Lifetime Movies: 2004

Best Film of 2004: Vincent Gallo's The Brown Bunny


This is it. for me this is an easy choice and a controversial choice. I feel like I have to defend this film over and over again (well to the imaginary friends I have in my head). Critics panned it at Cannes...Ebert and Gallo had a terrifying verbal battle that actually resulted in Ebert getting the cancer that Gallo wished on him. Gallo added to it by having a billboard made in LA with Chloe Sevigny blowing him...Look Gallo is an actor I love...he is quirky...he is actually very good in funny films...but lets face it...he is not historically been in very good films and the acting has been bad...I have tried to see all his films...they are hard to come by but Netflix has done me well...what other actor can play a masturbating astronaut on Mars and make it seem sooo sad? So I bought the brown bunny on DVD...it took me 2 sittings to watch all the way through...it is slow slow slow...but then I started watching it while wrapping Christmas presents one winter night...and let me tell you my mind starting to absorb the film as a genuine and honest look at male fragility that I at least have never seen on film...guys are tough and macho...and never show that vulnerable side...we all have had that moment...breaking up with a girl and pouring over notes and poems to the one that broke our heart while listening to Black Sabbath over and over again...telling our friends while drinking many beers about how you miss her...Cameron Crowe usually does this best in mainstream films...but this is Gallo...this is low tech across country 3 man crew...with no talent not even actors as characters in Gallo's road movie...the music is great...the places he shoots is great (I once emailed him for the route so I could travel one day and have a "Brown Bunny experience tour"...he gave me the directions). From the New Hampshire raceway, to a Chinese diner in St Louis, to the Utah Bonnevile salt flats and on to Los Angeles...this is a minimalistic epic sad story of lost love and a mans tortured and guilty soul opening in front of us...Gallo is excellent in this...to add I bought straight from his vgmerchandise web site the Japanese import of Brown Bunny...I converted it to English and spent weeks copying it onto a DVD so I could listen to the Gallo Commentary..its awesome its honest and I listen to it often...I love this film...its one I feel I have to champion...its not for everyone and I cant wait till Gallo's "Promises Written in Water" comes out...also check him out in Buffalo 66.

Others in Contention this year:

Sideways
I know I have to see more Alexander Payne films...this one is great...what a chemistry by the leads...what a great love story similar to the male honest hurt of Brown Bunny...but this film is fun...funny...sad..and just great...the commentary on the DVD with Church and Giamati is very funny...but you need a PHD to keep up with the two of them...I know Giamati went to Yale...and it shows...he uses big words but Church must have read a dictionary or be smart too...because the both of them have this back and forth high brow comedy going on during the commentary...its like the exact opposite of the Orgazmo DVD commentary

Collateral
Micheal Mann uses the grainy camera to show a life lived in one night in the streets of LA...Tom Cruise is a bad ass and on fire in this role...my only complaint is that Jaime Fox has no skill, is a taxi cab driver and he gets the balls to all of a sudden take out this trained killer by the end...way to over the top for that...that part is unbelievable...but its still one of the best by Mann

Kill Bill 2
Slower then 1...the story has a conclusion and should stay there...I do agree with SMCO that Uma always seems like she is doing coke or something with her nose...I guess the Pulp Fiction scenes just have stuck with her

Spiderman 2
Probably the best one...I like the villain the best and the Doc Oc in the hospital scene is sooo Sam Raimi

The Machinist
I always think I am going to see this one again and again...its great...you would never guess it was shot in Spain...the director Brad Anderson I thought would go on to make other great films...but has not...Christian Bale is amazing..the weight loss in crazy...he wins...for years we thought DeNiro was the champ for Raging Bull...but no its Bale...amazingly his next role was batman Begins...so he had to gain tons of muscle and came into preproduction from machinist with too much muscle mass...The Machinist kept me guessing the whole time...it seems like a dark horse film...like an early Chris Nolan film.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Charile Kaufman, script...maybe way too much Jim Carrey for Frank...but Kate Winslet is great...the side characters are great...the story is way confusing...the effects are natural and a funhouse style of cinema art that whiz kid Gondry handles well...while not one of my favorite Kaufman scripts, it still Kaufman and the emotion and skill of Jim Carrey is great...I loved him in Man on the Moon and this is right up there as far as acting.

Primer
Shane Carruth made this film with little money and no other film credits...its so amazing you may never even know its amazing or by the end understand what you just saw...Carruth supposedly is trying to finance his next film (Yes its been 7 years) which is called "A Topiary"...the film is a time travel, business spy type deal.

Anchorman
I think I liked this...but again with comedies...who knows...once I saw this I thought it was great...then saw it about 3 more times...comedies are easily replaceable...easily digested then we move on...you ever really go back and watch comedies from when you were a kid?...today's kids dont get it...Caddy Shack, Vacation, The Blues Brothers...I can go on and on...even Animal House may be dated and that was a period piece...Anchorman had its time...it was one of the best of 2004 but I would not rank it on best all time...even Borat...I mean has anyone watched that since the hype died down?

OK next year 2005...its a toss up year for me but I got to go with the beginning of a franchise over the end of a franchise

BOOM

Playlist: Tetro

Francis Ford Coppola: His last great movie...and I mean GREAT was Apocalypse Now...1979...that's 31 years ago. This guy should be in the scrap heap...but when real film buffs look at great directors, Coppola's name is always high on that list, we cant get away from the Godfather I and II...it could be argued that Godfather III was good...but great? To me Tetro is the next GREAT Coppola film...when it comes to his films, why not put this film on the same level with the classic Godfather films and Apocalypse...sure it never had the wide spread hype and fan fare of those films..but at its core is a cared for multi-level film that truly is close to the heart and life of the filmmaker. This is an artist at his best...I will not go into the story too much except to say that a young man comes to Argentina to fine his older brother and discover answers to his families questions..the film unravels these mysteries in a way that I was surprised by...even though toward thew middle of the film I saw the twist coming...so this is similar to my experience with a very different film , Shutter Island...where Scorsese is making films now that make tons of money..Coppola was lucky to get this film made as well as even seen. Coppola doesn't care for that anymore would be my guess...he just wants to make his films his way.
Many comparisons I have read compares this most closely with Rumble Fish (probably because its in black and white and pops with color at important spots...but I see it as bigger then that...this is a great film...not for everyone...but a top film in the career of Coppola...

Now for Vincent Gallo...Gallo was not the first choice...oddly, Matt Dillon was the first choice...lucky for us he was busy, and Gallo got the role...Gallo actually acts here, its a struggle...in interviews on the blu-ray he states as much...he respects Coppola and really wants to do a great job in a Coppola film...(On the title card of the film it has both their names at the same time..I mean I as Vincent Gallo fan #1 creamed my pants)...but Gallo is truly a haunted character as Tetro...things happen in this film like in Shutter Island that scream for a second viewing...his performance will be understood more after that second viewing for what is revealed in the end. Gallo is a director and an improvisational actor who claims is set in his way, and hates rehearsal..Coppola is like Andre in My Dinner with Andre...he goes to ridiculous extremes to rehearse and it was apparent that this was uneasy for Gallo...but he had to realize that it was to pay off..and it did...you get your Gallo being smug and a jerk here...you get your Gallo yelling and becoming unravelled...and you get a great performance. Coppola even states that he never heard of Gallo until Dillon pulled out, apparently the crew in Argentina's first choice to replace Dillon was Gallo...Coppola then watched Buffalo '66...thank God it wasn't The Brown Bunny.

See this: BOOM

Playlist: The Rain People

Francis Ford Coppola to me has one of the most interesting Directing careers of all the great American Filmmakers. He is honest and genuine..and you really get a sense of his insecurity and passion when you listen to a Coppola commentary, or interview. Coppola went to Hofstra University and started to direct plays and then off to California to film school to make shorts, films with Roger Corman and his first feature student film called You're a Big Boy Now. Coppola then had the great fortune to be asked to direct his first film from Warner Brothers and it was a musical staring Fred Astaire. Coppola wanted to direct small auteur films, like 400 Blows from the 1950's...he wanted to be an artist who made personal small films...its not ironic now in his 70's he is back to making those small personal films like Tetro and Youth Without Youth. Coppola has been on hiatus..after years of being in debt and having to make films that a young Coppola would have possibly looked down upon (like Jack, The Rainmaker, etc) to pay the bills and start his wine and hotel conglomerate, and possibly finance these personal films, his career arc has been one of a clear direction...in interviews and commentary Coppola rejoices in all his films, he truly is one who loves the work and not necessarily the prestige that the work may or may not bring. I have come to appreciate the joy of filmmaking through Coppola, and although I may not love all his films, they are all his children, his heartache, his failures and more than equally his successes.

The Rain People is most notable for having pre-Godfather stalwarts, James Caan and Robert Duvall..but the center piece is actress Shirley Knight, who plays a newly married and newly pregnant New Yorker who gets scarred and leaves her husband to get as far away from her responsibilities as possible, foreshadowing of the ideas that Coppola will eventually tackle like Kay wanting an abortion in Godfather II and the road aspect of Apocalypse Now are all here. But this film is magic for all the subtle camera work and character details that Coppola paints, slightly...we come to hate all the main characters at some points and want Shirley Knight's character to succeed and fail throughout.

For 1969 this film must have been a downer...but other films of the time looked at their films as a mirror to society of the 60s..and that society was bleak and had few happy endings.

One last thing..in an interview between Coppola and his latest star, Vincent Gallo, Gallo called The Rain People his favorite Coppola film, especially the ending...I am a fan of Gallo and see clear connections between this road film of 1969 and Gallo's film The Brown Bunny...in Coppola's road film a small crew of young filmmakers and actors went across the country from New York to the far mid-west, and in a just a few weeks made a film, they were poor and struggled to make an engrossing and original film..they dared to make this film..in the group with Coppola was a young associate producer and crew member named George Lucas..I really hope he can find it in his filmmaker soul to go back to his roots as Coppola has and start creating original honest work again.

I recommend the film to anyone who enjoys the process of any hard work, especially from young and talented people.

Contact Greatness

Arial font is the closest we will get to Helvetica...this post is in Arial font...I chose it because it is closest to Helvetica...Microsoft has not gotten the rights to Helvetica and therefore we now have Arial in its place...the glory that is the perfect font, Helvetica has been emasculated by a God, greatness is hard to define, but I find great beauty and wonder in fonts, I use them to express a feeling and when I see Helvetica I see freedom and universality, not so much creativity, and then when I see Arial...I see an anti-god, I see an imposter, a false prophet, so easily it is to spot sometimes...as it is with actors..how easily were we all fooled by the likes of Ben Affleck, or by Jim Carrey...these were promised to be great (by some) and then got paid and screwed all of us...I actually thought Matt Damon was the jerk until Ben showed his true colors (but that's for another post)...

When you see greatness and then attempt to come close to it, it is a scary thing...take for instance this blogspot...I just found out I have an account on it...it was for one reason, to contact greatness about 4 or 5 years ago. I opened this account when I found out that Darren Aronofsky was abandoning MySpace (I got a myspace account just to see his page)...and the great Director turned to blog spot...he updated us on The Fountain as it was released and then on the "new project"...The Wrestler...then as time faded no more updates...I opened an account for the chance to see the posts and by chance contact him...I even was one of the first to get on blogspot and open an account and post a thanks to him for his great films, this of course was a sad and desperate attempt to be heard by an icon of mine...there have been other attempts...I posted a blog thanks and shout out to the great Frank Vincent on his personal web site...(no reply)...and then the one moment that a celebrity actually emailed me back was the great Vincent Gallo..I wanted to know a bunch of crap...he probably saw right through me...but he emailed me anyway about 3 years ago..to let me know what I wanted...did he shoot The Brown Bunny in order as the film progresses its road journey from New Hampsire to California?...and what roads did he take?...as if I will someday take the vacation of a life time and recreate the road experience of Vincent Gallo on his journey...(email me if you want to come with...and I can give you his reply personally and we can hit the road...dead bugs and all...but I promise no blow jobs in dingy white and brown motels once we get to California)...

Anyway..the dream is that of Icarus..to fly too close to greatness is to get burned...too bad I am mostly like Sysiphus...I fail but keep trying.