City Island (2009)

By -
Another movie I thought would be lame when I first saw it; but just like with books, you can't judge a movie by it's DVD box.  City Island was one of the few drama movies that really keeps the story flowing.

The film is all about the convoluted, lie-filled lives of the Rizzos.  Every single family member has a massive secret that no one else knows about.   The daughter is a professional stripper, the dad goes to acting lessons under the guise of playing poker games; and everyone secretly smokes whenever no one else is looking.  When the father discovers that a new in-mate at the jail he works at is his 24 year old son from a wife he ran away from years ago, everything spirals into complete and utter chaos. 

The movie is primarily drama, but the director did such a good job with pacing it really keeps the ball rolling.  Every 10 minutes another twist or lie is built up or knocked down.  It really is a fascinating look at how quickly lies can overwhelm even a small group of people.  Usually this genre of movie throws a disappointing ending at you, but City Island ends it with a nuclear explosion of theatrics.

I usually prefer action or sci-fi, but this was definitely worth the watch.  The complex story combined with the really well done characters and crazy web of intrigue should entertain just about anyone.

City Island earns a 3/5 for an interesting somewhat unique storyline.  

Comments

  1. Stav88osSeptember 23, 2010 at 4:16 AM

    Cool story bro!;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. remziSeptember 23, 2010 at 4:24 AM

    Looks good

    ReplyDelete
  3. niceoniceSeptember 23, 2010 at 5:01 AM

    Ill check it out and yea they could have gone for a better box cover. It looks so dry and unoriginal.

    ReplyDelete
  4. razortekSeptember 23, 2010 at 5:03 AM

    cool post bro!
    check both my blogs are interesting! ;)
    suppin can u rtrn pls?

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousSeptember 23, 2010 at 5:19 AM

    will check it out.

    ReplyDelete
  6. DailyDoseSeptember 23, 2010 at 7:10 AM

    Sounds pretty awesome lol I like the secrets/twist bit.. reminds me of Royal Tenenbaums a bit

    ReplyDelete
  7. GKBLOGSeptember 23, 2010 at 8:47 AM

    Nice pick. Also yeh do a 5 star review. And don't be too generous with the 5's :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. GKBLOGSeptember 23, 2010 at 8:47 AM

    Also, I followed. Hit me back please

    ReplyDelete
  9. Water Proof ChickenSeptember 23, 2010 at 10:04 AM

    Have you ever seen Tampopo?

    ReplyDelete
  10. OciosoSeptember 23, 2010 at 10:41 AM

    didn't liked that movie :(

    ReplyDelete
  11. lulz88September 23, 2010 at 11:11 AM

    hmm might check it out

    ReplyDelete
  12. VipermanSeptember 23, 2010 at 11:37 AM

    I saw this movie back then it was meh :/ didnt really enjoy it

    ReplyDelete
  13. ChipSeptember 23, 2010 at 11:47 AM

    seen it@ it was pree good

    ReplyDelete
  14. MistahDramaSeptember 23, 2010 at 12:20 PM

    doesn't really sound like my cup of tea =/

    ReplyDelete
  15. sod_roger001September 23, 2010 at 12:28 PM

    seen it.. 6/10

    ReplyDelete
  16. Light Weight Baby!September 23, 2010 at 1:11 PM

    looks like fun!

    check out my new blog, The Stepback Fadeaway!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Austin Da SilveiraSeptember 23, 2010 at 1:17 PM

    good pick, I love Andy Garcia

    ReplyDelete
  18. Mc UncoolSeptember 23, 2010 at 1:26 PM

    dont judge the movie by the dvd box xD

    ReplyDelete
  19. AnonymousSeptember 23, 2010 at 1:31 PM

    hmmm, City Island, mite try one day

    ReplyDelete
  20. Come At Me BroSeptember 23, 2010 at 1:43 PM

    I'll watch this!

    ReplyDelete
  21. sfw babesSeptember 23, 2010 at 1:53 PM

    cool! ill check it out!

    ReplyDelete
  22. TrashcanmanSeptember 23, 2010 at 2:57 PM

    will check out. Nice review btw

    ReplyDelete
  23. Biff TannerSeptember 23, 2010 at 3:08 PM

    Not a bad movie

    ReplyDelete
  24. AnonymousSeptember 23, 2010 at 4:02 PM

    Great, Andy Garcia is a good actor, I'll rent this movie today Wednesday, wait a minute, today is Thursday, lol. Well, I'll rent it anyway, good blog =)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Jimmy VolmerSeptember 23, 2010 at 4:04 PM

    I learned something from this.

    ReplyDelete
  26. AnonymousSeptember 23, 2010 at 4:14 PM

    soup

    ReplyDelete
  27. iammyselfSeptember 23, 2010 at 7:38 PM

    this one looks pretty interesting, i guess ill go check it out

    ReplyDelete
  28. FoodSeptember 23, 2010 at 10:20 PM

    Good review, I might check this out.

    ReplyDelete
  29. OscarSeptember 23, 2010 at 10:53 PM

    classic!

    ReplyDelete
  30. AnonymousSeptember 23, 2010 at 10:57 PM

    this is a cool blog i will definitely check this out a lot

    ReplyDelete
  31. David DavidsonSeptember 23, 2010 at 11:05 PM

    Only a 7/10? Hm, what would make it better then....

    ReplyDelete
  32. Nerd LifeSeptember 23, 2010 at 11:23 PM

    You have a good thing going here :)

    ReplyDelete
  33. Strife-faceSeptember 23, 2010 at 11:33 PM

    worth a watch I think. box art kind put me off but I'll chance it

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book of Eli (2010)

By -
Image
It's not very often that a good post apocalyptic film shows up.  After having to deal with crap like The Road,  it's refreshing to see a quality one like Book of Eli.  The movie takes place in the year 2042, and something unmentioned has managed to completely decimate the world.  Eli is crossing the wasteland on a religious journey to deliver one of the last remaining bibles to someone way over on the west coast.  Along the way he runs into gangs, madmen, starvation, and all sorts of other nastyness. A man named Carnegie, the leader of a small settlement of brigands and thieves, discovers what Eli is carrying, and lets lose the hounds.  This leads to some awesome action sequences.  Eli must have been trained by Les Stroud himself, because even after being shot, he still manages to find a way to continue. Fans of the Fallout series will feel at home here.  The director really did an awesome job of portraying the wasteland as a horrifically d...
Read more

Get Him to the Greek (2010)

By -
Image
This is another movie I really had no clue about.  I almost didn't bother with it at all, but decided to throw caution to the wind and am really glad I did. This is one of those "Alcohol humor" movies, very similar to The Hangover and Hot Tub Time Machine.  Once again, everyone's favorite beverage causes all sorts of trouble.  Get Him to the Greek is about Aaron Green, a lowly talent scout working for a complete psycho of a boss.  Unhappy with how the current trend of music is playing out, he decides to speak up during a company meeting about his plans on resurrecting a legendary rock star (and his musical idol) Aldous Snow, who tanked his career by releasing the single most racist music video in the history of rock.  After flying out to live out his dream of assisting Aldous with his comeback,  he discovers that his favorite musician has almost no interest in returning to work. Overall, you might look at that story and think this is a serious business ...
Read more