The 50 Greatest Films of All Time

So I was in the doctor's office waiting room on Thursday and stumbled across an advertisement for Ketel One in a back issue of Entertainment Weekly. Since I had been waiting for about 40 minutes to see the doctor I decided to give the ad a second look. Instead of this add only promoting its alcohol it gave a list of the 50 best films of all time. The list looked rather conclusive, but it left me thinking is there any way to really tell the 50 best films of all time without watching every bit of narrative film created through film's history? Is it right to say that this list includes the 50 best pieces of work ever, or the 50 best films created by the studio machine of Hollywood of all time?

Some can argue that movies such as ‘Star Wars’ are a breaking of the mold since technically those films are independently made. However, the franchise is so imbedded in the Hollywood system that it is automatically associated with mainstream Hollywood. Also, films such as 'The Wizard of Oz' was critically torn to shreds and considered a failure upon first release. And what about those wonderful films from outside of the boarders of the good old U S of A that aren't represented on the list? What about 'La Dolce Vita'? Yes, 'Battleship Potempkin' is on the list, but it is only one of 50 films. Two of the three films to ever win the big four at the Academy Awards are on here, being 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' and 'The Silence of the Lambs'. What about the original film to claim those four awards though? Can you even name it? Here is a hint, it was directed by Frank Capra. And it was made more than a decade before the film It's a Wonderful Life, which made the top 50 list.

Does it matter that Steven Spielberg directed 4 of these films and had creative input on many others? How about George Lucas? He has two of the films that he directed, but on Academy Award? Martin Scorsese has some films on that list, but not 'The Departed'. For some reason I remember 'The Departed' winning him is first Best Director Academy Award and winning Best Picture. Would that constituted it being a "better" film than ‘Goodfellas’, which coincidently made the list? Speaking of legendary directors, where are the films by Jean - Luc Godard? He broke the classical filmmaking mold is a legendary way, and his masterpiece 'Breathless' didn't even make the list. Whatever the situation may be here is the list and you can decide for yourself...........

2001: A Space Odyssey
A Clockwork Orange
American Graffiti
Annie Hall
Apocalypse Now
Battleship Potempkin
Ben-Hur
The Bridge on The River Kwai
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Casablanca
Chinatown
Citizen Kane
Dances with Wolves
The Deer Hunter
Doctor Zhivago
Dr. Strangelove
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Easy Rider
The French Connection
Giant
The Godfather: Part II
Gone with the Wind
Goodfellas
The Graduate
High Noon
It's a Wonderful Life
Jaws
Lawrence of Arabia
Midnight Cowboy
My Fair Lady
On the Waterfront
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Platoon
Psycho (1960)
Pulp Fiction
Raging Bull
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Rocky
Schindler's List
The Searchers
The Silence of the Lambs
Singin' in the Rain
Some Like It Hot
Star Wars
The Sound of Music
Taxi Driver
To Kill a Mockingbird
Vertigo
West Side Story
The Wizard of Oz

Now that the list is out there, what do you think? Is there anything missing on it? Or does it sum up the greatest films of all time perfectly? I guess everyone has their own opinion of what constitutes a "great film." I am glad to see that 'Citizen Kane' made the list though, since it is only one of the most viewed films in modern day film schools. Let me know if anything was left off this list, and what should be removed to make room for something that was missed!

The Dark Side of Hollywood

“Living in Hollywood can make you famous.
Dying in Hollywood can make you a legend.”

- Tagline from Hollywoodland

It has become quite apparent in Hollywood’s past, present and future that everyone loves a good scandal, and even better one that involves murder. During the month of September, within one week from each other, two of the year’s most anticipated biopics hit theaters. After the extreme success over the last two years of the music industry biographical film, Hollywood has taken a turn to the dark side. Instead of focusing on the romantic side of a singer’s life, the film industry focused on the height of its own golden era and the glamour, betrayal and murder surrounding it. During the golden age of film there were two murders that individually claim to be the most infamous in both Hollywood and California’s history. Allen Coulter’s Hollywoodland and Brian De Palma’s The Black Dahlia took two of history’s most infamous Hollywood crimes and brought them to the silver screen. Both films took true crime stories, of very similar nature, and brought the victims and surrounding people to life. Even though these two films come from almost the same background, with remarkably similar characters, both are presented in very different ways, with Hollywoodland being told as a more effective story.

Hollywoodland is a film about the rise and fall of television’s legendary Superman actor George Reeves. This film really picks apart the last moments of Mr. Reeves’ life and offers numerous solutions to what may be considered Hollywood’s greatest unsolved case. The Black Dahlia shows one of the most notorious murders in Hollywood during the 1940s, and tells a story of both Elizabeth Short and the people involved with the investigation of the crime. Instead of focusing on the events leading up to the death, the film dives deep into the lives of the people surrounding the case and how their involvement affects their lives. As one can speculate there are strong similarities between the two films, but each has its own distinct style and utilizes different filmic styles to tell its story to the audience.

Lets start with the similarities between the two films. First off, these two films were inspired by two true crime stories that took place in Hollywood within a 12-year span. Both victims were apart of the entertainment industry as actors and were to eventually become infamous due to their deaths. Even though George Reeves could be considered the true star over Elizabeth Short, both were struggling to work steadily in the industry and avoid type casting. Also, both films are biographical in content and offer possible solutions to these notoriously unsolved crimes. Both George Reeves and Elizabeth Short are real people and have a significant place in Hollywood history. Their deaths to this day are considered to be mysterious and, due to the overwhelming amount of information on the Internet devoted to these two individuals, are still very much in the interest of the general public. However, the similarities between the two films run much deeper than their historical basis.

Both films were set during a time in Hollywood when the film noir movement was extremely popular. These dark stories of hardboiled detectives, femme fatales, corrupt policemen and jealous husbands of the Hollywood underground, who were always some how involved with dark and mysterious crimes, were quite popular with audiences. In turn both Hollywoodland and The Black Dahlia use these exact same characters to play out there separate stories. The main character in both films is the detective investigating the murder cases. In Hollywoodland Louis Simo, played by Adrien Brody, is a down and out private detective hired by Helen Bessolo, Reeves’ mother, to further investigate the murder of her son once the Los Angeles Police Department closed the case. In The Black Dahlia Josh Hartnett’s character, Officer Dwight ‘Bucky’ Bleichert, is a part of the police department team assigned to investigate the murder of the young and beautiful Elizabeth Short. Both characters share the same types of investigation roadblocks and are met with intense obstacles to over come as a result of their involvement with the murders. The other character similarity these two films share is that of the classic femme fatale. Robin Tunney’s character, Leonore Lemmon, in Hollywoodland seduces the hero, George Reeves, into a seedy engagement right before his death. In The Black Dahlia Madeleine Linscott, played by two-time Academy Award winner Hilary Swank, plays with the main detective on the fact that she has a remarkable resemblance to the murdered actress. In the end, both women have strong ties to the actual murder and in one case turns out to be a possible suspect.

There are many more similarities between these two films but lets take a look at some of the distinct differences between the two. The styles these films are shot in are very different from each other. Hollywoodland comes off as a more biographical film when taken at face value. There is a good amount of screen time devoted to the murder victim’s public and private life, and as an audience member I felt more knowledgeable of who George Reeves was a person upon completion of the film. Even though the film was based in Mr. Limo’s life too, a healthy balance between the victim’s past and investigator’s present life was achieved. The lighting and film stock variations from scene to scene worked well in enhancing the emotions and obstacles that Mr. Reeves was facing during the last years of his life. On the other hand, The Black Dahlia really comes off as a film noir set in the time of the murder. Even though this film was based on a 1987 fictionalized novel version of the crime, it was marketed, presented and in many cases viewed as a biographical film. It uses many more elements from the noir genre, high contrast lighting, heavy back lighting and the classic smoke filled streets, than Hollywoodland does, as diegetic elements. In a way this confuses the audience in whether they are watching a film trying to fit the noir genre or a biographical based picture set in this era. When the murder victim was shown it was usually through grainy stock footage from an old projector, and in the end I really had no idea of who Ms. Short was as a human being. Also, The Black Dahlia utilizes heavy voice over narration, by main character Officer Bleichert, to drive the plot forward and on a whole resembles the once popular film noir style of story telling. This type of narration causes the focus of the film to shift on to his life and feelings rather than the investigation of the crime.

One other major difference between these films is the solutions given in the end by the filmmaker. In the end, both films had to offer solutions to these cases to tell an effective story. Both De Palma and Coulter had to construct a way to give closure to their films and they came up with two very different solutions. Hollywoodland offers three variations on the death of Mr. Reeves, which are all valid and fit into the context of the story well. By doing this Coulter shows the audience there are theories to explain the death of TV’s man of steal, but in the end we will most likely never know the exact reason behind the events that took place in his Hollywood Hills home. I found this method very effect, because this film gives the audience the tools to come up with their own solutions and leaves in the mysterious element, which is why the death is so famous to begin with. On the other hand, The Black Dahlia offers one solution to its heinous crime. Instead of taking a more open-ended approach, like Hollywoodland did, De Palma decided to offer the one solution to his audience as closure for the film. This closure method does give a valid way to end the film, but the solution presented seems a little too far fetched to fit the intensity of the actual crime. With this crime being portrayed as one of the most gruesome and heinous crimes in history, I found it rather hard to believe that the high society, drunken mother of a Hollywood socialite was capable of planning the murder of the infamous Hollywood starlet. In reality this case has faced so many invalid confessions and possible solutions that the one presented in the film almost seems too comical to fit into this gritty, harsh story, and in my opinion really hurt the status of the film. Due to these two major differences between Hollywoodland and The Black Dahlia, I believe Hollywoodland to be a more effective as a biographical film and as a story.

With all the success of the biographical film through the years, there are so many different films about all different kinds of people that audiences can choose from. The one driving factor that glues all of these films together is that the audiences come to experience a true life that is different from their own. It seems valid to say that the successful biopics, like Ray, Walk The Line, The Queen, JFK, Erin Brockovich etc., use an invisible style of filmmaking that allows the audience to be fully focused on the characters and what made these people so extraordinary. When a filmmaker starts to add different styles and elements into this now sacred genre of film, it starts to pull the attention away from the lives of these amazing people. Hollywoodland was able to effectively tell a biographical story and stay within the boundaries of a basic narrative film, which worked out quite nicely in the end for both the audience and the filmmakers. I felt extremely satisfied at the conclusion of the film with being given an open-ended solution, and appreciated how Coulter left the mysterious elements in the overall story. However, upon the conclusion of The Black Dahlia I felt more of an off balance between fact and fiction due to the highly stylized look of the film. One must be very careful when adapting a fictionalized version of a real life event, and in the end I felt that this film could of been more successful by taking a less stylized approach.

Hollywood, scandal and murder will always go hand in hand. Due to this, there with out a doubt will be many more of these types of films to come in the future. One day we might be watching the murders of Sharon Tate and her guests, the life of Joey Ramon and his famous punk band, or the bizarre events leading up to the Heaven’s Gate Cult mass suicide unfold on the big screen. But for any biographical film to be a success one must remember that the story being told has to be about the people and the lives they affected. Both Hollywoodland and The Black Dahlia were able to take two separate lives and effectively portray them on screen. However, in the end the story that stayed true to its characters and basic filmmaking came out to be the more successful one.

Marie Antoinette

Over the last couple of years, Hollywood has been infested with the big budget biographical picture. Stories about the lives of Johnny and June Cash, Ray, Truman Capote, George Reeves and JFK have been produced and embraced by audiences across the nation. This year the availability of the biopic is just as strong as in pervious years with the release of The Queen, Fur and Marie Antoinette to name a few. All of these films look amazing within their own right, but there is one film that stands out in my opinion. Marie Antoinette is the third film to be written and directed by one of Hollywood’s children Sofia Coppola. The film is both told effectively and entertaining within its historical context, and it is able to capture a portion of Marie Antoinette’s life and fictionally document it on screen.

The film Marie Antoinette starts with Marie, at the age of 14, leaving her home in Austria by being turned over to the French aristocracy, and her transformation from a girl to a young woman at the hands of the French court. For the most part, her life before the age of 14 was cut from the film so the story could really focus on the period in which she became famous, which was necessary to be able to tell an effective story in a two-hour cinematic presentation. The majority of the film takes place in Versailles and only deviates from this location for a small portion when Marie is away at her chateau in the country. Basically, by staying in this one location the film is able to focus on how this iconic historical figure rose to fame and how her actions affected the people close to her.

To move the story along an effective path the filmmakers use such things as pictures and portraits to show the passage of time. For example, to show the time between the birth of her son and the death of her next child family portraits were used. There is a scene in which Marie and her two children are being painted in the gardens, then the film cuts to two servants hanging a portrait of the three and a baby in Marie’s arms, and then shows the servants replacing the portrait with a somber painting of Marie, her two older children and an empty cradle. This short bit of film probably runs about two minutes, but it is able to effectively tell four or five years of story. Also, Coppola uses benchmark events from Marie’s life to get from one point in the time line to the next.

In order to tell the story of Marie’s reign in Versailles, 20 years of story was covered. This may seem to be a daunting task, but by jumping between times surrounding benchmark events in her life it was accomplished quite nicely. Such events as childbirth, important birthdays (her 18th birthday to be exact), iconic parties, and lavish gifts were utilized as tools in moving the story down its timeline, which ends with the King and Queen being taken from Versailles to Paris as prisoners of the French Revolution. It is almost ironic that Coppola decided not to include the beheading in the film, but within the context of the story she was trying to tell this ending offered closure. With the film being a slice of life, there was no need to show her legendary death, but only offer a certain point as the ending of one chapter of her life. Not only was the film Marie Antoinette was able to show a span of twenty years in only two hour, it was an entertaining and satisfying piece of art as well.

Personally, I found the film to be both entertaining and satisfying, and I really enjoyed the fashionista angle the film took. With Marie Antoinette being an over the top, lavish woman I found it extremely entertaining to watch how she was able to live such a full life style every day of her life. One of my favorite scenes happened just after she was married to Louis XVI and the ladies of the court had the privilege to dress her in the morning. I found it hilarious that every time a lady with a higher title came into the room the dressing had to stop and then she was given the privilege to continue dressing Marie. To imagine this is how Marie was dressed every day during her tenure in the palace is ridiculous and way too over the top not to laugh at. Also, I felt that the musical choices were effective to tell the story in both the diegetic and non-diegetic world.

Coppola used music accurate to the time period and mixed it with modern day music and songs to build a totally unique sound and feel for the film. Within the diegetic world, historically accurate classical songs were used. This gave the film credibility in being a historical piece, and allowed audiences to experience music not used much in modern day life. However, Coppola decided to use songs, such as the pop classic “I Want Candy,” to set a mood in the non-diegetic story world. The song “I Want Candy” was used during a fun, lighthearted sequence in which Marie and her ladies were shopping for shoes, gambling, eating sweet and just having a wonderful time. The girly theme of this scene and the upbeat energy the song gives off combine perfectly to convey the lavishness and overindulgence Marie was infamous for. By using music like this Coppola is able to effectively convey the energy of the scene and make it relatable to the audience as well. However, there were parts in the film that were not as effective as this one was.

There was one small element that distracted my attention from the story telling, and funny enough it happened during the wonderful shoe and shopping sequence. There is a shot in which there’s a pair of purple sneakers in the background, but the shot is so fast that there is no time for a double take. I was like, “wait a minute did they just show a pair of purple tennis shoes?” It took me out of the story for a moment and in a way broke the illusion of watching a story take place during a different historical era. However, this film was so stylized and designed that everything Coppola captured on film must of been intentional. It would have been a great mistake if something so obvious had been missed in both the production and editing processes of the film. After realizing this, I was able to move on from the small distraction and be immersed back into the film.

Overall, I really enjoyed Marie Antoinette due to the story the film told and how the filmmakers decided to tell the story. By focusing in on one certain part of Marie’s life, Sofia Coppola was able to write a wonderful story in which there is enough action to not bore or over stimulate the audience. This then translated into an effective two-hour film that used wonderful story telling techniques to move the audience down the timeline of her life. In the end, not only did I find this film to be entertaining and beautiful, I really feel it is an effective piece of art that shows the life of a historically iconic public figure in a way that people have never seen before.

Three 6 Mafia 1, Martin Scorsese 0

Many of you who will read this were apart of the 38.9 million people who watched the Academy Awards on Sunday evening the 5th of March to take in a night of Hollywood glitz and glamour. There were many wonderful surprises of the evening, Reese Witherspoon's performance as country music's jewel June Carter Cash winning Best Actress over Felicity Huffman's interpretation of the male transvestite, Bree Osbourne, rebuilding the lost relationship with his son, culminating with Jack Nicholson's presentation of Best Picture of 2005 to indie smash hit "Crash" instead of Best Director Ang Lee's heavily favored "Brokeback Mountain."

However, one award in particular was more shocking than surprising. The presentation of Best Original Song to the Memphis based rap group Three 6 Mafia for their creation of the song "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp" for the film "Hustle & Flow," which was preformed on stage in front of millions with dancing pimps and prostitutes. Which raises the question, what is the Academy really looking for when deciding the receipitants of theses prestigious awards? It is that one highly emotional song that can sum up the entire film into three and a half minutes of music, or is it the underdog that if victorious would be considered ground-breaking and progressive? Apparently no one will really know the answer, but lets get one thing straight. This award show was developed by the Academy to recognize excellence in movie making through time. Now don't get me wrong Three 6 Mafia did do a wonderful job at getting that emotional tone of the film into written words, but you have got to look at the rest of the nominees in this category to decide if they really deserved the award.

This year there were only three songs nominated for Best Original Song; Dolly Parton's "Travlin' Thru" for the indie film "Transamerica," Kathleen York's "In The Deep" for Best Picture "Crash" and Three 6 Mafia's "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp." With this Oscar year being the year of first time nominees (Reese Witherspoon, Philip Seymour Hoffman, George Clooney, Rachel Weisz, etc.), only one nominee in this category has ever been nominated for an Academy Award previously. Dolly Parton has been on the entertainment circuit for the past three decades and is considered one of the most famous stars of all time. She has been nominated for one other Oscar in 1980 for penning the cover song for the comedy "9 to 5," which she lost to Michael Gore for writing the cover song to the drama school hit "Fame." During her reign as the queen of country music, she has stretched her wings into the field of visual entertainment by becoming a television and film actress as well. For all of her achievements in this visual medium she has been nominated for 16 awards including two Oscars and one Emmy. With in those 16 nominations she has only won twice. She received a People's Choice Award in 1988 for All Around Female Performer of the Year and the demeaning Razzie Award in 1985. With her obvious ability to entertain millions of people with only her presence on stage (she was the only performer at the 2006 Academy Awards to perform without a stage show) and superior song writing skills, why did she loose the Oscar to three jean clad unknown rappers? Only the executives from Price Waterhouse Coopers (the firm that conducts the voting for the Academy) can answer that question. However, this raises even a greater question. What other moguls of the entertainment industry have gone unrecognized for their outstanding achievement in the industry?

Other than Ms. Dolly Parton one name comes to mind. Martin Scorsese has being creating and directing some of the most influential and popular films of the past six decades, and has gone home empty handed from the Academy Awards every single time he has been nominated. Over the past 47 years since his first directing credit, he has been nominated for five Oscars for Best Director (including "The Aviator" (2004), "Goodfellas" (1990) and "Raging Bull" (1980)) and two Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay ("The Age of Innocence" (1993) and "Goodfellas" (1990)), but that prestigious list dwarfs his career credits. Since his birth in 1942, he has 42 directing credits ("Casino" (1995), "New York, New York" (1977), "Taxi Driver" (1976), etc.), 32 producing credits, 23 acting credits, 12 writing credits, 5 editing credits, and about 120 credits of appearances that have aired on either television or DVD special edition features. It is almost impossible to be apart of modern pop culture and not know of a Martin Scorsese film or image, and not once has he had those 45 seconds of the nation's attention to acknowledge those who have helped him on the way to greatness. Just give the man his Oscar! It is amazing and shocking that the man who has been at the top of his industry for decades, and who is studied in numerous film schools throughout the country has been scrapped every single year at the pinnacle of all award shows in the world, but a relatively unknown rap trio from the south accepted the coveted Oscar wearing jeans and baseball caps.

It is almost sad that in modern society we value the fresh and hip over the experienced and knowledgeable. How we value youth and beauty over age and wisdom. I can only imagine of what a slap in the face it must of felt like to Martin Scorsese to watch Three 6 Mafia accept that 13 ½” golden statue that he has so obviously earned over the years. I am sure that both James Dean and Cary Grant, who were never awarded Best Actor during their Hollywood careers, would of been just as shocked to see the Academy give out the one award that is held on such a high pedestal to a group that didn’t even show the respect to dress appropriately to a black tie affair in which the theme was a return to glamour. Perhaps it is seen as a breath of fresh air to have a unique winner go home with the awards, but I hope that the greatness of the arts are recognized as well.

Average Excellence

Robert Altman is a filmmaker that will either fascinate viewers with his hodgepodge cast of characters or make films to replace an insomniac's sleeping pills. One of his most recent films titled Gosford Park won critical acclaim and was awarded the Academy Award in 2001 for best original screenplay, but was painstakingly boring for many of its audiences. It had a slow developing plot, a vast cast of supporting characters, and basically showed boring rich English snobs going about their everyday life until the plot actually started half way through the film. However, with the plot moving at the pace of a snail it is fascinating to watch these extremely diverse characters interact, which is where many of Altman’s films find their charm and appeal. One film inparticular that demonstrates this creative tension of plot speed and character interactions is his 1973 detective piece The Long Goodbye. This film is defiantly not a classic worthy of being shelved next to Birth of a Nation or Citizen Kane, but is an entertaining character piece that combines everything from naked yoga brownie babes to a special cat with a stubborn taste pallet.

The Long Goodbye is modeled after the classic detective movies common of the 1940’s film noir genre. This film does have many classic noir elements including the typical male detective (Philip Marlowe), a femme fatale (Eileen Wade), and is set in the Hollywood Hills. The opening scene sets the unique tone of the film by having the protagonist, Philip Marlowe, set out on a three a.m. search for a specific brand of cat food after being rejected by his hungary feline companion. This is just the beginning of a long string of bizarre story elements that twist and turn into an intricate web of lies and murder. Eventually, Detective Marlowe is confronted by an old friend, Terry Lennox, who asks for a ride to Mexico to escape the grasp of his wife. Marlowe agrees and ironically enough finds himself imprisoned for murder the very next day, but is released soon enough when the authorities discover that Lennox has committed suicide. This closes the case on the murder of Lennox’s wife for everyone except Marlowe, and causes him to begin an investigation that will eventually bring the film to a close. Even though the plot sounds intriguing enough the speed at which this unravels on screen would rival paint on the wall in a drying contest. It is extremely slow to watch, but acts as a window into the life of a private eye.

With the film moving at a slow pace it basically models detective Marlowe’s life during the drug induced slow motion of the 1970’s. Before going into this film one must understand that the life of a detective is not the most exciting to watch. These people are hired to watch other regular people live their everyday lives until a clue surfaces, and for viewers who enjoy this type of film The Long Goodbye will suit you wonderfully. However, for viewers who are not hard core detective film fans it seems more entertaining to watch and see where Marlowe might strike his next match than following the murder investigation. By Altman taking his time in retelling Robert Chandler’s 1953 popular detective novel it allows the audience to experience the colorful characters of this film noir above and beyond the original noirs of the 1940’s. Whatever it is that this film is lacking in pacing it makes up for in the interactions between Marlowe and the rest of the world.

Detective Marlowe looks like a perfect walking talking mannequin from a 1950’s Sears catalogue. He always dresses in a three piece suit and like the classic noir detectives has cigarettes ready to be smoked, but the only problem with this is that he is stuck in a decade that ended twenty years earlier. He looks the part of the stereotypical 1940’s film noir detective, but is living in the ever changing world of the 70’s which is the real entertainment begins. Add into the mix of this typical film noir detective a colony of nudist female yoga enthusiast living across the way who use a stop light as a porch decoration one can barely keep a chuckle down. During the duration of the film Marlowe does have some contact with these young women, but at times he literally just doesn’t speak their language. It is quite entertaining to see a person who is in a profession that requires expertise in observing and analyzing human behavior, but can barely ask his neighbors if they have seen his beloved lost cat. The naked yoga enthusiastic neighbors of his are only a small piece of the character quilt that makes up this film, but are much needed comedic relief for the viewers who are on the verge of death from boredom.

Overall The Long Goodbye is great for audiences who are fans of the detective genre and are willing to see a fresh spin on an iconic American cinema movement, but just don’t expect to be ready to operate any heavy machinery right after viewing. It has many elements of the typical 1940’s detective drama but gives the genre a breath of fresh air, and opens these films to a whole new generation of audiences. The Long Goodbye does have it entertaining moments and appeals to the person who finds enjoyment in laid back subtle humor between colorful characters. However, this film takes too long in developing a concrete plot surrounding Detective Marlowe worth following. Basically, the film is worthy of a six and a half rating on a one to ten scale it defiantly isn't an American cinema classic, but it worthy of audience attention when it comes onto a cable channel.

Nice Guys

Sometimes being nice and being average is the best thing for a man to be. This being the case for Barry Egan, a mid 30-year-old plunger salesman living in southern California. In Punch Drunk Love, Egan learns to live life outside his secure daily routine, while trying to find love at the same time. Although he does experience many obstacles in his path to happiness he overcomes them triumphantly, and ends with a more content life. Through the usage of wonderful character acting and stylized filmic techniques director Paul Thomas Anderson is able to bring the average story of a plunger sales man and his mysterious love interest to life.

As Egan, Adam Sandler takes a step outside his overly physical comedic type character, Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison, to play an introverted social outcast, with a family of seven sisters and only a couple of friends. This over powering female presence in his life becomes apparent with the constant nagging phone calls at work, and dating pressure the sisters put on him. As a result of this Egan finds it intimidating to be in situations with the opposite sex, and reduces himself to calling a phone sex service just to have some type of intimate connection with a woman. In a typical Sandler role his character would use some form of physical humor to attract the ladies, but not for Egan. To pull off an overly nervous introvert Sandler uses subtle acting choices, speaking softly, to complement his character’s irrational actions, flying to hawaii suddenly, which blend wonderfully for the character’s personality.

Emily Watson, an extremely talented character actress, plays a rather quiet and mysterious middle-aged office worker. The audience is never given any indepth character back ground on Lena other than her occupation, and the fact that she is attracted to Egan. Due to this lack of knowledge from the audience, Watson has to work extra hard to gain the necessary emotional responses. She makes a lasting impression by acting so gentle and caring towards Egan, which is completely opposite to his Type A personality sisters. Basically, she acts just normal while around Egan, and gains the audience’s attention from her actions. While showing her acting range as a blind laboratory worker in Red Dragon, and as an over worked English maid in Gosford Park this role gives her a persona of every day mystique, adding another impressive performance her a long and distinguished resume.

For the alumni Saturday Night Live performer, Sandler became a hallmark in comedy films for his high level physical antics (Happy Gilmore), and his exceptional talent for playing the village idiot (Billy Madison). However, by breaking away from his on screen persona, Sandler gives an honest and heartfelt performance. Even though his character, Barry Egan, is in most circumstances anti-confrontational and reserved, there are a few instances where he lashes out irrationally. While at a party for his sister, Egan suddenly kicks in three pains on a sliding glass door with such intensity and veracity that it startles the audience to see such a sudden shift in character. In another scene of irrational rage, Egan proceeds to “beat up” a bathroom while on a date with Lena, and then acts so calm in denying it to the restaurant manage. These instances are where the physicality of Sandler bring the character of Egan to life. By pushing personal acting norms into a more internal performance of his character, and using a form of the physical comedy Sandler is famous for he puts on a remarkable performance.

Along with wonderful performances from an amazing cast, the stylistic elements of the film’s lighting and camera techniques can not be over looked. The majority of the film is shot with a wide lens giving the straight lines on the frame a curved appearance around the edges of the picture. This portraying a world slightly out of balance, and gives a different perspective on a character’s life. Director Paul Thomas Anderson, Magnolia and Boogie Nights, uses this technique right in the beginning of this film to help the audience understand that Egan lives in an unbalanced world. The second shot of the film is a medium close-up on Egan shot from a wide angle lens. Although this techniques allows more visual space to be in the frame, it distorts the normal visual world. During this sequence, Egan carries on a phone conversation concerning a free milage promotion offered through Healthy Choice products. Along with this being rather unusual conversation to have, it is given an extra feel of uniqueness by having Egan’s surroundings out of balance.

Also, his usage of color to develop character and to help invoke emotional responses for the audience is dominate through out Punch Drunk Love. In addition to Sandler giving a truthful performance to help convey his character on screen, Anderson uses the color blue to intensify Egan’s depression and isolation. Usually blue light casts unforgiving shadow onto its subjects leaving them look very washed out and lifeless. It can amplify a feeling of coldness from a harsh illusion of instability on characters. Egan appears to be isolated by his surrounding when he is being dominate by his sisters or the pressures of his job, and by using blue lighting and costuming it gives the audience a deeper understanding into the harsh surroundings of his everyday reality. To complement this depression and harshness Lena is presented to the audience surrounded by warm colors especially red. During the dinner date scene where Egan proceeds to “beat up” the bathroom, Lena is dressed in a feminine solid red dress. Since the character of Lena is more mysterious, this red dress offers an insight into her personality without it having to be talked about in the dialogue. In general, her character brings warmth to the life of Egan and teaches him to love and sacrifice in the end. It is a nice touch to have her dressed and surrounded by a warm and loving color. Anderson’s stylistic decisions to bring color and camera techniques to a noticeable level worked well in enhancing the overall effect of the film.

It is refreshing to see a star break out of their character type to play a role that under many circumstances would be perfect for a completely opposite actor. Sandler is able to effectively break his stereotype by bringing the introverted Barry Egan to life, and adds in a touch of the physicality that he is known for. He is helped with a wonderful supporting cast of superior character actors, Emily Watson and Luis Guzman, in giving Egan drive and passion in his life. To help enhance the film’s unbalanced mood director Anderson uses stylized camera techniques and emotional colors to give an in-depth insight into the lives or his cast of characters. In the end al of these elements of film making come to an artful pinnacle, and tells a wonderful story of an average everyday nice guy who feels special in the end.

The Horror Within

It seems frightfully funny how some things can come full circle. It probably never even crossed the mind of Mrs. Honora Parker that her heartfelt Christmas present of a journal would be a key piece of evidence in her murder trial. In 1954, Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme, two teenaged school girls, planned out and executed a heinous murder where they brutally bludgeoned Pauline’s mother, Mrs. Parker, to a bloody death. Kiwi director Peter Jackson co-wrote and directed this historically factual retelling of Mrs. Parker’s murder for the silver screen, titled Heavenly Creatures. Along with this film showing one of the most brutal and twisted crimes of the 1950’s, it adds a twist of horror that only filmic story telling is able to tell.

This realistic reenactment combines filmic genres that in most circumstances would be seen at the opposite ends of the story telling spectrum. It successfully combined romance, fantasy, and horror. Jackson decided to use specific elements of these genres to depict the mental confusion of teenaged life. Romance is the dominate force driving Juliet and Pauline together. At the budding of their relationship they are filmed in low contrast lighting making their figures standout, and draws the attention of the scene to them together. Juliet, being the heroine of the two, is presented in a softer light making her appearance resembles a delicate porcelain doll. By showing her in this beautiful way from Pauline’s point of view gives insight to the homosexual attraction she feels for Juliet. However, with this story being set in the 1950’s little was known about adolescence and homosexuality, and what was known was considered to be too taboo for discussion. This causing parts of their ideal relationship to be played out in a world of fantasy rather than in society.

Juliet Hulme was very frank when stating that upon her death she was not going to heaven, but to a better place called the Forth World. Eventually, they used this Forth World as a realm of escape when the two felt like they were being invaded, or at times of weakness. During the course of the film, Pauline does have one sexual encounter with the opposite sex. In the twisted scene of her late night sexual escapade she sends her mind to the kingdom of Borovnia. She fantasies about dancing the night away with her idols Orson Wells and Mario Lanza. Fantasy, being a genre of escapism, draws people to experience worlds that are exciting and completely different from their own. Experiencing a world so different from the norm can be quite intoxicating for people who have a deep desire to escape their own. This worked as an advantage for Heavenly Creatures. These two girls use this escapism to detach themselves from situations they find disturbing. For Pauline, having sex with a male is most likely not the most comfortable situation, and by having her appear in Borovnia during this sequence helps present the awkwardness of expressing her sexuality.

This fantasy world depicted on screen is not complete without its violence. In many fantasy scenes, violence seems to be the driving force behind many of the girls’ actions. While in their beloved Borovnia, their life-sized clay creations carry out murders at the girls orders. Also, this presence of violence and horror is an underlying theme present throughout the film. During the opening scene, a shot sequence is rapidly edited into a pseudo travel commercial for the pristine town of Christchurch. This short sequence is loaded with horrific images, which are amplified by the filmic techniques used to capture them. The camera work during the running and confusion is hand held. This type of shot suggests uneasiness due to unstable motion, and the illusion of constant action on screen. These shots include Pauline and Juliet shrieking and running through a heavenly wooded area, covered in what appears to be blood. The sound of the screams alone are enough to cause a fearful response, because it is a type of scream that suggests pain and fear. It has a sound with a touch of horror and evil as its source. This scene sets the pace for the film, romantic at the beginning and horrific in the end. Along with hand held camera work and horrific sounds, which are common of the horror genre, there is a unsettling sense of uneasiness felt all the way to the end of the film.

Even during the scenes classified as romantic or fantasy there is a touch of horrific elements that can not be ignored. The use of canted angles to frame specific characters are used to help the audience to understand a mind and world out of balance. The scene in which Dr. Hulme presents the idea of separating the two comes into play. He is framed in a canted long shot taken from the ceiling looking down. For Juliet and Pauline, the thought of being pulled apart is unbearable. A person who might suggest such a cruelty is most likely seen as someone to shift their lives out of balance, and evil. This suggestion of evil parents works to the film’s advantage, since now the girls have a motive to remove those who stand in the way of their tight bond. Even though it is not Dr. Hulme who they decide to murder, they now have the need to dispose of a blocking force in their lives.

The ending scene is by far the most difficult and horrific scene to endure in the entire film. Not only did Jackson decided to reenact the scene as accurately as possible, he decided to use the very trail in New Zealand where the actual murder took place. The entire walk through the woods resembles a prisoners final walk down death row. Once again the camera work is hand held leaving an unsettling feeling of anticipation for the murder to take place. Once Mrs. Walker bends over, Pauline’s attack to the back of the skull leaves her mother screaming is pure agony. At this moment, their fantasy world of murder becomes real, and is the point where the two genres collide. Juliet and Pauline have been fantasizing about being able to commit murder, and at this point they turn fantasy into a bittersweet reality. After the first blow to Mrs. Parker, the pace of the beating becomes faster and faster paralleling the film’s editing. Quick cuts are used to link short shots, which jumps from the three points of view of the murder. Out of all three of the POV angles, Mrs. Parker’s has to be the most horrific. Everything thing in her vision is presented in shades of red, which directly resembles blood, and is swarming to her eyes while blinding her vision. With red being a deathly color it adds to the intensity of the scene, making it even harder to watch. Jackson’s decision to use rapid editing, choppy cinematography, and horrific sound works at showing a world of horror as real life on screen. Bringing a world of fantasy to life as horror for to girls who share romance is a big risk to take on screen. Jackson makes this job look simple by pulling themes from each genre to express disturbed minds, which successfully expresses girls who are just plain stark raving mad.

I intended this piece to be written for an audience who has already seen the film. This caused me to go back and cut out a lot of plot summary that at second reading seemed redundant or insignificant to the rest of the review. I found this difficult, because it seems that I write in some type of sequence that links a bunch of my writing through out the entire review. For example, I would write something on the first page that I refer to again later in the review. Once I read the beginning again I found that some material was really unnecessary and ended up deleting it. Then I had to go back to the other area where the material reappears and change that too. However, I think that it strengthens the review as a whole. I just hate doing it.

It seemed a lot harder to actually start this paper than to get going on it after the first page. I have a feeling that I was thinking too hard about how to write it that when it came to actually doing it writing was very hard. Once I found a good rhythm it became more natural, and I ended up going in a direction that I never planed in going. Since I am still new at the review writing process I am not sure at the strength of the review’s argument. It appears to be more of an analytical essay to me with the breaking down of scenes into different pieces. I do think that analyzing scenes is necessary to give a good review though. I guess I just can’t find a proper balance of the analysis and review at this point in the semester.