Atomic Fangirl

Based on the true story of Ron Woodroof published in Dallas Life Magazine/Dallas Morning News, Dallas Buyers Club is tough to watch, squicky to those who don’t want to see coke-fueled threesomes, and deals with subject matter that could cause you to want to throw things in frustration as you watch human beings repeatedly get the shaft.  It’s also brilliant filmmaking, with performances by Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto and Jennifer Garner that will blow you away.  That makes it a top choice for your Awards Season movie budget, and after you see it?  Well, thank me later.  Just take a gander at all that jibber-jabber cluttering up the movie poster above.  All that praise is true enough, and richly deserved.

It’s 1985.  Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughay) is doing what any other electrician/rodeo star/con-man would do.  Lots of dirty, nasty coke and lots more dirty, nasty women.  Cut to the doctor’s office; Ron, looking like a cross between the Alien Queen and Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz, has AIDS.  Not just HIV.  He’s trashed his body with all sorts of grade-Z crap, and it’s cried Uncle.  Docs tell Ron he’s got 30 days to live.  What he does next is the plot of Dallas Buyers Club: he decides to skip the craptastic AZT medications on offer at the time (note: AZT was an effective medicine…once everyone knew how to use it, and what to combine it with) and smuggle less dangerous, more effective natural treatment combinations across the border.

Naturally, the FDA is less than pleased.  Painted as the Big Bad here (not without cause; ask anyone who was involved in ACT UP during this period of history), the face of which is FDA Investigator Richard Barkley (played by Michael O’Neill, Seabiscuit) who is a man that has a mission.  And that mission is to crush distributors of “illegal drugs”.  Barkley is a bulldozer that uses tunnel vision to accomplish his goals, and perhaps to shield his psyche from the fact that he was snatching help from the dying.

Jared Leto plays Rayon, a transgendered woman whose drug addition has not only wracked her body, it’s given her HIV.  She helps Ron, but not after a good bit of back-and-forth from Ron, who has always considered himself a “real man”, not a “pipe smoker”.  Leto also shed weight for the film, but I was too busy gawking at his brilliant performance to notice exactly how thin he’d become.  Leto’s Rayon is a gentle soul that has had to fight for what she has, and Leto brings a softness and humanity to a role that could have been the usual finger-snapping cliche.  Leto is so staggeringly brilliant in his performance that it’s easy to see why folks like Entertainment Weekly have said that this year’s Best Supporting Actor Oscar is “his to lose”.  So yeah, put him down in your Oscar pool, it’s practically a lock.

Jennifer Garner proves to people that don’t “do” indie films that she’s more than just an Alias one-off that makes pretty babies with Ben Affleck.  Her Dr. Eve Saks is a woman torn; she’s trying to help save the lives of AIDS and HIV patients, but knows that AZT as it was being used in the mid-80s was doing those patients no favors.  Here, Saks is a woman who is used to living life in her lab, visiting her patients.  But when Ron Woodroof upsets the status quo, she feels compelled to take a stand herself, and Garner blazes to life, doing an amazing job of breathing life into her character’s personal arc.  Saks’ quiet fortitude is the Yang to Woodroof’s slick charmer Yin, and the two actors work well together.  While Leto is sparking in every scene he’s in, Garner and McConaughey truly take off when they’re on screen together.

Wanna know what else is awesome?  This soundtrack, and the fact that a part of the proceeds to  Project(RED)…and that there’s a track from Leto’s band 30 Seconds To Mars.  The little things that are casually tossed in but somehow make the movie really come together (Marc Bollan photos, anyone?)  The crazy-perfect period costuming; man, can we say that nobody looked good in those high-waisted mom jeans?  And can we also give props to Garner for putting ’em on and getting on the big screen wearing those horrors?  And my personal favorite; nerdgasam sightings, thanks to True Blood‘s Russell Edgington Denis O’Hare as Saks’ boss, and The Walking Dead‘s Milton Dallas Roberts as the Club’s compassionate but frazzled lawyer guy.

Enough already.  Just go.  Get thee to a theater.  Pony up for Dallas Buyers Club. The end.  Y’know, of this review.

Bash! Bam! Boom! Thor is back y’all, and he’s definitely bringing the thunder. He’s bringing a whole lot of everything in fact. Thor: The Dark World is a beautiful mess, and I’m not just saying that because Chris Hemsworth, Idris Elba and Tom Hiddleston are wearing leather pants. Thor 2 (can I call it that? Too late) is a wham-bam traffic jam of a storyline, but damn if it’s not a good time. Especially if you’re in the mood for a feet-up (who doesn’t love the railing aisle?) , popcorn-in-lap movie spectacular.

It’s been about two years since our favorite God of thunder swept into town and Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) off her feet. And so they’re snuggling in a spacious loft in Soho…. Oh wait who am I kidding? He’s up in the other worlds, kicking ass and taking names for headstones. Why? Um, something about how some creatures aren’t cool with the Asgard? Maybe because the Asgardians (yeah, that’s a word used in this movie) are hogging all the hair product? I mean really; I’d cut a bitch if I couldn’t get my leave-ins.

But soon things start to get wobbly. Jane touches a flowing blob of goo and gets possessed by…something. Why scientists gotta be so curious? Soon that something – called aether – is causing havoc, and guess who comes to help? A’yup.

But Mr. Norse Universe can’t do it alone. Because this aether is potent stuff, and Dark Elves want it. To rule the worlds. Everybody wants to rule the worlds. And yes, you read this correctly, there are Dark Elves in this joint.

There’s also Sir Anthony Hopkins and Renee Russo as Odin & Frigga, Thor’s parents. They’re there for a touch of class, and they definitely bring it. Oh, and Stan Lee makes an appearance – I won’t spoil, but he’s easy to spot here.

Cinematography, set design and costuming is lush, over the top, and kinda perfect for this popcorn fest of a film. Good news; Hemidall has a helmet that tones the horns way down. Thank God. If there’s one person who doesn’t need to do overcompensation, it’s John Luther. Director Alan Taylor (Game of Thrones, and my favorite West Wing ep, “20 Hours in L.A.”) brings his gritty, natural style to a comic book Nordic free-for-all, and while it’s not completely coherent – trust me, that’d be impossible for anyone with this crammed story – Taylor gives real substance to his characters.

My favorite? The interplay between Thor and his brother Loki. Having to ask for help from his trickster of a sibling – hey, nothing you ain’t seen in the teaser – makes Thor humble, and as the two work together there’s Sturm und Drang, and a bit of real love between these characters. Jane, up in Asgard in order to help fix her, looks like Queen Amidala ravishing, and has more than a woman in distress thing going on. Nicely done, because at it’s heart that’s the character’s deal here.

My two cents? Save yours if you’re thinking about going 3D. It’s unnecessary here, and a tacked on conversion that doesn’t deliver enough to justify the extra ticket cash. Nonetheless, Thor: The Dark World gives enough for a good time. And isn’t that what we’re looking for? Now, give me a Loki & Hemidall buddy movie and I’m in heaven.

PS: there’s two post-credits scenes to look for, a Captain America reference that’s classic, and a streaking Stellan Skarsgård. You’re welcome.