Update Buffet 1/07

Here's what I'm up to:

Work/School

• Theatre Appreciation: I am once again teaching a class of 200 non-theatre majors trying to spread the love.
• I am revising my thesis. It's headed toward being over 150 pages long.
• I am going to be taking a class on contemporary plays. I'm really looking forward to it. Awesome plays, awesome prof, awesome friends in the class. College courses don't get better than this IMO.
• I will be travelling to Cleveland the first week in March for the Mid American Theatre Conference to present a paper on Theatre Pedagogy.
• I will be travelling to Louisville for the Humana Playwright's Festival to see EIGHT brand new plays and to hang out with cool people.

Jobs/Future

• Still applying for Theatre Professor jobs (almost exclusively to schools east of the Mississippi.)
• Perhaps its early to give up hope, but I am readying myself for the possibility of staying here and working on my resume (teaching more at Baylor-part time, working on my book on Improv Pedagogy, etc). Staying here is mostly happy as we love our friends, our home, and our church. It'd be nice to be closer to family and to have a great full-time job, but that may not be in the cards for this fall.

Church

• We are regularly attending Dayspring Baptist Church. It's a contemplative Baptist church. I know, it seems strange. Most Baptists I know don't spend a lot of time contemplating, but it's a unique little enclave of very thoughtful and loving people.
• We are in a small group Sunday school class that we very much like.
• The boys regularly participate in the services by ringing the bells (to chime the hour), passing the offering plate, and Elijah even read scripture on Christmas eve.
• I have joined the choir.

Media

• Courtney and I are watching True Blood (Trashy fun), Modern Family (Best new comedy since The Office), Flash Forward (Overacted, and occasionally tedious, but a good larger story arch) and, of course, The Office (which I thought would have run out of gas by now, but the last few episodes have been great).
• Have recently seen Sherlock Holmes (*** out of 4), Inglorious Bastards (***1/2), Alvin and the Chipmunks - The Squeakquel (*), The Frog Princess (**1/2), District 9 (***), Role Models (***)
• Have recently been listening to Cold War Kids, The Format, Sia, The Jackson 5

Top Ten Films of the 00's

Here's my list... (in no particular order)

• The Lives of Others


• In America


• Gosford Park


• Up


• Before Sunset


• My Kid Could Paint That


• A Mighty Wind


• No Country for Old Men


• Planet Earth


• Spirited Away

Films that may knock one of those off: Moulin Rouge, Lars and the Real Girl, Angels in America, Dogville, I [Heart] Huckabees, The Royal Tennenbaums, Man on Wire, Synecdoche, NY

What's on your list?

Moon - Sam Rockwell Film

Caught Moon tonight.

It was SWEET!

Imagine a film conceived by Kubrick, Bradbury, and Samuel Beckett. Intellectual, clever, beautiful, and meaningful it takes all the right turns at just the right speed.

I don't want to say anything about the plot, and I encourage you to see it knowing as little as possible. Best movie I've seen in the theatre since Synecdoche, New York.

Thanks to Kemper for inviting me along!

Awareness - Synecdoche, New York

*SPOILERS HEREIN*

In Synecdoche, New York, Charlie Kauffman’s wildly imaginative navel-gazing epic, the main character Caden Cotard is a perpetually ill, malaise-ridden, theatre director who wins a MacArthur Grant and decides to create a piece of theatre. His concept, it seems, is to create a world that looks exactly like Caden’s world. Actors play him and those he loves in an immense space with sets that look like the spaces he occupies in real life. The rehearsal process lasts for the remainder of Caden’s life. Eventually, actors portraying the important people in his life, become a part of his life. And therefore, Caden must hire actors to play the role of actors playing the role of people in his life.

The film is truly about our conscious effort to live life. It explores the fact that any attention given to our own existence somehow makes it less authentic. In trying to be true to ourselves, we become someone other than ourselves trying too hard to be whoever we think we are.

There’s a particularly funny and razor sharp moment where an actor walks by Caden on the immense set of the “play”. The actor is not, as far as we know, on stage in that moment, and yet, Caden stops him with the director’s note “No one would ever walk like that.” The actor apologizes, goes back a few paces and tries again, looking far less authentic and far more self-conscious than he was the first time. “No,” Caden remarks, “Keep working on it.” Before we cut to another scene we see the actor cross once more, this time more ridiculously than either of the previous attempts. The film is a metaphysical/anthropological refutation of statements like “act natural” and “just be yourself.”

For any other film, this would be more than enough thematic meat to sustain a feature length story. But this is a Charlie Kaufman film. At the same time that he notes the absurdity of self-awareness and authenticity, he notes the immensity and necessity of other-awareness. Part of the problem with Caden’s theatre piece is that in trying to tell his own story he finds himself telling hundreds of other people’s stories. In a funeral service that we see twice (once lived, and once performed), the eulogy includes these words; “There are billions of people in the world. None of those people is an extra. They're all the leads of their own stories. They have to be given their due.”

I don’t know if you remember the moment in your early childhood when this realization first crystallized, but I do. At age five or six, I visited New York City. The buildings that stretched relentlessly down the boulevards reminded me of the mirrors on opposite walls at the barbershop where the reflections of me never ended. But on the streets of Manhattan, it was not me continuing into infinity, it was others. Millions of others. It suddenly occurred to me the world I experienced, the colors, the moods, the smells and memories that were all going on inside me, was just one cosmic speck in a galaxy of awarenesses. Solar systems and constellations of consciousness came into view. It was overwhelming, and quite frankly, it was something I needed to put out of my mind in order to function. The rest of my life has been a constant remembering and de-remembering of my place in the universe of human kind.

As an actor, I’m inconsistent at best when it comes to portraying me. And even more amazing is that I am performing in the midst of countless other one-person plays, just as poorly cast.

I’ve taught acting classes where I have students do “character walks.” They must, in character, walk around the room, interacting with each other and the objects in the room. And I stand at the center of the room admonishing, “Good, James, I like the tension in your shoulders.” “Becky, how does your character react to people of higher status? Lower status?” “Good Jenny, that looks real!” I have been an actor in those exercises as well. And I find most of my energy is spent desperately trying not to be performing for the director, because my character wouldn’t be trying to get accolades for being themselves. Or would they?

Perhaps the most authentic me I can be is one that recognizes my contrived effort at authenticity as the truest thing about me.

This video contains the haunting end credits song watch it and read along with the lyrics

I'm just a little person,
One person in a sea
Of many little people
Who are not aware of me.

I do my little job
And live my little
life,
Eat my little meals,
Miss my little kid and wife

And
somewhere, maybe someday,
Maybe somewhere far away,
I'll find a second
little person
who will look at me and say,

"I know you
You're
the one I've waited for.
Let's have some fun."

Life is precious
every minute,
and more precious with you in it,
so let's have some fun

We'll take a road trip way out west. You're the one I like the best.
I'm glad I've found you,
Like hanging around you
You're the one I
like the best.

Somewhere, maybe someday,
Maybe somewhere far away,
I'll meet a second little person
And we'll go out and play.

Random Notes on My Life

Here are some quick notes and updates on things I 've seen expreienced since my last posts.

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Synecdoche, NY
Thanks to our lovely wives, Shane, Chris and I got to head to Austin to see this one on a recent Saturday afternoon. The film is nothing if it isn't ambitious. This is Kaufman's first crack at directing his own work. And like his writing his directing is deep and wide. Profound and messy. Complicated and beautiful. And deserving of a second viewing. I really loved the film. I love the themes it explores. I love the way it straddles reality and surrealism - which, by the way, I think works better and is more accepted on stage than in film. And Hoffman is quite amazing. He's probably one of the greatest American actors living today. Between this, The Savages, Doubt, and his oscar winning Capote he's clearly at the top of his game. Check out the trailer (here). That trailer also features a haunting song by Deanna Storey.

Step Brothers
God-awful. Dull. Unfunny. Embarassing work from two talented actors.

Grad School
I am officially halfway through! Woo-Hoo!

Thesis Show
I will be directing Fuddy Meers by David Lindsay-Abaire. It is a dark laugh-your-face-off comedy about a woman who wakes up each morning with no memory. I am very excited about it. It will go up the first week of December 2009.

Tropic Thunder's REAL Crime

There's been some silly uproar about Ben Stiller's film Tropic Thunder. Apparently, people are taking offense to the fact Downey's in blackface, which is ridiculous. He is playing an idiot character who thinks a surgical version of blackface is a good idea. Condemning Downey or the film for this, would be like convicting Anthony Hopkins of multiple homicides for his role in Silence of the Lambs.

Secondly, the film is taking heat for making fun of the mentally handicapped. And this too, is obsurd. The film is a satire. It's poking fun at people who believe and act like these characters. It makes me think of the silliness over the New Yorker cover that was making fun of the enormous number of people who are convinced that Barak is a secret muslim.

In the end, Tropic Thunder, although I have yet to see it, is probably guiltier of something else...

PLAGIARISM! Ben Stiller stole his gag about Hollywood exploiting the mentally handicapped to reap Oscars from Ricky Gervais's brilliant TV show Extras (a show we know he was familiar with, because he was on it!). See below -

My Kid Could Paint That

Amir Bar-Lev’s My Kid Could Paint That is ostensibly a documentary about four-year-old Marla Olmestead whose abstract paintings begin to sell for tens of thousands of dollars. As one might imagine, there are all kinds of questions raised by the film. The first and most obvious is if an untrained child can create works that can sit next to Pollock, is modern art genius a hoax or an indiscriminate blessing? Very quickly, however, the story moves away from the idea that modern art may be a hoax, and toward the notion that four-year-old Marla’s abilities may be a hoax. A 60 Minutes report on Marla raises serious doubts as to her unaided creation of these works. An expert on the show is immediately impressed by seeing a painting that Marla creates, but when she watches the hidden camera footage of her painting, she is disillusioned because “she’s just doing what any kid would do with paint.” As a result of the “expose” Marla’s paintings stop selling.

[the film takes a turn]

At this point, the film moves beyond its own aspirations to tell a story about a girl who paints, and it begins to tell the story of how stories are told and the ways we all find truth for ourselves in the events we witness. By this time, Bar-Lev has become ingrained in Marla’s family. They call him Uncle Amil and when the paint hits the fan on 60 Minutes, the parents turn to their new friend with a camera crew to act as their redemption. The only problem, he’s starting to have doubts as well. In a particularly raw and moving scene, the director switches his camera on as he’s driving home from a day of shooting and confesses that not sure how to proceed.

This documentary has become something different and I’ve been telling everybody how great it is for the film that this potential scandal has come up. But right now, driving back, I’m not feeling that way, I’m feeling sad and conflicted… I realized tonight I’m going to have to call some people liars who on the face of things are the nicest people. What’s my investment in it, so people will think I’m a great filmmaker or whatever?

[redemption, sort of]

By the end of the film, the family has done everything in their power to restore their reputation. They’ve been successful to some degree, Marla’s paintings begin to sell again, but there’s still room for doubt. There are confrontational moments where the filmmaker’s doubts are clear to the family and they feel betrayed and hurt. They question why they’ve put their daughter through all this and the filmmaker wrestles with how he will end up telling the story. My guess is that after many soul-searching nights he decided to let what he’d learned from Marla’s story inform his film’s direction. Marla’s paintings are inexorably tied to the identity of the artist. The painter is a part of meaning of the painting. And in My Kid Could Paint That, the storyteller is a part of the story, maybe in a way he didn’t realize at the outset. It made me think of Steve James's Stevie (another favorite of mine) because of its acknowledgement that the making of the film is a part of the story.

There’s an interview toward the end of the film that is one of the best documentary moments I’ve seen in years. An art expert, whose insights have been a part of the film throughout, is talking about the inherently deceptive nature of art. “I mean all art is a lie, it looks like a picture of something, but it isn’t that thing, it’s a representation of that thing.” He continues, “Your documentary is, on some level going to be a lie, it’s your construction of things.” Then he chuckles to himself realizing the power of what he’s said and knowing that saying that sentence more convincingly might make for a good moment in the film. So he says, “I can say that if you like.” The cameraman and interviewer can be heard off screen urging him, “Yes, yes. Absoultely.” So, he takes a moment, looks away from the camera, clears his throat and turns back saying, “I mean your documentary is going to be a lie, it’s a construction of things. Its how you wish to represent the truth, and how you’ve decided to tell a particular story.” The fact that the editor kept both the initial statement and the speaker’s “preparation” for the final draft of the statement indicates that these guys have a pretty sophisticated understanding of their craft. Even an interview subject describing the deceptiveness of art knows how to present a “spontaneous observation” more convincingly.

[abstract non-fiction?]

Ultimately, the film’s tone is in lockstep with the story it tells. When it becomes clear that the story of Marla’s paintings is about how they are created, they decide to make the film about how it was created. And just as the authenticity of this little girl’s paintings is open to interpretation, so too could the film be read as an exoneration or an indictment of the family. Bar-Lev has produced a documentary that feels very much like a work of modern art. He gives us an arrangement of shapes and figures and lets us decide what to make of them.

Man on Wire

My wife and I recently went to see this VERY intriguing documentary as part of our 10th anniversary weekend getaway.

Man on Wire is a documentary that captures a criminal act performed on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. A group of foreigners engage in months of planning, fake IDs, physical training, and observation of security practices to stage their attack. However, the culmination of their efforts is not an explosion resulting in death, but rather an act of artistry resulting in joy. Philippe Petit walks between the roofs of the Twin Towers on a tight rope.

Even though Petit performed his rope walking stunt some 34 years ago, I don't think the film would have carried the same power before September 11, 2001. To the film's great credit, the ultimate demise of the towers is never mentioned. Yet, every time footage is shown with an airplane near the towers we are reminded of the diametrically opposed conspiracies that occurred in 1974 and 2001. The archival footage of the construction of the towers shows huge skeletal girders being pieced together, girders that we've seen only as the backdrops of firefighters' struggles to find skeletal remains. And in the construction of both the building and this strange dream of Petit's the sentiment is "Look what humans can do!" instead of the "Look what humans have done" that would be cried 27 years later.

There is something so hopeful and pure about the film. The dream of this half-crazed, half-genius tightrope walker is infectious. Everyone he meets is excited about his idea and willing to risk their jobs, incarceration and even their lives in support of it.

There are in the film, a few sad notes that my heart immediately understood and my head is still catching up with. Those involved in that act seem to point to it as a true, pure thing that they've been a part of. And there seemed more than a little regret that it might have been the only such event in their lives.

I highly recommend the film. It's suspenseful, funny, joyful, and inspiring.

When finally arrested, Petit is asked by the press why he would do such a thing. He looks at them puzzled and says, "There is no why."



Next on my list: My Kid Could Paint That

The Orphanage

Just caught this way cool movie. It's a supernatural thriller in the same family as The Sixth Sense and The Others. Nothing groundbreaking to the genre, just perfectly played cards throughout. The structure of this film is exquisiste, there is no line, prop or moment that is not integral to the movement of the story. Textbook screenwriting, in my humble opinion. A beautiful ending, and no "Oh C'mon!" moment that many of these movies have toward the end. It is also beautifully shot at a gorgeous location.

Movies, Movies, Movies

Here's a little catalogue of movies I've seen recently and my two cents:

Lars and the Real Girl - Barnone the best film I've seen this year. A simultaneously funny and heart-wrneching portrayal of true community. I cannot recommend this highly enough.

Gone Baby Gone - Disturbing viewing, especially for parents, but an above average thriller with a great performance by Casey Affleck.

Juno - Too precious for my taste. It tries so hard to be authentic, it ends up missing the mark. (see Amelie). The performances are all good, but the writing is overwrought with self-aware cleverness. There's a truly powerful moment that's spilled in the trailer, and then the most interesting story is underdeveloped (the Jason Bateman/Jennifer Garner marriage).

Confessions of a Superhero - A fun exploration of the characters who walk the Hollywood boulevard in character costumes and have aspirations of seeing their name on a star like the ones they tread each day. Occasionally manipulative of the audience, and not quite compassionate enough for my tastes, it was still a very entertaining film.

There Will Be Blood - As good as everyone says it is. Blood is a fascinating character study enfleshed by a powerful actor. Not as redeeming as PTA's other films, which I personally like a bit more, but it's pretty amazing nonetheless.

Twin Peaks (Season 1) - A fun trip through David Lynch's dementia. Somehow the confusion and bizarre are endearing. My wife and I are pretty well hooked in for season 2.

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead - Ouch. Amazing actors putting their hands to a horribly bleak family/crime story. It's not even a little fun to watch. AND I'm not sure I believe the characters would have made the initial decision that set all the following misery in motion. That's called the "inciting incident" and if it doesn't seem inciting enough, you have a problem.

Persepolis - A fascinating look at Iranian culture and history through a very honest lens. Clever and moving animation throughout. One of the best I've seen lately.

The Savages - A very good coming-of-age story in the same vein as The Barbarian Invasions and Away From Her. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is becoming one of the greatest actors of our time and this is a sensitive and human performance with his usual light touch.

4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days - Yipes! A very grim look at an illegal abortion behind the Iron Curtain in the 80's . We had to turn this one off.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - A gutsy film that chronicles the life of a magazine editor who was paralyzed in a stroke. The film really puts the viewer inside his corporeal prison. Fascinating and moving.

Michael Clayton - George Clooney is good. Period. He can be intense, light, smart, dumb, romantic, and an a-hole. His abilities are on display here in this very good corporate whistle-blower tale. Interesting narrative point-of-attack here that I think serves the film well. An intriguing film well worth an evening's viewing.

Into the Wild - A look at a boy who gives up on civilization after graduating from college. I was worried this film would over romanticize the transient lifestyle he chooses over society's constraints, but it doesn't do that. There are some very beautiful moments on this boy's journey and I recommend taking the trip with him. Emile Hirsch is very good in this slight departure from Speed Racer.

Atonement- I very much enjoyed watching this film. The story, acting, and photography were all quite good. I haven't decided what to think of the ending. There's a part of me that worries about what it does to truth-telling, and a bit of me that loves the honesty with which it bucks the truth.

God Grew Tired of Us - A FASCINATING look at the lives of a handful of Sudan's Lost Boys who have been transplanted to the States for a new life. You watch them encounter television, potato chips, and isolation for the first time in their lives. To its credit, GGTOU is neither the easy indictment of materialist America nor a "dollar-and-a-dream" success story.

Dan's 43 Favorite Films/TV Shows (Part Five)

It's been a while since I've written anything but updates on my play. But now that it's over and the summer is here I'm hoping to write other interesting stuff. I'll start by continuing my list of favorite films/tv shows. Here is an index of the films/shows already mentioned.

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PART FIVE

The Usual Suspects

This is a veritable staple among the 90's-violent-screwy-narrative films that followed in the wake of Quentin Tarantino. Kevin Spacey at his best, and Gabriel Byrne at his usual, which is VERY good. A fantastic thriller that will keep you guessing to the end. This is Bryan Singer before he turned his mind to superheroes and his un-blemished talent is formidable. If you are too young to have caught this the first time it came through, check it out. If you've seen it, I promise a second viewing will be rewarding.

Favorite scene: The hospital scene - when they first mention the name of Keyser Soze
Movie moment:

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Adaptation

This is a quirky script, even for Charlie Kaufman. It is half an adaptation of a novel and half the story of the adaptation of that novel. Nicolas Cage who is in no way a consistent actor, turns in a fantastic dual portrayal of twin brothers. The film is a primer for postmodern filmmaking playing with narrative devices and breaking conventions in the service of the story. Chris Cooper, Meryl Streep and Tilda Swindon round out this amazing cast.

Favorite Scene: The Robert McKee scene.
Movie Moment:

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Ratatouille

Pixar is known for its narrative prowess. The colorful characters of Toy Story, the flawless structure of Finding Nemo, and the imaginative world of Monsters, Inc. Rataouille, however, excels in a different area than the rest of the Pixar body of work. This is an inspirational film. For anyone who has had to take a stand about their perceived "calling" in life, this film packs a powerful little wallop. The far-fetched story is a small price to pay for the payoff of the film transcribed in my Movie Moment below.

Favorite scene: When the critic takes his first bite of the Ratatouille.
Movie Moment:

Anton Ego: In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations, the new needs friends. Last night, I experienced something new, an extraordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source. To say that both the meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions about fine cooking is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core. In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau's famous motto: Anyone can cook. But I realize, only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere. It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking at Gusteau's, who is, in this critic's opinion, nothing less than the finest chef in France. I will be returning to Gusteau's soon, hungry for more.

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The Big Kahuna


As a play, it is known as The Hospitality Suite. And apparently, Kevin Spacey and Danny DeVito fell in love with it and gave Roger Rueff one heck of a cast for his first film. It's a one-room three-hander that pits evangelical proselytizing against corporate sales. Interesting questions about intentions and authenticity abound in this showcase for three great actors. And the dialogue is whip smart. I'd love to direct this one, but the playwright is REALLY strict about not changing any language, so I'll have to wait for a less conservative audience.

Favorite scene AND Movie Moment:

A Flashback... with a twist

DeNiro and 50 Cent on Acting

VIBE magazine featured an article and interview with Robert DeNiro and 50 Cent because they are set to appear in the film Righteous Kill (with Pacino as well). The interview amuses me for a few reasons. Primarily because DeNiro is an artist who was trained by Stella Adler and who's largely considered one of the greatest film actors of all time. And 50 Cent became famous for writing these lyrics:

We gon' party like it's yo birthday
We gon' sip Bacardi like it's your birthday
And you know we don't give a f**k
It's not your birthday!

Vibe gives the two equal billing in the article and a few moments strike me. First, I find it amusing that DeNiro calls 50 "Curtis". I can imagine that conversation went like this:

RD: How ya doing? I'm Robert.
50: I'm 50 Cent.
RD: What's your mother call you?
50: Curtis.
RD: Right. You ready to do this, Curtis?

Here's an actual exchange from the interview:

VIBE: When you're a method actor, you pull from your own experiences, thing that have affected you -- are you pulling from those things?

Curtis jumps in first.

50: Absolutely, I mean... I've chosen roles I can actually relate to.
RD: ...People can identify with the character, [then] make it specific based on their own experience.

My favorite part:

RD: Imagine that you've not killed somebody, but you imagine the details, the specifics of that, that's what makes it special.

I love that when DeNiro is in a conversation with 50 Cent he has to draw a hypothetical picture of an actor who has not actually killed anyone. Then later:

VIBE: (to DeNiro) 50 has made clear how the hard times he's gone through have led him to be the gangster rapper he is and to play the kind of roles he plays. Your upbringing was more... artistic. I wonder - to where are you reaching?
RD: Well, I've had other experiences in my life that were... for want of a better way of putting it, street oriented.
VIBE: Wait a minute, is Robert DeNiro saying he was running the streets.
50: Orientated... he said he's street-orientated.

That's right, DeNiro uses a real word, which Curtis then repeats incorrectly, twice.

Also notable in the article are the credits:

DeNiro:Styled by Aude Bronson Howard, Groomed by Lynda Eichner
50 Cent: Styled by Mia Maddox, Groomed by Lionel "Lyte" Jones
Prop Styling by Amy Henry
Fashion Director: Memsor Kamarake'

So you apparently need six people (including one dedicated solely to finding a baseball bat for 50 to hold) to prepare two guys for four photos. And yet they look the same as they do every other time I've seen them. And really... if your job title is "Groomer" do you really need the nickname "Lyte". It's pretty much implied.

That's all I have to say about that.

Dan's 43 Favorite Films - Index

I've been listing my favorite films in installments. Here is a little index so that you can quickly find where I wrote about specific films and TV shows.

PART ONE

• Quiz Show
• The Truman Show
• Leon (The Professional)
• A Mighty Wind
• Waiting for Guffman
• The Purple Rose of Cairo

PART TWO

• Life is Beautiful
• Angels in America
• Serenity / Firefly
• The Office (UK)

PART THREE

• Big Night
• The Insider
• Battlestar Galactica

PART FOUR

• The Hudsucker Proxy
• The Elephant Man
• The Straight Story
• Before Sunrise / Before Sunset

More to come...

43 Favorite Films (Part Four)

I've been going through my 43 favorite films and television series and it's time for another installment. Here are the previous sections: -Part One- -Part Two- -Part Three-

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The Hudsucker Proxy

I'm a fan of the Coen brothers, but I tend to be fondest of those that are less popular within their body of work. I'm not a Fargo or O Brother Fan, but Hudsucker is, for me, an irresistable little gem of a movie. Quirky and highly stylized, the lightspeed dialogue and beautifully unified art direction have kept this one fresh for me even after a dozen viewings (at least). It's probably their lightest film (in terms of theme), and I think critics have hit them pretty hard for that, but it remains a favorite for me.

Favorite Scene:The Conference Room discussion after Hud takes the plunge.

Movie Moment:

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The Elephant Man


David Lynch is known for his oddball films, but this one and the next are oddballs within his body of work for their straight-forward narrative. The Elephant Man is not only sharply written and directed, with Lynch's standard star and smoke fetishes abounding, but the acting here is astronomical. Sir John Gieguld, Sir Anthony Hopkins, and Sir John Hurt make a veritble round table of incredible knighted actors. This is a profoundly moving film that, while sad, is a beautiful and redmptive work of art.

Favorite Scene: Favorite is a strange word for this scene, but I have to respect the scene where John Merrick gets some unwanted visitors. This might be the most difficult 5 minutes of film I've ever watched.

Movie Moment:

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The Straight Story
There are few films that bear more fitting titles than this one. It's about Alvin Straight, who sets out to see his estranged brother three states away on his lawn mower. As with The Elephant Man, this film is strongest in its simplicity and silences. Lynch sneaks up on you with a pretty straight-forward metaphor of life that is powerful in its patience. Richard Farnsworth puts forth a fantastic portrayal. It's about aging and reflecting on life, but acheived with a light touch. This film, like real-life nostalgia, contains mixed aromas of joy and pain that makes the experience neither entirely good or bad, but strangely sweet.

Favorite Scene: The final scene.

Movie Moment: Alvin: When my kids were younger I used to play a game with them. I'd give each one of 'em a stick, one for each one of 'em, then I'd say, 'You break that.' Course they could real easy. Then I'd say, 'Tie them sticks in a bundle and try to break that.' Course they couldn't. Then I'd say, "That bundle... that's family."

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Before Sunrise / Before Sunset

Before Sunrise is a surprisingly moving film. With very little story line other than "two strangers meet in a strange city and magic happens" the story is more a portrait of a generation that it is a narrative journey. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy have an honesty about them that makes their encounter riveting.
Favorite Scene:


Before Sunset is the sequel and it takes place nine years later. Both of the characters have moved from idealistic dreamers to beleagured hopers. And their reunion is exciting, not only because they reawaken the dreamers within each other, but they do it for the audience as well. I watch the film and think "I remember them like this, I remember me like this." Their aging is not strictly viewed through sadness or regret. As much as it is tinged with pain, their "sequel-selves" demonstrate the kind of maturity that is painful to acquire, but priceless. As Roger Ebert puts it: "One thing I know for sure: When you're 20, you know that one night could change your life forever, and when you're 40, not only do you doubt that, but you're sort of relieved." These movies have a strange power over me that I can't quite explain. I'm only a couple years behind the ages of the characters when both films were made. And while their circumstances don't mirror mine I connect at deep levels with their existential journey.

Favorite Scene:

Dan's 43 Favorite Films (Part Three)

See Part One here and Part Two here.

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Big Night Food is a powerful metaphor, and there are a host of films that use it to speak indirectly about love, life, faith, and art. In my opinion, this is the best of these. Two Italian brothers try to open an Italian restaurant in 1950's America. One brother is the chef and the other the manager and the two are constantly at odds about the values of the restaurant. The manger is, of course, interested in getting people in the door, so he wants to be serving familiar (Americanized) cuisine like lasagna and chicken parm. While the chef is interested in making excellent food, truly Italian food, like risotto. The conflict comes to a head when famous jazz musician Louis Primo is planning to come to the restaurant. Impressing him, and the local media that will invariably accompany him, becomes one last shot for the brothers to survive.

At first, I saw the film as a metaphor for the the arts. The chef is interested in making true art, and the manager is interested in the audience. And while this is probably the metaphor the screenwriters had in mind, I've been noticing lately how much the metaphor applies to other areas. No matter the discipline, there's always a conflict between the pure and the popular. Big Night tackles the issue in a beautiful, vibrant way. And it will make you hungry. Other great food films: Ratatouille, Eat Drink Man Women, Mostly Martha.

Favorite Scene: The very final scene. Simple. Fritatta. Gutsy. (See the film, you'll see what I mean)

Movie Moment:

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The Insider

With every vocation there is a unique kind of integrity, and we are always fascinated by the ethics specific to certain occupations and subcultures. It's why lawyers and mafia make great stories. Despite the depravity of the world they inhabit, there's a code that they must choose to follow or shirk. The Insider examines journalistic integrity within the context of the late 80's Tobacco cases. When a whistle-blower came to the tv show 60 minutes to reveal that tobacco companies were not only aware of cigarettes' addicitive nature, but boosting it. This film is, in my opinion, Michael Mann's masterpiece. Sure he has a great story and a fantastic cast to work with, but I honestly believe it's the direction here that makes this film great. It'd be easy to think that just putting actors like Pacino, Russel Crowe, and Christopher Plummer together would make the film work, but Mann actually directs them, hems them in and balances them into a poignant ensemble. Also worth noting here are the lighting, the writing and the score. All stellar. The editing is sharp too, the plot is complicated, but accessible in Mann's hands.

Favorite Scene: Lowell talking to Jeff while on his forced vacation.

Movie Moment: The score.

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Battlestar Galactica

I have lots of superlatives, but this is the BEST CURRENTLY RUNNING AMERICAN TV SHOW. Not just for the sci-fi folks, this show is human drama at its sharpest. Smart, funny, relentlessly exciting, and never one to go for the easy way out of a story. I could spend this paragraph trying to convince you or you could just watch four little minutes. HERE. But be warned! If you watch that video, which is the opening of the miniseries (which was then continued in the show) you will want to see it all. The show starts its fourth and final season in March, so you could spend a blissful month catching up before then.

Favorite Episode: 33 (that's the title, not the Ep#)

TV Show Moment: Follow the link above.

43 of My Favorite Films / TV Shows (part two)

If you missed it... (Part One)

PART TWO

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Life is Beautiful -

I've argued with more than a few smarty-pants cinastes about the themes of this film. Regardless of what you think it all means it is a moving portrait of a father's love that is conveyed in joy. This film will make you a better person.
Favorite Scene: Guido translating Nazi War Camp instructions into the rules of a game.
Movie Moment: The last *wink* in the movie. Gets me every time.

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Angels in America; Millenium Approaches

I gushed about this one several weeks ago, but I think it belongs on this list. This is probably one of the most influential plays of the last twenty years and HBO hits it out of the park with this adaptation for the small screen. Al Pacino and Meryl Streep add their heft to a talented younger cast. This film wrestles with some tough issues and connects doubts about the conservative politics of our parents with doubts about God's activity in a world filled with suffering. And yet, it's not just a big pity party. There's wonder, and life, and humor in this play/film. A must see.
Favorite Scene: The shared dream/delusion between two primary characters that have never met each other.
Movie Moment: (BE WARNED, STRONG LANGUAGE)

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Serenity (feature film) / Firefly (TV series)

Firefly was a Fox show for one glorious season before the netowrk got nervous and pulled it. There was a cult following that was so vocal, that creator Joss Whedon put together a feature film. The show was fantastic, great science fiction that was more about the characters than spaceships or robots. It had some big questions that will go forever unanswered, but that show was the best thing on American television for 14 glorious episodes. The film stands as one of the best Sci-Fi pics of the last 15 years. It stands alone for those who haven't seen the show, but it makes for a moderately satisfying capstone to those who have.
Favorite Scene: Too hard to pick from the whole series.
Movie Moment (TV show moment): WASH - Little River just gets more colorful by the minute. What will she do next?
ZOE - Either blow us up or rub soup in her hair. It's a toss-up.
WASH - I hope she does the soup thing. It's always a hoot, and we don't all die from it.

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The Office (UK)

There is a worse boss than Michael Scott, and his name is David Brent. The UK version of The Office is a showcase for the kind of awkward that hurts as much as it tickles. Not as bright and cheery as its American offshoot, the bleakness makes the light that much brighter. Gervais (the creator and actor behind Brent) is a creative force to be reckoned with. He and collaborator Steven Merchant have taken their talents to Extras, a show that is the best kept secret on TV today. And in truly British style they know when a show is over. The Office (UK) only ran for two seasons and had a sublime two-episode ending. Always leave them wanting more. (It's the anti-Friends)
Favorite Scene: David in the Bird Costume
Movie (TV) Moment : An example of the painful/hilarious genius of Ricky Gervais

43 of My Favorite Films / TV Shows (part one)

I figured it was time to reconfigure my favorite films list. Some films I've grown out of, some I've grown into and some are just new. I have put a few TV shows on here as well, mostly only shows that I endorse in their entirety. If a show goes off the deep end after a couple seasons like Alias, Smallville, and every series by David E. Kelley, well, it didn't make the list. But shows that stayed strong and finished strong you may find here.

This list is not a comprehensive ranking of the BEST films ever made. To get on this list there are two criteria: 1) Excellence 2) Meaningful to me. That's it. I've tried to include a mention of my Favorite Scene for each film. You know that one scene in every movie that moves the film from "really like" to "want to buy the DVD". And I've tried to include great dialogue, screenshots, or video clips just to give you a taste of the film or a Movie Moment. Enjoy!

This is just Part One of the list. Part Two is here and Part Three, here.

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QUIZ SHOW
Probably my favorite film ever. Redford’s direction teamed with fantastic acting by Fiennes, Morrow, and the incomparable Paul Scofield make for a stylish and personal modern tragedy. I love this period of history and this story is well-told. I’m fascinated by stories where new technological or cultural developments force us to revisit ancient themes and ideas.


Favorite Scene: When Charles Van Doren confesses to his father

Movie Moment:
Dan Enright: How much do they pay instructors up at Columbia?
Charles Van Doren: Eighty-six dollars a week.
Dan Enright: Do you have any idea how much Bozo the Clown makes?
Charles Van Doren: Well... we, we can't all be Bozo the Clown.

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THE TRUMAN SHOW
Peter Weir is one of my favorite directors, and while this film may or may not be his best it affects me more deeply than any of his others. I'm not sure why. The premise is a fantastical one far beyond my own life experience, and yet there's a moment in this film that always finds me crying.

Favorite scene: Christof conducting the scene between Truman and his long-lost father.

Movie Moment:

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THE PROFESSIONAL (LEON)
A great story beautifully acted by Natalie Portman (at age 11), Jean Reno, and Gary Oldman. Luc Besson is a master of lighting and creates some gorgeous moments here. The newer DVD release entitled Leon is the one you want. I'm not an action film fan, but this one's so smart it's hard not to fall in love.

Favorite scene: Hard to pick, but I'll say the Grande Finale

Movie Moment:

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A MIGHTY WIND
For somebody who loves the funny, not a lot of comedies make it onto my favorite films list. But Christopher Guest has a knack for lampooning quirky sub-cultures that gets me every time. His mockumentary portrayals range from ridiculous, to mean-spirited, to tender. A Mighty Wind, is the most tender of his films, and it's stronger for it. Interestingly, his latest film, the followup to AMW is his meanest and his weakest. A Mighty Wind also plays to the Guest Talent Pool's greatest strength, music.
Favorite Scene: The Cocktail Party
Movie Moment: "Thank God for model trains, without them we never would have thought of the big ones."

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WAITING FOR GUFFMAN
The most outrageous of Guest's films (aside from This is Spinal Tap - which he wrote but did not direct), WFG is a fictional doc about small town Blaine, MO which decides to undertake an original musical production to celebrate the its 150th anniversary. While I don't end up caring about the characters as much as I do those in A Mighty Wind, I laugh the hardest at this story that hits so close to my own personal experiences in community theatre. More fantastic music in this film.
Favorite Scene: (A tie) A Penny For Your Thoughts / Katherine O'Hara's description of "Less is More" acting.
Movie Moment:

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Purple Rose of Cairo Cecilia is a mousy woman in a bad marriage and a go-nowhere life until a character from her favorite film looks out into the audience and sees her. Compelled by her devotion to him, the movie character steps out of the screen and the two run away together. The rest of the film deals with the implications of such a trasngression. This is Woody Allen at his best. Sharp, ironic, and raising questions about metaphysics in a spirit of fun. It's the Woody we miss most.
Favorite Scene: All the moments where the remaining characters of the film try to figure out what they should do.
Movie Moment: "Cecilia: I just met a wonderful new man. He's fictional but you can't have everything. "

I'm watching Spider-Man 3

And man, am I bored.

No Country for Old Men

Plot Summary: Average Joe stumbles upon a drug deal gone wrong, finds money. Bad guys want the money. Chase Average Joe.

First off, the Coens know dialogue.

When you think of their body of work, it's hard not to think of the colorful language of The Hudsucker Proxy, Raisning Arizona, Fargo, Oh Brother..., and The Big Lebowski. I usually have to turn on the subtitles to catch all the whip-smart exchange that rushes by so quickly.

In their latest film, No Country for Old Men, they've taken their quirky dialogue and cut to the quick. The film can't have more than 300 lines in it. Which is not very many. And yet, every line is gold. Even in the midst of bleak and dark moments--and there are more than a few--I found myself chuckling. It's not that the lines are funny, but the characters are so well-drawn that they can invent idioms and cliches on the spot, and you not only understand them and buy their meaning, but you love them.

There is a scene between the bad guy and a gas station attendant which might be my favorite four minutes of film this year.

The Coens know action.

This might have been the big surprise for me. There are some serious action/thriller sequences here that had me leaning forward in my seat. It would be a mistake to call the film an action film, especially with its ending, but suspense and surprises are not beyond their grasp.

The Coens know photography.

You're never sure how much of the cinematography is the result of the DP and how much is the director(s), but this film is jam-packed with moments that have simple power. They forego the usual compositions and sequences associated with chase scenes or hiding scenes or killing scenes, and they focus our attention on something slightly removed from the action. When the bad guy is about to look behind a motel room vent to find the case full of money (where we all know it's been hidden) he reaches in his pocket to find a dime to use as a screwdriver. The camera takes a close shot of his hand as half a dozen coins slide across his palm. As each coin is revealed we are all praying there won't be a dime, but the last coin to slide out from under the others is shiny and small and silver. It's a detail, but that's what the Coens are all aout. They find the details in the scene that convey the importance of what's happening and they put our eyes there.

The Coens know narrative sturcture [SPOILER] and they want to destroy it.

The Coens are all ABOUT destroying narrative. In this film, they tackle the master narratives of romanticism, religion, justice, and materialism, revealing each as inadequate to deal with the randomness of the universe. In fact, one could even argue that both the good guy (Tommy Lee Jones') character and the bad guy try to make sense of the world through completely opposing paradigms, and neither is particularly successful.

One of the final scenes demonstrates that they don't even want you to be satisfied with their film's narrative. When it looks like the bad guy is gonna get away scott free, he is driving along and gets in a horrible accident. For a moment we believe this is his come-uppance. He'll get what he deserves or get caught or lose the money. Something. But no; he crawls out of the car, tears off his bloodied shirt, buys a clean one of the back of an onlooking teenager and limps away.

It's a tease really. Just when we think there's going to be some sort of structure that we recognize, it fizzles and we're left with the same unsatsified feeling.

The film is unsatisfying by design. Which will piss a lot of people off, I'm sure. And only the Coen brothers can get away with this (well, them and David Lynch). It's hard not to read the film as anything but Nihilistic. And while I can't buy into their world view, it's certainly fascinating to view the worlds they create.