I'm Bringing Crazy Back

I don’t know what it is lately but I’ve been deluged with craziness. I mean the sneaky insanity that’s in your everyday life. You recognize it yet it continues because it’s able to function on a daily basis. It started last weekend with Notes on a Scandal and went through last night’s episode of Desperate Housewives. (The wacky Alma is out of her mind but at least Bree now knows that upfront. Hopefully, unstable Alma isn’t pregnant.)

I watched an incredible documentary Saturday night on the History Channel on Jim Jones called Jonestown Paradise Lost. That's right I spend Saturday night watching a documentary. Glamorous isn't it? You know I have a fascination with cults. This disturbing documentary followed the last five days in the Jonestown compound and Jones’ descent into madness and eventual tragedy. You watch it like it’s a movie but it was reality. These were people’s family and children. Nearly 300 children were killed. Truly upsetting.

I was pleased to finally see some much-hyped movies that lived up to the hype. Notes on a Scandal is Single White Female with an bad-ass old British lady. Judi Dench plays upright and uptight spinster teacher Barbara Covett who takes a questionable interest in fellow educator Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett). Sheba’s steamy relationship with a student sets the plot in motion. Notes on a Scandal is a moody look at suppressed emotions.

Dame Judi is phenomenal as the closeted and vengeful woman. She melts away into this drab and uniform character. She’s subtle and frightening at the same time. Her craziness is hidden under a veil of control. Spooky. She definitely deserves and Academy nod for this performance. She may lose to her fellow Brit but she should still be in the race.

Blanchett takes an interesting turn as a fragile new teacher plagued with low self-esteem and unfortunate decisions. Known for her portrayals of strong women, she was equally convincing as a flighty artist. Her Siouxsie and the Banshees meltdown is heartbreaking and beautifully acted. I loved the suspenseful quality of the movie. My audience was slightly amused by the Dame’s madness and muffled chuckles were heard at key parts in the movie.

Continuing the theme of insanity was The Last King of Scotland, which I saw yesterday. Thank God it received a wider release. I was young during Idi Amin’s reign over Uganda. I knew he was a horrible dictator but that was about it. This is an important historical film. It shows an accurate depiction of how tyrannical leaders take over countries and their people.

The film tells the story of a young Scottish doctor Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) looking for adventure and purpose. He lands in a Ugandan medical clinic. A chance meeting with the newly installed president Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker) leads to his appointment as the dictator’s personal physician. What follows is mayhem and madness.

To say Whitaker inhabits the role is an understatement. His Idi Amin is a complex mixture of charisma, intelligence, and brutality. He shed light on why people would follow this guy not knowing what lays beneath the surface. There were several light-hearted moments, which show his quirks, like his fascination with Scotland. This was the role of a lifetime and he rose to the occasion. He’s definitely a frontrunner for the Oscar. Not much as been said about McAvoy who was splendid as the Scottish fish out of water. His naïve descent into dirty politics and violence was palpable. His escape from Uganda had you on the edge of your seat.

I usually get annoyed by movies about minorities that are told by the white man’s point of view but it worked in this case because the story was as much about Idi Amin as it was the people who came in contact with him and his terror. I never understood, for example, why a movie about Native Americans in the army has to be told from the point of view of the a white character. It’s like movie studios are saying a topic isn’t validated unless it is acknowledged by a white person. Look you made me get all Malcolm X on your asses.

The Last King of Scotland has vivid images of children in streets and the Americanized Holiday Inn lounge and Africans in kilts singing Scottish songs. The grainy quality and wide lapels reminded me of an blaxploitation film or an episode of the Streets of San Francisco or any other great 70s crime drama. The perpetual sweat on the actor's faces indicated how fucking sweltering it must be in Africa. The movie was unsettling at time but always absorbing.

What movies did you see this weekend?