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SittingStill
--Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn), "Fast Times at Ridgemont High"
Introduction:
Well, if you're reading this, I would speculate that it means one of two things: either you have read a post in which I have written something that you have found insightful or interesting; or you have read a post in which I have sounded like an asshole. Either way, welcome.
This profile is a work in progress. Inspired by the profile of TylerLebowski (if you have not checked it out, I strong recommend it-- a great deal of time and effort went into that profile, and it shows), I have decided to engage in some cinematic self-assessment of my own. I figure, so much of my waking life (and some of my nocturnal life) is devoted to film, that I shall seize this opportunity to define myself by my love for film.
About Myself:
I am thirty years old, male, married, an attorney by profession, a screenwriter by passion, residing in the Garden State-- that's right, the setting for not only the Kevin SMith greats and Zach Braff's titular materpiece last year, but what may be the funniest film I have ever viewed, "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle."
What is "Sitting Still?
"Sitting Still" is the screenplay that I have cowritten, which I am please to say, after three years and several drafts, is ready to be shot this winter. I will be overseeing the shooting of this film on digital in December 2005. In the interim, it's gonna be a summer of storyboarding and pre-production.
"Sitting Still" is a dark comedy/thriller that could be described as "To Die For" meets "Panic Room." It involves four boys, high school seniors, who find them trapped in the basement of their former lunch lady when her husband comes home early from work one day while their buddy is upstairs engaged in the throws of passion with his wife. The boys are in the basement, playing cards, when the husband's car pulls up. They know that their friend is upstairs banging his wife, they know that he isn't suppose to be home, but before they can react and make their exit, the husband enters the house, and the boys are helpless but to listen to the sounds coming from upstairs.
A muffled exchange.
A scuffle.
A gunshot.
Who are these boys? How did they come to be in this basement? How are they going to get out? All of these questions are addressed throughut a tightly wound non-linear three-act structure. However, as we, the audience, remain captive to the baement, like the boys, the most important question of all remains, what really happened upstairs?
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Anyway, I apologize for the blatant act of self-promotion. I'm just very excited about this project, it has been so long in the making.
Allow me to shift gears, with a turn to my top one hundred films...
Top 100 (04/22/05)
Let me preface this list by noting that as much as I am a list-whore, I am torn between my compulsive tendecies to categorize everythng in terms of lists and ratings, and my devotion to my favorite films. They are like my children, and to rate, say, "Memento" and "Before Sunset," to me is like Sophie's Choice (not the movie, but the act of having to make a dtough decision). THerefore, I have opted to cop out and list my top 100 alphabetically. (Although I have put an asterik next to what I consider to be the creme de la creme:
Adaptation
Almost Famous*
American Beauty**
American President
And Justice For All
Apartment, The*
Auto Focus
Back to the Future
Back to School
Beautiful Girls
Before Sunrise
Before Sunset**
Being John Malkovich
Better off Dead
Beverly Hills Cop
Boogie Nights*
Boys in the Hood
Clerks**
Casablanca**
Chasing Amy
Christmas Story, A
Cool Hand Luke
Dazed and Confused
Dead Poets Society
Diner
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Donnie Darko
Election
Elf
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind*
Fargo
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Few Good Men, A
Fish Called Wanda, A
Fight Club
Game, The
Garden State*
Ghost World
Go
Godfather**
Godfather II**
Goodfellas**
Good Will Hunting**
Groundhog Day
Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle
Indiana Jones and Last Crusade
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Jerry Mguire
Kissing Jessica Stein
Kramer Versus Kramer
Lost Boys, The**
Lost in Translation**
Made
Memento**
Midnight Run
Million Dollar Baby
My Cousin Vinny
Office Space
On the Waterfront
Out of Sight
Outsiders, The
Pulp Fiction**
Raging Bull
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raising Arizona
Rear Window
Reservoir Dogs**
Revenge of the Nerds
Risky Business
Rounders
Rushmore*
Ruthless People
Saving Private Ryan
Say Anything*
Sideways*
Scarface
Shawshank Redemption
Shining, The
South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut
Stand By Me
Star Wars
State and Main
Stripes**
Swingers*
Taxi Driver
Terminator, The
Toy Story
Trading Places
Traffic*
True Romance*
Usual Suspects*
Vacation
War of the Roses
Weird Science
When Harry Met Sally*
Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Wonder Boys*
You Can Count on Me*
And since I have listed them indisciminately, I follow up my alphabeitcl recitation with
Top 5 Movies Per Year (2004 - 1990)
2004
1. Before Sunset
2. Sideways
3. Garden State
4. Eternal Sunshine
5. Closer/We Don't Live Here Anyomre*
Contrary to popular opinion, I submit that 2004 was a strong year for film. I believe that my 2004 starting lineup, led by Before Sunset (which may very well be my favorite film of all time), holds its own against any other year in the last fifteen years.
As an aside, I have not made up my mind as to what was the better film-- Closer or We Don't Live Here Anymore. Both addressed similar subject matter in completely different lights. I will have to reasearch the arguments set forth in each film's respective message board, and watch them back to back before arriving at a decision.
2003
1. Lost in Translation
2. Old School
3. Elf
4. Sea Biscuit
5. School of Rock
Not a partuclarly strong year for film on a whole, in my opinion, although I believe that the number one film of the year, "Lost in Translation," holds its own against the top from all surrounding years.
2002
1. Kissing Jessica Stein
2. Adaptation
3. Auto Focus
4. Roger Dodger
5. Eight Mile
2001
1. You Can Count on Me
2. Donnie Darko
3. Made
4. Royal Tennanbaums
5. Oceans 11
A year of underrated films. The top three in particular did not, at the time, receive their due attention.
2000
1. Memento
2. Traffic
3. Almost Famous
4. Wonder Boys
5. State and Main
In my opinion, 2000 marked the strongest year for film since 1994, with a top-five line-up solid enough to preclude some of my other favorites from the year (including "The Tao of Steve" and "Ghost World").
1999
1. American Beauty
2. Being John Malkovich
3. South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut
4. Election
5. Office Space
1998
1. Out of Sight
2. Rushmore
3. Saving Private Ryan
4. Rounders
5. American History X
1997
1. Good Will Hunting
2. Boogie Nights
3. The Game
4. Chasing Amy
5. As Good As it Gets
1996
1. Swingers
2. Beautiful Girls
3. Jerry Mguire
4. Bound
5. Fargo
1995
1. Usual Suspects
2. Before Sunrise
3. American President
4. Toy Story
5. Casino
1994
1. Pulp Fiction
2. Clerks
3. Shawshank Redemption
4. Forest Gump
5. Natural Born Killers
1993
1. Dazed and Confused
2. Groundhog Day
3. True Romance
4. The Firm
5. Reality Bites
1992
1. Reservoir Dogs
2. A Few Good Men
3. My Cousin Vinny
4. White Men Can't Jumpo
5. The Player
1991
1. JFK
2. Boys in the Hood
3. Cape Fear
4. What about Bob?
5. The Doors
1990
1. Goodfellas
2. Die Hard II
3. Pretty Woman
4. Flatliners
5. Bad Influence
TOP 5 TELEVISION SHOWS OF ALL TIME
1. Curb Your Enthusiasm
2. 24
3. Simpsons
4. Sports Night
5. Sopranos
FAVORITE CHARACTERS OF THE BIG AND SMALL SCREEN
1. Larry David - Characterized by his routine tendency to put his foot in his mouth, and his uncanny inability to let anything go (always having to get in the last word), no one knows how to make a bad situation worse than L.D. It amazes me how many times on a daily basis, in the ordinary course of trying to get through the day, I find myself in a scenario where I am reminded of the great Curb Your Enthusiasm. I call these moments my "Larry David Moments"-- moments of awkward social interaction usually stemming from the most absurd scenarios. (For examples, see my "Larry David Moments" posts below. Usually, I will begin to hear that carnival-eque theme run through my mind.
Funniest Movie: Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle
Scariest Movie: House of 1000 Corpses
Best Romance: Before Sunrise/Sunset
Best Thriller/Noir: Memento
Best Characters: Reservoir Dogs
Best Crime Drama: Godfather
Best Drama: You Can Count on Me
TOP 10 QUOTES THAT EMBODY THE SPIRIT OF IMDb
"want to kill the person who made this movie because it wasted 2 and a half hours of my life...{the only exciting part was when she hit her head on the chair)."
--tubs619 expressing his/her feelings on "Million Dollar Baby"
"Anyone who doesn't like this movie its most likely unable to handle movies with any type of emotion whatsoever, or just doesn't understand what emotions are." --Pandas UNITE, defending "Forrest Gump"
"I gave it a 10, but I thought it was more of a 6. Gave it a 10 cause of all the people who lowered there scores to 1. No really, was it that bad or do you think its 'cool' to hate this movie? Your sheep, your sheep!" --KawKawKawKaw, defendant "Gigli" out of principle
"Fine. I haven't even seen this movie, but I'm going to give it a one just to make up for your ten. Apparently, this is considered acceptable behaviour." --Movie Buff99, bastardizing Gigli out of counter-principle
Reviews
American Wedding (2003)
A Pie With Missing Pieces.
American Pie works best as its own entity. It was a tight story in which each character was able to maintain his or her own story arch. Would Jim overcome his fumbling, goofy nature and lack of confidence and rise to the occasion with Nadia? Would Oz be able to pull off his facade as superficial jock to sentimental choir boy? Would Kevin, the only character in an establish relationship, be able to take the relationship to the next level? And just what was Finch up to? In defense of the people behind American Wedding, they simply did not have the necessary tools at their disposal to pull off a fulfilling third slice in the American Pie trilogy. In fact, signs of diminished resources were apparent by the second film-- and I am talking not merely about the absence of some of the key actors to reprise their role (which hurts this film greatly), but more importantly, there simply was not enough for these once central characters to do.
The strongest apparent example is Kevin, who, without any side plot whatsoever, is left with nothing to do but stand around and throw around toasts "to the next step." His character could have been completely removed from this film without it having any impact.
Of course, the other problem is that the absence of the complete ensemble (or even a mention as to what became of them), strikes at the friends-to-the-end theme of these American Pie movies. Who though, at the conclusion of the original American Pie, that if some day in the not-too-distant future Jim was getting married, Oz would not be in attendance. It rings hollow.
The Butterfly Effect (2004)
An Unnecessarily Over-the-Top Execution of an Interesting idea
Amptuees. Incest. Blowing up infants. Torturing and burning dogs. Any one of these topics have been taboo for mainstream cinema for...well...forever. This movie managed to incorporate it all.
And make no mistake about it, this movie was marketed as a mainstream film. With Ashton Kutcher and Amy Smart, this was no "Faces of Death" b-movie flick that goes straight to the "Disturbing" section of your local video store. This is a film that received substantial commercial airtime.
It's shame, because both the story and the direction were original and refreshing, and the acting was not bad. But at the end of the day, as the credits began to roll, my first thoughts were not, "Wow, that was an interesting story"; rather, they were, "wow, I just watched a movie with amputees, incest, blowing up infants...
Memento (2000)
When Form Meets Function
I loved Pulp Fiction. I was one of the many who bought into this wave of non-linear storytelling, and believed that the structure as crafted by Quentin was the cat's meow.
And then I saw Memento.
And I saw it again.
And again.
Christopher Nolan's gripping story of an amnesiac seeking revenge on the culprit who caused his condition and raped and murdered his wife takes the non-linear structure to a whole new level. Most importantly, the structure-- which is told chronologically backwards-- is not thrown in frivolously. Rather, it serves a definitive purpose and compliments the story being told: it allows us, the audience, to experience the vertigo, the unknown, that our protagonist experiences. We start with our hero's conclusion, and as the story unfolds, the issue becomes, how did our hero arrive at this conclusion.
Memento further works in taking advantage of a technique utilized so perfectly in Usual Suspects, and to a lesser degree in Fight Club--the unreliable narrator. In this respect, Nolan plays off of the long standing general principle that the narrator is trustworthy. Unlike Usual Suspects, however, where the protagonist turned out to be unreliable because he was outright lying, the unreliability of our hero in Memento is not (necessarily) that he was lying, but that his condition resulted in a distortion of his perception of what was true and what was false.
Therein rests the underlying theme of Memento. In a film where every character takes advantage of our hero's condition, he conditions himself to take advantage of his own condition.
Pulp Fiction (1994)
How Much Pulp Can You Squeeze Out of This Movie
Pulp Fiction is one of those brilliant type of films that you truly discover more and more each time you watch it. Like a kid in a candy store, there are more treats than one can handle in a single viewing. This is evidenced by the recent string of posts on the Pulp Fiction board entitled "500 Things You've Noticed About Pulp Fiction." Not too many movies have so many things going for it.
This is truly a movie that defined a generation. After Pulp, a string of films came out that attempted to recapture the magic of Pulp: 2 Days in the Valley, Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead, Go., and many more. Each of these movies had something going for it; but each movie seemed to only bring to the table one of the many elements that made pulp so rich, whether it be the non-linear storytelling, witty dialogue with pop-culture reference, hipper-than-thou characters, or absurd, out-of-nowhere plot twists. Pulp, however, had the whole package in one movie.
Before Sunset (2004)
A perfectly constructed portrait of friends of old
This movie has had more of an impact on me personally than any other movie Ihave ever scene. Having said that, I believe that objectively, this movie is a cinematic masterpiece. I don't know if I would consider this a sequel, but if so, this is truly one of those rare gems that is benefited from the original, and in my opinion, overshadows the original.
First, the story works so well because of the genuine chemistry between Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy). This can be attributed not only to the genuine performances of the two leads, but also to the fact that the back story is already established in the previous film. Before Sunrise, which tells the tale of how these two met, how they connected, and how they made a promise to reunite, essentially serves as a detailed and rich first act, and therefore no time was needed to be allotted to establishing their chemistry in the Sunset. We are already invested in their relationship from the opening frame.
Second, this movie serves as a testament to human nature, how people's views change, and the little inconsistencies that make us who we are. In the Sunrise, Celine establishes that she believes in reincarnation; in Sunset, she asserts that she does not. Is this inconsistency an oversight on the part of the writers. I think not. I think these writers know these characters, and their history, so well. Rather, I think that this change in thought reflects the change contemplated in the character-- and is consistent with her, "I don't believe in anything anymore" speech in the limo.
I can go on and on. This is one of those movies that I can watch over and over, and pick up something new each time.