This flick "BLOOM" me away...

"Flick Pick" Of The Week - "The Brothers Bloom" - Written and Directed by Rian Johnson.

I finally caught "The Brothers Bloom" this passed weekend (After missing it in the theaters. Boo-hoo.) and I'll tell you, it is one heckuva fun lil' movie. I'm a big fan of Johnson's first flick (This is only his second.), "Brick", a classic film noir, bet with a high school setting, and I recommend it highly to anyone looking for something truly unique. But this isn't about that. This is about "The Brothers Bloom". And it is a film that thematically and tonally, couldn't be more different from "Brick". But make no mistake. It is every bit as fresh and original as Johnson's knockout debut.


Mark Ruffalo (Always solid.) plays Stephen and Adrien Brody (Always ugly, but just as good here.) plays Bloom (No first name is ever mentioned.), the titular "brothers" of our tale. They have lived their entire lives for the con. Stephen, the older one, is the mastermind of their "games", always inventing the elaborated ruses that the brothers, along with their, mostly silent, Japanese accomplice, Bang Bang ("Babel"'s adorable Rinku Kikuchi.), an explosives expert (She's kind of like the Japanese female Silent Bob. If Silent Bob liked to blow shit up.), use to lure their "marks" or targets into their web.

Growing increasingly tired of the con game, and feeling like his older brother has "written" most of his life foe him, Bloom, who has never had any true emotional attachments or relationships, had decided that he is finally going to live up to his constant threats to leave Stephen and Bang Bang and the con game behind him. And he thinks that he has; retreating to a life of solitude in Montenegro. But of course, it wouldn't be a true con flick if Stephen didn't return to recruit Bloom for one last con.


The mark this time around? A lonely, eccentric billion-heiress named Penelope, played by Rachel Weisz (Ooh la la!!!) who has spent most of her life as a shut in (Due to an incorrect allergy diagnosis!) and like Bloom, longs for something more in her life. Penelope "collects hobbies". Instead of interacting with other people, if she sees someone doing something she deems "interesting", she makes it a point/obsession to learn that particular thing.


When Stephen asks Bloom to help him this one last time, he reluctantly does so, finding himself strangely drawn to the unpredictable Penelope and her many eccentricities. They convince her that they are smugglers, and enamored by the excitement of being "Penelope The Smuggler", recruit her help in retrieving a rare book from a heavily guarded museum in Prague. Up to this point, Johnson has already shown his strength in creating original and engaging characters, and the actors all seem to be having a lot of fun (The cast is rounded out by "Harry Potter's" Robbie Coltrane and the legendary Maximillian Schell ["Black Hole" baby!!!!]). But once the game is afoot and the stakes set, the film really takes off, taking you to unexpected places. And believe me, you'll really want to take this ride with them.

As always, I don't want to say too much. If your interest has at all been piqued, then you'll have to discover the film for yourself.

What I really like about this flick, is that despite it being set in the world of confidence men, Johnson has decided to go against the gritty grain, and for the most part, made this film a sweet lil' comedy. It's "breezy", for lack of a better term. It rarely delves into the darker pits of "con" that other films have dragged us into. Films such as "Confidence" (Also with Rachel Weisz.), Ridley Scott's "Matchstick Men" or the excellent "The Grifters". There are some dark moments in "The Brothers Bloom" to be sure, but for the most part it is light and enjoyable film that'll have you grinning from ear to ear in some spots and holding back tears in others.

Check out the trailer...



At the moment, it's only available for rent. (I got mines at Blockbuster. Not sure if it's on Netflix yet.) According to Amazon, it will released for purchase on January 12, 2010. (I'ma definitely gonna cop one of those shits!!!!)

So, Chex It Out!!!!

And now...

Tales From The Shuffle:


1. "Juicy/New York, New York" - Notorious B.I.G./Frank Sinatra - A offbeat blend served up by DJ Cappel & Smitty on this classic mixtape "Blue Eyes Meet Bed-Stuy". If anything, you gotta check it for the novelty of it all. Biggie was truly the real shit. It's too bad he got blasted. Not only would he still be kickin' ass, but a certain Roc-A-Fella would still be just lickin' his balls instead of playin' "King Of New York".



2. "Vizions" - Wu-Tang Clan - An Inspectah Deck beat!!!! A pretty sick one too!!!! The title of the album sayz it all. When hip-hop didn't suck...



3. "(Only Rasta Know The) Voice Of Jah" - Mikey Dread - This is only a partial version off of Madlib's, "Blunted In The Bomb Shelter", a mixtape featuring 45 classic roots reggae tracks (Including tracks by Gregory Issacs, Cornell Campbell, King Tubby & others.) blended into one phat blunt of a cd. If you like reggae, you could do worse than check out this cool ass album.



4. "In Bloom" - Nirvana - I started listening to Nirvana a lil' later in life (As I was in high school when they were big, and listened mostly to hip-hop and r&b...), but I gotta say that Kurt Cobain guy was on someth... I mean, on to something. Too bad. I guess that's always the way of the rock god though. Right?


5. "Moonchild" - Cibo Matto - This is my favorite track off this phenomenal album. The Japanese duo of Miho Hattori (Also later featured on tracks by Handsome Boy Modeling School, U.N.K.L.E. & Gorillaz) and Yuka Honds, with a lil' help from Sean Lennon crafted a unique album that combines many musical influnences and made something completely their own. I wish they still made records (Although, like I said, Miho Hattori does pop up every once and again.).

Art Gallery: "Fuck Oz". What it says, "Fuck Oz". Nah. Just playin'. This is a lil' darker take on the Oz mythos. I was just effin' around in one o' my big sketchbooks. It was fun. I really like The Scarecrow in this one. But it was also fun tearing lil' ol' Dorothy's dress up a bit. (That sounded a lil' rapist-ee, didn't it?) Oh, well. I hope you likes. But seriously... "Fuck Oz."

B


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