GUMMO

Two kids, fresh off a glue sniffing binge, go to a young man's house and pay to sleep with his mentally disabled younger sister.

A group of shirtless rednecks gets drunk and takes turns arm wrestling before beating the shit out of a kitchen chair. 

If you're not intrigued, don't bother with Gummo. All 90 minutes of its runtime are replete with disturbing scenes of nihilism. Filmed in the poorest neighborhoods of Nashville, Gummo is set in the town of Xenia, Ohio in the aftermath of a devastating tornado. The twister is glimpsed in grainy footage at the beginning and end of the movie, and I guess it's meant to give an explanation of why the town's residents seem resigned to lives of killing cats, getting high, and fighting furniture.

It's a fucked up movie. There's not much of a story to speak of, the picture and audio are often unclear, and several scenes drag in inanity. But despite its inadequacies, Gummo has several jarring scenes and strangely beautiful passages that make it memorable and contribute to its cult status. The child bathing in filthy water -- a strip of bacon sticks to the wall above the tub -- while eating spaghetti and drinking milk; the albino woman discussing her dream man; the boy with the bunny ears playing an accordion in a vacant bathroom; and the climactic montage set to Roy Orbison's "Crying"…there's poetry in the way these scenes play out.

Written and directed by the enigmatic Harmony Korine, who got his break penning the script for Larry Clark's divisive movie Kids and most recently scripted and directed the surreal Spring Breakers, Gummo sheds light on places and people most moviegoers would deem unfit for the screen. There's a purity in the way Korine simply turned the camera on these people and let them be. Korine has certainly matured as a person and filmmaker over the years, but his work still maintains the same fuck you attitude and unorthodox components that established him as a major talent (the Britney Spears song segment in Spring Breakers is a minor miracle). I can't say whether or not you'll enjoy Gummo, but you won't soon forget it.  

Not a Top 10

I love movies – the emotions they elicit, the places they show, the people they introduce. Every movie, good or bad, offers a new experience. The following 10 films are not necessarily the 10 best I’ve ever seen, but they represent all that I love about movies. If there are any you haven’t seen, check them out and let me know what you think. Enjoy.

Rocky

The ultimate underdog tale and the antithesis of the rest of the Rocky films, the first installment of the franchise was grounded in reality. Aside from the fairy tale circumstances that pit the penniless, down-on-his-luck southpaw against the heavyweight champion of the world, the characters, setting, and emotions are incredibly authentic. And, most importantly, Sylvester Stallone succeeded in making it impossible to not root for his title character. Rocky was certainly rough around the edges, but he treated those around him with kindness and fierce loyalty. We all know the famous training sequence, but it’s the tender moments between Rocky and Adrian, Paulie, and Mick that made the Rocky so endearing and lasting. The supporting characters were richly drawn and achieved their own personal victories along the way, something that was greatly missed in the shallow sequels. Sure, Rocky screaming for Adrian will always be cheesy, but you smile every damn time.

Winter’s Bone

I feel like what little I've contributed to this blog has been a shrine to Winter’s Bone, but it’s that fucking good. The movie that served as Jennifer Lawrence’s coming out party is a dark, suspenseful tale about a girl searching for her meth-cooking dad, who put the family house up to post his bond after getting arrested. When he promptly disappears after getting released, Lawrence’s character, Ree, sets off to find him to avoid losing the house.

Set and filmed in the poverty-ridden backwoods of the Ozarks, Winter’s Bone is a gritty tale of survival and determination when everything, and everyone, seems to be working against you. Throw in an incredible performance by John Hawkes as Ree’s violent uncle, and Winter’s Bone has all the makings of a truly great movie.

In Bruges 

I can recall few movies that feature as distinct a setting as the medieval city of Bruges. Bruges plays such a prominent role that it deserved top billing. That’s not to take away from the film’s leads, Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell. They are phenomenal as two London hit men hiding out in Bruges after a botched job, and they spend the days touring Bruges and “gettin’ pissed." A dark comedy, In Bruges is at its funniest when Gleeson and Farrell are bickering about Bruges (Farrell’s character despises the city, while Gleeson’s is in awe). There are also several hilarious moments featuring an American dwarf actor who’s in Bruges to film a movie.

The profanity in In Bruges is delivered with gleeful velocity, and the dialogue is the movie’s greatest pleasure. Even if the plot doesn’t appeal to you, the movie’s worth watching just to see Bruges. I spent a day there in the spring of 2010, and it is, as Gleeson’s character observes, a fairy tale place.

Wake in Fright

I have a fondness for movies that introduce me to unfamiliar places. I especially enjoy when those places play a key role in the action. In the case of Wake in Fright, the suffocating heat and desolation of the Australian Outback are palpable, draining the inhabitants of their humanity. The majority of the men in the fictional town of Bundanyabba are aggressive alcoholics, and the only female given screen time seems resigned to a meaningless existence. The promise of sex brings out a sense of desperation rather than joy.

When the central character, John Grant, arrives in the “Yabba” for a night before catching a flight to Sydney, he quickly loses all of his money in a crude gambling game played by the locals. He descends into a hellish haze of alcohol and violence that unravels him frighteningly fast. Capped off by a disgusting kangaroo night hunt and an insinuated rape, Wake in Fright is one of those films that sticks with you long after you see it.

Zodiac

Directed by the great David Fincher, Zodiac is a near masterpiece in the way it generates prolonged suspense with its dialogue. Much of the film consists of journalist at The San Francisco Chronicle and local police trying to piece together a puzzle where the pieces never seemed to connect, and it is enthralling. Zodiac generates its emotional impact by showing how the lives of the people trying to solve the case slowly came undone from a lack of evidence, the taunts of the killer, and the realization that the culprit would most likely never be caught.

Few movies have been more expertly cast. Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey, Jr. especially stand out as Detective Dave Toskey, the lead investigator, and Paul Avery, the journalist at The Chronicle who stoked the ire of the Zodiac and received a death threat in return. The movie takes advantage of foggy San Francisco, that damp and eerie city, to create a sense of dread that lingers from start to finish. And that scene in the basement…

Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Kevin Smith, director of the classic slacker comedy Clerks, is a masterful writer of vulgarities. His 2008 romp, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, is inundated with the most offensive profanities known to man. The language, however, is pure poetry, and it’s delivered with relish by all of the cast members. From the hilarious exchange among Justin Long, Seth Rogen, and Brandon Routh at the Monroeville High School reunion to the “cure for constipation” scene, Zack and Miri is wall-to-wall laughs. What makes it stand out above other foul-mouthed comedies is the quality of the writing and what is, beneath the smut, a sweet story about goodhearted and likable people.

Leaving Las Vegas

A sad, sad movie with two superb performances at its center, Leaving Las Vegas tells the story of Ben, a successful film producer in Los Angeles who has descended into the deepest throes of alcoholism. When we meet Ben – played by Nicolas Cage in an Oscar-winning performance – at the start of the movie, he is hounding two colleagues at a restaurant for booze money. He tries to keep up appearances with his attire and small talk, but he is a train wreck. Ben’s drinking costs him his job, and he decides to head to Vegas with his generous severance pay on a mission to drink himself to death.

This all happens before the opening credits. We never discover why Ben began drinking, and he doesn't seem to remember why, either. Once he arrives in Vegas, he meets Sera, a prostitute for an abusive pimp. Elisabeth Shue is incredible in the role, giving Sera much more depth than the standard hooker with the heart of gold. Despite Ben’s rapid self-destruction, Sera finds in him a love that can’t be explained. He doesn’t judge her, and he doesn’t stand in the way of her work.

What’s most heartbreaking about Leaving Las Vegas is the promise Sera must make to Ben – to never ask him to quit drinking. And despite the promise of love offered to him by Sera, Ben remains steadfast in his tragic goal. Leaving Las Vegas is beautifully acted and directed, and it demonstrates better than most stories that true love is about acceptance.

Magnolia

There is a lengthy segment in Magnolia where the many main characters hit rock bottom. For most of them, they come to realizations about themselves of which they were in dire need. One of the many pleasures of watching Magnolia is seeing how they react to their moments of clarity.

Much like its successor, Crash, Magnolia follows the lives of several people living in Los Angeles whose lives are unknowingly interconnected. They are the by-the-book cop, the TV game show host and his drug addicted daughter, the misogynistic pick-up artist, the child TV star, and the gold-digging wife of a dying producer who finds that she does, in fact, love him.

The gravity of what seem like trivial occurrences and the role that coincidence and chance play in everyday life are given serious thought by the movie’s immensely talented director, Paul Thomas Anderson. The ending understandably frustrates many viewers, but it’s consistent with the film’s message. Strange things happen all the time.

Dazed and Confused

The seminal high school movie. You didn’t have to be a teenager in the 70’s for Dazed and Confused to elicit nostalgia. The sense of freedom, good music, and the promise of young love are all portrayed so memorably. We knew these people: the asshole super senior, the stoner, the easy going guy who gets along with everyone. Director Richard Linklater, currently earning high acclaim for Boyhood, runs the gamut of teenage emotions all in the course of one day in a small Texas town. With a kick ass soundtrack and several memorable lines, Dazed and Confused is much more than alright alright alright.

Warrior

I didn't expect much from Warrior. I’m not a fan of UFC, and the plot sounded ripe for sports clichés, albeit with an intriguing twist. Warrior’s plot is definitely unrealistic, but the performances and fight scenes give the movie an incredible emotional impact. Nick Nolte is especially good as Paddy Conlan, the father of Brendan (Joel Edgerton) and Tommy (Tom Hardy). It’s made clear from the start that Paddy was a fearsome alcoholic and abuser of his wife and sons. He hopes his newfound sobriety will help repair his relationship with Brendan and Tommy, but it’s a case of too little, too late.

Tommy, the youngest, returns home to Pittsburgh after a tour in the Army. He solicits his dad to coach him for a major UFC tournament featuring the world's best fighters. He makes it clear to Paddy that he has no interest in reconciling their relationship. Brendan is married with a young daughter who has a heart condition. A well-liked middle school teacher and former low level UFC fighter, Brendan supplements the family’s income by fighting in “smokers,” fights held in strip club parking lots and such. He also has no interest in breaking bread with his father, though he seems to have adjusted to life more effectively than Tommy.

For a fight movie, Warrior spends a lot of time with Tommy and Brendan outside of the cage. So when the two meet in the ring, we have a lot of emotion invested in both of them. We don’t want to see either of them lose. The final minutes of Warrior are powerful and draining, and I couldn’t be happier that I gave it a chance.