Tag Archives: Romance

#63: The Phantom of the Opera (2004)

21 Friday Nov 2014

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(Best sung to the title song)
 
Within the opera’s walls,
He lurks unseen.
The Phantom softly calls
To dear Christine.
She sings, impressing all with splendid voice;
The Phantom of the Opera won’t leave
Her any choice.
 
She’s drawn to his allure,
This charming ghoul,
But soon is made unsure
By suave Raoul.
Between her singing coach and childhood friend,
Christine does not know whom she ought to love,
Till threats portend.
 
The opera owners won’t
Obey the ghost
And soon see, when they don’t,
He’s felt the most.
Christine believed she heard an angel sing,
But now she sees the Phantom’s just as mad
As ravishing.
 
The Phantom’s latest play
Is brought to stage;
His mask is torn away
To fear and rage.
He grasps the upper hand for passion’s sake,
But even he must recognize love’s truth,
Despite heartache.
_______________
 

Andrew Lloyd Webber is a master. His musicals have an immersive quality that has garnered multitudes of fans and myriads of awards. It’s one thing for a musical to have a few catchy songs spaced at opportune points throughout a play or film; it’s another to weave a soundtrack in which the songs flow together with such pervasive melody that listeners disregard where one ends and the next begins. Webber has pulled off such a feat several times over, and no film captures that lavish musicality like The Phantom of the Opera.

Joel Schumacher’s films are a mixed bag, and though Batman and Robin still lives in infamy, The Phantom of the Opera redeemed his skills as a director, at least to my mind. From the elaborate exploration of the labyrinthine opera house to the stark winter backdrops, the film has all the spectacle one would expect from a Broadway adaptation. Attention to colors is evident in the frequent combination of black, white, and red, similar to (though not quite as striking as) the red flourishes of The Sixth Sense, with red again representing the presence of the ghost. Though dancing takes a back seat to the glorious music itself, the pantomime choreography in certain scenes is outstanding, particularly during the pomp of “Masquerade.”

None of the acting is quite Oscar-worthy, but again it’s less important than the music. Emmy Rossum is lovely as Christine, though a few notes elude her efforts, such as the final scream of “The Phantom of the Opera.” She’s a talented singer, just not as trained as that of Sarah Brightman, the original Christine and Lloyd Webber’s former wife. Patrick Wilson as Raoul is a bland but handsome lover for her, and Minnie Driver is appropriately dreadful as arrogant diva Carlotta, but the best role is, of course, the Phantom, played with surprising power by Gerard Butler. Though he had no prior singing experience, Butler performs like a pro, with his voice alternating from soft and seductive to severe and monstrous. His is the emotional heart of the film, and though his actions are reprehensible, an Elephant Man-style flashback gives the audience clear reason to pity him and his desire for love, though Butler’s underwhelming make-up doesn’t seem to warrant all the cruelty endured by his character or being described as “hardly a face.” (On a side note for Pirates of the Caribbean fans, I was surprised to see that the Phantom’s onstage victim was played by a barely recognizable Kevin McNally, aka Mr. Gibbs, Jack Sparrow’s first mate.)

The haunting music possesses the rare ability to induce frequent goosebumps, particularly during the Phantom’s sensuous crooning of “The Music of the Night,” by which my VC was especially affected. Lloyd Webber’s venerable arias hold significance for me as well, for I learned to play several during my inconsequential stab at piano lessons, mainly “The Phantom of the Opera,” “All I Ask of You,” “The Music of the Night,” and “Masquerade” (my favorite to play with its staccato strokes). Even when the story itself drags at times, the music is so unforgettably dynamic and the production values so sumptuous that every scene has something to please the eye or ear.

Though the casting is only satisfactory, the human story also carries the film, whether in the colorful world of the opera house of years past to the faded, tragic present. The end brought me to tears the first time, though not for any other character’s loss but for a character’s death itself. My sense of sorrow was simpler back then. All in all, the romance, tragedy, and beauty of The Phantom of the Opera come extremely close to living up to its glorious music.

Best line: (Christine, to the Phantom) “This haunted face holds no horror for me now. It’s in your soul that the true distortion lies.”

 
Rank: 56 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

252 Followers and Counting

#72: Somewhere in Time (1980)

12 Wednesday Nov 2014

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The playwright Richard Collier
On the eve of his success,
Is met by an old woman
In emotional distress.
 
She gifts him with a watch
And an entreaty to return,
Then disappears to die that night,
And why he can’t discern.
 
Years later, Richard takes a drive
And finds the Grand Hotel,
An antique venue lost in time
With friendly personnel.
 
He notices a photograph
Of beauty unsurpassed:
Elise McKenna, actress,
And the woman he saw last.
 
Obsessed with her expression,
He does research on a dime
And is convinced that, with his mind,
He’ll travel back in time.
 
He does so with some effort;
With more, he wins her heart,
But Miss McKenna’s manager
Tries keeping them apart.
 
Their love grows ever stronger
And cannot be suppressed,
Until time’s rules divide them,
Leaving both of them depressed.
 
The broken hearts of Richard
And his sweet of decades past
End up uniting both of them
In timeless love at last.
________________
 

Yes, Somewhere in Time made me cry the first time. Time travel always has great potential as a story device, and allowing it to create tragic romance is a natural result. The film wasn’t particularly well-received at first, but over time has garnered a collection of avid fans, known officially as INSITE, the International Network of Somewhere in Time Enthusiasts, half of whom happen to be men. Thus, I’m not ashamed in the least to be touched by such a potentially sappy tearjerker.

Shedding his Superman persona from his previous film, Christopher Reeve plays hopeless romantic Richard Collier in possibly the most moving performance of his career. It may sound corny, but fate seems to guide him to his true love’s photo, driving him to zealously search for information about her and how he may connect with her. Some might consider this obsessive, but the all-consuming promise of romance excuses such complaints. When he finally reaches 1912, love grows naturally but quickly as he makes himself irresistibly charming to Miss McKenna, played by Jane Seymour, as always the epitome of feminine elegance. Christopher Plummer portrays her possessive manager, whose intentions are more benign and complex than a typical villain, though no less domineering. At times, the rather simple script could have fallen flat in the hands of lesser actors, but all three leads are distinguished.

As far as time travel goes, there are no time machines, police boxes, or DeLoreans; Richard leaps through decades with… hypnosis, which is not the most convincing of methods but still carries the requisite paradoxes and unforeseen complications. In addition to the dripping romanticism, it manages some quiet humor while avoiding the typical fish-out-of-water scenarios. Shot predominately on Michigan’s Mackinac Island, the cinematography is also lovely, often reminiscent of a faded watercolor painting. Then there’s the haunting music that sticks in one’s head long after the credits roll. Somewhere in Time did for Rachmaninoff what Ghost did for “Unchained Melody”; the flowing strains of Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini immediately conjure up the film’s emotions.

I am always deeply touched by reunions, by friends and loved ones meeting again after heartache on both sides. It is these homecomings that often enhance the endings of “Meet ‘em and Move On” films; they’re what make difficult films like Slumdog Millionaire and The Color Purple worth watching. The “together forever” kind of conclusion particularly has a special power that reinforces the tearjerker status of stories like Wuthering Heights, Grave of the Fireflies, and Titanic. Somewhere in Time’s final scene is just so depressingly romantic that it still brings my VC to tears. Simply beautiful.

Best line: (Richard, with a mock pick-up line that I must try sometime) “Young woman, if you do not walk with me, I shall go mad! Positively insane, and do crazed things to myself!”

 
Rank: 55 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

245 Followers and Counting

#81: Gone with the Wind (1939)

03 Monday Nov 2014

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Young Scarlett O’Hara is pining away
For the weak Ashley Wilkes, every night, every day,
But treats him as if he committed a felony
When he intends to wed his cousin Melanie.
 
As Civil War nears, she is suddenly met
By dashing Rhett Butler, who makes her upset.
He claims that the South cannot win any war,
But men still depart to go fight by the score.
 
An inconsequential first marriage ends fast,
And soon in Atlanta the wives are aghast
When Scarlett’s out dancing with who else but Rhett,
Who’s now a blockade runner nursing regret.
 
As Scarlett and Melanie worry and fret
For Ashley, they care for each suffering vet.
Atlanta is falling one hot afternoon
When Melanie goes into labor too soon.
 
The baby delivered, they call on Rhett’s aid;
He brings them a wagon as Yankees invade.
Through fiery buildings, they flee from the city,
And Rhett leaves them there with a kiss and his pity.
 
Through war-ravaged fields, Scarlett makes it to Tara,
Where fever has overcome Mrs. O’Hara.
Her home now in shambles, Miss Scarlett declares
She’ll never be hungry, regardless of cares.
 
The long Reconstruction is hard on them all;
Her father’s soon claimed by an unbalanced fall.
As taxes pile up, she appeals to ol’ Rhett,
Who’s broke and in prison but not desperate yet.
 
She marries for money, is widowed again,
And keeps Ashley close as her favorite of men.
When Rhett then proposes, she swiftly agrees
And soon has a daughter they’re eager to please.
 
A rumor and distance make Rhett envious,
And he has his way with a passionate fuss.
But tragedy strikes (in fact, three in a row),
And Scarlett and Rhett are too mired in woe.
 
When Scarlett at last has the courage to state
She never loved Ashley, it’s simply too late.
Rhett bitterly leaves her, not giving a “damn,”
But she swears to win back her disgruntled man.
___________________
 

When I first compiled my list, I originally placed Gone with the Wind at #5 because I admire it as a milestone in cinema, the film that mostly topped its great 1939 competition. However, my VC pointed out that I’m rarely eager to watch it nor am I quite as enthralled by the epic romance as she is. Thus, I decided to drop it out of the top ten but still give it the praise it deserves.

Gone with the Wind is one of America’s most enduring icons. Who hasn’t heard deathless lines like “As God is my witness, I’ll never be hungry again,” or “I don’t know nothin’ ‘bout birthin’ babies,” or “After all, tomorrow is another day”? Who hasn’t seen at least one parody of some element of this film? (Carol Burnett’s “Went with the Wind” skit is a favorite.) Between Margaret Mitchell’s classic (and interminable) novel and Sidney Howard’s Oscar-winning screenplay adaptation, the script is full of juicy quotes, yet even these are overshadowed by the perfectly cast leads and the scope of its best scenes.

While at times she indulges in unconvincing histrionics, Vivien Leigh is Scarlett O’Hara, just as the debonair Clark Gable is Rhett Butler. (Margaret Mitchell had him in mind.) Their amorous banter and volatile relationship are hallmarks of cinema romance, and Gable’s suave persona has left many a woman swooning in her seat, not least of all my VC. They also share one of the most passionate kisses ever filmed (after they leave Atlanta), which few movies can hope to top. Other characters are well-cast, though a tad one-dimensional. Olivia de Havilland (one of the only stars still alive) as Melanie is an ingratiating Mary Sue who is nonetheless kind and sympathetic, and while Leslie Howard is equally good as Ashley, his weak character is such a contrast from the allure of Rhett Butler that one cannot help but want to slap Scarlett silly for her misplaced infatuation. The black characters have drawn criticism for their adherence to racial stereotypes, but Hattie McDaniel’s role as Mammy won her the first Academy Award for an African-American (beating out de Havilland for Best Supporting Actress).

The film is at its best when its epic scope plays out, particularly during the War itself. Two scenes especially stand out: the long shot that pulls out to reveal a huge field strewn with Confederate soldiers, and the thrilling escape from burning Atlanta, with the characters’ silhouettes fleeing before a collapsing building (which had to be shot in one take). The film has spurts of cinema at its best, mainly in the first half, but its taxing length cannot keep up the spectacle. Perhaps due to its troubled production, many parts are simply boring and not completely necessary, a fault the films of my final top ten do not share.

Despite its bloated duration, Gone with the Wind is an epic romance set in a time long past, of billowing gowns and urbane gentlemen, a period clearly romanticized but no less legendary. It has ranked high among AFI’s greatest film lists, and, though I cannot quite include it in my personal top ten, it still deserves a place of honor among the all-time classics. May Hollywood never attempt a remake. (Please!)

Best line: (Scarlett, as Rhett is leaving at the end) “Rhett. If you go, where shall I go; what shall I do?”   (Rhett) “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

 
Rank: 54 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

239 Followers and Counting

#82: Aladdin (1992)

02 Sunday Nov 2014

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(Best sung to “Arabian Nights”)
 
In a kingdom long past, in the great Agrabah,
The vizier has a villainous plan.
In the rarest of caves,
There’s a lamp that he craves,
But Jafar first requires a young man.
 
This Aladdin is poor, but he meets the princess;
Jasmine’s drawn to his freedom and charm.
He is tricked by Jafar
To dare where wonders are,
And one slip nearly brings him to harm.
 
Though trapped in the cave,
The agreeable tramp
Obtains wishes three
From a joking Genie
When he brushes his lamp.
 
Becoming a prince,
Al deceives everyone.
He wins Jasmine’s heart
And reveals Jafar’s art
Of deception he’s spun.
 
When Jafar gets the lamp
And indulges his greed,
He is tricked into jail,
Al and Jasmine prevail,
And the Genie is freed.
_______________
 

Created during the upswing of Disney’s animation Renaissance, Aladdin continued the high quality of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. For a while, I considered it rather overrated, but recent viewings have proven that it is indeed a diamond in Disney’s collection. Much of the film’s success goes to the late, great Robin Williams as the frenetic Genie. For my generation, Aladdin was the first introduction to Williams’s delirious brand of humor, so fast-paced and jammed with impressions, puns, and comedic asides that re-watches are a must. The animation complements his frenzied personality, allowing the character to transform and dart around with abandon. His “all-powerful” status also allows for countless anachronisms, including Middle Eastern cliché revisions (“Wake up and smell the hummus”) and references to The Little Mermaid and Pinocchio. (Interestingly, some locations that Aladdin and Jasmine visit during “A Whole New World” foreshadowed upcoming Disney releases, like Hercules and Mulan.)

Of course, the soundtrack was also very well-received, earning Aladdin two Oscars for Best Score and Best Song for ”A Whole New World,” one of Disney’s best romantic duets. The Genie’s frenzied appeal highlights “A Friend Like Me” and “Prince Ali,” and “Arabian Nights” lived on as the theme song of the Aladdin TV series. While not my favorite of the Disney soundtracks, it is nevertheless fun and engaging.

Though none of the characters are as colorful as Genie, most are well-drawn and complex. As a male protagonist, Aladdin himself changes up Disney’s usual princess model, and Jasmine is a worthy addition to the roster of strong princesses. Sounding not unlike Vincent Price, Jonathan Freeman’s Jafar is also a formidable villain, able to make the word “boo boo” into something sinister. Aladdin also boasts one of the greatest number of individual sidekicks that I’ve counted: besides Genie, there’s Abu and the magic carpet for Aladdin, Raja the tiger for Jasmine, and Iago (a priceless Gilbert Gottfried) for Jafar.

Between the music, character dynamics, and brisk comedy, Aladdin deserves its reputation as one of Disney’s great successes; even this year, it spawned a Broadway musical. Oh, that Disney could return to these glory days!

Best line: (Genie, when first awakened) “Oy! Ten thousand years will give you such a crick in the neck!”

 
Rank: 54 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

237 Followers and Counting

 

#85: Shadowlands (1993)

30 Thursday Oct 2014

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C. S. Lewis is content to live as he has always done,
To teach and study, chat with colleagues, answer questions he presents.
He is happy to debate on arguments he knows he’s won.
Both he and Oxford rarely change, for they’ve got all the common sense.
 
Then in 1952, he meets Joy Gresham, who’s a fan,
A poet and American who leaves him speechless now and then.
Soul and intellect converge to make her special to this man,
Whose own experience with love is only in his reading den.
 
Fleeting visits with her son endear her to the author till
Divorce allows them to relocate to the London she admires.
By entreaty, Lewis marries Joy, a sign of their good will,
But even then he does not see the happiness that she inspires.
 
Sadly, Joy is cancer-stricken, and the promise of her loss
Convinces Lewis that he loves her deeply, though he knows not how.
He requests a holy marriage as he helps her bear her cross.
When she recovers for a time, they both are faithful to their vow.
 
Honeymooning is idyllic until Joy reminds instead
That as a part of happiness, they can’t ignore the coming grief.
Death arrives, and life goes on despite the tears her darlings shed.
Experience best helps us learn of truest love, however brief.
__________________
 

Shadowlands is one of the purest and most poignant of biographical romances. From the popular Narnia series to the insightful The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis (Jack, to his friends) ranks among my favorite authors, and no one could bring him to life like Anthony Hopkins. Coming only two years after his star-making role in The Silence of the Lambs, there is no trace of the deranged serial killer here; instead, Hopkins embodies Lewis’s intelligence, wisdom, and genuine surprise at the advent of love. Oscar nominee Debra Winger may have seemed like an odd choice to portray his beloved Joy Gresham (pen name Joy Davidman), but their interactions have a warmth and reality that gradually morphs their professional respect into personal chemistry.

The late Richard Attenborough was a skilled director, but even his Oscar-winning Gandhi does not compare to Shadowlands. Instead of the sweeping view of a legendary life, he gives us a quiet, contemplative story of unexpected romance that, to me and my VC, is much more moving and intimate. The direction is understated but beautiful throughout, allowing emotions, reverence, and beauty to permeate every scene. On top of all that, the script is intelligent, being based on William Nicholson’s TV and stage productions.

Early monologues by Lewis establish his views on pain as “God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world,” but he has never experienced such pain since childhood. His attachment to and loss of Joy might have made him contradict his prior beliefs, but even when his and Douglas’s faith is shaken, it isn’t repudiated. Rather, the main intellectual conflict is the disparity between knowledge and experience, without either really negating the other. It’s a classic case of “easier said than done”; philosophizing is fine on one level, but experience challenges the detached serenity with which Lewis views the world as an Oxford professor. His prior lesson still applies, but the moral difficulty of pain becomes more real when it is endured firsthand. Even when we know the suffering yet to come, we love anyway, a mystery of being human that even Lewis could not fully explain.

At the beginning, the film claims that “This is a true story,” which is only mostly true. It does omit Joy’s other son David Gresham, only depicting the more well-known Douglas (played by young Joseph Mazzello, who was in Jurassic Park that same year). Also, the film focuses on Lewis’s academic and personal life without touching on his literary life: he published numerous books during the film’s events, including several Narnia installments. Even so, the story is undeniably powerful, though it is rather slow and best watched when one is fully awake, eating, or both. My VC, who “adores” Anthony Hopkins in this rare romantic leading role, would rank Shadowlands in her top 50 and just recently was able to view it without crying. Beautiful and heartbreaking, Shadowlands is Attenborough’s masterpiece.

Best line: (Harry, a friend) “Christopher can scoff, Jack, but I know how hard you’ve been praying, and now God is answering your prayers.”   (Lewis) “That’s not why I pray, Harry. I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God; it changes me.”

VC’s best line: (Lewis, to Joy) “Will you marry this foolish, frightened old man… who needs you more than he can bear to say… who loves you, even though he hardly knows how?”

 
Rank: 54 out of 60
 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

235 Followers and Counting

 

#89: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy (1999, 2002, 2005)

26 Sunday Oct 2014

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(Spoiler Alert)
 
The Trade Federation’s blockading Naboo,
So Jedi are sent to negotiate peace.
A battle with droids and evasion ensue
As Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan fight for release.
 
Below on Naboo, Qui-Gon rescues a twit,
A Gungan outcast who is called Jar Jar Binks.
In gratitude, Jar Jar assists them, to wit
He leads them to where he is branded a jinx.
 
The Gungans live deep underwater, they learn,
But don’t wish to help anyone in the least.
One dark shortcut later, the Jedi knights turn
To Queen Amidala, whose fears have increased.
 
The Jedi and queen flee the threatened Naboo,
But their ship is damaged by enemy snares.
With help from a droid known as R2-D2,
They land on the sphere Tatooine for repairs.
 
While searching for parts, Qui-Gon locates a slave
Named Anakin Skywalker, only a boy.
This Anakin may be “the One” meant to save,
To bring the Force balance and peace to enjoy.
 
A bet and a pod race free Ani at last,
But he’s forced to leave his own mother behind.
They fight off Darth Maul, like a Sith from the past,
And head back to Coruscant with their new find.
 
The queen’s handmaid Padmé is rather friendly
With Ani, who’s introduced by Qui-Gon Jin.
The whole Jedi Council is loath to agree
With Qui-Gon’s assertions about Anakin.
 
Soon, everyone’s on their way back to Naboo
And seeks out the Gungans to help intervene.
At last, they agree to do battle anew,
When Padmé reveals she is really the queen.
 
As Jar Jar leads Gungans against battle droids,
The Jedi and Padmé sneak into the base.
Through luck, little Anakin somehow avoids
The fight on the ground for a battle in space.
 
Young Obi-Wan steps up to deal a death blow
To Darth Maul, who duels and dispatches Qui-Gon.
The droids are defeated, and peace seems to grow,
As Anakin’s trained under wise Obi-Wan.
_______________
 
When Padmé, now senator rather than queen,
Still serving Naboo with unflinching resolve,
Returns back to Coruscant, death unforeseen
Fuels fears that the peace may yet further devolve.
 
In light of the recent attempts on her life,
The Chancellor Palpatine bids her lie low.
The Jedi assign her two guards against strife,
With whom she’s familiar from ten years ago.
 
Young Ani has grown, and he clearly is smitten
With Padmé, though Obi-Wan bids him resist.
Soon after, they save her before she is bitten
And race to catch up with this antagonist.
 
Their target is nixed, so they go separate ways.
While Anakin takes Padmé back to Naboo,
His master does research and doubtfully pays
A visit to cloners deleted from view.
 
There, Obi-Wan learns that an order’s been met
For countless clone troops the Republic can claim.
He’s introduced to the clone-ee Jango Fett,
A cold bounty hunter, who flees to hide blame.
 
On Geonosis, Obi-Wan is detained
By evil Count Dooku, who chose the dark side.
Meanwhile, Skywalker is thoroughly pained
By dreams of his mother he cannot abide.
 
Returning to Tatooine, Padmé in tow,
He learns Tusken raiders abducted his mom.
He finds her in time for her final death throe
And yields to revenge as a coldhearted balm.
 
Both Padmé and he learn of Obi-Wan’s plight
And on Geonosis are captured as well.
Confessing their love, they are driven to fight
Three monsters in front of a large clientele.
 
The Jedi come calling with armies of clones,
And Jango and droids are no match for them all.
As Dooku retreats with some escorting drones,
Our heroes pursue for a lightsaber brawl.
 
Though Dooku defeats Obi-Wan and his ward,
When Yoda arrives, Count is nearly outmatched
And flees with some top-secret blueprints on board
To where his dark master has plans to be hatched.
 
Though Anakin lost his arm due to Dooku,
Because of the clones, this one battle was won.
As Padmé and Anakin wed on Naboo,
An unforeseen clone war has swiftly begun.
__________________
 
When General Grievous, who’s mostly a droid,
Abducts Palpatine in a militant raid,
Two Jedi and hundreds of clones are employed
To rescue the chancellor from this crusade.
 
With some difficulty, they breach the lead ship,
And Anakin finishes Dooku in rage.
They crash-land, and Grievous then gives them the slip
To find some more trouble in which to engage.
 
When Anakin learns that his wife is expecting,
He’s eager to end all the secrets they hide,
But more dreams of death make him doubt his protecting
Will save Padmé’s life since they will not subside.
 
As Chancellor Palpatine builds up his ego
And asks that Skywalker speak on his behalf,
The Jedi are doubtful about his amigo
And don’t wish the dark side to have the last laugh.
 
While Obi-Wan executes Grievous in flame,
His Padawan learns Palpatine is a Sith,
But Palpatine’s pledge to save Padmé by name
Convinces Skywalker to serve him forthwith.
 
His turn to the dark side at last is complete:
He massacres younglings as he is directed.
The order goes out to the clones in deceit
To kill all the Jedi that they have protected.
 
Though Yoda and Obi-Wan cheat death, the rest
Are caught by surprise and are exterminated.
When they learn of Anakin, both are distressed,
And Padmé refuses to trust what is stated.
 
When Anakin heads to a volcanic sphere
To wipe out the Separatist leaders at last,
His wife follows him, and his worry and fear
Are changed into anger when she is aghast.
 
He clashes with Obi-Wan furiously
As Palpatine barely bests Yoda as well.
Disturbed at the “Chosen One’s” deviancy,
Kenobi disarms and leaves him where he fell.
 
The Chancellor/Emperor’s now in control.
As Padmé gives birth to her predestined twins,
Darth Vader is painfully somewhat made whole
And ready for when the next chapter begins.
 
Though Padmé is lost and two Jedi alone,
The twins are divided and safely will stay.
Both Leia and Luke will have tales of their own
One day in that galaxy far, far away.
__________________
 

Many will probably disagree with my placement of George Lucas’s three-part return to the Star Wars universe. I have heard all the scorn for this trilogy: Jake Lloyd is the worst child actor of all time. What’s with all this Midi-chlorian crap? Hayden Christensen is so whiny and insipid as Anakin. The romantic dialogue is as corny as a popping machine and less entertaining. The politics drag, and the acting is mediocre. Nothing is as good as it should have been. These films are an embarrassment to the originals. Jar Jar Binks must die!

With all these criticisms, how then did the Star Wars prequels earn a place in my top 100? Quite simply, it’s because they’re far better than most people give them credit for. Do they compare with the first three as a whole? No. Are they flawed? Yes. But amid the minor annoyances that have garnered so much loathing, there are genuine moments of brilliance, with the visuals especially, that do make them worthy of the Star Wars name.

Episode I: The Phantom Menace is the weakest of the three because of its two most hated elements: Jar Jar Binks and the young Anakin Skywalker. Neither one ever bothered me much. There are much worse child actors than Jake Lloyd out there, and Jar Jar’s comic relief is not totally without charm, though it’s overplayed compared with the Ewoks of Return of the Jedi (again, I don’t mind the teddy bears). I agree that Lucas should not have tried to explain the Force with inscrutable talk of Midi-chlorians, but to me, these minor frustrations are overshadowed by the exciting, effects-laden sequences and the otherwise solid casting. Liam Neeson and Samuel L. Jackson (the first time I’d seen either of them) lend respectable sobriety, which is needed next to Jar Jar, and Ewan McGregor plays an up-and-coming Obi-Wan Kenobi who grew to become my favorite character in the next two films. Though his demise was a bit shocking at the time, Darth Maul also proves to be a formidable adversary. The pod race is far from pointless, as some detractors claim; it’s meant to buy Ani’s freedom and to be tense, impressive, and above all fun, and in my opinion, it succeeds, as do the battle scenes at the end. And let’s not forget John Williams’s magnificent score, which truly qualifies the film for its genre of space opera; no score could come closer to matching his musical achievement with the original Star Wars.

The first film was certainly closest to deserving its opprobrium, but Episode II: Attack of the Clones is as close to perfect entertainment as the prequels get. Perhaps I’m biased by the fact that it was the first Star Wars film I viewed in the theater, but it’s easily my favorite of the prequels. From the speeder chase on Coruscant to Obi-Wan’s rain-drenched duel with Jango Fett, Attack of the Clones offers the most exciting plot, as well as several explanations to burning questions, such as “What do all those stormtroopers look like?” While I think the first film’s obvious age difference between Anakin and Padmé was written away with the casting of Christensen, their relationship is sufficiently progressive to make it believable, even if the dialogue is indeed shallow. Plus, Anakin’s return to Tatooine is certainly a plausible prelude to his descent to the dark side. Episode II also possesses what is probably my favorite sequence of the entire saga: the Coliseum battle and its combination of giant monsters, droids, clones, bounty hunters, Jedi, a few pithy lines, and hopelessly romantic epicness, not to mention a subsequent peek at Yoda’s latent lightsaber prowess. I, for one, did not leave that theater disappointed.

I enjoyed watching Genndy Tartakovsky’s animated Star Wars: Clone Wars, which was released between the second and third films and set the stage for Episode III; thus, I was excited for Star Wars’ supposedly final installment. Revenge of the Sith is not an obvious favorite, not because it is bad (it actually received the best reception of the three), but because it is a tragedy, one that is surprisingly well-told. It essentially explains how Darth Vader came to be and how his children were separated. Anakin’s fear for Padmé’s life, foreshadowed by his premonitions about his mother in Episode II, is an effective catalyst for his moral plunge, though his embracing of murder is no less shocking or frustrating. The special effects of Episode III far surpass any other Star Wars film, and from droid commander General Grievous to Yoda’s showdown with the Emperor, from breathtaking beginning to tragic end, it is truly a feast for the eyes. (I love how the Yoda fight turned the long-established setting of the Senate chamber into an extravagant set piece.) The lava duel finale at last achieves the visual and emotional awe that words like saga and space opera imply; plus, the Emperor’s political intrigue provides timely, if occasionally ponderous, insights into the clandestine machinations of dictators. As splendid as Revenge can be, it’s depressing as heck and “ended” Lucas’s films on a disheartening note sorely in need of A New Hope.

Haters and critics can ridicule and underrate these films all they want, but George Lucas’s complete vision of the Star Wars saga is an absolute spectacle that earned him an AFI Lifetime Achievement Award after Revenge of the Sith was released. Yes, the dialogue is its weakest point, but the actors do their best with the sometimes clunky lines, such as Darth Vader’s lame climactic “Noooo.” Quiddities aside, the entire story of Anakin Skywalker deserved a full telling, and the Star Wars prequels supplied a fantastically realized narrative and some of the finest action sequences of the modern CGI era. I’ll be interested to see what J. J. Abrams has in store for the continuation of the franchise. Considering what he’s already done with Star Trek, I have high hopes for Episode VII.

Best line from The Phantom Menace: (Jar Jar Binks) “How wude!”
More serious best line for The Phantom Menace: (Yoda, to Anakin) “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. I sense much fear in you.”
 
Best line from Attack of the Clones: (Anakin, as their coliseum execution begins) “What about Padmé?”  (Obi-Wan, as Padmé climbs onto a pillar) “She seems to be on top of things.”
More serious best line from Attack of the Clones: (Queen of Naboo) “We have to keep our faith in the Republic. The day we stop believing democracy can work is the day we lose it.”  (Padmé) “Let’s pray that day never comes.”
 
Best line from Revenge of the Sith: (Anakin, crash-landing Grievous’s ship) “We lost something.”   (Obi-Wan) “Not to worry. We’re still flying half a ship.”
More serious best line from Revenge of the Sith: (Padmé, as the Emperor takes over with full senatorial support) “So this is how liberty dies… with thunderous applause.”

 

Rank: 53 out of 60

 

© 2014 S. G. Liput

232 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

 

WALL-E (2008)

08 Wednesday Oct 2014

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For seven long centuries, WALL-E’s been cleaning,
A robot with no other function but that,
Yet over the trash-crushing years intervening,
His own curiosity’s found some new meaning
In refuse he stockpiles just to look at.
 
One day on this Earth humans long ago fled,
A ship lands to drop off the cutting-edge EVE.
She searches the land, all but barren and dead,
But of vegetation she finds not a shred,
Though dear WALL-E wears his romance on his sleeve.
 
He shows her his treasures he’s gleaned from the trash,
Including a tape showing dancing and love.
When he shows a plant he has kept in his cache,
EVE seizes it, powering down in a flash,
And soon the ship takes them to space high above.
 
They rendezvous with an immense mother ship,
The Axiom, where humans float in their chairs.
Exploring the craft at a bustling clip,
They both meet the captain, but there was a slip;
The plant’s gone so they are removed for repairs.
 
The talk of returning to Earth again gives
The captain an interest that records can grant.
As he learns the joys of when one truly lives,
An accident makes the two bots fugitives,
And they see a drone has the coveted plant.
 
Retrieving the specimen (barely) from space,
They take it to where the good captain resides.
The ship’s Autopilot, with rules long in place,
Insists it still coddle the whole human race
And discards the sapling and WALL-E besides.
 
With poor WALL-E injured, the captain and EVE
Attempt to fight back, despite mankind’s wide girth.
Though WALL-E’s hurt further, which makes his love grieve,
They set a new course with the plant they retrieve,
And soon all arrive on the desolate Earth.
 
EVE rushes to reconstruct WALL-E in full,
But his personality’s lost in repair.
A simple reminder proves just the right pull,
And mankind will now be more responsible
To care for the Earth, thanks to one robot pair.
________________
 

WALL-E is one of those films on which my VC and I have widely disparate opinions. She considers it Pixar’s first let-down, while I side with the critical majority in naming it yet another triumph. What she sees is a slow-paced tale of how mankind let ourselves and the earth go downhill, an unengaging “romance” between two automatons with underdeveloped “personalities.” She doesn’t care for characters if they are too inhuman; she had the same problem with The Lego Movie and yet appreciated Cars and Brave Little Toaster.

Needless to say, I disagree with her assessment of this modern animated classic. Despite the potential pitfalls of casting an R2-D2 wannabe as the main character, WALL-E works. From the opening images of space set to “Put on Your Sunday Clothes” from Hello, Dolly! to the stunningly textured, photo-realistic cityscapes made out of trash, WALL-E is Pixar imagination in overdrive. I found WALL-E’s curious scavenging and his evocative noises provided by Ben Burtt ideally lovable for a robot, just as EVE’s sleek, vaguely feminine design made it clear why he was attracted. The characters’ laconic introduction before they enter space could have been an outstanding short film, but the fact that the filmmakers were able to follow up the winsome vignettes with an almost-as-successful main plot is a feat only Pixar’s artistry could achieve.

As stated, the film works as a simple love story and a tale of man’s return to Earth, but it features a number of mature themes that few animated films have tackled so effectively. For instance, critics have pointed out the Axiom’s similarity to Noah’s Ark: the ship bore mankind away amidst a flood (of trash) that destroyed the Earth, and a white forerunner was sent out to determine the planet’s viability, returning with a small green hope for future settlement. The film’s stabs at commercialism and over-dependence on technology are also timely social critiques; the way the human blobs chat with each other, completely oblivious of their surroundings, brought to mind the cell phone generation, similarly caught up in addictive games and distracting texts.

When I first saw WALL-E, I was expecting a heavy-handed admonition of how bad mankind is compared with the near-sacred vitality of the planet, a hackneyed rebuke seen in Avatar and countless other environmental sci-fi tales. Instead, the film emphasized responsibility. As the captain says to the plant, “Just needed someone to look after you,” his realization of how they have neglected their duties to care for nature and themselves is an environmental message that is subtle rather than banal. Whereas my VC found the end depressing since the humans have so much work and clean-up ahead of them, I saw optimism in the way the end credits depicted their competent resurrection of the planet’s former glory, using machines as assistants rather than caretakers. In addition, Peter Gabriel’s “Down to Earth” belongs in my End Credits Song Hall of Fame.

WALL-E boasts perhaps Pixar’s most astoundingly realistic animation, but I agree that it is neither their most entertaining movie, nor their funniest or most touching. Its robotic silliness has its limits (the “mice” that cover EVE in the Axiom’s dump are a bit too much), and there’s even the familiar he’s-dead-no-wait-never-mind cliché, which is enigmatically resolved. WALL-E and EVE may say each other’s names more often than Jack and Rose in Titanic, but as in that film, their romance manages to be touching and heartfelt, even if they’re just robots. Plus, any movie that reintroduces a classic musical like Hello, Dolly! to a new generation has my blessing. My VC can disagree, but WALL-E was another high point for Pixar.

Best line: (Captain McCrea) “Out there is our home. Home, Auto. And it’s in trouble. I can’t just sit here and do nothing. That’s all I’ve ever done! That’s all anyone on this blasted ship has ever done. Nothing!”
(AUTO) “On the Axiom, you will survive.”
(McCrea) “I don’t want to survive. I want to live!”

 

Artistry: 10
Characters/Actors: 8
Entertainment: 7
Visual Effects: 10
Originality: 9
Watchability: 8
 
TOTAL: 52 out of 60
 

Next: #103 – Brother Bear

© 2014 S. G. Liput

220 Followers and Counting

 

Shrek 2 (2004)

03 Friday Oct 2014

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Fiona and Shrek, ever since true love’s kiss,
Are living the good life in marital bliss,
But soon they’re invited to Far Far Away
To meet with her parents, in spite of Shrek’s nay.
 
The journey is long and the company grates,
And when they arrive, the whole welcome deflates.
The king is disgusted by Shrek’s ogre ways,
And Shrek gives an equally ornery gaze.
 
A Fairy Godmother then visits Fiona
And isn’t much thrilled with her ogre persona.
The Godmother planned all along for her son
Prince Charming to wed her, till Shrek jumped the gun.
 
She urges the King, who is under her thumb,
To get rid of Shrek, so her own prince can come.
The King hesitantly obeys and recruits
A famed mercenary known as Puss in Boots.
 
The cat doesn’t win but befriends the main pair
And guides them to Godmother’s potion-filled lair.
One potion that guarantees beauty and joy
Transforms the two ogres to a real girl and boy.
 
The Godmother sees this as her perfect chance
For Charming to woo the princess at a dance,
But Shrek, with the help of his fairy tale friends,
Attacks the King’s castle before the night ends.
 
Redeeming himself, the King sticks up for Shrek
And thwarts the corrupt fairy pain-in-the-neck.
Both parents and son-in-law now get along,
And Donkey and Puss sing a toe-tapping song.
__________________
 

Shrek 2 ranks on my list as DreamWorks Animation’s best CGI film, as well as their most successful.  It also holds a special place in my heart thanks to my mom.  I was only 10 when my mom picked me up from school one day, but instead of driving home, I suddenly realized we were entering the parking lot of our local movie theater to see what else but Shrek 2.  The unexpected surprise (and enjoyable film) became one of those indelible childhood memories, even if she herself barely remembers it.

The film itself was a joy to watch, bringing back all the lovable players from the first film and introducing new classic characters.  It builds on the original story and doesn’t repeat itself.  Nearly every joke hits its target, and there are so many details and parodies that repeated viewings are definitely rewarded.  At the very beginning during the Oscar-nominated song “Accidentally in Love,” there are references to From Here to Eternity, Spider-Man, and The Fellowship of the Ring, and countless others follow, including spoofs of Alien, E.T., Beverly Hills Cop, Frankenstein, The Mask of Zorro, Mission: Impossible, Hawaii 5-0, and even the O. J. Simpson chase footage.  The Zorro resonances are especially ingenious since Antonio Banderas plays his feline counterpart Puss in Boots with enough gusto to give Donkey a run for his money as best animal sidekick.  (I’m a sucker for those big dark eyes.)  Yet, in addition to all these parodies, the film retains its own brand of humor:  Donkey’s annoying are-we-there-yets, the clever exchanges that both Shrek & Fiona and King Harold & Queen Lillian share before their rendezvous, the glimpses of the villains’ pub and the red carpet night.  As with the first film, a soundtrack of contemporary songs complements several thrilling action scenes; Jennifer Saunders’s rendition of “Holding Out for a Hero” as Shrek storms the castle is easily the best sequence of the whole film and my favorite version of the song.

Shrek 2 was a high point for DreamWorks that was quickly lowered by the likes of Madagascar and Shrek the Third.  The third Shrek film was an uninspired, unfunny mess focusing on all the wrong things and was only partially redeemed by the decent Shrek Forever After.  Perhaps it would have been better if Shrek and the gang had been left singing “Livin’ La Vida Loca.”  As far as satirical comedies with a romantic heart of gold go, DreamWorks has yet to do better.

Best line: (Fiona, unsure what Shrek’s new form looks like, questioning Puss) “Shrek?”  (Puss, eyeing her) “For you, baby, I could be.”

 
Artistry: 8
Characters/Actors: 10
Entertainment: 10
Visual Effects: 9
Originality: 9
Watchability: 10
Other (I like other films more): -5
 
TOTAL: 51 out of 60
 

Next: #107 – Captain America: The First Avenger

© 2014 S. G. Liput

215 Followers and Counting