#46: The Fugitive (1993)

09 Tuesday Dec 2014

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When Dr. Richard Kimble found
His dear wife murdered on the ground,
He fought a fleeing one-armed man,
Who wrestled him before he ran,
But fingerprints in court don’t lie,
And Kimble’s sentenced soon to die.
 
A train wreck on his way to jail
Lets him escape to no avail.
The U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard
Dispatches every cop and guard
To search for Kimble on the lam,
Who leaps to freedom from a dam.
 
From then on, Kimble’s on the run
To try to prove to everyone
That he is innocent in fact
And find the killer that attacked.
Gerard is right behind the doc,
And both find secrets to unlock.
 
When Kimble finds the one-armed man
And learns the whole backstabbing plan,
He fights a fickle former friend,
Who tried to orchestrate his end.
Gerard, who claims he doesn’t care,
Brings Kimble in, the truth to share.
___________________
 

Probably the best film based on a TV series, The Fugitive is everything one could want in a chase film: cheer-worthy leads, awesome stunts and set pieces, and a fast-paced plot that keeps the audience and characters guessing.

Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones are exceptional as fugitive Richard Kimble and his pursuer Sam Gerard. It may not be Ford’s most personable role, but his single-minded determination and unjust condemnation make him a worthy hero. Though he dares and survives some dangerous escapes, he never comes off as a superman; even when he’s ahead of the law, it’s just barely, and his risk of capture is always present, especially due to his more-than-worthy adversary. Tommy Lee Jones won Best Supporting Actor for his memorable role as the hardball U.S. marshal who matches wits with Kimble. Jones’s straight-faced delivery of unflinching demands and ornery impositions makes Gerard a dynamic presence, though at times I expected him to bring people’s attention to a certain neuralyzer. I thought Ford deserved a nomination too, but Jones’s performance was powerful enough to spawn the copycat sequel U. S. Marshals (see much lower on my list). Supporting players are well-cast, including Joe Pantaliano as Gerard’s right-hand man, Sela Ward as Kimble’s dead wife, Jeroen Krabbé as a seeming friend of Richard’s, Andreas Katsulas as the one-armed man, and (a long-in-coming Lost alert!) L. Scott Caldwell as Poole, the black lady on Gerard’s team (and Rose from my favorite show). Julianne Moore and Jane Lynch also found early roles as doctors Kimble encounters.

The awesome one-take train crash sequence alone is worth the price of admission, but the rest of the film is a tense pursuit that manages to be more engaging and interesting than any of the Bourne films. A hit with viewers and critics alike, The Fugitive only deepened Ford’s action persona and afforded Jones a well-deserved Oscar.

Best line: (Kimble, holding Gerard at gunpoint) “I didn’t kill my wife!”  (Gerard) “I don’t care!”

 
Rank: 57 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

265 Followers and Counting

#47: True Grit (1969, 2010)

08 Monday Dec 2014

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Mattie Ross’s father’s shot
By hired hand Tom Chaney.
She means to see the killer caught
And tried and hanged, just as he ought.
Although she’s young, afraid she’s not
But rather tough and brainy.
 
She needs a man who will commit
To show this fiend the noose.
The marshal she feels is most fit
Is Rooster Cogburn, who has grit
And gives in (when she doesn’t quit)
To chase this wild goose.
 
Accompanying them out west
Is Texas law LaBoeuf.
Though Rooster cares not for this guest,
They all continue on their quest
And follow hearsay when confessed
To tail the cutthroat thief.
 
When Mattie finds by accident
The man she has been hunting,
She’s captured by his gang hell-bent,
Who leave them both and can’t prevent
Tom Chaney’s murderous intent,
Until LaBoeuf’s confronting.
 
While Rooster fights Ned Pepper’s gang,
Miss Ross falls in a pit.
Tom Chaney has no need to hang,
But Mattie meets a rattler’s fang,
And Rooster, ere a fatal pang,
Yet proves his truest grit.
_________________
 

Easily my favorite western, True Grit is a story of perseverance and justice the likes of which I have yet to see in the genre. Based on Charles Portis’s 1968 novel, both the 1969 film and the 2010 remake have their strong points and are so similar that I had to include them together (same as my post for A Christmas Carol; the poem pretty much covers any version).

The 1969 True Grit has always been a staple in my house. As evidenced by his lone Best Actor Oscar win, John Wayne found his best role as larger-than-life, trigger-happy, one-eyed marshal and “fat old man” Rooster Cogburn. Kim Darby occasionally overacts, but she displays Mattie’s fierce resolve while remaining appropriately girlish. Many have decried Glen Campbell’s performance as LaBoeuf, criticism I believe he didn’t deserve. While he’s not what I would call a skilled actor, there’s nothing particularly distracting or dreadful about his performance. Besides, when you consider that Elvis Presley was the original choice for LaBoeuf, Campbell seems even more preferable. The Colorado scenery is stunning, and Rooster’s exhilarating charge against Ned Pepper’s gang is (or should be) as iconic a gunfight as any filmed.

As for the 2010 remake by the Coen brothers, it’s basically the same story with different actors, and the latter half from Mattie’s confrontation with Chaney to her rescue is more or less identical in both versions, though some earlier scenes were unnecessarily drawn out. While most of the events are perfectly recognizable, the film as a whole has a much more serious, pitiless, and…gritty tone. Though there is more language and violence, as I would expect from a modern-day remake, the Coens’ film also carries more Biblical messages and a melancholy score imbued with haunting hymns. Considering the often satirical and strange content of other Coen films, True Grit is one of their most restrained and sincere works, with mere glimpses of their comedic voice. Though I have not read the book, I’ve heard the remake is closer in tone and plot to Portis’s novel; the screenplay succeeds in reflecting both the author and the directors, with peculiarly worded dialogue like “I’m puzzled by this” and “You give out very little sugar with your pronouncements.”

My VC considers the 1969 True Grit sacred territory, like The Wizard of Oz or Gone with the Wind, a film that could never be matched by any remake. I, however, found the remake almost as good as the original. As excellent as Jeff Bridges is as Rooster Cogburn, with more uncouth ways and a more gravelly voice, John Wayne is untouchable and remains the main reason I prefer the first film. His delivery of lines like “Fill your hand, you son of a b****” carry so much more force and vitality than Bridges’. There’s a reason Wayne won Best Actor, while Bridges was only nominated (though he had won the previous year for Crazy Heart).

On the other hand, I prefer Matt Damon’s LaBoeuf over Glen Campbell’s; Damon gives him more personality, though his separations from Mattie and Rooster seemed unnecessary. Oscar nominee Hailee Steinfeld acts more mature as the 2010 Mattie, but she’s more or less on par with Darby, in my opinion. (It’s interesting to note that the role of the ill-fated Moon in the violent dugout scene seems to go to up-and-coming stars. Dennis Hopper played the boy in the original, and though Domhnall Gleeson wasn’t well-known in the 2010 version, he soon will be from his inclusion in J. J. Abrams’ Star Wars sequel next year.) Overall, both films boast an exemplary cast that put them on almost even footing.

The Coens’ film may be more artistic and realistic (the flat prairie setting is more as Oklahoma should look than the mountainous vistas of the original film), but the 1969 version is more enjoyable to watch. Even with the onscreen death of a major character, John Wayne’s greatest film ends on an uplifting “Yee haw” note rather than the somber narration of the remake and book. Both are excellent, but John Wayne tips the scale with the culminating performance of his career.

Best line from 1969: (Mattie) “You are too old and fat to be jumping horses.”  (Rooster, before proceeding to jump a fence) “Well, come see a fat old man some time!”

Best line from 2010: (Mattie’s narration, referring to Chaney’s crime) “You must pay for everything in this world, one way and another. There is nothing free except the grace of God.”

 
Rank: 57 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

265 Followers and Counting

#48: Evita (1996)

07 Sunday Dec 2014

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(Best sung to “Rainbow Tour”)
 
Argentina never saw such a clamor
As when dear Evita said her last goodbye.
Nobody ever thought their favorite saint could die.
But despite the Rainbow Tour and the glamor,
There was a time when this national treasure
Was unknown.
Eva Duarte fled the life the poor carries
And found ways of earning more than simple bread,
Exchanging her partners for a higher bed.
As the premier actress in Buenos Aires,
At last she was introduced to
Juan Peron.
 
Though Eva wasn’t well-received
By most of the Argentine elite.
She made it clear that the people believed
That she still was for them from her loftier seat.
 
Governments in Argentina were not known
For being very stable over many years.
Peron was soon imprisoned by his fellow peers.
Eva and her devotees then freed Peron
And her influence just kept growing
All the time.
All her talk and stabs at granting some wishes
Did not change the status of the lowly poor
Or that her opponents thought she was a whore.
Aspirations proved a bit too ambitious;
Her body just couldn’t keep going
Past its prime.
 
Though Eva had a humble past
And a dubious rise to wealth and fame,
Her early death left the nation aghast.
Argentina would not evermore be the same.
_______________
 

Before Andrew Lloyd Webber found success with Cats and The Phantom of the Opera, and long before Tim Rice contributed splendid lyrics to Aladdin and The Lion King, they collaborated to create Evita, one of my favorite musicals of all time. Whereas Phantom has an overall operatic sensibility that indulges in some electric guitar here and there, Evita is much more of a rock opera, with very little spoken dialogue and a number of distinct but interweaving tunes, ranging from head-banging anthems to plaintive Latin elegies.

This film version was a revelation in several ways. In addition to being a lavish production that enhanced the impact of nearly every song, it marked the pinnacle of Madonna’s professional career, winning her a Golden Globe for Best Actress. Casting the “Material Girl” in the title role may have been an iffy decision, but she embodied the character’s dichotomy of sleaze and sensitivity. Though her voice may not be as strong as that of the original Evita’s Patti LuPone, she nails each melody and affords more vulnerability in songs like “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina.” In addition to Madonna’s acting high, the film revealed, at least to me, that Antonio Banderas (not to mention Jonathan Pryce) could sing. As the everyman Che who follows Eva throughout her life, Banderas provides cynical commentary on her rise to power and often represents the Argentine people in general, well-symbolized by their tango toward the end. Pryce is also excellent as Peron, although he looks inexplicably bored in certain scenes. Though Evita’s alleged sexual escapades are described in song, I appreciate that the filmmakers didn’t feel it necessary to depict them in graphic detail, choosing instead the more artistic motif of a light going out, later echoed in Eva’s death scene.

My favorite songs would have to be “Oh, What a Circus,” “Goodnight and Thank You,” “The Lady’s Got Potential,” “A New Argentina,” “And the Money Kept Rolling In,” “Rainbow High,” and of course, “Rainbow Tour.” My VC is also quite fond of “High Flying, Adored,” which is one of a series of five great songs in a row. A song added for the film, “You Must Love Me” also won the Best Original Song Oscar that year. The songs are enjoyable to listen and sing along to on their own, but the film’s pageant and cast of thousands give it added depth and spectacle that make up for the moral and political deficiencies of the characters.

Though oppressive mournfulness causes the beginning and end to drag, and I can’t really relate to such outward grief at the death of a politician (seriously, even if my favorite public figure died today, I doubt I would be moved to such uninhibited tears), Evita is a grand and poignant history lesson. With exquisite acting and singing, Lloyd Webber’s earbugging melodies, and some of the finest lyrics of Tim Rice’s career, Evita marks one of the high points in musical cinema.

Best line: (Eva, to Magaldi, a former flame who sings the same song repeatedly) “Your act hasn’t changed much.”  (Magaldi, noting her new lover) “Neither has yours.”

VC’s best line: (Eva) “Sometimes it’s very difficult to keep momentum when it’s you that you are following.”

VC’s other best line: (Eva) “I came from the people. They need to adore me, so Christian Dior me from my head to my toes. I need to be dazzling. I want to be rainbow high! They must have excitement—and so must I!”

 
Rank: 57 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

265 Followers and Counting

#49: The Lion King (1994)

06 Saturday Dec 2014

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(Best sung to “Be Prepared”)
 
The pridelands rejoiced at the showing
Of Simba, the new lion prince.
His father Mufasa was glowing,
But Scar has been sour ever since.
While Simba is learning and dreaming
Of when he’ll be king fully grown,
Mufasa’s own brother is scheming
To murder his way to the throne.
 
He employs his hyena companions
To dispose of the cub and his dad,
A sudden stampeding
Of wildebeest speeding
Puts Simba in peril,
And Scar, ever feral,
Dispatches Mufasa,
And yet for this loss, a
Despicable Scar tells the lad,
That Simba is sadly to blame.
What a shame!
 
The cub runs away in dejection
And would have soon died, but for friends.
Hakuna Matata’s protection
Lets Simba ignore what offends.
His past, nonetheless, comes a-knocking
To urge him return for what’s his,
But not until storm clouds start talking
Does Simba accept who he is.
 
He returns to the land Scar has ruined;
He returns final justice to bring.
The truth is then spoken;
Scar’s cover is broken.
In Pride Rock’s arena,
Scar and each hyena
Are fought and defeated,
And Simba is treated
At last as the genuine king.
The Circle of Life, tried and true,
Starts anew.
_____________
 

Often considered the zenith of the Disney Renaissance, The Lion King is indeed one of Disney’s greatest features, a step away from the princess mold in favor of Shakespearean drama, though still with the perfect blending of humor and show tunes. Officially the third highest-grossing animated film (after Frozen and Toy Story 3), it was a joy to watch as a child and is still just as delightful.

The beginning could be compared to that of Up, a moving collection of beautifully crafted scenes that mark the high point of the entire film, though sparking a sense of grandeur and goose bumps rather than tears. The rest of the film doesn’t quite reach the same level as the first glorious song, though it tries and comes very close, particularly during the wildebeest stampede through the canyon. That scene, accompanied by Hans Zimmer’s ever-ideal score, carries the tension and terror of a childhood trauma, further deepened by Mufasa’s death. Usually, it’s the mother that gets it in Disney films, but their foray into explicit fratricide is even more heartrending than most parental losses. After all, Bambi never found his mother’s lifeless body.

Despite the occasionally weighty material, the filmmakers peppered the film with plenty of jokes and memorable characters that captivated kids and parents alike. Boasting some of the best casting of any Disney film, The Lion King featured some big names that truly owned their characters: James Earl Jones as deep-throated Mufasa, Jonathan Taylor Thomas as young Simba, Nathan Lane as nasally meerkat Timon, Ernie Sabella as swinish Pumbaa, Robert Guillaume as sagacious mandrill Rafiki, Rowan Atkinson as nagging hornbill Zazu, and Cheech Marin and Whoopi Goldberg as two hilarious hyenas. Though Matthew Broderick doesn’t exactly fit my idea of a lion’s voice, Oscar winner Jeremy Irons lends gravity and sneering treachery to Scar, one of Disney’s best villains.

However, the film’s greatest strength is its music, which was a gamble, since unlike previous Renaissance efforts, it lacked Alan Menken’s involvement. Yet Elton John and Tim Rice fashioned one of the most popular of Disney soundtracks, from the carefree jubilance of “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” and “Hakuna Matata” to the building menace of “Be Prepared” to the sultry romance of “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” Elton John’s cover of that last love ballad deserves a place in my End Credits Song Hall of Fame. (Trivia note: I didn’t realize until recently that Jeremy Irons only sang most of “Be Prepared”; after straining his voice on the line “You won’t get a sniff without me,” the song was finished by Jim Cummings, who provided the hysterical laughter of the hyena Ed. Now that I’m listening for it, I can hear Cummings’s voice, but it’s a credit to his voice talent that he could sound so similar to Irons.)

The film and its music were also adapted into the hugely successful Broadway play, and the film and play have supposedly made The Lion King the highest grossing title in stage-and-screen history. While I do like other Disney films better, The Lion King’s enthralling animation and music and prudent life lessons make it a Renaissance classic to be cherished for years to come.

Best line: (an emerging gopher, again played by Cummings, to Zazu) “Sir, news from the underground.” (That just cracks me up every time!)

 
Rank: 57 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

264 Followers and Counting

#50: Inception (2010)

04 Thursday Dec 2014

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Extractor Dom Cobb has an interesting job,
To steal people’s secrets through dreams.
On one inner outing, the target starts doubting
And knows all is not as it seems.
 
This Saito solicits their service illicit
To plant an idea in one’s brain.
With just one exception, attempting inception
Has always been ventured in vain.
 
Cobb gathers a team to invade someone’s dream,
The rich Robert Fischer, an heir,
But the image and strife of Mal, his dead wife,
Lurks still in his mind’s inner lair.
 
They enter the dream with a qualified scheme
That’s more hazardous than designed.
Each resolute sleeper goes deeper and deeper
Through levels of Fischer’s taut mind.
 
As deep as Cobb goes, there is guilt to expose,
And he must let go of his wife.
The mission complete, the rewards for the feat
Allow Cobb’s return to his life?
____________________
 

Even with his prior success with The Prestige and two popular Batman movies, Christopher Nolan’s Inception was a bolt from the blue, a film so startlingly original in plot and scope that it cemented him as a truly brilliant director. It also is the only film I’ve seen (or wanted to) that allows me to see Leonardo DiCaprio as anything but Jack from Titanic. On top of that, it’s the only film that so blew my mind that I was left with a thunderstruck “Whoa” at the end.

There is so much going on in this movie that anyone who left to get popcorn surely missed something. Nearly every scene held meaning, whether to understanding the mission, Nolan’s rules of the dream world, or the relationships between Cobb and Mal or Fischer and his father. One thing my VC does not enjoy is not knowing what’s going on in a movie without some quickly forthcoming answers. Mystery is one thing; it’s another to give a strange, random train riddle in the first hour and then not explain its significance until almost the end. While it was all too much for her, I was impressed that everything did have significance. Nothing was thrown in without a reason, a reason I felt was worth waiting for. The mazes and time differentials and dreams within dreams and dreams within memories within dreams can get confusing on the first viewing (or the fourth), but the audacious complexity lends itself to watching over and over with new appreciation.

I mentioned way back in my review for Entrapment that I’m no fan of heist films, due to their convincing audiences to root for those committing an illegal act, which they typically get away with. While that concern is still present, Inception has so much else involved—visually, emotionally, artistically, technologically—that the morality of the central plot falls to the wayside, for good or ill. Cobb’s ultimate reason for taking the job, to be reunited with his kids, does raise the emotional stakes, but considering the unforeseen results of his previous success at inception, I can’t help but wonder what will happen to Fischer.

The cast, composed of many Christopher Nolan favorites, fill their roles admirably, with the standouts being (of course) DiCaprio as Cobb, Ellen Page as Ariadne, Marion Cotillard as Mal, and Ken Watanabe as Saito. Despite not having much screen time or deep personality, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Dileep Rao, and Cillian Murphy do an outstanding job with their supporting roles. My VC did comment on the film’s lack of character development for these minor players, a reason to care for them, but such a deficiency need not detract from the ensemble and the awesomeness of their mission. Besides, the pathos of Cobb and Fischer is surprisingly well-realized considering how swiftly the plot moves along.

With its philosophical discussion of dreams and the frustratingly dubious conclusion, Inception was sure to spark conversations. There are plenty of theories as to the meaning of totems and what scenes might or might not have been dreams. Did the top fall or keep spinning? Was Cobb’s totem really his wedding ring, which he only wore in his dreams with Mal and was not wearing in the final scene? Was Mal right, and Cobb was in limbo the whole time? Was it all perhaps an inception on Cobb to rid him of his obsession with his dead wife? I tend to accept the straightforward, happy ending, but few films have garnered such consistent mind-boggling debate.

The film as a whole was rewarded with Oscars for Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Visual Effects, as well as several other well-deserved nominations. With some astoundingly memorable visuals (that gravity-shifting fight with Gordon-Levitt is stupefying), a climax that is extremely fast-paced and layered, and an emotional payoff that left me satisfied despite that darn top, Inception is a modern cinematic wonder.

Best line: (Cobb) “Listen, there’s something you should know about me… about inception. An idea is like a virus, resilient, highly contagious. The smallest seed of an idea can grow. It can grow to define or destroy you.”

 
Rank: 57 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

264 Followers and Counting

#51: When Harry Met Sally… (1989)

03 Wednesday Dec 2014

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When Harry met Sally,
They hated each other;
He acted the typical know-it-all man.
He said men and women
Who dated each other
Could never be friends without sex as the plan.
 
The next time they met
They were both still at odds,
Involved in relationships separate and sure.
The time after that,
They are mournful facades
Whose romance has sputtered and failed to endure.
 
At last they endeavor
To simply be friends
And talk to each other with humor and ease,
Supporting each other
Wherever life wends,
Upon a relationship’s changeable seas.
 
When sex enters in,
Their whole friendship’s in danger,
For petulant words are not backpedaled fast;
But Harry tells Sally
He never would change her
And realizes theirs is a love meant to last.
______________
 

Few movies can boast a screenplay in which nearly every line could be a best line. I consider Elizabethtown and Airplane! to be such films, but perhaps the best example is the immortal rom com When Harry Met Sally…. Born from the experiences and insights of Nora Ephron and director Rob Reiner, as well as the comedy of Billy Crystal, the entire film is essentially a treatise on dating in the ‘80s, which is surprisingly as entertaining now as it was when it earned a Best Original Screenplay Oscar nomination.

Quirk is not always easy to pull off. At times, it becomes uncomfortable or weird rather than endearing, and even when it tows the line, some realism is often lost amid the characters’ eccentricities. When Harry Met Sally… possesses the best balance I’ve seen between charming idiosyncrasy and realistic character development. Harry especially may be a caricature of smug male self-confidence, but who hasn’t encountered the “high maintenance” girl or a romance that didn’t necessarily start on the best of terms?

Meg Ryan is gorgeous as Sally, the kind of woman to request every meal just so. (I’ve been a cashier so I know those people are out there.) Ryan has, or had, a unique talent for amazing chemistry with her male co-stars: as great as she was with Tom Hanks (and to a lesser extent Dennis Quaid, Kevin Kline, and Hugh Jackman), her first memorable cinematic connection was with Billy Crystal. Crystal’s Harry is irresistible, he thinks, and manages to make spitting grape seeds hilarious. So much of the film’s humor relies on Crystal’s delivery (the “pepper in my paprikash” exchange, his depressed moaning in bed, his silly attempts at karaoke) that no one could have taken his place. Bruno Kirby and Carrie Fisher also fill strong supporting roles as the titular couple’s friends.

Famous scenes and lines abound, not least of which is the restaurant scene concluded by a laugh-out-loud one-liner from Rob Reiner’s own mother. Another interesting element is the brief true-story interviews with happily married couples throughout the film, who serve as the hopeful reminder of a relationship’s potential success and where Harry and Sally may and do end up.

While there’s some language and much frank sexual dialogue, When Harry Met Sally… is tame by today’s standards, and as lecherous as Harry is, the film does imply that sex can ruin a relationship just as much as deepen it. Harry’s speech at the end is one of the best cinematic professions of love, capping off an endlessly watchable standard for the genre.

Best lines (not the obvious): (Harry, leaving a voice message for Sally) “The fact that you’re not answering leads me to believe you’re either (a) not at home, (b) home but don’t want to talk to me, or (c) home, desperately want to talk to me, but trapped under something heavy. If it’s either (a) or (c), please call me back.”
 
(Sally, to Harry) “It’s amazing. You look like a normal person, but actually you are the angel of death.”
 
(Harry’s friend Jess) “You made a woman meow?”
 
VC’s best line: (Sally’s friend Marie, when told a fact she ignores) “You’re right, you’re right. I know you’re right.”
Rank: 57 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

262 Followers and Counting

#52: Elizabethtown (2005)

02 Tuesday Dec 2014

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Awful days come and awful days go,
But none quite compare with Drew’s big fiasco.
Spasmotica shoes were his golden brainchild,
Until they lost millions. On him was blame piled,
And soon the whole shoe-wearing planet will know.
 
Death’s seeming attractive until someone dies,
His dad from Kentucky, beloved and wise.
Drew heads to Elizabethtown, as he must,
And on the plane there minor facts are discussed
With Claire, the attendant who talks when she flies.
 
Drew’s own distant relatives warmly welcome,
Although they can’t handle which state he is from.
While waiting for requisite grief to sink in,
He phone-chats with Claire of what is and has been,
And into the morning their ramblings come.
 
While everyone copes in their personal way,
Drew bonds more with Claire when she chooses to stay,
Yet he is too haunted by failure, it seems,
To move past the shoe and to chase other dreams,
Like family and romance he should not delay.
 
An off-beat memorial honors Drew’s dad,
So they take the road trip the two never had.
With lessons, directions, and music from Claire,
He spreads his dad’s memory all the way there
And finds life’s surprises too great to stay sad.
________________
 

I first viewed Elizabethtown simply on the impulse to check out a movie most critics disliked, but I was pleasantly surprised that it instead became one of my favorites (so much so that my family visited the town on one of our road trips). A romantic comedy with some unusually dark overtones, Elizabethtown contains almost as much wit, heart, and romance as When Harry Met Sally…; in fact, I wouldn’t hesitate to call it the best rom com of the new millennium (so far).

Directed and written by Cameron Crowe, the film stars Orlando Bloom as depressed prodigal Drew Baylor and Kirsten Dunst as his garrulous romantic interest Claire. Bloom is at the top of his game, evoking a blend of sullen discomfort and awkward grief, like someone having such a bad week that he doesn’t know how to cope anymore. He doesn’t have any resentment toward his dad or the clichéd parental issues that he must resolve; instead, his father’s death serves as an opportunity to rekindle hope and conquer his own personal demons before they consume him. Another catalyst for this renewal is Dunst’s Claire, who was criticized for her superficial eccentricity and prompted the creation of the term “Manic Pixie Dream Girl.” While that stereotype pretty much sums her up, I fail to see why that’s a defect on the film’s part. She’s not nearly as pushy or insolent as Barbra Streisand in What’s Up, Doc?, and as angelic as she seems, her unrealistic outreaches never come off as contrived. It’s a movie; I’d like to believe that two people can fall in love over the phone!

Like When Harry Met Sally…, there are so many underrated scenes and lines that I find exceptionally classic: Drew’s insightful narration, his life-saving ringtone, his loss of direction trying to find town, the phone tag with three separate calls, his bizarrely emotional hallway exchange with Chuck the newlywed, the equally bizarre rendition of “Free Bird” at his dad’s memorial, his ramblings with Claire about the pronunciation of Louisville and “substitute people” and “the inimitable ‘them,’” and especially that epic educational video he shows his cousin’s out-of-control son. The many relatives he meets are the very definition of quirk (or perhaps the word is “whimsical”), including Paul Schneider as said cousin Jessie and famed Southern cook Paula Deen as Aunt Dora (in her only film role to date). Other great performances come from Susan Sarandon as Drew’s overwrought mother, Judy Greer as his ineffective sister, and Alec Baldwin as an unsympathetic shoe CEO.

One more reason to love Elizabethtown is the music. In addition to a folksy score by Cameron’s then-wife Nancy Wilson of the band Heart, it boasts one of my favorite soundtracks (which I had to buy), with tunes from Lindsey Buckingham, Elton John, Tom Petty, U2, and more, all of which complement each of their respective scenes (for example, “In the Name of Love” when Drew visits the motel where Martin Luther King, Jr., was shot). The result is a perfect example of editing and music placement.

Though the film yields to the cliché of romance inevitably leading to premarital sex and includes an unnecessary vulgar comedy sketch from Sarandon, the overall film is a beautiful and poignant reflection on success, failure, life, death, family, and the interplay among them all. The repeated symbolism of a bird on fire is subtly used to imply a crash-and-burn fiasco and perhaps a resurgent phoenix. Elizabethtown is a film for anyone who has ever lost a loved one, taken a nostalgic road trip, or met with defeat and risen again.

Best lines: (Ellen, Drew’s ex-girlfriend with a farewell line I’ve recycled myself) “Drew, it was real, and it was great, and it was really great.”
 
(Claire) “I’m impossible to forget, but I’m hard to remember.”
 
(Claire) “You want to be really great? Then have the courage to fail big and stick around. Make ’em wonder why you’re still smiling. That’s true greatness to me.”
 
VC’s best line: (Claire) “I will miss your lips and everything attached to them.”
 
Rank: 57 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

262 Followers and Counting

#53: Lilies of the Field (1963)

01 Monday Dec 2014

Posted by in Movies, Poetry, Reviews, Writing

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Homer Smith is passing through and needs a bit of water,
But Mother Maria sees him as the answer to her prayers.
The unsuspecting clay within the deft hands of the Potter,
He’ll build for them a chapel as she certainly declares.
 
Smith merely is a black man seeking payment for his work,
Repeatedly held up by Mother ere her blessing runs.
He’s glad to lend a helping hand and isn’t one to shirk,
But he has better things to do than aid a bunch of nuns.
 
Although Maria never thanks her irritated “slave,”
He halfway builds a wall until he lays their final stone.
Despite the urge to doubt and nearly losing whom God gave,
Maria’s prayers are answered by parishioners they’ve known.
 
As Homer’s chapel rises, he is filled with inner pride
At building something special with his own two humble hands.
The sisters are ecstatic at the church God did provide,
And Homer moves along, perhaps to where God’s will commands.
________________
 

Lilies of the Field is Sidney Poitier’s finest film, as evidenced by his becoming the first African-American man to win the Best Actor Oscar. A simple story of faith and hard work, Lilies of the Field depicts ecumenical fellowship, community rallying, and a memorable call-to-meetin’ gospel song that is nearly synonymous with the film itself.

There are many atypical film pairs—old and young (Up), hot shot and mad scientist (Back to the Future), black and Chinese (Rush Hour)—but an unusual dynamic is formed here between a black Baptist and a Catholic nun. Homer Smith/Schmidt is a hard-working traveler whose wish for payment becomes a desire to prove his value and consequence, while Mother Maria is a stubborn German matriarch whose faith in God alone is so strong that she neglects God’s chosen means. Both are admirable in their own way—Smith’s skill and diligence, Maria’s ascetic convictions—and both have their flaws—Smith’s impatience, Maria’s obstinate single-mindedness. Despite her asperity, Maria is never too overbearing, since Homer could have departed at any time, and ultimately her prayers are answered while Homer achieves a bit of unanticipated permanence that leaves him satisfied.

From the potentially creepy opening (with the nuns following Smith’s car), to a Tower-of-Babel moment in which he takes charge, to Smith’s eventual departure, the entire film feels like merely an extended stop on Smith’s wayward journey. Though he resists at first, his good-natured assistance with the nuns’ English lessons belies an eagerness to help. Nothing is said of him personally, where he came from or where he’s going, and his presence certainly seems heaven-sent. He’s quite human, prone to drink and doubt, yet he and the community at large fulfill the nuns’ every need in realistic ways that indicate an unseen Hand of benevolence, as reflected by the film’s title based on Matthew 6:28-33. After all, one need not be a saint to be used of God.

Though the talented Jerry Goldsmith provided the score, the film’s musical highlight is the hymn “Amen,” sung by the nuns and the song’s composer Jester Hairston, who provided the vocals for tone-deaf Poitier. It really is a joy to see Baptists and Catholics together belting out a rousing hymn of praise. It’s the high point of a true classic, one of my favorite black-and-white films.

Best line: (Homer Smith, after being served one egg) “That’s a Catholic breakfast, ain’t it?”

 
Rank: 57 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

262 Followers and Counting

#54: Life of Pi (2012)

30 Sunday Nov 2014

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A story seeker finds a tale,
An enigmatic holy grail,
The life and times of Pi Patel
Whose father’s zoo and he set sail.
 
In Canada, they planned to dwell;
To India, they bade farewell.
The ship was sunk by storm and sea,
And Pi was tossed upon the swell.
 
Upon a lonely lifeboat, he
Was trapped with animals set free.
Soon Richard Parker was the last,
A tiger he could barely flee.
 
The two of them alone were cast
Upon the varied ocean vast.
Pi trained the tiger through the days,
Which helped the floaters to hold fast.
 
When hunger, thirst, and brutal rays
Reduced them both to spent malaise,
God brought relief to weary Pi
And showed him wonders to amaze.
 
Through taxing trials, he did not die,
And yet their closure made him cry.
Though other tales he could supply,
This story no one could deny.
________________
 

After listening to Dev Patel’s life story in Slumdog Millionaire, Irrfan Khan obviously wanted to tell one of his own. He plays the grown Pi Patel in Ang Lee’s visually resplendent Life of Pi, one of the best films of 2012 (there’s one higher on my list). I and many others enjoyed Yann Martel’s bestselling novel, but few believed it could be adapted to film, much less adapted so faithfully. Combining seafaring drama and cutting-edge effects with transcendent questions about faith and truth, Life of Pi is a masterpiece on multiple levels.

In addition to Best Director, Best Score, and Best Cinematography (all well-deserved), Life of Pi won the Best Visual Effects Academy Award. CGI-heavy films are a mixed bag. Sometimes the effects are awesome to behold or else complement the overall fun (i.e., Gravity, Jurassic Park, most superhero films), while other films lose the heart and intelligence amid the eye candy (i.e., the Transformers films). The visuals in Life of Pi are jaw-droppingly beautiful and the CGI seamless, yet even with so many effects creating the animals, the storm, and the boundless horizon, they never supplant the film’s emotional center. In fact, the effects artists created a main character with their art; Richard Parker retains a realistic presence throughout the film, surpassing other amazing CGI creatures like King Kong, Smaug, and Aslan (whose first appearance in 2005 shared the same effects studio as Richard Parker).

Unlike most effects spectacles, though, the acting is Oscar-worthy across the board. Suraj Sharma found his first role as the 16-year-old Pi, and it is a crime that he did not even receive a Best Actor nomination. Like Tom Hanks in Cast Away or Robert Redford in All Is Lost, Sharma carries the bulk of the film alone, playing off of creatures that aren’t there and displaying great range, from giddy foolishness during the storm to tremendous grief over his loss and hopeless situation. Irrfan Khan does the same, particularly during his conversation with Rafe Spall at the end.

Faith plays a key role in the film, and I appreciate the way it is frequently discussed without the least bit of derision from the filmmakers. Movies like Contact can confuse the filmmakers’ spiritual message, while Life of Pi offers a positive presentation of multiple religions while upholding a general faith in God. Though I personally agree with Pi’s father that “believing in everything at once is the same thing as believing in nothing,” a clear and compelling promotion of faith is rare enough in Hollywood nowadays that I can’t find too much fault with the film, despite Pi’s cafeteria theology.

The film possesses a highly ambiguous ending, deserving as much debate as that of Inception. Upon my VC’s first viewing, she accepted Pi’s alternate story as the “true” one and felt the film’s visual mastery was made moot by an unreliable narrator. However, I, like the characters, preferred the story of the film and considered Pi’s response “And so it goes with God” to be an affirmation that God favored that telling as well and indeed had it happen that way. It’s one of those “you choose what you believe” conclusions that leave some awestruck and others frustrated.

Had I seen it years ago, Life of Pi surely would have left me in tears (in a good way). My VC still doesn’t enjoy watching it due to the deaths of multiple animals, but I still find it captivating. Perhaps part of my fondness is that the early quirky anecdotes are reminiscent of a “Meet ‘em and Move On” film, though the movie overall doesn’t reflect that genre. Life of Pi excels both visually and emotionally, a book adaptation that matches its source material in every respect.

Best line: (the older Pi) “I suppose in the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go, but what always hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye.”

 
Rank: 57 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

260 Followers and Counting

#55: Mary Poppins (1964)

29 Saturday Nov 2014

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(Best sung to “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”)
 
Since nannies are commodities that rarely stick around,
George Banks decides to advertise, and ugly ones abound,
But then comes Mary Poppins, floating gently to the ground,
Poppins proves prodigiously the proper one’s been found.
 
She shows the kids to make a game
From every daily chore,
To jump into a chalky frame
For holidays galore,
 
To laugh their way into the air
With jubilant come-uppance
And note the woman in the square
Who sells bird seed for tuppance.
 
A visit to their father’s bank creates a sudden run,
And Mr. Banks’s temper scares his daughter and his son.
They flee to Bert the chimney sweep for roof-cavorting fun.
He suggests their father needs some help like everyone.
 
Mr. Banks is overwhelmed by miseries of late,
As if dear Mary Poppins came his life to desecrate,
But then he sees the comedy and joy most underrate,
And Mary Poppins leaves them in a more-than-happy state.
__________________
 

The height of Disney-esque whimsy, Mary Poppins is one of the most beloved family musicals of all time and lies within my VC’s top 20 films. Though she loves it a tad more than I, there’s no denying the fanciful joy of this adaptation of P. L. Travers’ literary nanny.

Julie Andrews won a Best Actress Oscar for her no-nonsense charm as Mary Poppins herself, and Dick Van Dyke matches her with his usual vigorous charisma, despite his affected British accent. The entire cast is wonderful, though if I had to find fault, I’d say that Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber as Jane and Michael Banks don’t have much character aside from generic cuteness, though I suppose that allows for ease in audiences placing themselves in their shoes. (Trivia note: Most of those nannies gathered at the Banks home before Mary Poppins arrives were actually male stuntmen. No wonder they were ugly.)

The film’s greatest strength is its music, provided by the unrivalled Sherman Brothers, whose jolly tunes and clever lyrics are instant classics. Not every one is hummable, but “A Spoonful of Sugar,” “Let’s Go Fly a Kite,” and the Oscar-winning “Chim Chim Cheree” continue to reside in the mind of countless viewers. “I Love to Laugh” and Poppins’ bipolar Uncle Albert always earn a smile from my family, though my favorites would have to be “Jolly Holiday” and “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” thanks to the expertly composited animation sequences that Travers herself so despised. “Step in Time” is one of the film’s many high points too, though more due to the rigorous choreography than the comparatively simple lyrics. Despite the film’s overall joyous appeal, “Feed the Birds” (with or without the words) somehow brings tears to my VC’s eyes every time.

After having seen Saving Mr. Banks, there were certain scenes on this latest viewing that I couldn’t help but recall that making-of drama, such as Mr. Banks’s lament over Mary Poppins’ frustrating influence, which supposedly mirrored the annoyance caused by Travers and her nitpicking. The 2013 film also deepened the sorrows of Mr. Banks, which I never fully understood as a kid. While Saving Mr. Banks surpasses Mary Poppins as far as dramatic narrative, there’s no replacing the sheer fun and inventiveness of the original.

Mary Poppins is not only Uncle Walt’s best live action film, but arguably his best during his lifetime. Possessing a childish delightfulness that nullifies criticism, it’s a film of true magic (and not just the cleverly creative effects), a magic every child should experience.

Best line: (Mary Poppins, reading her self-descriptive tape measure) “As I expected. ‘Mary Poppins, practically perfect in every way.’”

VC’s best line: (Bert) “Speakin’ o’ names, I know a man with a wooden leg named Smith.”  (Uncle Albert) “What’s the name of his other leg?”

 
Rank: 57 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

260 Followers and Counting