.: films for fodder :.

This seems like the summer in which small independant films are becoming the real blockbusters of our culture. With so few films coming out with the ability to speak to us - outside of our yearning for adventure and a life bigger than what we find ourselves in (i.e., "The Bourne Supremacy", "Spiderman 2", "I, Robot") - it is the ones that are flying below the "major picture" radar. Unfortunately, all the local places are placing safe bets by filling their screens with triple screenings of "Catwoman" and "Without a Paddle" (cookie cutter movies that require no thinking, just pay your fee and drool for 90 minutes). One particular film that has caught my interest is "Napolean Dynamite". I found it to be a great film because of it's honesty and transparency with regards to speaking to real characters with whom I find the simple endearing ability to connect with. In all honesty, this film was just brutally painful to watch because the characters in it are so true to real life. I died laughing at some of the nerdy actions of Napoleon, Kip, and Pedro. The title character is an anti-social nerd that finds himself living as he seemingly sees fit. He faces the same sort of bullies that most all of us experienced at some time in our younger years. And some of the things that happen in his home are downright "white trash"... but so true to reality that I nearly wet myself in several scenes. The 80's references in the film took me back to the years of my own JH/HS years, so I found it nailing so many things that I experienced during my formative years (and now you know why I turned out so messed up! HAHAHA!) . I find myself quoting this movie every day since I saw it some time ago. And the dance sequence at the end is easily one of the funniest gags of the summer movies that I have seen so far. It was frustrating because I had to drive down to Everett to go see it... but it was definately worth my time and money. It's a PG rating so you can't go bad with taking a date to go see it.