Category Archives: Movies

My First Liebster Award…in Verse!

12 Sunday Jun 2016

Posted by in Movies, Writing

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Just why I have waited this long, I’m not sure,
But it’s about time to accept and secure
The Liebster Award I was honored to get
From Carly of Carly Hearts Movies. No sweat!
And like the award I received the last time,
I’ll write my acceptance completely in rhyme!
At least that’s the plan.
Why? ‘Cause I can.

From my understanding, I answer some questions,
Eleven of my nominator’s suggestions,
And after I’m finished, I make my own quiz,
And task several more in the blogosphere biz
To answer each question, whatever it is.

Thus, here’s the eleven-count quiz Carly chose,
Along with my lyrical answers. Here goes!

 

Which director would you most want to have a beer with?

 

Although I don’t drink, I can see myself licking
A large chocolate milkshake and casually picking
The brain of the great Steven Spielberg, by name.
(You may not have heard of him, which is a shame.)
His film repertoire’s such a varied creation
That I’d like to ask where he finds inspiration.

 

Name three movies that every film student in college/university should watch if they’re serious about the medium. Explain your reasoning.

 

I may not be an expert in the art of making films
Since I mainly do analysis for fun,
And I tend to be turned off by strange, pretention-ridden films
Like the endlessly acclaimed 2001.

So with that little caveat, a film I would propose
Is Orson Welles’s great Citizen Kane.
From mirror shots and angles to foreshadowing exposed,
Its artistry and themes will never wane.

As far as moving drama goes, Shawshank Redemption reigns,
And with good reason, multitudes revere it.
Both audience and critic see how well it entertains
And renders something of the human spirit.

And lastly, I would be remiss if I did not include
All three of Peter Jackson’s trilogy
That brought Lord of the Rings to film with epic magnitude,
An adaptation everyone should see.

 

Who is one movie villain that you can’t help but love?

 

Captain Barbossa from Pirates might count,
Though “love” isn’t quite the right word.
One worth both hate and love in equal amount
Is Hook’s Captain Hook, my preferred.
Oh, Dustin Hoffman plays him perfectly,
With the swagger, the menace, the look,
And as he concludes, what would the world be
Like without the depraved Captain Hook?

Is there a movie generally considered bad that you love unironically?

 

I’m generally pretty soft on most movies,
Yes, even the ones mostly hated,
Like Spider-Man 3, Brother Bear, and the like,
But my fondness for one must be stated.


In 2006, High School Musical came out
When I was the perfect tween age.
I didn’t let lackluster acting detract
From the music, both on and off stage.

For all of the cheesiness born from the ‘80s
That people forgive and embrace,
This film and its sequels are my kind of candy,
Which critical flak can’t erase.

 

Name three actors of any gender you’d want as your sibling, best friend, and significant other.

 

This is a hard one, since actors on screen
Are rarely the same in real life, I have seen.
So I’ll be selecting the three you suggest
Based on the role that would fit them the best.

For sibling, I guess I can’t pick animation
(Tadashi from Big Hero 6 is temptation),
So maybe I’ll choose Ferris Bueller since, hey,
He’s the coolest at school, and if Jennifer Grey
Hadn’t been so resentful, she might have realized
That a brother with that much clout ought to be prized.

For best friend, the first that came on my radar
Is Ansel Elgort in The Fault in Our Stars.
As Gus, he’s the nicest guy you can believe
And lets his friends damage his trophies to grieve.

For girlfriend or wife, I’ve a crush, you can bet.
(Too bad Lindsey Stirling’s no actress, not yet.)
Winona Rider in her prime makes me wilt,
Like in How to Make an American Quilt.
In The Mummy films too, Rachel Weisz is on fire,
A heroine too lovely not to admire.

What category(ies) should they add to the Oscars? They can be as serious or nonsensical as you please.

 

Best Cameo could join its recognized brothers,
Though such roles mean more to some people than others.
While a prize for Best Remake would spawn even more,
Competitiveness could make quality soar,
Or
The main category I would like to add
Would be Best Soundtrack, which so many have had,
A collection of used unoriginal songs
With a judgment of each and how well each belongs.
Cameron Crowe, Tarantino, the Coens, and such
Excel with soundtracks, having done them so much.
Best Soundtrack could go to films Oscar ignores,
Like Elizabethtown, The Big Chill, or The Doors.

 

In 1,000 years, when paper money is a distant memory, how will we pay for goods and services? (Yes, I pulled this from Cards Against Humanity. Humor me here.)

 

We’ll probably go back to silver and gold,
The tangible money that people can hold,
But maybe
The world will be run by the digital token,
Earned by the hour and lost by laws broken,
And tokens in people all over the globe
Could be stored in a chip in the temporal lobe
Of the brain, which is linked to a scan in your eye
So that you could look closely at something and buy.
Then the chip in your brain, with the power of thought,
Would transfer the digital tokens you’ve got.
Then again maybe not.

 

Tell me about an advertisement you absolutely hate and makes you immediately change the channel. It can be a commercial, infomercial, or PSA.

 

Cialis ads of ill repute
Are cured by buttons labeled “Mute.”

 

Do you have a favorite meme?

One does not simply single out memes.
There must be “over 9000”, it seems,
From “This is Sparta!” to Rick Astley’s roll,
From O RLY owls to the face of a troll,
From Hitler in Downfall creating a fuss
And “All your base are belong to us,”
To cute feline photos, both grumpy and shy,
And notes that remind us “the cake is a lie.”
I could keep on but for the “arrow in my knee.”
So shut up and take my poetry!
(For those who don’t know what this poem even meant,
Look it up! It’s then cooler by 20%.)

 

You can talk to animals but only one kind of animal. What is it?

 

I’d love to converse with a cat,
The one critter in my habitat,
Though I fear she’d grow bored
And just leave me ignored,
Even with the new option to chat.

 

Your non-dominant hand has been replaced with a rubber stamp. What does it say?

 

A strange question indeed.
(How’d it happen, I wonder?)
The one thing I’d need
If my hand was asunder
Is my signature.
I’d then rest my good hand,
When signings occur
For that novel I’ve planned.
If I had to be lame,
I’d at least stamp my name.

________________________

 

So now that I am finished with this fun new waste of time,
I suppose I should apologize to those who dislike rhyme.
You’re welcome.
And now my nominations, blogs deserving likes and fame,
Though most of them most likely have some Liebsters to their name.
You’re welcome to take part or not in something that, I guess,
Is a glorified chain letter that can be fun nonetheless.

 

Nominees:
MovieRob
Cinema Parrot Disco
Movie Reviews 101
Alex Raphael
A Fistful of Films
Emmakwall (explains it all)
Abbi Osbiston
Vinnieh
Damien Riley
54 Disney Reviews

 

Questions:

 

  1. If any franchise could be revived with a truly awesome sequel, what would you choose?
  2. What book would you most like to see adapted to screen? (It will probably happen eventually.)
  3. If you were stranded on Mars like Matt Damon, what five movies would you most want on hand?
  4. If you were stranded on Mars like Matt Damon, what would your preferred music playlist look like?
  5. If you could wink any three films out of existence, what would they be?
  6. What play or musical do you wish would be adapted to screen?
  7. Who do you consider the best actor of all time?
  8. What’s your favorite poem?
  9. What bad movie do you wish could have been good (and not in a “so bad it’s good” kind of way)?
  10. Is there any Oscar year where you completely agree with the Academy’s choices?
  11. What movie do you most wish you could have seen as a kid?

 

Again, thanks to Carly for thinking of me,
And blessings and good luck to each nominee.

 

Counterpoint (1967)

09 Thursday Jun 2016

Posted by in Movies, Poetry, Reviews, Writing

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The wave of the constant conductor’s baton
Arises and dips as each note’s liaison.
It nods to the strings
As the clarinet sings
And the audience clings
To the melody’s wings.

The music is steady and blind to the world,
Where battle is brutal and bullets are hurled.
The music will stay,
If the artists still play
And the hearers, like they,
Let war’s din fade away.
_____________________

MPAA rating: Might as well be PG

In the annals of semi-classic Hollywood, there are bound to be undiscovered gems, and I’m glad to say I found one, a World War II thriller worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as The Great Escape. Counterpoint begins on the front lines of the European theater, where a USO symphony orchestra plays for the troops only to have their performance cut short by the advancing German army. Quickly captured by the Nazis, the orchestra’s director Lionel Evans (Charlton Heston) demands they be released, but the Germans have orders to kill any and all prisoners. The only thing that saves them is the cultured admiration of the Nazi General Schiller (Maximilian Schell), who wants a concert and offers no guarantees of what is to follow it.

Heston and Schell make an outstanding pair of rivals, both self-absorbed and confident and used to getting their own way. Evans’ personality is summed up by an early line to his orchestra: “Each one of you will be responsible for your instruments, your music, and yourselves, in that order of importance.” Only two members of the seventy-member orchestra are actual characters (Leslie Nielsen, Kathryn Hays), but they and the rest know Evans’ ego all too well, and when he refuses to give in to General Schiller’s demands, they assume he’s satisfying his own opinions at their expense. Below the surface, however, he does care for his people and tries to stall the shooting squad that awaits them once the concert hall goes silent. Opposite Heston, Schell has a grinning, scheming charisma, looking perfectly at ease as he threatens his “guests”, like a precursor of Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds. His treatment of an antique chair implies that he cares little for art, yet he’s a firm admirer of Evans and trades sharp-witted barbs with him to either convince or coerce him into submission. With one of his underlings clamoring for the prisoners’ blood, Schiller wants his concert before the war must resume.

I’m honestly surprised that Counterpoint isn’t a better-known film. The Nazis’ periodic acts of aggression keep the tension high, and close calls and narrow escapes are juxtaposed with the grandeur of the Los Angeles Philharmonic playing Tchaikovsky, Brahms, and Wagner. The climax even kept me guessing right up to the end. It’s not necessarily an award magnet that got spurned, but it’s an excellent and thoroughly underrated film that deserves far more recognition.

Best line: (Schiller) “To paraphrase Napoleon, morality is on the side of the heaviest artillery.”   (Evans) “Whatever happened to Napoleon?”

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2016 S. G. Liput
386 Followers and Counting

 

Bridge of Spies (2015)

06 Monday Jun 2016

Posted by in Movies, Poetry, Reviews, Writing

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Before you, a bridge rises out of the mist,
The near side your own side; the far, you resist.
On your side, so many are pleased to deride
The enemy wretches on their other side
And know in their hearts that their odious foe
Hates your side in equal amount, quid pro quo.

You fear them and jeer them and anyone near them
And anyone shy or unwilling to smear them,
And they do the same with no ending in sight
As hate begets hate and the threat of a fight.
You don’t really want one, and why would they too?
But they are untrustworthy, which they call you.

One day, though, you happen to meet one of “them,”
And though your first instinct’s perhaps to condemn
Like everyone else on the bridge’s two sides,
You doubt if it’s more than a bridge that divides.
Then, having suppressed your presumptive suspicion,
You look past the cover to read the edition.

Indeed, there’s a man behind labels and threats,
Not too unlike you, full of hopes and regrets.
You still disagree, thinking your side’s the best,
But men are more kindred than one might have guessed.
The bridge separates your two sides still suspect,
But now you await the day it may connect.
__________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

The first review I heard of Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies was from a coworker who described it as “really boring but really good.” While the first part is arguable, I sincerely agree with the latter. Spielberg’s latest stab at significant historical drama may not be his most accessible, but it’s a solid addition to an already legendary filmography.

I’d wager that anyone other than a history buff probably has little more than name recognition when it comes to Gary Powers and the U-2 incident; I consider myself a semi-history buff, and I had no clue of the true story behind it, which began with the capture of Soviet spy Rudolf Abel (Oscar winner Mark Rylance). Since even criminals are given due process and no lawyer actually wants to defend an enemy spy, the powers that be task attorney James Donovan (ever-watchable Tom Hanks) with the duty of representing him in court. Donovan exhibits surprising commitment to the defense of his hated client, but it quickly becomes clear that Abel has already been convicted in the minds of both public and judge, making the prosecution nothing but a show trial.

I was reminded of how John Adams defended the British soldiers responsible for the Boston Massacre and somehow succeeded in acquitting most of them, proving the impartiality of American justice. However, such open-mindedness did not extend to the Cold War; not to say that Abel was innocent, but Donovan treats him with a laudable “innocent-until-proven-guilty” mentality and earns much hate for himself in doing so. Dirty looks on the train are one thing, but when cowardly haters take potshots through Donovan’s windows, we’re reminded that people’s respect for the law extends only as far as their own prejudices. (To be fair, I’ve read that such an incident never actually happened.) Of particular note is a scene that jumps back and forth between Donovan’s work and the secret deployment of Francis Gary Powers, the U-2 pilot shot down over enemy territory; the juxtaposition is subtle, but both men perform their duty for an unappreciative nation. The court battle could have made a good film by itself, but we see little of the legal proceedings as Donovan’s efforts are put into the larger context of international espionage, placing the attorney in the unfamiliar waters of prisoner exchanges and clandestine negotiations.

I can see how Bridge of Spies may not be a riveting experience for disinterested viewers, but I found the legal and political maneuvering consistently intriguing and not nearly as opaque as it could have been. Between the Coen brother’s intermittently witty script and Spielberg’s nuanced direction, the story flows naturally from one significant event to the next. I especially admired how certain scenes were foreshadowed or mirrored, whether for a sentimental payoff or for comparison, such as the contrast between the Soviets’ rough handling of Powers and the more civil treatment of Abel by the Americans. It may not be as exceptional a performance for Hanks compared with his more acclaimed roles, but I thought his principled character still deserved an Academy Award nomination. Rylance, who did win Best Supporting Actor, deserved praise for his drily sympathetic portrayal of Abel, but honestly I’m not sure that it would have warranted an Oscar in a more competitive year. In fact, I would have appreciated a little more interaction between Abel and Donovan, whose friendship is relegated mainly to the first half.

Despite these quibbles and the deliberate pacing, Bridge of Spies is quite close to a masterpiece. The historical basis and the focus on diplomacy and “spy stuff” through a personal lens distinguish their latest collaboration as one more success of which Hanks and Spielberg can be proud.

Best line: (Abel) “What’s the next move when you don’t know what the game is?”

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2016 S. G. Liput
386 Followers and Counting

 

School of Rock (2003)

03 Friday Jun 2016

Posted by in Movies, Music, Poetry, Reviews, Writing

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(Best sung to AC/DC’s “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll)”)

Knowing next to nothing,
Except for rock and roll
May well get you nothing
Resembling a goal.

Roll the rock,
Rock the roll,
If the music’s
In your soul.
Getting paid
For it, though—
It may be rare, but that’s the way to go.

It’s a grand gig worth a song,
Teaching what you know the best.
It’s a grand gig, just as long
As it’s legal and you’re dressed.

If you want to try and buck “the Man’s” control,
Takes passion to go make your own goal.

It’s a grand gig when you rock
To the rhythm of your soul.
________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

Don’t you love it when you expect very little from a movie and end up enjoying it far more than you thought possible? I found that the case with School of Rock, a comedy that many seem to consider a classic and yet I never have had any desire to see. I suppose it’s Jack Black that turned me away; I’ve always considered his comedy odd and lowbrow, akin to Adam Sandler’s, and yet what little I’ve seen of his, I’ve liked. He was good in Shallow Hal and The Muppets and the Kung Fu Panda movies, quite good in King Kong, and more charmingly low-key in The Holiday. I should really check out more of his movies, since both my VC and I thoroughly enjoyed School of Rock.

Black starts out as the kind of slobbish loser he seems to enjoy playing, a jobless rocker named Dewey Finn, who is kicked out of his own band after a pathetic concert. Living with his former bandmate Ned Schneebly (screenwriter Mike White) and Ned’s overbearing girlfriend (Sarah Silverman), Dewey’s life and career are going nowhere fast, and when Ned “demands” the rent he’d owed, there’s only one reasonable thing to do. Dewey impersonates Ned as a substitute teacher at an elite prep school, which strangely checks neither his references nor his ID. Faced with a class full of fourth-graders better educated than himself, Dewey trains them in his one area of expertise – classic rock – and prepares them to participate in a “Battle of the Bands” while trying to keep everything secret from their parents, Ned, and the uptight school principal Ms. Mullins (Joan Cusack).

The implausible setup alone is ripe with comedic opportunities, and the film rarely misses a beat. From Dewey’s rant against “the Man” to his students’ faking a blood disease, the dialogue finds the right balance between funny and believable. Aside from the general humor, though, School of Rock’s greatest appeal is to anyone who has ever banged their head to AC/DC or Fleetwood Mac or Led Zeppelin; not only are many classic rock songs played and sampled, but Black praises and explains them with such infectious gusto that both audience and class are won over, despite his quirky ineptitude.

Another plus is how Dewey manages to “touch” his students (figuratively): encouraging the shy boy who’s convinced himself he’s uncool, sympathizing with an overweight girl, showing some maturity by enforcing discipline with one kid who takes his reckless teaching to heart. There’s a bit of smart-mouthing by the kids, but both they and Dewey manage to grow while still remaining uniquely themselves. It was also nice to recognize young overachiever Summer as Miranda Cosgrove, who went on to play evil sister Megan on Drake and Josh. (I grew up with that show. I know she can sing, so it was odd that she pretended to be a poor singer here.) Even the final concert delivered on the expectations that had been growing throughout the movie, only making me wish that the performance could have been longer.

School of Rock is still popular today, spawning a Broadway play and a Nickelodeon TV series just this past year, and I now see why. Since she’s a bigger rock fan than I, my VC enjoyed it even more; she even started watching it again as soon as it was over. It’s not often that a film totally exceeds my expectations, but if you’ll forgive the pun, School of Rock rocks!

Best line: (Frankie) “Ms. Mullins, you’re “the Man.”   (Ms. Mullins) “Thank you, Frankie!”

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2016 S. G. Liput
386 Followers and Counting

 

Genre Grandeur – The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec (2010) – Rhyme & Reason

02 Thursday Jun 2016

Posted by in Movies

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Here’s my second review for MovieRob’s May Genre Grandeur of Adventure movies, this time for an eccentric comic-based French film called The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec.

movierob's avatarMovieRob

adventure

For this month’s next review for Genre Grandeur – Adventure Films, here’s a review of The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec (2010) by SG of Rhyme and Reason

Thanks again to Damien of Riley on Film for choosing this month’s genre.

Next month’s Genre has been chosen by Summer of Serendipitous Anachronisms She has chosen quite a unique genre and we will be reviewing our favorite Derivative Work Movies.

Here’s Summer to explain her choice:

Basically it is anything based or inspired by pre-existing source

for example:

Amelie takes its relationships from the Luncheon of the Boating Party

The Magnificent Seven is borrowed from the Seven Samurai

Sunday in the Park with George is based on painting by George Seurat

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is loosely based on Hamlet

My Own Private Idaho borrows from Henry the IV

Cosi is about a director directing the musical Cosi Fan Tutti

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Genre Grandeur – Pan (2015) – Rhyme & Reason

01 Wednesday Jun 2016

Posted by in Movies

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Here’s my review of last year’s Pan for MovieRob’s May Genre Grandeur of Adventure movies. It may have been “panned,” but it’s not all bad!

movierob's avatarMovieRob

adventure

For this month’s first review for Genre Grandeur – Adventure Films, here’s a review of Pan (2015) by SG of Rhyme and Reason

Thanks again to Damien of Riley on Film for choosing this month’s genre.

Next month’s Genre has been chosen by Summer of Serendipitous Anachronisms She has chosen quite a unique genre and we will be reviewing our favorite Derivative Work Movies.

Here’s Summer to explain her choice:

Basically it is anything based or inspired by pre-existing source

for example:

Amelie takes its relationships from the Luncheon of the Boating Party

The Magnificent Seven is borrowed from the Seven Samurai

Sunday in the Park with George is based on painting by George Seurat

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is loosely based on Hamlet

My Own Private Idaho borrows from Henry the IV

Cosi is about a director directing the musical Cosi Fan Tutti

Pride Prejudice and Zombies borrows…

View original post 795 more words

My Top Twelve Poems in Movies

29 Sunday May 2016

Posted by in Movies, Poetry, Reviews, Writing

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Movies and poetry are two of my favorite pastimes, and I always love it when they happen to overlap. Great poetry manages to conjure deep emotions, and when a film utilizes such poems, the combination can be quite powerful. I also just like the fact that these films expose regular moviegoers to some classic verse and make it more memorable. Thus, here are my top twelve uses of poetry in movies, with special placing for poems that are actually significant to the plot.

 

  1. “In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae, from Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995)

“In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.”

 

I remember memorizing this elegiac call-to-arms in my elementary English class, and Mr. Holland’s Opus uses it during a Vietnam War funeral to add an extra punch of emotion. It’s a small scene but from one of my favorite films ever.

 

  1. “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas, from Interstellar (2014)

 

“Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

 

While Dylan Thomas’s famous villanelle has been used in other films like Butterflies Are Free and Back to School, Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar perfectly plays out its message of resisting death. As the astronauts who are Earth’s last best hope of survival head for a wormhole, Michael Caine quotes part of the poem powerfully.

 

  1. “The Panther” by Rainer Maria Rilke, from Awakenings (1990)

 

“His gaze, from staring through the bars,
Has grown so weary that it can take in nothing more.
For him, it is as though there were a thousand bars –
And behind the thousand bars, no world.”

 

In trying to reach and understand a hospital full of mysteriously catatonic patients, Dr. Sayer (Robin Williams) follows a clue from Leonard (Robert De Niro) to this poem. He visits a zoo and reads Rilke’s “The Panther,” drawing a tragic comparison between the caged animal and his patients trapped within their own bodies.

 

  1. “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost, from The Outsiders (1983)

 

“Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.”

 

After Johnny (Ralph Macchio) accidentally kills a rival gang member, he and Ponyboy Curtis (C. Thomas Howell) hide out in an abandoned church. During the days of waiting, they read Gone with the Wind, and in a sunset scene reminiscent of parts of Gone with the Wind, Ponyboy recites Robert Frost’s “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” a lament for the loss of beauty and innocence. “Stay gold, Ponyboy.”

 

  1. “To an Athlete Dying Young” by A. E. Housman, from Out of Africa (1984)

 

“Now you will not swell the rout
Of lads that wore their honours out,
Runners whom renown outran
And the name died before the man.”

 

After moving to Africa and growing coffee and going on safari and falling in love with Denys (Robert Redford), Karen Blixen (Meryl Streep) loses what she held most dear and mourns by reading every other stanza of A. E. Housman’s plaintive poem at her lover’s funeral. Sad stuff.

 

  1. “An Irish Airman Foresees His Death” by William Butler Yeats, from Memphis Belle (1990)

 

“I know that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among the clouds above;
Those that I fight I do not hate,
Those that I guard I do not love;”

 

Too shy to read his own poems to his fellow airmen on the eve of their final bombing mission over Germany, Danny (Eric Stoltz) recites W. B. Yeats’s “An Irish Airman Foresees His Death” (again only part of it). The already eloquent poem becomes even more poignant in relation to the young men about to embark into danger.

 

  1. “My Native Land” by Sir Walter Scott, from Groundhog Day (1993)

 

“The wretch, concentred all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonour’d, and unsung.”

 

Forget about Bill Murray’s fake quoting of 19th-century French poetry (and the Italian subtitles in the video); Andie McDowall delivers a great little poetic insult using Scott’s “My Native Land.” Of course, she takes it completely out of context; Scott meant that anyone unpatriotic is a “wretch,” but it applies to Phil too. The scene also stands out because this is another poem I memorized in school.

 

  1. The warmongering poems of World War I, from Joyeux Noel (2005)

 

“To rid the map of every trace
Of Germany and of the Hun.
We must exterminate that race;
We must not leave a single one.”

 

What a way to begin a movie! For a film about a Christmas truce between German, French, and English troops in World War I, the first scene contrasts the later camaraderie with a taste of the disturbing hatred that nations fostered against their enemies, even in schoolchildren. I don’t know who exactly wrote the hateful words, but they certainly got their message across in all three languages.

 

  1. “Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art” by John Keats, from Bright Star (2009)

 

“No–yet still stedfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow’d upon my fair love’s ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever–or else swoon to death.”

 

Spoiler warning for anyone who doesn’t know what happened to John Keats. The tragic romance is one of the most touching genres, and Bright Star is a prime example. I could have gone with Shakespeare in Love since it includes some of Shakespeare sonnets, but I prefer Bright Star for a period romance, just as I prefer the romantic poetry of Keats over Shakespeare’s. Several of Keats’s poems are used here (such as “A thing of beauty is a joy forever”), but the final recitation scene of grief is the most poignant.

 

  1. “Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven” by William Butler Yeats, from 84 Charing Cross Road (1987)

 

“I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.”

 

Yeats strikes again! In this movie for literature lovers, a writer/reader (Anne Bancroft) and a bookstore manager (Anthony Hopkins) become trans-Atlantic pen pals over decades. Forget for a moment Sean Bean’s death with this poem in Equilibrium, because Hopkins’ quoting of these wistful lines is just one of the many charming literary moments of 84 Charing Cross Road, another of my favorite films.

 

  1. Take your pick, from Dead Poets Society (1989)

 

“What good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer: That you are here,
That life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on,
And you may contribute a verse.”

 

From Tennyson’s “Ulysses” in the cave to Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” to Robert Herrick’s “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” to Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, few films have the variety of poems that Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society boasts. It likely introduced a generation to “Gather ye rosebuds, while ye may” and Walt Whitman’s “O Captain, My Captain,” though as famous as the latter is, it’s never actually recited in the movie. Still, poetry lovers can’t go wrong when a film has “Poet” in the title!

 

  1. “Death, Be Not Proud” by John Donne, from Wit (2001)

 

“One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more, Death, thou shalt die.”

 

As much as I love the poems in all these movies, only Wit actually changed my perception of a poem. Emma Thompson in one of her best roles plays a literature professor suffering from ovarian cancer, yet her devotion to metaphysical poetry remains strong. One distinct memory is of her own English professor explaining the spiritual significance of Donne’s “Death, Be Not Proud,” and though I memorized it too in school and still can recite it, I now add the comma so powerfully emphasized in the final line.

 

Runners-Up (though I’m sure I’ve missed some so feel free to comment on any others):

 

“The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, from The Blind Side

“And did those feet in ancient time” by William Blake, sung as “Jerusalem” in Chariots of Fire

Films based on Dr. Seuss poems, my favorite being Horton Hears a Who!

I don’t recall any actual poems read, but Yuri is a poet and writer of “The Lara Poems,” in Doctor Zhivago.            

“Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe, from Holes

“We never know how high we are” by Emily Dickinson, from Seabiscuit

“Sonnet 116” by Shakespeare and various other poems, from Sense and Sensibility

“Snow in Madrid” by Joy Davidman, from Shadowlands

“To be or not to be” and other lines by Shakespeare, from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

“The Raven,” by Edgar Allan Poe, in The Raven

Many other examples of poems in movies can be found at this link: https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/poetry-movies-partial-list

 

One last thing: It may not be a movie, but I have fond memories of watching The Waltons, especially the episode “The Air Mail Man,” in which John-Boy reads a poem to his mother for her birthday. She doesn’t completely understand “The Windhover” by Gerard Manley Hopkins (I don’t think I do either), but John-Boy’s interpretation is lovely and illustrates how poetry need not be fully comprehended to be appreciated.

 

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)

25 Wednesday May 2016

Posted by in Movies, Poetry, Reviews, Writing

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The future looms before our eyes,
A tunnel to the next unknown.
It’s too well-traveled to surprise,
And yet we worry and postpone.

For some, the future is a wall,
A bricked-up tunnel, barred and firm.
A grim prognosis cancels all
And makes their fears of shorter term.

Small comfort ‘tis to pray and stay
With those whose lives too soon conclude,
But when our future’s underway,
Distress should yield to gratitude.
________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

Who would have thought that two young adult novels about friendship and teen cancer would be published within months of each other and both would get their own movies within three years? John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars is the more celebrated and, in my opinion, the better film, but Me and Earl and the Dying Girl does well finding its own messages and style that never feel like rip-offs of something else.

Any film set in high school is bound to have clichés, particularly the introduction to cliques and colorful characters, but this film freshens its more familiar aspects with some wildly inventive camera work. The camera zooms and flips and rushes through crowded rooms, and the drily comical narration caused my VC to compare it to the Coen brothers’ style in Raising Arizona. The eccentricities are many, as Greg (Thomas Mann) explains his school, his survival tactics, and his hobby of making ultra-low-budget parodies of classic movies (like The 400 Bros or Senior Citizen Kane) in collaboration with his friend/coworker Earl. When his mother literally nags him into submission, Greg agrees to befriend Rachel Kushner after she is diagnosed with leukemia and even tries to make a film for her benefit.

The first half of the movie has some great clever humor, such as the best hipster cat name ever, but also a good deal of casual crudity. Greg’s inherent awkwardness often manifests in crassness, Earl is impenetrably passive for the most part, and the film often feels like it’s trying too hard to sustain its quirkiness. With all the weirdness on show, Rachel is the most normal character by default; like me, she’s turned off by Greg at first but ultimately won over, and their friendship grows subtly over time, though without the romance of The Fault in Our Stars. As the title suggests, her condition worsens over time, and the film’s tone shifts into dramatic gear. After so much manipulation of the camera, one pivotal emotional scene settles in one perfect angle and is the more powerful for it.

Like Ruby Sparks, in which an off-kilter plot culminates in a perfect ending, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl ends on the right note. Does it matter that I don’t understand the movie that Greg makes for Rachel, which is as inscrutably avant-garde as some of the films he parodies? No, because like much of the “I don’t get it” art out there, it could mean anything or nothing, but it meant something to the right person at the right time. Films like this and The Fault in Our Stars can easily be seen as emotionally manipulative, but Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is at least honest about it, and as the final scenes reveal, there’s more subtlety to admire than first meets the eye.

Best line: (Earl, who after adding little to the story gets the line that inspired my poem, to Rachel) “It’s just crazy how patient you’ve been. You know, I know if it was me that had cancer, uh… I’d be upset and angry and trying to beat everybody’s a** half the time. So I’m just, I’m just amazed at how patient you’ve been. You, you make me feel blessed.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2016 S. G. Liput

386 Followers and Counting

 

Labyrinth of Lies (2014)

22 Sunday May 2016

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A monster’s a monster, regardless of size.
‘Twould be an outrage to imply otherwise.
A villain’s a villain; of that, there’s no doubt.
Do we know all villains worth knowing about?

A murderer’s evil, without an exception,
And those who assisted his crime or deception
And those who stood by to let one such go free
Are all as blameworthy as he. Disagree?

But what if you stood there and let him go by,
In fear that a critic would be next to die?
‘Tis no less wrong, is it, to stifle your tongue,
But are you still evil like those you’re among?

While evil is evil, as most should agree,
A sinner can vary by deed and degree.
Discerning a villain is right and essential,
But so is the fact we all have the potential.
________________

MPAA rating: R (for descriptions of violence and a brief bedroom scene; could easily be PG-13 with the slightest editing)

I’ve only seen three German films (3½ if I count Joyeux Noel), but Labyrinth of Lies is easily the best. Germany’s unnominated submission to the Academy Awards intrigued me with the trailer alone, and the film delivered exactly what I hoped for, an investigative new look at the semi-known stories of Auschwitz and Germany’s response to it in the years after World War II.

It’s taken for granted nowadays that most people have heard of Auschwitz and the crimes perpetrated by the Nazis, but early in Labyrinth of Lies, journalist Thomas Gnielka (André Szymanski) asks several passersby if they’d ever heard of Auschwitz. Everyone answers “No.” The year is 1958, and within one generation, the atrocities of Nazi Germany had been nearly erased where they most needed to be remembered. Nuremberg tried the Nazi leadership, but the thousands of Nazi Party members didn’t just disappear; they blended back into the populace, never telling their children what they had done. While Jewish survivors tried to forget the horrors they endured, everyone else just ignored them.

Unjust is a mild descriptor for such a situation, and when injustice runs rampant, thankfully someone steps forward for what’s right. While he seems to be a composite of several real-life figures, that someone is Johann Radmann (Alexander Fehling), a lawyer who tends to see every crime as black or white, not even yielding to overlook a minor traffic violation. Young and ambitious, he too has no idea of the Nazis’ crimes, and when his eyes are opened, he makes it his duty to bring justice to the victims. With support from his boss Fritz Bauer (Gert Voss, who died before the film’s release), he seeks out buried records, reluctant witnesses, and slippery targets – a teacher, a businessman, a baker –, determined that their own country try them for war crimes. He eventually sets his sights on Auschwitz’s monstrous doctor Josef Mengele, who was not caught after the war and escaped into hiding. As Radmann, Fehling is outstanding and often reminded me of a less baby-faced Leonardo DiCaprio; though German, he has at least appeared in Inglourious Basterds and Homeland, but he’s such a good actor that I hope he appears in more English-language roles.

Radmann is a dogged crusader for truth, even to the point of obsession, and the more lies he uncovers, the more his faith in humanity is shattered. He looks at pictures of Mengele and comments at how normal he looks. How could he have done such nightmarish deeds? How could an entire country yield to such hate and cruelty? The deeper he digs, the more blame he finds for everyone. Aside from the victims, no one was entirely guiltless, but does that mean everyone was a monster? Does remembering the bad mean disregarding the good, or vice versa?

Labyrinth of Lies deals with its subject frankly but unobtrusively. Despite the R rating, little is seen of the actual concentration camp crimes, and I prefer that, to be honest. I am fully aware of how barbaric the Nazis were, but I don’t want to see it recreated onscreen. That’s why I haven’t yet been able to bring myself to watch Schindler’s List, even though I realize I’m perpetuating to some extent the mindset of many Germans in Labyrinth of Lies, not wanting to see evil for what it was. This film deals with the horrific facts in a believably restrained manner that still underscores how they must never be forgotten. It’s encouraging that such a film came out of Germany itself, indicating the nation’s resolve to remember. Labyrinth of Lies is in German, but even haters of subtitles should give this engrossing historical drama a chance. I’m glad I did.

Best line: (Bauer) “Why have you come back?”   (Radmann) “Because the only response to Auschwitz is to do the right thing yourself.”

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2016 S. G. Liput

386 Followers and Counting

 

Opinion Battles Round 10 – Favourite X-Men Character

20 Friday May 2016

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In honor of X-Men: Apocalypse, be sure to vote for your favorite X-Men character in the latest Opinion Battle! With so many characters throughout the extensive franchise, there are many worthy choices, but I picked the team’s wise leader Charles Xavier/Professor X.

Unknown's avatarMovie Reviews 101

Opinion Battles Round 10

Favourite X-Men Character

To celebrate the release of X-Men Apocalypse we are going to look into the confusing world of X-Men and pick out our favourite character from the franchise world.

If you want to take part in the next round we are going to look at our Favourite Johnny Depp Character, if you want to enter email moviereviews101@yahoo.co.uk by the 29th May 2016.

Darren – Movie Reviews 101

Deadpooldeadpool

Deadpool has become my favourite superhero film of the modern universes because we got to see a character that knows we are watching him and plays into our hands. The character himself is hilarious throughout and can handle himself in a fight. We know we get plenty of popular culture references whenever he is on the screen too. 

Kim – Tranquil Dreams

Wolverine

 wolverine

While this might sound like a really generic choice, I’m not…

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