It's ridiculous how badly my generation was robbed when it comes to motion pictures. Watching a movie like "Chinatown" for the first time is an eye-opening experience. It was made in the 1970's and tells a story that takes place in the 1930's, but its overall production is timeless. To call Jack Nicholson a "Movie Star" would be putting it mildly. He's in every scene of this film and in every scene he's on. He's not just full of charisma and swagger, he's not just a handsome model type, he's an actor to the fullest degree. And the best part is, you can't tell. Nicholson is Jake Gittes from the moment you see him onscreen. I've read that Nicholson in the early 70's can compete with any actor's peak and I'd be hard pressed to argue that. Watching Brando in "On The Waterfront" is like watching Pete Rose run out a groundball. He's talented and hustling like nobody's business, but the strain is noticable. Nicholson at this period is like frickin' Sandy Koufax steaming curves past the National League in the early '60s before his arm gave out. Effortless.
There is no actor today off the top of my head who can compare. Dicaprio has the look of a young Nicholson, but nowhere near the prescence. Not even close. It helps that the script for "Chinatown" is top notch. The story is played out subtlely and the intelligence of the audience is assumed. Polanski shoots the entire movie from Nicholson's perspective, meaning we find out clues when Gittes does. We don't hear other characters conversations and when Gittes gets knocked out, we do too. Nicholson plays everything understated too for the most part. That way, when he does blow up or get excited about something, it means much more.
I've only seen Faye Dunaway in two movies, "Bonnie & Clyde" and now "Chinatown". Her character in this was more diffrent than Bonnie Parker than I expected, but she played it just as well. There are little scenes of character development between her and Nicholson which separate movies of this era from today's average release. There are generic scenes today where you find out items that happened in a character's past. To me, these usually feel shoehorned into the plot between action scenes and unauthentic. In "Chinatown", every scene flows, one into another. We barely find anything out about the main character at all, yet he's not really a mystery to us. We know his personality, what's important to him, and what he's trying to do. Nothing else matters. Then we find out whatever he finds out.
There are movies that I like a little more than "Chinatown" like "L.A. Confidential" and "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" that take place in a similar time period as "Chinatown" (1930's L.A.). However, although I may have my reasons why I like those movies better (Kevin Spacey dies and keeps his eyes open FOREVER, "When I killed your brother, I looked just like THIS!!!"), I believe "Chinatown" is much better at showing that period than any other movie. Within a few minutes of the movie starting, I had forgotten I was watching a period piece and just took for granted that this was 1937 Los Angeles. I don't know how authentic everything was, but the way it was shot led me to believe everything I was seeing. There are movies today that take place 40 years ago that either try to shoot the footage more "arty" and "flashy" or the color scheme looks wrong, or somehow or another your taken out of the picture. With "Chinatown", Polanski shot a movie in the 1970's using 1930's costumes and props and it worked perfectly. No crazy camera tricks either. There are points where the camera is RIGHT THERE in the scene and that's all I really need to feel like what I'm watching is real.
It was refreshing to see a movie have no generic feel to it at all, even though it came out 40 years ago. I wish more movies assumed that the core audience was intelligent. I wish more actors were like Nicholson, who plays every line the opposite way you'd expect (in a good way). I wish there were more villains like John Huston, who is so incredibly evil and monstrous in this movie without acting like it at all. I wish there more actresses like Faye Dunaway, who is ten times a better actress than she is beautiful and she is gorgeous. I guess I'll take what I can get.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
Billy Liar
Billy Fisher is an incrediblely relatable young man who lives with his parents, has a boring job at a funeral home, two fiancee's, and tries to keep himself sane by spending as much time as possible daydreaming about Ambrosia, a perfect world where he is the king, war hero, and all other types of interesting people. He does believe that he has a job waiting for him in London working for a famous comedian as a writer, but first he needs to quit his job and get rid of the fiancee's he doesn't want anyways.
I was instantly struck by how easy it was to emphasize with Billy. He knows that he's better than the situation he's found himself in and just has to find a way to get out. He uses little fibs to make social situations easier, but these have snowballed into him finding himself with two unappealing fiancee's. When he seemingly catches a lifeline from comedian Danny Boon, it seems like everything will be easy from then on in. Boon however has never even heard of him and was probably just sending him a polite thank you for his material. It's a completely accurate representation of what happens when you build something up in your head as being much more important than it is. This setback just kills Fisher inside and might be the thing changes the course of his life forever.
Tom Courtenay made Billy into the most everymanish everyman possible. I constantly thought I was watching scenes from my life play out on screen, not by what he was doing, but by how he reacted to everything. Here is this young man who just wants to be comfortable, but has sank so deep into the rut that is his average life that he can't find a way out. The daydream sequences are entertaining to be sure, but the scenes where we see Billy truly react against his life are my favorites. When he is in the graveyard with one of his fiancee's and he has to lie to keep his facade going, but he becomes so frustrated he almost blows up at her; it's such a great example of the daily balance one must go through between one's own needs and society's. Billy has his own little successes like having a song he wrote be played at the local club, but he is so overcome by the dampers on his life that this seemingly important moment has no effect on him. By the end of this film, I felt like someone had took all my character traits and made a film to mock me with them.
The first time I watched this, I was drained by the ending. I was hoping to see the perfect ending play out as what I'd like to happen in my life, but then it all slipped away. The second time I watched it, it was even worse because I knew it was coming, and I was really hoping that somehow it would change. The ending involves the most frusterating yet entertaing part of the movie, Liz, played by a really attractive Julie Christie. She's a girl that Billy had a fling or something with sometime before the setting of the movie. She represents what Billy wishes he could be. At her first appearence in the movie, Billy remarks to a friend that "She's crazy. She's does anything she's feels". We then see her walking carefree past a bunch of shops and then encountering Danny Boon at a store opening ceremony. When she finally meets up with Billy, he's at the end of his rope. She convinces him to go with her to London where they could live free and pretty much do whatever they wanted. Billy could visit with Danny Boon and try to sell him some jokes. It would be the perfect scenario. He meets up with her at the train station and they board the train. At the last moment, he tells her he wants to grab some milk to bring on the train and we see him agonizing over whether he should go or not. We hear the train leave and when he aimlessly walks after the leaving train we see that his bag is waiting for him on the side of the tracks. He goes home and imagines himself in Ambrosia again. It makes sense, but still fills me with a combination of anger, confusion, and most of all despair. Billy just didn't have the courage to go after the dreams he constantly pined for, instead choosing to retreat to his boring, yet comfortable home. I would be on that train in a heartbeat with 1960's Julie Christie.
I was instantly struck by how easy it was to emphasize with Billy. He knows that he's better than the situation he's found himself in and just has to find a way to get out. He uses little fibs to make social situations easier, but these have snowballed into him finding himself with two unappealing fiancee's. When he seemingly catches a lifeline from comedian Danny Boon, it seems like everything will be easy from then on in. Boon however has never even heard of him and was probably just sending him a polite thank you for his material. It's a completely accurate representation of what happens when you build something up in your head as being much more important than it is. This setback just kills Fisher inside and might be the thing changes the course of his life forever.
Tom Courtenay made Billy into the most everymanish everyman possible. I constantly thought I was watching scenes from my life play out on screen, not by what he was doing, but by how he reacted to everything. Here is this young man who just wants to be comfortable, but has sank so deep into the rut that is his average life that he can't find a way out. The daydream sequences are entertaining to be sure, but the scenes where we see Billy truly react against his life are my favorites. When he is in the graveyard with one of his fiancee's and he has to lie to keep his facade going, but he becomes so frustrated he almost blows up at her; it's such a great example of the daily balance one must go through between one's own needs and society's. Billy has his own little successes like having a song he wrote be played at the local club, but he is so overcome by the dampers on his life that this seemingly important moment has no effect on him. By the end of this film, I felt like someone had took all my character traits and made a film to mock me with them.
The first time I watched this, I was drained by the ending. I was hoping to see the perfect ending play out as what I'd like to happen in my life, but then it all slipped away. The second time I watched it, it was even worse because I knew it was coming, and I was really hoping that somehow it would change. The ending involves the most frusterating yet entertaing part of the movie, Liz, played by a really attractive Julie Christie. She's a girl that Billy had a fling or something with sometime before the setting of the movie. She represents what Billy wishes he could be. At her first appearence in the movie, Billy remarks to a friend that "She's crazy. She's does anything she's feels". We then see her walking carefree past a bunch of shops and then encountering Danny Boon at a store opening ceremony. When she finally meets up with Billy, he's at the end of his rope. She convinces him to go with her to London where they could live free and pretty much do whatever they wanted. Billy could visit with Danny Boon and try to sell him some jokes. It would be the perfect scenario. He meets up with her at the train station and they board the train. At the last moment, he tells her he wants to grab some milk to bring on the train and we see him agonizing over whether he should go or not. We hear the train leave and when he aimlessly walks after the leaving train we see that his bag is waiting for him on the side of the tracks. He goes home and imagines himself in Ambrosia again. It makes sense, but still fills me with a combination of anger, confusion, and most of all despair. Billy just didn't have the courage to go after the dreams he constantly pined for, instead choosing to retreat to his boring, yet comfortable home. I would be on that train in a heartbeat with 1960's Julie Christie.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
My Best Friend
Word on the street that Wes Anderson's next project is a remake of the french film "Mon Meilleur Ami" aka "My Best Friend". Released in 2006 this film apparently was notice by foreign movie fans when it was first released in America, but I have no recollection of it. The plot revolves around a rich antique dealer, Francois who is confronted by his gallery partner and acquaintances at a dinner one night after attending the sparsely attended funeral of one of his former clients. Upon remarking on the fact that only seven friends & family (including himself) showed up at this memorial, the rest of his dining partner turn on him and declare he'll have no one at his funeral. Turns out he has no friends. When he protests, his smoking hot partner Catherine bets him the 200,000 euro ancient Greek statue he had just purchased at an auction that he can't produce a best friend in 10 days.
This leads him to discover that French people are real assholes when encounters various people and tries to befriend them. One person randomly keeps popping into his life, a taxi driver named Bruno. Noticing that Bruno is the gregarious type, he asks for tips on making friends. This leads to some sitcomy like adventures until Francois realizes that he's becoming friends with Bruno. They see a soccer match, they meet each other's families, all seems awesome. He blows it however when tries to go to far in proving to Catherine and his asshole acquaintances that he has made a buddy. This reveals to Bruno that their friendship was the result of a bet which leads to the last half hour of the film as Francois shows everyone he's learned his lesson.
I have mixed feelings about this film. It was enjoyable enough and the performances were good all around. I chuckled a few times at some funny bits, but for the most part the comedy seemed to be at the level of your basic Hollywood screenplay. It wasn't cliche, but there were moments where characters' reactions or witty remarks made it seem so. It was much better than the average processed comedy coming out every week here though. Francois' journey for a friend brings up some interesting thinking points and Bruno has a deep enough backstory that slowly leaks out.
Right from the get go I was struck by how assholeish the majority of the characters were in this movie. Francois is supposably so cynical, selfish, and work-oriented that he hasn't accumulated any friends over his 50 years of life. However, when that's revealed 10 minutes or so into the movie at a dinner, I was feeling sympathy toward him instead of scorn. He hadn't come off as a jerk really, and all of a sudden these French antique dealers are saying how much they hate him, even though they spend a ton of time with him. It was kind of ridiculous. He sees a woman at the opposite end of the table and asks his partner who that is, since she's kind of cute. Catherine, his partner, responds that it's her girlfriend. Francois is kind of taken aback because it turns out he didn't know she was a lesbian. This is the boiling point which leads everyone to personally attack him. We are constantly reminded by different characters that Francois has no friends because he's an asshole, but everytime he tries to have a civil conversation with either his acquaintances or a stranger, he gets insulted. The only time he really insults someone himself is during the part of the movie where he's attending find-a-friend functions to find a best friend quickly. He's approached by the geekiest man ever who tries to bond with Francois over their mutual lack of friends. Francois pretty much ignores him and walks away, but the guy was a total spaz. He tracks down his best friend from junior high who also looks like a spaz and says he hated him in junior high as well.
Bruno is a trivia buff who knows a bunch of useless crap, but he gets too nervous everytime he auditions for the French "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire". He's friendly to everyone he meets, but has no friends either. He says at one point to Francois that having no friends and having everyone as your friend is the same thing. He seems like a great guy and the scenes of him and Francois hanging out are really fun to watch. This movie falls into the trap of having that "person A does something to person B for the wrong reason, but ends up better because of it, person B finds out and doesn't want anything to do with person B" cliche that almost every movie has. It's not as bad in this one, but still somewhat forced.
The vase Francois is attracted to so strongly, strongly enough to pay 200 grand for, is an ancient Greek vase in tribute of friendship. He outbids a couple of other people for it, including one rich TV producer who offers to give him a blank check for it. The vase was made for a man in honor of his dead friend, a man who was so saddened that he filled the vase with his tears. Achilles and Patroclus are the focus of the vase which is weird since they were cousins who had sex with each other, which is a little more than friendship.
The major weakness in this movie is that the story is filled with minor plot holes and events that never get followed up on. Catherine is pretty much the 3rd main character in the movie, but other than knowing she's a lesbian and Francois' partner, she only seems to exist to move the plot along. Francois' daughter appears early on having a sneezing fit. Then it turns out she lives with her father, but parties every night. When she meets Bruno, who stayed overnight at Francois' house after a bout of drinking, he helps her discover a food allergy that had tormented her throughout her life. This makes Francois appreciate Bruno even more, but we barely know his daughter and the only time we've really seen her is when she's agreeing that her father is a jerk with no friends. There is one character who's purpose might have gone right over my head. Francois has a fuckbuddy it seems, who's actually at the dinner where he's challeged to find a best friend. I don't know who she is, but apparently she wasn't his friend even though the only other times we see her are either after she's spent that night at Francois' place, at a party with him, and interupting his night of fun with Bruno in search for some sex. I don't know why a booty call would be interacting with his work acquaintances, but that's what happens. A stronger screenwriter and/or director would have either tightened the script and made every scene seem valuable.
I look forward to Wes Anderson's adaptation. I imagine he'll only take the basic story (Man is bet that he can't find a friend in 10 days) and work from there. This movie is very un-Wes Anderson, but the plot could be. He has a history of making unsympathetic characters the focus of his plots, which might've been a factor in his interest in this story. This original French version is somewhat pedestrian at times, but can be entertaining. It would appeal to the average moviewatcher as Saturday night DVD movie or something. Better this than "The Proposal".
This leads him to discover that French people are real assholes when encounters various people and tries to befriend them. One person randomly keeps popping into his life, a taxi driver named Bruno. Noticing that Bruno is the gregarious type, he asks for tips on making friends. This leads to some sitcomy like adventures until Francois realizes that he's becoming friends with Bruno. They see a soccer match, they meet each other's families, all seems awesome. He blows it however when tries to go to far in proving to Catherine and his asshole acquaintances that he has made a buddy. This reveals to Bruno that their friendship was the result of a bet which leads to the last half hour of the film as Francois shows everyone he's learned his lesson.
I have mixed feelings about this film. It was enjoyable enough and the performances were good all around. I chuckled a few times at some funny bits, but for the most part the comedy seemed to be at the level of your basic Hollywood screenplay. It wasn't cliche, but there were moments where characters' reactions or witty remarks made it seem so. It was much better than the average processed comedy coming out every week here though. Francois' journey for a friend brings up some interesting thinking points and Bruno has a deep enough backstory that slowly leaks out.
Right from the get go I was struck by how assholeish the majority of the characters were in this movie. Francois is supposably so cynical, selfish, and work-oriented that he hasn't accumulated any friends over his 50 years of life. However, when that's revealed 10 minutes or so into the movie at a dinner, I was feeling sympathy toward him instead of scorn. He hadn't come off as a jerk really, and all of a sudden these French antique dealers are saying how much they hate him, even though they spend a ton of time with him. It was kind of ridiculous. He sees a woman at the opposite end of the table and asks his partner who that is, since she's kind of cute. Catherine, his partner, responds that it's her girlfriend. Francois is kind of taken aback because it turns out he didn't know she was a lesbian. This is the boiling point which leads everyone to personally attack him. We are constantly reminded by different characters that Francois has no friends because he's an asshole, but everytime he tries to have a civil conversation with either his acquaintances or a stranger, he gets insulted. The only time he really insults someone himself is during the part of the movie where he's attending find-a-friend functions to find a best friend quickly. He's approached by the geekiest man ever who tries to bond with Francois over their mutual lack of friends. Francois pretty much ignores him and walks away, but the guy was a total spaz. He tracks down his best friend from junior high who also looks like a spaz and says he hated him in junior high as well.
Bruno is a trivia buff who knows a bunch of useless crap, but he gets too nervous everytime he auditions for the French "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire". He's friendly to everyone he meets, but has no friends either. He says at one point to Francois that having no friends and having everyone as your friend is the same thing. He seems like a great guy and the scenes of him and Francois hanging out are really fun to watch. This movie falls into the trap of having that "person A does something to person B for the wrong reason, but ends up better because of it, person B finds out and doesn't want anything to do with person B" cliche that almost every movie has. It's not as bad in this one, but still somewhat forced.
The vase Francois is attracted to so strongly, strongly enough to pay 200 grand for, is an ancient Greek vase in tribute of friendship. He outbids a couple of other people for it, including one rich TV producer who offers to give him a blank check for it. The vase was made for a man in honor of his dead friend, a man who was so saddened that he filled the vase with his tears. Achilles and Patroclus are the focus of the vase which is weird since they were cousins who had sex with each other, which is a little more than friendship.
The major weakness in this movie is that the story is filled with minor plot holes and events that never get followed up on. Catherine is pretty much the 3rd main character in the movie, but other than knowing she's a lesbian and Francois' partner, she only seems to exist to move the plot along. Francois' daughter appears early on having a sneezing fit. Then it turns out she lives with her father, but parties every night. When she meets Bruno, who stayed overnight at Francois' house after a bout of drinking, he helps her discover a food allergy that had tormented her throughout her life. This makes Francois appreciate Bruno even more, but we barely know his daughter and the only time we've really seen her is when she's agreeing that her father is a jerk with no friends. There is one character who's purpose might have gone right over my head. Francois has a fuckbuddy it seems, who's actually at the dinner where he's challeged to find a best friend. I don't know who she is, but apparently she wasn't his friend even though the only other times we see her are either after she's spent that night at Francois' place, at a party with him, and interupting his night of fun with Bruno in search for some sex. I don't know why a booty call would be interacting with his work acquaintances, but that's what happens. A stronger screenwriter and/or director would have either tightened the script and made every scene seem valuable.
I look forward to Wes Anderson's adaptation. I imagine he'll only take the basic story (Man is bet that he can't find a friend in 10 days) and work from there. This movie is very un-Wes Anderson, but the plot could be. He has a history of making unsympathetic characters the focus of his plots, which might've been a factor in his interest in this story. This original French version is somewhat pedestrian at times, but can be entertaining. It would appeal to the average moviewatcher as Saturday night DVD movie or something. Better this than "The Proposal".
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
What's Next
I'll probably take a break from the Anderson films for a bit. I just saw "Royal Tenenbaums" a few weeks ago and I don't feel like watching it again so soon. I also can't remember too many specifics without a rewatch. The hard part about writing about his films is that the plots are so detailed, but are not that important to the main focus of the film. Also, writing about "On The Waterfront" was easy since I'd never seen it before and I felt like I had to discuss it. From now on I'll probably focus on stuff I've never seen. Anyway, I'll probably next write about the film it looks like he's doing next, a remake of the french film "My Best Friend". Then I'll probably look at something else.
Rushmore
This is the first "Wes Anderson Film", meaning the first one with all the trademark quirks and camera movements showing up noticeably. Jason Schwartzman makes his debut here as the lead, Max Fischer, a student at the prestigious Rushmore Academy. He's not from a well-off family like the rest of his classmates; his father is a barber, his mother died when he was 7, and he recieved a scholarship to attend the school when he was in second grade because he wrote a play. The school is his life and he seems to be a part of every single extra curricular activity they offer, even starting numerous ones himself, like his "Max Fischer Players", a theatre group in which he stages awesome stage versions of movies like "Serpico". Although Max is undeniably street smart in the prep school enviroment, his grades are downright below average which leads him to constantly being on the verge of expulsion. Bill Murray enters the picture as Herman Blume, a local multi-millionaire whose sons attend the school. Blume and Max share a mutual love for Rushmore, and Max's over mature personality matches up well with Blume's childlike nature.
The focus of the plot is Max's infatuation with a 1st grade teacher at Rushmore, Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams). She's too old for him, but that doesn't stop him from trying to work his way into her affections. He tries to break ground on a school aquariaum without permission from the headmaster (Brian Cox) which leads to his expulsion and journey to public school. I'll try to refrain from describing the plot from now on, since with the level of detail that goes into a 90 minute Anderson movie, I could write a short novella just rehashing it.
Anyway, Jason Schwartzman has been compared to Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin Braddock in this role, but I don't really see it aside from similar haircuts and big noses. Max Fischer is more reactionary than Braddock ever was and he's always has some sort of plan or action to take to lead to his next big thing. He's is very similar to Owen Wilson's Dignan from "Bottle Rocket" in this way. The movie is split into months, from September to December and for the first two so much goes on that it's surprising that only a month has passed. When Max is expelled and put into public school, the month of November goes by in 10-15 minutes of the movies time. Max is very aware of his class status at Rushmore and tries to do anything and everything to make up for not having money. He has the kid who played Dennis the Menace in the 1993 movie (Mason Gamble) as his assistant/gofer. He uses Rushmore more as livingspace than a school. We almost never see him in class, but he's constantly accomplishing something on campus. When he's thrown out for having bad grades and for overbounding his steps once too often, the change from prep to public school is astounding. The world Wes Anderson creates with proscenium curtains opening to present scenes, Max running around in his Rushmore blue blazer, closeups of books, letters, and other writings, is contrasted with basically the real world. Max walks into a public school filled with the first minorities of the movie, still wearing his blue blazer as a security blanket, and is immediately out of place. The way he's able to adapt and combine the two worlds is remarkable and entertaining.
Bill Murray takes a liking to Max Fischer after giving a speech at Rushmore which Max enjoyed. Murray's Blume is a wealthy, intelligent man, but has an unhappy marriage and twin boys who annoy the hell out of him with their brash ways. In Max he finds a kindred spirit, a boy he wishes were his own son, but also a friend who's smart enough to have conversations with. When Max falls for Olivia Williams' Miss Cross however, Blume and Max find themselves in a love triange. Murray is subtle, understated, and very funny in "Rushmore". Only five years removed from "Groundhog Day", he looks quite aged with his grey hair and thin mustache. The way he'll offhandedly insult someone never gets old.
The soundtrack is great of course. All British Invasion songs from bands like the Rolling Stones, Kinks, and Cat Stevens. Mark Mothersbaugh scored "Bottle Rocket", but this is the first time where his music stood out as good enough to listen to without watching the movie.
As a movie its pretty good, I'm actually not sure if I'd place it over "Bottle Rocket" after watching them back to back. Having seen "Royal Tenenbaums" recently it's defintely not better than that.
The focus of the plot is Max's infatuation with a 1st grade teacher at Rushmore, Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams). She's too old for him, but that doesn't stop him from trying to work his way into her affections. He tries to break ground on a school aquariaum without permission from the headmaster (Brian Cox) which leads to his expulsion and journey to public school. I'll try to refrain from describing the plot from now on, since with the level of detail that goes into a 90 minute Anderson movie, I could write a short novella just rehashing it.
Anyway, Jason Schwartzman has been compared to Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin Braddock in this role, but I don't really see it aside from similar haircuts and big noses. Max Fischer is more reactionary than Braddock ever was and he's always has some sort of plan or action to take to lead to his next big thing. He's is very similar to Owen Wilson's Dignan from "Bottle Rocket" in this way. The movie is split into months, from September to December and for the first two so much goes on that it's surprising that only a month has passed. When Max is expelled and put into public school, the month of November goes by in 10-15 minutes of the movies time. Max is very aware of his class status at Rushmore and tries to do anything and everything to make up for not having money. He has the kid who played Dennis the Menace in the 1993 movie (Mason Gamble) as his assistant/gofer. He uses Rushmore more as livingspace than a school. We almost never see him in class, but he's constantly accomplishing something on campus. When he's thrown out for having bad grades and for overbounding his steps once too often, the change from prep to public school is astounding. The world Wes Anderson creates with proscenium curtains opening to present scenes, Max running around in his Rushmore blue blazer, closeups of books, letters, and other writings, is contrasted with basically the real world. Max walks into a public school filled with the first minorities of the movie, still wearing his blue blazer as a security blanket, and is immediately out of place. The way he's able to adapt and combine the two worlds is remarkable and entertaining.
Bill Murray takes a liking to Max Fischer after giving a speech at Rushmore which Max enjoyed. Murray's Blume is a wealthy, intelligent man, but has an unhappy marriage and twin boys who annoy the hell out of him with their brash ways. In Max he finds a kindred spirit, a boy he wishes were his own son, but also a friend who's smart enough to have conversations with. When Max falls for Olivia Williams' Miss Cross however, Blume and Max find themselves in a love triange. Murray is subtle, understated, and very funny in "Rushmore". Only five years removed from "Groundhog Day", he looks quite aged with his grey hair and thin mustache. The way he'll offhandedly insult someone never gets old.
The soundtrack is great of course. All British Invasion songs from bands like the Rolling Stones, Kinks, and Cat Stevens. Mark Mothersbaugh scored "Bottle Rocket", but this is the first time where his music stood out as good enough to listen to without watching the movie.
As a movie its pretty good, I'm actually not sure if I'd place it over "Bottle Rocket" after watching them back to back. Having seen "Royal Tenenbaums" recently it's defintely not better than that.
Bottle Rocket
I begin my look at Wes Anderson's body of work with his debut feature, "Bottle Rocket". In 1992, four years before its evolution into a full length film, Anderson shot "Bottle Rocket" as a 12 minute short that basically covered the first quarter of the movie. Same characters and actors and similar bits of dialogue. The movie version of "Bottle Rocket" redoes those scenes a little sharper, and it's evident from this early piece of work that Anderson was able to handle all aspects of a shoot. As his first film, there are many differences from the rest of output. The overall quirkiness is down a whole ton and the color palette that is strewn among his movies from "Rushmore" on is missing here. Same with the Futura font that labels scene breaks in his later films.
As a product of its time, the mid 90's, "Bottle Rocket" holds up exceedingly well. Shot at a time where every college graduate with a greater than average interest in film and a movie camera was trying to make his or her own picture and sending it to Sundance, "Bottle Rocket" isn't dated and is shockingly good for a debut. It's the least "Wes Andersony" of Andersons films which leads me to believe that it would be the best film for the average moviegoer to relate to.
Owen Wilson and Luke Wilson are the two main leads, both in their acting debuts. The short has their actual film debut, so if you want to see those two actors at their youngest, check it out. To me, their is no perceivable difference in their performances from the short to the film. That said, both are amazing in this and have arguably never been better, Owen especially. Owen is Dignan, a wannabe thief who tries to drag his friend Anthony (Luke) along with him. The criminal element of this film for the most part is treated harmlessly. They pull off a bookstore robbery and then go "on the lam" for a few days to a motel with their other friend Bob (Robert Musgrave), their getaway driver. There, Anthony falls in love with their room's housekeeper. Eventually they all end up back in their small Texas town to start over again. James Caan appears as Dignan's idol, a local businessman who's an actual successful criminal. Caan enlists the three men to pull of a heist for him which ends up being the climax of the movie. The plot, like all Anderson movies is less important than the character development.
Owen Wilson has made a career playing cocky know-it-all control freaks, but none have had any close to the depth Dignan has here. Owen plays against his real life brother in many scenes that have the feeling of being improvised, they're so natural. He doesn't feel forced, and his charisma shows even here at his most inexperienced. With his short, army haircut he doesn't look like a movie star and it's easier to take him seriously. He's funny, but the more scenes he has, the more you're able to understand what drives him, what motivates him and although he has flaws, the character is fully realized by the end. A character like Dignan is a major factor in lifting this above the features Hollywood was producing in 1996. At no point does anything he or Anthony does feel cliche or done just to move the plot along. We follow the characters and if the movie drags, Anderson assures us that eventually things will pick up again. Nothing is force fed. Also, Owen co-wrote the movie with Anderson which is almost definitely the reason for Wes Anderson movies being the showcase for his best acting work.
The presence of the Wilson brothers is the main way to tell this is a Wes Anderson movie. Other than the two of them, it just seems like a hidden treasure, a movie that didn't get enough press despite it's awesomness and was left to rot on blockbuster shelves. Luckily, Anderson followed this up with Rushmore and other directors and actors took notice of Owen and Luke and proceeded to cast them in numerous projects following the release of this movie. Martin Scorsese named "Bottle Rocket" as one of his favorite movies of the 1990's and proclaimed Wes Anderson as the "next Scorsese."
Next up; Rushmore
As a product of its time, the mid 90's, "Bottle Rocket" holds up exceedingly well. Shot at a time where every college graduate with a greater than average interest in film and a movie camera was trying to make his or her own picture and sending it to Sundance, "Bottle Rocket" isn't dated and is shockingly good for a debut. It's the least "Wes Andersony" of Andersons films which leads me to believe that it would be the best film for the average moviegoer to relate to.
Owen Wilson and Luke Wilson are the two main leads, both in their acting debuts. The short has their actual film debut, so if you want to see those two actors at their youngest, check it out. To me, their is no perceivable difference in their performances from the short to the film. That said, both are amazing in this and have arguably never been better, Owen especially. Owen is Dignan, a wannabe thief who tries to drag his friend Anthony (Luke) along with him. The criminal element of this film for the most part is treated harmlessly. They pull off a bookstore robbery and then go "on the lam" for a few days to a motel with their other friend Bob (Robert Musgrave), their getaway driver. There, Anthony falls in love with their room's housekeeper. Eventually they all end up back in their small Texas town to start over again. James Caan appears as Dignan's idol, a local businessman who's an actual successful criminal. Caan enlists the three men to pull of a heist for him which ends up being the climax of the movie. The plot, like all Anderson movies is less important than the character development.
Owen Wilson has made a career playing cocky know-it-all control freaks, but none have had any close to the depth Dignan has here. Owen plays against his real life brother in many scenes that have the feeling of being improvised, they're so natural. He doesn't feel forced, and his charisma shows even here at his most inexperienced. With his short, army haircut he doesn't look like a movie star and it's easier to take him seriously. He's funny, but the more scenes he has, the more you're able to understand what drives him, what motivates him and although he has flaws, the character is fully realized by the end. A character like Dignan is a major factor in lifting this above the features Hollywood was producing in 1996. At no point does anything he or Anthony does feel cliche or done just to move the plot along. We follow the characters and if the movie drags, Anderson assures us that eventually things will pick up again. Nothing is force fed. Also, Owen co-wrote the movie with Anderson which is almost definitely the reason for Wes Anderson movies being the showcase for his best acting work.
The presence of the Wilson brothers is the main way to tell this is a Wes Anderson movie. Other than the two of them, it just seems like a hidden treasure, a movie that didn't get enough press despite it's awesomness and was left to rot on blockbuster shelves. Luckily, Anderson followed this up with Rushmore and other directors and actors took notice of Owen and Luke and proceeded to cast them in numerous projects following the release of this movie. Martin Scorsese named "Bottle Rocket" as one of his favorite movies of the 1990's and proclaimed Wes Anderson as the "next Scorsese."
Next up; Rushmore
Monday, January 11, 2010
Wes Anderson
I have a somewhat eclectic taste in movies, at least I seem to think so. Although I do love many older films, there are also dozens that leave me feeling bored. At the same time, there is an effortless feel (probably due to the impact of having so many theatre actors in Hollywood back then) that I find so enjoyable. Most of the newer movies I love have a nostalgic feel to them and seem to exist in their own worlds.
Anyway, my first sense of continuity for this blog will be a rundown of Wes Anderson's six films (Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, Royal Tennenbaums, Life Aquatic, Darjeeling Limited, and Fantastic Mr. Fox) over the next few days or so. I be doing more theme write ups for frequently. I'm starting with Anderson because I find all his films interesting and want to rewatch them again. Will start with Bottle Rocket late tonight or early tomorrow.
Anyway, my first sense of continuity for this blog will be a rundown of Wes Anderson's six films (Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, Royal Tennenbaums, Life Aquatic, Darjeeling Limited, and Fantastic Mr. Fox) over the next few days or so. I be doing more theme write ups for frequently. I'm starting with Anderson because I find all his films interesting and want to rewatch them again. Will start with Bottle Rocket late tonight or early tomorrow.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
On The Waterfront
First, a small note; I will not be censoring myself about spoilers, just writing whatever comes to mind so a "spoiler warning" for anything I write will have to be implied. Also I will be writing these like I write school essays, on autopilot, so they could end up being very long or very short.
I have always been wary about watching "On The Waterfront". I am well aware of its status as a great movie, having won the Best Picture Oscar in 1954, Brando's performance has gone down in history as iconic and the "I coulda been a contender..." scene has been quoted by almost everyone. The cast other than Brando is filled with luminaries like Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, and Eva Marie Saint, as well as numerous names from the NY stage of that era. However, for years the concept of longshore union corruption kept me from seeing it. I just had no interest at all in that story area. Well, Netflix has had it available for the "Watch Instantly" feature for months now and I figured it was time to bite the bullet and check off another of the great ones off my list.
Well, I can't say I was surprised in the least...It was definitely a great movie and all the major actors pulled off the great performances typical of actors of that era. Nevertheless, it didn't quite break through the upper echelon into my top movie tier. The plot is incredibly cut and dry, especially when stretched for 105 minutes. Lee J. Cobb is in charge of one of the unions for longshoremen in New York (probably near Manhattan since MSG and the Polo Grounds are referenced). He's corrupt and takes in a ton of money. Rod Steiger is his righthand man with the nickname "The Gent" because he's educated, which is pretty awesome. Steiger who also played Jud Fry in the movie version of "Oklahoma" and was the original Chief Gillepsie in "In The Heat of the Night" before Archie Bunker took over for the TV show is unrecogizable here. He's a far cry from the crazy southern redneck roles I'd seen him in before. Brando is Steiger's brother, a former boxer who blew his career by throwing fights for Cobb and Steiger when he was younger. He's still somewhat young, but with his boxing potential washed up, he spends his time doing odd jobs for Cobb like making sure snitches get tossed off buildings. He also likes to hang out on top of his roof with pigeons like that guy from "Hey Arnold" (one of my favorite episodes).
So, Brando witnesses a future snitch get rubbed out, but becomes attracted to the victims younger sister Eva Marie Saint (North By Northwest). So they start hanging out and she knows he's involved with the corrupt union responsible for her brother's death, but is still shocked when he admits to her that he was the one who set her brother up. Karl Malden looking shockingly young at 42 is the priest who likes to drink and fight and tries to rally all the workers together to stand up to Cobb's corruption. He has some great scenes and an awesome monologue trying to convince the ridiculously scared workers to grow some, but at the end I was questioning his motives because he always seemed to have a smile on his face at the most inoppurtune times. Like, Malden tells Brando to tell Saint of his guilt in her brother's death and she freaks out and runs away, Malden watching from a distance turns around to the camera has a little grin on his face, almost like he set Brando up....hmm.
Brando is at his most Brandoist and I mean that in a good way. He's ridiculously awesome and having grown up hearing people do marble mouthed Brando impressions, I just can't reconcile the two together. He makes what he's doing so easy and Terry Malloy is a far more interesting character than he should be because of it. Malloy is constantly talked about as being dumb which Brando definitely pulls off, but he's also able to underplay his emotions to the point that when he does go off about something, it means more. Lee J. Cobb is very similar to his character from 12 Angry Men here, just with more of a swagger. I wish I could have lived in a world where actors like Cobb, Brando, Steiger, and Malden were regularly on Broadway. Fred Gwynne from the Munsters shows up as one of Cobb's lackeys and I can't imagine how he got roles for the decade before the Munsters because he looks like Frankenstein even when he's just suppose to be playing a tall guy.
Anyway, as this was my first time watching this, I enjoyed it, but I can't see this having much replay value other than the performances. And while Eva Marie Saint is very good in this, like much better than most actresses today, the scenes with her and Brando got very boring. I'm not much for the romance and they paled in comparison to everytime the big four were onscreen. Steiger in particular only had 3 or 4 scenes and stole them in my eyes everytime. He was like Robert Duvall in "The Godfather" in that way in my opinion. By not being a great big character he was able to stand out and draw some attention.
Oh and one more thing, other than the union corruption, this movie doesn't make dock work look all that bad. You get to hang out with your buds and unload crates, make some money, and if you're on Lee J. Cobb's side you get to fill your pockets with a ton of cash. Everyone from your neighborhood would go down and unload some irish whisky, then go drink. Everything looks better in black & white, but it's too bad things aren't as simple as they were back then, and I know I don't really need to elaborate on that.
Not sure what will be next....
Let me also throw out a recommendation for "The Hollies Sing Dylan" album that I've been listening to constantly for a year or more. I know people usually frown on Dylan covers (other than Hendrix), but this album is awesome and their versions of "Blowin In The Wind", "Just Like A Woman" and "My Back Pages" are better than any other in my opinion. British Invasion rules all.
I have always been wary about watching "On The Waterfront". I am well aware of its status as a great movie, having won the Best Picture Oscar in 1954, Brando's performance has gone down in history as iconic and the "I coulda been a contender..." scene has been quoted by almost everyone. The cast other than Brando is filled with luminaries like Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, and Eva Marie Saint, as well as numerous names from the NY stage of that era. However, for years the concept of longshore union corruption kept me from seeing it. I just had no interest at all in that story area. Well, Netflix has had it available for the "Watch Instantly" feature for months now and I figured it was time to bite the bullet and check off another of the great ones off my list.
Well, I can't say I was surprised in the least...It was definitely a great movie and all the major actors pulled off the great performances typical of actors of that era. Nevertheless, it didn't quite break through the upper echelon into my top movie tier. The plot is incredibly cut and dry, especially when stretched for 105 minutes. Lee J. Cobb is in charge of one of the unions for longshoremen in New York (probably near Manhattan since MSG and the Polo Grounds are referenced). He's corrupt and takes in a ton of money. Rod Steiger is his righthand man with the nickname "The Gent" because he's educated, which is pretty awesome. Steiger who also played Jud Fry in the movie version of "Oklahoma" and was the original Chief Gillepsie in "In The Heat of the Night" before Archie Bunker took over for the TV show is unrecogizable here. He's a far cry from the crazy southern redneck roles I'd seen him in before. Brando is Steiger's brother, a former boxer who blew his career by throwing fights for Cobb and Steiger when he was younger. He's still somewhat young, but with his boxing potential washed up, he spends his time doing odd jobs for Cobb like making sure snitches get tossed off buildings. He also likes to hang out on top of his roof with pigeons like that guy from "Hey Arnold" (one of my favorite episodes).
So, Brando witnesses a future snitch get rubbed out, but becomes attracted to the victims younger sister Eva Marie Saint (North By Northwest). So they start hanging out and she knows he's involved with the corrupt union responsible for her brother's death, but is still shocked when he admits to her that he was the one who set her brother up. Karl Malden looking shockingly young at 42 is the priest who likes to drink and fight and tries to rally all the workers together to stand up to Cobb's corruption. He has some great scenes and an awesome monologue trying to convince the ridiculously scared workers to grow some, but at the end I was questioning his motives because he always seemed to have a smile on his face at the most inoppurtune times. Like, Malden tells Brando to tell Saint of his guilt in her brother's death and she freaks out and runs away, Malden watching from a distance turns around to the camera has a little grin on his face, almost like he set Brando up....hmm.
Brando is at his most Brandoist and I mean that in a good way. He's ridiculously awesome and having grown up hearing people do marble mouthed Brando impressions, I just can't reconcile the two together. He makes what he's doing so easy and Terry Malloy is a far more interesting character than he should be because of it. Malloy is constantly talked about as being dumb which Brando definitely pulls off, but he's also able to underplay his emotions to the point that when he does go off about something, it means more. Lee J. Cobb is very similar to his character from 12 Angry Men here, just with more of a swagger. I wish I could have lived in a world where actors like Cobb, Brando, Steiger, and Malden were regularly on Broadway. Fred Gwynne from the Munsters shows up as one of Cobb's lackeys and I can't imagine how he got roles for the decade before the Munsters because he looks like Frankenstein even when he's just suppose to be playing a tall guy.
Anyway, as this was my first time watching this, I enjoyed it, but I can't see this having much replay value other than the performances. And while Eva Marie Saint is very good in this, like much better than most actresses today, the scenes with her and Brando got very boring. I'm not much for the romance and they paled in comparison to everytime the big four were onscreen. Steiger in particular only had 3 or 4 scenes and stole them in my eyes everytime. He was like Robert Duvall in "The Godfather" in that way in my opinion. By not being a great big character he was able to stand out and draw some attention.
Oh and one more thing, other than the union corruption, this movie doesn't make dock work look all that bad. You get to hang out with your buds and unload crates, make some money, and if you're on Lee J. Cobb's side you get to fill your pockets with a ton of cash. Everyone from your neighborhood would go down and unload some irish whisky, then go drink. Everything looks better in black & white, but it's too bad things aren't as simple as they were back then, and I know I don't really need to elaborate on that.
Not sure what will be next....
Let me also throw out a recommendation for "The Hollies Sing Dylan" album that I've been listening to constantly for a year or more. I know people usually frown on Dylan covers (other than Hendrix), but this album is awesome and their versions of "Blowin In The Wind", "Just Like A Woman" and "My Back Pages" are better than any other in my opinion. British Invasion rules all.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Films Are Good
My name is Philip Trostler and I'm an unemployed twenty-four year old "actor" in Los Angeles. I take improv classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade theatre, go to the gym, and read. I also try to watch at least one movie every few days. My buddy Mike suggested I keep a blog about what I watch and despite my general apathy toward doing such a thing, I do think it would be good to help me improve as a write for the future.
There won't really be a format besides me posting my thoughts on the movies I see. To give a sample of my taste, my favorite films include "Billy Liar", "National Lampoon's Animal House", "Pleasantville", "The Good Shepherd", "In Bruges", "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly", and "Dead Poets Society".
I'll be back soon with thoughts on a good movie.
There won't really be a format besides me posting my thoughts on the movies I see. To give a sample of my taste, my favorite films include "Billy Liar", "National Lampoon's Animal House", "Pleasantville", "The Good Shepherd", "In Bruges", "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly", and "Dead Poets Society".
I'll be back soon with thoughts on a good movie.
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