Here's a few more short thoughts on the movies I've been watching...
Get Shorty - dir. Barry Sonnenfeld
A light and funny adaptation of the Elmore Leonard book of the same name. One of the few times I've liked Travolta in anything. Great cast (Hackman, Russo, Gandolfini, Midler, Lindo, De Vito etc.) great send up of Hollywood and crime flicks. Good stuff.
Leon: the Professional - dir. Luc Besson
One of my favorite 90's movies. Jean Reno as the loveable hitman. Gary Oldman chewing the scenery the vomiting it out and chewing it all over again. Danny Aielo as the, get this, mob guy who runs a shop! What a stretch, never saw it coming, etc. And introducing a Lolita-ish Natalie Portman. This movie is sometimes subtle, sometimes so over the top it can see its own bald spot. Cheesy, guilty fun.
Here are some of the previously promised quick-hit reviews for the movies I've watched so far this year.
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit - dir. Kenneth Branagh
A mediocre attempt to kickstart a dormant franchise by replacing Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck with Chris Pine. Sadly, it is run of the mill fare although I do like watching Keira Knightley in just about anything.
Broadchurch season 1
A well crafted slow burn of a murder mystery set in a small British seaside town. Doctor Who no. 10 was pretty good and the requisite quirky small town charcters were solid. My favorite was Olivia Coleman's Detective Miller, or if you're using the Doctor's accent, 'Mela'. Good stuff.
The Sweeney - dir. Nick Love
A 2012 British cop movie based on a 1970's British cop TV show. Well written, tightly paced, and with good acting. Ray Winstone is the Hard Boiled Cop Who Breaks All The Rules who's having an affair with Agent Carter while chasing the bad guys. High stakes were nicely conveyed.
Kite (animated, edited version)
Kite (live action version)
Kite: Liberator (animated)
These are all pretty much crap. I kept waiting for the mildly intriguing premise to pay off. It never came close. Bleck. Poop. Yak.
My Nieghbor Totoro - dir. Hayao Miyazaki
A wonderful and uplifting story of two young girls and their father moving into a new house while dealing with a sick and hospitalized mother/wife. And, as only Miyazaki can, kindly forest spirits interact with the girls, helping them heal. A moving, delightful treat. Also, Catbus!
Patton Oswalt: Tragedy Plus Comedy Equals Time - dir. Bobcat Goldthwait
A funny, insightful stand-up special by one of my favorite comedians. Especially the bits about German humorlessness, Florida, and performing for super drunk casino patrons. I liked it.
Alien 3 - dir. David Fincher
The third best of the five Alien movies (in order: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Prometheus, Alien 4). Not great but not bad either. Nice to see Fincher begin to find his voice.
Se7en - dir. David Fincher
Inky black serial killer cop show elevated by an oustanding script, confident direction, and career-making acting. One of my favorites.
That's all for today. I'll be back soon with more stuff.
I'm starting to think that I'm not very objective when I watch older movies. As I mentioned earlier, in my review of The Last Picture Show, when I see an older, alleged classic, in this case, The French Connection, I can't help thinking I've seen it all before.
This is nobody's fault, I'm simply seeing movies in the wrong order. Maybe in 1971 (I was one, by the way) seeing a driven, morally dubious, casually racist, hard-nosed cop was something new and refreshing. It was light years beyond Joe Friday's well-mannered buzz cut. Unfortunately, by the time I get around to watching Popeye Doyle do his thing, well, it's nothing new to me at this point.
As a teen in the 80's I got to see Harry Callahan ask punks if they felt lucky while delivering an NRA-friendly monologue about the specs of his handgun. I saw Marion Cobretti defy his Captain and be a tough guy anti-hero while casually bedding material witness Red Sonja. I saw John McClane ruin a Christmas party while he popularized wife-beater undergarments and oh-by-the-way thwarted a high level robbery masquerading as a terrorist attack.
And now, having seen The Wire, Homicide: Life On the Streets, Law and Order etcetera, etcetera... it's kinda hard to find something new in the cop genre. That's probably why I dug the first season of True Detective so much. Sure it relied on some of the basic cop show tropes, but it tried, and succeeded, in bringing new things to the table.
So when I finally get around to seeing Gene Hackman (who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Doyle) I guess I have a hard time truly enjoying it. And I know this is on me. But...
Having considered all of the above, I still liked it quite a bit. Watching cop shows where they don't have cell phones and the internet to solve problems is fun. I enjoyed watching the groundwork the cops had to lay just to follow a guy around on foot to see where he went and who he met. William Friedkin, the director, filmed one of the most famous car chase scenes of all time and it does not disappoint. The action and suspense were handled well, the writing was good, and the characters were fun and well-realized. Mostly dug it, but I thought the ending was not so great.
Overall, I enjoyed this film. I think I would even watch it again and I would not say that about most of the movies I've seen so far in the AFI 100.
What I'm gonna do is write super short thoughts about each of the books I've read this year. Simple. Nothing fancy. Easy peasy.
I'll do the same for the movies I've watched someday soon.
BOOKS
Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell - by Susanna Clark
First class world building. Fascinating characters. Second best book I've read this year so far. Challenging yet rewarding. Outstanding stuff.
Silver Screen Fiend - by Patton Oswalt
A fun (but brief) rumination on Oswalt's movie addiction. Introduced me to the concept of one's own Night Cafe moment. Solid.
The Name of the Wind The Wise Man's Fear - by Patrick Rothfuss
Excellent fantasy novels. *heavy sigh* When is the next one coming out? I still think about these books all the time and I am eagerly looking forward to reading them again. I want to read the next installment of this series more than the next Game of Thrones book. That means I want to read it a whole lot.
The Spy Who Came In From the Cold - by John Le Carre
A bleak, nihilistic cold war spy thriller. I wish I'd discovered Le Carre earlier in my life so I could have read more of his books by now. A treat. A downer. A gem.
Atlanta Burns - by Chuck Wendig
I've long been a fan of Wendig's website terribleminds.com where he is often silly while being informative on many topics, including writing. This book is not silly. It made me uncomfortable several times. Real people with hard lives making tough choices (often not very good ones) while surrounded by venal and heinous people. Ugh. I dug it.
Field of Prey - by John Sandford
The 24th entry in the Prey series. I've been reading this series since the early 90's. This one is similar to the rest - a tightly paced, character driven police procedural starring Lucas Davenport. This one is creepy and fun.
Deadline - by John Sandord
A spin-off series from the Prey books. Also tightly paced, also character driven police prodecural but this time starring a different cop named Virgil Flowers. Also fun.
The Blade Itself Before They Are Hanged The Last Argument of Kings - by Joe Abercrombie
The First Law trilogy. Super fun fantasy novels. Cynical and violent. This is the second time I've read this trilogy. It will not be the last.
Love and Rockets Vols 1-5 by Jaime Hernandez
From its beginings as a kinda sorta sci-fi comic to it's current iteration as a mature character study, these are among my favorite graphic novels of all time. Awesome awesome awesome. Please send me money so I can buy the rest. (and also Jaime's brother Gilbert's GN's as well) This series is an embarassment of riches.
The Colour of Magic - by Terry Pratchett
Fun fantasy novel about a ridiculous world full of ridiculous people (and creatures) and their ridiculous (mis)adventures. It is like reading about the best D&D game of all time where the DM is on laughing gas and the players are drunk and/or concussed. Hilarious.
East of Eden - by John Steinbeck
Possibly my favorite novel ever. A delight to revisit. The best representation of real people and real problems I've ever read. Every character is recognizable which is why it's such a gut-punch when bad things happen. Wonderful. Tragic. Mesmerizing. A classic book by a titan of the craft. I literally cried when I finished reading it. Again.
Hounded - by Kevin Hearne
Urban fantasy about a 2100 year old Irish Druid set in Tempe, Arizona of all places. Fast paced, lean, entertaining. Will read more in this series. Good stuff burdened by what kinda resembles a romance novel cover.
Gathering Prey - by John Sandford
The 25th entry in the Prey series. This one didn't quite grab me as much as some of the previous books. Solid if not spectacular. I did laught out loud a couple of times, but this entry goes to the bottom half of the series.
More stuff coming soon. Gotta go psyche myself up to watch Avengers: Age of Ultron tomorrow. Later kids.
Way back in the day, in the dark ages before I had ever heard of Quentin Tarantino and before I really knew what indie cinema was I was generally content watching most movies. I was in my early twenties and while I was chock full of (mostly misinformed and just downright awful) opinions about movies, I was a long way from knowing what was good or what I liked and even further from what might actually inspire me. I was neck deep in a crappy sort of solipsism with no relief in sight.
Then, randomly, I saw an interview with Tarantino about his debut movie, Reservoir Dogs. I had never heard of this guy or this movie, but hey, I like movies so I guess I'll watch this segment. Honestly, I can't even remember what show it was. 60 Minutes? Maybe. Dunno. I've sort of but not really tried to find it on YouTube but no dice.
Anyway, I remember them showing a clip of Mr. Blonde taking a razor from is boot while Tarantino explained that while writing the scene he didn't know the razor was there until Mr. Blonde took it out. It was, for me, a young and impressionistic wannabe writer and clueless film fan, the moment that I wanted to see this movie and where my lifelong interest in Tarantino's films began. This moment also was the first stepping stone to my becoming a film fan rather than just a guy who watches movies.
Soon thereafter I rented a VHS copy of Reservoir Dogs (shout out to Horkley's Video) and had my mind blown. It is in no way an exaggeration when I say that this movie changed the way I experienced movies. So just imagine how giddy I was with anticipation when I saw the trailer for Pulp Fiction.
I remember going to opening night with my friends (shoutout to Mark, Jake, and Tracy) and absolutely loved it. I was transfixed by the violence, entranced by the dialogue, and kicked squarely in the junk by just how bloody cool it was. I proceeded to see it probably six or seven times in the theater. As soon as it came out on VHS I bought the letter boxed copy (shout out to Suncoast Video) and watched it again. I was just so very pleased with the cleverness, the debauchery, and the characterizations.
And then life shambled on. Other movies. Other Tarantino movies, even. I moved a few times. I had about a millions jobs. I went to school and then dropped out. I got married. I got divorced. I moved again blah blah blibbity blah.
So when I got to number 94 on the AFI list and there's Pulp Ficton, I thought, well hello old friend, let's reacquaint ourselves, shall we? And then I sat down to watch this movie for the first time in about fifteen years.
And suddenly I felt a bit awkward. I've changed, haven't I, old friend? It's not you, it's me. But not in a bad way, I think. I never thought that the characters in this movie were noble paragons of virtue. I always knew they were scumbag criminals to one degree or another, but they were awesome romanticized versions of scumbag criminals. I suppose I had always viewed this movie through rose tinted glasses and now I was seeing it afresh.
Gone are the days when I thought Vincent Vega was a god among men with a penchant for being in the bathroom every time something inportant happened.
Gone is the awe that I viewed Mia Wallace with as she danced at Jack Rabbit Slim's after doing coke in the ladies room shortly before she OD's on heroin and gets an adrenaline needle mainlined into her heart.
Gone is the moment when I was bummed out for Jules because he wanted to quit being a heinous gangster to lead a relatively normal life...you know, like Cain from Kung Fu.
Instead of being happily overwhelmed by the violence, the dialogue, the non-linear storytelling and the general badassness of the thing, now I see the bad people doing hard things in a crazed world.
To paraphrase Wooderson, I grew older and it stayed the same age.
Which is totally not a bad thing at all. One of the great things about movies is that we can enjoy them in different ways depending on where our emotions and life are at the time of the viewing. Different messages and meaning can come through simply because of mood. That's awesome.
So, Pulp Fiction, you glorious monster, I'm glad we got reaccquainted after all of these years. And while I view you differently than before, I still love you and I'm glad that you're still a part of my life. You are a one of a kind thrill-ride roller coaster overflowing with sin and style and I wouldn't have it any other way. A.
Here is the updated version of what I have been ingesting through my eye holes. This year has been (so far) blessedly light on crap. Lots of above average things to be found here. I'm sure it helps that some of these are re-reads or re-watches as that boosts the averages.
Books
Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
by Susanna Clark A-
Silver Screen Fiend by Patton
Oswalt B-
The Name of the Wind by Patrick
Rothfuss B
The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick
Rothfuss B
The Spy Who Came In From the Cold
by John Le Carre B+
Atlanta Burns by Chuck Wendig B-
Field of Prey by John Sandford B
Deadline by John Sandford B-
The Blade Itself by Joe
Abercrombie B
Love and Rockets vols. 1-5 by
Jaime Hernandez A
Before They Are Hanged by Joe
Abercrombie B
The Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie B+
Movies/TV series
Jack Ryan Shadow Recruit C+
Broadchurch season 1 B+
the Sweeney B-
Kite (anime, edited version) C-
Kite (live version) D
Kite Liberator (anime, I didn't
finish it) I (incomplete, but probably pretty bad)
I was born in 1970. Growing up we had four channels on our TV. ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS. That's it. Cable didn't exist and neither did the internet. There were really only two ways to see movies: go to the movie theater or watch the edited, commerical-filled versions they showed on network TV.
In 1983 we got a VCR. Holy shit what a world changing invention this was. Now there was a way to watch movies whenever we wanted! Whee! My life was forever altered and I suddenly had a lot of catching up to do.
One of the first movies I remember watching on VHS was The Sting. I loved it. It is the first con movie I remember seeing and it blew me away. It was all so fresh and new and I was in awe. I honestly thought that at the end (spoilers, I guess, on a movie that is over 40 years old) that Paul Newman was actually dead and not only, you know, faking his death to con Robert Shaw out of his money. Years later I showed The Sting to a friend, but he had already seen several con movies and thus was not impressed with this relic from the 70's, having a good idea that the death was faked from the get-go.
Throughout my life of watching movies I have run into this problem time and time again. Most recently in my virginal viewing of The Last Picture Show.
A coming of age movie made in 1971 and set in 1951 and I watched for the first time in 2015. Since my own coming of age was in the 80's, we can safely assume that I am familiar with the films of a certain John Wilden Hughes, Jr. We can therefore assume that I have seen many coming of age films. We can further assume that by the time I get around to seeing The Last Picture Show, I should, in the immortal words of Lieutenant Frank Drebin, "Please disperse. Nothing to see here. Keep Moving. Please."
There's absolutely nothing wrong with this movie. I thought there were some pacing issues, but nothing huge. I thought the acting was fine and the writing was really quite good and the cast was awesome and the choice of being filmed in black and white was appropriate but there was simply nothing new to see. I've seen the ripped off, stolen from, borrowed against and paid-homage-to results in a ton of other movies and while that's not the fault of anyone who had anything to do with this movie, it made for a slightly boring watch.
(Also, I get the feeling that this movie is the victim of Baby Boomers over-inflating things from their generation, just as I do with stuff from my own generation. If this is actually, truly the 95th best movie ever made, well then, color me underwhelmed. But for folks who were born during the depression, came of age in the late 40's and early 50's and got to watch their youth displayed on film in 1971 they probably got over-excited and...yeah, I think they over valued this one a bit. I daresay that anyone born in 1971 and beyond would not rate this film so highly.)
Anyway, despite all of the grumbling I've just grumbled, it is a solid movie and an overall enjoyable experience, if a bit dull because I've seen it all before. Maybe that's on me for not being objective enough. C+.
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