Quote of the Day - Throw Mama From the Train - There's Always Time For Candy

Chat amongst ruthless killers:

Owen: "Where are you going?"
Larry: "I'm gonna kill the bitch. You want anything?"
Owen: "Could you get me a Chunky?"

Suburbicon - George Clooney (2017)

You can easily laugh through some dark comedies. George Clooney's "Suburbicon," (based on a screenplay by the Coen Brothers, Clooney, and Grant Heslov) is a comedy in which, the fun and humor are juxtaposed with a backdrop of suffering that isn't funny at all.

Gardner Lodge (Matt Damon) is an ordinary man, as far as we can see, whose luck spirals downward to an alarming level of rot. Damon is the box office draw, but the Protagonist, the leading man if you will, is actually Nicky (Noah Jupe), Gardner's son.

Nicky is the single innocent in this story. He's the only character who's not an amoral wretch. At the start of the film, the kid is put through a traumatic experience. The sequence is excessively grim, the kind of content that even the darkest of most dark comedies wouldn't touch.

The boy is woken in the middle of the night and dragged down to the dining room. He is tied down by a couple of brutes. He sees his mother Rose, and aunt Margaret (both played by Julianne Moore) are tied down as well.

After a few minutes of intimidating threats, the brutes chloroform all of them.

When Nicky wakes up, he learns that his mother did not survive the attack. His father and aunt are fairly blasé about the incident.

Aunt Margaret moves in to help Nicky and Gardner get used to living without Rose. There may be something sinister behind that.

Rose's death starts a chain of unfortunate events that could very well toss the family right on its head. Nicky and Gardner are threatened throughout the film by nosey cops, gangsters and a corrupt insurance investigator looking to take the Lodges for everything they've got.

Watching Gardner and his sister-in-law Margaret's lives fall apart is hilarious. "Suburbicon" creates so many characters whose demise we gladly cheer for.

There is a secondary plot is focused on a black family, the Mayers, who move into the neighborhood. Nicky strikes up a friendship with Andy Mayer, the new black kid in town.

But the neighborhood doesn't just object to the family's arrival, it rages. As the Lodge family's safety is on the decline, the Mayers face a hostility from the town that simmers through the story and explodes at just the worst time.

It's wonderful how Clooney manages to slowly transform the normal people we were introduced to at the beginning into the sociopaths they really are. "Suburbicon" mirrors the place where the center of the morality of our country is right now, without sounding too self-righteous.

"Suburbicon" is about "Some very fine people," and how they devolve into monsters most wouldn't have recognized before.

The film is screamingly funny all the way through until the end, but it is decidedly disturbing at the same time. You've been warned.

Quote of the Day: The Imminently Wise "¡Three Amigos!"

"There you go, you can sew. If only we had known this earlier."

Chevy Chase as Dusty Bottoms in "¡Three Amigos!"

This film came out when I was twelve and has been in my aware consciousness. I've heard people call this film juvenile and trite. I do not give a crap.

Quotes from "¡Tree Amigos!" pop in and out of my head naturally, as if they have an answer to whatever life throws at you. It's a comfort blanket of a movie.

Phantom Thread - Paul Thomas Anderson (2017)

This is going to be a very short entry because we have very little to discuss.

I'm sure you've watched movies that had characters you've hated. Not villains for sure - they're meant to be hated, but the ones we're supposed to be rooting for.

And surely you've also seen films that you just disliked (hated) every frame of.

Paul Thomas Anderson's "Phantom Thread" is just that sort of movie. And Daniel Day-Lewis, as Reynolds Woodcock, portrays just that type of detestable character. A high-end dress-maker who's a confirmed bachelor, he decides now is the time in his life for romance.

When Alma (Vicky Krieps) comes into Woodcock's, life, boy does it just get turned on its head in a boring, meaningless and vicious way.

Watching Woodcock treat Alma with such malice for over two hours is more than unpleasant, it's tedious. We're meant to feel terrible as he mistreats her, but somehow, we don't. In the end, Alma is left with a twisted kind of justice but by that point, Oh my God, who cares?

Almost as soon as the lights dimmed, I was in misery. As a general rule I try not to dump all over bad movies, but I this time I just want to warn you.

The film is essentially about the joy of cruelty. And it argues that the answer to that cruelty is more of the same. You might say: "But Resident Film Snob, I thought you loved long artsy movies like this." That's true, I do. I'm a sucker for pretention, but this film isn't art. It's a bore.

Partway through "Phantom Thread" I found myself asking, "What the hell happened to Paul Thomas Anderson?" By the end of the film, I didn't care.

Yes, Daniel Day-Lewis is a fantastic actor and normally interesting to see what he brings to any film.  I just wished I were watching "Gangsters of New York" or "There will be Blood" or even "My Left Foot."

I'm going to take a page from the late Roger Ebert's book and say "I hated, hated, hated this movie." Because he was wise enough to know that it's important to recognize and condemn bad films just as much as it is to celebrate great films.

Today, the Quote of the Day will be The Song of the day

I love finding fun and interesting movie quotes to share, but when there is a song that flows right along with the story, well, it's just magical, isn't it?

I don't know how many of you have seen Stuart Murdoch's "God Save the Girl," but it's an overlooked gem.

Murdoch and his band, Belle and Sebastian, are the force behind the songs in this obscure musical.

This song, "I'll have to dance with Cassie" is damn near perfect. Every time it pops up on my playlist, my whole family stops and sings along. It's infectious. So take a listen.

Quote of the Day - The Butcher, The Butcher, The Damned The Butcher

(Cutting a hanging pig.)

Butcher: "This is the liver. The kidneys. The heart. This is a wound.The stomach will bleed and bleed. This is a kill! This is a kill! The main artery. This is a kill.

(Butcher gives blade to Amsterdam.)

Butcher: "You try. Go ahead. The lung, good. Don't foul the blade on the rib. Very good, main artery. Bleed him slow, let him think about it for a while. Slow Death. Good."

mother! - Darren Aronofsky (2017)

Most of my friends, who know much about film anyway, are disciples of Darren Aronofsky. I did not care for his work. In fact, "Requiem for a Dream" remains one of my least favorite films ever.

Then a magical thing happened. He surprised the hell out of me with "Black Swan." It's nothing less than a work of elegant magic.

Since then, my interest in Aronofsky as artist was piqued. I watched his other films, I even gave "Requiem for a Dream" another shot. This has led to repeated disappointment.

So every time I see he has a film coming out, I'm wary, even about a film that looks as compelling as "mother!", I'm curious to see if he has made his second great film.

I'll try not to be heavy on the allegorical language, but that's easier said than done. I'll do my best.

"mother!" is a very old story. The oldest. In the beginning, was Him (Javier Bardem.) He discovers a beautiful crystal and He is in a beautiful home with a woman in his bed known to us as Mother (Jennifer Lawrence).

He and Mother live in an intimate dream. They are clearly so deeply in love that neither of them needs anyone else. The crystal He discovered seems to be the only thing they truly need. He keeps it in a special, somewhat restricted room.

He is a writer. The film is vague on what kind of writer or His status. We only know that His work is significant.

Mother's role in the dream is constructing the house that He had lost in a cataclysmic fire. She does a wonderful job, building the building's structure back and taking care of the decorations inside. Her attention to detail is impressive. There is even beauty in the way she blends earth tones. Such delicacy just with browns.

It's a paradise until Man (Ed Harris) shows up at their door. While Mother is wary, He welcomes Man as if he were a long lost friend. The term "mi casa, su casa" is more than just an expression to Him.

When Woman (Michelle Pfeiffer) shows up, she is accepted as well. After all, she is Man's wife. Despite Mother's objections, He insists they put the two up because they have nowhere else to go.

Things change when Man and Woman wander into His personal room to get a better look at His crystal. The two of them break it to shards, leaving Him beside Himself. He scoops up the pieces, clutching them so tight, blood runs out of his fists. He orders them out of the room, but does not make them leave the house because again, they have nowhere to go.

He closes off the segregated room, and life goes on. But the crystal is irrevocably gone. Of course that means unbearable wickedness awaits.

Man and Woman's sons show up, running for their parents, already in a shouting match about some kind of financial grudge. The Oldest Son and Younger Brother fight until Oldest Son beats Younger Brother to death.

Of course, friends and family of Man and Woman come to the house to comfort them. To Mother's horrified disbelief, He welcomes them all to celebrate, mourn and stay. Even His publisher (Kristen Wiig) contributes to the riot as a monstrous herald.

This leads to chaos and the rest of the film plays out the dangers of His love for people even as they destroy everything He and Mother have. The third act of "mother!" has haunted (I know, strong word, but apt) me more than practically anything I've seen in cinema, period.

And as gorgeous as this allegory is, there's something you should bear in mind before you watch it. "mother!" is a horror film. Be careful.

I saw the film twice and waited to write about it because I've been quite obsessed and I wanted to get some distance before I tried to make sense of it to put my thoughts and feelings into words.

The allegory is fairly obvious, but what isn't is how it's going to work into one's world view.

For me, "mother!" is a private film, as it meditates on my faith.

I don't know exactly what Aronofsky believes, but I found the movie both reverent and troubling. He's absolutely right about how human nature has been slowly destroying mother nature from the beginning. And we're not only talking about the ruins our physical world is in right now. Aronofsky also submits that humans are also responsible for every kind of evil. And he's right that we are responsible for original sin.

Here's where I can not agree with Aronofsky. He has characters to signify everyone and everything in our faith except for Satan. A lot of you may laugh at me when I say I believe in Satan, but I do.

How could anybody in their right mind look back on the last century and maintain that he doesn't exist?

The concept that Earth is a phoenix is an intriguing one that I still haven't formed an opinion about. There's a fascinating discussion to be had about that prospect.

I was deeply touched by His love for the adoring, riotous and destructive people. He loves them more than his creation. More than mother. Even more than his only Son.

Like I said, "mother!" is intensely personal, so you'll have to watch it and put it together yourself. But do go and see the film. It wasn't nearly as beautiful as "Black Swan", but how many movies are?

There are so many pretentious adjective words I could throw around to impress you, but I'll just say this. There are good movies and there are bad movies and we spend a lot of time criticizing and adoring them. "mother!" is so much more than that. The dialogues the film is sure to open up revisions of exactly what we believe about God.

You can't really say that about many films. But this one is that important.

I've heard this film referred to as heretical, but that's just not so. It's not only worth watching, it's worth reflection.

So go.

Happy Birthday to Pulp Fiction!

Isn't this a special week? In the first week in October 1994, my life changed twice. On Wednesday, my firstborn son was born.

Then my mother-in-law came to town to help my wife learn about taking care of an infant. On Friday, October 7,1994 she said she would watch the baby and that my wife should get some sleep. Then she told me I should go relax for a couple of hours and just go to the movies.

My choice was obvious. Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs" had been released just two years before, and had quickly became one of my favorite movies. So I went to see "Pulp Fiction."

You all know what that means because you all have seen the movie. It changed everything. Not just how films are made, but how the public consciousness receives films.

So happy birthday, "Pulp Fiction" and thank you Quentin for your gift to the world.

Quote of the Day: The Magnificent Seven (1960)

"I have been offered a lot for my work. But never everything."
- Yul Brynner as Chris Evans in "The Magnificent Seven"

"Once you begin, you'd better be prepared for killing and then more killing. And then still more killing until the reason for it has gone."
- Yul Brynner as Chris Evans in "The Magnificent Seven"

Just watching this makes me want to watch it for like the eighty-seventh time.

 

Quote of the Day: Muriel's Wedding - P.J. Hogan (1994)

"I tell the truth, too. Nicole's having an affair with Chuck. Muriel saw them fucking in the laundry
room on your wedding day. Stick your drink up your ass, Tania. I'd rather swallow razor blades than have a drink with you. Oh, by the way, I'm not alone. I'm with Muriel."
- Rachel Griffiths as Rhonda

Quote of the Day: Dancer in the Dark - Lars von Trier (2000)

"This isn't the last song, there's no violin, the choir is quiet, and no one takes a spin, this is the next to last song, and that's all..."
- Bjork as Selma

How many actresses could have made a terrible scene like this and make it feel wonderful?

Quote of the Day: Scanners - David Cronenberg (1981)

"A brother should be close, don't you think?"

Ladies and gentlemen, the film that had all of us grasping our heads in our hands, trying to keep our brains on the inside.


 

Quote of the Day: Trainspotting - Danny Boyle (1996) Hell, This Movie is Chock-Full of Quotes.

"Choose life. But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?"

So many backdrops and intricacies and poetry and quotes. I swear to God, this movie, and the book, will be somewhere in my head when I die.

And that makes this movie precious.

Quote of the Day: The Watchmen - Zack Snyder (2009)

"Beneath me, this awful city, it screams like an abattoir full of retarded children."

This is a perfect way to present a character to an audience. This line troubles me and I still do not know how to hear it.

It is disturbing to hear, but it opens up a dialogue: is Rorschach a hero or a villain? I still haven't made up my mind.

Quote of the Day: "The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert" - Stephan Elliot (1994)

"Just what this country needs.
A cock.
In a frock.
On a rock."