And The Winner Is.....

Rebecca is the seventh film for my Hitchcock study. Thanks to all who participated in the polls as I wouldn't have known where to begin with such a huge body of work. So the final list includes:

Rear Window
North By Northwest
Strangers On A Train
Vertigo
Rebecca
Notorious
Psycho

This will take a little while for me to do if I really want to do it right, so in between now and then there will be the regular posts.

Thanks guys!

Alfred

So I have decided to end my Hitchcock films poll a day early and add a poll with the 3 films that are tied for 7th place. The top 6 seem to have it in the bag so I am giving them their due.

The for sure 6 films I am going to study are:
Vertigo (1958)
Rear Window (1954)
Notorious (1946)
Strangers On A Train (1951)
North By Northwest (1959)
Psycho (1960)

The final 3 spots:
Rebecca (1940)
The Birds (1963)
Rope (1948)

I am a little disappointed that Lifeboat missed the cut because it looks rather interesting, but to me all of Hitchcock's films have an aura of intrigue surrounding them.

Anyways, you have 1 day to vote.

Vote away!

Maybe I Should Make My Blog Sing-Along...

Joss Whedon is most known for his work as the creator of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly. I must say I was never really a fan of any of those shows, but have always found the storylines to be interesting, I just never cared much for the execution. At any rate when I read about Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog I wasn't really that interested. But as most stories go, boredom beset me and I finally got around to watching it.

I was captivated from the first minute. Neil Patrick Harris is hilarious as Dr. Horrible. He opens with him having his own video blog and just talking to the camera for a few minutes showing just how pathetic of a villain he truly is. He reminds me of Dick Dastardly from Wacky Races and if anyone actually knows what that show is then I can say that person is my best friend, because I love it.

Dr. Horrible is placed in three episodes labeled Act I, Act II, and Act III and they work as such. Act I brings us into who Dr. Horrible is and why he does what he does. It also sets up the other main characters Captain Hammer, Penny and Moist(a villain whose only power is he sweats alot). We find out that Dr. Horrible has a thing for Penny, but so does Captain Hammer. It's easy to see where the plot could lead from here, but there are still some surprises especially in Act III.

The musical numbers of Dr. Horrible are very well orchestrated and fit seemlessly into the story. The singing is great as well, especially from NPH.

I find this story most satisfying because we follow the villain and root for him. The interesting thing is, when following the villain it is easy to see things through his perspective. Yes, Dr. Horrible knows he is, well horrible, but he also thinks that what he is doing is for a good cause. We can sympathize with him because he is a loser in all meaning of the word. Captain Hammer on the other hand we see as the villain of the story and to be honest, I don't much like the guy. He is pompous, arrogant and doing things for all the wrong reasons. This could be just the way Dr. Horrible sees him or is Whedon trying to tell us to quit judging people, even when they do things that are wrong or that we disagree with. Don't get me wrong, this message isn't being preached at us or thrown in our faces, this is a simple,hilarious but touching little story. It is a refreshing take on the superhero/comic book films and shows we have been bombarded with lately.

Whedon has big plans for these characters and their story and I am on the bandwagon for this one. I think it could work as a film or a television show or even a mini-series, I just want more.

Me: Please sir may I have some more?
Whedon: MOOOOOORE?!?!?!?!

The Master Of Suspense...

My first director's study will be on Mr. Alfred Hitckcock. It was a close race between Hitchcock, Spielberg and Kubrick but in the end Hitchcock pulled out ahead, and rightfully so. He has a wonderful canon of films for me to choose from.

The next matter of business is choosing the 7 films I am going to study. These films have to represent all that is Hitch. I have put quite a list of films in the poll and also added other, if you choose other just let me know in these comments what your choice is.

I plan on getting into Hitchcock in a week or so, and hopefully will have it finished by the end of August. If anyone has any essays, reviews or anything they have written regarding Hitckcock and would like me to post a link to it when I publish my study that would be great, I would love to have a whole slew of different viewpoints on Hitchie.

By the way, you can vote more than once, I would suggest choosing the 7 films you think I should study.

Thanks.

12 Movies Meme

have recently been tagged.

Marcy from Because I Saw The Film is the culprit.

Read Marcy's Blog to read something much better than my own.

The tagging/idea originated with The Lazy Eye Theatre.

It is from the story that the New Beverly Hills Cinema is allowing Diablo Cody(writer of Juno) to pick 12 movies to play in their theatre.

.................

Here's the rules fools:

"The Meme that asks what if YOU could pick 12 movies to run at the New Beverly Cinema?"

1) Choose 12 Films to be featured. They could be random selections or part of a greater theme. Whatever you want.

2) Explain why you chose the films.

3) Link back to Lazy Eye Theatre so Piper can have hundreds of links and she can take those links and spread them all out on the bed and then roll around in them.

4) The people selected then have to turn around and select 5 more people.

..................

My theme may be lame but...okay it's just lame.

Celebrating the 5 senses.

Have you ever tasted Monday?

Ratatouille

I chose this sweet Pixar gem because of the passion you can feel in it's every scene. From the way Remy wants to be a chef and talks about his love of good food, to the way the critic express' his thoughts on the food he has eaten and on criticism itself. It can be related to anything in anyones life really. A filmmaker can replace food with film, so can a musician, writer, painter, etc. It is truly a film about just having good taste, to really think about what you are tasting and why you like or dislike it.

Sideways

I chose Alexander Payne's hilarious character study because it too is all about taste. Giamatti's character cares deeply about how the wine tastes, so much so that when an inferior wine is even mentioned (Merlot) he freaks out. I really admire the way Payne mixed in the way wine ripens and tastes to the characters lives.




Have you ever touched Tuesday?

Touch Of Evil

I guess this one seems pretty obvious, but really,Orson Welles second best film (In my humble opinion) is all about the way evil has the ability to change us in one touch. Orson Welles performance is masterful and friggin Chuck Heston plays a mexican...what more could you ask for?

Lars And The Real Girl

This little film made last year is a polarizing film. Some hated it, some loved it, few fell in the middle. I was more on the loving it side. It doesn't get sappy or overly sentimental, but it is "touching" in every sense of the word. Another aspect that made this film my second choice was Lars inability to accept being touched, it literally hurt him. His journey is a journey anyone who has been through the loss' he has must go through, he must allow himself to allow others to get close to him, close enough to touch him (physically, emotionally, mentally, etc.).

Yep, It smells like Wednesday-

Apocalypse Now

Uh, "I love the smell of napalm in the morning." Need I say more?

Mallrats

Why Mallrats? Well the line spoofing Apocalypse Now made me think of it ("I love the smell of commerce in the morning.") but the more I thought about that line, the more it stuck out that that is what the film is about. Everyone in the film is selling themselves off to something and in the end they really still are. Don't get me wrong, I am not Kevin Smith apologist, this film is pretty bad, but I find it funny and entertaining to say the least. I guess if you disagree it still fits in this category because you think it stinks...dirka dirka dir.

Have you seen Thursday lately?

Days Of Heaven

Honestly, it is just a beautiful film to look at.

The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford

Ditto.

Did you hear what happened to Friday?

The Conversation

For anyone who has seen this flick it is easy to tell why it was chosen for this day. What was heard or what is thought to be heard is what this film is all about.







The Graduate

This was really a given for me because I love to hear this film. It has one of my all time favorite movie soundtracks.

"Here's to you Mrs. Robinson, Jesus loves you more than you will know."

Senseless Saturday-

Sense and Sensibility

Yeah, I didn't think this was my type of film. It was really great though. I think it work's because it captures all of the senses. Ok well it doesn't have a taste or smell and it didn't touch me in the literal sense. It has a uniquely wonderful story though and the word sense is in the friggin title.





The Sixth Sense

Yeah, duh. You get it, I know.










...........

So there's my list of films I would play in a movie theatre had I had the chance. Actually I probably would play very few of these films if I were to have such a chance, but with the restriction of a theme (which I know wasn't mandatory, but it was fun) this is what I came up with.

As for tagging, I think anyone I would tagged has already been tagged.

The Day The Earth Stood Still....again?

There has been alot of talk about the remake of the classic 50's sci-fi film The Day The Earth Stood Still(1951) starring Keanu "Excellent!" Reeves and Jennifer Connolly, directed by Scott Derrickson(The Exorcism of Emily Rose). In regards to that film I have a analysis of the original movie.
BE WARNED: THERE BE SPOILERS IN THESE HERE WATERS!

Before watching a film one begins speculating on the films possibilities. It may have a lot of action, or possibly some laughs thrown in. These possibilities grow into expectations and we measure our expectations up with the final product and see how the film measures up.

When the opening credits began for The Day the Earth Stood Still I began speculating and generating my own ideas of what I was going to witness over the next 90 minutes. I found myself feeling like this was going to be a cheesy, yet classic, 1950s Sci-Fi film. I figured there would be a lot of action filled with silly special effects but what I found was much deeper than that.

The Day the Earth Stood Still is about an alien named Klaatu landing on earth with his giant robot Gort to tell the world they must live peacefully or earth will be destroyed so as not to be a threat to other planets. After being shot at and taken to the hospital he tries to get the worlds leaders together so he can warn them, but he is informed that the leaders will not come together due to their differences. The film progresses with his trying to find a way to let earth know of the impending doom it is about to place upon itself.

I was highly intrigued with Klaatu while watching the film. He is so persistent on saving the world and has so much compassion for the world that it’s unbelievable that anyone could see him as a threat.

I related to this film in a different way than I think many others would. While Klaatu obviously speaks of the world and its petty arguing being juvenile and stupid I felt it on a more personal level. This film isn’t just a critique on war and international relations, but a story of love and compassion for our neighbor. Not only are fear tactics used by our president and the government in general, but they are used in everyday life. “I am fearful when I see people substituting fear for reason” Klaatu says about the world. This is the case with our nation, but it’s also the case with a wife who has an abusive husband. The wife is substituting fear for reason in the situation if she doesn’t leave him. This can also be said for the homosexual who holds in their true selves out of fear of what others will think, or to be more general, anyone who will not stand up for something they believe in!

In the article Alien Encounters: Science Fiction and The Mysterium in 2001, Solaris and Contact Karl Wessel writes; “At the level of personal psychology the alien can serve as an icon for the experience of loneliness and isolation experienced by many people living in modern or postmodern societies.” With this we see that Klaatu isn’t just here to rid the nations of their bickering, but the people in these nations from their loneliness. If we weren’t so incessantly worried about the affairs of others we may all just be able to be ourselves and love each other for who we are. Christians and gays can run through fields holding hands while bloods and krips have tea parties. Through this we find loneliness and isolation has ended because our belittling of each other will have ended.

With saying that I don’t believe Klaatu’s goal was for us to never argue or have a conflict of any sort. It seems in Klaatu’s final speech he takes a very Libertarian approach. “Now, this does not mean giving up any freedom, except the freedom to act irresponsibly”, it seems he realizes that we all will not agree and have the freedom to believe whatever we will to believe, just do not infringe it upon others. “The result is, we live in peace, without arms or armies, secure in the knowledge that we are free from aggression and war. Free to pursue more... profitable enterprises”, He realizes that freedom is what we should have as a world, but it is impossible to do so with such aggression, not conflict, but when conflict leads to aggression. “It is no concern of ours how you run your own planet, but if you threaten to extend your violence, this Earth of yours will be reduced to a burned-out cinder”, it is here that we find a puzzling statement. Klaatu just spent the entire film talking about no violence we must live in peace, yet he is threatening to reduce the earth to “a burned-out cinder”. This is where the Libertarian politics fully come into play. We are all to live in peace unless one is protecting ones self. In this we find the root of Klaatu’s reasoning for coming to earth. Until we can realize that when someone is not effecting us their actions should not be a problem we will not have peace. This is the basis of Klaatu’s argument and the conclusion of mine.

“I'm impatient with stupidity. My people have learned to live without it.” Says Klaatu. Mr. Harley responds; “I'm afraid my people haven't. I'm very sorry... I wish it were otherwise.”

2001: A Space Odyssey(CLASSIC REVIEW)

BE WARNED: THERE BE SPOILERS AHEAD.How does one begin to even write about a masterpiece? How can anyone in their right mind enter into a conversation that has been going on for 40 years and think something can be contributed? 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, Kubrick) is such a film that has been talked about almost to great exhaustion, or so it would seem. Film geeks for 40 years have pondered upon the theories and ideas behind this masterpiece, and even Arthur C. Clarke has stated that neither his nor Kubrick’s opinions should be stated as THE idea behind the film. It is a film that is so open to interpretation that at some point it almost becomes a film about not having an interpretation.

Stanley Kubrick, the genius behind this masterpiece and many others is often discussed as making films in a generally nihilistic mindset. They are often bleak and generally become about having a belief in nothing. Nihilism is “a philosophical position which argues that being, especially past and current human existence, is without objective meaning, purpose, comprehensible truth, or essential value.” Does this common attribute really add up to Kubrick’s magnum opus also following suit with what his supposed ideology is?

Arthur C. Clarke stated in his short essay “The Myth of 2001” that they had “made the first 10 million dollar religious film.” Now religion normally “relates to the existence, nature and worship of a deity or deities and divine involvement in the universe and human life”. Why would Kubrick take such a huge leap with this film to suggest there is a meaning to be found in existence when he takes so much time and effort on other films saying the opposite? The truth is Kubrick explores the lack of meaning and gives a meaning to it.

The film begins and a card appears with the words “The Dawn of Man” strewn across it. We are brought into a group of apes, but as the title card suggests these apes are about to usher in the next step of the evolutionary process. They scavenge around fighting off pigs for their food, seeming to barely make it. All of the sudden a tall, black monolith appears out of nowhere. The apes make contact with the monolith, but other than that nothing happens with it. The viewer is left bewildered and wondering what the point was. As the deliberately paced sequence goes on we see an ape begin to learn to kill. Thus ends the ape’s need to scavenge and begins the ape’s time to hunt. As this comes after the monolith appears, it isn’t totally clear but it can be assumed that such knowledge grew from the ape’s contact with the monolith. At this point we can safely begin to wonder; what is it that the monolith represents here? If it is obviously overseeing what is going on, as the film goes on we see that it is omnipresent, or at least able to travel far distances and survive as long as man has. It can be said that the monolith represents God, or a type of god. Is this Kubrick’s vision of religion?

The monolith brought good for the apes. It gave them everything they needed, but all it does to the rest of existence is hurt it. It seems the monolith might have given the apes the idea that to survive you have to be on top, attack any person who has the chance at overtaking you when they are least expecting it. Religion then is the cause of war. Most likely we see, especially in today’s world that most wars are brought on because of religious beliefs. Whether it be George Bush saying God told him to invade Iraq, or Bin Laden claiming Allah told him to attack the United States. On a smaller but no less disgusting scale it is the KKK’s excuse for their hatred of other races.

As the film goes on, we are still under the title card “The Dawn of Man” when we reach Dr. Floyd. Dr. Floyd is headed to an excavation on the moon where a monolith has been discovered. Why does this, the year 2000 A.D., still have the title card “The Dawn of Man”? It seems that although man has evolved technologically they are still “spiritual and emotional infants” as so profoundly stated in the film Angry Red Plane (1960, Melchior). We first see them as apes evolving technologically with the invention of war (in a sense) and now they lack the ability to understand that such a magnificent thing as the monolith is that they should have respect for it. Instead they opt for a photo and a smile, which the monolith appears to be unhappy about as it lets out a loud piercing noise. From this point we head into our next title card.

“Jupiter Mission, 18 Months Later” appears on the screen and we are introduced to Dave Bowman, Frank Poole and the infamous HAL 9000. Neither we nor those on board know the purpose of their mission at this point. This is where the technological advances of man have reached a maximum. We see throughout this piece of the film that HAL is not only capable of conversation and human understanding, but perfectly capable of emotion and feelings. This can be seen as another evolution of man because man has created a being in his likeness, at least mentally. Man has, in a sense, become a god. It is at this point that man can no longer evolve as man anymore, but to reach the next point man must destroy what it is that he has made of himself. When Dave “kills” HAL we feel the devolution of HAL, we can see a clear, determined Dave seemingly changing before our eyes.

When we reach “Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite” we have reached the last step in man’s evolutionary process. Dave goes through some sort of portal which leads him to a room where he is able to see himself at different stages in his life just before he becomes it. Once reaching elderly, Dave also sees the monolith and reaches towards it (just as the apes did and Floyd) and begins his rebirth.

This film is filled with birthdays. There are 5 in total; the birth of man, Dr. Floyd’s daughter, Frank, HAL, and the Star child. This only enforces the idea that the main ideology behind this film is rebirth, or redemption.

Dave has reached a state of redemption at the end of the film. He has messed up as a man by putting so much trust in technology while becoming a robot himself. By this point he is overlooking earth and seems to be given a purpose. It is so easy to categorize this film into any religion or belief/idea but the film boils down to redemption and rebirth. He has reached a state of absolution, by overcoming what man is. He only reached this point when no longer allowing technology to hold him back from reaching his destination. He was determined to do things on his own, to make something of the mission no matter the cost. In this instance the film is very religious, not specific to any religion, but in an overall sense it is saying to believe in something, even if that something is yourself.

Through Clarke’s novelization we see that he is of the belief that the Star child is a God-like figure even proclaiming he was “master of the world” but “doesn’t know what to do next”. This brings up an interesting thought that the next logical step, especially since man has already created in his own likeness (HAL), would be God. At the same time, this is only the next logical step because at this point we lack understanding of what could happen next. In context of the film I think it is an interesting idea to explore but completely stating it would simply disfigure the mysticism of what 2001: A Space Odyssey is.