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By Collin, on March 23rd, 2011

The Greatest Films #6:  Jaws


Background:

So Steven Spielberg was a talented young dude who hadn’t made his break-out movie yet. He was young at the time, only a year or two older than I am now and was handed the keys to the production nightmare that was Jaws.

I shouldn’t even bother mentioning that the production process was a fucking nightmare, going way over budget and over schedule. Spielberg thought he’d never work again.

Luckily for him the movie was released in this new, crazy way. Many point to Jaws as the movie that invented the “blockbuster”. This wasn’t just because it was so good that people just had to see it, but because it was one of the first movies to be released everywhere at once. Weird right? Most movies were released slowly. A few cities here and there until they were released nationally.

 

 

What it is about:

Everyone knows the so…a big fucking shark is attacking people on an island in New England.

Why it is a great film:

I’m always a bit apprehensive about fellatiating Spielberg’s skill because he’s so universally crowned the greatest director of all time. He’s definitely the most mainstream and certainly the most successful, but the best? Well, I think out of all his movies Jaws kind of proves he’s got the technique to warrant many of these claims.

I never really understood Jaws until I was really into movies. It seems so simple at first glance. Like some of the greatest movies ever made my Spielberg, it is a B-movie made into an A movie with great music, great characters, great acting, and, most of all, Spielberg’s spot-on visuals.

After watching it again for this article I noticed something that never really struck me before: Jaws is really funny. More than anything I found myself laughing. Sure, it is a thriller. But, somehow through all the thrills, uncanny theme music, and POV shots, I always found myself laughing my ass off. Richard Dreyfuss’ character Hooper is fucking hilarious. The scene where he bursts in uninvited with wine and begins eating Chief Brody’s meal is funny every time. Not just because its a funny situation, but because everyone knows that guy and it makes Hooper a more realistic character by doing so.

The scene on the beach where the young boy is killed is my favorite of the movie. Students of film should break that scene down shot-by-shot and analyze it. The way Spielberg uses people walking in front of the camera to cut away. The way the editor builds the tension of the scene by putting shots together at a certain speed and pace. Tarantino mentioned why he loved movies in an interview with Charlie Rose and said he loves movies when music, editing, visuals, and acting all come together in a magical way. Many scenes in this movie are like that.

You can watch this movie on Netflix streaming right now!

A/5
-Collin

By Collin, on March 14th, 2011

The Greatest Films #5: Dead Alive (Braindead)

Background:

In high school my brother and I were known as the guys who watched strange movies. That was never entirely fair because most of the movies we watched were pretty mainstream. But if you wanted something odd, were the guys to go to. Dead Alive was one of the great gems we found long before it hit the mainstream following PJ’s success as director of Lord of the Rings. Famously, Dead Alive is the movie Eli Roth claimed actually had enough blood for him.

Something people should know: Peter Jackson is a sicko. This might come as a news flash to some, because he is, possibly, the greatest director of the past two decades, contributing the best trilogy of films ever made. However, his two films Dead Alive and Bad Taste contain some of the weirdest gore scenes ever put in a film.

What it is about:

Dead Alive is a weird take on the zombie film. I think what happened is Walsh and Jackson saw the typical zombie movie as “keep zombies out” type deal. They wanted to approach the film as “keep zombies in”.

The film follows Lionel, whose mother is overbearing on him and when she becomes a zombie Lionel goes through great lengths to hide this from the rest of the world.

Why? I don’t know. The zombie numbers continue to grow and Lionel attempts to hide their existence in their house.

Why it is a great film:

Where to start? It contains some of the better set pieces ever made. Naming just a few would be an insult to the others, but the lawn mower scene remains the goriest scene ever produced. Also amazing, when a zombie baby flies out of a window and hits a dude in the balls. A zombie priest fingers another zombie under a dining room table…the list could go on.

The level of gore might be too much for some, but it is slapstick and never meant to be taken seriously unlike Inside or other great horror films. Trust me, you’ll never be scared during Dead Alive. Peter Jackson state, correctly I might add, that violence is often about context and that a slap in the face can sometimes be more shocking than a decapitation. Take Closer for example, when Jude Law’s character hits Portman in the face, it is much more shocking than when the lawn mower rips down zombies…in my opinion. It is all about the context.Find this movie. Other than maybe Richy-Oh, it remains the goriest film ever made.

-Collin

By Collin, on February 16th, 2011

The Greatest Films #4: Once

Spoiler Alert: Don’t read the last section if you haven’t seen the end of Once.

I’ve decided to start putting together a list of the greatest movies that everyone should see. I love doing top ten lists and everything, but I really would love to discuss classics for a few paragraphs. Also, I hate it when articles get long winded so I’ve adopted a 3 paragraph system that will make the articles super easy and fun to read.

Background:

I was high as a kite when I first saw Once and it really fucked with my first impression of the movie. (I was on tons of painkillers for some surgery or something)

Moreover, my brother insisted I watch it because he knows I’m a psycho fan of musicals. As I’ve seen the movie more and more, it becomes obvious that it is probably the best musical ever made. Furthermore, yes, Once is a fucking musical. The entire story, themes, and narrative flow from the music.

The movie was made for under two hundred grand and it kind of shows. The movie’s style and production values will alienate many individuals not willing to sit through a film clearly shot on a video camera that doesn’t emulate the look of film very well.

I ran around begging musical lovers to check this movie out. If you like musicals you’d have to like it…right? Well, generally no. Most people like the Chicago-type of set pieces. Most Once-lovers are people who love indie movies and kinda’ like musicals.

What it is about:

Once is one of those movies that is hard to get people excited about. I always say, “You should check this movie out, it is about like two people who meet and place music…and then like…don’t get together…”

The movie is just kind of an experience. It never feels like a contrived music video, but never feels partitioned from the music. This is where, perhaps, the low-budget production values came into play. The cheap look might have pulled stylistic elements away from a music video. The film just kind of follows an unnamed struggling musician in Dublin as he deals with an ugly breakup. He meets a young Czech immigrant. They kinda’ flirt and play music for a little while.

Its sounds so simple, but that is probably why is works.

Why it is a great film:

The ending of Once is so fucking good. Few love stories even come close. The relationship that has been blossoming throughout the film abruptly changes course and the audience is forced to reinterpret what friendship, relationships, partnerships, and love, really are. I say this all the time, so people will proably think I’m a dickhead, but Once is almost existential.

It isn’t like other films where the lovers don’t end up together and it is tragic, but in a crazy way, we understand why they don’t. Life sometimes just doesn’t make sense with a certain person. Most people reading this have some person they had a strong connection with but things just didn’t make sense together, so they went their seperate ways.

The music works, most of all, because of Glen Hansard and Market Irglova, Irglova only being 19 when receiving the Oscar for best song. I’ve heard that watching them perform in person is almost religious because of their love of music. Never, not once, do they seem to be acting like they love music. You can tell it means a lot to them.

And thank god they never have sex. I’m no prude, but once sex come into the equation, everything changes. These two people from Dublin fall for each other over something more than their genitals. What a novel idea.

The final shot of the film is one of my favorite of that decade. The director, John Carney, likely went to great lengths to get a camera up that high on an expensive piece of equipment only for one single shot. But it is a shot that highlights, to me, what the film is about.

Genius.

-Collin