tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44957048235241220582024-02-21T02:03:54.009-06:00Enter the MoviesKylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459356722964144865noreply@blogger.comBlogger427125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495704823524122058.post-25732670687573831312024-02-12T10:04:00.000-06:002024-02-12T10:04:00.546-06:00Cloud Atlas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilPmaLU4xvXCrcEqE8BDT5z5ZwLmgNyvUCrtxGDZVP6wlh6Y4gw8ImdOIVoejbaZdftoznwgjIaXVja-wO1gNz97YNtPBSY_76b-D8KrW-rr0qerqi1JrLOP_ZGURqiP4RIPBCjVBd8gQy3UXD_xkJi1nXuEDh6g71JCX7vjkSDmlIL1zUvVxFzmeWhDI/s2048/cloud-atlas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1326" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilPmaLU4xvXCrcEqE8BDT5z5ZwLmgNyvUCrtxGDZVP6wlh6Y4gw8ImdOIVoejbaZdftoznwgjIaXVja-wO1gNz97YNtPBSY_76b-D8KrW-rr0qerqi1JrLOP_ZGURqiP4RIPBCjVBd8gQy3UXD_xkJi1nXuEDh6g71JCX7vjkSDmlIL1zUvVxFzmeWhDI/w414-h640/cloud-atlas.jpg" width="414" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Roger Ebert opened his review of Cloud Atlas by saying “Even as I was watching ‘Cloud Atlas’ the first time, I knew I would need to see it again. Now that I've seen it the second time, I know I'd like to see it a third time — but I no longer believe repeated viewings will solve anything.” He went on to talk about the mysteries of the movie, how it was tricky and enigmatic. I only kind of agree with him. When I first watched Cloud Atlas I was blown away by the ambition of the thing. While it’s certainly difficult to connect every strand of every story to each other, I am not particularly bothered to do such a thing, and so am not disturbed by unconnected strands. Like Ebert, I knew I was watching greatness the first time I watched this movie. At one point I thought how poetic and beautiful an ending a certain scene would make for the movie, even if it would leave lots of unanswered questions, only to check the time and realize I was almost squarely halfway through the movie’s nearly 3 hour runtime. I then got even more excited, because that told me there was so much more in store for my viewing pleasure.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLUMVp92c5Oe1tV-qFyjZCvJTwBX6xTaFnTz8SrobCNqI8Hy5Pu409njhJSRWp7GvO4hUMB5a1cs6PagpHWncTlE-P0klmVKICQh_5U587Po0jEXCwaZpVR3pVolYb_gQKaN_JQJ8oQnujJCD1QdO5cNgYd0byZ2x5WX6lg9qfPSbw_yuY0qA0omRVbdY/s474/cloud-atlas%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="474" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLUMVp92c5Oe1tV-qFyjZCvJTwBX6xTaFnTz8SrobCNqI8Hy5Pu409njhJSRWp7GvO4hUMB5a1cs6PagpHWncTlE-P0klmVKICQh_5U587Po0jEXCwaZpVR3pVolYb_gQKaN_JQJ8oQnujJCD1QdO5cNgYd0byZ2x5WX6lg9qfPSbw_yuY0qA0omRVbdY/w640-h460/cloud-atlas%203.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /> Cloud Atlas was a book written in 2004 by English author David Mitchell. Even Mitchell said the book was unfilmable. It’s a bit like a Russian doll, a bit like a mosaic. It contains six stories, each of which are experienced by their characters, and read or watched by characters in the other stories; through journals, love letters, movies, and more. How to even structure such a movie? The book doesn’t cross cut between the stories, instead splitting them up into two parts, one told in the first half of the book and the other in the second half. If you think of the stories as being numbers, the book is structured like this: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. You couldn’t structure a movie like that. Even in three hours that would mean the audience is still meeting new characters an hour and a half into the thing. And you wouldn’t want to split them up into a 6 part miniseries, as that would lose the impact of the interconnectivity of the story, the layered themes and repeating metaphors. So what to do? <br /> <br />The movie was written and directed by The Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer, who rapidly intercut the stories throughout the movie, to the point that it seems they are always in motion of telling each of the six stories. It was a bold choice. It’s hard enough telling one story well, but to try and tell six stories essentially simultaneously seems inviting failure to me. Instead it’s brought off beautifully thanks I’m sure in part to editor Alexander Berner, but I give the most credit to the directors. I’ve not seen much from Tom Tykwer, despite him having made many acclaimed movies. I was not much a fan of The Wachowskis before this. I thought Bound was okay, but I was one of the seemingly few left unimpressed by The Matrix movies, then hated Speed Racer. But here, I am overwhelmed by the filmmaking guts to even try making this movie the way they did, on the budget they did (roughly $130-150 million, though if you’d told me the budget was $400 million I would believe it). This is filmmaking, both on a technical and storytelling level, of the absolute highest possible order. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrV4cD1wbXlktocNHB2ehyAV-lywayy_QDZznY_9DW6zyK3kwiEthPwxZzHogSFcPCFlwJeSBUhAxI0ru4sw6VHc99SPLf_ME8p09G4wI9LX9fr3XLFU3enPORBS9IwVZRZHLu2-rnGtvXY8BeP0TKmnMEyTWZ6w6j3Je9vuovVDe9Q3ENOqo4SJ-cP6U/s1280/cloud-atlas%204.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrV4cD1wbXlktocNHB2ehyAV-lywayy_QDZznY_9DW6zyK3kwiEthPwxZzHogSFcPCFlwJeSBUhAxI0ru4sw6VHc99SPLf_ME8p09G4wI9LX9fr3XLFU3enPORBS9IwVZRZHLu2-rnGtvXY8BeP0TKmnMEyTWZ6w6j3Je9vuovVDe9Q3ENOqo4SJ-cP6U/w640-h360/cloud-atlas%204.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />I’ll attempt some plot description, to give myself a bit of structure here. The first of the stories (chronologically) concerns Adam Ewing (Jim Sturgess), an American lawyer in 1849 whom we follow as he meets a Dr. Henry Goose (Tom Hanks) and sets sail on a business deal for his father-in-law (Hugo Weaving). <br /><br />The next story is that of struggling young composer Robert Frobisher (Ben Whishaw), as he writes letters to his lover Rufus Sixsmith (James D’Arcy) detailing his working relationship with aging former genius composer Vyvyan Ayrs (Jim Broadbent). <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ_SjB8S9Ga4xRIsaWEJWAxRpCPxJzSuLgHmxWRSfPt3Vqa4jCau46QzsKsMRyP3lJNphmtO7wbRYa1mdaZctSTB2d8XwWjngmPZqE6reGbgKOv3CCPaGZI9Fp5qHT0Vp09iJAJkiFRgaNThEQZc8kGLbEpIEstnfF53vet53Yk-GMRPSyN6a7lCuPZHI/s1200/cloud-atlas%207.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ_SjB8S9Ga4xRIsaWEJWAxRpCPxJzSuLgHmxWRSfPt3Vqa4jCau46QzsKsMRyP3lJNphmtO7wbRYa1mdaZctSTB2d8XwWjngmPZqE6reGbgKOv3CCPaGZI9Fp5qHT0Vp09iJAJkiFRgaNThEQZc8kGLbEpIEstnfF53vet53Yk-GMRPSyN6a7lCuPZHI/w640-h360/cloud-atlas%207.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />The third of the stories concerns journalist Luisa Rey (Halle Berry) as she works to uncover a scandal involving energy companies fighting for the future of energy in 1973 San Francisco. She’s aided by a much older Sixsmith, who works for the energy company, as well as by Isaac Sachs (Tom Hanks again), while being pursued by a hitman hired by the company (Hugo Weaving again).<br /> <br />The fourth is a modern day story, set in 2012 (when the movie came out) London. Book publisher Timothy Cavendish (Jim Broadbent again) makes a lot of money off of a memoir by gangster Dermot Hoggins (Tom Hanks again), but doesn’t pay the Hoggins family their cut of the profits and instead tries to take a loan out from his brother Denholme (Hugh Grant), who tricks Cavendish into committing himself to a high security nursing home run by the evil Nurse Noakes (Hugo Weaving again), in retaliation for Cavendish’s affair with his wife Georgette (Ben Whishaw again). <br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3zVOIuZrGLgKO1Wrfeg0SKxj1RLlZ6ojuLkgCwRP_t9MrMAQlfRbX6bAAkMrx7dRKJCDs-Z4JapNGZDrCJYrKOKmBAUa4w4W4Z3-wpcZFIkmR8TgPlHYeYBuDEOk0B4b0N8JEVopmhJ6ljsL7F85urZd3IsmlZx5W-e0uykViAIc3qje1S4CIw1Z38xk/s1280/cloud-atlas%206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3zVOIuZrGLgKO1Wrfeg0SKxj1RLlZ6ojuLkgCwRP_t9MrMAQlfRbX6bAAkMrx7dRKJCDs-Z4JapNGZDrCJYrKOKmBAUa4w4W4Z3-wpcZFIkmR8TgPlHYeYBuDEOk0B4b0N8JEVopmhJ6ljsL7F85urZd3IsmlZx5W-e0uykViAIc3qje1S4CIw1Z38xk/w640-h360/cloud-atlas%206.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />The fifth story, probably my favorite, takes place in the year 2144 in Neo Seoul. Sonmi-451 (undoubtedly a reference to Fahrenheit 451, one of the great works of dystopian science fiction), played by the tremendously talented Korean actress Doona Bae, is a “fabricant”, a clone used for menial labor as a fast food server. Her friend Yoona-939 (Zhou Xun) disobeys orders one day and is murdered. Sonmi is then approached by Hae-Joo Chang (Jim Sturgess again), who tells her he thinks she can change the world and wants to help. <br /> <br />The final story is that of Zachry (Tom Hanks again), a poor superstitious tribesman living in a valley in the year 2321, “after the fall.” The valley is visited by Meronym (Halle Berry again), a woman who comes using advanced technology left over from before the “old uns” died off. Zachry must fight against a cannibalistic tribe (led by an unrecognizable Hugh Grant, again), as well as the devilish figure that keeps appearing to him that Zachry calls Old Georgie (Hugo Weaving again), who whispers all the dark thoughts into his ear that he may or may not act on. <br /><br /> So you can see that any one of those could’ve made for a fascinating movie on their own. But what ties the stories together are repeated themes of authoritarian power being exerted over people and the revolutionaries who fight back in various ways, slavery, oppression, double crosses, collective memory, dreams, longing for love and connection, the power of love to overcome almost anything, including time and space. And so much more. This is a movie rich with everything you could want in a work of art. I’ve seen it three or four times now and notice new things, feel new things, every time. There is a recurring birthmark on the main character of each story. What does it mean? I’ve always assumed that it marked the same soul, so that although nearly every actor shows up in every story, they’re not playing the same character, or even the same soul. But you could also take the view that it’s a simple visual way of tying things together a bit. If you’re a person who thinks the actors are playing the same characters throughout each story, then that would point to how if we are reincarnated that we may be a villain in this life, a senator another time, a slave in another, a hero in a different story. I think Cloud Atlas works in each of those readings. <br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYJjUpmMoeZanaUg2L-RWiiVHsVsCRgp89zmsk4XhiGfmUk3WdinJ6JQWUvL8sM10rePf_MKMEQkXI0kWegSj2vcfp55wt0-ys95IvSO21rEhkoHjmPvQZOAlYcVRtqxv1aFu-83XN3xWwLcP9HAvQlHC3aJyswhJ2KwvAKuLDKYPL-c2GH-B5DgU9wCo/s610/cloud-atlas%208.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="610" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYJjUpmMoeZanaUg2L-RWiiVHsVsCRgp89zmsk4XhiGfmUk3WdinJ6JQWUvL8sM10rePf_MKMEQkXI0kWegSj2vcfp55wt0-ys95IvSO21rEhkoHjmPvQZOAlYcVRtqxv1aFu-83XN3xWwLcP9HAvQlHC3aJyswhJ2KwvAKuLDKYPL-c2GH-B5DgU9wCo/w640-h272/cloud-atlas%208.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />The actors are universally phenomenal in their many roles. The makeup, hair, and costuming that helps them transform in each story is some of the best I’ve ever seen. Sometimes it’s obvious who’s under the makeup, and honestly even with that praise I gave, the makeup can be distracting sometimes but I still roll with it. The movie got into a bit of controversy when it came out, namely the use of “yellow face” to have white actor Jim Sturgess play the future Asian man Hae-Joo. I am sensitive to the plights of Asian representation on screen and the dangers of the historic use of yellow face, black face, brown face, and other ways any number of racial groups have been ridiculed, put down, and more. Here though, I think the criticism is completely off base. First of all, the makeup is not used to turn anyone into a hateful stereotype. Yes, Jim Sturgess as well as Hugo Weaving, James D’Arcy, and Keith David play Asian characters. But what about everyone else? Doona Bae plays her normal Asian self, as well as a Mexican woman in one story and a white woman in another. Halle Berry plays a slave, a white Jewish woman, her normal looking self, and a male Asian doctor in Neo Seoul. Ben Whishaw plays a woman in one story. Hugo Weaving plays a white man, a white woman, an Asian man, and a green skinned demon. Zhou Xun plays a fabricant Asian woman, as well as Tom Hanks’s sister in the far future. So many actors play across races and even genders, and with reason, I think. David Mitchell has said that the book is about reincarnation and the universality of human nature, with the title referencing a changing landscape (the clouds) over manifestations of fixed human nature (the atlas). It’s not just a weird fun thing to do to have these actors play all kinds of dress up, it’s for the thematic purpose of the movie. To show how connected we all are, no matter what we look like on the outside. I would hate for anyone to have been offended by this movie, but I feel their outrage might’ve been misguided here. <br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8k8I4qjQgtlfj2RXE9Gi5n6nuxvQxhgrWJfiMhBCN7VSfEhILhPgFwsOZApg9zsVGSO9BgFpQQYbEAsP_b5jObWNM6ctWWAKzJLSKNXDAXg1xLFjdouRnj5OBvuwZDC9lVl_i5eKgRFzAlhkOi1P65rDSmf9qVQUdku66aahJ6p1Lo_DPpN0oOLNSRAM/s1000/cloud-atlas%205.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="1000" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8k8I4qjQgtlfj2RXE9Gi5n6nuxvQxhgrWJfiMhBCN7VSfEhILhPgFwsOZApg9zsVGSO9BgFpQQYbEAsP_b5jObWNM6ctWWAKzJLSKNXDAXg1xLFjdouRnj5OBvuwZDC9lVl_i5eKgRFzAlhkOi1P65rDSmf9qVQUdku66aahJ6p1Lo_DPpN0oOLNSRAM/w640-h336/cloud-atlas%205.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />Another criticism I’ve seen of the movie, more like a ridiculing really, is the dialog in the far future story. It’s stylized pidgin English with a lot of slang. People will sometimes laugh at Hanks and Berry talking about “the true-true”, but I don’t see why. The dialog is stylized in each of the stories, even if it is the most noticeably different in that section. This is supposed to be “after the fall”, these people are not us, they weren’t raised in our society with our language. They would talk differently. It may be distracting, and I would even encourage people to put the subtitles on for the movie, as I found it helped me keep up with the conversations easier, but I don’t see it as laughable. It feels like the true-true to me. <br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-aTQz2tPhvD0FL4N2fUqVSJLmBBOPxuSLYp2s-PncQXt2vHvJNVO7bPV_HJjsSFr0aoN2F6fXsmGL0pyFff2vMF6JDPPcXgTF41K6Zo1O7ScrVjTgj5NSt8pecCKjSeaXR5PV5Qpka21X1Ppo-u8hmmax_3AmGWggbeN4mSpL3w6wpNgphG-Ai4VMkZI/s1269/cloud-atlas%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="1269" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-aTQz2tPhvD0FL4N2fUqVSJLmBBOPxuSLYp2s-PncQXt2vHvJNVO7bPV_HJjsSFr0aoN2F6fXsmGL0pyFff2vMF6JDPPcXgTF41K6Zo1O7ScrVjTgj5NSt8pecCKjSeaXR5PV5Qpka21X1Ppo-u8hmmax_3AmGWggbeN4mSpL3w6wpNgphG-Ai4VMkZI/w640-h472/cloud-atlas%202.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />Cloud Atlas was a polarizing movie for both critics and audiences. It didn’t even make back its budget at the box office (where conventional wisdom says you need to double your budget to cover marketing and other costs before you start making money). While it was loved by some critics like Ebert, who gave it 4/4 stars, others like Mark Kermode called it "an extremely honourable failure, but a failure", some were even harsher, as both The Village Voice and Time Magazine named it the worst movie of 2012. In my book Cloud Atlas is not just a great movie, but one of the greatest of all movies. I have previously placed it as my #28 movie, when I sat down to create a top 50 movies of all time list, but I think now that that is far too low. I don’t know where I would place it after staying up until 2 in the morning to watch it again last night, but I’d place it much higher. Other movies should aspire to this level of complexity, humor, acting, heart, and impeccable filmmaking craft. And although it is widely known for a variety of reasons, I felt like I needed to add Cloud Atlas here to my list of Hidden Gems, to maybe give it some more of the endless love it deserves.
Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459356722964144865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495704823524122058.post-69682806444415340292024-02-08T13:05:00.005-06:002024-02-09T22:00:22.194-06:00Magnolia<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiACEsb34S3qLkPSnN-8e6YhkzNMu-5OSFZyeflKcPnkTdiEQIAUtrKmgB4B-NjWeUyyF6EvGPHwoAvPW7zlhw8EXTL8vNeyMMOnETZC8vtn0o2lquF0q9otAaYfgH3sVDe22XdEOV_dmGlZPzSwvVmHoPk8e6aUWD8Jx0iP1aZIrGsCsZ_jHiAqM3OSGk/s1200/Magnolia%201.jpg"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiACEsb34S3qLkPSnN-8e6YhkzNMu-5OSFZyeflKcPnkTdiEQIAUtrKmgB4B-NjWeUyyF6EvGPHwoAvPW7zlhw8EXTL8vNeyMMOnETZC8vtn0o2lquF0q9otAaYfgH3sVDe22XdEOV_dmGlZPzSwvVmHoPk8e6aUWD8Jx0iP1aZIrGsCsZ_jHiAqM3OSGk/w336-h640/Magnolia%201.jpg" width="336" /></a><div><br /></div><div>Okay, I finally did it. I’ve been telling myself for a good 10-15 years that I was going to go back and do a proper write up on one of my least favorite movies ever made, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia. Over the years I have had people ask me what I hate about the movie so much and for 10-15 years I've said that I needed to rewatch the movie to give it a proper write up to explain my feelings. This is the movie that I get the most reaction from hating. I guess people can understand my hatred for Southland Tales or Pink Flamingos or Moulin Rouge, but they always express surprise that I hate Magnolia. “It’s a masterpiece!” they insist. Well it recently was made available for streaming on Netflix, so I told myself that now was the time. But I had to go into it while being in the headspace of giving it a fair shot, not going in looking for more things to hate about it. Last night was the night. Here are my thoughts on Magnolia, edited and occasionally expanded from the roughly 1500 words of notes I took while watching the movie, this is more of my watch-along comments than my more standard "review" format, so if you're unfamiliar with the movie, this is unlikely to make sense:<div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieFW6uTfYzjWX155NFsllgUHVvbeAbzhzeOJ5rxfsyVlqtXreaKXybWCWwAeUEyQSh2tYEyS2h56ZXXs9oUOEX4IgpLeJbup1rBA336GNx0RygqNfi_z1raRdfO7qxe_Ye6B8zg4JaHIES-sOfqg1kI6IS0X06Ggy730JRLwGeEs-rvgBrnWDc3QLtkb4/s1000/Magnolia%203.jpg"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieFW6uTfYzjWX155NFsllgUHVvbeAbzhzeOJ5rxfsyVlqtXreaKXybWCWwAeUEyQSh2tYEyS2h56ZXXs9oUOEX4IgpLeJbup1rBA336GNx0RygqNfi_z1raRdfO7qxe_Ye6B8zg4JaHIES-sOfqg1kI6IS0X06Ggy730JRLwGeEs-rvgBrnWDc3QLtkb4/w430-h640/Magnolia%203.jpg" width="430" /></a><br /><br />What’s with the opening freneticism? After the prologue about weird deaths (hey, it’s Patton Oswalt, yay!) the camera is zooming and panning and the editing is quick cutting like Michael Bay on a meth bender. PTA is doing a decent job of laying out that this is a big sprawling LA canvas, but unlike the way that (for example) the Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer cross cut and layout so many stories at the beginning of Cloud Atlas, which has a control to it that makes me feel like I’m in good hands, this feels like Robert Altman directing the final coked out sequence of Goodfellas on fast forward.<div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkwhVa3s-6f_cdiI3Nj6uJXzv0GcJ5NnSmP-VmDifQy5fHiUOK6bThD3XkcwkuWYC_BGmmndHTIwQlKg0f0m2y4JRlxUrUv2MvcuIPFBjgEImKyk9-KTYZcJCOpgqE3qdkSrMwn4qPgUQTo2bihwM6L0NsdIUqf0UH8kPdZSlUesK-76-J9EJwDNKCc6Y/s474/Magnolia%2010.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkwhVa3s-6f_cdiI3Nj6uJXzv0GcJ5NnSmP-VmDifQy5fHiUOK6bThD3XkcwkuWYC_BGmmndHTIwQlKg0f0m2y4JRlxUrUv2MvcuIPFBjgEImKyk9-KTYZcJCOpgqE3qdkSrMwn4qPgUQTo2bihwM6L0NsdIUqf0UH8kPdZSlUesK-76-J9EJwDNKCc6Y/w640-h360/Magnolia%2010.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />John C. Reilly is really good. It has been so many years of Reilly as Dewey Cox or Cal Naughton that I forgot about the fact that Reilly can also hold the screen with a great mixture of drama and comedy. This early scene of him checking out the crazy lady's apartment and finding the body in the closet isn’t tense like it would be in most movies, but almost comedic, and Reilly carries it well. The scene would be a nice setup for a story about his character, but this storyline is pretty much dropped outside of a very quick scene later on. It’s obviously something Anderson cut down from an earlier version, but it’s cut down to feeling out of place at this point.<div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1zUndKgGhovrYIQz2DqMave4lNmbZ30oY8GSdB6Dat186yZ0165KwvGi-ZaWDpGZdtiHpqRJB9ZoSk6fv1W56bZtO9-ME7m7M39BA_5GH665oY1OgKuI32y8gp4VlBTZ4BAQVT2-BY-fO3IPAn9Bm8jxNy_QjlcGurxyMgmVwtB0FPNzc2pnulKrUsjA/s1200/Magnolia%202.jpg"><img border="0" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1zUndKgGhovrYIQz2DqMave4lNmbZ30oY8GSdB6Dat186yZ0165KwvGi-ZaWDpGZdtiHpqRJB9ZoSk6fv1W56bZtO9-ME7m7M39BA_5GH665oY1OgKuI32y8gp4VlBTZ4BAQVT2-BY-fO3IPAn9Bm8jxNy_QjlcGurxyMgmVwtB0FPNzc2pnulKrUsjA/w640-h418/Magnolia%202.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>What’s with the rapping kid? That was worthless. And he later shows up to find Julianne Moore half dead in her car and raps again. This adds nothing. This is the kind of crap I’m sure PTA was referring to in an interview with Marc Maron when he said he’d “cut the shit” out of the movie if he made it today.<br /><br />This storyline with Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jason Robards is terrific. Both are wonderful and even though the writing is just okay, they have great chemistry and sell the shit out of it. It’s nice to see Hoffman downplay something too. He’s among my top 5 or so favorite actors ever, but this kind of subtle empathy was not always something he looked to play in a character.<br /><br />Everyone is playing to the back row. Everyone is over-the-top. Everyone is ACTING. Hoffman is the only one that isn’t, and his performance has been the most intriguing to me so far because of it.<br /><br />Terrific single take shot through the TV studio as Stanley is arriving.<br /><br />Tom Cruise is killing it here. Unlike many in the movie, he has an actual character. The way he preaches this misogynistic bullshit, but when the female interviewer takes control, he dutifully obeys her. It’s all show. He is jittery and anxious in his energy and her stillness easily overpowers him. I could watch a whole movie about this character and watch his interactions with people versus his stage persona.<br /><br />William H. Macy’s character is bizarre. He’s given all of this backstory, all of the character creation points are hit, and Macy is (like Julianne Moore) acting very hard, making sure everyone in the theater sees every little emotion. It’s honestly not very good acting, but I still blame the filmmaker and not the actor here. Macy is really trying, but this character doesn’t elevate to the point of feeling real. I don’t get Henry Gibsons character either. He speaks in riddles and annoys Macy’s character but to what end?<br /><br />About 80 minutes in and the storytelling feels like Anderson’s ambition is bigger than his talent. He is not balancing these stories very well, I don’t think. The movie feels very choppy.<div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS09J2rRlcYwV3LdshggIZ60AJyveaYMJHhnFlHG5fFA-0YCF4cWFfMU1rdCEKEyicNihdoLkKVHEvckuqsiWdBgfyrAjx_XE2YLsMi55SQNLba-i8HaOocP6xJmuEgdH4DHYppICT9GQjvNvh-mOOXk5OpillUWTexS8L9tT0j69aLo-tuXPrL8lh0nA/s474/Magnolia%204.jpg"><img border="0" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS09J2rRlcYwV3LdshggIZ60AJyveaYMJHhnFlHG5fFA-0YCF4cWFfMU1rdCEKEyicNihdoLkKVHEvckuqsiWdBgfyrAjx_XE2YLsMi55SQNLba-i8HaOocP6xJmuEgdH4DHYppICT9GQjvNvh-mOOXk5OpillUWTexS8L9tT0j69aLo-tuXPrL8lh0nA/w640-h418/Magnolia%204.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />When we come back to the Cruise interview, it’s obvious that this is the best thing in the movie. Cruise becomes jittery again when she brings up his parents. He tells what feels like obvious lies about his mother and averts his eyes and tries to change the subject around his dad. This is truly top level acting by Cruise. The cat and mouse thing with the interviewer, who’s catching him in so many lies, it’s fascinating. It should’ve been its own movie. Seriously every time we cut back to Cruise is just makes the rest of the movie worse in comparison. THIS is the movie. This is the character that is more than just a sketch, this is the character who is deeper than what we see and hear, this is the character that could sustain its own movie. The rest of these people are nothing. Paper thin ghosts of smoke. I’m halfway through the movie and of all the pieces of it, this is the only one I’m intrigued by. I like Hoffman and what he’s doing, and his piece is deepened by Cruise, but Cruise is the show here.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYv-tMgdN_qqRrYWlwVOXille2-CFVvuKiNJv486OdX8EklP_w130XhyniYeSOk5cIEOTHQkIxr1UgbpKxEMAhc8LwAJ0t_AXjax786TUujuBDN_wBGJMNKudIOXjBNRaLRZlJUrn7zgJbV2llglIMKwiA1Uu3iWJ3qpH7McE1XPMa6QJq2cyHnQ9MXqk/s800/Magnolia%205.jpg"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYv-tMgdN_qqRrYWlwVOXille2-CFVvuKiNJv486OdX8EklP_w130XhyniYeSOk5cIEOTHQkIxr1UgbpKxEMAhc8LwAJ0t_AXjax786TUujuBDN_wBGJMNKudIOXjBNRaLRZlJUrn7zgJbV2llglIMKwiA1Uu3iWJ3qpH7McE1XPMa6QJq2cyHnQ9MXqk/w640-h424/Magnolia%205.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><div>Julianne Moore is giving a satire of a “hysterical woman falling apart” performance. This doesn’t even seem grounded in any reality. It’s…surreal. Immediately the scene after, Phil Hoffman says what’s happening is like a scene in a movie but maybe those scenes happen because they’re real. This is starting to feel like a parody.<br /><br />The fucking insistent music in the background, it’s obnoxious and becomes like white noise eventually. It’s not there to serve any purpose, it almost feels like it’s there to cover for the thinness of the characters, but it doesn’t.<div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9gfW3zwDKc1-lDJsYM2VWcDbmr5sNBINyvgvLxFE9V8glJT2V5ZqqZUlXWWB8GNBfGVPpjzLqqg3QqGHVKoiz1YrKG6l95TH4JEDAMSj5BpRVPpFlnQMMyBrejmPDlqLYDKf94bCzxeYwWDSo0khSxbpnnD7x5WrQrkcnuNIgSJIdT0xg_qi9sH26tMg/s540/Magnolia%206.jpg"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9gfW3zwDKc1-lDJsYM2VWcDbmr5sNBINyvgvLxFE9V8glJT2V5ZqqZUlXWWB8GNBfGVPpjzLqqg3QqGHVKoiz1YrKG6l95TH4JEDAMSj5BpRVPpFlnQMMyBrejmPDlqLYDKf94bCzxeYwWDSo0khSxbpnnD7x5WrQrkcnuNIgSJIdT0xg_qi9sH26tMg/w640-h320/Magnolia%206.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><div>Julianne Moore’s performance is absolutely comical and she’s an actress I normally love. I recently rewatched Hot Rod, and much of Moore’s performance feels like the kind of thing Will Arnett is parodying in his “no babe, babe no, babe!” scene.<br /><br />Reilly: what is the deal with his character? He seems to have things together when this all started, bit awkward and obviously lonely, but then all of the sudden he’s struck by a pretty girl and doesn’t notice that she’s sweating profusely? That she’s obviously on drugs? That the coffee she gave him is awful because it’s probably sat out for weeks? I don’t get it. It doesn’t ring true to me, even though Reilly is selling it. This is another instance where I give the actor a pass but not the writer.<br /><br />What’s with Stanley wanting to stay in the game after he pees his pants but then refusing to play the game? Doesn’t make sense. And then giving some big speech about how oppressing being the smart kid is? The whole kid's thing doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t work at all.<br /><br />And now Reilly is getting shot at? And loses his gun? The movie is 190 minutes, but we don’t even see him lose his gun? We can’t have a 2 second little insert shot of Reilly losing the gun, it’s just all of the sudden he doesn’t have it? What is this? This doesn’t fit. It doesn’t make sense. It’s sloppy as hell.<br /><br />Phil Hoffman was brilliant. While Julianne Moore is overacting all over the place, he’s centered and grounded and real. It’s terrific work from him. If it wasn’t for Cruise, I would say he’s the one doing anything to save this movie.<br /><br />So, we have two stories of dying old men and their estranged kids. Do these stories inform each other? Do they contrast each other? Why do we have "two old men dying with estranged kids" stories here? Is either one saying something that the other couldn’t? I think if you’re going to have two storylines where characters are going through the same thing, there should be a reason. Contrast or parallel storytelling makes sense, but I can’t help but feel like one of these is superfluous thematically.<div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg964__cy5c-U08zFczpYMrtsnLSAdqqV_pjnVKtxW7kgwN70I0LAvCE3v2xd3nV-aSY5VSP1Tp4wzrlq79xn50mv154JdNUJrwidX7cIf2AimTiyNHID_ZkCDE-l14y7oAYgfFVjZkvol1Udk-NM-U_DKcMKXfL_z81Elxci0zQkDuEDorhuljsH30Y38/s2000/Magnolia%207.jpg"><img border="0" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg964__cy5c-U08zFczpYMrtsnLSAdqqV_pjnVKtxW7kgwN70I0LAvCE3v2xd3nV-aSY5VSP1Tp4wzrlq79xn50mv154JdNUJrwidX7cIf2AimTiyNHID_ZkCDE-l14y7oAYgfFVjZkvol1Udk-NM-U_DKcMKXfL_z81Elxci0zQkDuEDorhuljsH30Y38/w640-h420/Magnolia%207.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>The “Wise Up” sequence can only be made by someone of immense talent and gigantic artistic balls. I admire the hell out of the gall to create this sequence. The earnestness of it, it’s a sight to behold. But it doesn’t work. It’s laughable and somehow feels sophomoric, despite knowing the risk it is to make it.<br /><br />Reilly and Walters’s date, I find myself caring just from the inherent structure of it. It’s like how rom-coms just work without earning it. Even as I watch Walters hyperventilating and sweating and seemingly always on the verge of tears, I root for these two. Reilly and Walters are both terrific in the scene.<br /><br />Every time it cuts away from Cruise, I hate the story it’s cutting to just a little bit more.<br /><br />And now the fucking frogs. PTA has the nerve to zoom in to the words “but it did happen” as its fucking raining fucking frogs. Out loud, when that happened, I said “fuck you” to the movie.<br /><br />“This is something that happens” uh no it’s fucking not. Yes, I know that technically similar things have happened, but I question anyone in this movie treating it as though it’s something that happens. None of the stories from the prologue would you look at while they’re happening and say “this is something that happens.” Fuck you with every fiber of my being. Only Hoffman’s character says incredulously “there’s frogs raining from the sky”. That’s close to a believable reaction.<div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_CLAZILI9e_lHFMe7ju5nqdzdBPhBxQWOVVvE-pEVxak0WZtyPn1jeVpRF92W9PImqg-2cc6cH7WKRe1GoDAgtixpVHkhdH_MJtZ9UNIW6ta_yn9xUrjPKFLSh2MhSQ3foDumJWok_Pi5NVsIfn-ojVEfkJS3K2C-L258dKfW7LvcbPJnE2Ho8Nkhj90/s900/Magnolia%208.jpg"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_CLAZILI9e_lHFMe7ju5nqdzdBPhBxQWOVVvE-pEVxak0WZtyPn1jeVpRF92W9PImqg-2cc6cH7WKRe1GoDAgtixpVHkhdH_MJtZ9UNIW6ta_yn9xUrjPKFLSh2MhSQ3foDumJWok_Pi5NVsIfn-ojVEfkJS3K2C-L258dKfW7LvcbPJnE2Ho8Nkhj90/w640-h266/Magnolia%208.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>And this all happens during a scene of Cruise’s character's culmination where he lets his vulnerability out, his anger, his rage, his grief of losing his father and mother at the same time but only being able to say goodbye to his mother, everything. It’s tremendous. And Robards has a moment of clarity and he and Cruise look into each other’s eyes, Robards tries to speak but nothing comes out and he dies. It’s an absolutely extraordinary moment in the middle of the “fuck you” of an ending. What a movie this would’ve been had it just been Cruise’s movie and the story of Hoffman trying to contact the dying man’s estranged son. But sadly, that’s not the movie we got.<br /><br />And then there’s Robards’s dead dog? Did it die from the pills Hoffman dropped earlier? Did it get hit in the head by a goddamn frog? We don’t get to see. Again, there’s all this time wasted on shit that doesn’t matter like the rapping kid or the lady who killed the guy in the closet, but we can’t get a connecting couple of seconds to let us know why there’s a dog being taken out by hospice workers? Pretty sure hospice would tell you to fuck off and take care of your own dead dog anyway.<br /><br />Stanley saying “You have to be nicer to me dad.” Fuck off kid. This isn’t even motivated, you all of the sudden standing up for yourself. So much of the denouement for these characters is just totally unearned and feels false.<br /><br />Everyone acting like the frogs were a fucking answer. Fuck you. Fuck this movie. Nobody is saying “did motherfucking frogs just rain from the goddamn sky?” Everyone is just like “ya know, it makes you think and reflect on your life.” No one even addresses like “holy shit what is happening? Is this the fucking rapture or some shit?” And then Reilly’s gun falls out of the sky 20 feet in front of him? Fuck off movie. Fuck you. Get fucked.<div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3i5-QLtjvozA2xJOJW4GxA8LN78nwrcgUiNlxiWtq19gKVtPPxfilTTAY6kIAELo-L1Plos8rqQAUYuQic4Fpm5MZZJ4Xvm4vDbs4P3wjWzHbedWB5CTaV0549TFvoZuDVIC5JX_Sak1kRW4SZLxyD5jvvkEs5ug1NDfid-ugPuwrZRSmAMmaU-_EXZg/s1600/Magnolia%209.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3i5-QLtjvozA2xJOJW4GxA8LN78nwrcgUiNlxiWtq19gKVtPPxfilTTAY6kIAELo-L1Plos8rqQAUYuQic4Fpm5MZZJ4Xvm4vDbs4P3wjWzHbedWB5CTaV0549TFvoZuDVIC5JX_Sak1kRW4SZLxyD5jvvkEs5ug1NDfid-ugPuwrZRSmAMmaU-_EXZg/w640-h360/Magnolia%209.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>So even going into this thing with an open mind, even with how much I loved Cruise and Hoffman and wish that that was its own movie, I hate this movie. I have never felt offended by a movie the way I did this one. I may hate other movies but only the condescension of Michael Haneke’s Funny Games has offended me, and that pales in comparison to what this movie does. I was physically shaking I was so angry at this movie. I will be sticking with my 1/10 rating, angry that Cruise and Hoffman were wasted, angry that PTA expected me to accept raining frogs as an answer to anything, but I’m not angry that I wasted 3+ hours of my time on this garbage because at least I came out of it with this write up. I apologize for the messiness, length, and disjointed nature of the write up, but it feels fitting for this movie.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459356722964144865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495704823524122058.post-78018744532824645892024-02-08T12:52:00.010-06:002024-02-08T12:52:44.682-06:00The Irishman<div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw7bzy3nwPvs_BTvZAw7yIuUUQYfsJa8kS21uNCcGqy6T1uUQJno2mqIcNz1EovjsHBkZH39J4OVyqeHsyBEhVaPVLZz4MDIOQKu9mfrZ6zF0WGcyFQGGNOPeoysac-zbXumut18XrX522lWUV090JKNPfFcReRMH0pWOk9qp8ncCBtJVUKnPUJsFXCcc/s1920/Irishman%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw7bzy3nwPvs_BTvZAw7yIuUUQYfsJa8kS21uNCcGqy6T1uUQJno2mqIcNz1EovjsHBkZH39J4OVyqeHsyBEhVaPVLZz4MDIOQKu9mfrZ6zF0WGcyFQGGNOPeoysac-zbXumut18XrX522lWUV090JKNPfFcReRMH0pWOk9qp8ncCBtJVUKnPUJsFXCcc/w400-h225/Irishman%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman is a movie that I wasn’t looking forward to. Despite Scorsese being my favorite living filmmaker, and his previous movie (2016’s Silence) being one of his best, the lead up press going into the production of this movie did not get me excited. There was much made about who was going to be in it: Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci coming back to collaborate with Scorsese for the first time since 1995’s Casino, Harvey Keitel coming back to Scorsese for their sixth movie together and the first since Last Temptation of Christ in 1988, Al Pacino working with Scorsese for the first time, Scorsese’s Gangs of New York co-writer Steve Zaillian writing the script from the book I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt. And a lot of talk of how this was Scorsese back with another mob movie, the genre he’s most associated with despite it only being about 5 out of 40 movies he’s made. It all had a feeling of “let’s get the band back together before we all die (De Niro is the youngest of the group, having just turned 76) despite us not being able to make great music anymore.” Scorsese has been doing great work his whole career but when was the last time De Niro was great? Jackie Brown, I guess? That was 1997. Pacino? He’s been all over the place the last couple decades and even when he’s been great the movies usually aren’t as good as him. And he’s been terrible in terrible movies as well. Pesci has been retired. I didn’t realize that Keitel wasn’t, I just haven’t seen him in a while. There were reports that the budget of the movie ballooned due to the de-aging technology Scorsese was employing to make the actors look younger (makeup wasn’t gonna cut it). The announced runtime was three and a half hours. The movie just had a cloud of “potential disaster” hanging over it to me. It was a weird feeling that everyone seemed to be excited about this project except for me, the big Scorsese fan. I just had a bad feeling about it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg60cnJrDfi0RFl-oz586RF-OPfQ3mxjIgw23tiExhYTInT2zzvX_uMsUFFYOMsqq_zJk9tHkkZGef5nI-7N3ZcUJw3IjMNbSOQj3r9PmwEAZbBk-ou3kDoGkgeLrUNyfJvRpbuw2iG3XNHAF9KapXMx8JloCS91m-ivfM9ZdsCTMKmcfVPC4AdIvgJ_Cw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="213" data-original-width="320" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg60cnJrDfi0RFl-oz586RF-OPfQ3mxjIgw23tiExhYTInT2zzvX_uMsUFFYOMsqq_zJk9tHkkZGef5nI-7N3ZcUJw3IjMNbSOQj3r9PmwEAZbBk-ou3kDoGkgeLrUNyfJvRpbuw2iG3XNHAF9KapXMx8JloCS91m-ivfM9ZdsCTMKmcfVPC4AdIvgJ_Cw=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><br />I’m happy to say I was shown pretty quickly that I needn’t have worried. The 3.5 hours flies by in a really delightfully wonderful way. Scorsese, the one of the group with the best track record, was the one in charge here and he’s still at the top of his game even at the age of 77. The Irishman follows the career and life of Frank Sheeran (De Niro) as he gets involved with mobsters like Russell Bufalino (Pesci) and eventually with legendary Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino). Sheeran becomes a confidant, driver, muscle, and hit man for both men. He also sometimes has to play peacemaker between the hot headed Hoffa, and the quieter, more controlled and diplomatic Russell. And although a lot happens plot wise, most of the movie hinges on those three actors acting those parts.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg3rk1fySXMSbqqsl29tpGgYTvxbDvuDjZCrt-BqZ_upvSlmwPSHAVV1cvyfc0gch1IHAC8pxXKUs5HBvcg4ujCWJzjec7M1EYHGNgCwDQDIrI5Q5kix32Pv6qfMcR6niGHHb5SdtQOhLRcZWFTi2taCVhVCeWxAvya33SY90HTiX5bWSZRDkogR9bHYvg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="213" data-original-width="320" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg3rk1fySXMSbqqsl29tpGgYTvxbDvuDjZCrt-BqZ_upvSlmwPSHAVV1cvyfc0gch1IHAC8pxXKUs5HBvcg4ujCWJzjec7M1EYHGNgCwDQDIrI5Q5kix32Pv6qfMcR6niGHHb5SdtQOhLRcZWFTi2taCVhVCeWxAvya33SY90HTiX5bWSZRDkogR9bHYvg=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><br />Pacino is right at home in the role of the loud mouthed Hoffa. Hoffa loved hamming it up and being the person everyone in the room had their eyes on. But even though Pacino has become known for his big outbursts and over the top performances, he’s always been more interesting in his quieter moments. He’s got both here. Hoffa lets down his guard around Frank, we see the firebrand out in public and the loving husband and father he was at home, and Pacino is infinitely watchable in all of his moments. It’s a terrific performance and definitely one of Pacino’s late career highlights.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj0rNpqIIkidOuuaKqIRUKlEE610cbNsOvyMOY1iZtnGTJAlmv2btXbh1hg4aNiSgCJK0En7rtjvss0Dxm_G1-p3Q21-zwPuliuZpouBokj6tr4UbrLZfdmyxvlWQFilVAoMNmxPrIqSk-vtJJSnI7Td4hJBfJThb1RA29lMagLQ79Qlx1Mjak1yV0_F5M" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="320" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj0rNpqIIkidOuuaKqIRUKlEE610cbNsOvyMOY1iZtnGTJAlmv2btXbh1hg4aNiSgCJK0En7rtjvss0Dxm_G1-p3Q21-zwPuliuZpouBokj6tr4UbrLZfdmyxvlWQFilVAoMNmxPrIqSk-vtJJSnI7Td4hJBfJThb1RA29lMagLQ79Qlx1Mjak1yV0_F5M=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />Pesci was typically the one to take on the “wild card” role, whether it was Tommy in Goodfellas or Nicky in Casino, or even in non-Scorsese roles like My Cousin Vinny or Home Alone. He was the one with the twinkle in his eye that you didn’t know what he was gonna do and you couldn’t take your eyes off of him. Pesci’s role here is much more subdued but no less watchable. Pesci is magnetic and you can feel Russell’s power just from the looks he is giving and the carefully chosen words he says. It’s not the Pesci I expected to see and I’m very happy about that because he’s extraordinary here. His final scenes, where you can see the ravages of old age tearing down this powerful man, are heartbreaking and never because Pesci is pushing for that, he just embodies it and let’s us see. It’s my favorite of the performances in the movie.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEis56-nBEufw-5UxP71QIewgDq0wxHboBsCLTaYOsTkAGC-DabqkMK688E1j75iyuQHBz7-CqXRsY3aazge9tZGdHbCfGfsguJNu-j8IQqVMaZN7z-kxARbeiwLEzhzryKAhXreBtk6jL9BPL_vgcYsC5vpNVICpt6Fu_sv_ulQeOpMmq1hK3JC-vYbqMM" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="209" data-original-width="320" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEis56-nBEufw-5UxP71QIewgDq0wxHboBsCLTaYOsTkAGC-DabqkMK688E1j75iyuQHBz7-CqXRsY3aazge9tZGdHbCfGfsguJNu-j8IQqVMaZN7z-kxARbeiwLEzhzryKAhXreBtk6jL9BPL_vgcYsC5vpNVICpt6Fu_sv_ulQeOpMmq1hK3JC-vYbqMM=w400-h261" width="400" /></a></div><br />De Niro shows that he simply hasn’t worked with the right people in the last 20+ years. He’s not had roles that were worthy of him and he’s seemed okay with that. Even with his collaborations with David O. Russell, I didn’t care for the performances that much. They weren’t bad, but De Niro’s Oscar nomination for Silver Linings Playbook felt more like a “congratulations on trying again, Bob” nod. But with Scorsese, working together for the ninth time, De Niro has a filmmaker who is not only worthy of him but pushes him into higher levels of genius. De Niro is one of the greatest actors we’ve ever been given, and although his work here isn’t up there with Godfather part 2, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, or maybe even Goodfellas, it’s still great work. It’s just at a “one of the best of the year” levels of performance instead of his past “one of the best of all time” level. De Niro makes us believe the journey, even when some of the CGI de-aging looks a little weird. His ability to play the ruthless mob killer as well as the conflicted protector of two guys with two different ideologies as well as the broken old man just wanting to apologize to his daughters for being a shitty dad is really astounding when you think about it. And Scorsese lets the camera linger a lot on De Niro’s face, which tells so much of Frank’s inner journey that goes unsaid with dialog. Scorsese trusts De Niro and trusts that the audience understands and cares about this guy.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjDi2VGRE8HZ8I00p5M2Mrw-DbMdSg3heYAzMEe8RlNwUrAJFGK1fNfCapRdiK4FY71wGd1feK6UIi42K3jhqzQ5q2DyQVsvO7fxG1D8OMdjWR6VfTnm9VEYdqUayeDz1xDtzoNYLqUA5EWMF-BGr-lsqD3Hp3Vp_ut6rARM8-MB9rhkCAlucw3MWwFGnw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="172" data-original-width="320" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjDi2VGRE8HZ8I00p5M2Mrw-DbMdSg3heYAzMEe8RlNwUrAJFGK1fNfCapRdiK4FY71wGd1feK6UIi42K3jhqzQ5q2DyQVsvO7fxG1D8OMdjWR6VfTnm9VEYdqUayeDz1xDtzoNYLqUA5EWMF-BGr-lsqD3Hp3Vp_ut6rARM8-MB9rhkCAlucw3MWwFGnw=w400-h215" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />The rest of the supporting cast is littered with terrific actors, characters, and performances as well. Ray Romano as Russell’s lawyer, Jesse Plemons as Hoffa’s son, Keitel as a mob boss (though he’s hardly in the movie, which surprised me given his history with Scorsese, he’s only got a couple of lines), Stephen Graham as a rival mob boss named Tony Pro, and others. My favorite of the bunch might’ve actually been Anna Paquin as Sheeran’s daughter who seems to always be watching him. Paquin has only maybe 3 lines of dialog in the movie, and is played by a different actress as a child, but that character is always looking at Frank, suspicious, almost like an angel watching as her dad digs his moral grave. She’s a felt presence more than a character who engages in the action.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjanG_ztN1jzyE17EcWgbPZ9wTfSMfq8nVSC_r5t2lUlktR_ZXBDCkWsoOFn-dRy9H1yXxPTJEITRqw9_ziX9j-WImDqLvOwrItO516SoaoB73Zcq1-Cr0rM09R8m6p_cVcgiwbQsh0IhtSK4i5HfhuS0JohlDKp6zupugIG6GlLya4bB4_xfOrY7UOcr4" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="320" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjanG_ztN1jzyE17EcWgbPZ9wTfSMfq8nVSC_r5t2lUlktR_ZXBDCkWsoOFn-dRy9H1yXxPTJEITRqw9_ziX9j-WImDqLvOwrItO516SoaoB73Zcq1-Cr0rM09R8m6p_cVcgiwbQsh0IhtSK4i5HfhuS0JohlDKp6zupugIG6GlLya4bB4_xfOrY7UOcr4=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />But this begs a question that comes up in me from time to time: Why do we care about the things bad people do in movies? Scorsese has made a career of exploring the high and low in humanity, the desperate reach up towards God, the struggle of faith, the search for love and inner peace, and also made movies about the dark thoughts inside our minds, the self destructive behaviors we may or may not be aware of. Scorsese has also made, even as he and I both bristle at him being called a “mob movie director”, movies about terribly angry gangsters whose lives are filled with the constant threat of violence, almost as a specter always following them around waiting to explode at a moments notice. Scorsese, especially alongside his legendary collaborator in editor Thelma Schoonmaker, makes these violent excursions into propulsive entertainment in a really crowd pleasing way and I’m honestly not sure why we’re compelled by it. I am compelled, but I’m not sure why.<br /><br />This is all pretty well trodden ground in movies, and by Scorsese in particular. What is here that wasn’t already in Casino or Goodfellas as far as theme, character, and even plot? Sure Scorsese hasn’t ever made a movie about Jimmy Hoffa, but the structure and the characters are all mob archetypes and Hoffa is no different.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiM8xaEHwY-_ww37DL-nFEBMTHLalUL6aBa9K5dDhqvH3F8ibnYDuw93aDriDbmWsTgFXoQLrcjL_v-lqb_ZZhT5aj2AboKnhZt0ZxKjo_8ByAE89iiGmoc8PHE6CvYs18dVaxI8v6ZFYUCVpvbmjEC9z97YzxLFK-YF45V2FiIBdIU62qyDgSPpMWLOp4" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="320" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiM8xaEHwY-_ww37DL-nFEBMTHLalUL6aBa9K5dDhqvH3F8ibnYDuw93aDriDbmWsTgFXoQLrcjL_v-lqb_ZZhT5aj2AboKnhZt0ZxKjo_8ByAE89iiGmoc8PHE6CvYs18dVaxI8v6ZFYUCVpvbmjEC9z97YzxLFK-YF45V2FiIBdIU62qyDgSPpMWLOp4=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div>What does this movie say? Scorsese got in a lot of hot water recently for disparaging Marvel and superhero movies as being closer to theme park rides and “not cinema.” There has been a whole debate about this issue, and I don’t care to rehash it here too much other than to say that Scorsese said those movies don’t really surprise us. They don’t have any revelations for us, or teach us anything, and are essentially remakes of each other. Obviously he’s wrong about all of that, superhero movies are no different than the mythological stories that have captivated humans as long as humans have told stories. But if you’re going to say that about other people’s movies, you’re going to bring that scrutiny down onto your own movie and so I’ve gotta ask what revelations The Irishman has for us. Does it teach us anything? Is it assembled from elements of stories we’ve seen over and over again? No matter that I love Scorsese as a filmmaker, I come down on the side that it doesn’t really have anything to say. It doesn’t teach us anything and is mostly recycled from pieces of other movies. It’s different that we see these guys as old men grappling with the decisions they’ve made in life, struggling against old age and the changing of generations, but even that isn’t surprising or revelatory exactly. However, it’s a testament to Scorsese that he can make the movie extremely enjoyable while not surprising us.Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459356722964144865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495704823524122058.post-55746606847730764202019-08-05T14:27:00.000-05:002019-08-05T14:28:39.342-05:00The Spectacular Now<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgveJLAeF5plhhyphenhyphenZch1TCeZ-WvqikKQLlMOPiAGYWEbhhGKzDF4kDukUEB8ZYUOiaf4lNMvquTCpeUl5fWV9brzEffFrDS4GkuQKTsHsGUU_nfzSqoP_2NY-GZAmd2mB7rdciO_148NHLk/s1600/268x0w.png"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgveJLAeF5plhhyphenhyphenZch1TCeZ-WvqikKQLlMOPiAGYWEbhhGKzDF4kDukUEB8ZYUOiaf4lNMvquTCpeUl5fWV9brzEffFrDS4GkuQKTsHsGUU_nfzSqoP_2NY-GZAmd2mB7rdciO_148NHLk/s640/268x0w.png" width="426" /></a><br />The coming of age movie is a favorite genre of mine. I enjoy watching characters at pivotal times in their lives try to learn how to grow, watch how they change and hopefully develop into better people. Sometimes truly great examples of the genre come along, and some of them I’ve covered here in this space before, like Adventureland or Sing Street. Those movies are shining examples of coming of age movies, and I’m adding another to the list now, with James Ponsoldt’s great 2013 movie The Spectacular Now. It contains two of the best characters and performances I’ve seen recently, and is the type of movie I ache to watch again and again. <br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixO45ImSMvbblSoc6lVh53vUiBpU_oSyDQGzwvQW9RKHWyV7TnsvHBpgW1KpQPIWKQr9tj3WBDPBsXVUGymc6FLaEwb9AfUsKQaZFa0bPdGjycxToDj4iGXuU30-EbLAXdhVd7VSEnOwE/s1600/specnews.jpg"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixO45ImSMvbblSoc6lVh53vUiBpU_oSyDQGzwvQW9RKHWyV7TnsvHBpgW1KpQPIWKQr9tj3WBDPBsXVUGymc6FLaEwb9AfUsKQaZFa0bPdGjycxToDj4iGXuU30-EbLAXdhVd7VSEnOwE/s640/specnews.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /> Sutter (Miles Teller) is the happy go lucky party boy of his high school, and we open as he informs us about his breakup with Cassidy (Brie Larson). They were always the life of the party, but they’re seniors now and she obviously doesn’t see any future with the party boy, leaving him for the star athlete and class president. Sutter is heartbroken and is one morning awakened by Aimee (Shailene Woodley), who has found Sutter passed out in someone’s front lawn after an all nighter of drinking and driving. Aimee is out early delivering newspapers, and she and Sutter have an instant report with one another. They go to the same school but don’t run in the same circles. She’s a smart, bookish kid, beautiful in a more plain, real world way than the more glamorous Cassidy, but Aimee doesn’t know she’s beautiful and she’s too quiet to be noticed too much. Sutter uses his outgoing charm to shield himself from the pain he feels at his dad having left the family, which he also masks with over indulging in alcohol. Aimee helps tutor Sutter in geometry, and the sparks start to fly immediately. Aimee is not his usual type, and he likes that. Sutter tells his best friend Ricky (Masam Holden) that he’s just trying to help this girl, but Ricky is afraid both that Sutter will hurt this nice girl, and also that he’ll get hurt by her leaving him when she realizes she’s too good for him.<br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSeRE_mICRja99aOTAi8yWyX-hAWtGxpM1zffVhUrbsnnDgwbJCUw1mXvNn2_CDseflH5TsQSJIj2npc1G6dbV5WjvRCfh-46joVKxEBJSoCBb4SnAmr7D4NuuIAOnMo7yyILUbXRd_Io/s1600/THE-SPECTACULAR-NOW.jpg"><img border="0" height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSeRE_mICRja99aOTAi8yWyX-hAWtGxpM1zffVhUrbsnnDgwbJCUw1mXvNn2_CDseflH5TsQSJIj2npc1G6dbV5WjvRCfh-46joVKxEBJSoCBb4SnAmr7D4NuuIAOnMo7yyILUbXRd_Io/s640/THE-SPECTACULAR-NOW.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /> I’m a sucker for a good romance, and the chemistry that Teller and Woodley have with one another is really terrific. And each really elevates their characters in different ways. Teller plays Sutter as the type of guy who is so aggressively charming it’s obvious he’s hiding loneliness beneath it. Obvious to everyone but himself. But he is also so genuinely charming that people go with it. Woodley plays Aimee as a girl not yet comfortable in her body. There’s an extraordinarily beautiful piece of acting during their sex scene, as each nervously disrobes in front of the other. Woodley subtly leaves her arms covering her torso, so as to hide from the attention she’s not used to receiving. And Teller lovingly grabs her hands and pulls them away, letting her know she’s safe and loved. It’s a gorgeous scene, perfect in every way, but the actors are what truly make it shine. <br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwKe7FatjsZYyERtlmAZEU4kq_m-5SfFKnnotEEjDA2aZxjIFU3ozl5qCNUCbQxdBzkn8Qz9OmkR3sAuShyMiFI7jEvUgmOZ1T49POP9No5k2SUcFfofDZb_Cdoght8sJBCpsQMWKRM-E/s1600/hero_SpectacularNow-2013-1.jpg"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwKe7FatjsZYyERtlmAZEU4kq_m-5SfFKnnotEEjDA2aZxjIFU3ozl5qCNUCbQxdBzkn8Qz9OmkR3sAuShyMiFI7jEvUgmOZ1T49POP9No5k2SUcFfofDZb_Cdoght8sJBCpsQMWKRM-E/s640/hero_SpectacularNow-2013-1.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /> We’re not really sure where director James Ponsoldt and writers Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber are going to take us with the plot, whether it will be the standard “they get together, love each other, break up because of bullshit, and get together again as the music swells and we cut to the credits” take or not. While the movie does trod some familiar ground, it always does so with characters front and center, so that it feels like things happening to these people we care about and not just machinations of the plot.<br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikavp2aCM7ZrDWlLGhQLPKcJHVsKPbgw11SBkobwVPlXJWCti_gNda2tvTgidd0W9ifylPnDByZVp_keceAKhM9qwH6xoJEgHFJcYfyJ8FuT16ZQ8NIr2KXl_bTBgYyxIPEKVpnuyIJBM/s1600/Spectacular-Now.jpg"><img border="0" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikavp2aCM7ZrDWlLGhQLPKcJHVsKPbgw11SBkobwVPlXJWCti_gNda2tvTgidd0W9ifylPnDByZVp_keceAKhM9qwH6xoJEgHFJcYfyJ8FuT16ZQ8NIr2KXl_bTBgYyxIPEKVpnuyIJBM/s640/Spectacular-Now.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /> But going back to Teller and Woodley for a moment, they are real people here. They create characters that live in our minds for much longer than just the length of the runtime (a brisk 95 minutes, by the way). Teller has a scene where Sutter goes to meet his father Tommy (Kyle Chandler) for the first time since he was a little kid, and as Sutter starts to see that his dad is a hard drinking loser of a guy you can see in Teller’s face the little kid just wanting to look up to his dad as a hero and instead being let down by the damaged man-child in front of him. You can also see that Sutter sees all the ways he’s similar to his dad and hates himself for it.<br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgen-FOEvZTs78k8W3fUoVNpFpIpFRMgo0iYRm-WPZ_JLD-TWbtrNty3NvqtCXibWQ2_DlJE8dd1Ssgl-lVOx9LyAEdac4IsXHqLPd1UM6AY2FyaK85Nc7eXkjaAeIsBU8KcwEA5N9g78o/s1600/1877510.jpg"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgen-FOEvZTs78k8W3fUoVNpFpIpFRMgo0iYRm-WPZ_JLD-TWbtrNty3NvqtCXibWQ2_DlJE8dd1Ssgl-lVOx9LyAEdac4IsXHqLPd1UM6AY2FyaK85Nc7eXkjaAeIsBU8KcwEA5N9g78o/s640/1877510.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /> Woodley, through all of this, is there with support and an open heart and warm smile. She is so good for Sutter, if he would let her help him grow. But she’s not pushy. She truly does love him for who he is, not just who he could be. But she loves him while he doesn’t love himself. It’s not a healthy dynamic and one or both of them will eventually pay for it unless things change. But Tommy isn’t all that Sutter has, he has multiple great male role models in his life, like his geometry teacher Mr. Aster (Andre Royo, so good in his few scenes that you want more) and his boss Dan (the great Bob Odenkirk, also so good in a tiny amount of screen time), both of whom would’ve been terrific role models if they’d come along earlier. But Sutter is too set in his hard drinking fuck up ways to let anyone change him. But maybe Aimee could be the one. She’s not going to beg him, she’s going to let him be himself and she’ll be there by his side no matter what. She’s so much more complex and interesting than the type of manic pixie dream girl that too many romantic movies have. Aimee is a fully realized person. Even in that scene in the bar with Sutter’s dad, look at the loving way she touches Sutter’s neck and back, never insisting on her own presence or trying to make him feel or say anything, just always being there for support.<br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmfO33PdDUKDKDvFXIqpYhE6A06z4UG5bdAteYnOXfPWd7juj67ZV73fvvfS16bIJ1RD2Clrm1hJba_J0Y8kss-e3j1yYZOMcuanwNReXf00NsCx6UQDAzIxXhR1t3ucchRPSzySTzjCU/s1600/2018-02-26-075431.jpeg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmfO33PdDUKDKDvFXIqpYhE6A06z4UG5bdAteYnOXfPWd7juj67ZV73fvvfS16bIJ1RD2Clrm1hJba_J0Y8kss-e3j1yYZOMcuanwNReXf00NsCx6UQDAzIxXhR1t3ucchRPSzySTzjCU/s640/2018-02-26-075431.jpeg" width="640" /></a><br /> We expect them to break up, but again how it happens is organic because of the characters. We know why Sutter is insulting Aimee, in that moment he hates her for loving him when he doesn’t understand why or how, but we wish he would stop. Maybe he’s bad for her, she didn’t drink before he came along and now she’s got her own monogrammed flask like he does, but what about if she’s good for him? Sutter hasn’t quite figured that out yet. This movie is so affecting because we watch these real people going through these things. It’s easy to fall back into cliché and the usual tropes in this genre, and this movie certainly does it, but in mechanics only. Just watch these actors giving brilliant performances (I didn’t even get to Jennifer Jason Leigh perfectly playing Sutter’s mom, deeply loving but overwhelmed and overworked) and taking us through these characters lives in as beautiful a way as the coming of age genre has ever had. Catch up to this Hidden Gem if you haven’t already.Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459356722964144865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495704823524122058.post-35412991093031417342019-06-21T17:52:00.001-05:002019-06-21T17:53:18.200-05:00Cinema Spotlight: Michael Keaton in "Multiplicity"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Michael Keaton has been having a bit of a renaissance the last few years, with acclaimed work in Birdman, Spotlight, and Spiderman: Homecoming, but he has always been one of our best actors. Never is that more obvious than in his multiple performances in the Harold Ramis comedy Multiplicity. In it, Keaton stars as Doug, an overworked construction foreman who just wants to spend more time with his wife and kids. One day he's working on a laboratory remodel project and the lead scientist pulls him aside to say that he could clone Doug, that clone could take over the work stuff and leave Doug with more time to his family. Of course, Doug obliges and the results come out wonderfully.</div>
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Later, Doug finds himself overrun with things to do at home, having no time for himself, and clones himself again so that that Doug (#3) can take care of the home stuff and Doug #1 can have some time to himself for once. It isn't long before the clones decide they want some freedom of their own, and while Doug is away they clone #2, to make Doug #4. The three clones live in the abandoned apartment above Doug's garage and naturally hijinks ensue. Keaton gradually increases the amount of over-the-top he's willing to go to for each character, 2 more than 1, 3 more than 2, and finally the wonderful buffoonery of #4, which is the best thing in the movie. I still sometimes think "I like pizza, I LIKE it!" or "She touched my peppy, Steve." even though it had been many years since I'd seen the movie until recently.</div>
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Keaton is brilliant in different ways with each Doug. #1 is just a great smart everyman, something that Keaton is usually too manic to play, but holds the center of this movie so well with this performance. #2 accentuates Doug's masculine side, and so takes to the construction work easily and happily. However, he also becomes lonely, which isn't quite solved by #3 who is an exaggeration of Doug's feminine side, happy to do crafty projects around the house, as well as cooking and cleaning. #4, the most fun of the bunch, is described as like how if you make a copy of a copy of a piece of paper, it isn't quite right. #4 refers to Doug as Steve, and has to have his razors taken away for fear of accidentally hurting himself ("yeah, me and 2 just shave him while he sleeps" 3 says).</div>
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The movie isn't as good as Keaton is, the pace is too slow, the hijinks maybe not wacky enough, it doesn't capture the philosophical weight of the situation that it could comment on. The special effects multiplying Keaton are generally very obvious, and honestly the movie is just too long and doesn't seem to have enough on its mind for it to keep our interest. It's no Groundhog Day, I should say, Ramis's high point as a filmmaker, that's for sure. But it's really a great bunch of work from Keaton. It's up there with Beetlejuice as his best work as an actor.</div>
Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459356722964144865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495704823524122058.post-71374556652401200782019-06-14T12:54:00.000-05:002019-06-14T12:54:06.614-05:00Quick thoughts on Men in Black: International<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It was good. Not great, not very good, just good. Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth, reteaming after Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Endgame, are terrific together, even if the script and direction kind of waste their chemistry (not many two shots just letting them act together and off of each other, the script is very generic and not something worthy of these two together). Hemsworth is breezy, charming, and fun. Thompson believable and winning as the more straight (wo)man kind of role, while not being a stick in the mud or just plugging her into a Tommy Lee Jones kind of role. Good supporting cast, especially Kumail Nanjiani is fun (always been a big fan), Rafe Spall, Liam Neeson, Rebecca Ferguson, and I always want more Emma Thompson. There's not enough Emma Thompson in the world.<br />
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It misses previous series director Barry Sonnenfeld much more than it misses previous stars Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, surprisingly. I think some directorial flair would've livened the thing up a lot. Thompson, Hemsworth, and Nanjiani are all doing as much as can be done. The humor? There’s some decent humor, and good fun chemistry between the leads that the movie doesn’t take advantage of. I don’t really remember anything that falls flat, humor wise, but nothing that really makes you belly laugh either.</div>
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So, great actors doing good work, but generic script and direction. It also just doesn't have the goofy fun of the other movies, especially the first one. It has action and aliens and whatnot, but not given that little tweak that has made the series fun in the past. It also doesn't have the heart that the third movie had. But still, overall I enjoyed myself enough. It's a big Hollywood blockbuster action movie with everything you expect from that. I hope they make another one, because Hemsworth and Thompson deserve a movie worthy of them in this franchise.</div>
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It’s more like a pleasant time at the movies. If you just go in expecting to be entertained you’ll be okay, but if you expect something great you’ll be let down.</div>
Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459356722964144865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495704823524122058.post-72529608249167002222019-05-30T12:02:00.000-05:002019-05-30T12:02:13.900-05:00A Little Princess<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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You might’ve heard Alfonso Cuaron’s name a lot this year, as he won an obscene amount of awards, including his second Best Director Oscar, for his autobiographical Netflix film Roma. But he’s been famous in movie lovers hearts for many years, with 2013’s Gravity (when he became the first Mexican to win a Best Director Oscar), before that his 2006 sci-fi masterpiece Children of Men (my vote as the best movie of the 2000’s), his entry into the Harry Potter canon with Prisoner of Azkaban (often pointed to as the pinnacle of the series), and his multi-Oscar nominated 2001 sex-comedy/road trip-drama Y tu Mama Tambien. But before all of those, in his English language debut in 1995, Cuaron gifted us with one of the great family movies of all time, his adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Little Princess.<br />
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10 year old Sara Crewe (Liesel Matthews) lives happily in India with her father, a wealthy British aristocrat (Liam Cunningham, almost unrecognizable so many years before he became Davos Seaworth on Game of Thrones). She loves telling stories to her friends based on Hindu mythology, playing and carefree and happy. But Sara’s exciting life is upended by the outbreak of World War I, and her father volunteering to serve in the military. Before he leaves, Captain Crewe sets Sara up in a girl’s boarding school in New York City. It quickly becomes obvious how much money the Crewe’s have when Sara is put in the schools largest room and given all the accommodations she needs. This wealth ingratiates Sara immediately to the school’s severe headmistress, Miss Minchin (Eleanor Bron). Ms. Minchin doesn’t like Sara, who even at 10 years old corrects Minchin’s lazy French and is lauded by the schools French teacher as a natural. But Sara comes with a lot of money, and Minchin likes money, so she mostly swallows her dislike of Sara.<br />
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Sara is an instant hit with the other girls in the school, with her exotic stories, imagination, advanced education, and relentless kindness. All of the girls, save for the school bully Lavinia (Taylor Fry), look to Sarah immediately as a leader. The girls even learn to start treating the school’s scullery maid Becky (Vanessa Lee Chester) differently. Becky is not only a maid, she’s also an orphan who lives in the building’s attic when she’s not cleaning, and she’s black. The girls don’t know what that means or why it means something, but it does mean something, right Sara? Sara doesn’t treat Becky any differently, and the other girls then follow suit. This makes the turn of the plot both more interesting, and more powerful, as Sara’s kindness is put to the test when her father is reported killed in action, and all of his financial assets frozen until a will can be sorted out. In Miss Minchin’s infinite kindness, she doesn’t kick Sara out of the house, but instead moves her upstairs with Becky into the rat infested attic where she’ll work as a maid as well.<br />
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A Little Princess is ultimately a movie about the power of empathy and kindness. Sara doesn’t let herself be dragged down when she loses everything. Her perspective changes, and she sees how life can be difficult for those without money, but she doesn’t lose her innate decency as a person. In fact, the girls still in school rally to her side whenever possible, as they begin all manner of shenanigans against the tyrannical Ms. Minchin, emboldened by Sara’s influence upon them. Even the neighbors, chimney sweepers, and others in the neighborhood take notice of this charismatic girl and her winning smile that can't be taken away. It’s not always so easy to smile and be happy when you’ve got nothing, but Sara keeps her head up and her heart open. It’s such a great moral lesson as a family movie, the powerful simplicity of inner strength.<br />
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The movie is absolutely beautiful to look at, as shot by legendary cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, who has shot all of Cuaron’s movies save for Harry Potter and Roma (which Cuarón shot himself, and won an Oscar for). It was Lubezki’s first Oscar nomination and it was well deserved. The production design (by the great Bo Welch, most famous for his work with Tim Burton) deserves attention as well, with the school/house acting almost as a character unto itself. The movie has a feeling of magical realism in the way Lubezki shoots it and Welch designed it, almost storybook like. We sometimes feel like maybe we’re inside of the fantastical stories that Sara loves to tell. This combined with Cuaron’s storytelling genius really makes for a truly magical experience. The movie feels like reading a book in childhood, a fairy tale set in early 20th century New York City, or remembering your favorite stories from your youth.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin6Bli9VDJ13dnLSYE66xHJ_fU_ZRnCmvPZGFTACM4v9DkSpOqvY0Pm0BLzljB6a9iqDK2yM2zUBHGW2rlVxx4_gD8Hy00zNFbvhWiTYrvanWgdj7v4NupYhJGFHA6TYtzILxiv0zie-o/s1600/untitled.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="282" data-original-width="500" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin6Bli9VDJ13dnLSYE66xHJ_fU_ZRnCmvPZGFTACM4v9DkSpOqvY0Pm0BLzljB6a9iqDK2yM2zUBHGW2rlVxx4_gD8Hy00zNFbvhWiTYrvanWgdj7v4NupYhJGFHA6TYtzILxiv0zie-o/s640/untitled.png" width="640" /></a><br />
The movie isn’t perfect, as some of the acting from the young girls is as stilted as you expect even from the best child actors, but it always still works. This is a fantasy and we don’t require intense realism in order for the movie to succeed. Many of the supporting performances are just this side of caricature, but again it works, mainly because Cuaron finds the right tone in which to encase their arch-ness and still be effective to the story. Eleanor Bron, most widely known as the female lead in The Beatles’ movie Help!, is the best of the bunch as the heartless Miss Minchin. She’s cold and callous and hates Sara immediately, though we see in her eyes that she loves the money young Sara brings in. The turn in her eyes when she gets to treat the now penniless Sara like garbage is really chilling sometimes. But young Liesel Matthews, as Sara, really carries the movie well. Her 1,000 watt smile, piercing eyes, and compassion overcome any drawbacks the acting might present.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0iA88gAANZjBXVM0tcxQttH7erELKJzD3L7QFMjZ9kk1gYwPHbsHJhvnUNDDnbvxzeQdNF9sa8K7EHgDNkkWDgzK9IAQiF_XO8WNUp2uvKhLQ3V43mk051-GuWsnXSv_EgyEv5CnSwbk/s1600/ALittlePrincess_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="303" data-original-width="500" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0iA88gAANZjBXVM0tcxQttH7erELKJzD3L7QFMjZ9kk1gYwPHbsHJhvnUNDDnbvxzeQdNF9sa8K7EHgDNkkWDgzK9IAQiF_XO8WNUp2uvKhLQ3V43mk051-GuWsnXSv_EgyEv5CnSwbk/s640/ALittlePrincess_web.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
It might sound like a bit of a downer if you just read the plot description, but really it’s a childhood fantasy adventure story, and those rarely come and go without a happy ending. A Little Princess is a movie that respects its audience, doesn’t talk down to it, and doesn’t feel the need to pack a bunch of action in to try and keep your attention. Cuaron knows that we are empathetic creatures, and we innately want young Sara to succeed. “Beating the bad guys” just looks different in some stories than in others. Frances Hodgson Burnett’s other most famous story, The Secret Garden, was also made into a terrific family movie two years prior to this movie that would make for an amazing double feature if you wanted a terrific Hidden Gem night home with the family.Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459356722964144865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495704823524122058.post-27441536864030305172019-04-16T17:22:00.001-05:002019-04-16T17:23:56.345-05:00First Reformed<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNRVUGpM70nwba4WjaqPzWCdRr5HgWmmCf4UxpGNoG0NnUTVTvCEtSd17XodU0ep_s6LBN6P0MIRxQYusWq4vVpbZSsVshAsOcs1YDZlerbdK8YTiUpN7GzIkpVUNRBMRo_3WhFbUeVDo/s1600/maxresdefault.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNRVUGpM70nwba4WjaqPzWCdRr5HgWmmCf4UxpGNoG0NnUTVTvCEtSd17XodU0ep_s6LBN6P0MIRxQYusWq4vVpbZSsVshAsOcs1YDZlerbdK8YTiUpN7GzIkpVUNRBMRo_3WhFbUeVDo/s640/maxresdefault.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />First Reformed nabbed Paul Schrader his first Academy Award nomination this year, for Best Original Screenplay. It was joyous and long overdue recognition for us film fans, and astounding to think that his scripts for Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Last Temptation of Christ, Affliction, and Bringing Out the Dead weren’t deemed worthy by the Academy. Now all of those but Affliction were from his long and fruitful relationship with Martin Scorsese, but Schrader is and has been an accomplished director in his own right as well. First Reformed deserves mention alongside his very best work as a director.<br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWXtFFZbZe28z_gdg6h6c_h-6OVCdRcZ1QEc992SmG3BjAwtgT1Fa-8cd5Qnx2EaUErCpLGOT5e4-Vrozw95wsOWl7U8KeAoSt414ouNHMMfjrmdu5L_5rTvQJWUMP7vzaBO0dUrndCzA/s1600/first-reformed-2_mag.jpg"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWXtFFZbZe28z_gdg6h6c_h-6OVCdRcZ1QEc992SmG3BjAwtgT1Fa-8cd5Qnx2EaUErCpLGOT5e4-Vrozw95wsOWl7U8KeAoSt414ouNHMMfjrmdu5L_5rTvQJWUMP7vzaBO0dUrndCzA/s640/first-reformed-2_mag.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />Schrader doesn’t make easy to digest movies. He makes movies that challenge and confront us. His movies have deep themes running through them, often tying in some way back to his strict religious upbringing and his struggle with spirituality once he reached adulthood. He’s also had a career long obsession with, uh, well, obsession. His newest main character, the Reverend Ernst Toller (Ethan Hawke) has lost his way. Not obsessed in the beginning of the film, but those that have lost their way often find it again once they find something to be passionate about. A former military chaplain, Toller convinced his son to sign up for the military as well, and within 6 months his son was dead in Iraq. He and his wife both blamed him for what happened, and divorced. He now spends his nights alone, drinking various liquors while he ignores the pain in his stomach and the fact that he’s peeing blood. During the day he gives tours of his upstate New York church, whose 250th anniversary is coming up soon. On Sundays he delivers his sermons to literally a handful of people.<br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDMAAB7yGCb6YjrLGXpSD3kC_9KXF41GBSjOBnyFELavP634xZ3xsBGEbapbVjZVklc_oDDBU1PEj3u2dQ-DxmFU4Ag5QOwINzAcfR_bt2B9m6o5L8tWNirJR39oNpvP-NHUoOzUHc1fc/s1600/tumblr_pcqydzs8Di1x8wblpo2_500.jpg"><img border="0" height="481" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDMAAB7yGCb6YjrLGXpSD3kC_9KXF41GBSjOBnyFELavP634xZ3xsBGEbapbVjZVklc_oDDBU1PEj3u2dQ-DxmFU4Ag5QOwINzAcfR_bt2B9m6o5L8tWNirJR39oNpvP-NHUoOzUHc1fc/s640/tumblr_pcqydzs8Di1x8wblpo2_500.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />Among those in the crowd are the pregnant Mary (Amanda Seyfried) and her husband Michael (Philip Ettinger). Mary one day asks Rev. Toller if he will counsel Michael, an environmental activist who wants Mary to abort their baby because he morally opposes bringing life into this world ravaged by chemical dumping and climate change. Michael arouses in Toller the kind of spiritual purpose he had previously lost. Toller becomes obsessed with the Christian notion of stewardship, the belief that God gave us dominion over the world and made it our responsibility to take care of it, something that we are desperately failing at and for which we will surely be punished by Him.<br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfvQroNmhWCgAga5lSwAayXftZeyEXGi0H5VVYNdLPc0BGO-1CSlGtHdsYzn7t6DTheWl-r3gBg93Vs1x4WzfKSjsm_ouUBXfmiJEBzBDNbjqxvHFBWcAIA9WGDl8sHHxUtoaun9rftR8/s1600/untitled.png"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfvQroNmhWCgAga5lSwAayXftZeyEXGi0H5VVYNdLPc0BGO-1CSlGtHdsYzn7t6DTheWl-r3gBg93Vs1x4WzfKSjsm_ouUBXfmiJEBzBDNbjqxvHFBWcAIA9WGDl8sHHxUtoaun9rftR8/s640/untitled.png" width="640" /></a><br />Toller has to also contend with the local megachurch, which subsidizes his own church. The megachurch is run by Rev. Joel Jeffers (Cedric Kyles, aka Cedric the Entertainer), whom Toller goes to see frequently and who acts as a sounding board for Toller, but who isn’t with him on his newfound passion. Jeffers would rather placate the big donors like local chemical company CEO’s, or the mayor/governor, or whomever. Schrader does something interesting here showing two good men both acting on their faith, but one being more flexible to the times, and the other acting on his newfound fundamentalism. Neither is shown to be right or wrong. I mean, we obviously don’t care for Jeffers and are on Toller’s side, but not in a good/bad way, Jeffers is a good man, it’s just that this is Toller’s story.<br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVuy2_PpuqT8Ox4VWfzps_vDCYpABUBdp65JmsPcpDwZzV1xBy8FsPkGV0Lcm7eGOw6KzHvAcNeytd1Qi4Eb0b7PTs7vve1aqDwIT-tkohyphenhyphen-yI3oamfhGpeHmqNy_klGezDRqD-i6LOzM/s1600/web%252520reformed.jpg"><img border="0" height="527" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVuy2_PpuqT8Ox4VWfzps_vDCYpABUBdp65JmsPcpDwZzV1xBy8FsPkGV0Lcm7eGOw6KzHvAcNeytd1Qi4Eb0b7PTs7vve1aqDwIT-tkohyphenhyphen-yI3oamfhGpeHmqNy_klGezDRqD-i6LOzM/s640/web%252520reformed.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />We go through much of the action while hearing Toller’s narration from a journal he’s decided to keep. Schrader uses the conceit of the journal just like he did in Taxi Driver, letting us in to the inner monologue of our protagonist, adding weight and interest to scenes that may not have had it otherwise. We know the Reverend’s thoughts and feelings, so we know and care why he’s acting the way he is. It’s a brilliant use of narration, something too many writers use as a crutch to cover up for bad storytelling but Schrader uses to deepen his characters.<br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRRcBDM_eoIbWLJ1tkJXi8US6cE3vm19dnyduRuMEikn_EfM_q9_6To43uzIpM17QFV86ewDctvaQIURjhYnscAcicBnhV_YSZ2pHlrPPay1Cx46VJquYz8wDtQMn5bkWx7xp25G6JSsg/s1600/untit1led.png"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRRcBDM_eoIbWLJ1tkJXi8US6cE3vm19dnyduRuMEikn_EfM_q9_6To43uzIpM17QFV86ewDctvaQIURjhYnscAcicBnhV_YSZ2pHlrPPay1Cx46VJquYz8wDtQMn5bkWx7xp25G6JSsg/s640/untit1led.png" width="640" /></a><br />Visually Schrader has said he drew much inspiration from formalists like Ingmar Bergman, Andrei Tarkovsky, and Robert Bresson. This ties back to a book Schrader wrote when he was still a film critic, 1972’s Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer, which was reissued around the release of First Reformed. Schrader has said those filmmaker’s sparse, contemplative visuals and storytelling were revelations to him. He’s said that those masters influenced him because “I sensed a bridge between the spirituality I was raised with and the ‘profane’ cinema I loved. And it was a bridge of STYLE not content. Church people had been using movies since they first moved to illustrate religious beliefs, but this was something different. The convergence of spirituality and cinema would occur in style not content. In the How, not the What.”<br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN-GPyl5U1ixnigWx5Htr4i32bn9nt9HvkVzM13cc-m85OJfovy4tGnJIhjp56HbQ1CatwBDFbDVWeNiEynErjuBbTeTLPxCuciioyNTQtGDXZteCyLIT897p2UgSk3jfaeDaxkyqI5cY/s1600/18firstreformed-facebookJumbo-v2.jpg"><img border="0" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN-GPyl5U1ixnigWx5Htr4i32bn9nt9HvkVzM13cc-m85OJfovy4tGnJIhjp56HbQ1CatwBDFbDVWeNiEynErjuBbTeTLPxCuciioyNTQtGDXZteCyLIT897p2UgSk3jfaeDaxkyqI5cY/s640/18firstreformed-facebookJumbo-v2.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />Schrader tries his best to reach moments of transcendence and while it won’t work for everyone, it did for me. I’ll admit that it took me a second viewing because the ending of the movie is unexpected, beautiful, and not immediately satisfying. Why does Toller do the things he does? Does he even do them? Is Toller alive at the end of the movie? The movie ends on a couple of notes of wordless transcendence and sometimes you have to be in the right head space for such an unconventionally bold choice from a filmmaker.<br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDuBr1sh0rjxgd8m7Kg66SjMQVZugX1iSHhtRc20Qq48pZxag88INJXQ74u-a8iE3o14Txa8sVLL89rWME9JGDGgg41ipLySnkEUTjM6ZKTVA0dGhzULvjNwCtnTSxLwJF35zimSyl03g/s1600/1_Ao6w1Wxaj4Vz3TbfuICXyQ.jpg"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDuBr1sh0rjxgd8m7Kg66SjMQVZugX1iSHhtRc20Qq48pZxag88INJXQ74u-a8iE3o14Txa8sVLL89rWME9JGDGgg41ipLySnkEUTjM6ZKTVA0dGhzULvjNwCtnTSxLwJF35zimSyl03g/s640/1_Ao6w1Wxaj4Vz3TbfuICXyQ.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />Paul Schrader has always been an interesting filmmaker. His terrific gritty first film, Blue Collar, had great central work from stars Harvey Keitel and Richard Pryor in a story of a group of blue collar workers planning to rob their employer. He followed it up with Hardcore, about George C. Scott playing detective and looking for the daughter who went missing, only to turn up in a porno. Then there was American Gigolo, with Richard Gere’s star making turn. Then he made his masterpiece, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters. One of the most gorgeous movies ever made and a bold narrative that mixes biography of Japanese author Yukio Mishima with adaptation of some of his writing to further highlight aspects of his personality. Mishima is still Schrader’s magnum opus if you ask me, but First Reformed deserves mention alongside it. From the controlled visuals to the best work of Ethan Hawke’s great career, this Hidden Gem deserves to be revisited and studied just like the films of the masters Schrader feels himself indebted to.Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459356722964144865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495704823524122058.post-15325374023156515152019-03-28T11:41:00.003-05:002019-03-28T11:42:34.049-05:00Cinema Spotlight: Dash running from the Machines in The Incredibles<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlKQhnR_JtnZRbjgif4RYkFhKhLT2LOi6grwbamM3Vhkt4ozZSb0yUQ3ETFOrdIqt2BswXOZnr0UA3w-oaci2erNazNkrvgZiWeiZWYiR21sKp9vYLElk20I2YA9uL7AYhFLCETtMFPsc/s1600/incredibles-screen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="1280" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlKQhnR_JtnZRbjgif4RYkFhKhLT2LOi6grwbamM3Vhkt4ozZSb0yUQ3ETFOrdIqt2BswXOZnr0UA3w-oaci2erNazNkrvgZiWeiZWYiR21sKp9vYLElk20I2YA9uL7AYhFLCETtMFPsc/s640/incredibles-screen.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
Just a quick little one today from one of my very favorite movies, The Incredibles. The moment is when Dash and Violet are being chased by the guys riding saw blade looking flying aircraft. Dash and Violet have been told their whole lives to hide their powers, to appear outwardly normal, not draw attention to themselves. This sequence is the first time they’ve really truly embraced their powers and are flexing those muscles for the first time. They’ve messed around at home, had little spurts of using their powers, but this is the first time really letting them loose. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsxlNF-w9UIw_kmJVv2P1YcpqSLPIVP-tJcAKGbjWQPYZn2GdYZNsDJEvW6fn1yNEXpek3hElMLuTWy1b39E9ngw1DIu2BUwon422-1tWiZJ-jxEqYsvuQ-8RmQZRhvXeX11ITjpn3Akc/s1600/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsxlNF-w9UIw_kmJVv2P1YcpqSLPIVP-tJcAKGbjWQPYZn2GdYZNsDJEvW6fn1yNEXpek3hElMLuTWy1b39E9ngw1DIu2BUwon422-1tWiZJ-jxEqYsvuQ-8RmQZRhvXeX11ITjpn3Akc/s640/maxresdefault.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
The specific moment that has always struck me is when Dash is being chased by multiple flying machines through the jungle, but winces when he sees he’s about to hit water. He knows it’s over for him. Until that’s not what happens. Dash is running so fast that he can actually run on water. He lets out this devious, almost guttural, little laugh that kills me every time. It’s at once an “oh my god this is awesome” and “I didn’t know I could do this” and “this is crazy” and “holy shit I’m way more powerful than I even realized I was.” It’s such a perfect moment of filmmaking and voice acting that I almost tear up when I see it.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS_smuJcxsPuqQgvyq9nxeIr2r8vTWpOxu6iTMQM1IoeQoJwSc7vbzKQ_ISxj0kJ8OBrq1w4lq3jCytqEBQwq30_8bHa_fW-mJBZZ92sh-Ea5Xj93LNicrNnM6dazkcYsVOIN-OkK1m4Y/s1600/untitled.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="205" data-original-width="495" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS_smuJcxsPuqQgvyq9nxeIr2r8vTWpOxu6iTMQM1IoeQoJwSc7vbzKQ_ISxj0kJ8OBrq1w4lq3jCytqEBQwq30_8bHa_fW-mJBZZ92sh-Ea5Xj93LNicrNnM6dazkcYsVOIN-OkK1m4Y/s640/untitled.png" width="640" /></a><br />
There are many great moments in The Incredibles, and I’m sure I’ll write about the others some day as well. This moment isn’t a big one, but I’ve not heard anyone else being touched by this quite like I was. So here it is, another great moment in cinema for me to spotlightKylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459356722964144865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495704823524122058.post-74588860551927713112019-03-21T09:26:00.003-05:002019-03-21T09:26:58.679-05:00Cinema Spotlight: 3 Moments from The Mist<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeokSUIIfmrvRx1G_csLIC0_LaGvbj_qk7ZipYtDBR3OTvRVXgDCY5p8piy7Ba04qHWKfkvfPNP_YL3og0HQO47AZRQPZ31REAW8FUCN2HJsSzsJfGkOBu4bfOF2KwYboCCm0b5wbpv9M/s1600/220px-The_Mist_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="322" data-original-width="220" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeokSUIIfmrvRx1G_csLIC0_LaGvbj_qk7ZipYtDBR3OTvRVXgDCY5p8piy7Ba04qHWKfkvfPNP_YL3og0HQO47AZRQPZ31REAW8FUCN2HJsSzsJfGkOBu4bfOF2KwYboCCm0b5wbpv9M/s640/220px-The_Mist_poster.jpg" width="436" /></a></div>
The Mist is almost a great horror movie. I think ultimately it’s too cheesy, awkward, searching for the right tone, and some of the actors are out of their depth (like our lead, and Andre Braugher seems to come from a different movie altogether), but there’s a lot of great stuff in there too. It’s another Stephen King adaptation from writer/director Frank Darabont, his third after The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, and another worthy one. It's about a strange mist that befalls a small Maine community, bringing with it various monsters of untold origins (we later find it's through some inter-dimensional portal), who proceed to kill and terrorize the people of the town.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcs-HrqPoINmb0ETSyqtjejwgyEtAIFjLrk0I9_Z01CC8nzi_UtzpyX4NCjxlpGPyHdZ4sN_jcFHRSeLOvGwOKUSYIzQpL_2xjSHzgqFik701n2WCj3GUCR_0Sw9t1EXhPQeNzVvp9m34/s1600/21mist600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="222" data-original-width="600" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcs-HrqPoINmb0ETSyqtjejwgyEtAIFjLrk0I9_Z01CC8nzi_UtzpyX4NCjxlpGPyHdZ4sN_jcFHRSeLOvGwOKUSYIzQpL_2xjSHzgqFik701n2WCj3GUCR_0Sw9t1EXhPQeNzVvp9m34/s640/21mist600.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />The first moment that comes to mind is during the oncoming of the titular mist. People look around confused and we start to hear sirens. Some call them air raid sirens, or tornado sirens where I’m from, but it’s the sound of oncoming danger and destruction, but it’s just mist, right? The mist even swallows the sound of the sirens, but that moment of hearing that sound filled me with a great sense of dread. That’s what you want in the beginning of a horror movie. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIIM2iuFKGocGP5ajDIkk2iG631JAma0UwvhaojplotfMpGjPPrfwDSxS2JLy0m3VJaz-rz5U6U3bGTm74m1kOQkEXud_0vyoPoSonHEsIlp8A-HwFsk5kFCamsCwdkHhGUB5G_hjio80/s1600/mistbehemothh.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="860" data-original-width="1600" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIIM2iuFKGocGP5ajDIkk2iG631JAma0UwvhaojplotfMpGjPPrfwDSxS2JLy0m3VJaz-rz5U6U3bGTm74m1kOQkEXud_0vyoPoSonHEsIlp8A-HwFsk5kFCamsCwdkHhGUB5G_hjio80/s640/mistbehemothh.png" width="640" /></a><br />The next moment is a famous one from the movie, as the remaining survivors are driving along a road trying to escape the monsters in the mist and across their path comes a monster so large it shakes the ground all around it as it walks. It's covered in tentacles and makes a growling, roaring sound that is unlike anything we'd ever encounter in our world. This titanic god of a creature truly brings to mind the awe and scale of HP Lovecraft’s work, making us feel insignificant in comparison to this monster.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH1ZE7ip5n7igRa2um_hWWd7wCG9g-zPri0l_qY6r2J9aXU685ETcwd6nm4w205Ifll4ZDdd38MuxYAjjqeviEr6gzeGHj8IJCDbSNfOgthYsEo-h0YNp2JbNjZNSymtJYZA73SxI25-c/s1600/hqdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH1ZE7ip5n7igRa2um_hWWd7wCG9g-zPri0l_qY6r2J9aXU685ETcwd6nm4w205Ifll4ZDdd38MuxYAjjqeviEr6gzeGHj8IJCDbSNfOgthYsEo-h0YNp2JbNjZNSymtJYZA73SxI25-c/s640/hqdefault.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />The last moment of the film I want to spotlight is the last moments of the film. After running out of gas as they’re driving away, seeing many grotesque bits of death and destruction around them, the group of 5 decide that it’s better to die at their own hand than be killed by the various beasts from the mist, so our lead David (Thomas Jane) shoots each one of the others with the gun they’d brought with them, including his young son. A devastated David lastly turns the gun on himself only to find it out of bullets. So David then steps out of the car, and awaits to get consumed by the mist. Instead, the mist recedes, and we see the US Army has closed the dimensional portal that allowed the mist and creatures to come through.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihsMAHe8G79J9gETsLbVkXUV-hN7zpdpGV_2AvUJ5qcpqqDOHrmf_q7JtjRDMpoZbCNLVyscewDVW11oyFRx-IR8Vz0jT2GJ5LlJTlh1I6YmDN31EkDV3WqG3BtvBfcsd-P1ZGAnAQPvI/s1600/14c7a5520aefbe5af00169bc1a231a5bd4019dc0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihsMAHe8G79J9gETsLbVkXUV-hN7zpdpGV_2AvUJ5qcpqqDOHrmf_q7JtjRDMpoZbCNLVyscewDVW11oyFRx-IR8Vz0jT2GJ5LlJTlh1I6YmDN31EkDV3WqG3BtvBfcsd-P1ZGAnAQPvI/s640/14c7a5520aefbe5af00169bc1a231a5bd4019dc0.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
The Army has many survivors in tow, and they are exterminating any and all creatures they come across. David can do nothing but stand in shock as he realizes that not only were the groups suicides unnecessary and that they were only moments from being saved, but that they had actually been driving away from help the whole time. It’s a nihilistic and depressing ending, but handled extraordinarily well by Darabont. This is the moment that most feels like Jane is out of his depth as an actor, as his grief doesn’t feel believable and comes off a little goofy, but it doesn’t diminish this great and powerful ending, even as much of a downer as it is.Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459356722964144865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495704823524122058.post-81256637657446715802019-03-18T15:03:00.003-05:002019-03-18T15:03:47.645-05:00Whale Rider<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj__5FCr6Jd-xAqUWD5GB0C1ICwJKQVf1bYajB0JmFG__9HLkuBq6tLCTbWpSjB4bCFihe44LX4SyGq6BMy6IeFUN8cq4nLKLZfWo_5zVPbpbS57C6w8NWf9pb6rZIoNyM-_p2XBUnoiSk/s1600/MV5BMjM3MzE2OTEwNF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNTkyMTg4NA%2540%2540__V1_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj__5FCr6Jd-xAqUWD5GB0C1ICwJKQVf1bYajB0JmFG__9HLkuBq6tLCTbWpSjB4bCFihe44LX4SyGq6BMy6IeFUN8cq4nLKLZfWo_5zVPbpbS57C6w8NWf9pb6rZIoNyM-_p2XBUnoiSk/s640/MV5BMjM3MzE2OTEwNF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNTkyMTg4NA%2540%2540__V1_.jpg" width="432" /></a><br />
2002’s Whale Rider was a movie that hit me like a ton of bricks when I first watched it. It’s the touching story of Paikea (Keisha Castle-Hughes), a 12 year old girl living on the coast of New Zealand with her grandparents. Her community is led by her strict grandfather Koro (Rawiri Paratene), who is searching for the next generation of leader, as Pai’s grieving father left the country after the death of his wife and Pai’s twin brother in childbirth. Paikea is obviously the best candidate to lead them going forward, but as Koro keeps telling her, girls can’t be the leader. It has to be a boy.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi5fQ6R7l513kXhXDT_ms90NUpqV0elW_hsk1j4qfrZZ0b6D9s7uyWt9MHDMxm3gaJ5wOHytxv7-upWtJOaOU9InKBuZLSUfGrXE4K70x_OKX65X-yOeEbBFR2UZU79Ccj7mWZfJWAi2E/s1600/whalerider_05lrg_892d799c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1190" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi5fQ6R7l513kXhXDT_ms90NUpqV0elW_hsk1j4qfrZZ0b6D9s7uyWt9MHDMxm3gaJ5wOHytxv7-upWtJOaOU9InKBuZLSUfGrXE4K70x_OKX65X-yOeEbBFR2UZU79Ccj7mWZfJWAi2E/s640/whalerider_05lrg_892d799c.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />We’re first dropped into the story as Pai narrates her birth, including the death of her brother, who was destined to be the leader they needed. Her father, Porourangi (the great Cliff Curtis, playing his native Māori heritage for once instead of the Latinos or Middle Easterners that he frequently plays in Hollywood) named her Paikea, after the legend of the great leader that traveled from Hawaii to New Zealand on the back of a whale. Koro tells his son not to name her that, that’s a boy’s name and a leader’s name, but Porourangi insists. We then jump to 12 year old Pai and her lifelong struggle to connect to her grandpa who loves her but resents that she isn’t the boy he wanted to lead his community after he’s gone. Pai is comforted by her grandma Nanny (Vicky Haughton), but Pai is a sensitive kid who takes in all of her grandpa’s criticism and feels inadequate that she’s a girl. Koro decides to round up the boys in the community, teach them how to be men, and see which one is the best leader. Koro teaches them history, stick fighting, haka, and other traditions. The results are a mixed bag, at best.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixmgWfcsK8TNI9EpDB80txuP7QyTS31OkaXY-_qGR9JrqdUvXGuQTN2QYpCOKnBiGe2ZXvjg6dHUrLog4bMvpm4KzrLuL1m0qKbpSn375l0-14DgWqxiDsKPz3c3ZrNeluqqnr_1r6tzY/s1600/v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixmgWfcsK8TNI9EpDB80txuP7QyTS31OkaXY-_qGR9JrqdUvXGuQTN2QYpCOKnBiGe2ZXvjg6dHUrLog4bMvpm4KzrLuL1m0qKbpSn375l0-14DgWqxiDsKPz3c3ZrNeluqqnr_1r6tzY/s640/v1.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />We know from movie conventions that Pai will rise to lead the community and her grandpa will begrudgingly accept her even though she’s a girl. The pleasure of this movie isn’t in the surprises of the plot, but in the many details added to flesh it out. When Pai is turned away from the leadership classes and wants to learn stick fighting, she turns to her uncle, Rawiri (Grant Roa), who was a champion stick fighter in his youth but has degenerated into overeating and smoking pot with his girlfriend Shilo (Rachel House, who I was delighted to see turn up recently in fellow New Zealander Taika Waititi’s movie Thor: Ragnarok, as Jeff Goldblum’s irritable bodyguard). So Rawiri starts teaching Pai, and she learns faster than any of the boys. Meanwhile Rawiri starts exercising again, stepping up and finding himself after being spiritually awakened by helping teach Pai. You can see that Pai is unintentionally leading, just by being herself, inspiring those close to her to be better versions of themselves. The girl is a natural leader, but the one person who needs to see it is the one that doesn’t. Koro is too stuck in the old ways, the traditions. Those ways are dying because Koro is refusing to adapt.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirosLC-iihkUuDsPEA7EvZ2pXPVob5AdiMZSngQVOw5FdnNElD3fEsui4QLtShoCkrjTwiUFEMn5cy7RIS5ECPzHTpQnPt0IfRkYvNa5bwRu9CjnAqr0RpMjp4e3yEjUD1zJnKkyqx3rI/s1600/Whale_Rider_Gallery_Rawere_Paratene_jpg_540x405.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="540" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirosLC-iihkUuDsPEA7EvZ2pXPVob5AdiMZSngQVOw5FdnNElD3fEsui4QLtShoCkrjTwiUFEMn5cy7RIS5ECPzHTpQnPt0IfRkYvNa5bwRu9CjnAqr0RpMjp4e3yEjUD1zJnKkyqx3rI/s640/Whale_Rider_Gallery_Rawere_Paratene_jpg_540x405.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />All of this is handled so beautifully by writer/director Niki Caro. She handles her young actors very well, allowing some of the awkwardness of youth to shine through but not pushing it. The native traditions are all shown respectfully, affectionately. From the stories to the greetings to the respect shown to elders and the accompanying rebelliousness of the youth, so many aspects I recognize from our Native American culture here in the US are mirrored in this native culture of the Māori in New Zealand.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjO1hqYvweMMEZHFK0P3-U_HyvJMWSV5X0JAnu6JZ6cKf-d8azYIjNcOKdBmvBpFmMcij43hKYQH8hC8S-7lzBUUBQy1oQSx41QtGE4vAm364epLjRAGzEHcnkCNCjJxNS1c1_nv8jrRI/s1600/whale-rider.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjO1hqYvweMMEZHFK0P3-U_HyvJMWSV5X0JAnu6JZ6cKf-d8azYIjNcOKdBmvBpFmMcij43hKYQH8hC8S-7lzBUUBQy1oQSx41QtGE4vAm364epLjRAGzEHcnkCNCjJxNS1c1_nv8jrRI/s640/whale-rider.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />There are also gorgeously lyrical cutaways to whales swimming in the ocean throughout the movie. When I first watched it, I thought that these were just helping set a dreamy mood, but on my last watch-through I felt more like the whales were talking to Pai as she faced hard times in her life. At one point her father wants to take her back with him to Germany, where he’s living with his girlfriend, but as they’re leaving Pai stares off into the ocean and Caro cuts to the whales. You really get the sense that Pai is connected to this place, the whales are telling her not to leave. They need her. This place needs her. It adds a level of the almost supernatural to this story, which is again very connected to various native cultures, which have always been more accepting of the unexplainable in their stories.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioKXn-ix65uWbe5lpUwF1_3SQVqfdeu4KPdTLotIs8i7zA4bs0Jyd1x1f4STo6K_dUcnvextPFe_awLPThCdKpEMRY1nNxNOQCEFlBYL8bfKXG47rFhAvvwu63uTJUVF068PrGh4x8Qys/s1600/WhaleRider2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1512" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioKXn-ix65uWbe5lpUwF1_3SQVqfdeu4KPdTLotIs8i7zA4bs0Jyd1x1f4STo6K_dUcnvextPFe_awLPThCdKpEMRY1nNxNOQCEFlBYL8bfKXG47rFhAvvwu63uTJUVF068PrGh4x8Qys/s640/WhaleRider2.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />Although not really similar, Whale Rider kept coming to my mind when watching Disney’s Moana a couple of years ago. Both are the stories of a young island girl learning her internal power and ultimately using it to lead her people. Of course, Moana is set in a fantasy world of myth and the islanders wear leis and hula skirts and all that kind of stereotypical stuff, while Whale Rider is set in modern times. Whale Rider deals with the gender bias of the native traditions, while Moana kind of side steps them as everyone just accepts that Moana will be chief and are fine with it. Both are ultimately great movies, I think, in different ways. They go different places but they’re almost like sister movies. Moana was definitely influenced by Whale Rider. It then strikes me that Niki Caro’s upcoming movie is next year’s live-action big budget Mulan remake for Disney. They’ve clearly taken notice of her work here in the story of a strong young girl.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy9YkXOm6fCGQITCEgGe9LosZEpLvYcxBoMpHhK0KW-KhyphenhyphenAlfxdsGGUDOlhaSSu4GHdnbAv-ho9q4koeO0Jd3qUoCvrbjcCJRWzNxNnke53cb22Y8NjOao20GbJC2Y59eCcOykPYsZbjk/s1600/whale-rider-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="865" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy9YkXOm6fCGQITCEgGe9LosZEpLvYcxBoMpHhK0KW-KhyphenhyphenAlfxdsGGUDOlhaSSu4GHdnbAv-ho9q4koeO0Jd3qUoCvrbjcCJRWzNxNnke53cb22Y8NjOao20GbJC2Y59eCcOykPYsZbjk/s640/whale-rider-5.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />The actors are all top notch here, headlined by Rawiri Paratene’s rigid Koro, whom we never doubt loves Pai, but he’s so stuck in his ways, so blind to her specialness, that he can’t see that his answer is right in front of him. He frustrates us in the audience, and Pai too, but she loves him anyway. Our lead, Keisha Castle-Hughes was, for a time, the youngest woman ever nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars, and she wholly deserved it for her sensitive, vulnerable, unaffected work here. In the best scene in the movie, a speech Pai gives in tribute to her grandfather, Castle-Hughes is heartbreaking. It’s a scene that has never failed to make me cry like a baby, and the biggest reason why is her brilliant performance.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVW1gl5KUVXMaWMoibXsE1i8QAD4Q9LsyK4B0TSe7upldmVfT-IiSwO7-Noy5qia_KOgPTn2bEHbIQJjssPEp-SnyZx8LM4FwHY6Jweq-wEL1GVlrNDCL2sh1eF6G7DtLaklcHXoJiK-4/s1600/1383605545.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="521" data-original-width="800" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVW1gl5KUVXMaWMoibXsE1i8QAD4Q9LsyK4B0TSe7upldmVfT-IiSwO7-Noy5qia_KOgPTn2bEHbIQJjssPEp-SnyZx8LM4FwHY6Jweq-wEL1GVlrNDCL2sh1eF6G7DtLaklcHXoJiK-4/s640/1383605545.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />Lastly, a quick word about the misleading PG-13 rating for the movie. Why was this wholesome family movie rated PG-13, you might ask? Bad language? Koro says the word “dick” twice. That’s it. Violence? There’s none. Sex? None. So why was it rated PG-13? Because when Pai goes to her uncle for help with stick fighting, we see a bag of weed and a pipe lying on his chest. We don’t see him smoke, we know that he did smoke, but it’s never given any dialog, any emphasis in any way, it’s just a thing sitting there. Boom, PG-13. It’s one of the most egregious ratings in the history of the MPAA that this perfect little Hidden Gem of a family movie was given a PG-13 rating. Please seek this movie out and watch with your family. I hope you love it as much as I do.<br />
Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459356722964144865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495704823524122058.post-79775799996122859012019-03-13T13:48:00.001-05:002019-03-14T08:42:44.149-05:00Cinema Spotlight: Cate Blanchett in The Aviator<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I was very excited when I went to the theater to see The Aviator in 2004. Martin Scorsese has long been my favorite living filmmaker and this was going to be at least one part his tribute to classic Hollywood, with Jude Law as Errol Flynn, Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner, and most prominently Cate Blanchett as Katherine Hepburn. Blanchett was getting a lot of Oscar buzz and she is one of the best actresses on the planet and I knew she’d be great. So I was particularly disappointed when she came on screen, she and DiCaprio's Howard Hughes go golfing, and at one point she says "You're deaf, and I sweat. Aren't we a fine pair of misfits?" and I just thought “oh that sucks, she’s really fake. I don’t believe her in this role. I guess Hepburn is just too big an icon to believably portray.” I got used to her performance as the movie went on, but that feeling did stick with me. Upon rewatches of the movie, my mind changed.</div>
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The next year The Aviator played constantly on whatever movie channel I had at the time and I got sucked into watching it over and over again. It was during this time that I realized how genius Blanchett’s performance in the movie was. In those first scenes, of she and Hughes playing golf together, Blanchett isn’t being fake, Hepburn is. Hepburn is putting on a front to an aggressive man pursuing her. She’s barely listening to him, and they’re not really connecting. But it’s not a fault of the actress playing Hepburn, but of Hepburn herself. As the movie goes on, we see Hepburn let her guard down more and more in front of Hughes, until she’s one of his most trusted allies. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkUTNzxSn1OXk69XvWvL98MdqfucRvUKG1q-dflZtiANxGqEO3yKc2LZyxvWf5F0WgzKDLA8n47IIh4s_XCPtARliePMNvgR03V2evZoJLF_-V0arsD-Z3UyVG8lUuuWU_r4kiRoWwSu0/s1600/blanchett.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkUTNzxSn1OXk69XvWvL98MdqfucRvUKG1q-dflZtiANxGqEO3yKc2LZyxvWf5F0WgzKDLA8n47IIh4s_XCPtARliePMNvgR03V2evZoJLF_-V0arsD-Z3UyVG8lUuuWU_r4kiRoWwSu0/s640/blanchett.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
We also see the two of them visit her family in Connecticut and Hepburn falls into the kind of fakery that her family traffics in. None of them are listening to each other, they’re all making declarations and shouting their opinions and it overwhelms Hughes until he gets angry and leaves. He gets angry at her as well, telling her that she's being like a different person around them. She tells him that “the only real Kate, is your Kate” but in those first scenes I didn’t understand that at that point she isn’t “his Kate” and is being the fake person she so often is around people.<br />
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Blanchett fooled me just like Hepburn fooled Hughes. This isn’t a fake performance but one of our best actors doing some of her best work playing a fake person. Later, when she talks to Hughes of her brothers suicide or when they laugh together and tease each other, or when they break up, it’s real. Hughes even calls her out during their breakup, telling her to "stop acting." And at that point we can tell too, if we're paying attention. You can feel that Hepburn is acting, not being real. But when Hepburn was being fake, Blanchett was so brilliant that I forgot she was playing a character and thought she was giving a fake performance. I am so happy that I was wrong, and Blanchett really helps elevate The Aviator into becoming easily the most rewatchable Scorsese movie for me. Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459356722964144865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495704823524122058.post-42785414802867174102019-03-05T11:44:00.000-06:002019-03-05T11:49:27.025-06:00Cinema Spotlight: The Cereal Scene in The Hurt Locker<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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One of the most powerful scenes I’ve ever seen in a movie is a simple one in Kathryn Bigelow’s amazing Oscar winning movie The Hurt Locker. I’ve been told by soldiers that even though the movie doesn’t reflect the literal truth of what fighting in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars was like, it’s the best encapsulation of the feelings of fighting there and then returning home afterwards a changed person. It’s the returning home that’s often the problem. The Hurt Locker is hardly the first movie to deal with the issues of PTSD and the struggle of returning to civilian life after war, movies from The Best Years of Our Lives in the 40’s, to The Deer Hunter and Coming Home in the 70’s, to Born on the Fourth of July in the 80’s have all dealt with what it’s like to serve and to return home. But there’s a shot in The Hurt Locker that sums up the experience of Sergeant First Class Will James very understatedly and powerfully.<br />
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Will (Jeremy Renner, who owes his career to his tremendous work in this movie) has returned home from Iraq and is grocery shopping with his family. His wife (a thankless role for Evangeline Lilly) tells him to go get some cereal and meet her in the next aisle. We then see Will, blankly staring at this endless sea of cereal boxes, unable to choose one. This man who is a genius in the insane world of bomb defusing is overwhelmed by the mundane task of choosing a box of cereal. His skills are not applicable in this world. His ability to stay calm under immeasurable pressure is negated in regular civilization. He has been made into a specialist by the military and the situations in which he learned to thrive, and it robbed him, seemingly, of his humanity. He doesn’t make sense in this world.<br />
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The Hurt Locker opens with the quote “war is a drug.” This sounds insane, impossible, as we are taught to believe the line “war is hell”, and saying that it’s a drug seems counterintuitive. Who would want to keep going back to war the way that junkies go back to drugs? Exactly a guy like Will James, who has no life skills other than the very specialized ones he uses to defuse bombs. He can’t live in regular society, and sadly the movie ends with Will headed off to do another tour of duty in Iraq, not because he wants to fight, but because war is the only place he can feel normal.<br />
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The Hurt Locker is one of the greatest of war movies because it allows us into both the exciting action, as well as the hellish interior minds of the soldiers scarred by their service. The moment of Will standing dumbfounded in front of cereal has become the image most associated with the movie in my mind. One of the most powerful shots in cinema because of everything attached to such a seemingly innocuous task by the context in which Kathryn Bigelow expertly puts it in the story. She thoroughly deserved her Best Director and Best Picture Oscars for this movie.Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459356722964144865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495704823524122058.post-18233973858156453202019-02-28T14:15:00.005-06:002019-03-05T11:45:16.456-06:00Cinema Spotlight: "I hear everything" in Superman Returns<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is a new series I’ll do from time to time, highlighting certain great moments in cinema. Maybe it’s a great piece in a great movie, maybe it’s the one highlight from a bad movie, maybe it’s something else. Here, I start with one of my favorite subjects: superheroes. Let’s get into it!<br />
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The moment: “I hear everything” in Superman Returns<br />
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Superman Returns is not a particularly good movie. It has a lot of issues, but there’s also some great stuff there (including Superman being shot in the eye and we watch as the bullet crumples, another great throwaway moment). The real issue with Superman has always been a problem of conflict. How can there be conflict with this character? Who provides a real conflict for this God of a being? And from a narrative perspective, what is Superman’s motivation? What keeps him from his desires?<br />
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Superman is the most overpowered of all widely known superheroes (flight, super strength, super speed, laser vision, X-ray vision, cold breath, seeming indestructibility, etc.) and his only weakness being kryptonite has always felt stupid to me. Not because he shouldn’t have a weakness, but because he should, and a stupid piece of green rock that always ends up in the hands of the bad guys to help immobilize Superman just long enough for the plot to continue has always felt like a lame contrivance for such a character. Superman Returns fixed that issue, even if I’m not sure it realized it did.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ1fFOZysCTRAkiftNvBmSif-bxNLU4mL3c5J8DXtDCnZ8x7_nH7LW5xoVRdg_5Xls9LRCT-VIBghEExro5tujyeLDzfVvjti0ovHfUL7E2TD3xqaGz3GRijPM2b5BPYYsQvo5YVHt3DU/s1600/hqdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ1fFOZysCTRAkiftNvBmSif-bxNLU4mL3c5J8DXtDCnZ8x7_nH7LW5xoVRdg_5Xls9LRCT-VIBghEExro5tujyeLDzfVvjti0ovHfUL7E2TD3xqaGz3GRijPM2b5BPYYsQvo5YVHt3DU/s640/hqdefault.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
In the scene I want to talk about, Superman (Brandon Routh, who was a decent Superman and deserved more than he was given for his work) takes Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth, a little bland, feels too young and maybe miscast) up into the stratosphere, looking down on Earth, and they have this short exchange:<br />
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Superman: “What do you hear?”<br />
Lois: “Nothing.”<br />
Superman: “I hear everything." (pause) "You wrote that the world doesn’t need a savior, but every day I hear people crying for one.”<br />
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And this was revelatory to me because it finally gave Superman internal conflict. He wants to save everyone, but can’t because even though he’s got a godlike amount of powers, he’s not a true omnipresent god. He literally can’t save everyone. He must worry about even being able to save those he cares about. What about the people he can’t save? Those people are still on his conscience. He still hears their cries for help, even as he can’t help them. How do you live a life with that kind of stuff taking up your headspace? How is he supposed to have a nice quiet dinner with Lois while he can hear people all over the world crying for help, being hurt, killed, raped, etc.? Obviously he has to develop selective hearing, which must also lay heavy on his conscience knowing that he’s tuning out people who could use his help. <br />
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Now, Superman Returns doesn’t do anything with this newfound depth. The plot is still concerned with bullshit about Lex Luther creating new real estate or something, but this moment completely upended my feelings about Superman as a character. He wasn’t boring anymore and it’s something I still think about even when reading comics or watching subsequent Superman movies. Even though those movies don’t earn it, this depth is still there for me. And that's all thanks to this moment.Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459356722964144865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495704823524122058.post-4959991317593148172019-01-30T17:12:00.000-06:002019-01-30T17:12:33.913-06:00Dogfight<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Sometimes actors are gone from us too soon. We see it all over Hollywood history in everyone from James Dean to Heath Ledger. In one of the most famous cases, River Phoenix died in 1993 at only 23 years old. Always flush with talent, he gave us a few great performances in his short time: Stand by Me, his Oscar nominated turn in Running on Empty, and what many point to as his best role, in 1991’s My Own Private Idaho. But it’s his other 1991 role that has always been a favorite of mine, as young Marine Eddie Birdlace opposite the perpetually underrated Lili Taylor in Nancy Savoca’s Dogfight. I first saw this movie as a teenager, it came on one of the movie channels, and I was uncharacteristically sucked into it. It was vulnerable, quieter, and so much deeper than other romance movies I’d been exposed to. It has stuck in my mind ever since, and I was happy to revisit it recently.<br />
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Set in 1963, just before the Kennedy assassination, Dogfight is the story of a group of four Marines set to ship off to Korea and then “a little country called Vietnam.” They decide to use their last night to hold a dogfight, a particularly cruel contest where they each pitch in some money, bring a date to a bar and the guy who brings the ugliest girl wins. Phoenix’s Eddie looks around town for a girl but eventually starts running out of time and charms coffeehouse waitress and aspiring poet Rose (Lili Taylor) into going with him. Rose is not ugly but plain, awkward, and shy. It’s actually she who feels sorry for him and agrees to go on the date. Eddie then begins having second thoughts just outside the bar, as Rose is a sweet, interesting girl. But when his buddies see him, he can’t back out and Eddie takes Rose into the bar where he proceeds to try and drink his guilt away. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFFnQ7TBZ1Da0d3lMHGei9nWfeL89qpWIIwNc7anDiB2ocIoW_W1A9OzBDRVA7lL5i_dfoZPujvw5H_uS_52Eqnv7VZHWH3_YwyJ8jELCpSBWcPvP8JyFn316WDbuZ6a5WLlezCpyTLfY/s1600/MV5BMmQxOTg1YjQtODYyZC00YWRmLTkyYWUtNGQwZjQ0NGQ5YjU0XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTkyNzcwMjg%2540__V1_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="720" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFFnQ7TBZ1Da0d3lMHGei9nWfeL89qpWIIwNc7anDiB2ocIoW_W1A9OzBDRVA7lL5i_dfoZPujvw5H_uS_52Eqnv7VZHWH3_YwyJ8jELCpSBWcPvP8JyFn316WDbuZ6a5WLlezCpyTLfY/s640/MV5BMmQxOTg1YjQtODYyZC00YWRmLTkyYWUtNGQwZjQ0NGQ5YjU0XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTkyNzcwMjg%2540__V1_.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
Naturally, Rose will find out the true nature of the date, but the movie’s charm isn’t in standard tropes of watching these two fall in love and then the truth comes out to act as the thing to keep them apart before they finally reconcile and the music swells and credits roll. We’ve seen that from lesser movies over and over again. No, we get that stuff much earlier in this movie, and the real magic comes after Eddie convinces Rose to let him take her to dinner to make up for bringing her to the dogfight.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhELK32KLUefCJciXBiZxC8_efTIOAWxQ1NXuZZlZbQnmaeRL4CqWdtlhNU63KzKPkvcHYC6rKcDhI5f7Hsjad_9AJKRJyl4Tz_sLvfphGtM4d6GSgNdWKyWgrafrnHmOqM8yJa-6vSQjo/s1600/dogfightmovie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="565" data-original-width="1000" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhELK32KLUefCJciXBiZxC8_efTIOAWxQ1NXuZZlZbQnmaeRL4CqWdtlhNU63KzKPkvcHYC6rKcDhI5f7Hsjad_9AJKRJyl4Tz_sLvfphGtM4d6GSgNdWKyWgrafrnHmOqM8yJa-6vSQjo/s640/dogfightmovie.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
Rose’s decision to go back out with Eddie is occasionally a point of contention with some viewers. How, after being subjected to something so cruel, could Rose then trust Eddie enough to go out with him again? In the powerful scenes where Rose confronts Eddie, and then Eddie convinces Rose to go out again that night, we see that Rose isn’t a pushover. She isn’t “going along with it” the way that society at the time may have expected her to. Her kindness isn’t weakness. She has great amounts of empathy, sweetness, and anger. Eddie gets to see all of these sides of her. But I think she agrees to go out with him again because she can see that he is different than his Marine buddies. He isn’t the callous asshole that they are; he’s just been trying to conform. Rose is sensitive and perceptive enough to see the inner him that he is trying to not let out.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtkMKeXLkGEL-eRh2p5Sycuzaz2i9TDxymAD_51t9F569OMTme15AL1OMypeOwGhm6PdJ5AlSmVXalBpISqhyphenhyphenbGOXkaiiRV7f6ZDF8e55dRwmMrj3-LNEmCH85XimmzILcrSLpkIgYgRI/s1600/dogfight06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="501" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtkMKeXLkGEL-eRh2p5Sycuzaz2i9TDxymAD_51t9F569OMTme15AL1OMypeOwGhm6PdJ5AlSmVXalBpISqhyphenhyphenbGOXkaiiRV7f6ZDF8e55dRwmMrj3-LNEmCH85XimmzILcrSLpkIgYgRI/s640/dogfight06.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
The dinner scene is one of my favorites, as we see Rose put Eddie in his place with his overuse of cursing and his childish beef with the snooty maitre d’ at the restaurant. And she is not mothering him into acting right so much as she’s letting him know that his immature shit won’t fly with her. He shapes up accordingly and we see the vulnerability and sweetness come out from underneath Eddie’s facade. Then the two begin to connect for real, and we are in for one of my favorite romance movies.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh745RJj2slO6XXSKv0ddv3IfHohSMl0xqaW5vAK2kqNYregmoJaPUg-CmPQlrfvSHXloCmyI75aA_K46BUbz5aRQRVb1wV7YE26qPaUd0suWwbFx1kfyZqK8o07i1tDwF2aif8cMvWRbo/s1600/dogfight_rose2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="1000" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh745RJj2slO6XXSKv0ddv3IfHohSMl0xqaW5vAK2kqNYregmoJaPUg-CmPQlrfvSHXloCmyI75aA_K46BUbz5aRQRVb1wV7YE26qPaUd0suWwbFx1kfyZqK8o07i1tDwF2aif8cMvWRbo/s640/dogfight_rose2.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
Dogfight is one of those quiet little movies that doesn’t shine because it has the greatest script or flashy cinematography or something (though those are both terrific). We are greatly aided by wonderfully subtle direction and command of tone from director Nancy Savoca, but this movie soars because of the casting of River Phoenix and Lili Taylor. Phoenix has always been a revered actor, even during his life, for his ability to project toughness and sensitivity within a character, sometimes simultaneously. He was truly one of the great talents that we lost at too young an age. This is my favorite of his performances.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7rZUiSAsH4vyTyho-GNcIjNjZ3-Bl-KlzHHDXzNBN3fymAuT9nVpRHPyD0yNbLAfUIWqYX34hmEpu6qIsq2DA-YFGQVLQT-d_NTWpt4T5iaWJ1AlGkNYdSaRYbA7wTwFyN__pg8jY8bU/s1600/dogfight7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="605" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7rZUiSAsH4vyTyho-GNcIjNjZ3-Bl-KlzHHDXzNBN3fymAuT9nVpRHPyD0yNbLAfUIWqYX34hmEpu6qIsq2DA-YFGQVLQT-d_NTWpt4T5iaWJ1AlGkNYdSaRYbA7wTwFyN__pg8jY8bU/s640/dogfight7.png" width="640" /></a><br />
Lili Taylor came to mind after revisiting High Fidelity last month. In that she plays one of John Cusack’s top 5 loves of his life. There she’s too needy and beaten down by life for Cusack to hash out why their relationship failed. But here, a young 24, she is so engaging, funny, sweet, strong, and believably kind that we fall in love with her right alongside Eddie. Taylor has always been good, and she has worked endlessly, but she has never been better than she was in Dogfight. Both of these people are among the greatest romantic characters in cinema. This is one of those movies that make you mad at other movies for being so basic and uninteresting. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk2lmVtOtrc-q0KwIpOqZ3ODj9BLkWC-cfnpzYBARdlLgGh9Hd1KGNN9-vRtxBh6BjJtsOawdWD8QIGJXEuoJdwUWPg5bmE1F86mYaEW-STjtBKnJdctaXYImoHFzQB0QLEIiPv3Cmmd4/s1600/8bc0c7d87296f06fb3cfb947c209de13--river-phoenix-rivers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="672" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk2lmVtOtrc-q0KwIpOqZ3ODj9BLkWC-cfnpzYBARdlLgGh9Hd1KGNN9-vRtxBh6BjJtsOawdWD8QIGJXEuoJdwUWPg5bmE1F86mYaEW-STjtBKnJdctaXYImoHFzQB0QLEIiPv3Cmmd4/s640/8bc0c7d87296f06fb3cfb947c209de13--river-phoenix-rivers.jpg" width="430" /></a><br />
The ending doesn’t work for some people, but I loved it. Roger Ebert said you have to be a little bit idealistic for this movie to work, but I think you just have to have an empathetic and open heart. Many of River Phoenix’s roles have become sort of mythical since his early death (as always happens when an artist dies too young), but for some reason Dogfight has continued to be a Hidden Gem in his filmography. It deserves more love. It’s one of the screens great romances, showcasing actors at the top of their game.Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459356722964144865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495704823524122058.post-58603525283007475142019-01-29T16:26:00.000-06:002019-01-29T16:26:03.049-06:00High Fidelity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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High Fidelity is one of my very favorite movies, but it didn’t start out that way. As a 17 year old leaving the theater, I loved Jack Black’s over the top blowhard sidekick, Barry, but honestly John Cusack’s lead character, and his journey through revisiting the loves of his life and how the relationships failed, just kind of left me wanting more. I thought the movie was good, but not great. Self-reflection and development didn’t mean a whole lot to a 17 year old, who woulda thunk it, right? As I revisited the movie over the years, though, as all great art does, it grew inside my mind and heart. I cared more, I understood more, I connected more. By the time I was in my late 20’s, with some life under my belt, it became a very personal favorite movie of mine.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC4EtxbUYnZu6Sw99ndgYqSpPdyDLxhUH_eKFNtRCnUP6mZ3bUGhzKdGYJjwdx1cN3TMNCe6JYllhcUSr2LtpNR37eNtLlA_WtJe3iwNB2i1xO0fyohcF53_SsJ4pM4wcEvkbNvilJWb8/s1600/5d2c90dd-6f78-4bb4-85ef-a3a5eeecb6fa-rehost2f20162f92f132fa3cfe837-d0e2-4754-97ff-1b344001de79.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="727" data-original-width="1158" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC4EtxbUYnZu6Sw99ndgYqSpPdyDLxhUH_eKFNtRCnUP6mZ3bUGhzKdGYJjwdx1cN3TMNCe6JYllhcUSr2LtpNR37eNtLlA_WtJe3iwNB2i1xO0fyohcF53_SsJ4pM4wcEvkbNvilJWb8/s640/5d2c90dd-6f78-4bb4-85ef-a3a5eeecb6fa-rehost2f20162f92f132fa3cfe837-d0e2-4754-97ff-1b344001de79.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />We are plopped right into the action as Rob (Cusack) is in the middle of a breakup with his girlfriend Laura (Danish actress Iben Hjejle being perfectly American). To try and get under Laura’s skin, Rob shouts at her that she’s not even one of the top 5 real loves of his life, she didn’t mean that much to him. She couldn’t really hurt him because she wasn’t one of these special top 5 that had his heart. They were the ones that really hurt, not her. We soon learn that Rob is just lashing out in anger, but we maybe learn it faster than Rob does as he counts down the top 5, because things keep coming back to Laura.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBf5XY2tDFIExbrFAuuZyuhaRLqbQ78KjWNbw3z9MFpNfxTjqTNr5JGHo9eeWvUMqs-_2M6U6AIMlefD0q3YIZ93BSw168pNJpNn1YVaEYXHaF44erTmufimsWjFACb1eoUhgcuqTA96I/s1600/htra238_vv098_h.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="523" data-original-width="928" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBf5XY2tDFIExbrFAuuZyuhaRLqbQ78KjWNbw3z9MFpNfxTjqTNr5JGHo9eeWvUMqs-_2M6U6AIMlefD0q3YIZ93BSw168pNJpNn1YVaEYXHaF44erTmufimsWjFACb1eoUhgcuqTA96I/s640/htra238_vv098_h.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />Rob recounts these stories directly to us in a tricky little bit of filmmaking where he breaks the fourth wall and talks to us directly the way Rob does in the book, the way that filmmakers rarely do in the movies, and even more rarely do well. This is about as good as it’s ever been done. We go inside Rob’s head, inside his thoughts and emotions and self-doubt and narcissism. We even see his fantasy of revisiting the top 5 girls, talking to them in person, and it feeling like a Bruce Springsteen song, complete with a Springsteen cameo talking to Rob as Rob talks to us. And when Rob eventually has his emotional breakdown and begins truly learning his role in his own life, his part in all the failed relationships, he has those moments *to* us, directly to camera.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcT7JGWXbhVMtY-90u123ZqpiS1yTP4TSt30A4a8halukRabGGcz7IaDmyyHIxD3Xu7VxbS9rRhbImXx3bMsOfLdjXz-5B6KwLs82M8Cq7LXjcFWjezSQd1fwjiZYyInpFZJR6x1Oe3Bw/s1600/11151-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="964" data-original-width="1200" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcT7JGWXbhVMtY-90u123ZqpiS1yTP4TSt30A4a8halukRabGGcz7IaDmyyHIxD3Xu7VxbS9rRhbImXx3bMsOfLdjXz-5B6KwLs82M8Cq7LXjcFWjezSQd1fwjiZYyInpFZJR6x1Oe3Bw/s640/11151-2.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />Written by the team of John Cusack (who also produced in addition to starring), Steve Pink, Scott Rosenberg, and D.V. DeVincentis, the script is tremendous. Usually four listed writers on a movie is a bad sign, that you’re going to get something scattershot and without a clear vision because it’s gone through too many writers hands and isn’t going to congeal into a true whole. Not here. Tasked with adapting Nick Hornby’s brilliant 1995 book of the same name, moving the action from Hornby’s London to Cusack’s home town of Chicago, the writers created a story with meaning, heart, humor, and emotion. Creating people sharply drawn in their desires and their faults.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQyIHbPN3t5c9JtSScNnOEv9OEZZP3otRnFZ6-FWzQo8n-DF71y4F9yBGbJ8BI1_o9n39EQGPZnaXsBgc8-9K4rOK5S9SDU2ZFnFLjC92zMyKxhwXOCluf4ADlKg_rXJb92hXvF13bgQ8/s1600/2738_3_screenshot-1024x538.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="1024" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQyIHbPN3t5c9JtSScNnOEv9OEZZP3otRnFZ6-FWzQo8n-DF71y4F9yBGbJ8BI1_o9n39EQGPZnaXsBgc8-9K4rOK5S9SDU2ZFnFLjC92zMyKxhwXOCluf4ADlKg_rXJb92hXvF13bgQ8/s640/2738_3_screenshot-1024x538.png" width="640" /></a><br />
And behind the director’s chair is the steady hand of Stephen Frears, twice Oscar nominated as Best Director (for the Helen Mirren starring The Queen as well as 1990’s The Grifters, a brilliant little neo-noir also starring Cusack), he wasn’t even nominated for his most iconic movie, the 1988 adaptation of Dangerous Liaisons. Here I have to assume that some of that elusive cohesion of the story has to have come from Frears. This movies tone is pitched at absolutely the perfect note. Not just any filmmaker could’ve gotten it so right and seemed so effortless.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCmk-d-wXwG4JKoHuHggC6I_chyH7HH3v6brn9tHNlOsqfQNq_eojXHBGBXcYSE8u6rYhdZQbk0L0o7f4SlSmz_nD43yRFxHSCSU3i6qCmjKK911DErJHwU7Pk7hIzjvdfbayfdR1tONQ/s1600/high-fidelity-2000-catherine-zeta-jones-pic-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="273" data-original-width="500" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCmk-d-wXwG4JKoHuHggC6I_chyH7HH3v6brn9tHNlOsqfQNq_eojXHBGBXcYSE8u6rYhdZQbk0L0o7f4SlSmz_nD43yRFxHSCSU3i6qCmjKK911DErJHwU7Pk7hIzjvdfbayfdR1tONQ/s640/high-fidelity-2000-catherine-zeta-jones-pic-3.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />We follow Rob not just through his past relationships (the most memorable with Catherine Zeta-Jones’s Charlie), but also through Laura’s fling with a neighbor (Tim Robbins), Laura’s friend Liz (Joan Cusack) and her job as the go between for Rob and Laura during the breakup, and Rob’s day to day life as the owner of a record store alongside his employees Dick (Todd Louiso) and Barry (Jack Black). We also meet a sexy local singer/songwriter the guys all have a crush on, played perfectly by Lisa Bonet. The guys obsessively make top 5 lists, such as Top 5 opening tracks on an album, Top 5 songs about death, and sometimes super specific but abstract lists like Top 5 songs to play on a Monday morning. These scenes are what Jack Black owes his career to, as he is electric and steals every scene he’s in. It was obvious what a talent he was immediately upon seeing this movie.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0DTfMoDLMz4KdPCQQQ5CLESA_2eJNJ_SZrZUD3BtWmQfw4yUwyAkorI1Wdna-QYB5RGtF84c_Nw1Ud-TXiMEp5NSwv8-B5qeqSz9C2fBeXxl7O7qL6c-goudqlUWZiCN0Y1w_X8H6BrQ/s1600/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0DTfMoDLMz4KdPCQQQ5CLESA_2eJNJ_SZrZUD3BtWmQfw4yUwyAkorI1Wdna-QYB5RGtF84c_Nw1Ud-TXiMEp5NSwv8-B5qeqSz9C2fBeXxl7O7qL6c-goudqlUWZiCN0Y1w_X8H6BrQ/s640/maxresdefault.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />I loved this aspect of the movie most upon initial viewing, because I was a list obsessed teenager myself. These guys were in their 30’s, but I still saw myself (which shows you how much room they have to grow). Things changed for me later just as they do for Rob. I experienced more, I developed and grew as a person just as Rob grows over the course of the movie. In the beginning Rob is so obsessed with music, songs, albums, and making lists that he ignores the important things in his life, like his relationships and how he is the one sabotaging himself more than he is a victim of the behavior of others. He even says that he, Dick, and Barry have talked about how the most important thing about a girl is what she likes, not what she is like. But eventually he even starts trying to figure some things out, like what he wants to do with the rest of his life, and who he wants to be as a person. The kind of things that we all need to figure out.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinV-BEeDdycVkOY3xEjYtr4tS7EYZnzjb_SCzRJofz4TvIwRmi6KpLmZiI-DIv6Ru5KJubG-JAw-bB4eUGSMAO2SEpkq4f2K6APiw8p6OrhyphenhyphenHJRQwMy3EY05YlyXpMhY3x5IaHaWFw_9c/s1600/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="472" data-original-width="630" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinV-BEeDdycVkOY3xEjYtr4tS7EYZnzjb_SCzRJofz4TvIwRmi6KpLmZiI-DIv6Ru5KJubG-JAw-bB4eUGSMAO2SEpkq4f2K6APiw8p6OrhyphenhyphenHJRQwMy3EY05YlyXpMhY3x5IaHaWFw_9c/s640/image.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />For as good as the writing is, and the supporting cast is, this is the only movie that has really, truly captured what John Cusack can do as an actor. He’s been the jaded cool guy, the rom-com lead, the detective or cop, the comedic leading man, and much more, but in High Fidelity he got the best role of his career and he embodied it more than ever with the vulnerability, intelligence, and humor that has always been there but never coalesced into such a tremendous performance. Rob Gordon has become a milestone character for me as a moviegoer. Maybe the character I most resemble and relate to.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil7rj1cJuaBEmbvhOlFN09kXxPZMbuA-3EwCVBKaXULt2BjKVo-kADydT0RkMjJWf8O2rRftggHkWUPWoTaz5pGe-TEpk-G7yAmqAoSj5oZIh53IvANJKRHtoIZCr3NwUJVU6m6e-PUdI/s1600/HIgh-Fidelity-Style-Guide-Gear-Patrol-Lead-Full.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="970" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil7rj1cJuaBEmbvhOlFN09kXxPZMbuA-3EwCVBKaXULt2BjKVo-kADydT0RkMjJWf8O2rRftggHkWUPWoTaz5pGe-TEpk-G7yAmqAoSj5oZIh53IvANJKRHtoIZCr3NwUJVU6m6e-PUdI/s640/HIgh-Fidelity-Style-Guide-Gear-Patrol-Lead-Full.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />Rob is the best rom-com lead character (because at its core this is really a rom-com for guys), he takes us more intimately into his brain and his being than almost any other character has. We *know* Rob by the end of the movie. And if you can go on the journey with him and not be turned off by some of his early (more self-obsessed or arrogant) behavior, we love Rob by the end. Watching him grow out of his state of arrested adolescence is cathartic, hilarious, and heartwarming. It’s the best work from one of our most underappreciated actors, and even if many people know of the movie, more people should see it. And expect it to grow in your mind the way it did mine. It’s a real Hidden Gem.Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459356722964144865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495704823524122058.post-69930586720801725612018-12-19T09:36:00.001-06:002018-12-19T09:36:49.342-06:00Top 10 Romance Movies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The romance, one of the great genres of cinema. Often thought to be just "chick flicks" or rom-coms, I find that romances can have as much to say about life and act as mirrors to ourselves as any other genre. Our romantic relationships are often the most important thing in our lives, so why shouldn't we take a more thoughtful look at romance as a serious genre? It shouldn't be something to be dismissed or taken lightly, though I'll be honest and say that I love a good rom-com too. Not because they're romantic necessarily, but because enjoyable light fluff is nice sometimes. And sometimes a Meg Ryan infusion can be good for your life. None of those movies show up here, but don't think it's because they weren't in consideration. Now, onto the list!<br /><br />Honorable Mention for:<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Three Times</span></strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmli5pOoMGu36mZ9S69JcDFQZnYnnkY2IRj2PiP4dcE7tusvy6D-9sn5Hz7dEj1026Y2yzqUAAvp51g0jj6Q8q9jR1svvohHLBQRKO_6ZU-Z8s9p13zdYYfqogUxB8XsOtFUVc2ZzEyOM/s1600/three-times-time-of-love1.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmli5pOoMGu36mZ9S69JcDFQZnYnnkY2IRj2PiP4dcE7tusvy6D-9sn5Hz7dEj1026Y2yzqUAAvp51g0jj6Q8q9jR1svvohHLBQRKO_6ZU-Z8s9p13zdYYfqogUxB8XsOtFUVc2ZzEyOM/s640/three-times-time-of-love1.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />I almost put Three Times on the list, but it would've really only been for the first section, which is simple and sweet and wonderfully romantic. The other two sections explore love and romance, but aren't really romantic, so I ended up cutting this movie from the list.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size: large;">5 Centimeters per Second</span></strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2OChLX9dl4y98eTJ90B0VvC1CuZNWtj3AU9RsC40oXcsRdHRoFwr_qHoQBAk9xZqM3JGJvvAlPs5BNDZYgAgGKpI3Yblw2-sSNaVzoa3DFmGnkEYgoTLY31IwgUroKMF2lKtA94iu0Fs/s1600/5-Centimeters-Per-Second-Dual-Audio-1080p-v2_mkv_snapshot_00_45_57_2012_07_24_15_40_05.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2OChLX9dl4y98eTJ90B0VvC1CuZNWtj3AU9RsC40oXcsRdHRoFwr_qHoQBAk9xZqM3JGJvvAlPs5BNDZYgAgGKpI3Yblw2-sSNaVzoa3DFmGnkEYgoTLY31IwgUroKMF2lKtA94iu0Fs/s640/5-Centimeters-Per-Second-Dual-Audio-1080p-v2_mkv_snapshot_00_45_57_2012_07_24_15_40_05.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />A beautiful story of appreciating love's place in our growth as a person, and loving the part that plays in our hearts. It has a romantic heart, and would've made it onto this list if not for the ridiculously stiff competition.</div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Out of Sight</span></strong> <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-pT1iXXYziqcLefEru-Ojk7pFDR3XmVKelQqYTS_SAKiFaTWoD2YXk0B6JVK8fT_d8WuylP9coA7rV-vOD1WNarFR4gULEXVBIKgu-ZJ8bXOaBHdLfBRcXdjCKfVms4vMIR1nRYiBiiE/s1600/409b6e7ac612517d02daf522a8ed1384f5c1dd5f-thumb-600xauto-198558.jpg"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-pT1iXXYziqcLefEru-Ojk7pFDR3XmVKelQqYTS_SAKiFaTWoD2YXk0B6JVK8fT_d8WuylP9coA7rV-vOD1WNarFR4gULEXVBIKgu-ZJ8bXOaBHdLfBRcXdjCKfVms4vMIR1nRYiBiiE/s640/409b6e7ac612517d02daf522a8ed1384f5c1dd5f-thumb-600xauto-198558.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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One of the great crime movies, but with a terrific romance driving it, something about making a list of "romance movies" kept me from putting Out of Sight on this list, despite liking it more than most of the movies on the list as a whole. I don't know, this is one of those weird instances when making genre lists that although something may technically qualify as a certain genre, I don't include it because it doesn't feel like a "romance movie" as much as it is a movie with a romance in it, if that makes sense.</div>
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<br /><strong><span style="font-size: large;">10. Sing Street</span></strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCLFBsjl2Ig7qYYJLicdR7Iy6vW3oO1YD17VpoJc5cg-mtKzL_jzP5Qbq6_ZiW3CWZAhRiKH8sR6HvCGSt0t9aozTPSUZtdLfYLZl6nW8-2bBcCveutE4jtzttcplxbjNkHMlMqYVzYCM/s1600/sing.png"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCLFBsjl2Ig7qYYJLicdR7Iy6vW3oO1YD17VpoJc5cg-mtKzL_jzP5Qbq6_ZiW3CWZAhRiKH8sR6HvCGSt0t9aozTPSUZtdLfYLZl6nW8-2bBcCveutE4jtzttcplxbjNkHMlMqYVzYCM/s640/sing.png" width="640" /></a><br />John Carney’s Sing Street was one of the most unfairly overlooked movies of 2016. It’s the coming-of-age story of Conor (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo), a teenager in 1985 Dublin, Ireland. His family is falling apart, his parents constantly fight, economic times are tough, he’s being transferred to a new Catholic school full of bullies and harsh administration, and (as we all do at that age) he’s trying to figure out who he is as a person. Conor plays a bit of guitar and writes a bit of poetry, but he doesn’t really know who he is yet. What 15-year-old does? Into the mix, as usually happens in these stories, steps “the girl,” Raphina. Conor asks her to be in his band’s next video, to which she agrees. He then promptly walks away and up to Darren, the only friend he’s made at his new school, and says “We need to form a band.”<br /><br />Conor ends up finding himself through the band and through music. It all started because he wanted to impress a pretty girl, but it took hold of him and became a much deeper experience than that eventually. And Raphina isn’t just a pretty face, and she isn’t a manic-pixie-dream-girl there only to spur Conor’s character development. Raphina is a fully well rounded character, played in a beautifully heart felt and vulnerable performance by Lucy Boynton. She has her own arc, her own insecurities and strengths and weaknesses. And Conor loves her through all of it. What begins as shallow infatuation with the pretty girl deepens as Conor becomes more himself and grows through his music. I’m not sure if this performance is the beginning of a career for Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, since he is a musician first, but it’s one of the great coming-of-age lead characters.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>9. Groundhog Day</strong></span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirVbRDi-59c803xDKN5q2npkrmzP14A_kC-rSgnOJfd7mRmz1tr_naDvEPakcjq68PtuOuqHrUoaLRpOkM8aoNWkoCsrmglOhwaKUbVGbTEra5rEBDA54u53mjcQncDu-Dm7APz0uo_oc/s1600/groundhog-day-still-01_758_426_81_s_c1.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirVbRDi-59c803xDKN5q2npkrmzP14A_kC-rSgnOJfd7mRmz1tr_naDvEPakcjq68PtuOuqHrUoaLRpOkM8aoNWkoCsrmglOhwaKUbVGbTEra5rEBDA54u53mjcQncDu-Dm7APz0uo_oc/s640/groundhog-day-still-01_758_426_81_s_c1.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />"I was in the Virgin Islands once. I met a girl. We ate lobster and drank pina coladas. At sunset we made love like sea otters. That was a pretty good day. Why couldn't I get that day over and over and over..."<br /><br />Groundhog Day is a modern comedy classic, but one that I don't think gets enough credit for the things it does that no other movie does. What other studio comedy cares about the loneliness of its main character, doomed to repeat February 2nd for God knows how many years (writer Danny Rubin has said he envisioned Bill Murray's Phil repeating the day for about 10,000 years)? There's a sad, lonely heart at the center of this movie. But ultimately when Phil decides to be a better person, to help save people, do good things because it feels good, and try to win the heart of his producer Rita not just so he can sleep with her, but because he's come to see that she's the type of person he wants to be, she's innately good, every time he lives this day. He falls in love with her consciously or unconsciously he determines to make himself worthy of her.<br /><br />Some people have had problems with this relationship over the years, as Phil has knowledge that Rita doesn't, and uses it to seduce her. But I don't share that this is even what happens. When Phil tries to seduce Rita the way he's seduced other women in this repetitious world, she rejects him. It's only through what I imagine are years of making himself change, internally, every day, that she is able to see him for who he is, even if it's just the next day to her. She isn't experiencing time the way that he is, but she senses the changed man inside from the previous man she knew. She isn't a victim of Phil's seduction. She's the object spurring him into being the best version of himself, and loves him for being that.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>8. Annie Hall</strong></span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvx7-ggsxpDlL-L2A8YH_defWWtap8PZsCUNsvXoM6OrNiVQ4Fzl0HB2W0trDsB-JMQzfGIKNI2NdXM3jGPC7hSvlSy9a7RIGHC9XV5zvwUti73sN4RY3VhBlGkHmvI0E2YT2IvRwQMpM/s1600/annie_0.png"><img border="0" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvx7-ggsxpDlL-L2A8YH_defWWtap8PZsCUNsvXoM6OrNiVQ4Fzl0HB2W0trDsB-JMQzfGIKNI2NdXM3jGPC7hSvlSy9a7RIGHC9XV5zvwUti73sN4RY3VhBlGkHmvI0E2YT2IvRwQMpM/s640/annie_0.png" width="640" /></a><br />Roger Ebert said that Annie Hall is "Just about everyone's favorite Woody Allen movie", and I guess that makes me like everyone because it is certainly my favorite. Turning a corner from his earlier farces (with which he'd had great success), Annie Hall adds a lot of depth and weight to Allen's still hilarious humor, making for THE romantic comedy of all time, even if it's too singular to Allen to be copied to death like rom-coms tend to be.<br /><br />Miraculously winning Oscars for Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, and Actress (miraculous because this was the year of Star Wars, after all), I think Woody and the gang deserved it. It's hilarious from start to finish, whether Woody is evoking Groucho Marx ("I'd never be a member of a club who'd have someone like me as a member"), fearing for his life as Annie's crazy brother (played by an insanely young Christopher Walken) might kill them, or breaking the fourth wall and giving us in the audience little asides from the plot. My favorite is actually one with a hint of melancholy, where Alvy (Allen's character) tries to recreate different crazy antics he'd had with Annie with a new girl after he and Annie broke up, only to have the new girl not join in and he realizes just how special Annie was. That's what I remember from this movie, that sense of appreciating the time you've had with someone, even if you didn't end up together.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size: large;">7. Adventureland</span></strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAL_m1QGFAaWeB0NMQ3PWQ6rjQbez1APzZs0c9eH1VylvkOf_HCkcC_wqRC80p56q6XKJycP7g9AYdzF35B8sB5DaXMzM4Dt_Muon1U5_4PcaDLRbLUzRNyhLKFCjMV1t1moT5Oiv5N4I/s1600/5ybWEwZDo1iJGvc53SDc4_2sPHTtPFmx_640x360_53833283572.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAL_m1QGFAaWeB0NMQ3PWQ6rjQbez1APzZs0c9eH1VylvkOf_HCkcC_wqRC80p56q6XKJycP7g9AYdzF35B8sB5DaXMzM4Dt_Muon1U5_4PcaDLRbLUzRNyhLKFCjMV1t1moT5Oiv5N4I/s640/5ybWEwZDo1iJGvc53SDc4_2sPHTtPFmx_640x360_53833283572.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />Movies like Adventureland are rare. They see their characters lovingly without idealizing them. They see a place and time so truly that we forget we are watching a period piece. They remember what it felt like to be young and in love. Remembering the friends you wished would go away when you were trying to talk to a girl, the awkward silences you’d endure before you figured out how to really talk to women, the feeling of what it's like to be accepted by the one person you hoped would accept you, and the myriad of memorable people that may only come into your life during the course of one crazy summer. Adventureland is the most wonderfully realized, delicately crafted, and emotionally affecting movie about young people that I've ever seen. It captures a moment in time that didn't even exist in my life, yet I connect to it so deeply I almost can't explain it.<br /><br />There's not a single moment in the movie that rings false to me, and so many moments that transcend the maligned "young adult/teen" genre. Of course, this movie is not about "teens," it's about people just out of college realizing that their studies in Comparative Literature or Russian and Slavic Languages don't mean much in the real world. It's also about those fragile feelings of first love, real friendship, jealousy, and taking the wrong advice because you don't know any better yet. More than anything really, it's the story of first love. But because everything is so carefully constructed, capturing life, the feeling of real life, it's about much more than that simple description might allude to. Sure, it's not documentary-esque real life, it's idealized and nostalgic, but in the best way possible. And that's typically what the story of our own first love feels like to us. We've nostalgized it, even if we do remember some of our old awkwardness, we still tend to remember the past with rose colored glasses, and I think Adventureland evokes this beautifully.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size: large;">6. The Princess Bride</span></strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjydHbxPSz2R5OnWOgz508dPR4i6riTrrxSxM_uUsqY7Dn_R4PN8SmvdeQLbn4XEGJDENn6xZlTXsygqNJQzWMxlddchfJcffVKWVRjElNT3uZcNv7XcFrGIpxrPJlZuz0I0yek8OM7hmw/s1600/image.jpg"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjydHbxPSz2R5OnWOgz508dPR4i6riTrrxSxM_uUsqY7Dn_R4PN8SmvdeQLbn4XEGJDENn6xZlTXsygqNJQzWMxlddchfJcffVKWVRjElNT3uZcNv7XcFrGIpxrPJlZuz0I0yek8OM7hmw/s640/image.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />The story of fairy tale love had to be here somewhere, so why not in one of the great fairy tales? I've written about this movie recently on my Live Action Fantasy movies list, so I won't drone on about it again except to say that the comically romantic fairy tale romance at the center is something I didn't appreciate as a younger person. Even now, Cary Elwes and Robin Wright are almost too pretty, too perfect, too charming. But somehow it works even as it's almost parodying fairy tale romances, it becomes a wonderful example of one. Much like the movie as a whole.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>5. High Fidelity</strong></span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQpJ0W0mG6TucgGqGfqbbUvpkpG-8oRObpd-qdBHg87RSQU3Ll-EC_4dMe50pjIHwCpaCPn8mbxkJQdtYe5aooO3ZAJzDbp_vb8sjkzlFCzDDO8rL8GoUcyLEZbWf7aiIBDm4heHaxEkY/s1600/137060.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQpJ0W0mG6TucgGqGfqbbUvpkpG-8oRObpd-qdBHg87RSQU3Ll-EC_4dMe50pjIHwCpaCPn8mbxkJQdtYe5aooO3ZAJzDbp_vb8sjkzlFCzDDO8rL8GoUcyLEZbWf7aiIBDm4heHaxEkY/s640/137060.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />High Fidelity is a movie that didn't immediately make an impact on me. As a 17-year-old, I walked away from the theater loving Jack Black's hilariously over-the-top know it all Barry, but not really connecting with John Cusack's self-loathing (yet occasionally arrogant) Rob, and his travails through the top 5 loves of his life, and why they didn't work out. A few years later, I watched the movie again and found it deeply affected me on an emotional level, now that I had some life experience with what Rob was talking about, and a deeper love of the pop-culture that Rob also cherishes. Now, as a 35-year-old with even more experiences, I find more than ever that I connect not just with Rob, but with Barry, Dick, Liz, and Laura. All the characters are amazingly well drawn (much of which comes from Nick Hornby's brilliant novel) and brilliantly played by the actors, with even Jack Black seeming like a real character, and not just Jack Black.<br /><br />One of the things that I think works so wonderfully here is watching Cusack's Rob grow from a self-involved juvenile at the beginning of the movie, hurt by his girlfriend Laura leaving him for another man, to realizing how he failed as a boyfriend, how he's failed as a grown up, and how he can grow. Too often we just stay in that first period in our lives. We stay hurt, we let ourselves feel like victims of other people because it can be painful to think that we may have been the reason for the bad things that happened in our lives. And when Rob finally counts down the top 5 things he misses about Laura, we know that he's starting to take responsibility for his failings, and to learn from them to make a better life. We should all hope to do that.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>4. Casablanca</strong></span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZf-c41KvEtQUVKidfDP93RFtxsmhNaDXOEIXfPUatBfyPbzWk_lu3ek7ImPx0FFfELxgpcKJypd30Dn7xTvbntU-TlcxSvP3yw9YIAr56QlUlaATW5IfmvGIs0o2FMV453GIe_rNXGV0/s1600/casablanca.jpg"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZf-c41KvEtQUVKidfDP93RFtxsmhNaDXOEIXfPUatBfyPbzWk_lu3ek7ImPx0FFfELxgpcKJypd30Dn7xTvbntU-TlcxSvP3yw9YIAr56QlUlaATW5IfmvGIs0o2FMV453GIe_rNXGV0/s640/casablanca.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />A movie it took me a while to come around to, I only watched Casablanca for the first time maybe 10 years after I'd become a movie buff. And I don't think I can find a flaw in the world's most famous B-movie. Not intended as one of the big studio productions, Casablanca simply came together in the happiest of accidents and became one of the most beloved movies ever made. It took me a long time to see it, but as soon as it was over I wasn't asking myself what the big deal was, I was kicking myself for waiting so damn long to see one of the greatest movies ever made and the best movie of the 1940's.<br /><br />I have to detail my personal favorite scene in the movie and the reason why Humphrey Bogart was one of our greatest stars. After seeing Ilsa again, and hearing "As Time Goes By" for the first time in years, Rick sits drinking alone after closing the bar. Sam comes in and starts playing piano, Rick gives his "of all the gin joints in the world, she walks into mine" speech, but then asks Sam what he's playing. Sam says it's something of his own, and Rick lashes out at him to "stop it! You know what I wanna hear. If she can stand to hear it, I can!" and the look of complete devastation on Bogie's face should've won him an Oscar. The only reason that Casablanca isn't higher on the list is that there isn't much actual romance in it. It's about love lost, self sacrifice, and other things, but the active romance in the movie is between "the girl" and her new guy, rather than our hero. That's what helps make the movie work, we can feel the love between Rick and Ilsa, even if the time has passed for their romance. But still, it didn't feel right to have it top this list, even if it is my favorite movie on this list.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind</strong></span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpa-cTvUUNSLy7Es-zf5YPvyRaWi_idH7b_UR14s9bYl_c16JMgHpyakgdN3MVpWJEKrmiWOXDiKk6Vz0kTKbuMujbRNtIUnrSsAVuxalsZwSedKxWkFGYN6jFUconY9MRlthTBNYWz70/s1600/eternal-sunshine-of-the-spotless-mind-joel-clem.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpa-cTvUUNSLy7Es-zf5YPvyRaWi_idH7b_UR14s9bYl_c16JMgHpyakgdN3MVpWJEKrmiWOXDiKk6Vz0kTKbuMujbRNtIUnrSsAVuxalsZwSedKxWkFGYN6jFUconY9MRlthTBNYWz70/s640/eternal-sunshine-of-the-spotless-mind-joel-clem.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />The crowning achievement in Charlie Kaufman's catalog is the 2004 comic romance Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which teamed him again with French music video director Michel Gondry (who had previously directed Kaufman's script Human Nature, still unseen by me). It concerns the relationship of Joel and Clementine, characters extraordinarily brought to life by Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. Kaufman started from the idea of erasing someone from your memory (who hasn't wanted to do that before?) and the impact that memories have on us as people. The way a loved one can get so associated with something that to remove it would be to remove a part of your own being. The impulsive Clem has had Joel erased from her memory by a company called Lacuna that provides such a service. As a way of getting back at her, Joel decides to erase her from his memory. Joel at one point asks Dr. Mierzwiak (the always brilliant Tom Wilkinson) if there's any chance of brain damage caused by the erasing. He answers "Well, technically speaking, the procedure is brain damage." There's an achingly sad moment when you realize that Joel doesn't remember the song "My Darling Clementine", even though it had deep meaning to him long before meeting Clem. It had become so associated with her in his mind that to remove her removes all traces of the song as well as his childhood favorite, Huckleberry Hound. For the majority of the movie we travel with Joel through the good and bad memories of the two years he spent with Clem. It's hysterical, heartbreaking, amazingly true to life while being totally surreal. The brilliant score by Jon Brion is worth mentioning. It plays more like an accompaniment to the action onscreen, instead of trying to underline it, or try and inform the audience how to react emotionally.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>2. Notorious</strong></span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKgwnGFUpGsoxdzjoldvPqPGRkBQ0lzKS03dKn9PpBRZIQMJvnwFZj6q_eUpgpA4vBx6FfJ2m55UNd5iZmzAkBVcOgbw-p2LTZ3Kf7BFlVoM9yVhkPO-r0xdPBaz9HaAinTzz4_3F4x5Y/s1600/Notorious-1946-DI.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKgwnGFUpGsoxdzjoldvPqPGRkBQ0lzKS03dKn9PpBRZIQMJvnwFZj6q_eUpgpA4vBx6FfJ2m55UNd5iZmzAkBVcOgbw-p2LTZ3Kf7BFlVoM9yVhkPO-r0xdPBaz9HaAinTzz4_3F4x5Y/s640/Notorious-1946-DI.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />An underappreciated masterpiece, Notorious features Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, and Claude Rains all in top form. Bergman plays Alicia Huberman, the daughter of a convicted Nazi spy who is recruited by U.S. government agent Devlin (Grant) to turn spy against a group of German’s working out of Rio de Janeiro just after WWII. Devlin convinces Alicia to infiltrate the group through one of her father’s former friends Alexander Sebastian (Rains), whom he wants her to seduce. It becomes a harder mission after Devlin falls in love with Alicia, and she with him. Sebastian is also in love with Alicia, which makes it even harder on our two lovers, because Alicia did her job so well. Oh yeah, and there’s some bit about Sebastian enriching uranium for nuclear weapons.<br /><br />This basic plot was stolen by Robert Towne in his screenplay for Mission Impossible 2, but it was done with far less success. Cary Grant gives his greatest performance as Devlin, who is emotionally eaten up by forcing the love of his life into another mans arms. Bergman is as good as she ever was as the woman being pushed away, and Claude Rains was deservedly nominated for an Oscar for his role. Notorious also features one of Hitchcock's endings, as Devlin steps up to save the woman he loves, making for Hitch's most romantic movie as well.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size: large;">1. Before Sunrise/Sunset</span></strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXRgZdjT42irbsZn14emjc66RQSwe-2PIjtXMnhY0CENrJys3v0DzBShAtquxyJZ7WOz3wV3t5IgGa_OsivcFD9vqrkoYUU8XjXO65Vl1wIMPTb4vb3cy0_LvT8b6iOrWY1pCFWtzpaYM/s1600/Before-Sunrise-hero.jpg"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXRgZdjT42irbsZn14emjc66RQSwe-2PIjtXMnhY0CENrJys3v0DzBShAtquxyJZ7WOz3wV3t5IgGa_OsivcFD9vqrkoYUU8XjXO65Vl1wIMPTb4vb3cy0_LvT8b6iOrWY1pCFWtzpaYM/s640/Before-Sunrise-hero.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />Before Sunrise is where we see young American Jesse, riding the train through Europe when a German couple begin arguing and he finds himself watching them, while also catching the eye of a pretty blond girl trying to read her book. After the arguing couple leave the car, Jesse strikes up a conversation with the girl, Celine, who is on her way home to Paris. Just as the conversation is starting though, the train arrives at Jesse’s stop in Vienna. He convinces Celine to get off the train with him and wander the city all night before he has to leave home for New York in the morning. So they walk through the city, talking, philosophizing about nearly everything under the sun. Jesse pretends to be more coolly jaded than he is, trying to hide the hopeless romantic underneath. Celine is outwardly, initially, quirky and fun and lighthearted, but soon comes out that she is opinionated, her intelligence razor sharp, though she too has the heart of a romantic. They connect deeply, and it’s exhilarating to see them fall slowly in love over the course of the night that changes both of their lives. In the morning they agree that it’s crazy to give up their lives for each other, even though they’re obviously head over heels for one another, because they just met. So they agree to meet back in Vienna in six months, and if they show up, they know that what they had was real. They part and we watch as they smile to themselves as they bask in the glow of that glorious night.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE329eLME75HzVTvW665IPK2YXxW4sLRB5QG8ECVXjtFtBIxDN4O4Vbpdi7ntgjw-PMpEJszRtJIi6SrXIKhz-zyVsdvgeLZvhCZpheEYxIrtXLHVKBF8mqVwWqIDmVrk5ND2xSwg5aag/s1600/before-sunrise.jpg"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE329eLME75HzVTvW665IPK2YXxW4sLRB5QG8ECVXjtFtBIxDN4O4Vbpdi7ntgjw-PMpEJszRtJIi6SrXIKhz-zyVsdvgeLZvhCZpheEYxIrtXLHVKBF8mqVwWqIDmVrk5ND2xSwg5aag/s640/before-sunrise.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />After the open-ended beauty of the ending of Before Sunrise, when I heard they were making a sequel, I was angry, as the ambiguity of the ending to the first movie would be ruined by catching up to the characters again. Part of the genius of it is that you got to make up your own mind about whether you thought the characters got back together in six months.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYPJnLSKKvY4zhIrqkrH7BBKd3NAqzX66dvjq_ZHPlKvdaiyH5PquyY8EcCwJtmyloOnBK1lsXYa9J0CLB3Oz5xYHljMmIqw7fo8j5UxraXljFvTBAQFZvEfJAl3MfM3b8TLScKEG_juQ/s1600/before-sunset-wallpaper-7-11395.jpg"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYPJnLSKKvY4zhIrqkrH7BBKd3NAqzX66dvjq_ZHPlKvdaiyH5PquyY8EcCwJtmyloOnBK1lsXYa9J0CLB3Oz5xYHljMmIqw7fo8j5UxraXljFvTBAQFZvEfJAl3MfM3b8TLScKEG_juQ/s640/before-sunset-wallpaper-7-11395.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />At the beginning of Before Sunset (my favorite of the trilogy, if I had to pick) we see Jesse having this exact conversation with a group of journalists in a bookshop in Paris. We realize that he’s written a book about that night, “fictionalized” it, and he’s telling the reporters that the ending of the book is meant to be made up by you. If you’re a romantic, you think of course they got together. If you’re a rationalist, you hope they did, but it’s understandable that they probably didn’t. If you’re cynical, you think there’s no way they made such a big leap for a person they’d only known for 10 hours or so. I was the romantic that wanted them to have gotten back together. Of course, I first saw the movie when I was about their age, early 20’s, idealistic and in love with the idea of being in love. But we don’t see Celine around. What happened? We soon find out as Celine shows up to the bookstore and the movie goes on a real time journey of 90 minutes before Jesse again has to catch a plane back to New York.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXFuGO2Y2l4HTJitvCuFdDtxi7HQIJttvR13qqUgSf9qVgw96hyphenhyphenHdooftWgPz7c3lXvQNnTcVngespM47itfDNxtAIWtFS2aS2RFPlRNbxkzbhC80F0Zd7KW_mzpk_HAjoqqWEhvBKNRo/s1600/before_sunset.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXFuGO2Y2l4HTJitvCuFdDtxi7HQIJttvR13qqUgSf9qVgw96hyphenhyphenHdooftWgPz7c3lXvQNnTcVngespM47itfDNxtAIWtFS2aS2RFPlRNbxkzbhC80F0Zd7KW_mzpk_HAjoqqWEhvBKNRo/s640/before_sunset.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />I didn't include the third part in the trilogy, 2013's Before Midnight, because I don't find it romantic. It's an important entry into the lives of these characters, but since it deals mostly with their middle aged malaise and crises of choices in their life. It's a good movie, real, often uncomfortably so, but it's not the romance that the first two entries are.</div>
Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459356722964144865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495704823524122058.post-32450062535152510412018-12-12T16:03:00.002-06:002018-12-13T08:40:35.017-06:00Top 10 Courtroom Movies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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One of the most time honored genres in all of cinema is the courtroom movie. Typically called courtroom dramas, but some of my favorite are comedies, so I'm not sticking strictly to dramas. For as much as we tend to dislike lawyers in everyday life, we sure do love them on screen. There's something inherently dramatic about a man standing up to the system and winning, or catching the bad guy in the system of law and bringing him down. But there are tons of different angles that a law movie can take, and I hope that's highlighted here. I didn't pick these movies to be diverse, I'm just picking my favorites, but I think they turned out to show a great diversity within what could seem a confining, though beloved, genre.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Honorable Mentions: 12 Angry Men</span></strong><br />
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Although often thought of as one of, if not THE, courtroom movie, 12 Angry Men just doesn't quite move me like it seems to do others. Something about the slow turning of the jurors over the course of the movie, as well as the coincidental knowledge of some of the men, just rings hollow and contrived to me. And it felt that way when first reading the play in high school, before I was aware of the movie. Sidney Lumet is one of my favorite filmmakers, but this wasn't high enough in my ratings to make it onto the list.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">...And Justice for All</span></strong></div>
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Not just memorable for Al Pacino's great work, but also for showing the case load that many lawyers have. Although we know they're overworked, in seemingly every other law movie, it seems the case at the center of the movie is the only case the main character has to deal with. Here we see Pacino struggle at managing his case load and sometimes the consequences are paid by his clients (in heartbreaking ways). It's a good, not great, movie, but I like that it shows this aspect of the life of an attorney in a way that seemingly no other movies show.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Michael Clayton</span></strong></div>
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I also want to shine a spotlight on movies like Michael Clayton that aren't directly "courtroom movies" but are tangentially related to uncovering the truth surrounding a legal case. I initially had Michael Clayton on the list, but then realized it doesn't have many (any?) significant moments actually in a courtroom.<br />
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Now, onto the list:</div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">10. The Insider</span></strong><br />
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Michael Mann's biopic of the take down of big tobacco in the courts contains some of the best performances in the careers of Al Pacino, Russell Crowe, and Christopher Plummer. And as always in a Mann movie, the cast is perfect from top to bottom, there's great work from character actors like Bruce McGill, Diane Venora, Philip Baker Hall, Stephen Tobolowsky, and many others. And Mann really digs into some of the minutiae of the law system that held up prosecuting big tobacco for so long, as the companies tried to hold former employees to the non-disclosure agreements they'd previously signed, even as they were now no longer employees. It's a fascinating movie, one of Mann's best, and a great look at the intersection between big legal cases, media, and public health.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">9. The People vs. Larry Flynt</span></strong><br />
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Woody Harrelson is one of our most underrated actors, and The People vs. Larry Flynt is his best work on screen. Playing relentless rebel Larry Flynt, Harrelson is funny, charming, repulsive, tragic, and infinitely watchable. He leads us through the (literal) trials and tribulations the Hustler Magazine founder went up against in his life and makes every bit of it entertaining. Aided in the movie by supporting work from Edward Norton and a surprisingly amazing performance from Courtney Love, this is also one of the best movies in the storied career of director Milos Forman (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amadeus). The law part of the movie is mostly concerned with what Flynt was concerned with, which is that the First Amendment right of Freedom of Speech should be applied even to things you don't want to hear. Maybe stuff that offends you. Flynt's cases set the precedent of political cartoons, commentary, and such qualifying as free speech. As Flynt says after his court victory "If they'll protect a scumbag like me, then they'll protect all of you!" Profound, ridiculous, tasteless, and funny. This is a surprisingly wonderful movie.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">8. A Few Good Men</span></strong><br />
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The first time the name Aaron Sorkin became known to most people was from his play that was turned into the movie A Few Good Men. As all Sorkin scripts are, this movie is filled with great monologues and dialog exchanges. The script crackles not quite with the same energy that Sorkin would bring to later works, when he had honed his craft some more, but still within the confines of a courtroom movie, Sorkin's dialog elevates this movie above its conventions. Sure, the terrific cast of actors who all do good work (with only Demi Moore seeming out of her element, although she's trying) surely helps elevate the movie also. Assured direction from Rob Reiner keeps things moving towards an inevitable conclusion. The movie feels almost preordained, but part of the joy is in watching it all play out anyway. Although not nearly as powerful as another military court movie that will show up later on the list, A Few Good Men touches on a lot of the difficulties in the military, including codes of conduct, written and unwritten rules, and not talking about things that happened even if it would save your case.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">7. Rashomon</span></strong><br />
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Undoubtedly the least "courtroom"-y movie on the list, Rashomon is about the inability to find objective truth. What supposedly happens is that a man and his wife are attacked by a bandit, who kills the husband and rapes the wife. Rashomon is made up of 4 versions of the story, told by the captured bandit, the wife, a woodcutter who observed the incident, and (through a psychic medium) the murdered husband himself. None of the accounts exactly match with each other, with each story coming to show the storyteller in the best light. For example, the bandit's story shows him challenged by the husband (trying to impress his wife), an intense and deadly sword fight, and then the wife being so impressed by his virulent masculinity that she gives herself to him. The other stories contradict this, but also contradict each other in various ways. We're left to try and piece together the likely truth, but the point is that true objective truth is unknowable because each and every one of us views the world through our own completely subjective prism. A pretty heady concept, and one not explored often enough in these kinds of movies, I think, as everyone is always looking for "THE TRUTH" without realizing that it is unknowable.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">6. The Verdict</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXrjVTF6IRgwKKUP0luRh_s5QFO8KOBe3bdsmPTX6eZmItqf-AjMPnosVeDcxCIfH9CYj1g86QW_nC48Ei1QNFTz-nagcM6tIKYRBdjhldR6GL1KcbIEwVCiFOGeIyqFGFc2yLa355dbQ/s1600/13recs-slide-LFSX-videoSixteenByNineJumbo1600.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXrjVTF6IRgwKKUP0luRh_s5QFO8KOBe3bdsmPTX6eZmItqf-AjMPnosVeDcxCIfH9CYj1g86QW_nC48Ei1QNFTz-nagcM6tIKYRBdjhldR6GL1KcbIEwVCiFOGeIyqFGFc2yLa355dbQ/s640/13recs-slide-LFSX-videoSixteenByNineJumbo1600.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
One of Paul Newman's best performances comes in this great Sidney Lumet movie, with a script by David Mamet. Newman was at that stage in his career, at the age of 57, where he could truly do no wrong. He never gave bad performances, but he sometimes seemed to coast on his good looks and charm. Not here. We see the lines in his face. We see the toll that life has taken on this man. I think we took Newman for granted sometimes, his abilities as an actor and not just a star, and this may be his best work. He plays a down on his luck attorney given an open and shut medical malpractice suit that takes on a life of its own. Although given the option to settle for a huge sum of money, Newman opts to go to trial against the big bad guys. Newman is an alcoholic, and the case gives him a new lease on life...kind of. He needs this case to give himself a sense of himself. Who is he at this point in his life? What has he become? What does he want to become? What can he live with himself as? The Verdict is more a story about a man's journey than it is a dive into the legal system. Lumet, Mamet, and Newman make the journey well worth our time, all giving some of their best work.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">5. A Civil Action</span></strong><br />
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"They'll see the truth"<br />
"The truth? I thought we were talking about a court of law. C'mon, you've been around long enough to know that a courtroom isn't a place to look for the truth. You're lucky to find anything around here that even resembles the truth. You disagree? Since when?"<br />
"8 kids are dead, Jerry."<br />
"Jan, that suit fits you better than that sentimentality. That's not how you made all that money all these years, is it? You wanna know when this case stopped being about dead children? The minute you filed a complaint, the minute it entered the justice system."<br />
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Like The Insider, a great look at how the big businesses in the world can shit on the every day people and get away with it for so long. John Travolta stars as real life lawyer Jan Schlictman, who took on big chemical companies for poisoning the water in a small Massachusetts town. Travolta loses everything as he fights the big companies, his money, home, law partners, everything. And the bad thing is, spoiler alert, he loses the case too. That the EPA later took up the case and beat the companies into many millions of dollars in cleanup and restitution costs is little solace for us as the movie's credits begin to roll. Written and directed by Steve Zaillian (who also made the even greater Searching for Bobby Fischer), shot by the legendary Conrad L. Hall, it's got a tremendous cast, not just Travolta doing some of the best work of his career, but also Robert Duvall, John Lithgow, Tony Shalhoub, William H. Macy, Kathy Bates, and more. Impeccable from top to bottom, I was floored when I researched this list and found that this movie only has a 60% on RottenTomatoes. I don't know why. This movie may not strike any new ground, but it's a gorgeously filmed, wonderfully written, and perfectly acted movie. And, like The Verdict, it takes on the idea of settling vs. going to trial. Everyone wants Travolta to settle so that they can get their money. Travolta even tells one of the sick mothers that justice will come from the pockets of the big companies. These two movies show different sides of the coin of going to trial versus settling for large sums of money.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">4. Paths of Glory</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOnEflXuD3Chv2N7m4WNJHQEBZdpr4wgS5LkgMzZpmWp9Y2tTIXhBXL2HEK78e23fxyWR0qEx5U9WZrY1xLTw5exSOTiFUH0qneohqLwHq2Ohqw77ipGHlNqrjg7zIr9wTRpvJlpboPDE/s1600/paths-of-glory4.jpg"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOnEflXuD3Chv2N7m4WNJHQEBZdpr4wgS5LkgMzZpmWp9Y2tTIXhBXL2HEK78e23fxyWR0qEx5U9WZrY1xLTw5exSOTiFUH0qneohqLwHq2Ohqw77ipGHlNqrjg7zIr9wTRpvJlpboPDE/s640/paths-of-glory4.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
One that I didn't immediately think about as even being a courtroom movie is this masterpiece from Stanley Kubrick. Long time readers will know that I'm not the hugest Kubrick fan, but I do love a few of his movies (2001 and The Shining being the others). Kirk Douglas stars in this movie as a WWI French Colonel defending a group of men against a court martial for cowardice after they refused to go on a suicide mission attempting to take a German stronghold, a stupidly ordered attack only meant to show bravery by Generals angling for promotions. We see the politics and scheming behind the scenes of both the military and its system of law. Douglas does maybe the best work of his career as Colonel Dax, and his great working relationship with Kubrick on this movie was what led Douglas to bring Kubrick aboard Spartacus a few years later, where both men's controlling natures clashed. Still, what we have here is one of the great idealistic fights against the system. At once part of it, yet disgusted by it, Colonel Dax fights for what is right, even when it's a losing battle.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">3. My Cousin Vinny</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTYLr1_92JYXtM8lUXgqIhhbqTMOZxMYDNWw02Mt8U9pS29s20VVxh6oBh0KotKGzy0FhZS1I4dOv90tIWC8ogbq2_EbD1hqTk-YSdHYesZfP5SSEn4x6xEndxPAOsWFW0QQwikz4Fw1E/s1600/my-cousin-vinny-still2_757_426_81_s.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTYLr1_92JYXtM8lUXgqIhhbqTMOZxMYDNWw02Mt8U9pS29s20VVxh6oBh0KotKGzy0FhZS1I4dOv90tIWC8ogbq2_EbD1hqTk-YSdHYesZfP5SSEn4x6xEndxPAOsWFW0QQwikz4Fw1E/s640/my-cousin-vinny-still2_757_426_81_s.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
Joe Pesci's best work, yeah I said it, is here as the talented beginning attorney Vinny Gambini. This movie is standard courtroom stuff from beginning to end, lifted up by the energy and life the actors bring to it. Not just Pesci, although seriously Pesci is amazing in this movie with how effortlessly he carries it, but Marisa Tomei, who deservedly won an Oscar for her broad portrayal that didn't really hint at how she'd later become one of our best actresses. Also Ralph Macchio as Vinny's cousin that is on trial for a murder he didn't commit. Fred Gwynne playing my favorite judge character ever ("what is a yute?"), and a supporting cast littered with great character actors like Austin Pendleton, James Rebhorn, Bruce McGill, and Lane Smith as the prosecuting attorney. A terrific script and efficient direction, as well as a look into some of the technicalities of the law (many of which Vinny keeps unknowingly tripping over and paying the price for) really make this movie that could've been a cookie cutter comedy into something special.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">2. Close-Up</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirbNETWpyZrLbMOAUqJ1NTEJVzTSwFj-7Zmq7ufBSEfyaK7jn_NFg-IXcvtkGA4VPMUDKfhnv8PO_-0BqAy-vjNFWp2Xau7t8ivfnDvL6D8XdOR8Hly1DOraaEhw0SXGUMumriTE0GGdA/s1600/Close-Up-1080x608.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirbNETWpyZrLbMOAUqJ1NTEJVzTSwFj-7Zmq7ufBSEfyaK7jn_NFg-IXcvtkGA4VPMUDKfhnv8PO_-0BqAy-vjNFWp2Xau7t8ivfnDvL6D8XdOR8Hly1DOraaEhw0SXGUMumriTE0GGdA/s640/Close-Up-1080x608.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
Close-Up is a fascinating and brilliant look at a real life case in which a man claimed to be a famous Iranian filmmaker, impressed a family, only to have them find out that he wasn't that director and his subsequent trial for fraud. That may not sound like the most compelling movie, but writer/director Abbas Kiarostami's genius use of documentary and recreation footage (where the people played themselves, and footage of the trial is intercut with the recreation of events), helps give everything an intrigue and strange atmosphere that kept me riveted. The story concerns Hossain Sabzian, a poor print shop worker who is obsessed with the movies, and is intentionally mistaken for famed Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf while on a bus one day. The woman who mistakes him, Mrs. Ahankhah, does so because he claims to be the filmmaker. But when she introduces him to her family, including her sons who also are passionate about film, the little lie takes on more weight, and Sabzian goes along with it, as this is seemingly the first time anyone has really listened to him. It makes him feel important instead of poor and worthless. He is listened to, seen, and respected. We can all sympathize with that feeling, I think.<br />
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Although he admits to taking some money from the family, that he asked for and they freely gave, he doesn't see himself as a criminal. He didn't intend to rob the family or anything, I think he was simply a little bit off in the head maybe, and lonely, and in need of the kind of attention he got from the Ahankhah's. The movie has a lot to say about the needs of humanity and how we don't often get what we emotionally need. It also says a lot about the nature of performance and what kind of performances we are all always giving, even when we're trying not to.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">1. Miracle on 34th Street</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS6Uyl10um_BimmZafLUL8vB0xa9wPCHvER62YgDsxCb40y-zHutCCnuARImbdemK6LM8pQP-JWhPrOhizcWR0gh43KeFmqHCLkGIYf0kHVxux5PGR027JWyoJF7Y4di_HnVBWY5h0nQA/s1600/Miracle-On-34th-Street-1947-6.jpg"><img border="0" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS6Uyl10um_BimmZafLUL8vB0xa9wPCHvER62YgDsxCb40y-zHutCCnuARImbdemK6LM8pQP-JWhPrOhizcWR0gh43KeFmqHCLkGIYf0kHVxux5PGR027JWyoJF7Y4di_HnVBWY5h0nQA/s640/Miracle-On-34th-Street-1947-6.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
My favorite holiday movie, but it wouldn't be on this list, much less this high, if I didn't think it was a great movie, period. It has everything you could want in a movie, a great script, characters, terrific actors like Natalie Wood and Maureen O'Hara, beautiful cinematography, and all that. It's a big classic studio movie, and one that I find myself affected by more and more as the years go by. A look at the struggle between logic and faith, between hope and reality, between optimism and pessimism, between believing in magic or not. One could easily see it as a retelling of the story of Jesus, with believers and non-believers, persecution, a trial, and all that. I don't see it that way, I see it as a simple tale, told simply and wonderfully. I have even always loved that the story comes about because everyone is acting in their own selfish interests. From the judge holding off on making a ruling so as to not anger potential voters to the post office workers sending the "Santy Claus letters" to the courthouse just so they'll stop taking up so much space in their building. It's a funny twist for a Christmas movie, but one that I love. That this is all wrapped around a court movie is really interesting to me, and one that feels pretty accurate to the law as well. It shows that although "courtroom movie" is a genre unto itself, you can insert pretty much any kind of movie within that framework. Drama, comedy, romance, satire, even a Christmas movie.<br />
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And Edmund Gwenn will always be Santa Claus to me.Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459356722964144865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495704823524122058.post-76934900349894276312018-11-29T09:55:00.001-06:002018-11-29T10:09:42.306-06:00The Ballad of Buster Scruggs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjecB-sL5yS3IzZz9Gs76y0m6MoB_NBVc51dkMJqeGP-PUDjJihCeYkhm_74QiUCr46ee91h-s0oaCfYtmgckFjhHZCPS0ttM0j5o_Ao9FkRshDpruy3vnNdySmsaoFfJmGzr5nW10C-aY/s1600/the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs-banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="697" data-original-width="1350" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjecB-sL5yS3IzZz9Gs76y0m6MoB_NBVc51dkMJqeGP-PUDjJihCeYkhm_74QiUCr46ee91h-s0oaCfYtmgckFjhHZCPS0ttM0j5o_Ao9FkRshDpruy3vnNdySmsaoFfJmGzr5nW10C-aY/s640/the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs-banner.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
The Coen Brothers’ newest movie, the anthology collection The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, is one of their best works. Being that I consider them among the greatest filmmakers we’ve ever had, that’s saying something. Anthology movies are always tough on me as a viewer, since inevitably some of the stories will be better than the others. You’ll always want to spend more time with some of the characters, but the group of stories that the Coen’s tell here has no weak spots. I was very much reminded while watching this movie of one of my favorite books to read, which is the collected western stories of Elmore Leonard.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglvICJUApRrmniYEVNmzG3MikJbt5hxskvQtFzbaf5zcEmXpzs2mR42xEkpJ8Bod4ErUIPhvicBoxZXBz8cBwIEQQ9ByKQSfgcClifybjyTvs-E5y2RDNRVRhgXb5b9qDLtG5XBHmL69M/s1600/1c5f3dac-ddbe-4847-afc6-202522455a5a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="780" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglvICJUApRrmniYEVNmzG3MikJbt5hxskvQtFzbaf5zcEmXpzs2mR42xEkpJ8Bod4ErUIPhvicBoxZXBz8cBwIEQQ9ByKQSfgcClifybjyTvs-E5y2RDNRVRhgXb5b9qDLtG5XBHmL69M/s640/1c5f3dac-ddbe-4847-afc6-202522455a5a.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
Those stories are all tied together by Leonard’s writing style, and even when they don’t overlap in any way, they feel as part of the whole. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is tied together mostly by the theme of death. Each story contains death like a cloud hanging over the characters, and each story ends up with at least one character dead, even the two stories that only contain two characters. Sometimes the deaths are comical, in the twisted Coen tradition, mostly they’re not. Death is almost just part of the landscape of the west, whether it’s disease, murder, suicide, or even unknown causes. As always with the Coen’s, there’s humor here, but mostly contained to the first two stories. Taken as a whole or taken individually, these stories stick with you one way or another. The Coen's also use a framing device as though these stories are all part of a western collection of short stories in a book called The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, complete with painted stills taken from each story.<br />
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I’m just gonna cover each one, so that (like the Coen’s) I make sure each gets its due. <br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">1. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbZGvFLYnt7c9704a2Lz-4GPqqQ03FYPzRfk9HgKbJDmqKO6DYLaN5Z_7sTdCgTz6neUfbrKRN93nyM2k2Rt_5ozlSRM_mSO5KxsTeI1yOYWrX1sA7N-HybEv6_ebwR1hO5uXKvw6xuFg/s1600/busterscruggs1_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbZGvFLYnt7c9704a2Lz-4GPqqQ03FYPzRfk9HgKbJDmqKO6DYLaN5Z_7sTdCgTz6neUfbrKRN93nyM2k2Rt_5ozlSRM_mSO5KxsTeI1yOYWrX1sA7N-HybEv6_ebwR1hO5uXKvw6xuFg/s640/busterscruggs1_0.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
Tim Blake Nelson plays the title character of the piece here, one who sets us up to think that maybe he’ll be our narrator throughout the movie (he isn’t, the 6 stories are totally self contained) as he breaks the fourth wall, talking directly to us about himself and who he is. We first see him casually riding his horse Dan, singing the classic western song “Cool Water”, most often associated with Roy Rogers. This is the Coen’s take on the singing cowboy genre, obviously, except our hero here is a swift shooting son of a gun who kills damn near everyone who crosses his path, maybe unless they’re singing with him.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTNzrvlg6FhpUIWECLGal_aaADkpYXKyGzVkc_7Bvh6DXWlGK6I8lMyDLZUKoXGPDa0hs75SmH8AeSE4WXp04_ngvQILGcR91VCX6Tr0JgCoVecbQq7r4ttBy3sogq7sy_LwcqHo2L5c4/s1600/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTNzrvlg6FhpUIWECLGal_aaADkpYXKyGzVkc_7Bvh6DXWlGK6I8lMyDLZUKoXGPDa0hs75SmH8AeSE4WXp04_ngvQILGcR91VCX6Tr0JgCoVecbQq7r4ttBy3sogq7sy_LwcqHo2L5c4/s640/image.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
Nelson has such a wonderful command of the Coen’s flowery dialog and effortlessly sells his abilities as a white hatted singing cowboy, but also as the fastest and deadliest gun in the West. We see why the name Buster Scruggs is known by folks from all around. This sequence is also the lightest in atmosphere, despite being the most graphic in its violence. When the end of the chapter takes a flight of fancy, I went with it easily because the Coen’s had set up so much the ridiculous tone to a farcical level on par with their Raising Arizona, so the fantastical and ridiculous seemed to fit right in.<br />
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A 9/10 for this one from me.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">2. Near Algodones</span></strong> <br />
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In this chapter, a young man (James Franco) comes into a small town bank and sticks up the teller (Coen regular Stephen Root) before the teller rebels and knocks Franco unconscious. Franco awakens to a rope around his neck and men asking him for his last words (and if they can have his horse after he’s dead). Things both do and don’t get better for Franco after this.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd9dsZfqpiHOGFOYw468HE3sLhtGAZLNm1WhDGzFjxgtb0EiTY05HYNjNWwvSpv7X8VPS8uvYjoqHdc771VyEN250D3wJxEX2maB1EgNeo1zg7thqJkvgb4TGjMdTm9ExRRcHsGtE-FnQ/s1600/Screenshot_2018-09-12-The-Ballad-of-Buster-Scruggs-Official-Trailer-HD-Netflix-YouTube2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd9dsZfqpiHOGFOYw468HE3sLhtGAZLNm1WhDGzFjxgtb0EiTY05HYNjNWwvSpv7X8VPS8uvYjoqHdc771VyEN250D3wJxEX2maB1EgNeo1zg7thqJkvgb4TGjMdTm9ExRRcHsGtE-FnQ/s640/Screenshot_2018-09-12-The-Ballad-of-Buster-Scruggs-Official-Trailer-HD-Netflix-YouTube2.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
A kind of take on stories where things just can’t seem to go right for the hero, as it’s just one thing after another until the inevitable end for this poor unlucky bastard. It’s also evocative of the old Leone spaghetti westerns, as there seems to always be someone getting hanged in those movies. Franco is fine in the role, but this is the slightest of all the chapters even if it also has my favorite moment in the movie, with Franco’s delivery of the line “first time?” But I believe it's also the shortest, so it's not like it outstays its welcome.<br />
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A 6/10 for this one.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">3. Meal Ticket</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyVYHFqwXEJypeDeSo0aW1ShVsYb_l5VAGayFU8DjhK7GTiCQovTeiGCLcLWUpuxcR5mMlIMN5w-8F81SRM4dhXHH6CDb_u5ZjZ9IPhkEdE2hLh_hJQjPJhzTUJZ8mcOT_IpnJjMKWI84/s1600/buster-scruggs.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="474" data-original-width="900" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyVYHFqwXEJypeDeSo0aW1ShVsYb_l5VAGayFU8DjhK7GTiCQovTeiGCLcLWUpuxcR5mMlIMN5w-8F81SRM4dhXHH6CDb_u5ZjZ9IPhkEdE2hLh_hJQjPJhzTUJZ8mcOT_IpnJjMKWI84/s640/buster-scruggs.png" width="640" /></a><br />
The saddest of the stories is this chapter about a man (Liam Neeson) who drives from town to town in a wagon that can transform into a stage, where we see the armless and legless “orator”, Harrison. Harrison recites, wonderfully and charismatically, classics such as Percy Shelley’s “Ozymandias”, sonnets from Shakespeare, the biblical story of Cain and Abel, and the Gettysburg Address. Neeson then collects donations from the ever dwindling crowds before they’re off to the next town. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfucokLFTRrk-kYsvpGNz42tWmLA3FdqPLmz2q9a9TW4_nS1H5epawGd8YOjrnQ2K56s2jB2ixf1kNS7MXJA3ZseOvPc9LOKWHniw9iKVTmKOULuHfVTAMeCBKY5crfzCorpygIruhwP8/s1600/Screen_Shot_2018_11_19_at_11_52_21_AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="645" data-original-width="1114" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfucokLFTRrk-kYsvpGNz42tWmLA3FdqPLmz2q9a9TW4_nS1H5epawGd8YOjrnQ2K56s2jB2ixf1kNS7MXJA3ZseOvPc9LOKWHniw9iKVTmKOULuHfVTAMeCBKY5crfzCorpygIruhwP8/s640/Screen_Shot_2018_11_19_at_11_52_21_AM.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
Neeson is quite good in a mostly wordless performance, reminding what a talented actor he can be, how much screen presence he has. He may have taken on too many shitty action movies at this point in his career (although he does those well too) that sometimes we forget that he’s a terrific and powerful actor at his best. Harrison is played beautifully by Harry Melling, best known on screen as Harry Potter’s awful cousin Dudley Dursley. Here, Melling is the opposite of Dudley. He’s sad, talented, tragic, lonely, and effortlessly relatable as the invalid completely at the mercy of his caretaker. This is the saddest of the chapters, but also one of the best. <br />
<br />
A 9/10 for this chapter.<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">4. All Gold Canyon</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJvERn7BdzkEdygCd870yVL8Gq2ee0l_ko35CSAPabV6KcdPNR-UNLSUP8tp82sz5k3BjiNgEJafVBZYCPODv0TDfFDGeKiv3ODn_Bx1ukuyQWm6lNdb8DJLIDlbB8cAVk8Ka3xSoTjIA/s1600/the_ballad_of_buster_scruggs_tom_waits_courtesy_netflix.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="692" data-original-width="1279" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJvERn7BdzkEdygCd870yVL8Gq2ee0l_ko35CSAPabV6KcdPNR-UNLSUP8tp82sz5k3BjiNgEJafVBZYCPODv0TDfFDGeKiv3ODn_Bx1ukuyQWm6lNdb8DJLIDlbB8cAVk8Ka3xSoTjIA/s640/the_ballad_of_buster_scruggs_tom_waits_courtesy_netflix.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
In this chapter, based on a Jack London short story, Tom Waits plays an old prospector searching rivers for gold and digging holes looking for a big pocket of gold, a pursuit he talks to himself as looking for “Mr. Pocket.” Another aspect of the western story tradition, the gold prospector, but it's never starred Tom Waits before. I actually wish this one was a little longer, as Waits is so infinitely and easily watchable that you just want more.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhshUSPFly3GDpamRsbKqWfr3Nd4RyCpLucusEmafiO2zrQlbibMM57RnATlQBQLEGd_muKljc7rZA6LEdLW2h4FShLJbmOBqxCWJro7xzzLeuBpJIxowjQl_5LHLjbRibfsvN2zNOTMhk/s1600/11-21_movies1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="1600" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhshUSPFly3GDpamRsbKqWfr3Nd4RyCpLucusEmafiO2zrQlbibMM57RnATlQBQLEGd_muKljc7rZA6LEdLW2h4FShLJbmOBqxCWJro7xzzLeuBpJIxowjQl_5LHLjbRibfsvN2zNOTMhk/s640/11-21_movies1.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
Waits is so perfect for the Coen’s it really makes you surprised when you realize this is the first time they’ve worked together. He’s funny and sad and endlessly fascinating to watch, just as always. And since most of All Gold Canyon is just Waits on screen, that works to perfection. We get to know his character; he’s hard working, good humored, and even though he’s a gold prospector, he’s not greedy or entitled. We even see him put back the eggs he takes from an owl nest after he sees the owl looking at him. He feels guilty for taking all the eggs and so puts them all back but one, which he takes for his meal. This section is the most easily lovable of any of the chapters and it’s nice that they put it here in the middle.<br />
<br />
Another 9/10 on this section from me.<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">5. The Girl Who Got Rattled</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi41ZKk5qmqI6Vlaz1AiSs-T5SH37dk3NmuMVk03YSmD0EMu6ZeXCOMIDpuR9qsMy7G-S3-oCm-FVgVrmfL3nQVpP7oJCDOUfFvTivfGTHhoIcJbgXzjEungtWEjV4TeYHgYO6Fp4IggUs/s1600/Brody-The-Ballad-of-Buster-Scruggs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="392" data-original-width="727" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi41ZKk5qmqI6Vlaz1AiSs-T5SH37dk3NmuMVk03YSmD0EMu6ZeXCOMIDpuR9qsMy7G-S3-oCm-FVgVrmfL3nQVpP7oJCDOUfFvTivfGTHhoIcJbgXzjEungtWEjV4TeYHgYO6Fp4IggUs/s640/Brody-The-Ballad-of-Buster-Scruggs.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
Zoe Kazan stars in this chapter, the longest of the bunch, as a woman on a wagon train to Oregon, who loses her brother to cholera and must figure out what she’ll do now, since they were headed to Oregon for her brother to do business, she’s left with few prospects and no money, not even to pay the boy who’s driving her wagon for her. Bill Heck plays Mr. Knapp, a sympathetic cowboy co-leading the wagon train, who sincerely wants to help out Kazan in her time of need.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX_jWmaxEAJ_oJxl6QDDnA8zwZSvtQAdzhY4FCfYFRw8IWaLvpxPxby8mchNpdrtKm3tIFFhQi_CqJZTS681NA4tqHz1jgWB60NqiCX0zbHcCroOkwXpCxQ5Z4x9e9bGT4Wqj9xxcg7o4/s1600/The_Ballad_of_Buster_Scruggs_04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="649" data-original-width="1200" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX_jWmaxEAJ_oJxl6QDDnA8zwZSvtQAdzhY4FCfYFRw8IWaLvpxPxby8mchNpdrtKm3tIFFhQi_CqJZTS681NA4tqHz1jgWB60NqiCX0zbHcCroOkwXpCxQ5Z4x9e9bGT4Wqj9xxcg7o4/s640/The_Ballad_of_Buster_Scruggs_04.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
This is what the Coen's doing a sweet little romance looks like, I guess. I love it. This is my favorite of the chapters. And another shade of the western tackled, the wagon train. Kazan (back on a similar Oregon bound wagon trail as she was in Meeks Cutoff) is really engaging, and I loved the sweet and developing chemistry she has with the kindly cowboy that Bill Heck plays. Maybe because this is the longest of chapters, but it’s the one that most feels like it could’ve been expanded into its own feature. It’s perfect as it is, but I wouldn’t have complained about another hour of this. It has the most developed characters, the most intriguing storyline and the actors are all wonderful.<br />
<br />
10/10, this is my favorite of the bunch.<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">6. The Mortal Remains</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdc0dd3sjBbL5GU-w6LtODbSR6LcbxxTRarnlzH6fHjM1dLeI6mNQTxUrHdsq_wZQ5UKPhHvtdSIivXrveQF6HnYBuaziRvb_CoQinwFY_k3XTYwyrvhTQYNM95utft3Hjz7Xx2zsk4Ms/s1600/Buster-Scruggs-Review.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="768" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdc0dd3sjBbL5GU-w6LtODbSR6LcbxxTRarnlzH6fHjM1dLeI6mNQTxUrHdsq_wZQ5UKPhHvtdSIivXrveQF6HnYBuaziRvb_CoQinwFY_k3XTYwyrvhTQYNM95utft3Hjz7Xx2zsk4Ms/s640/Buster-Scruggs-Review.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
To close out the anthology, the Coen's take us into the stagecoach style western story, but here with an ominous and ultimately unsettling tone. Five people are in a stagecoach together, a random bunch: on one side a French gambler (Saul Rubinek), a fur trapper (Chelcie Ross), and an elderly proper lady (Tyne Daly). On the other side, a snappily dressed Englishman (Jonjo O’Neill) and an Irishman (Brendan Gleeson). The coach is going to Fort Morgan, and over the course of the journey we find out that the lady is reuniting with her husband, and O'Neill and Gleeson are bounty hunters delivering a body.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqMIcvMhBEj0XapJlCfbiP7NKOO02iTmm2-UaeKajSZmh6rvQZfvzYUpjSzSmjDmtiS2h23gtmTiRGcek4SDZu-bQNFofmuvbL_hyXLv57oN4YjFZjFTm_CXMEg-P-Yoa9JYyiZX3Gz74/s1600/gn-gift_guide_variable_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="970" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqMIcvMhBEj0XapJlCfbiP7NKOO02iTmm2-UaeKajSZmh6rvQZfvzYUpjSzSmjDmtiS2h23gtmTiRGcek4SDZu-bQNFofmuvbL_hyXLv57oN4YjFZjFTm_CXMEg-P-Yoa9JYyiZX3Gz74/s640/gn-gift_guide_variable_c.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
Ross's fur trapper is the most memorable character, as he talks loudly, often, and in a way that's offensive to the proper conservative lady that Daly plays to perfection. But the journey takes a turn as it becomes obvious that we're not where we think we are. When the lady becomes upset, the Frenchman calls out to the stagecoach driver to stop, which he doesn't do, and the Englishman informs them that the coach never stops before its destination. Never. When the Frenchman pops his head outside, the world doesn't look right, it looks stormy and forbidding and definitely not the Colorado countryside. We come to realize that three such people as the Frenchman, lady, and fur trapper would not be in the same company going to the same place. The fur trapper even says he rarely sees people, so why is he on the coach in the first place? What we come to realize is that this is a ferry to the afterlife and the "bounty hunters" are simply the guides of these three disparate souls.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCqr_0doTxbnHKjOdY-9U0yyyglpfgxiWPO2gP7WXkWYSC5up1zuv3KqxVEBRoF-AaDfEezq5mASI29AYlV1kB5Q2cRZ5VulYgCw_sZnEjzUGxTvH-yej0OwCqtC9dm1M5CG5GmNW077M/s1600/The-Mortal-Remains-ballata-buster-scruggs-coen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="800" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCqr_0doTxbnHKjOdY-9U0yyyglpfgxiWPO2gP7WXkWYSC5up1zuv3KqxVEBRoF-AaDfEezq5mASI29AYlV1kB5Q2cRZ5VulYgCw_sZnEjzUGxTvH-yej0OwCqtC9dm1M5CG5GmNW077M/s640/The-Mortal-Remains-ballata-buster-scruggs-coen.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
To end the story on this kind of note, literally the end of life at the end of a set of stories about death, is just so perfect as the finale. And when the coach stops at a hotel for the night, the three souls seem to be realizing what's going on. There's a certain gallows humor to the lady still insisting on being helped off the coach, because they're all seeming to understand what's going on now. But the final note of the symphony is note jokey, but somber, as it should be. It makes for a powerful ending for the story and even more so for the anthology as a whole.<br />
<br />
<br />
An 8/10 on this.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhKwvoEwqx2yeIGjl5creN4sA_JIS-kwOtsLyqWRrRrWGWNxj7yF5BK8IYIEfUXUgflVWWoNcOO1oz0nmUSuhk65QwjbqK_BI5fB0awHMffgQuWkSCldIuRRXInzgEbBCcGCmDafmdf_A/s1600/joel-ethan-coen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1048" data-original-width="1600" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhKwvoEwqx2yeIGjl5creN4sA_JIS-kwOtsLyqWRrRrWGWNxj7yF5BK8IYIEfUXUgflVWWoNcOO1oz0nmUSuhk65QwjbqK_BI5fB0awHMffgQuWkSCldIuRRXInzgEbBCcGCmDafmdf_A/s640/joel-ethan-coen.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
Overall, the Coen's have delivered one of their best movies, one that I've already watched twice and will watch many more times over the years. I love westerns, and so do the Coen's. Thankfully, they make great ones. I hope this gets some love come awards season, as Netflix has released it briefly in theaters specifically for awards consideration. This movie deserves the love. And I didn't even talk about the gorgeous cinematography or music. Both are among my favorites in the Coen catalog (cinematography by the great Bruno Delbonnel, who has become like their secondary director of photography if Roger Deakins is unavailable, and music by Carter Burwell, as usual for the Coen's).<br />
<br />
<br />
Overall, even though only one of the six stories got a 10/10 from me, I give the whole movie a 10/10 because the stories feel of a whole, they inform and elevate each other even as they stay separate. And I love the way the Coen's did the book tying things together by feeling like we're going between chapters of this short story collection. This, at least to my mind right now, is the only anthology movie I love wholeheartedly.Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459356722964144865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495704823524122058.post-7660485613708452052018-11-28T10:07:00.000-06:002018-11-28T10:07:44.077-06:00Top 10 Animated Fantasy Movies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Following on from the rich world of my live action fantasy list, I here present my top 10 animated fantasy films. But first, a couple of honorable mentions that just didn't quite make the list proper:</div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Mickey and the Beanstalk</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibh0bFw_xh2ToTiTYAUho0KLz6kmxVoW_Ys9bzr610FaKgzqX2zV64praKUNFjXISj3VrF1sDJAFdC7-S9-pbBQxZAgscWCBdvkrIR0DUXbyuRkV0GWYtI1Fn4pzTaKLBxaVT7IESS0yU/s1600/mickey-and-the-beanstalk-giant.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibh0bFw_xh2ToTiTYAUho0KLz6kmxVoW_Ys9bzr610FaKgzqX2zV64praKUNFjXISj3VrF1sDJAFdC7-S9-pbBQxZAgscWCBdvkrIR0DUXbyuRkV0GWYtI1Fn4pzTaKLBxaVT7IESS0yU/s640/mickey-and-the-beanstalk-giant.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Sleeping Beauty</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4KHDGfOlF_GQJVDTt6PL5v-w7M_hvM8Uuf04rdAl_MUlFR-65G6bEGPOSLBCQZuEvFh4zChvG8MYWLYTqeCxHumasAl_70B-rNFcc4Ncp4Zdn_MuCbDXLfio44MVL9j8EfgVjyRrx1o0/s1600/634_5.jpg"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4KHDGfOlF_GQJVDTt6PL5v-w7M_hvM8Uuf04rdAl_MUlFR-65G6bEGPOSLBCQZuEvFh4zChvG8MYWLYTqeCxHumasAl_70B-rNFcc4Ncp4Zdn_MuCbDXLfio44MVL9j8EfgVjyRrx1o0/s640/634_5.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5_QlA7ujGXqehLYCN_A6XTHHFYXjTcE7fCvAnZHKlqCGg8AfGdF0eLRuPe26N6gk9aVtsgZWHIMTONXgl6AkfzxT5yN5b53-_ehY1-LGRqeH_qetTfwQMKkcrhm2wzGEM7mum-0fzyTY/s1600/snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs-1937-1108x0-c-default.jpg"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5_QlA7ujGXqehLYCN_A6XTHHFYXjTcE7fCvAnZHKlqCGg8AfGdF0eLRuPe26N6gk9aVtsgZWHIMTONXgl6AkfzxT5yN5b53-_ehY1-LGRqeH_qetTfwQMKkcrhm2wzGEM7mum-0fzyTY/s640/snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs-1937-1108x0-c-default.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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And now the list itself!</div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">10. The Adventures of Prince Achmed</span></strong></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4xFS8Ma_JIZpkURC_dGYAgEjZ82e1m2mqdNI_rIW41a4uinr07tq3HoNIUVpPyiqYCVJMaLf4Wd_DeLvVP5dLf9UtzLWWlcRGBaFWEQGld3_IV0PgICPjKj5mfxbrulobMJ2fkr1uD_w/s1600/achmed_web1.jpg"><img border="0" height="488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4xFS8Ma_JIZpkURC_dGYAgEjZ82e1m2mqdNI_rIW41a4uinr07tq3HoNIUVpPyiqYCVJMaLf4Wd_DeLvVP5dLf9UtzLWWlcRGBaFWEQGld3_IV0PgICPjKj5mfxbrulobMJ2fkr1uD_w/s640/achmed_web1.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
The oldest surviving animated feature film (there were apparently at least two made previously to this 1926 movie by Argentinian filmmaker Quirino Cristiani but neither has a surviving copy and are considered lost), this stop motion cardboard cutout fairy tale is a visual marvel, even now, more than 90 years after it was released. German director/animator Lotte Reiniger developed her silhouette animation technique much in the style of Asian Wayang shadow puppets, but rather than being manipulated in real time as Wayang puppets are, Reiniger animated hers frame by frame, as stop motion clay animators would do. Greatly based on One Thousand and One Nights, specifically "The Story of Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Paribanou", its story is pretty episodic, and often it doesn't even matter, just sit back and watch the amazing visuals. Reiniger's technique was later used to great effect in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1, in the Story of the Three Brothers. Reiniger used the technique throughout her career and much of her work can be seen on YouTube. It all has that same entrancing quality that Prince Achmed has, so be prepared to go down a rabbit hole if you check it out. You'll thank me.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">9. Song of the Sea</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpG6ShgIfKlnI3VmuKAyhAB3p8UZ05dWn9B1HdCDkH8Dr6qEvmV6S9XZqYmGDj14UXuL263LUul3UBhU7mSGG9d1qnzK-zORHbgdVN5RA34pZjpzA2sGdvFRYdqKyct6evx0ixNwE7sEo/s1600/maxresdefault.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpG6ShgIfKlnI3VmuKAyhAB3p8UZ05dWn9B1HdCDkH8Dr6qEvmV6S9XZqYmGDj14UXuL263LUul3UBhU7mSGG9d1qnzK-zORHbgdVN5RA34pZjpzA2sGdvFRYdqKyct6evx0ixNwE7sEo/s640/maxresdefault.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
Like writer/director Tomm Moore's previous movie, 2009’s The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea is a visually gorgeous movie to look at, is steeped in Irish folklore, has a terrific voice cast, and wonderful music as well. Both were nominated for Oscars for Best Animated Film, and I think Song of the Sea should’ve won (Kells, sadly, was up against tougher competition). It’s gentle, not full of the manic energy many filmmakers think a children’s movie needs, and ultimately tackles the deep themes of grieving, sibling rivalry, family love, and much more wrapped up in a wonderful adventure tale with lovingly created 2D animation.<br />
<br />
What kept bringing me into this movie was the relative silence of it. I really just mean free of needless dialog. It’s not silent, it’s gorgeously scored by Bruno Coulais, collaborating with Irish band Kila, with multiple songs sung by the achingly beautiful voice of Lisa Hannigan, who plays the mother, Bronagh. She’s long been one of my favorite musical artists, from her days singing with Damien Rice, to when she truly blossomed into something special with her own albums Sea Sew (2008), Passenger (2011), and At Swim (2016). She’s got the voice of an angel, and perfectly fits what Tomm Moore is doing here. Her music is gentle, but never boring. It’s fascinating and feels handmade (indeed she even did a run of hand sewn album art for her first record). The 2D animation here is so perfectly crafted, so wonderful in conjunction with the music and story. 2D gives the movie the same handmade feeling of Hannigan’s music, it’s almost like you could reach out and touch this storybook being told to us. <br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">8. Coraline</span></strong><br />
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One that grows on me a lot each time I watch it, Henry Selick's dark fantasy Coraline is a wonderfully creepy and effective adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novella. It has the brilliant mix of humor and macabre that Selick pulled off with The Nightmare Before Christmas, but I found myself much more involved with this one, perhaps because of my distaste for the Tim Burton (who wrote and produced but didn't direct)-ness of the other movie as I get older. Here, Selick is both writer and director, and takes us on a crazy journey to an alternate universe where Coraline (Dakota Fanning) learns about appreciating the family and life she has rather than focus on the mundane things she hates about her life. The movie has a certain amount of the magical feeling I remember from childhood books like The Secret Garden, but it goes in a much different, darker, and weirder direction thanks to Selick.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">7. My Neighbor Totoro</span></strong><br />
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My Neighbor Totoro is one of the great animated movies that your average moviegoer hasn't seen. It was a wonderful gift given to us by Oscar-winning animation legend Hayao Miyazaki in 1988. It follows two young girls who move with their loving father into an old house near a forest in rural Japan, where they encounters mystical creatures, including Totoro, the King of the forest. What's wonderful about the movie is that it's just as engrossing when dealing with the magical Totoro and his friends as it is when we're simply watching the girls and their father clean up the house, or visit their sick mother in the hospital. It's a magnificent visual experience, something I have always loved Miyazaki for, with evocative renderings of the small village in which the family lives as well as the surrounding forest. In particular the animation on the sisters is brilliantly expressive, using the exaggerated tradition of anime to get us to recall the feelings of childhood. And like Song of the Sea, it's not afraid of having some silences. The silence makes us sit up and look closer, pay more attention, rather than lose interest. American animation needs to learn this lesson.<br />
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My Neighbor Totoro introduced Miyazaki to a much wider audience when it was released and has since become somewhat of a signature film for Studio Ghibli. The character of Totoro appears in the Studio Ghibli logo, and I've read that he is as known and beloved by the Japanese people as Mickey Mouse is to all of us in the US. It's not hard to understand why, once you've seen the movie. Totoro looks after the girls, finds them when they get lost, and uses his powers to speed up the growing of some trees the girls planted. I don't see how someone couldn't love Totoro.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">6. The Toy Story Franchise</span></strong><br />
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Okay, my list, my rules, and I'm including all the Toy Story movies. Now, I'm not a huge fan of the second, which I have found mostly unengaging every time I've watched it. Thematically, I think it also doesn't do anything that number three doesn't do better. Still, it felt weird to list 1 and 3 but not 2, so I'm just doing all of them. The fantasy of your toys coming to life when you're not around is such a universal one that it almost doesn't even register as being a fantasy anymore. But these movies are some of the great explorations of childhood attachments, the nostalgia of that, and the bittersweet feeling of growing up. I'm not sure where the next installment will go, but I have faith in Pixar and will be seeing it in theaters just like I've seen the first three.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">5. The How to Train Your Dragon movies</span></strong><br />
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Dreamworks animation has had a spotty career. It started out decently with Antz in 1998, which was overshadowed by Pixar's vastly superior A Bug's Life, they found huge success with the Shrek series, then again with Madagascar, again with Over the Hedge (which I actually liked), but didn't really hit a home run artistically, I think, until 2008's Kung Fu Panda. Then came '09's delightful Monsters vs. Aliens, and 2010 gives us their magnum opus, How to Train Your Dragon. It's a wonderful movie with astounding animation, terrific characters, and a good (if predictable) story. They create a world of Vikings and dragons and ships and battles, and imbue it with heart, artistry, and the kind of soul we're used to seeing from Pixar or Studio Ghibli. <br />
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The second movie came out and deepened the emotions, the back story, the mystery, and actually bettered the first movie. They've said they'll only do a trilogy, so the forthcoming third installment should tie everything up. I can't wait to see what they do with the final chapter. I'll say that although I love these movies, I like Toy Story 1 and 3 even more. However, How to Train Your Dragon just feels more "fantasy" to me, whatever that means, so I put it higher on the list. Maybe that's stupid, I don't care.<br />
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Even if I can't quite figure out why the Vikings have Scottish accents, I still love these movies. <br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">4. Spirited Away</span></strong><br />
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Spirited Away is one of the most wonderfully inventive movies ever made, with Miyazaki's imagination running wild in one of the best movies of the 2000's. As usual, there's the young female lead, 10-year-old heroine Chihiro, who falls into a magical world and ends up in a fantasy of mind boggling invention. After Chihiro's parents turn into pigs, Chihiro meets the mysterious Haku, who puts her on the run from the villainous Yubaba, then sends her to the four armed Kamajii, boiler master for Yubaba's bath house of the gods. Chihiro ends up working for the bath house, serving the various spirits who come to relax and wash there. And I think that only covers about the first 20 minutes or so of this 2 hour animation joyride.<br />
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Like many of Miyazaki's movies, Spirited Away is about the coming of age of the central female character. Chihiro begins the movie as meek and almost cowardly, she doesn't even want to accompany her parents into the dark tunnel leading to the amusement park that acts as the gateway to the bathhouse. But by the end, she is fighting to save the lives of her friends and defeat Yubaba's powerful spells and her hold on the citizens of this strange place. She begins on her journey from childhood into being a young woman, learning courage and purpose and the power of love. <br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">3. Fantasia</span></strong><br />
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A movie that I always wanted to see as a kid but was told I wouldn't like it, it was just animation with classical music and not a standard Disney story or anything. I thought that sounded great but I still wasn't able to see it until a few years ago, at the age of 32. It was even better than I could've imagined. It's like the best ballet you could ever dream up. The animation tied to the music so much that they become of a single piece. I could actually do without the introductions by the music conductor. Each section needs some sort of break between them, but I would've been fine with a fade to black, moment of blank screen, and fade up into a new section. Regardless, the movie is gorgeous to look at and, like The Wizard of Oz, a transportational viewing experience. Except the places we're taken in Fantasia are even more fantastical and amazing than Oz.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">2. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind</span></strong></div>
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I watched Nausicaa not really knowing what to expect. It's not Hayao Miyazaki's most acclaimed movie (even if it's his third on this list!), and I watched it because I was on a Miyazaki quest and it was simply the next one I got my hands on. But what I got was among the best post-apocalyptic movies ever made. The world building in this movie (based on Miyazaki's manga of the same name) is really extraordinary, and serves as the best representation of all of Miyazaki's favorite themes: ecology, flight, and a strong young heroine. Nausicaa's impassioned adventure through the unforgiving and toxic landscape, looking for answers on how to make the world a better place, is also Miyazaki's greatest action/adventure story. Joe Hisaishi's score, when it doesn't sound like a Nintendo game, might be the most beautiful score I've heard to go with Miyazaki's best imagery. There's not enough I can say about this movie (it also inspired one of my favorite video games, the NES's Crystalis), I enjoy certain anime, but for me this is the big daddy of them all.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">1. Beauty and the Beast</span></strong><br />
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I know it's not the first movie I saw in the theaters, but Beauty and the Beast is the first one I have vivid memories of seeing. I was enthralled from the first second to the last. I had a huge crush on Belle, and knew all the songs by heart. Now, I'm older, more cynical, have a general distaste for musicals and still, I love this movie with all my heart. Belle is the best and most interesting of all the Disney heroines, smart, funny, kind, and fiercely intelligent. And the Beast is the most interesting of the Disney Princes, probably because he has his own fascinating personal journey. He goes from arrogance and self hatred to both learning to love himself and someone else. Meanwhile, the movie teaches us that we should be falling for the soul of a person, looks be damned. That's a pretty great lesson to be put on top of the impeccable animation, tremendous songs, and flawless voice cast.Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459356722964144865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495704823524122058.post-14874771956738051532018-11-15T08:46:00.000-06:002018-11-15T08:47:46.195-06:00Top 10 Live Action Fantasy Movies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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Like science fiction, the term “fantasy” is loose and means many things to many people. Like sci-fi there are tons of sub-genres of various types as well. There’s high fantasy and low fantasy, soft fantasy, contemporary fantasy, sword and sorcery, Bangsian fantasy and fairy tales. You could even consider superheroes as part of the fantasy genre, though like most people I put that as it’s own separate genre. The point being that we all have different definitions of what constitutes “fantasy”. For example I’ve seen Albert Brooks’s masterpiece Defending Your Life listed as fantasy because it deals with the unknowable afterlife. For whatever reason, that doesn’t make sense in my mind as “fantasy”, even though I can logically understand why someone would consider it as such. So there might be a movie or two here that you don’t consider fantasy, I’d love to hear from you, what’s your own list? What do you consider to be fantasy or not?</div>
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There is also such a wealth of cinema to mine in the fantasy genre that I have split my initial list into two lists, this one covering live action movies, and next week's list covering animated movies.</div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Honorable Mention: The Neverending Story</span></strong></div>
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Just missing the list is this classic from my childhood. Not a great adaptation of the book, which is a terrific fantasy novel, but a fine movie all its own. A triumph of set design, costumes, practical and visual effects, but not as successful in narrative (which is where its deviations from the book show, as the book is a cycle, which is where the title comes from), it's still a movie that deserves a place on this list.</div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">10. Paperhouse</span></strong> </div>
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A type of movie that doesn't even really exist anymore, but should, 1988's Paperhouse is the best kids horror movie ever made. It's about a little girl named Anna (Charlotte Burke, who sadly only made this one movie and gives one of the great child performances here), an English girl suffering from glandular fever. She one day draws a picture of a house, with a sad looking boy in the window, only to find herself transported there in her dreams. This dream world has a strange logical nature to it, such as when we see the boy named Marc in the house, whom Anna meets and invites outside to play, but finds that he can't walk. Of course he can't, Anna didn't draw him any legs (nor any stairs for her to come up to him). This starts to take a dark turn when we watch Anna draw someone and then angrily cross out their face when she doesn't like it. What ramifications will that have? What horror did she just impulsively create? Anna also gets told by her doctor about a paralyzed boy patient she has named Marc. Is the fantasy world bleeding into the real world? Are Marc and Anna entering each other's dreams? What is happening? Director Bernard Rose took great inspiration from movies like Charles Laughton's Night of the Hunter to create a dreamlike horror film that isn't predicated on blood or gore, but on psychological tension and the vulnerability of childhood and dreams. I've seen Paperhouse called "the thinking person's Nightmare on Elm Street". It's so effective because of the atmosphere that Rose creates as a filmmaker, where often the "real world" stuff can feel as dreamy as the fantasy stuff. Looking back I am very surprised that Rose didn't go on to a huge career. He was a prominent music video director in the 1980's, and although he has made some movies that have followings, like the horror film Candyman, he never became the star I would've anticipated he'd be after starting his career with this masterpiece. Sadly, Paperhouse has never been released on DVD in the US, but I bet you can find it on iTunes. Please do.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">9. The Red Balloon</span></strong><br />
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I remember as a child being fascinated by silent passages in movies. I am still to this day intrigued by completely visual film making. I think this all started with French director Albert Lamorisse's sweet 1956 masterpiece The Red Balloon. It was shown throughout American elementary schools from the 60's to the early 90's (and should still be shown to kids today, if you ask me), and I was one of the many children that the movie made a huge impression on. It's the story of a young kid who finds a balloon caught on a light post on his walk to school. He frees it and soon finds out the balloon has a mind of its own, which it uses to follow him to school and play games with him and be the friend that he so desperately needs.<br />
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Of course, one of the calling cards of the movie is its script. It won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, despite having lines of dialog in the single digits. It's nearly silent (and could've been completely had Lamorisse wanted to do so), and is all the more magical for it. It's a simple movie, but one that plays to our recollections of childhood and the feelings of finding a new friend. The Red Balloon is one of the great gifts of cinema. Its magic realism and understated brilliance has kept me coming back to it over and over again through the years. It gives me that wonderful fuzzy feeling inside that you just get from so few movies. Or, as critic Owen Gleiberman so wonderfully put it, "More than any other children's film, The Red Balloon turns me into a kid again whenever I see it...to see The Red Balloon is to laugh, and cry, at the impossible joy of being a child again." You could easily class The Red Balloon as "soft fantasy", as it's not a world of elves and dragons or anything, but a movie about a sentient balloon is definitely fantasy.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">8. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt4ykBEEVLcvMoC_0PafBz8UHHFDXZal9M3DYUSTgEKLSbtxzwa2A21yZ146n9u7-EUm0ZUVtNN_9agxEdHN0P9BmY_TsLwiss-wgbAimcaUwAgt0YOXdM-4PvNYiu39xNS7nUGBxEywo/s1600/5_Imag_L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt4ykBEEVLcvMoC_0PafBz8UHHFDXZal9M3DYUSTgEKLSbtxzwa2A21yZ146n9u7-EUm0ZUVtNN_9agxEdHN0P9BmY_TsLwiss-wgbAimcaUwAgt0YOXdM-4PvNYiu39xNS7nUGBxEywo/s640/5_Imag_L.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
The best movie by Terry Gilliam, a filmmaker I don't typically much care for. But when I watch this movie, I miss Heath Ledger more than ever. He reached great heights with his Oscar-winning performance in The Dark Knight, which was his final completed performance, but not technically his final role. He died midway through re-teaming with his The Brothers Grimm director (and former member of Monty Python) Terry Gilliam in this dark comic fantasy. The role Ledger left behind was that of a mysterious stranger who joins up with the supremely odd theatre troupe of the title character. Thanks to the story, one involving a magic mirror that allows people to enter into a world of imagination partially controlled by Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer, at his best), Gilliam was able to recast Ledger's role during the sequences inside the Imaginarium. He recast it with three great actors who wanted to honor Ledger's memory, and took on the roles without payment (all three deferring their money to Ledger's daughter Matilda). Gilliam has said that many actors (including Tom Cruise) offered their services, but he wanted to "keep it family" with actors whom Ledger had befriended in his life, therefore the casting of Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell to complete the role.<br />
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Gilliam has always been known for his distinct imagery (often in a fantasy setting), but is a filmmaker I usually find short on story and character. Here, he is not. As I said, I've not typically been a fan of Gilliam’s, even his celebrated visuals, but this movie made me reconsider (I’ve since revisited much of Gilliam’s work and found that my dislike of his non-Monty Python movies hasn’t changed just because I love this one). Although the CGI isn't perfect, we're not always convinced that the actors and the effects are occupying the same space, the overall feel and impact of the images works the way I assume Gilliam wants it to. And that’s because of the amazing and dreamlike imagery in the Imaginarium. The fact that we don’t believe the effects actually ends up elevating the dreamlike state of those scenes.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">7. Midnight in Paris</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS1sJsM-PvrIT9_vnM0SGg6A66yXEtt-1ND8xsMxSqg-s882ecOeYr_X-JsFgyHsmff8sv91BWNEkUHVQi9wTuwbZLguTbOtLJK-pi_NkN6jGEti-6yg-48B0-ZvndrZL5mrOMi1pAnMo/s1600/midnight-in-paris.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="1050" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS1sJsM-PvrIT9_vnM0SGg6A66yXEtt-1ND8xsMxSqg-s882ecOeYr_X-JsFgyHsmff8sv91BWNEkUHVQi9wTuwbZLguTbOtLJK-pi_NkN6jGEti-6yg-48B0-ZvndrZL5mrOMi1pAnMo/s640/midnight-in-paris.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
Owen Wilson plays the lead role of hack screenwriter Gil Pender. He churns out crappy Hollywood movies but yearns to write a book and be important and worthy like his literary heroes. He's in Paris on vacation with his fiancee Inez (Rachel McAdams), they tagged along with her parents who are there on business. While the clock strikes midnight one night, a car pulls up and a jovial group of people pull Gil in with them and take him to a party. At the party he sees a guy who looks mysteriously like Cole Porter singing songs to adoring listeners, and meet a couple who introduce themselves as the Fitzgerald's, Scott (Tom Hiddleston) and Zelda (Alison Pill). Scott takes a liking to Gil and offers to take him along to a bar they're going to to meet up with Ernest Hemingway (Corey Stoll). Gil finds himself magically drawn into the world of 1920's artistic Paris, a time and place he'd dreamt of his whole life. He runs across Salvador Dali (Adrien Brody), Luis Bunuel, Man Ray, Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates), Picasso, Matisse, and TS Elliot, among others during the few extraordinary nights he's able to return to this magical place. He also happens to run across the beautiful Adriana (Marion Cotillard), who has Picasso, Hemingway, and legendary bullfighter Juan Belmonte fighting for her affections. Gil falls for her just like the others do as he dreads the inevitable end of his miraculous journey through 1920's Paris.<br />
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Owen Wilson is one of the better actors when it comes to playing the traditional "Woody Allen" role. He has a bit of Allen's neurosis, while also keeping his strangely laid back charm, and some shades we've not seen from him before. His ability to portray Gil's hopeless romanticism, while those around him try to destroy it, is essential to making the movie work. Wilson's Wedding Crashers love interest McAdams is pitch perfectly hateable as Gil's relentlessly unsupportive fiancee. Marion Cotillard is as luminous as Paris itself, making it unsurprising that so many of these artists are inspired by her as their muse.<br />
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The script is Allen's strongest since Sweet and Lowdown, the sweetness and romance fully coming through without being forced in the slightest. The gorgeous photography by ace cinematographer Darius Khondji brings an extra amount of warmth to the movie that fits in nicely with the unassuming romanticism Allen's going for. I also like Allen's comments on coming to terms with the times you live in and not getting bogged down in the nostalgia of the past, because the people in that time probably didn't think everything was so great, and idealized an era previous to them. Even with a little bit of intellectual comments on nostalgia, it's still hard not to think of this movie as simply one of the sweetest love stories I've seen in a long time, and always glad to see one of my favorite filmmakers working at such a high level.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">6. Harry Potter series </span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqaLqamqHN2qFEada14eFv1G27GJx9QcQBQTPhznndhhyphenhyphens-gV8jcSspMMS-YQHImsnaOLT2a2VCMs65iLdJK0kRfWxiQQKgLfKp8t0MFdgha31eCnPtGhJkkPuKQg4t32kY_8lulLJUWg/s1600/f9734c3d-f646-4b7e-85e2-9eec9dc0d153-hp5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqaLqamqHN2qFEada14eFv1G27GJx9QcQBQTPhznndhhyphenhyphens-gV8jcSspMMS-YQHImsnaOLT2a2VCMs65iLdJK0kRfWxiQQKgLfKp8t0MFdgha31eCnPtGhJkkPuKQg4t32kY_8lulLJUWg/s640/f9734c3d-f646-4b7e-85e2-9eec9dc0d153-hp5.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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The Harry Potter books are among my favorite pieces of art in existence. I first starting reading them when the fourth book came out and have read the whole series so many times I stopped counting (I stopped counting after it reached a dozen). I was more excited to see the first movie in theaters than I’ve ever been to see any other movie. And I like it. Didn’t love it, but liked it. Over the course of the next 10 years, as all 7 books were made into 8 movies, the series really became a touchstone for a generation. Although the best of the movies isn’t as good as the worst of the books, the movies have a lot of issues and problems, a couple of the movies are poorly directed, there are too many changes made in adaptation that don’t make sense, etc. Still, I love this series enough that if I don’t feel good, I will throw on one of the movies and enter again into this wonderful world that JK Rowling created for us. I didn’t have the heart to just pick one movie to represent the whole series and just thought “fuck it, it’s my list and my blog, my rules, I’ll just pick them all.” So I did.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">5. Fellowship of the Ring</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYyoukJrvfeGDe9dJpN6VrjSRLkVflI1kGS-MFjZflb84iEbPlVo4zqOKfirXGF2KTRtN18Ycs7axzAa9BPrAUwFKba8VuiPzZhtXdC_GkuqSWKsvOdrSOiI6ZVBmtJQlIfWVB8erz15k/s1600/fellowship8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="752" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYyoukJrvfeGDe9dJpN6VrjSRLkVflI1kGS-MFjZflb84iEbPlVo4zqOKfirXGF2KTRtN18Ycs7axzAa9BPrAUwFKba8VuiPzZhtXdC_GkuqSWKsvOdrSOiI6ZVBmtJQlIfWVB8erz15k/s640/fellowship8.jpg" width="640" /></a>On the opposite end of the spectrum, I had to force myself to finish the Lord of the Rings books. While I admire J.R.R. Tolkien’s imagination and dedication to creating his world, he gets too caught up in showing off what he’s creating and neglecting to tell the story that we’re actually wanting to read. If Gimli and Legolas are running through a field, I absolutely do not want 2+ paragraphs about the history of that field and all the battles fought there and blah blah blah, because none of that shit affects the story I want to read. There is no narrative flow to the novels because Tolkien has to keep having these asides that have no bearing on our story, but just show off how much work he put into this world building. So when the books are pared down to make movies, Peter Jackson stripped away all that fat to make what the books were at their heart, an action adventure story in a fantastical setting. But even Jackson wasn’t perfect, as the second and third movies both have way too many issues for me to care as much about the series as a whole. But our entry point, Fellowship, is an extraordinary movie in nearly every way. It’s epic and emotional and funny and exciting and everything it should be. Ian McKellan, Viggo Mortensen, Elijah Wood, and the whole bunch. Everyone fits their role perfectly and even though it doesn’t have a real conclusion, it’s still the only one of the three movies that feels like a total narrative. It’s the only one I ever fee compelled to go back and watch. And when it’s over, I don’t have any desire to watch the other two. I’ve seen Two Towers and Return of the King twice, and that’s enough. I’ve watched Fellowship at least 5 times and will continue to watch it again and again. It’s one of the great fantasy movies ever made. <br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">4. Monty Python and the Holy Grail</span></strong><br />
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One of the handful of funniest movies ever made, Holy Grail is a right of passage for every teenager (especially boys, as girls don't seem to respond to Monty Python quite as well, on average). It's not often you see a successful fantasy comedy, but this take on the Arthurian legends is probably the most quotable, and quoted, comedy of all time, and with good reason. Everything Python ever did was messy, with some bits that work and others that don't, but they were never as consistently hilarious as in Holy Grail. Surprisingly well shot on a shoestring budget, it's a good old fashioned "let's throw everything we can at the wall and see what sticks" kind of comedy, with musical numbers, animation, failed musical numbers, storybooks, narrators, and many more techniques showing up on the episodic quest for the Holy Grail. And none of that even covers the characters, sequences, and lines that have entered pop culture over the past 35+ years.<br />
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There's much debate among Python fans as to whether this or their subsequent movie, the controversial Biblical tale Life of Brian, is superior. For me it's easy. Life of Brian obviously benefited from the Pythons experience making this movie, as it's more professional looking and was made on a significantly higher budget. It's a good movie, with many hugely hilarious and wonderfully quotable lines. But it's no Holy Grail. Holy Grail is the best comedy of the 70's, period.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">3. The Princess Bride</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsKioDTiI6m6Nxx-9z3y7nWcEU2WEE9lJvY9lFEW3Dj1IstRHiIMFc3rCXASNT28YIA-1bsvn7uklG9N5RAMW4AwvkKpZ4lImHl8aD4fFDDvrx2I3VFb4AAVNtyIBsv1CqA1bZ0ytHTO8/s1600/gallery-1509549558-the-princess-bride-robin-wright-cary-elwes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="980" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsKioDTiI6m6Nxx-9z3y7nWcEU2WEE9lJvY9lFEW3Dj1IstRHiIMFc3rCXASNT28YIA-1bsvn7uklG9N5RAMW4AwvkKpZ4lImHl8aD4fFDDvrx2I3VFb4AAVNtyIBsv1CqA1bZ0ytHTO8/s640/gallery-1509549558-the-princess-bride-robin-wright-cary-elwes.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
There are probably only two movies as quotable as Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and this is one of them (the other is the great This is Spinal Tap). Based on the book by ace screenwriter William Goldman (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President's Men), which he adapted to the screen himself, it's a movie that I can remember exactly where I was when I first saw it, and I was only 5 or 6 years old. It's been one of my most watched movies since then, and that's a very common story for the movie's many fans.<br />
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The casting is perfect, not a single character could've been played any better. Cary Elwes and Robin Wright make a wonderfully idealic couple in Westley and Buttercup, but of course everyone knows this movie belongs to the supporting characters. Mandy Patankin has said that people still to this day come up to him on the street (multiple times a week) and say "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." and he never gets tired of it. Wallace Shawn is inconceivably good as Vizzini, and Billy Crystal and Carol Kane are hysterical in their brief time. Chris Sarandon is wonderful as Prince Humperdink, and his sidekick Count Rugen is played with surprising coldness by comedy genius Christopher Guest. The biggest surprised to me when I watch it, even after nearly 30 years of seeing it, is the wonderful performance from Andre the Giant as Fezzik. It's not like there are many giants in the world that could've acted the part, and reports are that he could do hardly any of the physical things the role required (he had enormous back pain at the time, to go with his enormous size), but his ability to imbue Fezzik with warmth, humor, and a certain way of reminding us he was still big, strong, and scary. And of course there's Fred Savage as the spoiled sick little brat, and Peter Falk as his grandpa reading him the story. Both perfect.<br />
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It's a storybook movie that actually feels like a storybook, and is a movie that I hold other such fantasy movies up to in comparison, whether they're comedies or not. Because The Princess Bride is so perfect, it's one of my "sick movies", something I always watch when I'm down or sick, it's so easy to watch because it makes me feel so good to see it again. To spend some more time with these characters and the terrific writing. And it's one of those rare movies that I loved as a kid, and go back and watch it as an adult and love even more.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">2. The Wizard of Oz</span></strong><br />
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Another one of those magical childhood movies that you go back and revisit later in life, hoping it holds up after the years, and find that it's better than you ever thought it was. Oz is a wonderfully realized place full of magic, mystery, impeccable sets and makeup, a wonderful star turn from Judy Garland, and maybe the greatest villain in movie history. I was floored on my last viewing by how transported I was by this movie. There's not a ton to say about it, since it's probably one of the most written about, studied, beloved movies in cinema history. I've seen it countless times since I was a kid and yet it still holds magic and wonder for me.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">1. Pan's Labyrinth</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKNClBEejSg24qptqCedALaQl0lOLs1Ql6XHlBocK1Fdq84NjcuaU8q0KMQv9hDTmloxMfLwKzULmtuvysT3GMIp1TX7vvie_cRLUvKhBNr9fsGv8oPOzTKm4uN4LmTDDPkhjZAdHmuhA/s1600/panhed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="739" data-original-width="1100" height="429" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKNClBEejSg24qptqCedALaQl0lOLs1Ql6XHlBocK1Fdq84NjcuaU8q0KMQv9hDTmloxMfLwKzULmtuvysT3GMIp1TX7vvie_cRLUvKhBNr9fsGv8oPOzTKm4uN4LmTDDPkhjZAdHmuhA/s640/panhed.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
Guillermo del Toro had shown promise with some of his earlier films, most particularly in the comic book adaptation Hellboy, and his ghost story The Devil’s Backbone. But he had never melded his extraordinary talents as a visual stylist with some storytelling craft as well as he did with his 2006 masterwork Pan’s Labyrinth. He wrote a simple story about a young girl escaping from her hellish life into a fantasy world that may not be any less brutal, but tells it with an elegance and assurance that he’d only hinted at before. The effortless flow of the story makes the simplicity all the easier to enjoy, with the only character who isn’t really a defined good guy or bad guy being the Faun who opens up this alternate world to our young heroine.<br />
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Movies with children as the lead characters can often get bogged down in “cute” moments from the young actors who fail to give much in the way of a real acting performance. Pan’s Labyrinth is not one of those movies. Premier among the movie’s many pleasures is the central performance from Ivana Baquero as Ofelia. The rest of the cast is littered with wonderful performances as well, but Ofelia is our guide and needs to be something truly special. Baquero is most certainly that. The film’s detractors often point to the simplistic nature of the movie as a negative, usually pointed at Sergi Lopez’s villainous Captain Vidal as the biggest offender. So what? So he’s obviously the bad guy, and he’s a really, really bad guy. He’s not even the most memorable villain, as the infamous Pale Man sequence has demonstrated. Regardless, do we denigrate The Adventures of Robin Hood because Claude Rains is so wonderfully hissable, or the Harry Potter movies because Voldemort is one-sidedly evil? No, we enjoy the obstacle for our heroes to overcome. And the movies are better for it.<br />
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The feeling that often stays with me after watching Pan's Labyrinth is one of a beautiful melancholy. The Javier Navarrete score is gorgeously haunting, and fits the movie perfectly. The rich cinematography from Guillermo Navarro, as well as Del Toro’s developing compositional brilliance, leaves us with some stunning images. One thing I would like to address that Del Toro purposefully leaves open to a bit of interpretation is whether or not this fantasy escape is all happening in Ofelia’s head. There’s a shot near the end where Vidal runs into Ofelia talking to the Faun, but he can’t see the Faun. Del Toro has said he meant this as adults aren’t as in tune with the fantasy world as children, more than that the fantasy world doesn’t exist. And that’s the way I’ve always looked at it as well. I’m more one who believes in the fate of the fig tree as an indication of what was real and what wasn’t. What is very real though is that this is one of the great movies I’ve ever seen, definitely my favorite fantasy movie.Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459356722964144865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495704823524122058.post-57719142842596529382018-11-14T15:17:00.002-06:002018-11-14T15:17:22.839-06:00Director's Spotlight: Guillermo del Toro<div class="yklcuq-10 hpxQMr">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh72ClpkblTEgajSRr4WNBvN3U_GN5pwXwF1khetub_ZE9xzrRyV5AKyBhOLFw7zraJPZVqzVV81oApt2iEYWIAVbAZtQjOQSX6-04ZIzE8ryEsLpRqgCub4bOn37Ksbdb_xoEtUnq3g0Y/s1600/Guillermo-del-Toro-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="833" data-original-width="1600" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh72ClpkblTEgajSRr4WNBvN3U_GN5pwXwF1khetub_ZE9xzrRyV5AKyBhOLFw7zraJPZVqzVV81oApt2iEYWIAVbAZtQjOQSX6-04ZIzE8ryEsLpRqgCub4bOn37Ksbdb_xoEtUnq3g0Y/s640/Guillermo-del-Toro-01.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />One of the great visual stylists of his time, Guillermo Del Toro has also always made movies that I think are deeper than they first appear. He also constantly references other works of art, other movies, and often times themes that would go over my head upon first watch. He often tackles themes of feeling out of place, or searching for your place in the world. And the rigid authoritarianism of his villains often forcing his protagonists to make difficult choices. His first big movie, Mimic, was taken away from him in the editing room and recut by producer Harvey Weinstein in the late 90's. Del Toro vowed to never work with Weinstein again after that. I guess you could say that was Del Toro's choice as the hero against Weinstein's villain.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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He’s also obsessed with symbols. Clocks, watches, rings, idols of some kind, etc. His films often have the fantastical coexisting or hiding within our mundane “real world”, sometimes where only the protagonist can see. I don't want to paint him as some sort of intellectual genius filmmaker, but I do find his movies to be deeper than you might think. And all of his trademarks were there from the start in Cronos: mechanisms, insects, monsters, elaborate camerawork, impressive sets, imperfect families, a fascination with the mythic and legendary, Ron Perlman, all of it, it was all right there. Actually one of my favorite moments in my moviegoing life was watching Pacific Rim on opening weekend and when Ron Perlman came onscreen, the theater broke out in applause. Wish Perlman had been there to feel the love for his awesomeness.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit2ORtO6zgZ07J8920-j_qUu5MTDHRNFGm8DiZMbDXptLrrYpMuXReMM7mTDkP8lnW2lgelAUvvkUJ-piUxMla_4spXnidbDGheHhAVpF89pvltaEz_TQgcxB3QDnRhUY7jaB2Zr-1OUk/s1600/guillermo-del-toro-oscars-gettyimages-927342624.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit2ORtO6zgZ07J8920-j_qUu5MTDHRNFGm8DiZMbDXptLrrYpMuXReMM7mTDkP8lnW2lgelAUvvkUJ-piUxMla_4spXnidbDGheHhAVpF89pvltaEz_TQgcxB3QDnRhUY7jaB2Zr-1OUk/s640/guillermo-del-toro-oscars-gettyimages-927342624.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />One of the things I love the most is that for Del Toro, the monsters aren't the bad guys. The ghost in The Devil's Backbone is not the villain, people are. The monsters during Ofelia's trials in Pan's Labyrinth are nothing compared to the horrific Captain Vidal. Even Hellboy, despite literally being born as the sign of the apocalypse, is the hero of his movie, not the villain. The monsters in Del Toro's work are not these horrific, one-dimensional things to cause fear or wreak havoc in the story. They are objects of sympathy and even curiosity. The monsters are often even the heroes, obviously taken from Del Toro's childhood love of movies like Frankenstein and the Hammer Dracula films.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifQTvVzRUHUryWt7ebPrmxCVqWJVzjx3aqaTE1YY5cTaymlMPrR6NW8qiuvMfEW1_f6cuMeY2w9c19kyJehzivXCyVOMeI3wPdKz2v3MUWRYCnhenzFqrUfrxgdZTCfJoLbfvOMGHudyQ/s1600/james-camerons-story-of-science-fiction-103-guillermo-del-toro-1200x707.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="707" data-original-width="1200" height="377" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifQTvVzRUHUryWt7ebPrmxCVqWJVzjx3aqaTE1YY5cTaymlMPrR6NW8qiuvMfEW1_f6cuMeY2w9c19kyJehzivXCyVOMeI3wPdKz2v3MUWRYCnhenzFqrUfrxgdZTCfJoLbfvOMGHudyQ/s640/james-camerons-story-of-science-fiction-103-guillermo-del-toro-1200x707.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />Anyway, my ratings of his movies are:<br />
<ol class="yklcuq-13 dHOYQv">
<li class="yklcuq-11 godfjz"><div class="yklcuq-10 hpxQMr">
Pan's Labyrinth - 10/10</div>
</li>
<li class="yklcuq-11 godfjz"><div class="yklcuq-10 hpxQMr">
The Devil's Backbone - 10/10</div>
</li>
<li class="yklcuq-11 godfjz"><div class="yklcuq-10 hpxQMr">
Pacific Rim - 9/10</div>
</li>
<li class="yklcuq-11 godfjz"><div class="yklcuq-10 hpxQMr">
Hellboy II: The Golden Army - 8/10</div>
</li>
<li class="yklcuq-11 godfjz"><div class="yklcuq-10 hpxQMr">
Cronos - 8/10</div>
</li>
<li class="yklcuq-11 godfjz"><div class="yklcuq-10 hpxQMr">
Hellboy - 8/10</div>
</li>
<li class="yklcuq-11 godfjz"><div class="yklcuq-10 hpxQMr">
Crimson Peak -7/10</div>
</li>
<li class="yklcuq-11 godfjz"><div class="yklcuq-10 hpxQMr">
Blade II - 6/10</div>
</li>
</ol>
<div class="yklcuq-10 hpxQMr">
Obviously haven't seen Shape of Water or Mimic yet, but I will.</div>
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Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459356722964144865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495704823524122058.post-18835073457576073902018-11-08T08:56:00.001-06:002018-11-08T08:56:20.950-06:00Top 10 Science Fiction MoviesWhat is science fiction? This is one of the great debates within the world of science-fiction, as it's one of the genres most difficult to define. In 1975, the great sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov (author of I, Robot, the Foundation series, and many others) said: "Science fiction can be defined as that branch of literature which deals with the reaction of human beings to changes in science and technology." But that seems to encompass only what we now call "hard sci-fi", that which deals in real current technology, or future technology based on current scientific understandings, which seems to me to preclude any elements of fantasy being able to be attached to the story, such as in Star Wars, or even speculative fictional scientific technologies. Author Mark C. Glassy argues that the definition of science fiction is like the definition of pornography: you do not know what it is, but you know it when you see it. I think this is both a more frustrating, and more accurate definition. There are movies that others consider to be sci-fi that I don't, such as Shane Carruth's Upstream Color, which would've been high on this list if I'd included it, but I also wouldn't argue much with someone who said that Upstream Color is science fiction. So anyway, let's get on to the list!<br />
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Honorable Mentions for:<br />
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<strong>Alien<br />Planet of the Apes<br />Ex Machina</strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">10. La Jetee</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4L10D1iLrZbDk40DaTkjNqIBj79yFtyKB-sffTiFW7Fq269MrFjwtQZxJN1xiTgwL6BMDIdTJQgJ-XbeunU28kIUz7J2gZ23PeOxxmpGD16ScPWRCermlutQu1WvH9MpLs52NItfjShI/s1600/1_2yU0ni1HSSPTX721AXt3Hw.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4L10D1iLrZbDk40DaTkjNqIBj79yFtyKB-sffTiFW7Fq269MrFjwtQZxJN1xiTgwL6BMDIdTJQgJ-XbeunU28kIUz7J2gZ23PeOxxmpGD16ScPWRCermlutQu1WvH9MpLs52NItfjShI/s640/1_2yU0ni1HSSPTX721AXt3Hw.png" /></a><br />
French filmmaker Chris Marker's sci-fi masterpiece La Jetee is a short film, only 28 minutes long, told almost entirely through still photographs pieced together with narration. It tells the story of a post-WWIII time traveler who is sent back and forth through time in an attempt to find help for the current time as a small group were able to hide underground in Paris and escape from the nuclear annihilation. Terry Gilliam would later use the movie as the basis of his film 12 Monkeys, but La Jetee is truly unique and special. It's harrowing in the psychological stress put onto our unnamed protagonist (portrayed in the photos by Davos Hanich, but the narration by Jean Negroni). But the man finds a woman he remembers from his past. It's taxing to be thrown throughout time, and the man ends up searching for answers to his own life as much as he looks for answers to his post-apocalyptic present. The mystery of the movie is wonderful, the ability to get us to feel like we've traveled through time with this man is palpable, and the ending is simply perfection. I've never seen another film made like this, with the photos and narration, Marker himself apparently didn't even refer to it as a film, but as a photo novel. Either way, it thoroughly deserves its place on this list.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">9. Gravity</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ji3Cg2r0xiE5eAlenKW2je_OiXFyeNTibeob-xAi283rUFf6de5ncxazbydV8POzz2apBqsvyZ1dgE55Hw8mow3paIf41AOPBkBVR4U7e4X4M_yiatZdCk0l0qZPxuKMdPL6qsgf7Io/s1600/xCrdOdt.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ji3Cg2r0xiE5eAlenKW2je_OiXFyeNTibeob-xAi283rUFf6de5ncxazbydV8POzz2apBqsvyZ1dgE55Hw8mow3paIf41AOPBkBVR4U7e4X4M_yiatZdCk0l0qZPxuKMdPL6qsgf7Io/s640/xCrdOdt.png" /></a><br />
Alfonso Cuaron has my money any time he makes a movie. I've liked or loved every single movie of his I've seen. My least favorite in his catalog, the third Harry Potter movie, is typically considered the epitome of that franchise. I'd closely followed the production of his follow up to "best movie of the 2000's" Children of Men (named as such on this very blog). When he finally released Gravity in 2013, I was completely blown away. Sandra Bullock's central role as astronaut Ryan Stone was the best work of her career, and she was supported by one of the most visually ambitious movies ever made. The opening shot alone is 17 minutes long, and all of this was done with Bullock and co-star George Clooney the only non cgi items on screen. The planning that had to go into the lighting of the actors faces, to match what would be done in the computer, is staggering to think about (and an aspect of cinematography I'd not considered until I heard the great Emmanuel Lubezski talking about how difficult it was). The simplicity of the movie, though thematically ambitious, is its key. It lets the realism it presents to become a kind of horror movie. A survival horror movie. But then it touches on things like making the decision to keep fighting for life when the universe seems destined to kill you. To decide to live even when you're grieving an unimaginable loss. There are beautiful images of womb-like safety, and triumphant rebirth. How many $100 million budget Hollywood movies have the poetic and artistic talent and balls to try and get you to think and feel these kinds of things? Only the type Cuaron makes.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">8. The Empire Strikes Back</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddFT05VipHi0uT5aRXedw1AticeqgxtdilfGm7bOI_GcPsfIPmTH7YXSE21vLrFs44kAmKL3MyHhtnxl7DQBrywwOP6PXBOWeTZYex2XJFTNfQlET7gAHpCyQ7u5ZGQDye1YXO8QR0-8/s1600/empirestrikesback-yoga-lukeskywalker-training.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddFT05VipHi0uT5aRXedw1AticeqgxtdilfGm7bOI_GcPsfIPmTH7YXSE21vLrFs44kAmKL3MyHhtnxl7DQBrywwOP6PXBOWeTZYex2XJFTNfQlET7gAHpCyQ7u5ZGQDye1YXO8QR0-8/s640/empirestrikesback-yoga-lukeskywalker-training.jpg" /></a><br />
So the Star Wars universe makes an appearance! This is one of those movies that I often forget just how good it really is. I know I like all the Star Wars movies (even the new ones) but until I watch them again I forget how well they work. Still firmly in the Saturday morning adventure serials crossed with the space opera setting, Empire is always pointed to as the best Star Wars movie, and there's a reason. The acting is better than any of the other movies, as the story gets a little darker and the actors have more to play with. There's also better humor, both in the banter between Leia and Han (and Luke) but many also tend to forget just how funny Yoda is. Ah, Yoda, one of the biggest reasons for this movie's success. He's easily one of the best and most affecting non-human character in all of movies. Maybe THE best. When we meet him here, he's an eccentric and funny little guy, but he still conveys the old pains and history that we don't learn about until later. Wonderfully voiced by the great Frank Oz, who also puppeteered. It's his training with Luke that really elevates the story, as we watch Luke grow both inside and out. It's still a big fun summer blockbuster George Lucas type of movie, but it's the best he ever did.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">7. Wall-E</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBO8j0XUQtP9twV9PUr1xoe39vfk4qUALZ_9CdPnVSpx8BIM0Cw1gmZOX9Pi6jCGLEBJwDmcbHi2FM6c8v6INjyVuKIJ9FIPGJrCr8l8BU2VYydhmjPDw6IF5D0vuecoKfE54FNXdtxxk/s1600/wall-e-hour-watching-recommendation-videoSixteenByNineJumbo1600.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBO8j0XUQtP9twV9PUr1xoe39vfk4qUALZ_9CdPnVSpx8BIM0Cw1gmZOX9Pi6jCGLEBJwDmcbHi2FM6c8v6INjyVuKIJ9FIPGJrCr8l8BU2VYydhmjPDw6IF5D0vuecoKfE54FNXdtxxk/s640/wall-e-hour-watching-recommendation-videoSixteenByNineJumbo1600.jpg" /></a><br />
The next movie on my list is the Pixar tour-de-force that is Andrew Stanton's Wall-E, quite possibly the greatest of all animated movies. Its visual invention and nearly silent opening section are reminders of what a little ambition can do for a movie. Stanton and his co-writers provide pointed commentary on the laziness of the human race and where our reliance on technology will logically lead us to (a commentary lost on so many viewers who thought the filmmakers were just making fun of fat people). But at its heart, Wall-E is a simple love story, one that just happens to star robots.<br />
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Most of note, really, is the genius creation of the title character. Stanton gives ample time for his mostly silent hero to show of his comedic skills, ones worthy of the great Buster Keaton. Stanton has actually said that he and his staff studied the entire available catalogs of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton in an effort to understand and emulate the great silent comedians. Wall-E is a delightful creation, and the movie starring him equally enchanting. It was another one that didn't quite hit me with its full force on first viewing. Looking back on my original review, I wasn't even sure if it was Pixar's best movie. After repeat viewings, I always find wonderful little details in it, plus there's still the beautiful sequences like Eve and Wall-E's dance, and the simplicity of the story proves to be a strength rather than a hindrance. Our adorable hero and his quest for love hits me in the gut every time since that first viewing.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFmf-8uO_YZUVlT3Q62ypJC2Uqui-SrDlFsOGAB6LEaPXYsAxugm2chUQWKYNs53Mm-0QfDfGJzJm8COXKPPN7syF-W4fWgHjP5VTh94CkulhG45FxckbCDJapBVqgGwjcFiB9YfDFe_w/s1600/four.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFmf-8uO_YZUVlT3Q62ypJC2Uqui-SrDlFsOGAB6LEaPXYsAxugm2chUQWKYNs53Mm-0QfDfGJzJm8COXKPPN7syF-W4fWgHjP5VTh94CkulhG45FxckbCDJapBVqgGwjcFiB9YfDFe_w/s640/four.jpg" /></a><br />
This is one of the most interesting visual experiences ever put on screen, with Michel Gondry able to project what the inside of our minds just might look like. Also the crowning achievement in Charlie Kaufman's catalog, in my eyes, teaming him again with French music video director Gondry (who had previously directed Kaufman's script Human Nature, still unseen by me). A haphazard journey through the memories of Joel Barish (a never better Jim Carrey) as he tries to erase his recently ex-girlfriend Clementine (the always brilliant Kate Winslet) from his mind. Kaufman started from the idea of erasing someone from your memory (who hasn't wanted to do that before?) and the impact that memories have on us as people. The way a loved one can get so associated with something that to remove it would be to remove a part of your own being. The impulsive Clem has had Joel erased from her memory by a company called Lacuna that provides such a service. As a way of getting back at her, Joel decides to erase her from his memory. Joel at one point asks Dr. Mierzwiak (the infallible Tom Wilkinson) if there's any chance of brain damage caused by the erasing. He answers "Well, technically speaking, the procedure IS brain damage."<br />
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There's an achingly sad moment later in the movie when you realize that Joel doesn't remember the song "My Darling Clementine", even though it had deep meaning to him long before meeting Clem. It had become so associated with her in his mind that to remove her removes all traces of the song as well as his childhood favorite, Huckleberry Hound. For the majority of the movie we travel with Joel through the good and bad memories of the two years he spent with Clem. It's hysterical, heartbreaking, amazingly true to life while being totally surreal. Also, the brilliant score by Jon Brion is worth mentioning. It plays more like an accompaniment to the action onscreen, instead of trying to underline it, or try and inform the audience how to react emotionally. The movie is a beautiful, hilarious, and melancholy trek through the emotions one experiences with both the good and bad in a relationship, and how you should live with the balance of the two instead of trying to forget. Your memories help make you who you are, appreciate that you have them.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">5. Cloud Atlas</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAYhR0HfrtQBi9xWaq4urVIX_l7Xdx0nc5g2oNMSP88znhkPcNxoZTRjEGn8oWrheLsWHTJl8asDXsC6-T369m_S8hB-E37jSJSXik1iUOfLAxCOTmVIPBnpZSe7x0YzU-SDpKHSkuYQQ/s1600/26CLOUD1-jumbo.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAYhR0HfrtQBi9xWaq4urVIX_l7Xdx0nc5g2oNMSP88znhkPcNxoZTRjEGn8oWrheLsWHTJl8asDXsC6-T369m_S8hB-E37jSJSXik1iUOfLAxCOTmVIPBnpZSe7x0YzU-SDpKHSkuYQQ/s640/26CLOUD1-jumbo.jpg" /></a><br />
What is the point of a movie like Cloud Atlas? I'd say that the point of a movie like this is to shame other filmmakers for their lack of ambition and insistence on giving us the same ole shit. Not a film for people who don't pay attention, or those uninterested in thought provoking art, Cloud Atlas is a movie for those of us that thirst for greatness. This is one of the great movies ever made.<br />
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To give a plot synopsis is futile. Writer/directors Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski, and Tom Tykwer weave together six or seven different plot lines from across hundreds of years and many locations. It's a thriller, a romance, comedy, sci-fi/action movie. It's everything you could want in a movie. It was adapted from the 2004 novel by David Mitchell, unread by me. If the novel is anything like the movie, I would've thought it completely unfilmable. What Tykwer and the Wachowski's have done, however, is extraordinary work on every conceivable level. The movie has wonderful and distinct looks across all of its stories, which also takes many recognizable faces and reincarnate them across the stories. Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent, Jim Sturgess, Susan Sarandon, Ben Whishaw, and many others appear across many, if not all, of the stories. Korean actress Doona Bae was my favorite, although everyone is flawless in their roles, stepping up their game since the filmmakers were setting such an ambitious bar. Also obscenely amazing make-up allows the actors to jump not only through the timelines to play their differing characters, but also jump through ages, races, and even genders.<br />
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Unsurprisingly, with what I've just said, Tykwer and the Wachowski's were unable to get any studio financing for the project. Ultimately they raised a little over $100 million independently to make the movie. I wouldn't have been surprised if you'd told me the budget was $400 million. It's expert filmmaking through and through, making more of its budget than any movie in recent memory.<br />
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Ultimately, Cloud Atlas takes on themes of love, kindness, friendship, and human decency. Actions ripple across time and space and give us the sense that no persons life is without meaning or influence, even if we don't feel it while we're alive. It's a life affirming movie of the highest order. It's also the type of movie that comes along not very often that affirms the great power of cinema. I think the filmmakers were laying down the challenge to all other artists to push themselves into greatness. Although I've not been a fan of their previous work, this film is exhilarating and enriching to the soul. <br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">4. Children of Men</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4D92LbaVXrxEh9dtDLWTu_i07uihR85ujB_2QiauX4ggBAmZUBMAwsGRKpMnVEDIY3OZ1KABXPZ_QLD1Shp6u4v-F1wgV2kkwn9lVGgAYRpJBOomI960IG8JHP396ZCNet5vsw8ffxBk/s1600/1368_5.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4D92LbaVXrxEh9dtDLWTu_i07uihR85ujB_2QiauX4ggBAmZUBMAwsGRKpMnVEDIY3OZ1KABXPZ_QLD1Shp6u4v-F1wgV2kkwn9lVGgAYRpJBOomI960IG8JHP396ZCNet5vsw8ffxBk/s640/1368_5.jpg" /></a><br />
I have rarely been as emotionally impacted while watching a movie as I was sitting in the theater watching Children of Men. Having since seen it multiple times, I am more convinced than ever that it is the best movie of the 2000's, and one of the greatest achievements in all of cinema. Its story is very simple: the year is 2027, and the human race has been infertile for the past 18 years. An emotionally disconnected former activist (now anonymous bureaucrat, played by Clive Owen) is asked by his ex-wife to escort a young girl to safety across the dangerous obstacles now occupying England as the world's last surviving powerful nation. The by now well known complication being that the girl is pregnant. Director/writer/editor Alfonso Cuaron uses this concept as the basis to tell a powerful story of action, love, and hope rarely touched in cinema. The almost oppressive grimness of the frighteningly realistic future setting is offset with the optimism brought about by the prospect of a future generation.<br />
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Children of Men has become somewhat famous for its single-shot sequences, including an assault on a car that lasts for more than 4 minutes, and a shot during a chaotic battle that lasts for around 7 1/2 minutes. The thing that many people don't know about these shots are that they aren't really a single shot, but a couple of shots stitched together through the aid of computers. Some detractors have taken this as a negative, as though the only point of single-shot sequences is an exercise in technique. The single-shot sequences, whether actually a single unaided shot or not, work as a single take, not allowing the audience the chance to distance itself through an edit. We can't get away from the action, because the camera isn't getting away from the action, making the movie all the more tense and exciting.<br />
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Werner Herzog has often said that the world is starved for great images. With Children of Men, Alfonso Cuaron continues his fight to give us extraordinary images. He has the audacity to be poetic in an almost Herzog-ian way such as in the scene where the soldiers all stand around dumbfounded at the sound and sight of the baby Theo is escorting out of a building. Some people, even in the midst of the fighting and destruction going on around them reach out to the baby as the first sign of hope in nearly 20 years. The soldiers, many of whom are probably too young to even remember seeing a baby in their lifetimes, look on at the young child in a paralyzing shock. It's a tremendously moving sequence, and again, Cuaron's use of music (an opera) is very reminiscent of Herzog. Cuaron has given us some wonderful images in his previous movies. Y tu Mama Tambien, A Little Princess, and even his Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban were expertly filmed and gave us gorgeous shots to behold. But nothing he'd ever done in the past prepared me for the power and poeticism of some of his work here. I would single out more shots, but I could nearly single out anything in the movie and use it as an example, since Cuaron often finds the poetry of images in small ways that many viewers may not even be aware of or remember.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijaiGegNp8LfJqcawca7FuyBxKho8BDW0_pK2DKMkMk2yPAZnMcoGrPVm3jOJYCdVuAgjhpn-D9uM_odOA9gjfSj7NP4XJ9Y-b2HtvupaLGKmDwb2FdFzyaug0XeLrvDRqTretBVqEVEk/s1600/082018-SciFiFilmFest-CalImage-CloseEncountersoftheThirdKind.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijaiGegNp8LfJqcawca7FuyBxKho8BDW0_pK2DKMkMk2yPAZnMcoGrPVm3jOJYCdVuAgjhpn-D9uM_odOA9gjfSj7NP4XJ9Y-b2HtvupaLGKmDwb2FdFzyaug0XeLrvDRqTretBVqEVEk/s640/082018-SciFiFilmFest-CalImage-CloseEncountersoftheThirdKind.jpg" /></a><br />
The concept of "first contact" (the first interactions between mankind and an alien race) has long been one of the most fascinating to me. It's one of the most explored concepts in science fiction, but rarely to my satisfaction. Many movies and books have revolved around the topic, in an infinite number of ways, and my favorite movie dealing with it is Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Like he often does, Spielberg picked just the right leading man for the job here, as Richard Dreyfuss is not exactly your regular everyman. He gives off that quality, but has a sarcastic intelligence, and sometimes anger, that makes him feel even more relateable. As he says at one point in the movie, he didn't ask for "this" to happen to him (to have contact with aliens). He's not even really sure what happened, or why, or what it means, or where he goes from here. He loses everything in his life to find the answer to those questions.<br />
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I loved the movie when seeing it as a kid, but watching as an adult, I wonder why. It's actually not a very fast paced movie, with much of the time being spent watching Dreyfuss think and try to figure out what he's going to do, or with French UFO scientist Claude Lacombe (legendary director Francois Truffaut) and his interpreter (Bob Balaban) as they go on a similar chase for knowing the unknown. But I bet the seeds for my fascination in first contact were sown when I saw the powerful final section of this movie, where the Mothership shows up and we finally make our contact. It's a transcendent piece of filmmaking, awe inspiring and impressive on both a technical and storytelling level, the special effects are so prominent but always serve to better the story. I also love that we see the aliens, but they never speak nor directly communicate. We follow Richard Dreyfuss search for answers, but we're never given any. I like that.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">2. 2001: A Space Odyssey</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifN2p0ptbQa8vb5ePjVwAgZ1FmDFY1s2yGyhunwMlxNDKf-gsXgdRe7VytSlux-RKLxLhpN4GukUTyQXdtjnzvBGwWarAdwAPtg_z9ZPfhqoOA07Dw2TrVc_PbbAfRncleVUxmm78FwyQ/s1600/87730-xwvjjzpxyf-1524288044.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifN2p0ptbQa8vb5ePjVwAgZ1FmDFY1s2yGyhunwMlxNDKf-gsXgdRe7VytSlux-RKLxLhpN4GukUTyQXdtjnzvBGwWarAdwAPtg_z9ZPfhqoOA07Dw2TrVc_PbbAfRncleVUxmm78FwyQ/s640/87730-xwvjjzpxyf-1524288044.jpg" /></a><br />
Another movie that must be talked about and examined in detail is the best movie of the 1960's, Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Disappointed that there were no great sci-fi movies, in his mind, Kubrick set out to collaborate with one of sci-fi's great minds, British author Arthur C. Clarke. They came up with the general outline together, and Kubrick went off the write the script and make the movie while Clarke wrote the book, that way both had artistic freedom in their fields, while also having worked together at the project's inception. What we got from Kubrick (I've strangely never read the book, despite being a huge Clarke fan) is sci-fi's great intellectual work, taking a long hard look at technology and how it affects us.<br />
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The movie really is driven by concept of technology and how we grow from it. The apes in the opening sequence discovering the use of bones as tools/weapons really being the first discovery of a form of technology. We jump ahead to spaceships and all this crazy cool tech stuff that has become so commonplace it's boring to the characters. Next, the most conventional (and entertaining) section, with the HAL9000 and its crew on their dangerous mission to Jupiter. And the final section where our technology is irrelevant, but our evolution keeps going. A fascinating look on every level, with all the questions it raises stimulating our minds, while the still nearly flawless SFX holding our eyes, 2001 is really an amazing achievement on every level.<br />
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Not necessarily easy to get through, I turned it off just a few minutes after the opening "Dawn of Man" sequence was over during my first attempt to watch it. But I went back time and time again and am glad that I did, as seeing it as a whole let me see what Kubrick was going for. Really the only complaint I have about this movie (which is in my all-time top 10, so you know the complaint is minor) is the "Beyond the Infinite" sequence, where Dave goes through the wormhole into universes and planets and surfaces we could never imagine and can't really even process in our minds (this subject was also explored in a section of Clarke's 1953 masterpiece Childhood's End). The sequence goes on long after the point has been made, but even though it becomes monotonous after a bit, that makes the eventual sudden cut to Dave's face all the more shocking and effective. Kubrick's greatest movie, and the best movie of the 60's, 2001: A Space Odyssey.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">1. Dark City</span></strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjEF05lfB4HHdiAQ3w9yH-ZgMzrebQEen1qLg0RGnMKh5u81RnSigC3mUHyz2jyeu_Dui2RzBboOgNLFQqdPADb-2FNMRUkY_Jbi9I_0RgVnmpIrgC650OfDYfYg_dOtoRIMyfjxG99Ik/s1600/attachment.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjEF05lfB4HHdiAQ3w9yH-ZgMzrebQEen1qLg0RGnMKh5u81RnSigC3mUHyz2jyeu_Dui2RzBboOgNLFQqdPADb-2FNMRUkY_Jbi9I_0RgVnmpIrgC650OfDYfYg_dOtoRIMyfjxG99Ik/s640/attachment.jpg" /></a><br />
I vaguely remembered Dark City being advertised, but only knew one person who saw it in theaters and they told me it was just ok. So I was surprised when I saw at the end of the year that it landed at #1 on Roger Ebert's year end top ten list. That made me want to check it out and see what was up. I did, and just thought, "it was ok". But then I started thinking more about the philosophy behind it, and especially the images contained within it. I was caught by the incredible German expressionistic architecture, and the subconscious evocation of old school noir movies (subconscious to me, because I didn't know much about noir at the time) and the paintings of Edward Hopper. So I bought it on DVD, watched it again, and liked it a lot. Then a few weeks later watched it again, and loved it. A few months or a year or whatever later, I watched it again and decided it was one of my favorite movies.<br />
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Dark City takes a different approach to "first contact", in that most people don't know that they've been contacted by aliens. We also get a different take on alien invasion, as the aliens in this case don't want to rule us, although they are unintentionally doing that. They want to learn from us. They want to grow as we grow, change as we change, but sometimes (again, as in Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End) certain species may be doomed to not be able to evolve. The Strangers may just be stuck with where they are right now. It may all be futile. This movie doesn't quite explore that idea as much as it explores the idea that The Strangers were looking in the wrong places for answers, as humanity does sometimes in our studies. Still, this movie brings up so many ideas of what it means to evolve, what memories mean to us, who we are inside of ourselves (do we have a soul?), what makes us human? Just as all great sci-fi does, it works as a straightforward story, but there is also so much there to explore underneath the surface if we desire to look at it.<br />
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In 2008, director Alex Proyas released his Director's Cut of the movie. I'm not normally a fan of Directors Cuts, but this one took one of my favorite movies and turned it into an all-time top 5 for me. The theatrical cut is like a sprint, the quick cutting and relentless pacing rushing towards the final confrontation. The DC adds in just a few scenes, but Proyas cuts them in in a way that lets the movie breathe and not exactly take its time, since it is still paced quite rapidly, but feel like it's not the sprint to the finish line that the original cut is. I listed it last year as one of the most beautiful movies ever made, because it can be viewed in slow motion and just taken as a moving painting and it still works. Roger Ebert said so eloquently in his original review (he's since written another one, when he added it to his list of "The Great Movies", as well as doing a commentary track for the DVD) and I can't top it, so I'll just close with this quote "If it is true, as the German director Werner Herzog believes, that we live in an age starved of new images, then Dark City is a film to nourish us. Not a story so much as an experience, it is a triumph of art direction, set design, cinematography, special effects--and imagination."Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459356722964144865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495704823524122058.post-5477240601999503372018-11-01T09:08:00.002-05:002018-11-01T09:08:33.531-05:00Top 10 Action MoviesWhat makes a great action movie? Surprisingly, the answer isn't just great action sequences, because what makes a great action sequence? I would say that more than anything, what we need for a great action movie is characters. We have to care what happens to these people. If we don't, what's the point? If we don't care, then it's just things banging into each other and we lose interest. This is the problem with movies like the Transformers movies. They're just special effects created by an expensive bunch of animators. There's not a character there that we care about. So that becomes the trickiest thing in an action movie, because just having action, and lots of it, isn't enough. We have to care. But then there can also be instances where just the visceral nature of the action can be enough to elevate a movie thin on character. Obviously the ideal thing is to have both, but sadly that doesn't always happen.<br /><br />Honorable Mentions for:<br />
<strong>Mad Max Fury Road<br />Casino Royale<br />Fellowship of the Ring<br />Kill Bill<br />Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon</strong><br /><strong><span style="font-size: large;">10. Dredd</span></strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvTGS3mr-VLQlDgOlRTtzbAgoGYAQvmGY0Q7whWK5foluegES76KwVGJUT6CYI5AzobO8Tuz63-GLGCmRrtrzJIBg1H3NwnENiMwHyXOuoqaHzzmlXrwDbPumd_1METbQeVrPSJ788Emc/s1600/dredd-2012-judge-dredd-judge-anderson-first-day.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvTGS3mr-VLQlDgOlRTtzbAgoGYAQvmGY0Q7whWK5foluegES76KwVGJUT6CYI5AzobO8Tuz63-GLGCmRrtrzJIBg1H3NwnENiMwHyXOuoqaHzzmlXrwDbPumd_1METbQeVrPSJ788Emc/s640/dredd-2012-judge-dredd-judge-anderson-first-day.jpg" /></a><br />Credited to director Pete Travis, but according to the cast mostly directed by writer/producer Alex Garland, Dredd is very much indebted to video games in its structure as Judge Dredd (a perfect Karl Urban) and his apprentice Judge Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) must methodically make their way up floor after floor of a high rise building to take down drug lord Ma-Ma (Lena Headey). The characterization is thin, I must admit, but our leads really sell it. Headey is just unhinged enough to feel dangerous, but such a tremendous actress that she brings humanity into anything she does (she is so much more than just Cersei Lannister if you’ve only ever seen her in Game of Thrones). Urban is just perfect in what is really a one note character. Dredd is hardcore, the ultimate rule follower, the ultimate enforcer, and so would seem to not have any available growth to him over the course of the movie, no emotion, but Urban makes it work somehow. But the key to the emotional arc of the movie and making it work is Olivia Thirlby. Probably most known as Juno’s best friend, she gives a performance of strength through adversity, inherent decency, and also a bit of wide eyed innocence to this relentless, dark, grimy, violent world. She’s our “in” to this world. She’s the audience surrogate. It’s her story more than it is Dredd’s, because she’s being reviewed on her abilities as a Judge. Thirlby has impressed me in other movies I’ve seen her in as well (most especially David Gordon Green’s Snow Angels) and I really wonder what happened to her. She needs to work more. But still, she’s the one we worry for. She’s the reason the action is tense, from a character perspective. Dredd seems like a perfect machine, it’s Anderson that’s learning her way as a Judge. <br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size: large;">9. Predator</span></strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgko4VD6BD7XEpkkwmYIHoyy3_fECkwRB6l0IRTofywBeDk2knvCh66BM6MUQQJ6BHP9Vwh689cmJGnS2x7KmN-Q3_quiFXG0ZiH2DQHQgvHd1sisbMnQdmjn1NnZXPHgwBbA99XVvzZSM/s1600/Predator-Shot.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgko4VD6BD7XEpkkwmYIHoyy3_fECkwRB6l0IRTofywBeDk2knvCh66BM6MUQQJ6BHP9Vwh689cmJGnS2x7KmN-Q3_quiFXG0ZiH2DQHQgvHd1sisbMnQdmjn1NnZXPHgwBbA99XVvzZSM/s640/Predator-Shot.jpg" /></a><br />Get to da choppah!<br /><br /> Predator has so many stupid lines of uber-macho dialog and male preening of muscles and machismo that it’s comical. It also is an extraordinarily tense jungle set riff on Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians with special effects that still work today, and visceral kinetic action scenes that don’t let up until the movie is over. Director John McTiernan made many great action flicks in his time, like Hunt for Red October, The Thomas Crown Affair, and including his Predator follow up, which we will get to later in this list. It’s McTiernan that keeps this movie from teetering over into parody, as we can feel the jungle setting and it’s what really helps this movie succeed. We can see and feel the sweat, the heat, the fact that you can’t see anything beyond the wall of vegetation in front of you. Each element ratchets up the tension beautifully. When the action comes, the Predator is efficient and brutal and all of the sudden we’re down another crew member. Neither McTiernan nor the Predator draws anything out too much, and that’s what works so well. Things can change so quickly that everyone must be on guard at all times. There’s no quiet before the storm, because the storm is quiet and all around you. It’s a wonderfully intense movie, and I wouldn’t really argue with someone who said it’s too low on this list. <br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size: large;">8. Jurassic Park</span></strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCMwlxjzXZjjd2UVmBIIJ330h8X8d3fClnN8Kqo9ghpzd8gjgjzgxIoQvBMEVegx27p2H4lLFdb_8JAHWZb4LltpfffVjFasjsw5S9_XqDXHX9A0j_AK5zN8eiAv_urMR1EdwGP6IIVIE/s1600/10272456_ori.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCMwlxjzXZjjd2UVmBIIJ330h8X8d3fClnN8Kqo9ghpzd8gjgjzgxIoQvBMEVegx27p2H4lLFdb_8JAHWZb4LltpfffVjFasjsw5S9_XqDXHX9A0j_AK5zN8eiAv_urMR1EdwGP6IIVIE/s640/10272456_ori.jpg" /></a><br />There are, honestly, not a ton of consistently great directors in the action world. There are filmmakers that have a few great ones here and there, but few who deliver time and again. Steven Spielberg might be the king of action directors in my book. From the finale of Jaws to the horror of Saving Private Ryan to the entirety of the Indiana Jones series. In fact, Duel almost made it on this list since it’s one of the most relentlessly thrilling and tense movies ever made. But I decided to go with Jurassic Park, one of the most fun times you can have at the movies. The T-Rex attack, the raptors, the cgi that doesn’t look as seamless today as it once did, but still 100% works in the storytelling of it all, there’s a plethora of action here. But Spielberg also peoples the movie with characters and great actors to play them. Sam Neil gives terrific work especially in the first scenes where they see the dinosaurs. You can see the little kid inside of him bursting out. Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, and Laura Dern are wonderful as our other leads, while little parts like Wayne Knight and Samuel L. Jackson really create a great cast as a whole. I have watched this movie every couple of years since I was that 10 year old dinosaur lover seeing it in the theaters, and never once have I failed to be thrilled by this. <br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size: large;">7. First Blood</span></strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe2VkxOJjqn9_aMxKX5g8ci1vImi4LWqfwaiBdjyQd45IuxBVlcZM8xYEPAf53V40sgjFuTuXsbU8CPeSa9ArTAf-bCaUXvYk1ysrkii3rmdIIS2RfeWFb_1tk4xa5niPtDwI5300oBjY/s1600/Firstblood_1_758_426_81_s_c1.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe2VkxOJjqn9_aMxKX5g8ci1vImi4LWqfwaiBdjyQd45IuxBVlcZM8xYEPAf53V40sgjFuTuXsbU8CPeSa9ArTAf-bCaUXvYk1ysrkii3rmdIIS2RfeWFb_1tk4xa5niPtDwI5300oBjY/s640/Firstblood_1_758_426_81_s_c1.jpg" /></a><br />I think people sometimes forget that Sylvester Stallone can be a terrific actor. I think First Blood might actually be his best work. It's a gritty, dirty, kinetic movie. It also subtly deals with the hassle that many Vietnam veterans dealt with after they came back. They had to go through a lot of shit in war, only to come back home and not be hailed as heroes like their father's generation when coming home from WWII. Back then the bad guys were more clear cut. Nazis = bad. Vietnam wasn't so black and white. It was all gray and these soldiers were the ones who really dealt with the gray of it all in a real way. We watch as Stallone's John Rambo just wants to live his life but gets hassled by some asshole cops and you could say Rambo overreacts to the situation, but we get it. The grimy, dirty, kinetic action focuses on a mostly wordless performance from Stallone, but it's great work from him as an actor.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size: large;">6. The Bourne Identity</span></strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYhUBSH0ws3sdhjgP8_AX1oRU9QrTIdF2m7UgW5oRwycQpsZ4CUHM5M2jvMLqvGo-DeWhRXedNUqoqR2vnowSgDSkzeob-7gO4fqGTiibtTo-wb5z0Yt3ytmsQeYLqWKJ-bBgtrZeZmWg/s1600/untitled.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYhUBSH0ws3sdhjgP8_AX1oRU9QrTIdF2m7UgW5oRwycQpsZ4CUHM5M2jvMLqvGo-DeWhRXedNUqoqR2vnowSgDSkzeob-7gO4fqGTiibtTo-wb5z0Yt3ytmsQeYLqWKJ-bBgtrZeZmWg/s640/untitled.png" /></a><br />That's right, The Bourne Identity, the first one. Not the Paul Greengrass directed sequels which did everything this movie started to do, but with shaky cam. In Identity, Doug Liman knows how to actually show us what's happening so that we can care. We watch one of Matt Damon's best performances as the man of few words, Jason Bourne, as he tries to put his life together. Little details are what sets this apart for me, like before the car chase, as Bourne asks his companion, the great Franke Potente, if there's anything wrong with the car, does it pull a little to one side or anything like that. She has no idea what's about to happen, but he's trying to figure out what tools he has to work with. It's that kind of detail that really adds to the suspense, and the humor in the movie. We know why Bourne is asking, but she doesn't. <br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size: large;">5. Die Hard</span></strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb1w0zIAbENQN8R6-DTENywkSpNUkvlsfJRuM0M4_ANJLygqjeB9ukwCgSkfXiFip1W5OhZCSTTRUjbhP90qZtK_wFLHc3m1cH4uSiDyshiXt5wuK20C6B6RJxKbstvNwaBSCf2oWCx5M/s1600/1_y9-13FW0cwPOflLTMDZv5A.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb1w0zIAbENQN8R6-DTENywkSpNUkvlsfJRuM0M4_ANJLygqjeB9ukwCgSkfXiFip1W5OhZCSTTRUjbhP90qZtK_wFLHc3m1cH4uSiDyshiXt5wuK20C6B6RJxKbstvNwaBSCf2oWCx5M/s640/1_y9-13FW0cwPOflLTMDZv5A.jpg" /></a><br />One that I'm sure most people would expect to be higher, Die Hard is a frustrating movie to me in some respects. Everything with Alan Rickman is brilliant. Everything with Bruce Willis is tremendous. Everything with Reginald VelJohnson is great and funny and adds to the tapestry of characters. However, Paul Gleason's idiotic police chief is only there to be wrong about everything. He's a buffoon in a movie with very few buffoons. The same can be said of the two FBI agents in the movie. They're superfluous and instead of just being part of the tapestry of characters, because they're so annoying they take away from the experience of the movie. They're 1/10 characters in a 10/10 movie. So I can't watch Die Hard without taking it down a peg because of them. Other than them, what more is there to say about how fun Rickman is, and how relatable and just leading man cool Bruce Willis is? Get rid of those other guys and this movie might top the list. As is? I can't have it higher than this.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size: large;">4. Terminator 2: Judgment Day</span></strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Dll58SeeGCWM7fV52-qv3GmR1DGDKoYE9s7jpvMdAvSSNc8knJPW7ZoXdOfSwFrjaZI92ZjzZrDlcrmZRf4m2QC9v_zeyG47sh3xakYVVtH4T69lKPsmELfd1k3JLY-uiLhwU5s6zJ4/s1600/untitled1.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Dll58SeeGCWM7fV52-qv3GmR1DGDKoYE9s7jpvMdAvSSNc8knJPW7ZoXdOfSwFrjaZI92ZjzZrDlcrmZRf4m2QC9v_zeyG47sh3xakYVVtH4T69lKPsmELfd1k3JLY-uiLhwU5s6zJ4/s640/untitled1.png" /></a><br />James Cameron, at his best, has always been one of our best action filmmakers. His crowning achievement, though, in my mind, is T2. From the first time I saw it, at the probably too young age of 9 or so, I loved it. I was thrilled by it. I was excited by it. Again, the characters are what makes this piece truly sing. Linda Hamilton as the seemingly unhinged, but really apocalyptically prepared and determined Sarah Connor. A long way from playing in Beauty and the Beast on TV just a couple years before this. I know a lot of people find Edward Furlong annoying in his part as John Connor, but I think Furlong perfectly captures a kid who hasn't been parented in his life. He's young, he's arrogant, confused, not as smart as he thinks he is, and yeah he gets whiny. That's a kid. Contrasted against Arnold's Terminator and his silence and strength, it's a great dichotomy from a storytelling standpoint. And on top of all of that, one of the great villains in Robert Patrick's T-1000, and just one amazing action set piece after another throughout the whole runtime. You can't even really pick a favorite, because Cameron seemingly tells the story through the action, so the action is constant, and beautifully choreographed, shot, and just expertly put together. It's just an awesome movie.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size: large;">3. Lethal Weapon</span></strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglMWiRFfAAQsqg8Kn1lhNzBAuo995qCGxs7bQf3WuanF_yX2ki8hgQ5s4g4yHjRKeVm_WbA8M5-DK5m5ccCABC7NcP4se6JdGeoXrAm3tEIirtQf6viK_R5wDsO8IP2ZEscbBEjGr5HFU/s1600/riggs2.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglMWiRFfAAQsqg8Kn1lhNzBAuo995qCGxs7bQf3WuanF_yX2ki8hgQ5s4g4yHjRKeVm_WbA8M5-DK5m5ccCABC7NcP4se6JdGeoXrAm3tEIirtQf6viK_R5wDsO8IP2ZEscbBEjGr5HFU/s640/riggs2.jpg" /></a><br />Again, characters. You could say archetypes, the "nearing retirement cop" and the "loose cannon cop nobody wants to work with", but aren't most characters just archetypes until the writers and actors get ahold of them? Danny Glover grounds the movie so much as a man that loves his family, is good at his job, and is just wanting to survive the craziness that's about to ensue. Mel Gibson embodies the loose cannon as a guy happily on the verge of suicide at any moment. Gibson is the movie's key. He could've been just a rogue, the guy that bucks the system, or whatever. But why is he suicidal? He misses his dead wife and can't move on without her. But he loves his job, and he's good at it. He brings the edge that Glover doesn't have. So they're a balance for each other characteristically. Add into all of that the sheer visceral thrill that director Richard Donner brings. Donner had done The Omen, Superman, and Goonies. He could do so much, but his crowning achievement is the way he calmly lays out these characters before letting shit hit the fan as we watch these guys go up against the bad guy drug dealers. And they too shouldn't be undersold, with their mix of the calm guy (Mitchell Ryan) and the loose cannon (Gary Busey). That Gibson and Busey would later be revealed to be loose cannons in real life only makes this movie work better, I think.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size: large;">2. The Incredibles</span></strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVW3xz3ij8MmMuFcSNaKiFetw-JiT6me5S6jSqXuOZGXqNwYykeEwv-bKvJ8tpzBTZv6fYnBvEeOsap9bM8UmMOX5cNB10hWCTno-_seNuABd4AbG6t95Zo3Urtiqr2CbTivi6dwhcF1o/s1600/5b21749a1ae66251008b5082-750-375.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVW3xz3ij8MmMuFcSNaKiFetw-JiT6me5S6jSqXuOZGXqNwYykeEwv-bKvJ8tpzBTZv6fYnBvEeOsap9bM8UmMOX5cNB10hWCTno-_seNuABd4AbG6t95Zo3Urtiqr2CbTivi6dwhcF1o/s640/5b21749a1ae66251008b5082-750-375.jpg" /></a><br />So unlike movies like Mad Max, where we can marvel at the real stunt sequences and stunt performers risking their lives to get us these great shots and moments, The Incredibles was made entirely in a computer. So what makes the action so good? I think it's what I said in the opening paragraph: the characters. We have a whole family of people that we care about. They're all different, we like them for different reasons and their superpowers affect the story and action in different and exciting ways. I am thrilled by the action in the movie because I fear for the safety of these children that are just learning to accept and use their powers. Their parents know this action, they've fought all the bad guys before, so we don't worry as we watch them use their powers in a myriad of ways to defeat the enemy. We worry about the parents because of what all of this adventure means for them and their relationship. He's scared of losing his family, physically, to dangers. She's worried about losing their family to his desire to relive the glory days (and missing what's going on now, being present in the moment). So each character is risking different things, and risking them differently. When you add in the main action set pieces of the movie, they're almost unparalleled. The attack on the plane is my favorite, as Helen thinks she's flying to find her husband Bob, only to find out that the two oldest kids have stowed away on the plane, only to then be attacked by the bad guys forces. To see Helen's journey of fearing for her children, raising the stakes for her personally, and see it in her eyes and hear it in Holly Hunter's voice. It's extraordinary action filmmaking at the highest level. As a parent it brings tears to my eyes. As an action fan it gets me on the edge of my seat.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size: large;">1. Children of Men</span></strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihuHtUGVlWUPwB-sJsEXCIf23Yqs8YIHk80lATvkqXBXvr0-DEVzvseRpDZjEcYOXAp8O5cQ1NZ_vYbcLF1oVuLRyUZKGtA9ASIFg5GOBCcaQzftj3obyEcF2_NjLlqUb4bfJjOP39wdE/s1600/children_of_men_stairwell11.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihuHtUGVlWUPwB-sJsEXCIf23Yqs8YIHk80lATvkqXBXvr0-DEVzvseRpDZjEcYOXAp8O5cQ1NZ_vYbcLF1oVuLRyUZKGtA9ASIFg5GOBCcaQzftj3obyEcF2_NjLlqUb4bfJjOP39wdE/s640/children_of_men_stairwell11.png" /></a><br />Not only one of the great sci-fi movies ever made, or just plain greatest movies ever made, Children of Men doesn't often get thought of as an action movie, but it definitely is. The two most memorable sequences from the movie (the attack on the car, and the outbreak of violence in the city) are two of the greatest moments in action filmmaking history. The attack on the car is a single shot, one that starts innocuously as the group drives down the road, but when they're met by motorcycle riding terrorists, shit goes down and we never cut away. We're never allowed to take a breath. Director Alfonso Cuaron has always had a fascination with single takes, and didn't always have to have them actually BE a single shot. In his take on Great Expectations there's a phenomenal sequence where Ethan Hawke's character leaves where he is and walks across the city to get Gwyneth Paltrow. It's multiple shots stitched together but plays like a single shot, giving a romantic momentum that a conventionally shot sequence just wouldn't have. The battle in the city near the close of Children of Men is the same thing. Although it's multiple shots stitched together, it plays as a single and is why it's one of the great action scenes of all-time. Just like the attack on the car, we're not allowed to breathe by the camera not cutting away. We hold it in, waiting for the inevitable edit that allows us to subconsciously distance ourselves from the action taking place on screen. Cuaron brilliantly denies us that edit for as long as possible, and does it over and over throughout the movie, not just these two sequences. It's the approach to that action that lets us BE in the action with our characters. It's what makes this my favorite action movie.Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459356722964144865noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495704823524122058.post-49896339098794675522018-10-24T17:02:00.000-05:002018-10-24T17:02:28.848-05:00Top 10 Mob/Mafia/Gangster Movies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />The mob movie has always been a favorite genre of mine. The mafia fascinates me in its strict moral code inside a world of crime. An "honor amongst thieves" kinda thing. That dichotomy is endlessly fascinating to me as a viewer, and has so many possibilities for storytellers within it as well. Although gangster movies have been around basically as long as movies have been, it all really got started in the 1930's, making big stars out of actors like James Cagney, Paul Muni, and Edward G. Robinson. And there's great hidden gems from this era as well, like The Petrified Forest with Humphrey Bogart in his first lead role alongside a hot young Bette Davis. Although the genre kind of morphed into the noir movies of the 40's and 50's, I think of that as a separate genre (and upcoming list), the gangster movie made a comeback in the 60's and 70's with movies like Bonnie and Clyde and Mean Streets. It hasn't really gone away since then.<br /><br />Sometimes there are blurred lines for the genre, where movies like the heist film Rififi, one of my all-time favorite movies, is often considered a "gangster movie" because it deals with criminals committing a robbery. But there doesn't seem to me to be much connection to the mob itself in the movie. Maybe I'm misremembering things, but it seems more like criminals that have formed a group to do a job, not Mafioso. Then there are movies like In Bruges, which is about gangsters, but not about them necessarily doing gangster things. It's more about the aftermath and repercussions of gangster life. But it doesn't feel like a gangster movie to me. So I didn't include it even though it would be high up on the list if I did. Maybe that's semantics, but there are some great movies that didn't end up on my list because of this distinction.<br /><br />So, anyway, onto the list!<br />
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Honorable Mentions: Casino, Once Upon a Time in America, A History of Violence<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size: large;">10. Road to Perdition</span></strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKaxQUAbvjaYeg-V_K8c8YGmr0C4_56Z8Cvaei8kEiWILMLQfLpsZj75dBRwOrIUrXA3NO9H81EegbHa9odPA9QEbVkagZBCjt0-wUHc1XiRMBlvW8daX4-g1sEww6TuoPf4wizEWob_k/s1600/Perdition277-580x250.jpg"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKaxQUAbvjaYeg-V_K8c8YGmr0C4_56Z8Cvaei8kEiWILMLQfLpsZj75dBRwOrIUrXA3NO9H81EegbHa9odPA9QEbVkagZBCjt0-wUHc1XiRMBlvW8daX4-g1sEww6TuoPf4wizEWob_k/s640/Perdition277-580x250.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />One of the most beautiful movies ever made, shot by the great Conrad L. Hall (who succumbed to cancer just two months before he could accept the Oscar for Best Cinematography, which was his third such award), Road to Perdition is an amazing movie unto itself, not just because of its wonderful look. Thought of at the time at "the movie where Tom Hanks tried to be a bad guy", the thing is that the movie works because Hanks is cashing in on his innate charm to get us to like a man who doesn't express himself very much, not to his wife or his sons, but we like him anyway. Another actor could've made the character a blank slate, but with Hanks you can see there's a lot going on under the surface, he's just not articulating it. When he needs to avenge a murder, we see the fire in his eyes even though we also see the pain and anger he isn't expressing. It's a remarkable performance, one of the best of Hanks's considerable career. Paul Newman deservedly was nominated for an Oscar for his powerful work, and guys like Daniel Craig, Tyler Hoechlin, Stanley Tucci, and especially Jude Law turn in terrific performances as well. This movie isn't as widely known as it should be, I don't think.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size: large;">9. Donnie Brasco</span></strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwt79bOMAv9btH23thCmm0_XuI06LWNqaBo-7ehK5Zw0RSbo1624OGmlYWjFDM0B0b_S144rQZWrpoFa9lsJQDjQhqjoYlL-4dpXP_LGyCtqqDikM9nS4Q7t3KhhOr47pEs0P5_Op6ifk/s1600/donnie-brasco-al-pacino-johnny-depp-1108x0-c-default.jpg"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwt79bOMAv9btH23thCmm0_XuI06LWNqaBo-7ehK5Zw0RSbo1624OGmlYWjFDM0B0b_S144rQZWrpoFa9lsJQDjQhqjoYlL-4dpXP_LGyCtqqDikM9nS4Q7t3KhhOr47pEs0P5_Op6ifk/s640/donnie-brasco-al-pacino-johnny-depp-1108x0-c-default.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />Ah, the movie that showed me what a charismatic actor Johnny Depp could be, before he became a parody of himself. Paired up against Al Pacino, most actors would get upstaged, even with Pacino in one of the lowest key roles of his career (and one of his best). Depp plays Joe Pistone, a real life FBI agent who went deep under cover in the mob under the name Donnie Brasco. We watch as Joe tries to balance the mentality of being a gangster so that he can pass in the world of the mob, with the home life he has with a wife who hates his job and how it leaves her feeling like a single mother. Anne Heche is great as the wife, who gets a bit more nuance than in most similar movies. She feels like she's losing her husband, as when he is able to come home, he doesn't act like Joe, he acts like Donnie. The hurt on both of their faces when he tells her "I'm not becoming like them, Maggie. I am them." and you can see how he's hurt by this work too. It takes a toll on him too, the filmmakers don't just make it her problem. The scenes with Pacino showing Depp the ropes and roles and nuances of the mafia are really fascinating stuff. Perfectly acted by both actors. I wish it ended with Pacino's last scene, which gives the emotional ending of the movie, instead of the more logical resolution and crime statistics we get as the end of the movie, but that's a minor quibble.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size: large;">8. The Departed</span></strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgU55RsutHp4x5hnuGopr48tne4Kj8XRhNodEnC39ns51kt-hacNu0Upqe8Buqu0dOanxXN4w0vahkyitNRH_3vckqsmq2GibfQJqrpdCA6ACthUKExBrp0hg7Xo1WiHv29YvzCjIDj-k/s1600/Leonardo-DiCaprio-in-The-Departed-640x359.jpg"><img border="0" height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgU55RsutHp4x5hnuGopr48tne4Kj8XRhNodEnC39ns51kt-hacNu0Upqe8Buqu0dOanxXN4w0vahkyitNRH_3vckqsmq2GibfQJqrpdCA6ACthUKExBrp0hg7Xo1WiHv29YvzCjIDj-k/s640/Leonardo-DiCaprio-in-The-Departed-640x359.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />Maybe the most compulsively watchable movie Martin Scorsese has ever made, even more than Goodfellas, there's something about The Departed that I always go back to. It's not even in Scorsese's top 5 movies, but it is astoundingly well directed, well shot, and well edited. It just flows, it's told so fast that I get sucked in every time. It moves so quickly that the 2.5 hours fly by, and I think it's a fun game of cops and robbers and double crosses and all that. It's filled with terrific performances as well, especially from Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon, who both say so much with their body language and eyes that they aren't saying with their dialog. Two great performances from two of our best star actors. It's not perfect, it does start to drag after Jack Nicholson is gone, but not because it misses his performance (which is fine, although it's one of the weakest in the movie), but because his character was the lynchpin of so much of the tension of the movie. Regardless, it's a great movie.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size: large;">7. Scarface</span></strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq9uF6DuZFvhEwUEx9Sxu1qXghE2xapFiyBRK36ddD-hhz9x0-y8Fks09MhksMJJkqppuTHKpcbiqjHL2iEv-_h_KVhDiaBy28i9YTTdHN70ggxPTPyaj6NrGVwNPxdRDdySfCGIwe6Wo/s1600/untitled.png"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq9uF6DuZFvhEwUEx9Sxu1qXghE2xapFiyBRK36ddD-hhz9x0-y8Fks09MhksMJJkqppuTHKpcbiqjHL2iEv-_h_KVhDiaBy28i9YTTdHN70ggxPTPyaj6NrGVwNPxdRDdySfCGIwe6Wo/s640/untitled.png" width="640" /></a><br />Brian De Palma's remake of the Howard Hawks classic Scarface is one of the most garish and over-the-top movies ever made. It's not just Al Pacino's so-far-over-the-top-it-can't-even-see-the-top-anymore performance, the whole movie is garish, violent, loud and excessive. Almost 3 hours in length, I will admit that it is far too long. But I find Pacino so infinitely watchable in his role as Tony Montana that I never complain that the movie keeps going. Tony is loud and garish as well, but what people rarely talk about when they talk about this movie is that Tony is very funny. I almost think of the movie as a comedy, but intentionally so. Whether Tony is watching TV while soaking in the bubble bath and cheering on the flying pelicans, or getting kids to watch while his friend gets rejected by a woman, Tony makes me laugh so much. Sadly, like most gangsters, Tony lets power, money, women, and drugs take him down. In thematic resonance with his movie, Tony succumbs to excess. Honestly, my biggest complaint about the movie is actually Robert Loggia, an actor I always liked, who I think gives one of the worst performances I've ever seen. His accent is awful (say what you will about Pacino's, it's consistent and it works), his line deliveries are grasping for over-the-top but failing, it's just terrible work from a normally reliable actor. I still love the movie, but needed to say that about it.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size: large;">6. The Godfather part II</span></strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPLlf3JNxcl5xCgpRTx610OXvZRTIPBtcvU-4mISTSMiDOFehoMfizLZipU2TPGkzCOeB5P8aqNz9BveO1x2fQQ34MgR-gvnBsbXfYttPaRU5GMkpOr_vdo4lXQstiOX3pTXzTEQMQoiY/s1600/GODFATHER-PT-II.jpg"><img border="0" height="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPLlf3JNxcl5xCgpRTx610OXvZRTIPBtcvU-4mISTSMiDOFehoMfizLZipU2TPGkzCOeB5P8aqNz9BveO1x2fQQ34MgR-gvnBsbXfYttPaRU5GMkpOr_vdo4lXQstiOX3pTXzTEQMQoiY/s640/GODFATHER-PT-II.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />We can just start with this: The Godfather is the best movie in its series, not The Godfather part II. The reason that Part II isn't as good is that the narrative doesn't quite work. By switching between the storylines of Al Pacino's Michael Corleone and Robert De Niro's Vito Corleone a generation before, each is robbed of its momentum, instead of building through the parallel struggles of power that tie the two together thematically. Francis Ford Coppola has said that he played with cutting back and forth twice as much, but it ended up feeling too chaotic and messy. I think that's because both are too self-contained. Yes they thematically tie together, but they're also narratively disconnected and don't ever come together. So what happens is that even though both pieces are brilliant, they don't fit. And the way the story unfolds, just as Michael's story is really gaining narrative momentum, it switches to Vito's story. Once Vito's gets going, to where we can't wait for the next scene, it switches back to Michael's. Neither is ever allowed to gain the full head of narrative steam that they both deserve. Each would be better as their own 90 minute movie rather than a single 3+ hour film. So why, even after all that complaining, is it still number 6 on this list? Because both of those 90 minute movie would be a 10/10 in my book. It's just that The Godfather part II doesn't become more than the sum of its parts when those two sections are cut together.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size: large;">5. Eastern Promises</span></strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiafSkYAUaF_-njWq_oYQ55Rs17VaNIahOQR9krXWLGNQe-qrPbuZpUDCEcgKh-xJTE69QyjUq4LPeYles_V1YSDCNF5bodYRmAcXEipofLnPLPRm4gBMsjORvStBDM9og_DsxsqNSrllk/s1600/Eastern-Promises-620x372.jpg"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiafSkYAUaF_-njWq_oYQ55Rs17VaNIahOQR9krXWLGNQe-qrPbuZpUDCEcgKh-xJTE69QyjUq4LPeYles_V1YSDCNF5bodYRmAcXEipofLnPLPRm4gBMsjORvStBDM9og_DsxsqNSrllk/s640/Eastern-Promises-620x372.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />A story set in the not often explored Russian mafia in London, Eastern Promises contains one of the great performances of the 2000's in Viggo Mortensen's Nikolai, and also one of the most famous scenes of the decade, a fully nude fight scene in a Russian bath house between Nikolai and two assassins. It's a brutal scene, Nikolai is exposed in every sense of the word, vulnerable, it's dangerous and tense and lasts way longer than you might expect. Also at the center of the movie is the unpredictable Kirril (Vincent Cassel) and his coldly powerful father Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl), Nikolai's superiors in the mob, and Anna (Naomi Watts) the non-mob affiliated midwife who has gotten caught up in this world. It's a gangster movie with no guns, set in a side of London we've never seen before, but given the form of a mob movie (and with the outsider Anna as the true lead character) we have no trouble finding our place in this world. I think it's the best work of director David Cronenberg's great career. Also proof that Watts and Mortensen are two of our very best actors working today.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size: large;">4. Miller's Crossing</span></strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtPkZwY1tf0v99aIV5NeLzknScwqn0oNqwOsFUvR2cCzn4G9IumYdoTpzv8LpbS3mBHGzi0AyBt7SAGd-H73WbT4ZDjlAYMZ5YQY1IWwf-mKQRolOqK13X4id87qjKT0LRZwR5XdQMhLM/s1600/large_millers_crossing_blue_blu-ray_5.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtPkZwY1tf0v99aIV5NeLzknScwqn0oNqwOsFUvR2cCzn4G9IumYdoTpzv8LpbS3mBHGzi0AyBt7SAGd-H73WbT4ZDjlAYMZ5YQY1IWwf-mKQRolOqK13X4id87qjKT0LRZwR5XdQMhLM/s640/large_millers_crossing_blue_blu-ray_5.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />Miller's Crossing is a movie that didn't connect to me totally the first time I watched it. I was expecting something more epic in the vein of The Godfather, or something more kinetic and influenced by Scorsese. Instead, Miller's Crossing is more influenced by the noir novels of Dashiell Hammett (specifically Red Harvest and The Glass Key), and mixed a sense of weight through Barry Sonenfeld's sumptuous photography and the Coen Brothers' sense of humor and style. It's a gorgeous movie, so labyrinthine in its plot that the Coen's had to put the script down and write Barton Fink to give themselves time to work through the complexities. Gabriel Byrne is perfect as the classic noir hero, the smartest guy in the room, but not so smart that he avoids being doubled crossed or getting his ass kicked on occasion. Albert Finney is wonderful as the egotistic mob boss. Marcia Gay Harden is a great femme fatale, playing Byrne and Finney against each other while she protects her brother, John Turturro, who's the weakling that puts the whole plot into motion. Maybe because I knew more what to expect, and had much more familiarity with intricate noir plots, I loved Miller's Crossing when I went back and watched it a few years ago. It became one of my favorite movies from the Coen's, and definitely one of my favorite gangster movies.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">3. Goodfellas</span></strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLPHU8PFGvwp33_wZoTfyfR2f4peUb4O8RGsfLT7PhG4k5ryj1NpHDPqacoTjjPr3EFPCnGY_6-Rt4b7AuiBeICcytCijbdQjISA_aiNz2-jystONI_2QJYOV9Kj893E1P4zG0mToRMb4/s1600/goodfellas-main-review.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLPHU8PFGvwp33_wZoTfyfR2f4peUb4O8RGsfLT7PhG4k5ryj1NpHDPqacoTjjPr3EFPCnGY_6-Rt4b7AuiBeICcytCijbdQjISA_aiNz2-jystONI_2QJYOV9Kj893E1P4zG0mToRMb4/s640/goodfellas-main-review.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />“As far back as I can remember, I've always wanted to be a gangster”<br /><br />Goodfellas follows the story of the half-Irish Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) and his attempt to rise in the ranks of the New York mafia from the mid-1950’s through the late-1970’s. Being half-Irish is an important component in Henry’s story because it prevents him from ever becoming a “made guy”, as only those with 100% Italian blood can ever be “made guys”. The same hurdle blocks Henry’s mentor Jimmy Conway (Robert De Niro) as well. However, as a child Henry is paired with the sociopathic Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) who as a full blood Italian could one day rise to made status. Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, and Joe Pesci provide wonderful portraits of these psychopathic characters who do what they do (steal, kill, etc.) because they enjoy it and not for any other psychological or sociological reasons. Lorraine Bracco gives a great performance as a wife adjusting to a mafia marriage, which is a nice character to see Scorsese and co-writer Nicholas Pileggi take advantage of, as the “wife” is usually ignored in mafia/crime movies. The use of period music and subtle aging makeup allow a believable journey through the years with these characters.<br /><br />In addition, Thelma Schoonmaker and Michael Ballhaus deserve infinite praise for their work on the editing and cinematography, respectively. Ballhaus’s roving camerawork helps us feel personally involved in these people’s lives, and Schoonmaker’s propulsive editing makes the movie feel alive with energy and easily the quickest 2 ½ hours in movie history. The most obvious examples of Ballhaus’s great work is the famous tracking shot in the Copa, and the great camera work during a certain section of the movie scored to the piano section of “Layla”. Schoonmaker’s genius in particular shows during a bravura sequence where Henry spends a frantic, paranoid day where he believes an FBI helicopter is following him as he dashes all over town running guns, tries to organize some drug trafficking, and attempts to cook dinner for his family (“don’t let the sauce burn” he repeats).<br /><br />That said, some people may be bothered by both the language (the “f” word is used an alleged 300 times in the movies 145 minutes) and the violence. These characters are not nice people, and the fact that they show no remorse for their actions may also disturb some. The movie is not overly graphic in terms of gore, but there is no shortage of violence depicted on screen.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size: large;">2. Pulp Fiction</span></strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu57OvA2vLfC1UXnXX8jEP4I3JJm4cuXvxXTf_ib3pjzL5_kGrX6r4kj0QQlzmQeuNCB9xzDFHDsUrUMggfxnCqDkzTfJL-ZXWSpQjvUXUSblizvWQqTfTuGAgYvp2t5AjEwvJhleRwA8/s1600/pulpfic_1280.png"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu57OvA2vLfC1UXnXX8jEP4I3JJm4cuXvxXTf_ib3pjzL5_kGrX6r4kj0QQlzmQeuNCB9xzDFHDsUrUMggfxnCqDkzTfJL-ZXWSpQjvUXUSblizvWQqTfTuGAgYvp2t5AjEwvJhleRwA8/s640/pulpfic_1280.png" width="640" /></a><br />Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction hit the movie going public like a lightning bolt in 1994. Its unashamed use of violence and creatively foul language offended a good deal of the people who went to see it (there were actually a number of boos from the audience when it took home the Palme d'Or, the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival). It also hit me like a lightning bolt when I first saw it at about the age of 12 or so. It was the first movie I'd remembered seeing told out of order (no, I hadn't seen Citizen Kane by 12, nor had I seen Tarantino's debut, Reservoir Dogs) and the stunning dialog really lodged a place in my young brain. Tarantino's skills as director also had quite an impact on me, building tension in some scenes, hilarious comedy in others, and his use of music struck a significant chord with me back in those days of not knowing just how much he was stealing from Martin Scorsese, Elmore Leonard, and others.<br /><br />So many movies that hit you at a young age simply don't continue having the same sort of impact as you get older. Pulp Fiction, though, still thrills me and makes me laugh (it's one of the great dark comedies at its core), nearly as much as when I was 12. There's not really a whole lot more to write about one of the most written and talked about movies ever made. Not for everybody, but definitely for me!<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size: large;">1. The Godfather</span></strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsktc0s01PwiGbowCLojzExncDCpAw5JywyVSCvkgu7FAOALzr0wG070efJLAurGWr4rqdlonAi4hC18joAAqPyD8CVYgudngumki9wYJcfWw4upbiSSFbOciikDvq4AJ7MWYpCgW8Yls/s1600/maxresdefault.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsktc0s01PwiGbowCLojzExncDCpAw5JywyVSCvkgu7FAOALzr0wG070efJLAurGWr4rqdlonAi4hC18joAAqPyD8CVYgudngumki9wYJcfWw4upbiSSFbOciikDvq4AJ7MWYpCgW8Yls/s640/maxresdefault.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />Yet another one that didn't hit me on first viewing. I'm not quite sure what it is about some movies, but many of the greats tend to grow on me. I don't remember when I first saw The Godfather, like Star Wars it seems like I have always seen it. But it didn't become one of my favorite movies until years later, when its combination of amazing photography, mesmerizing acting, and flawless script catapulted it to the top of my favorites list. I read the book while I was in the 8th or 9th grade, and had been disappointed when revisiting the movie, since it didn't go into the entrancing detail that the book went into. Over time, I realized that what Coppola and author Mario Puzo did when writing the script was to pare away the fat from the book and focus simply on the Corleone mafia family as the balance of power shifts through the generations. In fact, I had to read the book to find out some of the motivations for things that I didn't understand in the movie. As it turns out, the motivations for every action are there in the movie, we've simply not been conditioned to watch movies as densely constructed as this. However, even if you're not concerned with the intricacies of why everything happens, you can still be enthralled with the overall story, or at least with this incredible assembly of actors, all doing some of the best work of their careers.<br /><br />There's no reason to relay the plot, or the famous quotes, or the things that have become part of pop culture since the movie's release. But one thing I find continuously fascinating is that honestly there aren't many "good" people in the movie. Coppola keeps things completely contained within the world of the mafia. Really only Diane Keaton's Kay is a good person, but she's not our protagonist. Somehow, storytellers have always been able to get us to identify with the less desirable members of our society. Vito, Sonny, Michael, Tom, and even Fredo are perpetuating the evil cycle of crime that the Corleone family is a member of. No matter that these aren't people we would necessarily want to know in real life, we worry for Vito's safety, Sonny temper, Fredo's weakness, Michael's descent from good to evil, and the future of the family. I never fail to be saddened by the last shot of the movie, as Michael finalizes himself and his family in the biggest position of power in the mob world.<br /><br />Of course, you could praise everything from Gordon Willis's influential photography (for which the master somehow didn't even get nominated for an Oscar) to the flawless production and costume design, Nino Rota's famous score, everything. It's one of the most thoroughly well made movies I've ever seen. But none of that would make The Godfather as esteemed as it is if it wasn't so layered, powerful, and damn entertaining to watch. There's a reason so many people consider it the best movie ever made. I have to watch it every once in a while and I never fail to love it even more than I did the last time.Kylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459356722964144865noreply@blogger.com0