Flirting with Disaster

Written and directed by David O. Russell, Flirting with Disaster is the story of a man who goes on a road trip with his wife and newborn baby to find his biological parents with the help of an adoption agency employee as others join in on the search. The film is an offbeat comedy that plays into a man’s need to find his real parents as he copes with idea of parenthood as well as his own marriage as he becomes attracted towards the adoption agency employee. Starring Ben Stiller, Patricia Arquette, Tea Leoni, Josh Brolin, Richard Jenkins, Mary Tyler Moore, George Segal, Glenn Fitzgerald, Alan Alda, and Lily Tomlin. Flirting with Disaster is a witty and whimsical film from David O. Russell.

The film is the simple story of a neurotic man whose inability to name his newborn child forces him to try and find his biological parents to find out who he is as he is aided by an adopted agency employee whom he becomes attracted to. It plays into a man in his search for his own identity and roots where he is joined by his wife on a trip to find his real parents but bad information and incompetence lead to several setbacks with others joining this man’s adventure to find his real parents. David O. Russell’s screenplay has a unique narrative structure as it follows the journey of Mel Coplin (Ben Stiller) who is given news that the identity of his biological mother has been found. Mel’s wife Nancy (Patricia Arquette) joins Mel out of support as she takes their newborn baby with them despite the protests of Mel’s adoptive parents in Ed and Pearl Coplin (George Segal and Mary Tyler Moore, respectively) who feel unhappy by the news. Joining them is the adoptive agency employee Tina (Tea Leoni) who wants to record the event as she and Mel become attracted to each other.

Russell’s direction does have elements of style in the way he captures the journey of a neurotic man as it is shot on various locations in New York City as well as parts of San Diego, Arizona, and a couple of places in Michigan such as Kalamazoo and Battle Creek. While there are moments where Russell would use wide shots for some of the locations and scenes that play into the characters inside a home which includes a key moment in the first act that has Mel meeting a woman who could be his mother. Much of Russell’s compositions would rely on medium shots and close-ups in the way characters interact including scenes that include Nancy’s old high school friend Tony Kent (Josh Brolin) who is an ATF agent with a partner both at work and in life in Paul Harmon (Richard Jenkins) as they both join the trip during its second half.

The film’s third act doesn’t just play into absurd humor but also in light drama as it relates to the tension that is looming in Mel and Nancy’s marriage with the former being attracted to Tina and the latter being nurtured by Tony. It also play into the eventual meeting of another prospect of who could be Mel’s real parents in Richard and Mary Schlichting (Alan Alda and Lily Tomlin, respectively) who also have a younger son in Lonnie (Glenn Fitzgerald) who is angry about the idea of having an older brother. The meeting would be a mixture of humor and chaos as well as an aftermath that would later involve all sorts of shenanigans and drama that is happening. Overall, Russell creates a witty yet exhilarating film about a man trying to find his identity in his search for his biological parents with others joining him in a chaotic journey.

Cinematographer Eric Alan Edwards does excellent work with the film’s cinematography as it is largely straightforward to play into the different looks of the location including the scenes in Michigan with its snow and the sunnier look of New Mexico in the daytime. Editor Christopher Tellefsen does brilliant work with the editing with its usage of jump-cuts and other rhythmic cuts to play into the humor. Production designer Kevin Thompson, with art director Judy Rhee plus set decorators Susan Block and Ford Wheeler, does fantastic work with the look of the different homes that Mel and his entourage encounter from the home of a woman in San Diego with her glass figurines to the stylish home and art work of the couple he meets in New Mexico.

Costume designer Ellen Lutter does nice work with the costumes as it play into the personality of the characters from the casual look of Mel and Nancy to the sexy, business-like look of Tina and the more hippie look of the Schlichtings. Sound designer Wendy Hedin does terrific work with the sound as it play into the atmosphere of the different locations in the film. The film’s music by Stephen Endelman does wonderful work with the sound as it is largely low-key in its folk music presentation while music supervisor Bonnie Greenberg provides a fun soundtrack that mixes rock, pop, country, and alternative music from acts like Southern Culture on the Skids, Cake, Urge Overkill, Dr. John with Angela McCluskey, Dean Martin, Inch, Carl Perkins, and the Grateful Dead.

The casting by Risa Bramon Garcia and Ellen Parks is marvelous as it feature some notable small roles from Cynthia LaMontagne and Beth Stern as twin women who are the daughters of a woman in San Diego, David Patrick Kelly as a trucker in Michigan who might be Mel’s father, Celia Weston as Valerie Swaney as the woman from San Diego who might be Mel’s mother, and Glenn Fitzgerald as Lonnie Schlichting as a young man who might be Mel’s brother who doesn’t like Mel at all as he’s overly rude and jealous towards him. Alan Alda and Lily Tomlin are fantastic in their respective roles as Richard and Mary Schlichting as a couple from New Mexico who might be Mel’s biological parents as they’re hippie artists that are fascinated by Mel while being those who prefer to live a life of isolation away from the conventions of society. Richard Jenkins and Josh Brolin are superb in their respective roles as the ATF agents Paul Harmon and Tony Kent as a gay couple who join Mel and his entourage in the journey with Jenkins as the more reluctant of the duo as he would later have a bad encounter with drugs while Brolin is more carefree as he tries to renew his friendship with Nancy in odd ways.

Mary Tyler Moore and George Segal are excellent in their respective roles as Mel’s adoptive parents in Pearl and Ed Coplin with Moore being very funny in dealing with her son’s neuroses and wear some skimpy yet sexy underwear while Segal is more low-key as someone who is just as neurotic as Mel. Tea Leoni is brilliant as Tina Kalb as a recently-divorced adoption agency employee who wants to document Mel’s reunion with his biological parents as she becomes attracted to Mel only to realize that she’s hiding her own issues as it relates to her incompetence and failure in life. Patricia Arquette is amazing as Nancy Coplin as Mel’s wife who joins him on the journey as she finds herself neglected forcing her to turn to Tony for attention with weird results. Finally, there’s Ben Stiller in a remarkable performance as Mel Coplin as a man who is eager to find out who his parents are as it play into his anxiety over who he is and his inability to name his newborn son that would also prompt him to be attractive towards Tina that would become chaotic as it’s a witty performance from Stiller.

Flirting with Disaster is an incredible film from David O. Russell. Featuring a great cast, an offbeat yet funny premise, and its study of identity and anxiety. It’s a film that play into some of ideas of a man’s journey that would devolve into chaos as well as revelations about himself. In the end, Flirting with Disaster is a sensational film from David O. Russell.

David O. Russell Films: Spanking the Monkey – Three Kings - I Heart Huckabees – The Fighter - Silver Linings Playbook - American Hustle - Accidental Love - Joy (2015 film) - The Auteurs #70: David O. Russell

© thevoid99 2018

Bringing Out the Dead

Based on the novel by Joe Connelly, Bringing Out the Dead is the story of a paramedic who copes with the lives he’s lost while working the graveyard shift of his job where he later sees ghosts. Directed by Martin Scorsese and screenplay by Paul Schrader, the film is an exploration of a man dealing with the severity of his work as well as his own faults where he would in the worst possible time with different partners. Starring Nicolas Cage, Patricia Arquette, John Goodman, Ving Rhames, Marc Anthony, Mary Beth Hurt, and Tom Sizemore. Bringing Out the Dead is a dark yet evocative film from Martin Scorsese.

Set in the span of three days in the early 1990s, the film revolves around the manic life of a paramedic who works the graveyard shift as he deals with the lives he wasn’t able to save and the emergence of ghosts that he sees including a young woman he wasn’t able to save. Along the way, he would work with three different partners as the craziness of three days would eventually take his toll while he would also encounter the daughter of a man he had just brought in who goes into a coma. Paul Schrader’s script isn’t just the study of a man that is just burned out as he is haunted by the ghost of a young woman whose life he couldn’t save. It’s also in the fact that he’s done this job for five years with mixed results but he past several months haven’t been good.

The script follows the three days in the life of Frank Pierce (Nicolas Cage) who would work with three different partners as well as encounter a strange group of people with only a patient’s daughter that he meets often as the only sense of normalcy he would have. The script also features a voice-over narration from Pierce as it expresses his sense of guilt and loneliness where he doesn’t get a lot of sleep and is numbing himself with alcohol and medication. Since it is set in early 1990s Manhattan in its most seedy and dark, the film also play into a world that is falling apart where a new drug has emerged and society is in chaos. A world that is starting to overwhelm Pierce as he becomes less confident in the lives he is trying to save while the different partners he work with don’t help matters either.

Martin Scorsese’s direction is very atmospheric for the way he presents early 1990s New York City as a world that is teetering on the edge where much of it is shot at night and in the early mornings. It’s a film that has Scorsese not only create something where there is a sense of danger and unpredictability in the course of three days but it’s also in showing a man that is about to fall apart. While Scorsese does include some wide shots and intricate camera angles in much of the shots with the city as its backdrop. Much of the film include mostly medium shots and close-ups to play into the sense of urgency that includes inside the ambulances and in the hospitals were doctors are struggling to save patients. Most notably this old man of a heart attack who keeps going back and forth into life and death as Pierce hears the old man who really just wants to die. Another person that frequently appears in the film is this brain-damaged man named Noel (Marc Anthony) who keeps asking for water as Pierce does whatever he can to help him.

The craziness in some of the moments in and out of the hospital has Scorsese using tracking shots to capture the action in a single take such as what goes on in ICU or what doctors had to do for one patient while several others are waiting. Scorsese does know when to slow things down as it relates to a key sequence in the second half where Pierce hangs out with the former junkie Mary Burke (Patricia Arquette) whose father is fighting for his life. The sequence would also serve as a wake-up call to Pierce as he is about to embark into his third night as it plays into his own revelations about himself and the guilt that consumes him. The film’s third act that includes a lot of manic shots and sequences that play into the craziness of the graveyard shift would say a lot into Pierce’s own views on death but also a chance that he could redeem himself. In the end, Scorsese creates a very eerie yet somber film about a paramedic coping with the insanity and darkness of his work in the span of three crazy nights.

Cinematographer Robert Richardson does phenomenal work with the film‘s cinematography with its emphasis on low-key lights and bits of brightness for many of the exterior scenes at night as well as the more bright look in the hospital scenes as Richardson‘s work is a major highlight of the film. Editor Thelma Schoonmaker does incredible work with the editing where it does rely a lot on style to play up the sense of the craziness of working in the graveyard shift with its jump-cuts, speedy montages, and dissolves. Production designer Dante Ferretti, with set decorator William F. Reynolds and art director Robert Guerra, does excellent work with the look of the hospital wards and ICU rooms to play into the craziness and chaos that occurs as well as that stench of death that looms throughout the film. Costume designer Rita Ryack does nice work with the costumes as it is largely casual that includes the uniforms that Pierce and his team wears.

Special makeup effects artist Manilo Rocchetti does fantastic work with the look of the Noel character with his dreadlocks and ragged look as well as the look of some of the patients Pierce would encounter. Visual effects supervisor Michael Owens does brilliant work with the visual effects as it relates to the manic hallucinations that Pierce sees including the ghosts as it relates to those whose lives he couldn‘t save. Sound editor Philip Stockton does superb work with the sound in creating some unique sound textures to play into the craziness of the streets and locations as well as the way the ambulance sounds when it is on the road. The film’s music by Elmer Bernstein is excellent as it is mostly low-key to play into the drama with its orchestral-based score as it also helps set the dark mood into the film. The film’s music soundtrack largely consists a diverse array of music from Van Morrison, Johnny Thunders, R.E.M., UB40, the Marvelettes, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Big Brother & the Holding Company with Janis Joplin, the Who, and the Clash.

The casting by Ellen Lewis is great as it features notable small roles from Michael K. Williams as a drug dealer who is dying over this mysterious drug, Cullen O. Johnson as the dying man Mr. Burke, Afemo Omilami as the hospital police guard Griss, Arthur J. Nascarella as Pierce’s boss Captain Barney, Julyana Soelistyo as Sister Fetus, Cynthia Roman as the ghostly young woman named Rose who is stalking Pierce, Phyllis Sommerville as Mary’s mother, Harper Simon as a rock star who had overdosed on this new drug, Judy Reyes as a ICU nurse, Sonja Sohn as a friend of Mary in Kanita, and as two different dispatchers that Pierce would listen to in Queen Latifah and Martin Scorsese. Other notable small roles include Aida Turturro as a nurse who is trying to keep up with the chaos of patients coming in, Nestor Serrano as the doctor who is looking after one patient after another, Mary Beth Hurt as a nurse who talks to patients in a very cynical yet comical manner, and Cliff Curtis as a drug dealer friend of Mary who gives Pierce a drug in an attempt to help him.

Marc Anthony is excellent as the troubled Noel as a brain-damaged man who constantly asks for water while being a danger to himself where Pierce is one of the few who actually tries to help him. John Goodman is fantastic as Pierce’s first partner Larry who is good at job though can be unreliable but is also the most level-headed guy that Pierce works with as he is aiming to become a captain. Ving Rhames is superb as Pierce’s second partner Marcus as stoic but cynical man that likes to preach Bible quotes as he is aware of Pierce’s depression and weariness only to not really make things any better. Tom Sizemore is brilliant as Pierce’s former partner Tom Wolls who would become his partner in the third act who is just as crazy in his thirst for blood while being the one guy who is more about the ride and chaos rather than saving lives.

Patricia Arquette is amazing as Mary Burke as a former junkie who deals with her father who might be dying or not as well as her own guilt about her relationship with her father where she befriends Pierce as the two both embark into their own journey into guilt and coping with death. Finally, there’s Nicolas Cage in a marvelous performance as Frank Pierce as this paramedic who is burned out, depressed, and guilt-ridden where he tries to deal with his work for three crazy nights in the graveyard shift where it is Cage being manic and somber as well as displaying a vulnerability to a man that is just about to crack.

Bringing Out the Dead is a remarkable film from Martin Scorsese. Featuring an eerie script by Paul Schrader, haunting visuals, a killer soundtrack, and a great ensemble cast led by Nicolas Cage. The film is dark yet intense film about a man teetering on the edge as he tries to save lives in the very late nights where he also deals with the specter of death. In the end, Bringing Out the Dead is a phenomenal film from Martin Scorsese.

Martin Scorsese Films: (Who’s That Knocking on My Door?) - (Street Scenes) - Boxcar Bertha - (Mean Streets) - Italianamerican - Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore - Taxi Driver - New York, New York - American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince - (The Last Waltz) - Raging Bull - The King of Comedy - After Hours - The Color of Money - The Last Temptation of Christ - New York Stories-Life Lesson - Goodfellas - Cape Fear (1991 film) - The Age of Innocence - (A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies) - (Casino) - (Kundun) - (My Voyage to Italy) - (The Blues-Feel Like Going Home) - Gangs of New York - (The Aviator) - No Direction Home - The Departed - Shine a Light - Shutter Island - (A Letter to Elia) - (Public Speaking) - George Harrison: Living in the Material World - Hugo - The Wolf of Wall Street - (The 50 Year Argument) - Silence (2016 film) - (The Irishman) - Killers of the Flower Moon - (An Afternoon with SCTV)

© thevoid99 2016

Ed Wood

Based on the biography Nightmare of Ecstasy by Rudolph Grey, Ed Wood is the story about one of cinema’s worst filmmakers as he struggles to find success through his offbeat yet cheaply-made films while forging a friendship with his idol in film actor Bela Lugosi. Directed by Tim Burton and screenplay by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, the film explores a period in Wood’s life where he tries to succeed through film that would culminate with the release of his most infamous film in Plan 9 from Outer Space as the titular role is played by Johnny Depp while Martin Landau plays the role of Bela Lugosi. Also starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia Arquette, George “The Animal” Steele, Lisa Marie, Jeffrey Jones, and Bill Murray. Ed Wood is a witty and enchanting film from Tim Burton.

The film explores the life of a young artist named Edward D. Wood Jr. as he is eager to become a filmmaker like his favorite director Orson Welles where he later meets his idol in Bela Lugosi who would take part in Wood’s films. The film explores Wood’s life from the early 1950s where he is trying to get his film career off the ground and climax with him making Plan 9 from Outer Space which he became very famous for but for all the wrong reasons. Along the way, Wood struggles through personal relationships that fall apart as well as trying to get funding for his films like Glen or Glenda and Bride of the Monster where they would be reviled by critics and audiences. Yet, Wood has this optimism that is so compelling in his belief that he will become a great filmmaker while helping out the man he worshipped in Lugosi who is struggling with his own addiction to morphine.

The film’s screenplay is quite straightforward in its narrative but also filled with lots of humor in the way Wood often tries to succeed with his pals and his girlfriend Dolores Fuller (Sarah Jessica Parker) early in his career. Wood’s meeting and friendship with Lugosi is the heart of the story where Wood hopes to revive Lugosi’s career by putting him in his films despite everyone’s claims that he is washed up. However, Lugosi feels revitalized despite his issues where Wood would receive the support from a young woman in Kathy O’Hara (Patricia Arquette). Other aspects of the film includes Wood’s love of transvestite as he likes to wear women’s clothing which made him want to take part in a film version about the Christine Jorgensen story which he convinces a producer to create his own version of the story that would become Glen or Glenda. The script also explores the group of friends that Wood has where they’re a group of eccentric people as it’s this band of misfits trying to make a name for themselves.

Tim Burton’s direction is definitely a homage of sorts to the works of Ed Wood as well as being this film that plays into Wood’s attempt to find success as a filmmaker. Burton showcases a lot of what goes in the world of film where Wood had to use limited resources and such in order to make his films where his limitations and lack of funds often contribute to the poor quality of his films. Most of which is played for laughs but Burton is very sympathetic to Wood’s determination as he believes he is trying to make something good. Much of the direction has Burton go for simple compositions while giving the film a very old-school feel that recalls the period of the 1950s as it’s shot on location in Los Angeles. Burton’s approach to recreating some of Wood’s films do play into its low-budget aesthetics as well as wooden and terrible acting which adds the sense of joy into the film. Even in the scenes involving Wood and Lugosi where it’s humorous but also full of heart as it showcases how important their friendship is. Overall, Burton creates a very heartwarming and very funny film about the film career of Ed Wood and his friendship with Bela Lugosi.

Cinematographer Stefan Czapsky does brilliant work with the film‘s black-and-white photography to give the film a very old-school look to play into the period of the 1950s with some unique lighting schemes for some of its interiors and shots in its nighttime scenes. Editor Chris Lebenzon does excellent work in creating a straightforward style for most of the film including some stylish dissolves to play into Wood‘s own enthusiasm as a filmmaker. Production designer Tom Duffield, with set decorator Cricket Rowland and art director Okowita, does fantastic work with the set pieces from the set design of some of Wood‘s films which were quite terrible to the scary mansion ride where Wood and Kathy would have their first date at. Costume designer Colleen Atwood does amazing work with the clothes from some of the women‘s clothes and angora sweater that Wood would wear as well as the clothes of the other characters to play into their eccentricities.

Makeup designers Rick Baker, Ve Neill, and Yolanda Toussieng do superb work with the makeup from the look of some of the characters as well as Bela Lugosi as this old man often forced to live in the past. Visual effects supervisor Paul Boyington does nice work with some of the visual effects to play into the cheesy low-budget aesthetics of Wood‘s films. Sound editor John Nutt does terrific work with the film‘s sound from some of recreation of sound effects to the sounds that goes on in some of the film‘s locations. The film’s music by Howard Shore is wonderful for its orchestral score that features some lush string arrangements in its dramatic moments plus some light-hearted pieces in its comical scenes.

The casting by Victoria Thomas is great as it features some notable small roles from G.D. Spradlin as a preacher who would fund Plan 9, Ned Bellamy as Kathy’s chiropractor who would fill in for Lugosi in Plan 9, Max Casella and Brent Hinkley as two of Wood’s friends in their respective roles as notoriously bad actors Paul Marco and Conrad Brooks, the real Conrad Brooks as a bartender, Mike Starr as the exploitation film producer George Weiss who is reluctant to work with Wood, Juliet Landau as the actress Loretta King whom Wood mistakes an heiress as she would be a cause into Wood’s split with Dolores, and Vincent D’Onofrio as Orson Welles whom Wood would meet late in the film. Other noteworthy small roles include Lisa Marie who is wonderful as the TV host Vampira whom Lugosi likes as she would later work with Wood, George “The Animal” Steele in a terrific performance as the wrestler Tor Johnson, and Jeffrey Jones in a superb performance as the TV psychic entertainer Criswell who helps Wood get funding despite being wrong very often with his predictions.

Sarah Jessica Parker is excellent as Wood’s girlfriend Dolores Fuller who is often supportive but becomes frustrated by his lack of success as well as being a transvestite. Patricia Arquette is fantastic as Wood’s future wife Kathy O’Hara who not only accepts Wood for who he is but proves to be one of his biggest supporters. Bill Murray is hilarious as Wood’s openly-gay friend Bunny Breckenridge who often finds transvestites for Wood’s films as well as appear in them. Martin Landau is incredible as Bela Lugosi as he brings in a lot of energy into the role as well as being very foul-mouthed over Boris Karloff while trying to regain some attention as it’s Landau at his best. Finally, there’s Johnny Depp in a remarkable performance as the titular character as this very upbeat man who is eager to succeed while being a weirdo who likes to wear ladies’ clothing as it’s Depp in one of his quintessential performances.

Ed Wood is a phenomenal film from Tim Burton that features a great performance from Johnny Depp as the titular character as well as Martin Landau in an amazing performance as Bela Lugosi. The film isn’t just one of Burton’s best films but also a captivating story of a filmmaker trying to make it despite his lack of talent as it is a love letter to Wood but also a heartfelt story about Wood’s friendship with Lugosi. In the end, Ed Wood is a sensational film from Tim Burton.

Tim Burton Films: (Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure) - Beetlejuice - Batman - (Edward Scissorhands) - Batman Returns - (Mars Attacks!) - (Sleepy Hollow) - (Planet of the Apes (2001 film)) - (Big Fish) - (Charlie & the Chocolate Factory) - (Corpse Bride) - (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street) - (Alice in Wonderland (2010 film)) - (Dark Shadows) - (Frankenweenie) - (Big Eyes) - (Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children) - (Dumbo (2019 film)) - Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

© thevoid99 2014

Boyhood

Written and directed by Richard Linklater, Boyhood is the story of the life of a young boy as he comes of age from the first grade to the twelfth grade. Shot in the span of 12 years, the film is an exploration into the world of childhood and the world of a boy growing up with his mother and older sister as well as endure the sporadic appearances of his father. Starring Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, Lorelei Linklater, and Ellar Coltrane. Boyhood is a tremendously transformative and exhilarating film from Richard Linklater.

The life of a child is a unique one where it is the years where children learn about the ways of life as well as the idea that the world isn’t perfect. Especially as it concern their own parents who aren’t perfect as they would struggle in raising their children to do well and prepare them for adulthood. The film is about these situations as it relates to a young boy named Mason (Ellar Coltrane) who would endure many changes in the entirety of his young life from being a child to becoming an 18-year old aspiring photographer. Especially as he would go through these changes with his mother Olivia (Patricia Arquette) and older sister Samantha (Lorelei Linklater) in the span of twelve years with sporadic appearances by his father Mason Sr. (Ethan Hawke). In the course of the story, Mason and his family would live in various places all over Texas as Olivia struggles to find stability in her life through marriages and other setbacks. Especially as the film’s story revolves around growing pains that Mason and Samantha would go through as well as having to move every few years and the visits from their father.

Richard Linklater’s screenplay doesn’t really play into any kind of traditional structure as it really plays more into Mason’s coming-of-age as a boy who would go through many things in the course of twelve years. Among them would be arriving into different schools, take part in the trends of the time, and all sorts of things that kids and teenagers would go through. Especially as the film’s second half showcases Mason as a teenager where he would face the pressure of fitting in and be part of something as there’s one notable scene where he lies about being with girls and such which is often very common with teenage boys. Yet, Linklater makes sure the story is very simple as it relates to Mason’s own growth as a person where many of his experiences would come into play as a man as well as learning about love and such. Even as he would get some advice from his own father, who does reveal why things with him and Mason’s mother didn’t work out, in the ways of love and all sorts of things.

Linklater’s direction is very evocative in the way that he presents the film where he manages to capture the growth of a child and his family in the span of 12 years without any kind of tricks, visual effects, or something that could’ve been told in a conventional fashion. Instead, Linklater would do something where he would capture a moment in time in these twelve different years to capture not just a sense of evolution in the growth that Mason and Samantha would endure but also in their surroundings in the state of Texas. Shooting on location in various locations of the state including cities like Houston, Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, and other small towns. The film maybe a Texan film but it has this otherworldly tone where it could’ve been set anywhere in America as it adds to Mason’s experience in his growth as a young man. While many of the compositions such as the close-ups, medium shots, and some unique camera angles are presented in a very simplistic manner, Linklater uses that approach in order to create something that feels real.

That approach to realism helps the film maintain something that feels natural in its development where the characters of Olivia and Mason Sr. don’t use makeup to age themselves but rather show it naturally as does the look of Mason and Samantha. Especially in the latter where Mason and Samantha would endure many different looks in the course of the year in order to showcase the tone of the times or what was trendy in that year. Linklater builds up the evolution of the story in a very slow yet methodical way rather than say it happens in this year or that year. Especially in the final years of Mason’s life as a high school kid as he becomes aware of entering adulthood where there is this mixture of excitement and dread. Overall, Linklater crafts a very mesmerizing yet extraordinary film about a boy’s life coming of age from childhood to adulthood.

Cinematographers Lee Daniel and Shane Kelly do excellent work with the film‘s cinematography as it‘s very colorful with its naturalistic approach to lighting in the many locations in Texas along with some of the interior lighting schemes at night including the Harry Potter book party for the sixth book. Editor Sandra Adair does brilliant work with in the editing where it‘s very straightforward with some bits of stylistic flairs along with some offbeat transitions to play into the film‘s unconventional structure. Production designers Rodney Becker and Gay Studebaker, with set decorator Melanie Ferguson, do fantastic work with the set design from the different look of the homes that Mason would live throughout his entire childhood.

Costume designer Kari Perkins does nice work with the costumes to play into the evolution of the clothes that the four principle characters would wear in the course of twelve years. Sound editor Tom Hammond does terrific work with the sound work to play into the way music sounds on some of the locations along with other moments that happen in the key parts of Mason‘s childhood. Music supervisors Meghan Currier and Randall Poster is amazing as it features an array of music that plays into the many years that Mason and Samantha would encounter from Coldplay, the Flaming Lips, Britney Spears, Paul McCartney, Phoenix, and all sorts of musical styles from hip-hop, country, pop, rock, indie, and folk as it is a highlight of the film.

The film’s incredible cast includes notable appearances from Charlie Sexton as Mason Sr.’s musician friend Jimmy, Libby Villari as Olivia’s mother, Jenni Tooley as Mason Sr.’s new wife Annie in the film’s second half with whom he would have a child with, Richard Andrew Jones and Karen Jones as Annie’s parents who would give Mason some gifts for his 15th birthday, Richard Robichaux as Mason’s boss in his teenager years, Barbara Chisholm as a friend of Olivia in Carol, Zoe Graham as Mason’s high school girlfriend Sheena, Brad Hawkins as Olivia’s third war-veteran husband Jim, Marco Peralla as Olivia’s second husband in a college professor Bill, Jamie Howard and Andrew Villarreal as Bill’s children, and Roland Ruiz as a laborer Olivia would meet and give advice to in the film’s second half.

Lorelei Linklater is brilliant as Samantha as Mason’s older sister who would endure not just her own growing pains but also venture into trends and such as she brings a lot of complexity into the role of an older sister. Patricia Arquette is amazing as Mason’s mother Olivia who does her best to raise her children while enduring financial and romantic woes as it’s a very engaging performance to display a mother trying to bring stability to her family. Ethan Hawke is fantastic as Mason’s father who is this exuberant yet cool man-child of sorts who is sort of irresponsible yet manages to become a mature parent who often displays a lot of wisdom for his children in the ways of the world. Finally, there’s Ellar Coltrane in a remarkable performance as Mason who would encounter many changes of his life as a young boy into a young man from all sorts of things that is very common with growing up while gaining an understanding of the ways of the world as it’s a truly astonishing performance for the actor.

Boyhood is an absolutely one-of-a-kind film from Richard Linklater that transcends the idea of what film could be. Armed with a great cast and a premise that is truly powerful, it’s a film that not only captures the experience of childhood into adulthood. It is also a film that allows an audience to possibly reflect about themselves in those years as it is really unlike anything in contemporary American cinema. In the end, Boyhood is a magnificent film from Richard Linklater.

Richard Linklater Films: It’s Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books - Slacker - Dazed & Confused - Before Sunrise - subUrbia - The Newton Boys - Waking Life - Tape - School of Rock - Before Sunset - Bad News Bears (2005 film) - A Scanner Darkly - Fast Food Nation - Me and Orson Welles - Bernie (2011 film) - Before Midnight - Everybody Want Some!! - The Auteurs #57: Richard Linklater Pt. 1 - Pt. 2

© thevoid99 2014

Human Nature (2001 film)

Directed by Michel Gondry and written by Charlie Kaufman, Human Nature is a multi-layered story about a psychologist who falls for a woman with a rare hormonal imbalance as the two find a man who had been raised by the wild in the hopes to get him back to civilization. The film explores the world of nature and how one tries to change another human being into being civilized only to create conflict about the idea of how to live. Starring Tim Robbins, Patricia Arquette, Rhys Ifans, Miranda Otto, Rosie Perez, Miguel Sandoval, Peter Dinklage, Mary Kay Place, and Robert Forster. Human Nature is a strange yet delightful film from Michel Gondry and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman.

The film is about the idea of human nature in which a psychologist meets and falls for a woman with a rare hormonal imbalance that causes her to grow thick hair all over her body. While she tries to cure herself from that imbalance, the two find a man who had been raised in the wild as they try to get him back into the world civilization but it creates complications when the psychologist and his wife bicker over what is right and such. Notably as the psychologist tries to make this man conform to society but the man becomes conflicted with his role as a human being and what he once was. It’s a film that explores that conflict on what is natural and how people should behave as it is told from the three people who were involved in this experiment as they’re telling this story to other people.

Charlie Kaufman’s screenplay has a unique narrative as it is mostly told in flashback as its central protagonists in Dr. Nathan Profman (Tim Robbins), his wife Lila Jute (Patricia Arquette), and their subject named Puff (Rhys Ifans) all tell their stories about the conflict in human nature. For Lila, her rare hormonal imbalance that caused her to grow thick hair all over her body has made her a pariah as a child as she left society to live in the wild. After becoming a best-selling novelist and returning to society where she meets and falls for Nathan, she seems to have her life in control but still keeps her rare disease from Nathan. Until discovering Puff, Nathan’s idea of re-introducing Puff to human society causes trouble in Nathan’s relationship with Lila who becomes very insecure while Nathan begins an affair with his new French assistant Gabrielle (Miranda Otto). This would lead Lila to take Puff back to nature in the hopes to get him back into the world of the wild as complications would ensue.

Kaufman’s script is full of these ideas about the idea of human nature and how people should live. In Nathan, here’s a man that has all of these expectations put on him by his parents in which he has to live and act a certain way where he would later force Puff to live by these expectations in humanity. For Puff, he would become confused and frustrated by the restraints of humanity as he is unable to unleash his own sexual urges. It all has this sense of compelling drama that is told in a unique style where the narratives moves back-and-forth from the characters telling their stories to what happened in those stories. Yet, the script has some flaws as it featured some quirks that feels forced such as Nathan’s parents who have an adopted son that becomes their idea of the perfect child while there’s the character of Gabrielle who is interesting but there’s a secret about her that also feels forced as it suggests that her character is underwritten at times.

Michel Gondry’s direction is full of whimsical images as it plays to this world where there is this conflict between the world of the wild and the world of humanity. Some of which include some dream-like shots of Lila’s experiences in the wild where many of the scenes set in the forest feels free and such. Gondry’s direction is also intimate for some of the flashbacks of the lives that Lila and Nathan lived in as children as well as Nathan’s interview as it’s presented in a very serene yet wide look to display the sense of confusion he’s dealing with. While the quirky elements of the film does feel forced largely due to Kaufman’s desire to add humor the story, it only drags things for Gondry as it doesn’t match his own idea of whimsical humor. Despite the fact that the film is sort of uneven, Gondry does manage to create a compelling and charming film about the ups and downs of human nature.

Cinematographer Tim Maurice-Jones does excellent work with the cinematography from the look of Nathan‘s interview scene to some of the nighttime interior and exterior scenes the characters go into. Editor Russell Icke does brilliant work with the editing in creating some montages about the lives of the characters as children as well as to help structure the film in its unique narrative. Production designer K.K. Barrett, with set decorator Gene Serdena and art director Peter Andrus, does fantastic work with the set pieces from the look of the lab that Nathan works as well as his interrogation room as well as some of the scenes in the forest.

Costume designer Nancy Steiner does nice work with the costumes as it is mostly business-like with its suits and dresses and such to play the sense of importance of what is expected in society. Visual effects supervisor Pierre Buffin does terrific work with some of the minimal visual effects such as the look of the lab mice that Nathan has to some of the backdrops of the forests. Sound editors Francois Blaignan and Walter Spencer do superb work with the sound to capture the low-key atmosphere of the scenes in the forest to the more chaotic work of human society. The film’s music by Gramae Revell is wonderful as it‘s a mostly orchestral score with some melodic-driven pieces while music supervisor Tracy McKnight creates a soundtrack filled with some classical music as well as an original song that Lila sings that features lyrics by Charlie Kaufman.

The casting by Jeanne McCarthy is incredible for the ensemble that is created as it features some notable small performances from Toby Huss’ as Puff’s dad, Hilary Duff as a young Lila, Miguel Sandoval as Nathan’s shrink Wendell, Peter Dinklage as a friend of Lila in Frank whom she met during her time in the circus, and Rosie Perez as Lila’s doctor friend Louise. One small performance that doesn’t work which plays into the film’s forced quirkiness is in Anthony Wisnick as Nathan’s adolescent adopted brother as he’s essentially a prop while Robert Forster and Mary Kay Place are good as Nathan’s parents who play as this idea of perfection right to the hilt that would drive Nathan into becoming extremely insecure.

Miranda Otto is very good as Nathan’s French assistant Gabrielle who always talks in a French accent where she does go a bit overboard at times as Otto does display some nice humor despite some of the issues with the way her character is written. Rhys Ifans is amazing as Puff as a man who was raised in the wild by his father and then brought back to society as he displays the sense of conflict and confusion of someone who is forced to live by rules that goes against everything he felt. Tim Robbins is superb as Nathan as a man who tries to make Puff fit in with human society as he becomes conflicted by his love for Lila and his time with Gabrielle as he eventually becomes frustrated by his own confusion about the ways of the world. Finally, there’s Patricia Arquette in a remarkable performance as Lila as a woman who deals with a rare disease as she becomes confused with the ways of the world as she also realizes what Nathan is doing to Puff as she tries to get Puff back into the world of nature.

Human Nature is an enjoyable film from Michel Gondry and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman. While it is a flawed film, it is still an engaging one thanks to its cast and theme on human nature. Notably as it features some of the quirky elements and unique writing style of Kaufman and Gondry’s whimsical visuals which does showcase something that is daring despite its flaws. In the end, Human Nature is a stellar film from Michel Gondry.

Michel Gondry Films: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Dave Chapelle’s Block Party - The Science of Sleep - Be Kind Rewind - Tokyo!: Interior Design - (The Thorn in the Heart) - The Green Hornet - The We & the I - Mood Indigo - (Is the Man Who is Tall Happy?) - (Microbe & Gasoline)

© thevoid99 2013

Fast Food Nation

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 11/26/06 w/ Additional Edits & Revisions.

Based on the book by Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation is a multi-layered film that explores the world of the fast food industry through the perspectives of different people from fast-food workers, a corporate executive, and a group of Mexican immigrants. Directed by Richard Linklater and written by Linklater and Schlosser, the film takes Schlosser's non-fiction book into a dramatic context to showcase a dark world of the industry that is about profit no matter at the cost. Starring longtime Linklater regular Ethan Hawke along with Greg Kinnear, Patricia Arquette, Ashley Johnson, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Wilmer Valderrama, Ana Claudia Talancon, Lou Taylor Pucci, Paul Dano, Mitch Baker, Luis Guzman, Bobby Cannavale, Esai Morales, Kris Kristofferson, Avril Lavigne, and Bruce Willis. Fast Food Nation is a harrowing, insightful film that uncovers the dark side of the fast food industry.

The film revolves around three different storylines that plays into the world of the fast food industry as marketing executive named Don Anderson (Greg Kinnear) goes to Cody, Colorado to investigate rumors about manure in the meat as he gets a tour of the UMP slaughterhouse and later meets a local rancher in Rudy Martin (Kris Kristofferson) where he and his maid (Raquel Giva) reveal the dark secrets about the UMP slaughterhouse. The other storyline revolves around a group of Mexican immigrants in Raul (Wilmer Valderrama), his girlfriend Sylvia (Catalina Sandino Moreno), and their friend Coco (Ana Claudia Talancon) who arrive to Cody with the help of Benny (Luis Guzman) as Raul and Coco work at the UMP slaughterhouse where Coco has an affair with its plant manager Mike (Bobby Cannavale). The third story line plays into a fast food employee named Amber (Ashley Johnson) who becomes uncomfortable about working at Mickey's as advice from her uncle Pete (Ethan Hawke) has her trying to rebel against corporations with help of an activist named Paco (Lou Taylor Pucci). Eventually, the three storylines would have some resolutions though they don't really crisscross with one another but would unveil a lot of troubling cynicism that plays into the fast food industry.

What Richard Linklater and Eric Schlosser reveal is very complex where it goes to the treatment of immigrants to what goes on behind the food that consumers are eating. While the film isn't perfect, it reveals a lot, even to some graphic detail of how the meat is made from cattle where the objective is to make the audience think while being uncomfortable at the same time. While Linklater takes a documentary-like approach to the film in his observant direction, the approach he and Schlosser takes is in the form of a docu-drama where three different stories are told. While the stories do intertwine with everything, the script is a bit uneven at times though wonderfully structured with the first act being the arrival of the immigrants and Anderson's investigation with the second going further to what Anderson discovers and Sylvia's moral judgement. Then comes the third act that does make things a bit uneasy with Amber joining a revolutionary group and the grim reality Sylvia has to face.

Despite the flaws with the script, Linklater's direction remains strong in how he observes the behaviors while finding a bit of humor in the workplace. While Linklater isn't exactly trying to make audiences think twice about eating fast food but he does raise question of where the food is coming from. More importantly, he reveals more of the corporate cover-ups in which Anderson is forced to think about his job and livelihood to the point that he goes into some moral judgement. The story of the immigrants is handled with realism as well as cynicism about the how untrue the American dream is where Sylvia is the observant character of the film where she tries to do honest work while realizing a lot of the bad things that goes on at the UMP plant. It's by far the most compelling story of the film while the Amber story is a bit weak though Linklater reveals the cynicism that comes afterwards where the film's ending is very bleak.

Helping Linklater in his visual presentation is longtime cinematographer Lee Daniel whose grainy, cinema verite style gives the film a documentary like feel to convey the atmosphere from the polished look of the Californian offices of Mickey to the vast, open spaces and claustrophobic worlds of Cody, Colorado. Longtime editor Sandra Adair does some wonderful cutting on shifting through the segments while making them intertwine with story while giving the pacing a leisurely feel in its 116-minute running time. Production designer Bruce Curtis and art director Joaquin A. Morin did excellent work on the design and look of the Mickey's franchise while costume designer Kari Perkins also does a great job in the look of the Mickey's uniform. Sound editors Michael J. Benavente and Tricia Linklater also do excellent work on creating the atmosphere of the surroundings the characters are in. Friends of Daniel Martinez create a varied mix of music filled with acoustic, Mexican-style music and droning, atmospheric rock to convey the sense of bleakness in the film.

The film's cast is diverse with a lot of actors that include such noted small performances from Mitch Baker, Frank Ertl, Raquel Giva, Armando Hernandez, Hugo Perez, Aaron Himelstein, and Cherami Leigh. Minor roles from the likes of Lou Taylor Pucci, Paul Dano, Esai Morales, and Luis Guzman are excellent. One minor performance that comes across as very annoying is Avril Lavigne as a college protester which is very grating and over-the-top. Another performance that doesn't work is Wilmer Valderrama who whenever he tries to talk, he ends up putting the same kind of Fez that people often sees in his role as Fez in That's 70s Show. Valderrama is not an actor and the casting people should've gotten someone else. Ana Claudia Talancon is excellent as the naive, flirtatious Coco who descends to the world of drugs while Bobby Cannavale is great as the evil, manipulative supervisor. Kris Kristofferson is wonderful as the gruff, cautious rancher who reveals a lot of the dark secrets behind the UMP slaughterhouse while Bruce Willis is great in the one scene he's in as the cynical, corporate supervisor who tells Don Anderson the way the world works.

Patricia Arquette is excellent in her small role as Amber's fun, caring mother who is unaware of what her town is becoming. Ethan Hawke is great in his small role as Amber's radical, political uncle who reveals what happens to local business when they're taken over by corporations. Ashley Johnson is great as Amber who realizes the dark side of the fast food industry and tries to become a revolutionary only to see the grim realities that comes with them. Greg Kinnear gives another fine performance following this year's Little Miss Sunshine as a corporate executive who faces some truths and is forced to go into a moral dilemma that would cost his livelihood while thinking about the customers he's marketing towards. Catalina Sandino Moreno, who is known for her debut performance in Maria Full of Grace, proves that her Oscar nomination was no fluke as she gives the most chilling and moralistic performance of the film. Moreno's proves to be the most heartbreaking in how she tries to do an honest day's work, dealing with the way things are to the people she knows, and how she is forced to face the grim reality that is America. It's really an amazingly powerful performance from the young actress.

While not as entertaining or accessible as Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me or as fulfilling as the other films Richard Linklater did, Fast Food Nation is still a strong, engaging portrait of the American fast food industry. While fans of Linklater will enjoy the dialogue-driven conversations and cinema verite approach, some audiences might be disgusted in some of the graphic imagery as well as some of the things the film is talking about. While it will raise more question about the industry and how it takes care of its customers, it's likely whether or not it will keep people away from fast food or be aware of the changes in the corporate world. Still, Fast Food Nation succeeds in what it aims to do as it's one of the year's most politically-engaging films.

Richard Linklater Films: It’s Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books - Slacker - Dazed & Confused - Before Sunrise - subUrbia - The Newton Boys - Waking Life - Tape - School of Rock - Before Sunset - Bad News Bears (2005 film) - A Scanner Darkly - Me and Orson Welles - Bernie (2011 film) - Before Midnight - Boyhood - Everybody Want Some! - The Auteurs #57: Richard Linklater Pt. 1 - Pt. 2

© thevoid99 2013

True Romance

Directed by Tony Scott and written by Quentin Tarantino, True Romance is the story of a couple who travel to California with a luggage of cocaine that they hope to sell for a good life. Yet, they find themselves in trouble with the mob who are after them as well as cops who learn what they’re going to do. The film is a love story mixed in with a bit of violence as it explores a couple trying to seek a good life for themselves. Starring Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Michael Rapaport, Dennis Hopper, Bronson Pinchot, Gary Oldman, Tom Sizemore, Saul Rubinek, Val Kilmer, Brad Pitt, James Gandolfini, Chris Penn, and Christopher Walken. True Romance is a glorious yet spectacular film from Tony Scott.

A call-girl named Alabama (Patricia Arquette) meets a comic book store clerk named Clarence Worley (Christian Slater) at Sonny Chiba triple-feature where they fall in love and get married after a one-day courtship. When Clarence learns that Alabama’s pimp is a crazed madman named Drexl (Gary Oldman), Clarence decides to confront Drexl leading to a fight where Clarence kills Drexl and gets a luggage that he thought belonged to Alabama. When the two realize that the luggage isn’t Alabama but an entire stash of cocaine, the two make a plan to sell it in Hollywood so they can use the money to live the good life. After Clarence decides to tell his security cop father Clifford (Dennis Hopper) to see if anyone is looking for any suspects about who killed Drexl. Clifford helps Clarence out as he learns what his son and new daughter-in-law plan to do as he bids them goodbye.

After arriving to California to meet their friend Dick Ritchie (Michael Rapaport), Clarence and Alabama meet Dick’s acting class friend Elliot Blitzer who is an associated of famed film producer Lee Donowitz (Saul Rubinek) that is interested in buying cocaine. Blitzer calls Donowitz where Clarence talks to Donowitz about making a deal as it’s going to happen. With everything seemingly in place, a gangster named Vincent Coccotti (Christopher Walken) learns about Clarence and Alabama’s whereabouts where he sends his henchman Virgil to track them down. After Virgil confronts Alabama about where the drugs are, the two get into a fight where Clarence realizes the trouble they’re facing.

Even worse is that Blitzer got arrested for speeding and possession where he makes a deal with two detectives in Nicholson (Tom Sizemore) and Dimes (Chris Penn) about the drug deal. Just as Clarence and Alabama are to set to make their deal with Donowitz, both the police and the mob come in leading to a bloody standoff.

The film is essentially a love story between an Elvis-obsessed film buff who also loves comic books and a call girl who also shares his passion for kung fu movies where they get a suitcase of cocaine and hope to sell it big to start a life of their own. Yet, it would eventually lead to all sorts of trouble when the stolen suitcase of cocaine really belonged to the mafia as they go on the search for this couple while a couple of crooked detectives would eventually get involved in this shady deal. It’s a film that blends all sorts of genres where it’s a crime film, a love story, and has a bit of humor where it features an element of fantasy. A lot of it is told from the perspective of this call girl who has big dreams for something good to come into her life.

Quentin Tarantino’s screenplay, with contributions from Roger Avary, is definitely filled with a lot of his trademarks in terms of pop culture references, witty dialogue, and graphic depiction of violence. Yet, he is focused solely on these two very unique people in Clarence and Alabama as they’re just this young couple who are in love with each other and want something that can be theirs. Clarence is a guy who loves Elvis Presley, movies, comic books, and burgers while Alabama is just a girl who wants to have fun and eat a pie after seeing a movie. Neither of them really know about how to deal drugs or know anything about the criminal underworld as all they want is some money and get out of the way. Still, complications would arise due to the fact that the man Clarence kills is really an associate of the mafia led by this sadistic man who is really a quiet yet no holds barred kind of man.

One aspect of the script that is noticeable is its schematic of sorts as the story is definitely similar to Terrence Malick’s 1973 debut film Badlands which is about two lovers going on a road trip during a killing spree that was largely inspired by the Starkweather-Fugate killings of the late 1950s. Though Clarence and Alabama aren’t killers, they do kill a few people who are essentially bad people. One notable scene is Alabama’s fight with Virgil as Virgil has this great monologue about what happens when one kills someone for the very first time. It’s part of the atmosphere that Tarantino writes with his dialogue that includes that very intense yet chilling meeting between Coccotti and Clifford Worley that is truly one of the greatest exchanges in film.

Tony Scott’s direction is purely thrilling in the way he creates the film’s intense moments of violence as well as some of its non-violent moments where he manages to keep the love story just as interesting. Scott does infuse a lot of footage from other films in the background to showcase this unique world where Clarence and Alabama will watch any kind of movie to establish who they are as he also finds a way to create unique shots of this relationship. Particularly in the scenes set in Detroit such as Clarence and Alabama’s visit to see Clarence’s dad where Scott isn’t afraid to put some light humor into the scene. Scott would also use these moments to let the story take a break from the dark moments of violence to ensure that it’s still a love story at heart.

In the film’s more intense moments, the violence is definitely stylized but also has an air of brutality. The famed Coccotti and Clifford Worley scene is presented with an intimacy and an air of suspense that is unsettling where both men try to push each other’s buttons in these very quiet exchanges. It’s among one of Scott’s greatest moments as a filmmaker as is the Alabama-Virgil fight where the violence is definitely visceral in the way it’s edited and presented. It’s no holds barred as there’s also an element of dark humor to keep things more intense where its climax is bloody in its emotional impact. The comes the climatic showdown where although its presentation is definitely more Tarantino, Scott does manage to keep his own approach by displaying the operatic cascade of violence. Overall, Tony Scott creates a dazzling yet stylish film that explores true love at its most craziest that is armed by Quentin Tarantino’s powerful screenplay.

Cinematographer Jeffrey L. Kimball does excellent work with the film‘s stylized photography from the grayish look of the Detroit locations to some colorful shots of its interiors as well as the more vibrant look of the Californian exteriors with its sunlight as well as the lighting schemes in the film‘s climatic standoff. Editors Michael Tronick and Christian Wagner do amazing work with the editing by utilizing stylish cuts for the film’s frenetic rollercoaster scenes along with some of it’s violent moments to slower, methodical cuts in the film’s romantic moments. Production designer Benjamin Fernandez, along with set decorator Thomas L. Roysden and art director James J. Murakami, does superb work with the set pieces from the honeymoon room that Clarence and Alabama stay at to the hotel suite that Donowitz lives in.

Costume designer Susan Becker does terrific work with the costumes from the outfits that Alabama wear to the more Elvis-inspired clothing that Clarence wears. Makeup artist Ellen Wong does nice work with the look of Drexl with his scar and eye. Sound editor Robert G. Henderson does wonderful work with the sound from the atmosphere of Clarence‘s meeting with Donowitz to the more intense moments in the film‘s violent scenes. The film’s music by Hans Zimmer is brilliant for its vibraphone driven score which is directly inspired by Carl Orff‘s Gaussenhauer theme which was the music used in Terrence Malick‘s Badlands. Music supervisor Maureen Crowe creates a fantastic soundtrack that features a wide range of music from acts like Aerosmith, Soundgarden, Charlie Sexton, Jon Waite, Billy Idol, the Skinny Boys, Shelby Lynne, the Big Bopper, the Shirelles, Robert Palmer, and Chris Isaak..

The casting by Risa Bramon Garcia and Billy Hopkins is phenomenal for the ensemble that is created as it features some notable small roles from Eric Allan Kramer as Donowitz’s bodyguard Boris, Paul Bates as Drexl’s associate Marty, Maria Pitillo as Elliot’s date, Ed Lauter as Nicholson and Dimes’ superior, Anna Levine as a woman Clarence talks to in the film’s opening scene, and Conchata Ferrell as a casting director Dick auditions for. Other memorable small roles includes Samuel L. Jackson as a criminal Drexl cheats in Big Don, Val Kilmer as Clarence’s imaginary mentor in the form of Elvis, and Brad Pitt in a hilarious performance as Dick’s stoner friend Floyd. Gary Oldman is great as the white Rastafarian pimp Drexl while James Gandolfini is superb as the vicious henchman Virgil.

Chris Penn and Tom Sizemore are amazing in their respective roles as determined detectives Dimes and Nicholson while Saul Rubinek is excellent as the charismatic film producer Lee Donowitz. Bronson Pinchot is very good as the reluctant Elliot Blitzer while Michael Rapaport is terrific as the reluctant but more willing friend Dick. Dennis Hopper and Christopher Walken are outstanding in their respective roles as Clifford Worley and Vincenzo Coccotti where their scene together is truly a master class in the art of acting.

Patricia Arquette is brilliant as Alabama as a woman who is truly a call girl with a good heart and is full of joy but also someone who isn’t afraid to throw down. Christian Slater is fantastic as Clarence Worley with his charismatic persona and being engaging in conversations while also isn’t afraid to do what’s right. Slater and Arquette are the heart and soul of the film as they radiate chemistry while providing every moment for the audience to care about them.

True Romance is an incredible film from Tony Scott and screenwriter Quentin Tarantino. Armed with amazing dialogue, brutal violence, a wonderful soundtrack, and a great cast led by Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette. The film is truly one of the most exciting and entertaining films of the 1990s. Not only is the film one of Tony Scott’s great films but also one of Quentin Tarantino’s great work where both men display their talents in this film. In the end, True Romance is an ass-kicking and thrilling film from Tony Scott and Quentin Tarantino.

Tony Scott Films: (One of the Missing) - (Loving Memory) - The Hunger - (Top Gun) - (Beverly Hills Cop II) - (Revenge) - (Days of Thunder) - (The Last Boy Scout) - (Crimson Tide) - (The Fan) - (Enemy of the State) - (Spy Game) - (Man on Fire) - (Domino) - (Déjà Vu) - (The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009 film)) - (Unstoppable)

© thevoid99 2012

The Badge (2002 film)

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 11/9/03 w/ Additional Edits & Revisions.

The Badge is a crime drama about a divorced sheriff who investigates a murder of a transsexual prostitute who has some strange connection to the upcoming governor elections in Louisiana. Along the way, he finds himself at odds with a friend of the prostitute, his ex-wife, and authorities as he loses his badge and tries to do the right thing and uncover the truth. Written and directed by Robby Henson, The Badge is a decent crime film despite its slow pacing and unoriginal storylines. Still, with a cast led by Billy Bob Thornton, Patricia Arquette, William Devane, Sela Ward, Tom Bower, Hill Harper, Julie Hagerty, Thomas Haden Church, and Jena Malone, it’s still a very mediocre crime film.

After finding the body of a transsexual prostitute named Mona (Cindy Roubal), a local sheriff in Darl Hardwick (Billy Bob Thornton) investigates what happened as he as various locals including church leader Sister Felica (Julie Hagerty) and his deputy C.B. (Ray McKinnon) about the body. While continuing work, Darl's personal life is in shambles as he's already divorced from his district attorney wife Carla (Sela Ward) while barely having a relationship with his teenage-Goth daughter Ashley (Jena Malone). Carla wants to have higher authorities to handle the case while Darl manages to get the approval of a local judge (William Devane) to continue the investigation. Darl then meets a woman from New Orleans named Scarlett (Patricia Arquette), who is revealed to be Mona's wife. A conversation with the two is interrupted by Darl's father Bull (Tom Bower) who remains despondent over the loss of his badge as Darl wonders about the secret his father is hiding.

Scarlett decides to help Darl with the investigation as he believes something is wrong as he's convinced as it's to do with the upcoming governor election that the judge is running for against current governor Joe Breraton (Michael Arata) whom Carla is dating. Darl crashes the party the governor is having as his suspicions is raised as he asks for Carla's help who refuses to help him. With news of a new casino arriving that Sister Felicia has been protesting against, Darl gets in trouble as he's forced to give up his badge and to stay in his local parish so he can stop the investigation. After learning from his dad what is going on, Darl risks his probation to help Scarlett as they meet her friends David (Thomas Haden Church) and Gizmo (Hill Harper) as they all learn that Mona's death was all part of a conspiracy involving corruption within the government.

What makes The Badge frustrating is Robby Henson’s approach to try to make a crime drama fresh but in the process, finds itself messy in one too many subplots involved. The revealed murderer isn’t just a disappointment but the story as a whole is a mess since there’s no real background to the murder or the corruption other than the fact that these candidates wanted power. Henson’s direction is mediocre at best despite the fact he can shoot some excellent dramatic scenes that get overshadowed by its plot. The problem with the film is a lack of a narrative structure, which makes the whole film uninteresting due to its slow pacing.

On the performance front, Billy Bob Thornton is excellent as Darl as he brings out a man who is trying to do the right thing while trying to fix whatever mess in his life. Patricia Arquette is brilliant as well, since she not only plays an excellent stripper, but someone smart and demanding and she brings in some great chemistry with Thornton. William Devane is fun and sly as the villainous judge although at first, he doesn’t seem bad towards the middle of the film. As for the rest of the cast, well despite their excellent performances, it’s overall a total waste. Sela Ward is only in a few scenes in the film, often arguing with Thornton while Jena Malone is excellent as a Goth teen though her screen time throughout the film is a disappointing ten minutes. Thomas Haden Church, Hill Harper, Tom Bower, and Julie Hagerty are all underused in their roles and are just wasted throughout the entire film. In the end, The Badge is a disappointing crime drama despite a great but underused cast.

(C) thevoid99 2011

Lost Highway

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 10/11/07 w/ Additional Edits.

Following a career backlash, the cancellation of his TV show Twin Peaks, and the barrage of bad reviews from fans and critics for its prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. David Lynch went into hiding as from 1992 through 1995, he spent his days working on experimental projects and short-lived TV projects. Finally in 1996, David Lynch decided to return to the world of feature films with a dark, film noir-inspired film that would not only return him to the twisted, surrealism of his previous film work. It also marked a new transition into his film career with the 1997 film Lost Highway.

Directed by Lynch with a script he co-wrote with Wild at Heart novelist Barry Gifford, Lost Highway tells the story of a jazz musician who suspects his wife is having an affair while delving into an underworld that included voyeuristic videos and a mysterious man. After being suspected for murder, the musician suddenly turns himself into a young mechanic who falls for a gangster's mistress. Inspired by noir films of the past including Edgar G. Ulmer's 1945 cult-film Detour, Lynch enters into a mysterious world as he re-shapes the film noir genre for a new generation. Starring Bull Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthazar Getty, Robert Loggia, Natasha Gregson Wagner, Robert Blake, and in their final film appearances, Richard Pryor and Jack Nance. Lost Highway is a haunting, surreal, and enchanting take on film noir by David Lynch.

In his posh, Los Angeles home on the Hollywood Hills, Fred Madison (Bill Pullman) hears his doorbell ringing for intercom as he hears a man's voice saying "Dick Laurent is dead". Later that night, Fred goes out to play at a club while his wife Renee (Patricia Arquette) is at home. When he calls her after his performance, she doesn't answer as he finds her sleeping when he returned home. The next morning, Renee wakes up to find a manila envelope on her front doorsteps. She and Fred learn it's a videotape of their house being filmed. Things get stranger the next day when another videotape surface that showed the couple sleeping in their bedroom. After calling a couple of detectives named Al (John Roselius) and Ed (Louis Eppolito), things don't get better when Fred tells Renee of a nightmare he has that involved a mysterious man (Robert Blake).

Going to a party of Renee's friend Andy (Michael Massee), Fred's suspicions about Renee having extramarital affairs make him uneasy. Things get stranger when the mysterious man he saw in his dream appeared at the party. The two talk briefly as the man claimed he's at his house. Fred doesn't believe him until he called at his own house to see that the man is at his home. Spooked by what happened, he and Renee return home as he asked Renee about Andy. The night gets darker as the things Fred sees haunt him and the next morning gets even stranger. Another videotape surfaces in which he sees the same images and a new one, Fred kneeling down covered in blood as he finds Renee dead. Guilty of murder and sent to be electrocuted, Fred suddenly has awful headaches. The visions Fred sees in his head starts to unravel as a blue light starts to blink as the headaches become awfully worse.

The next day, a guard finds a different man in Fred's cell that turned out to be a 24-year old mechanic named Pete Dayton (Balthazar Getty). Immediately released back to his parents (Gary Busey and Lucy Butler), Pete has no recollections of how he got into a jail cell while he decided to rest at home. After joining a couple of his friends (Giovanni Ribisi and Scott Coffey), he also rekindles his relationship with girlfriend Sheila (Natasha Gregson Wagner). Returning to work as a mechanic for Arnie (Richard Pryor), he is also greeted with delight by a gangster named Mr. Eddy (Robert Loggia). Unbeknownst to Pete, two detectives named Hank (Carl Sundstrom) and Lou (John Solari) are watching out for him as Pete rides with Mr. Eddy, who is also known as Dick Laurent. The next day, Pete meets Mr. Eddy's mistress Alice Wakefield (Patricia Arquette) who comes to his garage the day later to seduce Pete.

The two begin an affair only to cause more trouble as Mr. Eddy suspects something. Meanwhile, his relationship with Sheila falls apart as Pete seems to have no memory of what happened the night he was sent into Fred's jail cell. After another meeting with Alice, she tells him about a guy named Andy and her first meeting with Mr. Eddy as she hopes to steal money from Andy in order to escape. The robbery was a success except that Pete starts to have increasingly bad headaches as reality and fiction begin to blur even further. Hoping to meet a man who could help them, Fred makes his return to unravel the mystery of the mysterious man as well as Laurent, Alice, and Renee.

While a lot of the imagery, style, and caricatures are definitely inspired by film noir, David Lynch and co-writer Barry Gifford chose to play with the cliches of the genre adding new twists as well. The result is a mind-bending film that still brings more questions than answers when the mystery is unraveled. Yet, this is part of what is expected from Lynch who is a storyteller that never reveals a lot of details or what the film is about. Instead, he leaves it up to the viewer to make their own guess or interpretation about what the film is about. If one was to make an idea of what it's about, it's about a man trying to figure out about his wife's affairs, her murder, and then turns into a young mechanic who falls for a doppleganger as he delves into a world of pornography, crime, and voyeurism.

The stylized dialogue is very true to the tradition of noir while remaining modern that includes information that relates to the film plot. Both Renee and Alice have similar dialogue in their meeting that relates to Andy that eventually, revealed a darker story. The characters of Pete and Fred are similar though it's Pete that has to deal with the fact that he might be a different person. Fred has a more interesting development where he starts off as a paranoid, suspicious man until he returns late in the film as he becomes a darker character. Then there's the mysterious man. Who he is? His name is never revealed and his motives aren't clear either. Yet, he's there but is he real? All of this is part of Lynch's approach to surrealism.

The direction of Lynch is definitely top notch as he aims for a more intimate look that is reminiscent of film noir. Yet, he also goes for that Lynchian style of strange characters, symbolic images, and dreamy compositions. The film's low-key look works to convey the suspense as well as the paranoia inside Fred's head. The look of the film also has that sense of being from the perspective of Fred Madison and Pete Dayton. They're both having very surreal images where the look of the film almost has a horror-like feel while the use of a video camera also creates a sense of horror in conveying that dark feel of voyeurism. While audiences might feel confused by its complex plot and Lynch's eerie direction, even in the end, the film still proves that Lynch still has some tricks up his sleeve.

Cinematographer Peter Deming brings a wonderfully stylish look to the film that is very intimate with a grainy-like look to add the film-noir look. The use of colored lights also adds to the film's mood to show where the characters are while some wonderful, dreamy images are made to convey the style of Lynch. Lynch's then-partner and editor Mary Sweeney adds style that emphasize the film's unique tone and duality theme as if the film is told in an almost, non-linear style. Production designer/costume designer Patricia Norris and set decorator Leslie Morales help create the film's dark look with posh-like designs on some of the film's mansion scenes to the motel that is pure noir with its intimate look. Norris' work on the costumes also have film noir with the evening dresses that Renee wears to the old-school 40s clothing that Alice wears while the men wear a range of suits to street clothing.

Sound editor Frank Gaeta along with Lynch on sound design create an array of sounds to add a horror-like tone to the film where it brings suspense that also includes ominous sound overtones courtesy of Nine Inch Nails' leader Trent Reznor and Coil's Peter Christopherson. The film's soundtrack includes music from Lynch's longtime collaborator Angelo Badalamenti brings a diverse film score that includes dark, ominous classical cuts with the Prague Philharmonic that is in the noir style. Other tracks by Badalamenti range from ambient-like electronic music to a wide array of jazz from freestyle to sultry with contributions from David Lynch. Another composer added to the mix is Barry Adamson, formerly of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, who brings some wonderful theme music to the character of Mr. Eddy along with mixes of jazz and electronic music.

The rest of the soundtrack is helmed and supervised by NIN leader Trent Reznor. Along with his own sound work and an industrial score piece, he also contributes the hit song The Perfect Drug while former protegee` Marilyn Manson brings in a couple of cuts. The film open and closes with two variations of I'm Deranged by David Bowie from his 1995 album Outside while Bowie's art-rock cohort Lou Reed brings a cover of This Magic Moment. The Smashing Pumpkins brings an eerie electronic track called Eye while the German industrial band Rammstein brings in a couple of rocking tracks. Adding to the film's dark, dreamy soundtrack though not on the actual soundtrack album is a cover of Tim Buckley's Song To The Siren by the 4AD label outfit This Mortal Coil as it's sung hauntingly and beautifully by Elisabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins accompanied by its guitarist Robin Guthrie. Overall, the film's soundtrack is a real highlight of the film.

The casting is wonderfully assembled with cameos and appearances from Henry Rollins as a prison guard, Marilyn Manson and then-Manson bassist Jeordie White as porn stars, Lisa Boyle as a porn star, Giovanni Ribisi and Lynch regular Scott Coffey as Pete's buddies, and in his final film role just before his death in December of 1996 is Lynch regular Jack Nance as crazed-eye mechanic named Phil. Richard Pryor, in his final film appearance before his death in 2005, is excellent as head mechanic Arnie, where despite his illness from Parkinson's disease, Pryor lights up any scene he's in. Lucy Butler and Gary Busey make great appearances as Pete Dayton's parents with Busey showing restraint and care as a father who is haunted by the moment his son had disappeared. John Roselius, Louis Eppolito, Carl Sundstrom, and John Solari are great as the detectives who investigate the different crimes while Sundstrom and Solari get to have hilarious one-liners.

Michael Massee is excellent as the sleazy Andy, a guy who seems to love a lot of porn and women while not have a clue to the associates of Mr. Eddy. Natasha Gregson Wagner is good as Pete's girlfriend Sheila, a girl who noticed that he's changed since his disappearance while trying to keep him grounded. In what is possibly his last film role before his notorious murder trial a few years ago, Robert Blake gives a chilling performance as the Mysterious Man who is a troubling voyeur that always carry a video camera or a telephone. Blake, wearing lipstick and no eyebrows with a painted white face, is a very scary man in this film and his presence remains haunting. Robert Loggia is in great form as a gangster who has a lot of charm and wit despite his dangerous persona. Loggia has a great scene that involves a tailgate driver who did something stupid that proves that tailgating is bad.

Balthazar Getty is in solid form as Pete Dayton, a confused, troubled young mechanic who is unaware of what has happened to him. Getty's performance serves as a wonderful plot device in relation to the theme of duality. Getty has to be this young man who is torn between two different women while trying to figure out is he really himself or is he possessed all of a sudden as Getty does some fantastic work. Bill Pullman is also in amazing form as Fred Madison, a man whose suspicions lead him to a possible murder and then returning to discovery about his wife. Pullman's performance is also strangely subtle as he doesn't do anything very dramatic but rather observe what's going on around him. It's definitely one of his more underrated performances, aside from Spaceballs.

The film's best performance truly goes to Patricia Arquette in her double-duty role in playing both Renee and Alice. In the role of Renee, Arquette dons a brunette hair style that is reminiscent of noir-style female characters while being very secretive and worrisome as that character is revealed whether she's having an affair. Then as Alice, Arquette shows more of her sex appeal in this femme fatale role as she is a bit more humorous, charismatic, and engaging. Arquette has that dream-like quality that makes her perfect for both roles as this reveals to be one of her more overlooked performances in her diverse career in working with the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Richard Linklater, and Martin Scorsese.

While it's not a perfect film, especially for general audiences, Lost Highway is still an amazing, complex, provocative noir film from David Lynch and company. Fans of Lynch will no doubt enjoy the film's layered story as well as surrealistic directing style. Those new to the director will enjoy the images and style that Lynch has taken into a genre. With a great cast and an amazing film soundtrack (that is unfortunately out of print), it's a film that will test the mind as well as expectations for the genre. For a film that takes an old genre with unique twists and turns, Lost Highway is the film to go see and who better from the always provocative David Lynch.

David Lynch Films: Eraserhead - The Elephant Man - Dune - Blue Velvet - Wild at Heart - Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me - The Straight Story - Mulholland Dr. - INLAND EMPIRE

The Short Films of David Lynch Pt. 1 - The Short Films of David Lynch Pt. 2 - The Music Videos of David Lynch

The Auteurs #50: David Lynch: Pt. 1 - Pt. 2 - Pt. 3 - Pt. 4

Related: Lost Highway OST

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