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.

How Green Was My Valley

How Green Was My Valley a.k.a. The movie that beat Citizen Kane for Best Picture.
I tried watching this on a week I was working and that didn't work out so well. I kept falling asleep. I did get through the first hour of it before I stopped it and then finished it a couple of days later. And, I have to admit that by the end of it I stopped paying much attention to it.

The movie is about a boy Huw growing up in a valley in Wales. They had a coal mining plant and all his relatives worked there. The movie is narrated by the adult Huw as he relives his memories of his childhood. He watches the town transform from a happy little town to a town that is full of gossip and corruption. It starts as a nice place where people are happy and no one complains. Then the owners of the coal plant start lowering wages and firing people. So, the coal miners form a union with the help of Huw's older brothers much to the objection of their father. Then Hews Sister falls in love with the priest but marries the coal mines owner's son. Which then causes all the older women to start gossiping. We watch as Huw becomes the first of his family to go to a state school and deals with trying to fit in. Finally the movie ends with his father dieing in the coal mines.

The movie is just under 2 hours but it is one of the most boring movies. The narration is slow and just puts you to sleep. If anyone has trouble sleeping just watch this movie and it will knock you right out. Originally the producer Darryl F. Zanuk wanted to make this movie a four hour epic like Gone With the Wind. Thank God he didn't. It would have taken me a week to watch the whole thing. The one funny scene comes after Huw gets beaten at school by his teacher with a wooden ruler. Two guys from his valley come in and smack around the teacher in front of the class.

How green was his valley we will never know because it was shot in Black and White. The reason for that is because they shot it in California and flowers wouldn't match the Welsh landscape. The reason they had to shoot in California was because of World War 2 and the Nazi's continued bombing of England. Would it have made a difference I don't know but I think it still would have been boring.

One of the controversies with the movie was the pro-union message in the first part. While the father is against the union the union ultimately is formed and portrayed as a good thing. I wonder how the movie would be received today in our political landscape. I bet all the conservative pundits would trash the movie and call it anti-American.

The main question with this movie is how did it beat Citizen Kane a movie now called the best movie of all time, for Best Picture? I have no idea. While I think Citizen Kane is over rated an not even close to the best movie of all time I have to agree that it is way better then this movie. I haven't seen all the movies nominated for best picture that year but I know Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion, and The Maltese Falcon were both better then this one. John Ford was nominated for his 3rd Directing Oscar in a row and Won his Second in a row. He won the previous year for The Grapes of Wrath and was nominated the year before that for Stagecoach. As far as I am concerned this is the worst of the 3 and think he should have stuck to Westerns. A young Roddy McDowall does a good job at playing Huw but too bad its just a bad movie.

Week in Review 7/19-7/25/10

Had a lot going on this week but managed to get a couple of good movies and some not so good movie in.

Watched Soylent Green the 1973 Sci-fi movie with Charlton Heston early in the week. What a cheesefest that was. It's one of those movies that's so bad you have to laugh. It has one great line at the very end which ended up on the AFI list of best quotes but the whole movie leading up to the end is just ridiculous. The movie is supposed to take place in 2022 where overpopulation and global warming has made food scarce. Charlton Heston plays a detective trying to solve a murder of some rich guy who works for the Solyent company. While investigating the guys murder he comes across a giant conspiracy. The investigation makes no sense. One of the funniest parts is when he is interrogating a women who was this guys "furniture", as he asks her questions he is getting undressed and gets into bed with her. Not sure what kind of interrogation technique that is but worked for him. Also apparently the future(if we make it past 2012) will look a lot like the 70's. I know that past trends do come back but lets hope not like that. This is one movie that could use a major update. While the plot and story could be interesting and still relevant with the fears of overpopulation and global warming it just needs to be told better.





Heres another not so good one. I finally saw 2012. Now I guess I kind of had unrealistic high hopes for this movie. 2012 and the Mayan calender is a subject that I find fascinating and have listened to many conspiracy theories on Coast to Coast AM about the subject. And if anyone can pull off an end of the world disaster movie I thought it could be Roland Emmerich the guy that ended the world in Independence Day. But I was very disappointed. At 2 and 1/2 hours the movie is way too long. You should be able to destroy the world alot quicker then that. The movie deals with too many characters that are not necessary to the story. Would have been much shorter and better if we didn't even meet some of these people. Oddly John Cusack is actually good. He is funny and you kind of root for him even in the most bizarre circumstances he is in. Woody Harrelson plays a crazy radio host in a short but hilarious role. What really makes me mad about this movie is that I had an idea similar to this movie years ago when I first started listening to Coast to Coast AM. 2012, solar flares, end of the world, Mayan prophesies, crazy talk show hosts all going to be in my movie. Not like I would ever make a movie anyway. But still. I had the idea first.



After getting postponed a day due to some tornado's in the area I finally go to watch the movie on Friday. So, glad I finally saw the movie before people started telling me things about it and spoiled it. I don't want to give anything away here but lets just say it was mind blowing. The concept, the effects, the acting, and the ending was just amazing. While I know some people would argue that the ending was awful (and I am glad I didn't see it with my wife because I know she would have hated it) but I thought that was exactly how it should have ended. It was a movie and an ending that makes you think and that's how I like it. And what else would you expect from the guy that made Memento another twisting mind blowing movie. And who thought that Joseph Gordon Levitt could be an action star. His fight scene in the hallway was my favorite part of the movie that's all I am saying. It was awesome.



A Small Act is a HBO Documentary that premiered at Sundance earlier this year. Its the story of how a women who made a small charitable contribution to an organization that helps African school kids changed the life of a boy. The boy grew up, went to college, went to Harvard and eventually started his own charitable donation for children in his own village. The movie follows Chris Mburo and his organization as he tries to help kids from his village in Kenya. His organization gives money to the brightest students in the village so they can go to secondary school. The organization is named the Hilde Back Foundation in honor of the Swedish teacher who donated money and sponsored him. After Chris graduates from Harvard, gets a job at the UN and starts this foundation that he named after her he sets out to find out who she is. Its amazing when she finds out after so many years that she truly changed this persons life. Its a great story of how one small act of kindness can change people lives and in turn lead to other's lives being changed. It's an uplifting story that actually shows the pay it forward philosophy is alive in the world. Another incredible documentary from Sundance and glad HBO is showing a bunch of them on Monday nights. So if you have HBO check out their Monday night Documentary Showcase.

To Sum up.
Soylent Green-Bad so bad its almost funny
2012-bad
Inception-awesome-must see
A Small Act-Inspiring-Must see

Wings(1927)

Wings the silent movie from 1927 not the TV show from the 90s. It took a long time to get this movie. It is one of two movies that won best picture that is not available on DVD. I had to go to the library and order the VHS. Took over a month till they finally called me and said they had it. I was so excited went down and got it. When I finally put it in the VCR it wouldn't work. I wasn't sure if it was the VCR or something else. When I looked at the tape I realized that it was broken. So, I had to bring it back to the library and hope that they could get a copy from someplace else. Lucky for me they could and it came in alot faster then a month. So, finally got everything working and sat down for a nice 2 hour silent film.

The movie is about 2 guys from the same town that want to be pilots. They come from different backgrounds, David is a rich upper class from a very proper family and Jack is a middle class adventurous day dreamer. They each have a love interest. Mary loves Jack and follows him around. Jack pretty much treats her like a little sister. Sylvia is the girl from the city that likes David, but both David and Jack are in love with her. Basically David and Jack dont get along real well and don't like each other right from the start. But they both join the Air Force and become friends while training. Then they go off to fight in WWI and the girls are home waiting for them. Mary becomes a nurse and drives trucks in the war. During the war David is captured by the Germans and steals one of their planes to escape. But he is shot down by Jack who doesnt realize it's David till after he crashes and dies. Obviously these events changes everybody especially David who has to live with the fact that he killed his best friend.

The movie wasn't too bad. Its actually an interesting story that doesn't seem very original today but is not badly done. It is one of two movies that won best picture that is about WWI All Quiet on the Western Front is the other one. The action wasn't too bad. They actually made the actors fly the planes with the cameras attached to the front of the plane. So, the actors had to operate the camera, act, and fly a plane all at the same time. Very impressive. Interestingly enough the first movie to win Best Picture was a war movie. I think it kind of set a precedent. Probably more war movies have won best picture then any other genre,including the most recent movie to win The Hurt Locker.

One of the other things that I found interesting is a similarity along with Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans which won Best Picture, Unique and Artistic Production. They both have two women in them, one from a small town and the other from the big bad city who tries to steal the other girls guy. Not sure what they had against girls from the city back then but seemed to be a common theme. The girls from the city were always portrayed as rich and beautiful and the poor girl next door cant compete with them.

Other facts of note
Only silent film to win best picture even though the Jazz Singer(the first Talkie) came out the same year it was not even nominated for Best Picture.
One of only 3 movies to win Best Picture without being nominated for Best Director
A young Gary Cooper had a small role in the movie.

Rebecca

While not the best Hitchcock movie it is the only one to win Best Picture. I was very excited to see it. Hitchcock is one of my favorite directors and has made some of the greatest movies. I started watching it and the DVD kept skipping. I finished the movie and realized I had missed parts. And it was some of the most important parts that explain the mystery. But I was able to rewind and see most of what I missed. Just to be safe I went to Target and bought a copy for myself.

The movie is about a young girl who marries a rich older man. This mans previous wife Rebecca died in a boating accident. After the new wife(she never is given a name) moves into the large mansion she is surrounded by the memories of Rebecca and strange things start to happen. The ghost of Rebecca seems to be haunting her. As the mystery unfolds it takes some twists and turns but is very satisfying at the end.

Hitchcock is the master of atmosphere and mood and he really shows it here. Rebecca demonstrates exactly why Hitchcock has a whole genre named after him. The whole mood of the movie is dark and foreboding. You never know what to expect and he keeps you on the edge of your seat. Somehow even though it won best picture Hitchcock didn't win best director he lost to John Ford for The Grapes of Wrath. While the acting and story were good I feel that it was Hitchcock's direction that made it great.

Besides Grapes of Wrath, Rebecca beat one of my favorite classic comedies The Philadelphia Story. The Philadelphia Story is a very funny movie with some of the best actors, Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, and Katherine Hepburn in it. Its a lot of fun and just great to see all those amazing actors interact with each other.