Hey guys, welcome to a column here on YDKS Movies entitled Speech of the Week! For now on, every week I will post a new scene from a movie that features a speech of some sort being given. After all, there are a lot of famous scenes in film where characters give an influential speech of some sort. Then again, there are also a lot of scenes where characters give a speech and it just comes off cheesy and lame. In this section, you will see both kinds. That's right, people, I'm giving you the good and bad of film speeches all wrapped up in one great big package. I hope you all enjoy.
It's been a while since I've done a Speech of the Week. This week's speech comes from a movie I literally just finished watching: David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch. Based on loosely on William S. Burroughs' controversial and seminal novel of the same name as well as some of Burroughs' life, the film follows Jim Lee (played by Peter Weller of Robocop fame) as he attempts to write a novel while tripping out on drugs and hallucinating. Lee imagines his typewriter turning into a talking, giant bug and believes he is a secret agent trying to crack into a secret, evil organization called Interzone Incorporated. The film is incredibly hard to follow and is just damn weird.
One of the standout moments from the movie is when Lee gives a speech during a car ride about a man who had a talking asshole. Yes, that's right-- a talking asshole. Now, this may seem silly but trust me; this is an incredibly creepy speech. In fact, it's kind of scary. It's one of the few things from Burroughs' original novel that made it to the screen and it shows.
Watch it below and try not to be a little creeped out.
There's been an Internet meme going around for a while now of a clip from the German film Downfall of Hitler going into a rant to his highest ranking officers, only with the English subtitles changed into him complaining every day American problems. Hitler has complained about his X-Box Live account being banned, having to go see crappy Adam Sandler movies, and, my personal favorite, Valve working on Left 4 Dead 2 without releasing new content for the original game like they promised.
With the release of the horribly reviewed Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen this past week, I figured this video of Hitler ranting against Michael Bay for ruining the Transformers film franchise was pretty topical. Plus, it's really funny. He even rants against Steven Spielberg (a producer on these "films') and takes some shots at Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
Watch the video at the top of this article. Hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.
There have been some interesting looking trailers to some movies I have been anticipating that were released recently. I've decided to round them up and give my two cents on them all.
Up first is the latest trailer for Quentin Tarantino's WWII epic Inglourious Basterds. The trailer mostly follows the story of the "basterds," whom I'm told the movie does not focus on all that much (a character named Shosanna Dreyfus is actually the main character of the movie; she can be seen in small glimpses in this trailer). With that said, the movie looks like it's going to be a blast. It almost has an Ocean's Eleven feel to it in a strange way... except that it's filled with Nazi's and people who want to brutally murder them. Also, I loved the shot of the burning theater screen at the end.
However, I'm not exactly sold on the casting of Mike Myers (kind of distracting). Also, what's up with that weird punch Eli Roth delivers?
This aside, I cannot wait for this movie. It's probably my most anticipated film of this summer.
The next trailer is for Rob Zombie's Halloween II (it appears they've ditched the H2 title and thank God because it was stupid to begin with). This trailer is a lot more focused than the last one and actually gives a hint to the structure of the story. There is a lot more of focus on the connection between Laurie and Michael instead of the whole "dead Mrs. Myers ghost visions" that filled up the last trailer. I liked this aspect a lot more than the aforementioned section of the previous trailer. Even though this movie has a huge potential to be really bad (as most people did not like Zombie's original remake to begin with), I can't help but be a little excited about it. It looks a lot more like a Rob Zombie film than his last effort at the Halloween franchise. It kind of looks like he just went crazy with this and did whatever he wanted. I feel like it will make an insane film experience (for example, what's up with that image of that kid with a rotting pumpkin on his head?). Plus, it looks like Michael's super pissed in this and is going to kill a hell of a lot of people.
So yeah, I guess I'm in.
I have been looking forward to Richard Kelly's film adaptation of The Box for some time. Based on the short story by Richard Matheson, The Box follows a suburban family pressed for cash who receive a mysterious box on their doorstep. If they press a button on the box, they will receive one million dollars but a stranger somewhere in the world will die. It's a great concept but I'm not exactly happy with the way the trailer is cut. It's sold more as a heart-stopping thriller (complete with the now over-used Saw end theme) than as the moral drama I hear that it actually is. Also, I'm a little wary of Richard Kelly these days. I was hoping that this would be his return to form after the absolute disaster that was Southland Tales but there are hints in this trailer that it may not be. Still, I hope that it is. I loved Donnie Darko from start to finish but it's getting more likely that that may have been his only good film. Also, I'm not a big fan of Cameron Diaz and I'm afraid she may hold the film down. Still, it's got some cool things going for it. Frank Langella is always awesome (and his face is looking like it's going to look terrible in this), I like the 70's retro feel and the concept is still pretty cool. Overall, I'm looking forward to this but I'm not completely sold yet.
So that ends my trailer round up. I hope you all are interested in seeing these films as well.
*Note: I realize I just wrote an article the other day saying I was going to shorten my reviews due to time constraints. However, after watching this film, I found myself oddly wanting to talk a lot about it. So, in this case, the review will be a little lengthy. Just don't expect this length for all of my future reviews*
I've been avoiding director Larry Clark's movies for some time now. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Clark is a controversial photographer turned director who has been putting out disturbing and raw pieces of cinema such as Kids, Ken Park and Bully for years now. Many critics and viewers have accused Clark of being pornographic at times (particularly due to his depiction of teenage sex in Bully) andactress Bijou Philips was very unhappy at Clark's predatory direction and his out-of-the-blue shots of her crotch that appeared in the final cut of the aforementioned film. Still, despite these criticisms, his films have been praised for their unforgiving looks at some truly unsettling aspects of teenagers in modern America.
This past week I decided to bite the bullet and give one of Clark's films a shot. I found the premise of Bully the most intriguing so I gave it a shot. I have to say-- it was one of the most disturbing and unenjoyable film experiences of my life. With this said, it was still quite a powerful film experience that I've only come close to obtaining once before (during the viewing of Requiem for a Dream). By the end of the movie, I felt sick to my stomach and off. To be honest, I kind of hated the world and the kind of people that live in it. That's the kind of movie experience Bully is. It will just turn you inside out and make you hate everything and everyone. But it also made me thankful for my own upbringing and the kind of people that I can call my friends.
Bully tells the real life story of the murder of Bobby Kent, who was killed in Weston, Florida by his best friend Marty Puccio, Jr. and six other teenagers. Despite appearing to be a stand-up citizen and a decent student, Kent frequently bullied Marty both physically and mentally. He not only raped Marty's girlfriend Lisa Connelly but beat and raped Lisa's friend Alice Slay while forcing her to watch gay pornography. Eventually, Lisa talked Marty into killing Kent. On July 15, 1993, Lisa, Marty, Alice and four other teens (most of whom barely knew Kent) lured their victim out into a remote rock pit and brutally murdered him. All the teens were caught soon after and sentenced to various prison sentences. Three are still in prison serving life sentences (Marty Puccio, Donald Semenec and Derek Kaufman).
As one can see, Bully deals with some pretty disturbing real life events. The movie that unfolds is equally as disturbing. The first half of this movie was nearly unwatchable. It basically just consists of many sequences of graphic teenage sex, teenagers bumming around and various means of humiliation and physical torture performed by Kent. As unenjoyable as the first half of the film was, it did serve a point to show just how awful Kent could be and how most of these kids were basically worthless human beings to begin with. Still, some of Clark's voyeuristic takes on their sexuality was a little much at times.
As the film kicks into its second act (which consists of the kids plotting to murder Kent and then following through), things get a little more interesting. It's really bizarre to see a bunch of teens plan out a brutal murder at a local Pizza Hut but there's also something strangely disturbing about it. There were a lot of sequences in this part of the film that really took me back. The scene where the kids meet with the wannabe hitman (played by an amazing Leo Fitzpatrick, a future member of the cast of The Wire) to discuss exactly how they're going to kill Bobby was really interesting. The fact that most of them really don't understand the severity of the situation they are getting into was very eye opening. I also liked how Clark seemed to comment on the fact that the parents of these teens were completely non-responsive to all the warning signs of their children's behavior. This murder could have been completely avoided if just one of them acted but most of them were completely blind to how bad things were getting with their children.
The murder scene is one of the most graphic and tense sequences I've seen on film. In reality, Bobby Kent was stabbed multiple times, had his throat slit, his head crushed with a baseball bat and then, still clinging to life, was drowned in a swamp. Clark follows the real life fate of Kent and shows most of this on screen. The sequence is filled with confusion, certain kids becoming horrified and chickening out while others turn into monsters and rip Kent apart. The way it's filmed feels very real and is truly a disturbing thing to see unfold. If you want, you can watch the scene here. Just don't say I didn't warn you though-- it's very graphic.
As the film comes to close, Clark poses many questions to the viewer. It's really hard to decide who was to blame for this awful crime. Was it the parents' fault? Did Bobby have it coming to him? As bad as Bobby Kent seems, Marty Puccio seems just as explosive and horrible at times. Most of the people involved in the crime are people who contribute nothing to society and commit murder just because they really don't have anything better to do. The wannabe hitman joins in because he dreams of becoming a viscous killer one day but at the time being only runs a gang of impressionable juveniles. Literally everyone that appears in this film is incredibly pathetic and it's really just hard to pick sides and decide who's right. In the end, it's nobody.
The acting in the film is quite impressive. Nick Stahl makes Bobby Kent seem like a monster at times but also somewhat vulnerable too. He makes the kid really hard to figure out and that makes his brutal murder much harder to watch. Brad Renfro really scared me as Marty Puccio. At times, he almost seemed more out of control than Kent (like when he finds out Lisa is pregnant) and generally a disturbed person. It was hard to feel sorry for his character at times because of this. Rachel Miner makes Lisa Connelly out to be delusional, paranoid and almost as scary as Marty and Bobby. However, Leo Fitzpatrick is the standout in the cast as the wannabe hitman. Fitzpatrick is so self assured and full of himself and his ability to kill that it is kind of comical at times. There's just something unique about his performance. He almost makes you feel like you've meet this guy before somewhere.
Clark's direction is off and on for me in this movie. Although he can make an incredibly tense scene (see the murder scene), the film lacks a visual style of any kind for the movie. When he does try to inject style into the film, it's distracting and seems sloppy (like the scene where he continuously turns his camera in a circle around the teens). I also hated when he seemed to get creepy and voyeuristic with his female cast members (as I have already mentioned). However, he gets some pretty incredible performances out of his ensemble of actors. I also thought his use of Fat Boy Slim's "Song for Shelter" over the ending courtroom scene and the subsequent sentencing images was incredibly haunting (you can see this sequence here if you like). Clark's lack of style also works to make the film seem more real, causing the horrible things that happen have even more impact.
In the end, it's really hard to rate a movie like Bully. It's one of the least entertaining movies that I've ever watched and it honestly made me feel a little sick afterwards. With that said, I don't regret watching it. It helped put me into a situation that is really hard to understand from the outside. It made me see some really useless human beings living pointless lives that were ruined further by making decisions that could have easily been avoided. As horrible as it was to witness all of this, it was strangely fascinating as well. I cannot recommend watching this for anyone who is remotely squeamish or easily upset but, if you have the stomach and want to be put right into the shoes of horrible people, you may want to give this a shot. I can pretty much guarantee that you will get something powerful out of the film experience but you will most likely never want to watch it again.
For those of you who live under a rock, Michael Jackson died of a heart attack yesterday. Even though I wouldn't consider myself a fan of his music per say, I have to recognize how huge of a blow this is to not only to the music industry but pop culture itself. There probably isn't anyone on this planet who doesn't know who Michael Jackson is. And despite the fact that his life has been a freak show / train wreck for about ten years, it's really strange to think that he's gone.
Anyways, many of you may be asking: why are you talking about this on a movie blog? Well, as far as I'm concerned, Jackson reshaped the music video in the 1980's with his video for Thriller. It was this video that set the bar for what a music video could be and what all could be achieved in it. The man basically put MTV on the map before it turned into an abyss of terrible reality television. Jackson's music videos were always above what one expected from a music video. Jackson set out to make short films and worked with huge directors such as John Landis and Martin Scorsese (see their video for "Bad" here).
Last night, his death caused MTV to shut down regular programming and play Jackson's videos all night long. Yes, that's right: music videos were finally played on MTV again. It's a shame that something like this has to happen for the channel to do what it's meant to do to begin with. The long version of Thriller was played a few times and, after re-watching it, I really have to admire the hell out of it.
Think about how cool this video is. First off, it's directed by John Landis fresh off the success of his horror film An American Werewolf in London (and well before his tragic run on Twilight Zone: The Movie). It features a classic, gothic horror feel that's absent from most horror movies today. It has special effects from Rick Baker (who won an Oscar for his work on An American Werewolf in London). It has both werewolves and zombies. It features the voice of Vincent freakin' Price. It contains lots of Landis inside jokes such as the line "See you next Wednesday" (it was the name of the porn that was screened in An American Werewolf in London) and posters in the background for films such as Schlock. Lastly, it has a pretty classic twist ending that's kind of creepy.
Yeah, there's a horror fan boy in me that wants to go "zombies don't dance" and I still am confused on how Jackson seems to flip back and forth between his normal self and his zombie form. Also, I have to laugh at the fact that Jackson really seems to be into the horror movie at the beginning and the girl isn't. I don't know why but this image is just really funny to me because his voice is so high. But really-- who cares. This video is awesome and it's better than anything that MTV produces today.
Watch the long version of the video below in HD and see just how awesome Jackson was back in his hey-day.
This is a new article series that I would like to start on YDKS Movies called Independent Film of the Week. In this series, I would like to showcase an independent film that I enjoy for all of you to discover. I have been watching a lot of these on Vimeo in the past few days and it has really inspired me to make something new myself other than the Bags and Boards series I have been working on (though don't get me wrong, I'm still going to be making Bags and Boards throughout the summer).
This week's entry is called Sofia's People from director Philip Bloom. The film is mostly made to show the kind of image and focus that one can achieve with a Canon 5dmk2 24p camera. All the footage in this film was taken right out of the camera without any kind of color correction or digital manipulation. The result is really quite beautiful. Bloom just went out onto the streets and got various shots of inhabitants of the city and its visitors. Although the video lacks any kind of story, it still manages to be fascinating to watch due to the kinds of people and images that Bloom manages to capture. I just like watching this. I'm still not sure why. Hopefully, you all will as well.
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