Race

Who would have ever thought, an African American being a fast enough runner to compete with the worlds most elite athletes in the Olympic games!  Sounds like a whole lot of fiction right?  I'm sure you are all wondering who this science fiction premise ever got made in the first place!  It never ceases to amaze me how ridiculously ignorant and idiotic people used to be (and some still are) when I watch these period pieces.  So we have the true story of Jesse Owens which I hope you all know because it was an amazing and intricate part of our history.  This dude was not only fast, and I mean really fast, but could quite possibly be one of our histories greatest athletes.  His struggles on and off the field along with the bigotry he had to endure over his life of incredible achievements was unreal.  Even after winning multiple gold medals in the Olympic games, he was still treated less than a man upon returning home.  I didn't realize who involved Hitler was with the process of allowing him to run in these games and what part he played as a sore looser once the gold was won by Owens.  This was an inspiring movie that really kept you wanting more but fell somewhat short.  They probably could have taken a page out of Disney's book in order to spice things up a little but overall a pretty good flick.

FYI:  The part of Owens was almost given to the dude from the new Star Wars, thank God!!!!!

***

The Double

Eisenberg has been very surprising over the years with his multiple of roles.  I find myself walking into his films thinking, "here we go with another mousy, nervous, sweaty palmed character with a slight studder and full of uncomfortable tendencies.  Then as the movie goes on he either makes it work or changes the atmosphere, he is truly gifted.  Well in this movie he makes it work, changes the tone or the entire movie and explodes out of nowhere.  This movie was awesome, although not all that original, it was extremely entertaining and unique in its setting and cinematography.  We begin with a talented but over the top shy worker bee in a dingy futuristic IT type setting.  He gets no credit and is almost invisible as he portrays the non memorable drone.  Enter the double!  The new hire who is charismatic, arrogant, street wise and the office asshole schmoozer.  By the way, looks exactly the same but no one notices because worker bee number one is basically a ghost.  Well the one person who does notice is the double who becomes close and then tries to take over the life of shy guy.  The events are really well played out and Eisenberg as the cocky dick is awesome!  Not unlike Enemy for its premise, but different in the story-line.  Give this one a shot, it is excellent!

FYI:  This film was almost made in the 90's by Roman Polansky staring John Travolta.

****1/2

Baskin

No, not the delicious 31 flavors found in random strip malls across the country, this is a WTF movie that fell into my lap making me want to scrub with a brillo pad when I was done.  There are questions you may ask yourself before and after watching this movie such as; what is this movie about?  Why was this movie made?  What does this movie mean?  After sitting through this weird piece of hidden cinema, I still dont know.  Here is what I got out of it:  A group of Middle Eastern cops answer a call to an infamous haunted house.  This is after strange events happen with a weird time lapse and flash backs that may or may not be one of the characters.  Once at the house of horrors, they find an underground satanic worshiping, slave holding, disgusting human experimental dungeon.  This may be Hell, or just a man cave for twisted dudes, who knows?  The leader, who has quite possibly the weirdest face I have ever seen is a sicko who likes to stab out the eyes of his victums and have them raped by a dog/hunchback type character.  Its a whole lotta family fun!  I thought it was rather well made but really didnt make much sense unless you chalk it up to a dream-like substance.  You may want to check it out if your curiosity is getting the best of you but make sure you are a true movie buff who appreciates movies out of the ordinary.

FYI:  This is actually a re-make of another short Turkish film.

**1/2