I have been watching a few documentaries on NetFlix and here are my quick takes on them.

Hungry for Change is quite informative on the type of food that we eat. The film inspires me to to get back into eating healthy. I have started juicing. Not sure if it works, but I am feeling good already. I am trying to stay away from processed food as well as sugar as much as possible. We’ll see how it goes.

Finally had a chance to catch Helvetica. Not sure if this film is interesting to the general audience, but quite fascinating to design geeks. The film presents both opposite views on the typeface. Love it or hate it, Helvetica is here to stay. No typeface is suitable for every situation and Helvetica is no exception even though it is ubiquitous. Use it when appropriate.

Ice-T’s Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap gives viewers a glim into the mind of rap legends like Rakim, Dr. Dre, Nas and Grandmaster Caz. Each MC gets to explain his process (style, technique and delivery), name their influences and drop a few bars. The highlights of the film is, without a doubt, the raw freestyling from rappers including Eminem, Kanye West and Ice-T himself. Not a bad directing debut at all.

Sau khi nốc hết một ly cối Mojito tối qua, tôi không ngủ được vì men rum làm nóng cả người. Muốn đọc sánh nhưng lại bị ngà ngà nên mở NetFlix lên xem. Quẹt qua quẹt lại trên iPhone thì thấy có một phim có tựa đề thú vị nên cũng tò mò bấm vào.

After Porn Ends là phim tài liệu khảo sát về cuộc đời và nghề nghiệp của những ngôi sao đóng phim XXX. Điểm chính được nhấn mạnh là những khó khăn họ phải vượt qua sau khi rời bỏ phim ảnh. Vì một khi đã dẫm chân vào nghề nầy rồi thì không dễ dàng có lại được một cuộc sống bình thường.

Phần nội dung của phim thì cũng tạm được. Còn phần diễn viên thì quen quen. Thú thật thì tôi cũng chẳng để ý nhiều về những minh tinh này. Vì trong lúc xem, đầu óc đâu còn minh mẫn nữa mà chú ý. Tuy nhiên có một cô đã cho tôi được ấn tượng từ lâu. Cô tên là Raylene và cô cũng có xuật hiện trong phim tài liệu này.

Lúc còn ở trung học tôi có một thằng bạn khá thân đã cho tôi một băng video thu lại. Trong đó chỉ toàn Raylene đảm nhiệm vai chính. Chắc là thằng này nó cũng mê cô ta. Tôi đã cất giấu cuốn băng đó đến lúc lấy vợ.

Raylene làm tôi chú ý nhất là lối diễn kịch rất ngộ nghĩnh của cô trước khi giao cấu, nhất là những màng dụ dỗ trai tơ. Cô có thân hình đẩy đà quyến rủ. Tiếc rằng những vết xăm trên người giảm bớt đi phần lôi cuốn. (Đó cũng chỉ là thẩm mỹ cá nhân tôi.) Nhưng điểm đẹp của cô là nhan sắc trên gương mặt và nhất là chiếc mủi cao rất tao nhã.

Xem phim này mới biết thêm chút về cô. Raylene đã rời bỏ thế giới nghệ thuật XXX và trở thành người mua bán nhà cửa chuyên nghiệp. Còn về đời tư thì cô đã trở thành người vợ và người mẹ. Thôi thì cũng chúc mừng cho Raylene vậy.

Now that I am done with school projects and freelance gigs, I get a chance to catch up on some NetFlix. I am so glad to discover Louie Anderson’s Big Baby Boomer. The man is hilarious. No one can joke about food more authentic than a fat man could. Almost everything he thinks about is related to food. Even the word “catch up” makes him think of food. His routine was calm, relaxed and curse-free. One of the most memorable lines was, “When you’re young, you take drugs that would kill you. When you’re old, you take drugs that would keep you alive.” Definitely looking forward to his works in the future.

These days the kids go to bed early so I got a chance to catch some stand up comedies on NetFlix. Here are the ones I digged:

Jim Gaffigan’s Mr. Universe: He has me stop going to Subway.

Lewis Black’s In God We Rust: He’s a veteran in the game. He’s masterful despite showing is age with the iPhone’s frustration.

Steve Byrne’s The Byrne Identity: Being half Koran half Irish, Byrne lead off hilarious racial jokes. Very impressive.

I had a blast watching Religulous because I have the same questions that Bill Maher had regarding to religion. Why do many so many people believe in something that has yet to be proven to be true? In the film, many hardcore religious freaks couldn’t defend the irrational biblical images such as a talking snake, a man who lived inside a fish and the inconsistency story of Virgin Mary giving birth to Jesus.

When I first came to the States, my aunt persuaded me to go to a Vietnamese church and I did. I wanted to learn more about God and I wanted to find out what made these people believed in him. I dragged my ass to church every Sunday for about six months or so. The people at church were very lovely. They tried everything they could to get me to accept God, but I couldn’t do it without real evidence; therefore, I quitted going to church.

I have a cousin who has a PHD in information system. He’s way smarter than me and I always looked up to him as a role model. He showed me the value and the respect you get with an education. I get that and I followed him on that. He never smoked; therefore, I believed smoking is bad so I never did it. I get that. What I don’t get, however, is that he accepted Jesus so blindly. There are things that he has been praying to God for many years and obviously God hasn’t given to him yet, but he still thinks that one day God will.

After watching Religulous, it helps me understand why many rational people could be so irrational when it comes to faith. Religulous is a hilarious, eye-opening documentary on organized religion.

Man, I love Korean films, not the long-ass drama series, but the more challenging to watch. With I Saw the Devil, director Kim Jee-woon pushes revenge beyond humane. The movie is so fucked up that I feel like a sick bastard for enjoying it. Not recommended for the faint of heart.

I was NetFlixing around and didn’t realize that I was watching Stieg Larsson’s Dragon Tattoo Trilogy until the second film. I started out with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, then The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest and then The Girl Who Played With Fire. The experience was still riveting. The films are dark, thrilling and wild. Dragon Tattoo is disturbing; Played With Fire is violent; and Hornet’s Nest is edgy. Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander owns every scene she’s in. Her portrait of Lisbeth as smart, wicked and can’t be fucked with. The trilogy is a suspenseful escape.

Thanks to NetFlix, my late night entertainment has been watching stand up comedies. After a long day at work, wrestling with Dao at home before he goes to bed and cleaning up the dishes or the house, I get about an hour to myself. I would like to watch movies on NetFlix, but they are about two-hour long. Stand up comedy, which runs from forty-five minutes to an hour, is perfect for a good laugh before the night end. Here are some of my favorite routines:

Patrice O’Neal’s Elephant in the Room. His lines are misogynistic, but highly hilarious. He makes his audience laughs and embarrass as the same time, especially the ladies.

Louis C.K.’s Chewed Up. If a white guy could get away with using “Nigger,” he has his way with word. Louis C.K. pulled that off so effortlessly. The only thing I didn’t like was his daughter’s joke. He went over the top on that one.

Craig Ferguson’s Does This Need to to be Said?. This Scottish-accent guy is simply entertaining. He’s very charismatic.

Whitney Cummings’s Money Shot. It’s a nice change to hear sex jokes from a woman perspective and she nailed it. She’s also very energetic.

Kathleen Madigan’s Gone Madigan: She’s funny, witty and doesn’t give a damn.

Update:

Orny Adams’s Takes the Third: He makes mundane things funny. My favorite is how CVS gives you coupons on the things you just bought.

This film documents The Prince of Darkness performing one of his breakthrough albums, Bitches Brew (currently on heavy rotation in my iPod), at the 1970 Isle of Weight Music Festival. The video also featured interviews from Davis’s sidemen (Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarret), his admirers (Carlos Santana, Joni Mitchell) as well as his hater (Stanley Crouch). Miles Electric: A Different Kind of Blue could be viewed on YouTube (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7). What are you waiting for?

Yesterday afternoon, we caught up with Avatar in 3D before the film goes off the theater. I thought it would be just the three of us, but the seats were almost filled up. I have to admit, Avatar was a visual-stimulating experience complemented with a solid story, something James Cameron has managed to pull off once again.