top 5 so and so

i love top five lists so much. so much that i will be posting many of them from now on. todays is top 5 movies about music.

5. a hard day's night (1964) - obviously the songs are amazing, but this is one of the most fun films you could ever see.

4. high fidelity (2000) - frears & company perfectly capture the spirit of the book. made the whole top 5 list process even more relevant.

3. this is spinal tap (1984) - what more should be said? fantastic music and possible the funnest movies of all time.

2. nashville (1975) - an epic sprawling masterpiece. one of altman's finest achievements.

1. almost famous (2000) - i know a lot of people who dismiss this film, but it's one of my favorites. it truly captures the spirit of the era.

do you....ozu?

not very long ago i did an ozu marathon: a story of floating weeds (1934), late spring (1949), early summer (1951), tokyo story (1953), floating weeds (1959 which was a remake of a story of floating weeds), and good morning (1959). watching a film by yasujiro ozu is like being invited into a japanese home, and siting and watching life unfold. the common thread to all of ozu's films is the importance of family. every film is about family, and even though he is always the optimist, ozu is able to retell theses stories without an once of cliche or manipulation.



though he was a contemporary of kurosawa, ozu films were completely his own.
show me one frame of ozu's work, and I can tell you it's him. there is absolutely no camera movement. no dolly, no pans, no tilts, and yet his composition of each shot keeps you eyes glued to the screen. a story of floating weeds is a beautiful contemplative silent film. takeshi sakomoto plays the leader of a traveling theater group, who returns to the town he grew up in. it's a story of reconnecting with your youth, and realizing the truth in the old saying; once you leave home, you can never go back.


criterion's eclipse line just released a set of 3 of ozu's silent comedies. can't wait to get my hands on those.

i drink your milkshake?

i know i have been the worst blogger in the history of worst bloggers! i should have posted my top 10 of 2007 before the end of the year. i should have posted before the oscars! anyway, i am gonna do it now. i had an amazing oscar party, and i will post more about that later, but first things first.

here is where you come into play. did you see any of the nominated films? what did you think. 2007 to me has been the best year of films in a very long time. no country for old men is deserving of all the attention, and there will be blood gave daniel day lewis the chance to rival brando and de niro in their prime. more detail on those later.

for now here is my top 10 of 2007:

1. No Country For Old Men
2. There Will Be Blood
3. Once
4. Ratatouille
5. Atonement
6. The Diving Bell & The Butterfly
7. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
8. Into The Wild
9. Grindhouse
10. Away From Her

more on these later. for now enjoy cinema at it's finest:

almost here

i am watching the diving bell and the butterfly tomorrow. it's the last thing i need to watch before i post my top 10 of 2007 and my oscar picks. stay tuned.

grapes and such

living in hollywood, i have the luxury of visiting fantastic theaters. from the arclight with it's famous cinerama dome, to the el capitan, chinese theater, and the egyptian.






i frequent all of these, and look forward to visiting some of the others around me. if you diligently read my blog (not that it's much to keep up with), you know that i recently went to the egyptian to watch the grapes of wrath.

the egyptian was built in 1922 as a 2000 seat theater and though it was shut down and finally renovated to 616 seats, it is still beautiful and continues to show important films.





now on to the film. john ford is one of my favorite directors. incredibly prolific, he directed over one hundred films from 1917-1966. probably his most famous and arguably his best, the grapes of wrath was a treat to see on the big screen. i had seen the film several times before, but never like this. i was also stoked to be able show it to my wife who had never seen it.

based on the famous steinbeck novel, and as most of us know it takes place during the depression in the dust bowl of oklahoma. henry fonda played tom joad, recently released from prison, returns home to find that his family has abandoned their home. he learns that everyone has been ordered off their land and they are now all refugees. the promise of jobs sends them to california. making the long journey with 10 people in the most dilapidated truck you can imagine.



watching this film proves my point that movies are always a different experience depending where it is seen. sitting in that theater knowing that it was once shown there in it's original run was such a wonderful feeling. one of the big differences is the impact of how tragic the film was. films from that ere have certain style of acting that some audience have trouble with, and even though i don't see them in that way, grapes or wrath seems to cut through any of that. it's a period of american history that hasn't been explored very much on film, and without being to preachy it really touches you and leaves you meditating on what you saw for the next few days. or maybe that's just me. all i'm saying is that theater got dusty a few times if you know what i mean.

grapes of wrath is a must see, and hopefully you will explore more of ford's films.