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.
