Matthew For The Nobel Peace Prize

Oscar Predictions 2012

2012-02-23T08:00:00.006-05:00

I share a character trait with my brother; we both like writing things people don't read. So in that tradition we decided to team up and each write out our Oscar Predictions without the other one knowing what they would be. So here are our predictions, which are surprisingly close, meaning bet the complete opposite way.

Best Picture:

Matthew's Prediction: "The Artist"

Nobody seems to know why "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" was nominated. When we look back on the films with best picture nods this year and say "wait how was such and such not even nominated; I have a feeling that film will be "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" for many people.

"The Artist" is something Academy voters will eat up. It is about the early history of film itself, and it takes a risk (being mostly silent and all) that pays off. I think in this category and others they will reward the risk, as well as the pat on the back to themselves.

Who should win: "The Tree of Life"

"...the mind races backward; past becomes present, present becomes past. This is what it means to be conscious, to be alive. This is what it means to be aware of one's own mortality. These are the sensations that movies should provoke. This is the sort of reflection that movies should inspire. This is the achievement of "Tree of Life." It is an original, beautiful, unique movie by a defiantly individual director." Matt Zoller Seitz & Serena Bramble (1)

Jonathan's Prediction: "The Artist"

Unfortunately at this point in time, I have only seen two of the Best Picture noms, and that was "Moneyball" & "Midnight in Paris." MB was a good movie, but I don't see it as 'best picture' quality, so it is out in my mind. "Midnight in Paris" was decent, and a cool concept of a movie, but I had a few issues with it and thought it had some weak spots.

Based on what I know about it as a movie, and based on what I know about its competition, I am choosing "The Artist" as the winner of this award.

Actor in a Leading Role

Matthew's Prediction: Jean Dujardin in "The Artist"

This is actually a pretty wide open race. Pitt has won awards for the whole of his year which included "The Tree of Life." Clooney might still offically be the front runner, but I think there will be at least a minor upset if he is still considered the favorite by the show. I think people wanna hear Dujardin give a speech.

Who should win: Gary Oldman There is no actor better than Gary Oldman. His George Smiley says almost as little as Dujardin. I think some people look at Dujardin (who is great) as acting while maybe Oldman as not. Thats of course a mistake. The fact that this is Oldman's very first Oscar nomination also shows that these things at the end of the day, don't always accuretly reflect the best.

"Projecting a face so passive it could almost be labeled a mask, Oldman allows a glimpse into Smiley’s inner life through his aqueous eyes, which betray volatility more in line with the rest of the actor’s notable roles." Tony Dayoub

Jonathan's Prediction: George Clooney in "The Descendents"

Best Actor is a bit of a crap shoot. There is a lot of good talent in this category. I really like Jean Dujardin for this award. Plus, I love saying his name. Du-Jar-din! Brad Pitt was good in "Moneyball," but I'm not convinced he was "Best Actor" good. Anywho...I think the smart money is on Clooney. Clooney is a great actor, but let's be honest, he is probably going to get a plethora of votes just based on his name.

Actor in a Supporting Role

Matthew's Prediction: Christopher Plummer in "Beginners"
Surprised Albert Brooks did not get nominated for "Drive." Plummer will win for his career as well as a great performance. Maybe they will show Julie Andrews, his Sound Of Music co-star, in the crowd.

Jonathan's Prediction: Christopher Plummer in "Beginners"
While Best Supporting Actress was the most up in the air, Best Supporting Actor is pretty open and shut in my opinion. Christopher Plummer takes home the Oscar. If anyone were to pull out an upset it would be Max Von Sydow (also a great name) with his role in "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close." Regardless, I think Plummer will take home the win.

Actress in a Leading Role

Matthew's Prediction: Viola Davis in "The Help"

Meryl Streep seemed a shoe-in except for the fact nobody really liked the rest of the film outside of her performance. Will she win simply because she is due to again? If acting is only mimicry, then Rich Little is due his lifetime achievement award.
Michelle Williams has a good chance but I think it will go to Viola Davis. I think there might be just enough of a backlash about Streep being overdue and deserving to win for that alone. She is nominated almost every year. She will get another soon enough.

If Davis wins, look for Hollywood to pat themselves on the back for being so color blind. The same Hollywood that rejected Eddie Murphy's original concept of an all black cast for "Tower Heist" and refused to finance the George Lucas produced "Red Tails" because it did have a nearly all black cast.
Jonathan's Prediction: Viola Davis in "The Help"

If I were betting money, I would probably put it on Streep to take Best Actress. The woman is an award winning machine and the Susan Lucci of the Oscars, having been nominated more than anyone else, but only winning a couple of times. The thing is, I don't like Meryl Streep. That's right, I said it. Also, I want Viola Davis to win one over her, therefore, I am going with the next best choice, Viola Davis, in "The Help." This should be a mild upset, but not an overly shocking one.

Actress in a Supporting Role

Matthew's Prediction: Octavia Soencer in "The Help"

These are the categories where there is usually an upset. I can see almost any of them winning, but I will stick with Spencer.

Jonathan's Prediction: Octavia Spencer in "The Help"

I could see this award going a number of different ways. It is the most up in the air award category in my opinion. I would love to see Melissa McCarthy win it, but I doubt she will, nor am I sure she should. I am going to go out on a limb and say that Octavia Spencer is going to get the win on this one. If my picks for Actress & Supporting Actress do come true, it will be Oscar history. Never have two black women won both awards in the same year. In fact, only one black woman has ever won Best Actress (Halle Berry in Monster's Ball) and only four have ever won Supporting Actress, but thankfully, times, they are a changing, and I think these two ladies will indeed make history by taking home the trophies.

Cinematography

Matthew's Prediction: Guillaume Schiffman for "The Artist"

Part of me thinks "Hugo" will win because its better 3D than most films in a format that is already faltering a bit (once again). "The Tree of Life" has its best chance in this category but I think people will be blinded by the black and white, "The Artist."

Jonathan's Prediction: Robert Richardson for "HUGO"

From what I have seen of all these movies, I would have to say that "Hugo" is most likely to win this award. As long as it goes to a film that actually practices good Cinematography and not special effects, I am happy. I have not seen Hugo yet, but I have seen multiple trailers and it looks spectacular.

Directing

Matthew's Prediction: Michel Hazanavicius for "The Artist"

I think "The Artist" will win Best Picture, and usually, but not always Best Picture gets Best Director.

Jonathan's Prediction: Michel Hazanavicius for "The Artist"

I think Best Picture and Best Director almost go hand-in-hand. Again, my smart money is on Hazanavicius for The Artist, although I would be happy if Scorsese won. I could see it, but if I had to choose a winner, I would go with Haz.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

Matthew's Prediction: Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash for "The Descendants"

Jonathan's Prediction: Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash for "The Descendants"

I think "The Descendants" will win. I think "Moneyball" would also be a good choice, and TTSS should possibly take the award over Clooney's movie, but I am putting my money on "The Descendants."

Writing (Original Screenplay)

Matthew's Prediction: Woody Allen for "Midnight in Paris"

This seems to be Woody Allen's most well received film in some time. I think they want to gove him the award even though he won't likely show up. One way to keep ratings high though: Have him win and let Mia Farrow except for him. Then watch the ever soft spoken Mia smash the Oscar to pieces.

Jonathan's Prediction: Woody Allen for "Midnight in Paris"

"Midnight in Paris" is my pick based on its uniqueness. This movie was not what I was expecting, but that is not to say that is a bad thing. Woody Allen's unusual Romantic Sci-Fi Comedy is the very definition of "original", thus they win the award.

Best Animated Feature
Matthew's Prediction: "Rango"

The only real reason I think this will win is because it was kind of the anti-children's animated film. It was in many ways not for children, but of course parents dragged their kids to see it simply because it was animated. I think The Academy might enjoy that.

Jonathan's Prediction: "Rango"

I have not seen these animated pictures.I dunno. For whatever reason, when I look into my crystal ball on this one, I see Rango winning. People love Johnny Depp, so yeah...Rango.

Sources:

(1) Pressplay Should Win Best Picture, The Tree of Life

(2) http://blogs.indiewire.com/pressplay/tony-dayoub-the-mackintosh-man-the-many-faces-of-george-smiley February 16, 2012 the many faces of george smiley

Not The Last Out

2012-02-19T16:08:00.003-05:00

If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. John 15:19

Gary Carter was determined not to be the last out. But according to the people controlling the videoboard, he already was.

With two outs in the bottom of the 10th in game 6 of the 1986 World Series, Carter was all that stood between the Red Sox defeating the Mets and being World Champions for the first time since 1918.

As Carter walked to the plate, this message could be seen on the videoboard:
"Congratulations, 1986 World Champions, Boston Red Sox."

"I was our last hope," he said, "and as I took my place and looked out at Schiraldi, all sounds shrank back, and I felt a presence in me, or perhaps besides me, a calming certainty that I wasn't alone. I was not alone, and I was not, so help me, going to make the last out of the World Series. I felt certain of that."

Carter is not the lasting imagine of that game; but without him that image would have never happened. He did not make that last out. He started an incredible rally (he had started one in the 8th inning as well) that culminated in the Mets winning the World Series in Game 7.

Carter was a Mets as well as Expos hero. Beloved by two teams. He was also disliked my teammates on both teams, for reasons that might not seem fair. He had the courage to be completely different. Keith Hernandez, Dwight Gooden, Daryl Strawberry, Lenny Dykstra and other former teammates are all now infamous for their bad behavior during that time. Carter was ridiculed and chastised for being decent and moral.

Strawberry and others would ostracize him for not sleeping with groupies and for not taking drugs. He once even stated he would enjoy having his wife come along on some away games. This was not the wrong thing to say because teammates needed this time to bond. It was wrong in their eyes because this was the time for the team to engage in behavior their wives would not want to see.

"He rubbed a lot of people the wrong way," Warren Cromartie, an Expos outfielder, once told me. "Gary was just ... different.

"There was a lack of respect for Gary Carter. He was clearly an overwhelming minority -- or I should say an underwhelming minority." (1)

"He was too religious, too good, too square -- Tim Tebow with more talent and without social media." said writer Tom Verducci.

"His whole life is baseball and the Lord, and of course his family," said Reardon, Carter's Montreal Expos teammate. (2)

That enthusiasm for one's faith and family just never sat well with much of his team. They never understood his love for life, especially when not taking part in these extra curricular activities.

"My enthusiasm for my family -- and for baseball, and other things, too -- strikes some people as a bit too much. My happiness crowds people a little." (3)

How could a man enjoy his job AND his family? This behavior made people suspicious.  Writer Jim Murray said of him, "Gary Carter is the type of guy who, if he saved a child from drowning, the mother would look at him and say, 'Where's his hat?'" (4)

I respect as I wrote before, someone like Tom Brady for caring so much about something that as children we feel is everything to us. Then we grow up and find out it doesn't mean near the same to the actual players as it does us fans.

Carter had that same drive and appreciation for what he was a part of. Mike Schmidt said seeing Gary Carter get elected into the Hall of Fame and what it meant to him, made Schmidt appreciate his own Hall of Fame election all the more.

But Carter also seemed to have a peace and joy about him as well.

That child like enthusiasm earned him the nickname "Kid" even though the older players didn't usually mean it as a compliment. As in "kid calm down, stop running so hard its just a practice."

So what was it that made Carter so joyful and so different? I think a key to that can be found in his opening statement when named Manager of Palm Beach Atlantic University. Carter's stated mission on the day he was hired: "My primary goal is to help these young athletes become better Christians and prepare them for life, not just baseball."

Carter was different.  And often unappreciated for it by immature teammates trying to hide their own insecurities.

Biographer of the 1986 Mets, Jeff Pearlman, wrote, "They saw an uncompromised figure and didn't much care for the vision of it."   (5)

Gary Carter died just a few days ago of Brain Cancer. People that get caught up in whats "fair" would say this was not the fair ending. That it is not right he should go ahead of former teammates that abused their bodies and squandered their gifts.

But Carter, unlike many of those former teammates, was ready for this. As much as we can be. Maybe looking back now his actions serve as a call to prepare themselves. Ourselves.

Being different is exactly what we are called to do.

If you watch one clip of Carter playing, I would make it the one below. The very last at bat of his career. At the plate trying to help his team gain the lead in a meaningless game. But the "Kid" didn't have that switch. Nothing is meaningless if it gives joy to those watching. And Gary Carter had the joy of a Little Leaguer. His whole career and beyond. Quite a nice way to be different.

(1) Jeff Pearlman: "News of Gary Carter's Inoperable Brain Cancer Hits Especially Hard" January 23, 2012
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/web/COM1194101/2/index.htm

(2) Tom Verducci   "Gary Carter: The Light of The Mets" February 16, 2012 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/web/COM1194993/index.htm

(3) A Dream Season, by John Hough Jr.,

(4)  Tom Verducci "Gary Carter: The Light of The Mets" February 16, 2012 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/web/COM1194993/index.htm

(5) The Bad Guys Won by Jeff Pearlman

Feelings...Nothing More Than Feelings

2012-02-10T21:32:00.001-05:00

George Costanza: (after finally seeing Titanic)
"So that old woman...she was just a liar!?"

Jerry Seinfeld: "And a bit of a tramp if you ask me."

Great films need staying power. A film that can have an affect on you in the theater, might have you feeling totally different later. Is this a fair judment of the picture, since you had an emotional response to a moment or scene, previously?

I give you Titanic. And this will be a bit of a confession. Like revealing a skelton in my closet but here goes.

I liked it. Kind of.

Right up until I didn't.

Is this fair?

You dont get much more emotional ammunition in making a film as you do than when the subject is the most famous shipwreck in history, with many lives lost.

I remember my experience as follows:

Titanic was all set up to be a bomb. It was the most expensive film ever made and it had to be great (well a huge hit) to even break even.

I was half expecting it to be bad. And as it got going I thought, "man the critics are gonna crucify this picture." The dialogue was often hokey and sappy. The Billy Zane character was ridiculous.

But as I was thinking "this is no great film" I actually remember hoping critics would be semi kind. Because I didnt find it boring.

Then there was the ending. When you imagine people freezing to death after surviving the initial sinking and someone in a lifeboat keeps asking if anyone is alive only to hear nothing in return, well thats kind of a big emotional moment. You would be an unfeeling jerk to not feel anything, right? And I did feel what James Cameron wanted me to feel. I felt sad.

And when the film was over I thought, "hey that wasnt so bad, maybe it can break even."

Well of course enough people saw this film and thought the same way that it became the biggest box office champ of all time. (Until Avatar)

So then you are left with, "wait, it wasnt THAT good!" Not by a long shot.  But hey its a popcorn film really at its soul. You can like popcorn movies and realize they arent great art. But then it won Oscar after Oscar, including best picture. Critics I respect gave it 4 stars and with all those awards I guess you'd have to admit people considered it a masterpiece. It tied Ben Hur for the most ever Oscar wins. Really.

Then became the backlash where you can't find many people (at least male) that admit to ever liking the film at all. My answer to the question is usually "I liked it while sitting in the theater."

Do I like it now? Well, as a better than expected popcorn film, yeah, kind of. As a masterpiece of cinema, heck no.

But wait, you had an emotional response!?

And this is where things get interesting.

How much does that matter? Least in the long term.

A job of a film is to manipulate your emotions. Cameron did well at least in that scene previously mentioned. But I often get a song stuck in my head and thats also a score for the musicians. That doesn't put "Mickey" in the same category as "Eleanor Rigby."

Oh Mickey you're so fine/ you're so fine you blow my mind/ Hey Mickey!

But the thing is, I'd be more than happy to never hear that song again. I don't want it in my head!

Critic Jim Emerson gave Dead Poet's Society a scathing review. He refers to it as one of his least favorite films ever.

He also admits to crying during the last scene.

"Even as my eyeball oozed, I was thinking about what a hollow, dishonest picture this was before me. The movie did not give me the option, the freedom, of actually feeling anything. It squeezed that liquid out of me as if it were a juicer and I were some form of citrus.

If I'd been one of Pavlov's dogs, I would have just salivated at the sound of the bell. But when a movie reduces perfectly decent emotions to stupid pet tricks like this, I also find myself feeling something deeper. Something like anger, resentment." (1)

But the films that keep you wanting to see them again, those are the true epic films.

And yes even a so called "popcorn movie" can be a masterpiece of sorts. Because what is it the film was trying to do? And do you keep going back to it even years later with similar joy?

I give you the 1986 "masterpiece," Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

Before the recent ad was unvieled for this year's Super Bowl, we got this teaser.

Now just this slight bit of nostalgia made me cheer. It is a film of its time that still holds up years later.

Does Titanic hold up as well? In my opinion, not nearly.

Its almost as if awards for one year should be awarded 5 years later. When people have gone over the films again and truly studied them. Of course this would never happen and is a bit flawed as well, but how often would awards change if we had a do over?

The point is, just how did a film manipulate you? In an honest, original way that you want to see again, or an obvious, trite way that is like shooting emotional fish in a barrel? Do you look back and quickly realize you have seen that scene before.

There is a reason so many documentaries about The Holocaust win Best Documentary. It is one of the saddest parts of our world's history.

But I can't think of any of those titles off hand. Now think of the documentary, Crumb. If you have ever seen it, you probably will never get it out of your mind.

So I leave you with two examples. One is the ending of Patch Adams. The other is the opening of The Apostle. Which scene works best? The most emotionally honest. Which scene would you want to view again, years later?

1: Emerson was the inspiration for this entry. http://cinepad.com/badmovies.htm "When Bad Movies Happen To Good People."

Worth a Thousand Words

2012-02-07T22:53:00.001-05:00

I have never understood the hatred for Tom Brady. I hear the arguments.

None of which hold much weight or water when at all looked at objectively, to me.

In one of my favorite responses of all time, when asked by a reporter why people hated him, he said (with a sarcastic smile) "Because I'm good looking, I'm successful and I have a hot wife."

Hilarious and also much of the reason.

To me Tom Brady is THE interesting figure in football. And the one I root for more than any other, save maybe Tim Tebow.

Tebow is famous for his "pose" of praying during a game. Something some people never seemed to get and made into a sort of joke.

This picture from the last Super Bowl is also getting attention. It is Brady just after losing a heart breaking game. And again, people don't get it. They seem to revel in it. They even are now calling this pose Bradying as opposed to Tebowing to have some more fun with their most hated QB in defeat.

It is a picture that makes me like the guy even more.

The man cares. A LOT. How would you not want that in an athlete? Think about it. Brady has multiple MVP awards, multiple Super Bowl MVPS, records, (he set one even this last game)

Only 4 quarterbacks have 3 super bowl titles or more. He is one. He has made it to 5 Super Bowls, tied for the most ever. But its a case of what have you done for me lately. Well lately he just took a not very strong team all the way to the Super bowl and came within a whisker of beating a superior team.

Not a bad year really.

I don't care their regular season records. I have eyes. They won games with mirrors all year long. And that biggest magician was their quarterback.

If he had never gotten to the game, his reputation would be more intact in many peoples eyes. This is media stupidity at its highest level.

Brady makes a lot of money. He has accomplished about all there is to accomplish in his profession. And he still wants more. His drive and desire to win is more than most people can understand. And that's why this picture of a man defeated to me shows strong character. Character I would want on my team.

The thing is, there are only a few like him now. Used to be, many athletes seemed this driven. Not true and definitely not anymore. How did many of the losing Patriots react after losing? Some went out and partied after. I'm not saying that's a wrong reaction, but often after a huge game look closely to the players. They are smiling and laughing and cutting up with the players that just defeated them. Right on the field. Fact is, they make a ton of money playing a game, and so what if they lost a huge game. No big deal.

But Brady doesn't have that switch. His new teammate, Chad Ochocincho said he was "worried" about Brady when the playoffs started because he takes it all so seriously. Taking ones job seriously? Hmm.

The true greats that possess this drive are almost OCD with their goals. Maybe they are exactly OCD.

I will never forget Larry Bird, as a head coach, being interviewed in the hallway immediately after his Pacers lost the Championship to the Bulls. They got so close. Closer to winning than anyone thought possible. Bird was Coach of the Year that year. He only increased his legend. A man that had accomplished almost everything in his sport. And the interviewer said "how long will it take to get over this loss?" Bird's answer; "Never. I will never be over this." You could tell he meant it.

How do we not respect the people that give us so much joy, that we wish we could do their job, and yet they leave nothing on the field. They can't be criticized for not giving it their all. They give you as a fan everything they have. Brady does that time and again, to the point it seems like you want him to stop.

Some athletes like Brady will tell you they remember the defeats more so than the victories. The footage of Brady in disbelief at what he had just accomplished after his first Super Bowl win, is incredibly touching to see. It can only be a very powerful drug to desire that feeling again. To put your body through surgery and rehab just for the chance.

I will never forget another interview I saw once. A few years back, Tom Brady had just won his 3rd Super Bowl and was on top of the world. And he told the interviewer there was something missing in his life, he just wasn't sure what it was.

My mouth probably hit the floor.

This is some kind of Greek Warrior character worthy of great literature. He fascinates me. I hope he finds or has now found what was missing. There is only one player I'd want to build my team around in the NFL. And he just lost the Super Bowl. And to me his legend grew larger.

God's Favorite Director

2011-04-16T12:55:00.000-04:00

"That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord swore unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth."

-Deuteronomy 11:21

The Thin Red Line was Terrence Malick’s third film. He had made one very good film (Badlands) and one masterpiece (Days of Heaven). Then he went away.

For twenty years.

So when The Thin Red Line was announced, fans were excited. Famous actors far and wide salivated over working with him.

But a Malick film will never earn Cameron type money. Or in this case, Spielberg.

The film was often looked at as “that other World War II movie” that came out the same year as Saving Private Ryan. Both strong films, Ryan has the much more conventional script and style. The Thin Red Line seemed to get lost in the shuffle. Somewhat appropriately, it was nominated for 7 Oscars, but took home none.

But as seems to happen with Malick, the reputation of the film gets better and better as time passes.

Martin Scorsese dubbed it the greatest film made in the 90s.

"The greatest contemporary war film I've seen." Gene Siskel (1)

Critic Dan Schneider even mentions Ryan in his review, as they seem for better or worse linked.

“While both films were released in the same year, and cover the same war, the qualitative difference is immense. Saving Private Ryan wallows in stereotypes and clichéd characters, while The Thin Red Line cores into even its most marginal characters- sometimes with merely a shot of the actor looking at another actor.” (2)

I won’t go that far, because I liked Saving Private Ryan. But upon leaving the theater after watching The Thin Red Line, I immediately looked for the next showing, to see if I had enough time to watch it again. For a paced, over two and a half hour war film, some probably find that crazy. But it was a war film done unlike any other I had seen.

I have watched it 7 or 8 times since, and always find things in it I did not notice previously.

The opening sets the tone of man struggling with nature. The soldiers seem to fight against nature as much as the Japanese.

Nature struggles with itself.

We see a crocodile slither into the water. Then these lines:

“What's this war in the heart of nature? Why does nature vie with itself? The land contend with the sea? Is there an avenging power in nature? Not one power, but two?”

Not your typical “war film” opening. And so the film paces itself along. With extensive voice-overs that often sound like poetry from the minds of the soldiers.

“This great evil. Where does it come from? How’d it steal into the world? What seed, what root did it grow from? Who’s doin’ this? Who’s killin’ us? Robbing us of life and light. Mockin’ us with the sight of what we might’ve known. Does our ruin benefit the earth? Does it help the grass to grow, the sun to shine?”

“I'm dying. Slow as a tree.”

Martin Scorsese: “The Thin Red Line works very differently from most films; as you watch it you wonder, what is narrative in movies? Is it everything? And if so, is there only one way to handle it?"

"Its almost like an endless picture. There’s no beginning and no end.” (3)

Malick is not your typical director; if there is such a thing. He attended both Harvard and Oxford, and taught Philosophy at MIT. (4) He has shown interest in multiple religions. He is said to know the Bible extensively.

The plot for Days of Heaven, is very similar to the Book of Ruth.

He is reclusive to the point that JD Salinger would have been impressed. He does not want his own signature on almost anything, which can make contracts a bit difficult. The contracts he does agree to, prevent his likeness from being used to promote his films. A big magazine article on the film could only find one current picture of him to put in their piece. As it turned out, the picture they found was not him at all but actually of a producer. (5)

Imagine a major magazine unsure what Spielberg looked like.

But for his quirks, Malick is a true original.

No Director seems more in love with God's creation.

With, The Thin Red Line, there is not one gun shot fired until well over 40 minutes in.

And when the boats hit the beach and the soldiers storm it, it is the complete opposite of that famous scene at D-Day.

There is nobody there. No enemy is fighting back. The place looks beautiful. Why would we fight a war here? Maybe the enemy had the same idea.

Of course the enemy is waiting. The officers were wrong about when to expect them. Things are upside down. Pointed out by a soldier who says, “they got fish that live in trees here.”

Nick Nolte represents those officers that stay away from the real combat, while ordering others to be brave and tough and keep going.

In a brilliantly acted scene, Nolte (Lt. Col Tall) orders Elias Koteas (Capt Staros) to attack the enemy. Staros refuses, believing it is a no win suicide mission. Nolte’s performance is nearly all rage and bravado. But here you see him trying desperately to contain his anger at what he has just heard.

When Tall finds Staros later on that day, the situation has changed. According to Staros, “just in the last 5 minutes.”

So who was correct? Tall relieves Staros of his command, and with a wicked use of psychology, tells Staros he will make sure he receives the Silver Star.

“Might as well have the purple heart too.”

“Why?”

“Because of that scratch on your face. And because of those cuts on your hands.”

The voice-overs often blend to a point where you are unsure who is speaking. This was purposeful. Sometimes the person speaking is not even the person shown on screen.

I believe the reasoning is mentioned in a voice-over by Witt: “Maybe all men got one big soul everybody's a part of, all faces are the same man.”

This is a paraphrase of a passage in Steinbeck’s, The Grapes Of Wrath. (5)

It’s an idea mentioned again at the end of the film.
To that end, Malick does something I had rarely seen in war film to that point, much less a World War II film.

He makes us sympathetic to the enemy. And yet not in an Anti-American way.

When our guys win an important skirmish, we see a Japanese soldier weeping and embracing his fallen friend, just as we had seen earlier from our main characters.

An American soldier speaks cruelly to a dying Japanese soldier. The soldier is responding, but unless you speak Japanese, you have no idea what he is saying. Translated, he states, “You will die too someday.” (6)

And we get one very powerful voice-over from a dead Japanese face.

“Are you righteous? Kind? Does your confidence lie in this? Are you loved by all? Know that I was, too.”

There are strong performances throughout the film. But the conscience of the film is Private Witt, played by Jim Caviezel (The Passion of The Christ).
Witt seems to enjoy life too much to have a career military. When the film opens, he is AWOL, on an island playing with the native children and flirting with one of the native women. He swims in the ocean and soaks in all of his surrounding world.

There are moments when Caviezel is just looking around at people. But it is precisely how he is looking that embodies Witt.

It is a great performance that is almost like one from a silent film actor at times.

You know what he is thinking or feeling without the need for him saying anything.

Jim Caviezel:   “There are moments in that film where I felt absolutely filled with the Holy Spirit, tremendously. Terry said, “Look over here at the people, at the men that are dying.” I kept looking around and I began to weep, and it was right before I was ever in that scene. It was a miracle after miracle.” (7)

A fellow soldier accidentally kills himself by pulling his grenade incorrectly. As he lays screaming and dying, it is only Witt that calms him down at all.

"You're gonna be all right. Even if you die. You didn't let your brother down."

Witt's biggest relationship is with Penn's, Welsh. The counterpoints of personality in these characters was also being shown by the two men off camera. Malick saw this and used it.

Penn recalls of his scenes with Caviezel: “I think some of it was just there, you know, between Jim and I. We were very different people, and I think that he could speak to this in some ways better than I could, because he’s got a… he’s a person of a particular faith. I think that we were not wildly far off of who each character was anyways. A lot of it was just there.”

Jim Caviezel: “Terry said to me, “What do you think of Sean Penn?” I said, “He’s like a rock. One day you can go up and talk to him, and there’s some days he doesn’t know who you are. That’s Sean Penn.” When we were shooting that scene, Terry says, “Tell him that, tell him what you told me.”

"On many days Sean and I would go out and run and work out together, and I kind of talked to him a lot about where I came from, my faith, and so on. Once Penn asked me, ‘What makes you tick?’”

“Do you really want to know?”

“Yeah.”

“Jesus Christ.”

“When I came on the set, Penn [as Welsh] said “You still seeing the big ole’ light?” I think I said, “I still see a spark in you. I know he’s in you, I know there’s something going on.” (8)

This dialogue from actual conversations plays out in the last scene Witt and Welsh have together in the film.

The relationship between Welsh and Witt worked so well, that other ones had to be shelved. They just weren't as important.

One of these was between Welsh and Fife, played by Adrien Brody (The Pianist). Brody would see his once leading role relegated to almost nothing.

While this could have been devastating to his career, Malick would suggest using him to future directors. A work reference from Terrence Malick goes a long way.

One point of contention for Malick and the studio was that they required him to cast big name stars. They knew every star in Hollywood would work on the project for nothing. On this point they would not budge.

So Malick cast stars as higher ranking officers; to give them a sense of importance. But his stars were the unknown actors playing the low ranked soldiers. While you see George Clooney's name on the poster, he only shows up at the end, and for about 1 minute.

Other actors who shot scenes never to even make the final cut included Billy Bob Thornton, Gary Oldman, Lukas Haas, Martin Sheen, Bill Pullman, Viggo Mortenson and Mickey Rourke.

But one actor that did make the cut was John Dee Smith. Smith only has two credits according to IMBD. As Private Train in The Thin Red Line and an episode of E.R. a year later.

Smith was only supposed to be on set for a brief time. And in that brief time, he kept missing his mark and had to apologize to Malick.

But Malick liked him. He invited him to dinner that night.

John Dee Smith: "There we talked about life, about how I came out of poverty and my parents were killed and onward until I went to college before being cast in The Thin Red Line. Terry told me of his own faith and of his life in Texas. I ended up staying on the set and he used me for scenes where he could draw from my personal experiences and use it as dialogue."
(9)

It is Smith's voice (often wrongly credited) we hear in the final voice-over.

"Where is it that we were together? Who were you that I lived with? The brother. The friend. Darkness, light, strife and love. Are they the workings of one mind? The features of the same face? Oh my soul, let me be in you now. Look out through my eyes. Look out at the things you made. All things shining.”

Train has a tattoo on his arm that reads 1 John 4:4. It is the most subtle of details. But something Malick chose to be in the film.

1 John 4:4: "You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world."

If Malick chooses big themes for his films, he probably comes by that way of thinking honestly.

He experienced his share of tragedy early on in life. Maybe it is why he was drawn to John Dee Smith.

Malick was the oldest of three boys. The middle son was in a bad automobile accident, in which his young wife was killed and he was severely burned.

His youngest brother, Larry, loved the guitar. So much so that he went to Spain to study with his hero, guitar virtuoso Segovia. In 1968 Larry was so upset for his lack of progress at the art form he loved, that he broke both of his hands.

Their father went to Spain out of concern. When he arrived, Larry had already killed himself.

Malick's ex wife believes he always had a strong sense of guilt for his brother's death. (10)

Interestingly, the Witt character feels responsible for the death of his father. But this is never really mentioned in the movie.

Malick's intensity for art seems like something he shared with his brother.

The Tree of Life, Malick's 5th film, will be released later this year. It is a film he has been working on for some time. Long before The Thin Red Line.  Sean Penn is again in the cynics role, and the film might be looked at as a bit of a companion piece.

As it was written in a version long ago, Malick dramatizes the origins of life. And he wanted to do it in a way nobody had seen it done before.

"In one version, the story began with a sleeping god, underwater, dreaming of the origins of the universe, starting with the big bang and moving forward, as fluorescent fish swam into the deity’s nostrils and out again." (11)

Love him or hate him, Malick is an original voice who does his best to make his films.

And if this time his reach finally exceeds his grasp, well that reach will no doubt be pretty commendable.

Sources:

1. "All Things Shining" by Stuart Egon http://www.stueagon.com/?page_id=592

2. "DVD Review of The Thin Red Line" by Dan Schneider http://www.cosmoetica.com/B1066-DES783.htm

3. "Ebert and Scorsese: Best Films of the 90s" http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20000226/COMMENTARY/41219001/1023

4. "Movies That Make You Think" by Jugu Abraham October 2, 2009
http://moviessansfrontiers.blogspot.com/2009_10_01_archive.html

5. "The Runaway Genuis" by Peter Biskind Vanity Fair August 1999

6. "The Thin Red Shrine" by http://www.eskimo.com/~toates/malick/trl/index.html

7. "Pacific Hell Among Days Of Heaven. Terrence Malick's 'The Thin Red Line.'" by Paul Maher   October 1, 2010
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/130995-pacific-hell-amid-days-of-heaven-terrence-pae-2cks-the-thin-red-line/

8. "Pacific Hell Among Days Of Heaven. Terrence Malick's 'The Thin Red Line.'" by Paul Maher October 1, 2010

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/130995-pacific-hell-amid-days-of-heaven-terrence-pae-2cks-the-thin-red-line/

9. "Pacific Hell Among Days Of Heaven. Terrence Malick's 'The Thin Red Line.'" by Paul Maher October 1, 2010

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/130995-pacific-hell-amid-days-of-heaven-terrence-pae-2cks-the-thin-red-line/

10. "The Runaway Genuis" by Peter Biskind Vanity Fair August 1999
http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/classic/features/runaway-genius-199812?currentPage=2

11.  "The Runaway Genuis" by Peter Biskind Vanity Fair August 1999

http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/classic/features/runaway-genius-199812?currentPage=1

Try The Veal

2011-01-21T13:39:00.004-05:00

Lance is going down.

Possibly.

Now probably not to the level of prison time or anything crazy. Most caught steroid users or dopers don’t experience that. It is more a public embarrassment than anything.

Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire are still rich. Alex Rodriquez still dates famous actress after famous actress. They still live in very nice homes. They can still be retired by 40 years old or younger.

For the most part, nobody must give their money back. In football, you can be suspended for steroids and still win rookie of the year or other awards.

Your fans will even still defend you despite your head size increasing after age 35.

With all the positives you figure people have weighed the risks and decided its worth it.

And when they are caught. Wow. The excuses sure are entertaining.

There is some sort of code to NEVER admit wrongdoing when caught. If we believed every athlete ever caught cheating in this fashion, then there are a lot of very unfortunate situations going on. I just hope that Lance comes up with an equally interesting story.

When police found EPO and other performance enhancers in the home of Frank Vandenbroucke, the Belgian cyclist claimed the drugs were intended for his anemic dog.

Bulgarian tennis player Sesil Karatancheva blamed a positive steroid test on being pregnant. (That seems wrong on a few levels)

After testing positive for strychnine, Dutch cyclist Adri van der Poel said the reason was he ate a pigeon pie made from juiced up racing pigeons trained by his father- in- law.

Is no sport clean?

Petr Korda failed a test at Wimbledon. He said it was from veal he ate that must have been drugged up on steroids.

If you pay attention to tennis players, you will notice there is a lot of veal being eaten.

German runner Dieter Bauuman said he failed a test because someone spiked his toothpaste.

“But my teeth have never felt stronger. I eat corn on cob in 3 second.”

My favorite of all time is cyclist Tyler Hamilton, who said his blood came back tainted because he has two different types of blood coursing through his veins.

How? He was a twin and he claims his "vanishing twin" that he absorbed in utero is the reason for many of his failed blood tests.

Of course if the twin was a juicer, would not he have been the one to absorb Tyler? Just wondering.

American skeleton rider Zach Lund blamed a positive test for a banned stimulant being in his baldness cure medication.

Bobsled rider Lenny Paul blamed a flunked test on a plate of spaghetti Bolognese.

Lenny’s trainer: “Lenny just eat the broccoli.”

Lenny: “Nah. Im gonna have the Bolognese. Ive trained hard all my life. How could this hurt me now?”

Sprinter Dennis Mitchell said his false test was from drinking 5 bottles of beer and then having sex with his wife the night before.

The “Im not a cheater Im just a stud defense” has never been successfully used. But never is a long time.

So I want something good Lance. Hey Rafael, I want a good excuse why your arms change size a day later.

The bar has been set high.

But you guys are the very best.

Learn How To Play The Game; It's Easy

2011-01-11T10:45:00.001-05:00

"You never want a serious crisis to go to waste." -Rahm Emanuel

As soon as I heard I knew. Every tragedy must be political. That this tragedy was on a congresswoman, what hope did we have?

Oh, can we not just mourn for our country without blaming people who had nothing to do with it?

Sarah Palin might as well have pulled the trigger. She was targeting after all, democrats she felt needed to be replaced in congress. Sounds radical from someone in politics doesn't it?

We see a picture with cross hairs in AZ and we know that she must have actually pulled the trigger. Not this Jared guy, he is just a patsy.

Hey, we can all play this stupid offensive game! DailyKos had an entry 2 days before the shooting titled, My CongressWOMAN voted against Nancy Pelosi and is now DEAD to me!

Well quite obviously this is the shooter, or at the very least who inspired the shooter.

He is a right wing nut job so if you vote Republican you are partly to blame!

How quick did this sentiment take? Of course, we also have him described as a "left wing pothead" by a classmate. Hmm...well maybe he did not vote for straight line "tea party." But I sure as heck hope he did!

Wait, he burned an American flag in that video he made. That doesn't quite sound like Palin does it? But he hates this administration, so obviously this is Republicans' fault. If we had only kept Congress this would have never happened!

I need to read some movie reviews. Get my mind off all this. Wonder what Roger Ebert is saying on Twitter.

"The Tucson massacre stirs memory of the rightist murder that inspired Talk Radio." -Roger Ebert

Wow, different way to suggest a film. OK.

"These 'incidents' aren't 'isolated.' They're 'clustered' around the American Right Wing." -Roger Ebert

Maybe I'll see what has been celebrities write. That should be safe.

"Somebody make Palin apologize to Giffords' husband."
-George Lazenby

Do we have to continually play a preschool game of "gotcha" when anything bad happens?

I have yet to hear one person mention that the federal judge that was killed was a Republican. If Republicans had been more with it, maybe they would be winning the "use tragedy to our political advantage game."

Maybe they forgot the latest rules. Remember, Ft. Hood was not terrorism.

So this must not be either.

Let us all define terrorism when it suits our political purpose. So who did all this? The guy who ran against her in the election, Jesse Kelly?

"I would bet my house that it will come out that some disgruntled former Jesse Kelly right-wing supporters did this," (Daily KOS "My CongressWoman is Now DEAD To Me..." writer)

When will this good will for the most famous victim turn? After all she wasn't so opposed to guns. She owns one. She even posed for a picture with one in Afghanistan.

Loughner appears to be an atheist or at least very anti religious, when do we start blaming atheists?

The most accurate description of the killer is probably by a classmate that "he was on another planet."

In September, officials from his community college sent campus police officers to Loughner's home, where he lives with his parents. They presented a letter stating he could not return without a mental health professional's written assurance that his presence at college would "not present a danger to himself or others."

He seemed more interested in mind control and proper grammar than Health Care.

But if we ever figure out who the man voted for, start impeachment proceedings on that person right away if they are still in office.

"Shooting of Jewish Congresswoman Giffords is Not Just a "Tragedy"--It's Part of a Right Wing Assault on Government and the Liberals & Progressives Who Support It." -Rabbi Michael Lerner

Remember: It is only vitriolic rhetoric when someone else says it.

Sources:
www.dailykos.com/story/2011/1/10/935018/-Shooting-of-Congresswoman-is-more-than-a-Tragedy

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/01/10/2011-01-10_chilling_shrine_in_madmans_yard.html#ixzz1AgKtP8Ju

http://www.wnd.com/

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47290.html

"Anyway, we delivered the bomb."

2011-01-05T11:16:00.003-05:00

"If you were injured, you were in trouble, because sharks go after blood. I was fortunate not to have any serious injuries. You’d hear somebody scream, and you’d know the sharks had got him.”
-USS Indianapolis Survivor Woody James

Steven Spielberg has made tributes to many people in his films before. (Amistad, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan)

But maybe his greatest and most lasting tribute was from a 4 minute scene that was not in the script.

Spielberg, for all his immense talent, lucked out in some ways with his breakout film, Jaws. The film was very difficult to make, running over budget and Spielberg thought he might never work again. So he probably never felt lucky. But chaos sometimes helps create a masterpiece, as is evidenced in Apocalypse Now or Aguirre, The Wrath of God.

We were supposed to see the shark.

What works so well in Jaws, is the tension that builds up because we so seldom see the shark. We saw so little of it because the mechanical sharks almost never worked. The shark is seen throughout the original script, but they were forced to rewrite out of necessity.

The iconic Jaws theme music composed by John Williams; Spielberg did not much like. He was not convinced it would work.

But where Spielberg really shines as a director in Jaws, beyond the water level camera work he was forced into, was the famous Indianapolis Monologue Scene. It is the best scene in the film. It is not in the original book, but Spielberg recognized the Quint character needed to explain his motivation.

Actor Robert Shaw wrote parts of it himself, and all of the main actors gave ideas to screenwriter Carl Gottlieb to flush out. Shaw performed the scene the first time drunk. Then he came back and did it again sober the next day. The second day is what they used.

Quint´s U.S.S. Indianapolis Speech - Jaws

This film, which became the most successful of all time during its run, told a generation a story they did not know.

The USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. They were returning from delivering much of the bomb, "little boy" that would be dropped on Hiroshima.

Most of Quint's speech is accurate. The exact date is all he really got wrong. The ship went down in just 12 minutes. The mission was so top secret; nobody was even going to look for them until a week later. A distress signal was indeed sent out but it was taken as a bluff by the Japanese to flush out more American ships. It was therefore ignored.

Having to wait 5 days to be rescued, 879 men would die in total. There were only 316 survivors. Though you might argue less.

Commanding Officer Charles McVay survived. Despite numerous mistakes by people for what happened and why it took so long for anyone to know, McVay was made the scapegoat. He had only recently been awarded the Silver Star for a previous battle.

He was court martialed and convicted of "hazarding his ship by failing to zigzag." This despite the Japanese Commanding Officer who shot the torpedoes saying it would not have mattered, or the dispute whether the elements were appropriate for such tactics.

McVay had also requested a Destroyer escort during this time but was denied.

Throughout the following years McVay would receive letters and phone calls from relatives of deceased Indianapolis crew members, blaming him for the tragedy.

In 1968, McVay was found on his back lawn. He had shot himself with his Navy issued revolver. He had been holding a toy sailor in his left hand. It was given to him by his father when he was a boy.

Despite talks, a high budget Hollywood film has yet to be made about the Indianapolis. I almost hope this continues to be the case. I think that one scene in Jaws, might be the best tribute possible.

Survivors loved the tribute from that scene.

Sometimes film can get a tragedy just right and do it honor. Other times it seems like a slap in the face. (Pearl Harbor)

In 2000, Congress passed a resolution stating McVay's record would now indicate he was exonerated for the Indianapolis tragedy.

The Navy would soon after release a statement saying he was without fault.

The formal conviction still stands on his service record, as no court martial has ever been erased.

"I would not have hesitated to serve under him again. His treatment by the Navy was unforgivable and shameful."
-Florian Stamm, one of the USS Indianapolis survivors.

Swans

2011-01-02T22:21:00.001-05:00

"She's someone that has been the prima ballerina; has been the star. She is now of an age where they're going to replace her."

-Winona Ryder, describing her role in Black Swan.

Winona Ryder was once the it girl. For quite a long stretch she was the actress everyone wanted in their film to give it that indie street cred and yet critics and studios loved her too. She could do little wrong.

Then she got caught shoplifting. It has taken Hollywood a long time to forgive. With all the many sins of actors and actresses; did the punishment fit the crime?

Literally you could argue it did not, as over 5000 other people who committed the same crime received the option of a no contest/misdemeanor charge. Ryder was instead charged with 4 felonies.

Career wise, she had a 4 year hiatus where she worked very little. Seems some by choice and some not. She would later admit she has suffered from depression for some time.

I always admired Ryder for not being more screwed up actually. To put her upbringing in some context consider this:

Ryder and her family grew up in a hippie commune called Rainbow, to a Buddhist mother and atheist father. Her first exposure to movies was watching them on a screen in a barn. This was rare enough as there was generally no electricity on the 300 acres they shared with 7 other families.

Ryder's godfather was LSD guru Timothy Leary.

She made her film debut at age 15 in Lucas, and by 17 was famous, having starred in Beetlejuice.

Natalie Portman's first starring role was at the age of just 12. She starred in The Professional as a young girl who's family is murdered. She is pseudo adopted by a professional hit man. The role was understandably controversial for such a young girl. The whole film depended on her acting ability and she pulled it off.

She too had a 4 year period of working very little, as she attended Harvard and graduated with a degree in psychology.

Now Portman is starring in Black Swan. She stars as a young ballerina obsessed with becoming the prima ballerina in her company. She does, and the dancer she replaces is portrayed by Ryder.

McRib

2010-10-28T10:11:00.001-04:00

It’s all in the marketing.

The McRib has got to be one of the most successful failures of all time. And it is back, for a limited time.

The McRib being available only for a limited time is why it is so successful. McDonald’s gives you the right to have it, but only occasionally. So we must eat as many of them as possible when we have the chance.

The McRib debuted on McDonald’s menus in 1981. It sold ok, but not great. It was not worth keeping around full time. But the people that liked it, really liked it.

So they brought it back, only to take it away again. And this has gone on ever since, like some cruel joke.

The very first McDonald's Executive Chef came up with McRib after eating pulled pork in Charleston, SC. Would just making this a round sandwich make more sense? Well sure, but what is the fun in that. A sandwich that looks like a rack of ribs, but of course has no ribs, now that’s something. It is also not really rib meat, but shoulder meat. But if you are a fan, you are probably not a stickler on those details.

The sandwich came back strong as a promotion for the Flintstones movie in 1994. In 2005, McDonald’s had a farewell tour, followed by another, along with a campaign to save the sandwich. “The McRib was like the Who,” says McDonald’s Head Chef Dan Coudreaut.

There has also been a campaign to help the “Boneless Pig Farmers Association of America.”

People who have had to wait for McDonald’s to oblige nationally, have banded together to help each other out. There is a McRib locator website (http://kleincast.com/maps/mcrib). If you have seen a McRib, please go to this website and type in when and where. It is kind of like spotting a UFO, only a little less scary.

The Simpson’s even had a takeoff on the cult status of the sandwich. Homer followed the Ribwich (made by Krusty Burger of course) all around the country. He had to stop when the animal that was used for the Ribwich became extinct.

McDonald’s is cooperating again starting November 2nd. For the first time since 1994, the sandwich will be available nationwide. No more following it around like a Deadhead in order to get your fix. For 6 glorious weeks, it is ours, as long as you have a McDonald’s in your area. And if you do not, how are you reading this online article?

Is marketing not important? Remember the MCDLT? It didn’t last long. The “hot side hot and the cool side cool,” just seemed like too much work I guess. Now, remember the Big & Tasty? Same sandwich, far more successful. Different packaging.

That very first executive chef for McDonald’s that invented the McRib, is named Rene Arend. Just 1 year earlier, in 1980, he had introduced the world to the McNugget.

Rene Arend deserves to be a household name.

Running Over The Same Old Ground

2010-10-07T14:45:00.001-04:00

"Won't you miss me? Wouldn't you miss me at all?" -Syd Barrett (Dark Globe)

Pink Floyd, as many bands do, started as a group of friends. Four university students formed the band in 1965.  Member Syd Barrett would give them their name, as well as their early identity. Paul McCartney, David Bowie and Pete Townsend would all become fans for Barrett's unique guitar playing and songwriting.

Just 2 years later, Barrett's career would be close to over. Another guitarist would join the band that would help make them one of the most celebrated of all time.

David Gilmour was a friend of Syd Barrett. The two were known to perform together during lunchtimes at school; one on guitar and one on harmonica. The two would later hitch-hike through the south of France together. Busking to make just enough money to get back home. They were close. Apparently it was easy to like Syd. He was friendly; strikingly so.

"In a period when everyone was being cool in a very adolescent, self-conscious way, Syd was unfashionably outgoing; my enduring memory of our first encounter is the fact that he bothered to come up and introduce himself to me."
-Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason

Outgoing is not how most now think of Syd Barrett.  Barrett would within a short peroid of time become a recluse. He would be the J.D. Salinger of rock music.

Barrett was the lead guitarist, main songwriter and lead vocalist for a band gathering success very quickly. But just as quickly, his friends' saw stark changes in Barrett.

"I just don't think he could deal with the vision of success and all the things that went with it." -David Gilmour

Barrett would begin doing drugs. A lot of drugs. But the story is not as simple as a junkie who threw away success. Most believe Barrett was schizophrenic. He might also have been bi-polar. Mental illness was just not diagnosed or treated properly at the time.

Gilmour joined the band to perform when Barrett was unable. At times, Barrett would just strum one chord for an entire performance. Gilmour would sometimes play Barrett's guitar parts on stage while Barrett watched from the audience. The breakup of Barrett with the rest of the band was not that messy, because Barrett seemed too far gone to care. One day, they simply decided not to pick him up. Gilmour was now the official lead guitarist.

If this had never happened, it is quite likely you would have never heard of Pink Floyd. Gilmour's voice and guitar playing proved vital to the critical and commercial success of later Pink Floyd. It also made Roger Waters take over as main songwriter; something Barrett had taken care of previously.

Believing the drugs served as a catalyst, Gilmour still believes Barrett would not have escaped the illness. "In my opinion, his nervous breakdown would have happened anyway. It was a deep-rooted thing."

"It’s awfully considerate of you to think of me here.
And I’m much obliged to you for making it clear. That I’m not here."  - Syd Barrett (Jugband Blues. Barrett's last Pink Floyd song)

Instead of being a rock footnote, Barrett is a rock icon. He is a legend. Instead of ignoring him, as other bands had early members, Pink Floyd tried their hardest to keep Barrett viable. They succeeded far better than Barrett could himself. This is to the credit of the band that fired him, and mostly the person who replaced him.

Barrett would release 2 solo albums after parting with Pink Floyd. Most of the songs had previously been written, before his mental collapse.

Waters and Gilmour would both receive producing credits on the first album. Gilmour would produce the 2nd and even play bass for Barrett. Floyd member Richard Wright would also lend a hand.

Few people can relate to replacing one of your best friends in their work.  Gilmour would become rich and famous doing so.

"Now there's a look in your eyes. Like black holes in the skies." -Pink Floyd (Shine On You Crazy Diamond)

Floyd would have their music as catharsis. They would pay tribute to their friend often. The album "Wish You Were Here" being a tribute to their friend. Famously, during the recording of the song "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" (about Barrett), Barrett showed up at Abby Roads Studios. Barrett had put on weight and shaved his head and eyebrows. The band did not at first recognize him. While quiet for most of the recording, Barrett did at one point begin brushing his teeth by holding the brush still and jumping up and down. Waters would ask Barrett what he thought of the song. Barrett replied, "it sounds old." He would leave soon after. None of the members of Pink Floyd would ever see him again.

(Barrett at Abby Road Studios 1975)

Barrett lived with his mother for the rest of his life. He worked as a part-time gardener; living mostly off the residuals from Pink Floyd (he sold away his solo rights). Gilmour made sure Barrett received his money.

Barrett died of Pancreatic Cancer in 2006. The occupation on his death certificate read "retired musician."

In Barrett's abscence, Pink Floyd would become one of the most successful bands of all time. They would also famously fued for years. Waters and the rest of the band would be tied up in lawsuits against each other that would not be settled for about 20 years. But they always seemed to see eye to eye concening their old friend. The classic lineup of Mason, Wright, Waters and Gilmour would reunite for one last short set in 2006, for Live 8. They payed tribute to Barrett, as they so often did.

According to his sister, Barrett spent much of his last years painting. She says he even wrote a book about painting, but never attempted to have it published. "He found his own mind so absorbing, that he didn't want to be distracted."

Nov 9th will see the release of "An Introduction To Syd Barrett," containing his best work with Floyd as well as his solo albums.

David Gilmour is Executive Producer.

Orson Welles: Unfinished Genius

2010-10-01T16:00:00.018-04:00

“I think I made essentially a mistake, in staying in movies. But it’s a mistake I can’t regret because it’s like saying, ‘I shouldn’t have stayed married to that woman. But I did, because I love her.’”

-Orson Welles

I would argue Welles was never diminished in his old age. He was just too talented. Even when he did things some felt were beneath him, I think it is respectful to do what you have to for your art. Welles could have been a wealthy man we would assume. But he never was, precisely because the only thing he made money to do, was to keep making movies.

It is tragic he never was able to finish most of these projects for lack of funding. The Saw franchise is about to release its 7th film, yet Hollywood deemed Welles to be unbankable. Maybe it says less about the studios than it does about the general movie going public in general. But of course Welles is not without fault. If he had only been a better businessman, some of this work would have surely been seen. If he had only been more self-effacing when attempting to schmooze financiers.

The number of uncompleted Welles’ projects are about as long a list as the completed list.

Heart Of Darkness: A screenplay is complete that is probably the most camera specific one Welles ever wrote. Welles desired for this to be his first film, but the cost of his vision would have been well over 1 million dollars to shoot at the time. A version using Welles' script seems a much more worthy project for a director to tackle, than the remake of Hitchock's, Psycho, for example.

The Other Side Of The Wind: 98% complete. Welles had to gain financing from two Iranian Sheiks. Somehow, this proves to be a mistake and the film is tied up in legal issues for years. It has still not been released, save for a couple of scenes. Filmmaker and Welles’ friend, Peter Bogdonavich vows to have it released, through Showtime.

The Deep: Welles hoped the success of this more commercial film, would give him the money to finish other projects. But while mostly finished, it had to eventually be abandoned, as its star, Laurence Harvey, died before Welles could finish. The same source material would be used later in the film, Dead Calm.

Moby Dick: 22 minutes are known to exist of Welles reading all parts from the novel. He had years earlier done a stage play of Moby Dick.

The Merchant Of Venice: Much work was completed, but 2 of 3 reels of audio were stolen. Welles would redo the famous Shylock monologue in the Arizona Dessert, wearing a trench coat. The emotion he gathers while standing perfectly still, is amazing.

Don Quixote: Arguably the film project most dear to Welles' heart. Welles would have the two main characters, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, stuck in the modern age. Financial support was a struggle from the beginning, causing various starts and stops. One role had to be cut, as the young actress had grown up before shooting her part was finished. having begun in 1955, Welles was still attempting to complete the film at the time of his death, in 1985.

Despite his failure to reach the masses at the time, Welles’ struggle to continue working shows a true nobility.

He starred in commercials, with that brilliant voice of his he was more sought after for saying “We serve no wine before its time,” than his version of Shakespeare or Conrad or Kafka. He famously pointed out to a director for an ad about frozen peas, that the copy he was to read did not make sense.
"That's just idiotic, if you'll forgive my saying so."

The Brain character on the animated “Pinky and The Brain” cartoon sounded like and was an homage of sorts to Welles. I actually think he would have liked it. The man had a sense of humor.

One of his uncompleted works is him dressing up in multiple costumes, playing multiple parts, even women. Another is a skit that has tailors measuring his renowned circumference and making snide comments.

Yet he never abandoned his serious work. The Other Side Of The Wind was surely not going to be an easy film. The Deep, while more commercial, was never going to be as accessible as Speed or any other standard action film. It would have surely been a better film of course.

George Lucas is a good business man that has produced numerous good films. He has not directed a classic since 1977. He is worth by some accounts 5 billion dollars, because he knew about money and how to raise it and what to demand more than Welles.

Orson Welles was one of our greatest actors, directors, an accomplished screenwriter, radio legend, and stage director.

He never saw one of his films turn a profit while he was alive.

He died alone in 1985. Still trying to edit together The Other Side Of the Wind. But is this a sad way to go out? Might it be noble? As Welles’ historian David Tomson wrote, “real sadness is being worth 5 bn and not knowing what to do with it.”

Me and Orson Welles a film directed by Welles’ fan Richard Linklater, was released in late 2009 to very positive reviews. Budgeted at 25 million dollars, the film has grossed about 1.2 million.

The Other Side Of The Wind remains tied up in legal entanglements.

In 2011, George Lucas will release The Phantom Menace, in 3-D.

"I would have been more successful if I had left movies immediately. Stayed in the theater, gone into politics, written; anything. I’ve wasted a greater part of my life looking for money and trying to get along. Trying to make my work from this terribly expensive paintbox, which is a movie. And I’ve spend too much energy on things that have nothing to do with making a movie. It’s about 2 percent movie making and 98 percent hustling. It’s no way to spend a life.”

Sources:
“Hearts of Darkness: Joseph Conrad and Orson Welles,” James Naremore
http://www.lafuriaumana.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=173:heart-of-darkness-joseph-conrad-and-orson-welles&catid=25:rapporto-confidenziale&Itemid=27

“Orson Welles: The most glorious film failure of them all” David Tomson Oct 22 2009 guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/oct/22/orson-welles-citizen-kane

"Peter Bogdanovich and James Naremore to discuss Orson Welles and screen TOUCH OF EVIL at the Indianapolis Museum of Art on January 29"
by Lawrence French January 29, 2010 http://www.wellesnet.com/?cat=8

"Orson Welles: An Incomplete Education" by Jaime N Christley January 2003
http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/03/welles.html

The Trial Of Orson Welles

2010-09-28T15:28:00.000-04:00

“I began at the top, and have been working my way down ever since.” -Orson Welles

At 26, Welles had written, directed and starred in what is generally considered the greatest film ever made. He would assume this would give him final approval on his next projects. Yet he would never get so much freedom and resources again. He would struggle for nearly the rest of his career to make films just as he wanted. And yet, he is rightly considered one of the greatest directors of all time. One wonders if he could have only continued to realize his visions, what might have been.

Despite being an Academy Award winning film, Citizen Kane did not make money on release. This would prove fatal, as the studios would decide they knew better than Welles how to edit his films.

His follow up film, The Magnificent Ambersons, was cut down by an hour by the editors of RKO. It is still considered one of the most significant films in movie history, despite what most critics agree are mistakes made by RKO, not Welles.

Maybe the best example of seeing Welles’ talent be undermined was, The Lady From Shanghai (1948). The film is about 90 minutes long but was intended to be 150. It is a classic film noir with a blonde haired Rita Hayworth (and Welles’ wife at the time) playing the femme fatale. A somewhat complicated story is made very confusing in just 90 minutes. Some things simply don’t add up, that Welles’ notes and lost footage make much clearer. Maybe the most ridiculous additional scene was one demanded by the head of Columbia, Harry Cohn. Furious Welles had dyed and cut Hayworth’s hair, Cohn added a scene of Hayworth singing. This was to piggyback onto the success of her singing in the recent, Gilda. He also demanded close-ups of Hayworth and a cutesy new score.

Amid this travesty by Cohn, we see what the film nearly was, and still is in parts. The finale is riveting. The speech by Welles about sharks eating each other, proves prophetic by the end. The “Hall Of Mirrors” scene has been redone over and over since. Welles’ character walking away from Hayworth at the end would shadow their life, as they would divorce soon after filming was completed.

Final edit approval would be taken away from him for nearly every subsequent film. Years after his death, Welles’ decisions are continually vindicated by his meticulous notes. Touch of Evil (1958), was reedited in 1998 according to 58 pages of notes from Welles. It is nearly unanimous in thought that his version if far superior to the version the studios released at the time. 13 years after his death, Welles would not be around to hear the praise.

The Trial, made in 1962, is the most autobiographical of Welles' films. It is at once difficult and utterly fascinating. The fact that the viewer has little idea what is happening is inconsequential to the experience. The main character has no idea either. Underappreciated until years later, The Trial is Welles asking his critics, “what did I do wrong?”

The film stars Anthony Perkins as a man accused of a crime. He is never told what crime he has committed and must weave his way through a maze of bureaucracy and nonsense to figure out how to defend himself.

The Trial was one of the few films after Citizen Kane that would be 100% his own. In it you see shades of things Kubrick would do later, and even Richard Lester in, A Hard Day's Night. According to Welles himself, it was his greatest film.

In 1974 Welles would release his last completed film; F For Fake. Part documentary, part fiction feature, part film essay, Welles described it as “a new kind of film.” He would be correct. The editing is masterful. For better or worse it would influence untold works through the subsequent years. The quick editing was new at the time. Of course it has been copied much since. Often to good effect; often not. Rarely as good as in F For Fake.

Big Tent Christianity

2010-09-13T08:37:00.003-04:00

I recently attended a Big Tent Christianity Conference in Raleigh, NC. Big Tent is another buzzword or offshoot of the Emergent Movement. Speakers at the conference included Brian McLaren (often attributed with starting the Emergent movement), Shane Claiborne, and Jay Bakker (Jim and Tammy Faye’s son).

Ministers and theologians spoke with passion about justice, denominationalism, and sexuality, among other things. We sang a few songs and at break times you could go around to different booths. Booths included “People of Faith Against The Death Penalty,” Wesley Seminary, Mars Hill Graduate School, and a table selling books by many of the big emergent leaders of today. Some of the writers were in the room.

Now I figured I might disagree with some of what was said. I knew this going in, but that is why I wanted to go. I wanted to feel challenged and hear some decent debate/discussion. Tony Campolo is lumped in the emergent pastor category often, and I have found him interesting, ever since I heard him speak in 1985.

Leaving the conference, I came away feeling, well, possibly sad. Now no, it was not a revival really, I get that. But everyone who spoke is a professing Christian. I heard Jesus mentioned. We sang a couple songs about “justice” and making our heart “green” was one lyric sang amongst all the Styrofoam coffee cups and numerous laptops.

But upon first leaving I did not feel filled up. Then I went home and thought about it all.

As much as we as Christians want to reach out to people, I feel maybe we have lost sight of something. It seems many are so concerned with reaching out and including all in this tent, that they are compromising the scripture.

Overall, it felt like there was just enough truth to be dangerous.

One comment I wrote down was, “Jesus never said he follows scripture. He said he follows God.”

It seemed to me that people were getting way too close to just disregarding the Bible all together.

I thought about how minister Rob Bell once wrote it would not really matter if we found out the Virgin Birth did not happen.

Lutheran minister Nadia Bolz-Weber, said, “I preach the gospel I actually need to hear.”

Interesting. Shouldn’t we hear all of it? Even the tough parts?

The topic of Big Tent Sexuality, quickly turned into a discussion on only homosexuality.

Kimberly Knight, a lesbian woman and a minister, stated “we look silly arguing issues of homosexuality to secular people.” I had to think, what does that matter?

Aren’t we supposed to stick out and look different than the rest of the world? We should not come across as rude or judgmental, but I did not think silly was an issue.

A general mantra seems to be: “why are we worried about this issue, when A: is happening over here and B: is happening over there?”

Just because there are all sorts of issues to deal with, doesn’t mean we completely ignore another does it?

Maybe the most interesting speaker for me was Brian Ammons, a gay man and member of the Alliance of Baptists. Brian had a take I had not yet heard; as he is offended by the arguments that “gay people can’t help it, they were born this way.”

Ammons says this was all strategy created in the 1970s. “It’s victimizing, it’s saying you have no choice. I have a choice with whom I’m sleeping with.”

Jay Bakker closed out this topic. He passionately preached about supporting his homosexual brothers and sisters and said “I don’t think it is a sin. But if you do, you must get past it.”

Concerning Jesus, he said, “If the Torah was his Bible, he didn’t follow it.”

This to me is a perfect example of a quote that needed some follow up. I mean, is it true? A little true; not true at all?

The one time I remember the panel being really tested by the moderator, was one of the most interesting moments. During the topic of Justice, the panel was asked, if they felt that the very safety net structures in society they always vote for, were actually hurting their ability to practice Christian Justice?

This was followed by an almost awkward pause, and eventual answers that made little sense. A better answer is out there, but I do not think the panel was even prepared to have to answer for themselves.

Bakker was the only person I saw with a Bible in hand. Raising it up, he stated, “Has this distorted our view of love?”

“I challenge anyone to prove me differently. The concept we have of gays or lesbians, the concept against two people in loving committed relationships, is nowhere to be found in the bible.”

“Don’t preach against my LBGT brothers and sisters. It’s not there! People say I’m picking and choosing, well maybe I am, but it’s not there!”

But homosexuality is mentioned in the Bible as wrong. The argument most people make is it’s not directly mentioned by Jesus, so therefore it can’t be wrong.

But don’t tell me it is not mentioned. Does monogamy make everything alright?

We seem to be ignoring parts of the Bible when they do not suit us. There are passages I have struggled with. It is why study and discussion is important to me.

A sentiment I felt through the conference was “we like the bible, but we wouldn’t mind ripping out a few pages.”

“I don’t worship the Bible, I worship Christ. If this (the Bible) gets in the way of love, then throw it out.” -Jay Bakker

My main concern is, are we loving our brothers and sisters to hell? Maybe that puts too fine a point on it, but I do not know any other way to say it.

I am reminded of a video one church made where a man is drowning. Another man sees this along the beach and shouts out, “I love you! I love you! Be my friend!”

Of course the man drowns. So how loving are we really, if it just helps lead to one’s destruction?

I realize some people will never agree with me on the Bible. Some would say, it was written a long time ago, by men, and just take it for whatever good you get out of it.

But I just cannot make myself do that. If Christianity means anything to me, then the whole book matters to me.

Jesus is not only responsible for the words in red.

W.C. Fields; that famous comic actor, was also well known at the time for being an outspoken atheist. A famous story goes that a few weeks before he died, a friend visited him at the hospital and found him in his bed reading the Bible. His friend asked what he was doing and Fields responded, “I’m looking for loopholes.”

There were some good things said in Raleigh last week. But if shaping the Bible to any way that feels more comfortable to us is an answer, then count me out.

I want to make sure God is shaping me, and not the other way around.

Goodbye Solo

2010-09-01T16:15:00.000-04:00

Maybe friendship is at its highest point when you can not rely on receiving anything in return.

Goodbye Solo writer and director Ramin Bahrani, is from Winston Salem, NC. He uses the knowledge of his hometown to great effect. The film is shot entirely on location. It is its own character.

Red West plays William. William is a man of about 70 who makes a deal with a cab driver to take him to Rolling Rock, NC. He makes no plans for a return trip.

Red West was once a bodyguard for and close personal friend of Elvis. They were friends since high school. He even wrote several songs for Elvis as well as Pat Boone, Ricky Nelson and Johny Rivers.

He split with Elvis after breaking the foot of the man who was bringing Elvis drugs. He then told him he would work his way up to his face.

Souleymane Sy Savane plays Solo, the taxi driver. He is from the Ivory Coast, although the character is from Senegal. In the film, Solo is studying to become a flight attendant. In real life, Savane was a flight attendant. There is a smile on his face always close by. This could not be just acting.

"A big part of what the film is about is the conception of love; and what does it mean to love someone. And in this case specifically, it is about loving someone selflessly." -Director Ramin Bahrani

Giant

2010-06-20T10:03:00.003-04:00

Definition: Manute "Special Blessing"

Manute Bol was one of my favorite basketball players. Not because he was that great; he really wasn't. But honestly, because he was just fun to watch. You could not take your eyes off him.

He stood 7 feet 7 inches and was the tallest player in NBA history. He also weighed only 225 pounds.

He was born in Sudan, a Dinka tribesman. His father was the tribal chief. It is said he once killed a lion with a spear while herding cows.

As a player, he was too skinny to be a force, but he could block shots like no other. He is the only person in history to average more blocks than points for his career. He also holds the record of most blocks per 48 minutes played. (8.6 the closest person to him averaged 5.8)

"He made a career out of something that people saw in the beginning as a circus act," Chris Mullin, a close friend and former teammate.

But what he did beyond basketball was far more important. And Bol was never too proud to help his homeland.

"God guided me to America and gave me a good job. But he also gave me a heart so I would look back."

His fellow Christians in southern Sudan suffered displacement and massacre not unlike what the people of Darfur have gone through the past several years.

When he would visit Sudan refugee camps, he was regarded as royalty.

In 2001 Bol was offered a post as minister of sport by the Sudanese government. Bol refused because one of the pre-conditions was converting from Christianity to Islam.

Bol established the Ring True Foundation in order to continue fundraising for Sudanese refugees. To get the phone number of his organization on television, he agreed to appear on Celebrity Boxing. He boxed William "The Refrigerator" Perry and won.

Manute never cared that his physical appearance was what people focused on.

"You have to live with what you're given," he said.

He believed his height was a gift from God, and he was going to use that gift to help Sudan.

Other ways to garner publicity were signing a one day contract with the Indianapolis Ice of the Central Hockey League. This helped raise money specifically for the children of Sudan. He also made an appearance as a horse jockey for the same reason.

Bol gave away his entire fortune to help Sudan.

In 2004, he was seriously injured when the taxi he was in flipped. He was in a coma for 3 weeks. Former teammates heard about this and helped pay his medical bills.

"People used to feel sorry for Manute Bol. But if everyone was just like him, it would be a world I would want to live in." -Charles Barkley

Bol died Saturday at age 47, from kidney failure and a skin disease contracted while in Sudan. He had recently returned from Sudan where he was helping build a school with Sudan Sunrise, a humanitarian group he founded, based in Kansas.

Only one time in his ten year NBA career was Bol reprimanded.

He was fined $25,000 for missing two exhibition games. The reason: Bol was in Washington D.C. for peace talks between rebel leaders from Sudan.

Stemming The Tide (Part 2)

2010-05-08T14:18:00.001-04:00

His accent. His inflections. His wading down snake and leech infested waters for his film, Rescue Dawn; or just about any film.

"No filmmaker since Alfred Hitchcock has been more effective at mythologizing his 'brand' than Herzog." -Film Critic Jim Emerson

Herzog is a personality. He does not have to try very hard to strengthen that brand. There is a series of YouTube videos in which a Herzog impersonator reads children's stories.

Ex: Curious George: "One day, an intruder from society appeared in ze jungle. 'What a nice little monkey,' he thought. 'I would like to take him home with me. '
He put his hat on ze ground, and George is lured out of hiding by za hat; an alien trinket of unimaginable cultural significance. George quickly learns a hard lesson about desire. As his adventure with ze hat leads to his immediate captivity."

In the late 70's, Herzog told his friend Errol Morris, that he would eat his shoe if Morris ever completed his film, Gates of Heaven. Morris finished it, and the result was seen in a short film called, Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe.

The shoe was boiled with garlic, herbs, and stock for 5 hours.

Herzog did not eat the sole of the shoe, explaining that one does not eat the bones of a chicken.

During a British TV interview about his documentary, Grizzly Man, he was shot by a sniper.

Yes, he was shot. They calmly but quickly got inside and continued the interview. Herzog laughed off the incident, as if this was just another day. "It is not a significant bullet," he said, while showing the wound on camera.

Herzog frames nature beautifully. He proudly never storyboards. Feeling it takes something away from the spontaneity and creativity that should be in film making.

Yet some of his shots seem so well framed, that they had to be put that way just so. Herzog states he knows rather easily where to place the camera.

In an interview in 2008, Herzog was questioned about his belief that the universe is a godless and random place. Mark Kermode of the BBC asked that if this was indeed the case, "how come it can produce something as beautiful as the films of Werner Herzog? For me, the proof that what you're saying isn't true, is you and your work."

Herzog replied: "Well, I stem the tide."

Stemming The Tide (Part 1)

2010-05-01T07:11:00.002-04:00

"If I abandon this project I would be a man without dreams and I don't want to live like that: I live my life or I end my life with this project." -Werner Herzog (during the filming of Fitzcarraldo)

When Werner Herzog was 14, he stole a 35mm camera from Munich Film School.

"I don't consider it theft—it was just a necessity—I had some sort of natural right for a camera, a tool to work with."

It is appropriate that Herzog's entry into film was a bit of a struggle from the beginning. He was not old enough for film school, neither could he afford it. But he was ready to start learning. So he took what he saw as his. In differing ways, Herzog has been doing this ever since.

Most of his films are on some essential level about the struggle of Werner Herzog to make the movie you are watching. It is not easy. Nor I think as Herzog sees it, should it be, if it has a chance to be great.

"Today's films are cowardly. They do not venture into the jungle to photograph it. They create it all in a computer and make cartoons."

Messianic might be a fair word to use to describe Werner Herzog. And maybe obsessive compulsive.

And it is this; his audacity, that makes him the great director that he is.

Two of his best films came out of this obsession; Aguirre, The Wrath Of God, and Fitzcarraldo.

Both movies were filmed in the Amazon jungle because that is where the story was set. The difficulty was not a topic of discussion, as was the fact that Herzog and his crew pulled a 360 ton boat over a muddy hillside, for Fitzcarraldo. Why? Because it was what the title character does in the movie. And if Herzog had used any special effects, he knows you could tell.

That is the thing about watching Herzog. That is really a boat being crashed about in the rapids. Three of the six people on the boat at the time were injured.

That really is a boat you see in a tree in Aguirre, not a special effect. The horse that falls over on the raft in Aguirre, was drugged. Herzog did not have to worry about the Humane Society 500 miles from the closest city.

Herzog uses nature as effectively as anyone this side of Terrence Malick. But he has no love for it.

"It's a land which God, if he exists, has created in anger."

"Nature here is violent...there is a lot of misery. But it is the same misery that is all around us. The trees here are in misery and the birds are in misery. I don't think they sing, they just screech in pain.

It's like a curse weighing on the entire landscape. And whoever goes too deep into this, has his share of that curse. So we are cursed with what we are doing here."

Herzog can not be blamed for being a little miffed by his surroundings. He shot Fitzcarraldo for 4 months with Jason Robards playing the lead. But Robards contracted amoebic dysentery and flew home, forbidden by his doctors to return. Mick Jagger also had a small role but he had to return to civilization and begin a tour. His part was written out.

Herzog then cast Klaus Kinski. They first worked together in Aguirre. The two are now defined by their work together.

Was working with Kinski, difficult? During Aguirre, Kinski blew off an extra's finger while randomly shooting a gun in anger.

The Amazon Natives, Herzog used in Fitzcarraldo, offered to kill Kinski for Herzog. Herzog explained to them, he still needed Kinski for some more scenes.
Other natives shot arrows at Herzog and his crew, from the forest. The hired engineer, resigned during the film, telling Herzog there was a 70 percent chance that the cables connected to the boat would snap and dozens of lives would be lost.

A crew member, bitten by a deadly snake, saved his own life by instantly cutting off his foot with the chain saw he was holding.

And there was always Kinski. Constantly threatening to walk away, Herzog silenced Kinski by telling him he would kill him if he left, and then kill himself.

So was it all worth it?

Robards was a fine actor. Surely Herzog could find another fine actor, one not off his rocker, like Kinski. Robards would be playing an obsessed man of questionable stability. Kinski just needed to wake up to nail that role.

Herzog and Kinski would make 5 films together. In addition, there would be two documentary films showing their working relationship. As difficult as it is was to work with Kinski, Herzog had to know why it worked. They were two sides of the same coin.

Two men this intense on a film shoot, do not a fun time make. But you have to admire the determination.

My Best Friend (German: literally My Dearest Enemy)

"We had mutual respect for each other, even as we both planned each other's murder."

-Werner Herzog

Lost Boy

2010-03-13T14:10:00.000-05:00

I never liked Corey Haim. He was too interested in being the cool guy. Which ironically, made him very uncool. Unlike the title character of the film, Lucas.

Lucas (1986) was the true height of Haim's career. A largely overlooked film, it was one of the best films about being an awkward teenager of many such films in the 80s. And the biggest reason it worked was Haim's performance.

Really.

Roger Ebert's review at the time said this about Haim.
"He creates one of the most three-dimensional, complicated, interesting characters of any age in any recent movie. If he can continue to act this well, he will never become a half-forgotten child star, but will continue to grow into an important actor. He is that good."

Haim would soon achieve teenybop fame for far less substantial work. He would even distance himself from Lucas, I suppose being embarressed for having played a geek.

He would evolve into "Cool Corey" the cohort to fellow actor Corey Feldman. It was marketing that got him on plenty of Teen Magazine covers and in bad movies. It was also a person Lucas would have completely despised.

In the film, Lucas tells Maggie about locusts, his favorite insect. They will soon go away and not reappear for 17 years. He wonders where he and Maggie will be in 17 years.

In just a year or two Haim was on drugs. He would be more famous but also quickly losing his talent. In 17 years he was nearly unhirable and had long ago lost what people had once seen in him.

In 1989, Haim made a short documentary called Me, Myself, and I, about how great it was to be be Corey Haim. In it he appears high. He tries desperately to look the part of cool and aloof heartthrob. He talks of his favorite film still being his hit, The Lost Boys. Still, as if two years was so terribly long ago. For him, I guess it was.

"When you're 12 or 13 years old you are very impressionable And I know it's easy to get off track...so be smart, don't get messed up. Stay in school. And be anybody you wanna be." -Corey Haim (Me, Myself , and I)

Looking at the cast to Lucas is a who's who of young talent, that later would appear lost in real life: Corey Haim, Winona Ryder, Charlie Sheen. Kerri Green (Goonies), as Maggie, seems the only one of the main stars that got out intact. She would soon step away from acting for a time to study art. She then focused most of her time writing and directing and raising a family.

It is of course a shame, Haim is now just another footnote to most of us. To the outsiders looking in, he is just an answer to a trivia question.

I think Lucas survived the teenage years and turned out just fine. I wish it had been the character Haim had aspired to be.

More Than This, There Is Something Else There

2010-03-06T12:20:00.003-05:00

And my Heaven will be a big Heaven/ And I will walk through the front door

-Peter Gabriel

The band Genesis will soon be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. Their original lead singer, Peter Gabriel, has said he will likely not attend as his tour is about to start at the same time. While die hard fans would surely like to see Gabriel there, it almost seems appropriate he is not.

Bands have had more success after an original lead singer left I am sure. But how many splits worked out this well for both sides? Gabriel became huge after leaving; and so did Genesis. Gabriel did far more interesting things as a solo artist than Genesis ever did without him, and really with him.

Gabriel was using African and other world musicians long before the likes of Paul Simon. A former drummer who loves good percussion, Gabriel even helped create, along with his bass player Tony Levin, attachable drum sticks that stick to your fingers while playing bass. Gabriel loves elaborate staging but yet doesn't rely on it. He finds ways to enhance the music, not make it secondary. As sophisticated as Gabriel can be, he can tone it down to just he and a keyboard for some songs. And for my fellow fans of sad songs, nobody does sad much better.

And for everything I find interesting about Gabriel, lately I am drawn back to his music much for the same reasons of other artists I gravitate to. I find a searching in his lyrics. Not one from artists who one time or another professed faith, like Dylan, Van Morrison U2, or Cat Stevens; but a search of a man that finds there is something more beyond this world, but who is so far not ready to say what that might be.

"Solisbury Hill," Gabriel's first single as a solo artist was about him leaving Genesis. And it evokes imagery of listening to an unknown voice.

I had to listen had no choice
I did not believe the information
Just had to trust imagination
My heart going boom-boom-boom
Son, he said, grab your things I've come to take you home

To keep in silence I resigned
My friends would think I was a nut
Turning water into wine
Open doors would soon be shut

In, "Lay Your Hands On Me," Gabriel opens with the narrator speaking of how he is not interested in the spiritual:

No more miracles, loaves and fishes, been so busy with the
washing of the dishes

But then he comes back around to the spiritual by the 3rd verse. "No more miracles" becomes "there are no accidents."

But still the warmth flows through me
And I sense you know me well
No luck, no golden chances
No mitigating circumstances now
It's only common sense
There are no accidents around here

I am willing - lay your hands on me
I am ready - lay your hands on me
I believe - lay your hands on me, over me

"It's easy to be philosophical; to sit back and look at your life. Especially with a little wine. And what you see is a bit like being inside a car, you only see whats in front of you, you don't see whats above or below. And the moon for example sits up there; and every day it pulls the sea in and out. Controls the menstrual cycle. And at the time of the full moon the murder rate is up three times. Yet, most of us have no idea where the moon is or what phase it's in. Which only goes to show.

There is always...'more than this.'"

-Peter Gabriel

"Come Talk To Me," written to Gabriel's daughter after he and her mother divorced.

Start at 5:00 mark

Oscar Predictions Before The Nominations

2010-02-01T14:55:00.000-05:00

Before the nominations are even announced, I want to see how well I can predict the winners. So we will shortly look back and see how I did. Challenge me if you dare!

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker
This is going to be super close. But I think The Hurt Locker will edge out Avatar. Just a couple days ago I was thinking Avatar, but usually (though not so much lately) the director that wins the DGA award also wins the Best Picture Oscar. That would mean The Hurt Locker.

Best Director: Kathyrn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker Bigelow is James Cameron's ex-wife, making this battle a bit more fun. I originally thought they would award this prize to Bigelow while giving the All Time Box Office Champ the bigger prize. Usually when I go against my first instinct I am wrong. But I think The Hurt Locker will win both of these while Avatar picks up many technical awards.

Best Actor: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart He is overdue, but this will not be a lifetime achievement award either. Bridges is one of our very best actors.

Best Actress: Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side This one will be close. I thought Meryl Streep would win a few weeks ago, but Bullock won the SAG award, so she is getting love from her peers. There are plenty of reasons to argue either one will win, but I will go with Bullock, as opposed to Streep, who will have many more chances to add to her two Oscars. There is a small chance the battle could lead to an Emily Blunt victory, but I doubt it.

Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
He is great and I would say a lock except that the supporting categories are where a surprise usually happens. But I think he will avoid an upset.

Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique, Precious
Nobody has won with a name like this since, Cher. It is time.

Best Original Screenplay: (500) Days Of Summer
Tarantino has a real shot. But, I have a hunch...

Best Adapted Screeplay: Up in The Air

Best Animated Feature: Up

Out guess me and win a prize! Undetermined as of yet...

Bill Cosby: Norfolk, VA

2010-01-26T07:20:00.000-05:00

“I’m not that funny.” -Chris Rock

“I’m definitely not that funny.” -Jerry Seinfeld

“No, not compared to Bill Cosby.” -Chris Rock
(At the Mark Twain Prize Award for Bill Cosby)

Bill Cosby amazes me. At 72, the man has got to still be either the best or one of the best comedians out there. Saturday night, he convinced me of this at Chrysler Hall in Norfolk, VA.

Walking out in just a sweatshirt and sweatpants, Cosby sat down and talked for about an hour and 40 minutes. It seemed like he would have gone on longer, but explained he was told to wrap it up so we would get out of the way for the next show attendees.

If anyone has seen the film, Comedian, with Jerry Seinfeld, you get an inside look at what it takes to be funny. What looks so easy is not easy, even remotely. So at 72, yeah I admit, I thought maybe Cosby has lost a step. Who knows? I mean it would be understandable for sure.

He hasn’t.

The man made blowing his nose hilarious.

Early in the show, Cosby grabbed a tissue from the little table next to him, where he sat. He blew his nose and then put the tissue on the table and continued on with his routine. About 5 or 10 minutes later, he stops, seemingly in mid thought. He tells the audience, “I sense a negative vibe here tonight.” I thought, “oh no, what have we done?” The Norfolk crowd has ticked off The Coz?" He then explained, “It is coming not from the men, but from the women in the audience.” He then pointed to the tissue on the table, and that was all that was needed. The crowd erupted. My wife explained “yes, I couldn’t stop looking at that tissue!” He then told a story of how his wife was in a crowd one time and told a stage-hand to go up and inform Bill, during his show, to please put the tissue in a trash can. I am of course not doing the story justice, but how he can make such a simple thing, so hilarious, I think is accurate to describe as genius.

I have memorized most of the “classic” Cosby routines. What I was missing from only having the audio, was how physical a comedian Cosby is. And he only stood up twice during the whole show. From his great facial expressions, to playing all the characters in his stories; he embodies them all.

He explained how he lost a race at age 70 against an old college track rival. He knew he could win this time, because after all, his old rival was recovering from a stroke. He still lost. And Cosby running around the stage as a stroke victim, that still is better physically than him, is an image I might never forget.

When he was told it was time to wrap it up, Cosby went into his classic “Dentist” routine. It felt like Pink Floyd playing the opening notes of “Wish You Were Here” as all he had to say was, “Dentists tell you not to pick your teeth with any sharp, metal object…” and the crowd cheered wildly. Even though I have heard that routine many, many times, seeing him perform it in person was a treat.

Bill Cosby is STILL a very funny fellow.

Too Wealthy To Be Original

2010-01-08T13:31:00.000-05:00

It is currently the second biggest grossing film, worldwide, in history.

I just let out a huge sigh as I wrote that line.

Now let me start with this. I am not a James Cameron hater at all. I do not feel Titanic has aged well but I enjoyed it well enough at the time. I think True Lies is a great film and both Terminator films were solid entertainment. Aliens is an impressive achievement, especially it being a sequel and I even liked much of The Abyss. So even though the previews did not otherwise make me get excited for the film, I figured Avatar would be overall impressive. Of course in some ways it is. In other ways, I feel it is lazy and embarrassing.

First off, are the visuals great? Mostly...yes. The 3D is good enough and what I appreciated the most about the film was it did not go for the obvious lets throw a knife at the audience type of stunt. Many critics are admitting the script is just not strong. But they are so blown away by the visuals they are overlooking the script. To me this is A: Bizarre. Most films dont get this type of pass. B: The visuals also hurt the film. Here is how :

I think my biggest issue with the film was knowing I was watching a live action/animation film along the lines of Song Of the South and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. This made it difficult for me to get emotional when Cameron wanted me to. If somehow the technology of effects, had made the Na'Vi look like they were even in the same dimension as the humans, I think I could have suspended disbelief enough.

In Dances With Wolves, a white guy is accepted by Native Americans; people different in race and culture. Here we have a white guy accepted by cartoons. Yes he becomes a cartoon himself but showing the "real" actors with the Na'Vi seemed like something Cameron was doing his best to avoid. When the two do merge at the end, I just could not think anything other than "well look at the animation with that live actor."

Now I know it’s NOT exactly animation. But it sure looks like it. As much as I was impressed with many of the visuals, I was half expecting Bob Hoskins to show up and yell at a rabbit.

While I can believe Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana together.

Sam Worthington and animated, blue, 10 foot tall with a tail Zoe Saldana is harder to get emotionally connected to. At the end of the film this is what is asked of us.

So what about that story? Shouldn't we be allowed to expect more from a film that took 15 years to make? Why not throw another million in the budget for a better writer?

Earth and specifically America, is the bad guy in the film. Represented by the gung ho cliche, Colonel Miles Quaritch, who says things like "shock n awe." Then we have the god awful annoying Giovanni Ribisi, who says he doesnt care if we kill the children of the "blue monkeys" if he gets his oil, er, unobtanium. We get it, America is bad. Now here, shell out 12 dollars per ticket you capitalist pigs.

A scientist that becomes an Avatar never interacts with the hero, Jake, in that world, and it feels like his whole character is unnecessary. Sigourney Weaver's Avatar wears a Stanford University t-shirt. In a way, she looks like that one pet whose owners decided to dress like people.

Wouldn't the Na'Vi ask what the heck that t-shirt is and why she wears it? Maybe she was recruiting Na'Vi to attend some Phish concerts in her multicolored bus.

Given the resources and money to do whatever he wants, Cameron has forgotten basics. Basics that are still necessary.

But maybe the larger and sadder point, is that this is exactly the script the studio would have wanted. "Its worked before, it will work again."

With the risk of high money spent on visuals, no other risk on story could be taken. Which makes an attempt at a great picture not even exist.

I've heard that somewhere before

2010-01-06T19:53:00.000-05:00

There is one sound effect in movies that is the most highly regarded of all. And you have surely heard it.

The Wilhelm scream was first introduced in 1951, for a Gary Cooper film called Distant Drums. Then in 1953 the same scream was used in another film, The Charge At Feather River. A character named Wilhelm is the one whose mouth the effect comes out of this time.

The sound editors at Warner Brothers liked this particular scream enough that they started inserting it into more films.

Ben Bert, sound effects designer, decided he liked the effect to the point he started putting it in all films he worked on. It became a sort of signature. Films Bert has inserted the scream into include every Star Wars film and every Indians Jones film.

Other editors started putting the scream into films, as an inside joke.

"This was always something so below the radar that no one noticed other than the people who already knew." -Director Joe Dante

Just some of the films that contain the scream include:

A Star Is Born (1954)

The Wild Bunch (1969)

Poltergeist (1982)

Spaceballs (1987)

Beauty And The Beast (1991)

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Toy Story (1995)

The Fifth Element (1997)

Spider-man (2002)

The Lord Of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

Kill Bill: Vol 1 (2003)

Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgandy (2004)

King Kong (2005)

Juno (2007)

Tropic Thunder (2008)

(source: hollywoodlostandfound)

The verified list is now around 150 films.

Nobody knows the identity of the voice behind the Wilhelm Scream.

Hume's Advice

2010-01-04T12:36:00.001-05:00