“The River Why” is one of those rare films about fishing, an activity seldom dwelled upon in movies.  Mostly, it’s a film about the relationship between man and nature, a subject that has been explored by many different artists with many different takes on it.

“The River Why” is a movie that does a couple of things well.  Like most movies that take place in nature’s kingdom, the cinematography is lovely, courtesy of Karsten Gopinath.  Given that it deals with fishing, it also captures a few moments in a way that seasoned fly-fisherman can relate to, such as unwanted encounters with less-experienced fishermen who inadvertently ruin a local spot by plunking in with their amateur rods and reels.  This is roughly all the good stuff “The River Why” has to offer.

Based on the novel by David James Duncan, the film begins with a troublesome voiceover in which the protagonist, Gus (Zach Gilford of “Friday Night Lights” fame), dumps some factoids on us regarding water that serve as thinly-veiled metaphors before going into his family’s unhealthy fishing obsession.

Gus tells us that he has been a fishing prodigy from an early age, yet his younger brother hates water to the point where he won’t even drink it and, preciously, even goes so far as to wear a raincoat and galoshes to avoid touching it.  His mother (Kathleen Quinlan) is a rough-and-tumble wilderness type who has no problem killing dogs with a shotgun in a populated neighborhood, and his father (William Hurt) is an pretentious, douchebaggy celebrity fisherman whose initials are HHO.  Get it?  H2O.  If you’re not laughing, I don’t blame you.  It’s the sort of rogues’ gallery of cartoon characters that’s so indie-precious, it makes Zooey Deschanel’s body of work look like she’s jockeying for a role in an Ingmar Bergman film. (more…)

Back in December, Rock the Vote came out with a video featuring Eva Amurri and Zach Gilford – who the hell are they, anyway? Guess I’m not young enough to rock — and a bunch of  other unknown wannabe actors encouraging young people to “rock the vote” by withholding sexual favors from anyone who dares to believe that a government takeover of health insurance is a bad thing.

Traditionally used to sell items like beer and aftershave, sex is now being utilized to encourage citizens to give in to an unconstitutional take over of one sixth of the American economy. Has sex really become that commonplace and tacky?

For example, in the video, a geeky-looking guy holding a “no death panels” placard is described as a liar, and the hot chick wearing a partially-unbuttoned plaid shirt is told to “lie right back” to him by telling him, “I’m on my period and I don’t have a vagina.” Har-dee-har. (There’s more, but you can see the lameness for yourself, if you so choose.) (more…)

In the pilot episode of NBC’s “Friday Night Lights,” after a star football player suffers an injury on the field, the new coach in town, Coach Taylor, narrates the end of the episode while members of the football community visit the hospital where that player has been moved. In a voiceover, he states, “Life is so very fragile…We must carry this in our hearts: that what we have is special–that it can be taken from us. And that when it is taken from us, we will be tested. We will be tested to our very souls.” Several weeks ago, the third season of “FNL” was released on DVD and if you have not seen this program, this summer is a great time to catch up on this phenomenal show which showcases the daily tests that the characters in the community of Dillon, Texas face on and off the football field.

I only started watching the critically acclaimed program last year and since then I have purchased all three seasons on DVD. Readers and viewers might be familiar with the overall idea of the show because before there was a television show, there was a popular book and a feature film (with Billy Bob Thornton as the coach) with the same name. Even if you have not read the book or watched the film (and even if you do not like football), the show is well worth seeing. (more…)