The ending of “Fight Club” (1999) dir. David Fincher

Video

This has to be the strangest “happy” ending in film history … a declaration of mature love amidst massive destruction and mayhem … while the Pixies’ legendary “Where Is My Mind?” plays in the background. I realize this is a perverse selection here given my last entry about “United 93,” but to be fair, “Fight Club” was written / filmed pre-9/11. And just because some of the angst of “Fight Club” was rendered obsolete by the subsequent “war on terror” doesn’t mean that “Fight Club” still doesn’t raise several excellent issues about our culture. If there’s a film that summarized my mental state in my early 20s, this is it. Fortunately, I saw this in my late 20s after I was married and settled down … so the film left me with the weirdest, most perverse grin on my face I’ve ever had watching a film. Especially during the “Sixth Sense” – level plot twist that occurs 3/4 of the way through. Between this and David Cronenberg’s “Videodrome,” my all-time favorite film.

Sorry ladies … and maybe some gents … the infamous subliminal “pickle” shot has been edited out.

“United 93” (2006) dir. Paul Greengrass

Video

I can completely understand why anyone would not want to watch this film. But please, don’t dismiss this as an exploitation film. Paul Greengrass’s “United 93” is an extremely intense, but respectful approximation of what happened on United flight 93 on September 11, 2001. So far, it is the best non-documentary film about what happened on that day and it’s the only film that brought me back to what it felt like on that day when it seemed like the entire world was falling apart. While I’m happy Scorsese finally got his Oscar for Best Director for “The Departed” in 2006 (a truly great film), he really should have won it for “Raging Bull” or “Goodfellas.” Greengrass should have won for Best Director that year (he was nominated). This is a film that won a lot of acclaim when it was released, but is almost forgotten about these days … maybe because most people don’t want to watch it. But seriously, “United 93” is a very respectful, non-sensational film about the events on 9/11, even though it’s admittedly a very difficult film to watch.

“True Hollywood Story: The Producer and the Black Panther” by Kate Coleman, Salon.com

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Dave's Strange World

http://www.salon.com/2012/06/09/true_hollywood_story_the_producer_and_the_black_panther/

Bert Schneider was one of the most important film producers/executives in Hollywood history. Schneider, along with his partners Bob Rafelson and Stephen Blauner, headed a production company called BBS Productions, which produced (among other films) the following classics: “Easy Rider” (1969), “Five Easy Pieces (1970), “The Last Picture Show” (1971), and “Hearts and Minds” (1974). The BBS philosophy was, as long as filmmakers kept their budgets relatively low, the company would give them tremendous artistic freedom, a freedom that resulted in some radical, legendary movies that defined what was called “The New Hollywood” … movies that also happened to be very successful at the box office.

However, there was a dark side to Schneider. Per the accounts in Peter Biskind’s book “Easy Riders Raging Bulls” and other places, Schneider could be cruel … not only cuckholding friends and berating anyone he felt was his inferior (specifically screenwriters), but also indulging in extreme substance abuse. Also, Schneider’s earnestness in supporting progressive causes sometimes led him down some dark paths.

This terrific article about Schneider, written for Salon.com by Kate Coleman, chronicles Schneider’s relationship with Black Panther Huey Newton. There’s a lot of debate about Newton and his legacy. I don’t know enough about Newton to say what’s true and what isn’t. But despite whatever good he may have done, Newton was a troubled man and I don’t believe all of his troubles were the result of government conspiracies. A really fascinating and dark tale about friendship and an era when “radical chic” sometimes blinded well-intentioned people.

“Who is Keyser Soze?” from “The Usual Suspects” (1995) dir. Bryan Singer, scr. Christopher McQuarrie

Video

One of the most bone-chilling scenes in cinematic history .. this is the back story of master criminal Keyser Soze … the much-feared boogeyman of Bryan Singer’s best film “The Usual Suspects.” As Kevin Spacey’s character Verbal Kint says: “Keaton always said, ‘I don’t believe in God, but I’m afraid of him.’ Well I believe in God, and the only thing that scares me is Keyser Soze.”

The other key line: “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.”

The clip here is not safe for work. It’s not particularly bloody, but extremely disturbing.

“Forkboy” – Lard

Video

Time to wake up! This is the lead-off track from Lard’s “The Last Temptation of Reid” album from 1990 and was later featured in the prison riot scene in Oliver Stone’s 1994 “Natural Born Killers” (though, you’ll hear more of it in the director’s cut which features a longer, more violent version of the prison riot among other scenes). Lard was a collaborative side project consisting of Al Jourgensen of Ministry and Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys … as well as others, including other members of Ministry.

“Invitation to the Blues” – Tom Waits

Video

Another legendary song from Tom Waits’ essential 1976 album “Small Change.”

Memorably used over the opening credits of Nicolas Roeg’s 1980 bad date-film classic “Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession,” one of the most graphic and despairing looks at a toxic relationship ever put on film. Trust me when I say “Bad Timing” makes “Fatal Attraction” look like “When Harry Met Sally.” An executive for Rank Films, the UK studio that financed “Bad Timing,” called the film “a sick film made by sick people for sick people.” And it’s available to watch on Netlifx Instant to view with your honey … that is, if you and your honey are mentally unstable and/or are pill / booze addicts. Thanks champagne!

“The 40-Year Old Virgin” (2005) dir/scr. Judd Apatow

Video

After watching this again recently, I’m happy to report that Judd Apatow’s directorial debut is still as fresh and funny as it was when it was released 8 years ago. Based on a routine that Steve Carrell did back when he was a member of Second City, “The 40-Year Old Virgin” pulls off an extremely tricky balancing act: an extremely raunchy, painfully funny film that also contains a lot of heart. I realize the “raunch with heart” genre has become a cliche unto itself, but Apatow perfected this genre and in my opinion, has a better batting average than most directors.

The scene above is the now-classic scene where Steve Carrell’s 40-year old virgin character tries to fake his way through a bull session with “the guys.” As a late bloomer who suffered through many of these sessions in high school and college, the only thing I can say about this scene is … Carrell’s character pulls it off way better than I ever did. Though I think every guy, regardless of the age they lost their virginity, was in Carrell’s position at some point. And, this is why the scene is a classic.

As a bonus, I’ve also attached the scene where Carrell’s character attempts a hook-up with an extremely drunk woman he’s met at a bar, played by Apatow’s wife Leslie Mann. According to the DVD commentary, Mann prepared for this role by getting s–tfaced with Seth Rogen and having Rogen videotape her so she could later imitate her drunken self for the film. She said it was one of the most painful things she’s ever witnessed, because before then, she said she was under the delusion she was funny and charming when drunk.

“People Who Died” – The Jim Caroll Band

Video

From the terrific 1980 album “Catholic Boy,” this is the late Jim Carroll’s most (in)famous song. I remember a DJ once saying that not many know what this song is, but every time he played it, it would get more calls into the station wanting to know what the song was and who did it than anything else he plaeyd. It is … in my 8-year old son’s immortal words … pretty “epic.” This is one of those songs that should have been a huge hit, but wasn’t. Granted, the lyrics are really f–king grim. But the song is so damn catchy! It shows up frequently on Sirius First Wave, FYI.

Jaw-dropping trivia note: This song was featured in Steven Spielberg’s “E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial.” It’s not particularly prominent, but it’s definitely there when the boys are playing Dungeons and Dragons near the beginning of the film. That … along with the lyrics for Elvis Costello’s “Accidents Will Happen” casually uttered by Elliott’s brother in the scene where he’s raiding the refrigerator … points to the fact that Spielberg may be more of a hipster than most people typically give him credit for.

“Storybook Love” – WIlly DeVille (with Mark Knopfler) … from “The Princess Bride” (1987)

Video

Here is one of the best … and admittedly, most bizarre … couplings of the mainstream and the underground. This is the lovely ballad composed for Rob Reiner’s classic 1987 film “The Princess Bride,” written and soulfully sung by punk legend Willy DeVille of the band Mink DeVille. The song was later nominated for an Oscar and seeing Willy on stage crooning this in front of a billion plus viewers during the Academy Awards in 1988 was a very cool kick in the head indeed.

“Citizen Ruth” (1996) dir. Alexander Payne, scr. Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor

Video

Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor have emerged as America’s leading satirists of middle-class delusion. “Election,” “About Schmidt,” and “Sideways” were all critical (and sometimes) box-office hits roundly deserving of their universal acclaim. However, rarely mentioned is Payne and Taylor’s first film, the wonderfully acidic “Citizen Ruth.”

Ruth Stoops, the titular hero played by Laura Dern, is a drug-addict and petty criminal who finds out she is pregnant during one of her many stints in jail. Given the fact that she’s had four other children (all under foster care or under the care of ex-boyfriends/husbands), a judge offers leniency if she will abort her unborn child. This raises the attention of a local pro-life group called the Baby Savers who bail her out and try to use the judge’s offer as a call to arms for their cause. Through a series of circumstances, she then winds up under the care of a pro-choice group who want her to promote their cause.

Believe it or not, the degenerate Ruth winds up being the character you root for the most in the film. Dern pulls off the impossible in her characterization of Ruth. She manages to be sympathetic while still acting like someone you’d never even remotely think of inviting into your home.

No matter where you stand on the abortion issue, “Citizen Ruth” mercilessly attacks both sides. While I don’t think Payne and Taylor are saying that all pro-life or pro-choice people are like the characters in this film, they illustrate what happens when activists use people as symbols to “send messages” instead of actually doing something to help the people they’re exploiting.

In addition to Dern, the rest of the cast, which includes Kurtwood Smith, Burt Reynolds, Swoosie Kurtz, Kelly Preston, Mary Kay Place, M.C. Gainey, Tippi Hedren, Kenneth Mars, David Graf, and Diane Ladd (Dern’s real-life mom), all deliver terrific career-best performances.

A wonderfully brittle and nasty skewering of an extremely sensitive topic. If you have a brain, a heart, and a very dark sense of humor, you’ll hopefully find this film as hilarious as I did.