|
Post by Tosh on Jun 9, 2007 4:17:24 GMT -5
11= Beautiful Girls (1996) - "A beautiful girl can make you dizzy, like you been drinkin jack and coke all morning. she can make you feel high, for the single greatest comodity known to man - promise. promise of a better day, promise of a greater hope, promise of a new tomorrow. this particular aura, can be found in the gait of a beautiful girl, in her smile, in her soul, and the way she makes every rotten little thing about life seem like its gonna be okay"The movie was directed by Ted Demme, with a light touch that allows the humour to survive in spite of the gloomy thoughts and the bleak, dark, frozen winter landscape. The screenplay by Scott Rosenberg shows the same verbal facility he employs in "Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead," but this time the dialogue feels more real and less written. Even the big set-pieces, like the monologues by O'Donnell and Rapaport, sound convincing. What's nicest about the film is the way it treasures the good feelings people can have for one another. They emerge most tenderly in the friendship between Willie and the 13-year-old girl. They have crushes on each other for essentially idealistic reasons (each projects a simplicity and perfection that may not be there), and yet they draw apart, ever so tactfully, because they are sensible enough to know that it's the right thing to do. "Hey, Romeo and Juliet--the dyslexic version"Their relationship is mirrored in all of the others, which are all about idealism and its disappointments. The men insist that women correspond to some sort of universal ideal, and the women sometimes blame themselves when they cannot. But somehow, doggedly, true love teaches its lesson, which is that you can fall in love with an ideal, but you can only be in love with a human being. I like to mash snow. It gives me a tremendous sense of self-satisfaction.Ted Demme's Beautiful Girls doesn't feel the need to hide behind a mask, and through the diligent performances served up by everyone including Uma Thurman, Rosenberg's ascerbic screenplay is molded into a unique and identifiable picture. Beautiful Girls is an educational rather than preachy piece of social commentary. Beautiful Girls makes you want to sit down at the end and just rejoice because it's a happy film, and it's very overtaking with hope and drive. Everything is so low-key it serves fully as a benefit and never lessons the message it's carrying through. Hutton handles his role calmly and quietly. He neither attracts nor pushes attention away. Much is the same for Matt Dillon and Emmerich who also do the Real Person role with personality. But the real cynosure, the magnet, the catalyst and the conscience of this film is Natalie Portman. I really believe her talent is something to see and to feel. Portman deftly guided her way through The Professional and here she does the same. Her ability to project a real human element is a beautiful gift. Portman is spectacularly touching, and you feel it. You pine for it. Her genuine and her precise embodiment of this character is no fluke -she's the soul. Keep your eyes on her because she will continue to soar! "You know how it is, the beginnings? When you first fall in love and you can't eat, you can't sleep and getting a call from her, it makes your day. It's like seeing a shooting star."
|
|
|
Post by Tosh on Jun 9, 2007 10:01:21 GMT -5
10= The Constant Gardener (2005) - "So who has got away with murder? Not, of course, the British government. They merely covered up, as one does, the offensive corpses. Though not literally. That was done by person or persons unknown. So who has committed murder? Not, of course, the highly respectable firm of KDH Pharmaceutical, which has enjoyed record profits this quarter, and has now licensed ZimbaMed of Harare, to continue testing Dypraxa in Africa. No, there are no murders in Africa. Only regrettable deaths. And from those deaths we derive the benefits of civilization, benefits we can afford so easily... because those lives were bought so cheaply."Due to Meirelles' thrillingly inventive direction, the story's three layers balance flawlessly--conspiracy thriller, romantic drama and global-political exposé. Cinematographer César Charlone captures the vivid, raw character of every setting, as well as the emotions experienced by the cast. Kenya's cities and landscapes are simply spectacular; London is noisy, wet chaos. Editor Claire Simpson assembles the story out of sequence to maximum impact--the film echoes and swirls as it builds to several gut punches. We also get the very best out of the cast; brilliantly off-handed performances that become funny or passionate exactly when they need to be. Each actor illuminates their character's personality without relying on simplistic shortcuts. These people are both good and bad, witty and deadly serious. It's remarkable to find a film that so potently stimulates both our hearts and minds. The Constant Gardener is that rare film which fires on all cylinders. The direction, writing, photography, editing and acting are all exceptional. The script works as both a romance and a thriller whilst delivering an important political message that doesn’t pull any punches. And this intelligent filmmaking lifts everything to an unexpectedly important level. In addition to being a gripping thriller and a stirring love story, the film highlights events and situations taking place right now, injustice that slips beneath the radar of public conscience. The film is a slap in the face of governments and individuals who delude themselves into thinking they're making any difference in the lives of people who desperately need help simply because we destroyed their land and culture in the first place. It's a rare film that deserves all the attention and awards it gets. In short, The Constant Gardener is a powerful, gripping, brilliantly acted and superbly directed thriller that’s extremely moving and delivers an important political message. Its closing scenes are as cynical about international politics and commerce as I can imagine. I would like to believe they are an exaggeration, but I somehow I think not. This is simply one of the best films ever. Highly recommended.
|
|
|
Post by Tosh on Jun 9, 2007 10:45:41 GMT -5
9= Barfly (1987) - "Somepeople never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead." Not a film for everyone, but the unrelieved squalor of BARFLY offers its own peculiar fascinations. Director Barbet Schroeder positions the grungy world of cult writer Charles Bukowski under a cinematic microscope, affording titillating glimpses of lowlife. Louis Armstrong was trying to explain jazz one day, and he finally gave up and said, "There are some folks that, if they don't know, you can't tell 'em." The world of Charles Bukowski could be addressed in the same way. Bukowski is the poet of Skid Row, the Los Angeles drifter who spent his life until age 50 in an endless round of saloons and women, all of them cheap, expensive, bad or good in various degrees. "Barfly," based on his original screenplay, is a grimy comedy about what it might be like to spend a couple of days in his skin - a couple of the better and funnier days, although they aren't exactly a lark. The movie takes place in a gutbucket bar down on the bad side of town, where the same regulars take up the same positions on the same bar stools every day. Your private life is nobody's business, but everybody in the joint knows all about it. Rourke plays Henry Chinaski, a slovenly, hard-drinking, fistfighting scribe who's taken with Wanda Wilcox (Dunaway), a haggard but attractive drunk he meets in a bar. Chinaski's work is admired by wealthy, pretty, self-assured publisher Tully Sorenson (Krige), and that provides the film with a romantic triangle as Wanda and Tully battle for Henry's attentions. Rourke, who turns in the finest performance of his career to date, takes a character who could be seen as pathetic and despicable and makes him, if not a likable hero, at least an understandable one. Dunaway gives an exceptional performance, and Krige is perfect in her role. "Nothing but the dripping sink. Empty bottle. Euphoria. Youth fenced in, stabbed and shaved. Taut words propped up to die."The making of BARFLY was nearly as extreme as anything in the film. Producer-director Schroeder had originally commissioned Bukowski to write a screenplay for $20,000, then struggled for years to get the project filmed. Finally, he entered the office of Cannon president Menahem Golan and threatened to cut off a finger unless Cannon made the film. After initially refusing, Golan realized Schroeder's obsession with BARFLY and eventually gave the project the go-ahead. The dialogue scenes between Rourke and Dunaway in this movie are never less than a pleasure, but their exchanges on that first night are poetry. She explains that if a guy comes along with a fifth, she is likely to leave with that guy, since when she drinks she always makes bad decisions. He nods. What other kinds of decisions are there when you're drunk? They drink, they talk, they flirt, they coexist. Another day, another adventure. One day a beautiful rich girl with long hair (Alice Krige) comes to the bar looking for Henry. She publishes a literary magazine and has purchased some of Henry's stuff. He likes this development. They go to her house and drink, talk, flirt and coexist. The next time she turns up in the bar, Wanda is already there. The rich girl and Wanda do not coexist. That's basically what the movie is about. "Barfly" is not heavy on plot, which is correct, since in the disordered world of the drinker, one thing rarely leads to another through any visible pattern. Each day is a window that opens briefly after the hangover and before the blackout, and you can never tell what you'll see through that window. Rourke and Dunaway take their characters as opportunities to stretch as actors, to take changes and do extreme things. Schroeder never tries to impose too much artificial order on the events; indeed, he committed to filming Bukowski's screenplay exactly as written, in all its rambling but romantic detail. "Anybody can be a non-drunk. It takes a special talent to be a drunk. It takes endurance. Endurance is more important than truth."The result is a truly original American movie, a film like no other, a period of time spent in the company of the kinds of characters Saroyan and O'Neill would have understood, the kinds of people we try not to see. Barfly triumphs as an audacious movie about skid-row existentialism. "And as my hands drop the last desperate pen, in some cheap room, they will find me there and never know my name, my meaning, nor the treasure of my escape."
|
|
|
Post by Tosh on Jun 9, 2007 13:51:06 GMT -5
8= Leon The Professional (1994) - "Is life always this hard, or is it just when you're a kid?"Throw away the copy you have of Leon, you know the cheap £5 version from HMV. If you really want to see the film Luc Besson intended, get a hold of the "International" Directors Cut. The International version contains an additional 24 minutes of footage that pertains directly to the relationship of Léon and Mathilda, footage that American censors deemed “too explicit.” I assume that American censors feel that defining character development is too much for audiences to handle. The best part of this extra footage is that gives better understanding of both Mathilda’s and Léon’s motivations pertaining to later actions involving Oldman and his crew of bad cops. There's even a previously unseen cameo by the great French actor Jean-Hugues Anglade -- star of Queen Margot, Besson’s La Femme Nikita, and Killing Zoe. With these additional scenes replaced, Léon and Matilda’s relationship brings you emotionally closer to the film and draws stronger bonds between the characters that were murky in the original version. "I like these calm little moments before the storm. It reminds me of Beethoven. Can you hear it? It's like when you put your head to the grass and you can hear the growin' and you can hear the insects. Do you like Beethoven?"The film was shot in New York, in English, and there's an American edge to it, even though it still has an European sensibility. Besson's film is sometimes packed with action and raw violence, but it's mostly revolving around the characters. It's all about this unlikely couple trapped in a hard-boiled world. Besson paces his film cleverly, giving the shoot-outs a fast, dynamic feel while taking more time when it comes to quieter scenes to get to know the characters. Then you've got Jean Reno, an actor too good to be true. He's kind of like the French De Niro, and his performance is full of nuances: Leon is cold-hearted and touching at the same time. A fabulous character actor, Reno takes the nettoyeur he played in "Nikita" and makes him more human. His performance is wonderfully restrained. He's great in the over-the-top gunfights, but it's in the more intimate scenes that he's the most memorable. He makes a great pair with the little Natalie Portman. Some (American) critics thought that Mathilda's young age was disturbing, but hey, don't tell me that teenagers in the US of A never get into tense, brutal situations. I really don't think that Besson is being exploitative. His film has a heart, and the relationship between the hitman and his young protégé is nothing but tender. America is getting so uptight! Oh no, not kids who do something else than eating candy! I'm sure Scorsese couldn't even make "Taxi Driver" today because of the 12 year old prostitute that Jodie Foster played. Say what you want, but "The Professional" is an exceptionally well crafted urban drama. Masterpieces are supposed to be daring, dammit! "It's always the same thing. It's when you start to become really afraid of death that you learn to appreciate life."At it’s core, Leon is a film that seems fixated with inverses and dichotomies. The characters, their lives, etc. all seem at odds with one another throughout the film, a fact that works to create not only some interesting interplay between all of the actors, but also to help maintain a constant amount of tension throughout the narrative. It's surprising to find an action movie with so much emotional baggage, but the amazing thing is that it works. The peak of it's genre! "You don't like Beethoven. You don't know what you're missing. Overtures like that get my... juices flowing. So powerful. But after his openings, to be honest, he does tend to get a little fucking boring. That's why I stopped!"
|
|
|
Post by Tosh on Jun 9, 2007 14:43:35 GMT -5
7= Drugstore Cowboy (1989) - "Most people don't know how they're gonna feel from one moment to the next. But a dope fiend has a pretty good idea. All you gotta do is look at the labels on the little bottles.""Drugstore Cowboy" is one of the best films in the long tradition of American outlaw road movies - a tradition that includes "Bonnie and Clyde," "Easy Rider," "Midnight Cowboy" and "Badlands." It is about criminals who do not intend to be particularly bad people, but whose lives run away with them. The heroes of these films always have a weakness, and in "Drugstore Cowboy" the weakness is drug abuse. The movie stars Matt Dillon, in his best ever performance, as the leader of a pack of two young couples. It is 1971, and they are the rear guard of the love generation. They drift from one rented apartment or motel room to another in an aimless migration in search of drugs. They will use almost anything, but their favourites are prescription drugs and they have developed a smooth method of stealing them from drugstores. "Next time you step into the middle of one of my deals to help me with my arithmetic, I'll sell you to the first one-eyed carnival freak I can find for a pack of chewing gum!"The movie inserts a small supporting performance by William Burroughs that is like a guest appearance by Death. Sitting in a fleabag hotel room, playing a defrocked priest addicted to heroin, Burroughs talks to Dillon in a gallows voice about drugs. We sense two things about the character: that he should have died long ago, and that death would have not been unwelcome compared to his earthly purgatory. With his skull shining through his eyes, his dry voice and his laugh like a smoker's cough, Burroughs creates a perfect moment. The Dillon character looks at him and sees one of the fates he is free to choose. "I knew it in my heart. You can buck the system but you can't buck the dark forces that lie hidden beneath the surface. The ones some people call superstitions."Like all truly great movies, "Drugstore Cowboy" is a joyous piece of work. I believe the subject of a film does not determine whether it makes us feel happy or sad. I am inutterably depressed after seeing stupid comedies that insult everyone's intelligence, but I always feel exhilarated after seeing "Drugstore Cowboy," because every person connected with this project is working at top form. It's a high-wire act of daring, in which this unlikely subject matter becomes the occasion for a film about sad people we come to care very deeply about. At the end of the film, the Dillon character seems to have broken out of drugs. His wife is still on the road. "Are you crazy?" she asks him, when he says he wants to kick his habit. She literally cannot imagine life without drugs. He can. That is the difference between them, and in painting that difference, this movie shows the distance between hope and despair. "We played a game you couldn't win... to the utmost."The National Society of Film Critics named "Drugstore Cowboy" best picture and best screenplay of 1989. Van Sant was the surprise winner in a year that saw promising talents, such as Spike Lee and Soderbergh making their breakthrough films, "Do the Right Thing" and "Sex, lies and videotape," respectively. It was recognised as a classic then and is every bit as engaging today.
|
|
|
Post by Tosh on Jun 10, 2007 9:48:45 GMT -5
6= One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975) - "What do you think you are, for Chrissake, crazy or somethin'? Well you're not! You're not! You're no crazier than the average asshole out walkin' around on the streets and that's it."This is Ken Kesey's blistering attack on American society as viewed through an insane asylum where R.P. McMurphy (a career-best Jack Nicholson) is sent for "evaluation treatment". The first movie since Frank Capra's It Happened One Night to sweep the big five Oscars (director, screenplay, actor, actress, film), Cuckoo's Nest remains an unlikely and inspiring triumph. The dream-like novel was considered unfilmable, the co-producer was a TV actor with a famous dad, the Czech director was still largely unknown outside Europe and every 'name' actress in Hollywood had turned down the role of callous Nurse Ratchet. And yet, as soon as Jack Nicholson signed on the dotted line, everything fell into place. He may be a huge, red-headed Irishman in Ken Kesey's book, but the live-wire misfit Randle P. McMurphy, who turns the mental institution upside down, was the role Jack Nicholson was born to play. With or without shock therapy, Nicholson is simply electrifying. "They was giving me ten thousand watts a day, you know, and I'm hot to trot! The next woman takes me on's gonna light up like a pinball machine and pay off in silver dollars!"But this is far from a one-man show, and indeed, even the non-speaking parts make an indelible visual impression. As direct and simple as it is funny and moving, this is a masterpiece of dramatic naturalism. Oscars went to Nicholson, Louise Fletcher as castrating Nurse Ratched, producer Michael Douglas and Milos Forman's unblinking direction. Cuckoo spent 14 years in development limbo but remains the most radical film to emerge from mainstream Hollywood. Too many classic set pieces to mention but keep your ears cocked for that immortal line "Mmmm, Juicy Fruit." Certified brilliance. "My pop was real big. He did like he pleased. That's why everybody worked on him. The last time I seen my father, he was blind and diseased from drinking. And every time he put the bottle to his mouth, he don't suck out of it, it sucks out of him until he shrunk so wrinkled and yellow even the dogs didn't know him."It's a vivid exploration of institutional life, an examination of male behaviour, an indictment of narrow thinking, and an unflinching tragedy. And it continues to disturb, amuse, and astound. What Forman says about our own perceptions with One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is startling. The film shows us the extent to which we’ll push people aside because of their bizarre tendencies instead of treating them like real people. If we help them to see their faults and live life instead of hiding from it, perhaps we can make a difference in their lives and help them reintegrate into society instead of being separated from it. "Get out of my way son, you're usin' my oxygen."
|
|
|
Post by Tosh on Jun 11, 2007 13:57:32 GMT -5
5= La Haine (1995) - "Heard about the guy who fell off a skyscraper? On his way down past each floor, he kept saying to reassure himself: So far so good... so far so good... so far so good. How you fall doesn't matter. It's how you land!"Simply one of the most blisteringly effective pieces of urban cinema ever made. If there's one thing that Mathieu Kassovitz's black and white feature proves, it's that hate knows no boundaries -- international, racial, or generational. With a perspective that's part Kids, part Boyz 'N the Hood, part Scorsese, and part all its own, La Haine offers a raw, powerful look at urban class struggles in and around Paris. If not for the subtitled French dialogue, this story could just as easily have taken place in New York, Los Angeles, London, or dozens of other cities. It is an angry film from a passionate young film maker. The narrative is sparse, bordering on nonexistent, and the trio of main characters aren't the sort of people you'd want to meet in real life. But La Haine (Hate) never asks its audience to sympathize with the protagonists, only to understand some of the factors that make them act as they do. For ninety minutes, they rail against "the system" which has warped their existence, until the consequences of violence overtake them. You can only run so far, so fast. "Who made you a preacher? You know what's right and wrong? Why do you side with the assholes?"Imagine the movie of a Rage Against the Machine track, but without the empty sloganeering. La Haine is it. Kassovitz deservedly won a best director prize at Cannes for his work. He pulls of some startling images - just check out the mirrors composition in the washroom; or the zoom-in/track out on the balcony which out-vertigo's Vertigo; or the Vinz-shoots-a-cop fantasy sequence. Yet, at the same time, he largely avoids empty flashiness. As with the music, his main cinematic influences are American - Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, and Do the Right Thing are obvious reference points. But Kassovitz is only reclaiming his own cinematic heritage here, given the extent to which both Scorsese and Lee have appropriated nouvelle vague techniques. It's also the way that Kassovitz uses other movies that makes me suggest anyone who worships Tarantino should go see La Haine; for all his admiration for Godard, Tarantino seems determinedly apolitical. He makes movies about movies, but appears unwilling or unable to connect with the real world. Kassovitz, by comparison, connects the movie and the real worlds. He shows what is likely to happen if someone tries doing movie stuff in the real world. You can't play at being Travis Bickle and expect to get away with it... "Wow, what a speech! Half Moses, half Mickey Mouse."Truly terrifying social commentary and thought provoking dazzling cinema. In the end, it's not how far you fall that matters, but how you land. La Haine may portray young men who explode on impact, but the film itself has a solid touchdown. If you want the only version worth having on DVD, get the "ultimate" edition (better digital transfer, better sound, much improved subtitles plus you get the soundtrack on a disc as well, a quality documentary and all in one of those slick metal tin cases
|
|
|
Post by Tosh on Jun 11, 2007 16:00:54 GMT -5
4= Three Colours Trilogy (1993 - 1994) - Krzystof Kieslowski was a film artist par excellence: utterly uncompromising and unconcerned with commercial considerations. He deals unabashedly with metaphysical concerns, explorations of spirituality and existentialism. Posing intriguing questions, is it possible to completely cut off our past? The narrative goes on to show that while each person is fundamentally alone, every life inevitably touches--and is interconnected--with other lives. This very gifted filmmakers final work was the almighty Three Colours Trilogy, in which he explores the themes represented by the colours of the French flag. 1993's Blue, which explores liberty, tells the story of a French woman (an excellent Juliette Binoche) who loses her husband and child in a car accident. Slow and incredibly dense, this film is definitely not for everyone, but a treat for anyone willing to take a chance on a fascinating mood piece. Next is 1994's White, a darkly comic take on equality in which a Polish man (Zbigniew Zamakowski) plots revenge against his cold French wife (Julie Delpy). Funny with a great tinge of irony, this is the most accessible of the three. Rounding out the triptych is the masterpiece Red, also from 1994, which won Kieslowski Best Director and Best Original Screenplay nominations, as well as one for Piotr Sobocinski's lush cinematography. In this tale of brotherhood, Irène Jacob plays a Swiss model who strikes a friendship with a bitter retired judge (Jean-Louis Trintignant) purely by chance. An engrossing meditation on fate, chance, and parallel lives, Red is a true work of art, a series of puzzle pieces that, when finally assembled, is an exhilarating movie experience. Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Godfather were admirable exercises in interconnected cinema, but for a truly transcendent experiment in this vein, it's hard to top Krzysztof Kieslowski's dazzling trio. in image, in coherence of concept and in brilliance of execution. It is the work of a true and undisputed master of the cinema. Look for the old woman with her recycling in each film and her interaction with each of the lead characters (this tells you about their personalities) - I noticed this on about the third watch and only when watching them back to back. The Three Colours Trilogy is a strong and ambitious set of films from a brilliant, experienced director, aware of his capabilities, who had refined his techniques down to an astonishing level of precision. With a technical awareness of the effect every single shot would have on the viewer and a strong humanistic interest, Kieslowski created three exceptional films that operate on many different levels, have a deep personal connection to the director himself and his outlook on life, and represent the finest levels of human characteristics and values. LIBERTE - EGALITE - FRATERNITESynopsis: (don't read if you don't want to know anything about plotlines etc) Three Colours Blue: Krzysztof Kieslowski's Three Colours trilogy, which explores the French Revolutionary ideals of Freedom, Equality and Brotherhood, are landmarks of world cinema. 'Three Colours Blue' was an immediate success, winning the top prizes at the 1993 Venice film festival and unanimous praise from critics and audiences the world over.Julie (Juliette Binoche) loses her composer husband and their child in a car crash and, though devastated, she tries to make a new start, away from her country house and a would-be lover. But music still surrounds her and she uncovers some unpleasant facts about her husband's life. Slowly Julie learns to live again, as music and the gift of creativity prove to be a healing force.
Three Colours White: 'Three Colours White', a very funny and ironic black comedy, is the second in Krzysztof Kieslowski's acclaimed trilogy based on the ideals of the French Revolution. Karol (Zamachowski), a Polish hairdresser, is divorced by his beautiful French wife Dominique (Delpy) and thrown onto the streets of Paris, penniless and with no passport. All seems lost until he meets a fellow Pole who ingeniously smuggles Karol back to Warsaw in a suitcase. Once there, Karol is determined to take revenge against his ex-wife. He deals successfully on the black market until he has enough money to put his plan into action, but he hasn't counted on love getting in the way of its perfect execution...
Three Colours Red: The third and final part of Kieslowski's outstanding trilogy has been acclaimed as his masterpiece. Immaculately played by an extraordinary cast, Red masterfully plays on Kieslowski's interpretation of brotherhood and destiny. Irene Jacob is stunning as a young model who meets a retired judge by chance when she rescues his dog from a car accident. Jean-Louis Trintignant is utterly compelling as the embittered judge who spends his days eavesdropping on his neighbours' phone conversations. Their initially fiery relationship mellows into a close friendship which ultimately liberates them both. A final twist of fate reveals the destinies of the characters from all three parts of the trilogy.
|
|
|
Post by Tosh on Jun 12, 2007 13:36:40 GMT -5
3= Almost Famous (2000) - "The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool. "Early in Cameron Crowe's "Almost Famous" comes a moment no one under 30 will appreciate. The rest of us will smile nostalgically. In exquisitely tight close-up, young William Miller (Patrick Fugit) lowers a needle onto his first rock album, and we are transported to a time that vanished before we realized it. Now as we slide CDs into drawers where unseen laser beams decode digital information, how easily we forget what a sensual experience it was to play an LP for the first time, to lay that diamond needle into that vinyl groove with an amplified "ka-thunk" and then hear the circular hissing that signaled we were about to rock. As William's music begins, so does his story. Set in 1973, "Almost Famous" is a rock 'n' roll reverie based loosely on Crowe's days as a teenage writer for Rolling Stone. William is Crowe's surrogate, an aspiring 15-year-old journalist who seeks advice from legendary rock critic Lester Bangs, played as an Obi-Wan Kenobi figure by Philip Seymour Hoffman. "Yeah, great art is about conflict and pain and guilt and longing and love disguised as sex, and sex disguised as love... and let's face it, you got a big head start."Breezing along with the humour and semi-profundity of a Neil Young lyric, Cameron Crowe's "Almost Famous" is a beautiful experience, charged with nostalgic poignancy and sweet character portrayals. It's a highly autobiographical piece of fiction for writer-director Crowe, telling the story of William Miller (Patrick Fugit), a quiet but savvy young kid who writes music reviews for his high school paper, regularly mails them to magazine offices, and ends up getting an assignment from Rolling Stone. Unaware of his age, the editor gives him a ring and sends him to follow a rapidly rising band called Stillwater on its first national tour. "I am a golden God""Almost Famous" has an acute sense of time and place, wonderful music, and, most importantly, the powerful humanity of any great memoir. William is a good hero for the piece, a fairly naïve but smart and good-hearted youngster whose eyes we trust as our guide for the journey. Crowe manages to capture the excitement we feel when we're young and inexperienced and first coming into contact with cool environments -- there's a remarkably powerful little scene early on, after William's older sister leaves their restrictively Christian home, she crouches down to give him farewell words of encouragement, and we see eyes filled with hope and unconditional love. It's just a beautiful human moment. He starts listening to the records she left for him, and we can feel the fresh air rushing in. The balance of excitement and disillusionment William feels as his journey progresses is a potent and appropriate feel for the movie, skilfully realised through the characters. "Rock Stars have kidnapped my son""Almost Famous" is about the world of rock, but it's not a rock film, it's a coming-of-age film, about an idealistic kid who sees the real world, witnesses its cruelties and heartbreaks, and yet finds much room for hope. The Penny Lane character is written with particular delicacy, as she tries to justify her existence and explain her values (in a milieu that seems to have none). It breaks William's heart to see how the married Russell mistreats her. But Penny denies being hurt. Kate Hudson has one scene so well-acted, it takes her character to another level. William tells her, "He sold you to Humble Pie for 50 bucks and a case of beer." Watch the silence, the brave smile, the tear and the precise spin she puts on the words, "What kind of beer?" It's not an easy laugh. It's a whole world of insight. "They don't even know what it is to be a fan. Y'know? To truly love some silly little piece of music, or some band, so much that it hurts. "Almost Famous" is an odyssey that traverses adolescence and the history of rock 'n' roll. In a climactic moment, Crowe deftly invokes both the death of Buddy Holly and the birth of Elvis Presley. Most of all, "Almost Famous" restores poignancy, originality and innocence to the coming of age film, a genre that had lost them all around the time the CD replaced the LP. Out of all the films in this entire list, this is probably the one I've watched the most. A word to the wise though - Only watch the extended director's cut as it totally changes the character development. The only reason the film was cut for cinema was apparently the short attention span of the test audiences in the good ol US of A - trust me it's a far superior version. "It's all happening"
|
|
|
Post by Tosh on Jun 12, 2007 15:32:47 GMT -5
2= Betty Blue (1986) - There’s never been any shortage of fascinating filmmakers in France, a country whose film industry has always embraced both style and substance when it comes to putting stories – particularly personal, human stories – onto the screen. And while he has been disappointingly quiet in recent years, director Jean-Jacques Beineix has been responsible for a pair of the best-known and most highly regarded French films, ones which have fascinated and enthralled moviegoers around the world for many years. The first of these, 1981’s Diva, was a thriller that influenced much that came after it; the second was 1986’s remarkable 37°2 Le Matin, better known to English-speaking audiences as Betty Blue. Based on Philippe Djian’s novel, Betty Blue is perfect French cinema material, an observant, uninhibited and often very amusing story of an obsessive relationship and the consequences it has on the couple themselves as well as those around them. Djian was heavily influenced by Jack Kerouac, and so Betty Blue is a sort of road picture, the title character's eccentricities driving her and Zorg across France seeking happiness and stability, though Zorg soon recognizes Betty will never be at peace standing still. The story is organized into three seemingly random acts, Betty's escalating hysteria providing the only clear through-line. One might, however, view each of the acts as representing a stage of romantic relationships, compressed and heightened for maximum dramatic effect. The initial section at the bungalows is the giddy, endorphin rush of the early-stage sexual crush; the scenes at and around the Hotel de la Marne have all the flavor of the young committed relationship; and the piano store section is all comfortable domesticity, at least until Betty's demons get the better of her. “I had known Betty for a week... The forecast was for storms."The version of Betty Blue released in 1986 ran just on two hours, and while it gained plenty of acclaim it seemed somewhat rushed in its handling of Betty’s descent into insanity, causing many to wonder exactly what had triggered it. That question was answered in 1991 with the release of Beineix’s three-hour “Version Integrale” (literally translated, “complete version”) that massively expanded upon this element of the story to great effect. The longer version not only lets us get to know Betty and Zorg more closely, but also provides a substantially clearer picture both of Betty’s mental deterioration and of Zorg’s inability to accept it. It is, without a doubt, the definitive version of Betty Blue – there’s no point in watching the shorter version, and this has been reflected in the fact that the debut DVD release of the film is the complete “Version Integrale”. While there’s a fascinating and riveting story on offer here – with first-class performances to match from all concerned – Betty Blue was also notorious at the time of its release for the amount of nudity and sex it contains. And make no mistake, there’s plenty of it here – those who consider themselves prudish about nudity in particular should be warned that there’s plenty of the full-frontal kind on display throughout the film (both female and male). But none of this is gratuitous – in fact, after the heady (and allegedly genuine) opening sex scene, most will simply take it all in as part of the story. "How can I love you if I can't admire you? We're only learning how to die here."There’s another element to Betty Blue that many miss, too – its humour. While the main story is one of despair and decline, the mood for much of the running time is more one of celebration and wild abandon, and there are plenty of extremely funny moments along the way. Beatrice Dalle finds with remarkable clarity the one note that her role calls for; the petulant volcano. She can't support the existential weight Beineix wants to drop on her. "Betty Blue" is at its glorious best when Beineix maintains some distance from Betty, as when she throws the furniture out of the bungalow and an old-timer with binoculars comments ironically on the display ("Your pad will look very Zen now") Photographed utterly beautifully throughout by Jean-François Robin (who has continued to work almost exclusively in Europe since, unlike many other European cinematographers who’ve gained international notice) and enhanced by a perfectly understated score by Gabriel Yared, Betty Blue is just as exciting and rewarding an experience - 15 years after it was made - as it was at the time of its release. “like a flower with translucent antennae and a mauve plastic heart.”
|
|
|
Post by Tosh on Jun 12, 2007 16:01:15 GMT -5
1= Jesus' Son (1999) - "I knew every raindrop by its name. I sensed everything before it happened."First of all, It's hard to believe Drugstore Cowboy was released as long ago as 1989 and Just as Trainspotting was described as a "Drugstore Cowboy for the '90s", it's tempting to describe Jesus' Son as a "Drugstore Cowboy for the '00s". With a hero called Fuckhead, you know this isn't going to be entertainment for the whole family, and some of the scenes of drug use and associated gore are grim indeed. But the movie looks just right, and some of its images are so beautiful it hurts: old movies playing in an empty drive-in, snow swirling all around; a naked woman para-sailing through the sky with her long red hair streaming behind. The title comes from the Velvet Underground song "Heroin": "When the smack begins to flow/And I feel like Jesus' son." Jesus' Son is a Möbius-strip film with a coda. In voice-over, one of life's punching bags, tells a tangled-up story about his random adventures on the road from Iowa City to Chicago. Director Alison Maclean directed the 1992 New Zealand lesbian-noir drama Crush. Although she's less well known than the other Anzac directors--Gillian Armstrong and Jane Campion--she's just as talented, a lot less spiritual and a lot more pragmatic. "We're wrecking like trains."Crudup's enjoyment of the ride and zonked-out humour give the grubby goings-on liveliness. The film is also lightened by the eclectic soundtrack, which includes Joe Henry and Wilco. Mostly, Jesus' Son evinces the authentic feel of the 1970s, the broke-down, defeated side. The consolation of the age was that the malaise stretched evenly from coast to coast. "Down the hall came the wife. She was glorious, burning. She didn't know yet that her husband was dead.... What a pair of lungs! She shrieked as I imagined an eagle would shriek. It felt wonderful to be alive to hear it! I've gone looking for that feeling everywhere."While Jesus' Son gets the funny, grotty side of the decade, it also shows what it was like not to have any serious yearnings. Not since the aforementioned Trainspotting has there been such a merry story about people with suicidal habits, such a small miracle of a film about beautific sordidness and redemption. "There is a price to be paid for dreaming."Billy Crudup takes center stage in the film playing a passive character with graceful strokes. He’s always present in his scenes with the other actors, listening, eyes roving around nervously and breaking out into his infectious grin. Maclean found the perfect actor to embody this lovably clumsy sod who’s got one foot on the highway and another in a puddle. Just as good is Jack Black, fresh from his acclaim in High Fidelity, as Georgie, who drives around with FH popping pills as they seek a place to camp out in the open air one night. He’s given the most surprising scene in the movie after they run over a rabbit on the road, and he whips out his knife saying that they will feast tonight. This unseemly behaviour transforms into something profound and miraculous in one of the film’s first of many small epiphanies. While the film doesn’t follow the traditional rules of storytelling (feeling more like a series of faded super-8 films strung together on a string), the offbeat themes and sketches offer glimpses into a world. Maclean is attentive to the look of their ragtag, colourful clothes (including striped yellow underwear or natty brown leather coats two sizes too big), the grey and empty rooms with filthy beds and noisy springs – maybe a TV playing in the background if they haven’t sold it yet, and the dreamy cinematography of Adam Kimmel which purposefully allows certain images to blur or shift in and out of focus like memories. The film excels with an eye for details and nuance that reveals the underlying humor beneath the lives of the sad, the tattered, the broken and the pathetic. "No more pretending for him. He was completely and openly a mess. Meanwhile, the rest of us go on pretending to each other."Running Length: 1:48 MPAA Classification: R (Drug use, nudity, sex, profanity, violence) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1Cast: Billy Crudup, Samantha Morton, Denis Leary, Jack Black, Will Patton, Holly Hunter, Dennis Hopper Director: Alison Maclean Producers: Elizabeth Cuthrell, Lydia Dean Pilcher, and David Urrutia Screenplay: Elizabeth Cuthrell, David Urrutia, and Oren Moverman, based on the novel by Denis Johnson Cinematography: Dam Kimmel Music: Randall Poster
|
|
|
Post by Caroline on Jun 23, 2007 12:32:27 GMT -5
What about doing yr top 100 books?
|
|
|
Post by Tosh on Jun 23, 2007 13:58:24 GMT -5
er.....
fiction, non fiction, biographies, text books or broons annuals?
seriously?
Like a crazy ol' stramash of every kind of book in a sort of 100 best type thang....
feckeroony, that may be a tad tricky methinks.
I'll give it a go if Chunders does his 100 best albums ;D
|
|