Red Belt VS Las Vegas

This time around we battle two movies against each other that are about battling: Broadway playwright David Mamet's somber Red Belt and the Diaz-Cucher romantic comedy What Happens in Vegas. Movies have been made from theme park rides and video games but Vegas could the first that came from an advertising slogan. "What happens in Vegas," has entered the stream of conscience like an Ellen Page buzzfest. Belt on the other hand might be something no one has ever seen or heard before: A thoughtful, talky, martial arts movie.

When it all falls out I am mostly anxious to see how many critics panning Cameron & Ashton's new movie use the headline "..Shoulda Stayed in Vegas." But TAC is not about panning movies. I am about seeing silver linings. And What Happens in Vegas is nice one in a cloud of recent rom-coms. Where most bickering and fighting in the movies usually grows tiresome quickly, Vegas finally has found the perfect balance between the hate and love of the love-hate relationship. There's an old saying that "no matter how much you hear cat's fight, there are always plenty of kittens." This could aptly applly to a movie that breaks alot of boundaries when it comes to Hollywood love matches. Of course, see for yourself.

Red Belt on the other hand takes a reverse course. Though not a romance or a comedy in any sense of the words, Mamet takes his players from polite, soft, caring "love" and eventually plunges them into chaos. The movie is about testing a man's honor and traditions of honor. Like any old "Ernest Goes To" movie this man is quickly duped in his naivette. But can the dark forces of evil really overcome good? Mamet is always the man to throw the monkey wrench in the communion service and his typical gang of actors grind the pot with glee. Not enough Rebecca Pidgeon though, if there is such a thing. Red Belt has plenty of action and fighting, but just the right amount to advance the story. And that is what the Mamet is all about. Typically, not enough people will go to see this movie, even if Hollywood would get wise and sell it as a typical kickfest. Then you'd have lots of people being taught lots of things about how a movie story should be told, all while they munch their popcorn and wait for the next fight.