From my favorite movies..

A Brilliant Conflict

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

What a curious film this is! I'd love to know the back story, who thought up the idea over what breakfast table, and especially how these two young men with incredible potential were lured into what is basically a weak-scripted road movie. Both Leto and Gyllenhaal do their best with limited material, especially the latter who must have had fun acting (or being) stoned throughout most of the film.The potential for a really fascinating relationship to develop between the two was lost with a tossed-in freak show (Alligator Boy in Oregon?) and topical nonsense about Kurt Cobain, and the villains of the piece who are totally predictable. Selma Blair fits in quite nicely to provide a foil for the sparring of the leads, and the almost 100 minutes sprints along quite nicely. Probably not a film to return to, but an interesting warm-up for Gyllenhaal's Brokeback Mountain and Leto's work with Oliver Stone. I wonder how they got talked into this one! It certainly couldn't been megabucks from the budget!

this movies is kicks butt it really kicks butt you have to watch it man i mean really you have to watch it it is really cool...... WATCH IT!!!! i demand thee!!! Just joking but watch it now i tell you it rocked my sock off watch it it will knock your socks off yeah it rocks i just rocks OK Jake look pretty good looking. this is for Jake G fans and yeah 1234567891011121314151617181920 i really like it it even mentions Kurt Cobain and what is a movie without a mentioning of Kurt Cobain i mean come it is plucking awesome and shirt like that i mean it is great..i like food...i am a movie buff i am just typing random stuff just so the comment can go on and yea so i love movies and music hey check out my band the unknown reject that's me lol yup i am pretty good at playing music and stuff so yeah and yeah i love making movies i plan on making movies and stuff i like making songs and reading. Reading is good it is awesome right now i am reading the catcher in the rye for the second time i love that book it kills me every time i read a paragraph there is something funny it has a lot of jokes and stuff well READ people read it is good for you and your eyes and stuff REaD your heart out then write stuff too.Read people read a lot i do i write a lot....Don't do DRUGS!!! don't smoke and don't drink and drive.

It starts out with Pilot (Jake Gyllenhaal) pretending to be a valet to steal a car to give his pseudo-girlfriend Lucy (Arden Myrin) a ride to work. Next we see Jake (Jared Leto) playing out a sex fantasy with a Vegas Thug's wife. Both characters look exactly the same as children and as adults, which I find odd. I guess it is to inform the watchers that they are in fact the same people. As Pilot and Jake leave are leaving town after finding out that they are being followed by the ‘thug's' goons, they meet up with a variety of people and situations. Jeremy Piven shines as Pilots drug dealer and provides a much needed comic relief. The movie moves very quickly and there is never a dull moment. As most movies that deal with road trips, the boys learn some valuable lessons about themselves and life in general. Most importantly that `You cannot run away from weakness; you must some time fight it out or perish; and if that be so, why not now, and where you stand?' –Robert Louis Stevenson; but at the same time, life is also in the journey. Taking it as it comes and doing the best we can. As long as we are true to ourselves everything else will fall into place. In this crazy world that's the only thing that we can depend on… things not working out the way we expect.

I absolutely love the Jeremy Piven rant in this movie. I think he is one the most likable character actors around i.e. PCU, Heat, Very Bad Things, and of course, the aforementioned Highway. Granted not all of these flicks are cinematic gems, but in my opinion Piven shines in all.