Brazil (1985)

Directed by: Terry Gilliam

Starring: Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Bob Hoskins, Kim Greist

Awards: Nominated for Oscar for Best Art Direction and Best Writing/Screenplay and Hugo for BestDramatic Presentation(1986), Won BAFTA for Best Production Design and Best Special Visual Effects (1986)

Self described as 1984 1/2, Brazil is Terry Gilliam’s take on an Orwellian vision of a retro-future. The government controls everything as the populace is held hostage to overpowering bureaucracy. Sam Lowry is an everyday man who gets tangled up in the wrongful death of a man mistakenly killed for being a suspected terrorist. As he tries to unravel what has occurred, he crosses paths with a woman who he has been dreaming about, gets branded a terrorist himself, and soon becomes a victim of the system he has long been a part of.

Brazil, like most of Terry Gilliam films, is a dark comedy wonderfully realized through art direction and style. Sets made up of old buildings retrofitted with ductwork, typewriters and old televisions converted to computers, and a society that is obsessed with the perception of image are all just a few of things that make up this fantasy. Gilliam suggests in the commentary that everything that occurs in the film was based on real life events during the eighties and was meant as a social commentary about overindulgence and corruption in America. I think it is safe to say that the film rings even more true given the current state of our political government and lifestyle. Everything is mocked in the movie ranging from obsessions with plastic surgery, slave-like devotion to remedial jobs, and blind obedience to overbearing laws and regulation without question.

Notoriously known for having trouble on his films, Brazil was no less a mess for Terry Gilliam. The film was held back for a year from being released in the United States due to Universal re cutting the film for a happier ending. Gilliam fought back by showing the film without the studio’s consent for two weeks at in LA to movie critics and film students. Pressure from them and rumors of attempted pre-release Oscar nominations eventually forced the studio to put out the original version of Gilliam’s film. While the visual effects are somewhat dated by today’s standards, the film is still fun to watch and serves as a chilling warning to a future that may yet come. All from a film that came about from a wish by Gilliam to do a movie where a man losing his mind ends up being a happy ending.

Other Notable Films by this Director: Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Time Bandits (1981), Twelve Monkeys (1995)

-Dantasia

Walk the Line (2005)

Directed by: James Mangold

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Patrick

Awards: Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (2006). Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy, Best Performance by an Actor, Best Performance by an Actress (2006). Grammy for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album (2007).

When I was a teenager and started to wear all black, my stepfather would tease me and asked “who do you think you are… the man in black?” At the time I had no idea who he was talking about. Sure I had heard a song or two from Johnny Cash on the radio or in a movie, but I didn’t really know anything about the man until later as my music knowledge grew. There was just always something about his songs that appealed to me. Dark lyrics, catchy rhythm, and an underlying attitude that seemed to tell the world to fuck off. Walk the Line goes even further by pulling back the curtain and letting us see just who was the man behind the music and what drove him to make the songs that he did. Like many talented artists, there are few demons wandering around in Johnny Cash’s past. An overbearing father, the loss of an older brother who was his best friend, a wife who didn’t share his joy for music, the hardships of living on the road, and of course: sex, drugs, and rock and roll. The film also deals with Johnny’s courtship of June Carter as she comes and goes through out his life and ultimately helps Johnny conquer his demons. It is their underlying love story that helps elevate the movie past just being a memoir of another musician.

Joaquin Phoenix is outstanding in the role of Johnny Cash. He simply loses himself and becomes “the man in black.” Likewise, Reese Witherspoon brings in a great performance as well and together the two are just enjoyable to watch. They both even performed the songs themselves rather than lip sync to the original music helping to make the movie feel all the more real. Even if you are not a fan of Johnny Cash’s music, this film stands up well as it tells the story of a man who reaches rock bottom and then manages to pick himself up with the help of others and rise above the darkness. Come and take a walk with the man in black.

Other Notable Films by this Director: 3:10 to Yuma (2007); Girl, Interrupted (1999)

Here is one of the last music videos Johnny Cash made before his death, his cover of Nine Inch Nail’s Hurt. It is a fitting end to his legacy and is both powerful and sad. Shortly after, June Carter Cash died. Four months later Johnny Cash joined her.

-Dantasia

Dreams (1990)

Directed by Akira Kurosawa

Starring Akira Terao, Martin Scorsese

Based on the dreams of the accomplished director, Dreams is a stylishly visual film that explores the possibilities of the medium. Haunting and original, Dreams is unlike any of Kurosawa’s previous films but in its essence an art piece.

The film is divided into several vignettes, punctuated by three nightmares. Each is unique and memorable in their varied imagery, but certain scenes have a strange permenance that cannot easily be forgotten. Standing out for me was the impressionistic meanderings through a Van Gogh painting in The Crows, the blue-faced dead in the Tunnel, and the horned mutants standing out against a gray sky in the Weeping Demon.

Watching this portmanteau film is more of an image-driven experience than a narrative one, but Kurosawa achieves an original method of conveying true horror, joy, dread, and mystery. Look for Martin Scorsese’s appearance in The Crows.

Other Notable Films by this Director: Rashomon (1950), Seven Samurai (1954), Yojimbo (1961), Ran (1985)

My favorite, scenes from The Weeping Demon have stuck with me for years…

Braindead/Dead Alive (1992)

Directed by Peter Jackson

Starring Timothy Balme, Diana Peñalver, Elizabeth Moody, Ian Watkin

Still one of my favorite horror films and one of Peter Jackson’s best films, even though low-budget and tongue-in-cheek, Braindead to this day holds the record for the most fake blood ever used in a film (300 liters). Full of gore and slapstick humor this film starts out quirky, turns stylishly gruesome, and never lets up. Once you see the trailer, you’ll get the idea. Though technically not an Austrailian film, I’m still sticking with the down under theme and we can’t miss one of the most celebrated modern directors (we got Peter Weir covered with Picnic Rock, but don’t worry I’ll get to George Miller).

The film opens with the discovery of the Sumatran Rat-Monkey (look for the reference in the King Kong remake), a vicious little creature the product of a plague rat copulating with a tree monkey. The rat-monkey bites an explorer and the rest of his team kills him to prevent the spread of disease, then delivers the monster to the Wellington Zoo. There it bites the possessive mother of Lionel Cosgrove, a meek man who is obsessed with a local shopkeeper, Paquita.

Lionel’s mother deteriorates quickly and eventually becomes a flesh-eating zombie, forcing him to try to hide her condition with makeup and anesthetic. Eventually she bites other people, turning them into zombies as well. This includes a baby, which sounds horrific, but leads to some of the funniest sequences in the movie. In fact, Jackson came in under budget so used the excess $50,000 to go back and shoot a hilarious three stooges-like scene with Lionel and the mutant baby.

The zombies get out of control and Lionel is forced to anesthesize the growing crowd, but he mistakenly injects them with animal stimulant. Soon he has a hoard of blood-thristy undead on his hands and only he take them down using his wits and suped up lawnmower.

Try to get your hands on the unrated cut, as you’ll missing out on about 15 minutes of the funniest horror scenes you’ll ever see. You’ll still be cut off from watching 10 minutes of the orginal film that only came out on foreign releases due to the gore. Look for the director’s cameo as the mortician’s assistant.

Other Notable Films by this Director: Heavenly Creatures (1994), The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003)

Heathers (1989)

Directed by: Michael Lehmann

Starring: Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, Kim Walker

Awards: Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature (1990) and nominated Grand Jury Prize at Sundance (1989)

The 80’s were a magical time. Big hair, synsthesized music, and let’s not forget shoulder pads. A lot of bad movies also came out of the 80’s, but thankfully, there was also a few great ones such as the film Heathers. This dark comedy, written by Daniel Waters, tells the story of four high school friends who rule the school as the popular clique. Heather, Heather, and Heather use intimidation and sex appeal to get what ever they want while Veronica (Winona Ryder) is torn between being “cool” and doing what is right. Along comes the mysterious outsider J.D. (Christian Slater) who helps Veronica make a choice meanwhile taking her down a dark road of murder, suicide pacts, and high school bombings.

Heathers is a movie that may have some difficulty being made in a post-columbine world. Featuring such subject matter as students killing fellow students and an attempted bombing, one might find the subject matter a little difficult to find funny. The film doesn’t use such themes lightly though. They are used to show the difficulty of teenage angst, the futility of suicide, and the fleeting duration of popularity. Even though the movie was made before the recent spat of high school tragedies, the subject matter was still troublesome for many at the time of production. Several actors turned down the roles due to the nature of the script, including Jennifer Connely, Brad Pitt, and Heather Graham. The original ending was also much more darker but I won’t spoil it for you. The DVD has the script or you could read it here at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathers and remember, teenage suicide… don’t do it!

Other Notable Films by this Director: Airheads (1994), The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996), 40 Days and 40 Nights (2002)

 

-Dantasia

Bad Boy Bubby (1993)

Directed by Rolf de Heer

Starring Nicholas Hope

Ok back to the Austrailian theme, gotta warn ya, this is weird one.  Rolf de Heer spins a crazy yarn about a schizophrenic shut-in shot by multiple camera operators to convey the disparity in the main character’s perspective.  At times it is hilarious, at others, disturbing and poignant, but nonetheless, entertaining and original.

The film starts with Bubby trapped in a dingy one room studio with a cat and mother, who acts like a sadistic prison warden.  She refuses to let him leave, abusing him and using him for sex, until his father returns home.  A series of misunderstandings leads to a string of accidental homicides by Bubby via plastic wrap.  With no food and no knowledge of how to survive on his own, Bubby is forced out into a world he’s never experienced before.  Communicating through mimicry, Bubby gets varied reactions, sometimes funny, sometimes hostile.  In the end his antics earn him noteriety as a cult rock star and the love he needs from a busty nurse who reminds him of his mother.

I’ve never seen anything like it and it’s worth viewing because it lives in a genre of its own.  Somewhere between Lynch and Anderson, Bubby is delightfully insane.

The Lookout (2007)

Directed by Scott Frank

Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jeff Daniels

It’s not an Austrailian film, but I’ll get back to that theme tomorrow.  Had to post about this beautiful little film noir I just watched called The Lookout, Scott Frank’s directorial debut, graduating from accomplished script doctor.  Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, fresh off another little indie film noir called Brick, that though important, never really broke through. 

The story follows brain damaged Chris Pratt, injured by his own hand and reduced from hockey superstar to bank janitor.  Emotionally devastated and unconfident, he’s an easy target for a group of bank robbers who recruit him to be their lookout for the heist they’re planning at the bank he works at.  Things start to go wrong though when Chris recalls how his actions destroyed the lives of others before his injury and he has a change of heart about his involvement in the robbery.  The consequences are deadly.

There’s a couple scenes in here I would have shot differently, mainly the one where Pratt is called up to crawl into the vault, all shot in a wide, maybe would have worked better with some mids and close-ups to really hammer home the moment, amp up the tension.  Still, Frank showed technical prowess and great actorial direction, especially this being his first film.  Great writing as well, putting the script into the territory of an orginal Memento-ish crime drama.  The score is also subtle, yet spot-on, another great accomplishment to James Newton Howard, Shamalyan’s go to man.

As long as Gordon-Levitt keeps making these great little film noirs, I’ll keep seeing them.  Though I have to admit, he needs a few more years until he really hits his prime as an actor, but once he does, I think he has leading man potential.

Other Notable Films by this Director: Script-Doctoring– Dawn of the Dead (2004), Minority Report (2002), Out of Sight (1998 )

Walkabout (1971)

Directed by Nicolas Roeg

Starring Jenny Agutter, Luc Roeg

Well it looks like it’s going to be Down Under week on My Queue as the slate of films I have planned all come from Austrailia or New Zealand. We’ll start out with one of my favorites, brought to my attention again because it’s scheduled for a Blu-Ray Criterion re-release. And naturally, that made me immediately think about Jenny Agutter. Anyone who’s seen this movie, Logan’s Run, or an American Werewolf in London is gonna know what I’m talking about.

She fine.

Anyway, Walkabout follows the journey of two children who are stranded in the Austrailian wilderness by their deranged father. They befriend an Aboriginal boy who teaches them how to survive in the wilderness and leads them to an abandoned farm house. He tries to court the girl through dance, but when she doesn’t understand his meaning, wanders off and disappears, only to be found later dead, hanging from a tree. Eventually the two children find rescue, but secretly long for their simple days of survival in the wild.

Walkabout is lyrical and ingeniously edited, Roeg juxtaposing life among nature with shots of life in civilization demonstrating the similarities and disparities between the two. It is cinematically gorgeous and Agutter is captivating to watch.

Other Notable Films by this Director: The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)

Happiness (1998)

Directed by Todd Solondz

Starring Jane Adams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jon Lovitz, Dylan Baker, Lara Flynn Boyle, Justin Elvin, Cynthia Stevenson, Lila Glantzman-Leib, Gerry Becker, Rufus Read, Louise Lasser, Ben Gazzara, Camryn Manheim, Arthur J. Nascarella, Molly Shannon, Ann Harada, Douglas McGrath

This movie might as well be called, “Fucked Up,” cause that’s exactly what it is. Todd Solondz takes an unflinching look at the thin contented vineer we hold up to the public, then rips it away and shows all the dirt and ugliness we keep secret, all the need driven human behavior underneath. It’s so disturbing and funny, because you can believe it being true.

Happiness starts out with a date gone horribly wrong. Joy breaks up with Andy (Lovitz) which sparks a public outburst later leading to Andy’s suicide later in the film. Joy’s older sister Trish is in what seems to be the perfect relationship, but she’s actually married to a pederast (Baker) that masturbates to Teen Beat in parking lots in the back seat of his car. Oldest sister Helen is aloof and successful, but unable to find an emotional connection with the men she dates. Intrigued by her stalking neighbor, she invites him over and finds the fantasy much more tolerable than the reality. That being a fat, greasy, pervert who jerks off on the back of postcards and sticks them to his wall.

Happiness is controversial in its irony and thematic exploration of taboo societal issues. Namely Baker’s creepy portrayal as the secret pedophile, which is a brave three-dimensional performance, but nonetheless disturbing. What makes the film so watchable and memorable though, is the director shows that everyone is flawed, everyone unhappy no matter their station in life. Something about that is honest and yet deeply depressing at the same time. Whatever the case, it’s fucking funny.

Other Notable Films by this Director: Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995), Storytelling (2001)

Couldn’t find the trailer, but here’s a clip to prepare you:

Delicatessen (1991)

Directed by: Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Starring: Dominique Pinon, Marie-Laure Dougnac, Jean-Claude Dreyfus, Karin Viard

Awards: Won European Film Award for Best Production Designer (1991) and Cesar for Best Editing, Best First Work, Best Production Design, and Best Writing (1992)

In a post-apocalyptic 1950’s France, food has become so scarce that people have resorted to dire means. Louison is an unemployed circus clown down on his luck until he finds an ad for a delicatessen looking for a handy man. In exchange for food and board, Louison is in charge of doing odd jobs for the delicatessen’s butcher, Clapet, and all the tenants who live in the building above the shop.. All is not what it seems, however, as Louison soon discovers that the previous handymen were fattened up by the butcher and ultimately became the “source” for new meat to feed the building’s tenants. Further complicating things, some of the tenants learn to like Louison, including Clapet’s daughter Julie, who even falls in love with the doomed man. Desperate to save him, Julie makes a deal with a group of subterranean dwellers/rebels who disavow meat (no, not vegetarian CHUDS!) to rescue him.

Shot prior to The City of Lost Children, Delicatessen shares the same great visual style and atmosphere. Filled with wonderful quirky characters, beautifully orchestrated scenes, and clever scenarios that all come together like a giant life-size version of the game Mousetrap. If you are in a mood for something dark and fun, then give Delicatessen a taste.

Other Notable Films by these Director’s: The City of Lost Children (1995)

-Dantasia