Bernie

If there ever was a role written for Jack Black, Bernie is it.

This is based on the true story of a well-liked small town mortician and his unusual friendship with a mean old woman.

Nobody likes old Mrs. Nugent. Everybody loves Bernie, who was involved in most local activities and took it upon himself to visit newly widowed little old ladies a few days after officiating over their deceased husband's funerals. One of those widows was Mrs. Nugent, loathed by everyone. She took a shine to Bernie, who appeared to be the only one to be nice to her and give her the time of day.

The friendship that sprung from his initial visit took him around the world with her money and gave him a taste of the good life. All the townsfolk maintained that he was simply being the nicest guy in the world and were impressed by how he could even stand her.

Then, one day, after Mrs. Nugent became more and more possessive of Bernie's time and jealous of his activities, he shot her and dumped her in the freezer. And there she stayed for 9 months while Bernie spun a tale of a series of strokes and a prolonged stay at a hospital and/or old people's home.

Of course, he did eventually get caught and despite confessing to the crime, the people in the small town wanted nothing more than see him go free. So much so that the DA had the trial moved to another county to get his conviction of a life sentence.

Peppered with interview sequences with the townsfolk to give it more of a real feeling and as realistic as can be with the way the everyday Texan people are made to look.

You see the real Bernie talking with Jack Black during the end credits.

Nice.

5/10

Dallas Buyers Club

It pains me to type this but Matthew McConaughey is really freaking great in this. Seriously, what happened there? How did he suddenly end up in all these good films and shows and actually turn in brilliant performances (True Detective, The Wolf of Wall Street)?

The film is based on the true life story of Ron Woodruff. Other main characters in the film (most notably Rayon and Eve) are composites of different people an episodes from Woodruff's life. And talking about brilliant performances...Jared Leto is absolutely awesome in this, as well. In the past (after My So Called Life) he seemed to gravitate towards total weirdness (see: Mr. Nobody) and ugly stories (as in good ugly, see: Requiem for a Dream). This sort of fits both categories quite well, though.

...and he really is the prettiest girl in the room.

As for Jennifer Garner, she is not really given enough material to shine in, being mostly confined to her hospital desk and stuck in scrubs. She ends up being dress-up most of the time, smiling politely. She does that well, mind you.

I now understand why both, McConaughey and Leto got Oscars for their roles in Dallas Buyers Club. But I still think Matthew McConaughey is a weird, weird person.

8/10

The Chase

A small town in Texas is in upheaval because Bubber Reeves escaped from jail. He was sitting in for one of a string of felonies. On the run, the prisoner he broke out of jail with kills someone and takes of with their car. So now the authorities also want Bubber for a murder he did not commit.

A handful of people in his hometown want to help him. There are Anna, his wife, and Jake Rogers, son of the rich man that practically owns the town. The two have been lovers for a long time (and everyone except old man Rogers knows) and now want to help Bubber by providing him money and a means to make a run for it.

The local Sheriff, who doesn't quite believe that Bubber had anything to do with the murder does his best to try and return him safely to jail because quite a few of the town's inhabitants have been drinking through most of the night and are out for blood. Sheriff Calder takes a beating from an especially anxious trio.

Eventually, a lot of the town folk make it out to Lester Johnson's junk yard by the wharf, where Bubber is said to be hiding out. Various drunken parties have relocated there and the people start throwing Molotov cocktails into the yard and singing songs asking Bubber to come out. It all gets out of hand and an explosion severely injures Jake. He dies some time later.

Bubber finally surrenders to the Sheriff, who takes him calmly to jail but on the steps, the idiotic trio cause one last ruckus and one of them guns Bubber down.

Good film with a fiery finale and a great cast.

7/10