When my best friend Sharon and I couldn't get into a rodeo in Rigby a couple of weeks ago, we found ourselves instead watching Hairspray from the Edwards Theater in Idaho Falls. We indulged ourselves horribly, giggling at John Travolta in a fat suit and heels with an accent so horrible his career ought to take off again just from how self-deprecating he's become since the cocky days of Vinnie Barbarino and Mista' Kottair. Then, Christopher Walken knocked me gutless with his deadpan slapstic that included x-ray glasses and an ape suit. I remember my first love for Walken transpiring probably about the time I saw him as Max Shreck in the horrible but entertaining Keaton Batman movie II when I was ten. After Hairspray, Sharon turned to me and said, "Now do you want to see a real Christopher Walken movie?"So we opened an account at Blockbuster and rented Deer Hunter. Darren, you've mentioned that rated R movies are one possible golden ticket to hell, so let me warn you right now that your soul may be at stake for watching this movie. Let me also say that your soul might also be at stake for not watching. Should I suggest Clean Flicks, my Provo man? (I'm not even going to get into that debate.) [AUTHOR'S NOTE: It has come to my attention that friend Darren actually does not disregard films for an R rating and most probably also does not approve of Clean Flicks in general. Or the fact that I called him a Provo man. Even though he is one. My apologies to all for marring this image and associating this my great friend with the large group of people who confine themselves to PG ratings and won't let their children watch Beauty and Beast because Belle's yellow dress is so low cut. If I don't let my children watch Beauty and the Beast it will be because I don't want to foster the deus ex machina approach to solving problems or that death is the great enemy and shedding a tear will conquer it or that pretty girls should always get their way. But that's another can of worms I'm still working out. Bottom line: I retract my statement concerning D.Z. and movie ratings. Apologies, friend, apologies.]
And I'm not going to do the film justice here and now because there is a righteous boiling black cloud thunder/rain/hellfire/damnation/cats-and-dogs storm a-brewing just outside my windows and I must very soon run off to watch lightning crack through the sky from my backyard. It is a royal haunted apocalyptic storm thrashing about.....the kind of day you might catch Tim Curry in a sewer drain. The streets are flooded and I kid you not that I just saw a striking strand of HOT PINK lightning bolt through the air, lighting up my front room windows. I can hardly concentrate on Vietnamese Russian roulette at a time like this.
So let me just say THIS. Rescue Dawnis an incredible film, especially for Zahn and Bale. But it pales, thins, folds in comparison to Walken, DeNiro, and Streep in Deer Hunter. The pacing, the characters, the music, the language, the pitiful hometown in coal country Pennsylvania are so bitterly human and honest that Sharon and I both stayed wide riveted awake until the film finished at 4:30 a.m. (late even for us). I am changed from this movie, from the poet in Walken, from the diseased, nightmarish evils of warfare and survival. This film deserved all the awards it won in 1978 and it deserves to be remembered and re-viewed. Whatever Rescue Dawn was lacking in spirituality, realism, and heart, The Deer Hunter provides, though the result is necessarily gritty and unbearably disturbing. I just had to back up my last post with this one before going on to a new subject. The sky is still green....I'm going to go heat up a slice of pizza and watch the rain fall now.
17 comments:
Emily, that comment you attributed to me only shows how out of touch we are. That saddens me. I must have said that during one of my....well, I honestly don't know when I would have said that, but that is awful that I did. The ratings system is as seemingly arbitrary as is the categorical shunning of movies due solely on their rating. I am not one to let Hollywood govern what is and isn't moral. Indeed the majority of the movies that I own and promote are R rated. And if I am ever feeling guilty (which I am never feeling) I just think that all the members in say Canada can hear the world wide church of our say No R rated movies and wonder what those are. Canada: Ideal medical care and movie rating system
Anyway, that is enough off topicness. I just felt I needed to renege and try to paint another picture in your head of a darren who enjoys a fine film, regardless of the MPAA standing.
Deer Hunter is indeed a great great film. If you ever wonder why Walken he is considered a among the amazing actors it is his performance in that film. It is up there with Brando's On the Waterfront. It is why he can take roles in Hairspray and still have massive amounts of coolness clout. I loved it and loved the emotional wrenching it did to me as I watched it.
Stellar post.
Long live the R movie.
Haha! Darren!! When DID I think you said that? Well, wait....no, I swear it is online somewhere. Maybe I'll do research or something or....well...I remember you saying it in a bit tongue-in-cheek way but I still thought, "hmm...perhaps this isn't the old South Park watching Darren I remember from the yesteryears"......
Forgive me, friend Darren, for clouting your R-rated movie street cred. I almost feel I should edit my post to point out the correction.
Well then, you've seen it already hmm? I should have figured. Consider my paradigms realigned to recommend any and all other fine films without judgment or respect to how MPAA calls it. I should have known better. And long live Walken.
aha, I see where the confusion first reared it's ugly bald head. Let it be known that sometime after the 30th of March 2007 on your Musaq and Philm posting you commented, and I quote, "Robbed like I will be from heaven for watching sooo many R rated movies?"
This must have stuck in my head that you equated R rated movies to get you into hell, or rather out of heaven, though it doesn't seem to be stopping either one of us. In any case, I've tried to make amends to my latest post. Cheers to you, Darren. I lift a glass to the fire and brimstone awaiting us and I'm off to watch my recently purchased copy of Little Miss Sunshine.
"didi mao. didi MAO!"
classic classic classic classic film...
and oh yes, Walken. My other 3 favs of him: his role as Duane in 'Annie Hall," as Sgt. in 'Biloxi Blues,' and lets not forget 'The Dead Zone.'
Keep the movie reviews coming.
The Deer Hunter. Oh man. Of course I agree with your assessment. The only thing I would add is a commendation on De Niro's portrayal as well. For people who say that De Niro only plays De Niro, they need to watch The Deer Hunter and Raging Bull. Come to think of it, add Taxi Driver, The Godfather, The Mission, etc. Pretty much anything before 1985. He didn't start playing "De Niro" until the last two decades.
But you're right: Walken is the star of this one.
Have a safe drive tomorrow. We'll see you soon.
and oh yes, I saw Rescue Dawn. For me, it is a movie to see over and over. I think the movie hit deep for me because the very day I watched it, I had read Cormac Mcarthy's "the Road" in 2 sittings. (highly recommended, fast read). There were odd parrallels, for me, between the two. And although Steve Zahn did come a long way from his buddy-film fame, i thought Jeremy Davies stole it. Man o man (coincidental fact: I have an "uncle" named Eugene from Eugene, OR.)
Of course, this was a Herzog departure, but I enjoy how he characterizes nature. It becomes the main character, nicely put in the phrase "the jungle is the prison."
again, coincidentally, have you ever seen these short vids via youtube, where Herzog talks about how ze birds here are in misery. I don't sink zey sing, zey juss screech in pain?
I liked that Dengler was a likeable character (at least, this portrayal of him) and that there was hope and optimism and humanity in the film, despite the horrible circumstances.
Favorite scene: Dengler lashed to the ground, awaking to the boy with the beetle on the string, and his main captor softly holding a giant moth.
no well-thought introspection on it, I just deeply enjoyed the film.
Joe I am pleased to hear you enjoyed it. I knew you would appreciate the subtleties and nuances and whatever else Herzog tossed into the wash.
"..toss into the wash."
HA. I love a good American Movie reference. This will detract from Em's thread, but I have been thinking about American Movie, and I'll be damned if that film doesn't have the best dialogue of all time. My most recent favorite:
Friend/Musician: [pointing to a makeshift crucifix] This is definitely a sign of voodoo.
Mark Borchardt: Why is it a sign of voodoo?
Friend/Musician: It's an unnatural cross, Mark!
Mark Borchardt: What, you think when Jesus was hanging there, he thought it was natural?
Joe, thank you--I totally forgot the beetle/moth scene and agree that was a favorite moment. That Main Captor was one of my favorite actors of the film....and such sweet sunglasses to boot. I tried to see if he'd done anything else, but he seems to be pretty no-named.
I agree about Davies as well. The scene where Bale asks about the boots about broke me....the denial, the disappointment, the embarrassment of having gone against plans thinking probably that Zahn and Bale's character were dead anyway, and then to have nowhere to go. The nowhere to go part really terrified me. Yeah, he did great.
But American Movie: I haven't seen it. Looks like it came out about the time I graduated high school, maybe a year earlier. It a cult classic or something?
I love that you sought out the long-haired captor, Em. So perfect. I think I read somewhere that a lot of the cast were just locals with nothing better to do, although that probably isn't the case for such a major character.
And American Movie: a cult smash. It actually got some positive press at Sundance and after. It is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen, mainly because you couldn't write the dialogue. Especially the Mark and Mike lines. The show is...well..the epitome of the comic tragedy?
Grandpa Bill: "It's alright...it's okay...there's something to LIVE for...Jesus told me....ohhh....ahh...uhhhh...."
Mark: "Okay Bill man, I want you to say it like you believe it"
Bill: "I don't believe it."
Ha ha, I've got to check it out. I need to find a place first...the house I'm staying at has little girls and my laptop cd drive has been on the kaputz since last September.
So, I'm gonna need cash, a computer fixer, the DVD, and a night alone in my room before I can give you my full report. And report I will, because my curiosity is piqued.
You will love it Em, because you're an empathetic person. I am anxious for your thoughts.
Showing me that movie alone placed me deep within Joe's debt. Other things since have compounded that debt, but that was the beginning.
I have since watched it dozens of times and am constantly amazed that one man can continually come up with the most wonderful nuggets of thought. And that he has such priceless friends. Not unlike the scriptures, each viewing something new is found.
Darren, the day you bought me the stack of Hitt has shifted the balance the other way. Nothing I do, nothing, will be enough to repay you.
I first felt myself fully placed in Darren's debt when he agreed to sit on the floor with me in a furniture-less room and giggle through an entire What About Bob? viewing. We sat on the carpet, vacillating between indian-style and leaning against the wall, watching a small television perched on a metal crate while my cousin slept fetal position in the corner of the room. That's golden. Golden times.
I still owe Joe for.....almost and pretty much everything...The Graduate, Rushmore, Tom Waits, ...most of the rest of my musical taste, demolishing large pizzas while watching animals eat each other via Discovery Channel.....fish feeding....one day I'll make a list. Looks like I'll have to add this new film to it as well.
You are a good friend Em, and far too kind.
I am a parasite. I am simply grateful that I get to feed off your dazzling light. (Awkward?)
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