The Thirty-sixth March-- Cats... The Shit!

Okay, don't hate me but this post will not be about movies, instead it will be about this... you're welcome...

SEE THIS CAT? HIS NAME IS GIZZY...

HE'S PRETTY MUCH THE SHIT! LOOK AT HIM! HE'S A FUCKING CAT ISN'T HE? FUCK YEAH HE IS! BEING A BLACK BEAUTIFUL CAT SITTING ALL REGAL AND SHIT!  HE'S FUCKING PLAYFUL AS A MOTHERFUCKER TOO! HE WOULD KICK YOUR CAT'S ASS AND THEN BAT AT IT LIKE IT WAS A FUCKING TOY MOUSE ON A STRING! HE'S THE FUCKING MAN AND HE'S ON A FUCKING CAT TREE SO SHIT YEAH!!

AND WHAT ABOUT THIS BEAUTY, SEE HER? HER FUCKING KICK ASS NAME IS TINKERBELL (THAT'S RIGHT, FUCKING TINKER-FUCKING-BELL!)

YOU THINK SHE TAKES SHIT JUST BECAUSE HER NAME IS TINKERBELL? YOU'RE FUCKING WRONG! SHE'S A FUCKING HARD ASS WHO WILL KICK ANY MOTHERFUCKER IN THE BALLS AND PURR IN JOY! SHE LIKES LOOKING OUT FUCKING WINDOWS TOO, I THINK IT'S TO FIND MOTHERFUCKERS TO EAT ALIVE BECAUSE SHE'S A FUCKING AWESOME CAT! FUCK! LOOK AT HER FUCKING ADORABLE FACE AND TREMBLE IN TERROR!

AND WHAT ABOUT THIS FLUFFY PILE OF FUCKING AWESOME? HIS NAME IS KINO!

LOOK AT HIM LURKING IN THE SHADOWS AND SHIT! HE'LL POUNCE ON A MOTHERFUCKER AND YOU'LL LOVE IT! HE'S A TOTAL BADASS, IT DOESN'T MATTER IF HE'S SICK OR WELL, HE'LL STILL KICK ASS AND TAKE NAMES! ISN'T HE THE SHIT? LOOK AT HIM!! IF YOU SEE HIM COMING DOWN YOUR STREET YOU BETTER LOCK UP YOUR DAUGHTERS AND WIVES BECAUSE HE'S MORE OR LESS WAY MORE FUCKING AWESOME THAN YOU!! SHIT!

YOU WISH YOU HAD THESE FUCKING CATS!!

ahem...

Anyway, there's a post on cats, they belong to my girlfriend (who is awesome!) and I

So, not to jip you completely, I'll still do recommendations this post (please forgive my stupidity)...  for my album recommendation, it's going to be Lola Verses Powerman and The Moneygoround: Part 1 by The Kinks, it's a classic piece of British invasion and one of my favorite Kinks albums and then for my movie recommendation, I'm going to go with The Naked City, directed by Jules Dassin, it's a nice little piece of noir crime drama and it's in The Criterion Collection, so go listen/watch that stuff and have a good Fourth tomorrow!  See you guys later (if this post didn't lose the, like, 5 readers I have!).

Also... I have a youtube account now as Winter Chairs so if there are any stupid video I do, I'll try to put them up (I'll only broadcast it on here if they're worthwhile), but I'll also favorite some of the old early 1900s short silent films I watch so you can see them on there too!  

http://www.youtube.com/user/WinterChairs?feature=mhee

The Thirty-fifth Shit-- Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots (In Disguise)

So... The third Transformers film came out recently and we all know what THAT means!! More whiny Shia LeBeouf, more overly sexualized 20 something girl (only this time it's NOT Megan Fox!), more explosions, more lame jokes and more giant robot beat downs! The most important thing though, is more of the big budget, blockbuster, explosion, CGI filled action film directing of Michael Bay, the director that gave us such gems as Armageddon, Bad Boys, Mystery Men and Coyote Ugly (right?).

ANYWAY, we're onto the third in the epic robot trilogy, this one so wonderfully titled Transformers: Dark of The Moon.  NOW, I have not seen this film, I do not plan on seeing this film (unless I see it on DVD somewhere down the line), but I can make assumptions as to how it is (and how bad it is), based on the other Transformer films.

Now, I'm going to do a run down of the Transformers films...  first in the trilogy is the 2007 film Transformers.  If you were like me, when you heard about this project way back in '07, you were thinking, "what the fuck? they're making a film about Transformers? like those little toys I played with when I was little?" (because you probably didn't see the cartoon unless you were either in your 30s or in your 10s after the film came out).  Even though it sounded weird though, you thought you'd check it out... and you did.  The other thing you probably questioned upon hearing it was Shia LaBeouf's role in the movie (considering that before this film made him an action star, he was a kid on the Disney channel).  Now that I have all of those thoughts out of the way, on to the film.  Transformers was one of those movies that was actually very interesting.  The CGI didn't make you want to completely vomit, the action was well done and it's Transformers, who DIDN'T wanna see gigantic transforming space robots fight one another?  You could even overlook some of the bad shit, like the horrible Bush spoof used for comedy that will be outdated in a year, the really lame sex jokes, the fact that a lot of the transformers had giant metal bug faces, the overuse of Megan Fox conveniently bending over in barely any clothes, how purely retarded and oblivious the parents were and Shia LaBeouf's bitchy whiny bitch-ness.  You could probably overlook how lame the term "AllSpark" was and how many times they felt they needed to say it.  This movie had it's redeeming qualities, it had a pretty cool fight scene to finish it off and it was actually decently executed.  However, it has major major flaws that just make it awful.  Other than the ones that you overlooked were, the relentless product placement (eBay, Mountain Dew, GM, fucking everything was plugged in this film!), another thing is the lame acting (John Turturro played a very annoying character, Shia LaBeouf played and even more annoying character and Megan Fox didn't really have to act, just look like Angelina Jolie and be exploited).  The movie was sabotaged with shit to sell tickets, when in all actuality just having a bunch of giant fucking robots would probably have been enough to sell tickets (dumb asses!), I would say if you're gonna watch a Transformers movie, make it the first one, otherwise don't bother.

The second film in this beautiful series of explosion filled films is titled Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen (2009).  In this film the Deceptacons revive their dead leader Megatron and try to get some shit and destroy the Earth and Sun and some shit, I don't care.  THIS time though, they're following some other long lost evil robot called The Fallen! (ooooh, aaaaaah).  This film has a lot of what the last film had girls being over-sexualized, explosions, robots, fighting, the military, yadda yadda, except THIS one had parts in Egypt and a robot broke out of the pyramids! (ooooh, aaaaah).  I dunno, really this film was a lot worse than the first one (I know, crazy right?).  It's a sequel and didn't really need to be made.  It had less impressive CGI, less of a decent plot but the same lame jokes (this time they weren't as sexual though).  In fact, this film was such a pathetic sequel I only saw it once and don't really remember it, I dunno, I don't have much to say except it made me angry that a Transformer could turn into a person, I'm pretty sure they could never copy organic things (AND she had a giant snake knife come out of her ass).  I dunno, I wouldn't watch it but you'll do what you want.

And now the third one Transformers: Dark of The Moon (2011).  I'll say this if it's anything like the second... I will not see it, if it's anything like the first on... I will not see it.  This one has more alien robots and a plot! That I won't see, or read!! So yeah! All that!  One thing I WILL say is that, after she left the franchise, Megan Fox said that she didn't like the way Michael Bay treated her and over-sexualized her (I know right?), but the new girl they cast in her place was a Victoria's Secret model who has worked with Bay before, that must means she's more willing to be made into that? Who knows.  All I know is that Shia LaBeouf was reported saying that that's just Bay's way of doing things, making females sex symbols.


But there it is, a quickie about giant fighting alien robots.  If you loved the films and disagree with me, let me know, I dig the feedback!

Now for some good shit!  My album recommendation today is The Knife by The Knife, it's Swedish electronica so if you're into that electric sound and dig foreigners singing, this one's for you, check it out.  My movie for today is... No Country For Old Men by the Coen Brothers, the film is about a cowboy who finds a large sum of drug money and gets chased by a mercenary.  It's excellent and brutal, if you like Westerns and shit, check out this one here.

But there she is, in all her glory, my next blog post... after telling you all that I wouldn't do anymore... have a happy Saturday and enjoy life (especially if you're not being flooded).

The Thirty-fourth Siren-- Super Duper II: A Response

Okay, so, I know that doing this post makes my last post a lie more or less but do I care? (maybe), ANYWAY, if you don't get the title, I'm actually taking this post to respond to one Mr. Chris Jones and his post titled Super Duper...http://musingsofamoviedouche.blogspot.com/2011/06/alright-its-been-something-like-400.html.  In said post, Mr. Jones states his three favorite comic book based films, well I plan on doing the same, damn it! I'm also going to take it a step farther and include my three least favorite (these are on;y the ones I've seen too, there are probably worse ones that I didn't even bother seeing, like Catwoman, The Green Lantern or Elektra).

First are the tops...

My number three is...
A tie between X-Men 2 (2003) & Spiderman(2002)
The story of the film tells of the X-Men's continued conflict with The Brotherhood of Mutants, and also goes deeper into Wolverine's back story.  Now, don't get me wrong, I don't like this film that much (there are just so few decent comic based movies to choose from), I wish that Wolverine's back story wasn't the primary story in the film (Wolverine isn't my favorite character).  You have to look at this film in context along with for what it is.  It's better than the other X-Men films, the first one was boring as hell, the third was a mindless action film and X-Men Origins: Wolverine was a travesty (I haven't seen X-Men: First Class yet).  X2 was a redeemable comic film with just enough action to not be boring as hell, but enough story to be decent (and the opening scene with Nightcrawler was super badass).  Now, why would this film tie with Spiderman?  Well, for two reasons, as bad as the Sam Raimi series was, the first one was the most acceptable, AND because the first one did something.  As I have mentioned before, the first Spiderman film started this whole thing.  It made comic book movies a real sub-genre and showed that everyone wanted to see the spectacle of a tight wearing man flying around and beating up guys.  That's why I semi-respect it, that and no matter how bad the series is, I'll probably always be able to watch the first film and remember when I was 11 and saw if for the first time.

My number dos is...
Hellboy (2004)
The film is about the demon spawn that was raised from hell by Nazis and raised by an American scientist that eventually becomes an agent in a supernatural police force.  I love the Hellboy series, why? Well for one, I like the comic books, for two I like the directing of Guillermo del Toro AND I like the use of folk lore and mythology in the setting of a police drama or investigation story.  I thought the acting was good (or at least good for what it was), and the monsters were excellently done.  Of course, del Toro always does a great job with his monsters and I respect the fact that he usually opts for make-up and puppetry over CGI.  I think CGI ruins things and never looks good enough.  A serious scene can be ruined by seeing a completely obvious animation standing there and trying to give dialogue (one reason why I don't want to see The Green Lantern).  ANYWAY, Hellboy was a very solid comic book adaptation and the sequel, while not being as good, is also a very solid sequel (and as much as I dislike how the story of the sequel isn't in the comic, I respect that they made their own story over possibly ruining an already created one).

Finally, my number one is...
The Dark Knight (2008), of course
Now, this is probably everyone's favorite super hero film, and for a good reason.  The film takes the super hero into a gritty and realistic place, but I already explained the importance of this films and the way it caused "the reboot" in nearly every super hero series in an earlier post, so I won't get into that.  One thing that makes this film really surpass all other super hero films isn't just because it has a good plot or is entertaining.  One major thing is Heath Ledger's Joker, one of the most complex and well acted villains in any film (especially comic films).  His portrayal out weighed the questionable performance of Christian Bale and the horrible helplessness of Gary Oldman (also Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine are just wonderful too), but Heath Ledger steals the show.  So I say thank you to Christopher Nolan for making, possibly, the ONLY good comic based film.  Beware though, there are too many problems with this film to warrant more than the occasional viewing (every time I go through a subsequent viewing I find something that makes me cringe a bit).

NOW, for my three least favorite out of the shit sludge that is comic based films (however, will I only be able to pick three!)...

Now, if you know me, you may be expecting to see Watchmen on this list, while I can give you reasons why that movie was bad (or 300), I'm going to stay away from those.  There are countless comic based films that are just the worst, but I'm choosing three so shut up and deal!

Number three is...

Spiderman 3 (2007)
This film was just, god awful and, I'd say, single handedly killed the Sam Raimi series.  Why is the third one so bad? Acting, animation, plot, horrible comedic elements, the incorrect use of characters, and last but not least the complete waste of a great villain.  One of the most gut-wrenching things to have seen as a Spiderman fan is seeing Venom die after only being in 1/4 of the film.  On top of that, just to get to Venom you had to sit through an uninteresting story dealing with Harry Osborne and Sandman, and the bastardizing of a great Spiderman story arch.  What is even sadder is the fact the the second one did a decent job of portraying another serious Spiderman story arch.  The third almost makes a mockery of the entire franchise.

Number two is...  
Ghost Rider (2007)
In my opinion, Ghost Rider is one of the most pointless super heros to make into a film (next to Blade perhaps).  The plot was pitiful, the CGI was even more pitiful and (I know this will make Mr. Jones cry salty tears of Nicholas Cage love), I don't really like Nicholas Cage.  The film was just bad and I don't know why I saw it for sure.

Finally, my number one is...
A tie between Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997)
These were some of the most horrible and ridiculous super hero films that relied much too heavily on the campy, Adam West-yness of Batman.  First off the series lost it with the change of both director and actor (it never really had it to begin with though).  The acting was bad (Arnold Schwarzeneggar cold puns), the writing was horrible and the design was just sad (the bat suit had nipples, why?).  Really these two films were a travesty (much like the Wolverine film) and probably shouldn't have been made, but damn, did I love them when I was 7!

So there it is, three good (or at least decent) comic films and three (don't know how I chose so few) horrible ones.

Now, for my album/film recommendations...

For the album I'm going to say Bon Iver by Bon Iver.  The album is super chill but really good and a great follow up to the crazily acclaimed For Emma, Forever Ago.  Pretty much all of the songs are really good with the exception of the last track "Beth/Rest" because it sounds like an 80s yacht rock song (not my thing, sorry).
For the film I'm going to stay with the comic themed films and go with Dick Tracy (1990).  The film was directed by Warren Beatty  and stars him.  Don't let the fact that Madonna is in it fool you, the movie isn't bad.  It may not be one of the best comic films but it's colorful campyness works well with the 30s gangster comic story.  It may not be your thing but it's entertaining and I remember watching it as a kid so I suppose I'm a bit partial to it (at least I'll admit that it isn't that great), and I mean, it has Warren Beatty, classic (AND it has Al Pachino in ridiculous make-up, c'mon!)

The Thirty-third Forest (can you tell I'm running out of ideas?)-- Just Another One of Those Things I Guess...

Alright, before I really start in on this here post, I'm going to start with what I said I would do from now on in my last post.  Daily album and movie recommendations!! (get excited!).  My film for all of you to watch would be American History X by Tony Kaye, it's about a former skinhead who gets sent to jail for killing a black guy.  He gets released to help the police shut down the skinheads he was once part of and to help his little brother who is becoming like he used to be.  It's an excellent film, Edward Norton's role is superb, and it's really a film I should talk more about, AND I WILL! (but not now).  My album recommendation today would be Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? by of Montreal.  It's pretty crazy, flamboyant electro-pop.  of Montreal are always a joy to watch and their music is just strange.  It's been a while but it is worth listening to for sure.


Okay, so, my initial plans was to do this post on Jimmy Stuart, one of the greatest actors of the golden age of Hollywood. However, I've become uninterested and just plain too busy for this blog so I'll not be doing that. Instead I think I'll end it here (because I'm typing on an iPod, annoying), and say adios for a while. It was nice knowing you, we had a good run and maybe I'll be back soon, who's to say? (in fact, chances are I'll be writing a new post within a week), but until next time, keeping doin what you love and lovin what you do.

You stay classy... Planet Earth!

The Thirty-second Cut-- Give The Psycho Some Rope

So, I started a post on Jimmy Stuart that is yet to come, but since it's been a little bit since my previous post (due to my summer courses and getting my next college steps set up), I'm just gonna sneak in another...

So how have you guys been? Good? How's your mother? How's work going?

I want to discuss the flooding on the Missouri real quick, I live in Iowa and it's getting almost frightening how high the river is getting.  My thoughts go out to all of the families and farmers who lost their homes and land to the flood also.  Really if you can, help out, people need it, animals need it, things are getting bad and with one of the levees being breached and more rain on the way, it'll just get worse.  My girlfriend, Samantha and I took a few pictures of the flooding...
If you're not already, keep up on the flooding, who knows how bad it'll get.



Today I'm going to talk about something... what is it you ask? It's a few films! A film starring Jimmy Stuart! and another.


The films are Rope (1948) and Psycho (1960) by Alfred Hitchcock.  I'm going to talk about these films because they are two good films by a man who was extremely influential to the innovation of film making.  A director who changed how things were done.

Rope is about two upper class kids who murder one of their friends then have a dinner party at his apartment while his dead body is stuffed in a chest.  The film is actually really good (and if it doesn't sound like your thing, give it a shot).  Jimmy Stuart's role in the film is great, the icing on the cake, he plays a very intelligent man who eventually catches on to the fact that something isn't right, and is played excellently.  The film uses a lot of unorthodox techniques such as zooming in on a character's back to switch takes, in an attempt to appear flawless (the goal of the film was to be one long take).  In other words the film is good, the rest of the characters may not be acted well (some of the female's voices are laughable, and the killers' reactions  are ridiculous), Jimmy Stuart, however, is really good (like usual).  ANYWAY, if you dig on some Hitchcock, check this one out.

Next is Psycho.  The film about the mysterious murders at the Bates Motel.  I will not ruin the ending for you, but this one is worth the watch without a doubt.  Anthony Perkins, who plays Norman Bates does a stupendous job with his role.  It's one of the most classic Hitchcock films for a reason.  I don't know what else I can really say about the film Psycho (at least not without revealing too much, but you probably know the whole film anyway).  Even if you have not seen the film or know anything about it at all, you probably know the shower scene, one of the most iconic movie scenes ever.    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VP5jEAP3K4, Watch the film though.

Anyway, I know it's another short one, but my heart just hasn't been in it, dunno why, I'm sorry to everyone... but here are a few more flood photos to think about...

OH OH! and for my album and movie recommendations are Take Me to Your Leader by King Geedorah, which is a hip hop album by MF Doom (under the name King Geedorah), that uses samples from Japanese shows and older TV shows.  My film recommendation is There Will Be Blood, the film about oil men in Texas, the film is pretty brutal and by the ned of it you will be very frustrated, however, it's a wonderful film (and scored by Johnny Greenwood of Radiohead), so go watch that now!

The Thirty-first Scrimmage-- Pointless?

I'm going to be vain in this post for a second and give you some more information about myself (not personal information though, not too much at least), why am I doing this? because I'm excited right now and I wanna share some things!  I'll probably also include some other random things so consider this my next random topic post, sound good?

Now, as I included in one or two of my previous posts, my friend has started an artist collective called .  Now, what I don't believe I included is MY place in this group, well, I'm a bit of a musician (a very small bit) and record under the name Winter Chairs.  Now, you're probably thinking, "so what, why do I give a fuck about this dumb ass's life and what he does and all that shit, I came here for some mother fucking film and I demand no less!! DAMN HIM!!!" well hold on sir, I'll have some film for you momentarily (scout's honor), I'm just getting excited about what I'm doing in this group and I want to share things with you, you mean, ungrateful bastards.  ANYWAY... as an   Well, not only does The Frosty Seats (yeah, I'm gonna keep changing my band name), have an EP ready, called B.Y.O.B (don't laugh at me), but a full length LP about done called Meet The Cactus.  I'm also planning a concept LP based on characters, with every song tell one character's story AND an LP full of poor recordings and demos of songs that I've either forgotten or don't want to rerecord and do better for an actual LP.  None of that is what I'm excited about though!  What I'm truly excited about is my musical project that will include a good amount of artists (I hope) called The Darwin Project.  What is this you ask?  Well my good sir, it is a sample (a simple sample), that I have created that I'm sending out to the musical artists.  The trick of the project is that the artist must use the sample, unaltered, at least once in a song.  After that they can either change it however they would like, or not use it again (sounds fun huuh?).  Well, I suppose it's my way of working with people, indirectly of course.  Why did I choose the title The Darwin Project? well, let me tell you that also my young lad.  I liked the idea of using Charles Darwin, the father of evolution theory, to explain this project.  I wanted the artists to take my little sample (my monkey, so to say) and evolve it into something different and more complex (or make it into a man, more or less).  That's why it's The Darwin Project! (lame? maybe!)  Now, the most exciting thing about this project is that the first song relating to it is done, and it was done by one Evan Campbell (thank you Evan), and here's the video... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81qYCc80obQ , check it out, it's awesome, I'll keep posting who has songs done as they get finished (hopefully, most, if not all will have videos).  I can't wait to see what happens with it next!

Now a bit more about myself...  I'm a student, I'm a new vegetarian, I'm broke, I wouldn't say I'm an artist, but I dabble in the arts, primarily audio and visual.  My dabbling is why I want to be a film maker, I have many ideas for films I'd love to make someday and I have said a few of these in one of my past posts.  More or less I have a lot of ambitions and very little drive.  Will I ever make it as a film maker? who knows, but I want to give it a shot, I'm willing to take nearly any job I can land in the field though.  I like fucked up things, monsters, drug imagery, psychological things.  I like depth in my film and art, but I can also be a sucker for stupidity (I love the film Anchorman).  I generally dislike action films and despise super hero movies (with the exception of the rebooted Batman series), I usually dislike horror too, but there are exceptions there, like the Hellraiser films (at least the first few).  I'm fairly opinionated, but try to be open to new things and I'm generally willing to give things multiple second chances (especially if it's an interest of someone close to me).  I love music and listen to too much of it, I could easily write a music blog considering that I have studied it since I was 13.  Film is a bit new to me, bit it is definitely a passion and learning is my reason for doing this blog.  I have a beautiful, amazing, perfect, awesome girlfriend who means more to me than anyone will ever know, I owe her so much it's crazy.  I try to be deep, but I feel like I'm not too deep.  I want to get started writing a short story script, but something keeps on keeping me from it (I'll probably be too busy this summer to really do anything with it anyway).  I'm about to head off to University, I'll be going to Lincoln, so if you're there and somehow read this blog, let me know, we can chill.  I'm very introverted and don't make friends easily but I always want to talk to intelligent people who share some of my interests.  I don't know if I have a favorite director but I enjoy the works of Wes Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, The Coen Brothers, Alfred Hitchcock and a few others a lot.  I have a HUGE HUGE HUGE soft spot for old movies, I don't care what type, I just love old Hollywood, everything seemed so much better back then (I especially love the old comedies, the stars could do EVERYTHING!).  I spent a lot of my time watching movies or playing music but I don't as much anymore.  I have an odd love and fascination with masks, and will probably attempt to incorporate masks into any films I attempt.  I love many different styles of music but I hate country.  As you know, I love monsters.  I think that's all you really need to know about me for now though, maybe I'll share a bit more as time goes on.

Okay, I'm going to go on to some other stuff, I think with this post I'm going to start giving you all one album recommendation and one movie recommendation per post (sound like a decent idea?).  For this post, one album you should definitely check out (if you haven't heard it already) is Seven Swans by Sufjan Stevens.  It's one of my favorite (if not my favorite) Sufjan Stevens album and is a religiously charged, poetic folk album.  It's super chill and has some of his best songs (at least in my opinion), it's wonderful from start to finish.  My movie recommendation for this post will keep with the seven title thing and be The Seventh Seal by Ingmar Bergman.  The joking tale of a knight who comes back from the crusades and gets into a game of chess with Death.  It's a classic of international cinema (it's Swedish so be prepared for that).  I looked back at my old Deviant Art account and realized I did this in my notes back then (which were like a much more pointless blog), so apparently I'm prone to this shit.  There are my recommendations for today though, now on to the next subject in this hodge podge of a post!!

So, this is hilarious, but also really REALLY lame, it was a bumper at SXSW and is Mario as an indie film... It COULD be a funny and interesting idea... if it didn't include so many lame game related jokes and puns, sort of ruins it... it's still pretty funny though.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TdczoetXk4

Well, it looks like I'm gonna jump onto the movie stuff now (see, I got there you impatient droogs!).  I'm going to give you a brief summary of the movie studios! (I know you're so happy).  First off, by the 20s, the production companies became so big that they controlled everything from the production to the distribution to even the theaters and stars themselves.  This and the policies of the major studios led to the "studio system", there were 5 major studios and they were 20th Century Fox, RKO, Paramount, Warner Bros. and MGM.  RKO is no longer a company and MGM almost went under also. The three smaller studio companies, known as "The Little Three" are Universal, Columbia and United Artists.  These were considered little because they didn't own their own theaters.  These are not the only studios, there are minor studios and independent studios, however, they were always more lenient than the majors.

Anyway, I'm tired now, I'm sorry that I didn't give much information on this blog, I'll do better next time I swear!  It was nice chatting with you, have a great day. 

The Thirtieth Blow-- That's Just Weak Songwriting. You Wrote a Bad Song, Petey!

Now on to my fifth director post, the first one being about M. Knight Shyamalan, which can be read here, http://onthetopicoffilm.blogspot.com/2011/04/eleventh-day-what-twist.html (of course I suppose my first could technically be my Surreal post about David Lynch and Luis Bañuel). The second being about Kevin Smith, http://onthetopicoffilm.blogspot.com/2011/04/fourteenth-commandment-clerks-guy.html.  The third was about Quentin Tarantino, which can be read here, http://onthetopicoffilm.blogspot.com/2011/05/twenty-first-issue-what-does-marsellus.html.  Finally the fourth was about Terry Gilliam, which I did just a few days ago, http://onthetopicoffilm.blogspot.com/2011/06/twenty-eighth-discussion-only-american.html.  Today, my fifth director post is going to be about another film maker that I enjoy, Wes Anderson.

I like the films of Wes Anderson, his odd, dry form of indie comedy.  He's not the greatest, but I like him.
I'm gonna take a tangent for just a sec and post this (don't hate me),  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8fv6Sw5O64, if you're a fan of Radiohead you might find this a funny as I did (or just be insulted), but anyway, back to business, Wes Anderson business.

Wes Anderson was born in Huston, Texas in 1969 and attended the University of Texas at Austin and graduated with a B.A. in philosophy.  Anderson often works with many of the same actors and crew on many of his films.   He's very methodical and is involved in every aspect of his films, he also uses a lot of primary colors throughout his movies.  His first 5 films are all distributed by the Criterion Collection.  Like my other director posts, I'll give you a brief rundown of his films...

Bottle Rocket (1996) was Anderson's first feature length film.  The film was co-written by Owen Wilson and is based on a short film that was also directed by Anderson.  Even though the film was a failure commercially, it did well critically and got some attention from other directors like Martin Scorsese.  The movie tells the story of three guys you go on a robbing spree through Texas, after robbing a bookstore they end up staying at a motel where one of the group falls in love with a spanish-speaking maid.  They end up trying a real heist and it all goes to hell, more or less.  I thought the film was very humorous, it's a good start for Anderson (if you haven't seen his stuff), it's got a good amount of humor but is fairly dry, anyway, give this one a shot.



Anderson's next film is considered one of his best, Rushmore (1998) was also co-written by Owen Wilson and tells the story of an eccentric, intelligent and bored kid named Max Fischer and his friendship with a rich older gentleman, and their rivalry over the love of an elementary school teacher.  The film goes through everything from Max getting kicked out of high school to his setting up an elaborate play about the Vietnam war.  The film launched the career of both Anderson and actor Jason Schwartzman, and was the movie that restarted Bill Murray's acting career (ever wonder why he does mostly indie comedies now?).  Anyway, this film is probably the best movie to watch to really get into Anderson's films, it's really funny and probably has more humor than his other movies which are generally extremely dry (but don't get me wrong, this movie is still VERY dry).  It's a good film and one worth watching for sure.


Yet another film co-written by Owen Wilson was Anderson's third film, The Royal Tenenbaums (2001).  The film tells the story of three siblings that were extremely gifted as children and how their lives fell apart, along with their parents' marriage.  They are all put back into the same house with their family after something bad happens to each.  The film focuses on the ironic and absurd, and has very intricate and, at times, hilarious humor.  It's one of Anderson's best known works, including an all star cast and many award nominations, including an Academy Award nomination.  The film is based on J.D. Salinger's Glass family.  I thought the film was good, the story is excellent and intricate, it's very funny but may not be the best place to start for people who are new to Anderson.  Make sure to watch it at some point in your journey through Anderson's films, or if you just want something different, it's worth it.


Anderson's fourth film is The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), and was co-written with Noah Baumbach.  The film tells the story of Steve Zissou who is an oceanographer who formerly had his own show about it.  He goes out to hunt an allusive shark who ate his partner, and it tells the story of his finding his long-lost son and even includes a battle with a rival oceanographer AND pirates.  The film didn't do very well critically or commercially, and is really only popular with Anderson fans.  I didn't think the movie was all that bad, however, I wouldn't say it was Anderson's best film (I did like how all of the weird fish looked like clay animation).  I'd say watch if you dig on Anderson films (or want to see Willem Dafoe play a German), but otherwise, it's not the best.  It IS, however, still included in The Criterion Collection!

Next is probably my favorite Anderson film so far, The Darjeeling Limited (2007).  The film was co-written by Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman.  It's, more or less, a sequel to one of Anderson's short films, Hotel Chavalier (2007).  The film tells the story of three brothers aren't very close who go to India for spiritual enlightenment and to find their mother, who is a missionary, after their father's death.  They start off on a train ride across India, but get thrown off the train and have to find other routes to get where they're going.  It got favorable critical reviews and was, in a way, a make up for his previous film.  The film has good humor and one of my favorite scenes in an Anderson film (the scene with the pepper spray).  I don't think this film is the most accessible Anderson film, but it should definitely be on your list of movies to watch.  Like many of Anderson's film the soundtrack includes an original score along with a collection of British Invasion songs (in this one, it was a lot of The Kinks).

Anderson's most recent film was his 2009 stop-motion animated film, Fantastic Mr. Fox, which was based on the Roald Dahl novel.  This film was Anderson's take on children's movies and is actually one of my other favorite films by him (the title of this post was taken from this movie).  The movie combines Anderson's odd sense of humor with a child's odd sense of humor and it works surprisingly well, it's probably Anderson's most accessible film because it has the most blatant humor out of all of his movies.  It tells the story of Mr. Fox, who attempts to come out of retirement and steal from the three meanest farmers in the land, only to get his nephew kidnapped and all of his animal friends forced underground.  I know it sounds "kiddy" but it's actually really funny and totally worth a watch.  The film got very positive critical reviews and was even nominated for a few Academy Awards.


Anderson's next film is stated for a 2012 release and will be called Moonrise Kingdom.  It's co-written by Roman Coppola and will star Bruce Willis and Bill Murray and be set in the 60s.  What I've heard of it sounds entertaining and I'll always be willing to go see a Wes Anderson film.

There it is, my fifth director post in the bag!  I'm done now, it's cold and loud here and I'm going to go on to do something else.  I'll leave you all with an album recommendation today, go listen to Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes, it's melodic folk with excellent vocal harmonies similar to Crosby, Stills and Nash.  I've been getting into Fleet Foxes a ton over the last week and this is their most recent album... but anyway, take it easy and have a splendid day!