Once Upon A Time In America, Late to the party

So I just recently, on a much needed day off, watched a movie called Once Upon A Time In America. Now firstly I have to say that I know I am very late to this party with this one. This movie came out in 1984, 2 years after I was born, and was Sergio Leone's last film he directed, and one of his last to have written. I have been meaning to see this film, and many people have told me I should, but just plain and simply never had gotten around to it. The length of the definitive cut alone is enough to make you want to put it off (3 hours and 49 minutes). However, I finally did watch it. I'm not going to say what I think, and I'm not going to comment on the quality of the film. The reason being this is one of those movies that I think each and every person who watches it may have a very different opinion on it based on different factors in it. What I intend to do is talk about Leone's masterful art of creating a film like this, and a little about the actual films content and structure.

First of all I want to talk about the movies content. It is a gangster movie that if you've seen The Godfather you'll feel right at home with. Its about a group of friends who group up in the Jewish ghettos of New York City in the early 1900s. They grow up to become gangsters running booze and pulling jobs during the 1930s. They of course become rich and start to get in with the unions and politicians. This all leads to a tragedy of all of them but one, the main character Noodles played by Robert DeNiro, dying in a shootout with the police. Than in the 1960s we see Noodles returning to New York City because of a mysterious letter he has received, and than a suitcase of cash. Now all that I am saying is taking this movie down to its most simplistic roots and giving you a VERY rough idea of what its about with little plot being given. There is quite a lot of strife in the group, especially between Noodles and his friend Max, played by James Woods, about who runs things and what jobs and people they will get involved with. I'm also completely leaving out a love story between Noodles and a neighborhood girl who is the brother of a friend of his who runs the speakeasy that they get involved with in the 20s/30s. The reason I am not getting into deep detail is twofold. One because this movie is incredibly long and it would take me quite a long time to go into it in detail even with just the first third of it. Two, because the movie is very complex as well, and in order to detail out even some of the major events the minor events need to be explained as well to help the reader/watcher understand the motives that are driving the characters involved. So as for the plot, if you want to know it, watch the movie.

Now for the actual technical part of the film. This is a joy to speak about. The music of course is wonderful, as is the music in all of Leone's films. It sets the tone, moves the transitions along, and helps to put us in the proper mindset for each scene. The sets and costumes are amazing. I felt like Leone had taken a camera to these three eras and filmed them. The buildings, the cars, the clothes were all so perfect and detailed. You never have a moment where you think to yourself, "Gee that is so 1980s, they really should have fixed that." Leone is a stickler for details, and it shows. It really is a crime that not a thing of this movie was put up for an Academy Award. This was due to the U.S. distributor did not file the proper paperwork, or any, to make any part of the film eligible for the Oscars. The editing of this film is simply wonderful. It confuses you at first because Leone moves from the 30s to the 60s and than back to the 30s and than to when the characters are boys. However, after the first two or three transitions, this is expected, and almost welcomed. You get this sense of the movie just being remembered by Noodles (DeNiro) and feel like you're inside his mind instead of just a voyeur watching through a television screen. This is something that makes this movie into a work of art in a way that it otherwise may not have been.

So in closing I am just going to say that if you are going to watch this movie be prepared for a long sitting, and that you more than likely won't get up until it is done unless you have to go to the bathroom. The movie may be similar to The Godfather, but it isn't The Godfather, and don't expect it to be. It is darker, and more realistic in many ways. This movie is based on a book that was written by a man who claimed it was all true, so expect some things in it to seem gritty and almost surreal. This is partly due to Leone's style, and partly due to it being an adaptation of this book. So give the movie a chance and see what you think. You may be surprised, you may be disappointed, you may get exactly what you expected. Like I said in the beginning, I am not going to let on what I thought. What I will say is that I really enjoyed the technical aspects of the movie, and I doubt anyone will argue that point. Enjoy, and if you keep reading them, I'll keep writing them.

Brick, a movie you should see

So recently I rewatched one of my very favorite movies of all time. It's a little movie called Brick. The reason this movie is one of my favorites isn't because its action packed, or because it has amazing special effects, or even because it makes you think. It isn't any of those really. It is a detective story with a pretty good hook, its based in a modern day high school where people say things like "status quo" or "upper crust" as the kids in the popular/rich group are called. I saw this movie on a lark years ago because of Netflix (thanks again Netflix for giving me the chance to see a great indie film). It recommended it to me because I love the movie Memento and because I rated that highly and also rated The Maltese Falcon highly. I got it and figured, well the worst that could happen is I watch it, hate it, send it back immediately. That isn't at all what happened. I watched it, than watched it again to be certain I had actually just seen the movie I thought I did. Than I watched it a third time the next day with my roommates at the time. They loved it.

It has a fresh off of 3rd Rock From The Sun Joseph Gordon-Levitt in it as our main character named Brendan. He shows us glimpses of great things in acting to come, which are still coming again and again if you see Inception you can see what I mean. He brings an air of maturity, stability, and determination to the character that you don't see often in modern movies, and especially in modern detective films. You watch it and get a feeling of a Sam Spade type of character running down the suspects to find out what happened exactly so he can finger the right person and possibly outplay them at their own game. The plot is fairly simple to understand, but hard to follow if you aren't paying attention, like any good detective movie this is the case but also you want to pay close attention as well. We start off with Brendan (Levitt) hunched over by a dead girl near a tunnel, and than we flash back to him getting a phone call from the same girl. Her name is Emily (played by Emilie de Ravin) and she wants to talk to him, and than when she does, she tells him she needs his help. They get cut off, something scares her off, and they later meet up. She tells him she cares deeply for him but he has to move on with his life, alluding to a previous relationship the two had, and that she doesn't need his help any longer. The entire scene pulls hard at your heartstrings and makes you wonder if Brendan knows she is essentially saying good bye to him forever, or if he thinks he will see her again soon. Soon after they let us see how Brendan ended up at that tunnel with the dead Emily, and what happens next is him trying to find out how she ended up dead, and why she did. The fantastic and underused and underrated Nora Zehetner plays opposite him as the girl who won't stop trying to help him in his quest. She wants to help him because she sees how much he loved Emily and wanted nothing but to help her. She sees this, and from what we can gather early in the movie, is almost jealous of that. She continually is offering her help to him. Brendan refuses, stating he can't trust her. He decides that somehow Emily got involved with the kingpin of the area. So he sets out to find him. What happens next, and from there on, is where the true detective elements of the story start. I don't want to get too into anything else other than to say, watch the movie. I have purposely left out elements of even the beginning of the movie to make sure not to ruin anything.

Nothing about this movie feels cheap or contrived. Not the sets, not the actors, not the dialogue, none of it. You would think making a modern detective film set in a high school would end up somewhat ridiculous even, but it never does. It keeps your interest from start to finish. You want to know what happened to Emily, and how Brendan will get through the next thing, and will he live to avenge Emily. You really end up caring about Brendan to such a degree that it almost takes away from the other very clever and well written characters. I did say almost though, and the other main characters of the film are both interesting and feel real. The movie should feel almost like a weird version of The Maltese Falcon in fact, since the director actually even uses lines from it in two different parts (try and guess where when you watch it). Also, the film is entirely shot at San Clemente High School, which is just a little shout out to one of my faithful readers. So give the movie a try, I sincerely doubt you will be disappointed.

You keep reading them, and I'll keep writing them.

Dresden Files, and why wizards are still cool

So remember the first time you ever read a story or saw a TV show or movie about Merlin when you were young? Remember thinking, "Wow, this guy is so cool! I wish I could do that stuff!"? I really hope I'm not the only one there. Now remember the first time you saw or read a true gritty crime/detective novel or movie or show? Remember thinking something similar to what you thought about Merlin? Thinking that those detectives had it all together, but were at the same time definitely human. Now take those two and put them together. What do you get? Well I will tell you, The Dresden Files.

What are these books? Well they are detective novels where the detective is a wizard. Now he isn't an all knowing, all seeing, all powerful wizard like Merlin was. He is a lot more human. He has limits, and he gets tired and worn out. He has to pay his bills, and even has to do some pretty crap jobs to make ends meet. There are 13 books in the series, well almost, 13 is out June 2011. The first two are decent, they aren't going to make you raise an eyebrow, or bowl you over though. But they are good for someone who was just starting out when he wrote them. The third one and on is when the meat starts really coming into the books though. The author, Jim Butcher, starts taking 3 and on and linking them together and even building a conspiracy eventually.

The first book is about Harry Dresden, our resident hero, taking on an evil wizard, a warlock to be exact, all the while having a glorified babysitter from the council of wizards watching over him, the police trying to prove or disprove if Harry did the murders this warlock committed, and his paycheck needed so he can pay his bills. Oh, and the warlock might be planning on trying to kill Dresden as well. All this, and Harry by the end of the book is almost running on empty on energy to use his magic, hasn't eaten or slept much, and has to rely almost solely on his crafty brain and wit to allow him to find this killer and stop him. This book is a great start to the series mainly because it gives you a real sense of who Harry Dresden is, and why we are going to like him. It also introduces us into his world. A world that is right beneath, even right in the middle of, the world we know. One full of magic, demons, fairies, and other creatures thought to be fictional.

Essentially here is why you should read these books. If you like detective novels full of wit, humor, and plenty of mystery you will enjoy them. If you like fantasy novels with magic, mystical creatures and occurrences, you will enjoy them. They are essentially clever, well written pieces of literature that has something for almost anyone. Give them a try, I promise you won't be sorry.

Primer - Or a film that was missed by most, but shouldn't have been

Alright, first thing I want to point out about this film is it is not what you'd expect from the trailer, the beginning of it, or what most people will tell you about it. It is, for the most part, a pretty realistic look at the time paradox that time travel can create. A lot, and I do mean A LOT, of people didn't see this one. I have no idea why though. Maybe it was because it has zero stars in it, maybe its because no one was attached to it producing, writing, or directing that was a name. Maybe it was just that it was marketed poorly, or not at all. The last one is probably why really. I had a chance to see this at the Philadelphia Film Festival one year, but I completely missed it so I could go on a different night (those tickets are kind of expensive). So I didn't see it until about a year, maybe a year and a half later thanks to good old Netflix. I don't remember if it was me, or my friend Matt who got it from Netflix when it was suggested to go on our queue. Either way, we watched it together. We were both blown away by it. Now I will stop talking about how much I love this movie and how underrated it is and get on with the review.

Alright, first things first, the camera. Look, this movie was made on a tiny budget, and by guys who hadn't ever made a big film before. The camera is a tiny bit shakier than maybe it should be, and it is definitely obviously a cheap camera being used. So the film doesn't look very good at all. This needs to be known to be able to enjoy the movie beforehand, so that way you won't be thrown off by it. The sound is decent, and the whole movie has a voice over almost the entire way through. The voice over never really distracts from the movie, and seems to only add to it, it also ends up playing a large part to why the films story is so excellent.

The story is the real star here. The actors are alright, none of them are going to be Oscar conetenders any time soon or anything, but they are all pretty decent for an indie film. The story is what brings you in though. It is about 4 friends initially who are working on projects to try and invent something to make some money. Honestly, what they are working on in the beginning or whether or not they are ever successful on that endeavor doesn't matter in the least. In fact, that there are 4 friends in the beginning doesn't even matter. Two of them go the way of Richie Cunninham's brother eventually, and are just gone, and kind of forgotten. So the two main friends inadvertantly create what is sort of a time machine. The way the machine works, and this is explained better than I can in the movie, is that you go into sort of a stasis within it and end up being backwards in time, but only having experienced what seems like moments to you or your body. So the two friends do what most of us would with something like this, they decide to find a way to make money. They play the stock market, in small doses, just enough to make some real money for themselves, but not enough that it looks suspicious or could cause a butterfly effect sort of thing. This works great at first, but we all know that something bigger is coming. What it is, or how it goes, I'm not going to tell you. All I am going to do is say, see the movie. You will enjoy it, I promise you.

So if you enjoy time travel movies, character pieces, or films that just are indie and a bit off the beaten path, watch Primer. It really is an extremely interesting, and even fun movie. It isn't a popcorn flick, but it is a thinking mans movie, and won't disappoint someone who goes into it expecting a lot more substance than style.

A great movie that didn't get the viewership it deserved

So this one is going to be about one of my very favorite movies. It is one of the first horror movies I ever watched from start to finish, although many would argue it isn't really a horror movie. It has a good cast, great script, and the special effects were pretty good for the time. The movie is called Lord Of Illusions written and directed by Clive Barker and starring Scott Bakula and Famke Janssen. If you haven't ever heard of this movie before, I'm honestly not at all surprised. It gets ignored by many people as either being nothing special, or for Barkers other bigger name films.

Clive Barker took one of his characters from one of his short stories in the book The Books Of Blood named Harry D'Amour. The character is a deeply troubled man who constantly comes to the very edge of what is referred to in the movie as "the darkness" but never quite crosses over into it. He is the main character and is a private detective that gets pulled into a string of events that started years before he became involved as we find out in the first 20 minutes of the film. The main antagonist of the movie is a man named Nix who has long since crossed through the barrier between illusion and true magic. He is first seen juggling an actual ball of fire from hand to hand and speaking about what the fire has said to him. He sounds crazy as a loon right away, and that part of him doesn't really change. He is running a Manson like cult in the desert and has recently kidnapped a young girl. A man who was his former protege named Swann has taken a group of people who all escaped this cult to come back and rescue this girl and to effectively bind and bury, literally, Nix. Nix tells Swann that he has so much to show him, and shares some of his power with Swann, stating that Swann is the only one worthy of his true wisdom. As Nix is distracted giving Swann some of his power, the girl shoots him in the back, and this gives Swann and his allies their chance to bind Nix. After this is done the characters seperate and we flash forward about 13 years later. This is when we first meet Harry D'Amour, our main protagonist of the story.

Harry, as I said, is deeply troubled, and has just come off of a case where a young boy was possessed by, as Harry puts it, "Oh you know, the usual." He gets put on a case by a friend of his in California to catch a guy trying to scam an insurance company out of their money. He goes out there, and inadvertently gets mixed up in something he doesn't fully understand. Now this is where I am going to end the plot synopsis, so as to not create any spoilers for anyone who hasn't seen this underrated gem of a film.

Now as for the visuals and overall story and directing. I put all of these in with one another because Clive Barker did write and direct this film, and he always makes a point of being very hands on with how the visual effects come out. First of all, the story, just fantastic. Exactly what you would expect from a man who makes his main living off of writing horror novels. It is a clean, distinct, no nonsense script that doesn't play around with a lot of useless words or events. Each event and each line is in turn meant to either enhance the tone of the film, or is there to help move the plot forward. The direction is fantastic as well. Barker really shows off how he can make certain his actors give him all that they can and make you believe that they are their particular characters. He also does something most horror movie filmmakers could learn from. He uses color to help enhance the film. See many horror filmmakers do the opposite of this, they would prefer to use the lack of color and light to set tone or to frighten you. But the thing with this film is that color is very important to how you see things. The main actress of the film is never seen in anything but bright scenes in order to help you understand that she is the light of the film. Whereas Swann is usually her stark contrast and is always shown in darker scenes with slightly less color or with reds and browns in order to show he is a man tormented by his past. While Harry is in between you see him in both settings and see him fitting well with them both. Almost like he straddles the two worlds and is a bridge for them. Than there are the actual special effects of the film. They aren't Earth shattering by todays standards, but they are quite good for when the movie came out. I can't really go into detail about them without giving away certain parts of the movie, but they are quite good.

So if you're looking for a good popcorn flick, a good horror movie, or just a good detective sort of movie and don't mind a little blood (it is, afterall, a Clive Barker movie, you know there is going to be some blood and a bit of gore), than you can't go wrong with Lord Of Illusions. Just make sure you're watching the directors cut. This way you can see the movie the way Barker meant it to be seen. Enjoy kiddies.

My continuing countdown of the Top 5 Most Underrated Actors Today

Drum roll please..... My NUMBER 1 PICK!

Sam Rockwell

So yes I do know this guy has done very few movies where he was a major actor in them. He is mainly known for being a character actor. But guess what? He is HUGELY underrated and has been in some excellent movies and he himself always brings a lot to the screen with his performances. So without further ado I am going to jump right into this one.

The first movie I want to talk about with this excellent actor is a film called Choke, based on a book by Chuck Palahniuk (the author of Fight Club as well). This one is kind of an odd choice for me to put on here, or to even mention I liked really. In fact, when I first heard about it, I thought I'd hate it. First of all, before even getting into this one, if you've read the book Choke and expect this to be an exact translation of it, skip to the next movie. Nothing I can say can make you like this movie if you want it to be exactly like the book. It is very little like it, sorry Palahniuk fans. The premise of this one is weird, but I'll do my best to explain it without giving away anything. Rockwell plays a man who is a sex addict who works as a "historical interpreter" (thats tour guide at one of those crappy places schools take trips to to learn about colonial times). By night though, he goes to restaurants, makes himself choke, and tricks the person who saves him into sending him money when he needs it. Kind of like that old adage of if you save a persons life you are responsible for them forever. As if this wasn't enough to entertain you, he also has a mother who has alzheimers in a very expensive hospital who lets it slip that he may or may not have divine heritage. That is where the movie gets a little weird, but a lot more interesting. The reason this movie is so great is because Rockwell starts off as this character that you couldn't care less for honestly. He is a liar, a con man, mean, and a degenerate. However, as the movie goes along, you start to see a different side of him, and he begins to become endearing, and actually have some depth in him. You start to not only care for him, but actually root for him to become this changed man that he is trying to mold himself into becoming. So check this one out, you might enjoy it.

Next up we have probably his most famous film to date, Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind. This one is just plain great. It is about the infamous Chuck Barris (played wonderfully by Rockwell), based on his autobiography. It starts off with a shot of Rockwells ass, unfortunately, and with him narrating. It goes on to shine some light onto his childhood, his middling years, and than his early years as an NBC page. Than it goes into how he got into TV and game shows in general. It goes through each of his various game shows and how he created them, how he became this legend in television and how he sort of disappeared. Oh, and it also gets into him being an assassin for the CIA. Did I forget to mention that? Yes, this movie goes on the assumption that that rumor is true, and that Barris was a killer for the government. This is really where the real meat of the film is in all honesty. His career in television is definitely expanded upon a lot more than I ever knew about it, however, it is just a background for the rest of his escapades. He was a womanizer, he cheated on his girlfriend for years. He also lied to everyone around him constantly, became extremely paranoid that everyone was going to kill him, and finally ended up leaving that end of things after everyone around him was killed. There is a great performance brought in by George Clooney (the director of the film as well) as Barris' handler. But Rockwell is the one who shines all throughout this movie. He never once fails to steal the scenes he is in, and always successfully makes the scenes that other actors may have made tragic or boring into comedic pieces and makes them work better that way as well. With the scenes that may have otherwise been farcical and boring he brings life and a certain level of tragedy to them. This movie never fails to stay interesting, and always brings you back into it when you might have started to lose interest thanks to Sam Rockwell's wonderful performance. Definitely a must see for anyone who is a fan of the spy genre, the black comedy genre, or remembers when Chuck Barris was releasing all of his insane gameshows.

Well now its time for my honorable mentions. The Heist (fantastic heist movie, Rockwell has a small part, this one is really Gene Hackman's movie though), Gentlemen Broncos (this one really defies explanation, just watch it and enjoy it especially if you ever wanted to write a science fiction novel), Galaxy Quest (just a great comedy that does for Star Trek what Sean Of The Dead did for zombie movies), and Safe Men (great little indie flick with Rockwell and Steve Zahn as inept thieves that have more luck than brains, just a great comedy). Thats all for now folks, hope you enjoyed my list and perhaps you'll agree with me after seeing a few of these films I've mentioned in this one and the others that these all are extremely underrated actors. You keep reading them, and I'll keep writing them.

My continuing countdown of the Top 5 Most Underrated Actors Today

Number 2: Ryan Gosling

So this one is a little hard to explain why I believe he belongs on this list. My main reason is because everyone assumes all he should be, and is known for is the movie The Notebook. Well that is what got him into mainstream cinema. It is what officially launched his career, but it is not at all what shows his skills as an actor. He has done many movies that are very diverse, and very interesting. Most of his movies make you use your head more than anything, and are very cerebral.
I am going to start this list with one of my favorite movies Ryan Gosling has done, and also probably his most controversial film. It is a movie called The Believer. What it is essentially about is a man who is in his 20s who is a rabid anti-semite. But the real kicker to that isn't just that he is anti-semitic, but he is also Jewish himself. He plays this angry, confused, and torn young man. He constantly explains his hatred of the Jews, and wants to prove he hates them and wants nothing to do with them. At the same time, as we delve more and more into Goslings troubled figure we begin to see that his hatred may not be as complete as we first supposed. He begins to be forced to face who he is, and why his hatred may be wrong. I can't explain much more as to why this movie is a great film without giving away quite a lot, but trust me when I say it is worth watching. Gosling shows his acting chops in this one in a big way.

The next movie I'd like to showcase in his diverse career is a film called Lars And The Real Girl. This one is an interesting movie, and can, at times, make you downright uncomfortable but at the same time makes you truly love it for that very reason. Lars (Gosling) is a quiet, private man who works a very menial job, he lives in the garage outside of his brothers house where his brother and his pregnant wife live, and he is essentially very alone, but by his own design. Everyone in the town tries to bring him into their world and to try and get him out of his own little world, but he fights it, and finally, in an act of desperation to get people to leave him be, he orders a mail order life like woman doll. He gives her a name, backstory, and even has conversations with her. So what does everyone in town do? They accept it, and try and help Lars continue to keep his act up without missing a beat. Everyone welcomes her with open arms, and with the help of the town doctor, Lars begins to change and open slowly to the idea of people being in his life. This one is a wonderful and ultimately uplifting movie. Ryan Gosling is a delight as Lars, and a huge surprise that you want to like his character so much.

So those are the two main movies I recommend watching with Ryan Gosling in them. He has done a few others worth a brief mention though. They are, Fracture (great main stream movie with Gosling as a hot shot lawyer trying to put Anthony Hopkins in jail for murder), Stay (an interesting movie that is hard to explain and best left to be said that it is worth watching), Half Nelson (a fantastic little independant movie that almost got Gosling an Oscar nod with his wonderful performance as a teacher/basketball coach in the inner city and also a drug addict), and Blue Valentine (a new movie he is in with Michelle Williams basically a disection of a courtship and marriage that seems destined to fail despite its wonderful beginnings). So check out these films, and enjoy the great underrated actor that is Ryan Gosling. Honestly, do not see The Notebook if you haven't already unless you have a wife or girlfriend who just loves romantic movies. If you do have one of those though, get her to watch it with you, guaranteed points in her book. One other thing to keep in mind, The Believer and Half Nelson are NOT for the faint of heart. They are dark movies that have strong themes in them that honestly if you aren't keeping an open mind and trying to think as you watch them, you won't enjoy them. So hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. Tomorrow, number 1.....