32/50: Heat

This was the longest film that was on my 50 list and I couldn't really figure out why a heist film would be so long.

I knew a little about Heat before going into the film, but apparently I didn't know much. I went in thinking that Val Kilmer was the main villain and Robert De Niro and Al Pacino were the cops that were tasked in stopping him. But, I was a bit wrong.

Anyway, Pacino is Lt. Vincent Hanna, a man who is married to his job, which has sort of ruined his slew of marriages - and is currently interrupting his new marriage.

De Niro plays Neil McCauley, the leader of the crime wave that has hit Los Angeles. McCauley leads a crew of Chris Shiherlis (Kilmer), Michael Cheritto (Tom Sizemore) and Trejo (Danny Trejo).

McCauley is planning one last major heist - a bank job - so he can leave town and retire in New Zealand with his new girlfriend, Eady (Amy Brenneman). Hanna is right on the gangs tail the entire way and soon figures out where the heist is taking place - and heads off to stop it.

I have to admit, this film was amazing - though it could have been a bit better. The heist and gun fire was amazing, but it was not in the film as much as it should be. There was so much depth to this film and so much is going on. De Niro was great as the bad guy, and man Kilmer is amazing again.

I believe this film may have also been one of the last films where Pacino didn't play Pacino. He was actually acting and was great.

Also, nice of the writer or director to step out on a limb and give Trejo an amazing name in the film.

Anyway, despite the film needing a bit more action it was a great watch and I couldn't even tell that it was almost three hours long - which to me makes the film worth the watch.

Grade:

Married Siblings

So, I watched the latest episode of Private Practice yesterday and I was a little intrigued by one of the storylines.

For those of you who don't know, Private Practice is a spin-off of Grey's Anatomy. It follows Dr. Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) as she left Seattle Grace to join her best friend's private practice. The practice has a slew of different types of doctors, such as Dr. Cooper Freeman (Paul Adelstein) who is a pediatrician; Dr. Violet Turner (Amy Brennemen) a psychiatrist; Dr. Pete Wilder (Tim Daly) who specializes in different types of medicine. And they are all under the watchful eyes of Dr. Naomi Bennett (Audra McDonald) and Dr. Sam Bennett (Taye Diggs), a divorced couple who started the practice.

Anyway, back to the storyline at hand. In this particular episode a young couple wanted to have a child. They had been married five years and were having trouble getting pregnant. Apparently, they were both very shy in junior high until they found each other - and had been together ever since.

Dr. Montgomery and Dr. Naomi Bennett took the case and looked into reasonings behind why they were unable to get pregnant. After further investigation, it became not why they couldn't get pregnant - but why they shouldn't. Apparently, the happy couple just so happened to be brother and sister.

Not the typical type, however. These two were only related because each of their parents were unable to conceive so they looked for the help of a sperm donor - and both sets picked the exact same one.

Obviously, this is a lot to take - especially when you have devoted your life and are absolutely head over heels in love with this person.

The doctors of the practice were obviously on both sides of the fence on this one. In order to continue to be married, the wife opted to have her tubes tied, so she and her 'husband' could stay together, but wouldn't risk getting pregnant.

At the end of the episode, the 'husband' confessed that he had actually figured out they were brother and sister before they had gotten married - this led to the 'wife' getting completely grossed out because he had known before everything went as far as it did and didn't tell her.

Anyway, my question is simple. This could actually happen if people aren't careful - I mean it's a simple mistake that neither child knew they had been created due to sperm donation. What are your thoughts on the subject? Is it disgusting to continue to want to be married to the love of your life, after just finding out that you are actually related? What would you do? If you found out the love of your life was actually your brother/sister could you stay with them?

Very odd topic I know, but it truly got me thinking about what people would be able to do. It's a very rough situation to be in.