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Reviews
Protect Me from What I Want (2009)
Begging for a sequel
The only thing lacking in this short is an appropriate soundtrack. The music behind the scenes is typical. This film deserves better.
Both Elliot Tittensor (as Daz) and Naveed Choudhry (as Saleem) do an outstanding job of developing their characters' struggles in the short time they have. Daz is trying to live a double life, keeping his sexuality and profession hidden while Saleem is torn between culture and his desire. The argument can be made that Saleem could just as rightfully been Jose, Artyom, Huang, or Billy. Using Saleem quickly incorporates western assumptions about Indian culture: strong family ties, a loving and forgiving attitude, and a strong abhorrence of homosexuality. That works well for a short film. Selecting handsome actors of a similar age helps endure them and their kinship the to the audience. That works well here also. You want these two to be together.
Tittensor does a beautiful job in the short time he has to show tenderness and that he does not want to rush or pressure Saleem. It is quickly obvious that he sees something in Saleem that he wants badly; a lover, not a client. And this is the man who may offer him that. Choudhry is obviously scared, but wants desperately to relax inside this coveted but unfamiliar life that he has only dreamed of. A life he is not sure he should even imagine, much less enter into.
The ending is superb. Tittendor's timing is perfect while repeating one spoken word. Choudhry's facial expressions during the closing shots tell a story that could fill a reel of film.
Kudos to Dominic Leclerc. He created a masterpiece. Please sir, can I have some more sir?
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
Very Smelly
It was SOOOOO so so so Hollywood.
Most of the movie was a snoozer.
They went overboard to make the Seal Team look like a bunch of misfit losers as in fat, un-kept, undisciplined red-necks. In all fairness, the cast members, as far as the Seal team goes, did a good job considering the material they were given to work with.
The photography was awful.
The screenplay pulled every selection possible from the smörgåsbord of cookie cutter Hollywood movie gimmicks that they could cram in.
Jessica Chastain's part was written so poorly that if she was anything close to a good actress I'd have felt sorry for her. Honestly the stuff they had her do and say in this amateur hour was beyond the pale.
They left very important parts of the story out such as everything that happened after the killing. That would have made the movie more interesting.
The very last scene was so hokey that I really wanted to barf. All through the movie Chastain's character was the smartest kid on the block, she knew everything and could do anything. You know, a "women are just as good as men" lesson for all of us. Then, at the very end, she gets on an Army carrier and sits down and starts crying. GIVE ME A BREAK! She didn't even bother herself with acknowledging the crew member who asked here where she wanted to go. I guess if you're Superwoman you can do that. I wonder how many of the Seals that did all of the heavy lifting and dirty work cried.
The whole thing is a joke from start to finish. And that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Pretty disappointing.