Two More Fistfuls of Favorites! (Brad's Picks)

Two years ago, I finally settled on my Top Ten Favorite Films of All Time.  These are not The Great Films lauded by the AFI, Roger Ebert, or Sight & Sound.  These are the flicks that bring a smile to my face, or a race to my heart.  I don't believe in "The Best" - I only believe in Favorites.  I'm pleased to report that my films remain firmly set in stone.  I wouldn't switch a single number.  Unforgiven is certainly my #1 and Point Blank is certainly my #7.  Crafting the next ten, 11-20, was much more of a challenge.  I love so many movies.  What keeps Phantom of the Paradise on the list, but Lawrence of Arabia off?  Not exactly sure.  In another two years I'd safely bet my Top Ten is holding strong, but this Top Twenty will probably flip-flop a film or two.  Well, Dr. Jones is going nowhere.

20.  Phantom of the Paradise (Brian De Palma, 1974):  I only recently fell in love with this Rock n Roll horror musical from the king of the Hitchcock steal.  Maybe only a half dozen watches, and I'm kinda shocked to see it on the list.  All that being said, Phantom of the Paradise is everything the Rocky Horror Picture Show wants to be - and more!  Struggling singer/songwriter Winslow Leach (the super sad & adorable William Finley) has his art stolen from him by the diabolical record producer Swan (sexual deviant Paul Williams) just before a tragic accident takes his face & voice.  The film mixes elements from The Phantom of the Opera & Faust but is steeped in all sorts of rock n roll - surfer, glam, metal.  And thanks to Paul Williams's pen, the songs are utterly brilliant.

19.  Zodiac (David Fincher, 2007):  There is no better police procedural than Zodiac.  Following the infamous investigation of eight murders surrounding the San Francisco area from 1968 to 1969 and possibly beyond, the movie really excels in its depiction of obsession.  Breaking the film up into three parts & three characters, the Zodiac killings attract the attention of Robert Downey Jr's Chronicle Reporter, Mark Raffalo's dogged detective, and Jake Gyllanhaal's curious cartoonist.  Like the best mysteries, the enjoyment doesn't come from the answers but the questions, and how these killings root their way through the souls of the protagonists.  I grew up reading the Robert Graysmith books as well as dozens of other sensational true crime novels, but none of them came close to touching the humanity found here.

18.  12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet, 1957):  The Great American Movie.  This film has the power to grant every audience member the courage of their convictions.  12 jurors file into a room ready to sentence a teenager to death, wash their hands, and race home to the ball game.  Henry Fonda stand up, "wait a sec", let's discuss.  One man can make a difference.  And 12 Angry Men should be watched every Fourth of July.

17.  Jackie Brown (Quentin Tarantino, 1997):  Maybe not the flashy game changer that was Pulp Fiction or as violently referential as Kill Bill, however, Tarantino's Elmore Leonard adaptation has one thing going for it that all his other movies don't....Elmore Leonard.  Tarantino is famous for his sponge style to filmmaking, the director can squeeze every scintillating drop from a hundred/thousand/million other lesser films of yesterday and mold them into staggering works of genius.  That fetishizing is certainly on display in Jackie Brown, but less so - the man lets Leonard do the hard work.  You've got smart criminals, dumb criminals, smart cops, dumb cops.  Pam Grier's money mule flight attendant finds herself up the creek, but uses the opportunity to free herself from the rut of her daily life.  Sam Jackson gives his All Time Great Performance as showboating gunrunner Ordell Robbie, and Robert De Niro is the ultimate expression of an Elmore Leonard character with his putz of a convict.  Not enough love has ever been properly thrown their way.  And yeah, Robert Forester, Michael Keaton, and Bridgette Fonda are in top form.  All expertly shot & executed by master movie man Quentin Tarantino.

16.  Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974):  Movies about movies, we love em around here.  And filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, The Coen Brothers, and Edgar Wright are virtuosos in cinematic dictation.  But the greatest movie about movies is Roman Polanski's Chinatown.  A love letter to the noirs of the 1940s as well as the hard boiled fiction of Raymond Chandler, Polanski's film is elevated by Robert Towne's paranoid, hateful screenplay and Jack Nicholson's escalating rage.

15.  Planet of the Apes (Franklin J Schaffner, 1968):  Whether you've seen the movie or not, you probably already know the story.  Charlton Heston's astronaut lands on a mysterious planet in which apes rule over man.  "Damn Dirty Apes" & Statues of Liberty ensue.  But similar to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, the film is much more than its quotes & twists.  Some of my favorite bits come in the first thirty minutes in which Heston, Gunner, & Burton explore the desert landscape and Chuck spouts his beautiful nihilism.  Then the horns blow, the hunt chases down our Earthly crusaders, and damn revelation tears our hero to shreds.  Planet of the Apes is some of the smartest science-fiction Athenaed from Rod Serling's skull, and I only wish the big, beastly blockbusters of our day bothered to mine the wit on display here rather than Ciffsnoting the climax.

14.  The Blues Brothers (John Landis, 1980):  What began as a Saturday Night Live showstopper quickly transformed into the greatest celebration of Rhythm & Blues ever.  But it's so much more than that.  Under the hyper enthusiastic direction of John Landis, The Blue Brothers reaches levels of cartoonish adventure worthy of the greatest Warner Brothers cartoon or, yeah, Tolkienian quest.  Jake & Elwood Blues are on a mission from God, and if they don't get the band back together then all the boys & girls of the Catholic Orphanage will go homeless.  Standing in their way are a caravan of hillbillies, a squadron of state troopers, the Illinois Nazis, and a bazooka packing Carrie Fischer.  The Blues Brothers is a madcap musical and totally badass.  Not too many of those around.

13.  Big Trouble in Little China (John Carpenter, 1986):  I was seven years old when I first saw John Carpenter's werido action, comedy.  I couldn't quite wrap my head around it.  Kurt Russell was all smiles and bravado, but he kept getting knocked on the ground while wearing ladies lipstick.  Russell's Jack Burton was boss, but he was also a dolt.  Of course, that's the whole point.  The John Wayne white man is the sidekick, and Dennis Dun is the chop socky badass fighting his way to the evil wizard.  Big Trouble in Little China is silly, goofy, and cool.  A combination hard for some, but absolutely in tune with the ITMOD sensibilities.

12.  Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (Sam Peckinpah, 1973):  Two friends find themselves on opposite sides of the law; James Coburn's Sheriff is charged by local government to hunt down and capture Kris Krisstofferson's rabble-rouser, Billy the Kid.  Peckinpah's obsession with the closing West continues, but it plumbs new depths of depression as Garrett's soul is traded for easy living.  Melancholy has never been represented so fully than in the posture of Coburn's sell-out.  Not a fun night out at the movies, but as far as Westerns go, few achieve richer emotion.

11.  Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981):  Spielberg may have ushered in the new era of Blockbusters with JAWS, and George Lucas certainly solidified it with Star Wars, but it was Raiders of the Lost Ark that perfected the phenomenon.  Hollywood and its audience have been doomed ever since.  But let's not focus on the negative.  Harrison Ford is the king of self-depricating cool.  He's a real man's man with the grit of Lee Marvin and the charm of Cary Grant.  He can take a beating from a Nazi thug, but jump back swinging.  He can play drunk, asshole, or bastard and we still love him.   He's everything I've ever wanted to be and have absolutely no chance of achieving.  Toss in an epic quest to save God from Hitler and you have the ultimate adventure film.  Fortune & Glory.

So there you have it.  My favorite films from 11-20.  Again, if you're still interested in reading drivel, check out 1-10 HERE.

--Brad

A Fistful of Inspiration! (Brad's Picks)

The Jackie Robinson story gets another go around on the big screen this weekend.  It's a crucial bit of pop culture that lead to genuine social change in America.  But my fear, based on what little of the trailer I've seen, is that 42 will ultimately be another stale biopic that fails to capture the excitement of the events, and simply delivers bullet point history.  As impressed as we all were by Jaime Foxx's mimicry in Ray or Joaquin Phoenix's hangdog wannabe jailbird in Walk The Line, they were simply just pale imitations of their real life subjects.  Icons are hard to portray.  We're all taught the basics in school.  Plunging new depths can be difficult.  It's best to either narrow your focus (like last year's Lincoln) or deal on the little known fellas (see my #5 pick on this list) instead.  The most appealing thing about 42 is director Brian Helgeland, the man to come the closest in adapting Richard Stark's Parker with Payback (The Straight Up Edition, avoid the theatrical cut).

So, this Fistufl is not a Top Five of Biopics (although some do appear).  Instead these are the top five films that inspired me the most as the credits rolled.  Films that either inspired me creatively, lovingly, or patriotically.  Films that put a lump in my throat and a chill down my spine.  Films that made me mutter "yer damn right."

5.  American Splendor:  Harvey Pekar was a grumpy little shit.  After some hard time in the Navy, a barrage of odd jobs, and an almost life sentence as a file clerk, Harvey Pekar found an outlet for his everyday rage in underground comics.  A friendship with R. Crumb encouraged the "anyone can do it" attitude and Harvey Pekar soon became the Poet Laureate of Cleveland.  Ma & Pap America may not know his name, but anyone with the slightest interest in non-spandex comics appreciates the autobiographical revolution sparked by Pekar and his peers.  The film, directed by Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini, balances fictionalized accounts with actor Paul Giamatti as well as interviews with Pekar himself.  It's not the type of film to raise hoots and hollers, but after each viewing I find myself struck by that "anyone can do it" attitude and I'll inevitably leap to the written word.

4.  A Very Long Engagement:  You can't have a list like this without an epic love story.  When her fiance disappears in the trenches of the Somme, Audrey Tautou refuses to believe that her love was lost to The Great War.  She begins an epic quest to find him or his body.  She unravels a mystery involving five french soldiers convicted of cowardice and sentenced to die in the abyss of No Man's Land.  She's kind of like a lovelorn Sherlock Holmes, cutting her way through a venomous French government and freeing the spirits of the men lost on the front lines.  Both breaks and warms the heart.

3.  King Kong:  On the surface, this might seem like a weird one for the list.  Part of the inspiration comes from the craft of it.  Willis O'Brien brought genuine life to a tiny mechanical puppet.  I'm not being cute or foolish when I type this, but even after the 30th rewatch, there are moments in this film in which I forget I'm watching an inanimate object.  I see Kong and I react in the same manner I would with an anthropomorphized puppy dog.  He's Lassie.  He's Hooch.  The other part of the inspiration comes from the tragic story itself.  Not the "Beauty that Tamed The Beast" bit, but the hateful story of the poor bugger stolen from his home in chains and staked on a stage for our entertainment.  And I respond deeply to his skyscraping climactic rage.  Inspirational anger.

2.  Ed Wood:  This is not an "anyone can do it" movie.  It's a "you have to be a passionate mad man to do it" movie.  Made back in the good old days of Tim Burton talent, Ed Wood is the frenzied saga of a wannabe cinematic maestro who might have lacked the talent, but certainly had the blind will to burn his stories onto celluloid.  Portrayed by Johnny Depp, Ed Wood is a gleeful, lovable loon.  Through sheer love, he got his stories out to the people - and when their love was not quite like his love, it hurt.  Painfully relatable, but also delightfully inspiring.

1.  12 Angry Men:  This should be required viewing every 4th of July.  Nothing makes me more proud to be an American than 12 Angry Men.  On a hot sweaty day in New York City, 12 jurors file into the room and decide the fate of an alleged murderer.  11 men are quick to vote guilty.  One man, Juror #8, raises his hand.  He has a few questions and doesn't believe a man's life should be settled in the manner of minutes.  For the next 96 the 12 men shout, scream, and exhaust each other.  But the defendant is granted the conversation.  Thanks to one man with a raised hand.  Henry Fonda exudes morality.  He speaks, I listen.  He's the man I aspire to be.  Group think is evil.  Be an individual, be Juror #8.

--Brad

Brad's Week In Dork! (11/20-11/26)

I watched a bunch of movies.  The end.  Seriously, I don't even know how I cranked in as many films as I did since it felt like I lived at my dayjob all week long.  It helps having an AMC megaplex next to my work, and I kept popping inside to escape the Black Friday pepper spray terror and sooth my frantic mind.

MOVIES OF THE WEEK!

A Very Haorld & Kumar 3D Christmas:  Probably some of the most fun 3Dsploitation I've seen in a while (I'm getting tired of the oh-so-serious James Cameron approach to the gimmick--Bring Back JAWS 3D!!!), A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas is a solid sequel to the buddy stoner franchise and proves that John Cho & Kal Penn still have that silly/stupid chemistry discovered in the original film. That being said, the laughs are chuckles at best and the film made for a better trailer than it did movie.  And as always, more NPH please.

Iron Man:  I love Tony Stark! Correction, I love Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark. We might not have known it at the time (how could we, who outside of the comic shop longboxes really gave a rat's tail about Iron Man before 2008?), but Tony Stark was the character we were all craving for Downey to sink his trainwrecked teeth into. The man captures Stark's ego, his super ego, and his SUPER SUPER EGO perfectly and you love him for it! He's just so bloody charming! But what of the rest of the film? It's not bad. It's pretty good. But it's a rather basic origin story. And Jeff Bridges, who I generally love and even think looks kinda badass here as well, his baddie is rather boring. And the mech on mech climax is just as boring. Still, Robert Downey Jr. is awesome and he's all you need to put butts in the seat.

The Incredible Hulk:  Call me crazy, but I love Ang Lee's Shakespearean take on HULK. And I think it's far superior to the Marvel Studios version. That being said, Ed Norton is a great Bill Bixby Banner. Even Tim Roth makes for a fine Abomination and I love their "Hulk Smash" final smackdown.  Even William Hurt is a decent General Ross. But I'm definitely not a fan of Liv Tyler's Betty and the film nearly drags to a halt at the halfway point. A solid leadup to next year's Avengers madness, but it's easily my least favorite entry in the new Marvel saga.

Iron Man II:  "I am Iron Man." With this climactic bit of narcissism from the last film, Tony Stark propels himself down a rabbit hole lined with booze, debauchery, and self-hate. But don't worry, nobody can make you love an a-hole like Robert Downey Jr. And there's lots of mythology building occurring (maybe too much). Sam Rockwell's anti-Stark, Justin Hammer nearly steals the show with his Snidely Whiplash grimaces, his frustrated hand wringing, and back-stabbing rage. His partner-in-war crime, Mickey Rourke is UGLY, tattered, and pumped with evil genius Super Hate. The Avengers Initiative franchise gets closer to reality with S.H.I.E.L.D's Clark Gregg and one eye badass Samuel L. Jackson sneaking around the fringes. Really, the only bits that don't quite work are Don Cheadle's War Machine who surprisingly seems to channel Terrance Howard's original crap acting. And ScarJo is dull, dull, dull as the Black Widow; she's given one thigh crushing action scene toward the end, but she feels completely pointless within the meandering narrative. Still, this is a solid Summer Blockbuster sequel. And I just LOVE Robert Downey Jr's ego-nightmare Stark.

Thor:  Just completed my third viewing of the film and I'm still amazed that Marvel was able to make a decent flick outta Marvel's whack-o comic book take on Norse mythology. Chris Hemsworth is amazing as Thor, and I don't think I'll ever be able to think of the character again without seeing his cocky, grinning mug. The film is more comedic than any of the other Marvel Studios flicks and I think that was necessary to sell the character; the fish-outta-water New Mexico stuff is a riot and even though I would have enjoyed more of Asgard I'm happy with what we got. And yeah, the Destroyer/Loki fight climax is a bit of a whimper, but the Destroyer is still pretty badass. So yeah, maybe Thor was never the Avenger movie I was craving for but it's good enough.

Captain America The First Avenger:  After blitzing through 12 hours of Marvel Studios movies in one day, I can honestly say that Captain America: The First Avenger is my favorite of the bunch. Yes, the climax of the film wraps up far too neatly and the writers/producers drive to get the character into next Summer's Avengers blockbuster is incredibly forced--BUT! The first two thirds of the film, the birth of the Captain from good-hearted, scrawny Steve Rodgers is as beautiful as Super Hero stories get. Chris Evans is brilliant in the role. You fall for him. You're proud of him. And a lot of credit has to go to Stanley Tucci as Dr. Erskine; he finds the hero in the kid and reveals him to the audience. Just great. Hugo's Red Skull is fun but he's barely there -- as are the Howling Commandos. And there is at least one montage too many. But this is just a whole lotta Popcorn entertainment.

Immortals:  The Gods of Olympus tower over man; Zeus, in awe of one particular human, touches the growth of bastard slave Theseus wearing the face of John Hurt. Mickey Rourke's gargantuan barbarian King Hyperion marches towards world devastation. A clash of good vs. evil photographed with MTV enthusiasm, and splashed with plenty of CGI blood. I'm still not sure what to make of director Tarsem Singh, his Cell was a boring mess of serial killer banality, but The Fall showed great stylistic whimsy. And Immortals is a savage, but enthusiastic actioner take on Greek myths that would have totally made ten year old Brad lose his mind for the classics.

Spy Kids 4:  It's been a while, but I remember Robert Rodriguez's first two Spy Kids films having a serious dose of childish, somewhat farty intelligence. But this latest outing in the decade old franchise is a true embarrassment. I was pretty much lost from the opening scene; watching a full blown pregnant Jessica Alba zip lining through an action sequence as her water breaks...I'm just thankful I didn't attend one of those aroma-scope theatrical experiences. And the film is just NOT FUNNY! From Ricky Gervais talking, butt-bombing dog to Joel McHale's well-quaffed Spy Hunter--the jokes fall flat. Robert Rodriguez seriously needs to make a good movie, and soon.

12 Angry Men:  "Let me ask you something? Do you believe his story?" 12 Angry Men is a Great American Movie. A movie that we should watch every 4th of July. 12 jurors sit around a table, ready to condemn a man to the electric chair. One man, Henry Fonda's Juror #8, not ready to life sentence an 18 year old votes "Not Guilty" only to open the forum to debate. What follows is some of the most compelling arguments in cinema--there is more tension here than in fifty Michael Bay Blockbuster explosions. Sidney Lumet and his 12 actors just knock the play outta the park and I dare anyone to watch this film and not be deeply moved.

Modern Romance:  A very squirmy Albert Brooks comedy (is there any other kind?) depicting the tumultuous relationship between a Hollywood editor and his way-too-hot for him girlfriend. The script is excellent and incredibly engaging in the sense that every five seconds I'm shouting at the screen for this couple to "Break The Hell Up!" but at the end of the day even smart romantic (?) comedies hold very little appeal. My favorite segments of the film revolve around Brooks' day job, cutting scenes of a Cormanesque space picture starring George Kennedy and directed by Simpsons' guru James L Brooks.

Firecracker:  There are moments in Firecracker that make the film an absolute must-see for cheap karate genre die hards. The opening mustache man impaling. The creepy, weird slicing of clothes sex scene. The topless karate fight. The everyone is kung fu fighting reality--seriously, there are people in this film who have No Business knowing karate kicking some serious random ass. The eye socket attack climax. But there is also a lot of meh to wade through as well. And an hour and 23 minutes shouldn't feel this long.

The Muppets:  "Am I A Maaaaaaannnnnnn? Or Am I a Muppet?" Brothers Gary (Jason Segel) and Walter (voiced by Peter Linz) must eventually answer that question and their journey to revelation is a smorgasbord of joyous Jim Henson idol worship. I did not spend my childhood as a Muppet maniac (I was a casual observer of the show and the only previous film I had seen was Take Manhattan), but this latest entry in their saga is a true hoot. Yes, there's plenty of self-love on display, but the in-jokes play on their own as much as they nudge-nudge, wink wink. Kudos to Segel for his triple threat of producing, writing, and acting--the man got to the heart of the characters and made the audience embrace the rainbow connection.

Too Hot To Handle:  The third slot in the recent Shout Factory Roger Corman Cult Classics Lethal Ladies Collection (that's a lot to cram into the title), Too Hot To Handle is a fairly weak entry in the Naked Lady in the Philippines subgenre; Cheri Caffaro supplies plenty of T & A but she's unpleasantly harsh when she should simply be badass. There are some solid explosions, some entertainingly goofy assassinations, and lots and lots of split screens, but not enough make you give a damn.

--Brad

New Release Tuesday (11/22/11)!!!

Must Buy DVD of the Week!





















12 ANGRY MEN (CRITERION BLU):  This was the first black & white film that I ever saw all the way through.  High School (yes, I was a very uncultured child, all I wanted were Star Wars explosions) social studies class...I remember sitting at my desk totally enraptured by Henry Fonda's "bleeding heart." This was a good man.  A great man.  After that first viewing I couldn't wait to grow up and sit in on a murder case.  As of yet, I have yet to be called to jury duty.  Anyway, 12 Angry Men is one of THE Great movies.  12 outstanding performances led by master director Sidney Lumet in his first theatrical feature.  And I absolutely love the new Criterion box art.  I want a poster of that desperately.


Buy!

THE THREE AMIGOS (BLU):  This came very close to being my week's Must Buy!  Everyone seems to love John Landis' previous genre love letters, An American Werewolf in London & The Blues Brothers but there seems to be very little love for this open mouthed kiss to silent film and cowboy pictures.  Sure, it has its fans and they seem to be growing these days, but I remember having some serious arguement with my film fanatic friends over The Three Amigos.  It's such a silly film.  But it's also sooooo dang sweet.  Three silent film stars, down on their luck, travel down to Mexico with their egos and unwittingly wage war with Bandit King El Guapo.  And there are some seriously fantastic sets in this film...you might even say a plethora of fantastic sets.

RUSHMORE (CRITERION BLU):  I was 19 years old when I saw Rushmore in the theater.  I went with my Mom and my Dad.  Dad & I loved it.  Mom hated it.  She said it was a guy's movie--I think that's just cuz her two guys liked it.  And we liked it a lot.  Jason Schwartzman's student bee keeper is the quintessential A-Hole hero of youth.  Smart as a whip, deadly with words, and utterly baffled by the rest of humanity.  As much as I've loved the later films of Wes Anderson (The Fantastic Mr. Fox is probably my favorite), Rushmore was my first and you never forget your first.

SUPER 8:  Still not sure if I loved this film or simply liked it.  JJ Abrams goes Spielberg crazy with this kids vs spacemen flick and even though there are some outstanding child performances in this film I never quite connected with their narrative.  The film looked pretty and was executed well, but maybe I had just geekgasmed too much for 2009's Star Trek to muster up the energy for all of Super 8's nerdy bits.  Still, I want it on my shelf.

Rent!

THE BIRTH OF A NATION (KINO BLU):  I have never seen Birth of a Nation.  I know that it's based on the novel The Clansman and is far from being politically correct--hell, just look at that original theatrical poster above.  But I feel like it's one of those movies that I have to see if I want to be a well rounded film enthusiast.  And I've been digging on a lot of blu ray silents lately.  Phantom of the Opera, Phantom Carriage.  It's a medium that needs more fans.

SPY KIDS 4:  Missed it in the theater which is kind of a shame considering the William Castlesque Aroma-Scope gimmick.  And I really loved the first two Spy Kids films.  They were extremely silly and awash with Robert Rodriquez's poopy humor, but there was an intelligence to the whackiness and some fun guest stars in George Clooney, Danny Trejo, Bill Paxton, etc...  I've heard some pretty terrible things about this one, and the inclusion of Jessica Alba raises some doubts.

THE DEVIL'S DOUBLE:  Another one I missed in the theater.  Dominic Cooper (Howard Stark in Captain America!) plays the body double to Saddam Hussein's son.  That could be interesting.  And I have heard good things about this one.

Avoid!

CONAN THE BARBARIAN:  Definitely one of the worst films of 2011, if not the worst.  It's not like the original film got everything right about Robert Howard's Conan, but it was still a damn fine fantasy film of overzealous but wondrous John Milius machismo.  This...this is just crap.  Every frame is wrong. A joke of Howard.  A middle finger to the idea of Conan.  Utter garbage.  Stay away.  Watch The Scorpion King a hundred times before attempting this.