The Smiths and Ikea

I've been in a very melancholic mood recently so I figured that this was the best time to write a review of one of my favorite movies of 2009, (500) Days of Summer. A movie that I've championed ever since I saw it in the summer. My desire to see it was so much that I traveled to Boston to the only theater that was showing it. It was still in very limited release at that time and I just couldn't wait. What was shown to me was a movie that was able to show all the highs and lows of romance while never making things too depressing.

Joseph-Gordon Levitt plays Tom, a young guy who writes greeting cards. He wants to be an architect but life has brought him to this job in L.A.. He's kind of fallen into the routine of his 9 to 5 job when he meets Summer Finn, played by the ever cute Zooey Deschanel. A small town girl who is the type of girl that every guy with a pulse falls in love with. He's kinda shy, smart, idealistic, he believes in "true" love. She's spontaneous, funny, flighty, and doesn't believe in love. One day they share an elevator and Summer hears Tom listening to The Smiths on his headphones. She states her shared love for them and thus it starts. He is immediately smitten. He barely knows her and he doesn't believe that things like that are simple coincidence. He pursues her and they begin a relationship. But as the trailers and the poster for this film stated, this is not a love story but a story about love.

Director Marc Webb and writers Scott Neustadtler and Michael H. Weber structure the story in non-chronological order and don't feel an obligation to remain fully grounded in reality. They understand that when you're in love then things don't feel like they're on the same plane of reality as everything else. Things feel heightened, colors seem brighter, the world seems like it's moving to your beat. But they also know that when you're heart is broken then everything is drained of all those things that you were so appreciative of when you were in love.

The story jumps from point to point in Tom and Summer's relationship. A happy day is juxtaposed with a bad day. Some days are shown are failed attempts to rekindle a previous day that was tinged with excitement. At some points in the film we see the same day but with a different view on what was really going on. Of what was truly happening in front of those rose colored glasses that are ever present when you're in love. We see a relationship in it's first baby steps in one scene and then in it's final death throes in the next scene.

Bringing all of this together is one of the best soundtracks in recent memory. One of those types of soundtracks that stays with you long after you've finished the movie. The Smiths, The Pixies, Temper Trap, Regina Spektor and Wolfmother all add lots of appropriate fun and angst to fill out the movie. It perfectly marries itself to the story and it's now impossible for me to separate the two.

I think one of the reasons this movie resonates so much with me is that it feels so much like something that the late Francois Truffaut would have done. He was a filmmaker that believed that love was unconditional until reality started to set in. He made movies about idealized love. About men who refused to let the world tell them who they could love, no matter how many obstacles stood in their way. Men who would almost always end up broken hearted. I especially recommend a short film he did called "Antoine and Colette". It's encapsulates to perfection the concept of idealized love.

Now, some might complain that the movie makes love too black and white, it simplifies it in order to be cute. And my argument towards that is, who cares? This a movie that builds it's own reality and is content in living in it for most of the running time. It is only once the relationship is over that things stop being cute and Tom finally lets reality back in. He grows up and makes important life changes. He finally realizes that some relationships are there for you to learn from, to grow from. Meanwhile, the movie doesn't let go of it's cute streak and decides to give us one final ellipsis. A chance at something new for Tom. And a very appropriately named one too.

Who Is Patient 67?

Martin Scorsese has been absent from traditional films since winning his much deserved Oscar for directing 2006's The Departed. There was much speculation on what he would do to follow it up. Not many would have suspected him to choose an adaptation of Dennis Lehane's novel Shutter Island. He did so and gave us what I believe is 2010's best movie so far. Not saying much since we're still in February but I think this movie will have staying power.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels who, along with his new partner Chuck Aule, is sent to investigate the disappearance of convicted murderer Rachel Solando at Ashecliffe Hospital on Shutter Island. It's an island surrounded by fog in Boston Harbor. A place so far away from civilization that a person who even manages to escape outside of the hospital is bound to not make it beyond the frigid waters. Once there, Teddy and Chuck start to realize that not everything is as it seems.

This is one of those movies where you are asked to simply sit down and let yourself be taken on a trip. To be guided by one of the greatest director's who ever lived. Scorsese is having so much fun with this movie. He knows it's pulp entertainment with no real underlying message. And that doesn't bother him. He embraces it fully and throws every filmmaking trick into the movie. Cinematography, editing, score. All are up to his high standards. We are watching an A level director and A level actors relishing a chance to make a B level story. And he filled it with amazing supporting actors. Ben Kingsley, Max Von Sydow, Patricia Clarkson, John Carroll Lynch, Ted Levine, Mark Ruffalo, Emily Mortimer, Jackie Earle Hayley, Elias Koteas and Michelle Williams. Half of these people in one movie would make it amazing, all of them in one movie makes it great.

But one of the problems this movie is going to have and is already having is that it all hinges on the ending. Don't worry, I'm not going to give it away but it's one of those endings that throws audiences for a loop. An ending that encourages some to watch it al over again or causes some to walk away from the movie and never desire to talk about it again. There's very little middle ground. This ending in less talented hands would be so cliche but Scorsese is able to present it all in a way that doesn't insult us and doesn't feel the need to grab us by the hand and walk us through all the clues. They're all there. We just weren't looking.

It's a thriller, pure and simple. A thriller made with love and respect to all the B level thrillers to which it pays so much homage. It's bleeds atmosphere and dread. It never lets us get comfortable. And it loves doing so.

An appreciation of Friday the 13th

The Friday the 13th series is one of my favorite film series of all time. They are not well made movies but they are friggin' fun. I grew up watching them along with the Nightmare on Elm Street movies. If you want to trace back my love of movies then look at this series, Nightmare on Elm Street, Ghostbusters, Batman, Back to the Future, Toxic Avenger, Class of Nuke 'Em High, Police Academy (my first glimpse of screen nudity!) series and Monster Squad. Those are the movies that I used to watch all the time as a kid. My parents didn't give a damn if things were appropriate for a kid and I thank them for that.

But for some reason the Friday movies have stuck in my head. They are forgettable trash or at least they would be for any normal person. I used to be scared shitless of these movies as a kid but grew out of that quickly. I just think that Jason is an icon of cinema that doesn't get recognized as often as he should be. I even have a 12 inch figure of him standing over me on my computer desk as I write this. In case you were wondering I also have Freddy, Chucky and Tiffany, Ash from Evil Dead, a Terminator, an Alien, a Predator, the Headless Horseman and Hellboy up there. Oh yeah and a couple of figures from John Carpenters "The Thing". Too much geek information there.

Back to topic. These movies have a special place in my heart. I used to watch them on USA as well on their usual Friday the 13th marathons. They used to show them on USA's Up at Night back then hosted by Rhonda Shear. Yeah they were edited but as a kid I didn't mind it as much cause when they went to commercial they used to cut back to Rhonda and her two big "reasons" that kept me glued to the tv. WInk wink.

So in honor of June 13th aka Friday the 13th and in order for me to get more writing practice, here's a little appreciation for the Friday series. In the order of worst to best, here we go.

Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1987) - Jesus Christ, where to begin with this one? It's the typical teenagers at Crystal Lake plot but for some unknown reason the main teenage girl has psychic powers. She also accidently killed her dad in the lake with her powers. You need to know that little nugget in order to appreciate the ending. This thing is so poorly directed and acted that I'm amazed they actually released it. It's also one of those movies where scenes that take place in the woods in the middle of the night seem lit from fluorescent lights. Some highlights, main teenage girl's psychic battle against Jason, therapist's buzz-saw to the midsection and Jason smashing a camper in a sleeping bag against a tree. And at the end the girl's dad jumps out of the lake after being dead for years and drags Jason back down to the bottom. Only really good thing that came out of this abortion is Kane Hodder as Jason. Best Jason Ever.

Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993) - This sin against humanity decided to make Jason a demon that jumps from person to person and only has about 5 minutes of actual Jason in it. As a Friday movie it's a piece of shit but as a campy horror movie then it actually works. Not well but it keeps you busy for 90 minutes. Highlights include a girl getting sliced down the middle while in the middle of the sexual act, death by fry cooker and Freddy Kruger's glove popping up to take Jason's mask down to hell or whereever.

Friday the 13th Part 3 (1982) - Yeah, this is the one they made in 3-D. Oh how I wish I was old enough to go see it when it came out. I wanted to see the shit literally pop out at me. This thing just plain sucks, no tension, barely any nudity and seeing it in 2-D blows the big one. All it's lame attempts to point things at camera as an excuse to use 3-D are just more pathetic in 2-D. They showed this a few years back in 3-D somewhere and I wish I could have traveled across the country to see it. Just to say I did. Or I can just lie and say I did anyway. Highlights include a supposedly threatening motorcycle gang who look like they jumped out of Michael Jackson's Thriller video, death by speargun, fat guy sliced in half and the first time Jason wears his hockey mask.

Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning - The one without Jason in it. It looks like it's him but it's actually a pissed off middle-aged ambulance driver who apparently can survive a lot of mortal wounds. This one isn't all that bad but mostly for all the wrong reasons. Annoying black kid, cheesey extended dancing scene ending in death and a Corey Feldman cameo. Need I say more? I do? Umm...it has a good beginning.

Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) - The first one with Jason actually in it. He looks like a retared hillbilly in this one but I just need to put it up high on the list cause the other ones just suck so much. I can barely remember this one. The only memorable things were the girl survivor from the first one gets killed in the opening of this one. And oh yeah, handicapped kid gets a machete in the face and rolls down a bunch of stairs. Laughed my ass at that one.

Friday the 13th (1980) - It's this high cause without it then we wouldn't have all it's shitty sequels. It's the simplelest of plots and does not do a very good job but it's still fun in that typical unintentional way. Any movie where the villain turns out to be a 50+ year old lady in a sweater gets points in my book. She's also easily knock down-able, giving you time to run five feet and catch your breathe only to have her pop back up and scare you. Bonus points for having a young Kevin Bacon get an arrow to the throat.

Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1988) - The one wear Jason gets to New York in the last 15 minutes and where the filmmakers try to stay in affordable Canada as long as they can. For some reason I really like this one. It's just so stupid that I can't help but have fun. A punk rock chick getting stabbed with an electric guitar, a boxer getting his head punched off and Jason getting turned into a little kid thanks the toxic waste that flushes down New York's surprisingly well-lit sewers every night at midnight. Or so we're told. And for some reason the bad 80's rock song they play during the end credits has stuck in my head for 20 years.

Jason X (2002) - Jason in space. It shouldn't work but goddamn it, it does. The filmmakers just made this one plain fun. We get Kane Hodder as Jason, a hot android that exists for no reason other than to fight him at the end, a nice virtual reality scene that encompasses the things that have made these movies stick in my mind all these years. Nudity, premarital sex, drug use and violence. The things a growing boy needs. Such a stupid idea that turned into a decent flick. Bonus points for throwing in a Cyber Super-Jason and a girl getting her face frozen then smashed into pieces.

Friday the 13th Part 4: The Final Chapter (1984) - This one works because they don't take it so seriously. The filmmakers actually try having some fun with it for once. It isn't very good but it just works enough to make it fun. Corey Feldman's presence aside, this one has some good moments. Good nudity, creative kills, Crispin Glover getting a machete to the face and one of the funniest kills in film history. I don't know if they intended it to be funny but it is. It's a scene where this guy who wants to kill Jason in order to avenge his sister's death is in a basement looking for Jason when he pops up and starts introducing his knife to the guy's insides. During all of this the guy is screaming "Oh my god! He's killing me! He's killing me!" while the main girl screams in terror and runs away. Writing that makes me want to watch it again.

Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986) - My favorite one. It has all the cliches but it just is so much fun. We get the unbelieving sheriff who gets folded in half, the old drunk bum who warns the girls but gets a broken bottle shoved in his face, a couple on a bike getting shish-kababed. There's also a heart getting ripped out and a triple decapitation with a single machete swing. Good, good shit. It's also the introduction of Zombie Jason. He gets resurrected by a lightning strike since that thing happens every day. I just love this one.

Wow, I didn't think I'd actually write all this. I even kept faithful to the series' jump to Roman numerals after part 6. Geek detail. I didn't include Freddy Vs. Jason since I don't consider it a Friday movie, more of a Freddy movie if you ask me. It was a fun time and had some good moments but too little Jason to satisfy me. If you actually read this whole thing then you have a lot more patience than I give you credit for. I hope you at least enjoyed a sentence of it.

Sydney Briar Is Alive

The radio play is a lost art form. It was from a day when story and writing were the most important things on the minds of our entertainers. Building a setting and characters using only words and sound effects. Letting our imaginations fill in all the gaps. Today we're so accustomed to having our hand held that we lose any appreciation for something that actually challenges us to dust off our imaginations. Pontypool is one of those.

In what is basically a live action radio play, we are thrown into a small Canadian town in the middle of a blizzard. Shock jock Grant Mazzy is working at a local radio station when he starts to get reports of people acting strangely and attacking their friends and family members. His producer Sydney and his technician Laurel-Ann are the only people working the station that morning. A station that is located in the basement of an old converted church. We are never given any real glimpses of the outside world except for what Mazzy gets from news reports and reporters calling in. There is an outbreak going on outside and, like our characters, we can only imagine what the hell is going on out there. Things are going crazy and bloody beyond the walls of that church but Mazzy has to keep on reporting. It's what he was made for and no potential apocalypse is going to stop that.

Bruce McDonald directs this tale with such a simplicity that you can't help but be jealous at his skill. Three characters, one location. What could be boring turns out to be scary as hell and incredibly effective in making us imagine the worse. You can even close your eyes and just listen and you can still get the crap scared out of you. Stephen McHattie plays Mazzy with such gravelly-voiced aplomb that you wish men like him would read you the news. He is our guide and so much of the movie is placed on his shoulders and he pulls it off. In a better world he would have been nominated for an Oscar but we all know that genre movies never get nominations. Just like the previous movie I reviewed, The House of the Devil, this movie requires patience and an active imagination. Which is what I've been blessed/cursed with much to the annoyance to people who know me.

Babysitter Wanted

There's a fine line between loving homage and fetishistic parody. You can either respect the thing you're homaging or go over the top with it and make fun of it. In this film director Ti West places his story in the early 1980's. Not because he wanted to make fun of the 80's but write a love letter to it's horror films. He could have easily have made a movie filled with cliche 80's references. Jabs at Reagan or Michael Jackson's original skin color could have peppered the script but he refrained from doing so. The movie is set in the 80's simply because it wants to be. And that is one of the charms of The House of the Devil. The 80's are recreated with no details being too small. From hair styles, Walkman's, rotary phones and even vintage Coke paper cups. It's all there to pull you into the story.

And it's quite the simple story. College student Samantha Hughes needs to raise money to put a deposit on an apartment. Living with her roommate is driving her nuts and she understandably needs to get out. She responds to an ad looking for a babysitter and, against her best friend's wishes, she accepts the job. Tom Noonan plays the homeowner Mr. Ulman with his typical creepy perfection. Samantha is hesitant and would much rather not have to accept the job but she really needs the money and Mr. Ulman and his wife are paying well. All Samantha needs to do is babysit until midnight. And it's no coincidence that tonight is the night of a rare lunar eclipse. But that can't have anything to do with the story, can it?

What follows is a perfect example of a slow burn. Things go at their own leisurely pace and West is in no hurry to shock you with cheap scares. He prefers the old Hitchcockian style of just letting you sit there gripping your seat cushions or digging your nails into your boyfriend's or girlfriend's arm. This is not a movie for people who want quick and cliche jump out of your seat moments. It's for those people who appreciate a movie that takes it's time to build up tension and let you get to know and sympathize the character you're spending every scene with. Patience is required but rewarded in the end.