“Cop Land” – 1997. Dir. James Mangold

With Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Robert DeNiro, Robert Patrick, Annabella Sciorra, Noah Emmerich, Frank Vincent, Arthur J. Nascarella, Peter Berg, Cathy Moriarty, Michael Rapaport, Edie Falco with John Spencer and Ray Liotta

“Don’t shut me out Ray! You found us a sweet little town. You got us the low interest, and I’m grateful. But don’t forget who it was that you came to two years ago to cover your ass!” – Figgs (Ray Liotta)

The film “Cop Land” has a simple template – it’s a town of Garrison, New Jersey that is forty minutes from New York City – where all the towns’ folk work as police officers. The patriarch of the town, Ray Donlan (Harvey Keitel) is the supreme power that rules the town. The small town has its own “law” and it’s enforced by native Freddy Heflin (an overweight and bloated Sylvester Stallone) who is a bumbling and slightly dim witted law man whose dream was to be one of New York’s finest. Sheriff Heflin has limited control, and the only power he has is the power Ray Donlan lets him have.

Inside of the town is Ray’s right hand man Jack Rucker (Robert Patrick) who is a man that has a primal urge of violence and destruction who goes head on with Ray’s old partner Gary Figgis (Ray Liotta who puts on a clinic). This is an extremely close nit and private community where everyone’s doors are unlocked and no one lives in fear, the only semi outcast is Figgs who now has a drug problem.

After an incident with Ray’s nephew Murray “Super Boy” Babich (Michael Rapaport) where Murray shot and killed two black teenagers while driving drunk and suspecting the two black men were pointing a gun at him, Ray and Leo Crasky (John Spencer) and some other “higher ups” of the community decide it best to fake Murray jumping off the George Washington Bridge in hopes it would prevent any unwanted investigation to their town of Garrison, New Jersey.

An old academy classmate of Ray’s Moe Tildon (Robert DeNiro) now works for internal affairs, and knows that Ray is dirty, knows that he’s been doing favors for the mob and in turn the mob banks offered low interest rates on home loans to the fleet of officers that could all buy homes outside of the violence and mayhem of New York.

I have seen “Cop Land” over twenty times in my life, and when I watch the film I see two things – I see a modern day western that follows the path of “High Noon” where a Sheriff takes his town back from corruption. Then I look closer and I see a film that brings morals and values into a heated debate. I ask myself while watching this film, if Ray Donlan is as bad as we’re supposed to think he is. Sure he may have done some bad things – we see him do some bad things – but everything he does isn’t for his own personal gain, it’s to protect this “utopian” community where police don’t have to live in fear.

They see so many horrors and unthinkable things as police officers in New York City – that when they come home to Garrison, they don’t have to worry about them, they don’t have to worry about locking their doors or sleeping with a gun under their pillows. They know that once they cross the bridge and enter their town that they are safe from the outside world. What these men have done is cut a couple of corners, do a couple of favors for bad people to insure the protection of their families.

We know from the start that Ray, Jack and Figgs aren’t the cleanest of cops, but by getting their hands dirty, they were able to protect fellow cops. And being put in the same situation, I feel that I would do the same. I mean, how far would you go to protect and provide for your friends and their families?

James Mangold (“Walk the Line”, “Girl Interrupted” and “3:10 to Yuma”) masterfully writes and directs a film that is a masterpiece. The dialogue is rich and filled with excellent exchanges between characters. It is a remarkable screenplay, and it’s that screenplay that allowed Mangold to direct his first film, and to get the attention of Stallone, DeNiro, Keitel and Liotta – who all worked for the SAG minimum salary to insure that the film would get made and not go over budget.

Aside from the star power of the top billed actors, Mangold fills the film with remarkable character actors to help support a great foundation that the screenplay and star power started to build. John Spencer who plays a character that almost seems like the one person that Ray reports too, and Robert Patrick is magnificent as Ray’s right hand man who in a split second would jump in front of a bullet for Ray. Arthur J. Nascarella was originally a technical advisor for the film since he was an NYPD officer for twenty years, but Mangold then wrote a part for him as one of Ray’s men.

The four leads give impeccable performances. Stallone gives the performance of his career, he touches upon emotions and traits that his characters aren’t usually identified with. He struggles with loneliness and apathy – and Stallone shows an awesome amount of range. I’m still bitter about him not getting a nomination. Stallone took this role so seriously he stopped working out, and gained sixty pounds of fat, which brought so much authenticity to Freddy that when I see Stallone in the film, I don’t see Rambo or Rocky – I see dim witted Freddy.

Harvey Keitel and Robert DeNiro are such seasoned actors that it’s easy for them to take roles that they can just walk through (DeNiro has been doing that since “Jackie Brown”). It’s wonderful to see them onscreen again, playing bitter rivals who hate the other one so much it makes the audience uncomfortable watching them on screen together. I mean, this is the first time the two have been on screen together since “Taxi Driver” – it’s been long overdue!

Now if I had to say that one actor steals the show, it would have to be Ray Liotta. Liotta plays his much typecast “man on the edge”, but in this film that is exactly what his character is. Liotta makes decisions in the film that leave him with much guilt. Liotta plays a modern day ronin – a samurai that has no guidance from a master and has now lost his way.

The finale of the film is as epic as epic gets with an old fashion showdown between the Sheriff and Ray and his men. It’s a showdown that has the good old shoot out finale that my friend Kevin over at The Pork Chop Express stated in his “Dark Blue” review that every cop film needs. I can abide by that.

Earlier in the review I stated that this film is a masterpiece. I do feel that the film is a masterpiece; while watching this film, there isn’t one thing that I have a hang up with, nor is there anything that makes the film not feel authentic. This film fires on all its cylinders throughout and doesn’t have any lulls or a snag from DeNiro’s opening narration to his closing narration.

While the moral conflicts the characters have in the film may not be the main focus of the average viewer watching the film; it does for me. By no means is this a landmark film or bring into light taboo subjects – but what it offers is an excellent acting ensemble, a finely tuned script, and remarkable storytelling by James Mangold.

Rating: 10/10

“Machete” – 2010. Dir. Robert Rodriguez and Evan Maniquis

With Danny Trejo, Steven Seagal, Michelle Rodriguez, Jessica Alba, Lindsey Lohan, Cheech Marin, Tom Salvi, Shea Whigham; Introducing Don Johnson with Jeff Fahey and Robert De Niro

“This cucaracha has got AK-47s and he’s laying waste to everything that gets in his fucking path!” – Senator McLaughlin (Robert De Niro)

“Machete” kicks fucking ass. For those of you who live under a rock, a few years ago Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino made a double feature film called “Grindhouse” (which was a throwback to 70′s B films) where each filmmaker made a film, and there were “fake” trailers that were before each film; and this is where “Machete” was born. It was a kick ass, pulpy, grindhouse style trailer were an angry Mexican (Danny Trejo) kicks ass.

Rodriguez announced he was going to make it a feature, and no one heard much about it until it’s cast was released. This film has one of the greatest most fucked up ensemble casts I have ever seen: Danny Trejo as Machete, Steven Seagal as a Mexican (yes, he’s Mexican in it) drug kingpin Torrez, Michelle Rodriguez as the leader of the “network”, Jessica Alba who works for immigration, Lindsey Lohan as a caricature of herself, Cheech Marin as Machete’s priest brother, Don Johnson as the head minute man killing illegal’s, Jeff Fahey as the man who hires and then double-crosses Machete and Robert De Niro as the Rush Limbaugh/Glenn Beck wet dream Senator McLaughlin.

This movie is absurd and it’s a lot of fun. This film is so over-the-top dealing with not only a throwback exploitation film, but with the issue of illegal immigration. This film just shows the actual absurdity of the actual issue of illegal immigration and how it is so blown out of proportion.

There are so many things about this film that I noticed and that I loved. I loved that Steven Seagal not only played a bad guy for the first time in his career, but he was supposed to be a Mexican who fought with some sort of ninja sword. What makes it funnier is the fact that Seagal is wearing the baggiest cloths ever. You’re not fooling anyone; but I admire your attitude. Alright, before I get into how awesome Seagal is and the rest of the cast lets dive into the storyline of “Machete”.

Danny Trejo is a federal agent in the Mexican government and he’s going to find a girl that is going to testify against drug kingpin Torrez (I still can’t get over Seagal playing a Mexican). He drives to this compound, kills a bunch of guys and while he stumbles across this naked girl who he’s trying to save, she stabs him with his own machete and in walks Seagal who is frustrated with Machete not taking his bribes, so he pulls out Machete’s wife, cuts her head off and tells him he killed his daughter. He stabs and cuts Machete and leaves him for dead.

Flash forward three years.

Machete is in Texas working as a day laborer. He gets picked up by Booth (Jeff Fahey) a mysterious business man who offers Machete $100,000 to assassinate the tea partying State Senator McLaughlin (Robert De Niro with an awesomely amazing campy accent). Machete who is being watched by Jessica Alba who works for the US Immigration forms a truce with both Alba and Michelle Rodriguez who plays She, the woman who runs the underground network of shuttling Mexicans from Mexico and tries to set them up with jobs in America.

Don Johnson plays Von, who is a “good ole boy” who drives around in a Hummer and kills illegal’s crossing the border. He’s secretly backing De Niro’s campaign that’s built on illegal immigrants and how they are all “terrorists”. I love how Robert Rodriguez rubs our nose in it, and we have no choice but to love it. If you get offended by De Niro’s character – you obviously just don’t get it.

Michelle Rodriguez is fucking sexy. (J)Wow(w). She seriously has got to be one of the most attractive women I have ever seen on screen. I mean, that eye patch she dons at the end of the film made me get a husky chubb. I think I’m in love with her. Peace out George Michael!

Lindsey Lohan plays the daughter of Jeff Fahey in the film, and she’s so great in it because she plays a fucked up party girl who has her own pornographic internet website. How awesome is it that she essentially is making fun of herself. I’ve got to give her credit. What I found really funny was when it came to her “sex scene” with her mother in the film and Danny Trejo – it was a body double portraying Lohan. I thought that was funny.

Don Johnson’s in this? And shares screen time with De Niro? How great is that?! Don Johnson had pretty much fallen off the face of the planet since “Miami Vice” and “Nash Bridges” but he’s back in action as the cliché ridden vigilante who’s great granddaddy died at the Alamo. Watching the opening credits was fun, because when they got to Johnson it freeze framed a picture of him and the texted appeared: Introducing Don Johnson. That is classic!

Steven Seagal gets second billing in the film! He spends most of his screen time talking via webcam. Come on! That’s pretty funny! Seagal is so good/bad in this film it makes me really, really miss him as an actor. It’s good to see him in theaters again, I mean – it’s only been eight years.

Jessica Alba is an awful actress. She’s lucky that her character is supposed to be played by an awful actress because her character is so awful.

Robert De Niro is a baller (I have to stop saying that word) for playing this role. I can’t help but think that since De Niro is such a gigantic liberal he must have had a blast playing this character. I don’t think a lot of people picked up on this, but I love how De Niro’s accent drops in certain scenes of the film. This is one of De Niro’s best performances in YEARS. He’s so over-the-top and so fucking campy he’s nothing less than HYSTERICAL!

Jeff Fahey has drifted around a lot as an actor, and I’ve always liked him since “Silverado”. When I saw him in “Planet Terror” I was jacked, and now that he is in “Machete” I’m even happier because he’s just so damn good in the film.

Danny Trejo is awesome as Danny Trejo in this. He finally got a vehicle where he’s the lead actor and it’s great. He doesn’t only kick ass, but he hooks up with Lohan and her mom, Michelle Rodriguez and Jessica Alba – fuck yeah Trejo!

My only complaint about the film is that its run time is slightly long. This film would have been perfect if it would have had a runtime of about 80 – 90 minutes. Some of the scenes aren’t needed at all (I guess you can argue that about most of the movie) and it just gets to the point where you want the film to get wrapped up.

The film also pokes fun at text messaging. Look, texting is pretty lame and for as much as we bitch about texting, we still do it. Kind of like facebook.

This film is everything that it should have been, trashy and violent with nudity and corny dialogue. It works very well, and Robert Rodriguez has shown his knack and talent in this genre that he’s excelled at. His El Mariachi trilogy, “From Dusk Till Dawn”, and “Sin City” are the bedrocks of how he has taken pulp material and sub-genres and made a career out of it (and not to mention his talent for directing family movies).

I am enjoying this Grindhouse theme that has been bubbling up. I enjoy “Planet Terror” a whole hell of a lot, and I enjoy the first half of “Death Proof”. I really, really, really, really love Larry Bishop’s biker flick “Hell Ride” – I think that is the best “grindhouse” film to date. “Machete” will not disappoint but it will offend (Lindsey Lohan running around with a magnum in a nun outfit)…

And just wait until De Niro dresses up like a Mexican. It’s AWEsome. What’s even greater about De Niro in the film are campaign commercials that pop up periodically throughout. Those political ads are laugh out loud funny. This is De Niro’s best performance since “Jackie Brown”.

I was also hoping for cameos by characters that are staples in Rodriguez/Tarantino universe like El Mariachi, Earl McGraw, Elrey or Dr. Block – but I think it’s safe to say that Machete exists on his own terms. This film is everything “The Expendables” wanted to be. The movie is just plain fun.

You know that Rodriguez is going to make two more “Machete” films right? And what’s most impressive about the film is the fact that Danny Trejo is 66 years old. WOW.

Rating: 9/10

The King of Comedy – 1982. Dir Martin Scorsese

Click here to see the rest of the selected films!

“Is Mr. Langford expecting you?” – Langford’s Secretary

“Yes, I don’t think he is.” – Rupert Pupkin

Meet Rupert Pupkin – whose name is often mispronounced and misspelled.  He’s an insecure, timid and dissolutional young man whose dream is to perform a guest spot on “The Jerry Langford Show”.  His psychopathic friend Masha is deeply obsessed with Jerry and after numerous failed attempts of Rupert going to Jerry’s office for a meeting – the two devise a plan to kidnap Jerry.

“The King of Comedy” remains to be the greatest Scorsese film that no one has seen.  It showcases Robert DeNiro’s finest performance as Rupert, a wickedly hilarious psychotic performance of a lifetime by Sandra Bernhard as Masha and a steady cool and calm of normality that’s brought to the film by Jerry Lewis as Jerry Langford – a Johnny Carson esq late night host.

This film has a nice polish on it, it looks and feels light and breezy but under the façade this is a deeply dark and sinister film.  Rupert is so utterly delirious that his basement room is his Mother’s house is a mock studio with cardboard cutouts of celebrities where he performs in front of an invisible audience every night.  The film is incredibly funny – yet you find yourself wanting to look away at how terribly humiliating situations in the film become.

After failing to meet with Jerry at his office, Rupert invites a woman who was in love with in high school, and is now a local bartender, to join him for a weekend at Jerry’s home.  Rupert arrives at Jerry’s home and forces his way past the butler and maid.  He then begins to walk around Jerry’s house telling this woman all about Jerry’s achievements and his life – speaking as if he’s known Jerry for an eternity.  Once Jerry arrives home, he demands Rupert leave, he threatens Rupert with the police and begins shouting at him.  This is one of many, many situations in the film that is so painfully humiliating to watch we find ourselves wanting to turn away – but we can’t.  We are so mesmerized by the film.

This is film is the essence of black comedy, planting the seeds for future films.  Will Farrell’s character in “Wedding Crashers” – the grown man living in his off screen mother’s basement who is constantly yelling at her.  “The King of Comedy” started that all.

Rating: 10/10

“Wag the Dog” – 1997. Dir. Barry Levinson.

With Dustin Hoffman, Robert DeNiro, Anne Heche, Denis Leary, William H. Macy, Craig T. Nelson with Woody Harrelson and Willie Nelson.

“You want me to produce your war?”

• Stanely Motss (Dustin Hoffman)
  

This is a film directed by Barry Levinson, written by David Mamet, produced by Robert DeNiro and original music by Mark Knopfler – and oh yeah, look at the cast. This is a politically satirical film that almost seems a foreshadowing to Bill Clinton’s sex scandal.

The President of the United States is accused of sexual misconduct by a teenage girl upon a tour of the oval office and a private meeting with the President. It is eleven days until his re-election and he’s drastically up in the polls, but when the story breaks that he had “inappropriate” relations with a teenage girl, his political future is finished.

So what happens? Conrad Breen (Robert DeNiro) who is a master of political spin employees a Hollywood producer Stanley Motss (Hoffman) to produce a war between Albania and the United States to divert the media away from the sex scandal and to bring American attention to this fictitious war.

Hoffman then rallies all of his friends together to create the biggest production in the history of America. Denis Leary portrays the fast talking Fad King who is an expert of product placement and gimics, Willie Nelson is Johnny Dean an alcoholic and incoherent song writer who writes the theme song for the Albanian war, along with a song about the war’s hero, entitled “That Old Shoe”. Woody Harrelson plays the ex-con serviceman, Willaim Schumman, who they parade around as the hero of the Albanian war (until he gets killed while trying to rape a gas station owner’s daughter).

This film is incredibly funny and smart, perhaps even too smart for laymen of politics. The reason I’m so intrigued and taken by the film is that politics is one of my absolute biggest hobbies. The entire script is so airtight; it’s a wonderful display of showmanship of all parties. It’s wonderful to see DeNiro parade around, taking command of the situations that arise, often quoting politicians and many other historical figures.

The film begins to take a more and more dramatic turn when Hoffman begins to elude that he’s going to have a wonderful story to tell, about how he produced this war, how he doesn’t want an Ambassadorship, he just did it for the credit. DeNiro will frequently tell Hoffman that he can never tell anyone about this, that his lips need to remain sealed – and of course Hoffman always says he’s joking – or is he?

The films is packed full with amazing talent, amazing actors who have very small parts: William H. Macy plays a CIA agent who detains DeNiro and Heche because the CIA knows the war is bullshit, and are going to oust them. DeNiro makes a deal with them, but later that day the Senator challenging the sitting president (played by Craig T. Nelson) goes on TV and says the war has come to an end. Apparently Craig T. Nelson made a better deal with Macy!

DeNiro is excellent, proving that he still is a great actor, but this film really belongs to Dustin Hoffman as the egotistical producer who is based on Robert Evans. Hoffman is nothing more than a tour-de-force and steals every scene he’s in. This is Hoffman’s last great performance as well as Levinson’s last great film. This film would have been a lot better without Anne Heche – who is and always has been pretty lame. Maybe try dating another lesbian for publicity?

Review: 8.5/10

Top Ten (currently working) Actors

Thanks to Heather over at Movie Mobsters has devised a list of who she thinks are the top ten currently working actors. After a day of debate on her blog, I thought I’d create my ultimate list so I could have controversy over on my blog. Enjoy dear readers.

10. Willem Dafoe

Career Highlights: The Last Temptation of Christ, Shadow of a Vampire, Platoon, Born of the 4^th of July, Spider-Man, eXistenZ, Affliction, Auto-Focus, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, The Clearing, The English Patient, Clear and Present Danger, Wild at Heart, Daybreakers, American Psycho, Antichrist, Off Limits, Mississippi Burning, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Finding Nemo

Willem Dafoe is a champion of his craft. He’s never been afraid to take on challenging roles that other actors wouldn’t dare to touch. Dafoe has made a career of showing his in-depth range and sheer talent as a performer. He’s remarkable in almost everything he’s shown us. I will see anything that has Willem Dafoe in it.

9. George Clooney

Career Highlights: “ER”, Burn After Reading, Up in the Air, Good Night Good Luck, Solaris, Syriana, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Fail Safe, The Thin Red Line, Out of Sight, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, From Dusk Till Dawn

George Clooney has completely transformed himself from a TV actor, to a superstar heartthrob to a Warren Beatty-esq Hollywood tycoon. His performances have become deep and extremely complex and he is the embodiment of a silver screen icon much like Rock Hudson, Cary Grant and Gary Cooper. His charisma and sex appeal often has me questioning my sexuality. George Clooney is a fucking man.

8. Harvey Keitel

Career Highlights: Bad Lieutenant, Mean Streets, Dangerous Game, Taxi Driver, The Last Temptation of Christ, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Fingers, Bugsy, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, The Piano, Smoke, Clockers, From Dusk Till Dawn, Cop Land, Shadrach, Taking Sides, Fail Safe

To me, Keitel is the cinematic basass that is reminiscent of Lee Marvin, Robert Mitchum and William Holden. He takes roles that no other actor would ever, ever, ever think of taking (aside from maybe Dafoe and Cage). He’s an absolute dynamo when it comes to his performances in Bad Lieutenant, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, and Dangerous Game. I would not want to fuck with Harvey Keitel.

7. Robert DeNiro

Career Highlights: Mean Streets, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Casino, Cape Fear, Jackie Brown, Once Upon a Time in America, Wag the Dog, The Good Shepherd, Heat, The Godfather Part II, A Bronx Tale, Midnight Run, The Mission, Ronin, This Boy’s Life, Frankenstein, Backdraft, Guilt By Suspicion, Awakenings, Jacknife, The King of Comedy, True Confessions, Falling in Love, The Untouchables, The Deer Hunter

We all know that Robert DeNiro is an amazing actor. His range as an actor is magnificent. He would have made it a lot higher on my list if he hadn’t been working for paychecks the past fifteen years. Yikes…

6. Christian Bale

Career Highlights: American Psycho, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Prestige, Public Enemies, The Machinist, I’m Not There, The New World, Rescue Dawn

Christian Bale is the best young method actor out there. He invests himself so deeply into his roles it reminds me of Daniel Day-Lewis. Most people will often think of Batman when they think of Bale – I on the other hand will always think of Patrick Bateman.

5. Al Pacino

Career Highlights: The Godfather, The Godfather Pt II, Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico, Scarface, Insomnia, Any Given Sunday, Heat, The Insider, Looking for Richard, Glengarry Glen Ross, Dick Tracy, Carlito’s Way, …And Justice for All, Scarecrow, Panic in Needle Park, “Angels in America”, “You Don’t Know Jack”

To me Pacino almost, just almost falls under the DeNiro category since he has pretty much worked for a paycheck the past decade and a half but what saves him is Insomnia and his amazing performance in the Barry Levinson directed HBO film “You Don’t Know Jack”. Pacino is a lion of cinema and remains to be one of the greatest actors in cinema history. The incredible range he shows as Michael in Godfather and then the Michael in Godfather Part II is just incredible.

4. William Hurt

Career Highlights: Body Heat, Gorky Park, Altered States, The Big Chill, The Accidental Tourist, Into the Wild, The Good Shepherd, Syriana, The Village, Rare Birds, Master Spy, Smoke, Dark City, One True Thing, Children of a Lesser God, A History of Violence, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Broadcast News, The Incredible Hulk, “Damages”, “Nightmares and Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King – segment Battleground”

William Hurt is a pompous actor. He thinks he’s awesome, and well, he is. He remains to be one of my favorite actors, and the roles he’s selected have always touched me. His characters have pulled on my heart strings and have brought deep emotions out of me. I love William Hurt.

3. Jeff Bridges

Career Highlights: The Big Lebowski, Crazy Heart, The Contender, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, The Last Picture Show, The Fisher King, The Mirror Has Two Faces, Tucker: The Man and His Dream, Jagged Edge, Iron Man, Starman, Fearless, The Muse, The Door in the Floor, TRON, Heaven’s Gate, Seabiscuit, Masked and Anonymous

Jeff Bridges remains to be the biggest influence of my life – even more so than Roger Waters (which I NEVER thought I’d say). His philosophies and his art have really transformed me into someone new. I used to be somebody/Now I am somebody else. With his performances he brings emotions out of me that I never knew I had.

Thank you Mr. Bridges.

2. Peter O’Toole

Career Highlights: Lawrence of Arabia, The Ruling Class, Venus, Bright Young Things, My Favorite Year, The Last Emperor, The Stunt Man, Caligula, Man of La Mancha, Goodbye Mr. Chips, The Lion in Winter, The Night of the Generals, Lord Jim, Becket

How the fuck Peter O’Toole never won an Oscar is far beyond me. This man is an icon and a master at his craft. Sure he’s made bucket loads of shit – but he was fucking Lawrence of Arabia! He was King Henry II! He was Don Quixote! This man is a legend – better yet – a world treasure.

On asked why he didn’t win an Oscar for Lawrence of Arabia: “Because somebody else did.”

1. Daniel Day-Lewis

Career Highlights: Gangs of New York, My Left Foot, The Boxer, In the Name of the Father, Nine, The Ballad of Jack and Rose, The Last of the Mohicans, The Crucible, There Will Be Blood, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, A Room with a View, The Age of Innocence, My Beautiful Laundrette

I have never seen in my life a performer whose total work is so amazing. Whenever I see him in a film, I don’t see Daniel Day-Lewis, I see his character. I’ve seen actors do that before, but not with ever single role they play. Greatest actor ever. Hands down.

Honorable Mentions: Michael Caine, Tom Cruise, Kevin Spacey, Brad Pitt, Jack Nicholson, Christopher Plummer, Robert Downey, Jr., Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones, Sean Penn

Note – I know I’m going to catch shit from all of you, but I don’t think Russell Crowe is that great of an actor. He plays the same character with the exception of The Insider which I think is a remarkable performance.

“Taxi Driver” – 1976. Dir. Martin Scorsese

With Robert DeNiro, Jodie Foster, Cybil Shepherd, Albert Brooks, Leonard Harris, Peter Boyle with Marin Scorsese and Harvey Keitel

“I think someone should just take this city and just… just flush it down the fuckin’ toilet.”

-Travis Bickle (Robert DeNiro)

It took me a long time to really be able to get a handle on “Taxi Driver”. I saw it when I was a teenager and I felt that I didn’t really understand the movie. It wasn’t until my early twenties when I really discovered the beauty and perfection that the film holds.

I can only watch this film every so often – about twice a year. The film is haunting and affects me deeply. It engages in psychological warfare with me and it’s hard to shake the film when I see it. We just get thrown into this world of filth and disgust and we are to fend for ourselves. And who is our hero? Travis Bickle. It’s difficult to watch because we can identify with Bickle, we can understand him and we can almost trust him.

The opening of the film is fucking magnificent. The protruding score by Bernard Herman beats in our eardrums and soaks into the marrow of our bones then a quick cut to DeNiro’s eyes with a red gel over the light. He’s looking around, he’s almost frightened at what he’s seeing, quick cut back to the smog in the streets and the beating of drums to a taxi cab emerging from the smog.

There have been many scenes that have stuck with me over time, many scenes that can creep up on me when I’m not expecting them. The character of Betsy, the self righteous snooty bitch who is Bickle’s love interest in the movie has always stuck with me. She’s very contrived and knows how to play the game.

After Bickle’s botched date with Betsy where he takes her to a porn theater and she abruptly gets up and leaves almost makes me feel bad for Bickle. But you have to ask yourself, is Bickle really that naïve? Doesn’t he know what he’s doing? Is it just a game to Bickle too?

Scorsese’s camera work in the film is what makes this film so great. The way Scorsese slides the camera with his perfect tracking shots allow us to almost escape from certain situations. The scene that always has stuck with me is the long shot when Travis calls Betsy from a payphone. He’s in a back room that has a long hallway from the entrance of the building. This is one of Travis’ many attempts to try and contact Betsy after the porn theater disaster.

Travis finally gets a hold of her and asks her about the flowers he sent her. He asks her out for coffee and she tells Travis she’s sick. Travis just won’t let go, he continually tries to court her. It’s extremely embarrassing to watch. It almost makes you want to look away because it’s just too hard to watch, the way Travis fidgets as he talks to Betsy about how she probably has a 24 hour virus. In the midst of Travis’ pandering, the camera slowly rolls away from Travis and we are now looking down the long hallway to the entrance of the building. Travis conversation continues for a short while after this, but at least we don’t have to watch it anymore.

That’s how you direct a fucking movie.

The way the film glides and flows are perfect. The voiceover narration that DeNiro deliverers is so Shakespearian in the way he has this constantly running inner monologue with himself that we have the rare opportunity to hear. The man’s demons are taking control of him, they are running over his mind, body and soul – he can’t be saved. He knows he can’t be saved. Bickle must become a martyr; plain and simple.

The scenes next scene that I am in love with is Scorsese’s cameo as Travis’ passenger. I wrote about it yesterday in my Art of the Crossover: Directors in front of the Camera post. What is so vital to the film is that Scorsese’s role is the only person, only thing that frightens Travis throughout the entire film. He’s the only person that has Travis on the edge of his seat, carefully watching him, carefully observing him.

What is so great about the scene is that it’s so very brief, we don’t know if the man goes in and kills his wife and her black boyfriend. We don’t know if Bickle reports it to the police (probably not). It’s a wonderful and marvelous scene that just adds to the sheer emotional power the film holds over us.

The one character that is a moral compass in the film is that of Wizard (brilliantly played by Peter Boyle). He’s the one person who Travis looks up too; he’s the veteran that all the cabbies come to for advice and for guidance. His character is very interesting, he is much like Travis, but he is able to control himself, control his demons.

For me, Harvey Keitel as Sport displays the sheer power that he holds as an actor. The character was transformed by Keitel (Sport was black and only had three lines of dialogue in the script) and he added his own brand, his own label to the character. Keitel is a true maverick when it comes to film, he doesn’t often appear in too many big budget Hollywood films – he’s found his calling in small independent films where he can shine.

Jodie Foster is tough as nails and shows from such a young age the capability of being a mature and powerful actress. She holds her own against both DeNiro and Keitel – not an easy feat for anyone let alone a twelve year old. That is nothing less than raw talent.

The films epic climax is always sighted and over romanticized by film school douche bags (yes – I went to film school). The climactic bloody ending isn’t what the film is supposed to be memorable for, it’s supposed to show us what happens when a man is alone, and can’t take it anymore. It’s not supposed to show DeNiro as a hero – he’s not. He’s filth just like the rest of the film; yet we can identify with him, we can relate with him. It’s pretty scary stuff.

What makes the ending so powerful is the last scene. What I don’t think many people really realize is when Travis is driving away from Betsy and Bernard Herman’s magnificent score starts to play and we’re watching DeNiro’s eyes scan the streets once again, looking for his next move. He sees something in the rearview mirror! He quickly brings his right hand up to adjust the mirror and he sees something and stares at it with his cold gaze.

The biggest rumor to emerge from the Berlin Film Festival was that Robert DeNiro, Martin Scorsese and Lars von Trier were set to do a remake of “Taxi Driver”. I’m not a fan of remakes, but I will stand in line all day to see that.

Review 10/10

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

What is your favorite part?

Mine is “Introducing Don Johnson”

The Art of the Crossover: Directors in Front of the Camera

Yesterday I posted an article that brought a good amount of traffic my way, talking about actors crossing over to music and musicians crossing over to acting. I really enjoyed working on it, and I know I left some people out. There were two HUGE crossover artists that no one seemed to mention; it’s fine, they will be headlining part two of that post. While watching “Quiz Show” the other day, I really loved how Robert Redford used a handful of directors in small roles in the film. He used Griffin Dunne, Martin Scorsese and Barry Levinson in really small yet somewhat vital roles in the film. I enjoy that film very much and I love the irony of Robert Redford the esteemed actor directing a film (where he has no role) and using three directors that normally aren’t in front of the camera (minus Griffin Dunne since he started as an actor). So I’ve been working on this new crossover since last night, trying to come up with a list of concrete crossovers where a director steps in front of the camera. I have really never seen anything about directors’ crossing over and becoming pretty decent character actors. We all see lists of actors turned directors which are fairly easy lists to make. A sad note that I would like to make known – I ruled out Albert Brooks, Woody Allen and Mel Brooks because (no, not because they are Jewish) they were already established as stand-up comics and performers prior to their turns are magnificent filmmakers. I also ruled out Oliver Stone and Alfred Hitchcock because the essentially have nothing more than a quick cameo (minus Stone’s appearance as the announcer for the Miami Sharks in “Any Given Sunday”).

Harold Ramis

Harold Ramis will always have a special spot in my heart as his characters Egon Spengler from “Ghostbusters” and Russell from “Stripes” (which Ramis also wrote both the screenplays) – but before he was our loveable nerd he was the screenwriter for “Animal House” and the writer/director of “Caddyshack” where he met his future creative partner Bill Murray. Ramis then went on to direct “National Lampoons Vacation”, “Groundhog Day”, “Multiplicity”, “Analyze This”, “Analyze That”, “The Ice Harvest” and *coughs* “Year One” (hey, they all can’t be winners).

What Ramis is most widely known for is his acting roles as I said before, Egon Spengler and Russell. Ramis actually is a very good actor – his comedic timing is impeccable. They way he can play off of his co-stars like Bill Murray or especially John Candy in “Stripes” is so excellent – he adds more humor and life to the film just by being the nerdy “straight” guy.

Will they ever make a “Ghostbusters 3″ you ask, I really hope not.

Sydney Pollack

Sydney Pollack has directed some of the finest films that I have ever seen: “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?”, “Jeremiah Johnson”, “Tootise” and “Out of Africa”. Where Pollack doesn’t get his due credit is as an actor. He was wonderful in his real first acting role as Dustin Hoffman’s agent in “Tootise” but he took a ten year break before resuming acting.

His follow up to his small (but very funny) role in “Tootsie” was as Dick Mellon in Robert Altman’s Hollywood satire “The Player”. How perfect is that? Pollack then branched out and started acting in other filmmakers films including Woody Allen’s “Husbands and Wives”, Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut”, as Warren Feldman doctor who was in prison for killing his wife in an episode of “The Sopranos” and what I believe is his finest performance as Marty Bach in “Michael Clayton”.

I truly feel that Pollack gave the best performance in “Michael Clayton” and deserved a nomination for best supporting actor. Yes Tom Wilkinson was good – but I’m sorry, not nearly as good as Sydney Pollack. His role as Victor Ziegler in “Eyes Wide Shut” is just so creepy and the character has this rage that explodes from him in a couple of key scenes. I have a hard time choosing if I like him more as Sydney Pollack the director, or Sydney Pollack the actor.

Quentin Tarantino

Yeah, I know this one is obvious, but it can’t really be ignored. Is Tarantino a great actor? Not at all. Is he a good actor? Ehhhh… Is he decent? Alright, I can abide by that. The character that Tarantino plays either in his own films or in his friends films are always as eccentric and bizarre as Tarantino is in real life.

I don’t really think the characters he chooses to play add much to the movie, but they defiantly don’t take anything away from it. I think his best performance is that of Jimmie Dimmick in “Pulp Fiction”. The character of Jimmie is funny and witty and it doesn’t seem like Tarantino tries too hard.

The character of Mr. Brown feels a little forced to me, like Tarantino is sitting there trying to act cool in front of Harvey Keitel and Michael Madsen – it just doesn’t work that well for me. Same goes for Warren in “Death Proof” – acting cool in front of Kurt Russell.

That being said, my new life goal is go to Cannes to see the premier of the next Tarantino film – the guy is a fucking genus.

Martin Scorsese

Oh do I love Martin Scorsese. He is such a remarkable talent – I could go on forever about how much I love him and his films. We all know who Scorsese is and what he has directed.

Scorsese has had key roles in two of his earlier film. In “Mean Streets” it is Scorsese’s hand that kills one of the central characters in brutally climactic ending (I don’t want to spoil it for those of you who haven’t seen “Mean Streets”). As I touched upon it before, Scorsese has a brief but meaty role in Robert Redford’s “The Quiz Show”. He plays Martin Rittenhome the CEO of Geritol the sponsor of the NBC quiz shows. His character is fast paced and no bullshit. He pulls a lot of strings with NBC and pulls them well.

Scorsese also voiced Sykes the puffer fish from the semi enjoyable “Shark Tale”. The role that Scorsese talks about playing the most is that of Vincent Van Gogh in Akira Kurosawa’s “Dreams”. It’s so amazing to watch because you are watching one remarkable filmmaker direct another. It’s a real treat. Scorsese has a handful of cameos in his films, my favorite is that of the TV Director in “The King of Comedy”. His opening voiceovers for “The Color of Money” and “Mean Streets” are wonderful, he has this voice that is so fueled by emotion that we can’t help but listen and try and digest the fast paced introductions.

Now this is what I’ve been waiting the entire post to talk about: his role as DeNiro’s deranged taxi cab passenger in “Taxi Driver”. I feel that his character is so vital, so important to the film. It’s just another prime example to Travis Bickle of how fucked up the world has become, how it’s changed so much from what he knew it to be.

The most important factor in the scene is that it humanizes Bickle, it shows us that this is a world of filth and that Bickle is almost normal compared to his passenger talking about how his wife is “fucking a nigger” and repeating to DeNiro “Have you ever seen what a 44 magnum can do to a woman’s face. Have you ever seen what a 44 magnum can do to a woman’s pussy? Now that – that you should see.” Wow.

The character that Scorsese plays is the only character in the film that frightens Travis Bickle. That is very important. We see Bickle not afraid or anyone or anything except for the small episode with Scorsese in the back seat of his cab. Scorsese will often say that it wasn’t planned for him to play the role, that the actor who was originally supposed to play it was sick that day so Scorsese filled in for him. Thank God for that.

Alright tootsie pops…did I leave anyone out that you think I should have included? Let me know what you think.

The 10 Best Films of the 1990’s.

10. “In the Name of the Father” – 1993. Dir. Jim Sheridan. With Daniel Day-Lewis, Pete Postlethwaite and Emma Thompson.

“I’m a free man, I’m going out the front door!”

This is one of the most dramatically powerful films I’ve ever seen. Seeing the true story of Gerry Conlon (Day-Lewis) and his father (Postlethwaite) being wrongfully accused and imprisoned in London over an IRA bombing is just so heartbreaking. Emma Thompson gives an amazingly great performance as the two men’s lawyer and the only one who believes their innocence.

9. “Natural Born Killers” – 1994. Dir. Oliver Stone. With Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Russell Means, Robert Downey, Jr. and Tommy Lee Jones.

“Mickey and Mallory Knox are loose, Scagnetti’s dead, and they’re live on national TV!”

“LIVE ON NATIONAL TV? JESUS HAROLD CHRIST ON A FUCKING RUBBER CRUTCH, IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?”

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Olive Stone is the filmmaker of the times, making films that deal with our current status in America. With NBK Stone brings forth a film with a killer soundtrack and excellent cast that explores our need for Reality TV and the media and our cultures obsession with killers. It shows us how we as American are obsessed with the killers themselves and how we turn them into pop culture icons. This is one wild ride of a fucking movie! The finest performance in the film has to be Tommy Lee Jones as Warden Dwight McClusky. He’s out of his fucking mind!

8. “Boogie Nights” – 1997. Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson. With Mark Wahlbeg, Burt Reynolds, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, William H. Macy, Heather Grahm and Don Cheadle.

“Wait a minute. You come into my house, my party, to tell me about the future? That the future is tape, videotape, and not film? That it’s amateurs and not professionals? I’m a filmmaker, which is why I will *never* make a movie on tape.”

The opening one shot is a magnificent display of talent. It shows much homage to Scorsese’s “Goodfellas” and much more to Russia’s 1950′s propaganda film, “I am Cuba”. It sends us into a furry and introduces us to all the major characters that we need to know about. I want to call this film his masterpiece, but I can’t – “There Will Be Blood” is. This was back in the days when John C. Reilly used to be a good actor – and when Burt Reynolds blew all of his chances of having anything resembling a comeback. I love this film.

7. “Goodfellas” – 1990. Dir. Martin Scorsese. With Ray Liotta, Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, Frank Vincent and Paul Sorvino.

“You may know who we are, but we know who you are.”

Gosh, Martin Scorsese. What a master. I truly believe that this is the film that de-glorified the “romantic” life of mobsters. Sure “The Godfather’s” were brutal and violent, but we always sympathized with Michael – we were always pulling for him. We do that to a certain extent in “Goodfellas” but once we hit the second act of the film, and we watch Ray Liotta spin out of control – we know that he’s paying for the life he’s led. It’s amazing and beautiful and no one could ever do it better. Martin Scorsese is a God among artists.

6. “American Beauty” – 1999. Dir. Sam Mendes. With Kevin Spacey, Annette Benning, Mena Suvari, Thora Birch, Wes Bently and Chris Cooper.

“This is my first time.”

Man…all I can really saw about this is Chris Cooper winning for “Adaptation” was his make-up for not even being nominated for his role in this film. That’s it.

5. “Seven” – 1995. Dir. David Fincher. With Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Gweyth Paltrow, and Kevin Spacey.

“Where to?”

“Far away from here.”

People like to say that “Fight Club” is Fincher’s masterpiece. I think “Fight Club” is overrated and trendy – but “Seven”…oh my God “Seven” – this film is just downright amazing! Kevin Spacey steals the show as John Doe, Brad Pitt is great as the young and cocky cop and Morgan Freeman gives the performance of his career as a cop that the world has left behind. Remarkable filmmaking!

4. “Pulp Fiction” – 1994. Dir. Quentin Tarantino. With John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Uma Thurman and Harvey Keitel.

“You see – this is a moral test of one’s self. You’re going to go back, drink your drink, go home, jerk off and that’s all you’re gonna do.”

Fuck “Forrest Gump”.

3. “Bad Lieutenant” – 1991. Dir. Abel Ferrara. With Harvey Keitel.

“Where the fuck were you when I needed you? Why the fuck weren’t you there for me, when I needed you?!”

Harvey Keitel does nothing but bare his soul in this haunting and repulsive film about a cop who’s fallen so far from grace, Jesus himself can’t even help him. This is pretty powerful stuff, and if you think you’re tough enough to watch this, make sure it’s the NC-17 version.

2. “Schindler’s List” – 1993. Dir. Steven Spielberg. With Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes and Ben Kingsley.

“This is very cruel, Oskar. You’re giving them hope. You shouldn’t do that. *That’s* cruel!”

The reason I resent Steven Spielberg is because he has the talent to make this, “Jaws”, “Close Encounters” and “E.T.” – why waste it.

1. “L.A. Confidential” – 1997. Dir. Curtis Hanson. With Kevin Spacey, Kim Basinger, Russell Crowe, Guy Pierce, James Cromwell, Danny DeVito and David Strathairn.

“Go back to Jersey, sonny. This is the City of the Angels, and you haven’t got any wings.”

Flawless.
Honorable mentions:  “The Insider”, “Unforgiven”, “Rushmore”, “The Thin Red Line”, “The Big Lebowski”

10 Absolute 10s!

I haven’t recently posted in a while.  My apologies to the the five people who frequent my blog.  I have been watching a lot of films lately and have come up with a list of films that I have give a 10 of 10 too.  I get into arguments with my friend Peyton about giving films a ten, I tend to give slightly more 10s out then he does, but I am constructing a cohesive list of ten films that have the equivalent rating.  So far this year, I’ve only given out two 10s, one to “Antichrist” and the other to “A Single Man”.  Enjoy…

“Apocalypse Now” – 1979.  Dir. Francis Ford Coppola.  With Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, Laurence Fishburn, Harrison Ford, Fredirc Forest, Sam Bottoms, Bill Grahm, Albert Hall, Scott Glenn and G.D. Spradin.

This is film is truly an unstoppable force.  It grabs you and pulls you in for the full 153 minutes (202 min for “Redux”).  This is my favorite war film, but then again it really isn’t a war film.  It’s a story of Willard, brilliantly played by Martin Sheen, a man who is lost in the jungle, who is lost in horrors of war.  It’s about his journey through life as he navigates his way through beaches, and through rivers, and meeting eccentric and psychopathic people – it’s his journey to The End, to Col. Kurtz, to Marlon Brando.  It’s Martin Sheen as Odysseus in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Odyssey”.

The making of this film is a story that is as, if not more, fascinating then the film itself.  The trials and tribulations that Coppola had to deal with and concur as he was forced to shut down production, forced to deal with Brando’s bad behavior, forced to deal with Sheen having a heart attack while filming.  A documentary titled: “Heart of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse” by Coppola’s wife featuring interviews with the cast and crew during filming and then contemporary interviews (circa 1992) is almost as good as the film itself.

The ensemble cast that is shown in this film is an unbelievable abundance of talent.  All the unknown faces and known faces play together in a perfect mesh to show the utter horrors that war and that life have in store for us.  Everyone excels, from Sheen to Brando, from Hopper to Ford, from Hall to Glenn, from Spradin to Duvall.  This is a film that cannot ever, ever be remade or even reworked.  The filming was to chaotic, and too filled with it’s own horrors that it couldn’t have been made without the horror of film making itself.

“Brokeback Mountain” – 2007. Dir. Ang Lee.  With Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllehaal, Anne Hathaway, Michelle Williams and Randy Quaid.

Ang Lee’s epic saga about the pain and joy we all feel from love is one of the most emotionally draining films I have ever seen.  It even matches the emotional pull and despair I feel from “The Deer Hunter”.  The homophobic backlash this film endured is beyond belief appalling and it shows us how our society isn’t near as tolerant as we should be toward gays.  But I’ll get off my liberal soap box.  This is a love story that transcends gender.  It’s a story about a love we have all felt, about a love that we can’t let go of.  It’s about a love that is just so beautiful and painful and full of joy that we can’t let go of it.  We just can’t.  Heath Ledger gives the best performance of his very brief and short career as Enis Del Mar, who is a heterosexual man who falls in love with a gay man played by Jake Gyllenhaal.  The despair, the pain, the love, the affection are all too real in the film.  We can take this period piece love story and parallel it to our lives.

Ang Lee proves himself as a master of his craft.  The way he molded Larry McMurtry and Annie Proulx’s words to the screen is a monumental feat that many can’t achieve.  The cinematography by Rodrigo Prieto is flawless and the heartbreaking score by Gustavo Santaolalla is pitch perfect.  This film continues to break my heart each time I watch it.  I live for films like “Brokeback Mountain”.

“The Deer Hunter” – 1978. Dir. Michael Cimino. With Robert DeNiro, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, George Dzundza, Michael Savage and John Cazale.

“The Deer Hunter” is a film that I put in once a year and it’s a landmark event if I can find the strength within myself to watch it all the way through.  I gladly make it through the beginning, where all the characters are happy.  Christopher Walken and Meryl Streep are getting married.  When the boys go deer hunting before they embark on their own personal hell in Vietnam.  The first 45 minutes or so, I’m good.  Once we reach Vietnam and see the characters forced into playing  Russian Roulette by their Vietcong captors, I start to break.  The actual scene that breaks me isn’t the end (which I’ve only made it too about five times over my twenty attempts), it’s the scene when they are DeNiro arrives back from Vietnam and they go deer hunting.  DeNiro is stalking a beautiful buck through the woods for what seems like hours upon hours.  He finally gets his “one shot” – but doesn’t take it.

Another emotional factor for me is knowing that while the crew and actors were filming this film they knew that John Cazale (best known as Al Pacino’s acting partner and as Fredo from “The Godfather”) was dying of a rare form of cancer, that this film was going to be his swan song.  Cazale and Streep were engaged during the filming of “The Deer Hunter”.  This film also isn’t purely a war film, even though the backdrop of the film is Vietnam.  I believe the film is more about the power of love and friendship.  Would you travel across the world in a fleeting moment to save a friend who refuses to be saved.  Would you try?

“Five Easy Pieces” – 1970.  Dir. Bob Rafelson.  With Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, and Billy Green Bush.

Jack Nicholson’s finest work came from his filmmaking partner Bob Rafelson.  In “Five Easy Pieces” Nicholson gives his best performance as Robert Erocia Dupea, a piano prodigy who left a life of wealth and prosperity to make it on his own, to live his own dilapidated life.  This film defines an era of rebels and individuals and is about the last of a dying breed.  Nicholson gives a powerful performance as a man who’s life is falling apart.  He quits his dead end oil drilling job after his best friend gets arrested, and then travels back home to see his dying father.

Dupea never stops running, and he never will.  He was born to run, to Run Like Hell.  This film is so powerful and raw that it defined Nicholson as an icon, as a Hollywood and American legend.  It’s just a shame that Nicholson couldn’t produce films like these his entire career.  The ending to this film has to be one of the most powerful endings to any film I have ever seen.

“Blue Velvet” – 1986.  Dir. David Lynch.  With Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern and Dean Stockwell.

David Lynch is one of the most original and unique film artists in cinema.  While Martin Scorsese, Michael Mann, Coppola, and Tarantino are just as gifted, if not more then Lynch, they all show homages to the greats who made them who they are in their films.  The only artist David Lynch shows homage to is David Lynch.

I have never seen a film that blends two genres so well together.  A mellow-dramatic horror film.  Only David Lynch could do this.  The film transcends time, it has an ambiguous time frame, it’s a period piece mellow drama, yet once Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper who gives the best performance of his impressive career) enters the film, it’s turned upside down into a contemporary horror/thriller.  It’s a hard film to put a label on, but if I had too I would call this film a love story.

I cannot even begin to comprehend how David Lynch thinks.  I won’t even try.  It’s too perplexing to me how he does it.  He’s truly the most unique and impressive filmmaker I have ever seen.  Now I understand why Mel Brooks called Lynch “Jimmy Stewart from Mars”.

“Bad Lieutenant” – 1992.  Dir. Abel Ferrara.  With Harvey Keitel, Victor Argo and Frankie Thorn.

This is one of the rawest, and most stomach turning films I have ever seen.  The story is a simple: a cop who’s fallen from grace.  It’s a simple and generic story but the way it’s shot, and the elements it involves goes way beyond all other films like it.  This is as raw, and as gritty as filmmaking gets.  Harvey Keitel gives undoubtedly his best performance as the Bad Lieutenant.  He bares his body, his heart, and his soul on camera until he has nothing left.  The story is about a man who has fallen so far from grace, it takes the brutal raping of a nun to get him on the path to redemption.  This is a film that comes along once in a great while.  This film is the “Antichrist” of the 90s.  If you actually do come across this film, or are interested in seeing it, don’t waste your time with the R rated version, the NC-17 cut of the film is the only one that is true to the film.

“There Will Be Blood” – 2008.  Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson.  With Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano.

This is a film that is the closest thing I have ever seen to “Citizen Kane”.  One man, Daniel Plainview, whose obsession with greed and power destroys absolutely everything in his path, whether it be the towns he claims, or his son, nothing will remain standing in the rubble.  Nothing at all can stop Plainview’s lust for power.  He is truly an unstoppable force, he’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen.  Day-Lewis gives the biggest tour-de-force performance out of anyone’s career.  The amount of anxiety the fills you while watching this monster tear through everything, slash and burn it is truly incredible and shows the great gift PTA and DDL have in the world of film.  All I know is it scares me that I have a little bit of Daniel Plainview inside of me, but then again.  Who doesn’t?

“The Natural” – 1984.  Dir. Barry Levinson.  With Robert Redford, Wilford Brimley, Darrin McGavin, Glenn Glose, Kim Basinger, Joe Don Baker, Michael Madsen, Richard Farnsworth and Robert Duvall.

I can’t think of a movie that has filled me with more inspiration than “The Natural”.  It is hands down the best film that deals with baseball and sports, and all that comes with it.  For all the people who say you can’t do it, you’re too old, you’re too fat, you’re too skinny, you’re not strong enough, fast enough – watch “The Natural”.  Robert Redford is truly a marvel in this film, and yet again this film isn’t just about baseball – it’s about one man’s odyssey through life, through all the bumps in the road Roy Hobbs chooses to never give up, he chooses to travel the path he was meant to take.  It may take him 10, 15, 20 years to get there, but he finally does, and it’s beautiful.  This movie fills me with pride about myself, because maybe one day, someone some where will say, “There goes Frank Mengarelli, the best there has ever been, the best there ever will be.”

“2001: A Space Odyssey” – 1968.  Dir. Stanley Kubrick.  With Keir Dullea.

What could I possibly have to say about this film or Stanley Kubrick that hasn’t already been said.  I wouldn’t be able to do either justice.

“Taxi Driver” – 1976.  Dir. Martin Scorsese.  With Robert DeNiro, Cybill Shepherd, Leonard Harris, Peter Boyle, Jodie Foster, Albert Brooks and Harvey Keitel.

This film is one of Scorsese’s masterpieces.  It’s one of the roughest films I’ve ever watched.  I’d say I can only watch this film about once a year and I almost loath every moment of it.  It’s too painful to watch, to hard to watch – to real.  Your just thrown into this world of absolute filth and disgust and the punchline of it is, Robert DeNiro is the character you relate to, the most sympathetic and has the most redeeming qualities to him.  What a sick joke that is!  This world where Travis Bickle becomes the antihero is just to bizarre and so strange.  I’ve never truly seen a film like this before, it’s 100% true and 100% genuine to it’s medium and too the world.  The one thing that I pride myself on is the final shot of the film I don’t think most people understand, but I think I do.  Lets talk.

Thank you for reading and I hope you disagree with me so we can argue and battle to the death about these films.  These aren’t the only 10′s I’ve ever seen, but it’s a good grouping of them.