Day 138: 9 Songs

"Exploring the Antarctic is like exploring space. You enter a void, thousands of miles, with no people, no animals, no plants. You're isolated in a vast, empty continent. Claustrophobia and agoraphobia in the same place, like two people in a bed."

9 Songs probably won't ever be critically acclaimed classic like other small low-budget indie flicks. It currently has a 25% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Nevertheless, it'll always be a classic in some sense. It's ability to spark debate on the role sexuality plays in cinema is a notable one. There certainly is a debate on what separates pornography from other more risqué editions of film. This is what makes 9 Songs so interesting. The film is more or less, about sex. There really isn't much of a plot and there really isn't much dialog either. There's not much character development, and there's not much acting either. Yet, I think it's one of the most brilliant things I've ever seen. And I'm almost certain that you will disagree with me completely.

Day 136: W.

- Mr. President, what place do you think you will have in history?
- History? In history we'll all be dead!

I'll try my best to divorce myself from the natural political bias I'll have as I'm writing this. It shouldn't be too hard though because Oliver Stone's film is actually not that political. Instead we get a pretty friendly, and effective portrait of Mr. W. It's certainly something to watch. It's more personal than it is political and it's empathetic instead of critical. It balances humor and drama delicately, but perfectly. Instead of just a passing film in the pretty solid filmography of Mr. Stone, it's actually a joy to watch and, in my opinion, a classic in the genre of "political films."

Day 133: Good Hair

Good Hair by Chris Rock is an interesting documentary. The backstory for it is quickly mentioned as you begin the film. Chris Rock's daughter, aware of the world she's grown up in, asks a completely logical question: "Daddy, why don't I have good hair?" And so, Chris Rock begins his quest. Why doesn't the average African American woman see her hair as "good" as her white counterparts?

Day 128: The Class

[no quote this time.]

Teaching students must certainly be a hard job. Why do they even bother? Is it from some sort of self-fulfillment? That really can't be it. The kids these people work with are at that tipping point. At around 12-16 you know nothing, and don't quite give a damn if you don't either. These aren't exactly the type of kids you want to teach. I mean, why not teach a class with older students? (Now that I think about it. He says he taught these students before but aren't teachers usually assigned to a specific grade and unable to follow a class? Anyways...) I imagine that people become teachers the same way they want to become lawyers or doctors. There was probably that moment when they were younger that triggered it. There was probably that moment where taught someone something special and it gave them a feeling of absolute worth. That person knows that one thing because you taught it to them. You've made an impression. I mean what more valuable thing is there than knowing that you left the earth leaving a mark behind?

Day 118: Youth Without Youth

"Perhaps you'll take us back to a time before history."

I can't say you'll like Youth Without Youth because frankly, I'm not really sure I liked it. Sometimes the acting gets a little awry, sometimes the camera angles get too pretentious, and other times I wonder what the fuck is going on. Yet, at the same time, I had a rather emotional connection with the film and I loved its bizarre invitation to the outrageous. The score had something to do with this but I also think that some of the dream sequences do make up to something worth seeing. American critics didn't like it very much. It has a measly 30% rating on RottenTomatoes and some reviews are pretty scathing. I don't really think it's that bad but I guess I can't completely say it's quite good.

Day 113: 2046

"Everyone who goes to 2046 has the same intention, they want to recapture lost memories."

To me, a Wong Kar-Wai movie is almost a religious experience. I'm not very religious but a film by him is one that thrusts you fully into the scenes. The effort his cinematographer puts into the frames, the choice of the soundtrack, the swing and style of the women, and the comfort to play with chronology is fully engrossing. He's officially become my favorite film director. (Sorry, Scorsese.) Mr. Kar-Wai (would that be his last name, or is Kar his middle name?) makes films the way I see life. A fade of slow motion here and there, a beautiful tint of light to overshadow the scene, sex, and beautiful music. (Sex, the unfulfilled obsession of all boys my age, probably dominates the other areas but you get the idea.)

Day 107: Pirates of Silicon Valley

"This is better than Miss October. It's a computer."

Before there was The Social Network, there was this. With all the hype and buzz surrounding The Social Network—a film I have yet to see—how about we throw in a throwback to what is essentially the genesis of the personal computer. A film about Jobs, Wozniak, and Gates. So while The Social Network brings us back to those ancient years of the early 2000s, let's take a journey back to the prehistoric era of...the seventies. *cue music*

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 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 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 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 76: Tootsie

"Sandy, I'm not having an affair with the woman who went into my apartment earlier, alright? It's impossible."

Yeah that's right! Tootsie! It's a unique film. Easily one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. Dustin Hoffman does pull of the look which is surprising. Robin Williams would later do it and make Mrs. Doubtfire look like a living, breathing, functioning woman altogether but Tootsie was made in the '80s. I'm pretty sure the makeup used here was much more minimal than what's used in Mrs. Doubtfire. Plus, this looks way more realistic. It's actually conceivable. But anyways, let's get back to the story which is pretty unique. I mean who would've guess that a film about a man acting as a woman would have been a great way to talk about feminism? That's really what it is.

Day 70: The Best of Youth

"Everything is beautiful."

Sometimes it may be hard to watch a six-hour film with subtitles and call it "short" but not only can I call it that, but I will say that it went by with satisfactory speed. Family sagas have always interested me. I even liked Danielle Steel's Jewels. (I know, I know, real men aren't supposed to like Danielle Steele.) But there's something about them I like. It's always good to move through different periods of history from the perspective of those affected, as opposed to those causing. But even in some of the more mediocre family sagas like Jewels there's sometimes an element there missing. It's a melodrama, but it's not emotional. The Best of Youth is different. Through the six hours, I laughed a few times, but I cried a few times as well. (I might be getting softer as I come towards the end of puberty. I thought this shit was supposed to happen with old women going through menopause but hey?)

Day 63: The Aviator

"They should remember him for what he was."

I've previously described all of Scorsese's crime films by calling them tales the mirror the mythological story of Icarus, writing, "They always push until the bricks come piling down and there isn’t anything else to push. It’s a constant game of gradual suicide." Remarkably, I'm surprised at how narrow I put that into focus. All crime films pretty much follow that with the exception of a few. But all of Scorsese's films pretty much fit that description as well. From Raging Bull to Shutter Island. Howard Hughes however is even more remarkable. Few metaphors can be more poetic that the image of flight. We've all dreamed of flying and we all wish to fly. So what better character is there than the aviation visionary, Howard Hughes?

Day 56: Days Of Being Wild

“Once, a person pointed at his watch and said to me, that because of that minute, he'd always remember me. It was so charming listening to that. But now I look at my watch and tell myself that I have to forget this man starting this very minute.”

Days of Being Wild is similar to Wong Kar Wai’s other films in that the cinematography plays a unique role in the story. All the exterior shots seemed to be constructed with such nuance and delicacy. It’s films like this that make me view cinema as “art.” It’s impossible for me to see this story exist in any other medium. Literature would be inadequate in detailing the visual nuances and illustrations would fail to appropriately maneuver through the apparent psychological whirlwinds the characters seem to be captured in.
(It’s such inadequacies in both mediums that make graphic novels and comic books particularly unique. Graphic novels are the closest you’ll get to combining al three faithfully.)

Day 51: Ben-Hur

"Where there is greatness, great government or power, even great feeling or compassion, error also is great."

Hollywood was a very different place when Ben-Hur was made. Specifically, it's leading stars were, wait for it—Republicans! It's big box office spectacles? Not science fiction. Not superhero adventures. Not spy thrillers. They were sword and sandal films. This one in particular was made with the story of Jesus Christ serving as it's primary historical backdrop. It's quite genius. What better known historical event is there than the greatest story ever told? 

Day 44: Richard III

"Conscience is but a word that cowards use."

[Alright, before I get to my review let me just get this out of the way. First, Ian McKellan sort of looks like Ron Paul in this movie. Second, Ian McKellen is such a damn good actor. Probably one of the best we'll ever see. Jesus, he's good.]

The film, Richard III, is an adaptation of the classic Shakespeare play of the same name. While it's "updated" it's actually a period piece. Set in an alternate history where Britain has become a Fascist state reminiscent of all the wicked glory that's carried with Nazi Germany, Richard III largely keeps the dialog of Shakespeare himself but slightly updates it, though not by much. Indeed it may have been a commercial success and critical darling had it have translated the film to modern English but then that would have been besides the point anyway.

Day 37: Johnny Got His Gun

"There is no more reality to the waking dream of mortal existence than there is to the dream we have in sleep."

This summer, Nolan released what will probably be the greatest film of the year, Inception, which he says s aimed to delve into the depths of the human mind that can be unlocked during sleep. After watching Johnny Got His Gun I can only say that at that level, he's clearly failed in many aspects. Johnny Got His Gun is able to accurately detail the kind of things we think and dream in it's own corny and humorous way that after awhile you'll begin to notice what was missing in Inception which was a small and more human take to the mind of it's main character.

Day 30: Casino

“Listen, if you didn't know you were bein' scammed, you're too fuckin' dumb to keep this job. If you did know, you were in on it. Either way, you're out.”

Casino’s always described as Scorsese’s Goodfellas Pt. II. The similarities between the two films are undeniable. Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci play very similar characters, almost identical. Including Casino in the company of many superior crime films makes Casino unremarkable, and quite frankly, uninspired. But Casino, to me, is a classic because it’s not a film about gangsters. It’s a film about our modern day outlaws. It’s a Western. Set in Nevada and the sunny dessert climate, it includes the blonde damsel in distress, the outlaw that takes a liking to her, and the webs that are naturally weaved because of these central relationships. Like all Westerns, it’s a relatively simple love story.

Day 24: The Last Days of Disco

"There's no chance of you getting infatuated with me again, is there?"

Walt Stillman has been described as the filmmaker that still makes "talkies." This description mostly comes from those who describe the current state of film as one with too much explosions, too much action, not enough insight and dialog. I'd say that's fairly accurate though somewhat unfair since these criticisms come from people who describe the highest grossing films as the only ones people see. (This reviewer must have written this before Tarantino came along.)