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Reviews
Thirteen (2003)
Worth seeing.
When I was 13, my life wasn't terribly far away from Tracy's. I befriended the shallowest girl I've ever known (whose mother was also a model, and parents going through a divorce) and got caught up in the whole 'trying to be cool' thing while sacrificing true friends. This movie really isn't terribly unrealistic, and I thought it captured a thirteen-year-old's life and petty desires beautifully, as it reminded me so much of that time in my life.
I think there are several messages the movie is trying to send. A scene of Tracy riding a bus through town shows her gazing at various billboard advertisements in a dizzying way, which I felt made the argument for media's affects on children transparent and validated. I think it made a statement about how parental problems such as alcoholism, divorce and addict boyfriends distract from your ability to realize what's going on in your child's life, internally and externally. I think it also made a statement about how to be a better parent. Again, I feel this movie is worth a view.
Dirty Filthy Love (2004)
Charming, both a pleasure and pain to watch
This is not a professional, intellectual review, but I just wanted to say that I thought this movie was beautiful and touching... It brought a tear to my eye, though that's not very hard to do :). Albeit a bit disappointing in a couple of instances, but overall marvelous. It was quite painful to watch, especially considering how so many people "in real life" can be as selfish, ignorant and impatient as the character "Stevie." Then again, it's really hard to imagine myself in those shoes.
Being an American and quite tired of the flashy, overdone and lacking-in-substance Hollywood movies, I really enjoyed something as different and subdued in style as this.