Fall Movies

Labor Day is almost here which means its the official end of the Summer movie season. I finally got around to reading the Entertainment Weekly that has the Fall Movie Preview in it(it came in while I was on vacation). Entertainment Weekly considers the Fall Movie Season from Labor Day Weekend to New Years. I think that is a little too far to still consider fall, especially when they will have another issue out around Thanksgiving for the Holiday Movie Preview. So, I consider the fall movie season from Labor day to Thanksgiving. The fall movie season is usually one of the worst movie seasons(spring is usually the worst movie season). Its the time when the studios usually dump all the movies they decided wouldn't make money over the summer or the movies that are probably not good enough for the Oscars. Oscar winning movies usually get released in November and December with a few exceptions. My Birthday falls around Labor Day weekend and it is usually the really bad movies that are released that weekend. The number one movie over labor day weekend is usually a summer movie that everyone is just catching up on.
This year I hope it will be different. So, here are the 5 movies I am most excited to see this Fall.

MACHETE
One of the best parts of Grindhouse was Robert Rodriguez's fake trailer for Machete. It was so popular that now he made a movie based on the fake trailer. Interesting that character of Machete first appeared in the kids movie Spy Kids. But this is no kids movie. Check out the Red Band trailer. If you don't know what that means Red Band trailers are trailers that are rated R and have not been approved for children of all ages, so don't watch it if you are faint of heart. They arent kidding when they say "gut wrenching". The movie looks like its going to kick some ass and finally a movie that looks good that is coming out on my birthday weekend.

Red Band Trailer for Machete at Listal

THE SOCIAL NETWORK
A movie about the founding of Facebook. As you can guess the founder of facebook is upset with the movie as it has taken some liberties with the story. It is directed by David Fincher(Fight Club, Seven) and written by Aaron Sorkin(West Wing, Charlie Wilson's War). Aaron Sorkin has a way of writing that I love. It is usually quick snappy dialogue and I love most David Fincher movies. There is usually something dark and sinister to his movies. It will be interesting to see how this one is. Based on the trailer it looks awesome and is getting some early Oscar buzz, but like I said earlier movies that come out in the Fall don't usually get nominated. I love the tag line though. You don't get to 500 Million friends without making a few enemies, and love the song in the preview. Also Justin Timberlake has been getting great reviews for his acting. Is there nothing that this guy cant do?

WAITING FOR "SUPERMAN"
Now I already saw this movie at Sundance, but I am excited that it is getting released and hope more people see it and would love to hear what some of my teacher friends think about it. It is a documentary about the Public Education system in America. It is kind of sad but not surprising. Everyone should take a look. It is directed by the guy who directed An Inconvenient Truth but it is much better then that movie and I think it will be less controversial also but we will see.



WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS
A sequel to the 1987 movie from Oliver Stone. After so long why make a sequel? Well it seems like an appropriate time to revisit the guy that told us "Greed is Good" and see where that got us. While might not be the best movie it will be fun to see Michael Douglas in the same role that won him an Oscar. I love the scene in the trailer where they give Michael Douglas his mobile phone back as he is leaving prison.

BURIED
Can't have a fall movie preview without including one horror movie. This was also at Sundance this year and generated alot of buzz. Basically its Ryan Reynolds in a box. Pretty sure that's the whole movie. I heard it was pretty twisted and looks like a fun psychological thriller.

So those are my fall movies I am most looking forward too. A gory action movie, a semi-factual drama, a documentary, a sequal, and a psychological thriller. Should be a fun fall at the movies.

Casablanca

The greatest movie of all time? Quite possibly in my opinion. When I first saw this movie it changed my life. How can a movie change someones life you ask? Well,I was one of those people that would never watch a movie if it was in black and white. Always figured old movies couldn't live up to modern movies. But then I saw Casablanca and it opened my eyes. The movie is amazing. Made me realize that you don’t need color or the latest technology to make a great movie. Just need a good story, great script, and great acting. Very rarely do you get the trifecta of all three coming together. This movie also proves that you can make a romantic movie without it being a sappy story. I always say I love action and adventure movies so it seems weird that I consider a romantic movie as the greatest movie of all time. What makes it so great is that it doesn't feel like a romantic movie.

The movie is about Rick (Humphrey Bogart at his best) an owner of a saloon in Casablanca during early WWII. The town is full of corruption, gambling, and underground trafficking. As people are fleeing France and the rest of Europe during the Nazi invasions, people are coming to Casablanca to try to get to the United States . Ricks American saloon is the place a lot of the underworld comes to do business and gamble. Rick is a cynical man who takes no sides in politics or the law, as long as no one disturbs the peace in the saloon. The head of police in Casablanca is Captain Renault (Claude Rains). He is corrupt and an easily bribed man. One of the refugees that end up coming to Casablanca and to Ricks is Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) and her husband. Rick and Ilsa had been lovers in pre-war Paris, but she had left him as he fled from France during the invasion. Her appearance with her husband in Casablanca stirs up some old feelings of love and hate for Rick. He still loves her but can’t forgive her for leaving him, and now he is faced with the choice of either to help or not help her and her husband flee from the Nazi’s that are after them. It's a romance complicated by war, greed, politics, and morality.

What makes this story work is the acting and the script. It is amazing that the script is that good. It was rewritten a bunch of times. It was originally based on a play that was never produced then Julius and Philip Epstein started writing a script and when they started having trouble the producers asked Howard Koch to write a script. Then Casey Robinson looked over both scripts and combined them adding a little romance that he thought was missing from both. Usually when a script goes through this many changes it a good bet that it is going to be a bad movie. Especially since the script wasn’t even finished when the movie started shooting. They were never sure how the movie should end. In the 80’s the script was sent to readers under a different title and some who did not recognize it said it was “not good enough to make a decent movie”, “too much dialogue”, and “not enough sex”. Yet the movie is considered the best screenplay of all time. Somehow it all worked. The dialogue is great. It has some of the best lines in movie history. It is quick, witty, and fun. Even during the romantic parts it is not too cheesy. But it’s also the actors that bring the script to life that makes it work. You can have the best script in the world but if you have bad actors it’s just not going to work. Bogart gives one of his best performances as Rick. He has the tough guy persona and yet he can show his sensitive side. Claude Rains is amazing also. As the corrupt Captain Renault he delivers some of the best lines in the movie so easily. While the movie focus’s on Rick and Ilsa the friendly banter and honor among thieves friendship of Renault and Rick give the movie some humor and some tension. You really need to watch the movie a bunch of times to catch all the little one liners in there. The score was also amazing. Max Steiner is probably one of the greatest early composers of movie scores. Besides for Casablanca he also scored, Gone With the Wind, King Kong, Arsenic and Old Lace and tons of other movies. He was nominated 24 times for an Academy Award and only won 3. But his scores are amazing and truly helps the mood of all the movies.

The movie won Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay. How it didn't win any acting awards is a mystery. Max Steiner's score was also nominated but didn't win.
The movie is on a number of lists as being the greatest movies of all time. On AFI’s Top 100 list it was #2 the first year and #3 when they did their 10th year edition. Why the fall? I don’t know. I think it should have been number 1 both times. It is much better then Citizen Kane. It was listed as the #1 romance movie and #37 on the thrillers list. It also had 6 entries in the Greatest Movie lines more then any other movie.
Some of my favorite lines. “Of all the gin joints in all the towns, in all the world she walks into mine”.

When the Germans order Captain Renault to close Ricks
Rick: How can you close me up? What Grounds?
Captain Renault: “I’m Shocked, shocked to find gambling going on in here!”
(someone hands Renault a pile of money)
Croupier: Your winnings sir
Captain Renault: ”Oh, Thank you very much.”

Last Lines of the movie “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship”

Overall a great movie and a must see for all movie fans.

Mrs. Miniver

Mrs. Miniver is one of my Grandmothers favorite movies to win Best Picture and its the first Best Picture winner about WWII. The movie tells the story of a women (Mrs.Miniver of course) and her family as cope with the beginning parts of WWII in England. The movie is told from her point of view and how she tries to keep her family together during this difficult time. Her son, Vin joins the Royal Air Force and her husband patrols the waters in his boat which leaves her home alone with her two younger children. While the story centers on the story of her family it also
shows her interaction with the other townsfolk and how they all must change.

What I like about the movie is that it portrays an ordinary family dealing with extraordinary situations. For the most part the acting is great. Greer Garson as Mrs. Miniver and Walter Pidgeon as Mr. Miniver do a great job of showing the roller coaster of emotions. Teresa Wright as the fiance of Vin Miniver is very good as well and is one of the stand out performances in the movie. Too bad the same cant be said about Richard Ney as Vin. His performance very one dimensional and over the top. He just doesn't have the depth of emotion that the others have. The other problem with Richard Ney is that he is only 12 years younger then Greer Garson and its hard to believe that he is her grown son. Guess that's saying a lot about Greer that she doesn't look old but they could have done something with make-up to at least make it look like she could be a mother of a grown son. And a weird fact afterward Greer and Richard got married after the movie filmed. I find that a little disturbing for some reason.

Some consider this a propaganda film. That it really resonated with Americans because it showed what might happen if they didn't fight in the war. And I guess from that perspective it is true. The message at the end is if you want to keep your way of life then you need to fight the Germans. The final line of the movie is the vicar saying "This is the people's war! It is our war! We are the fighters. Fight it then. Fight it with all that is in us. And may God defend the right" Watching it now almost 70 years later except for the last line it doesn't really feel like propaganda and more as a look at how war affects a family. I guess that is a true testament to a good film That it has multiple ways of being interpreted and can stay relevant after 70 years.

Other notes of interest.
It was the first movie to be nominated for 5 acting awards. Won 2. Greer Garson for Best Actress, and Teresa Wright as Best Supporting Actress
William Wyler won his first Best Director Oscar. He was nominated 4 previous times and has the most nominations for any director with a total of 12 with 3 wins.
Greer Garson gave the longest acceptance speech in Oscar history she rambled on fort 5 1/2 minutes.