High and Low was the first non-samurai Akira Kurosawa film I saw, and it was the film that raised him even higher in my esteem. Granted, his samurai films are masterpieces, but before I saw this film I wondered if, like John Ford westerns, his best work was specifically locked into this one genre. (Before you start complaining...yes, I know John Ford made great non-western films. His name just happens to be synonymous with the genre). High and Low is Kurosawa's take on film noir, and it further solidifies his reputation as a master of the craft, not just one genre in it.
Toshiro Mifune plays Kingo Gondo, a high-class Al Bundy who's the executive of a company that makes women's shoes. His values clash with the other execs who want to vote him out of the company, unaware that he's been secretly working on a buyout, and has just one last payment to make before he can accomplish this. Lo and behold, at that point his son's best friend gets kidnapped, and the plot kicks into gear with Gondo debating on paying the ransom, paying it, and then watching financial life fall apart while the cops search for the kidnapper. The plot then turns to murder, drugs, rock and roll clubs, and a horrific walk down Junkie Alley.
There are two films here, and Kurosawa's switch from Gondo's personal turmoil to the cops searching for the killer works remarkably well. In fact, you get so sucked into it that you hardly notice Gondo's absence for large parts of the second half, which is a pretty impressive feat when you consider it's Toshiro fucking Mifune we're talking about here. Usually I'm more into the personal tragedies involved in most noirs and care less about the search for the criminal, but right here everything is tied together, and you spend some time with the kidnapper seeing his day to day life, as well as his resentment of Gondo's wealth. Even though he's a criminal and a killer, you can't help but feel a bit sorry for him at the end of the film.
Given my own tastes, my favorite scenes involved the kidnapper's trip through junkie alley, with the junkies played as Night of the Living Dead-style zombies that slowly walk and grab at anyone who walks by. This scene is thick with atmospheric horror, and is the creepiest thing I've seen yet in a Kurosawa film. It feels nightmarish enough that you want to get out of there as soon as possible, and wonder what kind of reputation the kidnapper has since he's able to walk his way though this area without being bothered, while strangers are told to go away.
High and Low is one of my favorite Kurosawa films, one that I enjoyed watching much more than other classics like Rashomon and Ran. I love the shift of focus in this film, the bittersweet ending, Gondo's personal and professional torments, and hell, I even liked the detective scenes. This one's not too hard for me to rank, since as much as I love it I can't place it higher than Grand Illusion, but have no problem putting it above Shock Corridor. Therefore Kurosawa becomes the first director in my ranking to have two films in the top ten, with High and Low coming in at #7.
1. Beauty and the Beast (1946)
2. Robocop (1987)
3. Seven Samurai (1954)
4. The Seventh Seal (1957)
5. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
6. Grand Illusion (1937)
7. High and Low (1963)
8. Shock Corridor (1963)
9. Hard Boiled (1992)
10. Sid and Nancy (1986)
11. The 400 Blows (1959)
12. Walkabout (1971)
13. The Killer (1989)
14. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
15. Dead Ringers (1988)
16. The Naked Kiss (1964)
17. A Night to Remember (1958)
18. The Lady Vanishes (1938)
19. The Samurai Trilogy (1954-1956)
20. Amarcord (1973)
21. Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
22. Summertime (1955)
Next time: I try to put my personal opinion of the man aside and give Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville another shot.
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Monday, October 5, 2015
23. Robocop vs Beauty and the Beast
Rewatching Robocop and attempting to assess it fairly puts me in a situation similar to when I rewatched Sid and Nancy. The major difference is that while Sid and Nancy was a hugely important film for me growing up, Robocop was more than just a film. Not only do I love this movie, but I have an emotional attachment to it that is unmatched by nearly everything else on this list. I typically rewatch Robocop every year or so, and have always positioned it as my favorite action film ever made. I grew up with this movie, even watching that godawful cartoon series. There are few films in this list that have such a personal connection for me.
Thing is, when I became a huge movie snot and got all into important cinema, foreign films and auteur theory, Robocop still held up. If I were to sit here and pick it apart and try to convince myself that it doesn't belong in the same category as Seven Samurai and Grand Illusion, I'd be lying to myself because this film works for me on every possible level. It's clearly the work of a great filmmaker, with a fantastic script, multiple entertaining characters, a sharp satiric bent, and a touching character arc for Murphy. Dick Jones and ED-209 are memorable villains. Miguel Ferrer is hilarious as Bob Morton. Sure, Nancy Allen is merely sufficient as Officer Lewis, but that's one hell of a minor quibble when everything else here is done perfectly.
As for my personal tastes, I've already mentioned in the Dead Ringers review that my favorite horror genre is body horror, and that shows up in abundance here. The reconstruction of Murphy into Robocop via his POV is a brilliant piece of filmmaking, showing the viewer the last things Murphy sees in his life before blacking out and coming back to life as a cyborg, giving us the opportunity to see what it's like to transition from man into a machine. Then there's the disgusting melting man during the climax, allegedly inspired by The Toxic Avenger yet somehow more vile given his fate. I've stated how important humor is to me, and this film is hilarious, delivering both subtle and over-the-top gags that stay funny even after dozens of viewings.
Finally, Robocop is just plain fun to watch. The art of this movie isn't as readily apparent the first time around because you're too busy having a great time. Paul Verhoeven was able to distill the best elements of horror, comedy, dystopia, and the superhero genre to create something truly unique, but when you slow down and really take a look at this film, the art of it hits you in the face. It's just that, like Hitchcock at his best, all of the art in this film directly serves to move the plot forward. Nothing is superfluous, and even the blatant Jesus metaphor doesn't come off as corny as it could have. This is a perfect film.
You can probably see where this is going. The temptation is to pit Robocop against a more contemporary feature, like The Silence of the Lambs, but once again, who is this ranking for and why am I doing it? Do I consider it a masterpiece? Of course I do. Will I watch it again? Absolutely. Does it contain an aesthetic that closely aligns with my own? Yup. Do I consider this film important? Without a doubt. Have I sought out the director's other films on the basis of this one? You bet your ass I have. If I stop bullshitting myself, this isn't a battle between Robocop and The Seventh Seal, nor between it and Seven Samurai. It's going up against Beauty and the Beast, and that is a tough choice to have to make.
Both Robocop and Beauty and the Beast leave me with a huge smile on my face after each viewing. Both have effects that still enchant me and remind me why film is the most magical of the arts. Both have great stories, a ton of humor, and memorable characters. Whichever one I pick wins only by the thinnest of hairs. I grew up with Robocop, and saw Beauty and the Beast as an adult. Beauty and the Beast had more of an uphill battle, while Robocop was always on top. In the end, if I were given the resources to make a feature and had to emulate one of these films...it would be Beauty and the Beast. Sometimes nothing is more powerful than a fairy tale, and while I've seen Robocop more, there's something to be said for a film that immediately becomes one of your favorites on the first viewing, and gets even better each time you revisit it. Finally, if we watch films as escapism and view them as specific environments that we want to live in for an hour and a half, then give me the magic of Chateau de la Roche Coubron over rotting, dilapidated Detroit.
1. Beauty and the Beast (1946)
2. Robocop (1987)
3. Seven Samurai (1954)
4. The Seventh Seal (1957)
5. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
6. Grand Illusion (1937)
7. Shock Corridor (1963)
8. Hard Boiled (1992)
9. Sid and Nancy (1986)
10. The 400 Blows (1959)
11. Walkabout (1971)
12. The Killer (1989)
13. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
14. Dead Ringers (1988)
15. The Naked Kiss (1964)
16. A Night to Remember (1958)
17. The Lady Vanishes (1938)
18. The Samurai Trilogy (1954-1956)
19. Amarcord (1973)
20. Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
21. Summertime (1955)
Next time: Kurosawa takes me to task for today's ranking by slapping me in the face with his brilliant noir film High and Low.
Thing is, when I became a huge movie snot and got all into important cinema, foreign films and auteur theory, Robocop still held up. If I were to sit here and pick it apart and try to convince myself that it doesn't belong in the same category as Seven Samurai and Grand Illusion, I'd be lying to myself because this film works for me on every possible level. It's clearly the work of a great filmmaker, with a fantastic script, multiple entertaining characters, a sharp satiric bent, and a touching character arc for Murphy. Dick Jones and ED-209 are memorable villains. Miguel Ferrer is hilarious as Bob Morton. Sure, Nancy Allen is merely sufficient as Officer Lewis, but that's one hell of a minor quibble when everything else here is done perfectly.
As for my personal tastes, I've already mentioned in the Dead Ringers review that my favorite horror genre is body horror, and that shows up in abundance here. The reconstruction of Murphy into Robocop via his POV is a brilliant piece of filmmaking, showing the viewer the last things Murphy sees in his life before blacking out and coming back to life as a cyborg, giving us the opportunity to see what it's like to transition from man into a machine. Then there's the disgusting melting man during the climax, allegedly inspired by The Toxic Avenger yet somehow more vile given his fate. I've stated how important humor is to me, and this film is hilarious, delivering both subtle and over-the-top gags that stay funny even after dozens of viewings.
Finally, Robocop is just plain fun to watch. The art of this movie isn't as readily apparent the first time around because you're too busy having a great time. Paul Verhoeven was able to distill the best elements of horror, comedy, dystopia, and the superhero genre to create something truly unique, but when you slow down and really take a look at this film, the art of it hits you in the face. It's just that, like Hitchcock at his best, all of the art in this film directly serves to move the plot forward. Nothing is superfluous, and even the blatant Jesus metaphor doesn't come off as corny as it could have. This is a perfect film.
You can probably see where this is going. The temptation is to pit Robocop against a more contemporary feature, like The Silence of the Lambs, but once again, who is this ranking for and why am I doing it? Do I consider it a masterpiece? Of course I do. Will I watch it again? Absolutely. Does it contain an aesthetic that closely aligns with my own? Yup. Do I consider this film important? Without a doubt. Have I sought out the director's other films on the basis of this one? You bet your ass I have. If I stop bullshitting myself, this isn't a battle between Robocop and The Seventh Seal, nor between it and Seven Samurai. It's going up against Beauty and the Beast, and that is a tough choice to have to make.
Both Robocop and Beauty and the Beast leave me with a huge smile on my face after each viewing. Both have effects that still enchant me and remind me why film is the most magical of the arts. Both have great stories, a ton of humor, and memorable characters. Whichever one I pick wins only by the thinnest of hairs. I grew up with Robocop, and saw Beauty and the Beast as an adult. Beauty and the Beast had more of an uphill battle, while Robocop was always on top. In the end, if I were given the resources to make a feature and had to emulate one of these films...it would be Beauty and the Beast. Sometimes nothing is more powerful than a fairy tale, and while I've seen Robocop more, there's something to be said for a film that immediately becomes one of your favorites on the first viewing, and gets even better each time you revisit it. Finally, if we watch films as escapism and view them as specific environments that we want to live in for an hour and a half, then give me the magic of Chateau de la Roche Coubron over rotting, dilapidated Detroit.
1. Beauty and the Beast (1946)
2. Robocop (1987)
3. Seven Samurai (1954)
4. The Seventh Seal (1957)
5. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
6. Grand Illusion (1937)
7. Shock Corridor (1963)
8. Hard Boiled (1992)
9. Sid and Nancy (1986)
10. The 400 Blows (1959)
11. Walkabout (1971)
12. The Killer (1989)
13. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
14. Dead Ringers (1988)
15. The Naked Kiss (1964)
16. A Night to Remember (1958)
17. The Lady Vanishes (1938)
18. The Samurai Trilogy (1954-1956)
19. Amarcord (1973)
20. Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
21. Summertime (1955)
Next time: Kurosawa takes me to task for today's ranking by slapping me in the face with his brilliant noir film High and Low.
22. Summertime: A middle aged woman finds sex and red goblets in Venice.
Summertime marks the first film I've watched while doing this project that I knew absolutely nothing about going in. That was probably a good thing given what this film is. It's a David Lean film, and while I've enjoyed his films in the past, Lean isn't a director that I seek out. It stars Katherine Hepburn, an actress who much like Laurence Olivier is one that I respect without necessarily being excited about watching. And then there's the plot, which is another one of those American abroad stories where a foreign culture shakes up the staid life of an aging character, usually female. The DVD cover could have just as well had a gigantic red "MEH" stamped on it as far as my interest is concerned.
Thankfully I didn't know all this going in so I couldn't prejudge it, but the film does itself no favors as right from the beginning Hepburn plays up the excited tourist, filming everything and giving Lean the opportunity to cram in numerous shots of Venice. The first people she meets are an obnoxious old American couple who blather on about all the places they're visiting and who treat Europe as a series of boxes that they check off as they hit each country. This does have one delightful joke as the man names off each place they've visited thus far, and when he says "Paris" his wife cringes. The ol' Brit Lean just couldn't help himself there. She then meets a young artist couple, an adorable street boy, and then finally a handsome Italian man named Renato (played by Rossano Brazzi). Romance ensues, then it turns out that Renato is married, then they fuck anyway, and then she leaves the country via train.
In theory every film should be for everyone, but man, this one has "not for me" written all over it. I'm not saying that there aren't things that I liked here. I appreciate a 1955 film dealing with a middle aged couple have a one-off fling, with the husband admitting that he's married no less, and not heaping the standard bullshit shame on them for their actions. The little street boy threatens to be annoying, but he comes off as charming and I loved the scene where he blatantly lies to Hepburn about wanting a cigarette for his uncle and she gives him one anyway, calling him out on his lie. The acting all around is good and Hepburn delivers a typically great performance as a bundle of tightly-wound nerves that slowly loosen up as the film progresses. This is just not the kind of story that I have any interest in whatsoever, and I would never have watched this if it weren't in the collection.
Part of the appeal of this genre of film is seeing shots of a foreign country and having the vague sensation of traveling without going anywhere. About a third of this movie feels like a high budget Rick Steves video. There are some great shots here, but nothing was ever able to get me fully invested in this film. Strangely enough, the only film in this genre that I can remember enjoying was the much shittier Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, a one-off directorial effort by José Quintero based on a one-off novella written by Tennessee Williams. It's not as good as Summertime, but I like Vivien Leigh as an actress a hell of a lot more than Hepburn, and Williams' lurid, lusty plot sucked me in much more than this one, even though Lean crushes Quintero as a director. Plus, while Summertime has a lot of charming jokes, nothing in this movie is nearly as funny as seeing Warren Beatty struggling to do an Italian accent in Roman Spring.
This is probably my easiest ranking yet. Summertime is a good, inoffensive movie that I'm sure a lot of people love, but it's one that is going to pass through my memory without leaving a trace. The whole thing was so airy to me, so light and chocolatey, that after the final image of Hepburn on the train I felt like I needed to jot down my thoughts ASAP, for fear that they would disappear before I had the chance to write about this film. I will always rank a film that makes me sick to my stomach over a film that I have complete indifference to, every time. Therefore, Summertime plunges to the bottom of the list.
1. Beauty and the Beast (1946)
2. Seven Samurai (1954)
3. The Seventh Seal (1957)
4. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
5. Grand Illusion (1937)
6. Shock Corridor (1963)
7. Hard Boiled (1992)
8. Sid and Nancy (1986)
9. The 400 Blows (1959)
10. Walkabout (1971)
11. The Killer (1989)
12. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
13. Dead Ringers (1988)
14. The Naked Kiss (1964)
15. A Night to Remember (1958)
16. The Lady Vanishes (1938)
17. The Samurai Trilogy (1954-1956)
18. Amarcord (1973)
19. Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
20. Summertime (1955)
Next time: I struggle to be objective when I watch my favorite action film, Robocop.
Thankfully I didn't know all this going in so I couldn't prejudge it, but the film does itself no favors as right from the beginning Hepburn plays up the excited tourist, filming everything and giving Lean the opportunity to cram in numerous shots of Venice. The first people she meets are an obnoxious old American couple who blather on about all the places they're visiting and who treat Europe as a series of boxes that they check off as they hit each country. This does have one delightful joke as the man names off each place they've visited thus far, and when he says "Paris" his wife cringes. The ol' Brit Lean just couldn't help himself there. She then meets a young artist couple, an adorable street boy, and then finally a handsome Italian man named Renato (played by Rossano Brazzi). Romance ensues, then it turns out that Renato is married, then they fuck anyway, and then she leaves the country via train.
In theory every film should be for everyone, but man, this one has "not for me" written all over it. I'm not saying that there aren't things that I liked here. I appreciate a 1955 film dealing with a middle aged couple have a one-off fling, with the husband admitting that he's married no less, and not heaping the standard bullshit shame on them for their actions. The little street boy threatens to be annoying, but he comes off as charming and I loved the scene where he blatantly lies to Hepburn about wanting a cigarette for his uncle and she gives him one anyway, calling him out on his lie. The acting all around is good and Hepburn delivers a typically great performance as a bundle of tightly-wound nerves that slowly loosen up as the film progresses. This is just not the kind of story that I have any interest in whatsoever, and I would never have watched this if it weren't in the collection.
Part of the appeal of this genre of film is seeing shots of a foreign country and having the vague sensation of traveling without going anywhere. About a third of this movie feels like a high budget Rick Steves video. There are some great shots here, but nothing was ever able to get me fully invested in this film. Strangely enough, the only film in this genre that I can remember enjoying was the much shittier Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, a one-off directorial effort by José Quintero based on a one-off novella written by Tennessee Williams. It's not as good as Summertime, but I like Vivien Leigh as an actress a hell of a lot more than Hepburn, and Williams' lurid, lusty plot sucked me in much more than this one, even though Lean crushes Quintero as a director. Plus, while Summertime has a lot of charming jokes, nothing in this movie is nearly as funny as seeing Warren Beatty struggling to do an Italian accent in Roman Spring.
This is probably my easiest ranking yet. Summertime is a good, inoffensive movie that I'm sure a lot of people love, but it's one that is going to pass through my memory without leaving a trace. The whole thing was so airy to me, so light and chocolatey, that after the final image of Hepburn on the train I felt like I needed to jot down my thoughts ASAP, for fear that they would disappear before I had the chance to write about this film. I will always rank a film that makes me sick to my stomach over a film that I have complete indifference to, every time. Therefore, Summertime plunges to the bottom of the list.
1. Beauty and the Beast (1946)
2. Seven Samurai (1954)
3. The Seventh Seal (1957)
4. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
5. Grand Illusion (1937)
6. Shock Corridor (1963)
7. Hard Boiled (1992)
8. Sid and Nancy (1986)
9. The 400 Blows (1959)
10. Walkabout (1971)
11. The Killer (1989)
12. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
13. Dead Ringers (1988)
14. The Naked Kiss (1964)
15. A Night to Remember (1958)
16. The Lady Vanishes (1938)
17. The Samurai Trilogy (1954-1956)
18. Amarcord (1973)
19. Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
20. Summertime (1955)
Next time: I struggle to be objective when I watch my favorite action film, Robocop.
Sunday, October 4, 2015
21. Dead Ringers: Cronenberg's crowd-pleasing follow-up to The Fly
After a mainstream success, an artist will either try to mimic that success by making something in a similar vein, or will use this newfound clout to make something truly unique. Sometimes it works beautifully (such as The Big Lebowski following the massive success of Fargo for the Coen brothers), and other times it's a complete disaster (such as M Night Shyamalan staking his entire career on Lady in the Water). With David Cronenberg, he largely ditched the body horror gooeyness of his successful remake of The Fly with his follow-up Dead Ringers. However, the subject matter, tone, and Jeremy Irons' performance makes this an even grosser and less fun effort than The Fly, with none of the standard movie payoff. True, The Fly wasn't exactly a fun-filled romp, but Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis were likable leads that you could sympathize with and root for, and while the climax ended in tragedy, it did follow a logical path that the audience could at least get on board with.
All of this is to say that Dead Ringers is about the furthest you can get from an enjoyable, crowd-pleasing film, even though it's a great work of art. Irons gives a stunning performance as twin gynecologists Beverly and Elliot Mantle, with each twin having clearly different personalities but sharing a professional and personal need for each other. You get some of the standard camera tricks when an actor plays twins, but my favorite is a scene of Beverly and Elliot both slow dancing with a woman that Elliot has brought up to their apartment, with her sandwiched between the brothers while Elliot guides her hand up and down Beverly's back. Irons' performance should have gotten an Academy Award, but let's not kid ourselves, the grey-haired Academy probably chucked the screener of Dead Ringers so hard into the trashcan after viewing it that it left a dent.
There is much to dislike about this film. While the twins are great characters, it's impossible for the audience to get behind and root for two drug users who will sometimes both fuck the same woman without her knowing which one she slept with. Once Beverly's actress girlfriend leaves town to work on a project, he falls further into a cycle of drug use and madness, ordering specially made gynecological instruments for mutant women, using the wrong instrument on a patient and hurting her, and then finally injuring a patient with one of these instruments during a surgery. While Elliot is portrayed as the cocky asshole twin, you can barely tolerate the timid Beverly as he continues to fuck both his and his brother's lives up with his addiction and delusions. This leads to Elliot becoming a drug user himself in an attempt to synchronize with Beverly. The film ends with the two celebrating their birthday the way many twins do, with Beverly disemboweling Elliot in an attempt to "separate" himself. Then Beverly dies in Elliot's arms while the audience members scream at the poor Regal staff for a refund.
I've been continuously hammering away at how unenjoyable this film is, but I need to make something clear: David Cronenberg is my favorite horror director, and one of my favorite directors, period. Not only that, but I'm a huge fan of the body horror genre and will watch the worst pieces of shit if they even vaguely fit into the genre. I love Cronenberg films because they successfully mix intelligent, smartly written philosophy with lurid gore hound thrills. It's what H.G. Lewis would have made if he had an interest in medicine, better writers and no contempt for his audience. However, I'm not so blind in my fandom that I can't recognize his films as being the most audience-unfriendly works out there. There's a reason why his movies typically don't turn a profit; his sensibilities are too "out there" for most people.
I've watched Dead Ringers a few times now, and I still don't love it. I appreciate what Cronenberg's doing here, and I think it's a brilliant piece of filmmaking, but it's such an uncomfortable viewing experience that I find it difficult to sit through even though I admire it. Still, my inclination is to rank it higher than films that I've had a better time watching, because realistically, I'm going to end up watching this one again. There's so much going on in this film that I find interesting and that sticks in my mind that I can't rank it lower than, say, A Night to Remember. However, I can't put it higher than This Is Spinal Tap because at that point I'd be bullshitting myself. I enjoyed Tap more and will probably rewatch it sooner than Dead Ringers. Plus as a film I just like it more, so the sweet spot is #13, right between Tap and The Naked Kiss.
1. Beauty and the Beast (1946)
2. Seven Samurai (1954)
3. The Seventh Seal (1957)
4. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
5. Grand Illusion (1937)
6. Shock Corridor (1963)
7. Hard Boiled (1992)
8. Sid and Nancy (1986)
9. The 400 Blows (1959)
10. Walkabout (1971)
11. The Killer (1989)
12. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
13. Dead Ringers (1988)
14. The Naked Kiss (1964)
15. A Night to Remember (1958)
16. The Lady Vanishes (1938)
17. The Samurai Trilogy (1954-1956)
18. Amarcord (1973)
19. Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
Next up: I fire up some Sublime, put sunscreen on my nose and chill out to the sweet surf rhythm of David Lean's Summertime. Or maybe not...I have no idea what this movie's about, so this marks the second Criterion film that I'm seeing for the first time, and the first one that I'll be going into blind.
All of this is to say that Dead Ringers is about the furthest you can get from an enjoyable, crowd-pleasing film, even though it's a great work of art. Irons gives a stunning performance as twin gynecologists Beverly and Elliot Mantle, with each twin having clearly different personalities but sharing a professional and personal need for each other. You get some of the standard camera tricks when an actor plays twins, but my favorite is a scene of Beverly and Elliot both slow dancing with a woman that Elliot has brought up to their apartment, with her sandwiched between the brothers while Elliot guides her hand up and down Beverly's back. Irons' performance should have gotten an Academy Award, but let's not kid ourselves, the grey-haired Academy probably chucked the screener of Dead Ringers so hard into the trashcan after viewing it that it left a dent.
There is much to dislike about this film. While the twins are great characters, it's impossible for the audience to get behind and root for two drug users who will sometimes both fuck the same woman without her knowing which one she slept with. Once Beverly's actress girlfriend leaves town to work on a project, he falls further into a cycle of drug use and madness, ordering specially made gynecological instruments for mutant women, using the wrong instrument on a patient and hurting her, and then finally injuring a patient with one of these instruments during a surgery. While Elliot is portrayed as the cocky asshole twin, you can barely tolerate the timid Beverly as he continues to fuck both his and his brother's lives up with his addiction and delusions. This leads to Elliot becoming a drug user himself in an attempt to synchronize with Beverly. The film ends with the two celebrating their birthday the way many twins do, with Beverly disemboweling Elliot in an attempt to "separate" himself. Then Beverly dies in Elliot's arms while the audience members scream at the poor Regal staff for a refund.
I've been continuously hammering away at how unenjoyable this film is, but I need to make something clear: David Cronenberg is my favorite horror director, and one of my favorite directors, period. Not only that, but I'm a huge fan of the body horror genre and will watch the worst pieces of shit if they even vaguely fit into the genre. I love Cronenberg films because they successfully mix intelligent, smartly written philosophy with lurid gore hound thrills. It's what H.G. Lewis would have made if he had an interest in medicine, better writers and no contempt for his audience. However, I'm not so blind in my fandom that I can't recognize his films as being the most audience-unfriendly works out there. There's a reason why his movies typically don't turn a profit; his sensibilities are too "out there" for most people.
I've watched Dead Ringers a few times now, and I still don't love it. I appreciate what Cronenberg's doing here, and I think it's a brilliant piece of filmmaking, but it's such an uncomfortable viewing experience that I find it difficult to sit through even though I admire it. Still, my inclination is to rank it higher than films that I've had a better time watching, because realistically, I'm going to end up watching this one again. There's so much going on in this film that I find interesting and that sticks in my mind that I can't rank it lower than, say, A Night to Remember. However, I can't put it higher than This Is Spinal Tap because at that point I'd be bullshitting myself. I enjoyed Tap more and will probably rewatch it sooner than Dead Ringers. Plus as a film I just like it more, so the sweet spot is #13, right between Tap and The Naked Kiss.
1. Beauty and the Beast (1946)
2. Seven Samurai (1954)
3. The Seventh Seal (1957)
4. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
5. Grand Illusion (1937)
6. Shock Corridor (1963)
7. Hard Boiled (1992)
8. Sid and Nancy (1986)
9. The 400 Blows (1959)
10. Walkabout (1971)
11. The Killer (1989)
12. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
13. Dead Ringers (1988)
14. The Naked Kiss (1964)
15. A Night to Remember (1958)
16. The Lady Vanishes (1938)
17. The Samurai Trilogy (1954-1956)
18. Amarcord (1973)
19. Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
Next up: I fire up some Sublime, put sunscreen on my nose and chill out to the sweet surf rhythm of David Lean's Summertime. Or maybe not...I have no idea what this movie's about, so this marks the second Criterion film that I'm seeing for the first time, and the first one that I'll be going into blind.
Saturday, October 3, 2015
20. Sid and Nancy vs The 400 Blows
I'm going to preface this with a confession: I typically can't stand music bio films. When they're not just a vehicle to showcase the lead's performance then they're light jaunts through said musicians' greatest hits, with a couple of tragedies thrown in. The hagiography aspect is also grating, with people like Ritchie Valens and Buddy Holly treated as pure, sin-free vessels that the Gods saw fit to deliver their music. That's why in films like La Bamba a side character like Bob can come in and steal the entire movie from the lead. Bob is flawed, obnoxious, and has a great character arc. Ritchie's just a good kid who faces standard odds, gets famous, and dies. No one quotes Ritchie's dialog from that movie, and I'd say that a larger number of viewers were more touched by Bob's reaction to Ritchie's death than the death itself.
Sid and Nancy is a movie that I lived and breathed for several years. As a young would-be punk I watched this film regularly and would incessantly quote it with friends. Well, maybe just the first half. It was acknowledged among us that the first hour of this film is a hilarious, fun-filled romp, and the ending is slow and depressing. We would typically finish the film, but the sensation at the mid point was always that the good times were behind us.
This was not an accident. While Sid and Nancy kicks off with booze and drug fueled punk rock fun, director Alex Cox then slows things down to show the downward spiral this lifestyle led to for Sid and Nancy. It's not a cautionary tale, and can been seen as a fairy tale romance between two junkies, but one can't shake the overall feeling that doing hard drugs will lead to misery and death. Like Requiem For a Dream and Kids, just because a movie doesn't set out to be a PSA doesn't mean that it won't become one by its very nature.
Thankfully, while Sid's a lovable loser, there's no attempt here to show him as someone that society "wronged" in any way. He's not an innocent lamb, and both him and Nancy knew what they were doing and came to their ends inevitably due to choices that they willingly and happily made. They liked doing drugs and abusing themselves, and though they hint at times at a desire for something better (Sid's insincere statements about wanting to kick drugs, Nancy's complaints about how her life has been largely unimportant), it never feels like either one of them really means this. They have no intentions of giving up their lifestyle, and music was only there for Sid to get money to pay for drugs, pizza, and rent. If anything, while Johnny Rotten's undeniably a prick in this movie, you find yourself sympathizing with his frustrations at seeing his friend go from an enthusiastic drunk to a stumbling, non-functioning junkie. Aside from teenagers, no one watching this movie is going to end it by wanting to hang out with these people.
Sid and Nancy is a biopic, yes, but it's also one of the best because, like Amadeus, it's informed by Cox's artistic sensibilities (such as the shot of Sid and Nancy leaning against a dumpster and making out while garbage rains down on them). There are layers to this film that make it something more than a greatest hits of The Sex Pistols and Sid's solo work. You get those scenes, but they feed into the larger story about frustrated, low-class bored youth turning towards drugs, music and self-destruction as a way to act out their justifiable frustrations at their place in society.
My love for this movie is once again going to bump it higher than most people would rank it. Incidentally, it's a battle between two frustrated youth movies, and my personal leanings are putting it just above The 400 Blows. I love that movie, but it was never a seminal feature of my life like Sid and Nancy was. My own youth, boredom and frustrations were directly spoken to by this film, and it got into my bones the way something like The 400 Blows never did. Thankfully, seeing it a decade after my last viewing, it still holds up.
1. Beauty and the Beast (1946)
2. Seven Samurai (1954)
3. The Seventh Seal (1957)
4. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
5. Grand Illusion (1937)
6. Shock Corridor (1963)
7. Hard Boiled (1992)
8. Sid and Nancy (1986)
9. The 400 Blows (1959)
10. Walkabout (1971)
11. The Killer (1989)
12. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
13. The Naked Kiss (1964)
14. A Night to Remember (1958)
15. The Lady Vanishes (1938)
16. The Samurai Trilogy (1954-1956)
17. Amarcord (1973)
18. Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
Next time: I strap myself up and spread 'em for David Cronenberg's classic Dead Ringers.
Sid and Nancy is a movie that I lived and breathed for several years. As a young would-be punk I watched this film regularly and would incessantly quote it with friends. Well, maybe just the first half. It was acknowledged among us that the first hour of this film is a hilarious, fun-filled romp, and the ending is slow and depressing. We would typically finish the film, but the sensation at the mid point was always that the good times were behind us.
This was not an accident. While Sid and Nancy kicks off with booze and drug fueled punk rock fun, director Alex Cox then slows things down to show the downward spiral this lifestyle led to for Sid and Nancy. It's not a cautionary tale, and can been seen as a fairy tale romance between two junkies, but one can't shake the overall feeling that doing hard drugs will lead to misery and death. Like Requiem For a Dream and Kids, just because a movie doesn't set out to be a PSA doesn't mean that it won't become one by its very nature.
Thankfully, while Sid's a lovable loser, there's no attempt here to show him as someone that society "wronged" in any way. He's not an innocent lamb, and both him and Nancy knew what they were doing and came to their ends inevitably due to choices that they willingly and happily made. They liked doing drugs and abusing themselves, and though they hint at times at a desire for something better (Sid's insincere statements about wanting to kick drugs, Nancy's complaints about how her life has been largely unimportant), it never feels like either one of them really means this. They have no intentions of giving up their lifestyle, and music was only there for Sid to get money to pay for drugs, pizza, and rent. If anything, while Johnny Rotten's undeniably a prick in this movie, you find yourself sympathizing with his frustrations at seeing his friend go from an enthusiastic drunk to a stumbling, non-functioning junkie. Aside from teenagers, no one watching this movie is going to end it by wanting to hang out with these people.
Sid and Nancy is a biopic, yes, but it's also one of the best because, like Amadeus, it's informed by Cox's artistic sensibilities (such as the shot of Sid and Nancy leaning against a dumpster and making out while garbage rains down on them). There are layers to this film that make it something more than a greatest hits of The Sex Pistols and Sid's solo work. You get those scenes, but they feed into the larger story about frustrated, low-class bored youth turning towards drugs, music and self-destruction as a way to act out their justifiable frustrations at their place in society.
My love for this movie is once again going to bump it higher than most people would rank it. Incidentally, it's a battle between two frustrated youth movies, and my personal leanings are putting it just above The 400 Blows. I love that movie, but it was never a seminal feature of my life like Sid and Nancy was. My own youth, boredom and frustrations were directly spoken to by this film, and it got into my bones the way something like The 400 Blows never did. Thankfully, seeing it a decade after my last viewing, it still holds up.
1. Beauty and the Beast (1946)
2. Seven Samurai (1954)
3. The Seventh Seal (1957)
4. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
5. Grand Illusion (1937)
6. Shock Corridor (1963)
7. Hard Boiled (1992)
8. Sid and Nancy (1986)
9. The 400 Blows (1959)
10. Walkabout (1971)
11. The Killer (1989)
12. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
13. The Naked Kiss (1964)
14. A Night to Remember (1958)
15. The Lady Vanishes (1938)
16. The Samurai Trilogy (1954-1956)
17. Amarcord (1973)
18. Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
Next time: I strap myself up and spread 'em for David Cronenberg's classic Dead Ringers.
Friday, October 2, 2015
19. Shock Corridor vs Sanity
Originally written by Samuel Fuller for Fritz Lang, Shock Corridor is an entry in the sub-sub-genre of people who lie to get into a mental hospital, only to have it bite them in the ass in the end. Granted, as far as I know there's just this and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, but I like to think that there are a number of filmmakers who can't resist these stories. There's a hubris at play with our Shock Corridor protagonist Johnny Barrett, a journalist who wants to solve a murder mystery involving an inmate. He swears that by going deep undercover and cracking this case, he'll write a story so great that it'll win him the Pulitzer Prize. It works, and at the end he's somehow lucid enough to write the story, but his brain has become so damaged from being in that environment that he becomes catatonic and is permanently committed. Cue slide whistle.
I can't help but think that stories like this and Cuckoo's Nest are almost reactions to the insanity defense that criminals sometimes use to get away with murder. A public that's out for vengeance doesn't care if a murderer is legitimately insane. They want him either imprisoned for life or executed, preferably the later. Therefore, the story of someone lying to get into a madhouse and then suffering for it has a sick satisfaction for revenge-minded viewers. Johnny's not a bad guy, but he does have a big ego and is purposely playing with fire here. You don't hate him for his cockiness, but you do want to see him suffer a bit. The punishment Fuller gives him at the end is way out of proportion to his sins, but it still makes for a great story, especially when you already know what's coming and see the step-by-step process of Johnny clearly faking it early on and then losing his mind completely.
The murder mystery here is weak, just like it was in The Naked Kiss. It's a McGuffin that neither Fuller nor the audience gives a shit about. I'm willing to bet that there wasn't a single viewer who cared about the identity of the killer, and that's because Fuller is more interested in showcasing different forms of insanity and what caused them. The scenes of inmates snapping back to reality, giving their origin stories, and then going mad again are the meat of this film. Johnny pesters them the entire time for the identity of the killer, but mostly you want Johnny to shut up so you can hear where these people came from. There's a political/social bent to each of these stories, and while you already know that Communism and racism were big topics in the 60s, I like how Fuller uses them as issues that can literally drive a person insane. There's a lot of goofball antics, such as the fat guy who keeps singing opera and forces Johnny to chew several pieces of gum to help him sleep, but everything is caked with layers of unease about society, and even the funny scenes feel creepy.
I've only seen three Fuller films (the other being The Big Red One), and this is my favorite. The ending is never in doubt, and the relationship between Johnny and his girlfriend Cathy almost reaches Tennessee Williams heights of melodrama, and all of that works for this kind of film. This is one of those "your mileage may vary" films, but with my tastes, I loved it. Therefore, this one is going to get ranked a bit high. My love of this particular kind of drama outweighs my love of gorgeous, operatic shoot 'em ups, so I think I'm going to sandwich Shock Corridor between Grand Illusion and Hard Boiled.
1. Beauty and the Beast (1946)
2. Seven Samurai (1954)
3. The Seventh Seal (1957)
4. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
5. Grand Illusion (1937)
6. Shock Corridor (1963)
7. Hard Boiled (1992)
8. The 400 Blows (1959)
9. Walkabout (1971)
10. The Killer (1989)
11. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
12. The Naked Kiss (1964)
13. A Night to Remember (1958)
14. The Lady Vanishes (1938)
15. The Samurai Trilogy (1954-1956)
16. Amarcord (1973)
17. Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
Next time: I bring out the farewell drugs for Sid and Nancy.
I can't help but think that stories like this and Cuckoo's Nest are almost reactions to the insanity defense that criminals sometimes use to get away with murder. A public that's out for vengeance doesn't care if a murderer is legitimately insane. They want him either imprisoned for life or executed, preferably the later. Therefore, the story of someone lying to get into a madhouse and then suffering for it has a sick satisfaction for revenge-minded viewers. Johnny's not a bad guy, but he does have a big ego and is purposely playing with fire here. You don't hate him for his cockiness, but you do want to see him suffer a bit. The punishment Fuller gives him at the end is way out of proportion to his sins, but it still makes for a great story, especially when you already know what's coming and see the step-by-step process of Johnny clearly faking it early on and then losing his mind completely.
The murder mystery here is weak, just like it was in The Naked Kiss. It's a McGuffin that neither Fuller nor the audience gives a shit about. I'm willing to bet that there wasn't a single viewer who cared about the identity of the killer, and that's because Fuller is more interested in showcasing different forms of insanity and what caused them. The scenes of inmates snapping back to reality, giving their origin stories, and then going mad again are the meat of this film. Johnny pesters them the entire time for the identity of the killer, but mostly you want Johnny to shut up so you can hear where these people came from. There's a political/social bent to each of these stories, and while you already know that Communism and racism were big topics in the 60s, I like how Fuller uses them as issues that can literally drive a person insane. There's a lot of goofball antics, such as the fat guy who keeps singing opera and forces Johnny to chew several pieces of gum to help him sleep, but everything is caked with layers of unease about society, and even the funny scenes feel creepy.
I've only seen three Fuller films (the other being The Big Red One), and this is my favorite. The ending is never in doubt, and the relationship between Johnny and his girlfriend Cathy almost reaches Tennessee Williams heights of melodrama, and all of that works for this kind of film. This is one of those "your mileage may vary" films, but with my tastes, I loved it. Therefore, this one is going to get ranked a bit high. My love of this particular kind of drama outweighs my love of gorgeous, operatic shoot 'em ups, so I think I'm going to sandwich Shock Corridor between Grand Illusion and Hard Boiled.
1. Beauty and the Beast (1946)
2. Seven Samurai (1954)
3. The Seventh Seal (1957)
4. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
5. Grand Illusion (1937)
6. Shock Corridor (1963)
7. Hard Boiled (1992)
8. The 400 Blows (1959)
9. Walkabout (1971)
10. The Killer (1989)
11. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
12. The Naked Kiss (1964)
13. A Night to Remember (1958)
14. The Lady Vanishes (1938)
15. The Samurai Trilogy (1954-1956)
16. Amarcord (1973)
17. Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
Next time: I bring out the farewell drugs for Sid and Nancy.
Thursday, October 1, 2015
18. The Naked Kiss vs. Prostitution
Before I talk about Samuel Fuller's The Naked Kiss, I'd like to state how annoying it is that Criterion has this one numbered just before Shock Corridor. This annoys be because I typically like seeing how an artist changes over time (even just a year), and also because this film has a shout out to Shock Corridor as our hooker protagonist Kelly walks by a movie theater showing said film. Come on Criterion. I feel like you're just fucking with people now. I guess they wanted this to follow Salo so they could have a kind of "children in peril" double feature.
The Naked Kiss tells the story of a hooker trying to go straight. She gets a job in a children's hospital but is continuously harassed by asshole cop Griff, who screwed her on her first night in town and refuses to believe that she could stop hooking. She eventually gets engaged to a rich man about the town who turns out to be a child molester. Kelly kills him, goes to jail, and then is released when a little girl admits that he almost molested her. I typically don't like writing plot summaries, but this is some edgy shit for 1964. It's a neo-noir film, so of course it's going to have all the sexual perversions and lurid thrills of that genre, but Fuller amps it up to a degree that I don't think had been done at that point. It's a vicious film, but it has a "protect the children morality" running through it that softens the edge ever so slightly. At one point a girl is knocked up while hooking, and Kelly gives her cash but tells her not to have an abortion.
I enjoyed the hell out of this film. It has the trashy feel of the best of the pulps, the performances are frantic enough to work (though Griff's screaming ass-hattery gets hard to take near the end), and it doesn't feel like anything else you'd see at the time. I can't stomach scenes of off-key children singing, but it works here because the song plays an important role later in the film, and on a second viewing feels much creepier when the camera pans up to show the smiling molester recording the song. I like how rough this film feels, without the slick veneer of studio polish that you typically see in Important Issue films. This film straddles the line between trash and art, and as an example of both, I highly recommend it.
Right now it's starting to get much more interesting when I'm trying to rank these films. The memory of the good times I had with The Lady Vanishes and A Night to Remember are starting to fade away, and films with lasting, powerful images are growing in my estimation. For example, for all its greatness, I'm starting to wonder if perhaps I've ranked The Silence of the Lambs a tad too high. But for now, that doesn't matter. The Naked Kiss is great trash art, and I have it fighting with This Is Spinal Tap for the #10 spot. The Killer is too iconic to drop down, as is everything above it. Strangely, though my review for This Is Spinal Tap was admittedly a bit limp-dicked, I'm finding myself remembering certain gags from that film and laughing. Plus I can't get that fucking Big Bottom song out of my head. Therefore, Tap stays at #10, and The Naked Kiss squeezes into the #11 spot.
1. Beauty and the Beast (1946)
2. Seven Samurai (1954)
3. The Seventh Seal (1957)
4. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
5. Grand Illusion (1937)
6. Hard Boiled (1992)
7. The 400 Blows (1959)
8. Walkabout (1971)
9. The Killer (1989)
10. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
11. The Naked Kiss (1964)
12. A Night to Remember (1958)
13. The Lady Vanishes (1938)
14. The Samurai Trilogy (1954-1956)
15. Amarcord (1973)
16. Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
Next time: I revisit my favorite Samuel Fuller film when I check into Shock Corridor.
The Naked Kiss tells the story of a hooker trying to go straight. She gets a job in a children's hospital but is continuously harassed by asshole cop Griff, who screwed her on her first night in town and refuses to believe that she could stop hooking. She eventually gets engaged to a rich man about the town who turns out to be a child molester. Kelly kills him, goes to jail, and then is released when a little girl admits that he almost molested her. I typically don't like writing plot summaries, but this is some edgy shit for 1964. It's a neo-noir film, so of course it's going to have all the sexual perversions and lurid thrills of that genre, but Fuller amps it up to a degree that I don't think had been done at that point. It's a vicious film, but it has a "protect the children morality" running through it that softens the edge ever so slightly. At one point a girl is knocked up while hooking, and Kelly gives her cash but tells her not to have an abortion.
I enjoyed the hell out of this film. It has the trashy feel of the best of the pulps, the performances are frantic enough to work (though Griff's screaming ass-hattery gets hard to take near the end), and it doesn't feel like anything else you'd see at the time. I can't stomach scenes of off-key children singing, but it works here because the song plays an important role later in the film, and on a second viewing feels much creepier when the camera pans up to show the smiling molester recording the song. I like how rough this film feels, without the slick veneer of studio polish that you typically see in Important Issue films. This film straddles the line between trash and art, and as an example of both, I highly recommend it.
Right now it's starting to get much more interesting when I'm trying to rank these films. The memory of the good times I had with The Lady Vanishes and A Night to Remember are starting to fade away, and films with lasting, powerful images are growing in my estimation. For example, for all its greatness, I'm starting to wonder if perhaps I've ranked The Silence of the Lambs a tad too high. But for now, that doesn't matter. The Naked Kiss is great trash art, and I have it fighting with This Is Spinal Tap for the #10 spot. The Killer is too iconic to drop down, as is everything above it. Strangely, though my review for This Is Spinal Tap was admittedly a bit limp-dicked, I'm finding myself remembering certain gags from that film and laughing. Plus I can't get that fucking Big Bottom song out of my head. Therefore, Tap stays at #10, and The Naked Kiss squeezes into the #11 spot.
1. Beauty and the Beast (1946)
2. Seven Samurai (1954)
3. The Seventh Seal (1957)
4. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
5. Grand Illusion (1937)
6. Hard Boiled (1992)
7. The 400 Blows (1959)
8. Walkabout (1971)
9. The Killer (1989)
10. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
11. The Naked Kiss (1964)
12. A Night to Remember (1958)
13. The Lady Vanishes (1938)
14. The Samurai Trilogy (1954-1956)
15. Amarcord (1973)
16. Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
Next time: I revisit my favorite Samuel Fuller film when I check into Shock Corridor.
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