Citizen Kane is widely considered the best movie ever made. I dislike that description, as do most people my age. It is hard to describe why, but it really might be the most important contribution to movies…ever. It isn’t the type of movie you can pop in at a party, but more a masterpiece you watch alone in your apartment pacing around the room cursing the genius who made it.
Orson Welles was a genius, this can’t be refuted. He was a great actor, an accomplished magician, a master of filmmaking, the stage, and radio. It boggles the mind how he could accomplish this all before the age of thirty.
Me and Orson Welles is follows the production of Welle’s famous rendition of Julies Caesar at the Mercury theater. It is amazing at highlight not only Welle’s genius, but stubbornness, wild ego, destructiveness, and infidelities.
Why to watch it: You really feel like you’re watching Welles
Christian McKay’s performance as Welles is as convincing as your probably going to get to the guy. Dickheads love to pine that Welles actually turned out being like Charles Kane, but I think most people who know a lot about Welles would say he was probably already there in his youth. Just watching him swagger around the Mercury spitting words of wisdom is so fucking enjoyable.
Pay attention to this: The behind-the-scenes accuracy of a stage production
If you’ve ever enjoyed a stage production, or been in one yourself, you’ll love this movie. Stage productions involve more waiting around then anything else. People talk, gossip, flirt, pick sexual partners, and fight. Me and Orson Welles is fun because so much of the production was just waiting around for Welles to actually show up.
Welles was juggling numerous projects at one time and would fund one project with money other projects. Whether or not this amounts to a lot at the end of the film is up for debate, but it is still a pretty cool film.
-Collin.
By Collin, on March 7th, 2011
#25 We just watched this on Netflix streaming.
You should too!: Freakonomics
The Film: Freakonomics
Economics is the fascinating discipline where specialists break down data in order to find patterns and relationships within an economic system. Big key words always come up such as causality, incentives, and correlations.
I read Freakonomics forever ago and the movie isn’t much different, but if you like the book you’ll like the movie. I always love economics because I hate the general assumptions people make between correlation and causation. Everyone is guilty of this. I’ve always been frustrated when my grandmother says that hot weather makes people crazy and angrier, therefore, it increases criminality. It is an odd conclusion to make.
Why to watch it: It is a fun interpretation of a great book.
I wasn’t quite sure how they were going to adapt a controverisial, economics-related, non-fiction book into a movie.
It isn’t perfect. When looking at it stylistically, it has serious problems. However, the writers of the book prove to be great personalities, speak well for being data nerds, and are pretty good at defending their views on things without sounding confrontational.
Now, this is where I take a bit of issue. The movie is a bizarre, episodic montage of different subjects. When the movie focuses on the experts and stops trying so hard to be visually entertaining – it actually is entertaining. The movie suffers from being afraid the subjects aren’t going to keep the audience focused. Bad move.
Pay attention to this: The book’s writers Stephen J. Dubner and Steven Levitt
Their book came under considerable fire when they mentioned the unspeakable theory that perhaps giving women the ability to choose to abort a child actually decreased crime in the long run. A theory loaded with controversy indeed. I was wondering how they would be able to handle the subject and found both economists talented at describing the facts in a very political way. I don’t care where you come down on the subject, but they have a very soft-spoken, delicate approach to the subject that, I think, makes it more palitable for more right-wing viewers.
Still, I loved the book far more than I liked the movie. It remains a bit of a masterpiece for people who want to view the world in a different way. There are parts in the data that deserve to be discussed but were likely edited out for length reasons. Data such as sumos throwing fights after qualifying with eights win and, therefore, cheating with others who haven’t. I assumed that it would be at least mentioned that people who have already qualified for a tournament and gain nothing from a match would likely try to avoid injury and not perform as hard. I’m 100 % certain the evidence overcomes this point, but they have to address these ideas or else lose credibility. Credibility that is almost unbreakable in their book.
-Collin.
By Collin, on March 7th, 2011
Top Ten Uses of Special Effects for Great Storytelling
Okay, lets get real for moment – everyone knows the movies with the best special effects. We can argue all day about which was more important, why, where, when, how, etc. Most people would admit that Star Wars, Avatar, Titanic, and Lord of the Rings have the best special effects on an epic scale, but is bigger always better?
I’ve put together a list that I think is the films that use special effects for the purpose of great storytelling. That doesn’t mean this won’t include the bigger movies, but great visuals don’t always mean a great movie. The Fountain comes to mind…
10. Terminator 2
T2 is the best action movie ever made. It has set pieces that wow me every time I revisit the movie. The special effects are flashy, but are wrapped into such an incredible story that I can go back and watch over and over. I love Avatar, but can’t see the same type of longevity for it.
9. Minority Report
A minor master piece of sorts. It had very little hype for such a good movie and I actually didn’t even see it until it came to video -but holy shit is it fucking awesome. The scenes where Tom Cruise is escaping up the building while being pursued by the cops is my personal favorite.
8. Brazil
This is the first movie where special effects really come into play in a secondary role to the story. Brazil follows a bureaucrat as he deals with an oppressive society. The visuals are still phenomenal and prove that action doesn’t really have to be everything in a special effects film.
7. Forrest Gump
I loved Forrest Gump when I first saw it but have grown less fond of it over the years. Its world view is morally bizarre. Having the wild female get AIDS and the do-what-your-told Gump be a millionaire? This is weird to me. Nonetheless, its use of effects as a way to inject Gump into our history was masterful if not a bit corny at times.
6. Citizen Kane
Say what you want about the movie, it has some of the most innovative uses of special effects for the sake of storytelling. Roger Ebert mentioned on Kane’s commentary tracks that it likely had just as many special effects shots as Star Wars, just employed for different reasons.
5. Star Wars Series
Not much to say really. The clip I choose wasn’t really special effects heavy but one of my favorite scenes in a movie, ever. I use to rewind it over and over again when I was little. It was scenes like this that fucked up my life.
4. Blade Runner
I bet a lot of people are going to flame the shit out of me, telling me that this is actually a style-over-substance example. But, I really think the story is the focal point. That is obviously not totally true, the story has a lot of problems but is fucking awesome.
3. 2001 Space Odyssey
I’ve grown more and more to think this might be the best movie ever produced. Few other movies have produced special effects to describe the awe-spiring universe.
2. Lord of the Rings
I was going to put another one of Peter Jackson’s films on here, Dead Alive, as kind of a joke – but came to my senses. LOTR is one of the rare cases where epic special effects meet a epically well told story.
1. Pan’s Labyrinth
A heart breaking movie that happens to have some of the best monster effects ever made. The visual difficulty of making the movie could have easily overshadowed the emotional impact of the story, but Del Toro proved with this movie that he is far more than just an visual effects filmmaker.
By Collin, on March 3rd, 2011
#24 We just watched this on Netflix streaming.You should too!:
Fish Tank
The Film: Fish Tank
I was expecting to watch this movie halfheartedly as I was going to sleep but found myself rewinding parts and was truly engaged in the movie. I consider it a little masterpiece in many ways. It has an atmosphere so many films attempt to have and that so many fail to capture. I think it would have been an Oscar contender if made in the USA. It follows the exploits of a young girl, Mia, as she lives out a life of hopelessness, poverty, and criminality, in an English project.
Why to watch it: Katie Jarvis as Mia
She is so fucking good. She had no prior acting experience, but had lived in the projects and seems to really have the same volatile personality as her character. Famously, she was discovered while having a heated argument with her boyfriend. In many ways this movie will be compared to movies like Thirteen and other teens- in-trouble films.
But I still feel the authenticity of this movie is so genius that those films don’t even come close. There doesn’t seem to be any apologies or shock here. It just is what it is. Kate Jarvis brings authenticity to the movie I don’t think many Hollywood actresses could. With all respect intended, she is trashy. There isn’t a pretty girl who went to NYU film school behind those snarled teeth and sweatpants.
Another movie that comes to mind is Kes. I’ve heard it compared to 400 Blows, but just doesn’t sit right with me. Like Kes, the main character has an interest and a moderate degree of skill at this interest. There is an individual who encourages this interest, but only to a limited end and even a tragic end.
Pay attention to this: Andrea Arnold’s technique
I hate the description documentary-style. I hate it. It is inaccurate and too widely used. Even a rock star director like Aronofsky used it describe the way Black Swan was directed. It is just wrong. The original Office is “documentary-style”. Interviews are conducted, the subjects are aware of cameras, etc.
Fish Tank is not documentary-style. I hate using the term cinema-verite too – it sounds too academic. What I prefer is subjective perspective filmmaking. Fisk Tank is about Mia and disregards everything else. The camera observes her without judgment and although there are shots I didn’t think were necessary, her style is almost impeccable.
It has become fairly popular to shoot this way for independent movies, especially in the United States, but so frequently the styles flat on its face. This movie would have sucked balls if not executed perfectly. There were so many moments where a close up of a glance, or poorly timed edit, would ruin the tension building between Mia and her mother’s boyfriend. But, Arnold stays steadfast and allows the audience to put things together.
I’ve read that between 15% to 25% of children are sexually abused as children in North America. I imagine such statistics are similar in England. The movie seems very relevant – then why was it released unrated? It even won Best Film at the BAFTAS – the British Academy Awards. Why can’t it receive an R, but receive a 15 rating in England? Obviously it doesn’t really matter because the movie wouldn’t have done well in the theaters anyway, but c’mon.
-Collin.
By Collin, on March 2nd, 2011
#23 We just watched this on Netflix streaming.You should too!:
The Film: Exit Through the Gift Shop
The movie is about a quirky French guy Thierry Guetta who has a habit of recording everything with a video camera. Taking a shower? He’s there. Playing with his kids? Yep, he’s recording. Sex? Lord only knows.
Some people have based their careers around the creating art that inflames the discussion of what qualifies as art. Nothing eats away at a white person more than a shark in a tank being bought for millions of dollars. Exit through the Gift Shop is kind of about that idea – but in the most fascinating way.
Thierry Guetta kinda’ falls into the life of Graffiti art and ends up working with the most famous and elusive graffiti artist in the world, Banksy.
Why to watch it: It is defines an elusive idea in regards to art.
A lot of art is marketing and that is kind of Guetta’s skill. He plays to the masses in the most profound way. I’ve heard claims that the film is just a cleverly arranged stunt by Bansky, but I don’t buy it. I think Bansky saw an opportunity in Guetta and took it. Guetta, or “Mr. Brainwash”, is and odd cookie who knows how to make lots of money.
I think Banksy knew what Guetta was doing and crafted a movie that was built around a powerful idea: Art is all about the hype and interpretation by an audience. Think “Fountain” by Marcel Duchamp. I don’t think Guetta is crazy either. His edited footage for Banksy might incline people to think he is, but believe me, I went to a rather abstract film school and have seen much worse.
Pay attention to this: Guetta’s art
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but this movie isn’t really about whether Guetta’s art is bad or not, but more about Guetta’s ability to make people think it is. Because I’m white and think I’m pretty smart I obviously have to weigh in on the subject. Yes, I think its kinda’ good.
If I was a billionaire I’d def’ show up to a Mr. Brainwash show. Does he have profound things to say? I don’t know, I’d have to go to his expeditions. I’m not sure he is defined yet themactially. Like Damien Hirsch, maybe his art is to inflame. Maybe he knows what he’s doing. But Banksy definitely knows whats up. He knows what the Guetta’s success says about the art culture.
Citizen Kane is widely considered the best movie ever made. I dislike that description, as do most people my age. It is hard to describe why, but it really might be the most important contribution to movies…ever. It isn’t the type of movie you can pop in at a party, but more a masterpiece you watch alone in your apartment pacing around the room cursing the genius who made it.
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