Party

I usually don't comment on my social life (mainly nonexistent) but i feel the need to write about my visit to the Ninth Circle of Hell last night. The night started off well-we were celebrating my friend/colleagues upcoming nuptials with a bachelorette party. We started at Tabac Bistro-where the food and drinks were wonderful and killer view. It's on the top floor of a renovated townhouse-and the roof is glassed in, so it was beautiful. And the food was good-I had the seafood soup which was great and some spinach/feta cigars (not as good, the people at Chez Nous in San Francisco could teach them how to make them properly). The drinks were good, although we did a shot of Grand Marnier (I thought I was going to be sick-it was disgusting). K's friend Jen had a"this is really disgusting" look on her face for good five minutes afterwards and I can't say I blame her. But then hall had a glass of Champagne, which improved the situation. We left there and ended up a a bar down U Street, but not before we got an invitation to a "lifestyle" club for swingers. Unfortunately, M told me it was more a meeting place than have sex place. My other friend M could never find one of the have sex places in DC and he really looked. K didn't understand the "lifestyle" name, so it was pretty funny explaining it to her. So we hung out at the other place (Crostini? I didn't catch the name and I wasn't really drunk-just happy. I woke this morning with only a slight headache. I've been MUCH more hungover at other times-and those always seemed to be when I had to go to work). Anyway, we were there for awhile and then we went to Fly. This is a place that would have NEVER let me in without the people i was with. K's friend B apparently knows everyone in the DC nightlife scene and so we didn't have to wait behind the velvet rope (in DC! A velvet rope! Come on..). And then we entered...for me it was like a party I went to in college that took place in a house a friend grabbed my hand and kept leading down more and more stairs and louder and louder music (she was looking for someone) and I felt like Virgil was going to pop up and explain who had done what horrible thing in order to be sent here-it was much the same feeling at Fly-albeit with more expensive clothes and much better drinks. I always wondered where the rich kids who go the Georgetown hung out (because they don't hang in Georgetown, which is largely for tourists these days). They don't come to my neck of the woods-Adams-Morgan is too diverse for them and they aren't protected from the riff-raff. So they go to Fly. Loud music, expensive drinks and even more expensive clothes-although I can't say I saw anyone who I thought looked particularly good-and if I saw one more guy wearing an expensive, striped untucked shirt with expensive jeans I was going to smack him. However, that is an improvement over the preppy, mattress -ticking, khaki wearing crowd, so I can't be too harsh. i am heartily tired of jeans, black jackets and white shirts though. As for the women-their clothes were very expensive but none of looked A)Comfortable or B) Happy. However, people did ask us for help in getting in (My advice? Don't wear the rugby shirt) and we had our own area (behind another velvet rope) our own bathroom with a code to get in and out own table with ice in the middle of it with Champagne (Moet), orange juice, vodka, cranberry juice and strawberries to mix our drinks-I stuck with Champagne. I didn't why our friend L said that they would never let her in there-and now I know why. They wouldn't have let me in there without my friends.
Now I know why I'd rather go to a bar and chat and drink-listening to loud music and drinking too much-I'm too old for that, although I'll never turn down a glass of free Champagne. But for all that, it was fun and I'm sure K had a great time (they were still there when I left and that was at 1:00), although I'm also sure that she's hurting today...and her friends who I hadn't met before were very cool-I'm very glad I met them.
But I'm never going back to Fly...

Hot Fuzz, The Edukators

I'll start with the movie I liked a little less, which was The Edukators. It was good, in a talky, slightly annoying and very German way. This is a story about three young people, Jule-who is a waitress earning very little money and who needs every penny to pay the owner of a Mercedes she wrecked on the Autobahn-she didn't have any insurance and the owner wants the money for his car. There there's her boyfriend Hans and his friend Peter. Peter is a revolutionary of a sort. The kind who passionately believes in equality and that the rich will (and deserve to) pay for their guilt. They aren't violent though-they really just want to warn the rich that their time is up, so all they do is break into mansions, re-arrange the furniture and leaves messages on the walls that say things like "Your time of plenty is coming to an end".
They aren't willing to do anything to really bring about that end-until Jule convinces them to pay a visit to her creditor-and they kidnap him. This part is entertaining, because the man they kidnap believed himself to be a revolutionary in his youth so he very much goes along with their beliefs and ideas and they're a little surprised by this. They end up eventually letting him go, but not before he has written a letter releasing Jule from her debt to him. Peter and Hans get over their irritation with each other over not including each other in what they were thinking (no fighting over Jule, which is interesting as she sleeping with both of them but they're all fine with that). The end is particularly interesting because as it turns out, the businessman (who you believe when he discusses politics and revolution with them) has turned them into the police. The police break into Jule's old apartment, but the three of them aren't there anymore-they've moved on-but they did leave a note on the wall saying "Some People Never Change". So who actually got educated? The trio did learn something and so did the businessman but I'm pretty sure none of them liked what they learned-that you can talk a good game but not change is disheartening to all of them, I think. Maybe not-maybe the businessman didn't really care and Jule, Peter and Hans can go on educating people. I did like this movie-it was talky in a very German way (which reminded me a bit of Wings of Desire a German movie from the 80's which I loved) but it was very smart in a very earnest kind of way.
The other movie was Hot Fuzz-and I loved this movie. It was flat-out hilarious, with many allusions to other movies-some very straightforward and others not. This movie is an homage to the Bruckheimer/Bay sorts of action movies (which I REALLY dislike) but it's so much smarter and clever-Bruckheimer could learn a lot from these guys. Hot Fuzz is the story of Sergeant Nicholas Angel, who gets sent from London out to the boonies because his arrest record is so good he's making the other policemen look bad. The cameos by Martin Freeman and Bill Nighy in the scene are classic:
Angel "You can't make me go away"
Nighy: "Yes, I can, I'm the Chief Inspector.

He ends up in the village of Sandford, where things are not what they seem. The crime rate is really low, the accident rate is high and he has an idiot policeman working with him-a man who loves Bad Boys II and Point Break (I admit that I've never seen these movies, although I have seen a million scenes from them. I could just never buy Keanu Reeves as a policeman or Patrick Swayze as a master Thief named Bohdi, which I thought was meant to sound "deep" and instead was just stupid). And then bizarre accidents start happening-and no one wants to investigate but him...and his partner who is really hoping for some action like in Bad Boys II-and he gets it. This movie has some terrific actors in it, in large and small parts. Simon Pegg, last seen as a total slacker fighting zombies in Shaun of the Dead and Nick Frost as his partner Danny Butterman are hilarious. But Timothy Dalton is in too, and so is Edward Woodward (I LOVE him-The Equalizer was a great show-and a precursor to this type of movie), Billie Whitelaw, Jim Broadbent, Paddy Considine (as a detective who never takes off his aviator shades even in the pouring rain while holding an umbrella). It has action scenes galore-but in a very self-aware mode, which pays homage to its forerunners and also gently mocks them. I will say that my favorite line (which no one else laughed at, haven't they seen Chinatown?) was "Forget it Nick-it's Sandford". You don't have to be a fan of action movies to appreciate this movie-and it helps if you aren't. It was almost indecent how entertaining I found it.

I'm reading the sequel to the Berlin Noir trilogy by Philip Kerr and it's very good. I'll report more later on it.

The Hoax, Rubicon and Some Movies from the 70's...

I'll start off with a fashion comment though-I am tired of seeing men with their pants too short. I don't care about Thom Browne and his short pants-it looks stupid, not stylish and everyone should just stop it.

I went to see The Hoax, with Richard Gere and Alfred Molina and it was very good. Gere did a great job in his portrayal of a man so caught up in his story that he can't tell the difference between fact and fiction-but Molina steals every scene he's in and is a great reason to see the movie. I also watched Four brothers, with Mark Wahlberg, Tyese, Andre Benjamin (who should be doing more movies) and Chweitel Ojiofor. It was good in some parts-the actors had a nice chemistry amongst them and they sold it that they were raised by the same woman but the plot was dumb-their Mother wasn't killed in a grocery store robbery-she was set up for a kill and they want revenge. There were parts I liked but I'd only recommend it to someone who liked action movies and didn't care if they were intelligent or not.

Speaking of intelligent-I finally finished Rubicon. This was a great history book and Holland tells a great story-full of sex, greed and violence. It's the story of the end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire (thank you, Julius Caesar). It's told in a clear and smart way, with few judgements on people who behaved very badly at times-and their bad behavior had extreme consequences for a lot of people. Caesar changed the Roman Republic and his death lead to it downfall-it's a great story.

The 70's were a great time for movies. I remember as a child hating practically every movie that came out because they were all depressing-someone died (Dog Day Afternoon) or was corrupt (All The President's Men, which was depressing but in a good way), or was a criminal (the Godfather), or chased after the criminals, but was not a great guy himself (The French Connection). Now, I want a movie that, if it should have a depressing ending, it has a depressing ending. I don't want a tacked on happy ending just to make me feel better (The Natural, anyone?). My Dad assures me that this will change as I get older, but I'm not sure that it will-I just want an ending that's right for the movie. And movies in the 70's did not shy away from the unhappy ending, the confusing storyline or the difficult plot. It was even harder for me, because I was a child and my dad took me to see these movies...and then didn't explain them to me. I understand why-it would be difficult to explain Chinatown to a 10-year old today-so it was worse then. And I don't start with One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, which I loved-but didn't understand the end until my brother explained a lobotomy. I was horrified. Then there was my dislike of Annie Hall and its use of the imaginary (the crush on the evil stepmother from Snow White who actually shows up, the kids talking about what they're actually doing as adults, showing what the characters are really thinking by using subtitles) to make it more real-I hated that. Little I know that less than 10 years later, I would write paper for a film class about that very topic and enjoy it. 70's movies aren't for children, unless it's Star Wars, Rocky or Close Encounters (another movie I hated, but it's stayed that way) because almost all of them are depressing, paranoid or extremely violent. That said, I still think it was a great era for movies and here's a list...

The Godfather-yes, it's a great movie, go see it, but The Godfather Part II is better, although it's still depressing to see Marlon Brando looking like a wreck.
Apocalypse Now is a great movie-although you should really read heart of Darkness to go with it.
Star Wars is a great fun movie, one of the few of the 70's, which probably explains why it did so well. It has a lot to answer for though, as does Jaws. Both movies made a lot of money and lead to every director/studio wanting to make a huge blockbuster and make lots of money instead of making
Taxi Driver-which would probably not get made today-not by a major studio, anyway. I didn't see it in the 70's, it was one the few my Dad wouldn't take me to see.
Chinatown is often called one of the best movies ever made and it really is-cool and stylish with a cold, cold heart-it's great movie. It's another one that no one would explain to me after we saw it-I only figured it out a couple of years after seeing it. i was 12, so cut me some slack.
I'll group Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Life of Brian, MASH, Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles together. The 70's wasn't really known for comedies, but these are classics-and all of them make some sort of social commentary in some way, not unlike...
Harold and Maude and A Clockwork Orange, both of which turn convention upside down. Harold and Maude is about living life to it's fullest and enjoying the ride, and in it's own way, so is A Clockwork Orange. How can you not love a movie that has you rooting for the murdering, rapist hero because he is truly being himself and is not a brainwashed good guy. This movie is about being who you are, even if that person is a murdering thug. Harold and Maude is about that as well, but in it, the old grab life and enjoy it, while the young want to die. It may be upside down, but in a good way-and one of the few movies form this decade that isn't unrelentingly depressing...unlike.
The Deer Hunter, which is a great movie, but unremittingly dark. It's this sort of movie, along with Alien, that lead to the cheerfulness of the 80's.
And let's not forget the paranoid thriller, which was perfected in the 70's-there's..the political paranoid thriller:
All The Presidents Men (dark but exciting)
The Parallax View (paranoid but confusing)
Three Days of the Condor (dark but lightens up a bit at the end)
The Conversation (really dark but interesting
Day of the Jackal (tense and exciting).
Even THE feel good movie of the 70's (and I mean Rocky) did NOT have a happy ending-Rocky lost the fight even after giving it his best shot-and this was a happy ending. He got to show the everyone what he could do-he was a hero, even if he lost. It's just too bad that Stallone went on to make more Rocky movies, in which he
1) Won
2) Lost and then beat the Russian guy-which made for some very funny stories in the 80's
3) Lost to Mr T and then beat him
4) Is he dead yet? By this point, Stallone has made four too many Rocky movies and had way too much plastic surgery.
And now for the list of great but depressing movies from the 70's-all worth seeing, but don't do it all at once...
Deliverance (this is another movie dad wouldn't take me to see. I can't imagine why-was it the male-on-male rape scene? Yeah, that must have been it.
The French Connection (dirtyish cops take down even dirtier drug dealers)
Dog Day Afternoon-Pacino overacts, but it fits the movie, which is tense and stylish.
Badlands-this is a a beautiful movie to watch-you can't beat Malick for a well-made movie, but it's depressing-right up there with Days of Heaven.
Dirty Harry-I find this movie very depressing-I know it was loosely-based on the Zodiac murders and that people wanted some closure-but I find a vigilante cop very depressing.
Nashville is a great movie-but also depressing, but in a good way and worth it for the music. Ah, the 70's...you wouldn't find those kinds of movies being made today-and I haven't even mentioned The Wicker Man (also a movie I couldn't go see) or or Close Encounters (which I hated and is still the only movie I've fell asleep while watching) or Papillion, a really fun thriller/escape movie. However, I would like to give a shout out to The Sting, which is probably the only movie made in the 70's which had a happy ending-the bad guy was fooled, the good guys (who are con artists-this is the 70's after all, when we rooted for the poor, the underclass, thieves and grifters) got away with the big con...it was great.
I'd also like to quote from All The President's Men-a line which has helped me through many a thriller/suspense movie/con artist movie. And that is "follow the money". You can't wrong with this line-it has lead me through many a plot twist, although truth be told, some were not that hard to figure out.

Join me next time when hopefully I'll have some fashion commentary AND I discuss the 80's-those bright days when Americans kill all the bad guys, whether they be aliens (Aliens, none the less a great movie), Europeans (Die Hard) or Russians (always a popular choice in the 80's, whether they have a sub with nuclear weapons in The Hunt For Red October or are trying to take over the ski slopes of Colorado in Red Dawn). I'll also give a shout-out to V, just because I liked it.

Hockey...

I know it seems odd, with all my talk of clothes, books and movies...but hockey was the first sport I fell in love with. I grew up in a sports crazy family, and most of the time I cared only because everyone else in my family cared (but not about golf. I have never understood its appeal-and my family LOVES it. Please-it's a good walk spoiled, to quote Mark Twain). But hockey...my Dad took me to my first MSU hockey game when when I was six or seven and I loved. Big people hitting each other! And it was okay! It was fast, exciting and sometimes violent- and it wasn't as confusing as football, except for the whole offsides thing, which I didn't I really understand for a very long time. We had season tickets for hockey as soon as the new ice arena opened, but before that we watched in an old fieldhouse which was general admission and cold as hell-you had to love hockey to see a game there. I grew up at those games and lived and died with the team-sometimes it was painful and sometimes not-when you tie your happiness to sports team, you have to take the good with the bad (see the 2006 Detroit Tigers for good AND bad). My sister has gotten hit with a puck at hockey game and my dad too-so i guess we actually HAVE bled for MSU hockey. But, what I'm trying to say is that while I may not be as emotionally invested in this team as I have been in days gone by...WE WON!! Yay!! It may not be like the days when I knew all the names and numbers of the players, but hockey was always my first love-how could I not be thrilled? The people who love hockey at MSU have always loved it, whether the team was good or bad-they were always there. We'll say "hi" to the people who showed up because the basketball and football teams weren't doing as well as in days gone by-but when they go back to basketball and football, the people who love hockey will still be at the ice rink, waiting for the puck to drop.

Here's a List

Fine,I'm quoting from Declare again. The thing is, to me, the movies of the 50's, were in some ways tremendously good and broke ground for the 60's neo-realism (On The Waterfront, Marty, Sunset Boulevard, Night of The Hunter) while others were truly awful, even if they were awards winners. The Greatest Show On Earth? Really? And I'm sorry, but I thought almost every Biblical epic from this decade was awful-from Ben-Hur (oh, please) to King of kings to whatever that other Charlton Heston Biblical movie was. The only good thing I can say about it is that there was not the level of violence that there was in Mel Gibson's The passion of the Christ (horrifying in it's level of violence and depiction of Jews. For all of Christ's preaching to love everyone, this movie has remarkably little of that). However, the 50's did have some great movies, so here's a little list that will move us into the 60's and 70's (just as aside, I hated the movies of the 70's when I went to see them, but I've come to love them-one of the benefits of aging.). Also, the 50's had some great musicals, which shouldn't be missed, and some great Japanese samurai movies, which set the stage for about a zillion other movies.
So-don't miss (and I can't believe I didn't name this in my earlier post) Oklahoma-just about the most perfect movie musical made, unless you'd rather watch The King and I or Singin in the Rain or An American in Paris or The Bandwagon. I'd also put in Gigi and Guys and Dolls-although Guys and Dolls was made in 1962, it has a very 50's feel to it, as Does The Music Man from the same year. However, West Side Story is a different kettle of fish-it's clearly looking forward with a realistic eye, as opposed to the nostalgia of all the other musicals. West Side Story is firmly planted in the NOW of 1962. There are other good movies from the 50's-Rear Window comes from this time, and so does North by Northwest, Bridge on the River Kwai and All About Eve. The African Queen (lightweight but very entertaining) Harvey (ditto) and Night of the Hunter (truly creepy). And let's not forget that Rashomon, the Seven Samurai AND Nights of Cabiria all came form this decade and are all great movies-it's actually pretty easy to determine the good from the bad in the 50's-the crap is pretty obvious.
As for the 60's...things get more problematic. The neo-realism and French New-wave movement brought a lot of imitators out of the woodwork, most of whom were NOT as talented as Truffaut or Fellini and instead made movies that looked intelligent or clever or "modern" but in reality were awful. I'm looking at you, The Grasshopper, Zabriskie Point and Last Year in Marienbad-all movies (and yes, two were in 1970, but clearly rooted in the 60's). All trying to be hip, or nihilistic or meaningless (like life, yes, we get it) but ended up just being annoying. But again, there were some great movies-a few tremendous epics like Lawrence of Arabia (Peter O'Toole was truly beautiful) or My Fair Lady (rooted in the 50's but still fabulous), an heroic lawyer (Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird, one the great decent men in film), a couple of paranoid thrillers (The Manchurian Candidate and Seven Days in May), and some great period stuff-A Man For All Seasons and Beckett (another beautiful Peter O'Toole) are wonderful. And I've heard people insult The Lion in Winter-but I loved it, along with Cool Hand Luke Butch Cassidy, The Candidate, and The Graduate. And to me, this was the decade where Fellini came into his own (La Dolce Vita, Juliet of the Spirits) but please don't talk to me about Truffaut or Antonioni because I've never seen the appeal. I appreciate them for taking film in a new direction, but they have a lot to answer for all the idiots who took what they did and made it worse-and it was annoying in their hands, let alone with someone else doing it. however, I do reserve the right to change my opinion-it could happen. Also, in Cold Blood came out and so did The Hustler, In The Heat of the Night and To Sir, With Love-this is NOT a great movie, full of cliched characters and it's a little too pat. But it's it's worth it just to see Sidney Poitier's star power and to watch Lulu sing the song at the end-that gets me every time. Please don't mention Stanley Kubrick to me-I know many people think he's genius (and I'll give him Dr. Strangelove) but I hate all his other movies. 2001 was stupid (I walked out of it not once, but twice and I had PAID to see it. although I heard it was better if you were high which I never was when I saw it). I may even give him Spartacus just for the "I am Spartacus" part and A Clockwork Orange just because because I really like the fact that you are forced to root for the evil guy to become evil again, just for the triumph of being who you are over the brainwashing of the state-it may be twisted, but I like it. But everything else is a nightmare-Barry Lyndon (I fell asleep, just like a did during Close Encounters-and I LIKE science fiction), The Shining-this was NOT a scary movie. The book terrified me (only The Exorcist was scarier) and this movie was stupid. Butch Cassidy was scarier than this-you want a scary movie? Watch Night of the Hunter or In Cold Blood-those are scary. Also, I've heard that Steven King hates this version, but is contractually obligated not talk about it in public-and I can't say I'm surprised. if I had written a great haunted house book, with shades of child abuse, alcoholism and a desire for power and it got turned into THIS, I would have been pissed. The made-for -TV version is much better.
Sorry-I got off topic, but Kubrick is a sore point with me (Eyes Wide Shut, anyone? Yeah, I didn't think so). He made his rep on maybe one movie and coasted on the rest-at least he was true to the message of the book of A Clockwork Orange, which is the most I can say for him.
No, I haven't mentioned any Westerns-go see The Searchers or The Magnificent Seven or The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (if only for the music). High Plains Drifter is okay but The Mark of Zorro with Tyrone Power shouldn't be missed. Did I forget The Ghost and Mrs Muir? Laura? The Battle of Algiers? Yes, they are different and yes, I'm skipping around now...

Next up: the Seventies! In which I am confused by One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, irritated by Nashville (which I have grown to love) and am charmed by Heaven can Wait (this is a great movie).

Am still slogging through Rubicon-but MSU plays in the NCAA Hockey championship tomorrow night and that has my attention right now....

Next up: The 70's!

thumbsucker, Ash, Rubicon and a List of my Favorite Movies (oldies edition)

Okay, so I decided not to go see any movies this past weekend-I had to try and talk Best Buy into exchanging my two-month old DVD player (they did it) and go to the grocery store and the comic book store...I was exhausted afterwards. So I watched my netflix movie Thumbsucker, with Lou Taylor Pucci and Vincent D'Onofrio (the reason I got it). It was really good-Lou is a teenager who still sucks his thumb to relieve his anxieties...and when he gets hypnotized into quitting, he takes all of those anxieties out on his parents (Vincent and Tilda Swinton) and his little brother. Everyone was good-the parents are well-meaning, but they don't understand him. He means well, but he isn't sure if his parents love him or each other (they do) and his little brother "has to be normal because everyone is busy dealing with all your shit". I recommend it for a good indie movie-I liked it much better than Little Miss Sunshine-these characters were much more real and not quirky characters designed for a movie.
And I finished the Ash series-and let me just say that the end ROCKED. I hated those stupid academics (and I still aren't thrilled with them) but without them the ending would not have been half as cool. And I went to Florida to see my parents (80 and sunny every day, but I was good and wore heavy sunscreen and sat under an umbrella most of the time). so, i finished Ash, I re-read Declare (still a great boo, the pleasure of Powers' words never fails me) and I started Stone, but by the time I got home, my friend Y had sent me the first season of Rome-but said I had to read Rubicon first. Luckily, I bought it when he first told me that last year, so I've put aside Stone for the pleasure of the company of a band of murderous Romans.

Okay, many people (three) have asked me for a list of movie recommendations-old and new, so (to quote Declare) here's a list:

The Philadelphia Story-flat out hilarious, with a beautiful Hepburn, a charming Grant and a diffident Jimmy Stewart. It doesn't get much better except for..

His Girl Friday, with a beautiful and sharp as a tack Rosalind Russell and someone who matches her barb for barb, Cary Grant. the words fly fast and furiously so you have to pay attention.

Bringing Up Baby-yes, it's funny and so is It Happened One Night, they may be a bit dated 9and this the only Clark Gable comedy I can take, I like him much better as a dramatic actor.
The Lady Eve-or anything directed by Preston Sturges (or Howard Hawkes, but that's a different kind of movie). Witty and sharp-you'd never think Stanwyck
could be this beautiful unless you've seen...
Double Idemnity-where she's beautiful and very evil. And let's not forget Casablanca or anything with Bogart-especially To have and Have Not, where's a charmer or
The Two Mrs Carrolls or the Treasure of the Sierra Madre, where he's no one you'd like as a friend.

Gone With The Wind is a topic close to my heart, so I don't have any perpective on it, but all the best picture nominees from 1939 are worth seeing (Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Stagecoach, Dark Victory (a noble Bette Davis, as opposed to the wonderfully bitchy Bette Davis in All About Eve), Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, Ninotchka, Of Mice and Men, Wuthering Heights...now your know why 1939 is called the best year for movies ever.

Okay, the Daily Show is starting and my dinner is almost ready, so join me next time when I move into the 40's and 50's and talk about my favorite musicals (Guys and Dolls and the Music Man).