Alas, Dallas Buyers Club.

I was on my motorcycle when the thought of having this movie I've just watched jotted down and posted it on my blog. It was quite-good-rather-boring movie, for me.

D A L L A S  B U Y E R S  C L U B

Directed by	Jean-Marc Vallée
Produced by	Robbie Brenner Rachel Winter
Written by	Craig Borten Melisa Wallack
Starring	Matthew McConaughey Jennifer Garner Jared Leto
Cinematography	Yves Bélanger
Editing by	John Mac McMurphy (Pseudonym for Jean-Marc Vallée) Martin Pensa
Studio	Truth Entertainment Voltage Pictures
Distributed by	Focus Features
Release dates	September 7, 2013 (TIFF) November 1, 2013 (United States)
Running time	116 minutes
Country	United States

Cast Matthew McConaughey as Ron Woodroof Jennifer Garner as Dr. Eve Saks Jared Leto as Rayon Denis O'Hare as Dr. Sevard Steve Zahn as Tucker Michael O'Neill as Richard Barkley Dallas Roberts as David Wayne Griffin Dunne as Dr. Vass Kevin Rankin as T. J. Bradford Cox as "Sunflower" (Rayon's Lover) John Tabler as Rick Ferris

ASTOUNDING, yet kinda drilling. That word came forward after I watched this movie. In some ways I found this movie conveyed an upstanding biopic which required the two main actors to transform dramatically representing the character by body metamorphoses, speech, action and gestures.

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome...

Matthew McConaughey as Ron Woodroof. 

Where have all those bulky arms gone? :P

 Jared Leto as Rayon

GEEZ! He's got Cara Delevigne's THIGH GAP! MY EYES!

 

 

well, what would have happened if the director, Jean-Marc Vallée, really cast a trans-gender woman as Rayon? I bet it would arouse critical and sincere comment from LGBT community. well, just a thought.

Here's the movie info from Focus Features

"Matthew McConaughey stars in DALLAS BUYERS CLUB as real-life Texas cowboy Ron Woodroof, whose free-wheeling life was overturned in 1985 when he was diagnosed as HIV-positive and given 30 days to live. These were the early days of the AIDS epidemic, and the U.S. was divided over how to combat the virus. Ron, now shunned and ostracized by many of his old friends, and bereft of government-approved effective medicines, decided to take matters in his own hands, tracking down alternative treatments from all over the world by means both legal and illegal. Bypassing the establishment, the entrepreneurial Woodroof joined forces with an unlikely band of renegades and outcasts - who he once would have shunned - and established a hugely successful "buyers' club." Their shared struggle for dignity and acceptance is a uniquely American story of the transformative power of resilience. (c) Focus Features"

This epic biopic movie moved me but not really pathetic. Getting off with the uh-oh sound of Ron made love to two unknown women, it was quite surprise me, LOL. Inside the cinema, there were only approx 12 people watching, and three of them, including me, we were the only women. thank goodness i wasn't alone that nite. and we all were like, "WHOA, what on earth was that?"

Thru the movie, we were surely impressed by McConaughey's and Leto's acting abilities. Their portrayal to the characters (Rayon was fictional, tho, according to some sources) was immensely splendid, indeed. No wonder why at the 71st Golden Globe Awards, they won Best Actor – Motion Picture – Drama and Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture respectively.

Despite bits of its draggy dialogs and irksome scenes, the message transmitted quite successfully. As an AIDS-infected, Ron's struggle was not a happy-ending one. He became the doctor for his own medication and helped others with the disease to be the subject to his own specified treatment or analysis of HIV-AIDS illegally medicine in the US at that time. In addition, Rayon's character was intravenously injected an undeniable quality of being open and truthful; not deceitful or hypocritical trans. Rayon graciously enclosed a sucker punch of mere, meek, and touché extravagant drama in which action is more salient than characterization. Sweet, tender, yet much inflictive and enchanting.

here's a spoiler, hahaha. no kidding.

Columnist in Disguise: Another Old Article :))

Access Film Interpretation

Words: Nissa 07130 / Editor: Andrew Thren

THE ROAD

Director                                 : John Hillcoat

Written by                              : Joe Penhall

Cast                                     : Charlize Theron, Garret Dillahunt, Guy Pearce, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Robert Duvall, Viggo Mortensen  

Production year                    : 2009

Runtime                                : 119 mins

 

The Road is a film adapted from the same title Pulitzer Prize winning novel written by Cormac McCarthy. It is a powerful, apocalyptic, yet a blinding and evoking film. It tells us the story about a father (the Man) and a son (the Boy) perceiving their existence in which the conditions of life are extremely bad as from deprivation, oppression, or terror of a post-apocalyptic world. The early scenes show us how the Man and his wife (the Woman) witness the end of the day. However, there is no exact explanation for what triggers the world’s devastation and it seems like there is no more chance for mankind to survive in spite of adversity.   

There is no certain plot implied in this film. It sort of goes all over the place, back and forth, to the time before the calamity happens and at the moment when the calamity happens. The Boy was born at some time after the disaster happened. The mother of the Boy found it difficult to endure her life in such a condition where habitations were demolished, and people who survived become uncivilized as they turned into cannibals. At last, she committed suicide, as she said, ‘They’re gonna catch up with us. They’re gonna kill us and they’re gonna eat us… I don’t wanna just survive, don’t you get it?’ (Hillcoat, The Road, 2009, 00:20:40)

After being left by the Woman, the Man and the Boy wander through death valleys, abandoned towns, and dying forests. They are heading to the sea. On the road of their journey, they come across some inflicting upshots; join with another wanderer, escape from cannibals, and find food and shelter for themselves. Later, those occurrences lead us to the evoking messages behind the relationship build up between the Man and the Boy.

Lighting Up the FIRE inside You

The Man, unlike the Woman, has a strong belief that they’re going to survive; they’re not going to quit. He clings on to “the fire inside you” (Hillcoat, The Road, 2009, 00:24:39) as he teaches the Boy to have great compliance to persist for his life. The Man and the Boy depict a strong emotional connection between a father and a son. As life gets harder for them, where there is no civilization, the Man, armed with patience, shows the Boy how to support himself, how to define the good and the bad, and how to understand and construe the meaning of life. Just like all parents all across the universe, their affection grows inside our hearts and minds, creating a warm ambiance that fires up our will to live. 

Savoring the Meaning of LIFE

At the end of the film, the Man is dying, waiting for the moment when death is about to draw closer. He tells his son, ‘You have to keep trying. You have to find the good guys. You have to let me go.’ (Hillcoat, The Road, 2009, 01:09:54) From this scene, in my point of view, after all that they’ve been through, The Road elicits and evokes our awareness that life is not that simple. It requires strenuous effort and many forms of struggle. We must savor it as a priceless gift that God gives.

Blossoming Out Your FUTURE Plans

In the film, the Man and the Boy have a certain destination for their journey which is heading to the sea. They finally reach their goal through various ventures and tough efforts. Regarding this notion, the Man and the Boy who are said to live in such deprived conditions can still hold tight their hopes and faith, then why don’t we look at their passion and begin to determine, make, or come to a decision about our future plans? Or, do you already have it? Then, synchronize your plan with the road to accomplish it!

 

Live as if you were to die tomorrow.

Learn as if you were to live forever.

(Mohandas K. Gandhi)

P.S. This was the last article I wrote for my dearly loved "Access" English Department Magz.

Oh how I miss those splendid days back then.. :'))