The Loveless (1982)

I am  so excited about The Loveless that I am still buzzing after my first viewing. Kathryn Bigalow has always been a favorite director of mine so I decided to check out her first film, The Loveless, which is also the first movie Willem DaFoe appears in. The Loveless is a throwback to the biker movies of the 1950s which featured youths on motorcycles with bad attitudes and no future, living like they just don’t care.

Bigalow’s technique is developed throughout The Loveless. The film is highly stylish and moody, just how I like it. What is the most interesting aspect of the film is the brief relationship between Vance (DaFoe) and Telena (Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains’ Marin Kanter), which is honest and frankly sexual. Telena is a damaged girl, with a mother that committed suicide and a father who sexually abuses her. While Vance is sympathetic, he will not do anything to help because that would require him to give a damn. 

Plus, the rockabilly music is fantastic, adding to the atmosphere of the picture, which is important because the pacing of the film is quite slow, adding to the overall mood. With performances ideal to the piece, especially DaFoe’s,  The Loveless is a true marvel of a film that deserves a wider audience.

 

Freaky Thing I Saw in the Supermarket…

Sunday. Oscar Night. Upper East Side. Gristedes.

I spot this and flip the fuck out.

Ewwwwww.

 

Monologue of the Week: Independence Day

Is this one of my favorite movie monologues of all times? Yes. Do I think Bill Pullman as Thomas Whitmore is one of the greatest movie presidents of all time? Yes. Do I want to shed a patriotic tear everytime I watch this monologue? Yes.

Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. “Mankind.” That word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can’t be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interests. Perhaps it’s fate that today is the Fourth of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom… Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution… but from annihilation. We are fighting for our right to live. To exist. And should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day the world declared in one voice: “We will not go quietly into the night!” We will not vanish without a fight! We’re going to live on! We’re going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day! 

I love this fucking movie. It makes me proud to be an American.

Among My Favorite Diane Lane Moments…

 

One of my favorite movie moments of all times, let alone ones that feature Diane Lane. I could watch this scene on repeat and never tire of it. This is when  Diane Lane sings Billie Holiday’s “Am I Blue?” at the opening of her club, Vera’s, in Francis Ford Coppola’s underrated classic, The Cotton Club. Diane Lane is my favorite actress of all time. She can do no wrong, which is apparent in this clip.

Actor Spotlight for Feb. 23th-March 2nd: Pell James

After going to a showing of Fanboys, I was shocked when I saw Pell James and Jamie King playing hookers that the geeks try to get with in the Vegas part of their adventures. This made me wonder, where did Pell James go? For a while, I thought she was going to be the new Indie Darling  and it seemed her career has just stalled. I remember seeing her in James Marsh’s The King with Gael Garcia Bernal and William Hurt. I was just blown away and how she held her own against such strong and established actors. James has a certain gentle grace that is almost hypnotic. After that, Jim Jarmusch casted her  in Broken Flowers as a spritely girl named Sun Green, who entrances Bill Murray for a few moments, like so many other women in the film.

I guess her chance to really propel her career was with the film, Undiscovered, starring another “why the hell isn’t he more famous” Steven Strait, as two people struggling to make it in the L.A music industry. While the plot is tired, these two promising actors couldn’t make the film work. Maybe it’s because Ashlee Simpson had a supporting role.

The last notable project she was in was Fincher’s Zodiac as one of films first victims. In her brief screen time, her death instills a fear in the audience that would continue to grow as the film progresses. Pell James is an extremely talented actress who deserves better film roles. 

Heart Broken.

Mickey lost the Oscar. My heart is shattered. I hate the Academy. You can’t make up for not passing Prop 8 (like you should have) by giving Sean Penn the Oscar for Milk.

I just want to say to you all tonight I’m very grateful to be here. A lot of people told me that I’d never wrestle again and that’s all I do. You know, if you live hard and play hard and you burn the candle at both ends, you pay the price for it. You know in this life you can loose everything you love, everything that loves you. Now I don’t hear as good as I used to and I forget stuff and I aint as pretty as I used to be but god damn it I’m still standing here and I’m The Ram. As times goes by, as times goes by, they say “he’s washed up”, “he’s finished” , “he’s a loser”, “he’s all through”. You know what? The only one that’s going to tell me when I’m through doing my thing is you people here. 

 

Best Movie Speech Ever. No wonder Mickey helped write it.

More Inglourious Basterds Footage from ET

 

I fucking hate BJ Novak, but  I will stand by Quentin in whomever he chooses to cast. I hope Brad Pitt’s very doesn’t get annoying, but otherwise, the footage looks great. I can’t wait to see Eli Roth clubbing Nazis with a baseball bat. Oh, America’s pastime. 

Actor Spotlight for Feb. 9th-15th: Melora Walters

Ah, Melora Walters, how I love you. A career as varied as yours has been is certainly something to admire. Walters have carved out a niche in Hollywood as a character actor, using playing weak, crazy or unhinged women. No one can play desperation quite like Melora Walters. 

In the early 90s, Walters struggled like any actress to find a part in any movie. Usually, that entailed background roles in cheaply made movies. She plays the “Pet Shop Owner” in Beethoven (1992) and Secretary # 2 in Tim Burton’s Ed Wood. Argueably, her biggest break in the early 90s (pre P.T Anderson) was her role of Trina, the saucy swimmer love interest of Chris Elliot in the 1994 film, Cabin Boy. They all have to start somewhere.

In 1996, Walters started what would be a promising and continuing professional relationship with legendary director, P.T Anderson. She started as a small role in his first feature film, Hard Eight, later retitled Sydney playing Jimmy’s (played by Samuel L. Jackson) girlfriend. In Anderson’s 1997 film, Boogie Nights, she played a porn star named  Jessica St. Vincent. While not a major character in that particular ensemble, Walters held her own against powerful actors like William H. Macy, Burt Renoylds and Julianne Moore. Her most notable role in a P.T film would be that of Claudia Gator in the 2001 film, Magnolia. 

Claudia Wilson is one of the most damaged characters ever to grace the silver screen. That’s a bold statement but I’m prepared to make it. It is a crime that she was not nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of a lost and lonely addict, still suffering after the years of sexual abuse she went through as a child. Her only hope is a cop named Jim (played by the amazing John C. Reilly), who falls for her when he receives a complaint from her neighbor about her loud noise. I believe their interactions are the highlights of the film, especially their date. 

After her stunning turn in Magnolia, Walters went on to have small, but important roles in films like Cold Mountain (2003) and The Butterfly Effect (2004). Recently, she has turned her attention to television. While Walters is continuing  playing the unhinged, but lovable Wanda Henrickson on HBO’s mormon drama, “Big Love” , she jumped networks for a brief guest stint on “Desperate Housewives”, playing Sylvia Greene. Her character travels to Wisteria Lane during a tornado to confront the married Adam (played by my love, Nathan Fillion), whom she once had an affair with. Even though she is sucked up into the tornado, Walters is the catalyst of major changes in both the characters of Adam as well as his wife, Katherine (Dana Delaney). 

However, one of my favorite Walters role would be that of Kate in the 2002 movie, Wise Girls. Yes, this was marketed as a Mariah Carey movie and while she is in it, Mira Sorvino is the main character, Meg. Carey, who played Raychel,  actually is fine in the movie because she doesn’t really have to emote real emotion, just be real sassy and bitchy. Anyways, Walters, Sorvino and Carey play waitresses at an Italian restaurant, which of course, is a front for the mob. While Raychel willingly participates, carrying out drug filled tin foil swan leftovers, Meg and Kate are more hesitant. When Meg saves the life of a wounded mobster, thanks to her nurse’s training, she gets in deeper than she ever thought possible, even witnessing a murder.

Walters is exceptional in this movie, which I think was just directly released to television. She plays Kate, a seemingly complacent, insecure former aspiring actress turned waitress, but SURPRISE, she is really an undercover cop and is getting evidence for a big trail against the mobsters. When Meg witnesses the murder, Kate sees her opportunity to get her to testify and reveals her true identity, really pissing Meg off. Walters is brillant in this role, finally playing some one calculating on the inside as well as tough on the outside. She is able to be relatable, but tough and genuinely compassionate towards the damaged Sorvino character. All in all, Wisegirls is a super, fun movie and Walters really gives it her all.

So here’s a collection of clips from Magnolia, but it’s missing the main scene in the restaurant with Claudia and Jim.

The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984)

So Quad Cinema started playing some classic Mickey Rourke movies this month in honor of one of the greatest actors ever to grace the silver screen. So I decided, along with my friend, Caitlin, to go see the 5:30 show of The Pope of Greenwich Village. Let me tell you, it was a wise decision. 

Rourke stars as Charlie, a guy whose girlfriend, Diane (played by a nubile Daryl Hannah) gets pregnant, while he is dealing with a divorce. His crazy wife keeps their son from him as well as racks up 2,000 dollars in parking tickets on his car. So when Charlie’s fuck up cousin, Paulie (scenery chewing Eric Roberts) comes up with a plot to see 150,000 dollars from a mob boss with his irish partner, Barney (Kenneth McMillian), Charlie is forced to go in on it with them, despite Diane’s objections. Needless to say, things go horribly awry and all must pay for their involvement.

I am always stunned by Mickey’s ability to emote on screen. When Paulie comes him *SPOILER* after his thumb was cut off, Rourke’s reaction as Charlie is astounding. As he watches Paulie fall apart, Rourke starts to cry, but a manly crying scene. Also, Rourke’s rage is full on display when he finds out he is betrayed when Paulie squeals on him.  Trashcans go flying, people quake in fear, it is truly tour de force. Eric Roberts is also great in this movie, walking that fine line between truly becoming his character and straight out over acting. Plus, Daryl Hannah is smoking hot as Rourke’s dancer girlfriend. It’s a cool movie, none the less.

New York Comic Con Wrap Up

This weekend, I attended the New York Comic Con. It was amazing. Instead of writing some long entry about it, I decided just to post the highlights.

Best Panel Attended: The Warner Brothers Presentation 

The studio brought three movies to the NYCC: Watchmen, Friday the 13th and Terminator: Salvation. We were treated to the first 18 minutes of Watchmen, including a bonus prison scene, presented by Dave Gibbons. Watchmen looks so fucking amazing that I bought a poster of The Comedian. Friday the 13th looks like your typical remake of a genre classic. The producers were there, along with hottie Jared Padalecki, and they seemed pretty pumped for the movie. I’ll see it, though I’ll hate myself for it. Finally, McG came with some advance footage of Terminator Salvation and honestly, it doesn’t look that bad. In fact, it could be good, especially with the promise of some inclusion of Sarah Conner. I’m not jumping for joy or anything, but it will be a passable entry into the Terminator series. Although, I don’t think it will produce another kickass female characters that movies sorely need.

Best Icon sighting: Joss Whedon and his Dollhouse Panel

Joss Whedon was charming and everything I hoped he would be. He was just so humble and down to earth. It’s refreshing to hear a genius speak who is so appreciative of  his fans. It didn’t even matter that he wasn’t there to talk about Firefly or Buffy. We waited in line for 2 hours to get good seats and it was totally worth it.

The only bad part was that the footage, honestly, didn’t really look all that great. I mean, there was a nice homage to the Buffy series because the clip we saw featured Eliza dancing, much like she did at the beloved Bronze. I think Dollhouse will be a great show, but like Whedon’s other series, it needs a couple episodes to start out before it will get good. Plus, Helo from Bstar G was there and I think once we met his character, all my doubts will be gone. He wasn’t in any of the clips shown at the panel but he certainly teased us with upcoming details about the show.

Best Celebrity Sighting:

Besides Brandi C. and Megan from “Rock of Love”, I saw Michael Imperioli from The Sopranos walking around on the floor after his “Life on Mars” panel. He was shorter than I imagined and had long flowing hair.  Oh and Kirk Avecedo on the “Fringe” panel because he was Miguel Alvarez on “Oz”. The greatest show of all time.

Best Surprise of Comic Con:  Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation

This documentary looks back on the time in Australian cinema (70s- early 80s) where sex,nudity,  wackiness, mayhem, violence dominated the screen. While some may look on it as trash cinema, Ozploitation movies inspired directors like Quentin Tarantino and other grindhouse fanatics to make their own movies. My Netflix queue grew a bit after watching this.

 

Best Purchase Made: Showgirls “V.I.P Edition” DVD

 I bought the V.I.P edition of one of the greatest, campiest movies of all times, Showgirls. A vendor, that I’m sure stole his entire merchandise he brought comic con, allowed me to talk down the price of the DVD. I came home with the movie, along with two shotglasses and Showgirls themed drinking games. Ah Comic Con.

 

List of Panels I attended: 

Marvel: X-Men

Superjail

Not Quite Hollywood: THe Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation

Emissary

Who Is The Greatest Badass Of All Time? Presented By MTV News

Wonder Woman

Watchmen, Terminator Salvation, and Friday the 13^th (Warner)

Disney Presents Up and Surrogates

Summit Entertainment Presents Knowing and The Hurt Locker

Dollhouse

Fringe

All in all, a great weekend spent with great friends. Except for the Saturday morning I had to wait in line.