Stuff I Dig: The Mars Volta's video for "Televators"

Great Music Moments in Film:

The finale of Once Upon a Time in the West consists of the grandiose showdown between the nameless “Harmonica” (Charles Bronson) and his nemesis, the sadistic Frank (Henry Fonda). The entire film (all 175 minutes of it) had been leading up to this moment. The two character’s paths had taken drastic twists and turns, together and separately, so when they finally go head to head it’s a landmark event. The element that makes this situation so much more larger-than-life is the inclusion of the flawless Ennio Morricone track “Man with a Harmonica”. It immediately sets the tone for the scene. Even if you've never seen the movie, when you watch the final duel you can tell how important it is. It’s one of my favorite scenes in the history of cinema, hands down.

aw snap! It's a throwback!

I just got done watching Porcupine Tree's new video for "Bonnie the Cat" (which you can view here if you like). It's a really cool, surreal, stop-motion animation video. And while it isn't nearly as dark or disturbing, I couldn't help but think of Tool's early videos. I think we should bring back arty animation videos. They are always so fascinating to watch...

Stuff I Dig: Faith No More covering Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over"

My 10 favorite Coen Brothers characters:

(out of their films that I have seen thus far, in no particular order)

Walter Sobchak - The Big Lebowski
Sure, Jeff Bridges as The Dude really ties the movie together, and John Turturro’s Jesus Quintana is laugh out loud funny, but John Goodman’s psychotic Vietnam vet is what makes the movie for me. Walter is chaos incarnate. And when he is paired up with Donnie (the Laurel to his Hardy), he lets loose some of the greatest dialogue in the movie.



Eddie Dane – Miller’s Crossing
The Dane is one bad mutha. Johnny Caspar’s vicious, homosexual, seemingly 10 foot tall enforcer is quite the presence on screen. He may well be the second smartest character in the movie, so that only adds to his ferociousness. Plus, you gotta love the venomous barbs he hurls at Gabriel Byrne’s Tom Reagan throughout the film.



Carl Showalter – Fargo
This really was a tough one, seeing as the movie is stacked with top-notch characters. Sweet-natured Margie, Jerry the scumbag, Carl’s mute psychopathic partner Gaear…all great. But when it all came down to it, Steve Buscemi’s character gets the gold star from me. He’s unintentionally funny, sporadically cold-blooded, and a complete failure as a criminal. All these things make him endearing (in a weird, twisted, Coen Brothers film type way). Even his demise is great dark humor. “Are we square?”


Anton Chigurh – No Country for Old Men
It’s always the quiet ones. The creeping death that is Anton makes this film a daunting, nerve-wracking thrill ride. There is a cloud of dread throughout, due to the fact that you never know when Chigurh will show up next (or what he’ll do when he gets there). Armed with some of the most unorthodox weaponry in the history of cinema, Javier Bardem’s character set the bar for ruthless, invincible bounty hunters (a well deserved Oscar win).


Charlie Meadows – Barton Fink
I had a lot of trouble wrapping my mind around this surreal enigma of a movie (and I don’t think I’m alone there). Nevertheless, John Goodman’s performance is noteworthy in my book. Schizophrenic to say the least, Charlie inspired a wide range of emotions within me during my viewing, with the only constant being fear. He pretty much gave me the heebie-jeebies the entire time, but there were also moments where I pitied or admired him.


Loren Visser – Blood Simple.
The epitome of slimy private investigators, M. Emmet Walsh as Visser made my skin crawl. He was not immediately recognized as a villain, in my opinion. Loren was just kind of a sleazebag with a knack for laughing at his own lowbrow jokes and indulging in his taste for voyeurism. Turns out, that was only the tip of the iceberg. I don’t want to spoil anything for those who have not seen this overlooked gem, but by the end he morphs into a relentless beast of a man.


HI McDunnough – Raising Arizona
The Coen’s second movie will always go down as one of my favorites. Raising Arizona is actually the first Coen Brothers movie I ever saw. I remember seeing it as a youngin’. Of course, I was too young to understand most of the jokes, but that’s not the point. The point is, that it stuck with me since then. There are scenes in the movie that I remember watching as a kid, and I think that is impressive. But the big reason this film sticks with me is Nic Cage’s tame (yet somehow off-the-wall at the same time) performance as HI McDunnough. I would list this in the top 5 greatest performances by Mr. Cage without a doubt. The wild mane, the bad ‘stache, the southern drawl (which works in here, yet in ConAir not so much), they are all the makings of a timeless character. Having HI narrate the movie is a nice little perk as well.
(Trivia! Edgar Wright, one of my favorite directors, lists this as his favorite film.)


Chad Feldheimer – Burn After Reading
To borrow a phrase made popular by the almighty Seinfeld: “he’s a mimbo”. I think we can all agree that Chad is (was) a brainless twit, but he’s a brainless twit to love. In my opinion, this is an example of perfect casting, as part of me thinks that Brad Pitt is a bit of a mimbo himself. His childlike enthusiasm, frosted locks, dance moves, and amateur attempts at blackmail were not only entertaining, but they made him stand out in a bit of a twisted film.


Delmar O'Donnell – O Brother, Where Art Thou
Delmar is a simple man, a dimwit with a heart of gold. I know what you are going to say: “heart of gold? He’s a convict!” I am aware of this, but it was for robbery, and he’s only robbing to help his family farm. It was the depression after all. (I am in no way saying that robbery is not a crime, I’m just saying give poor Delmar a chance!) His character is a great medium ground between the clever yet selfish Ulysses and the brutish Pete, sometimes even acting as the voice of reason. Plus, the man sure has a set of pipes on him, as seen near the end of the film when he belts out In the Jailhouse Now. “We thought you was a toad!”


Wheezy Joe – Intolerable Cruelty
Last but not least, we have Wheezy Joe. While he may not have had a whole lot of screen time, the moments he was on screen were tremendous. An asthmatic giant (hence the nickname), Joe is a hitman hired by George Clooney’s Miles to neutralize…terminate…a business associate. Adorned in a stereotypical mock-Mob jumpsuit, Wheezy Joe is a good example of what happens when you mix guns and asthma inhalers.

Cinematical Judgments: The Girl Who Played with Fire

So here we are.  My first real movie review.  Honestly, I can’t think of a better movie to start with than “The Girl Who Played with Fire”, the sequel to the Swedish thriller “The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo.”
“…Dragon Tattoo” remains to be one of the best movies I have seen in the past 5 years, hell, maybe ever.  I can’t remember the last time a movie moved me as much as that little gem did.  Never have I been shocked to the point of tremors AND moved to joyful tears all in the course of one film.  Needless to say, “…Played with Fire” had gigantic shoes to fill.
Now, I am aware that I cannot truly judge any of these movies until the third and final film is released (yep, it’s a trilogy).   But I can, however, express my immediate thoughts: it wasn’t as good as the first (of course).  But why??  Is it due to my praise and admiration towards the first film? Perhaps.  But I think there’s more to it.  Allow me to elaborate on what I think hindered the film…

• This film had a different director: In fact, each film in the trilogy has a different director. I have no idea why the producers decided to take this route, but I find it to be somewhat of a bad idea. To me, that means that each film will have a different “style”. If you are telling three different stories that involve the same characters, sure, hire three different directors. That would probably work just fine. The Bond films have had numerous directors over the years, and it has worked just fine (for the most part). But if you are telling one long continuous story, keep one lone director on board. That’s just my opinion.
  


• Audio woes: The sound in “…Dragon Tattoo” was THUMPIN’! So it was hard to get used to the somewhat stifled sound of this movie. When you have a brutal fight scene involving one of the main villains (who also happens to be a “blond giant”), it should SOUND like a brutal fight scene. If said blond giant punches something (anything really) it would sound bombastic. Remember how Indiana Jones’ punches sounded? It would be like that, multiplied by 10 at least.
  (Trivia! The sound effects designers created the punch sound by slamming a pile of leather jackets and baseball mits with a baseball bat)
  


• Plotline gaps: This may be a film related pet peeve of mine, and I’ve seen it happen countless times. It’s simple: when a riddle is cracked, explain how! If the audience is left to assume why or how something happened, the movie isn’t doing its job right. In the first movie, when another piece of the puzzle fell into place, one knew where the piece came from, what it meant, and how it fit. In this film, certain problems were solved without real explanation (I won’t get specific, I don’t want to spoil anything).
  


• Straying from the book: I’ll admit it. I’ve yet to read any of the three books that these movies are based upon. Perhaps that makes me unqualified to judge anything involving this movie. But tough shit...it’s MY blog...
  Anyways, I had someone with me who had read the book, and that was a big help (Thanks Tim). There is no need to gloss over details or streamline a story arc, just to cut down on time. When people go to see a foreign art film, they don’t really mind length. In fact, some expect a film in that genre to be on the long side. After all, this isn’t some Americanized "wham-bam-thank-ya-ma’am" type movie.

So that’s what came to mind during/after viewing the film.  Maybe I’m be a tad harsh, but the truth hurts.  The ironic thing is, it’s still a very good movie, and I would suggest it to anyone!  I cannot wait to see the final film.  Hopefully it does a phenomenal job of wrapping up a landmark trilogy.