Buppah Rahtree

Hey everyone,

How's it going? I just watched a movie a few days ago that really made an impression on me because it was part horror, funny, sad, and dramatic. I have rarely seen any movies that successfully combine all of those genres while managing to honestly be scary and really funny and sad. As you can tell, this movie is called Buppah Rahtree (2003).



The movie is from Thailand and is about a young woman named Buppah Rahtree who is a studious med student and loner. One day things change as a classmate shows interest in her and she gives him a chance. Basically, Buppah gets played, winds up pregnant, has an abortion-gone-wrong and winds up bleeding to death in her apartment. That's actually when the hilarity of the movie begins. Her apartment complex is filled with weirdos--there's the overbearing landlady, the gossipy hairdressers, the funny restaurant crew and some gangsta wannabes. There's a really funny part when they try to take Buppah's body out of the apartment and her body bolts right up and then moves. It was kind of scary, but then it was really funny when the two men yell "Ghost, ghost!" and run the hell out of the apartment.

After Buppah begins haunting everyone out rage and sadness we see that her ex lover has come back to her, not knowing she is dead. You just have to see the reactions when he says he's staying in apartment 609. So I don't just keep ranting I will give you reasons why I like the movie and why you may like it as well:

• Female protagonist is very convincing in her pain/anger and not freakish along the lines of The Ring of The Grudge. I felt more connected to her. And she is a really powerful, no-nonsense spirit.
• The movie makes fun of itself by having characters say "People only like movies with ghosts that chase people down the hall"...then someone gets chased down the hall by Buppah.
• Landlady's husband and his prayer room...just enough said! Hilarious!
• Great reference/homage to The Exorcist
• Awesome twist in the ending...definitely was not expecting it! So, if you like movies with twists or endings that are unexpected then you really should catch this movie.
• Moving corpses, people yelling "ghost!" while flailing their arms and running
• If you like a movie that is hilarious, but manages to scare you as well
• If you like foreign movies/reaidng subtitles

If none of those apply, I'm not saying you won't like it. It's just something you have to try. The
movie was good and apparently has a sequel, with a third one in the plans but I haven't seen them yet. I'll let you know if I do.

If you wanna see the movie, it can be ordered here or watched online at asian horror films, but I recommend actually getting it cuz it's cheap and better quality...I checked the online version and it's pretty bad quality, so unless you can stand that, just buy it!

That's all for now. Peace!

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Jolene (2008)

I'm talking about the movie Jolene (2008), not the song by Dolly Parton. It's directed by Dan Ireland...I know he's done other movies with central female characters, probably most notably The Whole Wide World (1996) with Renee Zellweger.

The movie is about an orphan named Jolene who looks for love in all the wrong places and goes through 10 years of roaming the country. It starts with her getting married at the age of 16, in order to escape the foster care system. Reality she finds is quite grim, when she gets involved with her husband's uncle, ending with consequences that land her in a juvenile loony bin. Needless to say, she gets out of that one with a lesbian affair to top it all off. Then, she flees to Arizona, eventually winds up in Las Vegas, then in Tulsa and eventually in Los Angeles. I'm not going to focus so much on the intricacies of what happened, in case you haven't seen the movie.

And honestly I can't even say whether I liked or disliked the movie. I know what the director was trying to do by showing the way some foster children turn out, but also showing a disadvantaged woman who thinks that objectifying herself will somehow be an ends to her means. However, Jolene seemed to have a very long learning curve and didn't seem to learn her lesson after the first, second, third time, etc. I guess that some people don't learn that easily, but I really felt that Jolene *always* left herself vulnerable, alone and with nothing. That's why I'm not sure if I enjoyed the movie because it makes a good point of how screwed up a person in the system can become, but I think that we should have seen a lot more personal growth for Jolene, especially after 10 years. At least the very end leaves us with a glimmer of hope.

The movie wasn't boring and moved at a good pace, but I was annoyed by how the movie portrayed a domestic violence shelter that Jolene went to. It made it seem as though the staff were completely unattached, unaware and uncaring. That is personally offensive to me because I worked at a DV shelter and I know that the movie portrayal was no where close to the truth.

Either way, you should check out the movie whether you like the song Jolene, by Dolly Parton (yes, the character has red hair), or if you like movies featuring central female characters. Jessica Chastain played Jolene and she was very good in the role; she really carried the movie. Also, I like Michael Vartan and he always plays good guys. This is a good chance to catch him playing an eccentric bad guy. Good stuff!

Well, enjoy and take care. Peace!

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The Gits Movie

Hey everyone,

It's taken me a while to post back here because it's been busy. I barely got to post on the other blog yesterday about Riot Grrrl costumes for children. Teh cute.

Anyway, I also got around to watching a documentary that I had wanted to watch forever *said just like in The Sandlot* lol. But yeah, I was so happy to finally get to see The Gits Movie. If you don't know who The Gits are, then you best be checking them out girls and boys! Here's a link to The Best of the Gits album:

Best Of The Gits

If you are familiar with The Gits, then I'm pretty sure you'll like what the documentary makers tried to do with the film. It was nice hearing from former band members, Joan Jett, former 7 Year Bitch band members, family, friends, and other bands. I really wish I had been of the age to appreciate the genius of The Gits and of Mia Zapata (RIP). Any one who likes women singers, Riot Grrrl, or just pure awesome voices in general, then you will love The Gits. If you're already a fan, then more power to you and I know you will like this.

Ok..I will leave you all to check out this wonderful documentary and to be hypnotized by the wonderful Mia. Enjoy! Goodnight and peace to all.

The Gits

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