Thursday Movie Picks - A Discovery/Exploration

Written as part of the weekly blogathon hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. Join in the fun by picking three movies that fit the week's theme and writing a bit about them!

This week on Thursday Movie Picks, we're going exploring! Let's see what we can find, shall we?

The Lost City of Z (James Gray, 2017) One of the most beautiful films of 2017, The Lost City of Z is based on the true story of explorer Percy Fawcett, a British officer tasked with surveying the border between Bolivia and Bravil in 1905. While on his journey, he hears tell of a mythical city covered in gold, and finds some artifacts that make him believe it. He returns to South America over and over again in his life trying to find it, eventually bringing his eldest son with him. Dealing as much with the home lives of British Imperialism as with the exploration of the South American rain forest, Gray's film is often fascinating, if a bit frustrating. But the cinematography is stunning, and the performances, from Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson, Angus McFadyen, and even Sienna Miller, as Fawcett's wife.

Embrace of the Serpent (Ciro Guerra, 2016) Yes, it seems almost cruel to shoot a film about the glorious scenery of the Amazon in black and white, but just wait until you see this. The cinematography becomes utterly hypnotic, which is appropriate for the tale of two white explorers, thirty years apart, searching for a rare sacred plant with hallucinogenic powers. The stories are connected by one Amazonian native, Karamakate, and the film has a lot of very wise things to say about aging and regret, as well as imperialism and the nature of man to explore and his desire to rule. One of my all-time favorite cinema experiences, I remember being so stunned when I left the theater that I had to keep my phone off and just wander the streets for a good couple of hours while I digested this.

Interstellar (Christopher Nolan, 2014) A bit of a change of pace here, to outer space exploration. Nolan's grand epic offers (again) astonishing cinematography (although the constantly-shifting aspect ratios in IMAX 70mm drive me absolutely insane) and wonderful performances from its all-star cast, but it doesn't quite hold together. The bloated run-time and grandiose ambitions don't help, but what's really at fault here is the somewhat meandering screenplay, which is a really good second or third draft but needed some editing and a polish in order to become the best version of itself. It's a tremendous visual experience, but ultimately an almost-but-not-quite for me.

Thursday Movie Picks - Rivalry

Written as part of the weekly blogathon hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. Join in the fun by picking three movies that fit the week's theme and writing a bit about them!

Another Thursday, another round of movies to pick! The theme this week is rivalry. Rivalry can take many forms, be it between siblings, friends, colleagues, or even natural enemies. I didn't mean to focus on male rivalries this week, but it's what ended up happening. I generally find rivalry between men not nearly as interesting as rivalry between women (you are all watching Feud, right?!? So rich and complex... GOD I LOVE IT), but in these movies, they are entertaining to watch.

The Prestige (Christopher Nolan, 2006) I know I've picked this before not too long ago, but I had to again because it is the single best movie I've ever seen about male rivalry. Robert Angier and Alfred Borden were friends and apprentices to a great magician but became estranged after an accident ended up killing Angier's wife. Ever since, they became great rivals, each trying to outdo and outsmart each other, to the point of obsession. Boasting outstanding performances from Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman, fun support from Michael Caine and David Bowie (ingenious casting as Nikola Tesla), gorgeous cinematography, and a smart, dark-and-twisty script that is even better than the novel on which it's based, this may just be Nolan's best film. It's certainly his most underrated. (And also: THAT TRAILER. One of the all-time greats, no?)

Grumpy Old Men (Donald Petrie, 1993) John Gustafson and Max Goldman were once friends, but became rivals after John married Max's high school sweetheart. Ever since, they've spent their days fighting and pulling pranks on each other. When a vivacious college professor moves in across the street, their rivalry intensifies. Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau's chemistry is still great, even if the movie isn't. But the two of them and Ann-Margaret (as the love interest) are nothing if not troopers, and they know just how to elevate the stock material.

This Means War (McG, 2012) GUILTY PLEASURE ALERT!! I know this spy vs spy romcom isn't any good. I know that Reese Witherspoon has never been stiffer, that Tom Hardy has never been blander, that Chris Pine has never been more forgettable. But goddammit, this movie makes me laugh at all these assholes SO. MUCH. Plus, you know, Tom Hardy's lips. They are delectable pillows of goodness and I just want to sink into them. They make it possible to deal with a LOT.

Thursday Movie Picks - Movies Featuring an Actor/Actress that Passed Away in 2016

Written as part of the weekly blogathon hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. Join in the fun by picking three movies that fit the week's theme and writing a bit about them. It's fun... promise!

Well, we all know 2016 was a bit of a downer on the whole "celebrities dying" front. So let's start celebrating them!

I'll be honest, I kind of want to make this just a celebration of mother-daughter duo Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher, but that would be somewhat unfair to everyone else who passed away last year. And there were some great talents among them.

The Prestige (Christopher Nolan, 2006) I ask you: Is there an actor better suited to play Nikola Tesla than David Bowie? He has the perfect presence for the enigmatic mad scientist, and he perks up Nolan's dour tale of dueling magicians something fierce. This is probably my favorite Christopher Nolan film, a perfectly realized vision of the male psyche and the way jealousy can consume your life and fester into something ugly. Top of the line performances from Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, and Michael Caine in addition to absolutely gorgeous cinematography make this one of the best, most memorable films of the '00s, with one of the most brilliant endings.

Dogma (Kevin Smith, 1999) Honest to God, this may be my favorite Alan Rickman performance. As the sardonic, exasperated, perpetually soused angel Metatron, he is an absolute riot in Smith's assault against all things holy. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are perfectly cast "against type" as bad-boy fallen angels trying to get back into heaven, Chris Rock is a hoot as the forgotten thirteenth apostle, and honestly, Alanis Morissettte gives what is perhaps my favorite portrayal of God ever put on screen. Dogma is a sick dirty joke of a film, but it's one that makes me laugh EVERY TIME.

The Producers (Mel Brooks, 1967) One of my All-Time Favorite movies, with one of my favorite performances. That performance being, of course, Gene Wilder's as the unbelievably neurotic accountant Leo Bloom, who offhandedly comes up with the perfect idea to make money on a flop Broadway show, which faded producer Max Bialystock (a brilliant Zero Mostel) takes completely seriously. The problem? Well, in their effort to make all the wrong choices, they inadvertently make all the right choices to create a camp classic: Springtime for Hitler. I just CAN'T with how funny this movie is.

Thursday Movie Picks - Heist Movies

Written as part of the weekly blogathon hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. Play along by picking three movies that fit the week's theme and writing a little blurb about them!

Another week, another edition of Thursday Movie Picks! And a very unfair one!

That's not entirely true.

It's just that, in December, there was a very similar theme: Con Artists. And while not all films about con artists involve heists... well, they usually do. So naturally when I come to this theme, I'm all "I know! Ocean's Eleven!" Except, WAIT. I totally picked that already, and not too long ago at that! So, it was back to the drawing board. But I think I've come up with some good ones. Hopefully you agree! Let's get one thing out of the way first: When it comes to heist flicks, for me, the more ridiculous the better. Give me impossible tasks, impossible twists, and improbably narrow escapes. As many as possible.

Entrapment (Jon Amiel, 1999) Let's start with your basic ridiculous heist. A very young and HOT TO DEATH Catherine Zeta-Jones gets master thief and eternal hottest man alive Sean Connery to work with her amateur ass to pull off the world's biggest heist. Except she's on the right side of the law, trying to bring him to justice. OR IS SHE??? This is pretty much your basic standard-issue heist, but the sex appeal of Zeta-Jones and Connery together is just off the charts and gives the film quite the edge. I mean, you've seen the laser training sequence, right? HOT.

Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010) Now let's up the ante a bit: A REVERSE heist... that takes place entirely INSIDE YOUR MIND. BOOM. Except that, for a film that spends so much time in a dream world, not very much of it feels or looks particularly dream-like. For one thing, where are all the naked people? Oh, don't get your panties in a twist, I'm just kidding. I LOVE Inception. Sure, I bristle a bit when people say the plot is difficult to follow (it's NOT, if you're paying attention!), and it wastes Ellen Page, and it's not a film that lets its imagination run wild when it really could have, but it is clever, and it has Marion Cotillard playing the most complex femme fatale in many moons, and it's much more daring than most major Hollywood motion pictures. I just hope that the debate over that stupid top at the end is over, because what's important isn't whether or not it's still spinning, but that Cobb doesn't care. (But it totally skips a little)

Now You See Me (Louis Leterrier, 2013) You want to know how to make a heist flick REALLY ridiculous? MAGIC, MOTHERFUCKERS! Let's be clear, this isn't a great movie, but it's a damn fun one - how could a movie about Robin Hood-ing magicians played by Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, and Woody Harrelson, being chased by agents Mark Ruffalo and Mélanie Laurent and magic debunker Morgan Freeman NOT be fun? Truth: It cannot. Now You See Me has razzle-dazzle for days, a sly sense of humor, and coherent, exciting action. As long as you just enjoy it for the cotton candy soap bubble it is, it is supremely enjoyable. You may not want seconds (although I did), but it leaves you with one hell of a sugar high.

Against the Crowd Blogathon

Welcome to my post in the 2015 Against the Crowd Blogathon, hosted by Dell on Movies!

The blogathon's theme is pretty much what you'd expect: Pick a film that "everyone" loves (at least 75% on Rotten Tomatoes) that you hate, and a film that "everyone" hates (at most 35% on Rotten Tomatoes) that you love. Then say why.

This was far more difficult to do than I thought it would be, but the fact is: Since time is (unfortunately) a finite resource, I tend to only see films that I know I'm going to like, and there are very few cases in which I saw something despite terrible reviews. I almost didn't find films that fit the criteria Dell set up! Except in the case of a film that "everyone" loves but I hate. I kept trying to find another one, but I just couldn't do it.

I HATE THE DARK KNIGHT. I didn't want to step in it with this film AGAIN, but I don't think there's a film as universally loved as this that I dislike so much. In general, I prefer my comic-book adaptations to be true to their source material - i.e., FUN. The Dark Knight is not fun. Not that this is necessarily a problem; Batman has always been a "darker" superhero, and after the numerous terrible superhero movies we got before 2008, it was definitely time for someone to go there and put a superhero in the "real world", and deal with the real consequences of his actions. I was ready to like The Dark Knight. I really was.

BUT.

The Dark Knight is two-and-a half hours of relentless darkness, with a murky, byzantine plot that on repeat viewings only shows more and more holes. It is a punishing film, not just because that amount of cynicism and darkness over that length of time would make anything a tough sit (and the film is far too long to sustain the mood effectively), but because there's not a single moment of levity in the whole damn thing. Heath Ledger gives a great performance as the Joker, no doubt about it, but he's not funny in a fun, belly-laugh way - he's funny in a queasy, sick-to-your-stomach way. He's insane, and he renders Bruce Wayne/Batman the biggest idiot in the world with his mere presence. The man was trained by the freaking League of Shadows... AND THEN BEAT THEM, and yet he's not smart enough to figure out that the freaking Joker is not exactly a man you can trust to tell any part of the truth. AND, despite their admirable ultimate choice in the ferry boat standoff, the citizens of Gotham are proven to be the ultimate sheep, blindly following whatever voice screams at them the loudest in the moment, blaming Batman for the Joker's reign of terror instead of the police, the federal government/policing agencies, or, ya know, the clearly crazy Joker himself (they get even worse in The Dark Knight Rises, BTW). Which wouldn't necessarily be a problem, except that it begs the question: These are the people Bruce Wayne is so intent on saving?

And despite the strength of the film's cinematography, the editing is all over the place, often resulting in action sequences that are very nearly incoherent. And if you haven't yet done so, I urge you to take a look at the video below, which goes into detail on this very topic.

In the Cut, Part I: Shots in the Dark (Knight) from Jim Emerson on Vimeo.

But my biggest problem with The Dark Knight, the one that completely outweighs all my other problems with it as a film in its own right, is that it's basically the film that was responsible for the cult surrounding Christopher Nolan, a group of people who think that every thing he does is an instant work of genius solely because he deigned to touch it, and that the man himself is infallible. Nolan is clearly very talented, and I've been a fan since Memento, but after The Dark Knight, a film wholly unworthy of being called his best, he was put on a pedestal as The Greatest EVER by a squadron of comic book fanboys, and it has become impossible to get a word in edgewise or have even a slightly negative view of Nolan or any one of his films without getting ripped to shreds.

But hold off on the ripping of me to shreds for just a little bit, because...

...WAIT FOR IT...