Hey guys, just a quick post tonight - somebody wanted me to re-post this:
"The Great Movies"
I made this about 2 years ago. Took me about 3 nights to complete - most of that time was spent ripping the clips from the various movies. Full list of movies can be found below the video.
(As always, Facebook users have to click "View Original Post" to see the video.)
Score by Jerry Goldsmith (theme from "Rudy")
Clips from the following movies used in this video (in order):
Night of the Hunter
Breathless
Rain Man
Easy Rider
The Seventh Seal
The Shawshank Redemption
Brazil
Platoon
Fargo
Casablanca
The 400 Blows
2001: A Space Odyssey
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Midnight Cowboy
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Jaws
Rocky
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
On the Waterfront
Rebel Without a Cause
All Quiet on the Western Front
Fanny and Alexander
Harold and Maude
Back to the Future
Network
The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
The Godfather
Dr. Strangelove
North by Northwest
A Clockwork Orange
12 Angry Men
Raging Bull
Apocalypse Now
Do the Right Thing
Annie Hall
Kramer vs. Kramer
Full Metal Jacket
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
A Christmas Story
The Graduate
Taxi Driver
The Shining
Citizen Kane
The Wild Bunch
Cinema Paradiso
The Godfather, Part II
Apollo 13
Seven Samurai
Mean Streets
The Bicycle Thief
It's a Wonderful Life
To Kill a Mockingbird
A Streetcar Named Desire
Chinatown
The Searchers
Schindler's List
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
American High
Note: Facebook users have to click "View Original Post" to see the video clips.
Also, some of the clips below contain (mostly bleeped) strong language.
Today we're going to talk not about a movie, but instead a television series. The series in question is American High, a show that was briefly aired on Fox in the summer of 2000 (who airs a show about high school in the summer?) but canceled after only four episodes. Created by R.J. Cutler (who later went on to produce Morgan Spurlock's FX show 30 Days), American High was a documentary series presented in 30 minute episodes, in which we follow fourteen Illinois high school students (mostly Seniors) throughout a single year. Sound ambitious? Just wait, there's more... Along with the obligatory camera crew following the kids around, Cutler made the decision to equip each kid with their own DV camera, with which they would shoot their own footage. Originally meant only for shooting "Video Diary" segments which would be used later in editing for a narrative framing device, eventually the kids went off on their own and shot additional, non-"Diary" footage. The result was one of the most captivating, intimate, and honest looks into teenage life ever captured on film. I present to you the beginning of the first episode:
Wow. Brilliant, right? That has got to be one of the most amazing openings for a show, ever. Talk about setting the tone for a series...
So, anyway, Cutler produced 13 episodes of the show (including a one-hour finale), although only four ended up airing on Fox that summer. I was one of the few who watched those first episodes on Fox (it was the lowest-rated program on the network that year - ouch), and man, was I disappointed when it was canceled... Luckily, however, a year later PBS picked up the show and broadcast the entire 13 episodes over a several-week period (although they only aired it during those weeks and never re-aired it). Fortunately, I was able to record the entire series on videotape. Since it's never been officially released on DVD or any other format, this past week I started backing up my old tapes to DVD, and so I figured now would be a good time to share it with you all.
Each half-hour episode usually focused on 5-8 of the kids, and the opening credits were subtly different in each show, crediting the ones who appeared. The main subjects included:
From just a basic filmmaking perspective, there must have been an insane amount of footage to go through. The two film crews alone shot several hours of footage a day, seven days a week, for the entire school year (9 months). Then, add in the fact that you have an additional 14 cameras out there in the field, also shooting several hours of footage a day. That's over 75,000 hours of footage in total. Wow. That's crazy.
But it was also totally worth it. Take the scene below, for example. Morgan, using his "video diary" camera in a decidedly different way: walking around the house as his parents yell at him.
This is the show at its most unique, cinéma vérité best. People tend to clam up when a professional camera crew is around; whether it's intentional or not, it's completely natural. But that's not the case when it's just "a kid with a camera". Because of this, the show is full of great moments like the one above, whether it be nice little moments of happenstance, or late-night confessions by the kids, lying in their bed and lit only by a flashlight.
The professional crew was also able to capture great footage; just check out this scene below:
Immensely relatable, completely honest, and very, very funny.
And one of my favorite moments from the series - Allie singing along to Steve Miller's "The Joker" in her car. She follows right along, but trails off during the line "I sure don't want to hurt no one..." I'm probably reading too much into it, but I love it:
Because PBS airs programs with no commercials, and the episodes don't quite fill up an entire half-hour block (they're 22 minutes) when the series was picked up by them the following year, we also got a great bonus: R.J. Cutler filled up the extra time by producing new five-minute segments that aired after each episode. Titled "Stories From the Field", each segment deals with certain behind-the-scenes aspects of the show, including interviews with many of the producers and some never-before-seen footage. Here's the first segment, which aired after the first episode:
So, yeah... a wonderful, criminally underseen show that deserves to be rediscovered (and hopefully released one day on DVD - although I think music-rights issues will prevent that from happening for a while; there's lots of contemporary, popular music on that show). I will eventually post all the episodes up online in their full form, and post a message here to let you guys know when that happens.
I should also mention that American High won the Emmy for Best Non-Fiction Program, based solely on the four episodes that aired, and not the complete thirteen. It was nominated again the following year for the same award, this time for the rest of the episodes that had finally aired on PBS. (Unfortunately, this award has been re-named "Best Reality TV Program", and now counts shows like Extreme Makeover among its winners.)
It's not perfect - it sometimes suffers from "TV-itis", with melodramatic music and longing shots of teens looking at the horizon... and the middle episodes sometimes suffer from character overload, but for a 6-plus hour documentary production, it really is an amazing achievement, and one of the best programs ever produced for American television. It deserves, in my opinion, to be mentioned right up alongside Hoop Dreams as one of the best documentaries ever made.
(Postscript: R.J. Cutler returned to similar territory in 2003 with Freshman Diaries for Showtime, which followed first-year college students. Good program, but not as memorable.
Also, even though PBS only aired it once, its website for American High is, amazingly, still up. It's located here. Also, the AH page on Cutler's official company website, Actual Reality Pictures, is here.)
Also, some of the clips below contain (mostly bleeped) strong language.
Today we're going to talk not about a movie, but instead a television series. The series in question is American High, a show that was briefly aired on Fox in the summer of 2000 (who airs a show about high school in the summer?) but canceled after only four episodes. Created by R.J. Cutler (who later went on to produce Morgan Spurlock's FX show 30 Days), American High was a documentary series presented in 30 minute episodes, in which we follow fourteen Illinois high school students (mostly Seniors) throughout a single year. Sound ambitious? Just wait, there's more... Along with the obligatory camera crew following the kids around, Cutler made the decision to equip each kid with their own DV camera, with which they would shoot their own footage. Originally meant only for shooting "Video Diary" segments which would be used later in editing for a narrative framing device, eventually the kids went off on their own and shot additional, non-"Diary" footage. The result was one of the most captivating, intimate, and honest looks into teenage life ever captured on film. I present to you the beginning of the first episode:
Wow. Brilliant, right? That has got to be one of the most amazing openings for a show, ever. Talk about setting the tone for a series...
So, anyway, Cutler produced 13 episodes of the show (including a one-hour finale), although only four ended up airing on Fox that summer. I was one of the few who watched those first episodes on Fox (it was the lowest-rated program on the network that year - ouch), and man, was I disappointed when it was canceled... Luckily, however, a year later PBS picked up the show and broadcast the entire 13 episodes over a several-week period (although they only aired it during those weeks and never re-aired it). Fortunately, I was able to record the entire series on videotape. Since it's never been officially released on DVD or any other format, this past week I started backing up my old tapes to DVD, and so I figured now would be a good time to share it with you all.
Each half-hour episode usually focused on 5-8 of the kids, and the opening credits were subtly different in each show, crediting the ones who appeared. The main subjects included:
- Morgan (featured in the video above) - A somewhat childish, reckless teen suffering from ADD, who constantly struggles to pass his classes in his Senior year.
- Brad - A gay Senior who has kept his sexuality secret until only six months previous, when he decided to "come out" in the middle of his Junior year. He's also the only openly gay student in the entire school.
- Robby - Brad's straight friend, also a Senior, known around school for being a "jock", but who has much more going on underneath the surface.
- Sarah - Robby's girlfriend, who, in her Junior year, struggles with the fact that Robby is graduating at the end of the year and moving away for college.
- Allie - A Senior who ditched four months of school last year and may not graduate. Her home life is also in turmoil, with parents who are divorcing and her father set to marry the woman he left his wife for.
- Kiwi - Kicker on the school's football team, who is looking forward to playing for a college team next year.
- Anna - Kiwi's long-time friend, who, despite being beautiful and single, is perpetually boyfriend-less, mostly due to an overprotective father - who is also pressuring her to attend his alma mater, Brown University, next year.
- Pablo - Born in Ecuador and moved with his mother to the U.S. when he was young. His mother's been divorced twice, and he lives with her and his young half-sister. A talented writer, poet, and photographer, he's also well-known amongst school administrators for his frequent troublemaking and drug involvement. In a surprising turn of events, near the end of the series, he considers enlisting in the Marines instead of going to college next year.
- Suzy - A shy, insecure Senior whose one joy in life is singing. With ambitions of one day becoming an opera singer, and her fluctuating weight a constant damper on her self-esteem, she decides to basically give up on a high school "social life" and spend her Senior year refining her craft and pursuing her dream.
- Kaytee - One of the few Juniors chronicled in the series. A talented singer and songwriter, she really hasn't pursued this avenue seriously until this year, when she starts recording demos and performing in small gigs around town.
From just a basic filmmaking perspective, there must have been an insane amount of footage to go through. The two film crews alone shot several hours of footage a day, seven days a week, for the entire school year (9 months). Then, add in the fact that you have an additional 14 cameras out there in the field, also shooting several hours of footage a day. That's over 75,000 hours of footage in total. Wow. That's crazy.
But it was also totally worth it. Take the scene below, for example. Morgan, using his "video diary" camera in a decidedly different way: walking around the house as his parents yell at him.
This is the show at its most unique, cinéma vérité best. People tend to clam up when a professional camera crew is around; whether it's intentional or not, it's completely natural. But that's not the case when it's just "a kid with a camera". Because of this, the show is full of great moments like the one above, whether it be nice little moments of happenstance, or late-night confessions by the kids, lying in their bed and lit only by a flashlight.
The professional crew was also able to capture great footage; just check out this scene below:
Immensely relatable, completely honest, and very, very funny.
And one of my favorite moments from the series - Allie singing along to Steve Miller's "The Joker" in her car. She follows right along, but trails off during the line "I sure don't want to hurt no one..." I'm probably reading too much into it, but I love it:
Because PBS airs programs with no commercials, and the episodes don't quite fill up an entire half-hour block (they're 22 minutes) when the series was picked up by them the following year, we also got a great bonus: R.J. Cutler filled up the extra time by producing new five-minute segments that aired after each episode. Titled "Stories From the Field", each segment deals with certain behind-the-scenes aspects of the show, including interviews with many of the producers and some never-before-seen footage. Here's the first segment, which aired after the first episode:
So, yeah... a wonderful, criminally underseen show that deserves to be rediscovered (and hopefully released one day on DVD - although I think music-rights issues will prevent that from happening for a while; there's lots of contemporary, popular music on that show). I will eventually post all the episodes up online in their full form, and post a message here to let you guys know when that happens.
I should also mention that American High won the Emmy for Best Non-Fiction Program, based solely on the four episodes that aired, and not the complete thirteen. It was nominated again the following year for the same award, this time for the rest of the episodes that had finally aired on PBS. (Unfortunately, this award has been re-named "Best Reality TV Program", and now counts shows like Extreme Makeover among its winners.)
It's not perfect - it sometimes suffers from "TV-itis", with melodramatic music and longing shots of teens looking at the horizon... and the middle episodes sometimes suffer from character overload, but for a 6-plus hour documentary production, it really is an amazing achievement, and one of the best programs ever produced for American television. It deserves, in my opinion, to be mentioned right up alongside Hoop Dreams as one of the best documentaries ever made.
(Postscript: R.J. Cutler returned to similar territory in 2003 with Freshman Diaries for Showtime, which followed first-year college students. Good program, but not as memorable.
Also, even though PBS only aired it once, its website for American High is, amazingly, still up. It's located here. Also, the AH page on Cutler's official company website, Actual Reality Pictures, is here.)
Friday, April 10, 2009
Movies You May Have Missed - #6
Matinee (1993)
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"When I was in film school, I was the only kid wearing a Roger Corman button. Everybody else had a Jean-Luc Godard button. So I was a fan. I grew up watching Roger's pictures. I always thought he was a great filmmaker."
-Joe Dante
Matinee is director Joe Dante's love letter to the movies - and, more specifically, the "B movie" genre of the 50's and 60's. It's also one of the best matches of director and screenplay that you'll probably ever see.
Out of all the films I've talked about on this site, this is probably the one you're least likely to have seen. Not by virtue of its quality, but simply the fact that it's been out of print, in every format - VHS, laserdisc, and DVD - for over ten years. Used copies usually sell for over $50, and a brand new, sealed DVD of this film can easily go for $200. It's a shame, because it's one of Joe Dante's best films.
Set in Florida during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, Matinee stars John Goodman (in one of his best performances) as Lawrence Woolsey, a small-time film promoter who makes - what else? - monster movies. He's trying to sell his latest picture, MANT!, a cheesy horror film in which nuclear radiation turns a man into - you guessed it - a half-man, half-ant creature. In an effort to sell his movie to theater owners, he decides to preview the film with audiences. And what better place than in Key West, Florida, where the residents are frozen with fear at the potential of nuclear destruction. They're already scared, and Woolsey thinks his monster movie just might be enough to push everyone over the edge, and turn his film into an enormous hit.
In all honesty, this movie is a mess. There's secondary characters and subplots all over the place, and most of the running time consists of a bland teen romance. But it's all worth it to see Dante's unabashed tribute to the movies.
Having grown up on Roger Corman's films, and having started his career on Corman pictures such as Piranha, Dante knows this material well. He knows the appeal of these films, and the reason for that appeal. While poking good-natured fun at the low production value and bad acting in these pictures, he never looks down on them. He knows they're just as valid as anything else. And that's why almost everything in the film rings true.
Matinee was co-written by Charlie Haas, who had earlier worked with Dante on Gremlins 2. Something special seems to happen when these guys get together. In the case of the earlier film, Warner Brothers was in desperate need of a sequel to Gremlins, and begged Dante to make another one, after several other directors had turned them down. Dante agreed to make the film on one condition: that he be allowed to do whatever he wanted. The result of this was one of the most insane studio pictures ever made. Filled with vicious satire and an off-the-wall tone akin to a live-action cartoon, this second Gremlins film was the rare chance for Dante to completely let loose. Dante and Haas have managed to re-capture some of that magic here, and not surprisingly, both films are very similar in form and function: A wafer-thin plot, which serves only to place the characters in a situation that Dante can riff on for the rest of the film.
With Corman as his inspiration and his idol, Dante has made a career out of making the films he's always loved: low-budget monster movies. The only difference is that he's somehow been able to make them in Hollywood with millions of dollars of their money. And this is his tribute to the old days, when cheesy monsters and a well-timed buzzer under the seat could still give someone a cheap thrill. People will probably always remember Joe Dante for films like Gremlins and The Howling, but the rest of us, the ones who really understand what he's all about, will always remember Matinee as his magnum opus.
Oh, and remember: Keep your eyes open for the scary parts...
"When I was in film school, I was the only kid wearing a Roger Corman button. Everybody else had a Jean-Luc Godard button. So I was a fan. I grew up watching Roger's pictures. I always thought he was a great filmmaker."
-Joe Dante
Matinee is director Joe Dante's love letter to the movies - and, more specifically, the "B movie" genre of the 50's and 60's. It's also one of the best matches of director and screenplay that you'll probably ever see.
Out of all the films I've talked about on this site, this is probably the one you're least likely to have seen. Not by virtue of its quality, but simply the fact that it's been out of print, in every format - VHS, laserdisc, and DVD - for over ten years. Used copies usually sell for over $50, and a brand new, sealed DVD of this film can easily go for $200. It's a shame, because it's one of Joe Dante's best films.
Set in Florida during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, Matinee stars John Goodman (in one of his best performances) as Lawrence Woolsey, a small-time film promoter who makes - what else? - monster movies. He's trying to sell his latest picture, MANT!, a cheesy horror film in which nuclear radiation turns a man into - you guessed it - a half-man, half-ant creature. In an effort to sell his movie to theater owners, he decides to preview the film with audiences. And what better place than in Key West, Florida, where the residents are frozen with fear at the potential of nuclear destruction. They're already scared, and Woolsey thinks his monster movie just might be enough to push everyone over the edge, and turn his film into an enormous hit.
In all honesty, this movie is a mess. There's secondary characters and subplots all over the place, and most of the running time consists of a bland teen romance. But it's all worth it to see Dante's unabashed tribute to the movies.
Having grown up on Roger Corman's films, and having started his career on Corman pictures such as Piranha, Dante knows this material well. He knows the appeal of these films, and the reason for that appeal. While poking good-natured fun at the low production value and bad acting in these pictures, he never looks down on them. He knows they're just as valid as anything else. And that's why almost everything in the film rings true.
Matinee was co-written by Charlie Haas, who had earlier worked with Dante on Gremlins 2. Something special seems to happen when these guys get together. In the case of the earlier film, Warner Brothers was in desperate need of a sequel to Gremlins, and begged Dante to make another one, after several other directors had turned them down. Dante agreed to make the film on one condition: that he be allowed to do whatever he wanted. The result of this was one of the most insane studio pictures ever made. Filled with vicious satire and an off-the-wall tone akin to a live-action cartoon, this second Gremlins film was the rare chance for Dante to completely let loose. Dante and Haas have managed to re-capture some of that magic here, and not surprisingly, both films are very similar in form and function: A wafer-thin plot, which serves only to place the characters in a situation that Dante can riff on for the rest of the film.
With Corman as his inspiration and his idol, Dante has made a career out of making the films he's always loved: low-budget monster movies. The only difference is that he's somehow been able to make them in Hollywood with millions of dollars of their money. And this is his tribute to the old days, when cheesy monsters and a well-timed buzzer under the seat could still give someone a cheap thrill. People will probably always remember Joe Dante for films like Gremlins and The Howling, but the rest of us, the ones who really understand what he's all about, will always remember Matinee as his magnum opus.
Oh, and remember: Keep your eyes open for the scary parts...
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Movies You May Have Missed - #5
The Cure (1995)
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This little forgotten film from 1995 stars Joseph Mazzello (Jurassic Park) and the late Brad Renfro (The Client, Sleepers) as two young boys who set off down the Mississippi River to find a cure for AIDS, a disease which the Mazzello character suffers from. This story could have been ripe fodder for a bad TV movie, but instead becomes much more.
Peter Horton, a frequent TV director of shows like thirtysomething and The Wonder Years, made his first and only theatrical feature with this film, and it's a shame that he's yet to make another. His direction is confident and assured, and he shows a particular strength for directing the young actors in the film. The screenplay by Robert Kuhn thankfully sidesteps melodrama and theatrics, and remains simple, nuanced, and deeply moving. So it's similarly puzzling that Kuhn has also disappeared from features, having co-written only one film since this.
Mazzello and Renfro are terrifically cast, and are able to lift already good scenes off the page and turn them into sensational, heartbreaking moments.
This movie was barely a blip on the radar back in 1995, barely making back its minuscule $3 million budget. But today it stands, in my opinion, right up alongside Stand By Me as one of the best films about childhood - and friendship - ever made.
This little forgotten film from 1995 stars Joseph Mazzello (Jurassic Park) and the late Brad Renfro (The Client, Sleepers) as two young boys who set off down the Mississippi River to find a cure for AIDS, a disease which the Mazzello character suffers from. This story could have been ripe fodder for a bad TV movie, but instead becomes much more.
Peter Horton, a frequent TV director of shows like thirtysomething and The Wonder Years, made his first and only theatrical feature with this film, and it's a shame that he's yet to make another. His direction is confident and assured, and he shows a particular strength for directing the young actors in the film. The screenplay by Robert Kuhn thankfully sidesteps melodrama and theatrics, and remains simple, nuanced, and deeply moving. So it's similarly puzzling that Kuhn has also disappeared from features, having co-written only one film since this.
Mazzello and Renfro are terrifically cast, and are able to lift already good scenes off the page and turn them into sensational, heartbreaking moments.
This movie was barely a blip on the radar back in 1995, barely making back its minuscule $3 million budget. But today it stands, in my opinion, right up alongside Stand By Me as one of the best films about childhood - and friendship - ever made.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Benjamin Button on Criterion too? Yes!
Wow. Pretty rare for a new-release title to debut on the Criterion label (except of course for Wes Anderson's movies), but I'm extremely happy that Button's going to be a Criterion release.
This was first reported over at The Digital Bits - visit the site for release info and cover artwork. I must also say I'm really happy with the cover artwork. It's a variation of the original poster, but it's nice and simple. Hope it stays that way.
It only sucks that The Wrestler is stuck over on the Fox Searchlight label. The DVD will only contain a few featurettes, and NO COMMENTARY from Aronofsky. Really sucks.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
My Dinner With Andre coming to DVD - from CRITERION!!
Hey guys, I've been busy lately, so I haven't been posting that much. But the next few days you'll see some interesting stuff, mostly some older movies I've revisited lately after having not seen them in a while.
But anyway, the real reason for this post is the news I discovered this evening:
The awesome 1981 film My Dinner With Andre (starring Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn, and directed by Louis Malle) is FINALLY coming back to DVD via the amazing people over at the Criterion Collection (www.criterion.com). Now, this movie was actually released on DVD before, back in 1998, but then went out of print. It was not uncommon the last couple of years to see a used copy of the DVD selling for over $200 online. I (thankfully) resisted the urge to buy it, and now the best DVD company in the business has it set for release on June 23rd of this year.
I guess this post is really for my brother, Jim - the person who introduced me to the movie years ago...I don't know if you have that DVD (or maybe an old VHS), but damn, man - finally! Great news, right? Anyways, click here for more info on the release specs and whatnot.
But anyway, the real reason for this post is the news I discovered this evening:
The awesome 1981 film My Dinner With Andre (starring Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn, and directed by Louis Malle) is FINALLY coming back to DVD via the amazing people over at the Criterion Collection (www.criterion.com). Now, this movie was actually released on DVD before, back in 1998, but then went out of print. It was not uncommon the last couple of years to see a used copy of the DVD selling for over $200 online. I (thankfully) resisted the urge to buy it, and now the best DVD company in the business has it set for release on June 23rd of this year.
I guess this post is really for my brother, Jim - the person who introduced me to the movie years ago...I don't know if you have that DVD (or maybe an old VHS), but damn, man - finally! Great news, right? Anyways, click here for more info on the release specs and whatnot.
Monday, March 02, 2009
The Red Balloon
Boy, do I have a treat for you guys! Below I've posted the entire 34-minute short film The Red Balloon. A French film from 1956, written and directed by Albert Lamorisse, it's about a red balloon that seems to have a mind of its own, and follows a little boy through the streets of Paris.
A total masterpiece, it won the Palme d'Or (Best Picture) at the Cannes Film Festival, and also won the Oscar for Best Screenplay (the only short film to have ever won the award). So sit back with your kids, your grandkids, or just by yourself, and watch this great little movie.
A total masterpiece, it won the Palme d'Or (Best Picture) at the Cannes Film Festival, and also won the Oscar for Best Screenplay (the only short film to have ever won the award). So sit back with your kids, your grandkids, or just by yourself, and watch this great little movie.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
The Best Films of the Year 2008 (in order):
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; The Wrestler (tie)
- The Dark Knight
- WALL-E
- Milk
- Frost/Nixon
- Slumdog Millionaire
- Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
- Vicky Cristina Barcelona
- Zack and Miri Make a Porno
- Snow Angels
Friday, February 20, 2009
Frost/Nixon, and The Reader
Frost/Nixon
An extraordinary film and one of the best "political" films since All the President's Men.
This is a firecracker of a movie. Ron Howard is a director that understands how to take complicated matters and put them into layman's terms on screen (think Apollo 13), and this is no exception. With Hans Zimmer's excellent score driving the film forward, Howard is able to take scene after scene of, well, people sitting in rooms talking, and turn it into some of the most compelling stuff of the year. Excellent cast - right down to the supporting roles - and a great script by Peter Morgan (The Queen), who adapts his own play for the screen. Wonderful movie. Go see it.
The Reader
Wow... where to start? This movie has no business being nominated for Best Picture. It's not terrible by any means, but certainly not worthy of being listed among the other four nominees. The entire first half of the film simply doesn't work. It's even more frustrating because it's nothing you can put your finger on - it just never really "clicks". The second half is another matter - it's a much better movie after the first hour. But because the first half has come and gone with little to show for it, there's little emotional impact to be had. Director Stephen Daldry (The Hours) does his best with the material, but I have a feeling that hardly anyone could have adapted this story for the screen. The screenwriter, David Hare, was committed to adapting Bernhard Schlink's novel without using voiceover. A commendable challenge, but it ends up hurting the picture, as we're never able to get inside anyone's head. There are several montage sequences in which a character is reading aloud from a book - not his own thoughts. These scenes stand out, and the editing is excellent - but that's it in terms of voiceover. These five minutes or so are a rare glimpse inside of his head, but it only serves to highlight how good the movie could have been. Kate Winslet is excellent (is she ever not?) but this is nowhere near her best performance. It looks as if she'll finally win for this movie, but her other nominations were far more deserved.
"Best Actress" really should have been this film's only nomination, but unfortunately it's right at the top with the four other nominees for Best Picture. Why not The Dark Knight? Or The Wrestler? Or even WALL-E? Oh well... this is the Academy, after all. It's not common sense.
Tomorrow night: My "Top 10 Films" list.
An extraordinary film and one of the best "political" films since All the President's Men.
This is a firecracker of a movie. Ron Howard is a director that understands how to take complicated matters and put them into layman's terms on screen (think Apollo 13), and this is no exception. With Hans Zimmer's excellent score driving the film forward, Howard is able to take scene after scene of, well, people sitting in rooms talking, and turn it into some of the most compelling stuff of the year. Excellent cast - right down to the supporting roles - and a great script by Peter Morgan (The Queen), who adapts his own play for the screen. Wonderful movie. Go see it.
The Reader
Wow... where to start? This movie has no business being nominated for Best Picture. It's not terrible by any means, but certainly not worthy of being listed among the other four nominees. The entire first half of the film simply doesn't work. It's even more frustrating because it's nothing you can put your finger on - it just never really "clicks". The second half is another matter - it's a much better movie after the first hour. But because the first half has come and gone with little to show for it, there's little emotional impact to be had. Director Stephen Daldry (The Hours) does his best with the material, but I have a feeling that hardly anyone could have adapted this story for the screen. The screenwriter, David Hare, was committed to adapting Bernhard Schlink's novel without using voiceover. A commendable challenge, but it ends up hurting the picture, as we're never able to get inside anyone's head. There are several montage sequences in which a character is reading aloud from a book - not his own thoughts. These scenes stand out, and the editing is excellent - but that's it in terms of voiceover. These five minutes or so are a rare glimpse inside of his head, but it only serves to highlight how good the movie could have been. Kate Winslet is excellent (is she ever not?) but this is nowhere near her best performance. It looks as if she'll finally win for this movie, but her other nominations were far more deserved.
"Best Actress" really should have been this film's only nomination, but unfortunately it's right at the top with the four other nominees for Best Picture. Why not The Dark Knight? Or The Wrestler? Or even WALL-E? Oh well... this is the Academy, after all. It's not common sense.
Tomorrow night: My "Top 10 Films" list.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Real Time
Here we have a Canadian film from 2008, which wasn't even given a theatrical release in the U.S., save for a couple of festival showings. It's unfortunate, because it's truly an undiscovered gem of a picture - easily among the best of the year.I must preface this review by pointing out how astonishingly bad this film could have been. The plot is wafer-thin, and something we've seen many times before: A hit-man (Randy Quaid) gives a compulsive gambler who's $68,000 in debt (Jay Baruchel - Knocked Up, I'm Reed Fish) one hour to live. The movie takes place in "real time" - thus the almost cringe-worthy aptness of the title. So yes, by reading the paragraph above, it seems like an interesting diversion, but not exactly something to put on your must-see list.
But somehow, some way, this movie works. Credit a great script by writer/director Randall Cole and wonderful performances by the two leads for this movie's success. This is a film about dialogue. It's a low-budget picture, and mostly consists of the two men talking to each other in a car. It's sort of what I call the "holy trinity" of independent film. Some people may not be into it, but for my money, if you have two great actors speaking great dialogue, it's just as exciting as a car chase.
In this picture, all three guys step up to the plate and hit immediate home runs. Baruchel is great as lovable loser Andy Hayes, a guy who's most definitely getting what he deserves, but who somehow makes you feel that he deserves yet another chance. Randy Quaid turns in a career-best performance as Reuben, the hit-man who gives Andy one last hour to settle his affairs. Quaid has taken some real chances as of late, playing the homophobic ranch boss in Brokeback Mountain, and now this. In this picture, he plays the role with an Australian accent. What could have been a laughable mistake turns out to be a pitch-perfect and memorable character. People these days remember Quaid from his role as "Cousin Eddie" in the Vacation movies, but I always remembered him most from his early role in Hal Ashby's 1973 film The Last Detail (for which he was nominated as Best Supporting Actor), where he played a quiet, timid Navy man. In all honesty, if you compare these four roles - Cousin Eddie, Brokeback, Real Time, and Last Detail - this guy has some amazing range. Kudos to Quaid for taking these increasingly risky parts.
Last but not least, Randall Cole's script manages to be both funny and somber, at exactly the right moments - all in the span of a scant 77 minutes. And while there's only a few characters to speak of, they're all pretty well-drawn, given their short screen time. His direction is fittingly sparse, letting the actors take center stage.
The movie's not perfect - one sequence taking place at a fried-chicken restaurant (Andy's old job) feels strangely out-of place as it tries to hammer the humor home. But even this isn't a complete failure: I understand what Cole was trying to do, and the ending of the sequence provides a nice moment for the character of Andy. Hey - you can't have everything, right?
There are two moments in the film which I particularly liked. Two brief things which probably take up 10 seconds of screen time. Early in the film, speaking of long lost memories, Andy mentions playing with a Playdough barber shop toy when he was a kid. It's a short, fleeting moment, but it's a nice little detail. Later on, at his grandmother's house, he opens the refrigerator and presents Reuben with a deformed, flattened bottle of soda. As he does this, he explains how his grandmother would squeeze every last bit of air out of a two-liter bottle of soda, in order to maintain its freshness longer. Another nice little moment. A movie can't quite survive solely on things like this, but when they're present, they add just that little bit extra to push a good movie over into being great. I'm still thinking about this movie two days after I've seen it. Who knows if I'll be thinking of this movie two months or even two years from now, but at this moment, I still think it's pretty damn good.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
I would just like you guys to compare these two...
Joaquin Phoenix last night on Letterman:
Here's CBS's "official" shortened version, in case they take this one down:
Crispin Glover's infamous appearance on Letterman in 1987:
Déjà vu...
As a side note, I really hope this thing with Joaquin is all an elaborate joke.
Joaquin Phoenix last night on Letterman:
Here's CBS's "official" shortened version, in case they take this one down:
Crispin Glover's infamous appearance on Letterman in 1987:
Déjà vu...
As a side note, I really hope this thing with Joaquin is all an elaborate joke.
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Revolutionary Road
I actually saw this about a month ago, but never felt compelled to write about it. I still don't, I suppose. This movie is just.... ehh. I never really cared about anyone or anything in this movie. It's based on an acclaimed novel from the early sixties, and while the content of the book was, well, revolutionary at the time, lots of time has passed since. In the movie world, we've seen lots of similar films covering similar subjects, and while this picture is definitely solid work from everyone involved, it's just all been done before, and better.
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Lux Interior (1946-2009)
Lead singer of The Cramps
James Whitmore (1921-2009)
Actor (The Shawshank Redemption)
Lead singer of The Cramps
James Whitmore (1921-2009)
Actor (The Shawshank Redemption)
Friday, January 30, 2009
Milk
"Society can't exist without the family."
"We're not against that."
"Can two men reproduce?"
"No... but God knows, we keep trying!"
Wonderful, wonderful movie, and one of the best biographical films ever made.
Yes, this is a film about Harvey Milk, the first gay man elected to public office. And yes, he was assassinated in 1978. So, of course, there's lots of drama, trials and tribulations and what-have-you. But this film doesn't wallow in sadness and despair. It's celebratory and joyful, in the best kind of way. This is a playful, funny, and immensely entertaining picture.
Openly-gay filmmaker Gus Van Sant (Elephant, Good Will Hunting) had tried for years to get this film made, ever since he started his career in the 80's. The project was a labor of love for Van Sant, who had endured several failed attempts at making the film since 1992, when he first bought the rights. It was long considered a risky project, even with a comparatively low budget of $15 million dollars. Only when 2005's Brokeback Mountain was successful, was this film greenlighted. It's the film that - for lack of a better word - he was "born" to make.
That passion is evident in every frame of this film. Van Sant - who recently went the much more experimental route with Gerry, Elephant, Last Days, and Paranoid Park, is no less innovative here, relying heavily on archive footage to create a sense of time and place with his low $15 million budget. One sequence in particular is shot in the reflection of a metal whistle lying on the ground (it'll make sense when you see it). Brilliant stuff.
First-time feature screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (writer/producer of HBO's Big Love) did his own three years of personal research for the project, and it shows. The film has some of the most well-drawn characters of the year. And thankfully, Black doesn't fall victim to the frequent first-time writer syndrome of telling his story in some crazy narrative fashion. Everything is pretty straight-forward. Black knows he has enough going for his story and doesn't feel the need to try and "pump it up" one bit. It's refreshing.
And last but not least, I must point out the acting. It goes without saying that Sean Penn and Josh Brolin are great, and both were Oscar-nominated for their work. But everyone in the movie is amazingly well-cast and pitch-perfect. (I've long thought that the Academy needs a "casting" award. Good casting is really 3/4 of what makes a film anyways. The closest thing to this award is the Screen Actors' Guild "Ensemble Cast" award, but why give another award to the actors? Casting directors - the unsung heroes of the film business. But I digress...) Special mention should be made of James Franco in a small but pivotal role, and Emile Hirsch - who in my opinion completely steals the show.
Well, anyway... Great movie. Check it out (if you can find it in theaters... Focus Features really screwed the pooch on this one).
"We're not against that."
"Can two men reproduce?"
"No... but God knows, we keep trying!"
Wonderful, wonderful movie, and one of the best biographical films ever made.
Yes, this is a film about Harvey Milk, the first gay man elected to public office. And yes, he was assassinated in 1978. So, of course, there's lots of drama, trials and tribulations and what-have-you. But this film doesn't wallow in sadness and despair. It's celebratory and joyful, in the best kind of way. This is a playful, funny, and immensely entertaining picture.
Openly-gay filmmaker Gus Van Sant (Elephant, Good Will Hunting) had tried for years to get this film made, ever since he started his career in the 80's. The project was a labor of love for Van Sant, who had endured several failed attempts at making the film since 1992, when he first bought the rights. It was long considered a risky project, even with a comparatively low budget of $15 million dollars. Only when 2005's Brokeback Mountain was successful, was this film greenlighted. It's the film that - for lack of a better word - he was "born" to make.
That passion is evident in every frame of this film. Van Sant - who recently went the much more experimental route with Gerry, Elephant, Last Days, and Paranoid Park, is no less innovative here, relying heavily on archive footage to create a sense of time and place with his low $15 million budget. One sequence in particular is shot in the reflection of a metal whistle lying on the ground (it'll make sense when you see it). Brilliant stuff.
First-time feature screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (writer/producer of HBO's Big Love) did his own three years of personal research for the project, and it shows. The film has some of the most well-drawn characters of the year. And thankfully, Black doesn't fall victim to the frequent first-time writer syndrome of telling his story in some crazy narrative fashion. Everything is pretty straight-forward. Black knows he has enough going for his story and doesn't feel the need to try and "pump it up" one bit. It's refreshing.
And last but not least, I must point out the acting. It goes without saying that Sean Penn and Josh Brolin are great, and both were Oscar-nominated for their work. But everyone in the movie is amazingly well-cast and pitch-perfect. (I've long thought that the Academy needs a "casting" award. Good casting is really 3/4 of what makes a film anyways. The closest thing to this award is the Screen Actors' Guild "Ensemble Cast" award, but why give another award to the actors? Casting directors - the unsung heroes of the film business. But I digress...) Special mention should be made of James Franco in a small but pivotal role, and Emile Hirsch - who in my opinion completely steals the show.
Well, anyway... Great movie. Check it out (if you can find it in theaters... Focus Features really screwed the pooch on this one).
Final Bill Hicks performance to finally be broadcast tonight
Hey, I'm going to chime in again in a few hours with my review of Gus Van Sant's Milk, but I just wanted to give people a quick heads-up:
Tonight (Friday Jan. 30) at 11:35 PM eastern time on CBS, David Letterman will broadcast Bill Hicks' final performance, taped for the Letterman show in 1993, but never broadcast. Hicks's mother will also apparently be a guest. Hicks died from cancer six months after it was shot.
For those of you that don't know, Bill Hicks was one of the greatest stand-ups of all time. Some truly dark stuff - especially in his later career - but absolutely brilliant just the same. Just a heads-up to you guys.
Tonight (Friday Jan. 30) at 11:35 PM eastern time on CBS, David Letterman will broadcast Bill Hicks' final performance, taped for the Letterman show in 1993, but never broadcast. Hicks's mother will also apparently be a guest. Hicks died from cancer six months after it was shot.
For those of you that don't know, Bill Hicks was one of the greatest stand-ups of all time. Some truly dark stuff - especially in his later career - but absolutely brilliant just the same. Just a heads-up to you guys.
Friday, January 16, 2009
The Wrestler
Wow. Brilliant, brilliant filmmaking.
Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream) has accomplished something magnificent here. Lacking the polish, resources, and budget of Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire, Aronofsky has created something completely different from a similar underdog-sort of story. While Boyle goes the flashy route with camera moves and dozens of cuts per-minute, Aronofsky favors long, lingering takes and a somewhat reserved handheld camera. Now, of course, this is a huge change of course for the way Aronofsky usually does things. Requiem was frantic and methodical, mimicking the lives of the drug-addled characters. This is a completely different kind of film. You know what that shows? Maturity as a director and storyteller. It's hard to find a voice as a filmmaker, but it's even more difficult to change that voice to suit the needs of a particular project. The Wrestler feels grungy, dirty, and thrown together... and it's perfect.
Aronofsky made the choice to shoot in Super-16mm with this film, and it was a great choice. The harsh film grain and hard shadows give it a documentary-like feel and heightened intensity. Also worth mentioning is the fact that not only is this a Super 16 film, but a Super 16 film presented in a Scope aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Film fans will probably know what this means, but for those that don't, basically it means you're blowing up an already grainy picture to a very wide theater screen. Film grain and imperfections are heightened and more visible. A bold and wonderful artistic choice by Aronofsky - perfectly fitting for the story he's presenting.
Now, there's all sorts of stories going around about this production. People say that Mickey Rourke believed so much in the project, that he didn't accept an acting fee. Neither did Bruce Springsteen for the closing song he contributed. Aronofsky apparently was given the chance to make the picture with Nicolas Cage for a budget of approximately $25 million. He turned it down to make the film with Rourke - for only $6 million, and a short 35-day shooting schedule. Like the story we so often hear with independent film, the many limitations on the production have combined to produce something magical. Everything is down-and-dirty, in the moment, and feels about as real as cinema can get.
I guess that's about all I can - and probably should - say. Rourke is simply amazing. If it seems like a simple case of stunt casting, don't worry... It's an iconic performance that in my opinion ranks right along side DeNiro in Raging Bull... A study of an imperfect man, perfectly realized on screen.
Do not miss this. Benjamin Button was an amazing major-studio picture. This film is equally as amazing - it was just made under much tougher circumstances. Whether that makes it more or less worthy is a matter of opinion. All that really matters is if it's worth your time - and it certainly is.
Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream) has accomplished something magnificent here. Lacking the polish, resources, and budget of Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire, Aronofsky has created something completely different from a similar underdog-sort of story. While Boyle goes the flashy route with camera moves and dozens of cuts per-minute, Aronofsky favors long, lingering takes and a somewhat reserved handheld camera. Now, of course, this is a huge change of course for the way Aronofsky usually does things. Requiem was frantic and methodical, mimicking the lives of the drug-addled characters. This is a completely different kind of film. You know what that shows? Maturity as a director and storyteller. It's hard to find a voice as a filmmaker, but it's even more difficult to change that voice to suit the needs of a particular project. The Wrestler feels grungy, dirty, and thrown together... and it's perfect.
Aronofsky made the choice to shoot in Super-16mm with this film, and it was a great choice. The harsh film grain and hard shadows give it a documentary-like feel and heightened intensity. Also worth mentioning is the fact that not only is this a Super 16 film, but a Super 16 film presented in a Scope aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Film fans will probably know what this means, but for those that don't, basically it means you're blowing up an already grainy picture to a very wide theater screen. Film grain and imperfections are heightened and more visible. A bold and wonderful artistic choice by Aronofsky - perfectly fitting for the story he's presenting.
Now, there's all sorts of stories going around about this production. People say that Mickey Rourke believed so much in the project, that he didn't accept an acting fee. Neither did Bruce Springsteen for the closing song he contributed. Aronofsky apparently was given the chance to make the picture with Nicolas Cage for a budget of approximately $25 million. He turned it down to make the film with Rourke - for only $6 million, and a short 35-day shooting schedule. Like the story we so often hear with independent film, the many limitations on the production have combined to produce something magical. Everything is down-and-dirty, in the moment, and feels about as real as cinema can get.
I guess that's about all I can - and probably should - say. Rourke is simply amazing. If it seems like a simple case of stunt casting, don't worry... It's an iconic performance that in my opinion ranks right along side DeNiro in Raging Bull... A study of an imperfect man, perfectly realized on screen.
Do not miss this. Benjamin Button was an amazing major-studio picture. This film is equally as amazing - it was just made under much tougher circumstances. Whether that makes it more or less worthy is a matter of opinion. All that really matters is if it's worth your time - and it certainly is.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Slumdog Millionaire
This is one of the best-reviewed movies of the year, and the odds-on favorite to win Best Picture after its several wins at the Globes on Sunday. Is it as good as everyone's saying? Well, yes and no.
There's a lot to like about this movie. Danny Boyle's (Trainspotting) direction is as strong and assured as anything I've seen this year. Relative unknown Dev Patel gives an amazing leading performance. The editing is masterful. The picture is wonderfully photographed by the always inventive Boyle and his DP Anthony Dod Mantle (in no less than five formats - 16mm, 35mm, analog and digital video, and still photography). The movie is always watchable, mostly entertaining, and sometimes enthralling. So what's my beef with it, then?
Listen, guys... I love Danny Boyle. Trainspotting's one of the best movies of the 90's. I like almost everything he's done. But you have to admit, he's really a style-over-substance sort of filmmaker. And this screenplay doesn't really help matters. I mean, we have a GREAT framework for a story here. The whole gameshow thing, discovering how he knows each of the answers through his life experiences... all good stuff. But mostly everything else in the story... I don't know, man. I've just seen it all before. Nearly half the picture involves a love story/long-lost girl situation... and I'm really sorry to say... I just didn't care. I didn't give a shit. I'm not sure what it was. I was usually totally into the rest of the picture, but whenever that storyline picked up again, I just tuned out. Like I said, I've seen it all before, but what really matters - I've seen it done better. Perhaps most people will come out of this movie feeling a different way. But I've seen City of God (dangerous childhood in impoverished area) and Cinema Paradiso (adult looking back on long-lost love) and this felt like a stylized melding of those two stories.
I know that by now this seems like an attack of some sort, but it's really not. This is a very solid movie. Easily one of the best of the year, and I really did enjoy about 80% of it. It's both exhilarating and beautiful, with some wonderful sequences (a scene set to "Paper Planes" by M.I.A. is particularly good). It just never hit home for me in the way that it seems to for most people. It gets a solid recommendation from me, even though I only have lukewarm feelings about it right now. Although I do want to see it again... perhaps that means something.
There's a lot to like about this movie. Danny Boyle's (Trainspotting) direction is as strong and assured as anything I've seen this year. Relative unknown Dev Patel gives an amazing leading performance. The editing is masterful. The picture is wonderfully photographed by the always inventive Boyle and his DP Anthony Dod Mantle (in no less than five formats - 16mm, 35mm, analog and digital video, and still photography). The movie is always watchable, mostly entertaining, and sometimes enthralling. So what's my beef with it, then?
Listen, guys... I love Danny Boyle. Trainspotting's one of the best movies of the 90's. I like almost everything he's done. But you have to admit, he's really a style-over-substance sort of filmmaker. And this screenplay doesn't really help matters. I mean, we have a GREAT framework for a story here. The whole gameshow thing, discovering how he knows each of the answers through his life experiences... all good stuff. But mostly everything else in the story... I don't know, man. I've just seen it all before. Nearly half the picture involves a love story/long-lost girl situation... and I'm really sorry to say... I just didn't care. I didn't give a shit. I'm not sure what it was. I was usually totally into the rest of the picture, but whenever that storyline picked up again, I just tuned out. Like I said, I've seen it all before, but what really matters - I've seen it done better. Perhaps most people will come out of this movie feeling a different way. But I've seen City of God (dangerous childhood in impoverished area) and Cinema Paradiso (adult looking back on long-lost love) and this felt like a stylized melding of those two stories.
I know that by now this seems like an attack of some sort, but it's really not. This is a very solid movie. Easily one of the best of the year, and I really did enjoy about 80% of it. It's both exhilarating and beautiful, with some wonderful sequences (a scene set to "Paper Planes" by M.I.A. is particularly good). It just never hit home for me in the way that it seems to for most people. It gets a solid recommendation from me, even though I only have lukewarm feelings about it right now. Although I do want to see it again... perhaps that means something.
Friday, January 02, 2009
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
A masterpiece. No two ways about it.
Not only one of the best movies of the year, but one of the best films I've ever seen. People know that I rarely go to such lengths in praising a film, but this one crept inside me, shook me up, and left me with a feeling I've rarely had: total satisfaction.
Rarely is a movie both grandly ambitious and heartbreakingly intimate, but that's the case with this picture. It succeeds at everything it does, everything it tries, and everything it thinks about doing.
Just about as good as you can get. Nearly perfect.
Not only one of the best movies of the year, but one of the best films I've ever seen. People know that I rarely go to such lengths in praising a film, but this one crept inside me, shook me up, and left me with a feeling I've rarely had: total satisfaction.
Rarely is a movie both grandly ambitious and heartbreakingly intimate, but that's the case with this picture. It succeeds at everything it does, everything it tries, and everything it thinks about doing.
Just about as good as you can get. Nearly perfect.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Dark Knight score ineligible for Oscar
Damn, this sucks. I know this happened a few days ago, but I wanted to bring it to the attention of people who might have missed it:
The musical score for The Dark Knight (composed by James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer) has been disqualified by the Academy. You have to prove that the main composer(s) composed at least 70% of the score... something they were unable to do. That really sucks. For my money, it's the best score of the year, and one of the big reasons The Dark Knight worked as well as it did (that and the editing).
Here's a link to an article at Variety
The musical score for The Dark Knight (composed by James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer) has been disqualified by the Academy. You have to prove that the main composer(s) composed at least 70% of the score... something they were unable to do. That really sucks. For my money, it's the best score of the year, and one of the big reasons The Dark Knight worked as well as it did (that and the editing).
Here's a link to an article at Variety
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