Monthly Archives: October 2014

#94: The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

19 Sunday Oct 2014

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Though Christopher Gardner desires success
And actively tries to pursue happiness,
He seems to be caught in a permanent rut;
The doors of reality always slam shut.
 
The debts and the taxes are piling up;
His wife’s irritation is dialing up.
He tries to sell bone scanners, plugging away,
Yet nothing pans out by the end of the day.
 
At last, his wife leaves and announces she’s done,
But Chris will not let her escape with his son.
Insisting he’ll care for him, Christopher starts
An internship in all the stockbroking arts.
 
Unfortunately, training there is unpaid;
For six months, he trusts in the scanner sales trade.
When IRS claims leave him suddenly broke,
He’s forced into lines with the destitute folk.
 
He’s forced to work harder than fellow interns,
Employing charisma and methods he learns.
Pursuit of his happiness ends in frustration;
It’s nowhere as easy as in the quotation.
 
Yet through all the heartache and difficult trials,
The proneness to tears and the fakeness of smiles,
He merits the job, chances twenty to one,
And “happyness” happens, for him and his son.
_________________
 

The American dream is a unique hope, a driving force of immigration to this country and an enduring promise to those harboring yet-unfulfilled ambitions. In most films, success comes fairly easily, through situations either comedic (The Secret of My Success) or dramatic (Citizen Kane). No film I’ve seen captures the true difficulty of success as powerfully as The Pursuit of Happyness.

Portraying real-life homeless-man-turned-success-story Chris Gardner, Oscar nominee Will Smith’s finest and most sensitive performance provides the heart of the film. His retrospective narration and recognition of mistakes add to the film’s structure, which is essentially one man’s efforts to survive between an unpaid job, fatherhood, and homelessness. Quite frankly, most of the film is intensely depressing. Many times when Chris seems to be on the verge of a turning point for improvement, circumstances decline even further; opportunities become disappointments, and hopes become letdowns. “Happyness” (a misspelling seen on his son’s daycare mural) seems always out of reach. Yet through all of these obstacles, Chris himself is an entirely admirable father, long-suffering and tenacious, the kind of guy the audience can root for without reservation. Smith’s on-screen relationship with his real son Jaden is genuine throughout, and there’s never any doubt about Chris’s paternal love.

At times, the film is reminiscent of Kramer vs. Kramer; there’s even an exchange in which the son wonders if Mommy left because of him, only to be reassured by Dad. Yet, whereas Ted Kramer had much to learn about fatherhood and needed to fight to keep his son, Chris Gardner was already an ideal father and was forced to fight for a bed, a meal, and a future. While Kramer’s happy ending was essentially an act of goodwill from his ex-wife, Chris’s final success was hard-fought and satisfying. The moment when he finally gets the well-paid stockbroker position for which he had only hoped for the last six months is a quiet, understated scene that pulls at the heartstrings in a legitimately deserved way, like when Rudy earns admission to Notre Dame in Rudy. It’s a brief realization of “happyness” that makes all the inordinate hardships and struggles he endured at last worthwhile. The Pursuit of Happyness depicts the highs and lows of the American dream, which, though elusive, is eminently gratifying when achieved.

Best line: (Mr. Frohm, when Chris is forced to show up to an interview underdressed) “What would you say if a man walked in here with no shirt, and I hired him? What would you say?” (Chris Gardner, after a moment of thought) “He must have had on some really nice pants.”

 
Rank: 53 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

229 Followers and Counting

 

#95: Signs (2002)

18 Saturday Oct 2014

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Crop circles appear in the field
Of Reverend Graham Hess, who’s not healed
From the loss of his wife,
Which has emptied his life
Of meaning and faith he can’t wield.
 
Both Merrill, his brother, and he
Know someone’s outside, who must flee.
Odd things start occurring;
Graham’s kids are concurring
An alien force it might be.
 
Graham’s sure that it must be a hoax,
Some puerile, fame-seeking jokes,
But when, in his scorn,
He goes out in the corn,
His calm rationality chokes.
 
He thinks of the sad accident
That left his wife pinned ere she went.
She spoke of nonsense,
Which left Graham in suspense
Till he realized what little it meant.
 
Afraid, Graham tries taking command
When he learns of the danger firsthand.
They don’t run away
But instead choose to stay
In the house as more aliens land.
 
The Hesses aren’t caught unawares
Yet flee to the shelter downstairs.
Graham’s asthmatic son
Needs a drug but has none,
And Graham still denies any prayers.
 
They get through the torturous night
And think that it might be all right.
They hear at the dawn
That the creatures are gone,
And venture out into the light.
 
With heart-stopping horror, they find
One last hostile guest left behind;
It’s then that Graham sees
The divine expertise
That saves them and comforts his mind.
_________________
 

Most filmmakers start off weak and improve with practice, but then there’s M. Night Shyamalan, whose artistry burst onto the movie screen with the flair of a virtuoso and has since diminished to an unfortunate nadir. Everyone hails The Sixth Sense as his greatest achievement, which it is, but forgets or downplays his second stroke of genius in Signs.

A cornfield used to be just another bucolic piece of acreage, but Steven King’s Children of the Corn and this film forever made it a foreboding lair to be feared. When James Newton Howard’s suspenseful score plays, the tension builds; when the score is nonexistent, the cinematography and quiet discussions of unnatural circumstances and potential invasion reinforce the tension even more strongly. In certain scenes, such as Graham’s cornfield exploration and some jump scares toward the end, the anxiety comes to a head with bloodless encounters from which other horror films could learn and which I and my VC certainly appreciated.

Amid all the suspense, there are examples of Shyamalan’s unique framing technique, subtle and profound performances from Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix, and unexpected moments of welcome humor. Above all, it boasts one of the most reserved yet God-affirming messages of any recent Hollywood flick. Graham’s loss of faith and anger at the Lord are understandable, for he sees his pain as meaningless; but, even at that time of greatest distress, God was sending him messages he had yet to interpret. There’s a moment near the end in which everything clicks: Merrill’s eagerness to swing in baseball, Bo’s water fixation, Morgan’s asthma, details that added to their characters but seemed like trivialities, even nuisances, in their day-to-day lives. It reminds me of the passage in Isaiah in which God explains how superior his ways and his plans are above our own, and when Graham recognizes this, he realizes he is not alone (in a good way). Note how Graham tells God “I hate you,” just as Morgan had to his dad, yet in the end both father/child relationships are restored.

A coworker of mine once decried Signs as among the worst movies she had ever seen, and I suppose its appreciation depends on the viewer. What I saw as contemplative, portending, compelling, and well-crafted, others viewed as self-important, tedious, implausible, and manipulative. Others have criticized the under-explained alien invasion and the invaders’ preposterous weakness, but I enjoyed the film’s more personal take on such a crisis and could compare the creature’s undoing to the aliens’ germy downfall in War of the Worlds. In many ways, Signs is the antithesis of Independence Day; everything is smaller, with no explosions, no bombastic victory, no clichéd relationships, and all for the better. It’s a tense, non-gory thriller with hardly any profanity and an uncommon theme of finding lost faith and recognizing God in what seems like coincidence.

I dare anyone to watch Signs and then enter a dark corn maze without being a little nervous.

Best line: (Graham Hess) “See, what you have to ask yourself is what kind of person are you? Are you the kind that sees signs, that sees miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky? Or, look at the question this way: Is it possible that there are no coincidences?”

Other best line: (young Bo, waking her father up one night) “There’s a monster outside my room, can I have a glass of water?”

 
Rank: 53 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

229 Followers and Counting

 

#96: Star Trek: Generations (1994)

17 Friday Oct 2014

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When Captain Kirk was witness to the christened Enterprise
Long after he had left the venerated captain’s chair,
An incident in space occurred, in which he clearly dies,
Yet he helped save El-Aurians from an interspatial snare.
 
Some decades later on the current Enterprise, Picard
Gets word of family losses that disturb him to the core.
They answer a distress call from a solar station scarred,
Where fervent Dr. Soran has experiments in store.
 
He swiftly kidnaps Geordi after shooting out a star
And makes his getaway when Klingon enemies arrive.
Picard is told by Guinan that the doctor will go far
To get back to the Nexus, where one’s joys can come alive.
 
Deducing his next move and his own murderous intent,
The Enterprise arrives where he will kill another sun.
Once Geordi is retrieved through trade, Picard asks to be sent
To Soran on the planet, who has very nearly won.
 
Deception gains the Klingons an advantage, which they seize
And harm the Enterprise before they’re blown away at last.
The crippled saucer crash-lands, just as Soran guarantees
The advent of the Nexus and resulting deadly blast.
 
Picard is swallowed up and finds the family of his dreams
But knows he must return in time, which luckily he can.
Yet someone else could help, because such threats require teams.
That someone is James Kirk, whom he persuades is just the man.
 
Returning to the planet ere the doctor’s plan succeeded,
They battle him together and prevent another win.
Kirk fell but made a difference, the one last time he was needed,
And though the ship was lost, Picard awaits its next of kin.
_________________
 

Yes, another Star Trek movie. Star Trek: Generations is not the most popular of Star Trek films, but I believe it broke the supposed “Star Trek curse,” an odd-numbered Trek film that actually lived up to the show’s standards. In combining the old and new Enterprise crews, specifically pairing Captain Kirk with Captain Picard, the film caters to Trekkers’ inner fanboy while continuing/wrapping up minor open threads from The Next Generation series, such as Data’s emotion chip and the Duras sisters. It even marks the first time a film relied on a website dedicated to its promotion.

Most of the Next Gen crew are rather under-utilized, though not to the extent of Insurrection; most of the good lines go to Data, while most of the drama goes to Picard. Patrick Stewart’s range of emotions and his characteristic attempts at suppressing them showcase his skill as an actor. The loss of his loved ones (seen in the poignant post-Borg episode “Family”) is not witnessed like the death of Kirk’s son in Search for Spock, but it somehow carries the same emotional weight, making Picard’s reluctance to leave the joys of the Nexus quite justifiable. As for Kirk, William Shatner steps into his role as if he never left (The Undiscovered Country was only three years earlier), and as daring as it was to kill off such an iconic character, the filmmakers did it right, allowing him proper heroics and a final genuine goodbye. Shatner does have a tendency to overact, but his death scene was flawless, even if they had to reshoot it to get it right. Malcolm McDowall also provides his usual splendid villainy as Dr. Tolian Soran, who has an unconventional motive—his own bliss in the Nexus, an underexplained but unique plot device that allowed the merging of time periods without the traditional time travel explanation.

Some critics have focused on the film’s flaws, such as the fact that if Kirk and Picard had failed to stop Soran, they could have just started over after entering the Nexus again, thus robbing the finale of true tension. Those critics were obviously thinking too much when they should have just been enjoying the action, but while they have a point, reentry into the Nexus might have been harder to resist or Soran might have killed them before it arrived. Either way, the climax works, even if it forever changed the Star Trek universe, marking the end of a beloved character and the destruction of yet another Enterprise (which was much more impressive visually than in Search for Spock). We’ll see if Shatner ever manages to finagle a cameo in one of Abrams’ films.

While the sailing ship scenes err on the silly side and there are other quibbles I could make, the opening with Scottie and Chekhov effortlessly captures the atmosphere and maturized humor of the original movies, while the rest features a cinematic translation of the Next Gen series that would continue for three more films. I’ll be honest: I like the Next Gen crew a bit more than the original, but seeing both in the same film is a joy to this Trek enthusiast.

Best line: (Data, after tasting a drink with his emotion chip installed) “I hate this! It is revolting!”
(Guinan) “More?”
(Data) “Please!”
 
Rank: 53 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

229 Followers and Counting

 

#97: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

16 Thursday Oct 2014

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Excelsior is hit with force,
A Klingon moon, Praxis, the source.
The race now lacks a prime resource
And can’t keep up with war.
So Kirk and friends are sent to space
To meet the Klingons face to face
And escort them to Earth with grace,
A task that they abhor.
 
Especially Kirk hates the foe;
They killed his son three films ago.
A dinner’s rather stiff and slow,
But nothing bad occurs.
But then the Klingons are attacked,
The ambassador is killed, in fact,
So Kirk surrenders with some tact
To not make matters worse.
 
Arresting both McCoy and Kirk,
Their justice system goes to work,
Condemning them where dangers lurk,
In Rura Penthe’s mines.
They don’t make friends, except for one,
A shapeshifter who helps them run,
But double-crosses ere they’re done,
According to designs.
 
Just in time, Spock saves the pair
But knows a traitor is somewhere.
They root out the deceiver there
And learn of the deceit.
The Federation’s President
Will soon be shot with fell intent;
As Kirk was set up, their descent
To war will be complete.
 
They first must conquer in some way
A hidden Klingon bird of prey.
After that, they save the day
And stop the homicide.
With that, Kirk’s anger finds release,
And regular aggressions cease.
Now that they’ve consummated peace,
They can retire with pride.
__________________
 

Star Trek V was a big disappointment, and I’m sure everyone is glad that it didn’t mark the end of the original series cast. When Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country was released two years later, it breathed new life into movie prospects, even as The Next Generation kept the franchise alive on television. With a plot informed by contemporary tensions with Russia (the Berlin Wall was torn down the previous year), the sixth film focuses more on the Klingons, giving them more depth than the typically villainous stereotypes Kirk had encountered in Star Trek III, when his son was murdered. The filmmakers made an excellent decision in focusing on Kirk’s prejudice over his loss; such pain is not something easily forgotten. Star Trek: The Original Series was at its best with potent sci-fi social commentary; Star Trek VI returns to such themes, with Kirk’s coming to terms with his bias being a thoughtful challenge to all those bearing blind bigotry.

The political intrigue is surprisingly intricate, though at times specific characters’ motivations are less than clear. Christopher Plummer as main villain General Chang is an obvious follow-up to Khan, even quoting Shakespeare as he attacks the Enterprise with smug superiority. Other conspirators are less obviously villainous (I won’t include too many spoilers), but it’s interesting to note that one is played by Brock Peters, who portrayed Tom Robinson, a victim of prejudice, in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Other actors include David Warner as the assassinated ambassador Gorkon, Robocop’s Kurtwood Smith as the Federation President, and Kim Cattrall as Vulcan newbie Valeris, who doesn’t quite fit as well as Kirstie Alley’s Saavik from Star Trek II (or Robin Curtis in III), perhaps intentionally. As for the main cast, they don’t all get the moments of glory that The Voyage Home afforded, but each slips into their familiar roles like a glove, particularly Shatner and Nimoy as Kirk and Spock disagree over the Klingon issue. George Takei’s Sulu (now Captain) gets the most memorable scene when the film begins with a literal bang. (The explosion of Praxis was revisited in “Flashback,” a memorable episode of Star Trek: Voyager which guest-starred Takei.)

It’s more serious than The Voyage Home and features a violent zero-g attack complete with floating blood unlike anything in the previous films, but there are enough bits of self-referential comedy and character introspection to still embody the Star Trek we love. It’s unfortunate for any beloved franchise to meet its conclusion, but Star Trek VI ended the original series on a high note, with new peace with the Klingons (Michael Dorn even guest-starred as Worf’s ancestor) and a fitting sendoff for the esteemed crew of the Enterprise.

P.S. Notice that Uhura doesn’t know Klingon and is forced to hastily look up translations in books(?), conflicting with Zoe Saldana’s Uhura in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot, who already could speak some Klingon, even apart from the whole tampering-with-the-timeline thing.

Best line: (Gorkon’s daughter Azetbur, after Kirk saves the day) “What’s happened? What’s the meaning of all of this?”
(Kirk) “It’s about the future, Madame Chancellor. Some people think the future means the end of history. Well, we haven’t run out of history quite yet. Your father called the future ‘the undiscovered country.’ People can be very frightened of change.”
(Azetbur) “You’ve restored my father’s faith.”
(Kirk) “And you’ve restored my son’s.”
 
VC’s best line: (Federation President) “Let us redefine progress to mean that just because we can do a thing, it does not necessarily mean we must do that thing.”
 
Rank: 53 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

229 Followers and Counting

 

#98: The Santa Clause (1994)

15 Wednesday Oct 2014

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Scott Calvin says that Santa’s real
And gives the chronic Christmas spiel
When his son Charlie visits Scott.
Though Charlie has faith, Scott does not.
 
Their Christmas Eve is pitiful,
But Charlie’s still excitable.
He hears a noise upon the roof
And knows it’s many a reindeer hoof.
 
Scott’s yelling startles someone there,
Who falls before the dumbstruck pair.
At Charlie’s urging, Scott agrees
To wear the suit the man empties.
 
They find indeed a reindeer sleigh,
With which Scott flies, to his dismay,
Delivering the toys with scorn
To every house before the morn.
 
The reindeer taking full control,
They end up at the real North Pole,
Where child-like elves greet him because
Scott Calvin’s their new Santa Claus.
 
The Santa Clause (observe the E)
Makes Scott the big man rapidly.
Though he refuses to believe,
He can’t escape that Christmas Eve.
 
As Charlie tells both Mom and Neal
That Scott is Santa Claus for real,
Scott finds that he is gaining weight,
Perhaps from all the sweets he ate.
 
His beard is growing magically;
He’s Santa-fied for all to see,
And Laura comes to the conclusion
This is some harmful delusion.
 
She takes Charlie from his dad,
Who only wants to please the lad.
When Christmas Eve arrives once more,
Both Scott and Charlie flee and soar.
 
This puts Scott on the wanted list,
And he’s arrested in the midst
Of Christmas duties, though some elves
Release him, flying off themselves.
 
Returning Charlie to his mom,
Scott tries to keep the youngster calm.
As Laura’s disbelieving thaws,
Scott proves himself as Santa Claus
And flies away with all his toys
For all the world’s good girls and boys.
___________________
 

Certain films thoroughly capture and capitalize on a comedian’s unique voice; Bill Murray had Groundhog Day, Dudley Moore had Arthur, Steve Martin had The Jerk, and Tim Allen had The Santa Clause. Full of all the deprecatory wit of his hit TV series Home Improvement (which director John Pasquin had previously produced), Tim Allen is at his comedic best in this modern Christmas classic. It’s unfortunate that the humor seems to normalize Charlie’s dysfunctional broken family, but some later scenes showing the impact of a judge’s court order lends some reality to the pain of divorce and the nuclear family’s disintegration. The filmmakers couple this comedy and heart with some Christmas spirit that is at once revisionist and faithful, creating a film that remains as entertainingly original today as it was in 1994.

Tim Allen steals every scene, from his abortive turkey meltdown early on to his constant disparagement of Neal’s snazzy sweaters, which my VC actually admires. Allen’s fat suit for gradually transforming into St. Nick never looks fake, and if the likes of The Nutty Professor and Norbit can earn Best Makeup Oscar nominations, The Santa Clause certainly should have. Wendy Crewson of Air Force One and gentle-voiced Judge Reinhold of Beverly Hills Cop provide sympathetic foils for Allen’s drollery, and their disbelief and concern for Charlie’s well-being are entirely understandable. Indeed, though Allen releases a number of snide remarks, the film’s strength is its lack of negativity. No character possesses any ill will, and everything hinges on discovering belief rather than some good/evil conflict, much like The Polar Express.

Though the sequels featured a major Lost alert in casting Elizabeth Mitchell as Mrs. Claus, they fell short of the original Christmas favorite. With clever effects and a wondrous vision of the North Pole, The Santa Clause ranks among the best Santa movies, reinforcing everyone’s inner child.

Best line: (Scott, flying into the sunrise after his first night of toy deliveries) “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night! When I get home, I’m getting a CAT scan!”

 
Rank: 53 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

229 Followers and Counting

 

#99: Starman (1984)

14 Tuesday Oct 2014

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We sent an invitation out to other galaxies,
But no one must have thought that visitors would really land.
A ship from space is shot down, and its glowing pilot flees
To Jenny Hayden’s cabin, where she mourns with drink in hand.
 
The alien explores and takes her husband Scott’s appearance,
Which startles her, since Scott was killed not very long ago.
She tells that he is foreign from his vocal incoherence
But is compelled to drive him on a road trip, lying low.
 
His mannerisms frighten her as she is forced to drive,
And though she tries escaping, his strange powers will not let her.
To Arizona (maybe) in three days he must arrive,
Or he will die, but he insists he does not wish to fret her.
 
The government is well aware that he is on the loose;
Some worry his intentions may yet be cause for concern,
But Jenny sees his gentle side, although he’s still obtuse,
And stays with him despite a chance to leave him and return.
 
A run-in with police ends in a fatal accident,
But “Scott” saves Jenny Hayden ere he leaves her on his quest.
They reunite, and he then learns that Jenny does lament
Her barrenness so he assists; with child, she is blessed.
 
Despite the interference of the choppers and the cars,
They reach the target crater where the pick-up will occur.
They hate to leave each other, but her lover from the stars
Departs the earth forever with one final gift for her.
__________________
 

John Carpenter rarely met immediate success with his films, but he has proved himself as a master of cult classics, such as The Thing, They Live, and Escape from New York. While the last is the one I most admire, his best film by far is Starman, a sci-fi romance road-trip drama with comedic overtones. Oscar-nominated Jeff Bridges is outstanding as the titular alien, long before he reinvented himself as a grizzled old man (a change that actually won him the Oscar for Crazy Heart). His jerky affectations and unsynced mouth movements are brilliant and entrancing, as are his blissful facial expressions when he experiences some of earth’s joys. Karen Allen also delivers her best non-Raiders performance, affording believable heartache and wonder. Much of the credit for the film’s success goes to Carpenter, who developed their initially hostile romance gradually until their confessions of love felt wholly deserved rather than forced. In addition to Charles Martin Smith as a SETI scout, (Lost alert!) the film also features a small role for character actor M. C. Gainey (aka Mr. Friendly) as an impatient cop.

Starman may seem like a grown-up version of E.T. from two years prior, but it’s got plenty of originality, particularly some utterly quotable lines (“Arizona, maybe” or “Terrific!” with the accompanying hand signal, of course). It also has some elements other recent films have drawn from, including a money-making stopover in Las Vegas (Rain Man), hitching a cross-country ride in a portable home (Bolt), intrusive government agents eager to dissect peaceful visitors (Race to Witch Mountain), and an invader-turned-lover romance (Labor Day). An early scene in Monsters vs. Aliens even paid homage to Starman’s arrival in Jenny’s home.

Starman is sci-fi romance at its best, even if some long scenes involving helicopters could definitely use editing. I first saw it years ago on a family vacation in Ohio while staying at some quaint firefly-lit cottage motel with a selection of rentable movies. My initial reaction then is the same as now: “I really enjoyed that movie.”

Best line: (Starman, explaining the rules of the road many live by) “I watched you very carefully. Red light—stop, green light—go, yellow light—go very fast.”
 
VC’s best line: (Starman, with a face of euphoria) “Dutch apple pie!”
(Jenny Hayden) “Good.”
(Starman, mimicking a waitress’s OK gesture) “It’s terrific.”
(Jenny) “For a primitive species, we have our points.”

 

Rank: 53 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

229 Followers and Counting

 

#100: My Fair Lady (1964)

14 Tuesday Oct 2014

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(Best sung to “On the Street Where You Live”)
 
Covent Garden’s full of the unwashed crowd,
Peasants selling wares with accents none should speak aloud.
One rude gentleman knows each origin
And shows off his obscure expertise.
 
One poor flower girl whom he ridicules
Thinks he’ll help her speak all proper-like with English rules.
He is boorish, yet when he’s posed a bet,
He can’t wait for her Cockney to cease.
 
Though Eliza starts to become upset,
She is quickly washed and focused on her alphabet.
Speaking night and day, she is told to say
Sentences of the plain rain in Spain.
 
Henry Higgins and everyone nearby
Grow more weary every time she mutilates an “I.”
She sends Higgins spite till she gets it right,
And she tries in the gentry’s domain.
 
Though tact comes and goes, Higgins thinks that she
Now is ready for a ball with aristocracy.
There his girl excels, casting countless spells
On the nobles who speak so genteel.
 
When it all is done, Higgins’ ego soars,
With no credit for Eliza, whom he just ignores.
She deserts him there in unsure despair,
And the snob doesn’t know how to feel.
 
When he finds her next, she proclaims that she
Doesn’t need him and his arrogant contumely.
When the haughty sir then starts missing her,
She returns by unspoken appeal.
_______________
 

My Fair Lady is one of only ten musicals to win the Best Picture Academy Award, beating out Mary Poppins that same year. Based on George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion, this musical version retains much of his clever dialogue and social commentary and adds a number of classic songs. Alan Jay Lerner’s lyrics are a poet’s delight, making excellent use of internal and feminine rhyme. My favorites would have to be Rex Harrison’s sung/spoken diatribes “Why Can’t the English Learn to Speak?,” “An Ordinary Man,” and “Why Can’t a Woman Be More Like a Man?,” as well as Freddy’s lovestruck serenade “On the Street Where You Live.” Eliza’s dreamy arias “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” and “I Could Have Danced All Night” are among the film’s most recognizable tunes, but my VC and I find them rather bland compared with her empowered melodies, like “Show Me” and “Without You.” Most of the songs fill a purpose or convey an idea, but those sung by Eliza’s alcoholic father seem like filler, particularly “Get Him to the Church on Time,” even if they’re the most fun ditties.

The film also swept other Oscar categories, such as Director (for George Cukor), Cinematography, Score, and its most well-deserved Best Actor. Rex Harrison is so perfect for Henry Higgins, it’s impossible to imagine anyone else in the role. Audrey Hepburn gives an outstanding performance as well, handling both her Cockney and refined accents skillfully with the proper amount of slight overlap in some later emotional scenes. Why she was not even nominated for Best Actress is one of 1964’s great mysteries, though it still might have gone to Poppins’ Julie Andrews, who originated the role of Eliza on Broadway. True, Eliza’s overreactions early on are appropriately irritating, and her singing voice was dubbed in most instances by renowned dubber Marni Nixon, but Hepburn deserved recognition for what became one of her most enduring roles. The film’s weak point is its final scene, and as much as I dislike the Communist Shaw, I agree with him that the story (which was revised against his wishes) should not end with Eliza returning to her unappreciative “creator.” It ends on an ambiguous note with no indication that Higgins will actually change his behavior toward her, regardless of his obvious self-stifled affection.

My mom ofttimes relates how, in the early ‘80s, she attended an actual Broadway show of My Fair Lady with none other than Rex Harrison himself, perhaps twenty feet away from her seat (it gets closer every time she tells it). There was a different Eliza, but a few other familiar players from the film cast were present. She has called it an awe-inspiring high point in her entertainment life. Perhaps her love for the material transferred to me, for My Fair Lady is among my favorite musicals and a worthy beginning to my top 100 countdown.

Best line: (Higgins, explaining the bet to Eliza) “Eliza, you are to stay here for the next six months learning to speak beautifully, like a lady in a florist’s shop. If you work hard and do as you’re told, you shall sleep in a proper bedroom, have lots to eat, and money to buy chocolates and go for rides in taxis. But if you are naughty and idle, you shall sleep in the back kitchen amongst the black beetles and be wolloped by Mrs. Pearce with a broomstick. At the end of six months, you will be taken to Buckingham Palace, in a carriage, beautifully dressed. If the king finds out you are not a lady, you will be taken to the Tower of London, where your head will be cut off as a warning to other presumptuous flower girls! But if you are not found out, you shall have a present… of, ah… seven and six to start life with as a lady in a shop. If you refuse this offer, you will be the most ungrateful, wicked girl, and the angels will weep for you!”

 
Rank: 53 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

229 Followers and Counting

 

Top 100 Announcement

13 Monday Oct 2014

Posted by in Movies, Poetry, Reviews, Writing

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Here we’ve come to it. After 265 poems and reviews, we’ve arrived at my Top 100, which will be accompanied by a few changes. For one, I will no longer be announcing the next day’s film at the bottom of each post; it will be a surprise every day.

Also, I will be ending my reliance on the ACEVOW system for rankings. While this system worked well thus far to explain a film’s strengths and weaknesses, I’ve come to recognize its limitations. Most of the films ahead rank in the 8 to 10 range for most points, but if they lack visual effects, their rank might be undeservedly diminished. Also, many of these films are personal favorites, possessing a random I-like-it factor that determines its placement but would feel arbitrary with my current rating system. In addition, for the films ahead, I will no longer detract from films for any objectionable content. It will simply be assumed that I am recommending the film’s cut version, minus extremes in language, violence, and sex.

I’m quite excited for the next 100 films, which I’ve been waiting all year to view and review. All genres are covered, from war dramas to fantasy epics, from horrors to comedies, from blockbusters to box-office bombs, from Triple A’s to Meet ‘em and Move on’s. Let it begin!

 

The Passion of the Christ (2004)

13 Monday Oct 2014

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Praying in the garden
Is a Man Whose heart is hardened
To the fact that He will soon endure the worst of any pain.
That devil snake unnerves Him,
Saying man does not deserve Him;
Jesus nonetheless resigns Himself to die, but not in vain.
 
He remains reserved and docile
When His ally and apostle
Judas gives his last betraying kiss to seize the Son of Man.
His other friends desert Him
As the soldiers bind and hurt Him.
He is led away, according to the Jewish leaders’ plan.
 
The Sanhedrin asks and mocks Him,
But it seems that nothing shocks Him,
And He’s all but silent till He says He is indeed divine.
They’re infuriated by it,
And, regardless if He’s quiet,
They insist that He be put to death because He crossed their line.
 
As He’s taken for His sentence,
Judas cannot find repentance
And is hounded by the demons till he hangs himself in grief.
Meanwhile, as Jesus eyes him,
Peter thrice in fear denies Him,
And he flees and weeps in bitterness for slandering his chief.
 
Jesus stands in Pilate’s power,
But He does not beg or cower;
He stands silent as the Jews accuse their King of wicked lies.
Though both he and Herod gather
That He’s innocent, he rather
Has his soldiers scourge the Man, perhaps to forgo His demise.
 
Still the Jews demand damnation
And will not accept placation,
And they free the foul Barabbas rather than a guiltless Man.
Pilate fears a new uprising
So he ends up compromising.
Pilate cleans his hands while giving in to his taxpayers’ plan.
 
As the soldiers strike and beat Him,
All the angry crowds mistreat Him,
And He’s forced to bear the heavy cross on which He will be hung.
Through the teeming streets, He carries
Quite a weight, that’s also Mary’s,
As His mother watches helplessly, unlike when He was young.
 
When He strains His final sinew,
When He falls and can’t continue,
They compel a man named Simon to assist Him with the beams.
When a woman comforts Jesus,
Wiping off the blood that frees us,
All the soldiers start to beat Him until Simon intervenes.
 
On the hill of crucifixion,
They complete the Lord’s affliction,
And they nail His hands and feet against the hard, abrasive wood.
As He knew the night preceding,
When His followers were feeding,
He is lifted overhead in utter pain for mankind’s good.
 
As the Jewish leaders scorn Him,
And His friends and mother mourn Him,
He forgives His own accusers, barely drawing enough breath.
When He feels abandoned even
By the God He did believe in,
He gives up His soul and spirit and thus triumphs over death.
 
As a sudden storm blows straight in,
There is only loss for Satan,
Though disciples round the cross are still in sorrow for their Lord.
Mary’s woe may dominate her,
But it’s only three days later
That the Savior Jesus rises, having life for all restored.
_____________________
 

First off, let me say that this poem and review are written solely from my position as a Christian, more so than my other posts. I personally believe that Jesus Christ died for my sins and those of the world, but like so many Christians, my convictions sometimes tend toward complacency. It’s easy to skim the Gospels and read that Jesus was flogged, mocked, and nailed to a cross, but after years of such tame review, His death often fails to achieve the level of meaning it once had. It takes a brutally honest portrayal like The Passion of the Christ to help viewers to fully appreciate the severity of his suffering, to recognize just how much He endured for me and for you.

Embroiled in controversy, Mel Gibson’s foreign-language, cinematic passion play, the highest-grossing R-rated film in the US, is exceedingly violent, an almost continuous cavalcade of tortures, yet Jim Caviezel is a subtle and credible Jesus, bestowing a patient solemnity on all he suffers. Gibson himself has stated that the film falls short of depicting the crucifixion in its full horror (which is true to some extent since Jesus was likely crucified naked rather than with the traditional loincloth), while others have called the film’s agonies overwhelmingly excessive and more than enough to kill a man. To address the latter grievance, I must point out that Jesus did not merely suffer physically but spiritually as well. In addition to all the blood and humiliation, the weight of mankind’s sin throughout the ages was piled on Him so unbearably that God the Father turned His back on His Son. As opposed as I am to violence, I see The Passion of the Christ as an unflinching reminder of the Lord’s atonement to snap unexcitable believers like myself to a fuller appreciation of it.

The film also possesses notable artistic merit that cements its status as one of the quintessential Jesus movies. The literal interpretation of Genesis 3:15 (about crushing a snake’s head) is a brilliant symbol of Jesus’ final determination to go through with the dreaded task ahead of Him, and well-placed flashbacks offer meaningful respites from the carnage. The depiction of the Last Supper is saved for the arrival at Calvary as a fitting remembrance of Christ offering His Body and Blood. Other smaller details also hold significance, such as Mary’s wiping up her Son’s blood after the scourging: in the Catholic Church, any spilling of the Eucharistic wine/Blood is an occasion for swift and solemn purification. The most moving scene is Jesus’ rendezvous with His mother on the Via Dolorosa; after a previous good-humored scene, this heart-breaking reunion portrays Jesus’ fall, interspersed with snippets of a childhood accident, and speaks to anyone who has given or received maternal love.

While I now watch The Passion of the Christ on Good Friday every year, it took me a while to muster the courage to view it, and my VC still cannot bring herself to watch such a disturbingly bloodthirsty film. I agree it is gruesome (particularly the gratuitous scourging scene) and certainly not appropriate for children, but light is only fully appreciated and comprehended amid darkness. That light is even portrayed in the brief final scene, a refreshingly explicit reference to the Resurrection compared with artistically oblique endings in Ben-Hur and Jesus Christ Superstar. It’s not for everyone, but The Passion of the Christ is the most spiritually stirring film I’ve seen in some time, one that everyone who can handle it ought to see.

Best line (again given added depth after witnessing the horrors He endured): (Jesus, from the cross) “Forgive them, Father. They know not what they do.”

 
Artistry: 10
Characters/Actors: 9
Entertainment: 4
Visual Effects: 9
Originality: 8
Watchability: 4
Other (deep spiritual meaning regardless of violence): +8
 
TOTAL: 52 out of 60
 

Next: #100 – You’ll see  🙂

© 2014 S. G. Liput

227 Followers and Counting

 

On Golden Pond (1981)

12 Sunday Oct 2014

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On Golden Pond, old Norman Thayer,
A neither fond nor kind naysayer,
Will celebrate his eightieth year
And broods at length that death is near.
 
Growing old leaves him nonplussed
As years of gold begin to rust.
His kindly wife, his Ethel poses:
Aim at life and smell the roses.
 
Their Chelsea, grown, arrives one night
And not alone nor without spite.
Her dentist beau she calls Bill Ray
Is with her, though they cannot stay.
 
They drop Bill’s son with both the Thayers,
Whose thoughts of fun are fishing snares.
While first the boy is rather bored,
He finds the joy peace can afford.
 
The fishing trips and classic tales
And Norman’s snips when Norman fails
Become routine. Each finds a friend,
And no one’s keen for this to end.
 
On Golden Pond, the man and lad
Share better bonds than Chelsea had.
She tries to please and move beyond
Bad memories on Golden Pond.
 
Despite their love, Norman must be
Reminded of mortality,
But death can wait. For memories fond,
It’s not too late on Golden Pond.
______________
 

Based on Ernest Thompson’s play, On Golden Pond is a beautiful portrait of difficult family relationships, elderly anxieties, and how a small cast of imperfect characters deal with such issues. Like 12 Angry Men, Henry Fonda’s only other film on my list, On Golden Pond is a Triple A movie, one that is All About the Acting. It was his last film before his death and earned him his only Best Actor Academy Award. Katharine Hepburn as Ethel Thayer also won Best Actress, and both undoubtedly deserved their accolades. The gentle repartee between the two master thespians connotes a lifetime together on which Henry’s apparent bitterness has no effect. Every pessimistic barb he releases is countered by her encouragement, such that they truly complement each other.

Plays are different from films in many ways, but the most notable disparate aspect is the dialogue. Movies can try to make do with a mediocre script in favor of amazing visuals or ample star power, but plays (especially non-musicals) live and die by the keenness of their scripts. Thompson won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for good reason because On Golden Pond’s is a masterpiece. Every conversation feels entirely real, with believable humor and sentiment, only enhanced by the seasoned professionals speaking.

While I have wonderful parents and can’t personally relate to Chelsea’s poor connection with her father, my VC had a parent who was likewise “emotionally constipated,” as she calls it. The depiction of this stiff relationship is well-written and balanced; Norman is at fault for his tactless criticisms, and Chelsea is at fault for taking them so personally, compared with her mother who knows Norman’s inarticulate love outweighs his external brusqueness. The father-daughter reconciliation is given greater authenticity by the fact that Jane Fonda as Chelsea really was his daughter.

Like Pixar’s Up, the film is also a warm portrayal of the potential affection between the old and new generations. While young Billy Ray expects Norman to be a boring old codger, which he is, he finds enjoyment in simple pleasures foreign to his life in L.A. When Norman urges him to read an unknown book called Treasure Island, I’m reminded of my astonishment when one of my cousins also claimed to have never read it nor heard of author Robert Louis Stevenson. Norman’s preoccupation with fishing and books may be old-fashioned, but the ways in which he gets Billy to enjoy these supposedly boring amusements are both refreshing and satisfying. (I can’t help but wonder if this could be done with the present generation of smartphone addicts.)

Punctuated by Henry Fonda’s nuanced curmudgeon, On Golden Pond is a simple but effective film which also boasts lovely waterfront cinematography and a mellow, Oscar-nominated score, part of which is suspiciously reminiscent of a few strains from Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. Yet the acting is truly what makes it a classic; Henry Fonda made quite an impact on Hollywood, but this final role was his best.

Best line: (Billy Ray) “So, I heard you turned 80 today.”
(Norman) “Is that what you heard?”
(Billy Ray) “Yeah. Man, that’s really old.”
(Norman) “You should meet my father.”
(Billy Ray) “Your father’s still alive?”
(Norman) “No, but you should meet him.”

 

Artistry: 10
Characters/Actors: 10
Entertainment: 8
Visual Effects: N/A
Originality: 9
Watchability: 8
Other (script, score, and relationships): +8
Other (language): -1
 
TOTAL: 52 out of 60
 

Next: #101 – The Passion of the Christ

© 2014 S. G. Liput

224 Followers and Counting