Things can always be worse

We watched God Grew Tired of Us tonight and it's one of those documentaries that you pick up for the novelty of it and it ends up grabbing you and making a real impact. This would be exactly the opposite of Reversal of Fortune which was essentially a homeless circus and left me feeling somewhat dirty after I saw it.

The quick rundown on God Grew Tired of Us is that the filmmakers followed three young men who were part of the Sudanese "Lost Boys" who fled Sudan during their civil war and wandered Africa without help for years until they settled in a Kenyan refugee camp.

From there, three of the young men are given their tickets out and to the United States, where the next few years are documented as they try to find jobs and build new lives for themselves in New York and Pennsylvania.

Keep in mind that these are guys who have never seen electricity, running water or any of the thousands of little things that we take at face value. Early in the film, the new Americans are being shown around their apartment by an aid worker in the United States and are told not to throw trash out the windows and are given short instructional talks on how to operate the lamps.

Honestly, this is why I picked the film out of the lineup on Netflix (and also how it's billed there); the whole fish out of water story about how strange the United States is seemed pretty interesting.

While there is plenty of this storyline throughout the film, it also focuses on how inhospitable the United States truly is, how much these men had to go through as children and their amazing sense of community and what is owed to their other brothers who were left behind.

One of the three young men, Daniel, took it upon himself to form a parliament in the the refugee camp to make sure everyone had a voice and to give them things to do during the long, boring hours spent behind the camp's fences.

As the lost boys in America worked two and three jobs and tried to get an education, they lost touch with each other, even while sleeping under the same roof. After spending years relying on each other for safety as they crossed Africa to escape the civil war and then spending every hour together in the camps, this turned out to be a major problem for those who made it to the U.S.

In all, the movie is one that shouldn't be missed, especially when you consider what an underplayed piece of world history their exodus was. It's also interesting to contrast their experience in the U.S. with what most of us are accustomed to in terms of the American Dream on living just beyond your means, stretching that credit limit and robbing Peter to pay Paul at times.

When you're willing to work two jobs and squirrel away every extra cent to send it to others, it's amazing what you can accomplish.

Go add this movie to your Netflix queue or bug the local Blockbuster to stock it, it's worth the trouble. At the very least, you'll start to see just how isolated Americans are. I'm still stunned at how myopic I've been about that point.

(Image from: IMDB.com)

My week is officially shot

Ever stumble across a web site, where you just know you're going to spend the rest of the night clicking links or searching for old crap you already know the answers to? For me, Netflix and the IMDB come to mind instantly on this.

Well, a new site has launched under the same media umbrella as the sports site With Leather
called FilmDrunk and I've spent the past hour clicking links, watching streaming video and hollering, "Honey, have you seen this?"

Surprisingly, she had. I was shocked she had the goods on the upcoming Jack Black/Mos Def movie. I'm still recovering.

While I'm not sure you'll run through post-by-post like I'm doing, I will point you to the Ebert and Roper/Siskel searchable database with video and everything.

I'm not sure if this is why the Internet was invented, but it sure can't hurt its case.

Where did this little jewel come from?

I might have to rethink my stance on Jon Heder - one trick pony with a great trick, will never be as successful as his big break in Napoleon Dynamite - after seeing the preview for Blades of Glory.

Thanks to Barstool Sports for finding this, and the trailer is here.

The basic premise is that Heder and Will Ferrell are male figure skaters who decide to enter pairs skating.

Hilarity and testicle jokes ensue.

Easy come, easy go

If anyone gets a chance, Showtime on Demand has a "documentary" on about a homeless man who the filmmakers gave $100,000 cash to, you know, just for giggles.

Reversal of Fortune is a passable exercise in hypothetical math, though I'd be lying if I didn't tune in to see if it would be a train wreck. While it could have been a major exploitation of Ted, the homeless man involved, they pretty much gave him the cash and backed away.

***SPOILER ALERT***

The guy pretty much pisses away every dime on trashy women, weed and a new truck worth nearly $40 large. Oh, and he didn't bother to haggle down the price and bought all the add-ons. Let's just say it shed quite a bit of light on how things got to be so bad for him.

I'm not saying that he was homeless because he wasted his money as a younger man, but when you're given a lump sum, maybe you shouldn't start dumping money into top-of-the-line trucks when you don't even have a drivers license.

It's worth noting that he was thrown to the wolves by the producer - a financial planner and homeless advocate were both quickly dismissed as carpetbaggers - Ted decided he knew what was best and saw his life didn't necessarily get better with the cash.

Mo money, mo problems, I suppose.

Anyways, it's easy to overlook this movie, but it's pretty quick and disgustingly entertaining. If you have a few hours to kill, it's worth a look.

Is this a good post? Yes... no

It was Spring 1999 and I dragged my drunken ass into the living room at 803 Third Street where the girls who lived there were watching what was a cool, underground indie movie. Luckily, I not only knew them, but we were friends. Back in the day, I tended to wander onto private property and into strangers' homes and it didn't always end well. The gals told me I'd think it was funny, but that I wouldn't get it until I was a senior.

That's when it became a defining movie in my life.

The movie was Kicking and Screaming.

They were right about needing a year to let things soak in. However, they also should have warned me that I wouldn't get it until I was sober, either. Honestly, I didn't know the flashbacks were actually flashbacks until I'd seen the movie at least twice.

Alcohol is a hell of a drug, bitches.

As this was 1999, there was no steaming shitbomb of a film starring Will Ferrell as a youth soccer coach to cloud the issue. It was a simpler time, a better time.

(Side note: Watch the other, Ditka-related version at least once. It's worth a couple of bucks at least).

I'd like to go on and on about the movie and how good it is. Trust me, it's good. You should see it. If you don't, you should be very, very ashamed of yourself as a human being.

It's finally out on DVD this month after years of being available only on IFC or on a VHS tape. Still, after years of living in the movie, I still really love it and think the jokes are just as funny. Every now and again, I even find myself haunted by Max's words, "What I use to able to pass off as a bad summer could now potentially turn into a bad life."

Anyways, I'm pretty sure it's illegal in some states to go through your 20s without seeing this movie if you're from my generation, but you might need to check your local laws on that. Give it a week or so until I send back my copy to Netflix, but I might do that tomorrow and go buy a copy, which is what you should be doing in the first place.

Then, I just sit back and wait for Penn and Teller Get Killed to come out on DVD next. Now, that will be a red letter day.

(Image from AustinChronicle.com)