The End of Breaking Bad and Catharsis and Resolution in Cinema/TV

***This was an article I started back in August and just put the finishing touches on. Better late than never :) ***

I will try and keep this one short as I'm probably about the millionth person to write about how good the finale of Breaking Bad was. That hyperbole is not far from the truth and that truth should tell you that the end of Breaking Bad really was that good.

A similar situation just happened with the film Gravity. It built an audience through fantastic word of mouth and impressing almost everyone who saw it to the point where they lobbied other people to go see it.

This shared opinion and communal experience is found in film/TV and few other media. I believe that's why when it does happen, it becomes like a fever, spreading from one person to the next. A veritable wave of desire to be included in this special thing that everyone seems to know about, washes over people and they cannot help but try and find out what is so special about this experience.

Breaking Bad fit this mold because the last 2 episodes before the finale really contained some watershed moments in the saga that has been going on for years. These were giant crescendos of storytelling that wallowed the viewer in the "all is lost" moment and the show did an amazing job of burying (sometimes literally) almost all of its main characters in the same misery. Nothing is going good for anyone. This setup perfectly for the final episode to deliver what everyone invested in a story desires: Resolution and Catharsis.

The resolution is stacked into every scene of the final episode. There is hardly a wasted second of screen time, as each storyline and character begins heading to a final endpoint. The catharsis is realized in the final scene (as it should be) and based on the events of the previous two episodes, it is a sweet, sweet release of pent up emotion.

As with all great TV shows, the audience is heavily invested in the main characters. No matter what these characters have done negatively, the audience wants them to have a satisfying resolution. This is especially true with the new crop of anti-hero supermen that began with Tony Soprano and just climaxed with Walter White. Other examples would be Vic Mackey on the Shield, Jack Bauer on 24, Don Draper on Mad Men, and Dexter on Dexter to name a few.

 Breaking Bad will live on as one of the greatest TV shows of all time, not only for it's incredible storytelling, acting, writing and nuance but also because when it came time to deliver an ending, it stayed true to its characters. The audience got what they wanted out of the show and the people behind the show knew exactly what to give them. Bravo.

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and How Ray Harryhausen Changed my Life

I was extremely saddened the other day when I heard of the passing of the special effects legend Ray Harryhausen. While I was a fan of most of his work, there was always one film that was very special to me: The 7th Voyage of Sinbad from 1958. The first time I saw this movie was on the last day of second grade on a projector. Now when I say projector, I mean the old reel to reel machines, not the digital projectors they have now (I had to explain what a reel to reel was to my stepson today). The whole school was there and everyone was very excited about it being the last day. However, I was much less concerned with the last day of school and much more invested in the fantasy film playing before me.


For a boy around 8 or 9, this film took me to a place and showed me things that to that point in my life, only existed when I played with my toys. Cartoons and animated films were my bread and butter at the time so I was no stranger to fantastical places, strange creatures, giant robots, etc. However, there was something about seeing the stop-motion animation in 7th Voyage, that connected with my brain. I knew it was fake but it looked so real and the jerky movement of the creatures actually added to this effect. I drank it in like plant in the desert, savoring every frame.

A few months ago, I had the opportunity to see this movie again on the big screen. It would probably be the only other time I would get to see the film in a theater and with an audience. I couldn't pass that up. It was also the first half of a double feature with The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, so it was basically like God telling me that I needed to go experience this film again.

I had to rush there as my stepson's baseball lesson ran later than expected so I missed the first half hour of 7th Voyage. However, if there was any time to miss in this film it would be the first half hour. As I was hustling up the sidewalk to the front of Santa Monica's Aero Theater, I saw the old school marquee which read Sinbad 7:30 and Ray Harryhausen Triple Feature Fri on the other side. This warmed my heart to realize that this little discovery of mine truly existed and I got into the theater.

The guy who took my ticket was some kind of artist because he was sketching a very realistic looking bird. We had a nice exchange and I went into the theater. I didn't have time to take in any of the small pleasantries of the Aero, though I will be sure to do that the next time I am there. Once inside, I found a spot near the middle back and was surprised how many people were in the theater. I had got to the film at the perfect time because they had just arrived back on the island of Colossa. This is where the film takes off and all the best sequences are here. I settled in and enjoyed the film.

I will say that 7th Voyage in particular seemed to be very well loved. On this viewing with an audience that knew the movie so well, the poor acting and fighting from all involved definitely stood out. In some cases it was celebrated. In others it was not. For example, most of Princess Perisa's lines drew a good amount of laughter. Her character was very degrading to women by today's standards but it helps to remember this was shot in the late 50's, which was not exactly the height of the women's lib movement. The audience was very much into the film. There was clapping and applause after many thrilling sequences including killing the first cyclops, the battle with the skeleton and the Dragon killing the second Cyclops.

When the movie was over and I was waiting during the intermission for Golden Voyage to start, I couldn't help but reflect on how much 7th Voyage meant to me. I turned the dial all the way back to that first viewing in second grade and sitting in that theater in Santa Monica, I was transported back to Anchorage, Alaska circa 1990. I had one of those rare moments in life when I was able to fully appreciate what something had meant to me (and still means to me). Sitting in that theater, I had an emotional epiphany and it warmed my heart to see groups of friends, couples, dads with small boys had a similar connection to this movie.


There were no previews before the beginning of the second film, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. The houselights slowly dimmed then went dark then the movie started with the old school Columbia logo. Ray Harryhausen's name was heavily applauded when it showed up in the credits.

The score was very loud in places and not nearly as good as the Bernard Herrman tones of 7th Voyage. John Phillip Law was a better Sinbad than Kerwin Williams and his crew had less "overactors". 7th has the better villain with Soccura and the better monsters and sequences. The Cyclops is a truly mean antagonist, while in Golden Voyage their main foes throughout the film are a wooden ship's mast come to life and a little flying goblin. At the end of Golden Voyage there is a great sword battle with a 6-armed statue that is worth the price of admission and this is where the film really gets good. The final battle with Sinbad vs the invisible wizard was anti-climactic but overall Golden Voyage is a fun film that has some good moments. The classic "tie up your camel" ending doesn't seem to get old, even though it's corny as hell. Overall the film is a mixed bag but I still enjoyed getting to see on the big screen for the first time.

As I drove home on the deserted PCH with my windows down and the Malibu/ocean air surrounding me, it was one of those moments like at the end of Ocean's 11 around the Bellagio fountains. I had just experienced something great that I knew I would probably never get to see again so that was bittersweet. But the joy of the experience and the sense of appreciation I had that I was there, made the sweet that much more powerful and cemented those few hours as a great moment in my life.

I've already stated how much the 7th Voyage of Sinbad had an effect on my childhood and really catapulted me into a love of stop motion animation and creatures. Sometimes in film you run into the embodiment of what you have visualized in your head but have never seen with your eyes.This was what my 2nd grade brain encountered when I saw the creature designs in 7th Voyage. However, it wasn't just the look of the creatures on screen, it was the way they moved and emoted. It was how each creature felt like a true character in the story and had personality. The ability of Ray Harryhausen to imbue this life into his models and have that translate on celluloid to audiences around the world shows not only that he was exceptional at his craft but that Ray had a gift. The Cyclops and the Dragon specifically were just so realistic (keep in mind I was 8) that I was in awe of how they moved and the way they seemed to interact with the actors. I knew they were special effects but I had no idea how they were created. This was the genius of Harryhausen. Without his wonderful work, I would never have seen the perfect embodiment of a dragon or felt the rage of an angry cyclops. His creatures, designs and animation opened a door for me that I walked through and have never looked back.

I discovered such a sense of joy during this first viewing that I'm always chasing that feeling every time I watch 7th Voyage. In fact, I'm chasing that feeling nearly every time I watch a film. Sometimes I get lucky and get to experience that feeling again (The Avengers, Pacific Rim, The Incredibles, etc.) and those end up being the films that I return to again and again. No matter the film, I know where it all started. In a large, noisy multipurpose room at Spring Hill Elementary in Anchorage, Alaska, but really I wasn't there at all. I was on the island of Colossa, fighting a Cyclops and running from an angry Dragon. On that day I experienced the special joy that can only come from seeing your dreams emobodied in physical reality through the magic of the movies. Ray Harryhausen did that for me and I thank him for it. Cheers to you Ray.

Quick Note
I drove down the canyon to Time by Pink Floyd. Revelatory experience. Totally connected to the song and the lyrics. Drove back after the movie through the canyon to It Was a Good Day by Ice Cube. Very nice.

The Avengers Experience/It Was a Good Day

A little over one year ago, I sat in a sold out movie theater and enjoyed one of the best cinematic experiences of my life. Of course, I am speaking of The Avengers. With Iron Man 3 opening last weekend, I felt that pull of the Marvel Universe again and was reliving this day in my head. It turns out the whole day was pretty amazing and I'm going to put it in print so I never forget it.

It was one of those days when everything goes your way. The sun was out (not uncommon in Los Angeles) and it was hot but not too hot. My stepson had a baseball game (they won) and then we were going to the theater to see The Avengers.

Ever since the end of Iron Man, when Samuel L. Jackson showed up as Nick Fury to tease idea of The Avengers, this film has been on my mind. That was May of 2008 so you could say I've been waiting 4 years to see this movie. All the final credit scenes at the end of Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America have been building and building the hype for what could be a great movie. So, naturally after seeing one preview about 8 months before opening day, I kept myself in the dark as far as trailers, featurettes, or any other kind of promotion the film had been offering. This was not easy, especially in the last two weeks when the commercials and product tie-ins were all over the place. However, I pulled it off and it was so worth it. Going in blind without seeing any of the “good parts” made everything so fresh and perfect on the initial viewing that I knew I was watching an instant classic. Ten. Hands down. No questions asked. Not since The Dark Knight have I felt such a feeling of elation while in the theater. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

The day started with going to my stepson's baseball game. His team won 10-5 and he pitched 3 shutout innings and only faced 10 batters, only giving up one single and one walk. He even picked off the guy who walked at second base. At the plate he went 2-3 with 2 singles, 2 runs scored and an RBI. The sun was out, everyone was relaxed and having a good time. It was great. A perfect start to the day. 

We came home, cleaned up and headed for the theater. There was a slight detour first as we ate at California Pizza Kitchen. I had the chicken lettuce wraps…sooo good. My wife had the avocado rolls, my boy had mac n cheese and we all had a good time. 

Then it was off to the theater. When we got there the line was already out the door. My wife dropped me off at the door and I headed in to get the tickets we had (smartly) already bought. Tickets in hand I headed for the line and got in about 30 people deep. I had to stand in the sun after being outside for 3 hours already at the baseball game so that was not pleasant. 

However, my wife went to the bookstore and picked up The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King, the next Dark Tower novel for me. I really appreciated that I as I had been looking forward to getting my hands on this book for some time. The next 10 minutes (while hot) went by fairly quickly as I joined old friends on the page. 

Then it was time to go into the theater itself and I headed inside to grab seats. It was already packed and not that big of a theater, which was a little surprising. The only section with 3 seats available seemed to be up top so I hustled up and was heading to the middle of a row about 5 from the top when a couple approached the seats I was taking from the other side of the row. “How many do you need” I asked. They said four and it worked out that there were exactly 7 seats left in the row. This was just fine with me and I waited for my wife and stepson to get into the theater. They arrived with food and drink and we had to wait about 10 more minutes for the trailers to start. 

I was disappointed (at the time) there was no trailer to The Dark Knight Rises on the cut we were watching. I was looking forward to that being the last trailer I saw before I went to the film on July 20 (In hindsight, not that big a deal as TDKR turned out to be a giant letdown).

Now for the best part: the movie itself. One of my favorite moments about going to the movies is the 5-10 seconds after the previews and theaters reminders are finished and the screen is black. The anticipation of what might be is always palpable, especially with big, sold out theaters of people, hungry for a good story, well told. I savored that moment for all it was worth on this go round. Then the film began. 

I don’t know that I’ve been that entertained by a movie in a long, long time. It was the perfect funny, popcorn, action, superhero movie. All the characters are great and everybody delivers in the film, both as an actor and in terms of their characters within the story. There were a number of great set pieces and some of the best action ever put on the screen. 

Iron Man is awesome in the film. Robert Downey Jr. has Tony Stark perfected and I would say this was his best outing as the character. I would have liked to see a little more God of Thunder action from Thor but what is on screen is quite awesome. Captain America has some great moments and makes up for a lack of charisma and flair by being the brunt of most of the jokes. That's not a slam on the Captain at all or Chris Evan's portrayal of him, as his character is not supposed to be flashy or overly funny. 

That being said, this film and the best action moments come when The Incredible Hulk is on the screen. Mark Ruffalo’s portrayal of Bruce Banner is spot on but the action of the Hulk provides the best moments. When Captain America himself has a fine moment, leading the team and giving everyone the plan of attack, and finishes with, “Hulk…smash.” and the Hulk grins…perfection. The following action is such an endorphin rush of everything that should be The Hulk kicking serious ass that I was literally giddy inside. There is no better way that moment could have been handled and to have such a moment is very rare in film. 

 

I'm speaking of moments like Gandalf vs. The Balrog in LOTR (You shall not pass!) or John Wayne in the doorway at the end of The Searchers or “Get away from her you bitch!” in Aliens. The only recent action movie that comes close to The Avengers is The Incredibles and that was 8 years ago. Just simply awesome stuff. 

The Hulk also owns the best laugh, the best "oh crap" and the best "oh my god" moments in the film (sucker punching Thor, transforming and giving the punch of doom to the Leviathan ship, and smashing Loki respectively). Enjoy the clips below. :)

The character dynamics in the film work extremely well and pairing everyone up in the action scenes was a great way to continue to establish character while at the same time showcasing unique action that could only have been performed by the two/three characters in the scene. 

All praise must be heaped upon Joss Whedon, who took the concept for the film, put his own spin on it and gave fanboys and people who have never picked up a comic an equally entertaining movie. An astounding feat to say the least. 

Walking out of the theater I had this overall feeling of "yes". What I had just witnessed was perhaps the most entertaining movie experience of my life. I was literally drained from the endorphin high I had just been through. My family and I went home and I put The Avengers into the top 30 of my greatest movies list. Time will tell if the film and the action hold up on repeated viewings but I couldn't justify putting it on top of Lord of the Rings or Star Wars just yet. However, I feel the day will come(possibly around 2015 when Avengers 2 comes out) that this film will have earned that place in my list reserved for my life-changing films. This day already belongs there.

"The Invisible Man" (1933) and the Depiction of Violence in Early Cinema

I had a chance to watch "The Invisible Man" from 1933 recently and I came away from it with mixed feelings. This is typical of how I have felt with all the Universal monster movies I've seen, which to this point includes The Mummy, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein and Dracula. Maybe I'm bringing my own expectations to these "classic" films but there always seems to be something lacking for me.

I thought Claude Raines did an excellent job playing the titular character, even though you never see his face throughout the film. His voice acting and physical presence gave his character the necessary gravitas to make you fearful of what he might do next. Speaking of fear, that was one element that was heavily played up and though I had read the novel by H. G. Wells a few years ago, I forgot how violent and insane the Invisible Man becomes.

The most notable incident for me was the derailing of a train carrying hundreds of people, who all die in a crash caused by the Invisible Man. The other murders he commits are all of a singular variety and never more than two people at a time. However, this utter disregard for that many lives of innocent men, women and children, firmly planted me on the side of the law and at that point I wanted to see the Invisible Man get his.

While this is in keeping with the story and the tale they were trying to tell (men should not attempt to meddle with science for their own gain and power) it still felt off to me. If such an incident occurred in film today it would have been given much more weight by the filmmakers. I will concede the fact that the production did not have the budget nor the resources for the kind of practical special effects necessary to make this scene any more grand than it already was and I don't fault them for their depiction of the scene. I think it has more to do with the brief amount of time given to the incident itself.

The scene with the train derailment happens and then there is a brief aftermath scene with a bunch of police seated around a table saying something to the effect of "we must catch him now!". After that the incident is never mentioned again and none of the other characters bring it up either. This lack of focus on a truly horrible event took away from the film in my opinion and it would have been more effective if the Invisible Man had addressed it himself and gave some reasoning (derived from madness but reasoning nonetheless) behind why he did it and how he felt afterwards. The complete absence of these things left me wanting.

I still enjoyed the film overall, except for that horrible, screeching woman that runs the inn/bar where the Invisible Man takes up shop. Her unrelenting shrieking was so horrible that every time she was on screen I had my thumb over the Mute button. Aside from her, I found the rest of the film and Raines's performance entertaining. The ending was a bit anti-climactic but the final scene ended on a touching note so there was good and bad in this film and that's what I'm learning to expect from the Universal monster films. I'm curious to see how I feel about The Wolf Man as that will complete my viewing of the main batch of films. I have a feeling that one might end up being my favorite of the lot. Only time and my Netflix queue will tell.

"In the Mood for Love" and Using All Aspects of Cinema to Tell a Story

Recently I was able to see the Wong Kar Wai  film "In the Mood for Love" from the year 2000. Set in 1962 Hong Kong, it tells the story of two married neighbors whose spouses are never around and begin to have feelings for each other. I found the film to be engrossing for many reasons and upon reflection I realized that this was due in part to the director's use of all the tools at his disposal.

The first thing that stands out for me is the editing. The random jumps in time are very jarring at first but after awhile a pattern emerges. There will be a few jumps, then a few concurrent scenes and then a montage of time held together by specific pieces of music. The viewer is then able to settle in so to speak and get enraptured in these two characters.

Which brings me to my second immediate observation and that is the phenomenal acting by both leads, Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung. Tony has to play the straight man to her tortured housewife and thus she has the attention grabbing moments, which she plays to great effect. Watching them play off each other is truly a wonderful piece of filmmaking and there are so many nuances in each performance that I don’t know if you could ever watch the film without discovering something new. That is something to truly be applauded and my hat is off to all of those involved in making this happen.

Then there's the beautiful score and use of existing music throughout the film. As I mentioned in the paragraph on editing, these pieces of music not only serve as contextual placeholders to help ground the audience in the frantic jumping of time and place. They also provide powerful undertones of emotion and depth to what is happening on screen as all good scores aim to do. Simply listen to the main theme in the video below and you will have an idea of that which I am speaking about.

Next, the ending. It’s so rare in film for the director/writer to be able to craft a story with a truly ambiguous ending but that is exactly what Wong Kar Wai has accomplished here. Part of this is he does not present the mystery until the last second before the final scene. I don’t know if this is brilliant or maddening but in the context of this story, with how information is presented and more importantly withheld, I am of the opinion that it works to great effect. It certainly will lead to much discussion afterwards, with multiple viewpoints able to express their version of the ending and be able to back it up. This is one of the great effects of a great film. Everyone is able to intake the same information and digest it in different ways to produce wholly different viewpoints and ideas on what they have seen/heard/felt.

Lastly, the production design of the film (I’m including the wardrobe in this as well) was spot on perfect. The environment of the film was so much a reflection of the characters and themes of the story that if you watched the film with no sound, I have a feeling you would be able to get the gist of what’s going on and the main conflicts/struggles, from the cinematography and the sets. The framing, camerawork and again the editing all combine to tell this story.

Wong Kar Wai has masterfully used every aspect of cinema to tell this story, with each contributing in its own way. The editing influences the cinematography, which informs the production design, which reflects the acting, which evokes the score, which combined with everything else informs the director and his choices. While this is not my favorite foreign film of all time (that honor would go to Ikiru), I can say that this is the first film I have seen in a while to consciously use all aspects of filmmaking to tell its story. Bravo!

The One Night I Was Lucky Enough to Have the Theater to Myself

Late on the evening of July 2, 2009, I had one of the best experiences in my life going to the movies. Without straying too far into hyperbole it was a phenomenal, transcendent, seminal film experience. The movie was Up from Pixar Studios and while the movie itself was wonderful, joyous and uplifting, the reason it was such a magical experience was that I had the movie theater all to myself. Be warned there are spoilers ahead.

Let me set the stage...

I went on a whim after my wife suggested I go.  There was barely enough time for me to get to the theater for the 11:05 showing that Thursday night. I had my fruit snacks and wheat thins in my pockets as I walked up to the ticket counter and said, “One for Up please.” The girl behind the glass asked me if I was a student to which I replied, no. She then asked "would you like to be?" to which I replied, "Yes". Eight dollars and fifty cents later and I was on my way inside. 

It was 11:10 by this time but I wasn’t worried about missing these previews so I didn’t feel the need to rush into the theater. I got a small Mr. Pibb from the concession counter and headed upstairs to my theater. As I walked in I heard a preview running, so I was happy because  I hadn’t missed the beginning of the film. I rounded the corner and looked for a seat. A smile began to grow on my face. “No way,” I said to myself. The entire theater was empty. 

I have NEVER had the privilege to see a film in a theater by myself. I’ve been in maybe 6 or 7 films with two or three people and even more with 5 or 6 but never the whole theater to myself. During those films with minimal other people in attendance, I had always wished to be in the theater by myself and wondered what it would actually be like to have my own personal theater. The biggest desire in this fantasy is not having to oblige the social conventions that go with seeing a movie in public. No talking, no texting, no loud noises, no annoying movements or anything else that would disrupt the spell of the cinema for another viewer. I take these social graces very seriously when I am seeing a film and appreciate when others have the same respect for my theater experience that I have for theirs. As anyone who has ever been to a movie will atest, this is usually not the case. Thus, the real joy of having the theater to oneself is not having to deal with anyone else's noise, idiosyncrasies, or cell phones. That and the feeling that you have the world's largest home entertainment system at your disposal. :) 

I sat down in the exact middle of the theater, measuring based on where the projector was streaming light onto the screen. I sat down and hoped beyond hope that no one else would walk in. As the preview for The Princess and the Frog ended and the theater logo came up, I had this wonderful knowing feeling that it was finally going to happen. I would finally have a theater to myself. This feeling was so gratifying and wonderful that as the Disney logo came up, that castle with the fireworks behind it, a logo that has meant so much to so many children, I felt compelled to stand. I stood up from my seat and watched with a feeling of childlike glee as the intro played. I stood up because I could. There were no social conventions to be observed here.I was on my own. Bliss. Utter bliss.

Then the film started. Like all Pixar movies it was preceded by a short film, this one called Partly Cloudy. A very cute little short but not overwhelmingly great. Then the film started. Pixar and the creative braintrust there have placed themselves as the master storytellers of our generation because they take what has worked before and twist it ever so slightly to suit the new story they are telling. In this case the introductory newsreel footage and story of Charles Muntz harkens back to Citizen Kane and the introduction of Welles' titular titan. It was brilliantly executed and well done. 

After little Carl meets little Ellie and he breaks his arm the next part that swept me away was the greatest montage I have ever seen in a children’s film (perhaps all of film?), showing their entire lives and their goals, failures, and great sadness. It is a nearly impossible task in a children's film to show that a woman can’t have a baby...without words but all Pixar needed was three quick scenes. A shot of Ellie wanting children, a shot of her crying in the doctor’s office with a poster that said “Your Body” behind her and a shot of her looking wistful and despondent alone in her yard. The three scenes start at 1:08 in the video below:

Heartbreaking and brilliant. I'm getting teary-eyed just remembering it. The montage concluded with a moment I knew was coming but it didn’t make it any less poignant. Ellie’s death. Very powerful because we saw the life they had together and how happy they were and how sad Carl was that she was gone. I cried. Not huge crying but tears spilled out of my eyes, hot and fast. I immediately loved this movie.

I’m not going to do a blow by blow of the entire film but just mention the parts that I found extremely moving or noteworthy.

Doug, the talking dog, was awesome. He reminded me a lot of my old dog Max (best dog ever in the history of time). I really identified with how Pixar wrote his character as being everything that is characteristic and lovable about dogs. The fact that Doug instantly loves Carl and calls him his new master, “Squirrel!” and just everything he did was spot on perfect. Skip way ahead to the moment when Carl turns selfish and yells at Doug for being a bad dog. The look on Doug’s face was perhaps the most realistic animation I've ever seen. They captured emotion perfectly through animation. Truly amazing and another heartbreaking moment. 

Then came another beautiful Pixar visual storytelling device. After Carl has given up Kevin (the giant, rare bird), told Doug he’s a bad dog and ostracized Russell he finally completes his dream and sets the house down next to Paradise Falls. He then goes inside the house to find everything broken. Even when he cleans up the mess there’s still broken bits and pieces of stuff lying around, showing that his dream, even though it is now complete, is a broken dream. I let a few tears go here also.

Then when he decides to go after Kevin and Russell, Doug knocks on his door and says, “I was hiding under your porch because I love you.” I started to instantly well up and then Carl says something like, “Of course you can come in you’re my dog aren’t you?” I lost it. Doug was so happy, the music swelled upwards and they were off on a mission. Oh, it was an amazing moment.

At the end of the film, Russell is getting his badge to complete his sash. Carl stands in for his dad (who is never there) and gives him the soda cap (the Ellie badge) and I teared up again. Just great moment after great moment. The film ended on the perfect image of the house right next to Paradise Falls just like in the drawing Ellie made when she was a kid. The credits came up, I took a deep breath and started to get up but I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to absorb every moment of this experience knowing I might never get a theater to myself again (to this point I haven't, though I saw Les Miserables with only two other people in the cinema). I watched the entire credit reel, which was full of little injokes, references to filmmaking and even Pixar itself so  even the credits were enjoyable. 

After the credits ended, I walked out of the theater glowing. It was truly one of the best experiences I’ve ever had going to the movies. While the film certainly had a large part to play in my experience, it was being able to view the film without worrying about interruptions and in a place where my emotions (which were very clearly on full display) could come out without any embarrassment. To be able to have that kind of intimate experience with a film, while simultaneous enjoying the massive screen and booming surround sound, was a night at the movies that I will never forget. 

1999 - My Favorite Year in Film History

The medium of cinema has been around for over 100 years and in that timeframe, thousands of films have been released. Everyone's cinematic experience is different and for me, the most important year in my film life occurred in 1999. This was the summer I was 16, usually a year of change in the lives of American adolescents and I was no exception. I turned 17 in the fall, just after seeing the two films that would change the course of my life (for better or worse) in Fight Club and American Beauty. My thoughts on that experience can be found in my previous post. However, the year was so much more than just those two films. This year was filled with incredible experiences from all genres and during all points of the calendar. Here are some of my favorites.

The Top Three
Fight Club, American Beauty, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut

This is the one movie that I can never properly categorize into one genre. Whether it spends it's time rolling in black comedy, pummeling the viewer with gritty action or crystalizing great moments of human drama, this film transcends genre to become something more. Fight Club did not make a lot of money when it came out in theaters. It was not until the DVD hit the shelves that everyone started hearing, "you have to see this movie". That's when adolescent males started their own "fight clubs" and a revolution was under way. Actually it was less a revolution and more a reflection of how influential this film is and how effectively it subverts the consumer driven culture of the late 90's. Brad Pitt gives one of his best performances as the charismaticly insane Tyler Durden and Edward Norton plays an excellent straight man. One of the things that I love most about the film is how it breaks the 4th wall and incorporates the audience into the story more effectively than any other film. Without question, this is one of the best films of the 90's and one of my favorite films of all time.

American Beauty is many things. It's a beautifully shot film and a true testament to color acting as character. The great Conrad Hall was the cinematographer on this, his last film and his work here thematically will stand against any of his other projects. It's also a wonderfully acted film with great work from the leads but also very touching performances from the supporting characters. Kevin Spacey was on a roll at the end of the 90's and this acted as the coup-de-gras to all that momentum.  It's a brilliantly written film, with biting comedy, poignant drama and a touch of sentimentality thrown in for good measure. What this film is mostly though, is the perfect story at the perfect time. At the end of the 90's everything was going great in the good ol' USA. The economy was up, the internet was booming and everything looked like roses up ahead. That sense of comfort allowed a story like this to be made. Once everything is great and you have everything you say you want, what do you do? Do you become a creature of habit and slowly devolve into a shell of the person you used to be or do you recognize the beauty in the world? Do you have the ability to appreciate how lucky any of us are to be alive? Do you do anything about it? A film that asks these questions with conviction and incorporates all of the other accolades I have heaped upon it, surely must be one of the greats and another personal favorite of mine.

One of the hardest times I have ever laughed at a movie, came from South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut in the mid summer of 1999. As I was walking out of the theater, my face literally hurt from laughing so much. I was already a fan of the show and the movie took everything that the show did well and amplified it. The whole thing is so deliciously absurd and over the top that you can't help but laugh. One of the most amazing things about the film is that it's a traditional Hollywood musical, just with very, very filthy language. The songs are all original and (almost) all of them are hilarious. My personal favorites are Uncle Fucka, Kyle's Mom's a Bitch, La Resistance and Mountain Town. Anytime I hear one of the songs, it gets stuck in my head (in a good way). Like Anchorman, Caddyshack, and The Blues Brothers, this is one of the great quotable movies as well and never fails to incite memories of mirth and warmth and other feelings of 'mth. It's simply put, hands down, the best R-rated, animated, musical of all time.

Best of the Rest
The Matrix, The Iron Giant, The Insider, Office Space, Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Galaxy Quest, Sleepy Hollow, The Sixth Sense, Election, Toy Story 2, The Green Mile, Three Kings, The Limey, The Boondock Saints, The Blair Witch Project, Being John Malcovich

This was another year that was heavy on originality. The aformentioned Matrix aside, Three Kings, Being John Malcovich, Election, The Boondock Saints and The Limey all played within their own sandboxes to create new elements of genre. Other films did not so much stretch genre conventions as perfect them. South Park gave musicals a new, dirty life. Toy Story 2 and the Iron Giant showed us what computer animation could be and were bright lights towards the future. The Blair Witch Project was a phenomenon, mostly because half the people who saw it thought it was real (myself included) thanks to a very clever marketing campaign. The Green Mile, The Sixth Sense and Sleepy Hollow all incorporated elements of style into their stories that felt fresh but classic at the same time. There was also the wonderfully spot on Office Space, the calculated send up of Star Trek in Galaxy Quest and the all out bombastic Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me. Lastly, The Insider showed everyone that Russell Crowe could act and Al Pacino could still act. This film still has one of my favorite lines when the lawyer deposing Crowe's character tells the tobacco lawyer who keeps objecting and interrupting Crowe's testimony essentially that he has no power here and to "wipe that smirk off your face!" The contempt in that line delivery is spot on perfection and worth sitting through the rest of the movie even if you enjoy nothing else about it, which would be hard to do because it's a very well made film. This year was full of moments of perfection just like that and one of the reasons I am so fond of this collection of celluloid.

Other Films of Note
American Pie, Arlington Road, Analyze This, Go, The 13th Warrior, Payback, Dogma, Stir of Echoes

Overall this year is one of the greatest collections of stories we've ever known. There was no one specific genre that was more represented or massively important drama towering over everything. No this year was more a time when things felt like we were very close to something. Whether it was a new achievement, a new kindred spirit with our fellow man, a new desire to make the world better, is hard to say, probably because it wasn't any of those things. What I do know is this collection of films made me feel hopeful for the future. The fact that we were about to flip the calendar from the 1900's to the 2000's probably had a lot to do with this pervasively imminent feeling but I think more of it had to do with a level of optimism that was well represented in the films released this year. I've already mentioned in my last post how much Fight Club and American Beauty affected my life, but it was the full tapestry of cinema that year which really affected me and had a large hand in molding me into the person I am today. Truly one of the best years of my life.