STAR TREK TRAILER!!!

Here's a trailer for the next JJ Abrams Star Trek movie....excited...

Like Crazy

The first time I saw the movie "Office Space", I had high expectations.  When I watched it, I thought the first 45 minutes was awesome.  There was so much great content, and I was impressed.  But, as the movie went on, the sketch comedy nature of the thing couldn't sustain itself, and it ran out of steam.  I felt this way as well about this movie.  It has a very charming premise, wonderful performances, but somehow, it didn't quite pack the emotional punch that it could have.

My wife Stephanie and I sort of debated about this movie.  It follows two young people, Jacob and Anna, who meet at the end of their college years.  Anna is from London, and she is required to go back to London at the end of the year due to her student visa's expiration.  Anna blows off her immigration issues and decides to spend a special summer with Jacob.  After separating, Anna attempts to come back to the US to reunite with Jacob.  Due to her law breaking on her previous visit, she is sent back to the UK without being able to see Jacob.  The rest of the film follows their relationship as it moves on from a promising beginning to a more realistic, long term clash of two people with different ideals.

The movie has guts, I will admit.  Maybe I craved a more Hollywood ending, one which this movie does not provide.  Though the more I consider the movie, the more its appeal grows.  It won the Grand Jury prize at the Sundance film festival, and it is not hard to see why.  It features fully improvised dialogue, a fact which I did not know while I watched the film.  The film had a remarkable air of authenticity, and I suppose this feature of its production contributed to how real it felt.  The movie is at its best in the small moments.  Witness the distance between Jacob and Anna at the scene in the market.  Their back and forth will be familiar to anyone who has had rocky times in relationships.  I suppose this includes almost everyone.  Both Jacob and Anna begin separate relationships while they are apart, and they begin to have an almost desperate need to still be in love the way they were that first summer. 

This does deal well with the Paul McCartney idea that "The love you take is equal to the love you make."  Both of these characters do not nurture their relationship they way it needs to be, and a promising beginning (complete with a ringing endorsement from Anna's parents) begins to waiver.  I had trouble relating to some of the decisions the characters made, especially if they are crazy in love as they say they are.  All of this makes for a complicated story in spite of its simplicity (if that makes any sense).  There are several shots in the final moments that reveal much about the two characters.  It seems that Anna may have been the driving force behind the relationship, while Jacob loved her but seemed to not love her as much.  This movie will need to be watched again.  It is a story with a great deal of truth about relationships.

December Movie Quiz

Here's another quiz folks.  The theme here is movies that are set at Christmas.  The normal rules apply.  Each quote is worth two points, 1 point for naming the movie from which the quote comes, and 1 point for naming the actor or actress who uttered the line (two different people uttered number 7 so that one is worth 3).  As I continue to post other articles, I will continue to still advertise this one, because I would like to have the deadline for it be December 14 at 9PM, so that gives everyone 2 weeks.  The normal rules apply:  please either e-mail you responses to me (losbascoms@mac.com) or send me a private Facebook or Twitter message.  This will guarantee that no one else sees your answers.  If you put your answers in the comment section of my blog, I will delete them.  Also, PLEASE DO NOT SEARCH FOR YOUR ANSWERS...this is a quiz, not a scavenger hunt.  Since it's Christmas time, I'll sweeten the pot just a bit this month...the winner gets a $15 gift card this time.  Good luck, and have fun!


1.  "Bright light, bright light!!"

2.  "You sit on a throne of lies."

3.  "A lovely cheese pizza just for me."

4.  "Kids: Don't buy drugs...become a pop star and they give them to you for free!"

5.  "You're not a bad mother...just a barking lunatic!!!"

6.  "Welcome to the party pal!!!"

7.  "Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to..."

8.  "It's nothing sir, just a small compound fracture..."

9.  "You use my own words against me."

10.  "Mr Martini, how about some wine?"

New Les Miserable Trailer

I really want to take a look at this one...I read the book this year, and I look forward to seeing this unique movie musical

Joel's Ten Favorite Sports Movies

You may begin to see me repeating myself, but if you do, I am sorry.  Some of my favorite films transcend genre, and since they do, when a genre pops up, it's likely that they may pop up again.  Sports are a perfect subject for films, because most sport in and of itself is laced with drama.  This is the case since, if they are being played honestly, no one knows the outcome of the story.  Being able to use that and add more human elements add up to a great movie as well.  Here are some of my favorite sports movies:

Hoosiers

Maybe my favorite sports movie, and since baseball is my favorite sport, that says something about how great this movie is.  This story of a small town Indiana high school team which wins the state championship is a classic underdog story.  But what makes it so watchable are the characters.  There's Shooter (Dennis Hopper), the town drunk who also happens to be a basketball encyclopedia.  There's Jimmy, the silent basketball prodigy.  There's Myra Fleener (Barbara Hershey), the cynical small town resident who is trapped in the town for reasons she cannot control, but sees something interesting in this new addition to her town.  And, as that addition, Gene Hackman plays Norman Dale, the coach of the team with a shady past.  This film uses these characters to tell a wonderful story.  It shows us why we love sports and why we go to the movies.  We love unexpected drama.

The Natural

I have heard lots of criticism of this movie over the years.  I have never read the book upon which it is based, and I have heard that it differs significantly from the movie.  I may never read the book in order to avoid the disappointment.  Robert Redford plays Roy Hobbs, a baseball prodigy who somehow loses his way and his innocence on his way to the big time.  After years off the grid, he is given one last chance to play in the big leagues.  In so doing, he is offered the chance to help redeem a struggling team and a manager (Wilford Brimley) who is caught in a power struggle with the team's owner.  It is another "against all odds" story that resonates with me, and it has a romantic view of baseball.

Moneyball

Speaking of a romantic view of baseball, this movie is about a man who is trying to have an unromantic view of baseball, but in the end, realizes he cannot.  Brad Pitt plays Billy Beane, the real life owner of the Oakland A's.  This movie tells his story.  Beane is forced to try to compete with teams in the American League who can spend way more money than him.  Aided by his assistant (Jonah Hill), Beane is able to put together a competitive team even though he spends relatively little money.  As with so many sports movies, part of the reason this one works so well is that it is another underdog story.  Also, the way that director weaves in Billy's personal journey as a player and later a father is a masterful stroke of storytelling.

Rudy

Another underdog story which shows us how much we love the size of a player's heart more than anything.  Sean Astin plays Rudy, a Midwestern boy who dreams of playing football for Notre Dame.  With his heart and determination, his dream is realized.  Pure sentimentality.

Rocky

On most lists of sports films, "Raging Bull" is the boxing movie that always beats Rocky.  I will admit that I like this movie more.  Scorsese's biopic is a greater work of art (and I admit I have only seen it once), but this film is more about the sport itself, and the central character is one for whom we can root.  It hits you in the gut with its passion and its emotion.  Also, after so many sequels, it is wonderful to revisit this film and see how spare this movie truly is.  The opening shots of the working class end of Philadelphia are a marvelous way to show the humble beginnings of this young boxer, and it stands in stark contrast to where we journey with him at the end of the film. 

Hoop Dreams

Just the dedication shown by the filmmakers of this documentary is noteworthy.  This film follows the real lives of two young inner city boys who dream of making it to the NBA one day.  I haven't seen it for awhile, but it made a powerful impact on me due to its realism and the power of the human drama.  I need to take another look at this one.

The Fighter

This movie, a recent entry, takes a look not only at the dynamics of the sport of boxing, but also the dynamics of a troubled family in Lowell, Massachusettes.  Christian Bale won an Oscar for playing Dicky, the drugged out brother to Mickey, played by Mark Wahlberg.  Their relationship is the heart of the movie.  But, to me, the real drama is seeing how Mickey deals with the conflicts of his life.  He knows he needs Dicky's expertise in the ring, but he also knows that Dick's lifestyle is destroying his ability to pursue boxing.  On another battle front, Melissa Leo plays Alice, Mickey and Dicky's controlling mother.  As Mickey gets involved with Charlene (Amy Adams), Mickey becomes the rope in a tug of war.  Charlene thinks he should sever ties with his family, and Mickey's mother can't stand Charlene, obviously.  It all makes for great domestic drama and a great underdog sports story.

Endless Summer

This surfing documentary is a great diversion.  But more than anything, I remeber it for the setting in which I first saw it.  The documentary follows a group of surfers who travel around the world following summer and continuing to seek the thrill of the surf.  The first time I saw it was back in high school.  My youth group would camp out on the beach, and one of the nights we had a movie night out on the sand.  The setting was perfect...we all sat on the beach watching the projection of this surfing film onto a screen with the ocean as our back drop.

Karate Kid

This movie was directed by the same man who directed "Rocky", and one can see the parallels.  Pat Morita landed the role of his career as Mr. Miyagi, a wise karate master who tutors young Daniel Laruso (Ralph Macchio) in the ways of self defense.  Daniel has just moved to LA from the East Coast, and he is truly an outsider in this new life in the San Fernando Valley.  As Daniel learns to deal with bullies at school, a truly special relationship develops between the two main characters, and the climactic fight scenes can always bring the drama.

61*

This is a movie that Billy Crystal directed that follows the home run chase in 1961, as Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle chased the single season home run record held by the immortal Babe Ruth.  As it becomes clear that Maris and not Mantle was going to be the one who truly challenges the record (much to the chagrin of the NY press), we see truly human drama on display in the most unimportant of things.  The pressure of the limelight is not what Maris wanted, and this film shows that very well.  Maris was a simple family man who was very good at his job, and this film brings that home very well.  It reminds us that the jobs we think of as desirable have draw backs as well.

About Schmidt

A few months back I watched "The Descendants", Alexander Payne's most recent film.  I wrote a blog entry about it.  The thing that most struck me about that film was its closing shot.  My wife and I finally watched this film, which Payne made 10 years ago.  I found it even more impressive than "The Descendants", only partly because of the fact that, here again, the final shot of the film reorganizes the entire narrative which the viewer has just finished.  This is a work of great profundity, and it seems interesting that I would come upon it as the wounds of the loss of my father still are somewhat fresh.  This movie shows us an array of human emotion which includes loss, resentment, loneliness, despair, and hope.

Warren Schmidt is an insurance actuary living in Omaha, Nebraska.  As the movie opens, he and his wife are heading to a dinner honoring his retirement.  At the dinner, we meet life long friends and colleagues of Warren, as well as the young man in line to take his job.  As Warren begins his new life, it quickly becomes clear to him that his life is without much purpose.  He goes back to the office to visit with his predecessor and see if he needs any help.  Not only does this young man not need his help, but on his way out of the building, Warren notices that the boxes and boxes of files that had been his life's work have been simply cast into the recycling area awaiting disposal.  One night, Warren notices an advertisement for a charity which asks for sponsorship for poor children in third world countries.  Warren secretly signs up to become a sponsor up and begins a correspondence with a 6 year old boy in Tanzania.  Shortly after that, his wife dies suddenly.  The scenes which ensue are amazing in how well they depict the grief process.  Even though Warren and his wife had drifted apart, they were married for 42 years (interestingly, the same amount of time my parents were married), and her sudden absence is a shock to Warren.  Another effective portrait is the business surrounding death.  For a few days, Warren is surrounded by friends, and his daughter comes in from Denver with her fiancee to be with her father.  But as the friends leave, Warren is left with his daughter, and some of the tensions in their relationship come out,  After his daughter leaves, he is left alone, and some of the scenes after that are both tragic and comical.  For instance, witness Warren's trip to the grocery store, wherein his bounty consists of frozen pizzas and hash browns.  Were it not for the fact that his daughter is getting married soon in Denver, Warren may just become completely stagnant.  But her wedding day is coming soon, and he begins to drive the enormous RV that he and his wife had planned to spend their retirement in to Denver.  Along the way, he makes a journey into his own past.  He revisits his birthplace (which has been replaced by a tire store), takes a stroll at his old college, and eventually ends up in Denver.  It becomes clear that Warren can't stand his daughter's fiancee.  He voices his objections, but knows that his efforts are futile.  I will not give away the ending, but the movie continues to show us a man who is rather bland, but is in a world around him that is spinning out of control.  All of this madness is organized around the letters that Warren writes to his 6 year old sponsor child in Tanzania.  These letters give us a window into Warren's soul.  It is only here in these letters do we see who is behind this facade.  The contents of the letters are hardly appropriate for a 6 year old, but it becomes clear that Warren needs these letters to grapple with his new life, however long or short that life may be.

I have never thought of Jack Nicholson as anything other than a wonderful actor, but this film puts him in another category.  I seem to remember some people scoffing at his Oscar win in "As Good as It Gets" because it seemed all to believable that Jack Nicholson would play a misanthrope.  Here, Nicholson plays the opposite of what we perceive him to be.  Warren is awkward, bashful and completely helpless without his late wife.  Jack Nicholson inhabits this role so well.  He is so believable, especially as he creates a character who seems to be utterly mystified by everything around him.  The character is especially interesting as he relates to his daughter.  Hope Davis plays his daughter Jeannie, and their relationship is complicated and delicate.  He loves her terribly, but also alienates himself from her.  She doesn't want him around, even though she loves him.  We see this delicate balance played out masterfully as Warren gives a rambling toast at Jeannie's wedding.

On another front, the look of the film is one of stark Midwestern bleakness.  There is hardly anything in this film but gray skies, and it reflects the tone of this film perfectly.  This is such a deliberate decision on Payne's part, and the final shot of the film coupled with the overwhelming sense of gray in the film provide the key to the heart of this film.  In the end, it is a film about hope and finding meaning.  Any human life, however vain it may seem, has the possibility to be redeemed and to be meaningful.  The visual impact of the last shot is stunning, and it really does bring a whole new light to the film.  Every scene in the film is unflinching in its veracity.  It seems odd, but it seemed therapeutic to watch this man deal with such a huge life change as I deal with a life change and watch my family go through a life change.  Art can be quite a good friend at times. 

Interview with the Kids: ET

Recently, Stephanie and I decided to show ET to our kids.  This movie holds a special place in my heart as my dad took me to see this great movie when I was about the age of my son Jack.  I asked them what they though of it:


Joel:  "We just finished watching a movie that my dad took me to see when I was about Jack's age..."

Jack:  "Yeah, you were about my age..."

Joel:  "What was the name of the movie."

Jack:   "It was called ET."

Joel:  "Now Corrie, this was an emotional movie for you, wasn't it?"

Corrie:  "Yes...towards the end I thought that he had died and I was very sad...I had a lot of emotions...first I was happy, then I was sad, then I was angry...when I first thought that ET was dead."

Joel:  "Jack, what was your favorite scene in the movie."

Jack:  "I liked most of the funny scenes, but the one I liked the most was when he says to ET, 'No, it's a fake knife'."

Joel:  "That was funny.  Corrie, do you have a favorite scene in the movie?"

Corrie:  "I like when he saw the person dressed as Yoda and said 'HOME..HOME..."

Jack:   "Why does he say, 'HOME.'"

Corrie: "Yoda is an alien, and he thought that the person dressed as Yoda was someone from where he was from, and the Yoda person was like staring at him..."

Joel:  "Did you guys notice...did they show the grown ups in the movie...what did they show when they showed grownups..."

Corrie:  "Just the mom and the nice guy."

Joel:  "Yeah, but, before that..."

Corrie:  "Yeah...waist down..."

Joel:  "Why do you think that the movie was shot that way?"

Corrie:  "Kind of supposed to be more like a children's movie and when they do stuff like that it shows you that the children are more the main characters than the grown ups are..."

Joel:  "I think that's a great answer.  There's a scene when the older brother is in the closet when ET is sick.  One of the things that's neat about the movie is that Elliott is old enough to really know what's going on, while the younger sister doesn't know as much, but the older brother is old enough to sort of to be a young man and the only dad Elliott has because Elliott's dad isn't there anymore.  But he's also sort of a kid, so when he's scared about ET's health, what does he do?"

Corrie:  "Goes into Elliott's closet."

Joel:  "He goes into the closet like a little kid again, doesn't he?"

Jack:  "So, Dad, how do they know that the spaceship was going to land there?"

Joel:  "Great question!  What did ET build...the place where the phone was was where the ship came..."

Jack:  "So they knew that it was there?"

Joel:  "Yeah.  What did you think of the part at the school...with the frogs."

Corrie:  "Well, I would have freaked if there were huge masses of frogs leaping everywhere, but I didn't really liked how he was acting.  I know that ET was connected to Elliott..."

Jack:  "Why was he connected to him?"

Joel:  "We're not really sure why...it's some sort of connection that the ET creature has with Elliott that unique."

Corrie: " I didn't like how he did whatever the TV did!  I didn't like how he...you know what..."

Joel: "You know what?  I have a feeling you're talking about when he kissed that girl?  Yeah..."

Corrie:  "That made me feel so uncomfortable."

Joel:  "So, I guess the only other thing is...did you like the music?  When I was a kiddo I had a record of music from the movie...I don't know where it is now...probably just gone.  When this movie came out, I was about Jack's age, and it was so popular...every kiddo saw it, every kiddo was going around saying "ET phone home..."

Corrie:  "So you could ask someone if they had seen ET and you could know that they would say yes?"

Joel:   "Anyway, mommy and daddy thought this would be a great movie night movie...you guys liked it, right?  Anything else you want to say about the movie?"

Jack:  "I hated it when he got dressed up in all the girl's clothes...he was being treated like a doll..."

Wesley:  "She looked like an alien slash girl..."

Corrie:  "I think that...I have seen a lot of movies where certain children find objects that aren't normal...like "Indian in the Cupboard"...the boy Omri, they have to get to know each other, then when they develop a friendship then they have each other for awhile and then something happens that makes it necessary for the Indian and his friends go home.."

Joel:  "There was one other thing that you guys said that I thought was cool...at the beginning of the movie, you said that ET reminded you of somebody...who was that?"

Corrie:  "I thought he reminded me of WALL-E."

Joel:  "I have a feeling that the people who made WALL-E, because it was made 25 years after ET, they would probably tell you that part of the inspiration for WALL-E was ET.  Do you remember the name Ben Burtt from the Star Wars Radio dramas Corrie?"

Corrie: "Uh huh"

Joel: "He did the sound effects for the Star Wars movies, the sound for WALL-E, and the sound for ET."

Corrie: "They all seem so connected.  ET, Star Wars and WALL-E...I think Star Wars and WALL-E are connected is because a lot of it takes place in space, and WALL-E and ET are alike for another reason...they talk but they don't say long sentences..."

Jack: "How long is this interview going to be Dada?"

Joel: "It's over now."

Jack: "Why....?