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Moriarty Picks His 24 Favorite Films Of 2007! PART TWO! The Main Event! Two Films Under $1 Million! Blood And Bad Decisions!
Hey, everyone. “Moriarty” here.
As I was saying…
We can dispense with the preamble this time and just get right into the top ten, starting with another special award for an experience that helped define this year for me…
BEST THEATRICAL RE-RELEASE
BLADE RUNNER: THE FINAL CUT
BLADE RUNNER: THE FINAL CUT
Last March, I started running a series here on the site called “25 Years Ago,” reviews of films from 1982, which I consider one of the very best years of geek cinema ever. We ran a number of articles, which you can read here:
Nordling Remembers E.T.!
Harry Remembers TRON!
Obi-Swan Remembers CREEPSHOW!
Capone Remembers POLTERGEIST!
FlmLvr Remembers FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH, PORKY’S and THE LAST AMERICAN VIRGIN!
Cartuna Remembers THE SECRET OF NIMH!
Merrick Remembers STAR TREK II And POLTERGEIST!
Merrick Remembers BLADE RUNNER And THE THING!
Elston Gunn Remembers THE DARK CRYSTAL!
It’s one of my favorite series we’ve ever run here on the site, even if we never quite finished it. If I’d had my way, we would have run at least ten more articles about films like THE ROAD WARRIOR, CONAN, EVIL DEAD, FIRST BLOOD and more. But I’m pleased with what we did get to put up, and it feels right that we wrapped it up with a look backwards and forwards at the same time with my review of BLADE RUNNER: THE FINAL CUT.
Now that I’ve seen it a few times theatrically and watched it at home on DVD (I still haven’t picked up the Blu-Ray version, but I will), I feel like BLADE RUNNER is the perfect film to sum up why 1982 has such lasting power, and how it formed so much of how I think about film even today. It was a film that seemed so revolutionary at the time it was released that it was almost impossible to digest, a movie that has influenced so much of what has come since visually that the DGA should pay Ridley Scott an annual fee as a courtesy. It’s a movie that is positively drunk on the state of the art of filmmaking circa 1982. Ridley Scott pushed the envelope so hard it shredded. Even if you don’t like the movie, you have to respect the enormous craftsmanship of it. It’s one of the great effects films of all time, but it’s more than that... there’s a density to it that is intoxicating. It doesn’t offer up its answers easily, and that’s what I fell in love with the first time. It’s a hard film to love, and when you’re 12 years old and you see something that you know in your bones is a great film and you read professional critics telling you that it’s terrible, worthless, a disaster… it’s a defining moment. This is where I zigged and didn’t give a shit who zagged. I decided to trust my own opinion over the opinion of the box-office or the opinion of the critical mass. And once you decide to do that… once you really decide to turn your back on giving a shit about the Oscars and box-office and simply give your heart to films based on their own merits… it’s liberating. And I’ve never looked back. The films I love… they’re the films I love, and seeing BLADE RUNNER with my friends in Westwood... knowing that 25 years has seen many more people fall deeply in love with this film… it just felt like a celebration. Charles De Lauzarika produced this FINAL CUT version, and it’s not just the movie that felt like a celebration… it’s the restoration work that De Lauzarika and his team did. It’s not just that they went in and tweaked the film one last time… that’s done all the time now. It’s the way they did it… they way they went down the geek checklist and got it all just right. It’s the dream of what BLADE RUNNER is, made real.
And for that… thanks.
And now, let’s get back to it. The top twelve films of 2007, the films that I know I’ll revisit the most, the films that completely defined the year for me. Let’s pick up where we left off...
#10. (THREE-WAY TIE)
KNOCKED UP
Dir./Scr. Judd Apatow
SUPERBAD
Dir. Greg Mottola
Scr. Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg
THE FOOT FIST WAY
Dir. Jody Hill
Scr. Ben Best, Jody Hill, and Danny R. McBride
It was a good year for comedy.
And before you hop into talkback to argue with me about it, hear me out.
I recently got a disturbing e-mail from someone I consider a casual acquaintance. A friendly associate. I’ve met this person many times. And in the e-mail, this person made a very pointed comment about how I am “very friendly to” all things Judd Apatow. And the implication was that there was something shady and underhanded about that.
Seriously? See, I’ve been consistent about this. ANCHORMAN was 2004, and that was the first big Apatow hit, the ramp-up to THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN. Before that, Apatow was more of a cult favorite for comedy nerds because of his TV track record and film credits like THE CABLE GUY and HEAVY WEIGHTS. When I wrote a piece about the script for ANCHORMAN, before it was even officially in production, it was because it made me laugh. It wasn’t political. I didn’t know Apatow was involved with it. And I’d never met him at all.
I laughed. It’s that simple. When I wrote about ANCHORMAN as it came together, my enthusiasm wasn’t initially because Apatow was the producer… it was because it was a great script and a really exciting cast and the things I saw on-set were hilarious and I just had a feeling. There was no advantage to me being such a vocal advocate of a film like that as early as I was, except that I was genuinely excited about it, and in the end, I felt really vindicated that it turned out to be as good as it was.
With VIRGIN, it was on people’s radar, but it was still a small film. When I visited the set, it was not something that people were fighting to get to go see. They were using a converted store space that was obviously a Staples at some point, in a completely unglamorous part of Hollywood, all the way down near Venice and Fairfax. There was no guarantee that Steve Carell would work as the star, or that they’d be able to sell it to people even if it was good. Again… backing them and being excited by what I saw wasn’t some sure thing. It was just that they kept making me laugh. Really, really hard. These are incredibly funny people. I was starting to recognize though that something was going on… that they were gathering a head of steam… collecting even more funny people…
While they were making KNOCKED UP, the pressure was on, and finally other people were paying attention and Judd and Shauna and the cast were starting to become big business. And each time, it’s seemed to me like they were taking chances. Doing something genuinely different. I thought the same thing on PINEAPPLE. And the same thing on SARAH MARSHALL. And each time, I’ve been sure that the streak was going to have to come to a thunderous crash soon.
But I’m still laughing. I feel like someone is making comedies specifically for me. Comedies that pick up where my favorite comedies from my childhood left off. When STRIPES and CADDYSHACK and VACATION and GHOSTBUSTERS and BEVERLY HILLS COP were all coming out, and SNL was huge on TV, and it really seemed like my comedy icons were poised for superstardom that was going to last forever. And then Belushi died. And Ayrkoyd got fat. And Eddie Murphy turned into Elvis. And John Candy died. And Chevy Chase turned into an asshole. And Chris Farley died. And it just seemed like the films that did get made were shitty films… funny moments… interesting chemistry… we took whatever we could get in terms of those comics and comedy in general. The biggest-grossing mainstream comedy of the ‘90s is, I believe, HOME ALONE, and that’s the success studios chased in the ‘90s. We’re still seeing shit like DADDY DAY CAMP squeezed out like clockwork, and Fox in particular has been very good at keeping their unholy broad awful family comedy division alive and fiscally healthy. Coughalvintrilogycough.
The reason I am in constant blatant awe of the Apatow Factory (and I’m still searching for the right collective phrase to describe this sprawling cast of characters that are in orbit around this same creative hug at the moment) is not because of access. That’s just a dumb blessed accident, gang. I’m fortunate enough to watch these people work, and they’re not secretive about it. It’s not alchemy. They’re not afraid of the process. The reason I’m amazed by them is because they have their eye on the ball in a way that no one in comedy has in a long, long time. And they’re generous. They’re determined to keep the door open and keep piling talented people in as long as they can. I’ve said a lot about KNOCKED UP and SUPERBAD as films over the course of their development, and in both cases, the final product is better than I thought it would be while watching them work. Neither one of these films is written as a blockbuster. Think about it. One’s just “couple meets cute, has a baby” with Judd’s particular variations, and the other is Seth and Evan rewriting a script they wrote in high school about being in high school. Both are fairly low-concept, all things considered. And that’s the shaggy charm and the real brilliance of them. It’s not the premise that is supposed to be funny. It’s the recognition of these people. It’s the humanity. I am convinced now, more than ever, that Judd was a big part of THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW. Like, bigger than I realized back then. Because that show’s great moments are still unlike any comedy I’ve ever seen on TV, and I see some of the spirit of that in the work that Judd’s doing now. There’s this willingness to be ugly, in an effort to see what’s great and loveable and human and recognizable in that. Hank Kingsley is on my short list of my ten favorite fictional characters of all time, and what slays me is when I catch an echo of Hank in the work we’re seeing now. I think it’s important to note that I’m not just offering up some blanket endorsement of all things even vaguely related to Apatow and saying that’s my #10. KNOCKED UP I chose because of how honest I feel like it is about marriage and parenting in LA right now, and if that’s not something that speaks to you, perhaps the film won’t resonate for you the same way. With my son at 2 ½ and baby number deux coming in about seven weeks, I’m definitely the audience for that movie. And SUPERBAD is here because of how completely it is NOT Judd Apatow’s voice. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s script is what you saw onscreen. For all the talk about improv in the films made by these producers, the final cut of SUPERBAD is surprisingly close to the shooting script in both dialogue and structure. It was music on the page. Filthy, filthy, filthy music, but still… let’s give credit where it’s due. Greg Mottola’s eye reminds me of John Hughes before he went all Scrooge McDuck batshit and retired to his mountain of money in Chicago, and I think SUPERBAD’s actually a really good-looking, well-made movie with a distinct feel all its own. It speaks well of how these producers work that they can let a film like this get made and manage to not get in its way and impose their own voices on it. They encourage rather than absorb, and looking at these films side-by-side, you can see the results.
What I haven’t spent a lot of time or energy writing up yet for the site is THE FOOT FIST WAY, which you’ll get a chance to see this year. The reason I can’t think of it separately from these two films is because my thoughts on them are all tangled together. When I went and visited the SUPERBAD set, Jody Hill was hanging out, and Shauna Robertson introduced me to him. She kept mentioning THE FOOT FIST WAY while I was there, but I didn’t know the film at that point. I didn’t quite make the connection. It wasn’t until later, after Shauna kept mentioning it and finally sent me the movie so that I could see what she was talking about, that I made sense of who he was and why she was introducing him in the first place. Jody seemed like a cool guy, but maybe it’s better that I met him like that, not having seen the film, because if I had, I might have humped his leg. Just a little. The movie is that f’ing good.
Oh, I know what you’re thinking.
“What? How can this be? How can some film made in 2006 that I’ve never heard of with a weird-ass title like that starring no one I know be any good and deserve a place this high on your list?”
Cause director Jody Hill has a weapon. A weapon named Danny McBride.
I’m not telling anyone in the industry anything they don’t already know. The word is out. Danny McBride is fucking happening, and that’s all there is to that. He’s got jobs stacked up four deep right now. And when you find yourself about a year and a half from now standing up in a theater after seeing the sixth trailer in a row with him in it, screaming, “OKAY! I GET IT! DANNY MCBRIDE IS THE SHIT! TAKE A VACATION!”, just remember… this movie is the reason that’s going to happen.
It’s ENTER THE DRAGON for comedy. Fred Simmons is the unlikely name of the hero of the film, a tae kwon do instructor who runs his own dojo. He is the single best comedy character created since Ricky Gervais first showed up as David Brent. Fred Simmons is a mesmerizing bundle of crazy, and his relationship with his wife Suzie (Mary Jane Bostic, who also deserves to work a lot after seeing what she’s capable of here) is part of the reason he seems constantly on the verge of full-ego meltdown. The journey that McBride goes on as a comic character here is so rich, and he explores so many different possibilities, that it’s one of the few times I’ve ever actually thought the phrase to myself, “This guy just became a movie star.”
And part of it is that he’s not just good… he knows how to play a scene in a way that makes someone else look great if that’s the point of the scene. He’s not a ballhog. When it is his moment to shine, though… holy shit. His break-up scene in this movie is one of the great movie break-up scenes, and the first time I saw this with a room full of friends, we ended up watching that moment four or five times in a row. It’s humbling how good he is. He’s an intuitive comic performer who I think arrives as fully formed as, say, Paul Reubens the first time we saw Pee-Wee, or Eddie Murphy wailing “Roxanne” in 48 HRS. Ben Best, co-writer of the film, is awesome as Chuck “The Truck” Wallace, a low-rent local scene champion fighter who Fred idolizes, and Jody Hill actually does some of the weirdest, craziest work in the film as a friend of Fred’s. The film looks like it cost $7.37 and a plate of ham sammiches, and that’s fine by me. Comedy does not have to be pretty. It just has to move me, and to have such an overload of genuinely great comedy in one year makes me genuinely thankful.
Here’s my review of the theatrical release print of KNOCKED UP!
Here’s my review of the rough cut of KNOCKED UP that we saw at BNAT!
Here’s my SUPERBAD review!
#9. THIS IS ENGLAND
dir./scr. Shane Meadows
If you aren’t onboard the Shane Meadows train already, you’d better get your head right, because he’s one of the best filmmakers working right now, and this year, he made what I think is his best film so far. When you’ve got A ROOM FOR ROMEO BRASS, twentyfourseven, and DEAD MAN’S SHOES on your filmography, that’s saying something. I’ve never heard him interviewed or read anything about his background, but I’m willing to bet Meadows is a big, big Alan Clarke fan. I’m not sure if this film’s autobiographical (although I love how cheeky it is for Shane Meadows to name his young hero Shaun Fields), but it feels authentic in terms of just how richly detailed it is, just how specific. This is a great film about childhood, a great film about the need for fathers, and a great film about England.
I love the way he grounds the film in the early ‘80s. It’s insane to me to think that something set in the early ‘80s is now a “period film,” which makes me a fucking fossil. Meadows gets all the little stuff right. It feels like a film made then, not a film trying to recreate an era. Shaun’s father is long gone, dead in the war, and Shaun is a mess. I’m not sure where Meadows found Thomas Turgoose, his young lead, but the kid’s a miracle. Bug-eyed and made of mashed potatoes, he’s completely adrift and easy fodder for bullies. He makes a connection with a group of skinheads and finds the family he’s been looking for, and if that’s all the film was, that’s already pretty heavy. What Meadows does that I find so subversive and powerful is he makes you understand why Shaun gravitates to these people. He makes the case for them as a positive influence in Shaun’s life, and it’s like any kid finding his peer group. There’s something really great and infectious about watching a kid come to life and engage with others and really get comfortable in his or her skin, and the fact that they’re skinheads doesn’t negate the fact that they seem to really care for Shaun and take him in as one of their own.
And then there’s Combo. Now, I’ve seen Stephen Graham before, but until this performance, I feel like I had no idea who he really was. Now I’m paying attention. What is it about this type of role that really allows certain actors to shine? I would compare this to the first time I saw Russell Crowe in ROMPER STOMPER, but I think Combo’s a more charismatic character than Crowe played in that film. He’s an older skinhead who’s been away in prison, and he shows up, ready to start cracking heads and raising hell. The thing is… the kids he left behind have grown up, and they aren’t skins in any philosophical sense… it’s more fashion and community for them. It’s just a way to identify one another. For Combo, though, it’s much more than that. He’s a hardliner, a genuine racist beast who craves violence. He’s terrifying and from the moment he shows up, the tone of the film changes. Shaun finds himself facing much bigger choices than he ever anticipated.
Meadows builds his entire film to an amazing, wrenching finish, and it’s because he’s made several films now that he’s able to maintain such an amazing sense of control over the way the tension mounts. Turgoose tore my heart out for the last half-hour of this film, and the idea that this kid isn’t being hailed by critics coast-to-coast at the end of the year is disgraceful. It’s fantastic work for a child or for an adult, and the way he and Graham play off each other is remarkable, brutal and tender in the same beats.
#8. ZODIAC
dir. David Fincher
scr. Jamey Vanderbilt
based on the book by Robert Graysmith
Over the years, I’ve noticed something odd. People who are otherwise fairly mainstream in their tastes occasionally develop a serial-killer obsession. They read about them, they watch the documentaries and the true-crime TV shows, and some people even take it further and visit sites where terrible and notorious things happened. Some people write to these monsters. And still others collect things. I remember hearing at one point that Johnny Depp and John Waters had bonded over the fact that both of them owned original John Wayne Gacy paintings, and Waters also supposedly had a jar of dirt from the crawlspace under Gacy’s house. People are fascinated by these abhorrent creatures, these broken men who do these unthinkable things. They listen to stories about what they did, and they listen to accounts from the people who knew them, and they shiver and they love it. They love it. They are repelled and attracted at once, and I think it’s because these are the modern fairy tales, the cautionary stories we use to scare our young and freak ourselves out with the thoughts of these Big Bad Wolves in human clothes all around us.
For some people, these obsessions can go deep, and they may not even understand why they’re drawn to the subject matter, and I think the real innovation and brilliance of Fincher’s ZODIAC is that the film is not a procedural built towards any eventual sense of justice. Instead, it’s a film about what it is that draws someone into this sort of manic need to understand, and how people can get lost in that particular funhouse. Robert Graysmith’s book is a pretty great read. I remember picking it up years ago when I, too, went through a period where I was fascinated with all of this stuff. The books like HUNTING HUMANS or the films like MAN BITES DOG or the novels like AMERICAN PSYCHO. I thought that if you looked at enough of that stuff, you might understand what makes someone so damaged that they do something like that in the first place. I think the closest anyone’s gotten to really explaining it is Michael Haneke in FUNNY GAMES, in a wicked, black-hearted and cynical monologue that demolishes the very notion of explaining away monstrosity with some mundane “cause.” But I don’t think you ever really understand a Zodiac, and I think the very notion of trying is what makes Jamie Vanderbilt’s screenplay so interesting, so compelling. If you don’t find that a gripping central driving motivation for a film, I guess ZODIAC’s not for you, and if you want this to be some sort of police story that wraps things up, then I guess ZODIAC’s not for you.
Me, I love the way the film is so obsessively made, as if Graysmith’s itch has somehow jumped to Fincher now, as if Fincher is some sort of pamphlet-printing loony peddling his personal Zodiac theory. It’s beyond slick. It’s a different level of technical craftsmanship from Fincher, and I think most people have no idea how insane his work is because a lot of the really remarkable things he does are invisible. He’s simply pulling off these Olympic-level perfect gymnastics routines, visually, and because he’s done his job so well, most people don’t realize they’re even seeing it. It’s thematically appropriate work from Fincher, maybe his strongest since SE7EN.
The cast is great, and every time I’ve watched this film this year, I’ve found new things to like in it. There’s some great nuanced ensemble work throughout, and Fincher makes great use of this huge sprawling speaking cast, with people coming in and making strong impressions in a very few moments of screen time. My favorite character in the movie, though, is San Francisco. I think the way he shot this film, the way he recreates a specific place and time, it’s just breathtaking. He’s literally used the cutting edge of CGI and set building and on-location camera work to rebuild his childhood. And it’s stunning. It’s real. It’s something you can step into. Audiences don’t question that they’re looking at the San Francisco of the ‘70s, even though much of ZODIAC takes place on sets or environments as “real” as anything in SIN CITY or a STAR WARS film. You just don’t think about it here because of how seamless it is, how right the entire world feels. I still don’t think we’ve seen the very best work of Fincher’s career, which is why this film isn’t higher on my list, but if this is what he does when he’s simply working out some aesthetic ideas, we are going to be flattened when he finally does connect with the perfect piece of material.
Here’s my original review!
#7. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
dir./scr. Ethan Coen and Joel Coen
Based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy
You know why it’s this low on the list? The ending. But not because I didn’t like it. It’s here because the ending paradoxically makes the film better and also keeps it from completely connecting for many people, and that is both a shame and a statement on moviegoers in general these days.
Keep in mind, I love this movie. I gave this movie a very, very good original review. And I think Cormac McCarthy’s novel is a very strong, smart piece of thematic writing, and the film is a strikingly literal translation of the novel, right down to its stubborn refusal to satisfy certain narrative questions. I love that. I love the ending, but I understand why many people don’t, and I think the Coens ultimately hurt themselves with many viewers. I think the ending of this film is like a glass of cold water being thrown in your face. It’s designed to make you wonder what film you were watching. “Wait... what the fuck? Where’s the shoot-out?” Well, it’s in the middle of the film, actually, when Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) and Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) finally “meet” at the hotel and each take a chunk out of the other in the process. That’s the real fireworks display, and it’s staged with a simple elegance that reminds me why I fell in love with the Coens in the first place. That scene is every bit as carefully constructed as the “Danny Boy” sequence in MILLER’S CROSSING or the “diapers” scene in RAISING ARIZONA.
The difference is that these days the Coens have gotten so good at what they do that you almost don’t realize how beautiful and sleek the scene is. It shakes you up, it’s thrilling, and it’s over quicker than you would like. When people really rail about the ending, it’s a backhanded compliment because they really wanted more movie. They wanted to see things that they are forced to imagine, and they wanted a certain kind of satisfaction. I still don’t know where the money goes, and I’ve seen the film twice. Maybe I just missed it. Maybe it’s not there.
I don’t care. What I love is the ride into absolutely spot-on perfect Coen Bros country, that twisted landscape of the imagination that I fell in love with all those years ago the first time I saw RAISING ARIZONA. By the time the title of the film actually appeared onscreen, the Coen Bros were among my favorite working filmmakers. I didn’t know a damn thing about them, but that film hit me hard. I saw it five or six times in the theater, and I went with different friends. I took my girlfriend at the time, and even though I didn’t tell her, it was a test. If she had sat through it without laughing, we were going to break up. It was a deal-breaker. And my love of the Coen Bros has lasted much longer than my love for her. I would say they remain a deal-breaker in my film nerd friendships. I expect people to have an understand of and appreciation for all things Coen. I think they’ve made some rancid, awful films… but not many. And the ones they made are rancid in fascinating ways. Still… I think those few years of making impersonal Hollywood garbage did something to them, and for the better. You can defend INTOLERABLE CRUELTY and THE LADYKILLERS to me if you’d like, but you can’t convince me those films came from any honest or genuine place in the hearts of the Coen Bros.
With NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, they’ve finally reconnected with the voice that made them special in the first place. In some ways, it feels to me like a summation of many of the ideas and themes and styles that they’ve been trying on over the course of their career so far, which seems doubly appropriate considering what the film is about. When the Coens began their careers, they were impish brats, brilliant technicians who were often accused of being chilly, more interested in imagery than in human beings. I never bought that criticism, but I think they definitely made young-man movies. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN feels like them shedding the skin we’ve become familiar with in favor of something new, something mature. And not just mature based on their previous work, but genuinely mature compared to the arrested adolescence of most American cinema. NCFOM does not play according to any formula. Every time you think you’ve got a bead on the shape on the film and what you can expect from it, the narrative twists or inverts, and you realize that you’re in the hands of confident filmmakers who are going somewhere unexpected. I think the reaction by some people to the film’s ending sort of calls those viewers out. If you make it to the end of this film and you still want to see more violence… if you feel like you need to see some sort of big showdown between Llewelyn and Chigurh… then I would suggest that you’ve not only missed the point of the film, but that you may not be ready for what it’s saying.
We are soaked in blood in our culture. And in the ‘70s, that was really just getting started. Horror films turned a corner, thanks in large part to the overwhelming horror of the daily world, and films in general got explicit. Our shared culture has become coarsened, and as much as I am an action junkie and a horror junkie and as much as I have spent my life tracking down some of the most extreme imagery ever committed to film... I am willing to admit that we are not necessarily richer or better as a people for having access to these things. I don’t know that I could ever make the argument with a straight face than the existence of slasher movies enriches us as human beings. I don’t think I could ever sell the concept that we are elevated as a species when someone makes a film like RAMBO. I consume this stuff like everyone else, and I am no snob. I think films work just as well as pure viscera as they do when they aim for the intellect. But the moment that is captured in NCFOM is the same moment that Johnny Depp’s Hunter Thompson described so beautifully in one of my favorite moments in FEAR & LOATHING; it’s a turning point, the place where the building radical anger in our country could have boiled over into genuine revolution, but instead, it turned into a sort of diffused bloodlust that we’ve never satisfied, a compromise of national ideals that we still haven’t made peace with, and if you want to read NCFOM as pure metaphor, this is the death of conscience in America. This is us giving in to greed and our sociopathic side overwhelming whatever decency we still possessed as a group. The wounded lament of the last ten minutes of the film is so raw that I’m frankly amazed I saw it in an American film at all. I don’t care if the ending pissed off ten people or ten thousand. It is the reason the film exists, and just saying “it’s the same as the book” is no defense. It’s the same because you cannot thematically approach this story without that ending. If you turn it into just another action movie with just another death-equals-justice ending, you simply compound the problem, rip further the flesh that already rains blood on the baffled and brokenhearted Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones giving the performance that really earned him that Oscar nomination this year) as he sits alone in the gathering gloom of a world going dark.
Oh… and one thing I learned from writing that original review. It is possible to play a low-key joke too low-key. When I complimented Carter Burwell on his score for the film, I knew full well there was no score. That’s what makes it so unusual. It just cracked me up that he still got an opening title card based on how minimal his contribution to the film is overall.
I will endeavor in the future to make my jokes more obvious so that the frequency of you having to call me “fucktarded” in the talkbacks is lower this year. Thanks.
Here’s my original review!
#6. INTO THE WILD
dir./scr. Sean Penn
based on the book by Jon Krakauer
When I saw THE INDIAN RUNNER, I’m not sure what sort of filmmaker I thought Sean Penn would develop into, but he confounded any expectations I had with his choices. THE CROSSING GUARD tries real hard, and I want to love it. I mean, it’s David Morse head to head with Jack Nicholson, and Nicholson’s on a holy-fucking-pissed-gonna-kill-some-sumbitch rampage in the film, which should be a direct hit. But… it’s not. It just never connects the dots. Even with Nicholson and Angelica Huston working together, something that is always sublime, the film never lurches fully to life. And the same thing’s true of THE PLEDGE. Nicholson again, and surrounded by some of the best actors working. Patricia Clarkson. Bencio Del Toro. Aaron Eckhart. Helen Mirren. Tom Noonan. Vanessa Redgrave. Mickey Rourke. Sam Shepard. Harry Dean Stanton. Robin Wright Penn. That’s an insane line-up, a dream team of actors able to bring real weight to the table. And I think what ultimately cripples both the films is that they’re built on these giant moral choices and defining moments, and Penn obviously wants to invoke the spirits of Bukowski and Cassavetes, and that yearning is a little too naked. You’re so aware of it as you watch that you’re never able to fully engage.
But that yearning is part of the fabric of INTO THE WILD, and for the first time since THE INDIAN RUNNER, Penn puts it all together. And this time, he paints on such a big canvass that it seems to me that he’s graduated to a different level as a filmmaker. Before now, he struck me as one of his generation’s best actors who also occasionally fooled around with filmmaking. Now I’ve got to think of him as the complete package. This film isn’t about Chris McCandless, and it’s not about Alexander Supertramp. It’s about Sean Penn, wild young man. It’s about every young man who has ever taken reckless action in search of identity and experience. It’s about the ones who made good choices as well as the ones who made tragic choices. This isn’t GRIZZLY MAN, which was a troubling look at a person who simply had his fill of rejection and who turned to suicide-by-nature as a solution to his pain. This story is tragic. Yes, McCandless makes some monstrous errors in judgment, but there’s a purity to the way Penn portrays him that makes this character (and I’m talking about the film, not the real-life kid) a sort of holy fool. How can you fault a man whatever he has to do to find peace in this world? It’s a precious fucking thing, and we all spend most of our lives trying to find it in our own ways. It makes me sad when I see people attacking anyone else’s fundamental way of life… like when someone bashes somebody for being religious or for some group they belong to or some hobby they have or some lifestyle they’ve chosen… because if someone else can find some peace, then all I can do is wish them well. And if someone’s chasing it, as long as they’re not doing harm to anyone else, then I have to wish them well along their way. Taking this trip with McCandless, Emile Hirsch and Sean Penn have tapped into something primal, some urge that makes these journeys so compelling, so deeply imprinted in us. We are still nomads deep inside, still longing for those distant mountains.
I love the performances in this movie. Finally, Penn’s knack for casting pays off in an ensemble that really gels into a solid and tonally coherent whole. It’s easy for a road movie to be uneven, like an anthology film in that you find yourself sitting through episodes you don’t like waiting for some segment you do. INTO THE WILD is a beautifully paced and structured movie, and what ties it all together is the way the cast plays off of Hirsch as he heads for what we know is inevitable from the start. He’s a stone, skipping across the surface of these lives, leaving ripples behind him as he goes. I think Catherine Keener’s wonderful in this, and Brian Dierker is a natural, charismatic presence in his scenes. Marcia Gay Harden and William Hurt turn in devastating work in a few brief sequences as his heartbroken parents. They represent everything Chris is running from, and it’s quite canny the way Penn plays them stiff and overbearing at the start before finally revealing the depth of their parental love later in the film, once Chris starts understanding just how important human contact and community truly are. Not enough can be said about how good Hal Holbrook is in this film, and in any other year, I’d say he’s a lock to win the Oscar he’s nominated for. Doesn’t matter. When Holbrook’s entire body of work is discussed in years to come, this will be one of the performances people talk about. It’s beautiful. The connection he forges with Ron Franz really scares the hell out of Chris because he can see himself staying there, giving up that dream of the wild. And too much of his identity is wrapped up in seeing this trip through, so Chris has to reject a father that is everything he always wanted in his own, served up by fate just before Chris is finally ready to turn his back on everyone and everything. Vince Vaughn, Kristen Stewart, and Jena Malone all do solid work in their sequences, all of them adding to our understanding of just how deeply Chris affected the people he left behind. I’m a big fan of Eric Gautier’s work, and I think he gives the film a visual grandeur that matches the emotional heft that Penn’s aiming for. Same thing with the score by Michael Brook, Kaki King, and Eddie Veder. It perfectly captures what’s going on inside of this kid as he makes his way steadily north.
Going to these real places where Chris went, standing on those spots and trying to summon some honest version of those experiences… that sort of challenge is what directors dream of, and I love the way Penn pushed himself here. Emile Hirsch was given one of those life-changing roles, and it seemed to me like he really stepped up and delivered on the expectations Penn had for him. Talk about a director who knows what he’s talking about when it comes to performance… I would think his process with someone like Hirsch is a master’s class in creating something real. As with all the films that are this high on the list, I felt this movie, deep in my bones, and I think in time, it’s going to be one of those movies that young men have to discover for themselves, and the genuine life experience of Penn and McCandless and Hirsch and Krakauer is all going to soak into these kids to some degree, even if it’s just a little bit, and I think they’ll be richer for it. I certainly am.
Here’s my original review!
#5. RATATOUILLE
dir. Brad Bird and Jan Pinkava
scr. Brad Bird
story by Brad Bird and Jan Pinkava and Jim Capobianco
additional story material by Emily Cook and Kathy Greenberg and Bob Peterson
This one’s just plain good for the soul.
Then again... that’s Brad Bird for you. He’s made three feature films. He’s made three classics, and I mean that. I don’t use that word lightly. That’s an insane batting average. That’s like a Babe Ruth who literally hit a home run each and every time he stepped up to the plate, without fail. It would be spooky to see an athlete perform with such mechanical precision, and I’m a little freaked out at how easy Bird makes it look. But THE IRON GIANT and THE INCREDIBLES both deserve to be called classics. They are films that grow with each viewing, that seem to become more and more entrenched each year, and I wish Warner and Disney/Pixar would hurry the heck up and put them out on Blu-Ray.
When he stepped into RATATOUILLE late in the process, it seemed like he was being brought in to just get a film onscreen, a favor to Pixar to thank them for rescuing him from Hollywood. What he finally released, though, bears so many signatures of his work that it’s hard to believe he didn’t start from the ground up when he took the reigns as director. First and foremost, there’s the big idea. THE IRON GIANT deals with some remarkably heavy shit considering what sort of film it is, and so does THE INCREDIBLES. Bird doesn’t talk down to his audience, and in a way, I’m amazed people aren’t more shaken up by the way he talks to them in his films. It’s bracing and direct and unafraid to be hugely emotional. He makes movies that use comedy and big entertainment to deliver some fairly powerful concepts to the general public, and I am just glad he uses his evil voodoo powers for good.
I wrestled with which animated film was going to get this slot at first, because there were several titles I really loved… for a little while, PERSEPOLIS was in contention, and so was TEKKONKINKREET. But the truth is that a vote for PERSEPOLIS would be made with my head, not my heart. I love the aesthetic of PERSEPOLIS, black and white and hand-drawn and full of eccentric character. I love that it’s about the real world, that it’s so human and honest and moving. And honestly… I’m interested in Marjane, but I’m not sure I like her much.
Same thing with TEKKONKINKREET, a gorgeous piece of anime that is a headgame with just enough heart to make it matter. I wrestled with including it somewhere on the top 20 list, and ultimately I think it’s a little esoteric, a little unapproachable by design, and as much as I find myself transported by it, I think the fact that I can’t recommend it to everyone is what keeps me from putting it here on the list.
Both of them are films I’ll return to and enjoy and share with people in the future. But as a lifelong fan of animation, it was RATATOUILLE that knocked me out the most. As a piece of technical craftsmanship, it is one of the most beautiful overall animated movies ever produced. I wish there was a way to just walk around in the version of Paris that was created for this movie. It’s luminescent, alive, stylized but recognizably Paris. And I really love the people in the film. Skinner and Linquini and Gusteau and Horst and Colette and, of course, Anton Ego. Beautiful human designs, the best that Pixar’s ever done, giving great performances. That’s the magic of RATATOUILLE. I think it’s valid to say that the device of Remy controlling Linguini using his hair is a bizarre one-step-too-far notion, but I just accept it as the way this particular riff on CYRANO works. Remy’s got to give Linguini courage and talent until it kicks in for real and he can step up on his own. It’s something I accept because I like the film so much thematically. And it’s not that big a stretch. I’m amazed people have such a visceral objection to the idea of a rat in a kitchen, but I guess that’s the challenge that Jan Pinkava and Brad Bird and every one of those writers listed were all trying to conquer. How do you do that? How can you make that appealing and a heroic thing instead of vomit-worthy, which it is for a lot of people when they first hear it. Rats are detested, loathsome things for the most part, and to anyone who says that Pixar is just business as usual, merchandising first, corporate and plastic, I’d say this is one of the films that confounds that idea. You don’t really merchandise rats. They tried. A little. But you don’t really merchandise rats. Not the way you can typically merchandise one of these pictures. I think Disney exploits the Pixar brand rabidly, and that’s certainly the point of running a company like Disney these days… brand exploitation. IP management. You give them talking cars, they can merchandise that for a decade straight without even needing a sequel to keep it alive. It’s that simple. You give them rats… well, you better hope the film’s good, because it’s not making money off the goddamn Happy Meals.
Some people seem threatened by what they see in Bird’s films as a disdain for the mediocre. I suspect it is largely the mediocre that find themselves writing these e-mails and talkbacks, complaining that it’s not fair to want people to maximize their potential, dream big, try to find and nurture your talent. In THE INCREDIBLES, I think Syndrome’s plan is interesting because it’s not particularly evil. He wants to make everyone a superhero. He wants to make everyone special so that no one is. He hates the idea of people being celebrated. But not Bird. He seems to be of the opinion that it’s our birthright to aim high.
Maybe it chaps people because we live in an age of homogeny, where we encourage people to aim for the middle and fit in and where most of what we produce in the media is designed to make sure no one feels stupid while they’re watching… even if they are. I appreciate that there are filmmakers like Bird who believe that it is our responsibility to encourage the extraordinary. And I don’t mean something like STAR WARS or HARRY POTTER with the “chosen one” archetype that’s so much fun for kids to plug themselves into, either. I’m talking about a movie that celebrates learning a trade and doing it well and having pride in your work and trying to be the best at what you do… not for money or for fame, either, but for the simple pleasure of doing something well.
Here’s my original review!
#4. THE KING OF KONG
dir. Seth Gordon
Which brings us to THE KING OF KONG, the highest-ranking documentary on my list this year, and one of the highest-ranking in a while. I really can’t convey the crazy love I have for this film. I even turned out on a cold recent night in Westwood for a chance to watch Steve Wiebe play some Donkey Kong in person and maybe shake his hand. I felt like part of me needed to see Wiebe in person to verify that this wasn’t an elaborate hoax, perfectly perpetrated. The film works that well as narrative, with such clearly-played archetypes that Seth Gordon must feel like he got a Christmas present when he stumbled into this world.
With a film like this, you don’t have a writer in a conventional sense, but Ed Cunningham is the producer, and he certainly had a hand in helping Gordon decide what story they were telling. They started with Weibe, never realizing that the world of Twin Galaxies was out there. I recently saw CHASING GHOSTS, the documentary that played Sundance while KING OF KONG was playing Slamdance. It covers a lot of the same ground as KING OF KONG, with some of the same characters, but watching the two films is an education in the difference between a good film and a great one. There’s a photograph that ran in LIFE magazine back in 1982 that featured a group of high-score-record holders at the time, and CHASING GHOSTS is primarily interested in tracking down the guys in that photograph to see where they are now and what role video games played in their lives. Several of those guys are also characters in KING OF KONG, including Billy Mitchell.
And let me tell you… Billy Mitchell is the best villain in any film released in 2007. If I call this guy a douchebag, I’ll get letters from douchebags complaining that I’m giving them a bad name. He’s way past that… more like a Giant Cumwad. He’s like a William Zabka character, and more disturbingly, I think he knows it, and he’s proud of it.
Part of what makes me laugh so hard when I watch this is the way Billy Mitchell’s got his army of Junior Giant Cumwads running around following orders for him, the way he’s built up his own little cult of guys who are all still worshipping him because of a game he mastered 25 years ago, something that he can do reflexively at this point. Brian Kuh is incredible as he walks around an arcade, telling everyone “There’s a Donkey Kong killscreen coming up,” desperate to not be impressed by Steve Wiebe, furious that someone would dare encroach in Billy Mitchell’s world uninvited. Kuh sees himself as Billy Mitchell’s protégé. I’m not sure how old he is, but I’m guessing late 20s or early 30s at least, and the notion that he spends his free time picking whatever peanuts he can out of the pounds of shit it looks like Mitchell makes him eat is really, really sad. But he looks thrilled to do it. When he’s sent Billy’s “special videotape,” it’s like the Pope just trusted him with the funny hat for the weekend. He’s so proud, so entitled, and you can see the almost unspeakable pleasure he takes from telling Steve Wiebe that he can’t show him the videotape.
The guy I find most interesting in the film is Walter Day, the official record keeper of Twin Galaxies, the first guy who ever tried to position gaming as something truly competitive, something worth treating seriously. He’s been involved since the very start, and I think his heart’s always been in the right place. But he’s been dealing with the same group of people since the very start of Twin Galaxies, and by this point, he’s so completely entrenched with them that he can’t make the hard choices he needs to if he plans to maintain any integrity with the organization. There’s a turning point that they captured in the film where the Guinness book calls Walter and asks him to handle all the official verification of high scores. You can see him realize that he has to handle things differently, even if it upsets The Billy Mitchell Cumwad Squad, and you can see the emotional toll it takes on Walter.
In the end, the appeal of this film is that we’re so used to seeing underdog sports stories that play out the way they do because of the whim of the screenwriter that it’s a shock to the system to see one come together that plays out for real. Steve Wiebe’s the real deal, a decent guy with a modest dream who has been shit on by life so many times that even he doesn’t believe he really deserves to win. And Billy Mitchell is a perfect example of a guy who has major entitlement issues, a guy who has been ass-kissed so long he’s gone numb and has no idea how he comes across to other people. Watching this story unfold, you can practically hear Seth Gordon and Ed Cunningham behind the camera, jaws hitting the floor as each perfect story beat unfolds. I love this film because it is a reminder that the reason we are drawn to this story in fiction is because, sometimes, it actually plays out in real life just right, and when it does, it feels like a victory for all of us. It would have been easy for this to be a film that just taps the nostalgia many of us feel for a vintage era of gaming, but instead, this is a film that speaks directly to anyone who has ever wanted something hard enough to fight for it.
Here’s my original review!
#3. THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD
dir./scr. Andrew Dominik
based on the book by Ron Hansen
You know what I forgot?
This film is funny. Like, seriously funny. One of the things that made me fall so head-over-heels in love with it the first time I saw it was that wonderful eccentric sense of humor towards the characters that runs through the whole film. In my original review of this one, I talked about how approachable I think it is, how it’s the opposite of an oblique, audience-unfriendly art film. It’s warm and human and funny and full of great, interesting character beats, and at a moment when we are determined to eat our celebrities as fast as we can create them, there was no movie released this year that had more to say about our unhealthy infatuation with the famous than this one, and right now, it says things we absolutely have to hear.
We don’t talk about celebrity gossip on this site at all. We don’t write about people’s personal lives, no matter how much information gets dropped in our laps. In the last eleven years, I’ve learned more that I haven’t written about than I could even explain, and when I tell you that I separate the art from the artist, that’s not because I want to excuse the bad behavior of one or two favorites… it’s because I’m an imperfect person, just like I’m sure most of you are, and the idea of me trying to base what films I will or won’t watch on the personal morality of someone I only know through their media representation or through rumor… that’s fucking madness. And I would end up watching nothing at all. The thing about gossip is that it not only destroys the people it is about… it destroys the people addicted to it. And celebrity gossip seems to serve a couple of functions: it exposes the very famous as human, and it also makes the non-famous feel like they’re just the same as these people they’re reading about. And since so much of what gets said about celebrities is toxic and false, it basically feeds gossip addicts this fantasy world of bullshit that, frankly, drives them mad.
It is not amazing or unusual when we produce a Mark David Chapman. It is amazing and unusual that we do not produce more of them. When we allow the paparazzi culture to thrive, when we pretend that legality gives anyone the right to treat anyone else the way the paparazzi treat people, then we are practically painting bulls-eyes on the famous, and it sort of smacks of resentment. “How dare you become famous for being good at something or looking or a certain way or having a skill I don’t have? Why shouldn’t we destroy you?”
Jesse James was famous in a way we don’t really understand in today’s media age. I was driving tonight and saw a billboard for what I assume are Paris Hilton clothes of some sort. And the ad line was “The most talked about celebrity. The most talked about line.” It’s not just cliché to complain about her fame; it’s pointless. Fame is an animal. It does what it wants. And it’s devalued today. It doesn’t really mean anything in terms of the quality of a person. You don’t have to be good or interesting or noble or beautiful or a role model to be famous today. Fame is so cheap that anyone can pretty much get a hit if they want one. When Jesse James was famous, though… he was famous. He was known from coast to coast. His name, his story, the details of who he was… familiar to anyone who had any contact with culture. It was that simple. Jesse was part of the fabric of his age. Like Thomas Edison. Or the early Presidents. That’s real fame. And the thing that I find most interesting is how Jesse James was able to be that famous, but also maintain the sort of anonymity that allowed him to lead a private life with his family, undisturbed and unknown. For him to pull that off as long as he did makes him some sort of genius who out-thought fame before anyone even knew it was a game to be played. And for Brad Pitt to play that person… and to bring his own experiences with modern fame to the table… this is a film we are not really equipped to fully evaluate in the year 2008. This is one that’s going to serve as a sort of mosquito-in-amber that will be even more interesting in hindsight. “Can you believe Brad Pitt made this film BEFORE [some future horrible event that perfectly points out the destructive cycle of celebrity] happened in 2011? That’s crazy, man. It’s like he saw the future.” It might be later. It might be earlier. But the stuff we’re seeing right now like the meltdown of Spears or the vulture’s feast on the remains of Heath Ledger is just the warm-up for how bad it’s going to get.
Roger Deakins made the prettiest pictures of the year, and I think it’s deranged that he’s probably going to cannibalize his own Oscar chances once again. For one guy to have shot this and NO COUNTRY in one year is pretty remarkable.
And Andrew Dominik… I’m not sure if you’re going to director’s jail or not. You shouldn’t, of course, but when even the people at Warner Bros. tell me that they hated your movie, I think it’s distinctly possible that the director of one of the most significant and robust movies of the year is going to have to bench it for a little while until someone will let him earn his way back into the studio system. And that is an outrage. Here’s hoping some producers with both taste and big balls keep Dominik working, and sooner rather than later.
Here’s my original review!
#2. ONCE
dir./scr. John Carney
I didn’t see it before it came out. I didn’t see it at a festival. I didn’t see it in the theater, as a matter of fact. I kept meaning to go, but my wife and I ended up missing it, always busy with something else I needed to see first And I just put it off, and then suddenly the end of the year was approaching and Fox Searchlight sent over a batch of screeners, and one of them was ONCE. And even after it was in the house… I put it off. More often than not, “Sundance sensations” bug the tap-dancin’ piss out of me by the time they’re finally rolled out to the public, and this one sounded particularly twee. And all the evangelical praise for the film only turned me off more.
So when I finally watched the film, I was on vacation. It was one of a handful of movies that I took with me, and one night, after my wife and son had fallen asleep, I was still wired, awake. I put the disc in, figured I’d watch a bit before I went to sleep to decide if my wife might want to see it with me later.
About 85 minutes later, my wife woke up and found me sitting there, headphones on, totally gobsmacked. She asked me what I was watching that had me looking like that, and I just started the film over and showed her. She was just as smitten as I was, and we saw it one more time before we went back to LA. I had the soundtrack sitting in a box at home from when someone sent it over the summer, still sealed, and as soon as I got home, I put it on my iTunes, dumped it into heavy rotation, and went through an experience that I’m sure many people shared after seeing the film. Glen Hansard and Marketa Iglova make gorgeous music together, and discovering that music would be reason enough to celebrate. Discovering it in the context of this breathtaking film that truly represents to me the potential inherent in the year 2007 in something as simple as two people and a camera, two voices and a song, two hearts and a dream. We can create anything today in film. We can bend reality to our will. We can simulate images that are photo-real that realize our wildest fantasy. And still, the thing that has the greatest potential to transform us is a human connection, truth about ourselves and who we are and how we live. And ONCE takes some truly shopworn notions and plays sweet, cotton candy riffs on them, lighter than air. And it manages to paint one of the most selfless and generous pictures of what love can do for us as we move through life that I’ve seen in cinema in recent memory. I despise what Hollywood calls “romance” most of the time. Betrayal, constant lies, emotional abuse, contrived sexual misconduct… it makes me wonder what some of these people making these films are like with their loved ones. Here, two people are able to offer each other healing and strength at the precise moment that it makes a difference, and they both are transformed by this encounter, deeply moved and bettered by it. What they share… what happens between them… that’s love. There’s no other word for it. Knowing that something real happened between them off-camera as a result of what they were playing here… it doesn’t shock me. There’s not a note the two of them play in this film that feels false. I have no idea if we’ll ever see Marketa in another film or not… in a way, I hope we don’t. It would make this even more special.
If you haven’t seen the film, it’s about a guy who works in a vacuum cleaner repair shop owned by his dad, and in his spare time, he goes to the center of town and plays his guitar for money. Stands out in the street playing and singing familiar and popular songs. Except… sometimes… when it’s late and no one’s around… he plays his own stuff. Great stuff. But only when no one can hear.
And there’s this girl. She’s a lot younger than him. Still fairly new to Ireland. She’s a mom with a very, very young baby. And a mom who lives with her. And the mom doesn’t speak a lick of English. And the girl… well, she’s married. The guy’s still back in whatever Eastern bloc country coughed the girl up, and he probably doesn’t even want to follow, and even if he did, she’s not sure she wants him to.
And the vacuum cleaner guy, he’s got his own ghosts to deal with. There’s a girl in his past, a betrayal, some heartbreak, and now, most importantly, distance. She’s in London. He should be in London. He should be working as a musician. Singing those incredible songs of his where and when people can actually hear a few of them. But he’s blocked. Afraid to take the step and fail. Afraid to take the step and succeed. Just plain afraid.
The collision of these two is what the film deals with. Glen Hansard was great in Alan Parker’s THE COMMITMENTS about two-hundred-and-eleven years ago. I thought everyone in that cast was going to go on to monster stardom, especially seeing the film with crowds here in LA. It played like a concert film. People would wildly applaud for Andrew Strong, the guy who looked like Curly Howard and sang like Joe Cocker, as he tore up number after number, and the band itself was pretty awesome if you saw the movie in the right theater. And Hansard was right there in the middle on guitar, young as shit, giving a good performance but definitely not the star of the film.
It’s been 16 years since THE COMMITMENTS, and time’s had its way with Hansard. The film introduces him singing right away, and after the very funny opening scene (which contains one of the film’s strangest throwaway revelations), he’s singing again, the epic “Say It To Me Now,” and it’s hair-on-the-back-of-the-neck time. The age has made his voice really interesting, and time has made his playing that much more rich and mature. He’s a really tasteful performer, and even if most of his songs are just exercises in loud-soft-loud-soft dynamics, he’s got real taste as a writer, too. I think John Carney was brilliant to build this musical... and that’s exactly what it is, too, an unapologetic-but-sneaky musical.. around the music of Hansard and Iglova. His story is very simple, but the variations he plays on it are what make it really special. The guy is really drawn to this young girl, and part of him wants to fuck her, and part of him wants to protect her, and part of him just wants to sing with her, and she’s just as twisted up about him, and what they share… what holds it together… is the music.
For me, it’s a scene early in the film where I totally fell for it, and either you got the chills during this moment, or you didn’t, and if you didn’t, then I’ll bet you don’t get why anyone else is so excited about it. The girl is on lunch and she takes the guy to a music store that is closed for an hour. She knows the owner, and he lets her play any of the pianos in the place any time she wants. The girl has heard the guy play, and she wants to share something of her own, some proof that she understands him and his music. Because of his music, because of the effect it’s had on her, she has to find some way to connect to him. And he’s curious. She’s such a strange little bird from the first moment he encounters her, so earnest and serious and cute and brusque to the point of being rude tha
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I'm suprised and happy to see Once so high on your list. It's such a beautiful movie. Also with Into the Wild a film that got snubbed by the academy when it is the best Penn film yet.
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Never got it. He had some amusing moments on SNL, but every movie he did was painfully awful, yes former frat douches, even Tommy Boy. Ugh...
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damn if that didn't almost bring a tear to my eye
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... because I think Chris had untapped potential. I think the only think anyone ever let him do was "fatty fall down" humor, but I think Chris had more to offer, and if he'd just lasted a few more years, I think we would have seen filmmakers figure him out and start using him the right way.
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As a member of the Lost talkback, we appreciate the kind words!
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and oh yeah i liked knocked up and superbad..fuck that's some truly shitty writing right there.
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I need to get out more. Of course, Mori doesn't have 4 kids - yet. I need a better babysitter.
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To the Mexicans (in NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN)...Pretty sure this happens at the hotel where Moss is waiting for his wife. Possibly even see one of them holding it as they make their getaway in the suv(while Tommy Lee drives up)...Almost 100% sure, can anyone back me up on this?
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...the 20 hours you want back? Is that still on its way? (or am I a moron and it is here and I just missed it?)
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I was wondering the same thing - where are the worst of the year, MORI? Also...And I know I'm going to get shite for this, but...I feel NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN is possibly a more sincere film than THERE WILL BE BLOOD. One tries visibly hard to be an epic, while the other - beyond being a moving painting - becomes one of the most epic indictments of man's eventual self-destructive/violent nature. Something along the lines of 'the smarter we get the more inventive our cruelties.' Not that they aren't both great. Just saying.
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I've always thought of Zodiac as the film Fincher has been promising to make but didn't get around to until now. In fact the only other Fincher film I can full heartedly say I liked without reservations was Seven. Everything else is marred for me for one reason or another and beyond his incredible style I think they're mostly mediocre films.
I'm also pleased to see This Is England up there. I haven't seen anything else by Shane Meadows but now I will have to track down his stuff. It actually reminded me of hanging out in high school at some real shady houses where some real fuck ups would wonder in an out. I remember one time a friend of mind had a gun pulled on him in the most casual manner. Weird shit.
Anyway, I loved how pitch perfect Combo is. The two scenes where he tells a racist story just to insult the group's Jamaican friend and then the next day turns around and accuses the group of not helping their friend is exactly how these leaders break people down so they'll fall in line. His "I'm not a racist" rhetoric is also pitch perfect. He goes on about how he's not a racist and then says immigrants (even legal ones) are taking jobs away is exactly the kind of language I've heard from bigots a million times over but for some reason this is the first time I've heard that shit in a movie. Plus, great fucking soundtrack, which seems to go hand in hand with British films for some reason. -
Thank you for that paragraph in the Jesse James review. It perfectly puts into words all the things I feel about the subject. Nothing pisses me off more than when I am having a discussion about a movie, and someone brings up paparazzi crap. I don't care about the personal lives of celebrities. I care about the product they produce, and sometimes their thoughts on the product. I like this site because it focuses on the product, not the people and you all genuinely really want to like everything. Obviously, you don't like it all, but your disappointment is that much more real when something doesn't work. Reading the talkbacks sometimes, I wonder if some people really like anything.
I don't agree with everything on your list, but I thank you for putting it out there and giving me different perspectives on these films. -
I'm Finished. I remember sitting at a press screening for There Will Be Blood and my jaw hit the floor when that scene/line came up. Brilliant. And Mori, good call on Once. It was second on my list behind The Diving Bell and the Butterfly for 2007, but damn if I didn't have a hell of a time trying to figure out which was deserving of the top spot.
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I think there needs to be some distinction made between the two types of skinheads in THIS IS ENGLAND - from the above it makes it sound like they're all bigots. There were/are two types - one group were the 'hard guys' trying to be different, and appear tough and part of a group...usually juveniles...But they weren't racist at all - it was more of a fashion statement than anything else...Then there were the racial bigots that courted some of these outcast young men into hate-mongers. But the main character in THIS IS ENGLAND doesn't start out as part of the second group, he starts out wanting to stand apart (ha, but be part of the group), like some of the other boys - who are skinheads, but have no problems with other ethnicities. Anyways, f'ing great movie, top 5 of the year for sure. Sorry to ramble.
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... a scholar and a gentleman. I salute you sir. By the way, will you be doing a '25 Years Ago' theme every year from now on? It would be great to skim through the 80's for movies from Return Of The Jedi in '83, right up to Batman in '89, and all the brilliance in between. And one last thing, I'll definitely be checking out 'Once' based on your review and will watch it with my bride-to-be after we get married in April. I just hope you didn't sell me a doozy on this one! All the best for 2008...
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I started watching it while my wife was n the computer. Now, she could give 2 shits about videogames, but 1/4 into the movie she was on the couch with me cheering on Steve and cursing Billy right along with me. So I think that says something about the film itself. I never thought I would see a movie filled with so many douchebags all in one room at the same time. These guys just plotting against Steve and his one chance to make something of a name for himself. *spoiler* after the film I had to go check to see if his score was still in place, but it wasn't Billy was again the top score. That made me pissed. But then I remembered something Steve's wife said through tears, that Steve is just a good man. And that is more important than any stupid top score. He's a man who loves his family and just in general seems like a good person. Yes he deserves the top spot and he didn't deserve the bullshit he got about his tape, but at the same time he will always be better than people like Billy Mitchell. Billy, who will be riding that stupid donkey kong score for the rest of his life will probably never understand why he isn't a good person or why video games mean nothing in the scheme of life. But Steve does, and that's all that matters
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Might as well be called a list of movies I'll never see.
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Feb 02, 2008 9:11:10 AM CST
Moriarty Has Chosen the Exclamation Point..And Here's why
by internet thug
It adds emphasis!!! Here's my original review!!!!!!!
Dude seriously hook me up with your mailing address so I can send you a copy ot Strunk and White.
TIA -
That ONCE write-up was perfect. Thanks.
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"...and also keeps it from completely connecting for many people, and that is both a shame and a statement on moviegoers in general these days." Um SO WHAT? What does that have to do with your enjoyment of it??? I dun get it.
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If the average moviegoing idiot didn't get it, but YOU did, why does that dampen it for you?
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you were on vacation with the wife and you watched the same movie 3 times? Woah somebody stop the excitement.
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This is the second year in a row you promised a list of the worst movies you have seen in that particular year (I think your last post promised "the 20 hours I Want Back"). I appreciate the work you put into these lists but there is no need to tease about an upcoming article and then not deliver. If it is too much then just don't commit yourself.
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That's really harsh calling the guy a "cumwad". Did you watch any of the extras on the DVD? He didn't really get a fair shake in the film at all. There's a few clips of him in the extras being "normal" and it makes it blatantly obvious that the filmmakers only used the clips of him saying/doing outrageous "dick-ish" things. Sure, it makes the story better, but he's not really that bad of a guy.
That record was all he had to hold onto. And he's not exactly a kid anymore. How would you respond if someone, a stranger out of nowhere, tried to take your legacy away from you? -
He's a millionaire with a big-breasted trophy wife. "Taking a legacy away?" Records are made to be broken. Gimme a break. His legacy is that he made a bigger, hotter chicken wing sauce.
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Billy Mitchell is a videogame nerd so he's socially awkward by default.
Excellent movie by the way, although incredibly one-sided. -
was good enough to break my rule of not buying documentaries. Usually after I see a doco once I figure that's enough. I have the information, and that's good enough. King of Kong wasn't even my favorite doco of the year (that goes to Protagonist), but it was enjoyable enough and had a good enough story to merit watching it again (which I have), but I'll definitely be picking it up on DVD.
I'm also disappointed that you didn't see "The Wind that Shakes the Barley." Such a fantastic movie, you should still check it out at some point. -
seriously dude, you get one email saying you maybe biased or whatever and you devote all this space to it? fuck the guy who said it and show a little backbone!
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Since when is Billy Mitchell a millionaire? And even if he was, how does that change anything? Yes, I agree records were made to be broken. But from his POV it was his world. His "world" was crashing down around him and he fought back. That doesn't make him a "cumwad" like Moriarty said. It makes him a dog backed into a corner. A nerdy, goofy dog.
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I know I am not say the target audience for that movie. It reminded me of some story a 30 something would tell a younger co-worker at work just to sound cool. And the younger worker is just like, wow thats cool. Where its probably a lot funnier to the person it happen to then the person hearing the story. I mean the shrooms seen watching Cirque du Soleil, was unbearably lame. Seeing people "pretending" to be tripping, is worse then hearing about someone else getting high. Superbad though funny as balls.
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...were by far the two most overrated films of 2007 in my opinion. They are good films, but not great. No way are they better than EASTERN PRMOSISES and 300... in my opinion. Great piece though, Mori.
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...The 1982 series about the greatest year for films ever, was the best article AICN produced last year. I wish there were more things like that.
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The beginning is just as good. The voice over by Tommy Lee Jones should be listened to by anyone thinking about becoming a cop. I wish I had read the book years ago. It sums up the life you are about to enter when you raise your right hand and take the oath to protect and serve.
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Why does he insist on ruining his films with a horrible last 45 minutes? Superbad and Knocked Up both dragged on entirely too long.
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appreciated kind word form one of the lost talkback regulars...talkback works when you get people who love a topic and are willing to invest in some time to discuss it and not the minority of idiots who try to spoil it and be dicks about everything..so thank you for allowing us to use the bandwidth and bring it to the 10,000 and more importantly letting us bring it to the start of season 4
I cant wait to see There will be blood...it gets released here in a few weeks and if its half the film of No Country im in for a treat... -
I'm glad you recognised this one, Mori. Probably the best British film of 2007.
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Your list sucks.
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...THIS IS ENGLAND director Shane Meadows next film is called KING OF GYPSIES which is about a bare-knuckle figher called Bartley Gorman V who became famous in the 1960's and died in 2002. Sounds good, eh?
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thank you for not putting Juno in your top 20. For that you are the man. I am ok with people liking that film, but saying its one of the 20 best films, just means that you only saw 19 films this year.
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I gotta disagree with you on the Billy Mitchell stuff man. Look at all his little cronies and the way he just shortsided Steve by claiming his videotape wasn't valid. Steve was just a regular guy who never got noticed for anything as the movie showed. Yet Billy Mitchell was flaunting around like he was the fuckin' cock of the walk. I mean the scene when he finally made an appearance during Steve's attempt at gamespot. Steve said hi to him, billy said nothing but "there's some people I don't want to spend much time with" and he said that to his wife right in front of Steve. The guy is a prick. No question about it
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Its in the movie and on the dvd menu screens, that is by far the best score for this year. Was it made for the movie, or an old song like Pac Man Fever?
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My five year old sits on my shoulders and likes to puppet-control me round the house, because of that movie. You and your son will be doing the same soon...
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I think it is an original, at least I haven't heard it before
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probably one of the few on here who didn't. I did make me laugh out loud a couple of times, and yet it just wasn't as funny as it could have been. A lot of people are going to put it as one of their favorite comedies of all time, I just can't count myself as one of those people. I don't know if it's because I was so hyped to see it because the trailers looked hilarious or if the movie just didn't do it for me. You can tell that they had a great time making it, which is awesome, but I just don't get the extreme love for it.
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I agree 100% with you on Once and Ratatouille. I will be watching King of Kong today in fact, and have to wait for DVD to see Jesse James and Into The Wild.
Your #1 movie, I saw it 2 weeks ago, and just felt incredibly bummed out that i didn't get out of it what you (and so many others) did. It was good, some of it was great...but it left me cold. Oh well, I guess nothing works for everyone. -
But ranking No Country For Old Men at 7th is just ignorant. Should be number one.
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And talk about thorough! (Holy mackerel.) Some flicks in there I haven't even heard of but will watch out for. I love that Mori's included links to his original reviews. Awesome work.
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That scene where he shunned Weibe was what I was talking about when I said he was socially awkward. Face it, geeks don't know how to handle confrontation (or social interaction for that matter). Why do you think we spend so much time on the internet?
Of course I was rooting for Weibe, but at the same time I could see Billy Mitchell's side. Same reason I didn't consider Plainview a "villain" in TWBB. -
A cartoon, some really juvenile comedies and no Atonement? Good Lord, I feel so old.
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SPOILERS.........
didn't the Mexicans get it? Not made clear but that was the way I saw it? -
It was a deliberate snub. Anyone could see it.
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True. But a deliberate snub from a socially awkward individual.
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did anyone said anything about the new john woo trailer? is up on flicker. quite spectacular
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Sorry, but no. I've been around geeks and they're some of the friendliest people I've ever met. Not to say I don't recognize some of the behavior in the film, especially the weirdness of Kuh, but Mitchell has to have some social skills or he never would have been able to operate a successful business. It was douchebaggery, pure and simple.
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because he seemed to love being in the spotlight. He just acted like he was too superior for anyone else. I mean it seemed like, and I don't know if I just heard this wrong, that he compared himself to God? I know that sometimes in documentaries that they can make something one-sided. But just the reading I get off the guy is that he thinks he is hot shit and that he just looked down on Steve because he didn't want to lose. I don't know the guy just rubbed me the wrong way(hahaha lets get the laugh out now :^) just some of the stunts he pulled were bullshit
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The man built a business through SALESMANSHIP..one of the most socially demanding careers that exists..he handcrafted the image of Billy Mitchell as a winner a champion he's a slick motherfucker and everyone that knows him talks about how smooth and charasmatic he is..he is a complete snake oil salesman with his perfect dan fogleberg coif and his tucked in shirts and ties..he runs charity events and has a following of nerdling minions to do his bidding..he is a douchebags douchebag but is the farthest thing from socially awkward there is.
in addition he totally jiggered his donkey kong record tape.."Why does the score keep jumping around" -
was when he asked the filmakers if they know which innitials he uses for his high score and alluded that it was easy to see and then pulled on his tie, and the filmaker says "T I E?" and he's like "No, the one I had on yesterday USA." hahaha, I was rolling
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it was douchebaggery. What I'm saying is that is the only way he knew how to react. He was an asshole because he didn't know how to handle his record being challenged. His score stood for 20+ years and no one even came close to beating it. Like I said, his "world" was coming down around him and he fought back in a way that no one has ever had to fight back before, would fight back.
On a side note, you have to admit it was pretty cunning of him to have a million point score on tape but not tell anyone about it. No one came close to his 800,000 so he didn't let it be known he had already broken a million. He was just waiting for someone to beat his score by a little bit...then he brings out his "big gun secret weapon" so to speak. Tactic-wise, that's pretty genius. -
was actually shot a couple of years back. So technically Deakins didn't shoot both this and No Country in the same year. I know. I'm a pedant.
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i don't think it was genius I think it was an extremly asshole move on his part. I mean Steve shouldn't have had to go to gamespot to prove it in front of other people because he had already beat the score on tape, but Billy made up the rule that it wasn't valid if it was just on tape. and then he turns around and on the day that should have been a good accomplishment for Steve, Billy makes sure to just take a metaphoric shit on him by pulling that shit on him. That part really pissed me off, because it is so fucking unfair of him to do that shit to steve.
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Though RATATOUILLE is a close second.
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it showed that one guy who had rooms full of tapes of people who had high scores on videotape that they used as valid winning, and it was only unacceptable when Steve sent his in? That's just some dick move to do to someone
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Don't get me wrong. I hated Mitchell at first. In fact, when my girlfriend and I were talking about the film, I had this image in my head of Mitchell being beat down in an alley somewhere, trying to crawl away before some thugs broke his hands.
But there's a few scenes in the extras that show his "normal" side. Internet Thug: he was playing a character. I agree. But when Weibe comes along and challenges everything Mitchell believes to be true (he was the videogame god, hot shit, etc.) all he did was fight back the only way he knew how. Spolied? Yes. Arrogant? Yes. But he wasn't gonna take it sitting down.
Either way, what a great fucking film. And BTW Kloipy, the only scene I thought surpassed the "TIE" scene was the one at the end, when Sanders was talking his respect of Weibe and Mitchell was looking at him like, "you motherfucker". -
Feb 02, 2008 10:47:15 AM CST
He knew exactly how to deal with his record being broken
by internet thug
As he said he has a plan..Billy Mitchell always has a plan.
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Did get shit on. But to Mitchell and company he was just "some guy". They didn't know his life story or anything. If there's anything I've learned from "The Wire" and TWBB it's that if you want to stay on top, you have to be willing to do whatever it takes. Sure, good sportsmanship is a quality trait, but not everyone has it. ESPECIALLY old-school videogame geeks.
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see it's stuff like that that makes me just despise that guy. I mean even Sanders could see the good in Steve, but Mitchell just felt the need to be an asshole about it. But I'll have to watch the extra's. I'll give it a chance but I can't say I will feel much different about the guy. I mean his hair just screams "asshole" hahaa
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To tell you the truth, the extras kinda ruin the movie in the sense that Weibe didn't stay on top for long. They also humanize Mitchell...which is why I see him the way I do.
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Kidding. Well not really, chemical hatred and all that, but that was a good article Mori. Cheers.
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******SPOILERS DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN******
The money was found by Chigurh, which is shown in two ways:
1) A coin is found by Bell in the hotel room where Moss is killed, Chigurh used this to find the money inside the vent.
2) After the car crash, Chigurh gives the kid a hundred dollar bill for his shirt.
I agree in real life both of these would be circumstantial, but this is the way the movie shows that Chigurh got the money.
***END SPOILERS*** -
It's just that when he still had the talent and was a big draw from the mid 70s to the mid 80s the people he with for tolerated it. When he stopped being funny everbody realized what a douche he was!
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i particularily loved the meadows commentary, he's a british martin scorcese and so much more
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Fuck. What a movie. And Stephen Graham blew me away.
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Javier's was an 'acting' actor role. But Stephen Graham became the character. Amazing. up there with the best of Bale and Day-Lewis.
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People said it was hilarious but I chuckled twice, i was expecting naked gun pain-esque laughs, there was just nothing special about it. just seems the people who loved it are really boring people. Superbad was funny though.
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Thanks for the trip down memory lane, and one of the reasons I usually trust your opinions is because your experiences have been similar to mine. I remember returning from my first viewing of Blade Runner filled with shock and awe, and then my aunt's sole comment was "it was always raining." Anyone who wasn't blown away by that film in 1982 isn't living in the same world I am. I'll never understand them, and vice versa. (now just don't throw any of this revisionist Deckard=replicant shit at me)
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I understand the filmmaking in There will be blood but what was so special about No Country. it's just another film. A well made film but nothing that couldn't have been filmed 10-20 years ago and that hasn't been done before. It ain't no Children of Fucking Men. Can you honestly tell me you can put it in your dvd's and watch it again and again and again like you would Back to the future. Film geeks need to remember it's about entertainment. I think it's a great movie but compared to 2006 with Children of Men and Pan's Labyrinth. No way. just the hype is ridiculous. I watched No Country 3 times and it started grating on me and I realized I could not watch this multiple times and enjoy it like my other fav movies. This film snobbery needs to end. Rather put on my Star Wars dvd or watch the fight scenes in 300. I mean isn't that why we 'love' movies, to pass the time and enjoy something in that time when you boil it down to a cosmic sense. BRING ON THE FIFTH WORLD!
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I love reading about the best movies of the year, but some of my favorite reviews are of movies people hated. They are quite entertaining. Also never got to see your review of Southland Tales.
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No mention of Paprika among the top animated films?
What a great great year for animated features! I remember a time when the thought of an animated feature that adults could enjoy was a pipe dream, and a candidate would come around every few years at best (Wizards? Heavy Metal? echh)
We are living in the golden age of animation. Appreciate how lucky we are, because there's always a chance it won't last. And watch Paprika. -
Holy Crap. Alexander Luthor, Superboy Prime, Conner Kent, Rip Hunter and Booster Gold the most important beings in DC History. That's amazing.
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The only complaint I have, and it's not really a complaint or even a valid one since this is YOUR list so screw me...anyways i really thought The Mist would be higher on your list. It made the top twenty in an absurdly good year for movies, but that's just me being a Mist-Fanboy
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Your review doesn't sound 'educated'. Skinhead culture started with Reggae Music and Mod Culture, they even mention it in the film. it's a lifestyle. Then later the National Front took influence and half became fascist. The rest it's just fashion, music and being like a brotherhood. But yeah most skinheads have conservative beliefs. But why do you think that the other skinheads didn't agree with Combo, because they aren't fascists. They are like the original skinheads who grew out of Mod Culture.
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...No Country For Old Men is nr.7, though I can respect that but your reason of doing so I can not. How can someones opinion influence your list? It doesn't matter if somebody doesn't like the end. It's your list. /...Otherwise great article, Im looking forward to see This Is England and TWBB and that comedy I'd never heard about.
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I've been saying it for a while but this guy is amazing. Him and Paddy Considine are the New Scorse and Deniro. So I guess Stephen Graham is the new Pesci. Either way they all fucking rule.
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That Shane Meadows is the new Scorsese.
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In the outstanding Duma Key, when a celebrity dies King sums up the media reaction. "Jerking off on the corpse" Perfectly describes the gossip industry if you ask me.
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Fargo is a really good film. Thought it was just okay in the theater. Watched it on cable, bought it on DVD, find new things each time. Love the actor who plays Macy's father in law. So fucking perfect. And Buscemi and Stormare? Genius. I thought No Country was pretty good in the theater. I am sure I'll find more to like with each viewing. All good Coen films do that to you. Like Lebowski, or Barton Fink.
As far as talkback goes, I still think you just don't get it. You're not allowed to think X-Men 3 was a good movie. Think about that. Yet I am accused of being a troll, or trying to stir shit up. All I have is a strong informed opinion, which is more than most people, and why it wrankles some of you so. Get over it. -
Wow..in the other talkback I was debating, well, not really, but close to the point of debating about PTA being the second-coming...I don't want to disagree with that, but remember we just gorged ourselves with the Coen Brothers and everyone else that decided to put on their badassfilmaking hats...but there will be blood, wow....I do see the Kubrickian style comparisons to the film, but what I'm really wondering is what happens after one reaches a filmaking level like Mr. Kubrick. Do you start to accept that everybody that is that good begins to have a kind of have a resemblance to each other at that high level of artistic/technical expertise? Kind of like saying there's a certain style and perfect way to make a movie.
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for There Will Be Blood PTA may just be partaking in the highest form of flattery, who isn't by the way... hmm makes me wonder if he's saying that he can do a movie as good as each one of the greats, or after he watches some of these classic movies, he gets giddy and like an enthusiastic little boy says "ooo Oooo I wanna do that TOO!", making it his project to do movies like each one of the Great's styles.
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is the reason why Zodiac isn't higher on the list.."because I don't think Fincher has made his best film yet" WTF?? What does that even mean?
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Spell/grammar check and I aren't on the best of terms...we refuse to speak.
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I couldn't make it through. Sentimental, precious baloney, with gooey music that makes Coldplay sound like the Ramones.
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when a movie is good and well done...that's it... it's good.. It's hard to say which one is better especially when two different films set out to say different things with different stories....The only thing you can say is which story you prefer.
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Separated by some really bad romance movie montages. Listening to the soundtrack (which I bought the next day) I forget how cliched the non-music stuff is. If they could somehow get the Before Sunrise/Sunset dialogue with that music, then, maybe it'd deserve to be number 2.
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dude, i hope you write fast because thems a lot of words.
at any rate, your review of ONCE has made me put it on my Netflix queue. like you, i'm sick to death of everyone praising something that sounds really twee. -
hahahaha, shaun meadows the new scorsesse. this is england had some of the worst camera work and directing i saw this year. Meadows couldn't lick scorsese boots even if they were full of shit.
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reveals to me which stories I prefer...Once made me cry. It's real, man. It's so real. Real characters and real life. No crazy melodrama for the sake of being dramatic, and it also isn't pseudonormal like most of these indie films. Great movie, authentic songwriting, how can one put down what another person authentically feels and writes especially when it is well written...
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lack a little bit of movieness comparing to Coens other work in favour of...how could I put it...of 'saying something'. Or maybe I was just so blown away by movieness of their other work (except Ladykillers) that I wasn't paying attention to what are they actually saying :) ...Anyway Old Men are fighting right now with The Devil on top of my top ten, though I haven't seen TWBB yet.
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Feb 02, 2008 12:14:09 PM CST
PLEASE can anyone tell me this about the MIST?!
by t 1000 xp professional
:::SEMI SPOILER ALERT::: Thomas-Jane( who paints movie posters) is painting a picture of the Gunslinger from Dark Tower in the beginning of the movie. Is King and Darabont insinuating something by that or just screwing with the fans? Has anything been negotiated for a picture deal for Dark Tower?
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damn i'm a sissy..
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Sounds pretty stupid to me. Now, about NCOM and the ending -it is prefect, even if the general audience might have missed it. For my eyes, the film felt real -the characters speech, clothes, decisions -all build a very realistic feeling film. When Bardem walks away for his crash, that's life! That's what happens in that situation with that kind of character -he walks away, ready as ever. If he dies? It's a cop-out built to sooth feeble-minded audiences who need The Bad to be punished. I've watched NCOM seven times now (!) and I have to say that any other year and it is leaps and bounds the greatest of the season -but, this season?- somehow Jesse James and No Blood were released in the same year and tie for number 1! Un-fucking-believable year for film. Very, very lucky kids we've been.
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"You know why it’s this low on the list? The ending. But not because I didn’t like it. It’s here because the ending paradoxically makes the film better and also keeps it from completely connecting for many people..."
Drew, it's okay to climb down off that high horse called Insecurity to admit that that the emperor has no clothes whatever when it comes to this would-be "brilliant" movie's ending. -
wow.
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Mean Streets Scorsese you dumb fuck. The Camera work was perfect for the film it was.
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To answer your question Messi, yes, NCFOM is a movie I can watch repeatedly the same way I can watch something like Back to the Future. I’ve seen the film three times in the theatre and I’m seriously considering a fourth showing before it hits DVD. It’s a brilliant film and it works on many different levels so I personally see myself watching it many, many more times over the course of the next several years.
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But I find hard to take seriously any Top 20 Best of 2007 list that doesn't include I'M NOT THERE.
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Was an INCREDIBLE movie! Mori you're right, the movie is funny... but it's also haunting to watch Brad Pitt play a confused and depressed Jesse James who knows his end is near. Just an awesome, awesome movie... glad to see it on your list.
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You qualify, qualify, qualify. Afraid to take a stand and let public opinion sway you even AFTER you've made up your mind about a film. No Country is a very polarizing film, you either like it or you don't. There is no middle ground.
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summation of why Once is such an impacting experience. I was shocked by the emotions it stirred within me in the theater, and then blown away when that effect didn't diminish upon subsequent home viewing. Great write-up!
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I really don’t grasp the logic of placing No Country at #7 because audiences might experience a disconnection with the ending. Considering how lazy people have become in terms of abstract thought, my personal response is fuck ‘em. They dropped 18 million dollars on Meet the Spartans last week so who gives a shit if the ending to one of the best film of 2007 left them cold? Why penalize the Cohens for the stupidity of the general moviegoer? And while we’re on the subject of disconnect, your number 1 film, There Will Be Blood, is going to potentially leave a hell of a lot more people cold than the last third of NCFOM. The tonal shift alone towards the end of that film will completely throw most people off, as evidenced by the showing I was present at last week.
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Are you seriously telling me that No Country for Old Men is a better film than Children of Men? No Country was just another film, a well made film, but nothing that hasn't been seen or made before. Plus Children of Men was far more entertaining and gripping.
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Great film that really captured the rise and fall of the skin head culture. Bravo!
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Yeah well i've seen the back to the future trilogy over 40 times at least, and I doubt you can pop no country for old men into the dvd player, skip to a scene and just watch that scene repeatedly like you could with back to the future. Plus a fourth showing, that's nothing man, most people who really like(not love) a movie will see it 4 times. I could see it 4 times. probably not 5 though.
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Holy shit he's one of the most important characters in the DCM!
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That is all. Superstar Talkbacker messi speaks.
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Really?
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1-best beginning-from that first stark shot and jarring orchestral swell, it DEMANDED that you shut up and pay attention to the screen.
2-best ending-there really is no other way it could have ended. Whatever problems the third act had up to that point where swept away in a wave of perfection, with the year's second best line-"I'm finished." Which brings us to:
3-best line of dialogue-"I drink your milkshake! I drink it up!" -
It's been a long time since I've been so surprised and enamoured with a film. The ending is absolutely pitch perfect.
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maybe not huge music fans, but not in that sense, but in the jamming/recording musician esque love.
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For putting No Country for Old Men in it's rightful place and putting There Will Be Blood at number 1. There is some justice in the world.
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Visiting a theater to see the same film four times isn't something I do with many films, especially given how short their duration is from screen to DVD. Most flicks I love I catch two or three times on the big screen then wait for the DVD release which follows shortly. Also, to be fair, NCFOM isn't a fun movie in the same sense as Back to the Future; it's a deeper, more complex experience that I'm not always going to be in the mood for. I love BTTF by the way; truly a great trilogy, haters be damned!
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I'm not too sure how we have come to the debate on whether NCOM is a better film than COF, but, since I'm here I might as well weigh-in. So, yes, I do think NCOM is the superior film and by a long shot. To claim that NCOM is “just another film...nothing that hasn't been seen or made before.” is a pretty bold statement and a statement that the entire professional film community would seem to disagree with. It has been a very long time since I’ve seen a film that takes so many chances with every film convention a story like NCOM could tell; the Coen Bros. made very tough decisions with their execution and style, and ever second of film is completely necessary and not just some tacky device like . . .oh I don’t know, inessential long takes? Maybe? Especially when you see it coming a mile away. Hmm? That being said; never was I bored and wishing for more during COM, but I was also never left holding breath, guessing as to what would come next or how the story would ultimately end. This is not a knock on COM’s overall beauty (and it is a wonderful film) but it does illustrated how the telling and unfolding of story/information in NCOM shines as a stronger work of art because of the risky choices is chose to make. Killing the main character off-screen and not by his archenemy but by someone we never really know is one fucking tough, balls-out move to make in a film. Do you think the studio didn’t question that move? Question that abrupt ending of the hero’s life and his quest? I’m guessing yes; they did have issue but they also saw the film in its completion and knew what a brilliant work it was. Over time both films will last, but ultimately NCOM will be held higher. It simply comes down to necessity, and now that we have NCOM in our conscience, I don’t think it could ever disappear. Not for me, at least. Cheers.
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I like the Fisher-Price version of these talkbacks better, though it may just take a while to get used to it.
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I think it was just a friendly nod to fans of Kings work. So far what I've heard is that JJ Abrams has the rights to The Dark Tower(oh God, shoot now) so we'll see what's going on with that in the future
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You seemed so passionate about that movie back in the summer. Did it just not hold up for you against the rest?
Also, 3:10 to Yuma, but maybe I'm getting you're review mixed up with Capone's... -
Feb 02, 2008 2:52:33 PM CST
Dude, You Shoulda Saw 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days..., plus a q
by grungies
I honestly think it's the best foreign film of the year, and it's downright shameful that the Oscars overlooked it. It's better than Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
Also, I've gotta say I don't really understand your reasons for putting No Country for Old Men at number seven. Could you be more specific?
And Into the Wild is overrated. Good, but overrated. Thought-provoking, poetic, well acted, but MTV'ed and "hip-ified" to the point of choking the emotion of the film. This is my personal opinion, not a question for you.
I think the one movie on which we completely agree is There Will Be Blood. -
Sugar keeps the money.
Moss hides the money in the hotel room vent shaft where Tommy Lee finds him dead, killed by the mexicans.
The money was hidden in the vent shaft, just as he did in the first hotel room. The Mexicans did not find it, but sugar did when he goes to the crime scene. Because he was made aware of Moss' hiding spot in the first hotel room.
At the end of the movie Sugar gives the kids a 100 doller bill, thus proving he is in possession of the money. -
It's low on the list because of what some jackasses thought of the ending? But I read that not caring what others thought about a film was liberating. You should've zigged instead of zagged and realized it's the best movie of the year, hands down.
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... like a Brian DePalma project that somehow ended up getting directed by Ingmar Bergman. Well personally I would have preferred the DePalma version, complete with throbbing music, nutty angles, a nude scene by Nancy Allen, all the existing implausibilities, and the goddang integrity to be nothing more than what it is -- a silly shoot-and-chase flick with a comic book villain. What's next? Is Spielberg gonna turn CRYSTAL SKULL into an art flick by stripping away the music had having Ray Winstone mumble about his dreams?
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Amazingly, my no. 1 and 2 picks of the year are the same as yours, Mori, except reversed. I enjoyed your runners-up list and this is another great one. 2007 was an incredible year for cinema and I love that I have movies like Once, There Will Be Blood, and No Country for Old Men to cherish forever. But man, you just fucking nailed Once there. I love that movie with every fiber of my being and your writeup beautifully celebrates the magic of that movie. Also, not to be a shameless promoter or anything, but if anyone's interested, my top ten best and top five worst of this year can be found on my website at this link: http://www.slothsandmovies.com/2007-movies.html
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That was like a famous, long meal - accompanied by a '99 red, cigars and smidge of Drambui to finished it off proper. And if I can continue on that vein for a moment: Harry is like a beer with too much head with some spicy BBQ, Quint is a vodka and redbull, Vern is a boilermaker, Capone is dry martini, and Neil Cumpston is a straight up shot of Wild Turkey. I'm an alcoholic.
Thanks for another great year, AICN and to all it's contributors. Thanks to the talbackers for making me laugh and be disgusted all at the same time. The Lost TB was amazing and I'm sorry I couldn't hang in there - The White Screen of Doom made me it's bitch once too many times. H -
"We" being the PG-13 DIE HARD talkback. Man, this is like when CRASH won best picture.
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It's disappointing to see this above so many great films.
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that didn't gallop away from the subject of horse-fucking so i think Mori should recognize that as well
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:::spoilerish since we're talking about specifics::: starting with the orchestral swell, The first act was reminding me of the primitive land in 2001, I also can't put my finger on it but I felt some parallels on the presentation of Daniel Plainview character's storyline and Jack's from the Shining
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the music was basically inspired by the Monolith's theme from 2001...It used it whenever there was some form of greed/corruption in the movie, which to me drew the comparison upon the monolith as being kind of like the unknown supernatural presence that's driving force of human progression.
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Not just because I'm a musician, but most of all, because I'm a human being. Those who hate it have no heart, no soul and eat little children for breakfast.
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...But he nailed NCFOM, although I've tried to same retorts on unbelievers, and it falls on deaf ears. He was also dead on about This Is England. If you watched any of the bonus material on Meadow's disks, pretty much everything/place in his films is lifted from autobiographical situations and/or workshopped from those around him. STILL haven't seen There Will Be Blood (waiting for the cinema release here next week) nor King Of Kong since its not out here at all and Once...well, I promise I'll get around to it. So, man, pretty damn good list, aside from the compulsory pixar pick. Really wish Into The Wild and This Is England saw more love around awards times, since they didn't really get a big audience.
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...The ending of NCFOM is one of the things I fucking loved from the minute it broke on screen, and just plain didn't understand how people couldn't like it. "Then I Woke Up". Its as good as a head in a box! Its like, to use CS parlance, BOOM! HEADSHOT! How do you like that shit, huh? We are all DOOOOOOMED! Anyway. I thought it was great. Sorry.
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TalkBack eats The Zone for breakfast. I've made this comparison before, but I think it's still apt: TalkBack is like the Mos Eisley cantina and The Zone is like the Taco Bell in Demolition Man. Zoners use polite language and eat with knives and forks on linen tablecloths, but it's still fucking Taco Bell. Come into our den of iniquity with that faux-fancy attitude and we'll chop your well-tailored arms off with lightsabers.
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No way could I be as eloquent in my thanks as you were in your praise for the Lost Talkback. It was a place where we were determined to keep it going, to keep it on topic, and to advance our collective knowledge of that marvelous piece of work. Thank you and all the AINC powers that be for giving us the forum to do this.
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Who the fuck are you? God? Suck my dick messi. I'll fucking enjoy the films I want to enjoy. For your information, I was bored to tears by that hackneyed shitfest Pans Labrynth, and was moved and excited and enthralled and left in contemplation by NCFOM, which, yes, I have seen several times. If you cant watch that film and see that its phsyical craftsmanship, alone, is on par with Children Of Men, you don't know fucking shit about the construction of a film, or photography, or design, or any other creative element. And, just to clarify for your idiot ass, films like all forms of media are primarily about communication. Dickhead.
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of EYES WIDE SHUT, with the darkly comic last line and ironic classical music. Yeah, it feels like a bit of an imitation of Kubrick. I mean, I liked the movie but to say it's the best of the year is just plain silly...
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haha
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NCOM and TWBB are undoubtedly well-crafted films, but they (like most arthouse films) are pompous and pretensious. People eat them up BECAUSE of their characterization, their political or social relevance, how well their shots are composed, and so forth. But aren't films supposed to be about stories? When was the last time anyone of us read a review of any movie that said, "What a fantastic STORY!" No, we get "A great character study!", "A great commentary on modern society!", "Incredible performances!" Yes, that's all nice and dandy, but they should come second to the story. My problem with many artsy films is that one or more elements always come before the story itself, and if you strip those said elements, the story is nearly always very thin. Art itself is not a way to show how brilliantly one can challenge society's values, but a way to share an experience with an audience. If characterization or some sort of intended message is really done well, it should branch naturally from the narrative. We are in an age when a story doesn't seem to matter anymore; it's the stuff fluffing it up that gets all the attention.
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And this is why I have a cosmic shit ton of respect for Mori even when I violently disagree with him.
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I still can't believe that movie traveled so well. Few Irish movies do. Now if Hansard and Day Lewis team up with Colin Farrell, with Colm Meaney on the left flank and Neil Jordan as Battalion Commander, then we could get a pretty good Irish invasion going. Hide the booze. WE'RE COMING!
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brilliant. Are people actually still trying to argue that its just a silly cartoon. Becuase its not.
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Feb 02, 2008 5:16:24 PM CST
That last paragraph about Andrew Dominik is fucking sad Moriarty
by nopix
He had Ridley Scott backing him at least. I guess this was one of those cases where the studio gave him lots of money because of the talent involved and were COMPLETELY SHOCKED by what they got. Not really weird I guess, but a damn shame.
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haven't seen many of the movies, but I can understand why they are in the position you have ranked them. Surprisingly, your reasoning for NCFOM's position in the list reflects my own response to the movie, for which you took an opposing view. First off, I will reiterate, I DO love the movie, the characters and the story, but felt the direction was difficult to defend. As a result, audiences were mixed. Some 'got it' others didn't. Personally, I was never confused about WHAT happened, so much as WHY, which I fault the Coens for, and attribute to it's lower position in any top ten list. Great movie. But flawed.
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Feb 02, 2008 5:21:15 PM CST
Messi remember when I said NCFOM was gonna get an Oscar nod?
by industrykiller!
And you responded as if I had lost my fucking mind that that was even a possibility. Well guess what.....I. TOLD. YOU. SO.
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But you don't hear people praising it's story, do you? No, its the acting, the message, the departure from conventional narrative that people talk about.
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but since king of kong was brought up i feel the need the cut and paste.
just bought the movie, watched it, loved it.
then i did more research and i really do feel the movie was deceptive. steve was the record holder during the whole movie, and he didnt even beat billy to get the title. he beat a guy named tim who beat billy back in 2001. the (friendly) rivalry between billy and steve was who could be the first to beat 1 million on donkey kong. both had video tapes of them doing it, and both tapes were eventually considered not usable.
(the doc shows them accepting billy's which seemed very unfair, but they retracted it 2 days later. it makes them look bad for accepting it so fast, but they had worked with billy for 20 years, so they had no reason to doubt them. another thing that made twingalxies look bad was how they played billy DK tape while steve was playing DK live. but the whole event was being promoted as two DK masters going for the title. thats why bother were being played at the same time. even so, twin galaxies admitted they probably shouldn't have played them at the same time because it took attention away from steve who was actually there. honest mistake, they apologized for it. the full letter and steve's reply can be found on twin galaxies site.)
the real reason billy started snubbing steve was because steve started being friendly with 'mr awesome' who billy hated. (the reasons for that arent really stated, but you can probably figure out a few reasons why by just watching the film.) the doc makes it look like billy walks into the arcade and sees steve for the first time and says 'there are some people id rather associate with.' when in reality they used to meet up for conventions already. saying that because of steve hanging out with 'mr awesome' might have been a bit immature, but not the evil gesture the doc made it seem to be. there are plenty of videos and audio of steve and billy being together before they even starting shooting this doc.
which kind of makes steve the asshole for going along with how the story was presented after the fact. if you watch the Q&As on the DVD from the movie premieres someone asks steve "where is billy?" and his answer is, "well, as you can see in the movie we had a falling out." no, actually the movie makes it look like you two never really met. a 'falling out' means, you were friends, and now you're not. it kind of gives things away.
that being said, this DVD is SO worth it. if not for the actually movie (which is pretty entertaining. decpetion or not) then for the interviews in the extras with the other titles.. each one of them is more entertaining than the next. i kind of wish the doc was more about them as they originally set out to do, but then it probably wouldnt have been as succesful as it was.
and to site my sources go to twingalaxies.com. these people take their gaming records and integrity SERIOUSLY, and i doubt they would lie about any of this... plus all that photo/video/audio proof they have. -
Feb 02, 2008 5:30:10 PM CST
With NCFOM and Children of Men you are talking about two films..
by industrykiller!
that are absolutely at the very top of the directing pyramid. Period. One is not "better" than the other directorially. Both are god damn near perfect. If you prefer a modern fable about the slow degeneration of Earth and the nature of hope, empathy, and the triumph of the will or a morality/survivalist story about human consequence, fate, and the prevailing of evil (or is it?) is going to determine which you prefer and frankly it's purely a matter of opinion. I think both are amazing.
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Darabont took some risks with that film, especially the ending, but it was an amazing experience overall. I also think Sweeny Todd was exceptional; classic Greek tragedy put to some pretty decent music.
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The entire point of There Will be Blood is as a character study. And as a character study its one of the best put to film. It's STORY, while not your typical yarn in the way that say The Departed is, is the story of a man vs. his own twisted psyche and how he eventually loses that battle. The film shows this fall systematically, completely, with nothing less than total honesty. A story can take many different forms. I don't really see how showing the inner machinations of a character so honestly is pretentious. It's something very few films do well. Other films that follow this formula are Citizen Kane, Taxi Driver, and Brokeback Mountain just to name a few other brilliant examples.
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Whereas the Coens deeply revere Cormac McCarthy, and were faithful to the point where his novel feels almost like a first-draft screenplay (The similarly faithful "Zodiac" deserves a higher ranking as well...), Anderson instead sought to upstage and bypass Upton Sinclair...aside from Plainview's introductory speech, there's almost nothing of the original novel "Oil!" in TWBB. This might be okay if Anderson had seen something in the novel better than the father/son struggle Sinclair originally focussed on, but frankly, his version just doesn't come together in the end...it's "Citizen Kane" with a more cold-blooded capitalist, and that's about it. Day-Lewis deserves all the best actor nods he's getting, but he can't rescue the movie from its clunky non-ending, which actually undermines his hard work. NCFOM and Zodiac are, by contrast, complete tales, even if their conclusions defy the moviegoer's expectations...TWBB will always have an "almost" attached to its efforts.
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I don't remember the last time I physically leaned forward just to soak in a static shot, a close-up, a dead silent moment, or the anticipation of a word, but found myself doing just that many times. Usually I associate "epic" with grand scope and vast landscapes, but in this case, epic describes Day-Lewis' face. And the soundtrack. Like Drew said, was there any question? Best movie of the 21st Century so far.
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I'd make similar claims. Children of Men is right up there for me as well. I think it's funny that people haughtily declare what a movie can and can't be, like stamping your feet makes your opinion inarguable. but i'm guilty of it too, so i understand, i guess. ratatouille = 7/10
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I understand that the point of TWBB is characterization, but that's part of my point. Why are the Greats (past, present, and those to come) ALWAYS films about character study, political/social commentary, morals, etc. All the films up for awards this year are: Atonement, There Will Be Blood, No Country for Old Men. They aren't bad films, but it really irks me because it seems like they praised simply BECAUSE they are studies. Why can't a film be called a masterpiece because of its story? Why can't it ever be superior to an "artsy" film because of its story? Are films of study and commentary BETTER than all others because of what they say about human life?
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Feb 02, 2008 6:12:54 PM CST
But really...do you think "There Will Be Blood" would be so crit
by burnhollywood
...If Anderson had gone with the more accurate title, "OILY MEAN GUY"?
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or is it simply a coincidence that almost all awarded films have that in common?
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Feb 02, 2008 6:30:33 PM CST
"it's "Citizen Kane" with a more cold-blooded capitalist"
by industrykiller!
You know I've been hearing that a lot lately and I gotta say I just don't get it. I mean the Citizen Kane comparison I get totally. But the implication that Daniel Plainview is somehow less human than Charles Foster Kane is just patently false. I had the pleasure of seeing Kane for the first time on the big screen here in LA at the awesome New Beverly Cinema and it was a hell of a experience. To me though, Kane comes off as a rich man who felt entitled to greatness by the very grace of his presence and charisma, but someone who was too egocentric to put in the work for that greatness. Plainview is the opposite. Plainview is a man so bitter and tortured by life that the only way out he can see out of it is to transcend it. That, as God as his witness, with his own blood sweat and tears, he will climb his way to the top of Olympus and be larger than life itself. In his quest for this private glory he has hardened to the point of iron, letting no human feeling get in the way. After years of this mentality, combined with an equal measure of success, he has absolutely convinced himself of his own perfection and that anyone else could only be imperfect by comparison. What makes him so fascinating though is how obvious he is, how wanting for that human connection that he just cannot allow himself to have. And when he finds it in someone he does his best to destroy that person at the very moment he finds out they aren't perfect, lest they make him as weak as he perceives them to be. *SPOILER* You can see it when he sends H. W. away after the accident. He clearly sees his son as a vessel for future glory. Raising someone in a way that they will grow to be every bit as great as he is and he will finally have someone to enjoy his success with him, someone else who is deserving. After the accident, when H. W. is handicapped, Daniel sends him away, unable to deal with any sort of vulnerability, as if H.W.'s deafness is a mirror for his own weakness and failure. You see it again later when Plainview tells Kevin J. O' Connors character that if "I have it in me you do too." about his own darkness of character. This is less an observation of O'Connor than a hope of the possibility of a companion. It's never more obvious though, than in the final scene between him and his son. It's absolutely irrelevant that his son will be his competitor in the oil business, what is relevant is that the son he loves so dearly is leaving his side. Unable to come to terms with this kind of vulnerability, he convinces himself that his anger is business related and, as some sort of test of will to prove it to himself, he sacrifices his relationship with the only person left who cares for him. Whereas Charles Foster Kane falls short of his goals, Daniel Plainview succeeds in every feasible manner and ends up compeletely destroyed by his own dream, and the only one who it wouldn't be completely obvious to is himself.
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Anyone who liked the ending to NCFOM is an idiot who bought cheap goods at twice the going rate. The craftsmanship of the film until the "non-shootout" scene was wonderful, the writing superb, but it ducked several issues along the way in guise of being "literary". One: If you are going to establish Tommy Lee Jones' character as someone who doesn't want a part of this world anymore, than he should have NOT gone into that hotel room toward the end. That, at least, is a conscious decision and we understand it. Two: The "random" car-crash at the end was telegraphed and cliche by every definition of the word. I knew it was coming the second they dropped the character thread and arc of Llewelyn. The scene with the killer and the wife was well done, but the structure of the movie was shitty and simply lazy altogether. I don't care if it "follows" the novel. It simply means the novel is a great story with a hack ending. Period. There are ways to make the same points without dodging important character or thematic elements. NCFOM will be remembered for "what could have been", not for what was. And to say that "we don't understand" it is fucking idiotic. I understood it. It was a copout typical of the "literary" genre passed off as "brave" and "revolutionary" rather than revealed as fucking lazy writing.
I hope There Will Be Blood is better. -
The only problem I have with what you are saying is that the other films you are talking about are pretentious. I think they are as honest as films can be, and honesty in art isn't pretentious. I think the films you talk about have plenty of story, you just couldn't make an easy elevator pitch with them. But I do understand what you are saying. I think there are plenty of great films out there that have traditional stories. Star Wars for one. Saving Private Ryan. Spielberg is big on story. Just about all Hitchcock's films. But if you notice all those films also have brilliant characterization. Seeing someone bring a character to life and be completely human in a film is always going to be a transcendent film going experience. It allows us to see parts of our fellow man that we wouldn't normally be able to see and are incapable of seeing in ourselves. Those private moments that usually remain hidden to the world at large.
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...is that most praised films nowadays are not praised because of their tales or their storylines. Find me a review that says, "What a marvelous story!". I don't like it when films are ABOUT characterization or ABOUT a controversial element of society. Give me a film about a character's journey to save the world and let the characterization stem from that (the story comes first) . But don't give me a film [i]about[/i] how complex or realistic you can comment on that character's life. Don't give me a film [i]about[/i] how the war can ruin lives and our country. It's just trying to show the audience how a director realizes something about human life and the audience does not. A STORY, for example, is a hobbit traveling across the land to destroy a ring. Thematic material is present, but the film isn't a message about those themes (that doesn't degrade them either). But a STORY isn't a man's inner complexity. That's a study. I think it's just a shame that there are rarely any films that can be called "masterpieces" simply because they told their narratives well. There doesn't have to be any astounding relevance to the times, any thematic importance to politics or human nature...just a story. My question is "Why does there HAVE to be a study of life and character to be fantastic?"
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I thought those films would be right up your alley, but I haven't heard you comment on either of them except for brief mentions.
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I thought No Country was hands down the best film of the year...but then I saw There Will Be Blood. TWBB is literally on a whole different level than any other movie in the past, what, sixty years? Sorry for the hyperbole, but I think it's true. PTA fucking nailed it. Starlesswriter is way off the mark. I didn't think there was any pretentiousness in Blood OR Country. Masters at work, that's all. (funny, too because on the surface, TWBB seems like a pretentious film).
And Industry Killer...Plainview wasn't destroyed. He was "happy" living in his big mansion all by himself. He "won", in his mind at least. -
Whether we want to admit it or not, many of these "classic" films lack story in favor of preaching to the converted masses. Typically, if any movie has Al Gore or a nihilistic, self-loathing view of humanity and democracy, then it's a damned classic. Cut and print. Doesn't need an ending or any sense of character progression--just a "message" we "agree" with.
Character depth (and I'd argue that many literary films are shallow in character) is not a substitute for story. ALL of it matters, the whole mix. -
Forgive the typo...
or don't. -
What exactly was the "message" in TWBB?
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I think that's partly what I was trying to say: "Character depth is not a substitute for story".
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Well, the "critics" who deem it "brilliant" say it is a "scathing commentary on the emptiness and pointlessness of the American Dream". It's a theme they love, though it could just as well be "projected" onto the film.
I haven't seen it yet, though. I'm hoping there is an actual movie in there somewhere, but I know better than to be too excited. I've been burned too many times before. -
Feb 02, 2008 6:57:46 PM CST
And even if a masterpiece did succeed on story alone...
by starlesswinter
...I'd bet it would still be below films like NCFOM and TWBB on people's list. It's prejudging, I know, but that's kinda how films work nowadays. It IS about the whole mix of things, though. Character depth is an element of story, not the story itself.
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You're a talkbacker after my own heart. Agreed. But remember that Hollywood is an echo chamber and they'd rather hear themselves than another voice that dares to say anything of consequence.
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there ya go
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Then I have to say that even the critics in this case aren't "getting it". We actually had this same discussion in a local film group here in NC. There isn't any "message" or "lesson" to be learned from TWBB. It's simply the story of one guy and we're kinda along for the ride. A "backstage" pass to the life of someone people consider evil...though I didn't think he was. Call it a character study or whatever, the point is that once it has a chance to sink in, it becomes fascinating. I'll shut up now since you haven't seen it and you deserve to make up your own mind.
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Had a story until near the end when it dropped said story. The key is that Lee Jones' character makes no conscious decision to "leave" it be. A better ending would be "not to know" what happened because Jones decides not to go into the hotel room. That would have been both brave and understandable and would have rooted the story more firmly into his character.
There you go. That should do it. -
and I'm afraid I just don't get it. I know I'm supposed to think it's great, but I just don't. Did the myriad of reviews calling it literally "one of the best movies ever made" set me up to be disappointed? Sure, but even putting that aside I didn't find much in the movie to hang onto aside from the Kubrickian ending. Am I crazy? Was I the only one not blown away or are there others out there who are just afraid to speak up? (and i'm sure I've got plenty of insults coming my way from people telling me to go watch Meet the Spartans instead, so if we can skip that, I can skip the part where I have to defend my own tastes by listing the classics and art films I do like)Aside from that, good list Mori. Glad to see Jesse James getting some recognition. I really can't get over how poorly the studio handled that film.
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Just saw Cloverfield for the first time. JJ Abrams is the biggest smash-and-grab artist in all of Hollywood. He's the fucking modern-day PT Barnum: "Come see the amazing Cloverfield monster! It's in this tent just beyond this curtain! Money up front please, and no refunds. Have fun, sucka! Hahahaha!" Bastard. I feel robbed.
Sorry. Had to get that out. -
Thanks for the warning...
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I think what starlesswinter is saying is fundamentally different. There Will be Blood could be seen as an allegory for American greed but that doesn't even scratch the surface of what makes it a masterpiece. But if you are looking for a brilliant film that conveys a pro-conservative message then you're gonna be waiting a long time. *SPOILER* and MC-909, you are certainly right about the "in his own mind" part. The thing is he is completely bullshitting himself. He is a man who loves no one and nothing and whom no one loves. He is completely empty and the only pleasure he gets is through destruction and subjugation of others, which he has convinced himself makes him better than everyone else, when anyone in their right mind would find him utterly pathetic. With that said I have the utmost empathy for the character.
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Because his previous action contradicted his implied response (we never "see" him retire) and we never "see" the decision on screen or what drives him to that point. Again, I'm right. It's ok. It happens a lot.
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. . . to be even more sanctimonious, judgmental, insular and off-putting than they've ever been before. That's like hot-gluing a cubic zirconium bangle onto their self-anointed tin foil tiara and back-handedly giving their insane "everything is connected, IT ALL MAKES PERFECT SENSE" asylum ramblings the whiff of legitimacy that they so desperately crave. If anyone thought they were insufferable in their endless "what if" games before, you aint' seen shit yet. Ah, but it'll all be worth it for the "ginormity" of the collective freak-out/meltdown/hair-pull/teeth-gnashing that's going to come when that last preciously guarded final "secret" isn't all it's been hyped to be. The backlash tsunami is going to be SO. MUCH. FUN. to watch. *pee-pee dance* Can't wait.
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Whoops. I should have said, "spoiler". They are all having a mass hallucination. The "island" is a Honolulu insane asylum where they stay. Damned Canadians....
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The guy who transcends film geek and remembers why we watch movies in the first place. Or did all you cunts at 4 years old watch movies to be moved by the "character study of a man who has fallen and the background commentary about the emptiness and pointlessness of the american dream". Maybe it's because I listen to 'arty' music too where I actually like to listen to it. it's like the arty films which are made and praised for everything but being enjoyable, the music that is just noise and people call it 'masterpieces' liek the black dice, but I can listen to Cult of Luna all day, but not watch no country for old men all day.
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Good.
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That classic conservative film was called, The Incredibles. And it had both story AND character and it was--gasp--entertaining.
Nice try. -
You wrote of it in passing in Part One, and I'm personally intrigued to see if your list has any films I (unfortunately) saw. The two that stand out for me: Underdog and Bee Movie. The first, cute but completely unnecessary. The second, as craven a rip-off of the Pixar "feel" as any movie could ever attempt. Sigh. One of the few downsides of having three young sons...
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I am aware of the irony. Which makes me different from most back-slapping, granola-eating lemmings.
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I see what you're saying. If someone thinks it's just about greed and religion (or an allegory to the two) they're missing the bigger picture.
***SPOILERS***Was Plainview really bullshitting himself though? I mean, he wanted to come out on top and he did. He WAS the top dog which is what he wanted to be all along. I don't think he was bullshitting himself. -
His goal was to be successful. I think he knew what he had coming to him and he simply accepted much earlier on than most people could. So wouldn't the fact that he was alone make him happy?
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I was thinking it, but you said it. It's like a little bit of The Zone invading and tainting our world. They must be stopped.
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With my opinion said, however, I do want to make it clear to everyone that I don't have any problem with HAVING outstanding characterization or a message. I just don't think that they should be the main ingredients in a film. I once heard someone say that good filmmaking and good art in general is "an attempt to challenge society," but I disagree. It really should be entertainment first. That's why I go to see a film: because it looks like a good story. I think film should provide realistic responses to unrealistic situations. If I want strict and complete realism in every aspect of a film, I'll go walk out my front door. I think it's healthy for all of us to ask ourselves, "Why do I go to see a film?"
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Fuck. You are a dumb cunt. what fantasy world do you live in? People go to the movies because of communication? Other media is about communication? including comic books and music? People go to the movies to have a good time you dumb fuck. To pass the time. Boil it down and that's what it is. You think people go to movies to learn? or see some commentary on something they can relate to? It's always been about entertainment and story to most humans. People into film are different because they see things that other people don't see, but it's that ridiculous attitude that changes things, the snobbery where at the end of the day they will rate a film on everything but how much they enjoyed it. Comic books are about communication? Is that why people pick them up? Music? People start off listening to music by what pleases their ears and then depending move into the genre of music they like, because they like that sound. Second you are a dumb fuck, no one would say the physical craftmanship of No Country for Old Men is on par with Children of Men. Children of Men was filmmaking on another level. No Country was well crafted etc, but nothing like Children of men. And I do know about the "construction of a film, or photography, or design, or any other creative element", that's how I see film apart from how much i enjoy it, but from a director's point of view which is why I can see Children of men is a film on a different level than no Country. Children of Men is like a cult of luna song, finely crafted, tight songwriting that breaks the mold of typical songwriting, every note long enough and then you bring in the sound, everything is mixed perfectly and the sound is used creatively. No Country is a well made song that is mixed normally but very well, nothing groundbreaking or different that gives it a completely distinct feeling. I'm sure when you watched Star Wars as a kid you were blown away by the communication, not the story or how 'cool' it was. I listen to Isis so it means i'm better than you.
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You have to understand alot of people who go to films to see it for everything but actually having a good time, have film as their lives and live in that world. kind of outside reality in a sense. i can see film for characterization and message and craftmanship but I also live in reality where I can say I like this part and take influence for filmmaking but I rather watch Star Wars.
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because there was a nuclear family system? huh, I bet Brad Bird would be interested to hear that. I guess the Fantastic Four is a conservative comic book. Oh, well. Off to eat some granola.
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I think everything is important. Even an entertaining film typically has a heart and something to "say" (nothing wrong with that--the only person who seems to have nothing at all to say is Tarantino). I think movies are great because we "feel" and experience and learn without consequence (other than emotional). For me, I want to see the world with new eyes after watching a film, whether with wonder or sadness, I cannot say, but with new eyes nonetheless.
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arty music that is praised for everything but being enjoyable because it's different, breaks the mold etc.
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I think you two would get along. What with the vulgar insults, baseless assumptions about people you don't know, and hyperbolic statements about what is or isn't without a shred of evidence to back it up. Oh yes you two are pigs in a blanket.
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It was conservative at heart because the theme didn't preach mediocrity and didn't root it's belief system in fear (or litigation). It was about excelling and being the best one can be. Certainly not a homogenized message, and one that knocked a star off of most begrudging reviews (many critics mentioned displeasure at the "Ann Randish" tone--which means they don't fully understand conservative philosophy OR Ann Rand, yet they sit there and praise a-holes like Nietzsche, etc.). I am merely pointing out the hypocrisy. That's all.
I try to separate the art from the artist, unless the artist refuses to separate it themselves.... -
I believe in being the best one can be....am I a conservative? I also don't like mediocrity, which is why i like films like There Will be Blood and No Country for Old Men,...and The Incredibles, easily my favorite Pixar film. Boy I need to rethink my life.
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Then there's hope for you yet, grasshopper.
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Most of those critics probably very liberal, which I think you have the wrong idea about.
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I did infer that he retired. But a novel or a film is about experiencing those turning points and decisions WITH the character. Jones' decision to enter that hotel room contradicted his "inferred" retirement. They had a chance to SHOW his turmoil rather than "tell" it. Instead, they violated rule number one of writing (show, don't tell). Lazy writers do this. Amateurs. They had a great avenue for a truly fresh and interesting approach and ending that did not pander. Instead, they took the stock, random incident literary motiff and ran with it (see: car crashes). Lazy. Period.
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Most of the reviews at the time (aside from tomato/no-tomato) docked a star from the film due to the "non-egalitarian" principles of the film. Many apologized for even liking it. Seriously. In anyone's book, it should be a four-star film. Simply a great movie.
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Everything must be spelled out in EXACT detail down tot he last increment in every film! I'm even gonna petition those dirty liberal filmmakers to start putting thought bubbles in every movie.
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Incredibles didn't do it for me, brother. Totally missed in my film univers. But then, I hate superheros and spandex - so there you go. Ratatouille is also near the bottom of my Pixar list, but above The Incredibles. And I love Pixar as much as the next guy! I just don't seem to be able to blindly eat up (no pun intended) whatever the release and immediately proclaim it a classic. For me, that's the Toy Story's and Finding Nemo. Really glad you placed THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD so high on your list, though. Because I'm really looking forward to that one. And I too wish you could have gotten around to a few more 1982 remembrances as Conan is my very favorite film ever, still! Good job this year. I wrote a comment on the other thread but I somehow lost it in posting - maybe I'll try again.
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that pretty much gathers every national critic out there. Maybe Jim Mcgillicutty in the Peoria Times docked a star for some crazy reason you perceived to be some crazy Liberal anger (projecting much?) but no one even remotely reputable. And I assure you people of every political background, belief system, and race love that film. And if they don't it has nothing to do with politics.
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I'm glad you're wrong most of the time. It keeps the discussion going. You miss my point entirely. It DIDN'T have to be spelled out (it was in the film, he says, "I put in for my retirement."). They could have ended with him NOT going into that room. With him staring down the proverbial mouth of the beast in the darkness and CHOOSING to stop. That would have been brave and striking. Then, the bit with his dream would have meant even more.
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He likes cheap baseless attacks too! I don't see how him going into that room makes the entire arc of that character bullshit. He wanted one last shot at making sense of it all. To give a conclusion to something he thought he could put an end to but that ended up passing him right by. it's not the Moss/Chigurh situation that he is walking away from, it's making a difference in the word at large. You are the one who missed the point.
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Cause you spelled her name as "Ann" twice. And I'm looking at my keyboard and the n is nowhere near the y, which means it wasn't a typo.
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Leobloom, I'm glad you watch movies, because you sure as hell can't read. Simple. Showing: The scene where he goes to the hotel at night. Instead of a crime scene, he should have been the first to respond. He should have gone to the door. Have him nearly open it. Then leave it be. We wouldn't know exactly what happened to Moss (though we'd assume Chigur (sp) killed him. You could keep the scene with Moss' wife at the end, which I felt was powerful and meaningful. There were other ways as well. The point is that they chose nearly the worst method possible. I'm not saying the film isn't great (especially if you end it before the airport sequence), but it is NOT the film it could have been.
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Writing geeks should catch that one. He didn't have to be, either, even if he CHOSE not to do anything.
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You are the one who missed the point. He's trying to make sense of it all before then. That is not the scene where he "tries" to make sense of it. That is the critical juncture of the story, the one where a decision is made. Your argument is hollow. Keep reaching.
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If the ending had happened the way you wanted it to then THAT would have fucked Jones's character. The whole point is the entire situation leaves him completely jaded and drained. He did his absolute best to bring it to a halt and his best wasn't good enough. In fact it was never even within his grasp. The evil in this world has become to great for him and he's given up, defeated. I could see how it would be too nihilistic for you, but deal with it considering you can't say why your way would be BETTER, only that you like it more.
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then apparently he hasn't made sense of it all beforehand, otherwise he would have already made the decision.
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jesus it is amazing what people can read into shit.
amazing. as for there will be blood.....daniel day lewis = al pacino. i doubt jewish people can watch the film as it contains way to much HAM.its like an arthouse version of scarface. so over the top its hilarious -
Been a long time, but I've read Atlas Shrugged and Anthem (I believe that's the name of it). I'm not a disciple of hers by any means, but she is often misrepresented, I feel. I think there is something to be gleaned from nearly every way of life or thought. My point is that many films and critics exclude certain viewpoints from consideration because they fear individuality, and they also fear "thinking" because it makes one responsible for his/her actions, it makes something concrete that cannot be denied. And these people live in denial.
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Slappy,
I was "projecting" a message onto a film--a good example, I might add. My earlier point is that many critics lavish praise on "message" films, chiefly those that appear to condemn democracy or "traditional" values as hollow and meaningless. It is simply fact with a long track record behind it. I contend that many of these films were more interested in telling great stories, and those that did not, were not the films they were made up to be. -
We'll agree to disagree. Most people who saw the film would agree with me, including an actor I spoke to a week ago. Granted, there were other ways the film could have ended, equally as effective. My argument is that the film ended with a copout rather than in a "brash and evocative" manner as trumpeted by reviewers who want to separate themselves from the common "chaff" of society. Look, the truth shall set you free. The movie is a great film until the structure goes to hell after the airport sequence. To make it a better film is not the same as "selling" out. To posit that it could have been done differently is not blasphemy either.
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The thing about Bird, and Pixar in general, is that they do not make animated movies for kids, but rather animated movies that kids happen to like. Stripped of their more slapstick moments some of these are actually quite poignant films. Sadly, I feel the true message of a film such at Ratatouille might be lost on todays typical movie fan.
Good call, good list.
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to say those films are condemning democracy and traditional values is merely seeing what you want to see. If There Will Be Blood is an allegory for American greed hten it's condemning greed, not democracy. Films that show things like homosexuality and divorce aren't condemning traditional values, only showing the world how it is for many people. And if films condemn anything it is the pushing of traditional values on others, and since you claim you glean something from every thought and way of life I'm sure you can dig that.
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Really? Cause response here has been pretty positive on every aspect of the film and since it won just about every award known to man I think you might be blatantly making shit up at this point.
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Again, that is my point, Industry. I haven't seen TWBB. From what I've heard from viewers (rather than critics) is that it is really about one man, not an ideal. But all the reviews say (in the main) is how it condemns the "american dream", etc. I also feel that people should live the way they want to live, unless it hurts others. I'm a libertarian, for the most part (especially socially--I feel that gay marriage should be legal--why not?). You're missing what I'm saying (or I'm failing in conveying what I mean). Or both.
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You do know this is a talkback, right?
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The Walter B PG13 Die Hard talkback was the best of the year. It wasn't pre-arranged; it was organic, flowering and just THERE. I mean, I can see why Mori wouldn't go for it - although it was his reassurances that is was NOT Bruce Willis posting that made the outcome that much more outrageous - but that talkback had motherfuckering legs, man. Not only did other sites pick it up, it got a mention in a Kevin Smith/Bruce Willis interview. The Lost TB had geek staying power but it could be eventually overcome by another debatable subject with a lot of fans; the Walter B talkback is geek legend that will be hard to top.Ò
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About No Country For Coen Brothers. Go watch Raising Arizona (NOT Blood Simple), and you'll see that No Country plays out like a serious version of Raising. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed it and its a good movie, but all and all its nothing new if you have seen the entire Coen collection. Plus the whole deal with Billy Hoyle and Milton's story and acting just didn't fit with the rest of the movie. Plus Javier even with his Mrs. Tom Cruise haircut isn't that menacing, and doesn't get close to the awesomeness of John Goodman in Barton Fink. Its a great film, in a year of overrated films I feel like it deserves its accolades. But everyone saying its the end all of films, I think its just really solid movie made by solid directors who are at the point of their careers where anything they do people (critics) are going to love it.
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The Ladykillers tanked, Coen fans hated it, so did critics and that was their last film.
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I loved THAR WILL B BLOOD but I thought the exact same thing. Plainview reminded me so much of Scarface that I want to see somebody wearing a XXXL t-shirt with wraparound airbrushed graffiti style Plainview and it says "I DRINK FROM YOUR MILKSHAKE" in glimmering metallic cursive. And I want to market a keychain with little buttons you push to play favorite lines from the movie like the milkshake line and "I ABANDONED MY BOY!" You'll be able to pick it up at Urban Outfitters.
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by the end of the film Plainview has gone completely insane, which explain the off kilter tone of the whole milkshake thing. And if you can't see the brilliance in the whole baptism scene, easily one of th finest of the year, then I can't help you. For 98% of that film Daniel Day Lewis is far more subdued than you guys are making it seem.
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Where Daniel Day Lewis the actor loses the voice he's been using the whole time and starts screaming like Daniel Day Lewis the person? Is that the scene you mean? Because IndustryKiller, we all know if an actor slips out of an accent at any point in a film it means his performance is awful, right? Day Lewis is a ham, an impersonator, he just did John Huston the whole time, that's not acting, it's pantomime.
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The end of the film, where we see the ravages of all the years of isolation and drunkeness? Some gray stubble. Wow. Good to know the effect of such a miserable life spent drinking only gives you a bit of gray stubble. What a performance by Day Lewis! He really transforms himself for the end sequence. I mean, IndustryKiller knows acting more than anyone around here. Afterall, he's studied the master thespian Leonardo DiCaprio.
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Day Lewis starts talking like a very soft spoken British man? Cause that's how he talks in real life. Find me the clip where that happens. And Daniel Day Lewis, the man who everyone who knows anything about acting says is up there with Brando as greatest screen actors of all time, is merely an impersonator? You're just making shit up at this point Animalstructure. Seriously, take an acting class. No, I really fucking mean it.
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You are literally the only guy who think Dicaprio can't act. Every piece of available evidence we have points to otherwise. The only thing you can site as reasoning is that you don't like him. Find me three other people who agree with you or tell me what it is about him that's false.
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Here is the clip for you Animal. The baptism scene from There Will Be Blood. http://www.youtube.c om/watch?v=5B1nO2 dzUlk&feature =related Be sure to take the gaps out. Tell me where in that clip you hear a british accent? It isn't fucking there, so quit the bullshit.
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Doesn't get enough credit for this film. He went toe to toe with a massive, scene devouring monster of a performance. He was DDL's fun house mirror straight man, and without his standout performance the movie would just not work. It would be Gangs of New York again, where Leo, good as he was, was devoured by Bill the Butcher. Dano wasn't eaten up, he stood toe-to-toe.
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I meant from here on out. And I am comparing Javier to Goodman, in terms of menacing. He came off as menacing because of how the scenes were filmed. If they didn't make him talk he would have come off as more menacing. That scene in the hotel in Barton Fink when its on fire, better then anything in No Country. Plus I still say the best part of No Country was Brolin, and maybe if people mentioned how great he was rather then talking about spooky Javier I could understand their love for the film.
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That's the scene right there. That's why Dano can be one of the great actors. (SPOILER) If Sunday cannot convincingly force Plainview to drag up and confront what little guilt and humanity is within him and then force him to go one step further then the movie cannot progress. That is the only scene where Plainview is bested, and he's bested by the emotion he buried deep within him that comes out like a gusher. After this and Dano's great work in Little Miss Sunshine he's marked himself as one to watch. Now don't go make dumb horror movie, kid!
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Honestly, I fucking hate when everyone's hailing a movie as the greatest thing ever and I see it and it's just... not. TWWB was strong through the first hour and a half, but then it proceeded to take detour after detour for no other reason than to let DDL basically have extended acting "solos." Seriously, it wasn't that great. There was not enough story to fill the bloated running time. It was well crafted and well acted, but those calling it the greatest movie in years are full of shit. Go whack off to some Fellini or Godard or whatever the fuck and stop recommending movies.
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No Country For Old Men owns all these beetches.
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gives my pants an unsightly bulge.
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Didn't mean to lay on the hyberbole so thickly, but really, for me, watching TWBB was an exhilarating experience. It was visionary and transformative. Sure, you can say the story was only fractionally as complex as, say, The Matrix, by calling it basically a tale of a "mean oil guy". But it's the artistry that pervades the entire film that gives it a complexity that invokes an emotional response. Very much like a David Lynch movie, where the "story" is not even evident, remotely obvious nor possibly existent. But still you manage to come out with your mind punched. I don't know why it didn't affect you guys but it obviously did the vast majority of people who saw it. That's not to say you're wrong, though.
And IndustryKiller, I really do think Plainview loved that boy. I had a conversation with my GF afterwards and we were convinced he did. He showed his love, he declared it, but in the end he felt betrayed. And this is not a man who takes betrayal lightly. And I think his lashing out at Eli at the end was emotionally connected to his estrangement from his son. Here is a man who knows his actions are unredemptive, and who shuns the idea of redemption. So it's natural for him to view Eli with nothing but contempt because he's a con man who makes false promises of redemption. -
I've luckily seen most of his top 10 and I definitely agree... I haven't seen Once but I'll be sure to check it out... Much kudos from The Knight!
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Just one more thing - about your handle. There are people who look upon Ulysses as a bloated, pretentious work about nothing. Just a guy taking a stroll through Dublin. But we know it's about more than that (to put it mildly)...
Now I'm not saying TWBB can possibly compare to that literary masterpiece, but as a film, especially a film made today, it is easily a masterpiece in its own right. With layers of meaning, surely an allegorical story of the birth of modern America with respect to oil and evangelism - both forces that continue to drive our nation. Anyone just calling it a boring story about a mean oil man would just as likely view Ulysses in a similarly dim light. -
I don't think DiCaprio can act. Excepting his work in The Departed, which was good probably due to the law of averages.
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I agree with you bud. I mean if you're saying his performance is not over the top then I don't agree with you on that part. But I think he's fantastic in it. I just happen to love "I drink from YOUR milkshake!" I thought the baptism scene was incredible and one of the key scenes of the movie. I think the reason I mention it is because of how hilarious that line seems when shown out of context in the TV ads.
I think he's gonna get the Oscar and it will be well earned but personally I think the best performance of the year was Viggo Mortensen in EASTERN PROMISES. He is so convincing as that character and he's working on a couple different levels. Also he stabs a guy's eye out while naked, let's see Day-Lewis do that. I saw the SAG awards and was kind of touched when Daniel Day-Lewis won and Viggo stood up and embraced him, some kind of actor-to-actor sign of sincere respect. -
And "Once"? Maybe ten seconds of goosebumps. The rest was very easy and obvious pre-hip mimetic indulgence. Pouty teen-aged girls who pretend they hate Disney "Prince Charming" movies like this movie.
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I LURVES me the Viggo but no way, no how can his performance in EP compare to Day-Lewis. Granted, Day-Lewis didn't kill two Chechan assassins with his balls hanging out, but that's not exactly the stuff of Oscar dreams ...
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That's cool, we agree to disagree. Perhaps some additional story elements *might* have enhanced TWBB, but in this case it's difficult for me to second-guess PT Anderson. Any extraneous characters or elements might prove distracting from the main focus on Plainview. I don't know ...
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Go watch every movie you consider great. Come back and watch There Will Be Blood and you'll see that DDL put on film some acting. DDL is on another level than most Hollywood "Personality" actors.
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Are you Snow Patrol and Keane fans? Just wondering
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Feb 02, 2008 11:32:17 PM CST
I CAN ALSO TOTALLY UNDERSTAND HOW DAY-LEWIS FELT FOR LEDGER
by bringingsexyback
in that Oprah moment (btw I despise Oprah. If anyone personified pretensiousness it's her). He specifically mentioned his admiration of the final scene in Brokeback Mountain. Snakecharmer is right - DDL is on another level and so was Ledger, which he recognized. DDL doesn't just talk about acting like every other personality to sit in on The Actor's Studio. He's about total transformation and character believability. That's what I want for my ticket price. Not Shia LeMadCow doing his same schtick over and over.
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Just watched that tonight and it was totally not what I expected. Thought it was a horror movie ala Slither but it was a portrait of mental illness. Fucking unbelievable performance from Ashley Judd. I didn't even know she could act on that level. That was some serious work. Should've gotten recognition from the Oscars over Ellen Page for God's sake.
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The running time when by so fast for me, because I was just enthralled. However, now that you mention it, I would have liked to see more of how his relationship with his son disintegrated. The time jump from boyhood to adulthood was a little abrupt. Let's put it this way - I could have done without the conman/fake brother part and done more with the father/son story. Yes, that's it.
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was integral to the story because it revealed how Plainview really did hold family sacrosacnt and it caused a rift between Plainview and HW. So never mind about taking it out, I would have liked just to see more of the father/son fallout. I could ask for it on an extended DVD but I highly doubt PTA would ever put out any version apart from this one.
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Best. Movie. Of the Year! I've watched it twice, and it's still my favorite. Like many of you, I walked out the first time saying to myself, "What the hell just happened?". The ending doesn't seem dissappointing after a second viewing, though. In fact, it's perfect.
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Much like I used This is Spinal Tap back in the day to gague a persons sense of humor, I use Once to check a persons heart.
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that people end up talking about for the next ten. This year just so happened to have two candidates; which is the only reason I can see why everyone keeps saying this was such a good year for movies (I though it was easily weaker than the last three or four). I guarantee you There Will Be Blood will be talked about and studied for years to come. I really can't remember the last time I saw a movie that immersing. I didn't really think about the comparison to Kubrick while I was watching it, but now that it's been mentioned, I definitely see parallels. I love Kubrick. A lot. And Blood is the first thing I've seen in a long time to compete with even Kubrick's weaker films.
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...for HOT FUZZ.
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...for Atonement's inclusion.
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totally agree with you on Viggo. You have to watch that movie at least twice to catch all the stuff going on with his performance. Not sure if it was my favorite of the year (without going back through every movie I saw first), but definitely the best of the 5 Best Actor nominees.
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Glad to hear you both liked the movie, it's nice to have two movies like TWBB and NCFOM that we can all agree are brilliant. BSB I know hat Plainview felt betrayed by H.W. in the end, but I don't think it was in a business sense. I honestly thinkt he betrayal was at the boy leaving, he would be completely alone after that, and he just didn't know how to deal with those feelings. As a consequence he destroys their relationship. Vern, I really don't think Lewis's performance was over the top at all. If you watch the entire film it's really a performance of subtleties. The quiet moments, while maybe not the ones with the most cinematic boom, are the most interesting. For my money the most interesting acting moment of hte baptism scene is the look Plainview gives Sunday right before Sunday makes him scream "I've abandoned my child". You can see, right there in that look, that that is the moment he knows that he is going to kill this man, it's pure wrath in a single look and it's frightening. It's really only a few times that Plainview even raises his voice. You just remember the parts where he does because they are so powerful. I also don't think, thank God, that this will ever have the following of idiots that Scarface has. Simply not enough cocaine and grenade launchers. Although the bowling pin is a nice touch.
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To all at aicn thank you for making me fall in love with movies all over again this year. I feel blessed to have been able to see no country and there will be blood in theaters in the same year. I will remember them for a long time to come.
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Evidence? Evidence for what? that most people who go pay to see a movie around the world, do it to have a good time, to 'enjoy' the movie first? That's just common sense. Film geeks make a small minority of film viewers. We're the ones who can enjoy the movie for certain aspects even if the movie isn't enjoyable.
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Daniel Day Lewis is the man.
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Know why? Because the last thirty seconds of the film utterly undermine the previous three hours, and as a filmmaker and a storyteller, Anderson should have known better. All this time you thought Plainview was a complicated, cunning monster, hey? Nope! He's just a violent, mean-ass fruitcake; Charles Foster Kane with a psychopathic streak, but with a bloodied bowling pin instead of a sleigh. In the end, Day-Lewis had more reverence and respect for the character than Anderson did, which is why the awe over his characterization will far outlast the movie's reputation...a total repeat of DDL's "Gangs Of New York" experience.
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anybody got a good explanation for why Dano is still a little kid decades later? I know that had to have been a conscious choice, but it did throw me for a loop. I mean obviously they can't switch actors like they did with the kid, because that last scene would have none of the power if it's not the same actors we've seen throughout the movie. And it's kind of admirable to acknowledge that the audience is not gonna fall for putting a fake beard or mustache on Dano. But the guy looks so god damn young. To me it seemed like he looked younger than the amount of years that passed between now and the last time we saw him. And I did not fall asleep so I know I didn't miss any mention that he was a vampire or had kidney problems like Gary Coleman. So it was pretty distracting for me, I have to admit. And I have heard one person claim that the whole thing is some death bed fever dream or something, but I don't buy that.
Anyway, since some of you have obviously given the movie more thought than me I wonder what the prevailing thought is on the mystery of the age-defying Dano. -
Feb 03, 2008 2:00:35 AM CST
How about The Simpsons episode that was ripped off by TWBB?
by lashlarue
Remember the Who shot Mr.Burns episode where Burns comes up with the slant drilling company to steal the school's oil? I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE! Yeah. Just another reason why No Country For Old Men is better. Although, I did like TWBB for the most part.
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The slicked-back hair and dark suit were a suitable concession to his more advanced age...given his vocation as a snake-oil preacher, it seemed entirely believable that he would seem unnaturally youthful...
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It's not something trivial like Dano's age, but something fundamental to the story. I never felt any sympathy for Plainview. Maybe you're not supposed to, but it reduces him a two dimensional character. He literally is that mastermind villian twirlling his moustache. Otherwise, it's a pretty good movie. The ending is perfect.
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Cause this movie ripped off the Beverly Hillbillies.
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you were probaly joking but if not, slant-drilling is a real thing. I don't know anything about the oil business that I didn't learn from ON DEADLY GROUND, but I do remember that when Saddam invaded Kuwait one of his excuses was that they were allegedly stealing his oil in that manner. What I'm saying is The Simpsons ripped off Saddam Hussein, that is why The Simpsons also are not as good as NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN.
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That was the only thing I learned from ON DEADLY GROUND, well, that and Michael Caine can give the occasional bad performance.
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Feb 03, 2008 2:38:45 AM CST
Sunshine just won't get the accolades it deserves this year I gu
by bobpalpatine
Or any year after. I saw it only did 3 million in theaters - now that is just a crying shame
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Don't get me wrong. It was a cute movie, but I don't think it was that great. I had a similar reaction to The Incredibles. I mean it's good, but the guys on this web site have got a serious hard on for Brad Bird. The Iron Giant is his real masterpiece. Everything after that has been somewhat dissappointing.
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... SUNSHINE showed up on my runners-up list earlier in the week. Go check it out.
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i still havent seen There Will Be Blood, or Assassination of Jesse James...:(
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...They go to have a good time? Ah, yeah. No shit. I had a GREAT time at NCFOM. I had a great time at The Thin Red Line. I had a fucking awful time at Pans Labrynth. So how does that work? Who the fuck are you to speak for every single person on the planet? Don't tell me what I do and don't do things for. Like I said, do you think your fucking god or something? And fuck yeah, you simple minded turd, they do go to learn. You know, I think even the most classical of education tools like Moores documentaries or AL Gore spouting boring shit gross tens of millions of dollars. And Messi, I don't know what the fuck Cult Of Luna has to do with lighting or editing or sound design, but your too far gone down the dumb abstract tunnel to argue with. By the way, it is about Communication. Plain and simple. All fucking story telling boils down to that. Are you borderline autistic? You have a retarded world view, and you seem happy to believe that everyone sees the world as stupidly as you do. Do you see the oscar nominations and B.O. for NCFOM? Its obvious someone went to and enjoyed the movie. You can tell them that they didn't all you want, but your just being delusional.
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Feb 03, 2008 4:05:50 AM CST
Vern, you've stumbled on another major TWBB gripe of mine...
by burnhollywood
Slant drilling? Oil obsessed corporate megalomaniacs? Religious fanaticism as a political tool? The movie had all the ingredients to be a truly brilliant allegory about the current state of this troublesome black fluid...and yet, it simply wasn't. Truly a shame.
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I can't believe I've yet to see this final cut of BLADE RUNNER, even as I have it in the movie library. But if this flick is as polished as people say, I wonder what could be done for HULK and Jackson's KING KONG,...two movies that I give more kudos than the average AICN talkbacker. (Note: However, I realize that some people will never be happy with Jackson's KING KONG, short of digitally replacing Jack Black with another actor, feeling him to be so wrong for that particular role,...while fun and humor would still be missing from HULK.) And by the way, THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD....will make a special movie night when it hits HD-DVD. My wife and I will be popping the popcorn.
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The guy is an evil fucking fascist who advocates genocide. Don't believe me? Google his posts on AICN under the name Animalstructure or Thunderballs.
It appears his insanity isn't merely confined to politics but has infected his film perception as well.
Nothing he says can or should be taken seriously in any measure. -
What do those movies have anything to do with being enjoyable, i'm talking the general purpose that people have in watching movies is to have a good time. And Meet the spartans is the same team behind Epic Movie which is the worst movie i've ever seen.
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What a great scene.
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Feb 03, 2008 8:16:17 AM CST
Mori, do you have any more information on what happened between.
by brokentusk
... Andrew Dominik and Warner Bros.? I'm really curious, as I also thought that THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD (phew) was one of the best films of the year. In fact, I'd go so far as to call it a masterpiece. I could understand if he was difficult to work with, or if he refused to co-operate with their wishes, but for them to hate the film? I don't understand. I was also wondering whether you knew if the film that was released in theatres was the director's preferred cut of the film, or whether Warners. forced him to make changes he was loathe to make.
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I only minored in Lit - when it comes to college edumacation, I thought I had to be practical when spending gobs of money on it.
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Feb 03, 2008 8:37:53 AM CST
VERN: LOOK AT ELI SUNDAY AS ETERNALLY BABY-FACED RALPH REED
by bringingsexyback
The parallel is undeniable. The way Sunday garnered power through deception and feeding off people's faith, and his dirty business dealings and the linking of the two to maximize his take ... that's Reed in a nutshell, with his rise in the Christian Coalition and dealings with Jack Abramoff and other concerns. That explains Dano's still youthful look at the end, and I'd be shocked if Anderson didn't have Reed in mind.
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Let's just hope that some future director makes a film rooted in story that can also be ranked up there with the greats. But I figure we'll be waiting a while...
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is it too late to nominate that for an oscar. I know it came out in '73 but holy shit what a film
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...that have better reviews than NCFOM or TWBB, anyway. I just don't like being looked down upon because I don't like character study or "artsy" films, that I am somehow not a real fan of film because of it, and that films such as these will always be superior to something that just wants to tell its story well.
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What I love about AnimalStructure's post is that, at some point, he intimated that he was in the film industry. In other words, he knows absolutely nothing about his chosen profession. I don't care if AnimalStructure is an editor or, more likely, the guy who makes sure the craft service table is stocked with baby carrots, if you think Daniel Day Lewis is nothing more than an impersonator, you have no business in the film industry in any aspect. You're like an architect who thinks Frank Lloyd Wright is nothing more than a kid playing with Lincoln Logs.
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Is to do like Warren Ellis did on The Engine and make everyone use their actual name. You'll see that trolling almost dies when people can't hide behind anonymity as a shield.
http://www.avitable.com -
Do we need trolls? Don't they serve some purpose? Seriously. I'm asking. I don't know.
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Screaming,armless midget kicking a mannequin! In a diaper, no less. I love it.
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Even though all ye critics got to see TWBB in 07. I think for most of us common folk it will be coming in a distant second to Rambo on our best of 08 list.
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...go back to Creative Writing 101. And they're problems I saw way back in Boogie Nights. A great story unfolds organically and naturally. A scene takes place because it must. Back in Boogie Nights, for example, I saw absolutely no reason for the doughnut store Mexican stand-off scene or even the Dirk drug dealing with the clever use of "99 Red Balloons". While they were attention getting and got the adrenalin flowing, they came out of nowhere, they were not a necessary organic part of the characters's stories. It was as if they were simply written in for spectacular effect and that such similar scenes seem to work for Quentin Tarantino. Such mindless and inorganic scenes would have been simply crossed out with a red pen in Creative Writing class by any professor worth half his salary. And I saw the same glaring mistakes in There Will Be Blood, the same mistakes that for some reason get by practically every critic in America. (My reasoning is that high octane negativity films like TWBB act as some kind of reverse polar opposite Bizarro antidote for all the Disney films they have to review) Practically every scene in TWBB seemed to come out of left field. Okay, I'm exaggerating with "every", but again I saw the same lack of progression (except for aging) in storytelling, the same use of scenes that had little organic tie to anything else in the film. What was the purpose of the child beating father? What was the purpose of showing us Eli's healing sermon in such an over-the-top fashion? Why show us at all? Why does Daniel start suddenly beating on Eli in the mud in front of everyone? And regardless of whether or not these scenes were shown, there was not significant emotional build-up prior to them to warrant such outbursts. Are we to assume that Plainview is simply unpredictable and unable to control himself? If so, then how does such a man with such lack of control over his faculties build such an empire? Paul Thomas Anderson's decisions still have the feeling of immaturity to me, of someone who is still walking in the shadow of his hero Martin Scorsese but who still hasn't gotten it yet, regardless of whether or not 999 out of 1000 US critics think he has. Why the fireworks finish at the end, where, of course, there is blood? Was it simply to have a fireworks finish at the end? Why the killing of Eli? Where did that come from? It would have made more sense to me that Plainview kills the man he though was his brother at the end, but of course it's much more fun if we kill the loudmouth preacher, right? Great filmmakers know how to find the quiet inner dramas that go on inside of us. I don't think PTA has figured that out yet, or maybe he has figured out that that gets much less attention than a lot of whooping and hollering and gnashing of teeth. Well, I'm sorry, but I have seen great filmmaking, I know great filmmaking, and PTA's There Will Be Blood is not it...
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Did you not see it?
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it was pretty good, and Sam Rockwell just keeps getting better and better as an actor. A really good mind-fuck movie
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Daniel Day Lewis was great. But really, there really isn't much else going on with this movie. Moriarty's review positions the film as a deep character study of a complicated man (Plainview) and, strictly speaking, everything Moriarty says is true.
Problem is, at the end of the day, with the exception of Daniel Day Lewis, you have a solid, but not great film.
I'd watch Ratatouille 50 times before I watch There Will Be Blood again. -
24, oh well.
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Perhaps I misspoke IndustryKiller, I didn't mean to say he spoke in a soft British accent in the baptism scene, what I meant to say, and did, was that Daniel Day Lewis does a John Huston impersonation for the whole movie(do you teens even know who John Huston is?) yet during the Baptism scene he starts speaking in a completely different voice. Wholly unrecognizable from his John Huston impersonation. And yelling "I've abandoned my child" is not great acting, it's yelling. Yelling is easy, impersonations are easy, subtlety is difficult. Most modern film acting is shit, and most old school film actors will tell you the same. But I know, I know, you 16 year olds know better about all aspects of filmmaking cause you go along with the masses and you subscribe to the mass mind.
Assassination of Jesse James was the best film of the year, by far. TWBB doesn't even shine the shoes of Assassination, much less come close to it in terms of direction, photography, and certainly not acting. Assassination was a complex film, TWBB was a simple film parading around like it was complex. Dano doesn't age, Day Lewis drinks for decades and only gets some gray stubble. God what a lazy fucking film. NO ONE will be talking about TWBB in five years time. It's just not a very good movie.
Garbageman33 - Do you know who John Huston was? Do you know what he sounded like? Doesn't seem to be the case. Cause if you can't see Day Lewis doing a mere impersonation then you're out of it. But I wouldn't expect someone still in high school to know anything about film. Day Lewis' last great perf was in Age of Innocence. Why? Cause it was the last time he gave a shit. I agree with Vern, Viggo's performance was so much better, so much more nuanced in a lot of ways. Day Lewis ACTS! Which is the worst. Viggo acts, which is the way it should be.
Brokentusk - Brad Pitt of all people took the film away from Dominik and re-edited it himself. Pitt was one of the producers after all. I think Pitt's cut is great, but would like to see Dominik's cut which focuses less on Pitt and kills him earlier in the film, well, not earlier, but there is a lot more with Ford after the assassination than there was in the theatrical. And unless Criterion gets their hands on it, we will never see any other cut of the film. Warners has no interest in the film whatsoever.
One more thing, the jealousy from some of you in here is alarming. Most of you will remain here, working your shitty jobs once you graduate high school or college, wondering how someone like yourself, with such a vast array of knowledge of film, wastes away at some menial job, while a fool like me actually gets to work in the industry. Well, that's not entirely true, I used to work in the industry, work in news now, but still have lots of friends in high places. Most of you will never taste it. What a pity. Here's a hint, you need connections. No connections, no career in Hollywood. It would seem self evident, but you'd be surprised how many people think they can make it without connections and just on ther "immense" talent. You're all legends in your own minds.
Also, I am a rare creature, in that I actualy entertain most of you fools with little knowledge of what you speak. Most people I know in the industry make fun of me to no end for coming on here and arguing with "morons who are clueless about Hollywood and filmmaking" as they say. But I still have optimism and think you dolts will see the light of day. I think my friends may be right. -
Like Mori said, it was def mis-marketed. It does have some very tense scenes in it, but it's not really a horror/thriller movie. It's true it's more about the alienation that family can bring, with each of the characters. It is good and I would recommend it. But don't go into it thinking it's going to be scary
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it really makes me sad that there aren't more expirmental directors out there anymore. Most movies, even a lot of indipendent movies have stopped being using metaphors or trying something that can be considered art. I stil haven't seen TWBB but I can't wait as I think we need more directors like PTA who are willing to make something that isn't just the standard hollywood bullshit.
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thanks for being so charitable to spend your time with us genetically inferior morons to explain it all to us. With our limited perspective it seems like you're a huge asshole with weird taste in films but hopefully eventually, through your selfless act of coming on here to insult us, at the risk of destroying your own reputation with the geniuses from the local weather update, you will improve our understanding of "the business." Here we are sitting here thinking just because we love movies we understand them. But you are in NEWS. I cannot stress enough how great it is that you are willing, like Christ himself, to step down from the heavens of THE NEWS to mingle with us like that. God bless you Saint Thunderballs. I have to go now I'm getting a little teary eyed.
Fuck the firemen. You are the REAL hero. Coming up, a waterskiing squirrel. Film at 11. -
that was fucking hilarious man!
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Also a great movie you still need to see...
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Refer to as PWNED. Remind me never to get on Vern's bad side.
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According to the LA Times.."If union leaders OK the proposal, the strike could be called off by week's end, salvaging the Oscars and fall TV. Hollywood's striking writers and major studios have reached the outlines of a new employment contract, resolving key sticking points over how much writers should be paid for work that is distributed over the Internet, people familiar with the negotiations said Saturday. ..." AICN, would this not be newsworthy..???
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And I'm sure we can add liar to go right along with sexist, conservative, philistine dirtbag. As far as your connections in the industry and these phantoms who sit around making fun of you for posting on the internet, I would love a little more insight into these friends of yours. In what capacity do these "industry" people actually work in the industry? Are they crew men? Make-up? Cinematographers? Actors? Is there a weekly gathering of successful industry types that gather and make fun of you over brandy and scones? You're completely full of shit Animal. And anytime you want to prove why any of us should be jealous of you why don't you step up and do it. Seriously make the call I posted the scene for you above Animal, tell me what line Lewis starts speaking differently in. Seriously, put your money where your big mouth is and get fucking specific. As for the "It's not acting it's yelling." part, that makes me think you either weren't paying attention or haven't actually seen the film. For the record I'm sure it's the former. Sundays character is MAKING him yell. The explosion is well built up with SUnday goading him over and over with his own failures as a man. You intone that yelling is typical of his performance in There Will Be Blood, well name me another occasion of this yelling other than the baptism and end of the film. Make your point like a man instead of cherry picking scenes out of context and baselessly accusing everyone around you of being a child. As far as John Huston goes, apparently everyone who plays a tough character with a deep voice is now John Huston. As far as jealousy goes, please. I would love to get together at any point you like and if there is any reason to be jealous of the likes of you then I'll come back here and report to everyone what it is. Seriously, since you're so connected you must live in LA, I live in LA as well, let's prove it. You're right about one thing though, you certainly entertain us.
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...to see, as well, the list of movies he considered great, and would be in his top 10 in any other year, but simply sit beyond place #20. Diving Bell is there.
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Thanks for the laugh. Love how personal everyone takes this shit. Perhaps I should have been more specific in who I was referring to, namely, those who think they know all there is to know about Hollywood at age 16. This means IndustryKiller! and any other stupid teenager who populates these boards and pretends to know jack shit about anything.
Being made fun of by 16 year olds and fat Internet "critics" brings me great pleasure. You guys need to feel above SOMEONE in this damn world. Glad I can make you feel superior for 3 seconds of your miserable day.
TomBodet - I don't need to prove shit. If you follow where I post, you'll see hints here and there that should clue you in. Again, and this is just to those of you who think you know everything and think I know nothing, the truth exists whether you want to believe it or not. Ah, the teenage years. Such a halcyon time! You wouldn't believe the crap I used to think was good when I was an idiot like some of you. I had my Departed and TWBBs, but don't worry, you'll grow out of it at some point and look back, embarrassed at how foolish you were. Such intellects on this board. My mind simply hurts from the consistent quotidinal brilliance uttered from your mouths. Seriously, thanks for the entertainment. I suffer fools quite gladly! -
that Animal Structure views Miami Vice as the greatest cinematic work of the past decade...and lets not forget that Spielberg is a talentless hack..
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Showing ELi int he sermon scene is the linchpin of that character. Before that we have no idea what kind of snake oil the man is selling, after that there is no question and it's right there that Plainview knows that Eli is not just a hardass, but every bit the opportunist he is, only he does it under the guise of religion. And as far as when he attacks Eli in front of everyone, it's cause he knows that it's too late for Eli to do anything about it. He finds Eli beneath contempt and he's finally reached the point where he has to stop feigning nice. It's at that time Plainview decides to draw the lines and show Eli, peon that he is, exactly where he stands. it had been built up plenty.
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...then you'd probably know something we all learned by the time we got to third grade--just because you believe it to be so doesn't mean that it is necessarily true, that there are differing opinions in the world that have equal merit to yours and that attempting to understand someone else's point of view is necessary in becoming a more well-rounded human being.
If the syllogism is right that humility is the sign of a true and decent human being, then, ergo, you are not a decent human being. I hope you change my mind, though, but I doubt that will ever happen. -
if you are so sure of yourself, show us what 'news' venue you are on. Let us see for ourselves how amazing you are, how insightful you can be. oh but you won't because you are just a tool. I'm sure you write for a stupid little internet 'zine (as I'm sure you call it) that no one reads except for your pretensious friends. Please do us a favor and never come back to insult our intelligence with your retarded comments
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Never said I live in L.A. I used to. I live in NYC now thank you very much. Still have lots of friends that work at anything from being assistants to being key crew members to execs at the production level to writers. If you knew anything, you'd know that 10 people connnect you to 100 connnect you to 1000. But you don't know shit, so....
As soon as he screams I abandoned my child, he stops talking like he was and uses a completely different voice. It's hard to maintain an impersonation when you're used to it only being one way. As far as that being some emotional catharsis, or some other such nonsense, please, are you fucking kidding me? PLAINVIEW IS PLAYING ALL OF THEM FOR FOOLS! He is not revealing anything. Just proving he is as good a showman as he said Eli was earlier. The film is HOLLOW and EMPTY. PTA even knocks you over the head with it by having Plainview voice it! Kubrick-ian my ass. I think Magnolia is going to be PTA's high point. He is just way too derivative and empty as a person to ever make anything great. I know this to be true. -
...not one of us denied the concept that in order to succeed in Hollywood, it's networking and who you know. I'm confused as to why you're attempting to insult us on something we all know.
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I got loads of humility, when I am around intelligent people. It's my fault if intelligence is rare around here?
I've only come across a few posters who ever say anything with any kind of intelligence or grace or thought. Most people here can't even put a decent sentence together.
You kids came up in the "nice" era where if anyone challenges your position in a somewhat aggressive style they are considered mean and cruel and stupid and just jealous of you! Fuck you and your fake self esteem. Engage in a fucking argument for once. Get your fucking hands dirty without taking everything so personal. Is anyone capable of that? -
Some posters seem to be in the dark. Most people here who question those with contacts in the industry are those without any contacts now or anytime soon. They're just angry at themselves and the world. Fairly typical.
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...Your posts seem to channel Ignatius J. Reilly. I don't know if thats funny or sad. A quick response to the dude talking about the structure of Boogie Night. The drug deal scene is in the film because, well, it happened. You know the expression about not believeing it unless it were true, etc. Just as it did in Holmes' life, it served to illustrate donkey dicks descent to the absolute bottom of his life. Hence the title card, Long Way Down. You might be right about TWWB. Not out here till next week, so I don't know.
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I'm assuming you were raised in the sticks. How unfortunate for you. Native New Yorkers are not snobs. The snobs are all the assholes who move here and affect an attitude cause that's what they think NY is.
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...for engaging in an argument in the first place.
By the way, saying one is humble kind of defeats the purpose of humility.
I personally consider you mean and cruel because of your unchecked ego and technically have nothing against your radical beliefs. They are yours to have, and I'll defend your right to have them. It's the manner in which you express things that reaches this sort of rarely tapped zenith of rudeness and general misunderstanding of decent human behavior that all we have left, in the end, is to either ignore you or cry foul. You can't go through life being an asshole. Believe me, it isn't fun. -
'And anyone who boasts about how "smart" they are are usually anything but. Your response to this will prove that.'by AnimalStructure Sep 5th, 2007
01:33:55 PM -
Industry
by AnimalStructure Feb 3rd, 2008
01:36:57 PM
Never said I live in L.A. I used to. I live in NYC now thank you very much
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I work for a major network, one of the big three. I know, try to open your mind a bit. People who you find to be the biggest assholes and beneath scum can still have much better jobs than you'll ever have. The news stinks, but it's easy and it more than pays all the bills. That's all I need right now.
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Good find on the quote, normally it is correct, but as with all things there are gray areas. As for NYC, I was raised here, then movied out to L.A., then came back to raise a family. Satisfied?
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well that tells me all I need to know. It's people like you who think a good job is all life is about. It's not, and I don't live for my job. I have a wonderful life and more riches than you will ever know
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Next time I'm in NYC, which is not terribly infrequently, I'll let you know and give you a chance to prove the horseshit you sputter. mmk? I think someone should take you to task because i find it hard to believe that a fool who can't get along with anyone who is a right wing, sexist asshole has so called "friends in high places". It'll be a fun experiment. As for having a different voice...what the fuck are you talking about? You're looking at the sky and claiming it's green my friend, it's simply not there. And if you don't think that confronting the isue of his abondonment of H.W. is having an effect on him then once again all I can tell you is take an acting class. I think some hands on experience will do right by you. It's all in the look right before Sunday makes him yell it.
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...that Kloipy doesn't have a great job? Is there something we don't know?
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...Why would anyone be jealous of someone who knows someone who knows someone who works in the film industry as an assistant? I'm jealous of Porn Stars, I'm jealous of retardedly wealthy individuas...But I don't know how I could be jealous of people who know people who know people who work in the entertainment industry. Shit, I know people who work in the entertainment industry...and I didn't get laid or get paid. Come to think of it, I do harbour a deep resentment over Brett Ratner. I'm also very jealous of the ugly fucker sleeping with my ex girlfriend who won't let me have friendly fucks anymore. Cunt.
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you are just a snob who thinks that his shit doesn't stink. Let me guess you have a loft apartment, you listen to 'The Shins', you were moved to tears by the stunning conclusion and brave acting in The Brown Bunny, you don't drink regular coffee but like Cafe au lait, you buy your clothes from J Crew, and you think you are the life at parties, however when you are alone with yourself, you feel hollow and empty, because in the long run money and fame mean nothing when no one likes you
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And asking Paul Schaffer if he wants mustard on that doesn't make him a "connection". Tool.
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...let's not throw blanket statements at the master of them. It's one of the few times I'll say you're being unfair to Animal.
*Shudder* I can't believe I just said that. -
then why do you constantly keep coming back in here? Why, what point does it prove? That everyone hates you. Does that get you off, thinking you are better then the rest of us. You are the most pathetic of anyone on here, because even though you think you are so incredible and so high and mighty compared to us, you keep coming back over and over.
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...in saying PTA makes mistakes. All his choices seem deliberate with all the diliberateness of his character Eli Sunday, with the screeching and gnashing of teeth. Methinks PTA might be the true false prophet in this scenario. And IndustryKiller!, your reasonings play to me like making excuses for Anderson's storytelling. And if those are indeed the explanations, it makes the film sound even more amateurish. Sorry, not attacking your interpretational skills, just that I don't think one can make a mountain out of a molehill, no matter how many excuses you make for it. How is Eli a threat to Plainview? Is he enough of a threat to publicly humiliate him like that? Anderson never truly establishes what Eli means to Plainview. I mean, later on, Eli actually indirectly helps him by baptising him in exchange for the land. I'm sorry, but all the utter hatred in the film, and never before have I beheld a movie that tried to infuse so much hatred into its fiber, seems all so displaced...
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I should have thought ahead just being a dumb redneck from 'the sticks'
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...and you know it. Don't bring your hatred of AnimalBalls against me. I'm just trying to make sure that you won't become as bad as him. There are plenty of decent human beings in NYC, and to lump them into a pigeonholed category is unfair, if it's to AnimalBalls or to anybody else.
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I'm just saying that since he felt the need to classify me as a hick..well I don't know it was more of a joke than being serious. No hard feelings. Yes there are a lot of good people in NYC, he just fits the profile of a lot of people I've met who are like him
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I know I'm going to be killed for this but I thought it was kinda boring. I dont know why, I wanted to like it but I just thought the story took a big backseat to the direction. Definitely should have won something for best director but I just felt as a whole it didnt work. I'll scream all day that the direction was jaw dropping, perhaps the best Ive ever seen, but the movie was boring. And NCFOM, I thought it was perfect until the end. Not the fact that there wasnt an epic confrontation, I could live with that. But I couldnt deal with the fact that it just kept going and going and going afterwards. Its like the pacing felt plain awful after you see Moss's body and there really is no reason to just sit there and watch anything after because the story they got us to care about pretty much ended with his death.
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Never heard of the Shins, live in a 3 bedroom apartment not a loft, was underwhelmed by The Brown Bunny, don't drink coffee, haven't shopped at J.Crew Since like 1992, and I'm an observer, I nver make myself the center of attention at parties, and no, I have no problem being by myself sometimes, which isn't as often as I'd like.
And to answer the question, why do I keep coming back? Entertainment. You losers are nothing if not entertaining. Now dance! -
You misunderstand my analogy between filmmaking and creative writing. With creative writing, after all the editing and re-writing, the final product is what's on the paper, the novel, the short story, etc. With filmmaking, the "creative writing" does not end with the script, it continues through shooting and editing, and ends with the big projected rectangle up on a dark wall. But in the end for both, they should do the same things. And among other things, besides, as you stated, showing us life as it happens, they (the story and the characters) must have a logical organic progression from point A to point B. In my opinion, PTA's amateurish writing mistaken for genius fails to do this, and thus falls into chaos. And to me, chaos is not art. Even abstract paintings by Jackson Pollock had an organic logical progression reasoning to them...
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In the same way that a monkey playing with his own shit amuses me. Your mixture of arrogance and stupidity is a rare and magical combination.
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Im not from NYC, but Ive been living here for two years going on three. I think its a bit unfair to say that its all the midwest people who come up here and act like snobs. In fact, most of my friends are transplants and none of them are snobbbish. In fact most of us are people that dont even like native new yorkers because of the snobbish nature. Also, not everyone from NYC is a snob. I think its..well...its successful people or people from successful familes that are living here that are the snobs....
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how about putting the number of the post next to the time and date?
Would be interesting to know just how many posts were in that LOST talkback. -
Great fucking post. See, every now and then someone wanders in and says something brilliant. Same with SK229. He knows what's up.
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it's no wonder they try to feed us such bullshit with people like you working for it.
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My tool is the AVID, but thanks for your participation. If you could read, I already said the news stinks, but it is easy as shit and pays obscene amounts of money. If it wasn't for wanting a family, I'd still be in L.A.
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There are people like me in all fields. Get used to it. Not everyone buys your stupid bullshit. Some people can actually see you for what you indeed are.
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...1. People who have the time and wherewithall to see 229 films in one year.
2. People who insist on going on and on about movies that never come to our section of the world.
3. People who think their opinion is any better than someone else's.
4. People who think that bathroom humor qualifies as "a good movie".
5. People who only read the dark print in these kinds of posts because..hey..let's face it..most reviews are huge snore-fests...hey that's me!!! Why am I dissing myself?!! -
Wes anderson sucks, PTA sucks, The coen brothers are amazing, I feel like the state of film today does not capture the beautiful simplicity of the silent era. PTA's writing style is obtuse and pedantic, unfortunatly most of the swine seem so willing to line up at the trough to swallow the swill. With No country for Old men, the Coens did more in a single frame than PTA has done in his entire career. I should know because I was a grip on I Still Know what you Did Last Summer
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Mori, did you read the book, or are you just assuming that this was a faithful adaptation because other people say so?
I read the book before seeing the film, and because of that, NO COUNTRY was a huge disappointment to me. I know that in a book-to-film adaptation, changes are needed, but the Coens made the wrong choices. They cut out the structure that held everything together (Bell's ongoing narration, which makes it clear that he's the main character) and they deleted the best characterization and thematic development (contained in the full conversations between Bell/Ellis, Chigurh/Wells, and Chigurh/CarlaJean).
Adding everything I mentioned would have added mere minutes to the 2-hour runtime - that's not much in a film that nearly everyone seems to be labeling as challenging and artsy.
My opinion is that the Coens DID NOT make a faithful adaptation of NO COUNTRY. They kept most of the action, but eliminated the best character and thematic development, and they cut out the narrative device that would have made the transition into the last act feel like less of a shock. I still do not understand why the Coens would make such gratuitous and ultimately damaging changes to the story. -
Animal-tell me who I am. Go on. I'm ready for a laugh
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I have one muscle shirt and tha' iz all I needs. It's got da americun flag on it and it says my motto for livin' "Theze colors don't run"
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I love how you keep dropping these stupid little hints like we're playing a game of "Where in the world is AnimalStructure?" Doesn't matter. The only thing that matters to us is that you seem to insist on making outrageous statements and arguing them as if they're facts. I mean, Daniel Day Lewis is doing a bad John Huston impression?! Seriously? That's the most assinine thing I've heard from you (or anyone else) in ages. And there's not a single person who agrees with you. Yet, you argue it as if it's a fact and anyone who doesn't see it is a moron. So let's drop the bullshit about what you do, where you live and how beautiful your wife and kids are. We know it's all bullshit, anyway. And so do you. So let's concentrate on what's really important: Getting your head dislodged from your ass.
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I just saw No Country For Old men this weekend in the UK and loved it. But I have ambiguous feelings about the ending. Not showing the final shootout is brave and a decision I admire. But I would admire it a lot more if it wasn't preceded by a substitute shootout earlier in the film. This just seems like the film is trying to have its cake and eat it. Either have the shootout at the end or not at all.
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...who has gotten by at times through film editing (though it's not my career), I would say that no matter where you are working, having fundamental knowledge of both FCP and AVID are key to making any sort of real scratch in the occupation.
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...But I'm a broke ass lazy chav dick who lives in an inner city slum! So take that, you snob calling bastards.
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what did you like about The Brown Bunny? Was it the 80 minutes of driving scenes or Chloe's mouth full of cock?
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So you can't make anymore movies about independently driven American entrepreneurs anymore because they're automatically ripoffs of Scarface?? What incredible assholery is that?
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with his best posts.NO WAIT!ANIMALSTRUCTURE,if you read this,please do me an favor:Post the "TEN Commandments of AnimalStructure" in regards to moviemaking.That will make a great T-shirt.Thank you in advance AnimalStructure.
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That's one of Animalstructure/Thunderballs most common responses in talkback when he's being reamed, and oh how truly sweet Vern's reaming of him was.
Other infamous quotes by this evil goon are:
1) "Milosevic got a bad rap. He was just trying to defend his country from Muslim invaders."
2) "There is no such thing as a right-wing dictatorship."
3) "George W Bush is a liberal."
4) "I have it on good authority that George Clooney is gay".
5) "McCarthy was a true patriot."
6) "Clinton and the war criminal Wesley Clark invaded a sovereign Christian nation to save a bunch of terrorist sympathizing Muslims."
7) "I do not support the war in Iraq(for it is a Liberal war)"
8) "Srebenica, Srebenica, Srebenica, you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs."
www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=22198
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I'm glad you liked the movie. But to me it was some of the most pretencious crap I've ever seen. But did we really need to watch vincent gallo drive for that fucking long? I watched the whole movie too and I think it's one of the worst movies I've ever seen. I'd rather watch Meet the Spartans than have to sit through that ego road trip again. And that should tell you something about my feelings of The Brown Bunny
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thanks for that great laugh
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ANTI-AnimalStructure T-shirt.That would be funny too!Thanks man.But I still need my PRO-Animal T-shirt with the "TEN Commandments of AnimalStructure".Need to be fair on both sides,when it comes to T-shirt`s.
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I'm sorry, I just don't think I could sit through it ever again. I understand what he's trying to say about how some men feel threatened by women and their sexuality, and the lonely journey we can take if we lose someone we love. I just think it could have been shown in a much better way than just watching him drive
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seller in Bosnia!or Croatia!or Slovenia!I am sure my cousin and my friends who fought the war against Milosevic would buy that for a fucking dollar!
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My God the man really is a sick bastard.. Animalstructure if you expect us to believe anything you say about yourself now it's maybe time you just quietly left. By your lack of a solid defense for any of your points on film it's clear you're a contrarian, by your comments on women it's clear you are a sexist, by your comments on yourself its clear you're an exaggerating self aggrandizing braggart, and by your comments in Pazuzu's post its clear you are a laughably hyperbolic loser. And since you can't get a single person to agree with anything you say on a website that has a diverse array of poster if nothing else yet continue to insist that it is everyone around you who doesn't get it, it's clear you are delusional.
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that a movie can't have a slow buildup, but there's a difference when the payoff is exactly like the sixth sense. And did we really need to see her suck his cock for 5 minutes? That's not artistic. Sometimes graphic nudity is good in a certain film, but in Brown Bunny it's just explotative. While there is usually nothing wrong with explotation in film, Brown Bunny didn't earn it and it pretty much stood on the whole 'blow job' scene just to get people to watch it.
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again, i hated the movie, but you seem to have enjoyed it and that's all that really matters because we all have our own opinions on what is good/bad. So more power to you, but I just can't like that movie not matter what. I've thought about the theme and point he was going for and talked with a few people about however, that just kind of pisses me off even more. but whatever
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Mother I Like to Fuck.
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MILF is real,very real.
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keep it going man :)
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nobody ever before called me "Travi".Funky.But Salemslut asked and got an answer.MILF!
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"Whereas the Coens deeply revere Cormac McCarthy, and were faithful to the point where his novel feels almost like a first-draft screenplay"
Cormac's book is like a first draft? What, may I ask, are you smoking, sir? Maybe you should confine your opinions to film, as you clearly have no ability to discern literary quality. BTW The book isn't aspiting to BE a screenplay; it's a fucking novel, and a damn good one. -
so you should feel honored :)
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you can get one with Gallo. j/k
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so you wanted to suck hi.....i'm mean say hello
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MILF on BROTHA!;-)
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I'll let you know how the new Midnight Meat Train trailer is
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Has nothing to do with the adaptation (faithful or not) of the book. It has to do with the fact that the movie is good, even really good occasionally, but it isn't the amazing cinematic masterpiece that so many critics have been hyping it up to be. It's one of those movies where the end credits should be accompanied by Peggy Lee singing "Is that all there is?"
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you little slut you.:-)
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the blowjob scene is the genius of BROWN BUNNY. Because everybody knew about it. It was the carrot on the stick. I saw more than one review trashing it but claiming that everyone stayed at the critic's screening "just to see how bad it would get." No, I'm pretty sure that's not why you stayed, dude. I kind of like the movie, half because of the look and feel of it and half because of how devious it is to use that to force people to watch him driving around, taking off his jacket, taking out his motorcycle, etc.
Gallo is funny. A very convincing asshole. To me the funniest part in the movie is when he's in the pet shop and he asks "Are these the bunnies?" No, those aren't the bunnies. Those are the bunny cages. Oh wait, you mean those furry animals inside with the bunny ears? Yes, yes those are the bunnies. You are correct.
wait, did Moriarty have Brown Bunny on the best of the year, I did I just go off topic? -
It could have easily seen a big boost at the box-office if they had just had Javier Bardem do the opening coin toss in character. "Call it, friend..." Ahh, would've been awesome...
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Curious as to what more should have been added at the end of NCfOM? All the story and character arcs are complete, it seems to me, and there is not much left to tell. Maybe you feel cheated, like many others on the TB, that there wasn't a big shoot out scene between Chigur and Moss? If so, I think if you watch the movie again (or better yet read the book) you'll see that that a big confrontation/climax wasn't necessary on screen. Narratively, Llewellyn's death was a foregone conclusion from the moment he decided to take the money. His story was secondary to the sherrif's story, just giving Ed Thom more perspective on the world. Moss's death (and his wife's) just gave Bell one more hideous example of how bad violence and lawlessness have become. And the incident, as you know, is what convinces him to retire from law enforcement. There endeth the story.
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I'd have to say the below TB for VERN VS. CHAOS DVD would win for "most entertaining of 2007". The exchanges between Vern, DemonDave and JuggFuckler are some of the best in memory. Here's the link to the TB:http://tinyurl.com/2dukbv
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but still one of the best-
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almost killed me!I wonder if DEMON DAVE opened the"gate to HELL" yet?
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do you have the link to the walter B thing? I'm always up for a good read-
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the story certainly had enough of that. You see, even though we don't necessarily like the Josh Brolin character, we care about him and are interested and invested in him and to not even be able to see him meet his end is unsatisfying. But I see why it is done and it's a damn good movie. But it wasn't what I would call a masterpiece.
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Anton will be in the hotel room when Tommy Lee Jones revisits it and he clearly is not. Boo.
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walterB TB.Just look for it on his mainpage.
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prevented you from having "closure". I can understand that, I suppose. I remember reading the book and it describes Bell finding Moss's dead body. Took a while to sink in, but it also hit me with a feeling of -"Of course- Moss was doomed. Should have realized that sooner. Damn this story is dark."
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I wanted to see him die. Which isn't the same thing as wanting more blood and guts. This movie had too much for my taste.
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is just Bell's imagination. As I recall, he looks all through the room and finds nothing, even though before he enters it looks like Chigurh is standing just inside with his gun. How can he imagine someone he has never seen? I think THIS scene (more so than the absence of Moss's death) is what rubbed me wrong the most about NCfOM.
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And go do whatever you have an actual talent for. I'm sure there is something...
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in the morning on CC that makes you turn off the station and go to bed.
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The dude's reviews and TB posts are entertaining as hell, and he's had a major impact on AICN's ability to get scoops over the years. The site benefits greatly from his contibutions.
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thats all.
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Well?
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I have enjoyed his reviews in the past but if you're someone known for being comedic and you have nothing funny to say, then say nothing at all. That is all...
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Doesn't matter. If Chigurh is in the room, then why the hell doesn't Bell find him when he searches every inch of the damned room? This scene is pissing me off more and more as I think about it...
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Jesus F. Christ, Jackislost. Your weird fixation on accusing me of bad comedy better not turn into autism like Tom Bodet following me around with his gibberish about "Mikey Bay" and "big fuckin robots." People were talking about the blowjob scene in BROWN BUNNY, I made my argument for why it made for a clever structure to the movie. What, I'm not allowed to include a smartass comment about the movie? I think there's something else going on here because so far your attacks on me haven't made any sense.
As for Skywalker family, I type in your name in google all I get is a bunch of one sentence posts calling people "doucebags" and your teen friendship page where you and your friends pretend to be married to Anakin Skywalker. If you want to contribute some insight into movies before you start piling on the name calling I would appreciate it.
Anyway JackIsLost, please explain why you are mad at me because I know it doesn't have to do with me writing one post about BLADE and one about BROWN BUNNY. I don't know how we're ever gonna be friends again if we can't speak openly about our feelings. -
How will I ever survive the night. Gosh darn.
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Calm down, jeez. Just said you are guilty of occasional lameness. Who isn't? I remember the you vs. CHAOS review and thought it was great. So take a chill pill or something...
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Jeez. Can anyone really contribute to the site when the talkbacks are so hard to read?
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I don't see how one can claim to be more of a movie fan than someone else. We're not really contributing to Hollywood on this site, we're just commenting on it.
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I feel that if the ending was re-organized a little or something it would have been better. I loved every frame until Moss died. I would have loved to have just walked out at that moment feeling satisfied. But instead it did a radical perspective shift that just dragged and dragged and felt utterly pointless. Yeah, I know it had a point that Bell had given up, but they could have shown it better. Maybe putting his wife's death right after Bell checks the room or something. And for the record, I didnt know it was up for debate about whether or not Chigurh was in the room...it seemed plain as day that he was...am I craz?
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Sorry for the harsh tone Jack, it's just that this is the second time that I wrote a post about a movie and you made a snide comment about "giving up the comedy." And when I ask you about it you won't even explain what you're talking about. How is my take on BROWN BUNNY not legitimate? And wouldn't you be annoyed if somebody told you to "give up the comedy" and called you untalented because of your take on the hotel scene in NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN? It's not so much the snide disrespect as the randomness of it. Tom already supplies my recommended daily allowance of non-sequiturs.
Anyway even if I was some Carrot Top asshole just going around spouting punchlines what would be the point of calling me names? Let's have some positivity in the world, bud. -
Put a sock on it. You know damn well that I meant that NCFOM was so faithful that as one reads the book, it's actually possible to see the movie in your mind, utterly transcending the wildly disparate media forms. What I was saying is that it's as though McCarthy's novel only needs to be organized into dialogue to transform it into the Coen's screenplay...this is a compliment both to their devotion and the strength of McCarthy's imagery. So don't posture to me about "literary quality" if you can't even correctly ascertain the intended meaning of a singular paragraph...or are you just a snob who thinks it impossible for a motion picture to measure up to a book?
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I wouldn't have said anything. I thought you were the kind of guy who could let that shit roll off your back. Sorry...
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so I don't like some joker telling me not to say anything unless "I have something funny to say." Like I'm some fuckin birthday clown. You can throw an insult like that at me but don't be surprised when I respond.
Anyway back to NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. Sorry you didn't like it. Do you think if you watch it again some day down the line your idea about it might change? I've only seen it once but I did read the book first so "the ending" didn't come as a surprise. I have a feeling that years from now people will be over the novelty of it and that won't be the main thing people discuss.
As for the hotel room, I'm honestly not totally sure what I think happened there, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. I don't think I have to understand every aspect of a movie on the first viewing for it to be good.
p.s. give up the comedy -
Good grief, man. Get the sand out of your vagina.
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I watched it three times. My third time, I was looking for an answer to the same problem 'jackislost' is having.
When Bell swings open the door, it hits the back wall and stays, touching the wall. Bell walks to the bathroom, turns on the light, and steps inside to look at the lock on the window. He leaves the bathroom, walks across the room and sits down on the bed. The front door is no longer against the back wall. It is out a few feet, not enough for the sheriff who was in full on adrenaline mode to notice.
The theory that he was only in Bell's mind is ludicrous. He was there and slipped out while Bell was in the bathroom. No doubt in my mind. -
thanks for your insight into Brown Bunny, i can see what you mean about the devious nature of getting people to sit through all of that for a blow job scene. When I had seen it I hadn't even heard about what the 'infamous' scene was only that it was 'infamous'. I was just hoping for a good movie and what I got was too much road tripping. I almost wish I would have used the time instead of watching him drive, I could have watched myself drive back to the video store to return the movie. But like I said above, to each his own. And by the way, I thought your post was hilarious and you are my favorite reviewer on this site. anytime you write 'mcmuffin' instead of macguffin, I usually start cracking up. Oh and the Chaos TB was the best of all time. Thanks man :)
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I will definitely see the movie (I wanted to anyway) but I will be paying close attention to this scene...
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holy shit man i haven't seen you in ages
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why didn't Chigurh just kill Bell? He certainly wouldn't have felt bad about it. All of the little things bothering me about the movie have actually inspired me to read the book and see if these questions are answered. Of course, a movie should work on its own without the aid of source material but still, I am intrigued...
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Where, thereabouts, do you live?
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Feb 03, 2008 10:35:41 PM CST
VERN - I LOVE HOW YOU GET DOWN AND DIRTY IN THE TBs
by bringingsexyback
Despite your black box you're definitely one of the guys, and I've also noticed JackLost's swipes at you every time you post. He's definitely got a personal vendetta against you for some reason no one but he would care about. So fuck him with the stick that's engorged in his ass.
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I agree, it's one of the many reasons I respect Vern and look forward to his opinion on film, because he will always come in and talk to us
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I'll add to Industry's reply to your criticism of TWBB:
1) What was the purpose of the child beating father? ... To expose the hypocrisy of these so-called Christians and show how much contempt Plainview has for that hypocrisy. He showed the girl affection as he did his own son. By doing so he showed the girl's father how little a man he really is.
2) What was the purpose of showing us Eli's healing sermon in such an over-the-top fashion? ... Have you seen these ridiculously theatrical televangelists? Have you watched Jesus Camp? It's not PTA who's over the top, he's accurately portraying real-life preachers who use circus acts to bewitch their flocks.
3) Why does Daniel start suddenly beating on Eli in the mud in front of everyone? ... Because he wandered into his territory, and Plainview showed him who's in charge. The two of them are caught in a power struggle. I mean, look at Goodfellas - why have two scenes where Tommy makes Spider dance, and then kills him? Did that advance the main story? No. It's a revealing scene that shows his character. Same with this one.
You say you have seen, and know, great filmmaking, and TWBB is not it. I'll bet that with whatever examples of great filmmaking you put forth, anyone here can find fault with them too. It's all a matter of opinion. -
Hells yeah. Vern gives us a lot of good reads for no charge, and when I see him in the TBs I don't even notice the black box. He's just one of the guys. You can like him or not, and you can feel free to debate him, but when these guys are giving him shit for being "unfunny", that's just wrong because he's been the cause of quite some laughs and giggles in here. But if any of them thinks they can do better, I'd love to judge their superior comedy acts.
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one only needs to read the review for Chaos and see how fucking funny Vern is. I've read that review a bunch of times and it still makes me laugh out loud
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He only told HW that he was nothing more than a tool in order to hurt him. I don't believe it was the truth. Throughout the movie there were many instances where Plainview's love for the boy, whom he regarded truly as a son, was real and sincere. Yes, he did 'abandon' HW but he sent him to the best care he could buy, and he had no choice as his entire life was invested in the new fields. He revealed the truth of HW's real father to him only when that fact could be used as a weapon, when he felt betrayed. Yes, he did use the father/son partnership as leverage in business dealings, but PTA also showed how he was mentoring HW in the business, again, like a father would.
There was a review out there that presumed that Plainview may have molested the girl, but that's (IMO) patently false. There's really no basis to it. I believe he showed the girl some kindness, affection and generosity as a parent figure would, in part to show her father what scum he is for beating her. -
He's not exactly a portrait of evil. He showed compassion where it was due. As when one of the workers got killed, he shut down operations and made sure he got a proper burial - and personally involved himself in getting his belongings in order. I don't recall that campfire speech though. As for his father/son relationship, I thought it was quite a warm one. For a kid who's not even of his blood, he sure treated him as his very own.
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Thing about Vern is, he's an excellent writer. He's got a witty style, and his writing is engaging and has substance. It's also respectable and not an insult to his audience's intelligence. Humorous, to be sure, but not in a plainly stupid way.
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I think the only fault any one here will be able to find with Tarkovsky's "Sacrifice", Jim Jarmusch's "Stranger Than Paradise", Jean Renoir's "Grand Illusion", Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life", or Ozu's "Tokyo Story" would be they're too boring, not enough things blowing up, lack of sex scenes, and subtitles.
And on TWBB...So are we saying that the film is to a degree about the hypocrisy of Christians? Wow, okay, I sit here humbled before the omnipotent all-knowing wisdom of Paul Thomas Anderson...NOT! And the scenes you refer to in Goodfellas as comparison make my point for me. From the start of the film, we see Pesci's Tommy as a loose gun with little regard to the ultimate consequences. He fires his gun up in the air as they carjack a truck, he refuses to pay his restaurant bill and humiliates the manager in front of everyone, he shoots Spider in the foot. That Tommy eventually kills Spider, one of their own pups, was a logical progression of Tommy's character, and indeed of the entire story, for what was Goodfellas about but the over-inflated hubris of these mafioso ultimately doing them in? That they thought they could wave their guns around and shoot and rob and beat up people without answering to some other authority or themselves? Tommy eventually messes with the wrong person in Billy Batts, a made man, and pays the price at the end of the film. A logical progression of Tommy's character. I might be more forgiving if PT Anderson were making a film in the vein of a Cassavetes flick, but Cassavetes deals with real everyday life. TWBB is not real life. PTA deals with caricatures, and thus I am holding him up to that sort of microscope. In the end, TWBB is a chaotic mess of a film that makes little sense to me. And I'm not simply going with my opinion, I'm going on rules of universal artistic harmony laid down by such folks as Aristotle and Anton Chekov. Opinion has some measure of validity, but if all art is simply open to one's own opinion, then art is dead. -
I, too, sensed an almost unnatural adult love that Plainview has for the little blonde girl, almost as if he was grooming her to be his future bride. It would play in with PTA's constant aping of other filmmakers in that in Werner Herzog's "Aguirre, Wrath of God", the insane Aguirre, at the end, grooms his own daughter to be his future bride, to create a pure race in a new Spanish empire in the South American jungle. And it seemed to me that he was pissed at HW for running off with his little girl...
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I still love your praise on Rats. I bet you can't wait for WALL-E, huh?
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...To find fault with the writing of It's A Wonderful Life. It's tripe. Cloying, sentimental and obvious. It's gonna take me a long time to find out whats wrong with the other films you mention, although I wont bother discussing Tarkovsky with you because I can't make it through one of his films without punching a film student.
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Knew I'd catch somebody with the mention of "It's a Wonderful Life." Ha! First, I can't believe you just compared arguably Jimmy Stewart's finest work to the stomach of a cow. But then you can't sit through Tarkovsky, so.. One day when you grow up and "open your eyes", you might discover that when you watch a Tarkovsky film, you are viewing the universe, nature and human nature, as it is, simple and unadulterated. Like haiku. "Cloying" and "richly sentimental" are some of the many responses from psuedo-art snobs who are more akin to buy into the fake pessimism of films like TWBB. "You must risk sentimentality", Tim O'Brien once said. But "Wonderful Life" really isn't that sentimental. All his life, George Bailey is trying to run from this small town life, from a wife and kids, and the town folk. He wants to run off and explore and build great monuments and do great things. But life gets in the way of his dreams. George Bailey is arguably the biggest dreamer in film history. And if "Life" were to end at the suicide bridge scene, Capra's film might be considered the most depressing film in film history. Instead, George is miraculously allowed the chance to "travel" beyond his wildest dreams. He is allowed to travel through space and time to another reality, a nightmare of unfettered capitalism and unadulterated fantasies, the twilight zone. And when he returns, he returns with a newfound respect for human life, an enlightened position he may never have gotten in one of his planned trips to a far-off country. In the end, it is not Clarence the Angel or the pilot younger Bailey brother who gets the "wings", but George himself.
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...to this line from you.
"I'm going on rules of universal artistic harmony laid down by such folks as Aristotle and Anton Chekov. Opinion has some measure of validity, but if all art is simply open to one's own opinion, then art is dead."
These were, as I'm sure you're aware, theories made when we were often unaware of the raw power of art, and represent two very different thoughts centuries apart. But to treat them as the be all and end all is to negate their very purpose. The fun part of art is that we are constantly making up new rules, saying to hell with tradition and restrictions and what have you. If we're going to listen to Aristotle, then we'd have nothing but the most basic of drama and comedy. Don't get me wrong--I read "Poetics" whenever I'm down on my own writing prowess and it picks me back up, because it reminds me of what I can accomplish.
But no. There are no rules. Only those that we choose to follow. You yourself have "an opinion" on TWBB that others disagree with. Does this, in fact, invalidate your opinion?
I'm just saying there are infinite ways to approach art. You can love "It's A Wonderful Life." It doesn't feel like reality or an honest depiction of emotion to me, but you are entitled to love it. So do millions of other people. I am allowed to feel that it dates itself more harshly than other movies of its era and even more than other Capra films. But it's still a good movie. We were all raised with different outlooks on life. Simple and unadulterated.
I'll take "It Happened One Night." That's fair. -
...continuing my response to you, bringing up "Wonderful Life" and everything, but it seems to have disappeared when I hit "post." What the eff?
Sigh. I can't win tonight. -
That's what I liked best about that movie was his relationship with the kid and the fact that it could not be easily pegged. I think he is both a terrible father and that he loves his son dearly. That scene where he strikes oil and the kid is hurt is great because I expected him to be more interested in the oil than making sure his son is okay. But for quite a while he completely ignores the oil. He really does care. But eventually it lures him in, he fucks up, and that's the first time he abandons his boy.
This is going way back to AnimalStructure, but he said that in the baptism scene Plainview was just putting on a show. I disagree. At first he is, but I think it really does devastate him at the end and that's why right after that scene suddenly the kid is back. They don't explain it but I definitely think this means the baptism made him think about what he had done and realize he had to bring the kid back home.
And that's also why the movie's view of Eli and Christianity is more nuanced than some people here are saying. In that scene Eli is being a bastard, he's getting revenge on Plainview, he even uses church as an excuse to beat on him, but in a way he actually does give Plainview religion. He sort of does baptize him, or at least gives him a little of his soul back. Eli is a phony but he really does believe in God, I think, and can't figure out why God lets him be such a fuckup. That's why he's so messed up at the end.
Anyway, I thought it was pretty good. -
Your interpretation makes more sense to me than anything I've read about the film so far. Maybe that's why you've got the big black box around your posts. I agree the heart of the film is probably the father-son relationship, as it has been in most of PTA's movies. I just still think the executed realized film around that idea is, just like Boogie Nights was, a chaotic mess. To say that Plainview is a complicated character, to me, lets PTA off the hook. Actually, some of Plainview's actions with regards to HW make sense. The kid was a potential arsonist murderer, what else is he to do with the little brat? I figured he got him back because he realized that the brother imposter actually needed killing, and felt bad about sending the little tyke off to boarding school for the deaf. And if there was a change, even a small one, in Daniel after the "baptism", I just didn't really see it on the screen. After the ritual, he whispers to himself "I've got the land" or something, driving home the idea that's it's all an act. But even if the baptismal is some kind of turning point for Plainview, financially it is because he now has the land through which to build the pipeline, I just didn't see it on the screen. I'm not paying $9 a ticket to assume things. How is Eli such a fuckup? Prior to the ending, he seems to be doing a pretty good job with his little church, what little we see of it on the screen. It's a fine line between what you show the audience, and what you allow them fill in themselves, I suppose. I do concede that TWBB is a cut above some of the usual Hollywood fare, otherwise it probably wouldn't generate so much discussion, but if people are going to crown you the next "Citizen Kane" and bestow you with * Academy noms, you're now officially in the spotlight. Peace out.
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And tragic. Great scene, actually. But tragedy and comedy are linked, so I don't see a problem with people laughing--I believe it wasn't from disrespect. Vern is right, I feel. Or, at least, that's how I read Plainview's reaction. I do wish they'd spent more time with HW before the boy grows up and with the girl as well. I would have liked to know a bit more about Plainview's father as well. To me, Day-Lewis was brilliant. He was like a shark, always moving forward. He viewed people like he viewed the ground, the rocks he drilled through--they were merely in the way, an inconvenience. He felt the need to "break" them all to get to what he wanted. The ending was very Kubrickian, I agree, and darkly comic as well. As for the movie as a whole. NCFOM (excluding the botched pacing and ending) was more "entertaining", but TWBB more resonant. I think that's due to the mystery involved. Plainview isn't an easily classified character. And I DO believe he cared for HW, but he was hurt. And Dano was merely the last layer of limestone to him. He wanted to "break" the man, even if there was no reward to it. He hated the ground, the rock, and the people he faced, I think. To him, they were all in the way. He didn't know how to "enjoy" work or life.
Though I could be wrong here. Still processing the film, actually. -
great post man, couldn't have said it better myself. Same goes for Vern.
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There is no way that H. W. coming back right after the baptism scene is an accident or the two aren't related. The pain in Plainview in the moment at the baptism when he has to admit to abandoning his son is clearly read on his face and the look he gives Sunday right before he makes him yell it. As the baptism itself went on and Sunday started moving onto other subjects such as the "blood" and God Plainview's contempt for the entire ritual bubbled forth again, but for that 30 seconds or so Sunday has him and his vulnerability shows. It's why Plainview makes Sunday yell that he is a false prophet and god is a superstition. Quid pro quo, Sunday makes Plainview face a truth he would rather not and Plainview later returns the favor. It's also not random that Plainview brings H.W. back right after the baptism, when those pesky feelings were brought to the forefront.
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I explained in a post above how Plainview can both love H.W. and completely alienate him from his life simultaneously in a post above. I'm too tired to reiterate it now, but I think it's the second thing I posted on this talkback, feel free to check it out if you're so inclined.
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patent on artistic harmony. Nor does aristotle. I agree not EVERYTHING in art is opinion but there are no rules written down as to exactly what great art is or isn't, just ask Marcel Duchamp. I'm gleaming from your posts that it's the passimism of TWBB that you are taking the most offense to. I don't think that Anderson is making any statements about how the world works in any sort of general sense with his pessimism, but in fact that sometimes that passimism, that corroding of the human soul, does in fact come out on top, often in fact. People often don't learn from their mistakes like George Bailey, there are no angels to descend and show us the way, so we do the best we can and some of us fall short. And if you can't see the human inside the monster of Daniel Plainview, maybe it's you that needs a lesson in empathy. Because to most of us here it's as visible as a skyscraper.
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Feb 04, 2008 4:50:30 AM CST
"In the end, it is not Clarence the Angel or the pilot younger B
by tourist
With zingers like that, I don't really need to add anything more. When I view Tarkovsky films, I view some guy walking from one end of a pool to another holding a candle. I guess that is to view human nature, or at least the component that includes walking up and down empty pools. You know, I once listened to a film student talk about the ring of condesation left by a coffee mug on a table in a shot from a Tarkovsky film. He talked alot of nonsense too. Coicidentally, he also loathed Magnolia.
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One of Paul Verhooven's best films easily makes up for the mess that was Showgirls. BB was full of suspense,plot turns and not to mention great noir moments. I would easily recommend this way over Attonement. (which unjustly had garnered so much praise.)At least you gave nods to This is England. And what's funny is that the Skinhead culture originated from Reggae music SKA and Oye, only to have white racists adapt said culture for thier own twisted beliefs. Nice list but Knocked up is some overrated shit and you'll never catch me watching a CGI cartoon movie about mice in a fucking restaurant. I'll hold out for the CGI Resident Evil Movie instead.
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The candle across the pool scene from Tarkovsky's "Nostalghia" is the main character buying into the perceived "insanity" and child-like faith of the older man. That doing this one absurd act, walking a lit candle across an empty spring pool, will somehow save humanity. I don't recall any shots of condensation left from coffee mugs in any Tarkovsky films. In reality, only cold things can leave condensation rings. Was it a frappachino? Keep in mind, Tarkovsky made his films for European and Russian audiences, who are more used to seeing and experiencing art on a more sub-textual level. Europe has a culture of art going back 1000 years. If Tarkovsky had meant Nostalghia for American audiences and box office receipts, he might have indiscriminately planted mines in the empty spring pool, to "raise the stakes", so to speak. And if you really think that "It's a Wonderful Life" is the equivalent of a cow's innards, then I guess I can't help you. Maybe I can. I suggest you buy, or borrow from the library or from your film student acquaintance, a copy of Tarkovsky's book "Sculpting in Time". It might "open your eyes". Or maybe not. "Tripe", really...
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...Though I did start it. Sorry to disagree on Capras work there, but like Mann or Almodovar, hes another director whose work I just completely don't understand the appeal of. Then again, my idea of a life affirming and honest and genuine cinematic experience is the original Karate Kid. No, I'm not joking. Joe Avildsen will one day be loved as deeply as any of the greats. I'm not sure my other overlooked favourite Albert Pyun will be though. No, but seriously, I can talk you through sequences in The Karate Kid that I think are as good as anything else put to film. I also like Harmony Korine, so I guess I'm alone here.
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aren't we all?
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Once made me tear also. That whole "Falling Slowly" song was prob one of the top strongest scenes I seen last year. And yes the dialogue was nothing that serious but when is anything what we say serious. This was sweet, simple movie about finding belonging to something/someone. But that song better win. I'd be pretty upset. Hopefully, theyll be the ones that sing it at the oscars.
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obviously. The Dude's a monster.
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I totally disagree on judging art based on narrow sets of rules, and yes, subjective opinion plays a huge part in it. And surely I wouldn't judge a film with literary rules. Different media and film affects other senses. Like I said, the soundtrack played a large part in giving TWBB an epic feel. I do agree with you about Goodfellas, but that was my point - just as I believe the Spider scenes were crucial portraying Tommy, I felt the same for all of Plainview's scenes. Granted, I've only seen TWBB once and Goodfellas 900 times, I may alter my view later, but for now that' what I believe.
As for the Plainview as molestor angle ... you guys are projecting way too much into it and over-analyzing. He had one scene with that girl, and there was no progression shown beyond that that could even suggest any such tendencies. I think your views are a product of our times, where children have become way too sexualized and predators even have their own TV show (Chris Hanson's). Plainview had no feelings towards that girl except to show her some mercy and teach her father a lesson on parenting. -
Of course your audience was laughing at the baptism scene - DDL was hilarious. Yes, there was a moment where his admittance of abandoing his boy was guilt-ridden and genuine, but the forced absurdity of the ritual made him crack up and behave like a clown. And it was downright funny shit. Some welcome relief in an otherwise intense movie.
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The Zone started from the talkbacks, anyone who denies that needs a history lesson!!
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Some interesting rankings up there...but great write-ups all around. In the end I have to give NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN the slight edge over THERE WILL BE BLOOD. I find it to be a more "complete" film; one that has several tangible moral/philosophical questions/statements running throughout. That being said, THERE WILL BE BLOOD contains one of the most volcanic performances I've ever seen. Despite the film's tendency to meander here and there, I was totally enthralled. And just when the film seemed to lose a sense of focus, Daniel Day Lewis would bring it back to bedrock with a number of amazing scenes.And I think ZODIAC deserves a special shoutout as well. Great film.I think I've seen more films in the theater this past year than I have in quite some time. I think we've finally had some really interesting stories put to celluloid that are worth seeing on the big screen.
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...for drinking AnimalStructure's milkshake.YOU DRINK IT UP!
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the film has outstanding performances and some interesting choices (based entirely on the book so don't credit the Coens) but i just didn't walk away thinking I had seen anything special. It was a good view but I wouldn't watch it again.
There will be blood was an awesome film and rightfully belongs at the top of all lists. PTA knows how to make films. I'd love to see him do that suggested horror film.
Oh and knocked up was complete shit. I just didn't find it funny, maybe it was an american thing?! Superbad was a bit better.
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The Zone may have come from the TB's but it really is Diet Talkback. If you deny this you are deluded- there's even a thread in there called something like "for when the horrid tb's get too much for us sensitive zoners, WAAAAAAH" Fuck you, pussies, I want's my full fat abuse fest experience. It really is much more fun.
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Anyone who is trying to say that Plainview was some sort of pedophile is really barking up the wrong tree. There is not one thing in the film which supports that notion.Regarding the girl, I do believe there is one other crucial moment between her and Plainview which takes place immediately following the baptism - is that not her that wraps her arms around him when he sits back down amongst the church members? After humiliating her father, I had little doubt that she looked to Plainview as a friend and savior.In my view, Plainview was a near-textbook misanthrope. However, he was not above the notion of family and fighting for or befriending those he felt were just and deserving. I think the idea of betrayal was always on his mind and it shaped his conflicted nature. (I couldn't help but think that his final scene with HW was a combination of him feeling betrayed by his son's decision as well as him understanding it and then handing out a hefty dose of tough love.)
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As we affectionately say in our Diet TB (TB Light for some Europeans): IPAMPILASH!!!
("I Piss A My Pants I Laugh A So Hard," coined by Zone resident and movie mogul Dino De Laurentiis) -
Why are happy endings viewed with cynicism and contempt by literary high society? Most film buffs I know frown upon happy endings and much prefer anti-climatic conclusions like the one causing such a buzz in "No Country for Old Men." Most Star Wars fans prefer the dark and portentous ending of "The Empire Strikes Back" to the cheerful Ewok celebration in the last few minutes of "Return of the Jedi."
So why are unresolved or tragic endings viewed as being superior by critics? A friend of mine and I got into a dispute over “No Country’s” ending over the weekend. I said I preferred a shootout where the protagonist comes out on top and rides away into the sunset with the money in tow. He said such an ending would’ve destroyed the movie. Personally, I have no problems with upbeat endings as long as they're done with quality.
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see what I mean? Just call me a cunt. Honestly, you'll feel better once you've got your hands dirty.
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use it for messaging. Forget the threads.
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Hey you should go check out the Frank Darabont link on the front page. Mirajeff came in and talked to me. After you check it out I got a little suprise for you
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Christ there's some complete fuckers on that thread. Why was Mirajeff whining at you? he should have offered you out, or maybe the collective verbal seeing to he took has stopped that from happening. If he can't see what's sad about offering to fight someone in a TB then he really should just give up.
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because he said if I had a problem with him and he wrote me back and said, and I qoute "Long live Lost Jarv"
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but glovedone came back as braff08 and promptley got banned on the same day he came back
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Great list! I have yet to see a few but couldn't agree more with you on Bladerunner, Zodiac, No Country, Superbad and This Is England. Good to see Shane Meadows travels as well as Superbad does the other way and I guess a good film about shared experiences of youth is universal. I saw Bladerunner when i was about 12 or 13 and like you say was overwhelmed by what I saw! likewise with BloodSimple I just kept renting them over and over on VHS! my little brain struggling with the depth of these masterpieces but knowing what I was watching was as close to filmed perfection as I was likely to get my hands on! of course other movies like Raiders and Starwars and stuff thrilled and gore and horror like The Evil Dead and Freddy and American Werewolf scared me into a frenzy but I've waited all my life for a spiritual successor to My favourite Coen Brother film of all time and a quarter of a century to see Bladerunner how it was meant to be seen on the big screen and i'm not ashamed to admit The opening 'Hades' shot in all it's glory brought a tear to my eye as much from nostalgia as technical brilliance!Also I think we must be of a similar age and like you I have a wee 3 year old boy and just had a new baby girl and I don't know if it's fatherhood that's doing it to me or age but i'm entering a new phase in my movieholic existance as I see the joy movies bring to my kids faces and the amazing amount of imagination and magic they inspire in them.Anyway love this site, and the variety of writing styles and opinions never ceases to amaze and amuse in equal measure even though it does get a bit venomous in the talkbacks from time to time I guess it's a sign that we all have a strong passion for such an amazing artform. Long may it continue.
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It's not happy endings that film geeks seem to hate--it's disingenuous happy endings. If they're done with quality, more power to them, and they'll save a viewer's sanity. But often a film will pull rabbits out of its own hat and we're left with falseness. At least, that's my opinion.
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and long live me. Although I may have to give up beer, smokes, recreational drugs and shit food to do that.
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I prefer Karate Kid 2. But I'm totally with you on Harmony Korine.
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1) It's the anti-DREAMGIRLS. That was a movie which (I have to assume) communicates something about the magic of making music to people who don't know anything about how music is actually made, but doesn't strike a single true note if you're at all a music insider. ONCE, in contrast, connects as well to non-musicians but does so by getting every detail thrillingly correct. (I've been a rock critic for 35 years and have spent the last 30 in the entourage of an obscure but legendary post-punk band. I know these people.)
2) The one thing Mori was unable to communicate in his otherwise terrific review was the affect the movie in general and in particular the "Falling Slowly" scene has on theatrical audiences. I was lucky enough to see the movie during its opening week at the great old Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline, MA, having been tipped off by a dear friend who, years ago, helped save the theater from the wrecking ball and who is a fellow member of aforementioned entourage. I have seldom seen a theater audience so moved by a scene, like we were all collectively melting in delight and rapture and sublimity.
3) The movie is so great that Mori barely alludes to one of the key wonderful bits of dramatic harmony, the relationship of the Guy to his Dad. At every point the movie goes for what is really true rather than what would make for "good drama," regardless of whether that truth skirts close to cliche (the recording studio scene) or subverts it. The truth is that many or most musicians have supportive parents who themselves have good taste in music. The scene where Guy plays the demo for his Dad is probably the second favorite scene in terms of audience reaction; it's absolutely cathartic.
The notion that we can be objective about our top 10 lists is hooey. The friend who tipped me off to ONCE saw it with her ex from 20 years ago, a local film guru who is still important in her life (and who led the movement to save the theater, and whose son is a musician and filmmaker who directed the documentary about the band that connects us all). I saw it a few days later with my ex from 20 years ago, with whom I have an almost identically close relationship. I saw it a second time in the theater with a much younger woman, the first movie we saw together -- and we've now become a couple. How could it not be my favorite film of the year? It is impossible and, I would argue, undesirable, to extricate the regard we have for a film from the personal circumstances that surround our encounters with it. It's not an accident that Mori felt the need to preface his review with the story of his discovery of the film and his sharing it with his wife. That's the genius of great film, that the glory of the film is not inherent in its images but is a collaboration between the imagined lives on the screen and the real lives of all those wonderful people out there in the dark.
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and everybody was right.
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Nobody's denying that The Zone has its roots in talkback. It still doesn't make you guys any tougher or cooler. My great-uncle Sonny was a Marine in WWII and was decorated for valor after Okinawa. That doesn't mean his badassedness has rubbed off on me in the slightest.
Talkback is the Mordor to The Zone's Rivendell, and as Cumpston put it, and we all know, that's like being interminably stuck in a candle shop. -
Aside from a few terrific setpieces in JP2, such as the cliff scene, it's nowhere near as enjoyable as JP3, Tea Leoni and the "Rambo kid" notwithstanding.
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I'm sure Harry has told you, but I suspect if you'd seen Black Book or Black Snake Moan, back in the beginning of the year, this list would have been even harder. i don't know what either would have shaken your top ten, but Black Book is easily in mine.
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the JP post should have been in the Wolf Man talkback.
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... both of those were 2006 films for me. BLACK BOOK actually did make my list last year. Great film.
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If There Will Be Blood does not win the Academy Award for best picture, which it looks like it won't...mark my words. As time passes, American film critics will realize their short-sightedness, and it's acclaim will only grow over the years. This film will go down in history as the movie that most people didn't see, many of those who did...didn't understand, but knocked the ball out of the park in a game we did not even know was being played. It is sheer perfection, a masterpiece of epic film-making, worthy to be put on the same list as Citizen Kane, The Godfather, Raging Bull, Sunset Blvd and 2001. Great call Moriarty!
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But your douchiness precedes you.
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Trust me, I was SO looking forward to this film. Day-Lewis is remarkable, certainly, but the writing is lacking. What's more, the comparisons to Citizen Kane are completely undeserved. Kane is actually a three-dimensional character. The genius of the film is that you get to see the many sides of the man without ever getting to know him. He's always at a distance, an enigma, a chaos of personae summoned out of the recollections of those who knew him. Plainview is entirely one-note. Eli is one-note. The only character that comes close to being three-dimensional is H.W. (toward the end of the film), but he becomes Anderson's mouthpiece for his father-son issues, which lessens his character's maturity. On a different note, Zodiac is fucking great. It sucks you in from the opening shots and keeps you enthralled for its lengthy running time.
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I think this was the best column I have ever read on this or any other site re:movies/pop culture/the 21st century thus far. Not only were your thoughts beautifully realized and heartfelt, but you presented them with a clarity, humanity, and thoughtfulness that I personally found stunning and unique. You made me cry a little. There is hope for the world! Thanks!
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...I guess that means that the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" really is democratic, right?
You stupid piece of shit. -
Fascism is a Leftist philosophy, both in theory and practice.
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AVID. Just learn the AVID as best you can. Best paying editing jobs use AVID. FCP is making inroads, but 90% of the industry still uses AVID almost exclusively.
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"Go ahead, ban me!"
Thing is, he was never banned as Thunderballs either. He only switches between usernames when he gets beaten so severely that he can't show his face without getting piled on, as when he went from Thunderballs to Animalstructure. What's slightly odd is that he hasn't been banned as the latter either, yet shows up with a new name in the same talkback. What's up with that tactic?
Well, who can calculate what "thoughts" roil in the dank recesses of a genocidal loon's hampered brain? -
Get used to it being called that, because it ain't ever going to stop. Over time, it's reputation is only going to grow.
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WhippingBoy would seem like a natural. Although Vern'sBitch has a nice ring to it, too. Good god, I almost felt bad for you after that little exchange. Almost.
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Fascists only come to power with the cooperation of arch conservative elements in failing democracies. Once in power, fascists work in cooperation with big businesses. They crush trade unions and keep the working class "in their place". In return, big businesses in fascist societies deal almost entirely with the state as customer/client, and ruthlessly exploit the working class. Nowhere in fascist doctrines is class war espoused in any other way than that "foreign" influence over economy and culture must be expunged. On the contrary, fascists insist that class structure is a good and necessary thing if everyone is working for the common and greater good of the nation or the race or the dominant ethnic group at the expense of everyone else.
You fail once again, Animalstructure. -
Mass murders had already begun by 1933. How about you list all the atrocites that took place at the same time?
Apparently, Hitler liked dogs too. What a guy. -
Didn't see that coming, Thanks.
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Man oh man oh man... Well, for me they just added even more weight to this piledriver of a year. Iron Man and Mongol had better be pretty great, if next year is going to tide me over through the Strike Gap... Because reading the festival reviews and such, 2008 isn't screaming at me yet. Hopefully, we'll all be too busy to notice.
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when an actor takes a performance to the point where the only way to heighten the visceral emotion of a scene is to pour boiling feces over her battered and naked body, a best actress award is in order, no questions asked. Ellen Page was good, but please.
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...will definately win his OSCAR and he deserves it! But, TWBB is waaay overrated! I kept waiting for SOMETHING to happen, but nothing happened! I enjoyed it, but I certainly did not LOVE it! BTW-SUNSHINE was cool, but man I bet every human being guessed the ending in the first 5 minutes of the movie...Let Down! ONCE rocked! But not #2 rocked......
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Now back to the list, finally. I haven't checked out "This Is England" yet, but that and "Away From Her" are both atop my Netflix.
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When I think of it, I do feel that Zodiac was my favorite film of the year. That's a big statement for me as I tend to loathe "police procedurals", but the film is epic and intimate at the same time. I feel it is even superior to NCFOM and TWBB, but Zodiac is so subtle that some might not see its genius. I'm not much of a Fincher fan, but he made the best film this year. Good call by talkbackers.
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thats all.
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There, I said it. Walk over to your local coffe shop when they do "open mic" night when those bearded non-talent "artists" wax poetic. Once is about 85 minutes of that, without the caffeine goodness.
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thats all.
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or Tl;Dr
Jeeeeeezus -
I don't hate Ratatouille or The Incredibles, I just don't think they're as great as a lot of other people, don't put them near the top of my favorite Pixar films, and don't think they come anywhere NEAR the brilliance of Iron Giant. I dig the look of Ratatouille more than The Incredibles, though. Anyway, nice to hear somebody, ANYBODY, that agrees with me even partially about those three films. As an aside, having not yet seen There Will Be Blood, this may be the most annoying TB ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol
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The thread is even more disjointed than usual. And for the millionth fucking time- Communism is left, fascism is right. It isn't that hard
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as I remember, that economic expansion also had a significant and pretty dreadful social cost. But it's been a long time since I studied history.
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I went to a restaurant I like, been there a few times. I ordered the steak, heard it was good. It smelled nice, and looked nice, but when I ate it, it was oozing blood. It hadn't been cooked. I called the chef, and he said he was playing against cooking conventions as well as purposefully denying the expectations of the postmodern customer. I think he was just being lazy. I want my time and my money back.
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I couldn't have said it better myself. The prosecution rests.
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...shouldn't be a reason to dislike a film. That's entirely on you. When did they ever say they were going to do exactly what you wanted?
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I rented This Is England yesterday on the strength of your recommendation. Bloody brilliant.
I'm a big fan of Romper Stomper, but this film portrays the skinheads early on as sympathetic characters, which really helps to engage with that world. Then Combo shows up and the National Front propaganda kicks in that the ugly side comes out. I love that it has those shades that were lacking in Romper Stomper. -
The No Country steak analogy is clever, but entirely specious.
No Country wasn't made to order according to your specifications. It never promised you a medium cut of film and then delivered it rare.
Besides which, steak is best when it has blood oozing out. Any chef will tell you that well done steaks are for people who can't appreciate a good steak. -
I think the comparison is apt. There is a reason people dislike the ending of the film. It wasn't good by any definition. Furthermore, the pacing was off as well. So, the steak was rancid (but it "defied" convention!). You mean a random car accident at the end defies convention? That's a stock ending for any "literary", existentialist, maudlin piece of entertainment. What bothered people is that the REST of the film (before the unseen death of Moss by complete strangers) is brilliant and beautifully crafted. So, pardon most thinking people's disappointment. Just because you like uncooked, gangrenous growths on your filet mignon, doesn't mean the rest of us have to.
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That's a petty arrogant statement. So all those countless people out there are wrong for their opinions? Wow. Better call the Academy and tell them to remove it from the nominees list, then because apparently it isn't good by any definition. Then call Cormac McCarthy and tell him there's no way to define the end of his book as being good in any way. I'm sure he'll appreciate your feedback so he can change it for the reprints.
Personally, when Ghigurgh walked out of that house and checked the bottom of his shoe, I got a shiver. You know what happened in that house, but it wasn't spoonfed to you so it couldn't possibly be good. Do you ned someone to cut up your burnt steak and blow on it too?
Sorry for the double post. Thankyou for your time. -
That was more than obvious. However, the scenes before and after that sequence were poorly handled (up to the unseen death of Moss). The book itself is flawed in this regard. It becomes "literary", which means that it can just drop all threads and character development in favor of a "random" existentialist ending, and be trumpeted as "brave", when it really is just lazy. Lee Jones' character was perhaps the most passive character in cinematic history.
The Departed had a jack-shit ending as well. Most people just don't want to admit it. Both movies are worth watching for everything up to that point. But, then, my suggestion is to turn off the dvd and wonder if there will be a sequel. You'll be happier. -
A few of my picks (the non-standard ones) were the same as Moriarty's - funny thing is, I made mine in mid-December. But here's my hack at 07:
10) 3:10 to Yuma
3:10 to Yuma by director James Mangold is a shot in the arm for the Western genre. When villainous ne’er-do-well Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) is captured by a gimp farmer, Dan Evans (Christian Bale), Evans becomes part of a posse that hits the dusty trail to get Wade on the 3:10 p.m. train to Yuma prison. What makes this film entertaining are two performances by the leads, and both actors that give it their all in every scene. With Ben Foster’s bloodthirsty baddie, nifty shoot-outs, well-written dialogue, and an exploding horse, it makes Yuma one entertaining ride.
9) Paris, je t’aime
Twenty short films all about Paris by twenty directors turns out to be one of the most diverse films of the year. Paris, je t’amie is interesting potpourri: the Coen Brothers and Steve Buscemi show why it’s important to never make eye contact on the subway; Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas contribute an aching tale about a worker and her lonely morning commute, Sylivain Chomet pulls off a mircale by making mimes interesting, Vincenzo Natali takes Elijah Wood on a beautifully shot and twisted vampire tale, Alexander Payne’s final film is sad yet uplifting at the same time, and many more vignettes about the city of lights.
8) The King Of Kong: A Fistful Of Quarters
A really cool and extremely geeky documentary about one man, Steve Wiebe, trying to break the world record at Donkey Kong is deceptively engrossing. It basically starts off as a joke: Wiebe is a nerd obsessed with an arcade game from the 80s; the record holder, Billy Mitchell, comes off as some dork who takes videogames too seriously. Eventually, King of Kong morphs into a gigantic metaphor about little guy fighting against the system. Wiebe becomes a sympathetic everyman and Mitchel becomes one of the vilest villains of the year. A must watch for documentary buffs and videogamers.
7) The Lookout
Reminiscent of modern noir classics like Fargo and Memento, but wholly original in its own right, The Lookout is a fractured take on dealing with mental and physical handicaps, overcoming personal tragedies, and bank heists. Joseph Gordan Lewit gives an emotionally wrenching performance as a brain damaged janitor with new friends that want to rob the bank where he works. Featuring a great supporting cast with Jeff Daniels as a sarcastic blind buddy, Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers) as a alluring femme fetale, Matthew Goode as a charismatic wannabe criminal mastermind, and a really scary dude carrying a shotgun who kind of looks like Geddy Lee. An underrated sleeper.
6) No Country For Old Men
The second appearance of the Coen Brothers on this year’s list stands up as an admirable addition to their already impressive resume. This adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel follows a cowboy (Josh Brolin) who finds a stash of cash and ends up on the run from psycho-killer Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem). The movie creates strong scenes of tension, with the Coens striking directorial prowess delivering unexpected thrills. Bardem’s villain is one of the best this past decade, if not one of the best cinematic bad guys ever. It concludes with a powerful ending that’ll sear into your brain long after the film ends.
5) The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons took 18 years to make it to the big screen, and the result is enjoyable, hilarious, and downright heartwarming. When Homer causes an environmental disaster in Springfield, he and his family have to save the day. The reason it works so well is that it’s a story about the Simpsons themselves (not Disco Stu, dammit!) and how they pull together. The jokes are sharper, quicker, and funnier than they’ve been in a long while. For fans that have wavered over the past few years, the movie rejuvenates the entire franchise single-handedly.
4) Sunshine
Director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later) shows once again why he’s one of the best visual stylists working in this uber-cool sci-fi flick about a group of space scientists flying an atomic bomb into the dying sun to save the world. Sunshine borrows from many different sci-fi flicks and mashes them together for a unique flavor. The biggest strengths are showing how a doomed trip in space would slowly drive everyone batty, philosophical questions about trying achieve the impossible, making the sun seem beautiful and terrible, and how the smallest of screw-ups in a confined environment can be deadly.
3) I Am Legend
Will Smith stars in the best movie he’s ever headlined with the tragic, tense, dark, horrific, and pathos-filled tale about the last man on Earth. The striking direction by Francis Lawrence communicates the enormity of the end of everything. Seeing the abandoned and crumbling buildings as the sole remnants of humanity tells a story without saying a word. The action packed finale is so effective because it’s driven by emotion. At the center of the film is Smith’s fantastic performance that speaks volumes about the tragedy this character has endured.
2) Once
Quite possibly the world’s first low-fi / indie-folk-rock musical! This realistic take on the musical genre has characters only sing when the story calls for it, making the music easier to accept, unlike bombastic pap ala Dreamgirls. In Once, a street musician (Glen Hansard) becomes infatuated with a talented singer/pianist (Marketa Irglova) and decides to record an album over a weekend. Shot with a documentary, no-budget style, the technique lets the viewer become a part of the experience. All of the songs are ridiculously good and poignant (the first tune between the leads is instant magic). For anyone who’s ever picked up an instrument, played with a band, or just music lovers in general, this is a must-see.
1) Grindhouse
Forget those damned double-dipping “Grindhouse Presents” DVD’s, I’m talking about the original, three-hour theatrical experience. Robert Rodiguez’s Planet Terror gore-a-riffic comedy / horror riff is an enjoyable freak-fest, the numerous fake trailers are a hilarious and deliciously exploitive way to break up the films, and Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof is a slow burner slasher-flick-with-a-car that’ll get your blood pumping. All of these pieces are entertaining on their own, but when you combine it as a single outing, you get a complete bowl of awesome that rocked 2007 hard. Just from a pure economic standpoint it’s a winner: you’re getting a double feature for just one ticket. How cool is that?! Grindhouse is B-movie nirvana.
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Here's the non-top 10 but still very good of 2007, check any and all of these out if you haven't:
Juno, There Will Be Blood, Transformers, 300, Beowulf, Waitress, Eastern Promises, Spider-Man 3, The Host, Superbad, Fido, Southland Tales, Oceans 13, American Gangster, Crazy Love, Harry Potter And the Order of the Phoenix, Smokin' Aces, Zodiac, No End In Sight, The Bourne Ultimatum, Michael Clayton, Ratatouille, Bender's Big Score, Black Snake Moan, Rescue Dawn. Phew. Big list, but very good year overall.
Single most overrated movie of the year: Knocked Up. It was just okay, okay? Yeesh. Chick flick with non-as-funny-as-they-seem friends and a complete fucking wench sister character that chick who isn't funny, she's just a damned harpy who goes "CAW-CAW" and drags down the emotion of every scene. Still, there's some big laughs in here, great performances by the leads, and even a few emotional beats (even if it is transparently manipulative). That's about it. In my opinion, no fucking movie where the two females snuggle up with a bucket of ice cream infront of the TV and talk about thier feelings/ how much they hate men deserves to be anywhere near a best-of, considering how much good there was out there overall. Also, the movie is way too goddamn long. And there's no (lead character) tit in a sex comedy. NO TIT! Higel has TWO sex scenes, fucking two, and NO TIT! Wears a bra in both! I can picture it in the 1st sex scene, but come on? For two? YEARGH! That knocks Knocked Up down a peg for sure.
And the creme-de-la-crap of 07:
5) Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer
Like its predecessor, this Fantastic Four movie is not so awful that it causes bleeding from the eyes. It is, however, really lame. When you have a franchise with as much potential as the Fanatastic Four, it’s a damn shame that the results are this tepid. This story of the Silver Surfer showing up to Earth is a brain-dead version of what was handled better in the comics decades ago. Big bad Galactus doesn’t even show his purple-helmeted head. We get a cloud instead. Uhm, yay?
4) I Know Who Killed Me
This is the movie that got Lindsay Lohan out of rehab on a day pass. She shouldn’t have bothered. Watching it, you can tell she’s clearly spaced out on something as she delivers all of her lines monotonously. I Know is about a woman who is tortured and then believes she’s a completely different person. We’re just left hoping that a bus’ll hit her and the movie will end. The film commits many offenses, both aesthetic (Lohan’s cornball sex) and storytelling (the 3rd act revelation about her character’s past is like something out of a bad soap opera). Worth a laugh, but its not trying to be funny.
3) I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry
Here’s something that’s trying to be funny and isn’t. The slide of Adam Sandler’s movies from the awesomeness of Happy Gilmore to, well, this, is tragic. Chuck And Larry awkwardly ping-pongs between heavy-handed preaching about tolerance on one side, to a barrage of gay jokes on the other side, and the two halves never even out. Seeing two blue-collar slobs calling themselves “butt-buddies” isn’t amusing. This is a single joke stretched out unbearably long. Even Jessica Biel in her underwear can’t save it.
2) The Golden Compass
Golden Compass is so unintelligible it might as well been titled "Gobbledygook and Hogwash: The Movie!" The story is supposed to be about some girl who lives in an alternate universe who finds a golden compass that … sigh, nevermind. It’s hopeless to try to explain. All you’re seeing are a bunch of random fantasy movie clichés thrown into a blender with desperate the hope that it’ll work. The film’s underperformance at the box office will hopefully serve as a stern warning to New Line to not make expensive fantasy movies unless Peter Jackson is involved.
1) Dan In Real Life
Wow, this movie is awful. Wasting a talent like Steve Carell is a crime in of itself. Following Dan and his annoying cute kids to their annoying cute family retreat is mind-numbing pablum. Bad jokes bomb one after another, every character has is aggravatingly quirky, Dane Cook shows up in yet another movie, there’s a shower scene joke that feels like a fossilized Three’s Company bit, and it’s all just so -- BLAH!! Avoid, please if you value your sanity.
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Yet to see There Will Be Blood, but your heartfelt Once review suggests that your #1 choice must be something special. Personally found it a cracking movie year, but Once is the one I have returned to over and over. I can understand the posters who don't get it - like Lost In Translation, you succumb to the charm or you don't, case closed - but for the believers, it was a treat worth sharing. Already packed with lovely non-musical scenes - the opening inept 'mugging', Glen's botched proposition to Marketa, Dad listening to the demo - the thing flew as soon as those amazing songs were thrown into the mix. 'Say It To Me Now' getting Marketa's attention (as seen in that simple but brilliant reveal shot), 'Falling Slowly', surely Scene Of The Year, 'If You Want Me' as she walks from the shop, composing along the way, and the magical 'When Your Mind's Made Up' that charms the engineer Eamon. Bang on, by the way, Mori - it's such a cliched scene, but fuck me if they don't win you over with it, right down to Glen's lovely 'Nobody touch anything' hand in the air at the end of the take. Fair to say these guys knew what they were doing. After showing it to my students, we went into combat mode to hunt down the astonishing soundtrack, which has been on heavy rotation ever since. Come the Oscars, hopefully the Enchanted songs will be mounted with big production numbers that cancel each other out, leaving Glen and Marketa to slay the place with their unplugged charmer. Forget the Coens and PTA - this is the Oscar I'll be focused on.
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I'd been bouncing around the idea of seeing "Once" for a while now, kinda wanting to see it, but a bit nervous about it. When I saw it at #2 on your list, I took a shot.
I trust your opinions, and they often mirror mine so I figured it was worth a try.
You absolutely nailed it. It's such a stellar, heartfelt film that opened my eyes to a different side of film and music all in one shot.
The scene in the music store is the one that slayed me, too. I had tears in my eyes by the time that was done.
I had tears when the movie was over too. It's a warm blanket of a film that I probably never would have seen if not for your recommendation, so as the subject says...
Thank you! -
It was, indeed, a decent year for movies. I wouldn't go so far as to say it was the best in the last 10 years (2005 was tits), but it was damned good nonetheless. That said, it looks like PTA's career has finally reached critical mass (so to speak), and I'm pleaed to note that it couldn't have happened through a better conduit: 'There Will Be Blood' is an achievement on so many different levels. I realize PTA has garnered critical praise in the past - but not necessarily from the average movie-going Joes (and/or Jolenes) - despite a catalog that includes the seemingly approachable 'Boogie Nights'. 'Blood', however, appears to have united the movie-going public-at-large with the more "sinister" critical corners - despite its unorthodox approach. Good for him. 'Diving Bell' ended up a lot higher on my list as did 'Sunshine' (that one due mainly to the sci-fi tinted blood coursing through my veins), but otherwise I agree on most points. Thanks Mori and keep up the good work.
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FUCK YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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