Cheap Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life) (Video) (Allison Anders) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life)

Echo Parque
My main motivation in seeing this movie was to better understand the reputation of Echo Park, a little area nestled next to downtown Los Angeles. I moved to Echo Park in late 2004. <
> <
>It's depressing - the vicious cycle of drugs, dropping-out, and domestic violence. And it's all here, told through the eyes of Latina teenagers. It was easy to see the woman's hand on the direction of the piece with the important roles that women played. <
> <
>I didn't care for the movie as a whole because it felt sluggish and uneven. I also found myself not caring about any of the characters. So-and-so gets shot, la la loo goes to jail. Whatever! <
> <
>As an aside, though, the evil neighborhood druglord was called Ernesto. It turns out my next-door neighbor in real-life is also called Ernesto. Luckily, it's just a coincidence.

unflinchingly realistic look at Latina gang life in Echo Park
When I first saw this film, some five years ago, it truly knocked the breath out of me. For the first time, director Allison Anders gives us a glimpse into Mexican-American gang life in East LA's Echo Park, from the female perspective, this time. In the past, we have seen our share of male experiences (example being Zoot Suit, written by the playwright Luis Valdez). For once, we see the gritty side of the gang life, as young Mexicanas (or Chicanas, depending on who you ask) struggle to stay alive, amidst rampant drug dealing, the violence of gang initiation and their relationships with men who are less than honorable to them. <
> <
>Mi Vida Loca is actually a trilogy of stories. (Mousie & Sad Girl, Lowrider and La Blue Eyes) The first is the story of a life long friendship between fellow gang members, Mousie (Seidy Lopez) and Sad Girl (Angel Aviles). These young women are best friends, until the day that Sad Girl sleeps with Mousie's boyfriend, Ernesto (Jacob Vargas), and becomes pregnant with his child. The world they knew before is ruptured, as is their lifelong connection as friends. The second story takes a glimpse in LowRider culture. This culture is perpetuated by, predominantly, young Chicanos who build their lives around re-finishing and airbrushing "low rider" cars (many, old school Chevies), complete with flashy airbrush images (example being voluptuous women and gang affiliations), trick tires and rims. This story is actually a wonderful example of modern magical realism, when the car takes on a life of its own. The third story is centered around La Blue Eyes, a beautiful BROWN-EYED woman who is writing to a convict, that she falls in love with through the exchange of letters. The question is, when they finally meet, will the sum of those letters even measure up to their encounter, or has the young woman ultimately been deceived, the whole time? <
> <
>I reccomend this film, if not for the fact that it is compelling, but that this is an important culture in society we should all learn something more about. A very important study in gang life, and how it evolves in a neighborhood that many only hear about on the evening news, but never get to know.