s childhood that will remind them of their own.

Another additional element that adds to the film are the surrounding scenes that add to the atmosphere. Linklater has done that in past films where he would show elements in the film that would actually add to it. We see it here too with Sam’s like of popular culture from Britney Spears to High School Musical to Lady Gaga. We see it in the computer technology as the cast go from Apple computers with big box screens to iPhones. We see it in Mason Jr. growing up in highly conservative Texas and the values the state tries to instill with the people and through the schools. We also see it in how it with Mason Sr. being a liberal Democrat in a state that has a lot of staunch conservatives. We also see it with scenes with other artistically-minded people in the film. It all adds to it.

This film also adds to a common theme of Richard Linklater’s movies. Linklater has never been one to dwell into the typical Hollywood fanfare. He’s always been one to do his movies his way. His movies have featured people pursue their passion and even dream out loud. He often focuses on the visionaries and the inspired ones and he presents them as the ones to be admired. I think that’s why he has such a following with Generation X. We can see that in Mason Jr. He falls in love with photography and wants it to be his life passion. The problem is those around him don’t think highly of his choice. The teachers question it and whether it’s a career choice that will allow for a decent living. His father wonders why he doesn’t pursue something that ‘wins chicks.’ His girlfriend drops him for a jock because it doesn’t make him look cool enough. And his friends razz him about it. But it’s his passion. I think that’s what Linklater is showing. About how passion is what matters. Especially for a boy like Mason.

Without a doubt, this is an accomplishment from Linklater. It was a unique idea from him that was creative but risky and it paid off very well. However this is also an accomplishment from actor Ellar Coltrane. It was not an easy job to play the same role over twelve years of filming. Nevertheless he did an excellent job in the role. It wasn’t so much a role filled with emotional range or drama but rather a role that required the actor to grow along with the role and have the personality of the dreamer Linklater intended to have as the central protagonist. Much of it was natural personality but a lot of it was maturity over age. And Ellar did it. Very excellent.

Patricia Arquette was also very good as the mother almost to the point it appeared she stole the movie. The movie was also about the mother over the years improving her life, raising her two children and falling into two marriages that appeared right at the time but would soon make a turn for the worse. Her struggles added to the story not just to add to Mason Jr’s story but to also mix it in as her own story too. Ethan Hawke was also good as the father who makes the annual visit. He too shows maturity over the years but his overall role was not as challenging as his past roles. Lorelei Linklater was also very good. She may have been cast as Sam simply because she’s Richard Linklater’s daughter–much the same way Ethan was cast because of working in his Before Sunrise series– but she wasn’t just simply there. She was given a role too that involved her to grow along with Ellar and also portray Sam as this sister who was liked pop culture, had her own individual style, had ambitions of her own and was a typical older sister in both the fun times and the bad times with Mason.

One thing to note as well. It has been noticed in the last few years the lack of buzz alternative or independent cinema has had over the years. There hasn’t as big of a phenomenon from Sundance or any other film festival promoting independent film in the last while. I don’t know if Boyhood would qualify as a phenomenon but it is one film that has gotten bigger notice over time and has grown with the buzz. It currently has made $22 million in the US and $37 million worldwide. It has also received a lot of critical admiration and a lot of praise for its uniqueness. Definitely a big boost for independent cinema this year.

Boyhood is one of those summer movies one who wants to get off the beaten path of your typical summer movie fanfare would want to see. It’s definitely worth it.

World Cup 2014: Now That It’s All Over

27 July 20142 January 2016Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

Okay, the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil ended two weeks ago. After 64 matches over a total of 32 days, the winner of this year’s Cup has been determined and crowned. Meanwhile there were a ton of surprises, delights, disappointments and shocks along the way. With it over, the 32 teams had their experience for another tournament with Germany coming out as the winner.

The German players are of course celebrating with the whole country. All the players however are now taking a break from their international teams and are mostly focusing on the upcoming club play. But the crazy thing about the end of the World Cup is the reminder that the next one is four years away. And the focus shouldn’t begin the year before the World Cup begins but as soon as international team play resumes again, like as early as this September.

Anyways here are my cheers, disappointments and neutrals for this year’s World Cup teams. Also I may offer some unprofessional advise of my own for them for World Cup 2018:

CHEERS:

Germany- Germany did it! After 24 years, they found themselves back on top with their fourth World Cup. Germany owes its success to a restructuring of its program following their disappointing Group Stage exit during Euro 2000 with innovative focusing on their youth system. It has obviously paid off, and with a team full of young players. Nine of which including five-time goal scorer Thomas Muller were under the age of 25. Germany has an additional 12 players under 25 that have been called up to represent Germany internationally in the past twelve months. So there’s no doubt that Germany has a future in football.

This comes especially handy as World Cup captain Philip Lahm has announced his retirement from international play and 36 year-old scoring sensation Miroslav Klose has left a big question mark for World Cup 2018. Another recent question mark is coach Joachim Loew announcing his plan to step down as head coach of Germany after Euro 2016. Whatever the situation, it’s going to take the same team unity that gave Germany its success here in Brazil. Yes, they have the Cup now and they should celebrate but the celebrating will have to stop soon and they will have to get their team focus back. Let’s not forget rival countries could be copying Germany’s success method soon to give themselves their own success. Four years may come sooner than you think.

Argentina- Most teams believe you should only truly be happy if you win the World Cup. Argentina may have won it twice before but they should also be happy as this is only their fifth time ever in a World Cup final. The disappointment of not winning the Cup will bite for a while but Argentina and all thirty other teams that didn’t win the Cup will have to focus again. Coach Alejandro Sabella announced the day before the World Cup final he would step down as coach of Argentina. Nothing whether it be of Sabella’s resignation or a successor signed on has been confirmed as of yet. A successor will have to be found in time before international play resumes, with a September 3rd friendly rematch of the World Cup final in Dusseldorf.

The line-up will also be in question. The youngest player of Argentina’s World Cup roster, Marcus Rojo, was 24. Sure veterans like Gonzalo Higuain, Lionel Messi, Sergio Romero and Angel di Maria look like they may be strong enough to play for World Cup 2018 at ages 30-31 but Argentina will have to look to its younger talent for its future and especially pay close attention to their national age-group teams for potential rising stars if they want to win in Russia.

Netherlands- They didn’t make it to the final this time around. Nevertheless this is a big improvement from a team that in recent World Cups have become to be known as the Dirty Dutch. Back in 2006, their Round of 16 match against Portugal resulted in the most carded game in World Cup history with sixteen yellow and four red cars between the two teams. Then in 2010, the Dutch again made World Cup infamy by helping make the final between Spain to be the most carded World Cup final ever with fourteen yellow cards and one red. Even I considered it the ugliest World Cup final I’ve ever seen. This year, the Dutch did amass eleven yellow cards in total but no red. Also none of their matches resulted in more than six cardings. Quite the difference.

This World Cup they not only had to focus on their play behavior but also on their world ranking. We should remember the Netherlands had a big disappointment in Euro 2012 with losing all their Group Stage games. They did the right thing in hiring Louis van Gaal. However van Gall has since resigned and has brought back Guus Huddink who led them to the 1998 semifinals. We’ll see how that works out in the future.

Colombia- Here in 2014, Colombia finally had its breakthrough with its best ever performance, breaking through to the quarterfinals for the first time. Extra icing on the cake was James Rodriguez being the only player at the Cup to score six goals. Excellent since the team is full of young talent including six players born in the 1990’s. Colombia has a lot of potential to go further in the future but it’s going to take the right guidance and the right team chemistry in the future. However coach Jose Pekermans should now congratulate himself for a job well-done and a Colombian comeback well overdue.

Costa Rica- Hands down Costa Rica was the Cinderella team of the tournament. The World Cup ‘minnows’ that went further than anyone expected. Their Cinderella success however should not be dismissed as luck. They were in the toughest of the eight groups being paired up against past World Cup winners like Uruguay, Italy and England and they came out on top without a loss and leaving the others wondering what went wrong. They followed it up with a Round of 16 win against Greece on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw and even bringing the Netherlands to a scoreless draw in their first-ever quarterfinals before losing on penalty kicks. So a team from a small country in Central America is deserving of nothing short of respect, especially for proving itself a tough adversary to some of the biggest powers in football. The future looks very good since six of the players are under 25. However recent news is that Jorge Pinto has stepped down as head coach. We have yet to see if Costa Rica can take it as far, if not further, with a new coach. Only time will tell.

Belgium- This World Cup is the comeback of Belgium for their first World Cup appearance since 2002 and their best World Cup finish since 1986. Signing on Marc Wilmots, who played for Belgium in three World Cups, as coach in 2012 was the best thing for the team as it helped propel the team to achieve World Cup qualification in 2013 in convincing fashion and go straight wins at the World Cup before falling 0-1 to Argentina in the quarterfinals. There’s no doubt that Wilmots will be kept as coach; he’s actually assigned to stay as coach until 2018. The team also shows promise of continued success as seven members of the World Cup roster are under 25. These next four years will define how further Belgium can take their new-found success. Anything can happen in the next four years but for now, the Red Devils are back!

Chile- Not too many people would consider going as far as the Round of 16 worthy of a ‘cheer’ but Chile deserve it. It’s not just advancing past the Group Stage for the fourth time in their ninth World Cup appearance but also bringing Brazil to a 1-1 draw in the Round of 16 before succumbing to a penalty shoot out. The simple draw showed that Chile is a team competent enough to expose Brazil’s weak spots on a World stage. Chile just keeps on getting better and better. However you can bet they not only want to qualify for the next World Cup but hopefully not meet up with Brazil in the knockout stages. It must be annoying having Brazil bring their World Cup trip to an end after happening all four times they’ve advanced. Chile has a bright future and next year they’re hosting the Copa America. Another chance to improve over time.

Algeria- Another ‘cheer’ for a Round of 16 team has to go to Algeria. After three previous World Cup appearances being eliminated in the Group Stage, it took a 4-2 win against South Korea and a 1-1 draw against Russia to help Algeria advance for the first time ever. Even though they lost to eventual World Cup champions Germany 2-1 in extra time, they gave them a great challenge keeping the game scoreless in regulation time. Algeria along with Nigeria made World Cup history by making this the first World Cup where two African teams advanced past the group stage. The team shows promise for the future as eight players are under 25. One thing is that Algeria’s coach Vahid Halilhodzic has stepped down since the World Cup and has been replaced by Frenchman Christian Gourcuff who is very experienced in club coaching but will be a national coach for the first time. Only the next four years will tell.

Goal-Line Technology- There were new technologies introduced at this World Cup. The most notable one being one that was a long-time coming: goal-line technology. This came through popular demand as a goal from England in a Round of 16 match against Germany that was shown on countless replays to be a legitimate goal wasn’t counted. For years, FIFA president Sepp Blatter was against goal-line technology, believing calls should be done by ‘a man, not a machine.’ At last year’s Confederations Cup, goal-line technology was finally introduced. Here at the World Cup was featured the Goal Control system consisting of fourteen high-speed cameras with seven directed to each of the goals and data sent to an image-processing centre to accurately determine if a goal or not. A watch owned by referees only that vibrated if a legit goal was also part of the technology. It proved to work at it was necessary to declare France’s second goal against Honduras. That you Blatter for finally doing something right!

NEUTRALS:

France- You may feel that a country like France that has won the World Cup in the past should do better than the quarterfinals. That may be true but their finish should be respected as well. If you remember World Cup 2010, France was the team that collapsed the biggest as infighting with the players, federation and the head coach led to the team to just fall apart. France has since rebuilt itself hiring Didier Deschamps, captain of France’s World Cup-winning 1998 team, after Euro 2012 and the results have been successful. France was successful in the group stage winning their group, winning their Round of 16 match against Nigeria 2-0 before losing to eventual champions Germany 1-0 in the quarterfinal. A major factor of France’s comeback is not just with Deschamps’ guidance but with its wealth of young talent. Nine players on the World Cup roster were under 25 and Paul Pogba won the FIFA Young Player award and Raphael Varane an additional nominee. Their future looks bright but the next four years will tell the tale.

Mexico- Up to 1986, the only times Mexico ever made it past the group stage what when they hosted. Since 1994, they’ve made it past the group stage every World Cup they’ve been in including this one.Mexico continued to impress in this World Cup by winning against Croatia and Cameroon as well as bringing Brazil to a scoreless draw. Mexico also gave Netherlands a great play in the Round of 16 and could have tied or possibly won in extra time had that controversial dive from Arjen Robben not happened. Mexico is on the right track with coach Miguel Herrera. A relief since they went through a multitude of coaches before sticking with Herrera just before qualifying for the Cup. The team also appears in good shape with a good amount of young players. However it will take consistent play from them to qualify again and possibly have their best World Cup ever in 2018.

United States- It seems like with every World Cup, it’s another chapter for the American national team. With each passing quadrennial, the US is being taken more and more seriously. Hiring former Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann was a huge boost to the team. Even with Landon Donovan being dropped from the 2014 line-up, the US accomplished a lot of feats. Firstly, they became the second consecutive American team to advance past the group stage. Second there’s Clint Dempsey scoring in the first 30 seconds against Ghana: the fasted goal of the 2014 World Cup and the fifth-fastest World Cup goal ever. Third there’s goalkeeper Tim Howard who made sixteen saves against Belgium, the most ever in a recorded World Cup game. Fourth there’s 19 year-old Julian Green whose goal against Belgium made him the youngest goal-scorer at the 2014 World Cup.

The U.S. shows potential for World Cup 2018. Seven members of this World Cup’s team are under 25 and Klinsmann plans on staying on as coach. However with the World Cup being held in Russia, they have to overcome their ‘Europe Curse.’ It’s a fact that the U.S. has never won a World Cup game held in Europe. It’s very possible that the curse can be broken as they’ve become a lot more competent since Germany in 2006. Russia will be another proving point for the Americans.

Nigeria- None of the African countries here got further than the Round of 16. Nigeria deserves some acclaim. Firstly because their trip to the Round of 16 made them the first African team to achieve that in a total of three World Cups. Secondly for playing with dignity for their country while the Nigerian Football Federation was under FIFA investigation as many top members are to be prosecuted in Nigeria’s high court which would mean Nigeria’s national teams could be banned from playing. Thirdly for playing in a Round of 16 match against France where the American referee appeared to show favoritism to France possibly resulting in their win 2-0. The ban has been lifted a few days ago and the federation’s membership has not been determined. However this will be questionable how Nigeria’s teams will do in the near future. Hopefully a controversy like this should not appear during international play or even World Cup qualifying as controversies in the past have led to teams being banned from upcoming World Cups.

Bosnia-Hercegovina- Bosnia may have expired in the group stage but they actually have nothing to apologize for. This was their first ever World Cup. Sure they did well in qualifying for their World Cup berth but you should remember Bosnia is a very young team. They’re a team that had to recover from a brutal war that ended in 1995. Bosnia is already very experienced in playing against European teams but they lack experience playing against teams from other continents. In fact they’ve only ever played against 22 non-European teams. Bosnia is a team that will grow in knowledge and experience over time. The World Cup was an excellent learning experience for them and they can only get better over time. Also it’s easy to feel for Bosnia after the disallowed goal by Dzeko which could have been a draw and allowed Bosnia to advance past the group stage. I’m confident they will have their time.

Ecuador- It may not be easy being the only South American team that didn’t advance past the group stage and sure, Ecuador did do it in 2006. Nevertheless Ecuador did deliver a performance worth admiration. Firstly for competing in the honor and memory of their teammate Christian ‘Chucho’ Benitez. Secondly for delivering a great effort that included winning against Honduras, bringing France to a scoreless draw and scoring first during their loss to Switzerland. It’s not fair to call Ecuador’s performance in 2014 as the ‘Enner Valencia show,’ despite how great he was. The team itself did an excellent job as a whole. Nevertheless the national team is awaiting a new coach in preparation for the next World Cup and for next year’s Copa America.

Croatia- Ever since Croatia finished third at the 1998 World Cup, they’ve been struggling since to prove they’re no World Cup ‘minnows.’ 2014 was another continuation of the struggle as they only won one game: against Cameroon 4-0. The other games to Brazil and Mexico were both 3-1 losses. However this is the big improvement since 2006 back when they had a single draw and two losses. Croatia will be keeping coach Niko Kovac and the team possesses a lot of good young talent. Also Croatia is familiar on the European circuit but has only played sixteen teams from other continents. Croatia should get better over time.

Brazil: As Host Country- There was huge debate whether Brazil was doing a good job as host country. Construction of venues and infrastructure were behind schedule and of huge concern to FIFA. The expense of $14 billion was also a huge concern and much of the heat was placed on President Dilma Rousseff. However when the World Cup started, it was the party it was hoped to be. Games were very well-attended if not filled to capacity. The FIFA Fan Fests set up in cities’ locations just outside host venues drew huge crowds. Even the final at the Maracana was well-attended despite Brazil not qualifying. The Brazilian tourism authority reported that the Cup generated $15 billion in incoming tourism money which will be used to create 1,000,000 additional jobs.

DISAPPOINTMENTS:

Brazil: As Host Team- I am not going to go into the number of ignominious records Brazil set during their last two games of the World Cup. Enough is enough. We should remember last World Cup’s hosts South Africa failed to advance past the Group Stage. And Germany had a substandard team when it hosted the World Cup back in 2006 but was able to go as far as the semifinals.

Brazil has always had successes throughout the decades. They have also had their ruts over the years but would find a way to shine through over time. To put it subtly, the biggest thing Brazil’s losses proved is that it needs to change its ways to get back on top. This will require not only an improvement of the national team, whether it being hiring new members or improving members kept on, but also of the whole Brazilian Football system. It’s not to say it can’t be done. Back in the 70’s and 80’s, Brazil had to deal with the fact their best players were offered big money to play for European clubs and that would cause problems in the team unity. Brazil was able to overcome it in the 90’s and early 2000’s. Now it’s dealing with the new situation of young talents taken and trained by those clubs at an early age: an increasingly common and increasingly global practice over the years. This is a new challenge to the Brazilian team. I’m sure there are more challenges ahead like newer training methods and newer talent spotting. I’m confident Brazil will be back on top but it will have to take the right moves to make it happen.

Spain- If you thought Brazil’s big loss was a shocker, how about Spain’s ouster from the Group Stage. This comes after an impressively stellar record of wins and losses over the four-year period between the two World Cups. Even coach Vicente del Bosque couldn’t answer how a team that consistent can suddenly choke at the World Cup. Whatever the situation, del Bosque has not been dropped as coach. Most of the team from the World Cup are still members of the national team. The team however will have a lot of proving to do in the wake of their debacle. The friendlies start again in September and Euro qualifying will start around that same time. Competing as world champion is one thing but competing after such a humiliation is another. Only time will tell if Spain will come back.

Uruguay- The disappointment shouldn’t come simply because of the insane actions of one man. The disappointment should come upon the struggle to play after. Uruguay is not just Luis Suarez. It’s also Diego Forlan, Diego Lugano and Edinson Cavani. In the meantime, we’ll see what happens to ‘Chewy Louie’ and his ban. Will his ban hurt him as much as many experts predict? We’ll also see how well the national team does as a whole. Oscar Tabarez is going to be staying on as coach. In the meantime, it’s still great to see a comeback form one of the classic greats.

Cameroon- I usually would have at least one good thing to say about every team at the World Cup, even the worst, but not in the case of Cameroon. It finished last amongst the 32 countries and for good reason. It’s not just simply because they’ve really headed downhill since their quarterfinal finish in 1990 but they did it here in very violent fashion. The most noticeable was during their 4-0 loss to Croatia. There was Alex Song elbowing Croatian Mario Mandzukic in the back and getting a red card for it. There was also the infighting of Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Benjamin Moukandjo. In the end, they lost all three of their games and their only goal came in their last match against Brazil. No doubt if Cameroon want to get their winning form back, they should definitely improve and restructure their team. However there has not yet been any word of whether coach Volker Finke will be kept or dropped. Only time will tell.

Italy- It was a shock at first when Italy, the defending Cup champions, failed to win a game and advance past the Group Stage. It was a shock again this time around when Italy again failed to advance. And this comes two years after Italy made the finals at Euro 2012 and just a year after finishing third at the Confederations Cup. It’s not to say Italy is now fading in terms of their greatness. Mario Balotelli has become the latest new star of the Azzuri. And there are seven total players under 25 on the national team. It’s just a matter of restructuring the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) so that they can bring back Italy’s winning ways. Right now they have to find a new coach as Cesare Prandelli has resigned since the World Cup.

England- It’s interesting Group D was the ‘Group Of Death’ with three powerhouse teams and one ‘minnow’ who surprised them all. However it came as a shock that of all the countries, it was England that would succumb to the pressure biggest. Here in Brazil, England had what could be rightfully called their worst-ever World Cup performance. No question that the English team will have to improve over the years. One surprise is that Roy Hodgson has been kept on as coach. It’s interesting that while some countries that performed poorly have either dropped their coach or had them resign, there are countries like England and Spain that are keeping theirs.

Also there’s another possible factor to England’s poor performance this time around. A friend of mine mentioned that England had a team with a lot of young inexperienced players. That was a good point since England had eight players in their lineup born in the 1990’s and even two under the age of 20. It’s a wonder if they formed their 2014 team with World Cup 2018 in mind. Whatever the situation, the federations and coaches should know that any team formed for any World Cup is expected to deliver during that World Cup and not simply learn for the sake of the next.

Portugal- If any country has had a bigger-than-ever success run in this new century, it’s Portugal. Before the 21st century, it only qualified for the 1966 and 1986 World Cups. Portugal has since qualified for all four World Cups in this century including finishing fourth in 2006. However Portugal found itself back in 2014 where it started in 2002: conking out in the Group Stage. Sure enough it was thanks to a 4-0 blitzkrieg from Germany. What it is about Portuguese-speaking teams getting a blitzkrieg from Germany this year? Whatever the situation, it was enough for Portugal to miss out on the second Group G berth for the knockout round to the U.S. upon goal differentials. However the big disappointments were not just the play but also the violent conduct of Pepe against Germany’s Thomas Muller and the egotism of Cristiano Ronaldo. Even Ronaldo’s game-winning goal against Ghana came too much too late.

The future of Portugal’s team comes in question as Paulo Bento will be kept on as coach. Also only three players on the World Cup team were under 25. That won’t be good as their star player Cristiano Ronaldo will be 33 come the next World Cup. Portugal has to work on its future if it wants to continue its winning ways.

Russia- You’d figure that after being dropped by England in 2010, Fabio Capello would have it easier coaching Russia to World Cup success, right? Actually not so as Russia not only failed to advanced past the Group Stage but failed to win a game. That was the first time as the Russian Federation that they failed to do so. This is especially frustrating after the critical final game against Algeria who advanced. Russia had to deal with spectators carrying laser pointers which are not allowed at FIFA games. Whatever the situation, Russia really have to train well for 2018 as they will host the next World Cup. Capello has not been dropped as of yet so it may be possible Russia will continue with him. However they will have to make things work. Already Russia had to deal with two Dutch coaches in the six years before hiring Capello. They might even have to rethink the hiring of foreign coaches as Russia have been criticized about the team being moulded ‘Italian style’ not just with Capello but two assistant coaches also from Italy. They also have to focus on their young talent too. Already their World Cup team had seven players under 25. Whatever happens, the world will be watching in 2018.

The Asian Teams- It’s not just that none of the Asian teams were able to make it past the group stage.This World Cup is the first since 1990 where not a single team represented under the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) were able to win a single game.Even Australia, which transferred to Asia’s confederation after being ruled too big for the Oceania Football Confederation, lost all their games. This is not just a case where all four teams need changes in their nation’s federation but the AFC needs revamping too in order to make the Asian countries a challenger on the World football scene again.

Brazil’s Construction Crews- I’m glad I’m writing this after talking to a Brazilian yesterday. The laxed construction works of Brazil is common place mostly because of corrupting and bribery which cause buildings to finish later than they should and also most triple their originally-estimated expense. Here Brazil’s stadiums took up a significant chuck of the $14 billion price tag. That can be blamed for it. Also to blame can be FIFA for placing such demands on Brazil. However Brazil itself can be blamed for the laxed time it took to finish the stadiums. Some were only completed within hours of their first World Cup contest. And the problems didn’t even stop there. There came with the infrastructure around it that was supposed to help not only the stadiums but the cities to make things easier in the future. That proved the opposite for Belo Horizonte as a piece of freeway collapsed just two days before the Mineirazo. Two people were killed and 23 others were injured. And now there’s the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio coming up and construction crews are so behind–IOC representatives are claiming Rio facilities are only 10% completed– the IOC is thinking of moving the Games to another city if preparations don’t improve. Did Brazil’s presidents know what they were in for when they had so many events to host from 2013 to 2016? All I can say is I hope all this construction doesn’t end up making white elephants out of the finished products or else Dilma will have a lot of explaining to do.

Well the next World Cup is four years away. No doubt the 32 teams will be focused on qualifying and hopefully winning the Cup. Teams that did not qualify also have goals and plans of their own. In the meantime, I wish all national football teams best of luck in qualifying and hopefully winning.

My Top 10 Movies of 2013

21 July 2014Jon The Blogcentric2 Comments

I’m glad I waited until now to do my Top 10 list. Being at a house with access to Netflix allows me to see some I missed back when they were out. For early reference, here are my past lists: from 2002-2010, 2011 and 2012. Now here’s my list of the Top 10 Films of 2013 and five honorable mention picks:

MY TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2013

Nebraska
Dallas Buyers Club
Twelve Years A Slave
Gravity
The Great Beauty
Captain Phillips
Blue Jasmine
Her
The Wolf Of Wall Street
Frozen

Honorable Mention:

Blue Is The Warmest Color
Philomena
Inside Llewyn Davis
American Hustle
Before Midnight

Documentary Review – Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon

20 July 2014Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

DISCLAIMER: I admit this review is one month old since I saw it back in June. However as you noticed, I’ve been very active in World Cup blogging and I’ve been taking a break from movie reviewing. I’m back to reviewing movies but there’s still one or tow World Cup blogs yet to come.

Entertainment mogul/promoter Shep Gordon (left) is the subject of Mike Myers' documentarian debut Supermensch: The Legend Of Shep Gordon. — Entertainment mogul/promoter Shep Gordon (left) is the subject of Mike Myers’ documentarian debut *Supermensch: The Legend Of Shep Gordon*.

Who is Shep Gordon? Even I didn’t know until I saw the documentary. Nevertheless I decided to give Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon a try after someone gave me passes. Wikipedia lists Shep as a talent manager, Hollywood film agent and producer. The film however presents a more closer look at what he’s done and the life he’s had.

Shep may have a degree in Sociology from back in 1968 but as far as talent and entertainment go, he was the right person at the right time. He was around with some of the biggest names of the late 1960’s. However it was his work as a promoter with Alice Cooper that things really got off the ground. The ‘chicken incident’ of 1969 was what kicked Alice’s fame off but it was Shep who brought the chicken there. Did he know Alice would throw it off?

The thing is Shep always had a way of picking them. His next promotion was Anne Murray once Alice started an alcohol problem. It was unusual for Shep to go from promoting a shock rocker to an innocent Canadian country girl but she worked out too. He also knew of next waves on music as he helped promote Blondie into the limelight. He also helped promote soul singer Luther Vandross to R&B success and even helped him cross over to pop successfully.Interesting how he was able to promote so many musicians from so many genres to stardom.

Another aspect of Shep’s success was not just about his success in music. He also had a hand in working on some of the more critically renowned films. He helped produce The Duellists which was director Ridley Scott’s first feature length film and that catapulted Scott’s directing career that included three Best Director Oscar nominations. Another film he helped produce, the Brazilian-American production Kiss Of The Spider Woman, helped William Hurt win the Oscar for Best Actor and was nominated for Oscars in three more categories. Gordon also created Alive Productions, the first independent film production company in the U.S. He’s also helped on some popcorn movies too like Wayne’s World which is where Mike Myers who directs this documentary first met Shep. In addition to movies and music, he also helped catapult the wave of cooking celebrities in the past couple of decades including Emeril Lagasse with his company Alive Culinary Resources. It seemed like he not only knew how to pick winners but how to make them winners. He could rank up there with the likes of Saul Zaentz or David Geffen.

The interesting thing of this documentary of Shep is that it’s not all about entertainment. It’s also personal too, especially coming from a man who saw a lot of people either damage themselves over success or even destroy themselves. Shep also was known for being quite the debaucherous one. In fact he had a lot of involvement with a lot of showbiz debauchery back in the 1960’s and 1970’s, back when debauchery was possibly the most shameless. However Shep does have a spiritual side. Born Jewish, he devoted himself to Buddhism in the past few decades and has even been a private guest of the Dalai Lama. Another aspect the documentary showcases is that despite his hand in debauchery, and boy was it legendary to those who knew him, he has had a deep desire to be a family man and father a child of his own. He shows that he has it in him to be a father when a female he worked with died young and willingly fathered her children to adulthood. His desire to be a father also had a lot to do with why his two marriages didn’t last long: conflicting feelings with the wife. The film ends with him speaking his desire to be a father of his own.

One thing about this documentary is that it portrays many sides to Shep. One minute he’s this typical brutal conniving Hollywood bigwig doing whatever it takes to get his acts famous. Another minute, he’s a family man to others. Another minute, he’s out starting the celebrity chef craze. Another minute, he’s being spiritual. It shows Shep’s complexity in a unique manner. We see that and we hear it from those who’ve worked with him and with those whom have had him as part of their life.

Another thing about this documentary is that it does show a lot of sides to Shep but it does not piece the puzzle together or weave together in a straight manner. There are times when I felt the documentary bounced around from Shep being a showbiz exec to being this family man to focusing on his desire to have a child. It didn’t really string together to well and it felt like it shift topics too often. Even seeing at the end how Shep talks about wanting to be a father one day makes me wonder what the whole point of the documentary is. Like what’s the main point? Is it about Shep? About his entertainment pursuits? Or his desire to have a family? It was either too much for a biographical documentary or it was unevenly done. I know this is Myers’ first documentary but he could have been done more organized.

I also confess that I first thought this documentary was more of a mockumentary along the likes of This Is Spinal Tap. There were times I questioned: “Was Shep the one behind the whole Alice Cooper chicken incident?” or “Did Shep really discover them or promote them?”I especially questioned Anne Murray because I thought she was Bruce Allen’s promotion. Later on I learned more so I’m more comfortable with believing what I saw.

Supermensch is an interesting and intriguing documentary about the life, times, successes and even the heart of Shep Gordon. However it was not unevenly organized and didn’t make sense to what the whole point of the documentary was about. Sure it had lots of points, but what was the whole point?