My writing muscles have atrophied over the last three weeks, and they need to be warmed up so I can get back to work.
Please enjoy this rambling braindump about movies which I hope will start knocking some of the cobwebs off:
I watched a ton of movies in the last three weeks, including a ton of Academy screeners, provided to me by my vast underground network of Big Hollywood Super Players. My thoughts, let me show you them:
I loved everything about Juno, from the casting to the dialog to the photography to the soundtrack (which I bought the moment the credits began to roll) and I was surprised at how much I liked There Will Be Blood. I loved Boogie Nights, but I feel like everything Paul Thomas Anderson has done since then has been one big, "My jerking off! Let me show you it!" Daniel Day Lewis made this movie for me, and I spent a lot of hazy hours thinking about what a gift it is — and how much dedication and hard work is required — to transform an idea and words into a living, breathing character.
The Orphanage was enjoyable, and if you liked The Ring and The Others, I think you’d like it, as well. Maybe it was the drugs, but I felt a step ahead the whole time, so I was forced to just enjoy the photography and MILFiness of Belén Rueda.
I gave up on 3:10 to Yuma after 35 minutes. I felt like I missed the first reel, or something, and didn’t know who the characters were, or why I should care about them. Bummer, because I really like westerns.
I thought No Country for Old Men was beautifully shot and brilliantly performed, but it didn’t shake the Earth for me like it apparently has for everyone else who’s seen it. I thought it ended abruptly, and it wasn’t until hours later that I realized, "Oh, they wanted it to be Tommy Lee Jones’ story, not Josh Brolin’s." I understand the Sheriff is a richer character in the book, and I probably would have
felt more satisfied with the whole thing if the Coen Brothers had included more of his backstory. Bummer, because I really like westerns.
I thought Control was okay, but your enjoyment of the film is going to be directly proportional to how much you love Joy Division, I think. It’s not deep enough for casual audiences, and felt a little long to me. I wanted to see more of Ian and Deborah’s relationship, and I was surprised that I didn’t, since it was based on her book and she was one of the producers. I loved the music, I loved the photography, and I thought it was cool that they shot it in color and processed it down to black and white. The actors sound great as Joy Division, much better than those modern bands who are stealing their sound. She Wants Revenge and Interpol, I’m looking in your direction.
I watched lots of older movies, too: Breach was okay, and I was pleasantly surprised to see Ryan Philippe totally hold his own with Chris Cooper. I’d skip it unless you’re a Chris Cooper fan. Or a Laura Linney fan. Which I am. But two MILF comments in one post may give you all the impression that I’m some kind of weirdo, so let’s just move on . . .
I tried — twice — to watch The Zodiac. I read books about this guy like crazy when I was a teenager (growing up in Richard Ramirez’ Nightstalker Los Angeles gave me an insatiable curiosity about serial killers) so I was really looking forward to this movie. I can’t point to one factor, but it never grabbed me.
The Last Picture Show goes in my top ten of all time, meaning I’ll have to knock something off to make room, but I don’t know what. I couldn’t help but feel like Lucas tried — and failed — to copy it with American Graffiti. It made me want to watch The Grapes of Wrath again.
I watched Chinatown for the first time since I was 19 or 20, and I’m really glad I did. For all the time I spent in my 20s worrying about being in my 30s, I remember something someone told me when I was 29 (paraphrased): "Your 20s are about gathering information and experience, and your 30s are about putting it to use." I still feel like I have a lot to learn, but I feel more sure of who I am — way more sure of who I am than I did when I was younger — and I don’t know what relevance this rambling tangent had when I started talking about it, but watching Chinatown in my 30s was a profoundly different and much more rewarding experience than it was when I was younger. "Forget it, Jake, it’s Chinatown."
The same thing goes for The Natural. I forgot that The Natural really isn’t about baseball, and have to admit that "Pick me out a winner, Bobby," nails me in my weepy manbits the same way "Hey, dad . . . want to have a catch?" does. I would have found this movie overly sentimental and too magical when I was a cynical 24 year-old with a copy of Howl in his pocket. Hell, I probably did. I’m glad I watched it without the baggage of being young and cocksure.
28 Weeks Later didn’t do for 28 Days Later what Dawn of the Dead did for Night of the Living Dead, but I like Robert Carlyle and can think of worse things to do with 90 minutes than watch The Infected do their thing.
I’m ashamed to admit that I hadn’t seen Spirited Away until this month. I loved every single thing about it, and I think it may edge out Akira in my top 5 Anime of all time. I know, blasphemy, but I responded to it on a level that I never have with Akira. It’s similar to the way Blade Runner moves me in ways that Star Wars does not. And we all know how much I love Star Wars. Oh, fucking hell, I guess I should just get this over with: if I had to choose, entirely on their individual merits, and took out the nostalgia, toys, and significance in my childhood, and look at them in a vacuum, Blade Runner resonates much more powerfully with me. I think it’s a better film. Hey, maybe I’ll watch that Final Ultimate Really We Mean It director’s cut in a little bit. I’m supposed to ramp up to normal activity slowly, so maybe I can justify it.
I’m sure I watched other stuff, but it’s not coming straight to mind, so I guess it’s safe to say that whatever else I saw didn’t make much of an impression.
Heh. There was a time when I’d look at all of this, say out loud, "who gives a fuck what you think about movies?" and delete the whole thing because it’s not that interesting to anyone but me. Maybe it’s residual drugs in my system, or part of that thing I mentioned earlier about being in my mid-30s (yipe), but I needed to write this because thinking about all of it has taken up cycles in my brains that I need for other stuff. So here it is, and if you’re reading this, I guess it’s safe to assume that you found something worthwhile in it, so at least I haven’t wasted your time.
Back in the days when Tony Pierce wasn’t spending his time trolling his own commenters and generating controversy for the sake of building page views, he wrote a fantastic post about avoiding blogging burn out, which was something we were all talking about in those days when we were all sort of defining what blogging was and wasn’t, making it up as we went along (but not admitting that we were.) I forget exactly what the advice was (and it’s all massively awesome advice that should be required reading for everyone — including Tony, today — who aspires to do more than talk about their cats with their blog) but it can be distilled down to a couple of things: write what you want to, write what’s on your mind, and don’t worry about who is reading it. It’s such simple and logical advice, but clearly isn’t easy to absorb and put into practice, because I need to remind myself about it at least twice a year. I used to worry a lot about wasting people’s time with my blog, but now I save that obsessing for my books.
Oh, totally unrelated to movies, but because I’m thinking about it: I bought the remastered Joshua Tree last week, because my original CD, which I bought at Tower Records in 1987, had a scratch across Running To Stand Still right when he sings "Cry without weeping." This scratched copy of Joshua Tree was one of the first CDs I ever bought for myself, and I couldn’t bring myself to replace it, so I’ve been listening to it this way, with the clicks and pops, for at least 15 years. It made me feel a little sad to replace it, like I was letting something go that I wanted or needed to keep around, but I haven’t been listening to the physical CD for years, and I figured it was okay to replace the music with a pristine version, while saving the original CD for keeping in The Vault of Memories.
Whew. This is the most I’ve written in a month, and it is ram-buh-ling. I’m tired, now. I think I’ll go for a walk.
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I enjoyed your rambling, Wil, and i’m glad you are feeling better. I always enjoy reading folks’ thoughts about movies. I guess I’m in the minority on Zodiac. I thought it was less about the actual killer and more about the men who spent their lives trying to catch him. I thought the cast did a fantastic job and Fincher did a good job capturing the despair and drive of those three men. I can understand why people might have thought it was slow, however. Great shots of San Francisco and the rest of the Bay Area as well.
Wow. I really love this post. I love movies and hearing what other people think about them. I love that comment about being in one’s 20s and then one’s 30s as I’m now in my early 30s and only just figuring out what to do w/ my life. And I love what you wrote about the Joshua Tree CD. I have had -as I think we all do- similar experiences. I remember my very first piece of music that wasn’t Sesseme Street or other “kids stuff.” It was Mellencamp’s Rain on the Scarecrow, on cassette. I still have it, I still play it sometimes, and I still cry when I hear the song.
And I’m glad you’re feeling better.
Awesome, I’ve seen maybe half of those. Gonna half to find the others and watch them too. If you have the chance, I would suggest Vantage Point. A couple of my friends and I saw it and We all though it was AWESOME!
I wasn’t blown away by “No Country” either, but it did bother me in a way that only a movie about a man separated from his family can on the first day I left my daughter at daycare. I also saw “I Am Legend” that day; poor choices.
Everything you need to know about the Tommy Lee Jones’ character is revealed when he is sitting in a diner drinking coffee and his deputy tries to get him to respond to events Urgently. And he doesn’t. And it didn’t make sense to me until the final soliloquy.
Hey Wil,
Unrelated to your post but something to do with the past. Just the other day I saw you on Family Ties playing the role of the jock who dates Jennifer Keaton. Not sure if you can comment about that moment in time. Do you remember anything about that experience?
Anyway I enjoyed seeing you on tv.
Heather
I wasn’t blown away by “No Country” either, but it did bother me in a way that only a movie about a man separated from his family can on the first day I left my daughter at daycare. I also saw “I Am Legend” that day; poor choices.
Everything you need to know about the Tommy Lee Jones’ character is revealed when he is sitting in a diner drinking coffee and his deputy tries to get him to respond to events Urgently. And he doesn’t. And it didn’t make sense to me until the final soliloquy.
Wil if you were wasting our time we wouldn’t read it. But as your comments prove many people read your Blogs and most of us enjoy reading them. We enjoy finding out your thoughts on various subjects no matter how casual they may seem and your random feelings that go into the Blogs make them even more enjoyable to read.
In particular I enjoyed finding out your views on movies especially the ones that you found enjoyable and ones you couldn’t stand to watch it outlines what these movies lack or don’t lack. It’s hard replacing something that means so much but sometimes thing get so bad that they need replacing.
I am glad to hear that you are feeling much better and that you can’t wait to get back to creating and I can not wait to see what you do. Keep feeling well Wil and good luck with any future projects you do. <3 Kitty <3
I think I’ll watch No County again. I suspect it will be better the second time around. Maybe it will be like those albums (OK Computer comes to mind) where I give it the initial “meh, but it totally grows on me as I digest more of it.
Heatherr: I wrote a little bit about working on Family Ties for one of my Geek in Review columns that was adapted for Happiest Days, so this isn’t too far from my mind.
That character was supposed to be a recurring role, but I booked Star Trek shortly after we filmed it, and I never got to play him again.
I had a great time working with everyone, and if you are old enough to recall how huge Family Ties was back then, (it could be compared to working on Friends in the 90s or How I Met Your Mother today,) you’ll grok why it was such a big deal for me to work with them.
I had a crazy stupid crush on Justine Bateman, was in awe of Michael J. Fox (mostly because he was the biggest star on the planet at the time and didn’t act like it) and felt very welcomed by the whole cast. Tina Yothers was super nice to me, and we stayed pretty close friends for quite some time after the show had wrapped. She had a band that totally didn’t suck, and I wish I’d gotten out of D&D just once to go watch them play live. For at least a year after I did the show, she and I would use the studio’s phones to coordinate trips to Solid Gold or Arsenio Hall when they were taping with bands that we liked. That was probably the coolest aspect of the whole experience, actually.
Gary David Goldberg, who was the executive producer, would sit by the cameras during taping and rehearsal. He had this unique — and very infectious — laugh that anyone who worked with him on any of his shows still talks about to this day.
I bet I could dig up more memories if I watched that episode again. I wonder if I’ll get a 12 cent check for it running again?
Please tell me that you have seen the other Miyazaki movies. Porco Rosso? Howl’s Moving Castle? Kiki’s Delivery Service? My Neighbor Totoro? Castle in the Sky? The Cat Returns? Oh, dear lord please say you have only seen Akira and Spirited Away…
Do not rent. Buy. Go now.
I just watched “Chinatown” recently for the first time and found it brilliant and resonating. Fifteen years ago, I would have thought it boring and “huh?” Totally agree, in other words.
Have yet to see the Two Jakes, though.
If you like westerns, give The Assassination of Jesse James by The Coward Robert Ford a try.
I’m not a western fan, but I enjoyed this movie thoroughly.
This is the best post ever. I’ve only seen two of these movies (the recent ones, I’ve seen Chinatown a gazillion times) – 3:10 to Yuma and Juno. I love Juno and was SO disappointed in 3:10. I was depressed for days because I don’t understand how they could make such a mess of it. My husband pretty much nailed it when he said that it’s a crappy TNT western that someone cast Russell Crow in by accident.
Laura Linney’s a MILF? Hot diggity.
I mean… I loved Breach, too.
Woo Hoo! Welcome back! I missed you!
I’ll read anything at this point. Even if it’s just movie reviews that I won’t watch until they hit NetFlix. First the writer’s strike, and then Wil gets his schnozz reamed and can’t write for a few weeks. There’s been nothing intelligent to read anywhere for weeks. 😉 Glad to see you back.
Miyazaki is king! I loved Spirited Away, also. but howl’s moving castle and Castle in the sky were also good (although the switch from “apparant” bad guys to good guys freaked me out at first, now it’s magical). I bought the books for the Castle movies after watching them. The books are very good, too.
Wil –
Laura Linney’s milfy-ness is not to be denied.
It’s great to hear you back here Wil. I know it must feel good to dump some of this stuff from your brain to your blog. But please don’t over do yourself. Take care so you can continue dumping your brain into mine…man maybe I should find a place to unload my brian:)
~~TARA~~
Ah, Breach. The movie that I saw on the plane to Vegas…and the plane back from Vegas (I guess Delta was having a special “All Breach, All The Time” promotion I must have missed). Thank god it was a good movie…must have been since it was able to distract me from the misery, twice, of a looong plane ride.
You’ve got to give 3:10 to Yuma another chance, Wil. It’s really worth it. The film is definitely about Christian Bale and Russell Crowe, and it takes a while for it to reach its peak.
I walked out of the theater thinking “That’s a good movie. Good acting, interesting story, some cool scenes & deaths, solid ending.” But when I watched it a second time, I was blown away at how intrigued I was with all the little things, what they were saying, what they were doing – how it all helped shape the ending. I loved it. It quickly shot itself to my top 5 favorite westerns, right up there with Silverado, El Dorado, The Alamo, and maybe Tombstone or Dance With Wolves. Give it another chance. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
It’s funny those of us who played their own copies of Joshua Tree to death, and how we can instantly remember the song. As I read the sentence “Cry without weeping”, I heard Bono in my head “Sing without raising your voice”. Is the remastered version worth picking up, in addition to the digital copy? As in, are there any differences?
One of my all, all, all time MILFs is Helen Mirren. Anything she wants to do is enough for me to shell out the coins to see. She first caught my attention in 2010, back in the day.
Put the time in to see the final, final, final Ridley version of Blade Runner. Origami is a better ending.
Thanks for the burnout bit, Wil – it’s a wall I’ve hit myself the last month, with the result of just letting everything fall by the wayside the past few weeks. All choices that are logical and rational if I step back (midterms, sick, etc), but can become this paralyzing mantra of failure, all the same.
Jessika: I bought some special edition because it was on massive sale. It has the remastered album, a bonus CD of B-sides that were recorded during the Joshua Tree sessions, and a DVD with a concert and some other stuff that I haven’t had time to watch.
There’s also a book with essays by Bono, Eno, Edge, and others that shines some insightful light onto the process involved in creating this album.
I’m not audiophile enough to hear differences (except in the remaster of Kind of Blue, which was originally released slightly off-pitch enough for me to recognize it when I heard them back-to-back) so I couldn’t tell you if it sounds any better. What I *can* tell you, though, is that it sounds just like the album I’ve loved for 20 years, minus the clicks and pops in my favorite song on the album.
After having you gone so long, a nice post hit the spot.
I got the 20th anniversary edition of Thriller to replace my original vinyl copy which was long worn out. Thriller is still a classic pop album.
Definitely make the time to see the Blade Runner final cut. A good friend gave it to me as a holiday present, and it was the first time I’d seen the movie in 20-something years. It’s worth it. REALLY worth it.
Just wanted to point out that there are two recent movies about the Zodiac. “Zodiac”, directed by Fincher and which I liked. And “The Zodiac” which seemed less interesting.
Which one did you just see?
Keep on rambling Wil. I’ll keep reading 🙂
Thanks for the movie reviews! I haven’t seen most of those movies, and I just added a couple of them to my Netflix list. I loved reading your rambling, because it seemed quite natural, less crafted.
Thinking about the Star Wars Vs. Blade Runner… there are lots of reasons that could be cited (better direction, writing, etc…) why “Blade Runner” is a superior film.
But, for me I think, fundamentally “Blade Runner “is an exploration of what it means to be human. That gives a depth that resonates and makes the viewer (hopefully) think about their own place in existence.
Though you are still in a weakened state, the best movie I’ve seen in a while was “The Fountain.” It has joined my list of great films I never want to see again. (Populated by “Pan’s Labyrinth,” and “My Life.”)
Oh and you should watch “Six String Samurai” for fun.
looked up Juno to see who composed it, and was kind of disappointed to see it was one of those compilation type albums (even if Ive never heard of any of it). Never did like those all that much. Will check it out on Rhapsody to see if its worth actually buying.
3:10 to Yuma was just plain dull, IMO. On the bright side, I did get through about a deck and a half of the Rush Hour game . So all was not lost.
I wish I had the time to watch some movies. Theres been a bunch Ive really been wanting to see lately…Sound of Music, Chipmunk Adventure, Petes Dragon, Superman I and II and the Richard Donner edition among them.
Saw Sweeney Todd a couple days ago. Now I really want to get ahold of Angela Lansburys performance and compare Mrs. Lovettes.
I enjoyed your rambling because it was very ‘honest’. I see myself in a lot of what you write, and I wish I could express myself as easily and as captivatingly as you do.
Now that I have your attention… Since you brought up the topic of anime, I’d love to know where Cowboy Bebop fits into your rankings. For me, the last two episodes of the series is without question the greatest hour of animation evah! Just wonderin’.
Loved Juno for the intelligent character interactions and the dialogue. Afterwards my wife got annoyed with me calling her ‘home-skillet’ over and over. :o)
Also, if you haven’t seen Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) you really should. Saw it for the first time this week and fell in love with Michel Gondry’s direction in the first 15 minutes. Now I’m hunting down all his movies.
Lastly, if you bought Joshua Tree on CD in 1987, it would be close to the first CD you ever owned. That’s about when CDs became available for the first time. Was it your first?
Why Wil does Hollywood have to re-make movies? Watch the original 3:10 to Yuma. THAT is a western. Now that you got me started: Watch the original 12 Angry Men or Walter Lord’s “A Night to Remember” instead of the Titanic. And how the hell (or in your words, how the fuck) do they remake Pschyo? The original Ransom was a great movie. I would never have paid to see the new one (and I did’t. I waited until it was on HB0). But anyhoo, welcome back to the world. Shake off the cobwebs and give me something to read. I get tired fighting my neighbors who are still trying to stop the 710. Opps, sorry. You probably also want to stop the 710. Bill M.
Tenacious: It wasn’t the first, but it was certainly in the first few.
I got my first CD player in July of 1987. The first CD I owned was Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me by The Cure. It was a birthday gift. The first CD I bought for myself was Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band, because it seemed like the right thing to do.
I don’t recall when I bought Joshua Tree, but it must have been right around the same time.
Remember those huge CD boxes? I used to hang thenm up on my bedroom wall, and they’re about as relevant to my kids as LPs. Or the Civil War.
ugh. agreed re: cd boxes. I had tons of them and would carefully but them open so I could tack them to my bedroom wall. My first CD was Duran Duran’s Seven and the Ragged Tiger.
What?
S.
http://www.stepto.com
sigh. but=cut.
S.
http://www.stepto.com
The Last Picture Show goes in my top ten of all time, meaning I’ll have to knock something off to make room, but I don’t know what.
Though the book is a separate achievement from the movie … my dad roomed briefly with Larry McMurtry in college and always bought everything he ever wrote. Back around ’87 we went to a Texas literary festival at North Texas State in Denton (now UNT). McMurtry was there and Daddy went up to introduce himself, starting with the old standby “I’m sure you don’t remember me, but –” You can imagine the thrill when the reply was “Of course I remember you, Mark!”
I discovered Miyazaki’s work in the past year. I fell completely in love with “Howls Moving Castle”. We caught “Spirited Away” this past weekend and I still have those images fresh in my mind. Each of his movies is a small masterpiece that always leaves me in a state of awe.
Thanks for saying that about Spirited Away, Wil. I love that movie. It makes me want to go to the Japanese countryside, not because I think I’ll see spirits, but because I’ll feel, just a little bit, the same way I feel when I watch that movie.
Thanks Wil, I just added some new picks to my Netflix que
Actually, I think She Wants Revenge sounds like Bauhaus. WTF, I like ’em anyway.
Blade Runner is made of awesome–for me, because (as Gordon Nelson was saying up above) it’s all about what it means to be human. That’s the aspect of sci-fi that grabs me the most, and many of the best Star Trek episodes revolve around the same theme. Like I need to tell you that, heh.
Re: Juno. I loved the movie. LOVED IT. Except for the music. Here’s the thing: It would have been fine music for the movie, but then we find out that Juno’s big punk rock chick, talking about the Slits and Iggy Pop and such, and then they don’t play ANY OF IT. I can get behind the Mott the Hoople, and the Sonic Youth, both of which were written into the script. I’d betcha almost all of the incidental music was NOT.
Other than that point, I agree with pretty much everything you said. If you have somehow managed to avoid watching Night Watch, rent it. NOW. Go ahead, I’ll wait…
Wasn’t that a cool movie? Especially if you’re sick and full of drugs.
Party on, Wayne.
I’ve been reading your blog for quite some time and I’ve agreed with most of the things you’ve had to say.
That being said you need to give 3:10 to yuma another chance. It’s the Heat of westerns with Bale and Crowe playing the parts of Pacino and DeNiro. Its one of those movies that builds up nicely from a slow start and grows on your after you walk away at the end. Repeated viewings of the movie have improved it even more as I’m intrigued to try and figure out the characters portrayed so masterfully by Bale and Crowe.
So after reading your blog for some 6+ years this comment finally made me sign up for an account to be able to post comments. I hope you’ll give it another shot.
I rented 3:10 and it took me 4 tries and 2 days to get into a space where I was bloated, full of mead and bread, and too comatose to move. Let me say…I actually enjoyed this film. It’s a slow start but the nuances are there to be picked up, to toss about, to digest and to interpret all your own. You just have to allow the forces to align absolutely correctly in order to view without judgment.
I, being in your age group, loved Family Ties but don’t recall your part. But I happily watched Stand By Me, not so long ago, and found your change from boyhood to manhood to be stunning. You are the same, yet so different. Wow. I feel old again.
Glad to have you back, Wil!
I agree that you should give 3:10 to Yuma another chance. It’s a slow burner. I also think you should watch a few more Miyazaki films, defo with the family (I especially like Porco Rosso), because whilst being visually stunning, they’re also really entertaining to a wide base of people.
PS. My first CD was the Madonna album, “I’m Breathless”, which was the soundtrack to Dick Tracy. Does that make me a loser?
True, ram-buh-ling indeed – I found my mind wandering a few times while reading it, so i stepped back a paragraph and read it again.
But i can tell you’re on your way back to form. The first half is more “rambly” thant the last, so crawl before walking would be the case here as well.
Keep going, Wil.
Magic is the bloodstream of the universe… Forget all you know, or think you know. All that you require is your intuition. The power to control the world is in which finger?
Missed you! Happy to have huge rambling posts to read 🙂
And because of my love of movies, I always try to find out what others thought of them. Offers a breadth of vision for me so when I watch again (like 20x if I really enjoy them), I can see things I may have missed. Do I see a new career for you? Internets Movie Critic? LOL
Wil, I enjoyed your ram-buh-ling. A lot.
Welcome back to the post-surgical human race… Don’t do too much too soon, ‘k?
Excellent post. 🙂 Especially love the comments regarding Spirited Away which mirror exactly how I felt when I first saw that film.
Out of interest, what other Miyazaki films have you watched to date? In particular, have you seen Princess Mononoke, My Neighbour Totoro and Howl’s Moving Castle? Three Miyazaki films that in addition to Spirited Away would sum up Miyazaki’s skill.