Redbelt

Redbelt unreels like a breath of fresh air. A movie with character depth, moral wrong turns, dialogue that both rings true to the environment while adhering to Mametspeak. Games are played, rules are broken. David Mamet makes films that while perhaps predictable (his situations often revolve around con games) strive for intelligence. Yes it's a breath of fresh cinema and not just considering the competition although it helps to live in a reality dictated by haves and have-nots.
The usual Mamet players like Joe Mantegna and Ricky Jay as smarmy people mix and match with well cast actors like Chiwetel Ejiofor and Alice Braga as a couple all of a sudden in debt over their head. Tim Allen pops in playing a really rude type of celebrity, you want to see him bust more Bill Murray moves like the one in Redbelt. Ditto Emily Mortimer as a neurotic lawyer who in retrospect causes a chain of events that escalate in intensity.
Ejiofor runs a martial arts academy but can't afford to pay his employees much less replace the plate glass window that Mortimer just accidentally broke. There's the linear plot with Ejiofor eventually competing in a match to win much needed funds but also a non linear plot that asks the value of intellectual property and at what point an idea can be copyrighted and registered. In this case it's three marbles, two white and one black that are used to determine handicaps during matches. There's also a stirring theatrical spine of honor that aligns the scenes together. The fight sequences lend credence to the truth of Redbelt and include bar fights, stadium sparring and teacher student confrontation.

Who is Rob Corddry?

The character of Hater in the movie What Happens in Vegas... is played by Rob Corddry. The name might not instantly conjure a face to go alongside but Corddry makes What Happens in Vegas... at least bearable. More on Corddry in a sec, but why WHIV has to be unpolished when a few more drafts of the script surely would've beefed up bland secondary characters and punched up entire sequences that just weren't funny. Not unlike what happened with Made of Honor (Sony, WHIV is 20th Fox), another film that was made despite being one laugh funnier than a canceled sitcom.
Corddry plays second banana buddy to Ashton Kutcher who stars with Cameron Diaz. A Lot Like Love remains Ashton's high point and that's not saying a lot. When Cameron has a strong director (In Her Shoes, Best Friend's Wedding) she can be kind of exciting but here she's an unpolished gem that never gleams light. But Corddry gets the role that allows him to be grossly and emphatically funny even while playing a slimeball. After WHIV trotted out lame cameos with Queen Latifah and Dennis Miller it was a gasp of air to see Corddry pop in giving the film its only twist of kink.
Corddry, whose last name is a couple letters short of being a palindrome, will be known as a former corespondent to cable's The Daily Show. He also brought laughs to The Heartbreak Kid remake and Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay ("Hello Kitty I'm talking to you."). Now I can't wait to see him play Ari Fleischer in Oliver Stone's W.

Horse of a different color

This guy on a blog was talking about films, and saying how the Orion films had a such and such sheen. Specifically he said the different studios releases have a tint or sheen that an eye can detect. For me I would have to see them side by side, like the time that I was on the third floor of Technicolor in their screening room watching clips from Gone With the Wind in Technicolor and regular flavors:
WB - blue / orange tint
Paramount - powdery, less warm
Universal - green / silver
Fox - yellow
Sony - pink
Lionsgate - dull white

Today I saw a Fox film and tonight I am seeing a WB film. Does the average bear know or care about things like which studio distributes which movie?