1980 (A Year in Film)

I just finished watching Kagemusha with my family a few nights ago and liked it enough that I wanted to build a list around it. I'm sort of informally doing lists for the eighties (I've only done 1985 so far), so I thought "why not do one for 1980?"

1. The Empire Strikes Back (Kershner)
This is my favorite movie of all time, so it stands to reason it would be at the top of my 1980 list. One of the best, if not the best, sequels of all time.

2. The Shining (Kubrick)
I'm due for another screening, so my memory's not sharp, but for a bad adaptation of a book, this is a pretty incredible film.

3. Kagemusha (Kurosawa)
It's epic and tragic and beautifully filmed. Kurosawa used color in such a creative and powerful way, you'd think he'd been filming in color his whole career. In the opening scene, the camera and the characters don't move for almost a full seven minutes. There's a director who knows the story he wants to tell and is not afraid to get there however he needs to.

4. Permanent Vacation (Jarmusch)
Very low-key and meandering, but a great indication of what was coming from Jarmusch. He would take this basic structure of a story and flesh it out in all kinds of interesting and unique ways from then on, so he's building up from where he started, but staying true to the core of his message about humanity--ultimately, we're all searching for some kind of meaning, but ordinary life and interesting people keep distracting us from that search, and sometimes we're just too unmotivated to seek it out again for awhile. At least that's what *I* think he's saying.
[Note: According to IMDB, this was released in the US in 1981, so according to my own criteria this should be in the 1981 list, but whatever.]

5. Raging Bull (Scorcese)
This would probably be higher on a lot of lists; ultimately, picks 2-5 could content for any of those positions because they're all great films in my opinion. But in film club, you *have* to choose. Anyway, it's been awhile since I saw Raging Bull, but I remember being taken aback by how raw and brutal it was--and how I managed to find empathy for such a destructive and unlikeable person (La Motta, of course). It was only the second or third Scorcese film I saw in a pretty short amount of time, during my film discovery period at Houghton, and it boosted him quickly towards the top of my favorite directors list.

6. Airplane (Abrahams/Zucker bros.)
This was the first of many films by these guys that I grew to love in my adolescence. I saw all the Airplanes, Hot Shots, and Naked Guns I could get my eyes on--with a Top Secret for good measure. I'll admit that the style of humor has lost its allure somewhat these days, but the sight gags and endless silly wordplay has influenced my own personal sense of humor to an unquantifiable degree.

7. Friday the 13th (Cunningham)
You're probably wondering why I didn't rate this higher. Honestly, while it started a horror franchise that's one of my favorites, it's not one of my favorite in the series. I think it's mostly because the business with his mother is distracting and takes away from the horror of Jason himself. PArt two is superior in almost every way--even part three with its cheesy but wonderful 3-D effects manages to outdo the original.

8. Caddyshack (Ramis)
I also loved Chevy Chase when I was a teenager. The man could do no wrong.

9. The Fog (Carpenter)
I really have no business putting this on the list at all, but I'm running out of films I've seen in 1980 that I even want to include on a list, and I vaguely remember liking this, and I like Carpenter as a director, so that's why it's 9 instead of ten. But this is my list, after all, and I can do it however I want.

10. Superman II (Lester/Donner)
I haven't gotten too much into the whole Lester/Donner debate, but I do know this sequel could have been better than it was. Still, to a 6 year old, it was still pretty darn exciting. Especially Zod and his buddies.

Honorable mentions: Prom Night, Gods Must Be Crazy, Popeye, Private Benjamin (saw it as a kid and really liked it)

Haven't seen but want to: Elephant Man (I know!), Heaven's Gate, Maniac, Stardust Memories, Breaker Morant

Didn't get it: Altered States

Top Ten: Family Edition

I got these lists the day I posted mine, but it's taken me this long to post them! I hope you enjoy...

My wife's:
1. Merry Christmas, Mister Lawrence (Oshima, 1983)
2. One True Thing (Franklin, 1998)
3. Rabbit Proof Fence (Moyce, 2002)
4. Tree of Life (Malick, 2011)
5. My Neighbor Totoro (Miyazaki, 1988)
6. Moonrise Kingdom (Anderson, 2012)
7. Whale Rider (Caro, 2002)
8. O Brother Where Art Thou (Coens, 2000)
9. The Princess Bride (Reiner, 1987)
10. Scrooge (Hurst, 1951)

Honorable Mention: Waking Ned Devine (Jones, 1998), Fried Green Tomatoes (Avnet, 1991)

My son's (age 14):
1. O Brother Where Art Thou (Coens, 2000)
2. Hot Rod (Schaffer, 2007)
3. The Princess Bride (Reiner, 1987)
4. The Hidden Fortress (Kurosawa, 1958)
5. Make Way for Tomorrow (McCarey, 1937)
[ed. note-I must admit I was really surprised this made his list]
6. Billy Madison (Davis, 1995)
7. Beasts of the Southern Wild (Zeitlin, 2012)
8. Princess Mononoke (Miyazaki, 1997)
9. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (Miyazaki, 1984)
10. Napoleon Dynamite (Hess, 2004)

Jason's Top Ten Favorite Films of All Time

I've been barely able to handle my life lately but have really been missing/feeling left out of film club. And Arthur's finally starting to participate! Sigh.

So here's my feeble contribution to the growing body of material that I've laregely missed the past couple of months.

 My criteria was that I had to have seen the film at least twice (but more times was preferable) and it had to have made some kind of lasting impact on me. A small disclaimer: I started to read the lists on Facebook and got partway down Arthur's and realized I needed to come up with my own first. So The Muppet Movie is on my list, and it fits my criteria, but I'm not sure if it would have been on there had I not looked at his list, keeping in my the off-the-top-of-my-head-as-more-genuine approach I've taken.

Anyway, here they are, in order, with a brief note on why they've stayed with me for so long.

1. The Empire Strikes Back (Kirschner, 1980): It is impossible to summarize this film's influence on a young six-year-old's psyche, but it was tremendous. Probably no other film has had a similar impact.

2. The Mission (Joffe, 1986): Themes of redemption and justice run thick through this film like coagulated blood, with a haunting soundtrack by Morricone that may be the most beautiful and effective in film history.

3. Waking Ned Devine (Jones, 1998): Humorous and deeply moving, this film at its heart is about placing community over the individual--powerfully depicted, but brilliantly subtle.

4. Down By Law (Jarmusch, 1986): I've only seen this twice, but Jarmusch's films opened my eyes to a whole new world of film for the first time in my life. I watched Night On Earth in Ben Gallman's room one fateful night in the late nineties, buzzed on gin and tonic, and was never the same. Down By Law is Jarmusch at his best, but not by much.

5. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Gilliam,/Jones, 1975): I saw this sometime in junior high or early high school and for the first time a film resonated with my already offbeat and somewhat absurdist sense of humor and pretty much defined my sense of humor from that point onward.

6. Mystery Train (Jarmusch, 1989): I saw this before Down By Law, and it was my first favorite "art film." By this point, I'd seen films by several other great directors and had been exposed to enought to have a favorite. Down By Law eventually edged out Mystery Train, but not enough to take it off my Top Ten.

7. The Dark Crystal (Henson/Oz, 1982): As a child, I had never before been introduced to such a fantastic world with such fantastic creatures and so much at stake. As an adult, I marveled at the detail and precision that went into making it, and believe it to be the pinnacle of puppetry in filmmaking to this day.

8. It's a Wonderful Life (Capra, 1946): The only film on my list made before I was born is also one that I watched on TV almost every Christmas since. It's not just a heartwarming holiday film; it's also a powerful treatise on the effect a good man has on everyone around him, even when he's not aware of it. It's a lesson to all of us to never underestimate how important we are to those who love us.

9. The Muppet Movie (Frawley, 1979): Another early favorite, Kermit's everyfrog, down-to-earth, follow-your-dreams sensibility made a big impresssion on me as a young child. To this day, the opening notes of "Rainbow Connection" still send a shiver down my spine. I wore out the 8-track cassette we owned of the soundtrack.

10. Hot Rod (Schaffer, 2007): A ridiculous film with every plot element overstated, this film still makes me laugh every time I watch it--and I've seen it four or five times in the past couple of years. It has become a family favorite, with quotes from the film permanently infused in our everyday vocabulary, so its sentimental value has also increased over time.

Brandon hearts Statham (but so do I)

I read your post right after I posted my most recent one. THANK YOU! I feel validated. Your comments about Michael Bay went beyond what I was trying to say, but I agree. There are a lot of successful working directors out there who know how to put a picture together but don't really have a vision of their own. I wouldn't hold them to the same standard to which I'd hold an auteur, because they're not trying to do the same thing. They've set out to make a crowd-pleasing film and have been chosen for their ability to choose people who can get the job done, who themselves have vision but maybe for a smaller piece of the pie. When I watched the Transformers making-of video I was all set to defend Bay, but it sounds like he needed convincing to do the picture at all, and even then seemed to be in it for the experience of making the film more than the film itself. I could totally buy him signing on for ten more films because of the money he stands to make off them. But I don't want to shortchange all the other talented individuals who are actually putting their creative energies into a project to try to make it as good as it can be. I'll often appreciate a movie more once I've seen the behind-the-scenes featurette, even if I didn't like the movie all that much upon first viewing. Sometimes it helps to have more context, though a superb film shouldn't need it. Nevertheless, when I hear people talking about the vision behind even the dumbest comedies, it helps me to be able to enjoy them more.

I knew it was a Statham film, if not The Mechanic. I went back and reread your post and realized I was mixing up your love of Statham with the film itself. I'm not a huge action film buff, basically I love the Die Hard movies and I love Jason Statham. I've watched Lock, Stock, and Snatch, all three Transporters, both Cranks (Chev Chelios is the weirdest and coolest name for an action hero), and Death Race (I haven't given The Expendables the time of day. I want Statham to be the only star in his film). Conversely, I could count on one hand all the Stallone, Van Damme, and Steven Seagal films I've seen.

On a side note, I'd wager that the most homoerotic fight scene in recent history is in Eastern Promises, though I haven't seen The Mechanic to compare it.

Peeping Tom

Oh man oh man I loved this film. I don't know that I can say anything insightful about it, but everything I've read about it being ahead of its time is absolutely true. Almost everything about it was perfect: the pacing, the soundtrack, the acting, the suspense, the lighting, the cinematopgraphy. This may be the best serial killer/horror film I've ever seen (as opposed to straight-up slasher--e.g. Se7en is serial killer horror, while Friday the XIII is slasher). I was riveted the whole time. Okay, one small complaint. The scene in the studio with the redhead dancing around did go on a tad long; it lessened the suspense as a result.
The actor who plays the young man does a phenomenal job of portraying the tension of having severe emotional problems while wanting to be whole and human. He wasn't evil; he was really screwed up, and it's easy for the audience to sympathize. The blind mother was a hoot and a great strong character to contrast Mark's.
Before the film even ended, I found myself looking for copies on eBay/Amazon. I think I want to own this movie.
It's on NWI, but only until July 1st. Have you seen this, Jeff? I think it's a film we could agree on.

Frickin' Transformers

A few responses, then some more about Transformers. I probably won't have time to finish this post, so per Brandon's request, I will write what I can and post it and finish my thoughts (maybe) later. I haven't even finished reading the responses to the conversation I started in some sense (the one where Jeff and I went back and forth and Brandon butted in--I know that was  awhile ago, but life has been a bit all-consuming lately.

First things first, yes, it true that Adrienne and I were a little shell-shocked after Hostel, and yes it's true that, while I've owned Hostel 2 for a couple years now (there was a coupon for a discount ticket to some currently playing horror film that came with it), I'm still trying to work up the guts to watch it. However, some of the observations I stated in my post Adrienne and I BOTH came up with in our discussions following the film and we both appreciated at the time what it offered to the horror genre. So don't let her convince you that we were just a couple of little girls who couldn't handle our horror. I'll admit that "enjoy" is not the right word for my experience with the film, but I have a genuine appreciation for it.

Both Brandon and Jeff I think misunderstood my one-sentence rating for Curse of the Cat People. I just want to reiterate that I may have liked it better than the first, but mostly because of the little girl's performance, which was simply precious. My confusion is in its relative lack of  connection to the original, and the weird ghost lady.

As for who I like better, Brandon or Jeff, the answer is that I don't like either of you douchebags. Haha, just kidding. I think I'm easier on Brandon because when he likes a film, he doesn't seem to need to qualify it as much as others in film club. He seems to have an easier time enjoying a "piece of shit" movie and, while he can be abrasive and irrational when he doesn't like a film, he is capable of appreciating lowbrow entertainment. The man liked The Mechanic for crying out loud. So, you're probably right that I should harass him as much as you.

Chris, we're gonna have to just agree to disagree where horror (and apparently 90% of everything else) is concerned. I guess I just think that calling 90% of film (and, by association all art?) "shit" is an incredibly negative view of human creativity and I can't get behind it at all. My nature is to try to find the good in everything, that everything has some kind of redemptive quality to it if one is willing to look hard enough and be open enough to it. Probably to a fault, and I'll be honest I don't meet a lot of people who feel the same way. So I'll own my weirdness and idealism where that's concerned. HOWEVER, great point about calling something "pretentious" being the same as calling it "shit." I'm definitely guilty of the former.

I thought the Ted Trailer was amusing, but don't really have any interest in seeing it. I probably wouldn't hate on it, regardless :).

Looks like I'm out of time for the meat of my post. But here is Jeff's quote that got me all riled up.

"What I specifically meant in terms of Transformers is that I feel that the people behind that didn't care about making a good product, they just cared about all the bank they would get from it. To me, that's evil and corrupt. You're purposefully manipulating people for your own gains."

So now, Transformers is not only "shit," it's "evil and corrupt"? Do you remember that Spielberg was the executive producer? Go to YouTube and look up any making of video for Transformers. You'll find a lot of people talking about the film who are genuinely excited about what they are working on and excited about sharing it with an audience. I'll admit that Michael Bay does come across a bit cocky; I don't think I'd want to work for him, but he knows what he's doing and puts his expertise to work, or he wouldn't keep getting hired. Nobody will put up with a jerk who doesn't know what he's doing. Sure, they want to make money, but I don't think that's all they want. And let's not forget about all the cameramen and animators and set designers and choreographers who are thrilled to have an opportunity to work on such a high profile film, because they do what they do in their careers because they love it and love film and want to be able to do it more. And about all the jobs that a movie like Transformers creates.

If I had $147 million, I couldn't make Transformers. Could you?

It's not like I love the movie, but I feel that everything deserves its due. And Transfomers deserves respect, if not for its plot or acting, at least its technical achievement.

Okay, that's all for now. Commence with tearing apart my arguments, everyone. Also, I'm not proofreading this.

Jeff is Entitled to His Opinion

I'm not calling you on criticizing Transformers; I'm calling you on using the same tactics that people who don't understand or appreciate things like modern art or philosophy or foreign films use to do so, especially when you're clearly an intelligent young man and can articulate much more effectively than by calling something "shit." My opinion is that if something is not to my taste or if I simply don't like it, that's one thing, but to relegate it to the trash bin simply because I personally can't see the value in it indicates a lack of balanced perspective on my part. "I was so bored by Transformers that I was staring at the walls of the theater" says a lot more to me than "Transformers is shit." And I respect a statement like the former much more. But that's just my opinion :).

Transformers is certainly not above reproach. Your comments about "appealing to populism" and "defending the extremely wealthy" are valid, except that's not exactly my intent. My intent is to validate the opinions and tastes of the many people who liked Transformers. They're not idiots or shit-lovers; they just are looking for something different in a moviegoing experience. I think that should be okay, relatively speaking.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm pretty sure that blockbuster films are socially, environmentally and economically irresponsible on a global level. But I can't seem to stop getting excited by the prospect of watching giant robots beat the crap out of each other.

You didn't think I was referring to you with the no personality comment, did you? I'm not that subtle, to be honest.

My bad for the ignorant statement about your experience with horror films. I don't think I'm confusing you with Chris, I just associate you so strongly with old movies and loving them almost unequivocally (I said "almost") and then conversely holding the newer stuff you see (particularly what's mainstream) to what seems like much higher standards. In that regard, I confess I think of you like I used to think of John (though when he said he got tired of watching old movies at that festival he went to, I think my opinion changed somewhat). You don't write about watching horror movies nearly as much as Brandon and I (and Adrienne, even) do, so I know less about your experience with them. On a side note, speaking of you and old movies, where on earth do you get what you watch from? And how do you even know what to watch? I am astounded by the number of films from the 1930-1965 or so that you've seen.

For the record, I don't consider "you don't like it so you must not understand it" to be a valid argument. But I do consider "you have a limited experience with it so you don't understand it" to be completely valid. I was just uneducated about your experience with horror films. I don't think you don't understand Transformers or even its appeal; there's not much to understand there. I just don't think it's fair to dismiss anything out of hand. I think you can learn something or find something to appreciate in just about anything or anyone, if you're willing to tale the time to do so. If you (or anyone) isn't, it's on you (and me) to take responsibility for not wanting to put the effort into trying to like something.

I keep wondering if my dislike for Breathless or Lonely Are the Brave might be cited in light of all my arguments, so let me put both potential criticisms to rest. Lonely Are the Brave is a good film; I just had an emotional response to it and didn't want it to end the way it did. As for Godard, I don't like his films because I absolutely don't understand them. Plain and simple :).

I'm glad my comment about you and John liking not liking films got such a good response. I'm learning that if I want film club to comment on my posts, I have to insult someone. All in good fun. But you and John do seem to dislike a fairly decent amount of films, at least relative to someone like me, and I can't figure out how to account for it. And it's not, as John says, because I've got shit in my eyes.