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New York Movies by Chris Vander Putten

So I was watching Annie Hall for the umpteenth time the other day, and I got to thinking about how much of that film is not funny if you are not a New Yorker.  From there I went to all of the films I love about the city I love and how weird they must be for non-New Yorkers.  Sure, I have seen films that take place in all sorts of cities, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I missed some clever in jokes to their residents, But to me, there is simply no other place like New York.  So with unrepentant New Yorker superiority I present, in no particular order, my favorite films featuring the Big Apple, where it is not so much just a setting, but a character in and of itself. 

1. Annie Hall (1977).  Everything about this film oozes New York.  Allen’s frank statements about the garbage, the art scene, the culture, and his unending disdain and mockery of California, is one of my favorite aspects about this film.  His self effacing satire about New York intellectuals has been explored in other of his films, but nothing quite gets me like the flashback between he and his ex wife at the party. 

2. Taxi Driver (1976):  it was hard to pick which Scorsese film to choose, so many of them is a love poem to Gotham that I might as well have put his whole catalogue (his recent “love” of New England can stop now).  I chose Taxi Driver, because like a host of other New York set films of the 70’s, it portrays the city in a very unflattering light.  Now I am admittedly too young to have been in New York in the 70’s, but my parents grew up there.  I remember after watching The French Connection (another list contender), I asked my father if New York was really such a dirty and crime ridden place in the 70’s.  The answer was a definite yes, especially depending on where you where.  Sure it is the greatest city in the world, but it has gone through its rough patches, and Taxi Driver is a perfect example of this.

3. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001): Okay, so the city is never named in this film, and all of the locations are given fictitious titles, but it is still New York.  Even as a slightly askew version of the Big Apple, there is no denying the utter New Yorkness of the film.  This movie represents everything I love about the city, despite being a fanciful version of it.  When Royal, played by Gene Hackman, walks with his estranged wife played by Angelica Huston, it echoes any number of times I have walked through the park.  It is my favorite Wes Anderson film, and one of my favorite films of all time.  The quit poetic genius of the characters, who se brilliance is often overshadowed by their eccentricities, reminds me ever so slightly of members of my own family.  It is truly a film for New Yorkers.

4.  Wall Street (1987):  No other film encapsulates the greed and financial optimism and excess of the 1980’s better than Wall Street.  And no other city could contain this monumental film.  From Charlie sheen looking out from the windows of his penthouse, to the argument in central park, to the myriad of clubs and fine restaurants featured in the film, Wall Street shows the city in all of its elitist splendor, and it shows it from the inside.  Close contender for the same sentiment is 2000’s American Psycho (4 ½), which shows us the same opulence and elitism, but with a less stomachable evil that simple greed.  Not for the faint of heart, film at times plays like Wall Street as directed by Wes Craven, but still manages to serve as just an effective indictment of the wealthy and shallow.

5. Escape From New York (1981): John Carpenter is one of my all time favorite directors., and this is one of my favs.  It is very possible t imagine New York as the lawless prison wasteland depicted in this flick, and that is what’s fun about it.  Seeing beloved locales reduced to the squalor and terrifying desolation of a Mad Max set piece causes a thrill every time I watch this movie.  The primary villain, played by Isaac Hayes, is referred to as The Duke of New York, and he and other characters can be heard to refer to him as “A # 1” (including Donald Pleasance during the climax of the film.)  At first glance, one might think this movie could take place in any major city, but 1996’s sequel Escape From L.A. shows that this is certainly not the case.  it is by far my favorite vision of post apocalyptic New York (SPOILER ALERT: a close second might be Planet of the Apes, but I think that might be stretching the point a bit).

6. Marathon Man (1976):  New York Academia, Political Intrigue, Espionage Action, Diamond Theft, Nazis…Dentists, William Goldman’s Novel is perfectly adapted to film, which features more than enough memorable scenes and is one of the best thrillers ever made.  Olivier is perhaps one of the creepiest and most effective screen villains ever, and the scene with him in the diamond district is my personal favorite.  All in all, this is a film that could only take place in New York, and anyplace else and it wouldn’t have the same feel.

7. The Fischer King (1991): Terry Gilliam’s film about homeless lunatics and Arthurian legend is an odd film, but a great one.  It’s hard to say anything else about it other than the main theme song of the film is “How About You” and when Robin Williams and his gang of vagrants save Jeff Bridges life by shouting “I Like New York in June, How About You?”, you can’t help but be pulled in by the absurd and at times heart wrenching story.

8. Highlander (1986): As with so many franchises, see the first, skip the rest, and while I am a fan of most of these films (and the spin off show)  the first film is really a great modern fantasy and can and should be viewed as a standalone film.  Of course the centuries long battle between good and evil would be in New York, where else.  Two of my favorite shots are establishing shots.  The opening, where the camera zooms in on Christopher Lambert’s face in the stands at MSG form all the way across the arena, is just awesome.  The other is the long shot of the Silver Cup sign, where the climactic battle occurs.  Whenever I am on the FDR and see it across the river, I think of this film. 

9. Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters II (1989):  Okay, so these two go together. Obviously the vastly superior first installment gets the edge here, if not for any other reason than its liberal use of the city’s fantastic architecture and recognizable locals.  The City is presented as a unique organism, one where it takers the most shocking and impressive things to stun the residents.  The second installment goes even deeper with its love of the city, as it takes the combined will of the people of Manhattan to force the evil back to its place of origin (or nearest convenient parallel dimension). The second film also contains one of the funniest and appropriate encapsulations of New York ever committed to film.  When the gang tells the Mayor that it is the negative emotions throughout the city that are causing the disturbance, he incredulously  asks if they think he can go and tell 6 million people they have to be nice to each other.  He further muses with this gem of a line “Being miserable, and treating other people like dirt, is every New Yorker’s God given right!”  However for the purposes of this list, I’ll refer back to the first films closing lines, shouted from the roof top by a marshmallow covered Ernie Hudson “I love this town.”

So that’s my list for now.  Believe me, it is far from complete, and I just couldn’t think of what to give to the tenth slot.  I was going to talk about Muppet’s Take Manhattan, Moonstruck, Arthur, The Jazz Singer, Home Alone 2, As Good as it Gets, and so many more, but the list could go on and on.  Any suggestions comments, please let me know.

Inception…..Was it that good? by Chris Vander Putten

So….Inception.

                I am an enormous Christopher Nolan fan.  I love his work, almost unconditionally at this point, and let’s face it; there are very few comic book fans out there that don’t.  Batman Begins redefined the nature of the Comic Book Movie, and then the Dark Knight practically perfected it, melding the outlandish and absurd aspects of the fictional universe in a way that is just on the right side of believability.  But as big of a comic book fan as I am, I had loved The Prestige even more.  I have always been enamored with Stage Magic as well as the Victorian era, so I was bound to love it more than most.  My Grandfather was no mean magician himself, and would often entertain with various card tricks and slightly more complicated illusions, (Calling the Wizard was a personal favorite, and there are few members of my family who aren’t familiar with it).  Naturally, with my adoration of Mr. Nolan’s films firmly in place, I trekked over to the movies last night to see Inception, his newest thriller.  The movie clocks in at just under 2 ½ hours, and the plot is complicated but well explained.  I had expected a good sci-fi flick, perhaps with a little heart and some cool action sequences.  But I was wrong; Inception was not a good movie.

It was a great one.

It is, without a doubt, the finest piece of Science Fiction made in the last ten years.  Within ten minutes of the movie ending, I was so blown away that I had instantly put it alongside the two greatest Sci-Fi films of all time, Bladerunner and The Terminator.  In fact, the film owes a great deal to the former, and yet again, Nolan reminds me of Ridley Scott with his attention to detail and ability to navigate genre films and make them truly extraordinary.  The film is not short of spectacle, but it is all handled with extreme precision and beautiful camera work.  The set pieces are elaborate and wholly realized, never once feeling fake or contrived.  The film pulls you in and makes you believe in the concepts without any doubts; you have no room for disbelief because you are too intrigued.  While it is for sure a complicated film, it is all meticulously explained.

The performances were top notch, but I’d like to cal out a few in particular.  Dicaprio, as always, proves yet again that he is an extraordinary talent, but that is at this point to be expected.  Ken Watanabe is perfect in his role, as he always is, and I wish that American studios would give him more work.  While he has only done a small number of American films, his performances are always excellent and he always brings a regal intensity to the role he is playing.  Ellen Page here proves that she is capable of great range beyond the hipsterism laced dialogue of Juno (which I loved, don’t get me wrong).  Joseph Gordon Levitt is perhaps one of the most remarkable actors of his (my) generation, and to have come from an amusing, but fairly average sitcom like 3rd Rock from the Sun, it is all the more extraordinary.  I always liked him, and Ten Things I Hate about You is one of my favorite teen comedies, but he really has exploded in the last few years and I hope he never goes away.  (it does seem that perhaps Nolan himself has an affinity for Ten Things, lets watch for Julia Stiles or Larry Miller in his next film and my suspicions will be confirmed.)  Dileep Rao, who I loved in Drag me to Hell, was perfect casting.  Tom Hardy, who has been tapped to play Mad Max in an upcoming 4th installment, steals every scene he is in, grabbing attention away from fan favorites and more recognizable stars.  Hs character brings a small amount of levity to an otherwise serious film, and he oozes charm like a bond villain.   Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger (what?) and Nolan favorite Michael Caine round out the cast and all perform to their usual standards.  (Caine is always fun to watch, and despite his minimal screen time is still an influential part of the film).  Pete Postlethwaite, who is one of films great “That Guys”, shows up a few times for some pivotal moments.  (He also appears as an uncredited barber in Ridley Scott’s first film, The Duelists, but since I am one of the ten people who always notice him, I may be the only one who knows).

                Nolan has always had some trouble with fight scenes, however Inception certainly changes that.  There is one fight between Arthur (Levitt) and a few “projections” (see the film, too much to explain here) that might be the coolest fight seen I have ever seen. 

Go see Inception, go see it now, it really is something to behold, and proof that in this world of remakes, reboots adaptations and Facebook: The Movie (really David Fincher, really, you directed Se7en for Christ’s sake), there are still original ideas out there that can wow and stun like no other.

Rich Reviews ANOES…….He didn’t like it.

A Nightmare on Elm Street

1 out 5

             There’s a website called Post Secret.  On this website, people anonymously post obnoxious things about their lives.  Today, a college professor admitted to throwing out her students’ papers because the unoriginality depressed her.  I too feel the wretched pang of unoriginality whenever I convince myself I want to see a remake of a classic horror movie.  And none are more classic than Wes Craven’s magnum opus A Nightmare on Elm Street.

            For those who don’t know, In ANOES, a villain named Freddy Krueger appears in the dreams of high school students and kills them.  They die in the dream, they die in real life.  Freddy Krueger is a pop culture icon, from his disfigured face to his bladed glove, rumpled fedora and sweater.  In the original, Krueger is an unapologetic child murderer, in the new version he’s a possibly apologetic, but certainly very angry child molester. And this is where it loses me.

            As I understand it, Craven wanted Krueger to be a molester.  He opted for murder because that’s…not…worse? Ok, molestation was still sensitive in the apparently archaic middle ages of the early 1980’s.  Be that as it may, child murderer works.  There’s an obvious red herring in the new version, which I almost fell for…. that Krueger is innocent!  He’s sympathetic.  I fell for this only because new horror movies seem to love sympathetic villains (Jigsaw anyone?).  Spoiler!  He’s a fucking pedophile.  Jackie Earle Haley broke back into the mainstream playing a pedophile in the phenomenal film Little Children.  As a living, non-disfigured Krueger, Haley plays the character like he does in Little Children, a pedophile who truly “loves” the children.  Creepy, yes, violent, no.  While deplorable, pedophiles sometimes justify their actions by actually telling themselves they love the children.  With a rare exception, most molesters feel a kinship with their young victim.  That’s why NAMBLA exists.  Haley plays that part to sweetly, too realistically to be seen as a violent villain.  In the original, he FUCKING KILLS his victims, so killing more in his nightmare world sure as shit didn’t bother him!  Now, in this, his victims rat on him to their parents and they set him on fire.  So there is an argument that he’s pissed that he was burned alive because of their tattling, but let’s face it, you play with fire, you’re going to get, well, you know.

            Which brings me to another point.  Way to negate the need for a murder weapon, guys!  In the original, Freddy’s iconic glove is his signature.  All serial killers have a signature.  Gacy dressed like a clown, Dahmer practiced cannibalism, Rodriguez was the “Night Strangler” or whatever and Freddy killed with his glove.  Well, new Freddy didn’t kill his victims.  So why have the glove?  There’s a flashback where we see one of his victims with knife wounds across her back.  From his glove, I presume.  He molested them in the school where he worked, where the kids could point it out, where he left them alive but with knife wounds.  Doesn’t add up.  They took away the only reason he needs to have such an iconic weapon.  And the parents didn’t kill him in his boiler room/basement hideout, because in this one, he doesn’t have one of those either!  Yet the nightmares still bring his victims to it.  And Nancy’s mom (you know, the one who kept Krueger’s glove in the original) didn’t even want to kill him.  She’s seen whining that they should just report him.

            In the end, Haley tries with all his might to make this movie good.  He acts well, and is significantly creepy as a screen villain.  Just not Freddy Krueger.  If it wasn’t for the use of the “F” word, this movie could have been rated PG-13.  No significant blood or gore, no inventive deaths, no soul or ounce of effort to try and distinguish this movie at all.  It’s like the assignment was to do a remake of ANOES but the writers forgot the night before it was due, and they did it from memory.  If the intention was a reboot, well, they failed at that, too, for the above reasons.  Of all the horror remakes, Rob Zombie’s Halloween is the best because Zombie took it and made it his own.  He really didn’t even need Michael Myers; his script would have stood on its own.  But he rebooted that franchise for one movie at least.  With this, it’s not the writers’ movie, because it’s too much like Craven’s.  But it’s not enough, because, well, no one’s Craven.  Soooo, leave the classics alone!

A Nightmare on Elm Street….actually, I liked it.

 

 Dir: Samuel Bayer. 

Star:  Jackie Earle Haley, Rooney Mara, Thomas Dekker

                 So a lot of people are complaining about the latest horror remake to come out.  However, I find their complaining odd, because almost everything I liked about the film are the things that other critics disliked a lot, but more on that in a bit, first, the specs.  A Nightmare on Elm Street, for those who missed it the first eight times around, is the story of a group of children in Springwood Ohio, (yes, Ohio, which apparently is about a five minute walk from Venice Beach in the original, Palm trees Wes, really, like we didn’t notice) who are menaced in their dreams by the horrifically scarred and blade handed horror icon Freddy Krueger.  If Freddy kills you in the dream, you die in real life.  This simple premise has spawned 7 sequels of varying quality (1 awesome, 2 awful, 3 great, 4 good, 5 good, 6 abysmal, 7 really good, 8 (the vs. film) hysterical) a television series, toys, games, costumes and now the latest reiteration, a big budget remake helmed by music video director Samuel Bayer and produced by, (cue sigh) Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes. 

                The first film is one of my favorites, and as any other horror junkie will tell you, Krueger is by far one of the best things to ever come out of our genre.  His iconic red and green sweater, bladed glove, beat up fedora and burned visage has been haunting the nightmares of cinema goers for 26 years.  And while I love Robert Englund, even he admitted I was time for new Freddy.  So we get Jackie Earle Haley, who apparently decided he didn’t want to languish in B movie obscurity anymore about five years ago and exploded on to the big budget scene with a fury and talent that literally blew the mind of everyone who witnessed it.  I’m sure those close to him know the talent in this unsung teen performer, but the rest of the world had no idea that the kid from the bad news bears might be one the best character actors, and one of the most unsettling ones, in the world.  Let’s take a moment to consider him.  Little Children, while not being the lightest hearted time I’ve ever spent watching a film, was an intense and truly disquieting piece of work, and Haley nailed his performance so much that I don’t ever see the need to watch the film again, not if I want to sleep anyway.  Then there was Watchmen.  Say what you will about the film, (I love it more and more with each viewing, but I’m not Alan Moore, so it’s okay) but if you didn’t hear Haley’s voice in your head before, you defiantly do now.  He was unarguably the best and most on target part of the film. 

Now when I heard they were remaking A Nightmare on Elm Street, (hereafter referred to as ANOES), I groaned, I shuddered, I railed at the heavens and demanded justice.  Then Haley was cast, and for a moment, I thought, good god, it might be good.  Then the first trailer….okay, then the second trailer and the anger flared up again, a possibly innocent Freddy! No never, I will not feel pity for a child murderer, it will not happen.  Well, SPOILER ALERT, not only was he guilty, (and how!) but he is closer to the truly horrible individual that Wes Craven had originally wanted.  Yes, an evil child murderer is one of the worst things in the world, but what might be worse….keep thinking…..the uncomfortable feeling in the pit of your stomach is the word pedophile, and that is what Freddy Krueger was supposed to be.  However, when the film was in production, there was a lot of publicity surrounding child abuse scandal, especially in preschools.  Because of this, Freddy was turned into just a killer, which, while horrible, is not as brutally offensive to people as molestation.  Not wanting to be accused of exploited the horrors of child abuse (and who can blame him); Craven compromised his vision and allowed the character a little more levity.  This is turn allowed the character to become the sadistic but jokey prankster he later became.  Let me tell you, Haley cracks a few one liners, but at the end of the day, child rape jokes are never funny, and that’s what you get.  My point is, if you want to laugh at Krueger, watch Dream Warriors.  If you want to see why the idea of Freddy Krueger was so originally terrifying, watch Haley channel an unsettling combination of Rorschach and Ronald James McGorvey into a great reinterpretation of Cravens original idea.  My point is that while Englund will always be Freddy, he is fun character, terrifying yet amusing, and a character you could almost root for as slices and dices the teens of Elm Street in weird and sometime silly ways.  Haley’s Krueger is never going to be that character, and I wouldn’t want him to try. 

Now many critics have complained about this fact, but I say no, why would I want Haley to try and duplicate Englund’s performance? I want a new Freddy, I want to see something different, and I felt I really did, so bravo to Haley if nothing else.

Sure the acting is a bit heavy handed from the younger cast, but let’s face it, so as the acting in the original (I’m looking at you Depp,) and as for the excessive jump cuts, eh…it’s a horror movie, not a suspense thriller, not a torture porn gore fest, it’s a horror movie, and a slasher at that.  I want jump cuts, I want blood, I expect over acting, and I enjoy every minute of it.  And as far as comparison and I know I’m risking the ire of the horror elite here, but I like the climax of this one much better, (not the conclusion mind you, I was hoping to see the striped rag top.)  The original is a classic, and will always be one of my favorites, but the climax is a bit like a precursor to Home Alone.  I enjoyed the secret room, and while I didn’t buy for a second the red herring plot device in the third act (innocent Freddy, come on, you didn’t really buy that did you) I understood it for the purposes of the narrative. 

In fact, the more and more I think about it, the more I am please with the remake, and I hope we see more of ANOES 2.0.  Samuel Bayer is a visually impressive director, who took his cues from Craven’s earlier film with a deft combination of homage and innovation.  I wish Michael Bay would stick to the financial aspects of the film, (we know who put that explosion in the film, it didn’t have to be there and it’s like a god damn signature at this point) but I’ll take what I can get.

Final Verdict, while the original is still a classic, I felt ANOES was a capable and enjoyable horror film, with enough homage and reverence for the original to make me smile, and enough new angles to make me enjoy it on its own.  So for better or for worse, I’m going to take the leap and give it a three out of four…..better lock your door

Sorry, couldn’t resist.

New Doctor Who Instantly Wins by Chris Vander Putten

I am not a long time fan of Doctor Who, the long running (35 seasons) British sci-fi show, however, I became a fan when the new series began in 2005.  To say I was instantly hooked is an understatement, the mix of absurdism, classic sci-fi, and charming characters was all I needed to have a new favorite show.  With David Tennant’s departure last year, I was apprehensive about Matt Smith, the 11th incarnation of the Timelord hero.  you see, this was my first foray into the regeneration and adjustment of a new Doctor.  i missed the 9th Doctor episodes, and in fact saw the first series with Christopher Eccelston after I had already seen a fair amount of episodes with David Tennant, so there was nothing new or unexpected.  so it was with great trepidation that I sat down and watched the first episode of the 5th series “The Eleventh Hour”.  The episode started strong, but I was not sure of who this Doctor was.  was he goofy but terrifying, as Tennant was, or was he snotty and angry like Eccelston tended to be.  I had watched a few of the classic episodes since discovering the show, so I was fairly familiar with the previous incarnations.  The episode built to a gradual climax, and was reminiscent of my favorite ones from past seasons, (no surprise, Stephen Moffat is the new show runner, and he was responsible for the best of the last four seasons).  Then it came, the New Doctor, shedding his clothes and donning his current costume, began to lecture the alien craft on the dangers of attacking earth, it was a Tennant like speech, but different, a bit more sinister and violent in its implications.  As the Doctor asks the invading entity what happened to the previous invading forces, a montage of Doctors is played via blue hologram.  As the progression of faces goes on, Matt Smith walks through Tennant’s face and there he is, The Doctor, instantly at home in his new skin, and I for one had accepted him entirely.  the following episode was equally excellent, and Matt Smith shines in the role.  The episodes seem to be a bit darker than the past few seasons, the palate is more subdued and the storylines grimmer.  I imagine we will be without Russel T. Davies penchant for big world shattering finales, although i wonder which direction the show is headed in.  I cannot wait, I was worried, but in the end, the 11th Doctor won my admiration completely 43 minutes into the first episode.  Here is to the New Doctor, I hope he sticks around.

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