Now with the 2008 Wimbledon Championships stored away in the record books, I thought I’d conjure up another British import to segue out of tennis back to some other important life affirming topics.
There’s no rhyme or reason for this post other than I just plain love The Beatles and I wanted to share my current faves from the Fab Four collection:
The numbers don’t lie, man. By far, the entire B-side Abbey Road Medley is the most played section of my iTunes library.
done
Twist and Shout from the Anthology documentary turned me from a casual Beatles listener to a straight up Beatles-maniac.
And CQ, if you’re reading this post, Across The Universe - The shitty Movie still blows more than an over-aged, delusional fluffer desperately trying to break into mainstream media.
Not that I would know what that’s all about.
Seriously, I don’t even know what that last statement means.
Makes me wonder why I still pay for all this stuff on iTunes. Oh yeah, gift cards from friends and family!
Here’s a quick roundup of some of the websites where you can find the music that you love for free. The market for these kind of websites is exploding so it’s definitely not a complete list but it should give you a good start.
The Godfather II is perfect. It’s the perfect film. The fact that Francis Ford Coppola took the greatest film of all time in The Godfather and somehow not only did it again but added another wealth of life to the legend — this wholly unique accomplishment alone was the tipping point for me to pick this film over the first.
No one has done it since. The way the film business and industry has been going since the 80’s leads me to believe it probably will never happen again. I hope I’m wrong.
Kay: It made me think of what you once told me: “In five years the Corleone family will be completely legitimate.” That was seven years ago.
Michael: I know. I’m trying, darling.
The first time we meet Michael Corleone, he’s a wide eyed kid just out of the military, beautiful fiancee in hand, ready to begin a successful career in the United States government, away from the family business.
In The Godfather II Michael couldn’t be further from his once meticulously laid out life plan. The irony is best laid out early in the film between Michael and Sen. Geary where Michael’s stone cold character is fully established in dealing with someone from a powerful and “legitimate” industry.
The Corleone son who once wanted nothing to do with the family business is not only the head of the family but now more cold hearted than could have ever been imagined. This is all exhibited throughout the film in all the choices Michael makes to consolidate his power. And it culminates in the ultimate choice that forever seals the fate of his soul.
“You broke my heart. You broke my heart!”
The Godfather II is everything America is about. The land of opportunity. The melting pot. The land of self. The land of family. The land of rebirth. The land of blood, sweat and tears.
The Godfather Saga is also about choices. The choices we make in life today may carry the most significant weight in the outcome of our futures. It happens to us everyday. It’s the thought process in how we deal with these decisions I find fascinating and see over and over again in my favorite films as in life. It’s really the greatest and most unique challenge about our lives. Everything else is just filler.
I don’t usually care for award shows but this is The Godfather II!
The only true sequel better than the original.
Thanks for indulging my blatant need to extrapolate on a very selfish endeavor. This is something I discuss with just about anyone who becomes important in my life and I’ve always wondered how my list (and my arguments for it) would play out in the written form.
I could finally put this thing to rest and get back to business at hand. There are some cool things cooking down the pipeline and I can’t wait to share so keep checking back.
“But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite your whole territory with frogs.” Exodus 8:2
This film changed my life. Before Magnolia, I didn’t quite understand film. I loved movies. I was a fan of movies. High concept movies. Simpson / Bruckheimer type movies. Mindless, loud, obnoxious movies with little to no value other than to pass time. The kind of movies I can’t stomach very much now.
From the first frame (after the New Line logo) to the very last credit, I was frozen in awe. There is no traditional Syd Field three act structure (although I can imagine a lot of university screenwriting professors arguing otherwise). It’s over three hours long. No gratuitous violence or sex. Swearing wasn’t used for shock or comical value. Yet despite the lack of these elements I was completely breathtaken by every moment of this masterpiece.
When it was over, I fell silent. It was like everything I made judgments about the world and about what I thought I knew was completely turned upside down. I couldn’t believe something so not me could mean so much more to me than every Star Wars movie, every Indiana Jones flick and every piece of crap, usually associated with Michael Bay, that came before it. I had an epiphany.
Father and Son relationships are very much a recurring theme in all of PTA’s films.
Magnolia is about people. It’s about relationships with our parents. It’s about our relationships with our lovers. It’s about our relationships with ourselves. It’s about our relationship with memories, our past mistakes and successes, our future hopes and dreams, our self images. It’s about our relationship with God.
It’s about all this and so much more.
Pay close attention. How many times can you see (or hear) a reference to 8’s and 2’s in this sequence?
To further elaborate on the technical and artistic genius of Magnolia would require an individual post for each element. But know that PTA has the complete and defining grasp of both the traditional and wholly unique filmmaking techniques. He owns modern day filmmaking. Even if the acting, story or music doesn’t grab your attention, the encyclopedic display of his techniques most certainly will.
Like Lars Von Trier, PTA has been called many less-than-stellar things: control freak, insolent, brat, difficult, etc. But like Von Trier, Anderson’s genius not only warrants any and all professional leniency but also receives it from anyone who experiences his films. Before the birth of his daughter, I have no doubt that PTA lived solely for films. It shows in every frame of anything he’s ever been involved with. Since the majority of people involved in this business is in it for the absolute wrong reasons, it’s not only refreshing and admirable but utterly integral to see someone love the art and science of filmmaking for all the right reasons.
No matter our stations in life, there are challenges to living well and happy every day. It’s not always easy but we manage. We manage and we cope. Some days are more difficult than others. But some days are so bad, so challenging and so cruel, it makes about as much sense as frogs falling from the sky.
Lost In Translation is a film about a very specific mood and tone. It captures both of these aspects beautifully and that is the truly amazing achievement this film accomplishes.
From the simple (and Oscar award winning) script, to the muted look of the film, to the quiet characters, to the incredible soundtrack, everything in and about Lost In Translation is all perfectly picked to fit the mood and tone of this specific emotion… a specific mind set… all created and realized by Sofia Coppola.
It’s the warm feeling of being awake at 4:00AM with the people you trust most with just enough wine in you to not be quite drunk but still maintain that perfect buzz.
It’s making a genuine connection with a complete stranger who is exactly what you need at the exact right time.
It’s about reaching a worry-free calmness you desperately needed after a chaotic week, month, or year.
It’s rare but when it happens, we never forget it. We desperately try to search for it again, usually for naught. But we know, to actively look for it already places us in a position to not find it.
We’ve all given and received the advice: “Don’t look for it and it’ll just come to you“. That’s what a lot of Lost In Translation is about.
Nothing really happens in this film but it’s really a film about some of the most important things in life.
The average movie going audience don’t go to the movies looking for “mood films”. That’s their loss. Like the perfect song, it could be very theraputic.
Beautifully Photographed
The other thing I admire about this film is the honest and sincere message that Sofia Coppola communicates through the film (it’s my favorite type of communication). The legend goes that while Sofia was working on Marie Antoinette, she hit a wall. In an effort to get her head out of the Antoinette space, she took a quick detour writing about her past experiences in Tokyo while simultaneously exorcising a few internal issues about her marriage, her relationship to the world and her place in life. I feel all this comes out beautifully in the film.
Sofia Coppola is a talented filmmaker. There is a cohesive uniformity in all her films. But Lost In Translation is the one film where it seems like she wasn’t actively searching for anything… and the right film just came to her.
Paul Thomas Anderson is kind of an idol for me. Between him, Lars Von Trier and Alfonso Cuaron, they are pretty much my trifecta of great modern day directors. They’re all head strong, self admittedly selfish and phenomenally brilliant.
If you don’t know what the film is about, read this. But really you should go into the film as clean and unexpectant as possible to get the full effect of this attempt at a signature masterpiece. Personally speaking, I think that Magnolia is PTA’s best work overall. It’s a film that has meant so much to me that it really deserves it’s own story. But most importantly and most simply put it bridged the gap in my life between thinking shit flicks were good to really understanding the true magic, greatness and an artform great films can be in understanding not only life but our place and relationship to it as well.
However, just because I think Abbey Road is my favorite album doesn’t mean I don’t love and appreciate the other kids any less. Sometimes my mood leans towards Let it Be… Naked, or Rubber Soul, or even A Hard Day’s Night.
My personal favorite PTA film. But I love all his children!
It’s the same with PTA. Sometimes I like having Sydney on in the background to get into a creative mode. Sometimes I feel like Boogie Nights. Punch Drunk Love actually has a very “hang out” playability to it. The point is, this guy is great at doing this thing: this sometimes bastardized commerce-meets-art medium known as filmmaking.
“Drainage!!”
I believe that films are very much a way for an author to communicate with the receiver. It just so happens to be an extremely expensive way in doing so. It’s a way to get to know someone else’s thoughts, points of view of the world and essentially their souls. A great director (and as Stanley Kubrick has told PTA that great directors usually write their own material as well) essentially is giving an audience a visual speech. That’s why when you see these jerk off filmsmovies waste of valuable time crap with a dozen writers, producers, directors, etc you get that cheated feeling. It’s like trying to get to know someone at an stadium sized rave party high out of your mind on ex.
Now there’s certainly a time and place for all that but those are very rare times for me lately. I value my time far too much now. Generally I like to spend quality time with quality people and that’s the type of interaction and reward I expect from the time and money I spend on films. I’m entertained by strangers everyday but the ones that really make a mark on your life and leave an imprint in your being are usually the ones that fulfill something in you that’s far beyond a lame punchline.
PTA (and the other filmmakers I’ve mentioned earlier) are precisely those type of people who make those types of films. Even when they don’t quite hit the mark, you can still feel something about their work that lets you know they really tried and wanted to communicate something special. Hey, we;ve all had bad days where we didn’t feel like ourselves. It just usually didn’t cost us millions to figure out we had a bad day.
There Will Be Blood is not my favorite film of last year. At the moment, I think I prefer Once. But over time I have a feeling that There Will Be Blood will mean something more to me every few years I revisit it. Great films usually succeed in accomplishing this. Maybe soon after I meet my future wife. Maybe after I get married. Most certainly after I have my first child. So on and so forth.
Not necessarily a feel good film but somehow still manages to give you hope in the end.
“Long way down with no punch.”
I don’t know why I’m even writing this entry. I don’t really have too great a point. If anything I guess it’s that I hope more people pick and choose how we spend our time more wisely and for the right reasons. It’s really the only way we can have any say in the high quality of our lives and the materials we choose to enter our hearts and minds.
I’m starting to sound a little empty preachy so I’ll end it here.
I’m an hour in on this debacle of trash trying to pass itself off as an artistic interpretation of the greatest music to ever see the light of day and I want to kick Julie Taymor in the nuts. Not only do I want to kick her in the nuts, I’m starting to wonder if I really enjoyed Frida as well. I thought I remembered having some nice thoughts about Salma Hayek’s “passion project” but maybe I was hypnotized by her badass monobrow.
Here’s the deal: the fault wholly and solely lies in Julie Taymor for allowing herself to convince herself that she has any clue about anything as it pertains to The Beatles.
I’m sure on paper (and in her crazy mind) it sounded great.
I got it. I got it! It’ll be a period film set in the 60’s built around the music of The Beatles! And we’ll put some pretty faces to play characters whose names are actually in Beatles songs! It’s just simply a no brainer! Ooh, Ooh! Plus! It’s set during a revolutionary time where there’s a war nobody wants and where the disenchanted youth of America seem to really care about what’s really important (love, meaning of life, goodness, happiness, sour cream & salsa pork rinds, etc.) So? So, it’s like we’re kinda talking about the present times… but indirectly! Oh my goodness, I’m getting wet! This is exactly the kind of film I’ve always wanted to make! The kind masterpiece movie that has so many different levels! This is genius! This is fantabulous! This… THIS IS: ACROSS THE UNIVERSE!! OH MAN! OH Man! Oh man! Oh man. oh… man… Say, how’d that liquid puddle get there under me?
First off, yes us Angelenos use terms like “fantabulous”. It’s cool. End of story.
More importantly, you don’t try to fix something that isn’t broken. Not only that, you don’t try to add, take away, reimagine, reinterpret, upgrade, modernize, bring to a whole new generation and you SURE AS HECK DON’T DO ANYTHING TO THE MUSIC OR LEGACY OF THE BLEEDING BEATLES!
Unless your name is Paul, John, George, the other George and occasionally Ringo, don’t touch the music or try to do anyone any favors. Even Yoko knew that simple rule.
True, there are a very VERY few select people outside of the above mentioned who have been known to pull off the near impossible. This is one example.
But these are extremely rare exceptions and downright flukes. The fact is most artists really can’t improve or even touch The Beatles work. That’s like trying to improve the wheel. At best they might hover around the ballpark, but even then it’s like, “Great. Good for you. Nicely done. Still prefer the originals. And you really suck dirty, old vagabond testicles for attempting it.”
But Julie Taymor didn’t even get to the respectable “vagabond testicle tasting” ballpark. Not only was she not allowed to come near the ballpark, she was told that the game was being played somewhere else. Far, far away from the place where the actual game was being played.
(Shit, I don’t think that that diss was communicated properly.)
The point is: no one likes Julie Taymor enough to invite her anywhere. She’s a tool who forever contributed in soiling and sullying up some great art and in the process forever made America a little weaker for, among many other things, inferior filmmaking (Really? Was this underwater sequence really something you thought was cool?
Like this was something so original and artisically fulfilling? Like beyond anything any number of lovesick high school dumbass, outcast, artist wannabes hadn’t come up with before? Or maybe a cheesy eau de toilette ad from the 80’s? Or even…
To say that a Ben Stiller flick is better than any other movie… that’s saying something.
Hey, I don’t fancy myself as the next Scorsese but chances are that if I was making a movie and I find out Ben Stiller used the same shot idea as the one I had in my shot list, and HE ACTUALLY DID A BETTER JOB… I WOULDN’T USE IT! YOU HACK DOUCHE OF A FILMMAKER!
I don’t blame the actors. They need the work to stay relevant. And at the end of the day, films are generally the director’s medium just like theatre is a writer’s medium, just like TV is the advertiser’s medium, just like Patricia Arquette plays some psychic cop on NBC’s Medium.
(Pause for groans)
“But dude, the music from ‘Across the Universe’ is great! It’s been on the top ten list on Amazon and iTunes for like a year! You’re the douche cause you don’t like the movie or the reimagined versions of the classic Beatles’ music. F-U!”
Ya know what? Hannah Montana’s music was also on the iTunes top ten list forever now.
“Oh now you have something against Hannah Montana? That just proves you don’t know anything about music! It just proves it, man!”
Posted by cap
Posted by cap
Posted by cap
