Drive (2011)

Drive (2011)

Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn

I walked into a local movie theatre around 4:15 in the afternoon. Didn't know what I was going to see. I just wanted to sit in a dark, cold room for ninety or so minutes and ignore everything. I was tempted to get a few beers from the concession stand but I haven't been drinking for the last 5 weeks so I refrained. I asked the guy behind the counter how "Our Idiot Brother" was. He made a weird face.

"You should see that movie, it was great!"

I turned to my right and a drunken, middle-aged man was pointing at the poster for Drive. On first glance I thought of John Hughes due to the pink, cursive font. Then I looked at Ryan Gosling slightly resembling Bullitt era Steve McQueen and the tagline "There Are No Clean Getaways" (a reference to the Coen Brothers film No Country For Old Men). The middle-aged man gave me a thumbs up and walked into a theater. That was all I needed, an endorsement from a rough looking drunk who has probably lived twenty great movie plots...or hasn't done anything with his life.

The movie cold opens with Ryan Gosling looking out a window, his back to the camera, laying down his rules as a heist driver to a "client" over the phone (reminded me of the opening to Risky Business). We watch him perform the job with surgical accuracy for the next few minutes while police cars and a helicopter chase him and two unnamed thieves through the streets of Los Angeles. He finishes the job and walks away scot-free leaving the thieves in a sea of sports fans in which they could disappear into easily. The title and opening credits start. Helicopter shots of downtown L.A. and the "Driver" (his real name is never revealed) cruising through the city with shadow filling his face.

The Driver by day works part-time in a garage with Shannon (Bryan Cranston) and also as a stunt-driver on movies. Shannon, his boss, wants to set the Driver up with a full-time racing gig but lacks the capital to build the car. He turns to Bernie Rose, a Jewish mobster (played against type by comedian Albert Brooks), for help. Bernie's business partner, Nino (Ron Perlman) doesn't share his enthusiasm for legitimate investments and thinks the whole thing is foolish.

The Driver becomes involved with his neighbors, Irene and her son Benicio, when their car breaks down and is brought to his garage for repairs. For a week he drives them around, plays with Benicio and keeps Irene company. There is an obvious attraction between The Driver and Irene but it never goes beyond hand holding. Irene's husband, Standard, who was serving a prison sentence, comes home unexpectedly and resumes his role in their family. The Driver, unfazed, continues coming over and befriends Standard. Eventually, it's revealed that Standard owes prison protection money to thugs and his only way out of it is by doing a job for them. The Driver caring about the family's well being, agrees to drive for Standard.

The two storylines are expertly woven together by writer Hossein Amini (based on James Sallis 2005 novel) and the cinematography by Newton Thomas Sigel is crisp (who primarily used an Arri Alexa) and beautiful calling to mind such classics as Manhunter, Thief and To Live and Die in L.A. Like any good crime film it has it's share of violence, car chases, seedy locations and gangster dialog peppered with racial slurs but was able to transcend the genre with atmospheric sequences, a flawless soundtrack (not the throwaway radio hip-hop and nu-metal turds you're used to), engaging sound design and three-dimensional characters.

I never saw Ryan Gosling in anything I'd liked before but this film cemented him in my mind as a great actor. His silence and face said more to me than a whole Fast & Furious movie. I left the theater and didn't speak a word for hours. When art is good it has that effect on me. I went back and watched the movie again after 2 days of it's images ping-ponging around in my brain.

So...If you're into dumb things like being moved by art and getting inspired please by all means go see this huge European waste of time. On the other hand, If you're into 'splosions, hot babes, cool dudes, empty gestures, false emotion, ancient storytelling methods and tits that don't belong to anybody then stay at home and keep watching TV, s'better anyways.

Possession (1981)

Possession (1981)

Directed by Andrzej Zulawski

Starring Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill

I haven't been in a serious relationship for about two years. The last person I was with and I had a very dynamic time to say the least. When it was good it was having sex on top of a roof on the 4th of July drunk on wine, when it was bad cars were stolen and rooms were destroyed. The funny thing is that neither of us are like that alone or even with other people. Just something about us came together like dynamite. We met at a party and made out at the provocation of someone who wanted me outta their face. Soon enough we were inseparable and stayed together through sleeping around, sexual withdrawal, jealousy, selling everything we owned, driving across country twice, drinking insane amounts, becoming completely sober, unemployment, getting the job of your dreams, trying to leave her fifteen times, seeing me holding my dead best friends hand, seeing her paint beautiful things, meeting families, wanting to get married, watching Carcass play drenched in sweat, nude dance parties, falling in love with people in Texas...I could go on and on...and I kinda did.

Something about the way we fought when I look back on it, that bizarre rush of adrenaline. In the middle of it you're terrified, desperate to prove you're right, shouting so loud because they just won't listen and you feel about 1% of yourself getting a kick out of it??? I didn't fight this way with other people. In fact I don't remember ever doing this in my whole life with a lover.

It became a subconscious cycle of getting along like best friends and then scenes from episodes of COPS (minus the punching). Something that I feel like in a way we were a little addicted to. Like we just wanted to have that feeling of relief after the fight...all the time. You just wanna batter each other to see if once you've burned and broken it all that you'll still be there bloody but smiling and ready to scab over.

Was all this really happening to us? Is that what our minds were really trying to get at? An hour or so of bliss? I can't tell you for sure because like most intense relationships this one seems like it almost didn't happen...like a dream.

The film Possession opens with Anna (Isabelle Adjani) deciding to leave her family for an unknown reason. Her husband Mark (Sam Neill) just quit his government job to spend more time with her and their son, Bob (Michael Hogben). Very quickly it's apparent Anna is in the middle of a nervous breakdown. Mark's mind follows once she moves out and reveals that she's been with another man (Heinrich played by Heinz Bennent) for years.

Out of desperation Mark hires a private detective to follow Anna only to find out that she's living alone in an apartment and is no longer seeing Heinrich. As Mark and Anna's mental states become increasingly unstable violence erupts between them and others and literally gives birth to something malignant and horrifying.

This is by far the best acting I've seen Sam Neill do and Isabelle Adjani (whom I'd only previously seen in the remake of Diabolique) does some of the craziest things I've seen on camera (see clip below). She won three different awards for the performance. The photography by Bruno Nuytten and Art Direction by Holger Gross are heavy on blue, yellow and grey and provide a cold, lonely atmosphere throughout the film. Writer-Director Andrzej Zulawski has crafted a beautiful, original horror film that plays more to the emotions and subconscious than it does to you. Watch it today with someone you love!!!

'POSSESSION' (miscarriage of sister « faith ») by udOnmk65j

Black Swan

Black Swan

Directed by Darren Aronofsky

I woke up early this morning slightly hung-over at a friends house sleeping on the mattress that they always reserve for guests. I was warm and dozed in and out of consciousness until about 9am when one of my friends was stroking my hair and telling me that my hand had healed well. I'd cut my right hand at a show about 2 weeks ago and probably should've gotten stitches but instead drank lots of beer that night and taped up my hand with packing tape and a paper towel. I used lots of Bacitracin and band-aids and it seemed to heal fast.

I woke up again to another good friend telling me that she needed a ride to work if it wasn't too much trouble. I got up, brushed my teeth, pissed and washed my face. We rode to work listening to Wang Chung and I was sad to see her walk out into the freezing cold. I got some breakfast at a dumb health food chain hot bar and drank coconut water and decided that I was going to go see Black Swan today.

I went thrift store shopping with a male colleague. He was really stoned when I picked him up and said he didn't wanna go to the movies so after finding out that the movie started at 5pm I dropped him off and picked up another friend who wanted to go see the movie.

We pissed and moaned through some mind-numbing commercials and bad "indie" trailers. I like Aronofsky. Pi, The Wrestler and The Fountain are three incredible films so I expected something good. I didn't even have to think about the lighting or the acting or the set design (which is what I usually do at the movies, unfortunately). I was immediately thrown into the story and stuck there until the last frame and was surprised when the credits started. What a brilliant fucking film.

It was shot on two Arri 16mm cameras (the Arriflex 16 SR3 and 416) and the Canon DSLR 5-D and 7-D cameras. I noticed the 5-D and 7-D shots, particularly in the subway scenes. It was nice to see those cameras blown up to a 35mm print on a big screen.

My friend and I sat transfixed for 108 minutes as someone's baby cried and yelped at random intervals throughout the film. Natalie Portman's performance was incredible. Her ability to appear both absolutely fragile and murderous was amazing. All the acting from the cast was perfect, not one miffed line, especially from Mila Kunis and Barbara Hershey. I don't know what to say right now. The film is still with me. I don't want to give away anything from the film. You should go see it immediately...if you're into this kinda stuff, dude.

I have certainly had mental breakdowns in my life due to drug use in my younger years or malnutrition and I can certainly relate to that feeling (albeit not as extreme as Nina's) of being out on Pluto when you sadly see the rest of your world back on planet Earth and smiling and "you just need to relax" and "oh, you're too stressed, you need some rest", "why don't you just take it easy, everything will work out". But it doesn't and no one can fix how you see the world except for you. Since I've grown and taken more responsibility in my life I've learned to avoid the things that make me lose it and have felt happy and good for years now. But as cheesy as it sounds, that Black Swan is always with you, everytime you stumble into the bathroom drunk or forget to use a condom or take one more shift even though you need to sleep or drive drunk or stay up writing all night when you need to work at 6 in the morning.

"Art is war and life is meaningless without it."

I hate Christ-mas...so I watch these!

Every year after Halloween (or whenever they decide to start hyping Xmas, seems sooner every year) I get depressed. Not a serious drunkard depression but more like an emotional sigh.

"HHHHuuuuuhhh...Christmas is coming."

I understand why human beings find it necessary to have holidays in the winter. If we didn't it would be even more depressing than it already is, trust me...there would be way more suicides without them.

Thanksgiving is gross but I can tolerate it. This year I watched "Carnal Knowledge" with one of my best friends and ate a lot of amazing Greek food at his parents house. We got hammered and went for a drive whilst smoking cigars. I put on Huey Lewis' Sports and we cruised the streets of the shopping mall that is Marietta.

Christmas is only 11 days away and I feel so icky. Creeped out. The aesthetics of Christmas alone are totally repellent to me. I CAN NOT stand the music (my mom used to subject my sister and I to Manheim Steamroller's "Christmas") or the majority of Xmas inspired artwork that's around. I get grossed out by the "aw shucks" feel of the whole month of December.

"Wow, what a fucking whiner this guy is."

Yes, you are correct, I am whining. BUT one of the newly found things I now enjoy about Xmas (besides not working and smoking a lot of pot around the holidays) are the MOVIES! Not "Miracle on 34th St." or "It's A Wonderful Life" or any positive portrayal of Xmas. No...A nice little collection of the only films I can tolerate during these few weeks.

These films make me feel better about the whole affair. Something nice to remind me that for every forced smile and shopping mall sale there's also people who dress up like Santa and go on killing sprees. Mind you I don't enjoy the idea of actual murder, I just like balance, that's all. So without wasting anymore space here are some truly GREAT (and fun) Christmas films to watch.

1. Christmas Evil (Lewis Jackson)

2. Gremlins (Joe Dante)

3. Die Hard (John McTiernan)

4. Silent Night, Deadly Night (Charles E. Sellier Jr.)
5. Bad Santa (Terry Zwigoff)
6. Black Christmas (Bob Clark)
7. Child's Play (Tom Holland)
8. Night Train Murders (Aldo Lado)
9. Rambo: First Blood (Ted Kotcheff)
10. Lethal Weapon (Richard Donner)
11. The Ref (Ted Demme)

12. The Ice Storm (Ang Lee)

13. Less Than Zero (Marek Kanievska)

Cutter's Way

Cutter's Way
Directed by Ivan Passer
Starring Jeff Bridges, John Heard and Lisa Eichhorn

I watched this movie on-demand at a friends house after we'd been out partying all night. My friend was passed out on the couch. I didn't know what to expect from the film. I'd only seen the name listed in a few film director's top ten lists and knew nothing about the plot.

The score by Jack Nitzsche grabbed me immediately. This man has pulled at my heart on several occasions. I can think of two films (Stand By Me, Starman) whose music brought me to tears and haunted me for days afterwards, both scored by Jack Nitzsche of course. It didn't help that that late evening/early morning I was feeling particularly depressed and aimless about my life, the product of too much alcohol and coffee in one day.

The fact that Mr. Nitzsche led a drunken and depressed life wasn't making his music sound any happier to me. I imagined myself laying in the shower at 45, bald, drunk, overweight and alone crying about some faceless person whom I'll miss in the future because I was too insecure or anxious to hold on to them. This was all happening in just the opening credits!

I saw that Jordan Cronenweth (Blade Runner, Rolling Thunder) was the photographer on the film so I knew there'd be lots of beautiful, natural light and indoor scenes only lit by houselamps.

The film's plot is very simple. Richard Bone (Jeff Bridges) lives in a house with Alex Cutter (John Heard), a drunken, disabled Vietnam veteran and his wife Mo, who is also a drunk. The three of them seem to have a dynamic but ultimately good time with each other and despite their bizarre behavior towards one another you can see deep down that they love and trust each other.

One rainy night Ricard Bone's car breaks down in an alleyway where he sees what appears to be a man dumping a body into the garbage. The man gets into a large car and drives away. Richard tries to brush it off as nothing but is forced to face the situation when a young woman's dead body is found the next morning near his abandoned car in the alley.

The Police take Richard in for questioning and name him as a suspect in the murder. He's released that day but told he'll be watched by local police as the investigation continues. He meets up with his friends Alex and Mo to watch a local parade and as they're talking about the case he sees local tycoon J.J. Cord ride by on a horse. Richard realizes that Cord was the man he saw dumping the body in the alley.

This is essentially where the real film begins and as the mystery unfolds what an amazing, drunken ride it takes you on with one of the most unbelievable, hard-hitting endings I have ever seen. It may sound cheezy but it's like the feeling you get at the end of a great, chaotic symphony or hardcore record. It builds and builds toward the final song/scene and you're thinking to yourself "This better fucking pay off!" and then it gives you the best feeling punch in the face you've ever had (which you didn't think was possible) and ends abruptly leaving you dazed and slightly confused about what you just went through.

I drifted off not feeling so bad about getting drunk and seeing that like the characters in the film and Jack Nitzsche, drunks can achieve incredible things and experience wonderful highs that most sober people can't get to! Hah hah!

I stopped drinking for the last three months and then broke it by getting drunk on my 30th birthday, I had a fucking blast.

Then I drank a bunch of Modelo's two nights ago and woke up feeling like that old, overweight, bald man. Shit.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Directed by Edgar Wright

I recently went out of town to visit a really good friend. I drove 4 hours, visited my sister in Charlotte and then drove the other 9 up to Philly the next day. I arrived with a serious case of "highway hypnosis" and a bit jittery from all the caffeine I'd consumed.

I called her...no answer. I was parked illegally in South Philly and a wave of anxiety washed over me. Called her a few more times and no answer. I started to worry that something bad had happened to her, I imagined her on her beachcomber bike getting demolished by some cab driver. In vivid detail I could see her laying in a stretcher with some of her teeth knocked out and bloody as hell. Ugh.

She called me and immediatley I ran down the block to where she was not bothering to re-park my car. She opened the door and we grabbed each other and kissed for a long time. Something I'd wanted to do to her for a year.

We spent a lot of time only with each other. I felt a serious rush of energy around her, some good, some bad. What the hell was I doing?

I couldn't answer the question. I was just so glad to be there and see her.

One night we went to the movies in Upper Darby to the 69th St Theatre. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was playing. I'll watch anything Edgar Wright does. I think that man is a genius. He's like an ADD John Landis, filling an insane amount of references and genre points into one tight, little comedy.

This film was awesome. If you grew up in the the 80's or 90's playing video games, watching TV and reading comic books (which I did) I think you'll get a serious kick out of it. The comic book paneling and super quick editing was easier for me to follow than most films, maybe because I have ADD.

The characters to some degree were a little flat (with the exception of Scott and Ramona) but it's a comedy based on a comic book! What do you expect? If you're looking for serious depth in a comic book movie go watch The Dark Knight or A History of Violence. The fight scenes were excellent and the choreography by Brad Allan and Peng Zhang looked straight out of Hong Kong action cinema.

The dialog and joke timing were perfect (and after seeing the film a second time last night I laughed just as hard). It was also fun to see some of the crappy, annoying things musicians have to deal with put up on the big screen and be able to laugh at it.

The romance in the film made me feel a bit sad that my trip would have to end at some point. I'd kick back home with my tail between my legs and throw myself into work and a new project. After drinking too much soda the film ended and we went out to the parking lot and made out for a long time while an Emerson, Lake and Palmer song played on my radio.

Rolling Thunder (1977)

Rolling Thunder (1977)

Directed by John Flynn

Written by Paul Schrader and Heywood Gould

I recently aquired a dusty old copy of Rolling Thunder on VHS (Vestron Video's uncut 99min. release) from ebay. This has become my favorite film over the last few months and seeing as it isn't on DVD or Blu-Ray in the states (a Region 2 DVD was released in Spain) I figured I'd like to tell people about it.

The basic plot is this: Major Charles Rane (William Devane) comes home to San Antonio after living in a POW camp for 7 years during the Vietnam war. He is seen as a local hero and awarded a brand new Cadillac and 2555 silver dollars on live television. His wife, however, is planning on divorcing him and marrying Cliff, a local police officer, and his son, Mark, barely remembers him at all.

He is angry yet resolved at his wife's request for divorce but doesn't want her to drive a wedge between him and his son.

Unfortunately a permanent wedge is put in place by good ol' fate soon enough when a gang of local thugs show up at his home demanding the 2555 silver dollars. They ask him where the money is but Charles keeps his mouth shut. They torture him for a bit but seeing as his life has just consisted of daily torture for 7 years he could give a flying Tejas shit what they do to him. They eventually put his right hand in the garbage disposal and grind it off but to no avail...he won't talk. His son and wife arrive home shortly and are thrown on the couch and asked where the money is. His son, not wanting anyone else to get hurt, shows them. The gang then murders his wife and son and shoots him in the stomach leaving everyone for dead.

The remainder of the film is an amazing roller coaster ride of violence, confusion and love under the strangest of circumstances as Charles exacts his revenge on each and every one of the gangsters. He has a plan and wants to follow it to the bitter end no matter what emotional or personal problems step in his way.

Something about using violence "for the right reasons" has always fascinated me. The idea that a seemingly normal person can go to war under the purpose or illusion that they are fighting for their country or loved ones and commit acts of murder is confusing and complex. All it takes usually for a normal person to turn into a murderer is the right circumstances. Most people would never kill another human, but if you were to say, have a close family member killed in front of you in cold blood what would you do? Would you go after the assailants to kill them? Most people I know have always said that they would, myself included. Completely normal folks willing to turn into monsters under certain conditions. Of course there are always those that have an easier time flipping the switch and some no trouble at all.

I don't know why exactly I'm so obsessed with this film. There's something so realistic about the entire thing. It doesn't have a bit of flashy bullshit to it. It's like a really great punk record, simple, to the point, powerful and filled with the pain and hate of a lousy modern (at the time) life. The dialog is written so well you almost don't even notice it. You just feel like you're hanging out with these folks for a while and then before you know it WOOPS! things get ugly, but too late, you're already wrapped up as hell in the story. You can certainly tell that this movie didn't have a big budget but it's made up for in amazing lighting, incredible acting (especially on the part of William Devane) and great writing. The only three things, I really believe, you need to tell a good story.

Paul Schrader wrote this not long after Taxi Driver and a lot of the same sort of messages come through. Rolling Thunder and Taxi Driver are almost companion pieces to each other, sequels only by theme. I've watched this movie probably about 5 times now and plan on watching it a lot more. Everytime I see it I notice something different going on.

If you have an hour and a half and you're in the mood to watch something dark and thrilling I HIGHLY recommend this film. You can rent the uncut VHS in Atlanta from VIDEODROME (617 N Highland Avenue NE Atlanta, GA 30306) or if you know me come by and watch it at my house!

See the trailer here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hd4dW6sbplA&feature=related