A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971), EYES WIDE SHUT(1999)

Color Me Kubrick Month (Post #3)

The husband begins to administer smelling salts to his wife. It takes her a moment, but she does revive. She eyes him in disbelief as she becomes fully conscious.

Wife: Tape? My wrists! They’re taped! I can't move! I absolutely can’t believe you’ve done this to me. What the hell is this all about?

Husband: No need to be hostile. I just want you to sit still to watch a movie and wanted to make sure I had your undivided attention.

Wife: Who the hell do you think you are? Wait! This isn’t one of those movies by that Russian. What’s his name?

Husband: Sergei Parajanov. No, not Parajanov.

Wife: As soon as I get out of this, there’s going to be hell to pay! Do you read me mister?

Husband: Calm down, my dear. We are going to watch or should I say re-watch Eyes Wide Shut. Widescreen and everything.

Wife: No! No! Not Eyes Wide! I’ll do anything. . I’ll watch Beloved…Mullholland Drive…Dogville…The Color of Pomegranates. Just don’t make me watch Eyes Wide!”

Husband: Don’t you understand I wouldn’t do anything to you that’s not for your own good?

Wife: (Crying). I can’t believe you’re doing this. It was one thing to be surprised by its awfulness the first time. But now that I know what to expect, how can I brace myself for this?

Husband: You’re angry now, but you’ll thank me later. Mark my words.

Wife: (Wiping away her tears on her shoulder) Fine, fine. Do your best. I can take it. Bring it on. I’m stronger than any painful movie is.

At this point the husband applies pinchers to his wife’s eyelids to keep them open. He administers a steady flow of eyedrops as she watches what comes before her.

THE FILM

Scene one has Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman talking about going to a society party in the first scene.

But then the film breaks into something different. The scene is now of random bunnies hoping back and forth. One of the bunnies seems to turn into chocolate and a little girl with a missing front tooth eats a bite of the candy and smiles, showing off that adorable gap in her teeth! Obviously it’s going to be a happy Easter! And don’t worry about that bunny. Its perfectly safe and hops onto the little girls lap. Obviously this happy little girl has a new pet! All of this goes on while Beethoven’s Ninth is playing in the background.

We go back to Eyes Wide Shut. We see the scene with Cruise and Kidman discussing her fantasy about a sexual relationship with a Navy officer.

Eyes Wide Shut is interrupted by a new scene with a young couple. Clearly not Tom and Nicole, but there is a resemblance between these two and the stars of the film. They are holding hands on a cruise. (No pun intended!) They are clearly in love. They can eat anything they want and not gain any weight! And it’s all free! And who is that performing in the ship’s lounge? Why for one night only, it’s none other than Ludwig Van Beethoven himself!

Back to Eyes Wide Shut. Cruise is in trouble. He has been discovered to not belong at the secret ritual party he is at. Conflict?

The Cruise look-alike appears in a similar scene. Everyone unmasks. They smile at him! He is now welcomed by them all and told to go help himelf to all the hors d'oeuvres and finger foods of his choosing he wants! The music turns to the Ninth Symphony. The man at the piano smiles as he unmasks. It is none other than---Ludwig Van!

Random scenes now appear on the screen.
Scene #1 A man drops out of a plane sitting on an atomic bomb. It plummets to the earth. He yells like a cowboy at a rodeo. The bomb drops to the ground. Clink! A perfect and safe landing! He jumps off the bomb just in time to join in on the weekly square dance!

Scene #2 A writer living in an isolated hotel takes a break. His wife picks up his rough draft while he leaves the room. The book is entitled All Work and No Play Makes Jack a Dull Boy. She flips through the pages. She can’t believe her eyes…It is the greatest novel she has ever seen! It is bound to be a great success!

Scene #3 A group of young men in white outfits and bowler hats come across an old bum and they proceed to…feed him and help him find shelter…and a job!

Scene #4 Finally, to the tune of Strauss’s Thus Spake Zarathustra the universe opens up and everything becomes…clear. And it is good.

After the movie is over, the husband takes the pinchers off the wife’s eyes. And takes the duct tape off her wrists. She looks at him. He asks her what she thinks.

Wife: How did I not get it the first time? I can see that what lies beneath the surface is what’s important. The erotic tension inherent in Kubrick’s vision…I’ve never seen it portrayed like this before. Every other film dealing with any kind of relationship or marriage or social ritual seems suddenly empty, incomplete, and a sham. Oh, and the Ninth symphony. How beautiful! I tell you what. There are no two ways about it. I have seen greatness! Thank you for letting me embrace it.

Husband bends down and kisses his wife on the forehead.

Husband: (Checking her condition) Aren’t you glad we did this now? Your eyes look good. Might want to rub your arms where the tape was. I had it pretty tight. I’m just so happy you've been cured.

Husband bends down and kisses his wife on the forehead a second time. He leaves the room to get her a glass of milk. As soon as he’s gone, she rubs on her wrists as her visage turns sour. The smile that reenters her face exhibits more than a trace of malevolence.

Wife: I was cured all right.

MURIEL'S WEDDING (1994, AUSTRALIA)

It’s OK for a guy to watch a Romance/Chick flick/ Women’s picture if... (Film 6 of 12)

Muriel’s Wedding

It’s OK for a guy to watch a Romance/Chick flick/ Women’s picture if...

It’s Australian

Note: I must have some affection this pictue as I took two different dates to see it. I married the second date.

PRETTY WOMAN (1990)

It’s OK for a guy to watch a Romance/Chick flicks/ Women’s picture if…month (Film 3 of 11)

Pretty Woman

It’s OK for a guy to watch a Romance/Chick flicks/ Women’s picture if…

The main female character is a hooker. (I stress female to leave out that other Richard Gere movie, American Gigolo.)

or if...

It has George Costanza from Senifeld, so you the viewer can throw in some George lines if you’re bored such as “I was in the pool!” or “Van Delay! Van Delay!

It’s also interesting that the movie has Seinfeld's actual George Costanza (Jason Alexander) as well as the almost choice for George Costanza, Larry Miller, who has a pretty funny role as a very compliant salesman. Well, it's kind of interesting.

Also...

Speaking of American Gigolo, If I recall in that film, murder suspect Richard Gere gave advice on how to dress to detective Hector Eliznondo. In Pretty Woman, Hector Elinzondo sends Gere’s girlfriend/hooker/niece Julia Roberts to the proper store to get suitably dressed. I think I remember that correctly.

Also, we have the last or nearly the last screen appearance of film veteran Ralph Bellamy. I last saw Bellamy in the 1940 musical Dance, Girl, Dance with Lucille Ball. Lucy has a cameo of sorts in Pretty Woman during the scene when Julia Roberts is watching an I Love Lucy rerun. I'm still not sure if that would count as a connection in the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game.

We also have a scene with Julia watching an Audrey Hepburn/Cary Grant movie making the critical comparisons between her in this film and Audrey in Roman Holiday more obvious…which leads us to the next film on the list…

THE TERMINATOR (1984), TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY (1991)

(Monster Chiller Horror Month films 9 & 10 of 14)

The Terminator & The Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Previous viewings: 4

That Terminator is out there. He can not be bargained with. He can’t be reasoned with. It doesn’t feel pity or remorse or fear…and it absolutely will not stop EVER…until you are dead!

I remember the first time I saw The Terminator. It was at the Lyceum Theater at Georgia State University. The college crowd that I was among was silent throught most of the movie. A few gasps were audible here and there, but the crowd was totally into it and it was damn scary...

At least that’s the way I remember it.

Today, it’s still an intense viewing experience. The plot of this relentless futuristic cyborg going back in time for the sole purpose of killing the mother of the man who will save humanity makes might make you feel silly if you look at the plot too closely. As the 1001 book points out, this film could have easily been a candidate for an especially cheesy episode of Mystery Science Theater, yet it never does. I’m buying into the Terminator thing and I’m still buying into The Terminator thing. I guess we have James Cameron to thank for that. And Arnold. And one other name-Brad Fiedel and his sythestisized heart pounding music. Thanks, Brad.

Favorite line: Not one of the more famous ones, but the scene where the Termintor is walking down the hall of his lodgings with his shotgun, a black guy backs away from him and says, “DAMN!” Don’t ask me why I like this so much, but I know if I saw a Terminator coming, I’d probably say the same thing.

Thank God he went back to 1984 and not 2012: I gripe about this a lot. How cell phones and the ease of communication and reaching people might be good for our lives, but bad for drama. Think of the scenes in The Terminator that involve phone books, answering maching and phone booths. With that music thumping in the background it makes the tension almost unbearable. Now, picture the Terminator going back to 2012. He kills some biker, takes him clothes and laptop and looks up Sarah Conner on Google. Uh, not exciting.

I thought the one thing The Terminator didin’t need was a sequel, but we got one in 1991, Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

I stand corrected about us needing this. The first hour of T2 never seems to let up. With the first Terminator movie to build on, T2 has a new, more advanced Terminator sent from the future to kill the young John Conner. This film has the effective twist of the old Terminator model (Arnold) being reprogrammed to protect John Conner from the new one one.

The second half drags a bit with a few too many Sarah Conner voice over narrations, “The Terminator was the like the father John had never had and would never have…"or something like that. And the product placement was a bit much at times. (How many Pepsi machines are in this movie?) But these are minor quibbles. I like this one too. Both would be in my book.

But one thing The Terminator series didn’t need was a sequel to the sequel and this time I think I was right.

TARGETS (1968), EDWARD SCISSORHANDS (1990)

THE MATRIX (1999)

Husband: I’m a little lost at what to say about The Matrix. What say you give this one a go?

Wife: I’m not sure what to say about it.

Husband: Well, you’re the one that made me go see it in the theater twice! And the first sequel, which was very loud.

Wife: So you didn’t like it?

Husband: The first time I saw it, I thought it was pretty good. You didn’t know what world where Neo was in or where the plot was heading. But once you’ve seen it once, it loses something without the elephant of surprise.

Wife: Did you say elephant of surprise?

Husband: No..Well maybe. I’ve just seen too many films lately. So why do you like watching this so much. The forum is yours.

Wife: OK...It was so original. I had never seen anything like it before. Special effects were stunning. Really, it was just really cool.

Husband: I'm sorry, I wasn't listening. Are you done yet?

Wife: I'm definitely done.

Husband: OK. It still loses something the second time around.

Wife: And like there’s any “elephant of surprise” when you see the horses head scene from The Godfather.

Husband: You aren’t allowed to talk about The Godfather in disparaging terms on this blog.

Wife: All right. Are we done yet?

Husband: Let me do the word count...Yep, we're done.

INDEPENDENCE DAY (1996)

I realize this big budget 1996 aliwn invasion movie has its fans, but if I were pressed on this issue, I could probably come up with at least twenty alien invasion movies that I'd rather watch before Independence Day. So I checked that scholarly source called Wikipedia and made my list.

Alien/Alien Invasion Movies I'd rather watch than Independence Day that aren't in the 1001 movie book from that scholarly source called Wikipedia.

25 Plan Nine From Outer Space-All-time classic Ed Wood bad film that really is must viewing for any well rounded movie fan.
24 Zardoz-This 70's film with Sean Connery is just plain weird. People seem to either love it or hate it, but I'd still watch it over Independence Day.
23 The Creeping Terror-Best viewed on Mystery Science Theater 3000.
22 It Came from Outer Space Saw this during the 80's as part of a 3D spectacular double feature with The Creature From the Black Lagoon!
21 Robot Monster-The movie that prevents Plan Nine from being the worst movie of all time.
20 Teenagers from Outer Space-Raging hormones and aliens are just a bad mix.
19 Fire Maidens From Outer Space-Yet another, MST3K listing.
18 This Island Earth-This in fact was the film used for the MST3K feature film.
17 The Blob-Killer ooze creeps under the door and the world can only be saved by a young Steve McQueen and the lady that played Helen Crump!
16 Moster A-Go Go-My personal choice for the worst film of all time, but I'd still have more fun watching it than Independence Day.
15 Without Warning-Think it is interesting that Martin Landau and Jack Palance survived this monster mash to later win Oscars. Haven't seen this one in awhile, doubt if I'll get around to seeing again. Not listed in the Wikipedia list. Got to make a note to add this one.
14 Fire in the Sky-Straightfoward country folk who try to get the authorities to try to belive that aliens have landed. Can't say why, but I kind of like this one.
13 The Man Who Wasn’t There-Good movie. Coen Brothers. Only problem is that it is listed with the alien invasion movies and it isn't an alien invasion movie! The title character really is there! His invisibility is just a figurative allusion. He isn't Claude Rains invisible! Damn you Wikipedia!
12 2010-Underrated sequel to the Kubrick classic.
11 Predator-I would have given this Arnold adventure the 1001 nod over Independence Day, but nobody asked me.
10 Invaders From Mars-50's classic that was remade as a fair 80's remake. I'll go with the original for this list.
9 Liquid Sky-Heroin! Lesbians! Aliens! What's not to love?
8 Little Shop of Horrors-And I'm going with the musical version, because the original from American International isn't very good.
7 Cloverfield-Has the hand held camera film become passe? I did like the way it was used here.
6 Cocoon -I'm a little surprised this isn't on the 1001 list. Maybe they left it out because Steve Guttenberg's in it, I don't know.
5 Contact-Good adaptation of Carl Sagan's novel.
4 Brother From Another PlanetUnderrated 80's Indie Sci-Fi.
3 Repo Man-A real cult film if there ever was one. Also of interest that it was produced by ex-Monkee, Michael Nesmith.
2 Star Trek II or IV-The 1001 editors really need to pick at least one Star Trek movie for the 1001 list. I mean all three Star Wars movie are there! How bout some love for Spock!
1 Superman II-Still probably my favorite Superhero movie.

THE BEAUTIFUL TROUBLEMAKER (1991, FRANCE)

We go through a lot of DVD checkouts at the libary. Some patrons tell me that the disc they checked out wouldn't play. We do have methods to check this, (It could be your player you know!)but I took this French film home called La Belle Noiseuse home because whoever had it checked out said it wouldn't play. So I take it home. I realize it's not on the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die list, but I feel I've got to be open-minded about such things and it also has an attractive French woman named Emmanuelle Beart clearly in the buff, so I take it home.

It's a real long movie. Really long. It's about a painter. He's painting a chick (that Emmanuelle Beart that I just mentioned). He's painting her. He takes a break. He poses her. And they repeat the process. A few other characters come in. Yadda Yadda Yadda. It's about four hours long.

My descripiton is sketchy becuause I really didn't sit throught the whole thing. I took advantage of fast forwarding on the remote quite a bit. I may have watched an hour of it in total.

Well, at least it's not on the 1001 movie list. I don't have to sit through the whole thing, right?

Then I was looking at a fellow 1001 blogger's post and realzed that it was on the list! Zoinks! It's under the English title A Beautiful Troublemaker and I just missed it on the list.

Do I really have to go back and watch the whole thing? Usually, I'm the one who tries to get others to watch more artsy films, but this time I'm afraid I'm going to have to argue for the other side. Please don't make me watch the whole thing again! I realy don't want to see that beautiful naked woman posed by that painter anymore! (Did I really just say that?) Oh, hell. I'm counting it! I only read about half of The Brothers Karamozov, but if you ask me if I read it, I'm not going to qualify it. I've read it, damn it! I've read it!

Steve at 1001 Plus gives this a review which I fully endorse at:
http://1001plus.blogspot.com/2012/05/watching-paint-dry.html

Sam at The Last 200 movies liked the film more than I did, but I still found his review very well done.
http://thelast200movies.blogspot.com/2011/07/132-la-belle-noiseuse-aka-beautiful.html

APOCALYPSE, NOW (1979), HEARTS OF DARKNESS: A FILMMAKER'S APOCALYPSE (1991)

I just finished reading Peter Biskind’s book Easy Riders, Raging Bulls and watching the Hollywood documentary, A Decade Under the Influence. It made me nostalgic to revisit he American films of the 70’s that I grew up with. Ah…the films I grew up with. When Hollywood finally began to show the courage and made the kind of films that Europeans had been making for years. When a personal film like Five Easy Pieces could actually be a hit! Those were the days…The American movie Renaissance. But they weren’t all masterpieces, were they? I admit to being a huge fan of cheesy disaster movies during this era. But for every Towering Inferno or Love Story, there was a Lenny or The Deer Hunter or The Godfather or Midnight Express. Perhaps I’m romanticizing it a bit. As I said, they weren’t all masterpieces.

No film typifies the 70’s more to me than Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam epic Apocalypse, Now. There is so much in it that is brilliant (the great bombing sequences, Colonel Jessup’s scenes, the entry into the Kurtz compound) and some in it that is overdone (the crew’s massacre of civilians making them totally unsympathetic from that point on!). But I’ll tell you what-don’t miss it! People died and went crazy in the making of it (See the documentary Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse). All you-the viewer have to do is watch it! You aren’t in any real danger!

The story deals with Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) being sent on a mission down the Dugong River with his crew during the Vietnam War to assassinate the rogue Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando). I had never seen the Redux version that I just finished watching which included a twenty minute or so scene with a group of Frenchmen that was completely removed from the films original release. This made Apocalypse, Now not only an interesting revisitation but a partially new experience as well.

During the scenes where Willard’s crew was going down the river, I had a thought…a daydream. These films from the 70’s were from a time long ago now and viewing them again, I feel as if I too am going down a river, albeit a less dangerous and metaphorical one. A river of dreams. A river of hope. A river of disappointment. But I feel the need to go down this river all month. What will I find at the end? I don’t know, but I certainly want to go down the 70’s rivers and soak in all its components. But am I an assassin? I guess I’ll find out.

TITANIC : THE MUSICAL (1997); JAMES CAMERON'S TITANIC (1997) vs A NIGHT TO REMEMBER (1997)

Benjamin Guggenheim from Titanic: The Musical:
Is it possible, do you think, that we have this coming? I can’t help remembering something Balzac wrote. He said, “Behind every great fortune lies a great crime. So let’s confess it. Who wants to start?”

I was not very familiar with Titanic: the Musical until our community theater put on a production in the Spring of 2012. When I was approached about appearing in it, in my hubris I agreed and thought I could handle this with no problem. Equipped with a set of song and dance skills that are a bit below professional standards, I soon found myself a bit over my head.

I quickly found myself like Sam Beckett from an episode of Quantum Leap where I leaped into the body of (some Broadway actor, I don’t know, Tommy Tune maybe?) a song and dance man with the pressure to perform at a high level.

I was playing the millionaire “playboy” Benjamin Guggenheim who (spoiler alert!) goes down with the ship after getting his French mistress safely on the lifeboat.

These are the songs I had to learn. (All the music throughout the show is very good, much of it quite inspiring.)

Act I
“Godspeed Titanic”
The opening. The words to this one came fairly easily, but I found it really hard to sing in spots. I hear people around me singing it so beautifully. I just hope I don’t mess it up too much.

“What a Remarkable Age This Is.”
A very fun song. I do enjoy a lot of the lyrics in this one.

“A fellas invented see through film, he calls it cellophane, another has built a parachute for jumping out of an airplane. Remarkable things flow endlessly throughout the human brain. Indeed and what a remarkable age this is.”

It was just a question of learning blocking on this one…and also how to properly put on a cummerbund.

“Ladies Maid”
The easiest part to learn, but did point out another problem. In this scene, I am not playing Benjamin Guggenheim, I am playing a third class passenger who is an aspiring millionaire. The problem is changing into a third class outfit after wearing a tuxedo after changing out my boarding outfit from the first scene. After this, I put back on my boarding outfit…not to mention wearing pajamas in scene two before once again putting on my boarding outfit. It’s not the lines or even the music I was most worried about-It’s the damn changing of clothes!

“Ladies Maid” is my favorite scene that I’m in the whole show. I have my only solo bit here.

“I want to be a millionaire! Millionaire in America strike it rich and spend the fortune I amass!”

Just hope my voice holds out as I don’t have a spare.

“The Latest Rag”
This song has the frightening possibility that I may have to dance. Yes, I’m dancing or something approximating dancing. This went from being my favorite song in the show to the one I dread the most. I had a friend who saw the show who said it was so great how you were pretending you couldn’t dance and your partner kept telling you what to do. Note to friend-I wasn’t pretending!

No Moon #2
Well there’s an iceberg dead ahead. Mr. Guggenheim and friends are playing a friendly game of cards and everyone is on the stage singing dramatically until we strike it. A wonderfully staged scene among many wonderfully staged scenes from our production.

Act II

Opening of Act II
Not a song…but I have to begin Act II by banging on John Jacob Astor’s door. So essentially if I forget my first line, we can’t do act 2. No pressure!

“Dressed in Your Pyjamas in the Grand Salon”
This has become about my favorite song in the whole show and not just because I get to sing it wearing pajamas! I wanted to do the scene carrying a teddy bear, but had to remind myself that I was playing Benjamin Guggenheim, not Thurston Howell the Third! I have some fun lines from a brief duet.

“Dressed in your pyjamas in the grand salon, looks to be bizarre to the extreme. Things would improve if the steward opens the bar!”

“Getting Into the Lifeboats”
Act frantic! The ship is going down! Don’t forget your cues. There is one part where I’m the only one singing. Of course, we’re high up on deck and in my one song line I’m basically going to just scream so the audience can hear.

Mr. Guggenheim then gets to repeat the quote from Balzac from the top of this page before going down with the ship.

“Finale”
Will be singing as one of the dead. (Alas, poor Benjamin did not survive the journey)

This has been an amazing experience. The musical talent around me has been inspiring (and a little intimidating) The sets were amazing (How’d they do that!). And the director’s vision for this project was titanic in every way.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Benjamin Guggenheim from James Cameron’s Titanic: “We are dressed in our best and are prepared to go down as gentlemen-but we would like a brandy.”

Since this is a 1001 movie blog, I do have to mention James Cameron’s Titanic. Of course, it won countless awards, set box office records and had the now famous Jack and Rose love story, so any criticism I have of it will fall upon deaf ears, I’m sure. Not that I don’t find it a very worthwhile movie, with a pretty amazing recreation of the Titanic disaster. That being said, I found that there were so many stories going from the ship, the relentless focus on the Jack/Rose love story kept me asking what about the other stories from the ship? I mean the film is over three hours long! What about the millionaires? What about more from Mr. Andrews or the Captain? Where is the second class during all this? I would have preferred more of an ensemble piece, sort of like Nashville. That’s it! Robert Altman’s Titanic. Keep Jack and Rose, but just as one of many stories.
Favorite character not named Guggenheim: David Warner as Cal Hockley’s evil ex-policeman bodyguard.


Benjamin Guggenheim from A Night to Remember: “We have dressed now in our best and are prepared to go down like gentlemen…If anything should happen to me I would like my wife to know that I behaved decently.”

The 1958 film, A Night to Remember, based on the book by Walter Lord is more of an ensemble piece. The closest thing the film has to a main character is Mr. Lightoller, played by Kenneth More. The funny thing is that one of the criticism distributors in the United States had with this movie is that there wasn’t really a star, (James Cameron made sure with his film that this wouldn’t be an issue) but I agree with the assessment that the ship is the star. Yes, they get some of the technical points wrong, as they didn’t know the boat split in half until years later. That didn’t bother me too much, as the stories on board were still moving.
Favorite character not named Guggenheim: The drunk cook who casually floats to safety on deck chairs and survives none the worse for wear.

And the winner is: A Night to Remember. Yes, you should still see the James Cameron film, but let us remember A Night to Remember.

TWELFTH NIGHT (1996)

Classics Revisited Book Group (Posting 14)

Twelfth Night directed by Trevor Nunn
or
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

Trevor Nunn is a renowned name to many in Shakespeare adaptationland. His version of Macbeth from the 70’s (actually just a filmed version of the stage play with Ian McKellan and Judi Dench) is a bare-bones production favorite of mine. His cinematic version of Twelfth Night goes the opposite way with its elaborate costumes and settings and the casting of several stars including Helena Bonham Carter and Ben Kingsley.

I know a Shakespeare teacher who prefers the filmed stage adaptation of Twelfth Night with Helen Hunt, though that wasn’t available on video last time I checked. Of course, through the magic of YouTube, it probably is now.

Play or movie? Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare’s most endearing comedies. Read the text and find a version you like. There are certainly a lot of them out there.

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (1993), AS YOU LIKE IT (2006)

Classics Revisited Book Group (Posting 13)

Much Ado About Nothing & As You Like It directed by Kenneth Branagh
or
Much Ado About Nothing and As You Like It by William Shakespeare

I have a friend that says I have a “man crush” on actor, director and modern Shakespeare popularizer Kenneth Branagh. I certainly wouldn’t put it that way, but I am a fan of his creative and accessible adaptations. Much Ado About Nothing (1993) is certainly an entertaining film and I don’t see many others trying to do what Branagh does with Shakespeare. The cast of Much Ado is very high profile and features Branagh, Denzel Washington, Emma Thompson, and Michael Keaton, who is quite funny as Dogberry. I even give Keanau Reeves points for trying as the evil Don John. Also in the cast are Branagh regulars Brian Blessed and Richard Briers.

Branagh’s As You Like It from 2007 was not as critically applauded as the Much Ado About Nothing, but I find the transfer of the story to feudal Japan successful and confess to liking this one as well. It also has interesting supporting performances from Alfred Molina, Kevin Kline, Richard Briers and Brian Blessed.

Movies or Play? I think it would be okay to just see the adaptations on this one, but I would never try to discourage the reading of the plays as well. But I don’t have a man crush on Kenneth Branagh! But see Dead Again, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets if you get the chance anyway. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

TOTALL RECALL (1990)

Science Fiction Week Day 7

Total Recall (1990)

Remembrance of Viewing Past: I’m frankly a little surprised that this Arnold Schwarzenegger film is on the list, but it's definitely worth another look.

After viewing: I always thought the story for this one was pretty involving and knowing the story twists didn't really detract too much from the second viewing. I did lose track of the number of people that Arnold kills, but this type of excess seems much more palatable to me in a Sci-Fi movie than in a contemporarily set one.

MANHUNTER (1986) vs. SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991)

Horror Week Day 6

Manhunter vs. Silence of the Lambs

These two films are based on the novels Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris. Both stories are about an FBI manhunt for a serial killer in which the main investigator enlists the aid of the infamous imprisoned serial killer Hannibal Lecter.

But which do I like better?

The characters
Will Graham (Manhunter) vs. Clarice Starling (Silence of the Lambs)
That’s a tough one. Will Graham’s FBI man must get into the head of Dr. Lecter in order for him to get the scent or the feel of the serial killer he is chasing. Clarice Starling also wants to get into Dr. Lecter’s head, but more for information on the bad's guys whereabouts than anything else.
I identify with the Will Graham character a little more than Clarice and William Petersen does well in the part, but Jodie Foster is so damn good in Silence of the Lambs I have to give this a slight nod to those lambs that won’t stop sceaming..

The Tooth Fairy (Manhunter) vs. Buffalo Bill (Silence of the Lambs)
Let’s see: The Tooth Fairy and Buffalo Bill both (as Dr. Lecter points out in Silence of the Lambs) covet. Buffalo Bill covets what he sees everyday and starves large women to easily remove their loose skin. He puts a moth in the mouth of one of his victims to experience the metamorphosis. Dolarhyde “The Tooth Fairy” of Manhunter uses sharp fake teeth to bite his victims and is obsessed with The Great Red Dragon painting by William Blake. He covets the familes he watches repeatedly in the home movies he views at his job. Overall, I think Buffalo Bill is a little more complex, but Dolarhyde did have the more tender moment in Manhunter after he weeps after making love to a blind woman. Still, those pesky moths give this round to Silence of the Lambs.

Hannibal vs. Hannibal
But really, it’s all about Hannibal the cannibal, the psychotic psychiatrist who routinely eats his patients and others but is even scarier in that he is more intelligent and well spoken than those who study or try to understand him. Brian Cox is a very good actor (I think of the screenwriter McKee in Adaptation whenever I see him) and he portrays the intelligent Lecter as very threatening. There is no way I would ever want this guy to pshycoanlayze me- He’s too damn creepy!

Anthony Hopkins’s Lechter may be even more scary because if you didn’t know that he ate people’s faces you could definitely get sucked in by this guy and never know what hit you as you innocently begin to blurt out your most intimate thoughts from his couch. Hopkins as Lecter may be ingrained in me as part of pop culture at this point, but no one is twisting my arm as I go with Hopkins and Silence of the Lambs.

Best Dramatic scene
Manhunter’s gotcha scene has Will Graham hurtling himself through a glass door to try to save the damsel in distress from the evil Dolarhyde. Wait for the SWAT team Will! All hell breaks lose and it’s the scene we the audience have been waiting for.

Silence of the Lamb’s big scene to me is when Hannibal Lecter engineers his escape through…uh…disguising himself behind the ripped off face of one of his victims. Ugh! The scene where the SWAT team comes in to discover the murdered police officers may be the film’s signature moment.
I’ll have to go with Silence of the Lambs once again.

Well is there anything that Manhunter can win here? Well, yes. I think the overall story is a little better in Manhunter mostly because of the nicely paced look at Will getting that 'serial killer scent' back to successfully track his prey. It gets some additional bonus points for the fast tempo music, the fact that it is better than the Red Dragon remake with Ralph Fiennes, and that part of it was filmed outside of Georgia State University while I was going to school there.

Silence of the Lambs get bonus points for having a bit part for B-movie directing legend Roger Corman, Dawn of the Dead directing legend George Romero and featured the only screen credit for "Darla" who so winningly portrayed Buffalo Bill's dog "Precious."

I expected Silence of the Lambs to be on the 1001 list, but I am surprised and glad that Manhunter is there too.

Day after effect: Did make me want to go back and read the Thomas Harris books.

Tomorrow: There must be some movie on this list with a Halloween theme. Let me think on it a minute.

SCREAM (1996)

Horror Week Day 4

Scream (1996)

I know I’m about fifteen years late to the party on this one, but I don’t normally watch these type of horror films anymore. What struck me about my virginal viewing of Scream was that the entire life of most of these teens revolves around an existence populated by the obsession of the type of film in which they are a part of.

This films references some of the films from the preceding twenty years that I remember watching, most particularly Halloween. It’s also interesting that Craven mentions his own film Nightmare on Elm Street. “But the sequels sucked!” or so says Drew Barrymore. There’s even a cameo by Exorcist star Linda Blair! I’m not sure where the Henry Winkler fits in, though it might have been cool if he had been murdered by pyschos wearing Fonzie masks.

It’s also interesting that whenever lead character Neve Campbell tries to say in some way that this isn’t a movie, another character will quickly correct her and point out that yes she is in a movie, though Neve vocalizes her wish that her genre was a Meg Ryan romantic comedy.

For me, there’s a real shortage of sympathetic characters, except maybe Campbell, but I think maybe that’s the point. There’s enough plot twists and mayhem to keep fans of the genre happy and Mr. Craven definitely puts new twists in it.

My two favorite characters are David Arquette as the Barney Fife-like deputy and Jamie Kennedy as Randy, the nerdy kid, who understands the ins and outs of horror movies a little two well.

I don’t think I’ll be venturing further into the Scream movies, but I admit that this one had more than its share of good moments.

Day after affect: Didn’t feel any aftershocks as far as scares were concerned, but there were a couple of moments the next day that I thought, “Hey, that part was pretty clever.”

Tomorrow: I’ll find the most recent 1001 movie listing in the genre I can find.

CHUNGKING EXPRESS (1994, HONG KONG)

My own personal March movie madness. My goal is make 31 posts in 31 days about 31 movies. They all must be non-U. S. films that I haven’t seen before. Why do I make this stipulation? Don’t know exactly, by we all have to have goals, don’t we?

Day twenty-seven, from Hong Kong, while still under the control of the British Empire
Chungking Express (Expiration date: 1994)

You know...sometimes with an art film you might watch it once, you know, and ask "What was that about?" or say "I didn't get it." Then, you know watch it again and you're like, "Hey, I get it! That was a pretty cool film." That was true for me of Chungking Express. The two stories in this film didn't seem to have anything to do with each other, yet they did, but that was the point. Wasn't it? Or was it? I think I've confused myself. I'll bet Godard never used any Mamas and the Papas song in his movies, eh? Not that that's important. Anyway, would I see more Wong Kar Wai films? Why, yes I would.

THE BUTCHER BOY (1997, IRELAND)

My own personal March movie madness. My goal is make 31 posts in 31 days about 31 movies. They all must be non-U. S. films that I haven’t seen before. Why do I make this stipulation? Don’t know exactly, by we all have to have goals, don’t we?

Day twenty-six, from the Republic of Ireland
The Butcher Boy (1997)

A picture show of obvious quality and stinging dark humor, but when you have a main character so unlikable, who you just want to see knocked on his arse, is that really a good thing? But isn't a break from the conventional what I'm supposedly looking for? Isn't this why I'm trying to watch all these fekkin' movies? Am I not trying to find something different that can move me in a meaningful way? Or is this whole thing just plain bollocks?

I need a drink. No, I can't do it. I need a smoke. No, don't smoke. I feel like such a bogger. Wait, therapy? Yeah, maybe therapy. That would make for some good craic, eh? But it might take me more than one session to get over the image of Sinead O'Connor as the Virgin Mary.

THREE COLORS RED (1994, FRANCE)

My own personal March movie madness. My goal is make 31 posts in 31 days about 31 movies. They all must be non-U. S. films that I haven’t seen before. Why do I make this stipulation? Don’t know exactly, by we all have to have goals, don’t we?

Day twenty-one from Republics of France & Poland
Three Colors Red (1994)

Yesterday I mentioned the first in the Krzysztof Kieslowski color trilogy, but now I’m skipping to the third one (Three Colors Red). Why? I didn’t have a copy of Three Colors White available and it isn’t in the 1001 movie book anyway. This isn’t the first trilogy in the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die book to leave out one its parts. Bergman’s Winter Light-Through a Glass Darkly-The Silence trilogy leaves out the last piece. Here, I guess it’s OK to die if you haven’t seen part 2. But you must see 1 and 3 before you slip off this mortal coil by all means! All that being said, I liked Three Colors Red (Red=fraternity) a lot, more than I liked Three Colors Blue, though I’m starting to see how they fit together. Guess I’m going to have to find a copy of Three Colors White, after all.

THREE COLORS BLUE (1993, FRANCE)

My own personal March movie madness. My goal is make 31 posts in 31 days about 31 movies. They all must be non-U. S. films that I haven’t seen before. Why do I make this stipulation? Don’t know exactly, by we all have to have goals, don’t we?

Day twenty, from the Republics of Poland and France
Three Colors Blue (1993)

The first of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s colors of the French flag trilogy Three Colors Blue (Blue=liberty) Kieslowski’s subtle way of trying to get across the heroine’s internal feelings may take more than one viewing.

THE SWEET HEREAFTER (1997, CANADA)

My own personal March movie madness. My goal is make 31 posts in 31 days about 31 movies. They all must be non-U. S. films that I haven’t seen before. Why do I make this stipulation? Don’t know exactly, by we all have to have goals, don’t we?

Day sixteen, from the Parliamentary democracy of Canada
The Sweet Hereafter (1997)

Any movie that ties The Pied Piper of Hamelin so neatly into its narrative has got to have something going for it. And any movie that inspires me to break out my book The World’s Greatest Fairy Tales (the best book of all time, according to my nostalgic, sentimental self) and read the Pied Pipe of Hamelin has got to have something going for it.

“Our children! Where are our poor children?” was the cry that was soon heard in all the streets. (The Pied Piper of Hamelin from The World’s Greatest Fairy Tales, The Reader’s Digest Association, 1967)