Life is Not Easy Unless You’re a KAJILLIONAIRE

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming from writer/director Miranda July and Focus Features comes the extraordinary story of one woman’s journey to being a KAJILLIONAIRE.

Old Dolio (Evan Rachel Wood) lives with her mother Theresa (Debra Winger) and father Robert (Richard Jenkins) in a storefront building. During the day they spend their time finding ways to earn a few dollars and food while avoiding their landlord Stovik (Mark Ivanir). From a quick trip to New York to shady dealings, they have managed to carve a life out for themselves.

But Old Dolio is a little different staying a bit withdrawn, does not trust anyone and not too many helpful social skills. One day they meet Melanie (Gina Rodriguez) who seems to understand the family. Robert and Theresa take to Melanie quickly and enjoy her company, especially when she comes up with a plan to be a part of another – well, hustle.

At first Old Dolio is not thrilled with having Melanie around but slowly she becomes curious about the girl. She finally blows up at her parents letting them know she is tired of not being recognized with such things as birthdays etc. Going to Melanie’s house, Old Dolio is introduced to what goes on in the real world and is delighted.

Giving her parents one more chance to make her feel as if she is important to them, both Old Dolio and Melanie believe everyone deserves a second chance, or third chance…or fourth chance.

Wood as Old Dolio is delightful, unknowingly funny, sweet, and yet full of curiosity and even righteous anger. Hiding behind her clothes and hair, Old Dolio cannot hide the fact that she is also quite intelligent in the world of hustling. Watching this character bloom is endearing, charming and you want to scoop her up and show her the world. That is how invested you can become following her journey. Well done Ms. Wood.

Rodriguez as Melanie is a hustler in her own way but not as much of an expert as her new friends. She has a conscience and also sees something in Old Dolio that melts her heart and brings out a protective feeling that Old Dolio has never known. Rodriguez is sweet, smart and gives her character a little soul.

Jenkins as Robert lives in his own little world that really does not include his wife and daughter. It is almost as if he sees them more as employees than family. Jenkins has the most amazing way of portraying his characters with a sense of innocence in the midst of being a huge hustler. Winger as Theresa lets her husband do as he will and throws in her opinion here and there. Once confronted by Old Dolio, Winger’s reaction is one I did not expect and yet I did which adds to the mixture of feelings about what it takes to be a hustling mom.

Shout out to Ivanir as Stovik cracks me up. He is constantly there to try and get the rent from his tenants, but it is his moments of emotion that come out of no where that are confusing and filled with bubbles (you will see!). It is hard to run a business and be a landlord but Stovik adds a little something more.

Other cast include Patricia Belcher as Althea, Diana Riva as Farida, Da’Vine Randolph as Jenny and Rachel Redleaf as Kelli.

Focus Features’ mission is to make a lasting impact on global audiences by creating the home for artists to share diverse, distinctive stories that inspire human connection. Focus Features is part of NBCUniversal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies that brings entertainment and news to a global audience. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.focusfeatures.com.

KAJILLIONAIRE is a film about the open dysfunction of this particular family but added in that is hustle - both physical and emotional. These characters bounce off one another and they are so unsure of it all that it is easy to see how they are taken in by their own mess.

What this film does bring is the journey of Old Dolio, a young girl that is basically living in a bubble to seeing her discover what it is to trust someone and discovering that her presence in the universe has value – without the hustle. The relationship between Old Dolio and Melanie bring so much hope and delight so its essential to congratulate Wood and Rodriguez for their amazing work.

This film is filled with creativity, originality and everything in between. Writer/director July has brought a film that I will be hollering for people to see for quite a while. Well done Ms. July, well done.

In the end – know your worth!

Best Foreign Film PARASITE Comes to Bluray

Jeri Jacquin

 

On Bluray this week from director writer/director Bong Joon Ho and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment comes a daring film when dealing with a PARASITE.

 

Let's introduce the Kim family - Ki-taek (Kang-ho Song) is married to Chung-sook (Hye-jin Jang) and they share a very downtrodden lower, lower level apartment with there son Ki-woo (Woo-sik Choi) and daughter Ki-jung (So-dam Park). The interesting thing about this family is that as each day passes it becomes painfully obvious that jobs are as scarce as a wifi signal.

 

When Ki-woo's friend leaves to study abroad, he suggests talking over a job tutoring a young girl. The family is very nice but even better is the pay. Knowing he doesn't qualify to tutor anyone, sister Ki-jung comes to the rescue with her unique abilities.

 

At the doorstep of Park home is Yeon-kyo (Yeo-jeong Jo), she welcomes Ki-woo into their home and introduces daughter Da-hye (Ji-so Jung). Yeon-kyo watches their first lesson and is so impressed with Ki-woo that he's hired immediately. He also meets Yeon-kyo's youngest son Da-song (Hyun-jun Jung) and learns she believes he has artistic promise.

 

Ki-woo sees he is a bit of a handful and tells Mrs. Park that there is an art therapist he knows that can help with Da-song. Enter sister Ki-jung who is now Jessica, an art therapist who, after speaking with Mrs. Park about her son, is hired immediately. All of this is fine with husband Dong-ik (Sun-kyun Lee).

 

So much so that he offers to let his driver take 'Jessica' home and, you guessed it, a plan is hatched for dad Ki-taek to get that job, followed by mom Chung-sook to get the housekeeping job away from long time employee Moon-gwang (Jeong-eun Lee). As the Park household takes a new shape, Yeon-kyo seems thrilled with how well things are going under her roof, except she doesn't know what's actually going on under her roof.

 

You following so far? Yes? Well, that's the easy part because what comes next is chaos, mayhem and a shock that will leave you talking for days!

 

Song as Ki-taek is a father who isn't sure of anything except if you reach high enough you'll eventually find a wifi signal. He is thrilled when his son gets a good job even if they have to fudge things a bit. That one good day sets into motion craziness that he could have never saw coming on his best day folding pizza boxes (you'll get that reference soon enough).

 

Choi as Ki-woo is pretty happy with his new job and even happier when the family expands their ability to get their phones turned on. He's feeling more comfortable than he ever has in his life thinking this all could last forever. Park as Ki-Jung is smart, cutting and cunning all wrapped up in a ball that is calm, cool and totally collected. She likes this good life and a bottle of the bosses good stuff is a bonus.

 

Jo as Yeon-kyo is just trying to keep her household together and running smoothly. Getting her daughter and son squared away gives her a moment to enjoy the life, a beautiful home and a husband who brings home the bacon big time. Lee as Dong-ik just wants things around him to be as smooth as Kim's turning radius in a Benz, then again, don't we all?

 

Jung as Da-hye is a young girl who clearly doesn't find anything redeeming about learning but certainly doesn't mind 'Kevin' being their each day either. Jung as Da-song is high strung with a ghost story Mom is keeping away from everyone. Lee as Moon-gwang is just a peach of a woman who has been in that particular house for many, many years. Let that be a warning.

 

Other cast include Myeong-hoon Park as Geun-se, Seo-joon Park as Min and Keun-rok Park as Yoon.

 

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has just added an amazing film to their library and making it available for us to all experience and re-experience in our own home theaters. There are film of every genre available from scary to drama to family films. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.uphe.com.

 

The Bluray, DVD and Digital Bonus Features include A Q&A with Director Bong Joon Ho.

 

MOVIES ANYWHERE gives viewers the ability to download the Movies Anywhere App. With that you can view films by downloading or streaming to your favorite device using a Digital Code. For more information on Movies Anywhere please visit www.MoviesAnywhere.com.

 

I honestly didn't know what to expect from this film PARASITE but let me tell you I could not stop watching it. I felt as if I was being lulled along with a story of a family that would do pretty much anything to make ends meet. I mean I know I'd be pretty upset if I had to chase down a wifi signal to the corner of a room sitting on top of a toilet. (I'm probably more serious than anyone realizes!)

 

But this family, the Kim family, are every bit as clever with survival instincts that are quite impressive. I'm being cautious on how to describe them because I am dead bug serious when I say each has to be experienced to believe them. I liked their ingenuity and the way they honestly celebrate each other. A family that plans together - well, you know.

 

Then the story goes really dark and I found myself sitting on the edge of the sofa not sure what was going to happen next. Who, what, where, are you kidding me? - are all words that were spoken out loud during the film (thank gawd I was alone). I haven't talked this much to a screen since my first viewing of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW in 1975.

 

All I can tell you without telling you is that PARASITE is a total mish mash of emotions, laughter, jaw drops, weird giggles and uncomfortable moments that had me captivated from start to finish.

 

It is absolutely no surprise to me now that PARASITE won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film and it no surprise that the film has been nominated for six Academy Awards. Adding to that list are SAG Award nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and over 100 awards and nominations and rightly deserved.

 

It’s a story of a family trying to stay together, another family trying to find their happiness together and a lot of unexpected insanity thrown in between.

 

In the end - it's all in the family!