Day 105 : Breathless

"When we talked, I talked about me, you talked about you, when we should have talked about each other."

On the back of the "Breathless" Criterion DVD it says, "There was before Breathless, and there was after Breathless." Every few generations there's a film that changes every way we look at a film. Whether it be the stunning visuals that the Director of Photography is able to create, the sharp dialog that a screenwriter is able to construct, or the overall message that a film conveys in a matter of 90 minutes. The leader of the French New-Wave, Jean-Luc Godard, was able to combine all of those elements in only his first major motion-picture. Godard is famous for being a sort of pessimist when it comes to Cinema; he's always been interested in painting a moving picture for the crowd to admire instead of a narrative that has to include a traditional narrative or story.

Day 104: Paranormal Activity

"Well, whatever it is that's following me, it doesn't feel... it doesn't feel human. It feels like it's... it feels like a monster. I mean like, it wants to hurt me."

In the spirit of Halloween (it's tomorrow!) I thought it would be a great idea to focus on a horror film today. Instead of focusing on one of the classics like The Shining or Halloween, I'm going to write about a recent horror film that I think was slightly underrated by movie critics upon its release. 2007's Paranormal Activity, directed and written by Oren Peli, is probably one of the most hyped-up horror films of the past few years. It was theatrically released a year ago in October 2009 and managed to gross over 100 million dollars, ten thousand times it budget of 11,000 dollars. Because of word of mouth and the internet, Paranormal Activity because the most popular film of the 2009 Halloween season.

Day 103: The Ring

"Seven days..."

In the spirit of Halloween and all things creepy, today I bring a film that will make Japanese horror film purists cringe. The film in question is the American remake of The Ring. Now, I know before I’ve verbally assaulted American remakes of foreign films, especially from the horror genre, but this film is distinctively its own entity.  With eerie images and scenes saturated with hues of green, The Ring does what most horror films fail to do: establish a mood. This is a huge redeeming factor because horror films just rely on the fact that most people are afraid of the paranormal or strange. More or less, they just assume whatever creature they place on the screen will make the audience shiver. But, after years and years of horror films being released, we’ve seen the macabre numerous times, and we know it all too well. In the case of The Ring, we have what can be deemed as paranormal activity, if not the emergence of eternal damnation on Earth.

Day 102: Gattaca

"You want to know how I did it? This is how I did it, Anton: I never saved anything for the swim back."

From the minute of his birth, Vincent Freeman (Ethan Hawke) was set out to live a lowly life. Living in the “not-so-distant future,” no longer does the color of your skin play a role in your social class and ranking. The world now revolves around DNA. Everything is technology based, right down to the birth of a new born baby and deciding the outcome of the rest of it's life. With the aid of genetic selection, babies can be programed with any trait and quality the parents desire. In Vincent's case though, his parent opted for a natural birth, which they quickly came to regret. Without genetic selection, Vincent was plagued with a high probability of mental illness and an extreme heart disorder. Even worse, Vincent's life expectancy was only 30.2 years.   

Day 101: Tetsuo, The Iron Man

"There's a piece of metal stuck in your head. If I remove it, you'll die. Think of it as artistically placed there."

You know you are in for a surreal movie experience when the film in question is advertised as "David Lynch meets David Cronenberg." Tetsuo, the Iron Man" details a "metal fetishist" who is involved in a brutal car crash, eventually meeting his death at the wheels of a salary man and his girlfriend. The salary man begins to notice a dynamic shift in his body: It is being slowly overtaken by scrap metal. As the film progresses, we begin to suspect that the "metal fetishist" is perhaps not fully dead,and is guiding his transformation fueled revenge.

Day 100: Ferris Bueller's Day Off

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

[I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that you expected me to use it as the quote.]

Most of Bueller's likability comes with Matthew Broderick's performance which is quite remarkable. I have yet to see Election in its entirety-always catch it in the middle or the end on TV- but I don't think he's done anything close to this good ever since. In any other movie, Ferris would still make a great character, but maybe a great supporting character. Broderick makes him a worthy and memorable leading player. He's slick but not too slick. Good looking, but not the pussy pretty boy (cough* ZacEfron*cough). Broderick also gives the character a little empathy in a script that's, for the most part, flawless yet doesn't necessarily provide it. John Hughes is particularly known for adding weight to stereotypes, showing that each clique is comprised of actual individuals with actual identities of  their own. The best example of this is clearly The Breakfast Club.

Day 99: Leaves of Grass

"My brother was killed with a cross-bow."

Following a day in which someone reviewed a movie as spectacular as Shutter Island is a difficult task. I easily could have gone with something that was both a blockbuster and critical success, but as I am in an Edward Norton stage, my reviewing is as well. The movie I selected is a little known film by the name of Leaves of Grass. It is a story of an Ivy League professor, Bill Kincaid, who has been duped into going back to his home in Little Dixie, Oklahoma. Upon arriving he finds out the initial reason for his return was not the truth. In fact, it was far from it. His twin brother Brady, whom he had not seen in years, has devised a plan to take down a local drug dealer and as a result of this plan hilarity ensues. Although this is the main plot point of the movie, there are a variety of different subplots involving Bill’s mother and a girl from the rural town.

Day 98: Shutter Island

"You're as violent as they come. I know. because I'm as violent as they come. Don't embarrass yourself by denying your own blood lust, son. Don't embarrass me. If the constraints of society were removed, and I was all that stood between you and a meal, you'd crack my skull with a rock and eat my meaty parts."

Martin Scorsese is a legendary filmmaker.  His career has spanned across five decades, and he has touched almost every genre of film possible during his time directing.  2010's Shutter Island, his latest film, is a dark thriller set in the 1950's in the sea off of Boston.  Leonardo Dicaprio plays Teddy, a Federal Marshal who is investigating the disappearance of a patient who escaped from a mental asylum on the movie's namesake.  He's accompanied by his new partner, Chuck (Mark Ruffalo) and soon uncovers what he believes might be a conspiracy to turn inmates into mindless killers.  He's also tortured by dreams of his dead wife, Dolores (Michelle Williams) who died in a fire a few years before the film takes place.

Day 97: Singin' in the Rain

"Lina. She can't act, she can't sing, she can't dance. A triple threat!"

After already recommending two musicals in this site’s run, it’s easy to see I have a soft spot in my heart for films that perpetuate spontaneous singing and dancing. It’s kind of weird that this is a truth for me considering my love for minimalist films, but the style and grace that make up a musical are hard to resist. From the insane production values to the toe tapping songs, musicals will forever hit my film sweet tooth.  But, for as much as I adore musicals, there is one that captures my attention every time it’s on. The musical in question is undoubtedly one of Hollywood’s musical cornerstones: “Singin’ in the Rain”.  Most people usually go the route of “The Wizard of Oz”, and deservedly so, but the infectious energy found in “Singin‘…” always bowls me over.  The root of the energy stems from the plot, which comes as a surprise considering the film was green lighted simply because the producers wanted to put the title song to use in an MGM picture. With this in mind, one would expect a paper thin concept, but that's not what we get.

Day 96: Mulholland Drive

"It'll be just like the movies. Pretending to be somebody else."

I feel that David Lynch will be remembered as one of the great film artists of his generation. He has developed a body of challenging and idiosyncratic films that roughly fall into several periods. Mulholland Drive is of his later works involving complex paradigm shifts and the blurring of structure and reality. It’s not his best by a long shot, but it is an extremely fascinating puzzle of a film and a major work in an oeuvre to be envied. I really don’t feel that there is much to write about the film itself. There are endless theories and assumptions people make, but I prefer to experience the film just as it is without too many questions. Sometimes Lynch just follows what he knows is right for his films, logic be damned, and that yields some interesting results. I feel that if Mulholland Drive will ever truly affect me or alter the way I perceive life it won’t be through extensive research and decoding, but on a very visceral, gut level.

Day 95: He Said She Said

"That's why God made other women. Because no matter how good a woman is, just around the corner may be a better one."

The romantic comedy, and romance genres in particular, are always a tricky genre. It's always predictable for the most part. Boy meets girl, they fall in love, and then they break up with the most probable possibility of getting back together. So what I ask for in a romantic comedy is not much. I don't even ask for that much humor. The truth is, the deeper you delve into the emotions of the characters, the more effort people try to put in convey the actual love that exists in the relationship on screen, the more serious the movie will be. I've never been in love, though I know it exists because I read Romeo & Juliet. Despite my inexperience on the matter, I can't really say that love itself is funny. It's complicated, kinda stupid, but not really funny. And the more a movie tries to show people in love, the less funny it'll be. So what I want from a romantic comedy? A little innovation.

Day 94: A Woman Under The Influence

"All of a sudden, I miss everyone..."

It's great. Watch it.


Further review pending.

Day 93: THX 1138

"We have to go back. This is your last chance to return with us. You have nowhere to go. You cannot survive outside the city shell. We only want to help you. This is your last chance."

Right before Mr. George Lucas showed us what happend "Once upon a time in a galaxy far far way", he gave us a film that was set in a dystopian future where human-controlled androids were the law enforcement and most humans were nothing but ginuea pigs living amongst each other. THX 1138 is a film that most people overlook in the science-fiction genre, which is understandable since the same director went on to create a trilogy of  immensly successful science-fiction films in the late 70's and early 80's. The impact that this film had on Lucas' later films is undeniable though; watching this movie made me feel that I was one of these trapped humans living a life of procedure and regulations. I'm personally claustrophobic, so watching these helpless indiviudals wander in an abyss of infinity for the majority of the film, had me anxious and figgity the entire time.

Day 92: Hoop Dreams

"People always say to me, 'when you get to the NBA, don't forget about me.' Well, I should've said back, 'if I don't make it to the NBA, don't you forget about me.'"

I decided it might be a little interesting to switch things up again this week. For my last three reviews, I've done a comedy (High Fidelity), an action/adventure epic (Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King), and a drama (American Beauty). I thought it would be a good idea to continue the type of variety my readers have possibly come to expect. Thus, this week's post focuses on a documentary, 1994's Hoop Dreams. This film follows two young Illionoisan boys through their high school years as they focus on their dream - getting recruited by a top college and eventually playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Day 91: Letters from Iwo Jima

"Do not expect to return home alive."

War films are one of the most tried and true ways of putting people in the theater and making them cry. Yet, the most disappointing aspect about war films is that they’re domestically inclined, meaning that their perspectives are shown through only the eyes of the home country. Obviously U.S. filmmakers put an emphasis on U.S. based war films. We can attribute this to the filmmakers love for their home country, but we can also attribute this to the fact that when our country is fighting in a war, we distinctively see ourselves as the good guy. Whoever should find themselves matched up against us is clearly the evil doer that we must exterminate by any means necessary. If there was ever a war film that accentuated this notion, it’d be the war films that depict the carnage of World War II. Through the years, this epic war has been romanticized to great lengths. Soldiers of liberty strolled up and down the European Theater to ensure freedom for all. Wonderful as it is to relive our deconstruction of the Nazi regime, who were without a doubt a true evil, there are varying perspectives that get lost in time and swept up in the romantic views that war takes. Such a varying perspective is that of the Japanese, one of the powers of the Axis allegiance. Through Clint Eastwood’s “Letters from Iwo Jima”, we get to see a humanistic side to the enemies that for sixty years we swore were monsters.

Day 90: American History X

"Make a decision, are we going to stand on the sidelines?  Quietly standing there while our country gets raped?"

As a new and temporary writer for this site I figured I would watch a family oriented film that children of all ages should see. With that said, I picked American History X. To be fair, I thought it was about a father who loses his job and decides to open up a day care and upon doing so all sorts of hilarity ensues.  Alright, maybe that was Daddy Day Care, but I digress. In actuality, American History X is a movie that isn’t necessarily for the faint at heart. It revolves around a white supremacist that was imprisoned after murdering two black men who were attempting to steal his prized Bronco. Upon being released from jail he is seeking a life of redemption and wishes to leave behind his life of crime and ignorance.


One of the unique techniques (say that five times fast) used throughout the film is the difference of color and its purpose. Everything that is taking place in the current day of the film is in color, as opposed to the flashbacks that are in black and white. This is an excellent technique and in my opinion makes the movie more of a work of art than a film. The lead role is portrayed by Edward Norton (of Fight Club and The Incredible Hulk fame) and is done in a way that is absolutely brilliant. The moment that he kills the two men who were stealing his car, there is a look in his eyes that just screams insanity. The transformation of Derek (Norton) is one that does not happen without a few hideous triggers along the way. Without getting into any gruesome details, at one point he was raped until he bled from one of his orifices. Wait… never mind.. that was one of the gruesome details


As far as anyone who cannot handle the most severe of graphic violence and offensive language, this movie simply is not for you. But if you can, then I would absolutely recommend it.  The acting is flawless; one of the standouts is Edward Furlong who plays Norton’s little brother Danny. One of the main premises revolves around Danny being drawn into Derek’s lifestyle. As tremendous as Furlong’s performance was, Norton curbstomps the competition (a reference you will get about half way through the film). In all honesty, his depiction of a racist bigot is one that I myself could not even imagine attempting to accomplish.


If you are looking for a good skull bashing time in which multiple hate crimes are being committed, and want nothing more than a nice prison rape scene, then this is the movie for you.  Its vulgarity and atrocious nature is only outdone by its absolute beauty and incredible performances.  In a perfect way to end this review, I would like to quote one of the anonymous gangbangers in a scene in which they destroy a grocery store.  In the scene he says, “Take your fucking beans you beaner” while pouring beans on a Mexican(well we don’t really know that for sure but white supremacists aren’t very specific in their investigation prior to offensive slurs). This is the motto I live my life by….. Alright but really, American History X is an amazing film that all should see at one point in their lives.





Written by: Stoner Rage

Day 89: Mr. Nobody

"So Nemo, have you made up your mind? Do you want to come with me or do you want to stay with your father?"

This above quote sums up this movie. It deals with the thought of a persons choices and how they deal with them. Throw in some Super string theory, the nature of time, the Big Bang and you get Mr. Nobody. This movie is one of the best films I have ever seen. There are no gun fights, no thrills, no murders. Just drama with a narrative twist.

Day 88: Choose Me

"You have perfection about you. Your eyes hold music. Your heart is the best part of your body. And when you walk every man, woman and child is forced to watch."

Something I like about it. Movies around this time certainly had a certain aim to it. You can see it in Scorsese's After Hours (which is his worst movie ever next to Bringing Out the Dead.) The cinematography seems like it's trying to look like a color noir take on the '40s but that's not really what it is. A color noir take on the '40s looks a lot more like Blade Runner or Dark City.) This is something else. It's more neo-noir which, like I said before, is almost impossible to really describe because if you look at some of the films people have called neo-noir, they're all very different. Most of the old noirs were pretty much uniform in their characteristics. The only thing I can think of is the Western meets urban city. And noirs were alot like Westerns to begin with. So we've basically gone nowhere.

Day 87: The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford

"I've been a nobody all my life. I was the baby; I was the one they made promises to that they never kept. And ever since I can recall it, Jesse James has been as big as a tree. I'm prepared for this, Jim. And I'm going to accomplish it. I know I won't get but this one opportunity and you can bet your life I'm not going to spoil it."

*First of all that name is super long, so I'm going to abbreviate it as such: AJJ

I was back and forth between reviewing AJJ and "Exit Through The Gift Shop", the documentary about graf artist Banksy. At first glance, they seem to have very little in common,and very big contrasts: Grimey urban cities decked out with grafitti vs.barren Western landscapes where a rolling tumbleweed wouldn't feel out of place. What the films do have in common, however, is an obsession with celebrity(all the more interesting considering AJJ is dealing with a supposedly antiquated genre). In "Exit Through The Gift Shop", a filmmaker basically riffs off Banskys style,and becomes a millionaire. The hack artist, known as "Mr. Brainwash", thrives on illustrating a style you've seen before, but can't quite place. In essence, his fame depends entirely on you forgetting its source. "AJJ" however, is a different treatise on celebrity. Through the eyes of Robert Ford, it is study on the pursuit of fame through visceral means, building ones livelihood on the destruction of anothers. Is it strange that I found "AJJ" more relevant?

Day 86: Me and You and Everyone We Know

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If there ever was a movie that exemplifies the meaning of an original idea, this movie can make such a case. Miranda July's Me and You and Everyone We Know is a film about a group of individuals who attempt to find some sort of clarity in their lives, with their story ending up being intertwined with one another. Yes, that has done many times and done successfully as well (Magnolia comes to mind) but what makes this film so special to me, as a fan of well done romantic comedies, is that it doesn't preoccupy itself with making the audience comfortable. The journey that all the characters find themselves in the middle of are reflections of the different stages each person goes through in a lifetime. In a way, you can say that the actual title of this film is a hint that we're all one person only being separated by age and the level of pain we endure.

Day 85: Cloverfield

Rob: "We got like three seconds left. What do you want to say? What do you want to say? Last thing to the cam."

Beth: "Um... I had a good day."

Cloverfield is a movie that's going to get a lot of flak from a lot of people in just about every major camp. It's obvious critics won't like it because it has virtually no plot. Art house hipsters won't dig it because it's a monster movie, and it's ridiculously far fetched. And yes, even the mainstream theatergoers won't like it because it is fragmented, disorienting, and lacks conventional structure or resolution. I'm here to tell you, as a dissenting voice, that this film is fucking beautiful.

Day 84: I Heart Huckabees

"How am I not myself?"

I’d hate to think that I’m the only who randomly stops and becomes self aware. By self aware I mean that I realize that I exist in a world consisting of six billion people. For that slight moment I begin to question my existence, and my role in the big picture. Of course, after that moment, I continue on with my life, but for that fleeting instance I’m scared of the machinations that run our lives simply because I don’t know what’s really going on. To calm this issue, many seek out God or religious texts, but some dig further for their existential questions: they seek out philosophy. Sometimes words of wisdom are the best way to put our lives in perspectives, or at least try to. This is the basic premise to today’s film “I Heart Huckabees”.

Day 83: Red Eye

"Whatever female-driven, emotion-based dilemma you may be dealing with right now, you have my sympathy. But for the sake of time and sanity, let's break this down into a little male-driven fact-based logic."

Wes Cavern is a great director. This film could have been very terrible as it has little locations but Cavern's talent as a director uplifts this from a B-grade thriller to an intense emotional experience. The plot is simple. A member of organised crime tells a hotel manger to switch a politicians room so they can kill him. This mainly takes place on a plane called the Red Eye.

Day 82: Asshole by Dennis Leary

"...when I'm done suckin' down those grease ball burgers I'm gonna wipe my mouth on the American flag and then toss the Styrofoam containers right out the side, and there ain't a God-damned thing anybody can do about it. You know why? Because we got the bomb!"

I’ve always been a fan of Dennis Leary since I started Watching “Rescue Me.” He’s a solid actor, and the first few seasons of the show are golden. (The rest start to go downhill and enter the dreaded territory of melodrama. The “L Word” does the same but how am I not going to watch a show about lesbians? I mean think man.) But anyways, the criticism and controversy that surrounded Leary’s release of “Asshole” seems to surprise me. Clearly he’s playing a character, a caricature if you will, of American males. How could anyone have possibly thought that this was an actual song meant to be taken seriously? Jesus, don’t people know the difference between comedy and reality?

Day 81: Requiem for a Dream

"Ah, it's not the same. They don't need me. I like the way I feel. I like thinking about the red dress and the television and you and your father. Now when I get the sun, I smile."

Aronofsky employs a myriad of techniques of editing in Requiem. The most complex and dominant is what he has labeled hip-hop montage. In the commentary he explained that hip-hop has permeated every recess of culture with the exception of, for the most part, film. He therefore developed his own hip-hop technique, most noticeably in Pi, his first full length. While you can see the seeds germinating, the flower is not fully formed until Requiem. This technique serves several purposes. It separates the viewer from the drugs. It glosses over them and allows us to focus on the altered behavior and perception of the characters instead of ruminating on the fact that they are addicts. It allows for a much greater sense of empathy than if we had to watch them shooting up. It is also a way to move the action along. When Harry and Tyrone begin selling drugs time flies and money piles. It is a masterful way to suggest the passage of a great amount of time. Oh, and it looks cool.

Day 80: High Fidelity

 
"What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?"

Like Amelie, a film I reviewed a few weeks ago, High Fidelity is one of those films that are so great because they are so instantly relatable.  John Cusack plays Rob Gordon, the music-loving owner of a Chicago record store.  Two guys work for him, the "musical moron twins" Dick (Todd Louiso) and Barry (the hilarious as always Jack Black).  At the beginning of the film, he breaks up with his girlfriend, Laura (Iben Hjejle), which inspires him to find out exactly what he's doing wrong with his relationships.

Day 79: Let the Right One In

"Please Oskar... Be me, for a little while."

How has pop culture evolved to the point that there is an overwhelming obsession with vampires? It just seemed out of nowhere that films, television, and even music to a point, has embraced one of the oldest monster legends. Of course there is a new incarnation of what a vampire is. They’re overtly sexual, filled with enough teen angst to drive a shopping mall full of teenage girls crazy, and they’re unbelievably built like Abercrombie and Fitch models. I’ll admit there is something sexual about vampires in general, but instead of using vampires as tools for asking questions about eternal life and dwelling uncontrollable urges, they’re used as devices to get hormones raging. This is not say that there hasn’t been some redeeming vampire based entertainment, but there have been nearly none that have pushed the boundaries these monsters are known to push. That’s assuming you haven’t heard of the excellent Swedish film “Let the Right One In”. Upon its release, “Let the Right One In” was a critical darling that saw very little action here domestically. Slowly, but surely it began to gain a cult following amongst those who were willing to give it a chance despite it being a vampire film that didn’t feature Robert Pattinson or Tyler Lautner gazing at one another with their shirts off.