DESERET (1995)

Experimental/Avant Garde Cinema Week Day 1

There are several experimental or avant garde films on the 1001 movie list. In trying to figure out how to deal with them, I have tried to handle these often tough nuts to crack by just watching them and trying to answer ten basic questions about them on my personally devised standardized test. So let us begin with...

Deseret

1.What happens?
A narrator reads a series of New York Times stories about the Utah territory of Deseret as we simultaneously see shots of fields, deserts, waterfalls and livestock. The film starts off with black and white shots of American vistas, which I presume to be Utah. The narrator discusses such subjects as altercations between The Church of the Latter Day Saints and Native-Americans during the 1850’s. The narrator goes on to talk about Polygamy and organized violence as we see more shots of fields and deserts. We hear tales of Brigham Young and the Civil War interspersed with shots of… airplanes? We continue on into the 20th century with some color shots of what we might presume is the Utah territory and more news on the region through the World Wars and ending in the early 1990’s. To tell you the truth, I think I nodded off a bit between the part where Utah become a state and World War I.

2. Was it heavy? Did it achieve total heaviosity?
I don’t think it quite got there.

3. What was your favorite part?
I did like the way they incorporated the stories about Brigham Young into the mix. And frankly, the stories where they dished some dirt on ole B. Y. were pretty interesting.

4. What was your least favorite part?
I’m guessing that would be the early 20th century part when I nodded off. A little hazy on the details there.

5. Did you get it?
I think they were trying to tell a narrative in a different way. I get and respect that. That doesn’t mean I found it all that riveting. But I guess if I want something more exciting in this field I could always watch Ken Burns special about the National Parks!

6. Might the viewing experience have been enhanced from either prescription or non-prescription medication of some kind?
Not this time. Okay, maybe a couple of uppers to get through the slower parts.

7. What about the sex?You remember those condom commercials where they used to show wheat fields and vistas to avoid alluding to sex directly? I suppose when they showed the wheat fields and vistas during Deseret my mind occasionally wandered to thoughts of those commercials. And since condoms are related to sex…or the prevention of pregnancy…never mind…there isn’t any sex.

8. What about the violence?
There are some pretty graphic descriptions of massacres and the like, though since it is being read over waterfalls and livestock, it is up to the viewer’s imagination to visualize the carnage.

9. Describe this film in one sentence starting with "This is the film..."
This is the film that reminds be of some of those filmstrips I saw in elementary school where I would almost invariably ask my instructor, “Are we going to be tested on this?”

10. Would you watch it again?
Not unless it’s going to be on the test.

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TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE (2013), GRAVITY (2013), DALLAS BUYERS CLUB (2013), AMERICAN HUSTLE (2013), WOLF OF WALL STREET (2013), NEBRASKA (2013), THE ACT OF KILLING (2012)

There's a buzz among movie fans each year on the topic of which film will win at the upcoming Oscars. The  progression towards this mounts as we go through the various film festivals such as Sundance, Cannes, etc. ultimately vying for good Oscar positioning. But since I've been doing this 1001 blog for so long, when I see the Oscar nominations come up, I don't think as much about who will win, as I think about which films will be in the next edition of the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die book! I guess I've sort of brainwashed myself in that respect.

Over the last five years, the Oscar for Best Picture nominees have extended to more films than the traditional five. So I've looked at the nominees the past few years and what made the subsequent edition of "the book." Some are only in one year's edition and are knocked out the next year, but I have been implanted with a special chip in my brain that forces me to see all movies that are in at least one edition of the book.

Here are the Oscar nominated movies from the last four years, separated by those that have been included in at least one edition of the book and those that have not made the cut in any edition. (I've added the documentary or Foreign Film winner in some cases to make an even ten for each year. since I like round numbers.)

In 2010, the 6 nominated films that made an edition of the 1001 book were:

The Hurt Locker

An Education

Avatar

District 9

Inglorious Bastards

Precious

Up 2010 (would have made my book)

The 4 nominees that have never made it in any edition were:

The Blind Side

Up

Up in the Air

The Secret in Their Eyes (foreign film winner)

In 2011, 5 nominated films made an edition of the 1001 book.

The King's Speech

Inception

The Social Network

Toy Story 3

True Grit

Winter's Bone (Would have made my list)

The five that never made the 1001 cut from the 2011 nominees were:

127 Hours

The Fighter

The Kids are Alright

Winter's Bone

In a Better World (foreign film winner)

In 2012, 6  nominated films made an edition of the 1001 book.

The Artist

The Descendants

Hugo

The Tree of Life

War Horse

A Separation (foreign film winner)

Moneyball (Probably would have made my list)

The four that never made the 1001 cut from the 2012 nominees are:

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

The Help

Midnight in Paris

Moneyball

In 2013, 6  nominated films made an edition of the 1001 book.

Argo

Amour (foreign film winner)

Django Unchained

Les Miserables

Life of Pi

Lincoln

Searching for Sugarman (Would have made my list)

The four that never made the 1001 cut from the 2013 nominees were:

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Silver Linings Playbook

Zero Dark Thirty

Searching for Sugar Man (Best Documentary Winner)


So the average seems to be six films in and four films out. So I'll go with that. Which six will make it this year? Here's what I think will make the cut. It's frankly a toss up after the first two.

2014

What I think will be in the next book:

12 Years a Slave

Gravity

Dallas Buyers Club

American Hustle

The Wolf of Wall Street

Nebraska

Twelve Years a Slave

12 Years a Slave-Absolutely will be in. All recent Best Picture winners have been in at least one edition. It's also a popular film about heart wrenching subject and was universally praised.

Gravity

Gravity-In 1972, The Godfather won three Academy Awards, but the film that won the most awards that year was Cabaret, which also won Best Director. Similarly, 12 Years of a Slave won the big award (and two others) for 2013, but Gravity took home seven awards including Alfonso Curacan's award for best director. Critically praised and a big hit, I think Gravity makes it in easily.

Dallas Buyers Club-Serious subject (AIDS and even more about pharmaceutical distribution of HIV medicine) and Academy Award winning breakthrough performance by Matthew McConahey puts this one in the book.  The last three movies featuring a Best Actor winner have made the book and I think this one does too.

American Hustle-70's nostalgia through a busy but intelligent plot about con men, the FBI and who's hustling who. Last years Oscar nominee Silver Linings Playbook didn't make last years edition with the same two lead actors and director, but despite not winning any awards for it's 10 Academy nominations, I think American Hustle makes the cut.

Wolf of Wall Street-This movie is a bit of an enigma. It is very well done, but at times very unpleasant to watch. Jordan Belfort is a detestable character in most ways, but I admit I couldn't stop watching this three hour epic, even while it often turnined my stomach. I think it's in the book.

Nebraska-This was the last film of all the nominees that I watched, and I have to admit it was my favorite of them all. It's rare that I watch a film and stop and reflect on how real the people in it are, but Nebraska made me do just that. It also has great drama, some real laughs, beautiful black and white photography and as I mentioned, real characters. It may or may not make the next edition, but obviously gets my vote.


The four that I don't think will make the cut for the next edition:

Philomena

The Great Beauty

Her

Captain Phillips

Philomena-I thought that this story of a woman trying to find her son with the aid of a reporter was a very well done. I have no reason to leave it off the list other than the fact that I think the book has got to leave something out!

The Great Beauty-The foreign film Academy Award winner makes the book sometimes (A Separation, Amour) and sometimes it doesn't (In a Better World, The Secret In Their Eyes). Despite being a rather creative story about an Italian writer's look back at his life, somehow I don't feel this will make the cut.

Her-Imaginative film about a lonely man's relationship with his...computer operating system certainly had its moments. It did leave me a little cold, but I guess that's what a relationship with an OS will do to you. Once again, worth seeing but maybe not in the book.

Captain Phillips-The last of the Best Picture nominees and least likely to be in the book is the true life (or sort of true to life according to some accounts) of the brave Captain Phillips and his crews escape from fierce Somali pirates. It is actually a pretty good thriller, even if you know what is going to happen. I showed this one at the library and the audience really loved it. Still, I don't see it going in the book.

Possible break-ins from 2013 to the book that I see include:

The Hunt, the Oscar nominated Danish film about a man falsely accused of molesting a young girl.

Blue Jasmine, Woody Allen's loose and updated remake of A Streetcar Named Desire that features Cate Blanchett's Oscar Winning Performance.

Frozen: The Disney CGI fairy tale extravaganza which features a soundtrack that I must listen too whenever my wife and I go on a long trip.

Inside Llwelyn Davis: Because any Coen Brothers movie has the potential to make the book.

Fifty Feet From Stardom: Oscar winning documentary about backup singers was largely a feel good movie that is hard not to like and certainly recommended, but I don't think it will make the book.

The Act of Killing-The same reason why this documentary didn't win the Oscar may be a reason that it makes the next book. Indonesian death squad leaders who are still in power are asked to recreate on camera the atrocities they committed in any genre they chose. To say this one was controversial is an understatement and I think Oscar voters couldn't bring themselves to give it the award. For me, it was very hard to watch. In fact, I admit to skipping much of the middle part. The ending did have one of the abusers returning to the scene of his crimes and begin retching (above), which was the only sign of remorse I saw from anyone in the whole film. The 1001 book doesn't shy away from the controversial (see Salo or some of the experimental films listed in each edition) and I think this will make it in.

Of course, I could be totally wrong about all of this.. 

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CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS (1989), DRVING MISS DAISY (1989)

What were the top five box office movies for each year of the 80's? Which ones were my favorites? Which were my least favorites? I'm not sure...I'll have to think about it. And without any further ado...

80's Top Box Office Month: (1989)

And the top 5 box office movies for 1989 were...

1. Batman
2. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
3. Lethal Weapon 2
4. Look Who's Talking
5. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids

Favorite from the top 5: Batman. Clearly between Batman and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. If I had to pick from these two ten years ago, I would have gone with Indiana. On second viewing, I didn't like Indiana quite as much as I did previously and I like the Michael Keaton/Tim Burton Batman more the second time around. But you should still see both at least once.

Batman

Least favorite from the top 5: Look Who's Talking. Not that it isn't without some laughs, but the silly talking baby movie in the top five? Really?

Look Who's Talking

The only 1001 entry in the top five here is Batman, so I'm going to have to dig deeper down the box office list once again.

Crimes and Misdemeanors

Crimes and Misdemeanors (only 61 for the year at the box office) is the final film from Woody Allen's 80's decade where he put together quite a string of quality work: Zelig, Purple Rose of Cairo, Hannah and Her Sisters and Radio Days to name a few.

Crimes and Misdemeanor has two intersecting stories. The first has Martin Landau as Jubal, a successful doctor and family man who has a mistress who has gone off the deep end and threatens to expose their affair to his wife. (Didn't Jubal see and learn from Fatal Attraction?). The second part of the story has Allen as Cliff, a struggling documentary filmmaker who vies for the affection of a pretty associate producer (Mia Farrow) against his obnoxious but successful brother-in-law played by Alan Alda.

The movie hits on a lot of Allen themes, chief of which is expressed by the rabbi who is slowly going blind, "I couldn't go on living if I didn't feel it with all my heart a moral structure, with real meaning, and forgiveness, and a higher power, otherwise there's no basis to live." Cliff and Jubal don't actually meet until the end of the film and I find the resolution to be appropriately unsatisfying. (I mean that in a good way).

Driving Miss Daisy

Driving Miss Daisy, based on Alfred Uhry's play about the friendship between an older white southern widow and her black driver was most successful at the box office (Number 6 for the year) and also won the Best Picture Oscar and Best Actress for Jessica Tandy. It didn't make the 1001 book, maybe because one might see it as an overly sugarcoated exploration of race, especially compared to the other major race movie of 1989, Do the Right Thing. That being said, when looked at as a story about the relationship between the two people, it's a nice character study, though giving it the Best Picture Oscar was probably going a bit too far. I also saw a lot of this movie being filmed in my hometown of Decatur, Georgia, for what it's worth. 

Well, I've run out of years for the 80's. Guess it's time to move forward (or maybe backward?) 

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RAIN MAN (1988), WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? (1988), BIG (1988)

What were the top five box office movies for each year of the 80's? Which ones were my favorites? Which were my least favorites? I'm not sure...I'll have to think about it. And without any further ado...

80's top box office month: (1988)

And the top 5 box office movies for 1988 are.. 

1. Rain Man
2. Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
3. Coming to America
4. Big
5. Twins

Least Favorite of the Top Five: Big. I have nothing against Big really, in fact it's an enjoyable fantasy for the most part, but I just like the Eddie Murphy comedy Coming to America and the Schawenneger/Devito comedy Twins a little more. (Can you imagine so many comedies in the top 5 movies of the year today?) Big is about a kid (a thirteen-year old) that makes a wish to be big and turns into Tom Hanks the next day. And it is pretty funny to see Tom Hanks act like a kid. In fact, that's the whole movie. The problem is is that Hanks seems to be acting more like a seven or eight year old than teenager. But since Hanks gets involved romantically with a grown woman, having the kid be any younger would make the romantic scenario even creepier than it already is. Hanks also gets a job in a big New York toy manufacturer and we are to assume he can just walk in their offices with no resume or background and get hired and within a few weeks, through his childlike reaction to toys, get promoted to Vice President of toy development (or something like that). Once again, suspension of disbelief.

Perhaps I'm just thinking too much here and should laugh at Tom Hanks pretend to spray foam out of his nose.

Would I watch it with my kids? Yes

Would it make my 1001 list? No

Big

Favorite of the top 5: It's a race for me between the top two entries on this list (and both are on the 1001 list). We have the Barry Levinson film Rain Man, which features Dustin Hoffman as an autistic savant who is kidnapped (sort of) by his younger brother Tom Cruise. How their relationship develops is the core of the film. Rain Man would certainly make my book. It has many poignant moments most of which involve the evolving relationship between the brothers.. It also has a few moments that are a bit forced, such as Cruise finding a small town doctor to examine Hoffman mostly to establish the plot point that Raymond is phenomenal with numbers and a Vegas scene that is fun, but a bit much at times. Still a moving and recommend film.

And an extra toast to the old guy in the doctor's waiting room rambling on about the history of Wells Fargo.

But my choice for favorite my favorite of the top 5 is (kind of to my surprise) is Who Framed Roger Rabbit? This animation/live action combo movie may not seem as technologically revolutionary as it did in 1988, but the character development of the animated (the delightfully goofy Roger and the seductive Jessica) and real characters (the everyman gumshoe Eddie Valiant and the evil, freeway loving Judge Doom) strikes a great balance. And who wouldn't want to have a place like Toon Town to visit? Toon Town is built up throughout the movie and doesn't disappoint when we finally get there.

And an extra toast to Roger Rabbit's human  leading man, the late great Bob Hoskins!

Raymond and his new main man in Rain Man

"DIP!" in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

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FATAL ATTRACTION (1987), GOOD MORNING VIETNAM (1987), MOONSTRUCK (1987)

What were the top five box office movies for each year of the 80's? Which ones were my favorites? Which were my least favorites? I'm not sure...I'll have to think about it. And without any further ado...

80's top box office month: (1987)

1. Three Men and a Baby
2. Fatal Attraction
3. Beverly Hills Cop II
4. Good Morning, Vietnam
5. Moonstruck

Least favorite movie from the top 5: Three Men and a Baby. Despite the fact that I'm not real fond of Beverly Hills Cop II, Three Men and a Baby is the winner (loser) here. I mean really? That's the number one movie of the year? A pretty bland remake of a French comedy starring Steve Guttenburg was the number one movie of the year? I ask again. Really?

Three Men and a Baby

Favorite movie from the top 5: I have three 1001 movies left of the top five from 1987. They are  Fatal Attraction, Good Morning Vietnam and Moonstruck.

Fatal Attraction

No movie was more talked about in 1987 than Fatal Attraction. Part horror film, part romance gone wrong, part thriller, it was a film about the possible consequences of infidelity that seemed to hit the theaters just at the right time. Glenn Close as the lovelorn psychopath probably would have been my choice for the Academy Award, but is the film itself my favorite of these three?  

Good Morning, Vietnam

Good Morning, Vietnam was Robin Williams finally getting a movie that was a good fit for his improvisational talents. It came out the year after Platoon and Full Metal Jacket, but is a Vietnam comedy more in the vein of MASH than those other two films. And I'm a Robin Williams fan, but is it my favorite of the three?

Moonstruck

The last film of the three on this list is Moonstruck and was the one film of the three that I wasn't looking forward to seeing again. I hadn't seen it since it was new twenty-something years ago.

So, I put in the Blu-Ray I rented late and night and fell asleep after about ten minutes. I tried again the next night and fell asleep after about thirty minutes. I gave it one more try the next night starting with the parts I nodded off during the previous night. I finally managed to stay awake and see the whole thing and you know what? I really enjoyed it. It's  very well written (by Oscar winner John Patrick Shanley) and observant comedy with a truly fine cast (Vincent Gardenia as the dad is my favorite) and reminiscent of the Woody Allen comedies of the era.

And much to my surprise...Moonstruck is my favorite of the three.

If Music Be the Food of Love, Play On: The importance of music in all three of these movies is worth noting.  The baker Ronny Cammereri (Nicholas Cage) in Moonstruck loves Pucchini's La Boheme, which he listens to before taking Loretta Castorini (Cher) to the opera of the same name which leads to his successful wooing of the girl.

The Psychotic Alex (Glenn Close) listens to Madame Butterfly while turning on and off the light switch in her apartment in one of Fatal Attraction's most famous scenes.

Adrian Cronauer (Robin Williams) doesn't go for opera. In fact, spinning the hits with The Beach Boys and James Brown is what gets him in trouble at his Vietnam radio station in the first place. But I do wonder, if those albums weren't allowed to be played on the air, why were they at the radio station in the first place?

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PLATOON (1986), HANNAH AND HER SISTERS (1986)

What were the top five box office movies for each year of the 80's? Which ones were my favorites? Which were my least favorites? I'm not sure...I'll have to think about it. And without any further ado...

80's top box office month: (1986)

And the top 5 box office movies for 1986 are...

1. Top Gun

2. Crocodile Dundee
3. Platoon
4. Karate Kid II
5. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

The Enterprise Crew go back to 1986 San Francisco in Star Trek IV

Favorite movie from the top 5: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

As a long time Star Trek fan, I pretty much have to put what many Trekkies consider the best of the Star Trek movies, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (I'm still a Wrath of Khan guy) in the number one slot here. This one has admittedly a pretty silly plot about the Enterprise crew taking a Klingon bird of prey back in time to 1986 to bring a humpback whale into the future to save humanity. That's a lot to swallow. But if you can suspend your belief enough, this one is awfully fun. The best parts are the crew trying to communicate with the people of the time. (Chekhov looking for "Nuclear Vessel," Scotty trying to start a computer, which is probably a Commodore but I can't remember, by talking to it, Spock trying to figure out what exact change for a bus means, and Kirk trying to use the colloquialisms of the day, "Double Dumb Ass on You!"

Top Gun

Least Favorite movie from the top 5: Top Gun. Top Gun is only listed here because it was the number one movie of the year. Otherwise I would have chosen The Karate Kid II mostly because I had to hear the Glory of Love Song by Peter Cetera about a thousand times at the office I worked at in 1986. Luckily, I haven't heard it in recent years, but the memory remains..

Any more on Top Gun can be referred to here  http://1001afilmodyssey.blogspot.com/2011/02/top-gun-1986.html

Hannah and Her Sisters #30

It often seems that at Academy Award time that there are two front-runners for Best Picture that are truly different. In 1986, we had Platoon, Oliver Stone's penetrating study of his tour of duty in Vietnam and Woody Allen's ensemble comedy Hannah and Her Sisters.

Honestly, I like Hannah better. In fact it is right at the top of my list of favorite Woody Allen movies. The plot threads between the characters are wonderfully placed, the comedy touches are memorable and the cast (Michael Caine, Barbara Hershey etc.) is perfect. I've seen it several times and hope to see it again.

That being said, I have no problem with Platoon winning Best Picture. William Goldman said in referring to the Cannes film festival, that the jury prize really has to go to the movie with the most "weight." I think the same thing can be said of the Academy choices. You can certainly make the case that there were better movies in the 80's than Gandhi, The Last Emperor or Driving Miss Daisy, but the fact that the subjects of these films were important definitely helped the Academy decide to award the top prize to these films. How could E.T., Moonstruck or Field of Dreams compete with that?

No film fits this "weight" definition in the 80's more than Platoon. I saw it when it first came out and am seeing it again for the first time in twenty-seven years.It is a no hold barred account of the Vietnam conflict by someone (Oliver Stone) who was in the middle of it. The scene where the platoon burns a village is probably the best scene and hardest to watch in the movie. The platoon also comes with it's good and evil images (Willem Dafoe as a Christ figure and Tom Berenger as the Devil on earth). It is definitely heavy. It is about as heavy as it gets. And I have no problem with it winning the Oscar, but I'm not sure I'm going to be inclined to ever watch it again.

Platoon

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KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN (1985), PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO (1985)

What were the top five box office movies for each year of the 80's? Which ones were my favorites? Which were my least favorites? I'm not sure...I'll have to think about it. And without any further ado...

80's top box office month: (1985)

And the top 5 box office movies for 1985 were...

1. Back to the Future
2. Rambo: First Blood, Part II
3. Rocky IV
4. The Color Purple
5. Out of Africa

Favorite movie from the top 5: Back to the Future. I know I should pick one of the higherbrow movies like The Color Purple or Out of Africa here, but I got to go with Marty McFly and Back to the Future. It really is a movie that has stood the test of time (Pun intended)

Back to the Future

Least favorite movie from the top 5: Rock IV. I mentioned in my previous post, that I had never seen a Karate Kid movie all the way through. I've also never seen a Rambo movie (I've seen Son of Rambow, but that doesn't count here). But since I have seen Rocky IV, this is an easy choice for the bottom of the top five box office of the year. The movie actually gets off to a strong start with the death of Apollo Creed, but as the movie wears on and Rocky fights the Russian and the crowd begins to start rooting for Rocky for seemingly no reason, all I could do was shake my head at it. As I left the theater, I  continued to shake my head.

Rocky I too many

Kiss of the Spider Woman #53

Down the box office charts from that year is #53 Kiss of the Spider Woman. The plot is pretty simple. In a generic country of your choosing, there are two men sharing a cell. Valentin lives for the fight. Lives for justice. Lives for revolution. 

The other one lives for the romance only. Molina can recount in detail a romantic Nazi propaganda movie without having any problem with the politics within it.

The two characters are so different from each other that they seem like different parts of one more fully developed person. I don't mean that negatively as I think the two are pretty fascinating most of the time. Towards the end, the feminine becomes more revolutionary and the revolutionary becomes more of a romantic. This may border on being cliche and predictable for some, but I think the story is strong enough to avoid it. The Oscar winning performance of William Hurt and the always good Raul Julia definitely are a plus, since most of the movie is just the two of them.

Purple Rose of Cairo #78

The Purple Rose of Cairo came in even lower than Kiss of the Spider Woman at #78 for the year. I'm not sure why, as it's a most enjoyable comedy and one that brings up that fantasy that many moviegoers have of interacting directly with the characters in a movie you are watching or having those characters come to life. It's romantic and sad, and Woody Allen movie tend to usually be pretty niche and attract a more select audience. Well, I went to see all his movies during the 80's. I think it was his peek creative time. Though Hannah and Her Sisters was my favorite of his film from the decade, Purple Rose of Cairo is a worthwhile addition to the 1001 list as well.

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