Sometimes a Cigar is Just a Cigar - Sigmund Freud
The New York Times is reporting that a physicians group is opposed to the constant smoking of General Thunderbolt Ross, played by William Hurt, in The Incredible Hulk. I have a problem with their objections: he's smoking cigars. Here's the story: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/16/business/media/16smoke.html
The Times writer, being not an idiot, has this to say: "Presumably, the physicians’ association worries that children who identify with the authoritarian general — who wants to annihilate the Hulk, played by Edward Norton — may be tempted to pick up the habit."
I'll forgo that subtlety and say this: Anyone who worries that children or young adults will take up smoking CIGARS because the villain in a new movie smokes them is a complete an utter idiot. "Look mommy! The aging 80s sex symbol is smoking a giant smelly turd while he tries to annihilate my hero! Can I have one too?"
I must confess, I'm a bit ambivalent on the subject of rating movies R because of cigarette smoking. On the one hand, Hollywood smoking does probably encourage kids to smart smoking, undoubtedly to the great pleasure of evil, cigar chomping tobacco execs. On the other hand, smoking looks cool on film and is perfectly legal for adults, and making it unviewable on film for anyone under the age of 17 seems kinda stupid. I mean, should we retroactively rate Casablanca R?
But that's all besides the point. Evil authoritarian Generals who smoke cigars while attempting to murder popular comic book heroes will undoubtedly reduce cigar smoking in the under-18 set. Certainly, there will always be Hollywood villains whose behavior is attractive to kids. But "Thunderbolt Ross" isn't that kind of villain. And if America's doctors think that he is, well, maybe the U.S. health care crisis is worse than I could have ever imagined.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Western Star of the Week #1: Jimmy Stewart
Star: Jimmy Stewart
Type: Hero (?)
Height: Really, Really Tall
Era: Classical Hollywood
Politics: Conservative (get used to it...)
Go-to Director: Anthony Mann
AFI Male Star Ranking: #3
Historical Importance: High
Jimmy Stewart is best remembered by the public for his frequent collaborations with Frank Capra and Alfred Hitchcock. Early in his career, he was the perfect Capracorn player: earnest and All-American. Later, he was perfectly suited for Hitchcock: a serious, reserved actor who could harbor surprising psychological depth. In between, he did his very best work: Westerns.
In 1939, John Ford reinvented the Western with Stagecoach, singlehandedly taking it from a super-popular B movie genre to a serious, nuanced genre worthy of big budgets and critical acclaim. Ten years later, Ford and his star, John Wayne, were going strong, making great movies that made great money, but their movies hadn't changed much since Stagecoach, and innovation was going to have to come from somewhere else.
That somewhere else was from Anthony Mann and his newly-minted Western star, Stewart. Anthony Mann more or less invented the so-called "psychological" Western, and Stewart was the perfect man to play the leads. The Stewart-Mann hero was an untrustworthy hero, a hero whose morals might be questionable, a hero who rode tall in the saddle and saved damsels in distress, but who nevertheless might just get pushed to the breaking point and do something he might regret. And even if he kept his heroism about him, you always knew that he would face terrible psychological hardship or even outright torture.
Together, Anthony Mann and Jimmy Stewart rewrote the Western genre in the 50s. They were indirectly responsible for a film like The Searchers, in which Ford and Wayne borrowed their questionable hero of deep psychological complexity. To today's audience, Stewart's heroes can look a little less questionable; the Eastwood anti-hero has made his heroes look like boy scouts. But even if their behavior never shocks you, watch these films and be shocked by the depths that Stewart plumbs.
Recommendations:
1. Winchester '73 (1950)
Dir. Anthony Mann
My clear favorite of the Mann-Stewart collaborations, and maybe my favorite Western of all-time. Winchester '73 was revolutionary in its time, introducing the new Stewart persona, but it stands up against the best Westerns. Stewart plays Lin McAdam, sharpshooter who wins a coveted rifle in a shooting contest with an enemy from his past, only to have the rifle stolen. The film follows his singleminded quest to retrieve the rifle, slowly unfolding his past conflicts and inner demons along the way.
2.The Man from Laramie (1955)
Dir. Anthony Mann
It's hard to choose between the other Stewart-Man collaborations, but I value this one for its Shakespearean scope and story of hidden motives and epic conflict. Again, Stewart is a man with a past whose motives are unknown. This time, his character is more tortured by the past but seems less likely to break psychologically. But the torture he endures from the past is mirrored in the physical torture he endures in the film; Stewart may do the best acting of his entire career as he's tortured by a spoiled ranch heir.
3. The Man who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
Dir. John Ford
With John Wayne, Lee Marvin
Stewart's final leading role in a major Western pairs him with John Wayne in John Ford's final masterpiece. Like most of Ford's films, Valence is a communitarian examination of America, and in this case Wayne and Stewart representing opposite American paths; Wayne represents heroic self-sufficiency while Stewart stands for the rule of law and a united community. Once again, there's more to Stewart's character than meets the eye, and once again he's brutally tortured on the way to single-mindedly achieving his goals. Another film frequently picked as the finest Western ever made.
More to Watch:
With Mann:
Bend of the River
The Naked Spur
The Far Country
Others:
Destry Rides Again
Night Passage
The Shootist
That somewhere else was from Anthony Mann and his newly-minted Western star, Stewart. Anthony Mann more or less invented the so-called "psychological" Western, and Stewart was the perfect man to play the leads. The Stewart-Mann hero was an untrustworthy hero, a hero whose morals might be questionable, a hero who rode tall in the saddle and saved damsels in distress, but who nevertheless might just get pushed to the breaking point and do something he might regret. And even if he kept his heroism about him, you always knew that he would face terrible psychological hardship or even outright torture.
Together, Anthony Mann and Jimmy Stewart rewrote the Western genre in the 50s. They were indirectly responsible for a film like The Searchers, in which Ford and Wayne borrowed their questionable hero of deep psychological complexity. To today's audience, Stewart's heroes can look a little less questionable; the Eastwood anti-hero has made his heroes look like boy scouts. But even if their behavior never shocks you, watch these films and be shocked by the depths that Stewart plumbs.
Recommendations:
1. Winchester '73 (1950)Dir. Anthony Mann
My clear favorite of the Mann-Stewart collaborations, and maybe my favorite Western of all-time. Winchester '73 was revolutionary in its time, introducing the new Stewart persona, but it stands up against the best Westerns. Stewart plays Lin McAdam, sharpshooter who wins a coveted rifle in a shooting contest with an enemy from his past, only to have the rifle stolen. The film follows his singleminded quest to retrieve the rifle, slowly unfolding his past conflicts and inner demons along the way.
2.The Man from Laramie (1955)Dir. Anthony Mann
It's hard to choose between the other Stewart-Man collaborations, but I value this one for its Shakespearean scope and story of hidden motives and epic conflict. Again, Stewart is a man with a past whose motives are unknown. This time, his character is more tortured by the past but seems less likely to break psychologically. But the torture he endures from the past is mirrored in the physical torture he endures in the film; Stewart may do the best acting of his entire career as he's tortured by a spoiled ranch heir.
3. The Man who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
Dir. John Ford
With John Wayne, Lee Marvin
Stewart's final leading role in a major Western pairs him with John Wayne in John Ford's final masterpiece. Like most of Ford's films, Valence is a communitarian examination of America, and in this case Wayne and Stewart representing opposite American paths; Wayne represents heroic self-sufficiency while Stewart stands for the rule of law and a united community. Once again, there's more to Stewart's character than meets the eye, and once again he's brutally tortured on the way to single-mindedly achieving his goals. Another film frequently picked as the finest Western ever made.
More to Watch:
With Mann:
Bend of the River
The Naked Spur
The Far Country
Others:
Destry Rides Again
Night Passage
The Shootist
Western Star of the Week: Intro
As I've mentioned before, the Western has a privileged place in both the history of film and my love of film. It was the dominant film genre for the first 70 or so years of Hollywood cinema, from the 1903 12-minute masterpiece The Great Train Robbery and the very first feature-length film, 1906's The Story of the Kelly Gang, up until the end of the 70s revisionist age and the films of Leone, Peckinpah, and Eastwood. So I've decided to start a weekly column: every Sunday, I'll highlight a different Western movie star. I'll talk about their Western persona, their best films, and their place in the history of the Western genre.
I'm going to mix it up a little on the first Sunday of every month; instead of a Western Star, I'll highlight a Tenderfoot - an actor not known for making Westerns, but who shone in a Western or two or three. And I'll play fair and try to make most of my tenderfeet from the 70s or earlier; sure, Russell Crowe has only made two Westerns, but that's two more than most of his contemporaries. He's no tenderfoot, is what I'm saying; he just happens to live in age where the Western is a novelty.
I'm going to start with my two personal favorite Western Stars, then move from there to the Duke. After that, I'm gonna go as long as I still have stars to talk about. I hope you come along for the ride. See you tomorrow!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Movies That Potentially Have a Better Cast than Batman Begins
This is something I've been pondering for some time, after watching Batman Begins on FX some time last year and wondering: has any movie ever had a better cast than this? The answer, as near as I can tell, is no. As you all know, Christian Bale is as beloved by me as any other actor. I have at times proclaimed Michael Caine the greatest actor who ever lived. I salivate at the sight of Liam Neeson, who is perfectly suited to his mysterious, regal role. Cillian Murphy is deliciously sinister, Gary Oldman is reliably chameleonic, Tom Wilkinson exudes old-school gangster menace, Morgan Freeman combines with Caine to give this movie more class than any Merchant-Ivory pic, Rutger Hauer's corporate steward is as glib and smarmy as any cinematic corporate snake ever, and Ken Watanabe is given almost nothing to do as classic Batvillain Ras al Ghul, but does that nothing with menace and relish. As will be the case with some of the potential challengers, the only weak spot is the one woman of any note: Katie Holmes has never been able to act and makes that quite clear in all of her scenes. But outside of that blemish, Batman Begins has everything you could ask for. It succeeds in a number of areas:
1.Great Acting: Obviously. All the acting is great. But this is only the first prerequisite to having a great cast.
2.Great Actors: With the exception of Holmes, who isn't good ever, every single one of these actors is known for excellence. This isn't mediocre actors stepping above their usual playing ground; this is people delivering what we expect for them. Val Kilmer and Kurt Russell are great in Tombstone, but they don't have a chance at getting best cast ever, because they usually suck.
3.Star Wattage: A corollary to #2 - every single one of the faces on display in Batman Begins are recognizable to any cinephile - save for maybe Gary Oldman's, as he is always completely unrecognizable (my wife still might not believe that the same actor plays Commissioner Gordon and Sirius Black). Nearly everybody does a great job in the Matrix, but besides Keanu Reeves (see Tombstone example), everyone else in the cast is either obscure or inconsistent.
For now, those'll be my three main factors: Acting, Actors, and Star Wattage. Recognizable, regularly great actors doing great work. And now, in chronological order, the films that I can think of which potentially might have better casts than Batman. Please, weigh in with your own thoughts. Do any of these stand up to Batman Begins? What other films deserve consideration? I'm open to ideas.
Movies that Potentially Have a Better Cast than Batman Begins (Chronologically):
1932 - Grand Hotel
Disclaimer: I haven't seen Grand Hotel, so I can't rate the actual acting on display. But by all accounts the acting is great, and there's no denying the quality or star power of the cast in question: Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery, Lionel Barrymore, and John Barrymore. Damn. Probably the finest assemblage of talent in the early sound era of Hollywood.
1940 - The Philadelphia Story
The cast of the Philadelphia Story is not deep like Batman Begins. Frankly, I'm pretty much unfamiliar with everyone billed fourth or further down in this picture. But that big three...Jimmie Stewart (#3 on AFI's list of greatest male stars of all time) won an Oscar as a failed poet-turned-journalist. Cary Grant (#2) is his romantic ally/enemy in the love triangle, providing a suave, refined contrast to Stewart's plain-spoken man of the people. But the star of the show: declared box office poison in the late 30s, Katherine Hepburn (#1 on the ladies' list) had her favorite playwright write The Philadelphia Story so she could lick her wounds on Broadway, then stormed the box office with this film adaptation. She was never better.
1951 - The African Queen
Katherine Hepburn - again. And this time she's with the AFI's male #1 star, Humphrey Bogart. Actually, I prefer Stewart and Grant to Bogart, and Queen only goes two deep in terms of stars - but it only goes two deep period. Unlike The Philadelphia Story, the African Queen has virtually two roles. Which means it's all Hepburn, all Bogey, all the time. Hope you can take it.
1962 - Lawrence of Arabia
It's hard to choose between the three David Lean epics from this period. The Bridge on the River Kwai is the only one of those three to have William Holden, but otherwise loses out cast-wise. Choosing Lawrence over Doctor Zhivago basically amounts to choosing Peter O'Toole over Julie Christie. I'll probably regret it tomorrow...
In addition to O'Toole's best role as the monomaniacal cavalryman T.E. Lawrence, this movie features great work by Alec Guinness (another candidate for my favorite actor ever), Omar Sharif, Claude Rains, Jack Hawkins, and Anthony Quinn. That's hard to beat. Even excluding O'Toole's record 8 Oscar noms and lifetime achievement Oscar win, this group boasts nine more Oscar nominations, three wins, and another lifetime achievement award for Guinness.
1972/1974 The Godfather/The Godfather Pt 2
For once, the weak link in a massive, male dominated cast isn't a lady. Sure, Talia Shire is annoying, but she does a great job at being annoying. Diane Keaton also weighs in with one of her better performances. No, the weak link here is James Caan, who's a crummy actor and at best only ok in The Godfather. Pacino in his prime is simply mesmerizing; his underplaying makes every scene compelling. John Cazale is the perfect weakling contrast to Pacino's understated menace, and Robert Duvall brings a quiet gravitas to his role - the only player who matches Pacino for subtlety. The only question is which film to choose. Personally, I prefer fat Brando to Brando in his prime, but DeNiro in his prime is every bit as compelling as Pacino, and trumps even Godfather-era Brando. Throw in the fact that the second film is mercifully light on James Caan, and it's definitely my choice for better cast. You're welcome to disagree.
1994 - Pulp Fiction
I'm a big fan of the cast of Reservoir Dogs, but Pulp Fiction has pretty much that cast, plus added awesomeness. Take the Dogs' crew of Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, and Steve Buscemi, then add to it Bruce Willis, the underrated John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Ving Rhames, Amanda Plummer, and Christopher Walken, and you've got something cooking there. Seriously, when Travolta's on, there's nobody like him. He's just not exactly always on...
1996 - Hamlet
Hamlet represents the opposite extreme from The African Queen; it is the deepest film on this list. And for the most part, it offers up great actors giving great performances: Derek Jacobi, Julie Christie (welcome back to the list!), Kenneth Branagh, Brian Blessed, Richard Attenborough, Judy Dench, Timothy Spall, Rufus Sewell, John Gielguld, Rosemary Harris, and Gerard Depardieu. Plus, there are great performances by inconsistent actors such as Charlton Heston and Billy Crystal. This seems to make Hamlet a lock. But Kate Winslet's Ophelia is bad, Jack Lemmon's brief role as a guard is real bad, and Robin Williams' Osric makes me want to claw my eyes out. On the other hand, no other film ever made has such good performances from so many renowned performers.
2001 - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the King
Another giant ensemble that delivers, even if, once again, a high profile female actor sucks every second she's onscreen: oh Liv Tyler. Of course, maybe it's an elf thing, because her film dad, Hugo Weaving, doesn't deliver the goods, and the wood-elf Legolas is played by perpetually wooden crapbringer Orlando Bloom. But this film is anchored by three fantastic performances from Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, and a Elijah Wood. Amazing character work from Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Sean "Rudy" Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, and a pair of newcomers named Billy Boyd and Dominic "Lost" Monaghan make this cast nigh invulnerable.
2003 - X2
Halle Berry has won an Academy Award. I haven't personally seen the movie in question, but I don't buy it. She sucks. So, once again, the highest profile woman proves to be a serious cast problem. But once you get past that...
The Royal Shakespeare Company lends three of its most talented alumni to this film: Patrick Stewart, OBE, Brian Cox, CBE, and Sir Ian McKellan, CBE. Three of the finest living Shakespearean actors (maybe the three finest, depending on how much you like Derek Jacobi and Kenneth Branagh), with Stewart and McKellan playing the finest roles of their film careers, and Cox kicking ass like he always does. But the younger generation is also fantastic. Hugh Jackman and James Marsden were newcomers when they were handed big X-roles, but they made them count, and went on to prove their worth in films like The Prestige and Superman Returns. Alan Cumming adds even more Shakespeare cred, and Anna Paquin and Famke Janssen give solid performances.
Alrighty. That's what I got. Any thoughts?
1.Great Acting: Obviously. All the acting is great. But this is only the first prerequisite to having a great cast.
2.Great Actors: With the exception of Holmes, who isn't good ever, every single one of these actors is known for excellence. This isn't mediocre actors stepping above their usual playing ground; this is people delivering what we expect for them. Val Kilmer and Kurt Russell are great in Tombstone, but they don't have a chance at getting best cast ever, because they usually suck.
3.Star Wattage: A corollary to #2 - every single one of the faces on display in Batman Begins are recognizable to any cinephile - save for maybe Gary Oldman's, as he is always completely unrecognizable (my wife still might not believe that the same actor plays Commissioner Gordon and Sirius Black). Nearly everybody does a great job in the Matrix, but besides Keanu Reeves (see Tombstone example), everyone else in the cast is either obscure or inconsistent.
For now, those'll be my three main factors: Acting, Actors, and Star Wattage. Recognizable, regularly great actors doing great work. And now, in chronological order, the films that I can think of which potentially might have better casts than Batman. Please, weigh in with your own thoughts. Do any of these stand up to Batman Begins? What other films deserve consideration? I'm open to ideas.
Movies that Potentially Have a Better Cast than Batman Begins (Chronologically):
1932 - Grand Hotel
Disclaimer: I haven't seen Grand Hotel, so I can't rate the actual acting on display. But by all accounts the acting is great, and there's no denying the quality or star power of the cast in question: Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery, Lionel Barrymore, and John Barrymore. Damn. Probably the finest assemblage of talent in the early sound era of Hollywood.
1940 - The Philadelphia Story
The cast of the Philadelphia Story is not deep like Batman Begins. Frankly, I'm pretty much unfamiliar with everyone billed fourth or further down in this picture. But that big three...Jimmie Stewart (#3 on AFI's list of greatest male stars of all time) won an Oscar as a failed poet-turned-journalist. Cary Grant (#2) is his romantic ally/enemy in the love triangle, providing a suave, refined contrast to Stewart's plain-spoken man of the people. But the star of the show: declared box office poison in the late 30s, Katherine Hepburn (#1 on the ladies' list) had her favorite playwright write The Philadelphia Story so she could lick her wounds on Broadway, then stormed the box office with this film adaptation. She was never better.
1951 - The African Queen
Katherine Hepburn - again. And this time she's with the AFI's male #1 star, Humphrey Bogart. Actually, I prefer Stewart and Grant to Bogart, and Queen only goes two deep in terms of stars - but it only goes two deep period. Unlike The Philadelphia Story, the African Queen has virtually two roles. Which means it's all Hepburn, all Bogey, all the time. Hope you can take it.
1962 - Lawrence of Arabia
It's hard to choose between the three David Lean epics from this period. The Bridge on the River Kwai is the only one of those three to have William Holden, but otherwise loses out cast-wise. Choosing Lawrence over Doctor Zhivago basically amounts to choosing Peter O'Toole over Julie Christie. I'll probably regret it tomorrow...
In addition to O'Toole's best role as the monomaniacal cavalryman T.E. Lawrence, this movie features great work by Alec Guinness (another candidate for my favorite actor ever), Omar Sharif, Claude Rains, Jack Hawkins, and Anthony Quinn. That's hard to beat. Even excluding O'Toole's record 8 Oscar noms and lifetime achievement Oscar win, this group boasts nine more Oscar nominations, three wins, and another lifetime achievement award for Guinness.
1972/1974 The Godfather/The Godfather Pt 2
For once, the weak link in a massive, male dominated cast isn't a lady. Sure, Talia Shire is annoying, but she does a great job at being annoying. Diane Keaton also weighs in with one of her better performances. No, the weak link here is James Caan, who's a crummy actor and at best only ok in The Godfather. Pacino in his prime is simply mesmerizing; his underplaying makes every scene compelling. John Cazale is the perfect weakling contrast to Pacino's understated menace, and Robert Duvall brings a quiet gravitas to his role - the only player who matches Pacino for subtlety. The only question is which film to choose. Personally, I prefer fat Brando to Brando in his prime, but DeNiro in his prime is every bit as compelling as Pacino, and trumps even Godfather-era Brando. Throw in the fact that the second film is mercifully light on James Caan, and it's definitely my choice for better cast. You're welcome to disagree.
1994 - Pulp Fiction
I'm a big fan of the cast of Reservoir Dogs, but Pulp Fiction has pretty much that cast, plus added awesomeness. Take the Dogs' crew of Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, and Steve Buscemi, then add to it Bruce Willis, the underrated John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Ving Rhames, Amanda Plummer, and Christopher Walken, and you've got something cooking there. Seriously, when Travolta's on, there's nobody like him. He's just not exactly always on...
1996 - Hamlet
Hamlet represents the opposite extreme from The African Queen; it is the deepest film on this list. And for the most part, it offers up great actors giving great performances: Derek Jacobi, Julie Christie (welcome back to the list!), Kenneth Branagh, Brian Blessed, Richard Attenborough, Judy Dench, Timothy Spall, Rufus Sewell, John Gielguld, Rosemary Harris, and Gerard Depardieu. Plus, there are great performances by inconsistent actors such as Charlton Heston and Billy Crystal. This seems to make Hamlet a lock. But Kate Winslet's Ophelia is bad, Jack Lemmon's brief role as a guard is real bad, and Robin Williams' Osric makes me want to claw my eyes out. On the other hand, no other film ever made has such good performances from so many renowned performers.
2001 - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the King
Another giant ensemble that delivers, even if, once again, a high profile female actor sucks every second she's onscreen: oh Liv Tyler. Of course, maybe it's an elf thing, because her film dad, Hugo Weaving, doesn't deliver the goods, and the wood-elf Legolas is played by perpetually wooden crapbringer Orlando Bloom. But this film is anchored by three fantastic performances from Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, and a Elijah Wood. Amazing character work from Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Sean "Rudy" Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, and a pair of newcomers named Billy Boyd and Dominic "Lost" Monaghan make this cast nigh invulnerable.
2003 - X2
Halle Berry has won an Academy Award. I haven't personally seen the movie in question, but I don't buy it. She sucks. So, once again, the highest profile woman proves to be a serious cast problem. But once you get past that...
The Royal Shakespeare Company lends three of its most talented alumni to this film: Patrick Stewart, OBE, Brian Cox, CBE, and Sir Ian McKellan, CBE. Three of the finest living Shakespearean actors (maybe the three finest, depending on how much you like Derek Jacobi and Kenneth Branagh), with Stewart and McKellan playing the finest roles of their film careers, and Cox kicking ass like he always does. But the younger generation is also fantastic. Hugh Jackman and James Marsden were newcomers when they were handed big X-roles, but they made them count, and went on to prove their worth in films like The Prestige and Superman Returns. Alan Cumming adds even more Shakespeare cred, and Anna Paquin and Famke Janssen give solid performances.
Alrighty. That's what I got. Any thoughts?
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
The 5 Best Miyazaki Films
I saw a headline on slate.com a few weeks ago which asked the question: Is Murakami the Japanese Walt Disney? I didn't read the story, mostly because I wasn't interested in Takashi Murakami but also because I was annoyed by the Disney comparison. If Murakami is the Japanese Walt Disney, he's the third Japanese Walt Disney we've had. The first was Osamu Tezuka, a Japanese doctor who, not wanting to practice medicine, created a whole new art form: manga. All of manga and anime can trace their genesis back to the day that Tezuka, inspired by his animation hero Walt Disney, first put pen to paper.
The second of the three Japanese Walt Disneys is the more recent animation genius Hayao Miyazaki. Miyazaki may be the world's greatest living filmmaker (although, Godard is still kickin'). Miyazaki is certainly the world's greatest living animator (competition: John Lasseter and Matt Groening, with Brad Bird a competitor in training) and may be the greatest animator of all time. Since becoming a director in 1980, Miyazaki has directed only 9 feature-length films (with a 10th coming out this summer in Japan), but not a single one of them isn't excellent, and most are masterpieces. Of the 9 films he's made, only one has received less than 4/5 stars from allmovie.com, and that one, Castle of Cagliostro, is the only one not based on Miyazaki's original source material. Furthermore, Miyazaki has a giant advantage over his Japanese contemporaries: Disney has picked up each of his films for localization, which means that the films are as enjoyable dubbed as subbed, as they feature voice talent like: Patrick Stewart, Mark Hamill, Billy Bob Thornton, Christian Bale, Emily Mortimer, Lauren Bacall, Billy Crystal, Gillian Anderon, John DiMaggio, Anna Paquin, Shia Lebeouf, Dakota Fanning, Phil Hartman, etc.
Miyazaki is renowned for a number of reasons beyond his animation prowess. Each of his films are imbued with a sense of wonder at the workings of the worlds he has created, one that is simultaneously childlike and born of wise understanding of the working of things. From this sense of wonder comes one of Miyazaki's two most famous attributes: his appreciation for the environment. Almost every one of his films features a subtle or explicit message that humans affect the environment, and that science and progress must tread carefully in this area, or truly disastrous consequences await us all. His film's are also famous for their protagonists: every film features at least one, but usually several, powerful female figures, women and girls whose talent and strength of will overcomes that of the males around them, and who are as likely to be explorers, pirates, and generals as they are princesses or damsels in distress. On a lighter note, Miyazaki is also responsible for the creation of hundreds of fantastical creatures, which run the gamut from adorable and charming to outlandish and dangerous. But above all, as I started with, the Miyazaki name is synonymous with excellence in animation, with works of art that are simultaneously awe-inspiring, deeply wise, and beautiful to look at.
With that in mind, here are my top 5 (of only nine!) Miyazaki films, to be intertwined with Mrs. Moviesetal's top 5. If you haven't seen any of them, you're missing out on one of the three or four strands of great 20th Century animation (the others being, of course, Disney's two golden ages and Lasseter's Pixar.)
My #5: Castle in the Sky
Castle in the Sky is a fast-paced steampunk adventure that follows the adventures of a young boy, Pazu, searching for Laputa, a floating castle in the sky, with Sheeta, a girl being chased by air pirates and the military alike due to her mysterious connection to the legendary sky-city. It's probably the most action-packed of all of Miyazaki's films, filled as it is with a dazzling array of chases both on the ground and in the air. Steampunk and airship fetishists get a treat, as Miyazaki has outdone himself here by designing any number of creations which could probably never actually get off the ground but are a joy to behold, including some dragon-fly winged two-seat aircraft and a giant and fearsome air destroyer. Air pirates, evil military intelligence agents, a classic Miyazaki heroine and environmental message, and a beautiful, doomed steampunk robot from Laputa combine to make this film one of the most fun and moving experiences in the Miyazaki canon. It's also got a great deal of similarities to Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials series, so I'd recommend it for anyone who likes that trilogy.
Mrs.' #5: Princess Mononoke
While Princess Mononoke barely made the Top 5 on my list, I think it's a great Miyazaki movie to begin with for those unfamiliar with his work. It immediately introduces you to the important recurring themes listed in the introduction - particularly the conflict between human progress and the environment, and the conflict between races of people (or, perhaps better put, ways of living). The story is of the prince of a small village, Ashitaka, and his search to resolve the war and destruction caused by conflict between Irontown, a large human settlement, and its surrounding animals and animistic gods. The most touching character for me is San, a human girl raised by wolves, who meets Ashitaka and bridges the gap between mankind and nature. While Princess Mononoke is the most violent Miyazaki film, it is also one of the most loved - it was the highest grossing movie in Japan until Titanic.
My #4: My Neighbor Totoro
Miyazaki's 1998 film My Neighbor Totoro probably bears inclusion on this list simply because it includes Miyazaki's cutest creations: the Totoros, adorable hamster-shaped forest spirits that rule the forest in My Neighbor Totoro, and range in size from rabbit to Mack truck. The largely plotless film follows two young girls who have moved from the city back to the old family home in the country with their father. Their loving father is frequently absent for work, and their mother remains in the city in the hospital, adding poignancy to this tale, so the girls explore the surrounding countryside and find the adorable, friendly, but unpredictable Totoros living nearby. Adventures follow, some of them involving another classic Miyazaki creation: the Catbus, which is exactly what it sounds like. My Neighbor Totoro is Miyazaki's most charming film, and its the one most suited for audiences under, say, the age of four. But its simplicity is its strength, and even it is not without its thrills and chills as the young girls try to reintegrate themselves to a countryside that has grown unused to humans, and must be persuaded, not coerced, to accept them.
Mrs. #4: Laputa: Castle in the Sky
If you're looking for action, Castle in the Sky is your answer. The movie kicks off in the middle of a chase scene - as pirates board an airship, we watch a man signal SOS, then get knocked unconscious by a desperate young girl named Sheeta who can wield a bottle. But as the pirates break in and try to seize her, she falls from the ship - only to float harmlessly to the ground through the magic of a powerful crystal pendant. There, a boy named Pazu finds and cares for Sheeta. But Pazu and Sheeta have many adventures to come as two different groups of adults chase Sheeta to try to steal her necklace. Along the way, Sheeta and Pazu learn the true importance and power of the magical crystal, which relates to a magical floating island called Laputa. Ultimately, Sheeta must decide how best to care for Laputa and protect it from greedy and evil men.
My #3: Princess Mononoke
Like many Americans, Princess Mononoke was the first Miyazaki film I saw, seeing as it was the first to be released in US theaters by Disney, with a strong marketing campaign. As the Mrs. pointed out it was a giant hit in Japan, and although it made less than $3 million at the US Box Office, it raised awareness of Miyazaki in American and did better on video. When I first saw it, I didn't like it very much, but everything I disliked about it then are the exact things I love about all Miyazaki movies now. It's environmental message and moral ambiguity confused me; I was never certain how the characters stood in relation to each other, or why Miyazaki kept insisting on showing different aspects of every character, ensuring that there was so simple way to empathize with various characters. Everyone in Mononoke is implicated, in one way or the other, in the violence that is sweeping the land - and it is violent, as Hilary pointed out. It's the only Miyazaki film I can think of that shows blood. But the violence, like everything else in Miyazaki, is problematic, and raises more questions than it answers. The harshest and most adult of Miyazaki's films, Princess Mononoke implicates everyone in violence and the disordering of things, and offers only provisional answers to these problems.
Mrs. #3: Kiki's Delivery Service
In contrast to Laputa, Kiki's Delivery Service offers a lighthearted romp through Miyazaki's magical universe. Kiki is a young witch, who must spend a year on her own to come of age and learn how to harness her powers and spells. During her year alone, she moves to another town and earns a living through her only unique skill - her ability to fly on her broom. She meets many interesting people through her delivery service, and through it all she's accompanied by her cat friend Jiji, voiced by Phil Hartman, who gives her alternating advice and wry commentary until he develops a crush on the fancy white cat who lives on a neighboring balcony. While Kiki's Delivery Service forgoes most of the environmental commentary we've discussed as a major theme in Miyazaki's works, the love of steampunk inventions that my "better half" mentioned as a theme in Laputa are included in a few amusing anecdotes. For this film, Miyazaki focuses on whimsy and character development more than the gorgeous vistas and philosophical statements that are also integral components of his aesthetic.
My #2: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
The first film made by Miyazaki and his frequent collaborators after leaving the studios to go their own way (technically made before Studio Ghibli, their house studio, was founded), Nausicaa is the film that establishes every feature of Miyazaki's films that we've mentioned so far. In a post-apocalyptic world, humanity is threatened, living in the few small pockets not poisoned by the insect forests that now cover much of the globe. One particularly adventurous human is Nausicaa, the young princess of the idyllic Valley of the Wind, who regularly flies into the insect forest to gather materials and explore the parts of the planet that humanity no longer regularly reaches. In true Miyazaki fashion, Nausicaa soon meets a companion, Asbel, and the two are caught up in a vast web of political maneuvering, as rival countries seek to use fabulous steampunk airships to gain advantage over each other, and some even seek to harness the powers that lead to the apocalypse a thousand years prior. While still suitable for children, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind has more in common with Dune than any Disney fairy tale; it's an engrossing, tense, and action-packed film that offered us our first glimpse into Miyazaki's vision of the world. Commence airships, plucky young heroines, and environmental messages!
Mrs. #2: The Castle of Cagliostro
Made in 1979, The Castle of Cagliostro was Miyazaki's first full-length anime feature. It lacks some of the polish and grandeur of more recent works like Spirited Away or Nausicaa, but it's a captivating story filled with exciting plot twists and surprises. Lupin III, a character already established by the time Miyazaki cowrote and produced this movie, is a young thief learning his trade in some of the richest areas of Europe. Unfortunately, he's not that successful yet - the movie opens with the revelation that Lupin's first major heist nets him only counterfeit bills. As Lupin tries to track down the source of the "goat bills" and find a more lucrative theft target, his travels take him to the Duchy of Cagliostro, where he meets a damsel in distress, a damsel most definitely not in distress, and many other interesting characters. The Castle of Cagliostro is so fun, you'll want to watch the other Lupin III movies -- but if you're like me, you probably won't ever get around to it, since they weren't made by Miyazaki.
My #1: Spirited Away
Spirited Away was the second Miyazaki feature that I saw; not coincidentally, it was the second Miyazaki movie that Disney brought to American theaters with a marketing campaign, this time getting $10.5 million dollars for their efforts. But I don't want to be concerned with such crass things, not right now.
I saw Spirited Away in the Varsity Theater in Chapel Hill, on my very first visit to Chapel Hill. Although I have been to the Varsity many times since then, my fondest memory remains the day that I wandered into Miyazaki's world and got stuck there. Spirited Away is probably the least plot-driven of Miyazaki's other films, and certainly the least violent of any of his more mature films. But that doesn't mean it's not unsettling. The film follows Chihiro, a little girl moving to a new town whose parents, taking a short cut, wind up gorging themselves at a deserted fairgrounds. Soon Chihiro's parents are pigs, under the influence of a spell, and Chihiro herself is transported to a different world, a world of magic and wonder, a world of potential malevolence and enslavement, and above all a world containing Miyazaki's most profoundly inspired fantastical creations. Nothing is as it seems in the new world Chihiro finds herself in; she seems to have allies and enemies, but who is which is not clear, and transformation spells mean that different people assume different shapes. In the world of Spirited Away, Miyazaki has created his most mature fantasy to date, the world that all children dream of, the like of which we saw in Pan's Labyrinth as well. It's a beautiful, mesmerizing, hypnotic world, full of all of the things that we dream of - including those terrors we'd rather forget. After seeing it, I was forever under its - and Miyazaki's - spell.
A final note: The best costume I have yet seen on Franklin St, on Chapel Hill's annual Halloween festival, is No-face from Spirited Away. Keep a keen eye out this October.
Mrs. #1: My Neighbor Totoro
While my Mr. has pointed out that Totoro is the Miyazaki creation best suited to those who, say, aren't yet potty trained, for me it's the most easily beloved for adults as well. The story encapsulates emotions that everyone can relate to -- uncertainty, family love, exploration and friendship, to name a few. That, paired with some of the most charming creatures ever imagined, makes Totoro a film that viewers of any age can not only appreciate, but instantly adore. One look at the poster image for the movie should sell those still on the fence - it shows a schoolgirl, standing at the bus stop braced against the night rain. Next to her is a giant hamster/owl/cat, with a tiny leaf on its head to shelter it from the downpour. The girl and Totoro both face forward, hardly acknowledging each other's presence. I don't know how much this all means to someone who hasn't seen the movie, but to someone who has it conjures up the hilarious and poignant scenes, most of which are silent, of a small child befriending a silly and magical forest creature. At a time when her father is at work and her mother is far away in the hospital, Totoro is a welcome friend in a world of lonely and often scary uncertainties. And really, don't we all wish we had a giant fuzzy friend that followed us around lending its support at all times, even in the rain?
Well, that wraps it up for the both of us. Let us know which ones you prefer! If you haven't seen any, go rent them (use my list, not Hilary's...)
The second of the three Japanese Walt Disneys is the more recent animation genius Hayao Miyazaki. Miyazaki may be the world's greatest living filmmaker (although, Godard is still kickin'). Miyazaki is certainly the world's greatest living animator (competition: John Lasseter and Matt Groening, with Brad Bird a competitor in training) and may be the greatest animator of all time. Since becoming a director in 1980, Miyazaki has directed only 9 feature-length films (with a 10th coming out this summer in Japan), but not a single one of them isn't excellent, and most are masterpieces. Of the 9 films he's made, only one has received less than 4/5 stars from allmovie.com, and that one, Castle of Cagliostro, is the only one not based on Miyazaki's original source material. Furthermore, Miyazaki has a giant advantage over his Japanese contemporaries: Disney has picked up each of his films for localization, which means that the films are as enjoyable dubbed as subbed, as they feature voice talent like: Patrick Stewart, Mark Hamill, Billy Bob Thornton, Christian Bale, Emily Mortimer, Lauren Bacall, Billy Crystal, Gillian Anderon, John DiMaggio, Anna Paquin, Shia Lebeouf, Dakota Fanning, Phil Hartman, etc.
Miyazaki is renowned for a number of reasons beyond his animation prowess. Each of his films are imbued with a sense of wonder at the workings of the worlds he has created, one that is simultaneously childlike and born of wise understanding of the working of things. From this sense of wonder comes one of Miyazaki's two most famous attributes: his appreciation for the environment. Almost every one of his films features a subtle or explicit message that humans affect the environment, and that science and progress must tread carefully in this area, or truly disastrous consequences await us all. His film's are also famous for their protagonists: every film features at least one, but usually several, powerful female figures, women and girls whose talent and strength of will overcomes that of the males around them, and who are as likely to be explorers, pirates, and generals as they are princesses or damsels in distress. On a lighter note, Miyazaki is also responsible for the creation of hundreds of fantastical creatures, which run the gamut from adorable and charming to outlandish and dangerous. But above all, as I started with, the Miyazaki name is synonymous with excellence in animation, with works of art that are simultaneously awe-inspiring, deeply wise, and beautiful to look at.
With that in mind, here are my top 5 (of only nine!) Miyazaki films, to be intertwined with Mrs. Moviesetal's top 5. If you haven't seen any of them, you're missing out on one of the three or four strands of great 20th Century animation (the others being, of course, Disney's two golden ages and Lasseter's Pixar.)
My #5: Castle in the Sky
Castle in the Sky is a fast-paced steampunk adventure that follows the adventures of a young boy, Pazu, searching for Laputa, a floating castle in the sky, with Sheeta, a girl being chased by air pirates and the military alike due to her mysterious connection to the legendary sky-city. It's probably the most action-packed of all of Miyazaki's films, filled as it is with a dazzling array of chases both on the ground and in the air. Steampunk and airship fetishists get a treat, as Miyazaki has outdone himself here by designing any number of creations which could probably never actually get off the ground but are a joy to behold, including some dragon-fly winged two-seat aircraft and a giant and fearsome air destroyer. Air pirates, evil military intelligence agents, a classic Miyazaki heroine and environmental message, and a beautiful, doomed steampunk robot from Laputa combine to make this film one of the most fun and moving experiences in the Miyazaki canon. It's also got a great deal of similarities to Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials series, so I'd recommend it for anyone who likes that trilogy.
Mrs.' #5: Princess Mononoke
While Princess Mononoke barely made the Top 5 on my list, I think it's a great Miyazaki movie to begin with for those unfamiliar with his work. It immediately introduces you to the important recurring themes listed in the introduction - particularly the conflict between human progress and the environment, and the conflict between races of people (or, perhaps better put, ways of living). The story is of the prince of a small village, Ashitaka, and his search to resolve the war and destruction caused by conflict between Irontown, a large human settlement, and its surrounding animals and animistic gods. The most touching character for me is San, a human girl raised by wolves, who meets Ashitaka and bridges the gap between mankind and nature. While Princess Mononoke is the most violent Miyazaki film, it is also one of the most loved - it was the highest grossing movie in Japan until Titanic.
My #4: My Neighbor Totoro
Miyazaki's 1998 film My Neighbor Totoro probably bears inclusion on this list simply because it includes Miyazaki's cutest creations: the Totoros, adorable hamster-shaped forest spirits that rule the forest in My Neighbor Totoro, and range in size from rabbit to Mack truck. The largely plotless film follows two young girls who have moved from the city back to the old family home in the country with their father. Their loving father is frequently absent for work, and their mother remains in the city in the hospital, adding poignancy to this tale, so the girls explore the surrounding countryside and find the adorable, friendly, but unpredictable Totoros living nearby. Adventures follow, some of them involving another classic Miyazaki creation: the Catbus, which is exactly what it sounds like. My Neighbor Totoro is Miyazaki's most charming film, and its the one most suited for audiences under, say, the age of four. But its simplicity is its strength, and even it is not without its thrills and chills as the young girls try to reintegrate themselves to a countryside that has grown unused to humans, and must be persuaded, not coerced, to accept them.
Mrs. #4: Laputa: Castle in the Sky
If you're looking for action, Castle in the Sky is your answer. The movie kicks off in the middle of a chase scene - as pirates board an airship, we watch a man signal SOS, then get knocked unconscious by a desperate young girl named Sheeta who can wield a bottle. But as the pirates break in and try to seize her, she falls from the ship - only to float harmlessly to the ground through the magic of a powerful crystal pendant. There, a boy named Pazu finds and cares for Sheeta. But Pazu and Sheeta have many adventures to come as two different groups of adults chase Sheeta to try to steal her necklace. Along the way, Sheeta and Pazu learn the true importance and power of the magical crystal, which relates to a magical floating island called Laputa. Ultimately, Sheeta must decide how best to care for Laputa and protect it from greedy and evil men.
My #3: Princess Mononoke
Like many Americans, Princess Mononoke was the first Miyazaki film I saw, seeing as it was the first to be released in US theaters by Disney, with a strong marketing campaign. As the Mrs. pointed out it was a giant hit in Japan, and although it made less than $3 million at the US Box Office, it raised awareness of Miyazaki in American and did better on video. When I first saw it, I didn't like it very much, but everything I disliked about it then are the exact things I love about all Miyazaki movies now. It's environmental message and moral ambiguity confused me; I was never certain how the characters stood in relation to each other, or why Miyazaki kept insisting on showing different aspects of every character, ensuring that there was so simple way to empathize with various characters. Everyone in Mononoke is implicated, in one way or the other, in the violence that is sweeping the land - and it is violent, as Hilary pointed out. It's the only Miyazaki film I can think of that shows blood. But the violence, like everything else in Miyazaki, is problematic, and raises more questions than it answers. The harshest and most adult of Miyazaki's films, Princess Mononoke implicates everyone in violence and the disordering of things, and offers only provisional answers to these problems.
Mrs. #3: Kiki's Delivery Service
In contrast to Laputa, Kiki's Delivery Service offers a lighthearted romp through Miyazaki's magical universe. Kiki is a young witch, who must spend a year on her own to come of age and learn how to harness her powers and spells. During her year alone, she moves to another town and earns a living through her only unique skill - her ability to fly on her broom. She meets many interesting people through her delivery service, and through it all she's accompanied by her cat friend Jiji, voiced by Phil Hartman, who gives her alternating advice and wry commentary until he develops a crush on the fancy white cat who lives on a neighboring balcony. While Kiki's Delivery Service forgoes most of the environmental commentary we've discussed as a major theme in Miyazaki's works, the love of steampunk inventions that my "better half" mentioned as a theme in Laputa are included in a few amusing anecdotes. For this film, Miyazaki focuses on whimsy and character development more than the gorgeous vistas and philosophical statements that are also integral components of his aesthetic.
My #2: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
The first film made by Miyazaki and his frequent collaborators after leaving the studios to go their own way (technically made before Studio Ghibli, their house studio, was founded), Nausicaa is the film that establishes every feature of Miyazaki's films that we've mentioned so far. In a post-apocalyptic world, humanity is threatened, living in the few small pockets not poisoned by the insect forests that now cover much of the globe. One particularly adventurous human is Nausicaa, the young princess of the idyllic Valley of the Wind, who regularly flies into the insect forest to gather materials and explore the parts of the planet that humanity no longer regularly reaches. In true Miyazaki fashion, Nausicaa soon meets a companion, Asbel, and the two are caught up in a vast web of political maneuvering, as rival countries seek to use fabulous steampunk airships to gain advantage over each other, and some even seek to harness the powers that lead to the apocalypse a thousand years prior. While still suitable for children, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind has more in common with Dune than any Disney fairy tale; it's an engrossing, tense, and action-packed film that offered us our first glimpse into Miyazaki's vision of the world. Commence airships, plucky young heroines, and environmental messages!
Mrs. #2: The Castle of Cagliostro
Made in 1979, The Castle of Cagliostro was Miyazaki's first full-length anime feature. It lacks some of the polish and grandeur of more recent works like Spirited Away or Nausicaa, but it's a captivating story filled with exciting plot twists and surprises. Lupin III, a character already established by the time Miyazaki cowrote and produced this movie, is a young thief learning his trade in some of the richest areas of Europe. Unfortunately, he's not that successful yet - the movie opens with the revelation that Lupin's first major heist nets him only counterfeit bills. As Lupin tries to track down the source of the "goat bills" and find a more lucrative theft target, his travels take him to the Duchy of Cagliostro, where he meets a damsel in distress, a damsel most definitely not in distress, and many other interesting characters. The Castle of Cagliostro is so fun, you'll want to watch the other Lupin III movies -- but if you're like me, you probably won't ever get around to it, since they weren't made by Miyazaki.
My #1: Spirited Away
Spirited Away was the second Miyazaki feature that I saw; not coincidentally, it was the second Miyazaki movie that Disney brought to American theaters with a marketing campaign, this time getting $10.5 million dollars for their efforts. But I don't want to be concerned with such crass things, not right now.
I saw Spirited Away in the Varsity Theater in Chapel Hill, on my very first visit to Chapel Hill. Although I have been to the Varsity many times since then, my fondest memory remains the day that I wandered into Miyazaki's world and got stuck there. Spirited Away is probably the least plot-driven of Miyazaki's other films, and certainly the least violent of any of his more mature films. But that doesn't mean it's not unsettling. The film follows Chihiro, a little girl moving to a new town whose parents, taking a short cut, wind up gorging themselves at a deserted fairgrounds. Soon Chihiro's parents are pigs, under the influence of a spell, and Chihiro herself is transported to a different world, a world of magic and wonder, a world of potential malevolence and enslavement, and above all a world containing Miyazaki's most profoundly inspired fantastical creations. Nothing is as it seems in the new world Chihiro finds herself in; she seems to have allies and enemies, but who is which is not clear, and transformation spells mean that different people assume different shapes. In the world of Spirited Away, Miyazaki has created his most mature fantasy to date, the world that all children dream of, the like of which we saw in Pan's Labyrinth as well. It's a beautiful, mesmerizing, hypnotic world, full of all of the things that we dream of - including those terrors we'd rather forget. After seeing it, I was forever under its - and Miyazaki's - spell.
A final note: The best costume I have yet seen on Franklin St, on Chapel Hill's annual Halloween festival, is No-face from Spirited Away. Keep a keen eye out this October.
Mrs. #1: My Neighbor Totoro
While my Mr. has pointed out that Totoro is the Miyazaki creation best suited to those who, say, aren't yet potty trained, for me it's the most easily beloved for adults as well. The story encapsulates emotions that everyone can relate to -- uncertainty, family love, exploration and friendship, to name a few. That, paired with some of the most charming creatures ever imagined, makes Totoro a film that viewers of any age can not only appreciate, but instantly adore. One look at the poster image for the movie should sell those still on the fence - it shows a schoolgirl, standing at the bus stop braced against the night rain. Next to her is a giant hamster/owl/cat, with a tiny leaf on its head to shelter it from the downpour. The girl and Totoro both face forward, hardly acknowledging each other's presence. I don't know how much this all means to someone who hasn't seen the movie, but to someone who has it conjures up the hilarious and poignant scenes, most of which are silent, of a small child befriending a silly and magical forest creature. At a time when her father is at work and her mother is far away in the hospital, Totoro is a welcome friend in a world of lonely and often scary uncertainties. And really, don't we all wish we had a giant fuzzy friend that followed us around lending its support at all times, even in the rain?
Well, that wraps it up for the both of us. Let us know which ones you prefer! If you haven't seen any, go rent them (use my list, not Hilary's...)
Friday, June 6, 2008
The Ten Best Westerns of the Last Ten Years, pt 2
Alright, and now the list. The Ten Best Westerns of the last 10 Years:
10. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Type: Modern Day
By the Numbers: Metacritic 87/100, Allmovie.com 4.5/5
Brokeback Mountain received all of its acclaim mostly for being a gay-cowboy movie, although some observers cynically pointed out that it was actually about bisexual sheep ranchers. Well, I don't know about the gay/bisexual part, but a cowboy is a cowboy, even when he's herding sheep, and Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger are cowboys - rodeo riding, ten-gallon hat wearing, modern day cowboys. I admired the film most for its stunning cinematography, featuring breathtaking vistas of the mountains of Montana. Otherwise, it was a fairly standard, albeit masterfully rendered, modern day western, with a "twist." And that's a pun.
9. Kill Bill, v2 (2004)
Type: Samurai
By the Numbers: Metacritic 83/100; Allmovie 4/5
Unlike Kill Bill v1, which was an over-the-top live-action anime, Kill Bill v2 is clearly an old-fashioned, black-and-white western, although admittedly one where the samurai semantics are firmly in place (see here). Michael Madsen, who was once supposed to be the next great action star but has been under- and un-utilized by every director outside of Tarantino, plays the regretful western villain perfectly. Add that to great performances by Darryl Hannah and David Carradine, almost adequate acting by Uma Thurman, the inspiration for Kobe Bryant's nickname, and several eyes being snatched from peoples' faces, and you've got a great neo-western.
8. Shanghai Noon (2000)
Type: Traditional (with Jackie Chan!)
By the Numbers: Metacritic 77/100; Allmovie 3.5/5
Shanghai Noon offers a whole host of pleasures. It's a broad buddy-comedy western, deeply indebted to the ultimate buddy-comedy western, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. But it's chock full of references to other westerns, ranging from outright scene recreations to silly puns, and manages to put it all together into a satisfying package. Plus it's got Owen Wilson's first (and possibly still best) mainstream star turn, and offers up Jackie Chan's best Hollywood slapstick. By far the most fun film on this list, save perhaps #1.
7.The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005)
Type: Modern Day/Revisionist
By the Numbers: Metacritic 77/100; Allmovie 4/5
Tommy Lee Jones made his directorial debut with a modern day western that was so influenced by revisionist master Sam Peckinpah that I had to name it revisionist as well. Barry Pepper, a border agent, mistakenly kills rancher Tommy Lee Jones's legal immigrant friend, so of course the perfectly reasonable Jones decides that the only logical course of action is to kidnap Pepper, steal the corpse, and take them both on a journey to bury his friend in his Mexican hometown. Rather gruesome craziness ensues. You can't go wrong.
6. Tears of the Black Tiger (2000/released in US 2007)
Type: Traditional/Insanely Colorful
By the Numbers: Metacritic 69/100; Allmovie 4/5
The only way I can describe this movie is: if Romeo and Juliet were adapted for the screen by Sam Peckinpah, then directed by Douglas Sirk, while set in Thailand. One of the most colorful films I have ever scene, quite gory, but also quite traditional in its western hero and love triangle. Early in the film, our hero The Black Tiger makes six-gun shot that's impossible to believe, as the bullet ricochets multiple times before finding its target (someone's face). At which point a title card asks "Did you manage to see what happened?" and proceeds to show the shot again, this time in slow motion, for your viewing pleasure. Also, The Black Tiger's gang includes an armed and angry dwarf. Tarantino and Rodriguez would be proud to have made this film. So would a group of colorblind toddlers interested in fingerpainting fluorescent paint all over the screen.
5.Deadwood (2004)
Type: Revisionist (TV)
By the Numbers: Metacritic 85/100, Allmovie 3.5/5
Did you know cowboys used to say "cocksucker" in every sentence? At least, so this revisionist HBO TV show would have us believe. The second western on this list to feature a son of the classic western actor John Carradine, Deadwood gives us Keith Carradine (as Wild Bill Hickock), Timothy Olyphant (Die Hard 4), Ian McShane (Deadwood), Powers Boothe (Tombstone), and the lovable Ricky Jay (every PT Anderson movie) all in a mining town with no law, lots of hookers, and, as I mentioned earlier, plenty of profanity and a great deal more obscenity. The show unfolds slowly, and I haven't finished it yet, but it's a pitch-perfect western with a number of interesting strands criss-crossing as the plot develops. Its success is at least partially responsible for all the other westerns we've been seeing lately.
4.The Proposition (2006)
Type: Revisionist (Australian!)
By the Numbers: Metacritic 73/100; Allmovie 4/5
As you know, John Hurt (Hellboy) and Ray Winstone (Sexy Beast) were both recently featured in Indiana Jones 4, which greatly pleased moviesetal, seeing as they're both moviesetal favorites. In The Proposition, a gritty and metaphysical Australian western written by gothic rocker Nick Cave, the local lawman Winstone gives outlaw Guy Pearce an unenviable task: find and kill his homicidal older brother (played by Anjelica Huston's half-crazed half-brother Danny Huston) or he'll hang their slow-witted youngest brother. The result is a mesmerizing postcolonial exploration of Australia, flies, heat, aboriginal dream-time, the disastrous attempt to bring English customs and mores to the outback, and Nick Cave's clear love of Sam Peckinpah.
3. No Country for Old Men (2007)
Type: Modern Day
By the Numbers: Metacritic 91/100; Allmovie 4.5/5
Everyone, I'm sure, is familiar with this Best Picture winner. Classic Texas sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones). Modern day cowboy (Josh Brolin). Homicidal Madman with a pneumatic bolt gun and Ringo Starr's haircut (Oscar-winner Javier Bardem). Creepier and more painfully violent than any horror film I have ever seen. Also, pit bulls.
2. 3:10 to Yuma (2007)
Type: Traditional/Revisionist
By the Numbers: Metacritc 76/100; Allmovie 4/5
There's no way that 3:10 to Yuma is a better film than No Country or The Proposition, but it's a remake of a 50s western which was right on the curve of revisionism, and it delivers an experience superior even to that classic. It has by far my favorite two actors working today (Crowe and Bale) with Bale delivering a classic method performance by disappearing into his character and Crowe giving a showier performance that's so charismatic that everyone in the film (including a female bartender, Bale's wife, and even his own second-in-command) practically swoons when he looks their way. Although the ending still gives me pause, this film captures everything that made both traditional westerns and revisionist westerns successful; both traditional masculine honor and revisionist moral ambiguity are on display. This is the one to show to any fan of classic westerns who's looking for a contemporary example of the genre. This is the one that shows that today's Hollywood knows a great western when it sees one.
1.Cowboy Bebop (1999)
Type: Space! (and occasionally samurai)
By the Numbers: Allmovie 4/5 (Metacritic gave the movie 61/100, but the movie was not up to the show's standards. Still excellent, though)
Cowboy Bebop is not only the best Western to have been made in the past 10 years. It's also the best space western ever, best Japanese TV show ever, best sci-fi TV show ever, and quite possibly the best TV show and western ever. In fact, it might be the best anything ever.
Unfolding over 26 episodes, Cowboy Bebop is the story of gunslinging gangster-turned-space-bounty-hunter Spike Spiegel. The story alternates between Spike's episodic bounty hunter adventures and his samurai-esque attempt to redeem himself after the fall of his master. Along the way, the show does noir, space-opera, horror, kung fu, and con-man stories, all within its space-western framework. Plus, every episode comes packed with wall-to-wall jazz tunes (hence the Bebop in the title), save Pierrot le Fou, where the absence of music makes Spike's monstrous adversary even more terrifying. The last six or so episodes, when the shit really hits the fan and each character must slowly come to terms with both their past and their commitment to Spike's journey, never fails to move me. I have the whole series if anyone wants to watch it. As long as you don't give up on it, it won't disappoint.
Honorable Mention: Trigun
I didn't want to have more than one anime space-western on the list, so Trigun, from the same year as Bebop, gets only an honorable mention It too follows a gunslinger in space who must slowly work his way back into conflict with enemies from his past, although this particular gunslinger, Vash the Stampede, is a much kinder, gentler figure than Spike. This is a great series, but the first few episodes especially are really heavy on all of the manga/anime idiosyncrasies that drive western viewers insane (giant eyes, giant sweat beads of nervousness, characters assuming a weird cartoon shape to express their current emotion, etc) and that can get on anyone's nerves. Still, this is one of the finest anime series I have seen, and it's the first thing you should watch if you've seen Cowboy Bebop and the Cowboy Bebop movie and want more.
So, outside of the 4 I mentioned in the previous post (Assassination of Jesse James, Firefly, Open Range, and Seraphim Falls) what do you guys think. Are there any other westerns from the last 10 years that I should see? Do you hate any of the westerns I chose? Does it enrage you that I called Kill Bill v2 a western? Let me know.
10. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Type: Modern Day
By the Numbers: Metacritic 87/100, Allmovie.com 4.5/5
Brokeback Mountain received all of its acclaim mostly for being a gay-cowboy movie, although some observers cynically pointed out that it was actually about bisexual sheep ranchers. Well, I don't know about the gay/bisexual part, but a cowboy is a cowboy, even when he's herding sheep, and Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger are cowboys - rodeo riding, ten-gallon hat wearing, modern day cowboys. I admired the film most for its stunning cinematography, featuring breathtaking vistas of the mountains of Montana. Otherwise, it was a fairly standard, albeit masterfully rendered, modern day western, with a "twist." And that's a pun.
9. Kill Bill, v2 (2004)
Type: Samurai
By the Numbers: Metacritic 83/100; Allmovie 4/5
Unlike Kill Bill v1, which was an over-the-top live-action anime, Kill Bill v2 is clearly an old-fashioned, black-and-white western, although admittedly one where the samurai semantics are firmly in place (see here). Michael Madsen, who was once supposed to be the next great action star but has been under- and un-utilized by every director outside of Tarantino, plays the regretful western villain perfectly. Add that to great performances by Darryl Hannah and David Carradine, almost adequate acting by Uma Thurman, the inspiration for Kobe Bryant's nickname, and several eyes being snatched from peoples' faces, and you've got a great neo-western.
8. Shanghai Noon (2000)
Type: Traditional (with Jackie Chan!)
By the Numbers: Metacritic 77/100; Allmovie 3.5/5
Shanghai Noon offers a whole host of pleasures. It's a broad buddy-comedy western, deeply indebted to the ultimate buddy-comedy western, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. But it's chock full of references to other westerns, ranging from outright scene recreations to silly puns, and manages to put it all together into a satisfying package. Plus it's got Owen Wilson's first (and possibly still best) mainstream star turn, and offers up Jackie Chan's best Hollywood slapstick. By far the most fun film on this list, save perhaps #1.
7.The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005)
Type: Modern Day/Revisionist
By the Numbers: Metacritic 77/100; Allmovie 4/5
Tommy Lee Jones made his directorial debut with a modern day western that was so influenced by revisionist master Sam Peckinpah that I had to name it revisionist as well. Barry Pepper, a border agent, mistakenly kills rancher Tommy Lee Jones's legal immigrant friend, so of course the perfectly reasonable Jones decides that the only logical course of action is to kidnap Pepper, steal the corpse, and take them both on a journey to bury his friend in his Mexican hometown. Rather gruesome craziness ensues. You can't go wrong.
6. Tears of the Black Tiger (2000/released in US 2007)
Type: Traditional/Insanely Colorful
By the Numbers: Metacritic 69/100; Allmovie 4/5
The only way I can describe this movie is: if Romeo and Juliet were adapted for the screen by Sam Peckinpah, then directed by Douglas Sirk, while set in Thailand. One of the most colorful films I have ever scene, quite gory, but also quite traditional in its western hero and love triangle. Early in the film, our hero The Black Tiger makes six-gun shot that's impossible to believe, as the bullet ricochets multiple times before finding its target (someone's face). At which point a title card asks "Did you manage to see what happened?" and proceeds to show the shot again, this time in slow motion, for your viewing pleasure. Also, The Black Tiger's gang includes an armed and angry dwarf. Tarantino and Rodriguez would be proud to have made this film. So would a group of colorblind toddlers interested in fingerpainting fluorescent paint all over the screen.
5.Deadwood (2004)
Type: Revisionist (TV)
By the Numbers: Metacritic 85/100, Allmovie 3.5/5
Did you know cowboys used to say "cocksucker" in every sentence? At least, so this revisionist HBO TV show would have us believe. The second western on this list to feature a son of the classic western actor John Carradine, Deadwood gives us Keith Carradine (as Wild Bill Hickock), Timothy Olyphant (Die Hard 4), Ian McShane (Deadwood), Powers Boothe (Tombstone), and the lovable Ricky Jay (every PT Anderson movie) all in a mining town with no law, lots of hookers, and, as I mentioned earlier, plenty of profanity and a great deal more obscenity. The show unfolds slowly, and I haven't finished it yet, but it's a pitch-perfect western with a number of interesting strands criss-crossing as the plot develops. Its success is at least partially responsible for all the other westerns we've been seeing lately.
4.The Proposition (2006)
Type: Revisionist (Australian!)
By the Numbers: Metacritic 73/100; Allmovie 4/5
As you know, John Hurt (Hellboy) and Ray Winstone (Sexy Beast) were both recently featured in Indiana Jones 4, which greatly pleased moviesetal, seeing as they're both moviesetal favorites. In The Proposition, a gritty and metaphysical Australian western written by gothic rocker Nick Cave, the local lawman Winstone gives outlaw Guy Pearce an unenviable task: find and kill his homicidal older brother (played by Anjelica Huston's half-crazed half-brother Danny Huston) or he'll hang their slow-witted youngest brother. The result is a mesmerizing postcolonial exploration of Australia, flies, heat, aboriginal dream-time, the disastrous attempt to bring English customs and mores to the outback, and Nick Cave's clear love of Sam Peckinpah.
3. No Country for Old Men (2007)
Type: Modern Day
By the Numbers: Metacritic 91/100; Allmovie 4.5/5
Everyone, I'm sure, is familiar with this Best Picture winner. Classic Texas sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones). Modern day cowboy (Josh Brolin). Homicidal Madman with a pneumatic bolt gun and Ringo Starr's haircut (Oscar-winner Javier Bardem). Creepier and more painfully violent than any horror film I have ever seen. Also, pit bulls.
2. 3:10 to Yuma (2007)
Type: Traditional/Revisionist
By the Numbers: Metacritc 76/100; Allmovie 4/5
There's no way that 3:10 to Yuma is a better film than No Country or The Proposition, but it's a remake of a 50s western which was right on the curve of revisionism, and it delivers an experience superior even to that classic. It has by far my favorite two actors working today (Crowe and Bale) with Bale delivering a classic method performance by disappearing into his character and Crowe giving a showier performance that's so charismatic that everyone in the film (including a female bartender, Bale's wife, and even his own second-in-command) practically swoons when he looks their way. Although the ending still gives me pause, this film captures everything that made both traditional westerns and revisionist westerns successful; both traditional masculine honor and revisionist moral ambiguity are on display. This is the one to show to any fan of classic westerns who's looking for a contemporary example of the genre. This is the one that shows that today's Hollywood knows a great western when it sees one.
1.Cowboy Bebop (1999)
Type: Space! (and occasionally samurai)
By the Numbers: Allmovie 4/5 (Metacritic gave the movie 61/100, but the movie was not up to the show's standards. Still excellent, though)
Cowboy Bebop is not only the best Western to have been made in the past 10 years. It's also the best space western ever, best Japanese TV show ever, best sci-fi TV show ever, and quite possibly the best TV show and western ever. In fact, it might be the best anything ever.
Unfolding over 26 episodes, Cowboy Bebop is the story of gunslinging gangster-turned-space-bounty-hunter Spike Spiegel. The story alternates between Spike's episodic bounty hunter adventures and his samurai-esque attempt to redeem himself after the fall of his master. Along the way, the show does noir, space-opera, horror, kung fu, and con-man stories, all within its space-western framework. Plus, every episode comes packed with wall-to-wall jazz tunes (hence the Bebop in the title), save Pierrot le Fou, where the absence of music makes Spike's monstrous adversary even more terrifying. The last six or so episodes, when the shit really hits the fan and each character must slowly come to terms with both their past and their commitment to Spike's journey, never fails to move me. I have the whole series if anyone wants to watch it. As long as you don't give up on it, it won't disappoint.
Honorable Mention: Trigun
I didn't want to have more than one anime space-western on the list, so Trigun, from the same year as Bebop, gets only an honorable mention It too follows a gunslinger in space who must slowly work his way back into conflict with enemies from his past, although this particular gunslinger, Vash the Stampede, is a much kinder, gentler figure than Spike. This is a great series, but the first few episodes especially are really heavy on all of the manga/anime idiosyncrasies that drive western viewers insane (giant eyes, giant sweat beads of nervousness, characters assuming a weird cartoon shape to express their current emotion, etc) and that can get on anyone's nerves. Still, this is one of the finest anime series I have seen, and it's the first thing you should watch if you've seen Cowboy Bebop and the Cowboy Bebop movie and want more.
So, outside of the 4 I mentioned in the previous post (Assassination of Jesse James, Firefly, Open Range, and Seraphim Falls) what do you guys think. Are there any other westerns from the last 10 years that I should see? Do you hate any of the westerns I chose? Does it enrage you that I called Kill Bill v2 a western? Let me know.
The Ten Best Westerns of the Last Ten Years, pt 1
It seems inevitable that film noir will eventually be viewed as the most important of all the film genres, but it's also hard to imagine a world when the western isn't the most important genre in film history. On the other hand, since the western's last true period of importance was the Eastwood pictures of the 1970s, it's been decades since the western seemed relevant outside of a historical context. Until last year, that is, when Hollywood released two critically and financially successful westerns with high profile stars, 3:10 to Yuma and the Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, another unsuccessful western with high profile stars, Seraphim Falls starring Pierce Brosnan and Liam Neeson, and imported an insanely melodramatic Thai western, Tears of the Black Tiger. Couple that with the fact that last year's two most important films, No Country for Old Men and There Will be Blood, are both arguably westerns, and 2007 was a banner year for westerns. With that in mind, I want to do a list of my favorite 10 westerns from the last 10 years, and I'll conclude with a few more I've heard are good - I'm curious if you've seen them. But first, the types:
Traditional: The good men are good, the bad men are bad, the townfolk are upright, and the only good Indians are the dead ones. Takes place in most of the 19th century, most frequently in the decade or two after the Civil War.
Standard Star: John Wayne
Classic Examples: Stagecoach, My Darling Clementine, Shane
Revisionist: One or more aspects of the traditional western are reversed - the West becomes one dirty, violent, unpleasant place, often at the end of the age of the West (1890-1910).
Standard Star: Clint Eastwood
Classics: The Wild Bunch, Unforgiven, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Modern Age: The Western age is over, but cowboys are still around. They might go to rodeos and ride horses, but they also drive cars, fly airplanes, and are sad the West is gone. 1910-today
Standard Star: Tommy Lee Jones
Classics:Hud, The Misfits, Bad Day at Black Rock
Samurai: Many of the samurai films of the 30s, 40s, and 50s were Japanese remakes of westerns. Many of the westerns of the 50s, 60s, and 70s were re-remaking the Japanese films. In short, there's usually no difference between a samurai movie and a western, except clothes and weapons. The westerns are set in the 19th century; the samurai pictures are usually set in feudal Japan.
Standard Star: Toshiro Mifune/Clint Eastwood (again!)
Classics: The Magnificent Seven, A Fistful of Dollars, The Last Samurai (just kidding!)
Space!: Look, it's a western - in space! It's exactly like any other western, except it takes place in the future. There might be horses and six-shooters; there might not be, depending on the writers mood. Time period: space!
Standard Star:Harrison Ford
Classics: The original Star Wars trilogy, Outland
Hmm, well, I may have written enough on this damn blog for now. I'll be back tomorrow with the list, but for now, I'll give you the notable westerns from the last 10 years I haven't seen. Let me know if you've seen one and if it's worth my time.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Revisionist)
Open Range (Traditional)
Seraphim Falls (???)
Serenity (Space!)
Traditional: The good men are good, the bad men are bad, the townfolk are upright, and the only good Indians are the dead ones. Takes place in most of the 19th century, most frequently in the decade or two after the Civil War.
Standard Star: John Wayne
Classic Examples: Stagecoach, My Darling Clementine, Shane
Revisionist: One or more aspects of the traditional western are reversed - the West becomes one dirty, violent, unpleasant place, often at the end of the age of the West (1890-1910).
Standard Star: Clint Eastwood
Classics: The Wild Bunch, Unforgiven, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Modern Age: The Western age is over, but cowboys are still around. They might go to rodeos and ride horses, but they also drive cars, fly airplanes, and are sad the West is gone. 1910-today
Standard Star: Tommy Lee Jones
Classics:Hud, The Misfits, Bad Day at Black Rock
Samurai: Many of the samurai films of the 30s, 40s, and 50s were Japanese remakes of westerns. Many of the westerns of the 50s, 60s, and 70s were re-remaking the Japanese films. In short, there's usually no difference between a samurai movie and a western, except clothes and weapons. The westerns are set in the 19th century; the samurai pictures are usually set in feudal Japan.
Standard Star: Toshiro Mifune/Clint Eastwood (again!)
Classics: The Magnificent Seven, A Fistful of Dollars, The Last Samurai (just kidding!)
Space!: Look, it's a western - in space! It's exactly like any other western, except it takes place in the future. There might be horses and six-shooters; there might not be, depending on the writers mood. Time period: space!
Standard Star:Harrison Ford
Classics: The original Star Wars trilogy, Outland
Hmm, well, I may have written enough on this damn blog for now. I'll be back tomorrow with the list, but for now, I'll give you the notable westerns from the last 10 years I haven't seen. Let me know if you've seen one and if it's worth my time.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Revisionist)
Open Range (Traditional)
Seraphim Falls (???)
Serenity (Space!)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)