Predrag This film was a rather dark portrayal of young run always that fall into drugs and crime. The film was edgy, but so very well acted that it deserves a viewing by those that appreciate good character portrayal. Vincent Kartheiser debuted in his first film as an adult (although playing a 16 year old), showing that he truly has talent and can dig deep for such a complex character in this part. James Woods was part of the production team of the film and while this is not a movie that I expect did well at the box office, it certainly is another one of Wood's demonstrations of excellent character acting.All the actors did the movie for scale and from what I understand Woods even ended up funding most of the movie when the production ran out of money at one point. Lots of good black humor, and Woods is always great in everything, but best when cast in really nasty roles like this, which was probably written for him. As usual in this type of part, he's completely disgusting, but still somehow likable (at least for the first 2/3 of this movie), and always hilarious. Some of the clothes that Griffith and Wagner wear are to die for (though they look more late 60's than 70's if you wanna get picky, but who cares?) And of course the soundtrack is amazing and sets the mood in every aspect.Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

futures-1 Caveat: Graphic violence and lots of vulgar language in this one, in case you're the delicate type. Just as violent as "Pulp Fiction", this one is not full of dark wit and funky style. It is an intense look at doomed people existing in a world of drugs, crime, no vision beyond their noses, and little self-restraint. It's similar to "Kalifornia". James Woods, Vincent Kartheiser, and Natasha Gregson Wagner are great, and Melanie Griffith is okay. A young couple, junkies and petty thieves, are taken under the smelly wing of an older couple, who have decided to "teach" (use) them in the ways of "upper level" crime. The first five minutes tells you what you need to know about the kids. Now it's only a matter of time...

MisterWhiplash Larry Clark's follow-up to Kids combines the themes of a crime gone awry and the would-be father/son bonding with a style that is unquestionably "indie". Would it be too much to ponder over hand-held even when not entirely necessary? It's not an extreme annoyance, and it does serve some purposes of tense vibes when James Woods chides out his mentee or during one of the said gone-bad crime scenes. It's only when it doesn't serve a purpose that really suits the material that you want Clark and his DP to get back to the steady-cam and tracking shots- which he does do from time to time- as opposed to say, for example, the overlong jittery shots of Bobbie (Kartheiser) running through a field. In fact if there is any one glaring flaw on Another Day in Paraidse it's not knowing how to quite get a scene completely together properly, on the technical fronts. One of the scenes that should be the most powerful emotionally, involving the death of one of the principle characters, is shot and edited shabbily, as if an anything goes approach will be just fine, as a good but inappropriate blues song plays over the scene and then into the next small scene until it finishes. Scorsese Clark is definitely not when it comes to timing with the soundtrack.On the other hand, it is what Clark does get right as a director that does make this violent and foul-mouthed effort a look some ten years later. The blues songs, for example, are mostly very good and placed in nicely in some scenes, specifically towards the beginning as Bobbie runs away from a botched robbery and during a hot and heavy sex scene (a live performance of "Looking for a Fox" also is 100 times better off of the cover done in Blues Brothers 2000). The casting of Woods, who also served as producer, was a sharp move as well, because it provides him ample time to go for small subtle moments of authority (the "what are you doing" bit in the diner), and really BIG scenes (emphasis on capitals) as he yells and kicks and screams and yells the F bomb every other word. It's not entirely a great performance, but it works for what his character is: a washed up old crook of a drug dealer who looks for scores when he cans but puts on an air of seeming to be in control and smart, which he isn't.It's good to see someone like Griffith in the matriarch (or would-be one) role, and Gregson-Wagner, who maybe is the least effective of the lot of the actors, is still up to the challenge of playing the sort of tag-along of the four. They all go for realism, which works pretty well with all things considered; those being that the script veers into predictability after the first half hour, and the dialog, while about as sharp as can be under the circumstances (Clark is, more often than not, at his best when he has Harmony Korine writing for him), does go into the fold of not being as revelatory as potentially allowable as the characters go further into downward spiral territory. Save for some bits of pretension and a couple of botched techniques, it is a solid film, with one of the more shocking gun fights from the late 90s.

dan_allegre From the name of the movie to the not too ambiguous ending, we're in Hollywood. The premise is pretty familiar if you've ever seen more than 5 movies that are rated 'R'. It's a shoot-em-up (lots of heroin and guns) with the familiar sexy antihero couple roaming around the American southwest playing a high stakes game and dealing with character issues (though in this movie we get a new twist because there are two couples instead of one and one of them is old, so you can watch it with your parents).That said, the cinematography is really easy on the eye and the acting is excellent. James Woods gives a great performance even though he plays the same character he plays in other movies he's been in (casino, once upon a time in America, the onion field). Many of the reviews of this film include some comparison to Lary Clark's other big film, "kids". To me, it's hard to compare these movies because the intentions are so different. Which one you like better depends upon, well, what kind of movies you like (you probably would't like them both equally). I'm more of a 'kids' type of guy.Over all, a pretty decent flick. There's a lot of art and subtlety to the acting and there are some pretty powerful scenes. It could have used to loose some of the stanky Hollywood chiche's (how many brains have you seen get blown out in the movies in your lifetime?), but they can be fun I suppose. Maybe VH1 should have a 'top 100 brains getting blown out scenes' show.