It's the Grand Return!

[Sensitive readers may wish to avoid this piece]

Apologies to the three or so readers that I have for my long silence, but try as I might, I couldn't muster up the strength in my fingers to type out a new piece for this blog with work constantly hammering down. But today, something magnificent happened, I got Saturday off which means I will have two consecutive days off. I'm very excited. So as a means of celebrating in a very geeky manner, I decided to finally post something new.

Now I've been looking through my film collection for a while now, and browsing the internet for a flick that would be worthy of my first new post in very nearly a month, and I couldn't decide on anything. Then I realized something, I have done nothing but kiss director's asses since I started this, so tonight, I am going to chokeslam a film straight to hell.

Like just about anybody who watches movies, there are many flicks I dislike, and even downright hate. Some, maybe unfairly. For example, "Click," that movie with Adam Sandler about the remote control thing. There's probably nothing really wrong with it, but it's the first flick I saw that made me realize how bland most movies are, so I've got a special type of hatred

in my heart for that. But that's not what I'm gonna talk about, what I'm gonna talk about is something that is completely and utterly deserving of every ounce of hatred thrown it's way. This film has an amazing first rate cast, including Malcom McDowell, Helen Mirren, and Peter O'Toole, oh and it's also sold in porn stores. You may know that there can only exist one film like this, and that is the Bob Guccione(Look him up) produced, "Caligula."

This is a film, that is unofficially billed as the most expensive porn ever made. The film where the director actually disowned it. The film, where it's lead actor, Malcom McDowell, said after watching it, "Now I know what a woman feels like when she's been raped." The film, that Roger Ebert actually gave zero stars. THE FILM WHERE YOU GET TO SEE TWO WOMEN RUB BLOOD ON THEIR PRIVATE PARTS AND PISS ON A DEAD GUY AND NO THAT IS NOT STAGE PISS, THEY ARE IN FACT PEEING ON THAT ACTOR. This is also the film I paid thirty dollars to own on blu ray, only to immediately sell back, and I'm not kidding here, for ONE DOLLAR, and I was glad to get it.

But come on, I had to see it. How could you not want to see something that is so absolutely hated, and yet stars an amazing award winning cast? It was interesting, as I watched it, I didn't really react, or say anything, or even move, I just sat there and let it wash over me. Then, about an hour or so into it, my sister comes into my room to tell me something so I pause it, only then did my mind go, "What in the blue hell am I watching?!?" It actually took me about half an hour to hit play and keep keep going.

Now don't get me wrong, it's not like you can't find flicks with more horrendous shit happening in them, that's easy. What makes this film such a fucking travesty, is that it was supposed to be a major attempt to legitimize pornography in film, and instead takes the good name of movies, cinema, film, whatever and RAPES IT ON IT'S WEDDING NIGHT IN FRONT OF IT'S HUSBAND AND PISSES ON IT'S FACE. It is an absolute slight against anything that is good and holy about movies. It is very clearly nothing more than a heaping pile of steaming monkey shit.

Interestingly enough, I actually made it through almost the entire film before I finally hit that last straw moment and saw absolutely no redemption for the flick. Call me shallow, but when I see a two year old girl get her head caved in by three guys as blood starts spewing everywhere, I find it hard to defend anything about the flick. Let me say that again, I was, up until the very end, able to defend a flick that has plot keywords in imdb that include: Orgy, Horse, Decay, Bestiality, Banned film, Sadism, Sperm, Human animal relationship, Rough sex, Rape victim, Corpse, She-male, Cousin cousin relationship, Peep Hole, Cum in mouth, Actual animal killed, Virgin blood, Urination, Anal Fisting, Forced prostitution, Golden shower, Grandfather grandson relationship, and oh my god there is so much more. But it was like, that was just one too much. There is now absolutely nothing I can defend about this movie, as I said, it deserves every single ounce of hatred and ill will it gets. It is absolute trash, and you should totally make every effort to see it. Come on, you have nothing better to do.

Quick Thoughts on Sucker Punch

It's been taking longer than I thought it would to really get used to my new schedule with work and everything, so there have been fewer posts here than usual. But I did just see Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch this evening and wanted to post a few quick thoughts on the flick.

The thing that strikes me most is that this is a movie for those who love action scenes, not necessarily those who love action movies. You see there is a big fucking difference between the two, I mean, consider that Dirty Harry and Die Hard are considered classics of the action genre, and yet they both have very few actual sequences of action, instead they had an action oriented story, with terrorists or serial killers or whatever. Well Sucker Punch is the opposite end of that spectrum. This is still an action movie, but people who love action movies may not necessarily dig it, or at the very least those who dig American action flicks.

The movie is filled with large scale action sequences. I mean, after the first act and they find out what they need to collect, it basically becomes a string of battles, fights, and whatnot. I am a lover of Hong Kong action and martial arts movies, where the focus really is about the set pieces and fighting, and I have to admit, even I was a bit exhausted by the third or forth large action set piece in a row. What do I mean by in a row? Well, the flick has one huge sequence, then pretty much immediately afterwards, has another one. It's all coming at you at a rapid fire pace and pretty much doesn't slow down ever. So yeah, I get why a large group of people would dislike the movie, but personally, I savor the amount of work that goes into making a scene like these work, so I still dug the flick quite a bit. Others who want a story, well, you're not gonna get much.

Aside from the action pieces though, I have to admit I really liked the opening five or ten minutes, however long Sweet Dreams is playing on the screen. I found that it was just as great as Zack Snyder's openings to both Dawn of the Dead and Watchmen.

The film goes really dark in the final act, I mean, if I personally had any real complaint against the flick(cause I don't find the action to be a problem) it's that by ending it the way it did, it kind of saps all the energy the first two acts of the flick gave you and has you leaving in a sort of somber place. It wasn't anything too bad though, and is definitely not enough to really sway your opinion of the flick one way or the other, cause let's face it, you've made up your mind about the flick long before the final act.

All right, that's what I've got for now, as I sit with the flick I may come up with some more stuff, but all in all, I personally dug it, although I guess that I'm pretty heavily in the minority here.

My Blueberry Nights

I know I said I wouldn't do any more WKW, but I'm not quite ready to move on yet, and I just watched this flick today, so I decided to post my thoughts. After this though, no more WKW, and I think I'm finally gonna talk about some flicks I don't love so that you're not just reading me gushing like a little girl over every movie. For now though, courage.

When I started my director study of Wong Kar-Wai there was always one film I had kind of avoided. I mean, it wasn’t like I was actively against watching the flick, I just felt it more important to see his other work first. That film was his first American feature, “My Blueberry Nights.” There were several reasons for this, first of all, there was the simple fact that WKW is a Hong Kong director, so to me it only made sense that I watch the films that made him famous first. Then there was the fact that “My Blueberry Nights” was his only film to not be critically adored. Of course this is no final basis to go on, I mean I love lots of films critics don’t. But you know, it has to be said that seeing the lower ratings certainly affects my choice of films. As I started watching his movies, I then didn’t quite want to see the flick because I wouldn’t see any of his stable of actors which I had come to expect from his movies, particularly Tony Leung, who has been in all but one of WKW’s movies, and is, in my opinion one of the finest actors working today, anywhere.

Of course eventually I finished his Hong Kong movies, and still craving more WKW while I await his newest feature, “The Grandmasters,” I decided to finally check Blueberry Nights out.

To be honest, I’m once again annoyed at myself for not having seen the film sooner(This is something that happens to me quite a bit). I mean, it’s very much in the vein of his other films which I adore. It’s still got his usual themes of lost loves and fleeting time. It has that signature WKW directorial touch, basically it’s still his movie. Sure I miss the presence brought forth by one of his usual actors, but in making this film, he introduced me to new actors(well, sort of) as well as new music.

I don’t think it’s possible to watch a WKW flick for the first time and not find some songs you want to add to your play list. I know I’ve already beaten this point to death, but his use of music for his films among the best. I would easily rank him up there with Scorsese, Tarantino, and to a lesser degree, Wes Anderson. “My Blueberry Nights” features a pretty heavy jazz score, not surprising seeing as the film stars Norah Jones.

Speaking of which, this is Norah Jones’ first acting role. She never auditioned for the role, it was simply offered to her by WKW, a daring move but one that I think paid off. She’s good in the role, I mean, she’s not some amazing revelation or anything, but I think she does bring her own certain charm to the role. And by casting someone who we’re not used to seeing in a movie, it makes it easier to identify with the character.

The movie is often criticized for having too little story, and I know that with this paragraph I can’t possibly be helping my argument that I do think story is the most important element of a narrative movie, but a grand story was unnecessary for this movie. I guess it could be said that WKW is the enemy of people who want a great story as he focuses far more on character, mood and atmosphere. Like I’ve said, his movies are about the individual moments contained, like a CD. I find that the story in this movie, or I guess the framework of the plot, is there really just to introduce us to different characters, and to allow us a peek inside the lives of others.

“My Blueberry Nights” is an almost dreamlike movie, which asks us to simply sit back and allow the movie to wash over us. I dug it a lot.

More Netflix Instant Recommendations

It’s been a long day for me, so until I get acclimated to my new schedule during the day I’m gonna do some simpler posts here(really, I will have adjusted by Wednesday at the latest). So tonight I decided to do another Netflix Instant recommendations piece. Remember if you see anything there that you wanna recommend then please do so. I thoroughly enjoy the stuff people recommend me.

1. Fallen Angels: Because last week was WKW week here, I decided to start off with another one of his flicks. This one I just watched recently, and I really dug it, big surprise right? Well anyway, it’s a companion piece to Chungking Express in that it’s the same world they’re living in, but about the people who exist in the really late hours, basically, people who you wanna see but don’t really wanna know in real life. The title is amazingly fitting for the flick, and the ending is something that is just pure beauty, and continues WKW’s themes of fleeting moments.

2. Batman: The Movie: Yes, the Adam West one, words cannot describe how wonderful the flick is. Here’s a quick test to see if you will dig the absurd humor of the movie, solve this riddle: What has yellow skin and writes? Answer on bottom of post.

3. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo: See the original before Fincher’s remake(which I’m sure will be fucking amazing), if only to see Noomi Rapace’s amazing portrayal of Lisbeth Salander. On top of this though, you get a great crime thriller, and a fucking excellent scene of revenge. Here’s a tip: Don’t rape ANYONE.

4. Steamboat Bill, Jr.: For those who love physical comedy, particularly those who love the amazing split second timing of Buster Keaton. If you’ve not seen anything by him before then you’re missing out, although The General is a better film to jump into.

That’s it this time, check back tomorrow for hopefully something more.

It's My Favorite Movie of All Time, Is There Anything Else I Need to Say?

This will probably be the last update of the week, and hopefully the last WKW post for a little while.

I decided that it was only right that since I was talking about WKW I would talk about Chungking Express, if for no other reason than the fact that it’s my absolute favorite movie. That said, you should know right up front that everything I’m gonna say here should probably be taken with a grain of salt. Not because I’m lying, but because I love the film so much that my vision is clouded, and things I really love probably aren’t gonna have as much impact for you as they did for me. Well who knows, maybe it will be the same for you. That’s the whole point of this blog for now anyway, to talk about flicks that I really like, and hopefully give you guys some suggestions or some interesting thoughts.

Fun fact: This film was made in two months. That’s from the writing phase through completion of post production. It was shot guerilla style on the streets of Hong Kong and made as something to clear WKW’s mind while he was editing another film of his, Ashes of Time.

I think there’s something to be said about working extremely quickly on a project like this. When you’re just going like this, you get a product that feels much more raw and real as opposed to cleaned up and perfect as most of his other films are. There’s a grittiness and energy that’s supplied. In fact that’s kind of the prime difference between HK and American cinema. Because we have such long labored processes, with every action having to be okayed by 15 other people, we get something that feels very polished, which is a good thing. But sometimes, that energy that’s provided from say the HK way of working gives off a feeling that cannot quite be explained, but it’s a rush. I guess that’s one of the first pure joys I get from watching this movie.

Now this movie is sometimes cited as having a weak story, being a film made for lovers of film as opposed to general people. I disagree. Again, back to my basic message of the week, we need to allow ourselves to truly experience films. To see it as something pure, and not bring with us all that baggage that weighs us down. The story of Chungking Express can be seen as way too quirky and ham strung(particularly the second story), but I don’t see it like that. I find it a very pure expression of love, well the second story anyway. Full disclosure, I like the second half of the movie a lot more than the first, although I dig the first a lot as well.

Did I not mention that? Yeah the movie is two stories. Both share similar themes and both involve policemen, but aside from a bit in the middle where the characters cross paths, they’re unrelated. What I love though is that you don’t feel short changed on either story. There’s never a point when you wish something had been fleshed out more, much like the stories in Pulp Fiction.

Side Note: I’ve noticed a trend in my pieces every night where I spend a lot of detail talking about everything except the film. And I guess that’s not particularly fair, but this blog is my thoughts on films, and really the sort of back stories and different tangents that I go off on are things that come up because they’re thoughts that the certain film I’m “discussing” bring up. So I guess that’s my half assed explanation for not spending more time talking about the actual movie, but I did say from the beginning that I wasn’t doing reviews.

Side Note for the Side Note: I'm aware I defined what my blog was twice with this post.

And we’re back in

When I was watching some of this flick with my parents, who pretty much exclusively watch HK flicks but do not get WKW at all, I noticed something. They would point out every time he did something kind of different with a camera, and I’m using kind of in the absolute lightest sense. I remember a point where the character is talking about canned food, and the camera cuts to various close ups of the cans, and my mom pointed that out as weird and only something WKW would do. Now to me, what was done there was just common fucking sense, but it did point out to me just how flat and boring movies and editing can be. And it’s from that technical and visual perspective that results in many critics calling it a movie for movie lovers only. There are some moments in this film that show such immense beauty in the moving image that it’s mind boggling to think the film was made in two months. Particularly since WKW is now taking FUCKING YEARS to get The Grandmasters out there. Sorry.

It’s interesting to me that the first two directors I chose to talk about with this blog ended up being known as some of the most visually talented and beautiful directors working today. I guess that’s kind of where my mindset is right now. Anyway, I don’t really know how to close out tonight’s bit on Chungking Express simply because I really could never stop talking about it, if you’ve made it this far and want some sort of message or something to focus on from this post, make it this, I love this movie. It is my favorite movie of all time, and while that may not mean much to you, I would hope it means at least enough for you to check it out. If you do, tell me what you thought, I’m genuinely interested. Doesn’t matter if your opinions towards the film are positive or negative.

I may update this post in the next few days with some more precise thoughts on the flick

Next time we’ll probably start on another director, and based on the intense decline in readers this week, I’ll try to make it an American. =D

Facebook Carryovers: Ten Favorite Trailers

I'm none too sure why, but I'm tired as hell today, as a result I don't see myself doing a full piece today. Besides, it would have just been yet another bit on WKW, who I'm sure you're all already sick of. So as a result I decided to do port over another note I made on facebook. This was the last one I made before I started this blog. In fact it was a comment on this one left by a friend that influenced me to come back to the world of blogging.

Anyway, I had always really dug movie trailers. Something about being able to cut a great trailer has always impressed me. Then of course there were the great old school trailers that were so full of camp and cheese they just made me smile. My love of them was then increased ten fold when I attended the New Beverly Edgar Wright screenings. It was there that I saw some true gems of marketing, and in fact one of those has made it onto this list. Seriously, if you watch just one trailer from here, I strongly suggest you make it the trailer for "Candy."

Note: There's no order to the list, they were put up as I thought of them.

Alien

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojhGdRSkiUw&feature=related

This trailer pretty much sets the tone for what I usually like in a trailer, which is having sound and music driving the visual images on screen. As for this one in particular, I love how you get the continuing theme of running through the twisted hallways with flashing images, slowly building tension up until the big blast of everything in the end, much like the pacing of the actual movie. And of course there's the sudden silence and that excellent tag line.

Eyes Wide Shut

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIAneEiWEJ4

As WKW says, usually, during a movie, the image takes center stage, while music serves in the background, but sometimes it's nice to switch it up and have the music up front and have the images accompany the music. This is another one that's driven by music. The images that flash before the screen add credence to constantly hearing, "They did a bad bad thing," with quick flashes of things like the dead body, the deterioriating marriage, and many flashes of the couple with people who are very much not their spouse.

The Social Network

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWoUgftTj3Y

One of the most brilliant teasers in the past ten years doesn't have a single frame of footage from the movie, which is probably more of a complement to Aaron Sorkin's dialogue than anything else, but still, when this hit, everybody who had no fucking interest in seeing a facebook movie suddenly paid attention. I think it's a brilliant piece of marketing.

Happy Together

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0Dh6Jdc18c

If I had to choose one trailer as my absolute favorite, this would be it. Once again, it's just a perfect combination of image and music working together. I had no interest in watching the flick, then I saw the trailer. Watched the movie immediately afterwards. Once again, I love the contrast of whats said in the song to what's portrayed on screen. You feel the physical threat and tension between the two, and yet see some moment of true tenderness. Favorite moment is the absolutely haunting image of Leslie Chung covered in blood and shaking in pain. The remix of the song brings the whole thing home for me.

Psycho

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps8H3rg5GfM

It's Alfred Hitchcock being charming as all hell, and you know what, through him simply talking to you, you suddenly find yourself wanting to see the movie very badly.

Femme Fatale

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXj6mWt_H4k

This is actually the French trailer for the De Palma flick. I think the idea of showing you the entire movie from beginning to end at super speed is a brilliant idea, especially for a thriller which depends so much on you not knowing what's going to happen next.

Dr. Strangelove

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qli7nRzc12w&feature=related

I don't know about you, but I don't think it's possible to watch the trailer without wanting to see the movie afterwards. I mean, who doesn't want to know why the fate of the world rests on a coca cola machine? What a brilliant way to tease the audience about the absurdity of the movie.

Candy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHvR1YJ9XDE

Why do I love this trailer? Marlon Brando, James Coburn, and fucking Ringo Starr screaming, "Viva Zapata!" Is Candy Faithful? Only to the book.

Hard Boiled

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAtxZHuJNW4

The original Hong Kong trailer. Why? cause it doesn't tell you jack shit about anything. It's over three minutes long and it's just people getting shot in amazing ways. It's absolutely ridiculous and that's why I love it.

Magnolia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYTqhmzROko&playnext=1&list=PL8BF955FEDD65DABF

I think this was a first time I saw a trailer and really fell in love with it. It was just, through the images flashing and the narrator you could feel yourself entering into a grand epic world. You weren't too sure what direction the movie was going to go as well. It could just as easily be a love story or a tense thriller with action bits. Interestingly, it actually is both.

Scattered Thoughts on WKW's In the Mood for Love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjcTPRkAfL0&feature=related

As opposed to showing a classic trailer for the movie, I decided to show this one scene, which was luckily on youtube. I think it says all any trailer needs to say about it's movie.

I wasn’t sure how I was gonna go about the posts this week, whether I was gonna spend the entire week focusing on WKW or if like last week, do a bit on the director here and there but fill it out with other things as well. I’m still not too sure, so I had to decide what film I would talk about. When you look at his body of work, certainly there are many similarities in themes and even style, but each film seems to carry it’s own voice. The obvious choice would be for me to state my thoughts on “Chungking Express,” which is my favorite movie of all time. Another flick we could look into would be “Happy Together,” a film filled with raw impact, and frustrated and angered me in the best ways possible… think Martin Scorsese’s “After Hours,” this also has the benefit of being on Netflix Instant so those of you interested can see it pretty much instantly. But the film that I seem to keep coming back to over and over again is “In the Mood for Love.”

Why is this? I really don’t know. I wrote that top essay about 5 hours ago, and have spent all my time so far trying to gather my thoughts on the film, but can’t seem to do so with much success. It’s a similar reaction to the first time I watched “Pulp Fiction” or “Mulholland Drive.” I was effected on a very basic level that was extremely difficult for me to explain, at least initially. Of course now, I recognize that I was drawn to the effortless and natural manner in which characters spoke to one another and fresh storytelling methods in “Pulp Fiction.” Even if I was too young to actively notice this. With that film I felt something so fantastical, and yet, real. With “Mulholland Drive,” it was having my mind truly stimulated for the first time. This is a different experience than say having a film with a big twist at the end, or something which had an interesting premise, like say “The Matrix.” This was allowing the director to truly take over and even if I didn’t know what was happening, I was experiencing something. We’ll spend more time on those films as well as their respective directors, at a later date.

With “In the Mood for Love,” once again I was struck on a very primal level. As far as I can figure it, it’s the emotional honesty and power of the situation presented. The film deals with the spouses of two people who are cheating on them with the other, and the spouses relationship that forms because of this. The film is not exploitive about this, it doesn’t illustrate what is a terrible situation as nothing more than a jumping off point to start another love story(unlike 99% of our modern day romantic comedies). Instead, we know and see only what they see. We’re figuring out their spouses are cheating on them as they do, and we see how this impacts them. In a vague sense, it’s almost like Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs.” In that film, we never see the diamond heist, but we sure as hell see the effect it had on the characters. That’s what we have here.

I think another aspect which really impacts me, is the fact that this is a story of unrequited love. Sure, it’s not the freshest story type out there, but the way it’s presented, I don’t know, I haven’t quite pegged the film down yet, but it’s handled in a way that allows you to truly invest yourself into the characters and their lives, just as you’re invested in seeing your friends do well.

I guess what I’m really getting at with this film, as well as with the other two that I listed, is that we have to allow ourselves to experience movies. Pretentious and douchey as that sounds. We need to approach these films without all the baggage that being a film fan brings with it. Unfortunately, a lot of what’s released does not offer us that opportunity, instead they slap tired formulas and clichés in our faces. I guess that’s what makes this film special to me. It allowed me to experience the film, no, it gave me the privilege to do so.

I’m sure as the film continues to stick with me, I’ll be able to better articulate my thoughts about it, so count on a return to the film in the near future