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Highway

Highway

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: MY FIRST PART
Review: I think I appreciate this movie a little more because I actually got to be an extra in the "rave" scene. I've seen a lot of movies and I can honestly say that if I hadn't been in the movie, I would still rate it as a pretty good movie.
I like the fact that it relates a lot to real life. There are still potheads in this world no matter what age; there's people who make fun of other people; and there's a lot of people who take risks on others (such as Pilot). No matter who you are, you can't say that you haven't taken a risk on someone. Whether it was helping them out, getting to know them or going back to someone you thought was the same person you had once known. It's sad that the world works this way but nobody's perfect.
In that era, there were a lot of people doing all kinds of drugs and a lot of people liked Kurt Kobain. (I grew up in the little town of Sumner, WA which is where they filmed the restaurant scene, their hotel was filmed in Algona/Pacific, WA; and the "rave" scene was filmed at Rock Candy in Seattle, WA.) I thought this movie would never come out because it was filmed in the summer of 1999 and it wasn't until 2002 that I heard a couple friends say that they had seen it. The movie's name started out as "A Leonard Cohen Afterworld". This is a very hard to find movie so I bought it off of Amazon.com and I'm very satisfied. If you think about actors in real life...such as Jared Leto...he reminds you of a womanizer so he definitely played the right part. Jake seems a little more shy but is probably glad that he's done more than this movie to become famous. John McGinley is highly unrecognized. He's played in so many roles. He's really done his time but is still an excellent actor and the sad thing is that many that know him by face don't know him by name. I actually got to talk to "Boneman" which was played by what he called himself George Nathan? He was in the room upstairs at the rave with the black hair that curled up on the sides. He told me that he was from New York and was actually going to college there. I loved his and Shannon Leto's hairdo's. Very Hot!
Anyway, if you relate this movie to real life instead of criticizing it down to every little detail, you might actually enjoy it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not likable, but still recommended.
Review: Highway (James Cox, 2002)

There are any number of reasons to watch James Cox's first feature film, Highway (not least of which because Cox directed one of 2003's most talked-about and controversial films, Wonderland). It's hard to say the film itself is one of them, oddly enough.

It centers around two stoned-out buddies, Pilot (the always wonderful Jake Gyllenhaal) and Jack (Jared Leto, looking for all the world like Charlie Sheen in Repo Man here). Jack, the womanizer, has found himself in bed with the wrong woman, the trophy wife of a mob boss, and needs to get out of Las Vegas. He and Pilot head for Seattle after one of the most surreal drug buys in all of film (the dealer played by Jeremy Piven, recently seen in Black Hawk Down and Very Bad Things, deserves a film all to himself). Along the way, they find themselves repeatedly entangled with a homeless runaway (Selma Blair) and an old hippie trying to get to Seattle for the Kurt Cobain vigil (John C. McGinley). The stage is set, and the movie makes its Easy Rider-esque way through the West.

The main reason to see this movie is that Jake Gyllenhaal and Jared Leto are fantastic actors. Blair (soon to be in the much-hyped Hellboy) and McGinley make great foils for the two. I'd be hard-pressed to call this a comedy, but it does have its share of uncomfortably funny lines. It ends up, however, being (as odd as this sounds) a lighthearted tale about the myriad ways in which one's dreams can be shattered.

Did I like it? I still haven't figured that out. Would I recommend it? Without hesitation. *** ½

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Heading Out To The Highway
Review: HIGHWAY is an offbeat thriller about two guys Jack (Jared Leto) and Pilot (Jake Gyllenhaal) setting out on a road trip in 1994 to attend a vigil for Kurt Cobain. Jack is also trying to avoid three goons who want to break his legs after he is caught in a compromising position with a married women (Mary Steenburgen). Selma Blair plays a hooker who goes along with them and Jack soon falls for her. Also good is the barely recognisable John C. McGinley as a dreadlocked, pothead hippie (New Zealanders, does this remind you of a certain MP?).
HIGHWAY features music by Rich Robinson from The Black Crowes. There's an amusing scene where Jack chainsaws the top off Pilot's car while he is asleep to make it into a convertible. But the biggest standout for me was Desmond the Alligator Boy in his brief but (literally) slimy appearance.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: The tragical non-hip tour
Review: I am going to use the word 'hip' a number of times in this review, so I decided to look it up and see what the defintion was in the context of how I will be using it. The internet dictionary says the following -

1. Keenly aware of or knowledgeable about the latest trends or developments.
2. Very fashionable or stylish.

This movie had it's moments, but they were far and few between. Jared Leto plays Jack Hayes, a guy on the run because he was having an affair with another man's wife. And the man just happened to be connected to the mob of sorts, so he sends three goons after Jack to mess him up. Kind of hard to feel any sympathy for this guy, as he pretty much gets what he deserves. Next we have Pilot, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, a stoner who agrees to travel with Jack from Las Vegas to Seattle, intially as support, but later it's discovered he has his own motives. He's a pusher who smokes a lot of pot, so again, another character undeserving of anyone's sympathies. Finally, we meet Cassie, played by Selma Blair. After the boys make a quick stop at a brothel, the hook up with Cassie. Cassie is a prostitute who sort of fell into the business and stayed in because the money was good. Another wonderful character. There were some funny moments, with scenes involving Jeremy Piven and John C. McGinley, but overall this movie fell kinda flat for me. I enjoy the road trip type movie, Fandango being one of my favorites, but, with that movie, I developed an interest in the characters, and wanted to see what happened next. It's like you wanted to put yourself in the group, go with them, have the experiences they're having, but there was none of that in this movie. I felt little to nothing for the characters, as they were a bunch of self serving a&&holes. At the end of the movie, when one character got caught and punished, I couldn't have cared less. Actions have consequences, and negative actions usually have negative consequences. I know this wasn't supposed to be a full on comedy, as I think it was supposed to be a reflection of the gen-x culture, much like Easy Rider was a relflection of the 60's counterculture, but it didn't come off that way. The exagerrated attempt to be quirky and hip really showed and fell flat, like a can of soda pop left open for too long. "But", you ask, "how can a movie with characters with such hip and cool names like Pilot, Johnny the Fox, Scawldy, Boneman, Moon, Shanks, and Softboy not be cool?" Well, there you go. Mildly amusing at times, but trying too hard the rest of the time. You can't make a concious effort to be hip. Either you are or you aren't. And the harder you try, the less you are. You want to see a good road trip movie? Check out Fandango or Easy Rider

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: The tragical non-hip tour
Review: I am going to use the word 'hip' a number of times in this review, so I decided to look it up and see what the defintion was in the context of how I will be using it. The internet dictionary says the following -

1. Keenly aware of or knowledgeable about the latest trends or developments.
2. Very fashionable or stylish.

This movie had it's moments, but they were far and few between. Jared Leto plays Jack Hayes, a guy on the run because he was having an affair with another man's wife. And the man just happened to be connected to the mob of sorts, so he sends three goons after Jack to mess him up. Kind of hard to feel any sympathy for this guy, as he pretty much gets what he deserves. Next we have Pilot, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, a stoner who agrees to travel with Jack from Las Vegas to Seattle, intially as support, but later it's discovered he has his own motives. He's a pusher who smokes a lot of pot, so again, another character undeserving of anyone's sympathies. Finally, we meet Cassie, played by Selma Blair. After the boys make a quick stop at a brothel, the hook up with Cassie. Cassie is a prostitute who sort of fell into the business and stayed in because the money was good. Another wonderful character. There were some funny moments, with scenes involving Jeremy Piven and John C. McGinley, but overall this movie fell kinda flat for me. I enjoy the road trip type movie, Fandango being one of my favorites, but, with that movie, I developed an interest in the characters, and wanted to see what happened next. It's like you wanted to put yourself in the group, go with them, have the experiences they're having, but there was none of that in this movie. I felt little to nothing for the characters, as they were a bunch of self serving a&&holes. At the end of the movie, when one character got caught and punished, I couldn't have cared less. Actions have consequences, and negative actions usually have negative consequences. I know this wasn't supposed to be a full on comedy, as I think it was supposed to be a reflection of the gen-x culture, much like Easy Rider was a relflection of the 60's counterculture, but it didn't come off that way. The exagerrated attempt to be quirky and hip really showed and fell flat, like a can of soda pop left open for too long. "But", you ask, "how can a movie with characters with such hip and cool names like Pilot, Johnny the Fox, Scawldy, Boneman, Moon, Shanks, and Softboy not be cool?" Well, there you go. Mildly amusing at times, but trying too hard the rest of the time. You can't make a concious effort to be hip. Either you are or you aren't. And the harder you try, the less you are. You want to see a good road trip movie? Check out Fandango or Easy Rider

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Pretty damn good
Review: I can not believe how harsh critics have been about this movie! I've never seen anything like it. As always, Jared Leto gets as many freaking fingers I can possibly put up for his performance. He was intense and amazing. Jake Gyllenhaal was also wonderful, bringing light undertones to a would-be dark and dubious character. I thought that film critics were not paying attention and did not catch some beautiful moments in the film.

PS:I reccomend REQUIEM FOR A DREAM to ANYONE!!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Cobain
Review: I heard this movie was origonaly going to be called "A Leanord Cohen Afterward" a Nirvana song Lyric... and it was to have a scene in it whare they reinacted the funeral or Kurt Cobain of which a lot of Nirvana fans attended in Seattle.

I have not seen it yet so disregard my star rating thing... But when I see it ill be back...

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: It was okay
Review: I saw some of this on tv a while ago. This movie had a weird tone to it. I thought most of the movie was pretty strange, especialy alligator boy. What the hell? It had a good cast though, Selma Blair and Jared Leto.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: It was okay
Review: I saw some of this on tv a while ago. This movie had a weird tone to it. I thought most of the movie was pretty strange, especialy alligator boy. What the hell? It had a good cast though, Selma Blair and Jared Leto.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Wow.
Review: I was very impressed, and this had nothing to do with the drugs I was on!! Ha! Seriously, I loved the movie, it hits on several levels, especially if you have frieds like Jack and Pilot.


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