Movie Recommendations:
From time to time I watch some pretty crappy movies, ones that I anticipate seeing, but then are dissapointed in because- the trailer showed all the good parts, the movie was too predictable, it was partonizing to the intelligance of the viewers, there is no creativity in storytelling either by dialogue, soundtrack, or editing. (Okay, so I'm a little bit more particular than most.) But I have been recently blessed by a plethora of good cinema, and I thought that I'd give you my impressions and recommendations on a few.
1. Waking Ned Divine- A sweet little comedy with no great villan, no gore, just some old man butt. But if you've seen the trailer then you'd know that much. It would be worthwhile if only for the scenery and the soundtrack, but the story of friendship and the really great ensemble cast combined to make it one of my new favorites. Whats that classic phrase? "I laughed, I cried..." Very true here. Briefly- Ned Divine wins the lotto, and then drops dead from the shock of it, and his small-town friends decided to claim the prize and share it out amongst the entirety of the 52 members of the community. There are no big name actors, but all good actors. The final scene made me cry- which, if you've read my blog isn't that hard lately, but still it moved me. Its rare to have a movie where the main theme of it is one of frienship and loyalty without it sounding preachy, but they accomplish it very well.
2. Crash- You've probably heard about this movie, but I haven't talked to that many people who've seen it. In contrast to Waking Ned... this one is filled with big name actors. Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon, Brendan Frasier, and Thandie Newton among many others. This movie- in case you somehow haven't already heard- discussed the idea of prejudice, and that we all enter every situation with some sort of presupposition, no matter if we protest to the contrary. It is a great film because none of the actors are clearly labelled HERO or VILLAN, but are portayed as real and faulted and whole people. Its one of those movies where you can sense a depth of history to each character, whether it is explicitly spoken of in the movie or not. Each character is "crashed" into several others during the course of the film in a semi- 6 Degrees of Separation/ Kevin Bacon Game framework, and you as the viewer know where each is coming from (most of the time) but the characters make judgements that are often innacruate and based upon stereotypes. You do not know who will come out at the end sadder but wiser, who will rise above their circumstances and leave their past misjudgements aside, and who will be dead. Roger Ebert has a quite exellent review of this movie on his website rogerebert.com and can probably give insights that I cannot in this brief synopsis, but I wanted to mention that I agree with his judgement of the movie as telling parables rather than a purely realistic story. This would be a great movie to watch with a group of people and then discuss, even a group of mature high schoolers, though it does have some sexual content, but this is done to further storytelling and elucidate stereotypes, rather than for titillation.
I have a couple more that I want to mention, but I went on a little lonmger than I intended there (is anyone surprised?) and I should be studying Greek or Philosophy. But for some reason people have been asking me lately what my favorite movie of all time is, and it changes regularly, but I think I've finally come up with an answer. Its not my Favorite Movie When I've Had a Crappy Day, its not my favorite Twisted Dark Comedy, its not my favorite Cheesy Kids Movie That I Watch When No One Else is Around, or Favorite WW2 Movie or any of the other categories that I have to create to choose my favorite, but for ultimate movie experience, I'm going with To Kill A Mockingbird. Great book, great storytelling, great dialogue, greatest movie hero of all time- Atticus Finch. (I actually wrote a paper on him being a great hero in high school and then several years later the American Film Institute agreed with me in their 100 Greatest Heros and Villans List.) It also has one of the truly great pieces of dialogue ever written. Just after Atticus has lost the case shown in the book and movie, and the respect of many of the white community, we see African American Reverend Sykes say to Atticus's daughter as he passes below the balcony they are segregated in: "Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passin'." Even now I have shivers up my back, and tears stinging the back of my eyes. The dignity, the respect, and the simplicity of this statement encompasses not only the struggle of the African American Community in this movie, but is a perfect expression of who Atticus Finch is in his heart and soul. If someone had to come up with one line, if one thing has been said to you, or about you that irrevocably is you- what would that line be? Would you like it?
From time to time I watch some pretty crappy movies, ones that I anticipate seeing, but then are dissapointed in because- the trailer showed all the good parts, the movie was too predictable, it was partonizing to the intelligance of the viewers, there is no creativity in storytelling either by dialogue, soundtrack, or editing. (Okay, so I'm a little bit more particular than most.) But I have been recently blessed by a plethora of good cinema, and I thought that I'd give you my impressions and recommendations on a few.
1. Waking Ned Divine- A sweet little comedy with no great villan, no gore, just some old man butt. But if you've seen the trailer then you'd know that much. It would be worthwhile if only for the scenery and the soundtrack, but the story of friendship and the really great ensemble cast combined to make it one of my new favorites. Whats that classic phrase? "I laughed, I cried..." Very true here. Briefly- Ned Divine wins the lotto, and then drops dead from the shock of it, and his small-town friends decided to claim the prize and share it out amongst the entirety of the 52 members of the community. There are no big name actors, but all good actors. The final scene made me cry- which, if you've read my blog isn't that hard lately, but still it moved me. Its rare to have a movie where the main theme of it is one of frienship and loyalty without it sounding preachy, but they accomplish it very well.
2. Crash- You've probably heard about this movie, but I haven't talked to that many people who've seen it. In contrast to Waking Ned... this one is filled with big name actors. Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon, Brendan Frasier, and Thandie Newton among many others. This movie- in case you somehow haven't already heard- discussed the idea of prejudice, and that we all enter every situation with some sort of presupposition, no matter if we protest to the contrary. It is a great film because none of the actors are clearly labelled HERO or VILLAN, but are portayed as real and faulted and whole people. Its one of those movies where you can sense a depth of history to each character, whether it is explicitly spoken of in the movie or not. Each character is "crashed" into several others during the course of the film in a semi- 6 Degrees of Separation/ Kevin Bacon Game framework, and you as the viewer know where each is coming from (most of the time) but the characters make judgements that are often innacruate and based upon stereotypes. You do not know who will come out at the end sadder but wiser, who will rise above their circumstances and leave their past misjudgements aside, and who will be dead. Roger Ebert has a quite exellent review of this movie on his website rogerebert.com and can probably give insights that I cannot in this brief synopsis, but I wanted to mention that I agree with his judgement of the movie as telling parables rather than a purely realistic story. This would be a great movie to watch with a group of people and then discuss, even a group of mature high schoolers, though it does have some sexual content, but this is done to further storytelling and elucidate stereotypes, rather than for titillation.
I have a couple more that I want to mention, but I went on a little lonmger than I intended there (is anyone surprised?) and I should be studying Greek or Philosophy. But for some reason people have been asking me lately what my favorite movie of all time is, and it changes regularly, but I think I've finally come up with an answer. Its not my Favorite Movie When I've Had a Crappy Day, its not my favorite Twisted Dark Comedy, its not my favorite Cheesy Kids Movie That I Watch When No One Else is Around, or Favorite WW2 Movie or any of the other categories that I have to create to choose my favorite, but for ultimate movie experience, I'm going with To Kill A Mockingbird. Great book, great storytelling, great dialogue, greatest movie hero of all time- Atticus Finch. (I actually wrote a paper on him being a great hero in high school and then several years later the American Film Institute agreed with me in their 100 Greatest Heros and Villans List.) It also has one of the truly great pieces of dialogue ever written. Just after Atticus has lost the case shown in the book and movie, and the respect of many of the white community, we see African American Reverend Sykes say to Atticus's daughter as he passes below the balcony they are segregated in: "Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passin'." Even now I have shivers up my back, and tears stinging the back of my eyes. The dignity, the respect, and the simplicity of this statement encompasses not only the struggle of the African American Community in this movie, but is a perfect expression of who Atticus Finch is in his heart and soul. If someone had to come up with one line, if one thing has been said to you, or about you that irrevocably is you- what would that line be? Would you like it?
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