Thursday, August 6, 2009
I Didn't Do It
Apologies to anyone who viewed the pornographic photo that miraculously appeared in place of my film still I had posted from Dr. Strangelove. The Dr. Strangelove picture was there for days, but when I looked at the post this morning, this other photo was in its place. I hope it was something embedded in the picture vs. someone hacking into the blog site, but I will keep my eyes open on older posts for the next couple of days to see if it happens again.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Tron Legacy
It didn't make my Top 50 list, but Tron was definitely in the running. Love that movie. While I would normally be quite wary of a sequel to such a sci-fi milestone (it still looks good), I've got to say the trailer for Tron Legacy (out in 2010) has me interested. In the spirit of our recent trailer discussions, this one is great. Count me as "intrigued." (I apologize that the right side of the clip is cut off).
Dez's Fave 50 Flicks, #'s 5-2 and Honorable Mentions
The (almost) end of the road. Today I will give you #'s 5-2 and also some Honorable Mentions and tomorrow will be the grand finale.
5. The Road Warrior (aka Mad Max 2) (1981) (Australia), dir. George Miller
I’m a sucker for post-apocalyptic films. Don’t know why, I guess I just enjoy the survivor aspect of it all. I’m also a fan of early Mel Gibson. While The Bounty and this are the only Gibson films to appear in my Top 50, Gallipoli, The Year of Living Dangerously and even Lethal Weapon were also considered. Most Americans missed the original, excellent Australian hit Mad Max, so when its sequel rolled around, it was renamed The Road Warrior for American release and was viewed by many as a stand alone film. At any rate, Gibson’s Max (a “shell of a man” who lost his family in the first film) is now the ultimate bad-ass loner. It is after the world has been engulfed in nuclear apocalypse, and rogue gangs roam the highways in search of what little gasoline there is left, which now is worth more than gold. Max comes across a besieged group of survivors trying to protect their gasoline from the gangs led by the frightening Humongus. Max slowly, and inevitably, finds his humanity as he begins to help these people in their fight for survival. This is really a classic Western plot with cars instead of horses. But plot, schmlot. We’re here for the action, and TRW delivers it in spades. The extended climactic action sequence at the end of the film is the best action sequence in history. Period. A dazzling and thrilling highway battle that was filmed with real cars and real stuntmen; there is no CGI here, folks. It makes a difference. Trust me. Watch this sequence and then watch any action sequence in today’s blockbusters. You can still tell the difference between digital computer magic created by some geek in a studio office vs. flesh, asphalt, blood and gasoline. I’ll take the latter any day.
ABOVE: Don't screw with Road Warrior-era Mel...
BELOW: But also don't screw with The Humongus
4. The Godfather (1972), dir. Francis Ford Coppola
As Dre pointed out when I picked the sequel at #16, I used to actually prefer the sequel over the original. But now I feel that the original film holds together better and has an overall greater emotional impact. In reality, the first and second film should be viewed as a single piece anyway (and the third should be forgotten). It is hard to say anything new on this one, other than to agree with the frequent critical observation that it is so effective because it is as much a film about family and loyalty as it is about organized crime. “Leave the gun. Take the canoli.”
ABOVE: Here's Slash and Guns 'n Roses playing the 'Godfather Theme'
3. The Right Stuff (1983), dir. Phillip Kaufman
The word “hero” is thrown around pretty recklessly these days. If there was ever an appropriate time to use the word “hero,” it was in reference to the seven Mercury astronauts. These men were the pioneers of the space race, the first Americans to take those initial bold steps into space that a decade later culminated in our Apollo moon landings. This film was somewhat of a failure when it was released, but in hindsight many critics view it as one of the best of its decade. Based on the book by Tom Wolfe, the film follows the astronauts, scientists and engineers of NASA in the first years of the space race. It is far from a by-the-numbers historical flick, though. There is a wit and edge that permeates the entire picture (which, as Roger Ebert surmises, is perhaps part of the reason it was not an initial hit). These are heroes, alright, but not the infallible idols that the PR efforts of NASA portrayed them to be. The fights, competition, egos and near disasters are all laid bare, along with some very funny sequences. The ensemble cast is top notch, especially Ed Harris (as straightlaced John Glenn), Dennis Quaid (egotistical Gordo Cooper), Fred Ward (tragic Gus Grissom) and Scott Glen (all around bad-ass Alan Sheppard). As Wolfe does in the book, Kaufman wisely bookends and contrasts the astronauts who made the program (but necessarily had to compromise and play the game somewhat) with the truly untamable test pilot whom even the Mercury 7 acknowledged was the greatest pilot ever: Chuck Yeager (played wonderfully by Sam Sheppard). Yeager didn’t make the cut because he lacked a college education. It is a wonderful scene near the end when Gordo Cooper, the most egotistical of the Seven and apt to declare himself the greatest test pilot who ever existed, was asked a softball question by a reporter: “Gordo, who was the greatest pilot you ever saw?” There are a couple of fabulous seconds where Dennis Quaid’s expression goes to a far away place and he starts to talk about Yeager, but then he snaps to and gives his favorite “you’re lookin’ at him” answer. The only negative, although it is effective in the film, is the treatment of the Grissom incident where his hatch blew prematurely in the ocean and the capsule was lost and Grissom almost drowned. The film hints heavily that it was due to Grissom panicing, but most experts now believe it was purely a malfunction in the capsule. Grissom was viewed by many as the most capable astronaut of the whole bunch. (He later died in the tragic Apollo 1 launch pad fire). That complaint aside, TRS is irreverent and reverent at the same time, fun, exciting, patriotic without being simplistic and brilliantly paced. You hardly notice that three hours have gone by.
ABOVE: Here is the first great ten minutes of the movie, as Chuck Yeagar breaks the sound barrier. It has been edited, you see the very beginning and then it skips 4 or 5 minutes to the morning of the flight. You get the feel of it, though. Yeagar is played by Sam Sheppard, and his buddy Ridley (and the narrator) is played by Band drummer Levon Helm.
2. The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (1966) (Italy), dir. Sergio Leone
While Once Upon a Time in the West (#44 on this list) might be more artistically accomplished, TGTBATU is a hell of a lot more fun. Leone and Clint Eastwood had been creating a new kind of Western antihero in the previous two pictures of this loose trilogy, A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More. They finally accomplished everything that they wanted to accomplish in the third epic installment. Eastwood is “The Good,” but only in relative terms when compared to The Bad (a sadistic Lee Van Cleef) and The Ugly (Eli Wallach as Tuco). As cool as Eastwood is (and there is none cooler than Clint is here), it is Wallach’s performance as the shifty, fast talking Tuco that really gives life to this film. The plot unfolds lazily, but you don’t really mind, because everything else is wonderful to watch. Leone’s visual style is on full display here. There is a fun introductory sequence where Eastwood and Wallach have an ingenious scam going; Clint turns Wallach in for a reward, then busts him back out, they split the reward, and then do it all over again with ever escalating bounties on Wallach’s head. The actual plot centers around a cache of gold, but each of the three protagonists have only a piece of the necessary information as to its whereabouts. Through a series of shifting alliances and double crosses, they know they need each other to find the gold, but none of them intends to share it once it is found. But with Leone, it is all about the journey, not necessarily the plot itself. The film takes place with the Civil War as its backdrop, and Leone uses some powerful Civil War scenes to comment on the escalating Vietnam conflict. Of course the final three way duel in the cemetery is the stuff of cinema legend. Brilliantly filmed, with patented Leone close-ups of eyes, hands on the guns, sweat on the brow and then a blaze of action. Ennio Morricone’s groundbreaking music adds a whole other layer of greatness to the film.
HONORABLE MENTION
Next time (probably tomorrow), I will reveal my favorite movie of all time. It shouldn’t be much of a surprise, but hopefully I can give a good overview/explanation of the film. What follows is a short list of movies that almost made the Top 50 cut. If I were making the list on a different day, perhaps some of these would have knocked #’s 50-40 off, so they are relevant to the discussion. They are (by genre):
Horror: 28 Days Later, Dawn of the Dead (original), Dracula (original), Evil Dead II, Halloween, King Kong (original), Near Dark, The Shining, Tremors
Sci-Fi: 2001: a Space Odyssey, Aliens, The Black Hole, Forbidden Planet, Tron
Western: For a Few Dollars More, Tombstone, The Wild Bunch, Dances With Wolves
War: Breaker Morant, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Gallipoli, Glory, Patton, The Pianist, Three Kings
Action: Batman Begins, Casino Royale, Goldfinger, On her Majesty’s Secret Service, Dirty Harry, Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, The Man Who Would Be King, The Towering Inferno
Drama: 12 Angry Men, Cinema Paradiso, Almost Famous, A Clockwork Orange, Gods and Monsters, Hud, Last Tango in Paris, Nashville, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Raging Bull, Sexy Beast, Taxi Driver, The Ten Commandments, The Year of Living Dangerously, Zodiac
Comedy: The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Airplane!, Bottle Rocket, Groundhog Day, High Fidelity, Midnight Run, My Cousin Vinny, Pleasantville, The Princess Bride, Running Scared (1986 film), Summer School, There’s Something About Mary
5. The Road Warrior (aka Mad Max 2) (1981) (Australia), dir. George Miller
I’m a sucker for post-apocalyptic films. Don’t know why, I guess I just enjoy the survivor aspect of it all. I’m also a fan of early Mel Gibson. While The Bounty and this are the only Gibson films to appear in my Top 50, Gallipoli, The Year of Living Dangerously and even Lethal Weapon were also considered. Most Americans missed the original, excellent Australian hit Mad Max, so when its sequel rolled around, it was renamed The Road Warrior for American release and was viewed by many as a stand alone film. At any rate, Gibson’s Max (a “shell of a man” who lost his family in the first film) is now the ultimate bad-ass loner. It is after the world has been engulfed in nuclear apocalypse, and rogue gangs roam the highways in search of what little gasoline there is left, which now is worth more than gold. Max comes across a besieged group of survivors trying to protect their gasoline from the gangs led by the frightening Humongus. Max slowly, and inevitably, finds his humanity as he begins to help these people in their fight for survival. This is really a classic Western plot with cars instead of horses. But plot, schmlot. We’re here for the action, and TRW delivers it in spades. The extended climactic action sequence at the end of the film is the best action sequence in history. Period. A dazzling and thrilling highway battle that was filmed with real cars and real stuntmen; there is no CGI here, folks. It makes a difference. Trust me. Watch this sequence and then watch any action sequence in today’s blockbusters. You can still tell the difference between digital computer magic created by some geek in a studio office vs. flesh, asphalt, blood and gasoline. I’ll take the latter any day.
ABOVE: Don't screw with Road Warrior-era Mel...
BELOW: But also don't screw with The Humongus
4. The Godfather (1972), dir. Francis Ford Coppola
As Dre pointed out when I picked the sequel at #16, I used to actually prefer the sequel over the original. But now I feel that the original film holds together better and has an overall greater emotional impact. In reality, the first and second film should be viewed as a single piece anyway (and the third should be forgotten). It is hard to say anything new on this one, other than to agree with the frequent critical observation that it is so effective because it is as much a film about family and loyalty as it is about organized crime. “Leave the gun. Take the canoli.”
ABOVE: Here's Slash and Guns 'n Roses playing the 'Godfather Theme'
3. The Right Stuff (1983), dir. Phillip Kaufman
The word “hero” is thrown around pretty recklessly these days. If there was ever an appropriate time to use the word “hero,” it was in reference to the seven Mercury astronauts. These men were the pioneers of the space race, the first Americans to take those initial bold steps into space that a decade later culminated in our Apollo moon landings. This film was somewhat of a failure when it was released, but in hindsight many critics view it as one of the best of its decade. Based on the book by Tom Wolfe, the film follows the astronauts, scientists and engineers of NASA in the first years of the space race. It is far from a by-the-numbers historical flick, though. There is a wit and edge that permeates the entire picture (which, as Roger Ebert surmises, is perhaps part of the reason it was not an initial hit). These are heroes, alright, but not the infallible idols that the PR efforts of NASA portrayed them to be. The fights, competition, egos and near disasters are all laid bare, along with some very funny sequences. The ensemble cast is top notch, especially Ed Harris (as straightlaced John Glenn), Dennis Quaid (egotistical Gordo Cooper), Fred Ward (tragic Gus Grissom) and Scott Glen (all around bad-ass Alan Sheppard). As Wolfe does in the book, Kaufman wisely bookends and contrasts the astronauts who made the program (but necessarily had to compromise and play the game somewhat) with the truly untamable test pilot whom even the Mercury 7 acknowledged was the greatest pilot ever: Chuck Yeager (played wonderfully by Sam Sheppard). Yeager didn’t make the cut because he lacked a college education. It is a wonderful scene near the end when Gordo Cooper, the most egotistical of the Seven and apt to declare himself the greatest test pilot who ever existed, was asked a softball question by a reporter: “Gordo, who was the greatest pilot you ever saw?” There are a couple of fabulous seconds where Dennis Quaid’s expression goes to a far away place and he starts to talk about Yeager, but then he snaps to and gives his favorite “you’re lookin’ at him” answer. The only negative, although it is effective in the film, is the treatment of the Grissom incident where his hatch blew prematurely in the ocean and the capsule was lost and Grissom almost drowned. The film hints heavily that it was due to Grissom panicing, but most experts now believe it was purely a malfunction in the capsule. Grissom was viewed by many as the most capable astronaut of the whole bunch. (He later died in the tragic Apollo 1 launch pad fire). That complaint aside, TRS is irreverent and reverent at the same time, fun, exciting, patriotic without being simplistic and brilliantly paced. You hardly notice that three hours have gone by.
ABOVE: Here is the first great ten minutes of the movie, as Chuck Yeagar breaks the sound barrier. It has been edited, you see the very beginning and then it skips 4 or 5 minutes to the morning of the flight. You get the feel of it, though. Yeagar is played by Sam Sheppard, and his buddy Ridley (and the narrator) is played by Band drummer Levon Helm.
2. The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (1966) (Italy), dir. Sergio Leone
While Once Upon a Time in the West (#44 on this list) might be more artistically accomplished, TGTBATU is a hell of a lot more fun. Leone and Clint Eastwood had been creating a new kind of Western antihero in the previous two pictures of this loose trilogy, A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More. They finally accomplished everything that they wanted to accomplish in the third epic installment. Eastwood is “The Good,” but only in relative terms when compared to The Bad (a sadistic Lee Van Cleef) and The Ugly (Eli Wallach as Tuco). As cool as Eastwood is (and there is none cooler than Clint is here), it is Wallach’s performance as the shifty, fast talking Tuco that really gives life to this film. The plot unfolds lazily, but you don’t really mind, because everything else is wonderful to watch. Leone’s visual style is on full display here. There is a fun introductory sequence where Eastwood and Wallach have an ingenious scam going; Clint turns Wallach in for a reward, then busts him back out, they split the reward, and then do it all over again with ever escalating bounties on Wallach’s head. The actual plot centers around a cache of gold, but each of the three protagonists have only a piece of the necessary information as to its whereabouts. Through a series of shifting alliances and double crosses, they know they need each other to find the gold, but none of them intends to share it once it is found. But with Leone, it is all about the journey, not necessarily the plot itself. The film takes place with the Civil War as its backdrop, and Leone uses some powerful Civil War scenes to comment on the escalating Vietnam conflict. Of course the final three way duel in the cemetery is the stuff of cinema legend. Brilliantly filmed, with patented Leone close-ups of eyes, hands on the guns, sweat on the brow and then a blaze of action. Ennio Morricone’s groundbreaking music adds a whole other layer of greatness to the film.
HONORABLE MENTION
Next time (probably tomorrow), I will reveal my favorite movie of all time. It shouldn’t be much of a surprise, but hopefully I can give a good overview/explanation of the film. What follows is a short list of movies that almost made the Top 50 cut. If I were making the list on a different day, perhaps some of these would have knocked #’s 50-40 off, so they are relevant to the discussion. They are (by genre):
Horror: 28 Days Later, Dawn of the Dead (original), Dracula (original), Evil Dead II, Halloween, King Kong (original), Near Dark, The Shining, Tremors
Sci-Fi: 2001: a Space Odyssey, Aliens, The Black Hole, Forbidden Planet, Tron
Western: For a Few Dollars More, Tombstone, The Wild Bunch, Dances With Wolves
War: Breaker Morant, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Gallipoli, Glory, Patton, The Pianist, Three Kings
Action: Batman Begins, Casino Royale, Goldfinger, On her Majesty’s Secret Service, Dirty Harry, Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, The Man Who Would Be King, The Towering Inferno
Drama: 12 Angry Men, Cinema Paradiso, Almost Famous, A Clockwork Orange, Gods and Monsters, Hud, Last Tango in Paris, Nashville, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Raging Bull, Sexy Beast, Taxi Driver, The Ten Commandments, The Year of Living Dangerously, Zodiac
Comedy: The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Airplane!, Bottle Rocket, Groundhog Day, High Fidelity, Midnight Run, My Cousin Vinny, Pleasantville, The Princess Bride, Running Scared (1986 film), Summer School, There’s Something About Mary
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Dez's Top 50 Movies, #'s 10-6
We are into the heavy hitters now. Desert island stuff for me, immovable as the rock of Gibraltar. By the way, I'm a little disappointed that my readers had no thoughts/picks for the Worst Movie post from a couple of days ago. Oh well.
10. Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love the Bomb (1964), dir. Stanley Kubrick
Every film of Kubrick’s is worth viewing. A Clockwork Orange, The Shining and 2001 were all in serious consideration for my list, but Dr. Strangelove is by far my favorite of this distinctive directors’ works. This was only a couple of years after the Cuban Missile Crisis, so a black comedy about nuclear holocaust had quite an impact in 1964. What is funny (and scary) about the film is that the wacky characters are so self-involved, yet they hold the world’s future in their hands. And they drop the ball spectacularly. The performances are truly great. Sterling Hayden’s insane Gen. Jack D. Ripper (afraid that the Russians are trying to steal his “precious bodily fluids”: “I do not avoid women, Mandrake. But I do deny them my essence”), George C. Scott’s bellicose and childish Gen. Buck Turdgison (“Mr. President, I’m not saying we wouldn’t get our hair mussed. But I do say no more than 10, 20 million casualties, depending on the breaks”) and the astounding Peter Sellers (in three roles: the lone sane military man British Wing Commander Mandrake, the meek President Muffley and the ex-Nazi but still fascist mad scientist Dr. Strangelove) are all iconic film characters. Political satire has never been this sharp.
9. This Is Spinal Tap (1984), dir. Rob Reiner
Most serious music fans know this “mockumentary” by heart. For those of you who don’t know, director Rob Reiner and comedians Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer joined forces and created this fictitious washed-up metal band, Spinal Tap. The four of them largely improvised this fake documentary following the Tap on their U.S. comeback tour. Every second of this film is funny, but it is more than that. These guys are clearly big music fans, and while they are brutal in their lampooning of the rock and roll life on the road, you can tell that they also love the ridiculousness of it all. They make fun of these guys, but they love them all the same. Incredibly witty satire of the music industry abounds, it is one of those films that must be viewed multiple times to catch it all. What are seemingly meaningless asides turn out to be some of the funniest lines of the film. This Is Spinal Tap became the template for Guest’s later mockumentaries Best in Show, Waiting For Guffman and others, but it was never done better than here.
ABOVE: A compilation of some Spinal Tap moments, by no means all of the best, but some good ones
8. Fandango (1985), dir. Kevin Reynolds
This largely forgotten coming of age film is a sentimental favorite. My friend Johannes is a fellow fan and is the one who first turned me on to it. My friendships with certain high school and college friends still mean a great deal to me, and this film is the best film I’ve ever seen that addresses the unique male bonding that occurs during the time period which Kevin Costner’s character refers to as “the privileges of youth.” Very funny but also often poignant, this is the best work of both Costner and Judd Nelson’s careers. It is the simple story of five college buddies from the University of Texas who take one last road trip together before graduating and moving on to the real world (it takes place in the early 70’s, so for some the real world means a trip to Vietnam). Their epic journey takes them all over West and South Texas and into Mexico, and along the way there are many adventures, misadventures and surprisingly meaningful conversations. I don’t really know why, but for me, one of the most effecting scenes I’ve ever seen is the very last shot of Costner sitting alone on a cliff overlooking a Mexican border town (the site of their last adventure), solemnly toasting his absent friends as Blind Faith’s “Can’t Find My Way Home” plays on the soundtrack. Love it.
7. From Russia With Love (1963), dir. Terence Young
It is no secret that I’m a huge James Bond fan, so I decided I needed to pick my favorite Bond flick for this list. I guess I could have gone with Goldfinger (the critical consensus pick as the quintessential classic Bond picture) or maybe even the recent franchise-reviving Casino Royale, but I always go back to the second film as my favorite. It was not yet a formula, so Bond could still genuinely surprise. And this was Sean Connery at his peak; his Bond was dangerous and seductive at the same time. No other Bond actor has been able to balance both aspects of the character so credibly. This is also one of the better plots, there is no maniac villain trying to take over the world. It is a simple Cold War thriller plot hatched by the Soviets (or actually SPECTRE, masquerading as the Soviets) aimed at destroying Bond by taking advantage of Bond’s dual weaknesses, his ego and his lust for beautiful women. This is also one of the few Bond films where the supporting cast is as memorable as Bond himself, especially the vicious Soviet assassin Red Grant (Robert Shaw) and Pedro Armendariz’s Karem Bey. Bey is an older Turkish agent who acts as a sort of father figure to Bond. Bey still has a taste for the ladies, so it is easy to imagine that Bey was probably much like Bond in his earlier days. Armendariz was dying of cancer as he filmed his part, so there is a poignancy to the scenes where Bey reminisces with Bond about the old days. The brutal fight scene between Bond and Grant on the Orient Express is to this day one of the most thrilling scenes of hand to hand combat ever filmed.
ABOVE: Over at ASWOBA JMW wrote an interesting post on movie trailers. Here is a good one for From Russia With Love. Is there anyone cooler than Connery's Bond?
6. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), dir. Steven Spielberg
I think that ROTLA is the greatest pure adventure film ever made. It is thrilling and charming from beginning to end, and Indiana Jones is a part that Harrison Ford really made his own. Rarely has a supposed action hero gotten caught by his enemies and been on the receiving end of so many ass-kickings. But again, that is part of Ford’s charm as Indiana Jones. He is far from invincible, rather often a frustrated punching bag. Creators George Lucas and Spielberg (you see, when Lucas can just come up with ideas but he is not writing dialogue or directing, he is brilliant) wanted to pay homage to the Saturday morning adventure serials that they grew up loving, and they succeeded wonderfully. Forget about the terrible sequels that followed, ROTLA stands alone as the peak of great adventure filmmaking. Fun trivia: the classic and hilarious scene where Jones is face to face with the big bad dude who is wielding the giant sword and spinning it around like a bad-ass, and Jones wearily pulls his gun and shoots the guy? That was improvised on the spot by Ford. In the script, there was what you would expect, a flashy extended fight scene. But evidently Ford had the runs and really needed to get to a restroom, so he just pulled the gun and shot as a joke to cut the filming of the scene. Spielberg loved it so much he decided to change the scene, BELOW.
10. Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love the Bomb (1964), dir. Stanley Kubrick
Every film of Kubrick’s is worth viewing. A Clockwork Orange, The Shining and 2001 were all in serious consideration for my list, but Dr. Strangelove is by far my favorite of this distinctive directors’ works. This was only a couple of years after the Cuban Missile Crisis, so a black comedy about nuclear holocaust had quite an impact in 1964. What is funny (and scary) about the film is that the wacky characters are so self-involved, yet they hold the world’s future in their hands. And they drop the ball spectacularly. The performances are truly great. Sterling Hayden’s insane Gen. Jack D. Ripper (afraid that the Russians are trying to steal his “precious bodily fluids”: “I do not avoid women, Mandrake. But I do deny them my essence”), George C. Scott’s bellicose and childish Gen. Buck Turdgison (“Mr. President, I’m not saying we wouldn’t get our hair mussed. But I do say no more than 10, 20 million casualties, depending on the breaks”) and the astounding Peter Sellers (in three roles: the lone sane military man British Wing Commander Mandrake, the meek President Muffley and the ex-Nazi but still fascist mad scientist Dr. Strangelove) are all iconic film characters. Political satire has never been this sharp.
9. This Is Spinal Tap (1984), dir. Rob Reiner
Most serious music fans know this “mockumentary” by heart. For those of you who don’t know, director Rob Reiner and comedians Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer joined forces and created this fictitious washed-up metal band, Spinal Tap. The four of them largely improvised this fake documentary following the Tap on their U.S. comeback tour. Every second of this film is funny, but it is more than that. These guys are clearly big music fans, and while they are brutal in their lampooning of the rock and roll life on the road, you can tell that they also love the ridiculousness of it all. They make fun of these guys, but they love them all the same. Incredibly witty satire of the music industry abounds, it is one of those films that must be viewed multiple times to catch it all. What are seemingly meaningless asides turn out to be some of the funniest lines of the film. This Is Spinal Tap became the template for Guest’s later mockumentaries Best in Show, Waiting For Guffman and others, but it was never done better than here.
ABOVE: A compilation of some Spinal Tap moments, by no means all of the best, but some good ones
8. Fandango (1985), dir. Kevin Reynolds
This largely forgotten coming of age film is a sentimental favorite. My friend Johannes is a fellow fan and is the one who first turned me on to it. My friendships with certain high school and college friends still mean a great deal to me, and this film is the best film I’ve ever seen that addresses the unique male bonding that occurs during the time period which Kevin Costner’s character refers to as “the privileges of youth.” Very funny but also often poignant, this is the best work of both Costner and Judd Nelson’s careers. It is the simple story of five college buddies from the University of Texas who take one last road trip together before graduating and moving on to the real world (it takes place in the early 70’s, so for some the real world means a trip to Vietnam). Their epic journey takes them all over West and South Texas and into Mexico, and along the way there are many adventures, misadventures and surprisingly meaningful conversations. I don’t really know why, but for me, one of the most effecting scenes I’ve ever seen is the very last shot of Costner sitting alone on a cliff overlooking a Mexican border town (the site of their last adventure), solemnly toasting his absent friends as Blind Faith’s “Can’t Find My Way Home” plays on the soundtrack. Love it.
7. From Russia With Love (1963), dir. Terence Young
It is no secret that I’m a huge James Bond fan, so I decided I needed to pick my favorite Bond flick for this list. I guess I could have gone with Goldfinger (the critical consensus pick as the quintessential classic Bond picture) or maybe even the recent franchise-reviving Casino Royale, but I always go back to the second film as my favorite. It was not yet a formula, so Bond could still genuinely surprise. And this was Sean Connery at his peak; his Bond was dangerous and seductive at the same time. No other Bond actor has been able to balance both aspects of the character so credibly. This is also one of the better plots, there is no maniac villain trying to take over the world. It is a simple Cold War thriller plot hatched by the Soviets (or actually SPECTRE, masquerading as the Soviets) aimed at destroying Bond by taking advantage of Bond’s dual weaknesses, his ego and his lust for beautiful women. This is also one of the few Bond films where the supporting cast is as memorable as Bond himself, especially the vicious Soviet assassin Red Grant (Robert Shaw) and Pedro Armendariz’s Karem Bey. Bey is an older Turkish agent who acts as a sort of father figure to Bond. Bey still has a taste for the ladies, so it is easy to imagine that Bey was probably much like Bond in his earlier days. Armendariz was dying of cancer as he filmed his part, so there is a poignancy to the scenes where Bey reminisces with Bond about the old days. The brutal fight scene between Bond and Grant on the Orient Express is to this day one of the most thrilling scenes of hand to hand combat ever filmed.
ABOVE: Over at ASWOBA JMW wrote an interesting post on movie trailers. Here is a good one for From Russia With Love. Is there anyone cooler than Connery's Bond?
6. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), dir. Steven Spielberg
I think that ROTLA is the greatest pure adventure film ever made. It is thrilling and charming from beginning to end, and Indiana Jones is a part that Harrison Ford really made his own. Rarely has a supposed action hero gotten caught by his enemies and been on the receiving end of so many ass-kickings. But again, that is part of Ford’s charm as Indiana Jones. He is far from invincible, rather often a frustrated punching bag. Creators George Lucas and Spielberg (you see, when Lucas can just come up with ideas but he is not writing dialogue or directing, he is brilliant) wanted to pay homage to the Saturday morning adventure serials that they grew up loving, and they succeeded wonderfully. Forget about the terrible sequels that followed, ROTLA stands alone as the peak of great adventure filmmaking. Fun trivia: the classic and hilarious scene where Jones is face to face with the big bad dude who is wielding the giant sword and spinning it around like a bad-ass, and Jones wearily pulls his gun and shoots the guy? That was improvised on the spot by Ford. In the script, there was what you would expect, a flashy extended fight scene. But evidently Ford had the runs and really needed to get to a restroom, so he just pulled the gun and shot as a joke to cut the filming of the scene. Spielberg loved it so much he decided to change the scene, BELOW.
Monday, August 3, 2009
StarburyTV update: Just Taste the Happy Ones
Starbury is still at it on his internet streaming, a week later. His viewership is down, though. In case you don't know what I'm talking about, click here for the first post. He just had some pretty piano music playing and was preaching. I liked this quote: "When the tears flow down, taste the tears. But just taste the happy ones. God bless you." Amen, brother.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
The Worst Movie Ever?
It is appropriate as the revelation of Dez's Top 10 Movies approaches to take a moment to ponder not the best, but the worst. So much effort, money, blood, sweat and tears go into moviemaking, that the phenomenally bad movie holds a special fascination. Like passing an accident on the side of the highway, we are forced to stop and watch. How else to explain the various bad movie film festivals that are held around the country? How else to explain the sold out midnight showings of the notorious The Room that are currently so popular in L.A.?
There are several good sources to research bad movies. IMd has a "Bottom 100" list. The popular Golden Raspberry Awards is another. Critics like Roger Ebert have written gleeful books about bad movies, such as Ebert's entertaining 'Your Movie Sucks,' a collection of Ebert's harshest pans. The website Rotten Tomatoes is also an invaluable resource.
So, what is the worst film ever made? It depends on what criteria you use. Some movies are bad, but in a very entertaining way. Therefore, are they really bad? I would put the infamous Ed Wood crapterpiece Plan 9 From Outer Space in that category (a film often cited as the worst ever). Wood's Plan 9 (and in fact, all of his movies) and the equally infamous West Texas monstrosity Manos: The Hands of Fate fall into that low budget category that are bad but fun to watch due to their obvious incompetence.
ABOVE: Vampyra and Tor Johnson were two thespian giants who appeared in Plan 9 From Outer Space. It was also Bela Lugosi's final film. Lugosi died after filming a couple of scenes, but Ed Wood was a man not to be deterred. He simply hired his wife's chiropractor (holding a cape over his face) to stand in for Lugosi for the rest of the film. No matter that the stand-in was several feet taller than Lugosi and balding. Those type of details mattered little to Wood, which is one reason his films are so much fun to watch.
Then there are the bad sequels. Caddyshack II, anyone? Jaws IV: The Revenge is often considered to be the worst sequel ever made. There are the quickies put out with little intention of being great. American Idol spin-off From Justin To Kelly comes to mind. Bad, but it doesn't really attempt to be much more than a showcase for two recent Idol winners.
For me, there is a worse type of bad movie. There is the film that has all the resources needed to be a quality product. It is the type of film that takes itself seriously, and is not bad in a fun kind of way to watch. The type of film that makes you get physically angry as you watch it. My pick for the worst ever? Never has so much goodwill been squandered so completely than by George Lucas when he released the steaming pile of dung entitled Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in 1999. I would watch Plan 9 From Outer Space or Manos: The Hands of Fate 30 times in a row before sitting through Lucas' monstrosity again.
"Meesa the most annoying character ever created."
How about you, dear readers. What are the worst movies you've ever seen?
There are several good sources to research bad movies. IMd has a "Bottom 100" list. The popular Golden Raspberry Awards is another. Critics like Roger Ebert have written gleeful books about bad movies, such as Ebert's entertaining 'Your Movie Sucks,' a collection of Ebert's harshest pans. The website Rotten Tomatoes is also an invaluable resource.
So, what is the worst film ever made? It depends on what criteria you use. Some movies are bad, but in a very entertaining way. Therefore, are they really bad? I would put the infamous Ed Wood crapterpiece Plan 9 From Outer Space in that category (a film often cited as the worst ever). Wood's Plan 9 (and in fact, all of his movies) and the equally infamous West Texas monstrosity Manos: The Hands of Fate fall into that low budget category that are bad but fun to watch due to their obvious incompetence.
ABOVE: Vampyra and Tor Johnson were two thespian giants who appeared in Plan 9 From Outer Space. It was also Bela Lugosi's final film. Lugosi died after filming a couple of scenes, but Ed Wood was a man not to be deterred. He simply hired his wife's chiropractor (holding a cape over his face) to stand in for Lugosi for the rest of the film. No matter that the stand-in was several feet taller than Lugosi and balding. Those type of details mattered little to Wood, which is one reason his films are so much fun to watch.
Then there are the bad sequels. Caddyshack II, anyone? Jaws IV: The Revenge is often considered to be the worst sequel ever made. There are the quickies put out with little intention of being great. American Idol spin-off From Justin To Kelly comes to mind. Bad, but it doesn't really attempt to be much more than a showcase for two recent Idol winners.
For me, there is a worse type of bad movie. There is the film that has all the resources needed to be a quality product. It is the type of film that takes itself seriously, and is not bad in a fun kind of way to watch. The type of film that makes you get physically angry as you watch it. My pick for the worst ever? Never has so much goodwill been squandered so completely than by George Lucas when he released the steaming pile of dung entitled Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in 1999. I would watch Plan 9 From Outer Space or Manos: The Hands of Fate 30 times in a row before sitting through Lucas' monstrosity again.
"Meesa the most annoying character ever created."
How about you, dear readers. What are the worst movies you've ever seen?
Saturday, August 1, 2009
In the Street
One of the greatest bands ever was Big Star. Their heyday was in the early 70's, but they have since gotten back together to record and tour on occasion. Here is a clip from the mid-1990's, featuring the enigmatic Alex Chilton singing and playing guitar and Jody Stephens on drums. The two dudes from The Posies have filled out on the other guitar and bass since the early 1990's (original member Chris Bell died in the late 70's and Andy Hummel is retired).
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