Author: Godfather

Last weekend, there was a film festival in our town. If you don’t know what these are, it’s basically a way for movie lovers to go and see some famous actors and directors presenting their films. It’s also a way for independent film makers to get their movies shown on the big screen. So last weekend, I saw 5 movies (one was in regular theaters) and a set of student shorts. Just two days ago, I saw another new movie in theaters. Most of these you can see on DVD, but one or two probably won’t be a wide release if there is any release.

Burn After Reading (theaters)

From the directors of No Country For Old Men, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and O Brother Where Art Thou comes another great movie. Like most of the Coen brothers’ movies, this one is a dark comedy about a bunch of people who are all confused idiots. The acting was great, with one of the best casts in a while with George Clooney, Frances McCormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, and Brad Pitt. They each play their parts perfectly as we should expect of them. Some of it wasn’t AS funny as I hoped it would be, but it’s still the best movie in theaters since The Dark Knight. If you have any interest at all in this movie, go see it, if not, just rent it later, you won’t regret it.

43/50 Ducks

Student Academy Award Winning Shorts (not sure if you can see them them)

From 6 different college film directors comes this collection of some weird, and some powerful short films. I’ll break them each down into the categories.

Animation(tie): Art’s Desire: A well done, 4 minute animation of paintings coming to life and drawing better lives for themselves. It brought some laughs, and probably deserved the award. It was a little jumpy in the animation but these aren’t proffesional, so I’ll let it slide a little more. You can see this one on the internet here. 38/50 Ducks

Animation(tie): Mirage: The weaker of the two that tied for first is in 3D. It’s VERY weird, even for me, with a water dwelling person(?) who needs to fill up their tank with water to stay alive. Animation is ok, but nothing spectacular, it wasn’t funny or powerful, I’m sure there were better choices than it. 25/50 Ducks

Narrative: Rundown: This was my 3rd favorite of the bunch, about a news reporter who accidently ran into a pregnent lady in her car, and then reporting about it on T.V. The film is powerful, with great acting and story. I can’t find too much wrong with it except the fact that it didn’t take chances on the cinematography. 45/50 Ducks

 Alternative: Fission: A solid alternative film about, well, not really sure what its about. Something about a guy who is laughing at his shadow that’s trapped in a wall. REALLY weird, but its a good weird, keeping you interested the whole time, even if you have no clue whats going on. 35/50 Ducks

Documentary: Cross Your Eyes Keep Them Wide: About an art studio in San Francisco that lets mentally challenged adults come and make their art, this was easily my second favorite. It’s told without any narration from anybody, just showing their art and having them say how much fun it is. One of the best documentaries I’ve seen, short or long, there could be no way that any other could match it. 48/50 Ducks

Honorary Foreign Film: Nevermore: While it was my dad’s least favorite, I think that it was a masterpiece. Its the longest, about 1 hour, but I just kept wishing that it wouldn’t stop. The shot choices are beautiful, matching the best cinematographers in Hollywood, and the acting was great. It was a little weird for mainstream movie watchers, but for a film lover, it was perfect. 50/50 Ducks

Overall, it was 40/50 Ducks

It’s My Party (DVD)

A solid movie about a gay man who got contracted with AIDs and threw a party before he would kill himself. I like the subject matter it brought up, dieing before becoming a vegetable, but it just didn’t make me connect with the characters all too well. I cared for him, but it didn’t bring the emotions of sadness I think it meant to. After the movie was done, and the director talked about it, you could see that he was very proud of it though, since it was based on a true story from his life. If you want to see it, then you shouldn’t dislike it, but if you’re a homophobe, don’t see it.

35/50 Ducks

La Bamba (DVD)

About the musician Ritchie Valens, this was tied for my favorite full length movie at the film festival. While in technical terms, it was all just above average, it really does make you feel for him, even more so than Walk the Line, the Johnny Cash film. Acting was very good, but what made it so good was the music and the emotions. Lou Diamond Phillips, the main actor in it, talked about how it started his succesful career, putting him on the radar. I think that of all the movies that I saw, this one was the most mainstream and could be liked by anyone, unless you just hate good music.

45/50 Ducks

Around the World in Two Round Trips (not availible, U.S premier)

The other movie that was tied for my favorite, this one was an excellent documentary of a Brazilian family that sailed around the world along Magellean’s path. It keeps you interested with funny stories from the trip and history lessons about Magellean. From beginning to end, it keeps you hooked to your seat, not wanting to take that trip to the bathroom. The subtitles though were the only problem, since sometimes you couldn’t read them because of the color of font. Otherwise, it was my favorite full length documentary of all time.

45/50 Ducks

P.T. 109 (not on DVD, maybe on VHS)

Starring Cliff Robertson (Uncle Ben in Spiderman) as John F. Kennedy, this was about Kennedy’s experience in the war. Everything in here was average, the acting, mood, writing, and directing. While it was a great story, I just think that it could have been told better with less of an upbeat tone. War movies should be grisly and violent, (Saving Private Ryan, Apocalypse Now) not happy. The bad part is though, we didn’t see the most important scene in the movie, since the disc or film was messed up. I liked it, but it could have been better.

35/50 Ducks

Righteous Kill (theaters)

Starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, there was no way that this movie could be horrible. But other than their acting, the rest of it was, like P.T. 109, average. The script had some good scenes with funny dialogue, and good action, but it’s horrible compared to a lot of the movies that are also in the “crime drama” genre. I hoped that it would end well, with a big twist at the end, but the “twist” was so easy to spot 20 minutes before that I wasn’t surprised at all. If you like crime dramas, then you shouldn’t be dissappointed, just don’t look for anything great here.

35/50 Ducks

The beginning of a movie, when good, will really suck you into it. To me, a perfect beginning catches you with great dialogue/narration, and goes into the opening credits leaving you either wondering whats going on, or excited to see what’s happening. These are some of the best, even if the rest of the movie doesn’t live up to the hype.

1. Casino

Yes, for my second list Casino is again number one. This is really the reason that made me think about this list. Sam Rothstein, a Casino manager, walks out of a building going to his car. He narrates this line “When you love someone, you’ve gotta trust them. There’s no other way. You’ve got to give them the key to everything that’s yours. Otherwise, what’s the point? And, for a while, I believed that’s the kind of love I had.”, and then gets into the car. It blows up and goes into the opening credits with a great opera song. After I saw this, I knew that it would be amazing.

2. Mission Impossible 3

Ethan Hunt is captured by an unknown man who is questioning him about the “Rabbit’s Foot”. The man threatens to kill a woman who is apparently important to Ethan. He counts to ten, a shot is fired off screen, and it goes into the Mission Impossible theme song. It’s flawless in these first few minutes, building suspense even though you have no idea who this man, this woman, or the “Rabbit’s Foot” is. Who ever said the sequel couldn’t be better than the original?

3. Rambo

Instead of going into opening credits like the first two, Rambo starts with news coverage of Burma (now known as Myanmar). Even if this is an action movie, the beginning is disturbingly graphic showing real videos of the violence over there, making it more emotional than what can be done with actors. After that, some Burma soldiers throw mines in a field and force some prisoners to run through it. It’s bloody, true to whats really going on, and amazingly well done.

4. Pulp Fiction

A man and woman are sitting in a small cafe drinking their coffee. They talk about past robbing experiences in liquor stores, then wonder why no one robs a cafe like the one they’re in. As they say, it cuts down on the “hero” factor and it would be a complete surprise to everyone. They kiss, take their guns out, then stand on the table threatening to kill every last person in the room. It goes into the credits with what I think is the best guitar riff of all time, “Misirlou”. I had no idea what was going on, but I loved it anyway.

5. No Country for Old Men

Yes, a lot of people hate the ending of it, but even they can’t deny how well No Country starts out. An old sheriff narrates about how the violence is worse than ever. The camera shows amazing shots of the Texas countryside while he does this. The sheriff finishes, and it shows another police officer arresting a man. When they get back to the station, the man slips out of his handcuffs when the officer isn’t looking, and strangles him brutally to death. Almost as bloody as Rambo, the beginning really sets the tense feeling you get when watching this movie.

6. Casino Royale

Shot in black and white, a man walks into a building. He goes into his office to find James Bond sitting in the dark corner. James explains that he already killed an underworld contact of the man, and that after killing him he’ll be “double o” status. Bond shoots him and it goes into the opening credits. All of the James Bond movies start off with a short scene then go into the credits with an original song, but this one really stands out to me. It shows a new kind of brutal violence for this series.

7. Raging Bull

A classical music piece starts with the opening credits, while a boxer is jumping in slow motion around the ring. Thats really all that the beginning of Raging Bull is. But what makes it so good is that the music is amazing, it really makes me emotional whenever I hear that song. The whole thing is hard to explain, but once you see it you’ll know why it made my list.

8. Reservoir Dogs

By the same director/writer of Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs is my least favorite movie on the list, but the beginning is still great. 8 men are sitting in a diner eating their breakfast. First, “Mr. Brown” talks about Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” song. But when they are getting ready to pay the tip, “Mr. Pink” refuses. He goes into a monologue of why he doesn’t do it, but he finally pays up when the boss Joe forces him to. Its a lot like Pulp since it also goes into the credits with a great old song. After this, the movie goes downhill a little to me, but it still has one of the best beginnings of all time.

9. Iron Man

AC-DC’s “Back in Black” plays in the background as a convoy of military cars are driving down an Afghanistan road. Inside one of these cars Tony Stark is with three soldiers. He breaks the silence and they start talking with him. One of them wants a picture with him so they start to pose when missiles are fired. The soldiers go out and try to fight back but all of them are killed. He gets out of the car but his hit by the shrapnel of one of his own bombs. He goes unconscious and is kidnapped. Good music, humor, action, what else does this beginning need?

10. Thank You For Smoking

Nick Naylor, a tobacco spokesperson, works for the Academy of Tobacco Studies and is on a woman’s T.V. show much like Oprah to speak for cigarettes. While the crowd claps for the other guests who are against smoking, they stay silent for Nick. But once he gets talking, he turns the conversation against the others saying that they want people to get cancer so that they can get their way. The only comedy on this list, it really does deliver some of it’s best lines in the beginning to bring you in. Right from the start, you just know Thank You For Smoking is gonna be hilarious.

Gangster films are possibly my favorite genre of movies. Two of my top ten fit this category, and even more would be in my top 100, if I had the patience to make that list. Now, I’m sure a lot of you haven’t seen most of the movies I’m gonna mention, but I would suggest watching at least one or two of them. Gangster movies, when done right, are some of the greatest made films that’d been made to date. Yes, a lot of these are “boring” for most people, but I think that everyone should at least see one or two classic movies and see for themselves what a great technical movie is.

Directed by one of the best in the business, Martin Scorsese, this is my second favorite movie of all time. Once I saw the first minute of the movie, going into the opening credits, I just knew that it’d be great. Its 3 hours long, but the first time you watch it, you could mistake it for 2. The last few times I’ve seen it though, its dragged a little bit in the middle. The whole thing is told like a documentary, but it tells like a narrative. I’ve heard some complaints on how its like Goodfellas, another Scorsese gangster movie, but I think they’re different enough to make me like this one a lot more. It even has a likable main character, which is rare for a movie of this genre. I’m very surprised by how few Oscars it was nominated for, but the Academy has passed up some great films in the past, and this is one of them.

 

2. The Godfather Trilogy- “I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.”

Yes, they are three movies, but every one of them is great in its own way. The first one is my favorite, seeing as its number eight on my all time favorites list. Its based off the book by Mario Puzo, which I read before watching the movie, and I must say, this is the best adaption ever made. Most movies based off books are never close to how good the book was, but this one was perfect, getting even better than the book. You see, everything in the movie was in the book, and the only parts they took out were just some boring scenes that didn’t really do anything for the story. The acting was also just so amazing, Marlon Brando’s role as The Godfather was what made a great movie better. The second was also good, going with a new plot structure, going back and forth in time to show the similarities of the rising of Michael Corleone and his father, The Godfather. Its my least favorite of all of them, but some like it better than the first one. Finally, we have the third, and final of the trilogy. Its often hated by fans of the series, but I thought it was just as good as the others, ending the series the way it should be. Each movie though is three hours, and while it doesn’t cause a problem for me, lots of people who aren’t movie lovers think they’re boring. There are some fighting scenes that look completely unrealistic too, showing obvious misses by the fighters. These issues don’t cause a problem though, and if you can handle the 3 hours, you should like the movies.

3. Pulp Fiction- “Hamburgers! The cornerstone of any nutritious breakfast!”

Probably the most original film on this list, Pulp Fiction is the movie I would suggest to all of you to watch. Its the shortest on the list, and the dialogue is what makes it stand out among films. When Quentin Tarantino makes a movie, its going to have at least some great conversations. The “Foot Massage” and “Marvin” scenes come to mind. But what separates this one from the others is the plot structure. It jumps back and forth through time, and the first time you watch it your just wondering what the heck is going on. This is what makes it such a good repeat watcher, every time you see it more and more starts to make sense. You really need to see this one twice to fully get whats happening. What does make this one drag a bit is just some long scenes where the dialogue just isn’t as good as the rest. Some of it could have been cut down a bit to me. But it really is a great movie, even if it doesn’t have the same feel of the other movies on this list.

This is the first movie to really change a political stance of mine, which is kinda weird seeing as I don’t think that it was made to do that. After seeing it, I really changed my mind on the “Legalization of Drugs” (won’t get into that right now…). The story is amazing, and like a lot of movies, its a great movie about a bad person. It shows Tony Montana’s rise to power through the whole process, and how he messed it all up with drugs. I think it’s the ultimate anti-drug movie, but maybe thats just me. It’s 3 hours long, but most of it couldn’t be cut out. Now, it was nominated for the “Worst Director” Razzie, but it didn’t deserve at all. While its the most violent of them all, I don’t think you could make it as good without it. Like I said though, it does drag a little at times, and the techno music doesn’t fit with the movie. What was it with the techno in the 80s? Tecno music sucks, and doesn’t fit any movie, especially during the action scenes. Man, 80s action movies could have been 10 times less cheesy without it.

5. Goodfellas- “It’s funny, you know. It’s a good story, it’s funny, you’re a funny guy.”

When I saw this, I was a little let down by it. I was hoping for one character that I could really like and care about, like Casino, but I didn’t really get that. It really is probably the most realistic representation of mafia life I’ve seen, which is why I think deserves to be on this list. Sure, I enjoyed some gangster movies better than this one, like Carlito’s Way, but I’ll give this one the benefit of the doubt for how well it was made. It makes you not like any of the characters, which is good for this genre, and it ends very well. I do want to see it again just to see if I’ll like it better. It was about 10 or 11 at night when I watched it, so that also could have “hindered” the experience. The 2 hours though does go by slower than any other of these movies, but that might have been the point.

I just have 2 more things to say now. All of these movies are violent and have a TON of cursing. Casino has the record for the most f-words in any movie, so if your under 18, you might want to ask your parents before you watch them. Also, I’d like to see what you think of this genre, and what your favorite movies in it are, so please comment below on which would make your list.