Back to wrap up about Robocop:
- Great character actors make anything better. Robocop is full of them and better yet, gives them ample opportunity to play each part to the hilt. The result is a movie world filled with figures who are menacing, heroic, funny and frightening and don't ring false.
My favorite example of this is Clarence Boddicker and his gang. Look up Ray Wise and Paul McCrane but best of all, check out Kurtwood Smith as Clarence. Who ever saw such a total badass who wore glasses and had a wimpy sounding name? Smith just kicks butt as a brilliantly vicious crime boss. What's my favorite Clarence moment? While there are many great bits- like when r standing down a pissed off business partner ("Guns! Guns! Guns!") or explaining his philosophy to Officer Murphy ("Cops don't like me. So I don't like cops.") my favorite moment comes withing seconds of Clarence's first screen appearance: His fury and heartlessness explodes onto his own men. In the middle of a getaway with cops in pursuit, Boddicker orders Emil to slow down the van. Emil respectfully questions this order, "Slow down?! Are you crazy?" And then Clarence goes ballistic. He yells "JUST F***ING DO IT!" and hauls off and kicks Emil as he curses him out. The kick always gets me. Clarence is so furious and so crazy that he freakin' kicks Emil since a slap just isn't enough. It is no surprise when a minute later Clarence creates a diversion by hurling one of his goons onto the hood of the pursuing police car.
-Great satire. The media breaks are filled with some of the funniest spoofs of American culture. This includes the need for quick information above in-depth coverage, inefficient automobiles, the entertainment of war (Nuke 'Em another another quality family game from Butler Brothers), and the fact that everything is for sale- even hearts- this last ad subversively shows that people can freely purchase mechanical hearts before the movie focuses on the cyborg's quest to remember what made it human.
-Great action sequences illustrate how efficient Robocop is at stopping crime with the maximum force possible. The shootout in the drug warehouse allows Robo and Clarence's gang to shoot it out and it is then that Robo starts using some of Murphy's fancy gunplay. The climactic chase in the steel mill is even better and mixes a car chase with gunplay, construction equipment and toxic waste in unforgettable fashion.
-Timelessness. Released in 1987, Robocop has aged fantastically since its vision of the future is not reliant on elaborate production design so that everything from the robots to the skyscrapers looks quite plausible twenty years later. Thankfully there are no hover cars or sleek domed cities or complex science fiction creations beyond Robo himself and ED-209, his mechanical nemesis. Robocop continues to be fun to watch because it still depicts a future that we can imagine building for ourselves.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
I'd Buy That For a Dollar!
I lucked out a few nights back. You see, I've spent days thinking about what I'd like to say about movies, on the art of film, and what makes something both so fun and so good that you'll drop everything to watch just a little bit of it at any possible opportunity. What I'm not talking about are those brilliant works that you watch and love and appreciate and might never watch again. This distinction is different for everybody but for me it would entail titles like Breaking the Waves and Annie Hall. I've seen these movies, I've found a great appreciation for them but though I liked the movies for their respective brilliance neither one is something that I'd feel like revisiting again and again to study and enjoy for my amusement or just to pass a few hours. Robocop however, is just such a movie.
I love this movie.
Sometimes I am at a loss to understand my tastes. This includes not only why I like a movie but why I return to some over and over again: What constitutes a great work of art? - a subjective question if there ever was one. Do works of art define the filmmakers or the culture that spawned them or the people who like them. Hell, how much does "liking" a piece constitute "appreciating" it? And sometimes there are intangibles like "coolness" and fun factor that act like a bit of butter or cheese over a kid's serving of broccoli and camouflage the nutritious stuff with a tasty treat. Robocop is almost so good that you don't notice how smart and thought provoking it actually is.
To be blunt, I think Paul Verhoeven's Robocop is one of the best movies of the 1980's and one of the best science-fiction pictures that I've seen. In many ways, this movie is the 1980's. The action, the cars (yes, those are Ford Tauruses), the business executives, the coke, the fashions and whole "More is More!"attitude are very 80's. But yet Robocop is as timeless as it is of its time. And what's more, this sucker moooooves!
So much in so little time. Maybe the deceptively simple presentation helps make Robocop worth revisiting again and again. The plot is short and sweet: top cop shot and turned into crime busting robot while businessmen vie to be top guy, causing one of them to die. Robo attacks street crime but moves on corporate big time and nails the fat cat who falls out a window. Splat!
That is the framework that screenwriters Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner use but they add layers to their screenplay and Verhoeven runs with their ideas and presents a sci-fi action movie that is not only a great grab-a-beer-and-order-a-pizza armchair thrill ride but a reflection of 1980's American consumerism and corporate culture, a Christian allegory of rebirth (No, really, Verhoeven really did see a link between Officer Murphy and Jesus) and a deeply black comedy that examined many facets of human behavior.
So, how did it do this? I'll write in a moment of the perfect storm of factors that make Robocop indispensable viewing.
Coming soon, very soon....part II of this post
I love this movie.
Sometimes I am at a loss to understand my tastes. This includes not only why I like a movie but why I return to some over and over again: What constitutes a great work of art? - a subjective question if there ever was one. Do works of art define the filmmakers or the culture that spawned them or the people who like them. Hell, how much does "liking" a piece constitute "appreciating" it? And sometimes there are intangibles like "coolness" and fun factor that act like a bit of butter or cheese over a kid's serving of broccoli and camouflage the nutritious stuff with a tasty treat. Robocop is almost so good that you don't notice how smart and thought provoking it actually is.
To be blunt, I think Paul Verhoeven's Robocop is one of the best movies of the 1980's and one of the best science-fiction pictures that I've seen. In many ways, this movie is the 1980's. The action, the cars (yes, those are Ford Tauruses), the business executives, the coke, the fashions and whole "More is More!"attitude are very 80's. But yet Robocop is as timeless as it is of its time. And what's more, this sucker moooooves!
So much in so little time. Maybe the deceptively simple presentation helps make Robocop worth revisiting again and again. The plot is short and sweet: top cop shot and turned into crime busting robot while businessmen vie to be top guy, causing one of them to die. Robo attacks street crime but moves on corporate big time and nails the fat cat who falls out a window. Splat!
That is the framework that screenwriters Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner use but they add layers to their screenplay and Verhoeven runs with their ideas and presents a sci-fi action movie that is not only a great grab-a-beer-and-order-a-pizza armchair thrill ride but a reflection of 1980's American consumerism and corporate culture, a Christian allegory of rebirth (No, really, Verhoeven really did see a link between Officer Murphy and Jesus) and a deeply black comedy that examined many facets of human behavior.
So, how did it do this? I'll write in a moment of the perfect storm of factors that make Robocop indispensable viewing.
Coming soon, very soon....part II of this post
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Decade of Perhaps Decadence
Happy 2010 to all. And I spell that out as two thousand and ten. No "Twenty Ten" for me. It is not that hard and while it may save smattering of time and computer memory to....oh, wait, those twenty ten folks don't care about the computer memory. They just want to say things faster. Well, I pity them when it becomes the year twenty thousand and ten because my brain will be laughing at their predicament from its place in whatever pickling jar my gray matter will be residing and continuing to keep up its curious analysis of movies and whatnot.
So, here we are, two thousand and ten. We are ten years into a new century. For those of us who were born twenty or more years into the last century, we thought we'd never get here, since the 1980's were rife with warnings of thermonuclear war. And if it wasn't the 80's movies, we had severe warnings from movies and books and just general word of mouth that had been going on since the late 1940's. ..."We'll meet again...don't know where, don't know when." And yet here we are.
Don't worry folks. I don't think that mere human survival past the 2010 marker means that we'll last forever. It just means that we have lasted past arbitrary dates created by fantasists and forward-thinkers of the late Twentieth Century. We proved them wrong mainly by being far behind the curve of the predictions of science-fiction movies of the latter half of the Twentieth Century. Heck, on of my favorite movies, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, has been made obsolete since we did not have eugenics wars during the 1990's or the technology to send criminals into deep space-stasis. On that note, we won't even talk about what you or I was doing back on Judgment Day in 1997.
Happily, here we are. And what do we do now that we are here? Some will certainly look ahead but since I am more fascinated with history I will look into the past, not counting my eagerness to see upcoming movies!
So, off the top of my head and probably I'll wish it were up to review, here are 10 movies that all of a sudden make me think that the art of movies isn't dead. And that makes me glad, because if the art of movies isn't dead that means that the art of the novel and the art of the stage are also not dead since both of them were determined to have been killed off by other newer forms.
Oh, and while we might worry about it and while yes, movies can be influenced by it (and certainly audiences can be) I don't think the Internet has killed movies....yet. It may have hurt directors... and quite certainly actors.... but that is another topic.
And by the way, I've given no importance to order with the exception of my number one pick. Therefore numbers 10-2 fall in no order representative of merit beyond the fact that I think that they are super. In fact, I'm making this list up as I go along. The whole thing is fairly spontaneous and may account for some of the exclusions that you might decry. I know that I will regret leaving something off of this list myself so I will not be surprised if anyone reading this feels the same. Also, some exclusions are simply due to my not seeing every movie in the world as I did back in college. Some exclusion are due to the fact that I think that I saw some of your favorite movies and I think they stink. Some inclusions are due to the fact that I think some movies that you loathed were in fact gems. Hopefully everything breaks even in the end. So, here goes.
Yours in subjectivity,
Indyguy
10. Y Tu Mama Tambien. Wow. Sex, love, rock and roll. Or at least some music that our crappy car radio plays as we try to find the beach that we made up. But then again sometimes the random guessing of imagination is right. And sometime the random nature of life is cruel. Or kind. Or sweet. Or just random. And always filled with choices and situations that meet our realities and fantasies no matter what culture we are from. This movie looks at those choices and the desires that inspire them as well as the consequences along the way. Glorious travels from chaotic beginnings, the nature of friendships and the desires of humanity. And how everyone loves beauty and life. And how fleeting it all can be. Plus, it is foreign so American will think it is good from the get go.
Hey, folks. It is!
9. Black Book. Here is a harrowing war tale. Here is a topsy-turvy (in a most unexpected sense) love story, here is a taut wartime suspense tale, here is a sordid, violent, sleazy piece that...is all of the above and more and still has a human heart beating. Here is the most recent and best movie by Paul Verhoeven since Robocop. Doubt me? See it!
8. Love Actually. Ok, I don't think this is the best romantic movie of all time. Nor do I think this is the most romantic format for a movie. But well, I think this is one of the most well written romantic movies of the past decade and while it has moments of treacle it wisely has moments of sourness, sadness, scorn and confusion. This is a standard formula, see: Life, It's a Wonderful for more details. Lots of famous faces, some truly unforgettable moments at Christmas or whenever. Maybe not an All Time Classic but certainly worth our time to remember and cherish.
7. Pan's Labryinth. Remember being a kid? Remember how it was a daisy-filled meadow of sunshine complete with butterflies and a constant sound of angels plucking rainbows like ethereal harps? Well, neither does Guillermo del Toro. This was not a fun movie. But neither was this movie unimportant. It was very important. Not only did it show us how important fantasy is and how much it can become a part of real life, but it showed better than most the oft-told chestnut that the worst you can imagine is sometimes less than the worst you can live. Tender, visionary, painful, real. Watch....and feel. Remember when your parents wouldn't let you see some things because they thought it would be bad for you? This movie shows you those things, and the things you saw instead, and the reason why they tried to shield your eyes. Unfortunately, children are curious. Fortunately, children are curious.
6. Casino Royale. Remember when you cared about James Bond? Listen, this is probably not the best action movie of the decade or the best superhero movie (see Spiderman 2 or Iron Man for that, Hellboy close runner up) but this one hit all the right notes, and for a British agent, he hit all the themes that resonate with the United States, or at least the American mythos- building oneself up from nothing through toil and elbow grease (and waxing a few enemy agents), smarts, cunning, inginuity and heck, despite being strong and fast and smart having a heart. Oh, and the heart can get broken. Yeah, even tools can get damaged, Ameri...er, Bond.. and you must keep honing. Working. Looking. And sometimes serving others, despite your better thoughts but that pesky call to duty calls you back. Heck. In some ways, this movie is the ultimate tie between our two oddball gulf wars (but that is another story...)
And besides, while the follow up left much to be desired, a good start means that those Bond producers have much incentive to keep trying to keep there movies interesting and relevant. And filled with oh so awesome men's fashion.
5. The Descent/The Devil's Rejects These horror movies made me leap out of my seat. They also made the unpalatable palatable for critics and horror fans alike. But better than that, they actually did more than try to just be nods and winks to genre schlock from days past (for that, please see Roth, Eli). No, these puppies were the real deal. Lean, mean scaring machines. A bit different in tone- one a claustrophobic haunted house movie that focuses on hero-no! -heroinism- and shows how much that we children of the earth can fear the mother that bore us all. Are my words accidentally symbolic or just me being a fancypants? Watch and decide.
And the other is a not-so-shaggy dog that envokes the dusty horror of Texas Chainsaw and The HIlls Have Eyes while still focusing on the main thing: People can be brutal. Or they are all brutal. Or we can all be brutal. What is the truth? Maybe that is the horror.
4. The Incredibles. Ok, it was a toss between this and Wall-E. I guess I might've been trying to think of an animated title just to fill aa slot to show how well rounded I am, but then again, I just had a tough time choosing between these two. But remember when you were a kid and you were old enough that your parents would show you stuff that looked cool? Remember when you thought you were being sly and seeing TV shows and movies that were beyond your age limit? I remember that stuff. I saw it again in this movie. I felt young and yet I felt mature. All the time I felt transported and challenged. So what if there was a purported Ayn Rand philosphy behind it, because that doesn't hold up under scrutiny. This movie, however, does.
3. Femme Fatale. I don't know anything about this movie and yet I saw it. And yet Brian de Palma movies are all about seeing things. But then again, they are about how seeing can be believing but don't believe anything you see. But some people say they are just about murdering women and ripping off Hitchcock. But then again, there is something to homage. But this didn't seem like Hitchcock. This didn't really seem like homage. Women lived- or died- or lived and died or- something. What was this movie about? I don't know but I know it was about movies. And I know de Palma likes movies because he used movies to tell this story. Sometimes the story is all we have except in a de Palma movie, when sometime all we're left with are the images we've seen and the story is ours because we're seen them. What does this mean? I don't know, but there was also a heist plot going on. And Rebecca Romeijn is beautiful.
Listen! If art can be profound and shallow, so can I.
So nyyyyah!
2. Grizzly Man. Death and fur. Man and nature. Man is nature. Man needs nature. But does nature need man? Man likes to think so. Man can certainly effect nature (sorry Republicans!) but can man relate to nature? Love is a many splendored thing but does the meaning of love transcend what we are? Heck, does it even matter to those other things? Timothy Treadwell certainly thought so. His opinion got many people up in arms. His opinion also got him dead. His death got Werner Herzog's attention. The result is worth seeing. So is Treadwell's footage. For all his quirks the man took some beautiful images of a wonderful landscape that is still untrammeled by humans. Treadwell spent thirteen years in that world before it ate him. Herzog examines it skeptically but with a jealous-sounding awe. We should always be afraid about what could happen to us. And also about what we can do, speaking of which...
1. There Will Be Blood. This movie was to me Americana. It is the start all be all of the idea that became The Godfather, Chinatown (Plainview to Noah Cross is obvious for much more than the voice), King of New York and even the crazed mini-nation building of Apocalypse Now! and other movies. This movie is very long but to me it felt too short. This movie is decades crammed into a short two and a half hours. This movie is electricity. This movie is a tragedy because it shows that drive moves us all, drive can create monsters, and even monsters can love. But monsters can put drive and ambition over love. "Most people don't want to admit that at the right time and the right place...they are capable of...anything!
See you in Afghanistan!
So, here we are, two thousand and ten. We are ten years into a new century. For those of us who were born twenty or more years into the last century, we thought we'd never get here, since the 1980's were rife with warnings of thermonuclear war. And if it wasn't the 80's movies, we had severe warnings from movies and books and just general word of mouth that had been going on since the late 1940's. ..."We'll meet again...don't know where, don't know when." And yet here we are.
Don't worry folks. I don't think that mere human survival past the 2010 marker means that we'll last forever. It just means that we have lasted past arbitrary dates created by fantasists and forward-thinkers of the late Twentieth Century. We proved them wrong mainly by being far behind the curve of the predictions of science-fiction movies of the latter half of the Twentieth Century. Heck, on of my favorite movies, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, has been made obsolete since we did not have eugenics wars during the 1990's or the technology to send criminals into deep space-stasis. On that note, we won't even talk about what you or I was doing back on Judgment Day in 1997.
Happily, here we are. And what do we do now that we are here? Some will certainly look ahead but since I am more fascinated with history I will look into the past, not counting my eagerness to see upcoming movies!
So, off the top of my head and probably I'll wish it were up to review, here are 10 movies that all of a sudden make me think that the art of movies isn't dead. And that makes me glad, because if the art of movies isn't dead that means that the art of the novel and the art of the stage are also not dead since both of them were determined to have been killed off by other newer forms.
Oh, and while we might worry about it and while yes, movies can be influenced by it (and certainly audiences can be) I don't think the Internet has killed movies....yet. It may have hurt directors... and quite certainly actors.... but that is another topic.
And by the way, I've given no importance to order with the exception of my number one pick. Therefore numbers 10-2 fall in no order representative of merit beyond the fact that I think that they are super. In fact, I'm making this list up as I go along. The whole thing is fairly spontaneous and may account for some of the exclusions that you might decry. I know that I will regret leaving something off of this list myself so I will not be surprised if anyone reading this feels the same. Also, some exclusions are simply due to my not seeing every movie in the world as I did back in college. Some exclusion are due to the fact that I think that I saw some of your favorite movies and I think they stink. Some inclusions are due to the fact that I think some movies that you loathed were in fact gems. Hopefully everything breaks even in the end. So, here goes.
Yours in subjectivity,
Indyguy
10. Y Tu Mama Tambien. Wow. Sex, love, rock and roll. Or at least some music that our crappy car radio plays as we try to find the beach that we made up. But then again sometimes the random guessing of imagination is right. And sometime the random nature of life is cruel. Or kind. Or sweet. Or just random. And always filled with choices and situations that meet our realities and fantasies no matter what culture we are from. This movie looks at those choices and the desires that inspire them as well as the consequences along the way. Glorious travels from chaotic beginnings, the nature of friendships and the desires of humanity. And how everyone loves beauty and life. And how fleeting it all can be. Plus, it is foreign so American will think it is good from the get go.
Hey, folks. It is!
9. Black Book. Here is a harrowing war tale. Here is a topsy-turvy (in a most unexpected sense) love story, here is a taut wartime suspense tale, here is a sordid, violent, sleazy piece that...is all of the above and more and still has a human heart beating. Here is the most recent and best movie by Paul Verhoeven since Robocop. Doubt me? See it!
8. Love Actually. Ok, I don't think this is the best romantic movie of all time. Nor do I think this is the most romantic format for a movie. But well, I think this is one of the most well written romantic movies of the past decade and while it has moments of treacle it wisely has moments of sourness, sadness, scorn and confusion. This is a standard formula, see: Life, It's a Wonderful for more details. Lots of famous faces, some truly unforgettable moments at Christmas or whenever. Maybe not an All Time Classic but certainly worth our time to remember and cherish.
7. Pan's Labryinth. Remember being a kid? Remember how it was a daisy-filled meadow of sunshine complete with butterflies and a constant sound of angels plucking rainbows like ethereal harps? Well, neither does Guillermo del Toro. This was not a fun movie. But neither was this movie unimportant. It was very important. Not only did it show us how important fantasy is and how much it can become a part of real life, but it showed better than most the oft-told chestnut that the worst you can imagine is sometimes less than the worst you can live. Tender, visionary, painful, real. Watch....and feel. Remember when your parents wouldn't let you see some things because they thought it would be bad for you? This movie shows you those things, and the things you saw instead, and the reason why they tried to shield your eyes. Unfortunately, children are curious. Fortunately, children are curious.
6. Casino Royale. Remember when you cared about James Bond? Listen, this is probably not the best action movie of the decade or the best superhero movie (see Spiderman 2 or Iron Man for that, Hellboy close runner up) but this one hit all the right notes, and for a British agent, he hit all the themes that resonate with the United States, or at least the American mythos- building oneself up from nothing through toil and elbow grease (and waxing a few enemy agents), smarts, cunning, inginuity and heck, despite being strong and fast and smart having a heart. Oh, and the heart can get broken. Yeah, even tools can get damaged, Ameri...er, Bond.. and you must keep honing. Working. Looking. And sometimes serving others, despite your better thoughts but that pesky call to duty calls you back. Heck. In some ways, this movie is the ultimate tie between our two oddball gulf wars (but that is another story...)
And besides, while the follow up left much to be desired, a good start means that those Bond producers have much incentive to keep trying to keep there movies interesting and relevant. And filled with oh so awesome men's fashion.
5. The Descent/The Devil's Rejects These horror movies made me leap out of my seat. They also made the unpalatable palatable for critics and horror fans alike. But better than that, they actually did more than try to just be nods and winks to genre schlock from days past (for that, please see Roth, Eli). No, these puppies were the real deal. Lean, mean scaring machines. A bit different in tone- one a claustrophobic haunted house movie that focuses on hero-no! -heroinism- and shows how much that we children of the earth can fear the mother that bore us all. Are my words accidentally symbolic or just me being a fancypants? Watch and decide.
And the other is a not-so-shaggy dog that envokes the dusty horror of Texas Chainsaw and The HIlls Have Eyes while still focusing on the main thing: People can be brutal. Or they are all brutal. Or we can all be brutal. What is the truth? Maybe that is the horror.
4. The Incredibles. Ok, it was a toss between this and Wall-E. I guess I might've been trying to think of an animated title just to fill aa slot to show how well rounded I am, but then again, I just had a tough time choosing between these two. But remember when you were a kid and you were old enough that your parents would show you stuff that looked cool? Remember when you thought you were being sly and seeing TV shows and movies that were beyond your age limit? I remember that stuff. I saw it again in this movie. I felt young and yet I felt mature. All the time I felt transported and challenged. So what if there was a purported Ayn Rand philosphy behind it, because that doesn't hold up under scrutiny. This movie, however, does.
3. Femme Fatale. I don't know anything about this movie and yet I saw it. And yet Brian de Palma movies are all about seeing things. But then again, they are about how seeing can be believing but don't believe anything you see. But some people say they are just about murdering women and ripping off Hitchcock. But then again, there is something to homage. But this didn't seem like Hitchcock. This didn't really seem like homage. Women lived- or died- or lived and died or- something. What was this movie about? I don't know but I know it was about movies. And I know de Palma likes movies because he used movies to tell this story. Sometimes the story is all we have except in a de Palma movie, when sometime all we're left with are the images we've seen and the story is ours because we're seen them. What does this mean? I don't know, but there was also a heist plot going on. And Rebecca Romeijn is beautiful.
Listen! If art can be profound and shallow, so can I.
So nyyyyah!
2. Grizzly Man. Death and fur. Man and nature. Man is nature. Man needs nature. But does nature need man? Man likes to think so. Man can certainly effect nature (sorry Republicans!) but can man relate to nature? Love is a many splendored thing but does the meaning of love transcend what we are? Heck, does it even matter to those other things? Timothy Treadwell certainly thought so. His opinion got many people up in arms. His opinion also got him dead. His death got Werner Herzog's attention. The result is worth seeing. So is Treadwell's footage. For all his quirks the man took some beautiful images of a wonderful landscape that is still untrammeled by humans. Treadwell spent thirteen years in that world before it ate him. Herzog examines it skeptically but with a jealous-sounding awe. We should always be afraid about what could happen to us. And also about what we can do, speaking of which...
1. There Will Be Blood. This movie was to me Americana. It is the start all be all of the idea that became The Godfather, Chinatown (Plainview to Noah Cross is obvious for much more than the voice), King of New York and even the crazed mini-nation building of Apocalypse Now! and other movies. This movie is very long but to me it felt too short. This movie is decades crammed into a short two and a half hours. This movie is electricity. This movie is a tragedy because it shows that drive moves us all, drive can create monsters, and even monsters can love. But monsters can put drive and ambition over love. "Most people don't want to admit that at the right time and the right place...they are capable of...anything!
See you in Afghanistan!
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