I'm Still Alive, Just Very Behind

Good evening. Apparently I haven't figured out the trick to watching five films and writing about them on time yet, because I start more posts by apologizing than even promoting films. I'm going to continue writing this week about cop films, as I am sincerely interested in all of the films from last week, but I promise to stay on top of my posts for next week. I'm undecided as yet if I want to stay with my weekly themed lists, or if I want to just write about whatever film I end up watching, new to me, or previously viewed. As for notable films, I watched Observe and Report (2009 last weekend and I have to say, it was far more interesting than I was expecting. Without writing an extensive review in this post, as i'm sitting next to my pal as we watch Casino (1995), I will just say that it really isn't the film being advertised in the trailers, and tv spots. Complete with demented, disturbing humor, and a wonderfully effective soundtrack to offset the classic Apatow/Rogen/Ferrell new-age humor, this film almost succeeds without fail. Unfortunately, the dark atmosphere is compromised by out of place moments of cheap Stiller style comedy. Still though, I give the film high praise for being fresh and unique in today's market, and definitely recommend it. It's best described as Taxi Driver (1976) meets Waiting (2004).
B or 76%.
-Ben

Drinking hot chocolate and the first momets of Serpico

Last night I began watching Serpico (1973) at about 1230am, determined to watch at least a solid portion of the film to keep up with my own crushing pace. Predictably, I found myself in bed by 1am, justifying my laziness with pride for having even started the film in the first place. Other than being immediately aware of the directorial brilliance of Sidney Lumet for what feels like the hundredth time, I'll save my final appraisal of the film for later. Also, this weeks list has changed to this one;
1. Colors (1988)
2. Serpico (1973)
3. Bullit (1968)
4. The Naked City (1948)
5. Act of Violence (1948)
Optional: Beyond the Law (1992)

I've just finished drinking an excellent hot chocolate at Stumptown coffee on Pine, where i'm waiting to hear from my flaky co-worker "Big Terry Jones, or Tare Bear." We're meeting to shoot some pool, as i've made it a lifetime goal of mine to excel at all of the non athletic gentleman's leisure activities. First i'll conquer pool, then i'll move on the golf, bowling, ping-pong, skiing. Even archery and horseback riding are possibilities. Normally i'd have ordered a short drip coffee with an inch of room for cream, but as i've already had one cup of coffee today, and will be having another when I meet my older brother in a few hours, I thought I'd opt for sugar, rather than caffeine. The point of my writing this is to pose a question, and the question is this;
Why must we feel stimulated beyond the basic intellectual appeal of interacting with one another? Why do we meet to ingest coffee, or lunch, or dinner? Why do we see a movie together, or play pool? Obviously I enjoy eating or drinking, or being entertained as much as anyone else, but if the intention in making plans with someone is to see them, then why can't we just meet in one of our respective residencies and look each other in the eye while posing questions to one another? It isn't so much a complaint as much as it's an observation. It seems that we're all so wrapped up in ourselves that we must seek out convenient distraction disguised as social facility to avoid fully experiencing one another's "infinite nature (to quote Naomi Watts)." Also, if you haven't seen this video of James Franco being hilarious, it's worth checking out.
-Ben

My new List, and an unnecessary post

Hello all. I've just returned from Scarecrow Video, arms full of cop films, excitement brimming from my eyes. Due to the store's two-for one Wednesday special, I rented six films, rather than five. The new list of movies is far more exciting and tasteful, including two 1948 noir films, as well as a non-related double-feature called Mystery Street (1950). With any luck, I'll be able to watch at least one of the films tonight, and review it before going to sleep. Stay posted. For tonight; Serpico (1973)

-Ben
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The Final Theme for Week 3!

Alright, i'll agree with you that i'm lazy, but at least i'm bothering to post even if it's late at night and I have nothing to say. This morning I tiredly watched the first 45 minutes of The Two Jakes (1990), before I finally turned it off and went to work to further aid humankind. I posted a request for a subject this week, and although I greatly appreciate all of the wonderful suggestions I got, none of them moved me toward a relevant theme. I have two options that seem fairly realistic, but I won't be starting the viewing this week until tomorrow night, so I will ask once again for guidance from my tremendous supporters. Let your voice be known, and the first one to get three votes will be the choice this week. Also, if you're the first response I get, you may choose one of the films on the list. My final two options are as follows; Cop movies in honor of Jody Hill's sophomore film, Observe and Report (2009), or religious/easter movies in honor of Sunday's big Jesus-fest. The two lists look roughly like this:

EASTER:
1. Religulous (2008)
2. The Last Temptation of Christ (1989)
3. The Passion of the Christ (2004)
4. Hank and Mike (2008)
5. Undetermined


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COPS:
1. Colors (1988)
2. Serpico (1973)
3. Bullit (1968)
4. The Border (1982)
5. Beyond the Law (1992)

Remember that I have to have not seen the movies that I watch, unless of course the person choosing one of the films insists I review something I've already seen. This exception will be allowed as long as the person swears it's a great film. Please give me a hand. I'll post the final list tomorrow.
-Ben

About 29 minutes late

Okay. I was supposed to watch 5 movies this week, and I watched two. Two! For gods sake, I can't even keep up with my own nonsense. I don't know yet what week three will entail, but I will try my best to watch at least four of five. That's okay though. My good buddy Max and I went over to the Taphouse in downtown Seattle tonight and played pool, and although I got my ass kicked for 3 hours, finally ending with a record of 4 and 9, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The highpoint of the evening would have to be getting to play billiards complementary, as a wonderful yet charming oversight from our beautiful bartender. This post will formally be introduced to the world more than a full hour after it should have, but that was ultimately necessary, as we had to visit dick's drive in before getting back to my place to watch Street Kings (2008). Nothing gives me more pleasure than to watch Keanu Reeve's utter racial slurs as a morally conspicuous Los Angeles cop.



"You dress white, buy black, and drive Jew," says
Reeve's in one of the first scene's.

This is so absurd coming from the man who not only played Johnny Utah, but Neo, that I have to give this film credit for being unintentionally humorous. Bravo! I will be visiting the video store tomorrow to pick up this weeks material, and I don't know what to get. I am officially begging my audience for a subject. It must be in some way relevant, but I don't care how vague it is. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated. I will wait 24 hours to visit the video store. Let me know at det.bateman@gmail.com.
-Ben

Again, i'm sorry i've been so sluggish with my posting. I'm behind for the second time this week. I guess maybe there's more to life than writing about movies on the internet for four people (who I appreciate greatly by the way).
Today I discuss Heaven’s Gate (1981), one of the most epically disastrous films in American history. At 219 minutes, this film is more than asking for a bad rap. It’s practically begging to be poorly reviewed by anyone dumb-enough to sit through the whole thing. Made by Michael Cimino, director of The Deer Hunter (1978), Heaven’s Gate (1981) was easily the most anticipated film of the early 80’s, if not the most anticipated film of the decade (which incidentally, the trailer claimed it to be). After Deer Hunter (1978) won best picture at the 1978 academy awards, United Artists (a fairly large studio) gave the newly crowned Michael Cimino carte blanche to make his next film, and while most director’s would be honored to even get then chance to make a second film, Cimino apparently believed he deserved carte blanche. So much so in fact, that he spent $36 million making the most tediously drawn out anti-western ever made. Even after the film was reviled by critics nation-wide, Cimino pulled the film from wide-release, insisting that by re-editing it, he could make everyone happy with just a little more time. This resulted in an even longer cut being pushed into theaters with a late release, eventually grossing under $2 million domestically. Based on the domestic gross of Heaven’s Gate (1981), United Artists was forced to dissolve both their distribution and production branches, ceasing to be a notable studio until they were resurrected in the late 90’s. Cimino was blacklisted in Hollywood, and would have to fight to even be involved in any subsequent projects for the rest of his career. People often wonder if the virtues of The Deer Hunter (1978) were the responsibility of Cimino, or the combined efforts of the rest of the crew.

All history aside, I actually enjoyed a great deal of Heaven’s Gate (1981). The major quarrel I have has more to do with the pacing and meticulous attention to detail running rampant throughout the film than the actual plot or performances. Obviously any film running close to four hours long is going to be hard pressed to entertain unconditionally, and when the genre is one which rarely exceeds 120 minutes, it becomes exceptionally challenging to justify the bloated nature of the picture. From an actors standpoint, the casting was fitting, showcasing a set of strong performances from the still young Christopher Walken, Jeff Bridges, and Isabelle Huppert. The real magic here is created from Kris Kristofferson in his role as a man born into wealth, but trying desperately to be a man of the people. As a protagonist, Kris really gets you to trust him without much setup, while his strong moral choices, and underdog sensibilities play wonderfully off of the drunk and confused ones of John Hurt, as Kristofferson’s former collegiate classmate. The most revered detail of the film was the cinematography, and even to this day, the swirling golden hues created from the mixture of dust and sunsets is beautiful to watch. Unfortunately, the dramatic context of the film isn’t properly introduced for about 45 minutes, effectively alienating the audience, and giving the feeling that there is something more meaningful going on that only the most specific audience is aware of. Due to the technology available at the time, the action scenes are fairly ineffectual, and really more disorienting than anything else, while the anticipation felt as the major battle approaches is very tangible and worth remembering.
All in all, I’d say that this commercial monstrosity is a pretentious mess, filled with some really wonderful moments, but the picture ultimately fails, as it tries to accomplish more than it’s genre has any business accomplishing. I wish I could give it more credit, but I have to give the film a c- or a 61%
-Ben

12 Angry Men...but 75 minutes longer

Welcome to my first actual review of "seconds week." I apologize for never finishing my review for David Lynch's Wild at Heart (1990), but I honestly became so irritated with the style of film making, I just moved on to better things (sleeping, eating entire large pizza's, watching Dirty Dancing...twice). The hilarious part is that of his films, this one has one of the clearest, least confusing narratives, but nonetheless, I got lazy. That said, here we are; My final choices for week 2 are as follows:
1. For a Few Dollars More (1965)
2. Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
3. Heaven's Gate (1980)
4. 12 (2007)
5. The Two Jakes (1990) *this one is both a sequel and has #2 in the title.

I've just come from watching 12 (2007), Nikita Mikhalkov's recent remake of the American classic film, 12 Angry Men (1957). The original film, directed by revered American director Sydney Lumet is often considered to be one of the greatest American films ever made. Set in post world war 2 America, the original confronted issues of racial prejudices, and asked questions of basic morality. At the time, the movie made quite an impact, and as such has been the subject of several American remakes over the last 50 years.

Tonight's film even had been nominated for an oscar for "best foreign language film." The Russian director is widely considered to be the Russian Spielberg, being responsible for several oscar winning films previously. Unfortunately though, this remake isn't the instant classic that I was expecting; Chocked full of poignant moments and memorable monologues it was, but it was also unbearably long. The original film leaves you feeling satisfied at 96 minutes with an unoffensive and ambiguous ending. Being that the premise for both films is the 12 men sitting around a table arguing over whether or not an uneducated boy is guilty or not guilty of murder, 96 minutes is more than a fair amount of time to tell this tale. Not for Mikhalkov though. For him, every single character had to have their own built up monologue, painting a tragically metaphoric picture related to the accused boy. In almost every case though, you're left feeling that these simple people are trying too hard to outdo one another with thick, dangerously contrived melodrama. That aside, out of the 159 minutes in this film, about 100 of them were spectacular. Certain moments were perfectly resonant, and certain actors drew us in all too well. It's just unfortunate that this film didn't become terrible for one long stretch, and that the bland moments had to pollute the entire script. If you're interested in seeing this film, be sure to watch the original first, as most of it's most wonderful developments are taken directly from the source. Overall, I give this film a B -, or a 71%.

Next up, Heaven's Gate (1980), the biggest commercial flop in the history of movies. See you then.
-Ben

A New Week of Films

This will be a week of seconds. As it is no longer my inaugural week of blogging, I will be celebrating this week as the birth of a new era;



That era is week #2. The films this week will all be famous seconds in some way, be it in their chronological significance, their title, etc. The list is as follows; A sequel, a remake, a notable director's second film, a notable actors second film, and a film with the number 2 in the title.


1. For a Few Dollars More (1965)
2. Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
3. Heaven's Gate (1980)
4. 12 (2007)
5. Undetermined as yet

As I watch these films, I'll explain the significance of each one. Unfortunately, i've been lazy about posting over the last couple of days, and today isn't gonna be much better. I'm going to have to cut this short, and head to the video store to get the films. Perhaps by tonight I'll have watched the first one. Thanks for checking in. By the way, has everybody already seen the trailer for Where the Wild Things Are (2009)? It's easily the most exciting bit of movie news in a couple of weeks. Directed by Spike Jonze, this film should really be something special. Check it out; Also, i've already seen Double Team (1997), I just might've watched it.
-Ben