More Than One Lesson

THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE (2001)
Written and Directed by: Joel & Ethan Coen
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand, James Gandolfini

The work of vintage mystery writers has long been an influence on Joel and Ethan Coen. Upon reading Dashiell Hammett’s “The Glass Key” and “Red Harvest,” it’s almost surprising that he didn’t get a credit on the Coens’ Miller’s Crossing. In The Man Who Wasn’t There, they are inspired by the work of James M. Cain, the writer of “Double Indemnity” and “The Postman Always Rings Twice.” Those books, and subsequent films, are all about ordinary guys drawn into a murderous plot, usually by a beautiful woman and the promise of wealth. Invariably, their crimes catch up with them, and we are left shaking our heads, knowing that these guys never had a chance.

[…]

THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1920)
Directed by: Robert Wiene
Written by: Carl Mayer and Hans Janowitz
Starring: Conrad Veidt, Werner Krauss

My senior year of college, I took a critical studies class on German Expressionism. For those that don’t know, Expressionism refers to the themes of a film being expressed in the visuals. For example, Gotham City is a cauldron of sin, violence, and corruption. We don’t need to be told this by the characters, because we already know this, because the city itself looks like no other city in the world. The buildings, the darkness, it’s not meant to reflect reality; it’s meant to let us see what can’t be seen.

[…]

PULP FICTION (1994)
Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
Written by: Quentin Tarantino and Lawrence Bender
Starring: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis

It’s frustrating writing about movies like Pulp Fiction, because everybody has an opinion on it, so why are they going to listen to what I have to say?

With Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, I can be confident that very few, if any, of the readers have seen it, so it frees me up. Hell, I can just make stuff up, if I wanted, and no one would be the wiser.

Not possible with this one, though.

[…]

BLADE RUNNER (1982)
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Written by: Hampton Fancher and David Webb Peoples
Starring: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young

I recently compiled a list of some of my favorite screen villains. Usually, I find myself drawn to the villains who are not obvious caricatures, but are complex characters, whose motives are not always bad. I tend to like characters who, like those of us who live in real life, are just trying to life their lives according to what they think is right. The complexity comes into play when someone or something gets in the villain’s way, and he must decide how to deal with it. It’s usually around this time that this character is established as a villain.

Which brings me to one of my favorite movie villains: Roy Batty, from Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner.

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In this minisode, Tyler and Josh discuss Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist.

In this episode, Tyler and Josh discuss Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street and Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

EPISODE BREAKDOWN
00:00:44- Intro, The Best of Pictures, Gilligan’s Island
00:11:35- Personal conviction, “Differing Without Destroying”
00:26:38- The Wolf of Wall Street
01:02:35- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
01:47:00- Episode wrap-up

In this sermon, Rankin Wilbourne discusses the tenth commandment, “Thou Shalt Not Covet.”

DOWNLOADABLE MP3

In this minisode, Tyler and Josh kick off their “Best of Pictures” series with a discussion of Ben Affleck’s Argo.

Several years ago (on my Myspace blog, if you’re looking for a time stamp), I started what would become a yearly tradition for me.  At the beginning of every new year, I look back at movies that were released ten years prior.  At first, it was a way to get nostalgic and make myself feel old.  However, as time has gone on, I’ve really come to enjoy looking back at some of the more notable movies that have been around- either in the pop culture or in my head- for a full decade.  Just thinking about these movies in relation to one another makes me think back fondly to who I was as a person and as a movie watcher ten years ago.  Some movies that I only kind of liked have grown significantly in my head, while others that I really enjoyed have faded from my memory.  I saw a good number of these films with my girlfriend, who I asked to marry me ten years ago, shortly before I graduated from college.  It was ten years ago that I got a job at Blockbuster, right around the time that it made the official change from VHS to DVD and tried to implement its “No More Late Fees” policy to try to keep up with Netflix; of course, we now know how that turned out.

Indeed, 2004 was a significant year in my life and thinking back on the films that were important to me provides a nice framework with which to reflect on how far I have come in that time.  I would welcome you all to do the same.

Happy New Year!

The following movies are now ten years old:

THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST
DAWN OF THE DEAD
ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND
HELLBOY
SHAUN OF THE DEAD
KILL BILL VOL. 2
MEAN GIRLS
HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN
NAPOLEON DYNAMITE
DODGEBALL
FAHRENHEIT 9/11
THE NOTEBOOK
SPIDER-MAN 2
ANCHORMAN
THE BOURNE SUPREMACY
GARDEN STATE
COLLATERAL
ALIEN VS. PREDATOR
SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW
SAW
I HEART HUCKABEES
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE
SIDEWAYS
FINDING NEVERLAND
RAY
THE INCREDIBLES
THE POLAR EXPRESS
MILLION DOLLAR BABY
THE AVIATOR
THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU

Tyler and Josh bring their Top Ten minisode series to a close with a discussion of Michael Curtiz’ Casablanca, Josh’s favorite film of all time.