Single Malt Cinema

Is this annoying? I've always liked it. Is that annoying?

Would Have Made a Better Oscars Host

This Should Make Up for Part III

Do You Get It Now?

Playlist: Red Lights

I really can't remember why I decided to watch this film. I assume I read somewhere that it was good, or more likely, that it was cool in that way that would make me sound cool to say that I saw it. Of course, it would have to be said to someone who not only saw it as well but thought it would be cool to hear that someone else had seen it. Then, if we were really as cool as we were pretending to be, we would punch each other in the face.

For everyone else, this is an interesting French thriller from a few years back. The first half takes place almost entirely in a car as a married couple set off to pick up their kids from summer camp. They fight, and the back and forth is very well written and really plays across Jean-Pierre Darroussin's face. It's a long trip and he's pissed, so he stops for a drink. Or two. France is a different place. He stops for double whiskeys unlike American rest stops where we stop for liters of soda and Cinnabon. Well, one time he comes back to the car--yes, he left his wife in the car--and she's not there. He finds a note that says she was taking a train. And that's where the thriller part kicks in.

This reminded me of two movies. First, for plot reasons, the 1988 Dutch film, The Vanishing, which was whatever the Dutch is for "terrific" (though stay away from the awfully remade Sandra Bullock version for Sandra Bullock reasons--sorry, Academy Award winner Sandra Bullock). The other film is the 2006 French adaptation of Harlan Coben's novel, Tell No One. Not that I have to tell SMC readers, but there are some very good foreign films out there far removed from the pretentious stigma of the past. See both of these.

The second part of Red Lights begins with the husband waking up on the side of the road with little memory of the long night before. As events unfold, we learn the very important lesson of not stopping for double whiskeys while driving a long distance at night. Like Tell No One, the ending is weighed down by a lot of exposition. Remember all that tension from the past 90 minutes? Here's why. Merci. Maybe it sounds better in French. Good film, though.

Overpopulation

Check this guy out. He's a Mexican newspaper vendor. And he's got 83 tattoos of Julia Roberts.

Big deal. I have a life-size tatt of Danny Devito on my ass.

Lifetime Movies : 2002

One of my favorite things about this site is lifetime movies...and I have been so very neglectful. Thankfully Frank wrote in and of course I agree. Adaptation is amazing. I saw it for the first time on dvd, probably a year or two after it came out...I was not hooked on Charlie Kaufman as I was with Being John Malkovich and so never got to see it in the theater. The first time I saw it I was stunned as to how much was going on with the story. Then after repeated watches it gets clearer...and at the same time more complicated when you start to think of all the levels of reality and film and book this movie reacts on. Once then you have me going to the everglades and getting lost looking for the ghost orchid...your whole universe starts to collapse with reality folding into reality...the key here is that just like Synechdoche...the film is about life and creation...both the creation of man and the creation of a work of art that imitates man.

Best Film 2002: Adaptation

I remember being sad that Charlie did not win for the screenplay...I really had wanted to see it in theaters.

Others:

The Two Towers:

At this point I was hooked...One a year was perfect release times and this film had the most awsome fight scene of Helms Deep (at least till Return of the King)

Gangs of New York:
When I revisit this film its for Daniel Day Lewis...I could not even rememebr the rest of the film...its about revenge or something...

25th Hour:
I just saw this one I think last year...its awsome...and Spike Lee I think unknowingly made a masterpeice about more then just a guy going to jail..its about America Post 9-11

Spotlight: Emma Stone

It isn't often that we get a second chance as viewers. I'm not talking about re-makes, which usually feel like we are being unconstitutionally subjected to double jeopardy (not to be confused with Ashley Judd's Double Jeopardy, torture enough in original form). Remember Lindsay Lohan? No, she's not dead, but you've probably exiled her to your pop cultural blind spot by this point. She's the actress equivalent of a meth lab explosion...but not too long ago she was poised as America's next sweetheart because America can't go more than 6 months without a new sweetheart. At her age, America is starting to look a little desperate.

I always though Lindsay was overrated. She was good in Mean Girls and did show promise as a comedic actress, but overall really didn't do it for me. Maybe I was just holding out for the next gen model, the one where they got the bugs worked out (stupid shoplifting coke whore glitch!). As it usually doesn't work out with me, waiting for 2.0 is starting to look like a good decision.

Emma Stone's first real exposure came in 2007's Superbad (though she was in an episode of Lucky Louie). Not to spoil a future post, but the movie was one of the funniest of the year and besides giving birth to the legend of McLovin' gave us a classic "hey, who's that chick" moment. But this wasn't a walk in the park. Emma payed her dues having to serve as Jonah Hill's love interest. I know, girls like funny guys. Jonah Hill's not that funny. All of Monty Python wasn't that funny.

But since most of us (not even me) don't keep a spreadsheet on actors to keep an eye on and have to rely on our faulty human memories, I had a "hey, that's what's her name" moment the following year. That would be while watching the underrated "The Rocker," Rainn Wilson's attempt at cashing in on Dwight Shrute. Underrated thanks to Stone and a really good performance by Josh Gad. Who? He's the fat kid who hasn't been in much of note since but showed incredible comedic delivery. Seriously, watch it. Anyway, I now knew  Stone's name.

Next, she made The House Bunny with Anna Faris, which seems like something I would have seen. But I didn't. I did see 2009's Zombieland and, look at that, there's that girl again. Another supporting role, but a supporting role in one of the most fun films of the decade. And she got a bit of a promotion to Jesse Eisenberg's love interest. Excuse me, Academy Award nominee Jesese Eisenberg. Girls like sensitive funny guys, right? (Bonus cool Zombieland link.)

Then last year she finally gets a film of her own: Easy A. How big a success was it? It inspired this very post that you are reading now. Right now! Stone carries a pretty good film (with help from funny turns by Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson as her parents) and proves she should be considered a legit star. It's her Mean Girls. She plays one of those unrealistically smart and funny high school girls, but with enough charm that you start to fantasize about being her classmate in the way that the best 80s teen movie characters managed to get into your head and distort your perception of the real world and ultimately lead you down the road of disappointment. But, you know, in a good way.

Which all leads me to having to admit I am now excited about Stone as Gwen Stacey in next year's The Amazing Spider-Man. Not to mention a Spidey played by Andrew Garfield, who was probably 2010's actor of the year for me. And not to mention it's being directed by (500) Days of Summer's Marc Webb. Actually, now I'm going to pissed if it's not great. And not in a good way.

Lifetime Movies: 2002

As if in a rallying cry response to the horrors of the previous September, 2002 gave America a lot to take its mind off the real world at-large. A strong year with a little bit of everything film-wise. I couldn't tell you anything else that happened that year. Like one of those big fat guys, the last decade doesn't have much definition for me.

Winner: Adaptation

I rewatched this recently just to see if I remembered it correctly. Turns out I didn't. Not that I didn't like it the first go around, but like I mentioned above, its uniqueness seemed to have gotten lost in the shuffle. I don't understand how something this smart and original got made in the first place. Charlie Kaufman is the screenwriter of the decade.

Films of Note:


Punch-Drunk Love: I just rewatched this, too, because I take this seriously. And it somehow had slipped even further than Adaptation in my recollection. Part of the problem was that at the time this was neither another Magnolia nor another Adam Sandler comedy. It was what it, of course, still is: a P.T. Anderson cinematic short story that's surprisingly deep and touching. The peek of Sandler's career.

About a Boy: Take about a rare double-double: one of my favorite books (by one of my favorite authors, Nick Hornby) adapted into one of my favorite movies. Maybe the perfect role for Hugh Grant and just pitch-perfect charming on every level.

The Bourne Identity: Turned out to be the template for the decade's action movies. Not a bad thing at all, other than that Hollywood is so depressingly unoriginal. But don't hate the original. Who knew Will Hunting was such a badass?

Secretary: How long did it take them to cast James Spader in this sexy S&M pic? Spader! But the big score here was Maggie Gyllenhaal in a career-making role (hey, she was in Adaptation, too!). Oddly, director Steven Shainberg never did much else.

8 Mile: The classic music biopic but with the added edge of actually starring the biggest musician at the time. Slim Shady was up for the challenge with an undeniably good performance as basically himself. But it's the music that gives this so much life and, believe it or not, gave Eminem an Oscar. He now has as many as Pacino and Scorsese.

28 Days Later: I've written about this before, but it's worth mentioning again how amazing the first half of this film is. Danny Boyle creates one of the most haunting dystopian worlds to date and proves what an eclectic and

Spider-Man: If I needed proof that I have lost all track of time, they are already rebooting this franchise. Regardless of how the new one turns out, let's not forget how much fun Sam Raimi's first Spidey film was. Still one of the best superhero movies.

Chicago: Finally, here's your Oscar winner. And, you know what? It's not a bad choice in the context of how the Academy votes. A musical with good music and some creative and exciting choreography.

Playlist: Gasland

Why do I keep watching this stuff? Like I don't have enough to make me angry just by opening my eyes each morning, I go and learn something new. Idiot.

What I learned about in Josh Fox's Oscar-nominated doc is the practice of fracking. You know, hydraulic fracturing. You know, the process of drilling down to get natural gas. Like I said, fracking. Needless to say, this isn't a corporate promotional video.

Turns out that they use chemicals to frack. The ones that poison drinking water and give you cancer. Now before you ask how that's even possible considering our scientific knowledge concerning poison and cancer, allow me to offer two words: Dick Cheney. Of course.

Seems ol' Lucidick pushed through a little exemption (adorably nicknamed the Halliburton Loophole) in the Bush Energy Bill. That would be to exempt the companies drilling for gas from the Safe Drinking Water Act. If you're not familiar with every Act like I am, this one was intended to make sure our Drinking Water remains safe. That image at the top? That's someone's kitchen sink. And it's not the only one.

Keep in mind, however, that Fox isn't Michael Moore. He's just a guy who started worrying about his own home in rural Pennsylvania and decided to investigate. No one he meets gives one red damn about Republicans or Democrats. They just would prefer to die from obesity like every other American. It's a national problem and, I hope not to your surprise, no one cares. The Environmental Protection Agency is a joke. Congress is, well, Congress. State governments...oh, forget it.  

Best Comedy: 2010

Let's ride the wayback machine backward, which does not mean we are actually going forward. It just means we'll probably throw up sooner. I tell you what, the person who comes up with time machine strength Dramamine will have themselves a mint. Of course, they'll have to call it something else or they'll lose it all in a lawsuit to Dramamine. Timeamine? Different enough. Bank it. Boom.

And before you nerds write in to tell me 2010 is the start of a new decade...actually there's no need to write in at all now is there. As a compromise, I give full permission to call me on it when I do the Best of the Teens in 2019. If there's still an Internet. Oops, spoiler alert!

Anyway, we're going to start with last year and make our way back to the year the world ended. Remember 2000? Me either. That's why we have Wikipedia. And then, when we're all done, maybe we'll have a definitive Best Comedies of the Decade list. If you're good.

Winner: Hot Tub Time Machine

This should have been done by the time you stopped laughing at the title, but then the laughing didn't stop. Unlike something like Snakes on a Plane which was just piss poor filmmaking with a hipster-baiting name, director Steve Pink stuck to his guns and took his subject seriously. Yes, that subject was a hot tub time machine, but you can't criticize a comedy for a ridiculous premise. As that noted English wit Henry VIII taught us, it's all about the execution. Plus, a one-armed Crispin Glover. Fun and funny, with just enough T&A to honor its 80s setting, March release HTTM holds on for the win. Kajagoogoo! (obligatory time period pop reference)

Runner-Up: Get Him to the Greek

Probably a better film than HTTM, though it does lose steam at the end. I'm a Russell Brand fan so it's hard for me to know if you need to be to get the most out of this movie. He's a terrific stand-up with a natural feel for comedy. Plus, he's married to Katy Perry. That has nothing to do with anything other than if given the chance, I would definitely Freaky Friday with him. Though I'd probably end up showering the whole time because, let's face it, he always looks so unclean. But I guess chicks dig that. I'd probably end up swapping bodies with Jonah Hill. Who, since we're actually still in the same paragraph, does a great job holding this movie together. Here's hoping he doesn't fall off the Galifianakis Cliff on Jack Black Mountain.

Not a deep comedic pool last year, was it? Admittedly, I haven't seen Due Date as of press time (which will be in a few minutes), but I'm not expecting top two things. Of course, since this is online, I can change anything I want at anytime with no repercussions. Suck it, accountability.

Loser: Date Night

Garbage. An embarrassment on every level. Tina Fey's 2008 "Baby Mama" wasn't funny, but it was competent enough. And whether you understandably dislike her because she's been so overexposed, I don't think you can deny that she is talented. Same goes for Steve Carrell, who also has some legit acting chops. But he had a rough year. Dinner for Schmucks was an hour too long and further proof that Paul Rudd needs to be stopped (although former Conchord Jemaine Clement comes off big time). Right, Date Night. It felt as if there was no script and the actors intentionally did not improvise, but half-remembered what characters did in the similar situations in other bad comedies.

What did I miss? No, that's not rhetorical.

March Preview

Lion or lamb, or zombie sheep? How, oh how, is March going to bring it? Here's what I'm looking forward to...

Sucker Punch (3.25): Potential to be the greatest movie ever. This is either going to peak in the trailer or it's going to be phenomenal. Can't wait to see what Zack Snyder does with Superman.

Paul (3.18): Pegg and Frost together again. No, Edgar Wright behind the camera, though. Still excited, but not as excited as I would be if the titular character were actually Friend of the Blog Paul. When will Hollywood cash in the Big Ticket?

The Adjustment Bureau (3.4): Matt Damon and Emily Blunt in a P.K. Dick adaptation. Been waiting for this since last summer, which is usually a red flag, but the trailer looks pretty good. At least it didn't come out in January.

Should mention:
Take Me Home Tonight (3.4): Another hey let's pretend the 80s were the greatest decade ever comedy, but Hot Tub Time Machine came through early last year, so maybe.

Battle: Los Angeles (3.11): Expect the next week to be nothing but ads for this, but I don't know. Another alien invasion movie? Eh.

Playlist: Machete

Awesome. Coolest movie of the year. Let's see: Danny Trejo as the baddest Mexican on the planet (I'd love to see him in a Proactiv ad), Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez, Steven Seagal, Jeff Fahey, Don Johnson, Lindsay Lohan (either naked or in a nun's habit), Cheech Marin, and the resurgent Robert Deniro doing the kind of comedic turn he should have been doing all along (get this man a Ben Stiller restraining order). And the best use of intestines. Ever.

Robert Rodriguez makes fun movies. His Planet Terror blew away Quentin's Death Proof and his Grindhouse faux-trailer turned into this full-length kickass fest. And RobRod also seems to get fun performances out of his actors. Jessica Alba, in particular, is more life-like than she has been since, well, the guess-who-directed Sin City. Speaking of Jess, since she's a classy dame, they digitally removed her clothes for her shower scene. More proof that technology is evil. Sic em, Neo.

Here's some fun trivia from IMDB:

As Robert Rodriguez tells it, after conceiving of the character of Machete and telling Danny Trejo about it, Rodriquez started receiving phone calls at random hours of the day from Danny, trying to convince him to make the film. One day, Robert said to Danny that he was busy and asked why Danny can't just send a text message instead of constantly calling, to which Danny Trejo replied: "Machete don't text." Machete says this exact phrase in the film.

Trailer Park

Finally, an E.T. sequel. Seriously, how did this not happen before?

Playlist: Stone

When discussing a prospect in sports, scouts often refer to the player's floor and ceiling. The better the player the higher the ceiling for their potential success. If the player has a health risk or is still very young, their floor is also low, as in there's a good chance they might never even make it. Weighing these risks is the heart of player development and goes a long way to deciding the fate of your favorite franchise.

Average players, the necessary filler guys who allow you to field a full team, are generally low ceiling, high floor. Keep your expectations in check because what you see is what you get. Stone has nothing to do with sports, but I couldn't help feeling that I was watching a film with a low ceiling. It's a small story without much promise of being more than what it presents in its first half. I wasn't in the least bit surprised to discover that it was originally conceived as a play. 

None of which is to say it was bad. Actually, I'm not really sure if it's a plus or a minus in the ultimate Distillery sense of things (not that director John Curran is anywhere near the front of the Big D queue). I admit I lost interest during some of the slower scenes, particularly when it became apparent that nothing "bigger" was going to happen. I do think movies need that extra something. Not a car chase or an explosion, but some bump up in tension. 

The actors, though, are in top form. Robert DeNiro does his best work in a decade, probably since The Score, also not about sports, but also with...Ed Norton, who plays a white trash con trying to get parole. For the record, Ed Norton should not be playing a white trash con, especially one with corn rows. He's just too Ed Nortonish, too smart-looking. But he committed and I stopped being bothered by it by mid-movie (though seeing him in prison made me think of American History X.) Finally, stealing the movie from these two titans is none other than Milla Jovovich, getting the chance to show off some thespianic chops after years of kicking ass on screen. As I've mentioned before, I'm a fan, and not just because she's gorgeous (a word that feels oddly outdated to use, but also seems to fit perfectly). That said, let's just leave it with how it's a shame her nipples didn't receive some sort of Academy recognition this year. Travesty.  

Playlist: The Killing (1956)

If you haven't seen Stanley Kubrick's third (first?) feature film, you have. Maybe it was titled Reservoir Dogs. Ok, in fairness to our boy Quentin, he freely acknowledges the influence on his work. That's his thing after all. In truth, the original script by the director and ace noirvelist Jim Thompson (based on Lionel White's novel, Clean Break) is a non-linear, out-of-sequence, shifting perspective crime thriller template that is still in use today. 

Sterling Hayden is Johnny Clay, looking for one last score before he goes straight with his gal. He pulls together a crew of old cronies and desperate inside men, including Elisha Cook, Jr., to knock over a racetrack on the day of the biggest race of the year. What could go wrong? 

Some things that went right:

• Marie Windsor steals the show as Cook's scheming wife, chewing and spitting out Thompson's rat-a-tat dialogue in classic femme fatale fashion
• When Hayden's head heister is looking to lay low, he rents a room from an old cellmate's little old Italian father. The father's name? Joe Piano.
• Clay calls on an old wrestler friend, Kola Kwariani, for a favor. You can't understand a word Kola says in his thick Russian accent, but he's the kind of guy that lets his body do the talking. The body? Think George "The Animal" Steele. 
• The wrestler spends his days taking pawns at the Academy of Chess and Checkers. Five cents an hour. A struggling Stanley Kubrick made a little money playing chess in NYC before his photography career took off. 
• Timothy Carey, as sharpshooter Nikki Arane, is something to watch. Looking like a tougher John Tuturro and grinding out his lines through clenched teeth, Carey doesn't fail to leave an impression. So much so on Kubrick that he casts him in a bigger role in his next film, Paths of Glory. But wait, there's this: Nikki Arane is the hidden  face behind George Harrsion on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Seriously.
• Toward the end, there's a poster on a wall for a Burlesque house featuring a show by comedian Lenny Bruce. Some inadvertent cool. 

Spring Training

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Detroit Tigers star Miguel Cabrera got pulled over for DUI:

According to the arrest report, Cabrera smelled of alcohol, had slurred speech and took a swig from a bottle of scotch in front of a deputy. Police say Cabrera repeatedly refused to cooperate, saying, "Do you know who I am, you don't know anything about my problems."

Typical modern journalism. Where's the information we want to know? What kind of Scotch was it?

Playlist: Toy Story 3

The no-brainer Oscar pool pick in what was a down year for animated films (though I did enjoy How to Train Your Dragon). Not that it would have mattered, really. The quality of the entire TS trilogy has been amazingly consistent. And clever. The use of thoughtful visuals and character details that enhance the viewing experience is in stark contrast to what's become the standard cartoon throwaway sight gag crutch. This is probably what gives Pixar films their "heart" compared to the dreck of Shrek.

Which is all well and good, but I know what you want. You want to know if I cried. Apparently, everyone else did. Everyone. So, in what may be the shock of the year, I didn't. Not that I didn't get a little ocularly moist. I did. I'm not that big of a bastard. But I knew it was coming and that took a bit of the edge off, or at least allowed my testosterone to lay down a protective layer of machismo. It's that damn nostalgia, isn't it? It's the disease of this generation, by which I mean my generation, of which you have no idea since I am ageless on the Internet. Not immortal, exactly. More like interminable.

So, have I ever cried during a movie? Maybe. Maybe during The Pride of the Yankees. Best speech ever. Field of Dreams. Maybe Big Fish. We're not talking breakdown here, like the teenage girl in front of me during Titanic who seriously needed her coven of BFFs to help her out of the theater. We're talking about those moments that get you right there (tap your chest...no, a little lower). And it's nothing to be ashamed of either. We're being manipulated. Hell, we're paying to be manipulated. It's the same reason why you shouldn't try to stop your toe from tapping during some crappy pop song. Someone spent millions of dollars figuring out how to make you do that. Who the hell are you to stop it?

Thought of another one: The Road. Yes, I see a theme: baseball and fathers. The Road hitting me from the other side of paternity. Everyone has an emotional weakness. What's yours? What movies made you wet?

Hold on, that sounds like a Vin post. What movies made you cry?

Distillery: Christopher Nolan

Film	Year	Vin	Frank
Following	1998	+	+
Memento	2000	+	+
Insomnia	2002	-	-
Batman Begins	2005	+	+
The Prestige	2006	+	+
The Dark Knight	2008	+	+
Inception	2010	+	+
FINAL DISTILLATION		86%	86%

Key: + = Film Liked; - = Film Not Liked; x = Film Not Seen

Playlist: Never Let Me Go

What terrible marketing. Terrible. I remember seeing the preview for this and wanting to doze off before the two minutes were up. But then I heard that there was a twist of sorts. Then, that the book on which it was based was really good. Award-winning even. And then it got some buzz once people actually saw it.

That buzz was still not enough. Enough for me to see it, but not enough for what it deserves. This British countryside drama is actually a fascinating science fiction film, and one of the best in a long time. If I were to Hollywood pitch it to you: Atonement meets Children of Men.

Carey Mulligan (who I can't say enough about without coming away with a restraining order), the suddenly everywhere Andrew Garfield, and the contractually-obligated to be cast in every movie like this Keira Knightly grow up together in what looks like a traditional boarding school (the children picked to play their younger selves are spot on). It turns out the school is anything but traditional. And it turns out it's hard to talk about this film without undermining its power.

That twist I heard about isn't a twist at all because it slowly unfolds from the start when it's revealed that we're in an alternate history where medical advancements have made it possible for the average lifespan to reach 100. But, of course, what makes this high concept so powerful is the humanity captured in Alex Garland's script and Mark Romanek's direction. The plot and the emotional performances are intertwined, feeding off each other, neither one cheating or undercutting the other. It's really an incredible balance and a remarkable film.