http://www.brickmovie.net/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0393109/ - 8.0 Rating

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/brick/ - 77% Fresh

Plot summary from IMDb:

Brick, the dynamic debut feature from writer/director Rian Johnson, won the Sundance Film Festival's Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision. Brick, while taking its cues and its verbal style from the novels of Dashiell Hammett, also honors the rich cinematic tradition of the hard-boiled noir mystery, here wittily and bracingly immersed in fresh territory - a modern-day Southern California neighborhood and high school. There, student Brendan Frye's (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) piercing intelligence spares no one. Brendan is not afraid to back up his words with actions, and knows all the angles; yet he prefers to stay an outsider, and does - until the day that his ex-girlfriend, Emily (Emilie de Ravin of Lost), reaches out to him unexpectedly and then vanishes. Brendan's feelings for her still run deep; so much so, that he becomes consumed with finding his troubled inamorata. To find her, Brendan enlists the aid of his only true peer, The Brain (Matt O'Leary), while keeping the assistant vice principal (Richard Roundtree) only occasionally informed of what quickly becomes a dangerous investigation. Brendan's single-minded unearthing of students' secrets thrusts him headlong into the colliding social orbits of rich-girl sophisticate Laura (Nora Zehetner), intimidating Tugger (Noah Fleiss), substance-abusing Dode (Noah Segan), seductive Kara (Meagan Good), jock Brad (Brian White) and - most ominously - non-student The Pin (Lukas Haas). It is only by gaining acceptance into The Pin's closely guarded inner circle of crime and punishment that Brendan will be able to uncover hard truths about himself, Emily and the suspects that he is getting closer to.


Brick Glossary

Brick Talk: "It's duck soup for you yegs"
(A partial glossary of words and phrases used in Brick, and their definitions)

Blow- to leave, depart; e.g., "Did she blow last night?"

Bulls- cops; e.g., "What first, tip the bulls?"; also, as a verb, to turn over to the cops; e.g., "I bulled the rat."

Burg (or Burgh)- town, city; e.g., "He knows every two-bit toker in the burg."

Copped- stole; e.g., "She copped the junk."

Dose- to take drugs; e.g., "He dosed off the bad junk and it laid him out."

Duck soup- easy pickings.

Gat- gun.

Gum- to mess things up; e.g., "Bulls would only gum it."

Heel- to walk away from (, and show your heels to); e.g., "I'm not heeling you to hook you."

Hop; Jake; Junk- drugs.

Pick- a ride in a car (as in "pick-up"); e.g., "Did she get a pick?"

Reef worm- a stoner (abbrev. of "reefer").

Scape- a patsy to take the blame (abbrev. of "scapegoat").

Scraped- begged off of, cadged from; e.g., "Ask any dope rat where their junk sprang and they'll say they scraped it off [name]..."

Shamus- a private detective.

Shine- to wield (as with a weapon); e.g., "He shines a blade."

Sprang- originated; e.g., "His gat sprang from Tugger's gang."

Take a powder- to slip away; e.g., "Why'd you take a powder the other night?"

Looks good. Emilie should pump the awareness on it as well.

Hmm...

It looks good, a bit scary, but grossly miswritten. The entire context and cast, tone, just seemed more mature than those cuts to the assistant vice principal. Watching the sexuality of the young woman in red, the disappearing friend, and the agressive responses just "felt" like 20+ year olds, not 15. It'll be interesting to see if the cast and crew pull off the mismatched tone and age, and actually make something of it by illuminating that odd juxtaposition to their advantage. Because I definately noticed it twice when seeing the trailer in theatres already.

saw the trailer and it looks like it might be interesting.

Looks a teensy bit too self-aware of its own quirky, genre-tweaking sensibility.

Could work, though.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/brick/

I'll be trying to catch it this weekend.

I'm interested.

I've already got my tickets.

Galia, let me know what you think when you see it.

Now that I look at the poster, I wonder. This looks like it could have worked excellently in animation, heh. I can't wait for Scanner Darkly.

I will. They've been pushing it pretty hard in New York. I've pretty much seen it in the trailers before every single movie I've been to in the last few weeks. it'll open surprisingly big, I believe.

I'm worried its going to be raw style, however, from the one bit on the telephone conversation where "the mysterious voice" responds to "Why are you doing this?" with an all too easy, "Because I can." (or was it "want to").

I think the line is "Just to see you squirm/sweat". I can't remember exactly.

Yeah, I think it'll open pretty big, too. It has a pretty high level of awarness for an indie film.

Finally saw the R-rated trailer, which is, by far, one of the most interesting and effective previews of the year so far. I await reports from both of you.

Hmmm...

So, without trying to be too hyperbolic, it's seriously one of the best films I've ever seen. It's so alive. It's brilliance is staggering. I'll have a full review when I've recovered from my trip tomorrow, but if it's playing near you, see it ASAP.

Good to hear. No release date here, as of yet. Not that I want it to be a box office failure, but I can't wait for the DVD.

Where do you live?

Here's next week's sites:

IN THEATRES APRIL 7

Atlanta
Landmark Theatres Midtown Cinemas

Austin
Regal Cinemas Arbor Cinemas @ Great Hills

Boston
Coolidge Corner Theatre 2
Landmark Theatres Kendall Square Cinema

Chicago
Landmark's Century Centre
Esquire 6
Cinearts 6

Dallas
Landmark Theatres The Magnolia

Denver
Landmark Theatres Esquire

Minneapolis
Landmark Theatres Lagoon Cinema

Orange County
Edwards University
Mann Rancho Niguel 8

Portland
Fox Tower Stadium 10

San Francisco
Landmark Theatres Embarcadero Center Cinemas

Seattle
Landmark Metro Cinemas
AMC Pacific Place Cinema

Washington DC
Landmark Theatres E Street Cinema

Tampa.

From Rian Johnson, the director:

"I'm told by the Focus dudes that we will indeed be coming to Florida, probably around week 4 of the release, so near the end of April."

Oh, and, I'm still working on a full review. I'm having a difficult time putting my absolute love for this film into words.

Ha! First Miami, then it'll move up the coast to Orlando. Then die off before it jumps over here.

The problem is the Art House theater isn't solely art house. They've got 8 screens, but they cater to an upscale area of older folks who prefer established names. We get lots of outlandish movies from who knows where, a few "big" indies, and then a mainstream movie or too (Pink Panther. Heh).

Thus, its hard to say if they'll be interested in something like Brick, which hardly plays to their demographic. And AMC, who owns nearly every single multiplex (about 10 in the metro) won't touch it.

That quite makes me a bit more optimistic, but I wonder if they'll ever consider running it here. Here's hoping....

I have to go see this Thursday!

Can't wait for the review. Glad you liked it.

I'll try and catch it next week. Been slacking on the indie films of late though around here, missed a couple of good ones.

Okay, so, full review time. It's pretty much just me gushing all over the place, but I absolutely loved this film. I can't wait until you guys start to see it. I want to discuss it so badly.


Brick is a once in a lifetime sort of cinematic experience. It's brilliance is so staggering, so overwhelming, that it is nearly impossible to believe that this modern day masterpiece came from the pen and lens of a first time writer/director in Rian Johnson. One can only assume that watching this film for the first time must have been what it was like to watch Lynch's Eraserhead for the first time upon it's release. Brick isn't just one step ahead of it's audience at all times, it's five or six steps ahead. It's like nothing you've ever seen before. There will be moments so brilliant and unexpected that you'll want the film to slow down and let you lingering on it for just a second longer, but Johnon refuses. He follows it with something even more staggering, and you realise you are in this uncontrollable whirlwind of a film that is bursting at the seams with ideas. It's a perfect storm of filmmaking. A first time writer/director unleashes a torrent of images and words that are received by a willing and able cast (Joseph Gordon-Levitt is an absolute revelation here, as is Lukas Haas in a highly stylized role that is sure to have a huge following), a game crew (Brick contains one of the best musical scores I've ever heard), and a completely overwhelmed audience. There is so much going on, so many twists and turns in the plot, so many bursts of creativity, that the film doesn't beg to be seen again, it flat out demands it. I can't really delve much deeper without getting into some serious spoiler territory, but I think I've done enough gushing to get the point across. See this movie.

A+

Oh, and, if you live near any of these places, I'm expecting a full review sometime during the weekend :

Atlanta
Landmark Theatres Midtown Cinemas

Austin
Regal Cinemas Arbor Cinemas @ Great Hills

Boston
Coolidge Corner Theatre 2
Landmark Theatres Kendall Square Cinema

Chicago
Landmark's Century Centre
Esquire 6
Cinearts 6

Dallas
Landmark Theatres The Magnolia

Denver
Landmark Theatres Esquire

Minneapolis
Landmark Theatres Lagoon Cinema

Orange County
Edwards University
Mann Rancho Niguel 8

Portland
Fox Tower Stadium 10

San Francisco
Landmark Theatres Embarcadero Center Cinemas

Seattle
Landmark Metro Cinemas
AMC Pacific Place Cinema

Washington DC
Landmark Theatres E Street Cinema

Any idea if it's coming to Philadelphia? It looks interesting, and your review got me excited.

According to the director, it should be in Philly on the 21st.

4/21
Austin - The Arbor
Baltimore
Detroit - Main Art
St. Louis - Tivoli
Indianapolis - Keystone
Milwaukee - Oriental
Philadelphia - Ritzs
Phoenix - Camelview
Sacramento - Tower
Houston - Angelika

Yay, of course it comes on the best movie weekend this month (The Sentinel, Silent Hill).

Hopefully, it'll be there for a little while.