Category Archives: Film

“Young Adult” (2011) dir. Jason Reitman / scr. Diablo Cody

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One of the best and most underrated comedies of late is Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody’s 2011 film “Young Adult”. Far better than their previous collaboration (2007’s “Juno”), “Young Adult” boasts Oscar-worthy performances by Charlize Theron and Patton Oswalt and is far more complex than its (fairly funny) preview would make you think.

The plot does seem sitcom simple: high school queen bitch who made good goes back to her hometown under the delusion she can get her now-married boyfriend back. However, while Theron does play a fairly rotten human being, it’s far from a one-dimensional portrayal. Like everyone else, her character has had her share of disappointments and heartbreak. Theron does make you feel for her, even though (as said earlier) her character is pretty awful.

Conversely, the people around her (who would normally be her straight, normal foils) are not let off the hook, either. While they are much better people than Theron’s character, Cody shows that they have their own human moments, as well. Patton Oswalt’s disabled character drowns his bitterness in booze and self-pity. Her otherwise nice and easy-going ex-boyfriend has a subtle, but unmistakable moral lapse. Even her ex-boyfriend’s wife, who is seen as flawless, has her own issues. If not, then why would she invite her husband’s bitchy ex-girlfriend to her baby shower unless it was meant as a subtle (or not-so-subtle) “f–k you”?

All of this may sound heavy handed, but Reitman/Cody handle it in a wonderfully subdued manner. One of the film’s strengths is how so much detail is conveyed about each character without calling attention to it. It’s not what I would call a “feel-good” comedy, but it’s often hilarious in a “hide your eyes and cringe” kind of way. If you’re a fan of Larry David or Louis C.K., you’ll probably dig it.

“The Bells of St. Mary” – The Drifters

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Another great, soulful, holiday classic … this time from the Drifters.  This version of “The Bells of St. Mary” is sublime and was used to chilling effect in Martin Scorsese’s “Goodfellas” when Joe Pesci’s character pays Samuel L. Jackson’s character a visit one morning.

Thank you!

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Dave’s Strange World just had its 1,000th visitor. For all of those who have chosen to follow the blog, thrown up a like, or have just chosen to lurk, thank you for all of your support.

I wish I had a cool tune to express my gratitude, but I already posted Sam and Dave’s “I Thank You.” Zeppelin’s “Thank You” is a little too corny, so please enjoy the Frogmen doing their classic rockin’ surf tune “Underwater” which filmmaker John Waters put to good use in 1974’s “Female Trouble.”

“Palace of the Brine” – The Pixies

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From the Pixies’ underrated 1991 swan song “Trompe Le Monde,” comes this nearly unheralded gem that epitomizes what makes the Pixies so great: layers of distorted loud guitars on top of pop melodies and intense shouted vocals.  And all in 1 minute 35 seconds. In the year of Nirvana’s “Nevermind” and Guns n’ Roses’ “Use Your Illusion I and II,” “Trompe le Monde” was my favorite album from that year … and still is.

“American Graffiti” (1973) dir. George Lucas

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Enough already with the hand-wringing and speculation over whether Lucasfilm being sold to Disney is a good or bad thing for the “Star Wars” franchise! In my humble opinion, Lucas’s best film, hands down, is 1973’s “American Graffiti.” One of the best movies about teenagers ever made, it has more heart and soul than the entire “Star Wars” franchise combined (including the yet-to-be-made parts 7, 8, 9, who gives a s–t!). It was the blueprint from which the almost-equally excellent “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and “Dazed and Confused” were forged (all 3 films boasted amazing casts … before most of the actors/actresses became monstrously famous). Tellingly, Lucas only made this film after his then-wife (stellar 1970s film editor Marcia Lucas) challenged him to make a film that would emotionally involve the audience. Sadly, after “Graffiti’s” huge critical and commercial success, Lucas retreated to a world of Wookies, Mace Windu, Jar-Jar Binks, and a whole bunch of other s–t I couldn’t give two f–ks about.

“Out of Sight” (1998) dir. Steve Soderbergh

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A lot of people consider director Steve Soderbergh’s comeback to be the double-punch of “Erin Brockovich” and “Traffic” in 2000.  I would argue his real comeback came with 1998’s “Out of Sight,” one of the best films of the 1990s and one of the best crime + comedy films ever made.

Based on Elmore Leonard’s stellar novel, Soderbergh and screenwriter Scott Frank took Tarantino’s corrosive and winning mix of black comedy and violence and finessed it into a fine jewel of a film.  Probably the most ingenious thing Frank and Soderbergh did was take Leonard’s extremely tense and grim finale and turn it into high comedy, while not changing a single event from the original narrative.  Seriously, this is pure genius, considering how grim Leondard’s original finale was.  George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez have never been better.  Don Cheadle, Albert Brooks, Luiz Guzman, Ving Rhames, Steve Zahn, Dennis Farina, and Michael Keaton all provide fantastic supporting performances.

If you’re in a rotten mood, please do yourself a favor and see “Out of Sight.”  There’s a good reason the National Society of Film Critics (America’s most prestigious critics awards) voted this Best Picture of 1998 (over “Saving Private Ryan” and “Shakespeare in Love”).   It’s seriously that f–king good!!

“Over the Edge” (1979) dir. Jonathan Kaplan

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Jonathan Kaplan’s criminally underrated and nearly forgotten 1979 film “Over the Edge” is one of the best and most frightening films about teenagers ever made.   According to various things I’ve read over the years (which may or may not be true), either “Edge” or “The Great Santini” was intended to be Orion Pictures first release (it was actually George Roy Hill’s criminally underrated and nearly forgotten “A Little Romance” – featuring the debut of the lovely Diane Lane), but like many of Orion’s films during the illustrious, but tumultuous time they were around, seemed to be plagued by poor marketing, poor distribution, or skittish executives not quite sure how to market a great film that didn’t fit into any commercial niche.

“Edge” is about a planned community named New Granada which seems to be a suburban paradise, except for the fact the planners never provided anything for the growing population of older kids (who are not yet driving age) to do.  With nothing to do, the kids fill their time with sex, drugs, and crime, leading to a very frightening climax.  While the film is tastefully made (given the subject matter), I’m really shocked this got a PG rating (even given the permissive standards of the late 1970s).   This film would have enormous trouble getting greenlit today, let alone getting by with anything less than an R rating.   Everything from the writing, to the directing (by Jonathan Kaplan) to the acting (including a star-making screen debut by Matt Dillon) is top-notch.

“Edge” is based on a true story from the early 1970s where a planned upper-middle class suburban community near San Francisco named Foster City had a higher juvenile crime rate than any other comparable community in the country.   The problem was that this planned community (which had man-made canals with docks attached to homes, so one could boat to a local grocery store) had nothing designed for the large population of young people to do.   The community became overrun with vandalism, arson, bombings, and other activities more affiliated with war zones.   The story became the subject of a highly read San Francisco Chronicle article about Foster City by Bruce Koon (“Mousepacks: Kids on a Crime Spree) and screenwriters Charlie Haas and Tim Hunter wrote a screenplay based on the article.

I won’t go into more detail about the inception, production, release, and critical resurrection of the film, because a very lengthy 30th anniversary oral history published in Vice Magazine tells the story much better than I can.  After you watch the film, please please please read this article, which will tell you everything you need to know:

http://www.vice.com/read/over-the-edge-134-v16n9

As for the film, “Over the Edge” is a must see and just gets scarier the older I (and my children) get.  I lived in a community very similar to New Granada recently and remember the alarming reports of shocked adults finding empty beer cans, liquor bottles, and used condoms in the trails behind the homes.  After a few months there, I told my wife, “There’s a movie you need to see that’s exactly like where we live now.”