Do you ever think about great things for a blog entry and then just kind of tire of the whole idea by the time you get to writing it down? Yeah...
I can't seem to stick to theme, so, I'll just write about some movies that I like. I own a lot of DVDs. A dumb amount, really. I should sell them (SELL THEM ALL!!! *CACKLES MADLY*), but, I sometimes like to just stand in front of them and wander through all the emotion and excitement that each title brings to mind. I suppose I could do the same with a picture of the DVD. That'd be a whole lot cheaper, too. This is not a "best" list, but these movies are great in their own way.
Road House - This movie is macho to the max. Patrick Swayze as Dalton, a bar "cooler" who has a reputation as one of the best. He makes big bucks making sure bars stay calm and civil. The movie is full of rednecks and brawlers, a bad guy who knows he's a bad guy (evil!) and even martial arts fights. The owner of a redneck bar brings in Dalton to help him out, but Dalton ends up battling the town's most prominent businessman who has a whole stable of bad guys and holds the town in fear. Nominated for 5 Razzie awards. So sweet.
Big Trouble in Little China - Kurt Russell plays a modern trucker unexpectedly sucked into the dangerous and mysterious world of ancient China (via San Francisco's China Town). This movie is action-oriented cheese at its best. The "hero" is really more of a fool than a savior, so there are comic elements and the supernatural aspect of the movie (ancient Chinese mysticism) keeps it from ever getting too serious. It is, however, a great adventure.
American Psycho - This movie is not for everyone but is, perhaps, Christian Bale at his best. It is dark and violent, but very sharp. It is a sort of commentary on the excess and shallowness of the American 80s from the perspective of someone who is, arguably, insane. He vents his frustrations, a result of his inability to be top-dog all the time, by murdering people, sometimes in spectacular fashion. The movie has a certain je ne sais quoi that transcends this violence to make it a work of beauty. My favorite line, "I have to return some video tapes."
I'm feeling particularly "meh" about this season. I'm excited that SOMETHING is happening... like the usual hoopla that surrounds the NCAA, but there's one thing in particular that bothers me. Michael Vick. I just think it's a shame that he was granted another contract after what he did (briefly: Michael Vick and his co-conspirators Purnell Peace, Quanis Phillips and Tony Taylor killed thirteen dogs by various methods including wetting one dog down and electrocuting her, hanging, drowning and shooting others and, in at least one case, by slamming a dog’s body to the ground). This was high profile and must have been considered when Vick, now released from jail, was offered a contract with the Eagles.
Some of my friends don't care, not necessarily because they don't care about dogs, but because Vick served prison time. He's "paid his debt", so to speak. I still don't like it. One of my friends compared it to bull-fighting.
I responded:
One difference between bull fighting and dog fighting, just to nitpick: The bullfighting is MAN vs. bull. It’s still cruel and pathetic, but at least there is mortal danger to the person doing the fighting. Even so, it is still controversial, even in the countries where it is considered entertainment.
There is a philosophy that judges the moral worth of a society on how it treats its most vulnerable. One expression of this is that you can judge a society on how it treats its animals.
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.. I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man"-- Mahatma Gandhi (1869 - 1948)
It isn’t clear where I can draw the line. If I was Buddhist, and believed that all life is sacred, I might bend over backward to ensure ALL life is not harmed by my actions. I only see life and non-life, one life being of equal significance to another for the sheer fact that it’s alive and that, in itself, is a miracle as far as we know. It might not be easy for me to let that fly continue to buzz around my head (SMACK!), and mosquitoes are a bona-fide threat to our health (SMACK!), but it is easy for me to consider the willful causation of suffering as a manifestation of evil. I’m not sure that a fly suffers or even feels pain, but I know that if I knock it out of the air, breaking its wings, I want to step on it as quickly as possible. I did this to a bee recently. I knocked it right down to the ground where I saw that it probably wasn’t going to fly again. I thought it was better to crush it out of existence than let it suffer. Was it really suffering? I have no idea. Do I actually believe I’ll be judged for killing the bee? No. But Gandhi’s words do mean something to me. I believe my actions are the most humane, given the circumstances. Here is where Michael Vick and I diverge wildly. Vick’s actions were the opposite of humane. He, willingly and knowingly, inflicted terrible pain and suffering on another living creature, one we all know is also capable of experiencing pain and suffering. He didn’t step on a fly, he tortured dogs. Tortured them. To death. At times with his own hands. He lacked, completely, that quality which we think sets us apart from the other beasts of the animal kingdom (humaneness). I actually wish I had not read the accounts of what he did. He is an abomination.
Now, the NFL is a business about making money, and I think there are certainly enough people out there who could care less about how dogs are treated and just want to see good football. I understand why Vick got a job. I just think it’s pathetic and, because I am aware of the circumstances and how I feel about them, I will make sure that none of my money goes towards Michael Vick or the Eagles. I’m conflicted because I want to also apply that to the NFL. I’m sure there are plenty of thugs to go around in a lot of leagues, but I know this one, and I definitely do not forgive Michael Vick for what he did. The NFL is tarnished in my mind. Lucky for me, there’s no hope for the Lions.
I suppose I could write about something noble here, and I really do think this applies across a wide array of fields (I'm just not going to talk about them), but I find that I'm one of those people that just has to finish a movie.
Have you ever caught yourself watching a movie on TV (with commercials, even) that you OWN? I just did that, today, with The Matrix. I've seen the movie enough times to know that the lobby fight scene was edited for television. It was when I came to that realization that I turned the TV off! hehe. I'm supposed to be studying, anyway. I took a break and got sucked in.
It just drives me some sort of crazy, though, to not finish it. I've never walked out of a movie... I can't do it. Well, I've never walked out because of the movie, itself. I've left because I was falling asleep so I had no idea what was going on in the movie, anyway. Now, I worked at a movie theater for 10 years, so, I've seen a lot of freakin' movies. The most excruciating was Cats and Dogs. We'd run films the night before their release for employees and, if I hadn't been in charge, I probably would have left this one. It was definitely for a younger audience and lacked that quality of Pixar (and sometimes Disney) films that also appeals to older audiences. Nope... terrible... but I stayed until the bitter end.
I guess I wouldn't think this is remarkable, but I do it with movies I've already seen... movies I see on TV that I own...
When I was much younger, I remember my parents making me turn off the TV to go to dinner. If I remember correctly, I was watching an episode of Silver Spoons that, for some reason, involved one of the characters heads being in the refrigerator. It sounds morbid, but I can't remember if it was a dream, practical joke, or what the plot device in the show was... I just remember being unbelievably pissed that I wasn't allowed to know how the story ended. What happened!?!?!?
I find it interesting that the White House chose to publicize the beers that the prez., Harvard prof., and police officer will be having at their conversation today. These are not official.
Prez: Bud Light Harvard: Red Stripe or Becks Police: Blue Moon
Now, for both Harvard and Police, I feel like I get it. You like what you like, or you're not very particular, but it just feels strange to me that Prez chose Bud Light. Do you think he really drinks Bud Light, or did he simply choose the most neutral beer he could think of? Now, I am not one of those people that feels he SHOULD be drinking a certain beer (like an "American" beer), but I was just interested in their choices.
By the way, the largest American owned brewery in the US is Sam Adams. Miller, Bud, Coors, etc... are all foreign owned.
(update) Final disposition: Gates and Crowley, dressed in dark suits, had Sam Adams Light and Blue Moon, respectively, while Obama, in rolled-up shirt sleeves, had a Bud Light. Biden joined them for a non-alcoholic Buckler beer.
Someone clued me into a movie from 1989 about 2 NY cops that have to escort a Japanese Yakuza member back to Japan where adventure ensues. I am always interested in films located in Japan and I was just astounded that I had never heard of this before. I mean, I know movies, and I didn't know this one. It stars Michael Douglas and Andy Garcia, was directed by Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Alien) and the score was done by Hans Zimmer (Gladiator, like, everything)! Holy crap! I immediately found it on Netflix and just watched it last night. That said, I hated it. I had actually considered buying it, instead of borrowing it, but that would have been a mistake.
Michael Douglas' character, "Nick" (does that help?), is just such a jerk, I can hardly stand it. He's an unsympathetic character. He's a theif being investigated by his own internal affairs, his attitude is to just hit people (perps) in the face for no reason, he shows absolutely no respect for authority (normally something I might like, but when you go to another country, you don't even know what you're disrespecting), and carries around this hand cannon of a gun. Now, this is 1989 when the movie is made and maybe that's just the way things were, but the I'm-from-NYC-so-therefore-I'm-completely-unreasonable thing just got real old, real fast. For example, the main antagonist ("Sato") gets away in Japan so "Nick" reasons that since he never signed the transfer paperwork, it must still be his collar, so that means he should be allowed to run around Osaka, with his gun, chasing the guy. It didn't help that I considered Nick to be rather stupid and emotionally undeveloped.
I was also saddened that the film did not really explore Japan. They made use of some of the more popularly known things like noodles everywhere, respect for elders and the pressure on an individual to conform, but it was really just a NYC cop drama that took place in Osaka. They even made the main female character (a small part, already) an English speaking woman from Chicago (what!?!?). Oh, she also speaks Japanese... that changes everything.
I called this entry the worst of the best because there was so much potential in this film from so many GREAT contributors. Ridley Scott's Gladiator won Best Picture and Best Actor (he was nominated for his direction but didn't win). Hans Zimmer won an Oscar for The Lion King and has been nominated many times. Michael Douglas has TWO Oscars, most notably for Wall Street. Andy Garcia has a nomination, but he's the slouch of the bunch, and I think that's saying a lot. He's a fine actor. So, maybe my expectations were just too high. Maybe the film hasn't aged very well (it's been 20 years).
I did appreciate the triva provided by IMDB.com, though. You get more of an insight into the Japanese than watching the actual film.
-When the crew ran a few minutes over filming at a location in Japan, they were not only told to leave, a man physically walked in front of the camera and forbade them from continuing filming.
They're a stickler for schedules. The trains are ALWAYS on time, and this sort of attitude contributes to that expectation. My work day, when I was there, followed a very strict schedule without deviation.
-Yusaku Matsuda, who plays the villain, Sato, knew he had bladder cancer, and that his condition would be aggravated by acting in the movie. He elected to do so anyway, unbeknownst to director Ridley Scott, reportedly saying, "This way, I will live forever." He died on 9 November 1989, less than seven weeks after the film's American premiere.
This touched me. I felt that it spoke to Japanese perseverence. They are the hardest workers I know of, and the rational (immortality) is interesting.
-Howard Atherton shot most of the film, but he got so frustrated in Japan that he resigned. Jan de Bont was brought in to finish the rest of the film.
This cracks me up and was one of the problems I had with "Nick". Japan is a completely foreign place, and the idea that "Nick" could just run around and accomplish anything was something I couldn't buy into... not without help or knowing Japanese. I have to wonder what Atherton (Dir. of Photo. for Fatal Attraction, Bad Boys) had such a problem with, but I can kind of understand being frustrated.
-Average Shot Length & Median Shot Length = ~3.5 seconds
It was an f'n MTV music video (*shakes fist at Ridley Scott*). Patience is a Japanese virtue... visual art, arranging everything just right for the perfect presentation. This movie did not embody that at all. Maybe that was part of the cinematographer's frustration.
And I just realized I have no idea why it's called Black Rain.
From the wiki:
In its opening weekend, Black Rain grossed $9.6 million in 1,610 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking #1 at the box office. It stayed at the #1 spot for 2 more weeks.[1] The film grossed a total of $46.2 million in the United States and Canada and $88 million in other territories for a worldwide gross of $134.2 million.[2]
This is not a "best" list, but these movies are great in their own way.
