Alan Parker

 

Alan Parker

Host : Freddy

Midnight Express

Mississippi Burning

Pink Floyd's The Wall

Spike Lee

 

Spike Lee

Host:  Tanner

Freddy's Take:  This was a very timely choice by Tanner and all of us had this guy on our short list and we just hadn't gotten to him yet. Spike Lee makes thought provoking films and while he can be called controversial by some, I feel like he is just expressing his worldview while also trying to consider those that may not share it. His films are art and can move a person through several emotions in a two hour time frame. "The 25th Hour" is a solid film with great performances and doesn't give the viewer many happy moments and it's not designed to. In "The BlackkKlansman", Lee weaves comical elements through a largely dramatic theme and is constantly giving us a dual look at race and reaction to race. Both were enjoyable and heavy, but neither of them (I had seen both previous to today) held a candle to "Do The Right Thing". I'm not sure why, but while each of us were familiar with Lee's work, not one of us had seen this film. I don't know why I haven't. For purposes of our "Director Day", I kind of liked that we were exposing ourselves to a highly influential and groundbreaking movie at the same time and that was a bonus. We couldn't bring our "baggage" into the discussion, we were all on equal ground. 

This film made me laugh....it made me mad....it made me hopeful...it moved me to tears....it entertained me...but most of all, it made me think. There are contrasts all over the movie between characters and the groups they come from. Cultures clash and most of the characters seem to want their "personhood" and culture respected, yet, they rarely afford that to others. For the majority of the film the "Mookie" character tries to break out of that and wants to go forward through his day with little friction, he just wants to make his money. In many other characters, the interactions between different races fosters disrespect and misunderstanding and it brings out core bigotry that may not always be from a place of malice, but from a place of just wanting to be accepted for who they are in day to day life, where they come from, and what they consider to be important to who they are as a human being. We are a tribal people and when pushed to the brink, we can revert to our evolutionary tendencies to seek protection by retreating to our "group".

At the conclusion of the movie, we had a 30 or so minute discussion and it was clear that Lee had created a masterpiece of cinema that does everything a film lover could want. It impacted the three of us and gave us pause on our preconceived notions of race and culture relations. I immediately went to Amazon and bought my own copy and will be revisiting it soon. It has my attention as a reflection of life and race relations in our country. I don't have an all-time favorite movie list, but after one viewing, I already consider this one of the best films I've ever seen. I could write a lot more and go into my feelings deeper, but that's not really what this blog is about and then, I wouldn't really feel right doing so, without having seen this fantastic movie a couple more times. I am sure there is more for my mind to harvest on future viewings. If you happen to stumble across this writing and haven't seen it yet.....do the right thing....go rent it now! 

Do The Right Thing

The 25th Hour

BlackkKlansman

You Know It's Spike Lee If.....

Ray Harryhausen

 Ray Harryhausen

Host: Chris

Freddy's Take: An interesting and nostalgic day. I think all three of us got a kick out of allowing our inner child to come out to play! I haven't seen any of these movies in decades. I'm guessing it's been at least 40 years since I had seen Jason & The Argonauts and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, and pretty damn close to that since Clash of the Titans. I wasn't familiar with the name of Ray Harryhausen, but obviously I was familiar with his work. His influence on film is undeniable and he helped pioneer special effects in an age where audiences were becoming more sophisticated and wanted a more realistic look from movies. An enjoyable afternoon of watching old fantasy films! 

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad

Jason and the Argonauts

Clash of the Titans

The Myth Maker

Director Day In The Age of The Coronavirus

A couple of months back, Tanner, Chris, and myself had settled on doing our next Director Day on April 11th. Chris is up next and we usually get something weird with him, so there was the usual anticipation for the upcoming date. Since then, things have gotten weird without Chris' input and frankly, these days are a little scary. The world at large has started to feel like a movie. With the barrage of "end of days" films that have been prevalent over the past couple of decades, it almost feels like life imitating art doesn't it? 

For us, Director Day is an event. We usually schedule it every 3 months or so, and for me it's one of my favorite days of the year. I'd rather skip any sort of birthday celebration than miss a Director Day. These are people I like to spend time with and since we all love movies, it's a win for all of us. Needless to say, the COVID-19 nightmare has caused us to take pause and re-evaluate our date. Sure, we could have tried to be safe and do all the necessary steps leading up to and during the day itself, but that's just not the prudent thing to do right now. Instead, we brainstormed and came up with an alternative plan. 

We have long decided that since we all love the work of Quentin Tarantino and none of us wanted to be tasked with having to decide on three movies from him that we were all likely very familiar with. With that in mind, we decided this crisis, with it's "shelter in place" and "social distancing" guidelines in full effect, that we would decide on three movies of Tarantino's and communicate with each other before and after each film via ZOOM. Now, that means we don't get to eat some delicious BBQ, but hell, you can't have it all can you? 

Chris devised a plan to whittle us down to three films. We each had to rank QT's movies in order of preference, 1-9. The three films with the lowest number of points, would be the ones we would watch. We were given a couple of days to get our list in order and send it to Chris for compilation. At 9 pm on "Selection Sunday" Chris announced the choices. 

They came out in this order; 

1. Pulp Fiction

2. Kill Bill Volume 2

3. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

 I had no doubt that the top spot would be a consensus and my boys didn't fail me. "Pulp Fiction" is a classic and a masterpiece that has long been a favorite film overall for each of us. The final ranking worked out really well for me, since all of these movies were in my top four picks. Of Tanner's top four picks, two of the films were in there and also two for Chris. With a small sample size, it wasn't very hard to come up with the three that would be most satisfactory. All of the films we are watching were in the top 5 for each of us. There were a few interesting differences though. For example, I had "Jackie Brown" as my third favorite, but both Chris and Tanner have it as their least favorite. They also had the "Kill Bill" films near the top and grouped together, while I had Volume 2 as my 4th favorite, but Volume 1 as my 7th favorite. "Inglorious Basterds" is another film that split us up. It was 2nd on Tanner's list, but Chris and I had it as our 8th favorite. 

I'll likely do either a follow up or an addendum to this just to record how the day went watching movies alone, yet kind of together. I'm rather looking forward to the experience. Take a peek below for how each of us voted on our favorite Tarantino films first to last.....and by last it by no means should indicate that we didn't like the movie. I chose "The Hateful Eight" as my bottom film and I'd prefer to watch that over a large percentage of any other movie not made by our living legend and hero, Quentin Jerome Tarantino. 

CHRIS

1. Pulp Fiction

2. Reservoir Dogs

3. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

4. Kill Bill I

5. Kill Bill II

6. The Hateful Eight

7. Django Unchained

8. Inglorious Basterds

9. Jackie Brown

TANNER

1. Pulp Fiction

2. Inglorious Basterds

3. Kill Bill II

4. Kill Bill I

5. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

6. The Hateful Eight

7. Django Unchained

8. Reservoir Dogs

9. Jackie Brown

FREDDY

1. Pulp Fiction

2. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

3. Jackie Brown

4. Kill Bill II

5. Django Unchained

6. Reservoir Dogs

7. Kill Bill I

8. Inglorious Basterds

9. The Hateful Eight

UPDATE
4/11/2020
We held our day and worked it out that we used ZOOM to communicate before and after each film. We also exchanged texts during the movie and since we all had seen them numerous times it never took us out of the enjoyment. In all, it was kind of interesting and fun to do out Director Day while not being together. If the virus lock down continues, we will likely do this again. Having it go off so flawlessly is a positive so now, we realize we can pretty much do this at any time and enjoy the experience. 

Billy Wilder

Billy Wilder 

HOST: Freddy

Freddy's Take:  Until a few months ago I had never seen a Wilder film. He wasn't on my radar for some reason. Not because I don't appreciate classic film, but simply because I hadn't run across him. I found "Some Like It Hot" for $5 and bought it as a curiosity. I enjoyed it and looked up the director (Billy Wilder) and went from there to watching Double Indemnity, Stalag 17, and The Apartment. All of those are terrific movies, but the film that got me motivated to dump the director I had planned on doing was Sunset Boulevard. That one is a revelation. A daring examination of Hollywood in it's day, I found it both engaging and captivating. I wanted to watch it again right after it ended. I went into it expecting a "noir" type film, but came away understanding that Hollywood has always had problems in what it values and how easily it can move on from the people who built it. The underlying theme of not being able to accept one's current lot in life and living in the past or a delusion was attractive also. Glad I found this guy! I have found another "old master" and feel like my world in terms of being a movie lover has been greatly expanded. As a bonus, Tanner, Chris and I came up with a new drinking game....called "Take Another Shot Baby!" (see below)

Sunset Boulevard

Double Indemnity

This is a great noir film that hits all the right buttons and is even more fun as a drinking game. While watching, you can have fun with your pals or just get blasted by yourself. Every time Fred MacMurray says "baby", take a drink. Every time Fred MacMurray lights a match with his thumb, take a drink. Every time a character says "down the line", take a drink. If you really want to add to the fun, every time that Fred MacMurray says "Keyes", take a drink. Take two aspirin and call the doctor!!!

Some Like It Hot

Billy Wilder: Best Screenwriter Ever?

Denis Villeneuve

Denis Villeneuve

HOST:  Tanner

Enemy

Incendies 

Blade Runner 2049

Director Trademarks with Denis Villeneuve