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...

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

Long Way Round

Click pic for video clip.
My wife and I just watched a fantastic 7 episode series called Long Way Round.

It is a documentary of Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman taking two motorcycles from London to New York. It's a fascinating journey and they are both entertaining guys. Some great looks at the cultures they travel through and a lot to learn about the human spirit from their determined wills. This series is the anti-Borat.

Highly recommended. It's available on Netflix.

And as I was researching links to include in this blog post, I discovered they are planning another long trip to the south tip of Africa. It's called Long Way Down. (Sept 2007)

Extras; The HBO Series

I’m a huge fan of Ricky Gervais (the creator, writer and director of The Office – and star of the UK version). So, it’s no surprise that I’m loving catching up on his new HBO series Extras.

It’s a simple premise: a man quits his job to make it in the British film industry by working as an extra on as many films as possible. He lounges around the set trying to shmooze with the celebrities in order to convince them to finagle him a line of dialogue.

I’ve seen the first three episodes so far and I’m almost as hooked as I was on The Office when I first started watching.

It’s not for the kiddies, but it makes me laugh and wish I was British.

TV that doesn't suck

For no particular reason here is a list of my favorite TV shows.

1. The Office (UK) - This two-season (plus the two-episode finale) mockumentary is the most sublime, satisfying television ever produced. The British export won attention on both sides of the pond for its droll portrayal of the workplace from hell. Creator Ricky Gervais stars as the slime ball manager of a paper merchant in Slough, England who sees himself as less of a boss and more of a “chilled out entertainer.” His awkward social style borders on the painful. The antics of Gervais’s David Brent will at first horrify, then amuse, and then endear you. The American version is certainly fun (although I’ve only seen an episode or two), but I can’t help but feel it’s merely a shadow of its UK predecessor.
2. The Simpsons – Quite possibly the most consistently laser-accurate satire of the US and its institutions in the last 25 years. The episodes of seasons 3-7 are jam- packed with intelligent and deftly delivered allusions to pop culture, high art and social boodle bags. The show has run far too long, and has had more success spoofing itself than its culture of late, but in light of the excellence it achieved for so long, perhaps it deserves a few victory laps.
3. Battlestar Galactica (2003- ) - Easily the smartest writing on television currently. This compelling resurrection of the 1970’s campy sci-fi show is more of a complete re-imagining than a continuation of it. Its doomsday scenario for another race of humans in a galaxy far, far away has suspense, action, political intrigue, family drama and spy game chess moves to keep even the least Sci-fi minded folks enthralled. Just when you believe the show is merely a brilliant story, you start to sense timely correlations between a war with seemingly soulless Cylons and a war with seemingly soulless “Muslim fanatics.”
4. Firefly – In some ways, this series, which died at the hand of an impatient TV network, is the polar opposite of Battlestar even though it is a comrade in reviving the near-dead sci-fi genre. Where Battlestar shines in the scope of its story and the overarching implications of its plot, Firefly shines in the intimate space of its characters. Clever, endearing and consistently drawn, each of the members of this rag-tag crew upon a smuggler spacecraft feels immediately familiar and yet, rife with deep secrets. The pain of the premature ending to the series is remedied a bit by Serenity (2005), an action-packed feature film that spills in 100 minutes the long-term story arch the show’s makers would’ve preferred to see blossom over several seasons.
5. Lost – This entry may change quickly depending on the turns this series makes over the next season. In a story that, so far, has raised far more questions than answers, its hard not to get caught up in the water-cooler theories about what exactly is happening on this show. With wild allusions to world religions, literature and ancient societies, the show has set itself up as a mystery and given the impression that it’s the audience’s job to solve it. If the solution is too far-fetched or even too elaborate, the whole show will be immensely dissatisfying. However, as suspense, and serial TV goes, this show has set the bar high. Lost, along with shows like 24, Grey’s Anatomy, House, and Prison Break, marks a renaissance of TV writing, which I believe is the fallout of Reality TV’s continued popularity. Written shows must be sharp to compete with American Idol.
6. House – Forumlaic, occasionally. But the title character’s vitriolic brilliance would be mesmerizing if he was a toll booth operator doing the same thing episode after episode. There are however, a smattering of out-of-the-box episodes that play with narrative format and delve deeper into the characters’ lives. House occasionally goes a little too far into “gross out” territory, but overall it’s ability to play comedy and tragedy alongside each other makes it shine past its weaknesses.
7. King of the Hill – Perhaps one of the more under-appreciated shows on television, it has long been painting a convincing portrait of life in the American south. King of the Hill certainly lives in the shadow of the house on Evergreen Terrace (The Simpson’s), but where The Simpson’s is the American Revolution of satire, King of the Hill is the Canadian democratic evolution of satire. (Now that’s a metaphor to chew on!) It manages to both challenge societal pillars, and simultaneously affirms the good in them. Hank Hill, stands out as one of the most moral and yet, three dimensional, family men to grace the small screen. Ironic that it takes a cartoon to find a realistic portrayal of a dad. The show is probably looking at its last few good seasons, but it’s been a great ride.
8. M*A*S*H - A rare show that stands in the genre gap between comedy and drama. Often moving into abstract and experimental episodes, it was a show ahead of its time. The characters were so familiar they would’ve been welcome guests at most American dinner tables. The finale stands as one of the most moving television events in history. It's importna to note that this show was so successful that its run on television was actully longer than the Korean War it portrayed.
9. Friends – Much-maligned for its casual attitude toward sex and its dizzying ride at the top of the ratings charts, it was always a stalwart example of top-notch comedy writing. Calling upon its well-drawn characters, it let us laugh at truth. It found it’s funny not in the wacky or outrageous, but in the familiar and the true space of friendships. The theme song was maddening, and the tabloid hype around the actors was annoying, but it was the cast that gave it its power. They so clearly liked each other and liked working with each other it translated onto the screen.
10. King of Queens – This is just a toss-in as I try to round out the list with 10. Kevin James, is consistently very funny, and casting Jerry Stiller as the maddeningly-eccentric father-in-law was inspired. He’s better here than he ever was in Seinfeld. Leah Remini works in her cynical role well. The show too frequently goes for the absurd scenario, and trying to pretend Remini wasn’t pregnant always felt a bit like an insult of the audience’s intelligence. But I laugh out loud at least once at almost every episode I see.

Honorable Mention:

Without a Trace – Clever and emotionally charged. A strong cast really helps this one along,

Prison Break – Again, a strong cast and a fantastic shooting location give this one its grit, we’ll see how it holds up now that the prisoners are free.

Survivor – I’m not as religiously opposed to reality TV as some, and this show is not only the flagship, but was truly a precedent-setter in terms of creativity and production value. The games (“challenges”), cinematography, editing and even the music were always a boon to the spirit of the show. Ultimately, its concept merely ran out of steam. That’s the inherent problem with most reality TV, the concept is a large portion of its draw and when it gets tired...

The Family Guy - This show is a comedy train wreck. Horrifying and impossible to look away from.

Alias (first three seasons) – one of the first shows to take a gamble on its audience’s intelligence and win, this started out as a smart, fast moving spy thriller, the loss of the actress who played “Irina,” marked the beginning of the end for the show, and when Sydney had to battle city full of Zombies in the fourth season, it was clear Alias had jumped the shark.

Dirty Sci -Fi - The future looks gritty

I can blame the fact that I've gotten virtually ZERO writing done this summer on these two discoveries. Battlestar Gallactica and Firefly. They have been a HUGE shot in the arm to the Sci-Fi genre, adding a grit and human side to the sparking clean Star Trek and Star Wars imagery we've seen. And better than all that, they've got REAL WRITERS!!!!

1. Battlestar Galactica - Quick Summary: A whole new team with a whole new approach to this campy show's concept has created what is probably one of my favorite shows on television... ever. What it's about: They've pretty much just retained the "rag tag" fleet of human surivors concept, a few names, and the made-up cuss word "Frack!"Other than that, there's a whole new slew of gripping fiction here as the Cylons who (in this version) were artificial intelligence created by humans have long surrendered a society shaping struggle with the human race on the 12 colonies. (named for the zodiac symbols) We start with a shot of a man sleepily manning a spacepost in the middle of no where and title screens tell us that at the cease fire some 40 years before the cylons and humans agreed to meet at this outpost annually to renew their peace accord. As the human ambassador pulls out a book to read, the titles tell us that the humans have sent someone every year, and that the cylons have never shown up. No one has seen or heard from them for four decades. Then, a door opens at the far side of the room. And in enter two VERY updated and impressive looking cylon soldier/machines (who we later learn are called Centurions) and immediately following them is a gorgeous blonde in a slinky red dress. She struts toward the ambassador on high heels and straddles his lap. She touches his face and asks "Are you alive?" To which he answers "yes." She says "Prove it" and begins to passionately kiss him. As she does the camera takes us outside the space outpost to show us a vast Cylon base ship that dwarves the small chamber holding the abassador and the cylons. Two missles launch from the ship. Back on the outpost the ambassador hears a distant explosion. And the Cylon woman whispers, "It has begun." What makes it great: Character conflict, deep back stories, suspense, high action, political intrigue and even metaphysical questions about the nature of God are all signature pieces of this diverse little show. This series nicely plays these several melodies at once allowing certain lines to fade to the back for a time until their tune seems to be missing missing and then bringing them back again. A fantastic cast, especially Edward James Almos and MaryMcDonnell, give a depth to moments that might come off as campy or silly in the hands of lesser actors. (Netflix carries season 1 and half of season 2. Season three starts up again this fall on the Sci-Fi Channel. All episodes can be downloaded on ITunes for a $1.99 a piece.)

2. Firefly - Quick Summary: A series that was cancelled after one season has gained a sort of "too late" cult following. Joss Whedon director of the Buffy series and the film based on this show Serenity. What it's about: A bit lighter than BG, Firefly is a "Space Western" that follows a small smuggler ship lurking in the shadows of a controlling "Alliance" to make its living. The crew is a rough group of veterans who have lost their war but not their values. They reluctantly take on a brother and sister duo who are being chased down by the entire Alliance. What makes it great: Characters, characters, characters. Sure there's a story arc here, but it's the faces on that arc that make it worth watching. At least two laugh out loud moments per episode. It's nice to see levity amidst action and drama. Point of clarity: There is a movie that treads the same ground here. It is called Serenity and it's very good. The film, however, is neither a prequel nor a sequel of the series. It is in fact a two-hour retelling of the whole story. (I guess it's a re-quel) It's like the writers just had to tell the "big picture" story and when they got cancelled they just condensed it into two hours. I recommend watching the series first, because the dynamic between the characters isn't given as much time (rightfully so) in the film. So fall in love with the people first, then see it. Drawbacks: If you're into closure, you won't get it here. The series is over, cancelled, dead beyond repair. The director is becoming a serious Hollywood player. The only chance we'll see more of this crew is if the director gets so powerful he gets to call his own shots and makes a sequel to the film as a labor of love.

Theories on ABC’s Lost – and some random observations.

Theories on ABC’s Lost – and some random observations.

Okay, a project for my Sunday evening, because I can’t handle one more Tye Pennington megaphone tirade! I’m going to blog my thoughts on ABC’s Lost. I have theories or partial theories and I want to put them in one place. I’ve tried to keep this pretty simple, as I could go on forever into the details. Trust me, the message boards I’ve researched get pretty ridiculous. I even read one theory about who on the island has dimples and who does not. I’ve narrowed things to what I find most important or relevant.

SPOILERS – Well they’re only spoilers if I’m right. There’s nothing here about Episodes that haven’t yet aired.

Big Picture - As I step back and take a wider view of all things Lost, I most conclude that there are really only two possibilities.

1. They are all dead and are in some sort of spiritual realm.

2. They are alive and are part of an elaborate experiment (conducted by anyone from wealthy, brilliant scientists to aliens or supernatural figures).

Random observations

1. Personal demons – There is no denying that everyone on the island is in some way dealing with their fears, sins or bad decisions on the island. In fact, it seems to me the most pervasive theme and subject matter of the show. This, in my opinion, leans toward a purgatory reading of the island. I am, however, no longer content with my purgatory theory as the end all solution to the story.

2. Children – There are two children among the survivors and both have been targeted/kidnapped by the others and both seem to be special. It has been implied that Walt has some special powers and that Claire’s baby NEEDS to be with his mother the SIGH-KICK* almost seemed afraid of the baby). We could have a Christ-Figure and Anti-Christ Figure on our hands.

3. The Others – They seem almost superhuman. Perhaps angels, perhaps fallen angels. Are they the supervisors of this grand experiment. They clearly know about the hatch and what goes on within. The spokesman for the others says Locke was responsbile for “opening doors that shouldn’t be opened” in the torchlight confrontation in the jungle.

4. Dharma – There seem to be multiple “Bunkers” each with their own version of the Dharma symbol. There’s the Swan Bunker, the one the hatch leads to where the Countdown machine exists. There’s the arrow bunker, where the others were, and indistinguishable bunker logo on the back of the sharks that were swimming around Michael and Sawyer and in previews there’s another logo on a new hatch. research project as theIt seems likely that each station is designed to study various things (if this island IS, in fact, a training film explains).

5. The monster/black cloud – It’s clear this cloud is some sort of moral judge or perhaps death itself. Locke looked into it and found peace and Mr. Ecko saw images of his past inside it.

6. The Numbers – I might be alone on this, and this certainly is a by-product of my spiritual reading into the series, but I believe the numbers represent the mathematical version of the name of God. See the movie Pi for more on this idea.

7. Other comments / Questions

a. Hurley is the key to the whole story

b. Where the heck did Desmond go?

c. The countdown went past zero last week and an arrangement of symbols (Egyptian Hieroglyphs) appeared on the number display and from my best research the word they spelled could best be interpreted “to kill” or “to murder.”

*NOTE: I removed the proper spelling of the word above, because the Adsense Webcrawler was putting bizarre ads on my page as a result. So apologies for the phonetic spelling.

What's Got My Attention - 10-27-05

As much as I loathe moving the attention off of myself, I had to mention a book I've been reading.

flashBANG
By Mark Steele


If I'm not this man already, this is the man I want to be. Mark Steele has written a fantastic and funny-as-hell book about the spiritual journey. With the thirst for comic truth of Anne Lamott and the delightful attention-deficit of Kurt Vonnegut he will have you laughing your way to self-understanding.

I'm only a chapter in and I'm floored. His website and the attached site of his production company are both impressive. This guy does a little bit of everything... well.

Check out him and his book.