An experiment on not being original

So this week I'm going to try a little experiment and not post any original blogs, instead I will plagiarize other people's blogs. You may ask yourself why I'm doing this, well you see my blog doesn't get any hits/visitors what so ever. I think yesterday I only got 1 hit on my blog and that was probably me checking my blog to see if I had any visitors(yes its a vicious circle). So my experiment is to see if it's my subject matter, my style of writing or is my blog just plain not interesting, so why should people bother visiting it and waste their time here while there are millions of other uninteresting blogs out their to visit. Also another reason I'm doing this is that I just don't have the time to keep on writing my own blogs this week(how do all you people do it?) so this is also a practical matter on my part.

So let the experiment proceed......

Brick

Rialto Entertainment, 2005, rated M, 110 mins

I must admit to being skeptical when I approached this film: how could filmmakers so young make an homage to classic "noir" cinema that are so far removed from today's popular youth culture. I was very quickly transported by the film's sheer ingenuity, intelligence, wit and grace. It's far from being a set of Humphrey Bogart impressions, and, although it is set in an American high school, it is very far from being a typical high school movie as mainstream Hollywood makes them.

This is instead, a true delight, and as many critics have said, a true original. It is inspired by the writing of Dashiell Hammett and by great "noir" cinema - both old and new, like the Coen Brothers' MILLER'S CROSSING and Polanski's CHINATOWN, with which it holds its own ground very strongly.

Written and developed by a team of young filmmakers - led by writer/director Rian Johnson (his first feature) - over a nine-year period, the film was privately financed and was a true labour of love. Every detail rings true and it is very hard to fault the film's style or its intricate plotting.

The story begins when high school student, Brendan Frye, receives a distressed phone call from his ex-girlfriend who subsequently disappears. A loner with a sharp tongue and savage intellect, Brendan becomes consumed by the search for the troubled girl. The search takes him deep into the world of spoilt rich kids, drug dealers and violent sports-jocks. The plot, which is as complex as THE BIG SLEEP, is exhilarating in its unexpected twists and turns, and the action is constantly laced with genuine wit and humour.

The performances too are extraordinary. In the leading role is Joseph Gordon-Levitt, an experienced young actor from both television (3rd ROCK FROM THE SUN) and cinema, winning awards for his performance as the hustler in Gregg Araki's MYSTERIOUS SKIN. Among the supporting players is Emilie de Ravin, an Australian actress from the hit series, LOST. One of the very few adults in the cast is Richard Roundtree as the school's very worried assistant principal.

The film won a special award for "Originality of Vision" at the Sundance Film festival and has received glowing reviews everywhere. It was enthusiastically received at this year's Sydney Film Festival. I think it is one of the most enjoyable films I've seen for quite some time, so I hope you will make an effort to catch it.

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Director: Rian Johnson
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Writer: Rian Johnson

imdb review