Bookies, The Dreamers, and Paycheck

Written by Craig Lyndall
Published September 21, 2004

Here are three movies that I rented recently. Two smaller name movies and one Blockbuster.

Bookies

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This could have been my story in college. We, I mean, "some friends of ours" enjoyed sports betting in college, so my roommate and I spent some time thinking about what it would be like to open our own sports book. We thought about running the lines, taking the calls, but we got stumped with how to execute collections and payouts. This movie answers that question pretty creatively. Anyway, in the movie, of course, the mob enters the scene and it gets scary. Kind of makes me glad we never got that scheme going. Movie was pretty good, but not great. It had David from Roseanne in it and Rachel Leigh Cook is so cute with her character in this movie it is ridiculous. You will wish you could date her in real life.

The Dreamers

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Seriously, was that Leonardo DiCaprio? Nope, just the poor man's version. Despite the gratuitous nudity and sex, this movie just didn't make me care about the characters enough to call it good. Maybe it is all about expectations though. If I had been expecting B-quality po*n I am sure this movie would have ruled. It wasn't what I was expecting and I wasn't really digging anything about it. It made me feel dirty and depressed. There was a little too much brother/sister weirdness for my tastes. If you watch this movie you will know why. Also, I felt like the moviemaker really wanted to use all the stuff he learned in film school. I don't care what you know about old movies to be quite honest and if you are going to go with schtick like this, make sure it is effective.

Paycheck

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Who would have thought out of these three movies that I would like Paycheck with Ben Affleck the best? I mean Affleck was the BOMB in Phantoms, YO! Sorry, did I just say that out loud? Anyway, this movie was good. It had a creative story line. Uma Thurman makes every movie she is in better. Affleck didn't do anything to kill this one. Affleck is like that quarterback in the NFL who could win a superbowl, but not with his own talents. I think of Trent Dilfer who took the (hated) Ravens to the promise land, just by not screwing up too badly. That is how Affleck is in movies. He was somewhat successful doing that in Paycheck. I would recommend this to anyone in need of a quick escape.

Craig Lyndall writes about all things related to Cleveland sports for WaitingForNextYear.com.
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Bookies, The Dreamers, and Paycheck
Published: September 21, 2004
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Section: Video
Filed Under: Video: Thriller, Video: Suspense and Mystery, Video: Romantic, Video: Drama, Video: Action, Video: Adventure
Writer: Craig Lyndall
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Comments

#1 — September 21, 2004 @ 13:40PM — Rodney Welch [URL]

But didn't you think the girl in The Dreamers had, like, the most perfect tits ever made?

#2 — September 21, 2004 @ 13:44PM — Craig Lyndall [URL]

She was beautiful and quite frankly, she had large nipples. Not that that is a bad thing, but they were noticeable. This is not the conversation I thought I was going to have today. Nobody wakes up thinking they are going to talk about some boobs in a movie.

#3 — September 21, 2004 @ 13:54PM — Rodney Welch [URL]

Not into unnoticeably large? Well, I liked them; they had me drooling like a toddler who hadn't been fed for a week. For a more measured and thoughtful assessment, here's what my favorite critic had to say regarding the Dynamic Duo: "They're big in proportion to her slender, girlish body, but absolutely real, and just saggy enough remind porn-numbed American audiences that even young girls are naturally subject to gravity. In short, they're marvelous, and will probably soon be all that remains in my memory of The Dreamers."

As you can tell, they're all I remember, too.

#4 — September 22, 2004 @ 13:16PM — Chris Kent

There was nothing in The Dreamers that I had not seen cinematically before, and more often than not in a film by director Bernardo Bertolucci. There wasn't too much especially profound in the film either, though there was a sweetness and overall charm that I had not expected. I suspect some of The Dreamers is autobiographical, and I would be surprised if many could not relate to much of the naive sexual experimentation going on in the film - there is an undeniable youthful exuberance to the skinful proceedings. It was on target more often than not, and always interesting. Just had an overall feeling of "been there, done that" throughout.....

Hell, give me a dancing Charlotte Rampling adorned in SS hat and black jackboots any day.....

#5 — September 22, 2004 @ 13:22PM — Rodney Welch [URL]

What about smearing menstral blood on the girl's face? Definitely not a "been there, done that" moment for me -- but I grok what you're saying otherwise...

#6 — September 22, 2004 @ 13:32PM — Chris Kent

I believe they spread it on each other's faces Rodney, and that scene did not disturb me. I have never found a woman's menstration to be gross or disturbing - it is life. Though I have never spread a woman's menstral blood on my face either. However, I thought the woman was a virgin and she had just lost her virginity, which would make the spreading of the blood on each other's faces very sweet and strangely symbolic. Oddly enough, I did not find the scene to be crude.

lol.....I just read this comment.....

#7 — September 22, 2004 @ 14:42PM — Rodney Welch [URL]

Oh Chris, please -- don't get all I-relate-to-women on me. That scene was gross as fuck.

#8 — September 22, 2004 @ 14:48PM — Craig Lyndall [URL]

I am with Chris on this one. It didn't bug me all that much, but I would never rub said fluid on anything let alone my face.

#9 — September 22, 2004 @ 15:05PM — Rodney Welch [URL]

Well, maybe it's just me. I guess I just think of menstrual blood as one of those bodily wastes -- like piss, pus, shit, puke -- toward which I bear no romantic feelings whatsoever.

#10 — September 22, 2004 @ 15:57PM — Eric Olsen

very nice concise, consistent reviews Craig, thanks - I'd never even heard of the first two.

#11 — September 22, 2004 @ 17:01PM — Chris Kent

lol......I know what you mean Rodney and did not wish to come off that way. Now let's say the women was not as ferociously attractive as Eva Green - I guess it would have bothered me more.

But I saw it as three children learning about sex/lust/love and the whole damn thing. Kids, when they eat chocolate, get it all over their mouths and hands - similar to the lovers.

There is the scene in the bathtub where blood is floating on the surface - menstral blood. Initially it is three children/teenagers, innocently swimming together in the bathtub, but the blood reveals their sexual awakening, their entrance into adulthood, and suddenly, swimming in the bathtub is no longer innocent. Obvious symbolism, I know, but that is why I found the film to be sweet and charming in a way. It struck some chords, though at other times I thought the film was a bit too deja vu....I wanted something a bit more risque and angst-ridden.

As for the incest angle, well, I grew up with a sister, and while we did not achieve the level of obsessive experimentation you see in The Dreamers, there was some truth in several scenes.....

I am aruging about a movie that I did not particularly like, though it was interesting. I would suspect the older a person is, the more they would like this film, and not for reasons one would think....

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