Once Upon a Time in the West

One of the harder things for me to do when it comes to this blog (aside from actually remembering to update, of course) is to decide which movie I want to review. After all, at this point in time I've seen about 600 movies*, and I don't want to spoil all of the great ones out of the gate. On the other hand, I also can't review a bunch of shitty movies without coming off as some sort of angry RAAAH! INTERNETS! blogger that is associated with bitching. So what to do? What to do?

I said to myself, "Ah, fuck it." Then I chose to review one of the best damn movies I've ever seen: Once Upon a Time in the West.

This is, of course, another work from Sergio Leone (See: Fistful of Dollars), and unlike the original film of his that I reviewed, this is completely an original work. Oh, he also gets to work marquee names such as Charles Bronson, Henry Fonda, and Jason Robards, plus a sweet budget! Is this formula going to work?

Well, no shit! I mean, I knew I was going to see a great movie from the director alone, and a solid cast like that? Pleeeaaaase. What I wasn't aware of, though, and what still kind of sits with me today, was that I was about to witness the greatest western I've ever seen... Just ahead of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (ANOTHER Leone flick - srsly). How is this? What is it that sets this apart from other movies? I'll try a piece-by-piece sort of motion here by hitting on the keypoints of story, character, and well... I guess I already mentioned the directing, but I'll break it down for you as I get into the other 2.

Story-wise: this bad boy is a bit complex. In a strange way, we have 4 main characters in Cheyenne, Frank, Harmonica, and Jill. Each one has their own story, which of course relates to the charcter chunk, but more that later. This isn't just a movie about the west, really. It is about the changing times of the west, when the old code of the gunfighter was starting to fade, and the business era was kicking in. A quick piece of dialogue:

Frank: Nope, just a man....
Harmonica: An ancient race....

Whoa! Two lines to get an entire idea across? That's so awesome! AND THAT'S JUST A SMALL CHUNK! There's also the pure tradition itself: Bronson as the mysterious protaginist, after the dark, dark character that is Frank, with Robards providing an odd sort of narration: Narration within the story itself. The way you find out just why Harmonica is after Frank is so well-executed, so poignant... If your jaw doesn't drop either from revelation or from execution, then you just aren't human (or hate movies and should leave my blog immediately... fucker!). It is that damn good.

Yes, Sergio Leone IS cooler than you, and a better director, too!

Which, of course, brings us to the characters. Let's get one thing straight: they all have depth. On the surface, you have Harmonica as the hero, Frank as the evil, Cheyenne as the commentator of things, and Jill as the damsel caught in the middle. And yet, there is more to each character. Frank's desire to grow as a business man is what gets mixed up with Jill, Harmonica sees her as his ticket to Frank, and Cheyenne is just pissed off for being framed (best character ever, by the way). Each of them transforms in some way. They have their successes and their failures, and each of them comes off as remarkably... well, remarkably human. It is just amazing.

Leone just knew how to direct a great movie: end of story. I don't have to elaborate on that. His use of cinematography is remarkable. The contrast between the broad, landscape shots and the up-close, zoom-into-their-damn-face shots works in such a way that everything is functioning in this movie. And its all changing. And it is all that fucking railroad's fault. Leone gets this point across simply by use of the camera. Everything else is just the whipped cream on top of the icing that is even still on top of the cake that is this movie.

Oh, and one last special nod to two of my favorite scenes of all-time: the 10-minute opening scene, which uses all ambient noise for the most part, and Frank and Harmonica's duel. They're two of the greatest, most intense scenes I've ever watched. The former is somewhat comical before the shit hits the fan, too.

All of that, and I didn't even get to talk about the station, or the debut of Cheyenne... Guess y'all suckas just need to watch the movies for yourselfs!

Overall: 10. No questions asked. One of the greatest stories meets some of the greatest characters, and all in the hands of Leone. Wow.

* - Bragginininin', no?

Duel at Diablo - Thank God For Potier

I haven't been keeping up on this blog, I know... and I know that all 3 of you reading this right now are just biting your nails off in anticipation of my next review. So I decided to throw all y'alls a bone and review something a little more obscure... something a little easier to express my views on, something a little... um, you know... shitty.

Duel at Diablo. Where to start with this awesome piece of movie? How about on the good side, first of all: the ballinnest of ballin' actors, sire Sidney Potier. I'm sorry, but if you don't like this dude, you've probably got to get more comfortable with other races, cuz the dude's straight-mackin! I mean, he's been fed this flimsy script, co-starring with the decent James Garner, and being forced to listen to what has to be the worst fucking soundtrack in the history of film... and yet there he is, doin' his thang thang, making the movie sexy. I mean, manly! Shit...

Back to the film as a whole: this does not make sense! Let's run the numbers, shall we:

1) 1800's
2) Black man with white soldiers
3) Indians abusing white people, and that guy with the sun tan goin' along for the ride.

Okay, so that's the score. We've got this interesting little set-up don't we? With a combo like that, this film could be a great commentary on racial tensions and a statement about westerns, amirite? Parallels between black people and Native 'Murricans post war? They must be going somewhere with that premise... Or are they?

Why do you laugh, Sidney? Oh... Because he thought that was a joke.

Nope, this movie bucks convention by ignoring any racial tension... well, I mean, Sidney is a cool dude, but fuck those Indians.* James, Sidney, and the captain get along just swell, but they all have that one thing in common: this chief dude wants to kill them and take the white woman's baby!!! SAVE THE WHITE WOMAN!!!!!!!!!

Who is to blame for this whole fiasco? Well, I could start with director Ralph Nelson. Why? There are plenty of bad choices he made: the moments the composition is used, the lack of any real effective moments, the inability to make a bad script good... Then again, he made Lilies in the Field, which I haven't seen, but heard good things about it. So I'll just blame leading lady Bibi Anderson... why? Because she sucks so much, someone has to.

Bibi: So how am I doing, James?
James: Kiddo, you suck at acting.

I could go on and on, but fuck it, this isn't even funny anymore.

Overall - 2, for a couple of dudes who could act and the fact that it made me chuckle from time to time. I recommend skipping this and listening to some Funkadelic. Why? What a stupid question.2

* - Holy shit these aren't my personal views.

District 9 (HINT: Rating in Movie Title)

It's been a quiet streak from me of late, so I decided to come back with something relevant to the recently (terrible) aired Academy Awards. Everyone already knew my thoughts on Avatar, and reviewing The Hurt Locker will probably just make my blood boil, so why not review the most deserving Best Pic. nominee, eh?

Wait, most deserving? Did I just say that? That's right, bitches. D9 > all other 9 nominees (and Hurt Locker and Avatar combined for that matter)* How is that? It was probably the least likely movie to actually get the award, right?... Right?

Well, let's start off with of the awesomeness that is District 9, eh? We have all of the essentials of good film-making here: a good story, strong main character, good (though not really great) performances, and a message that doesn't come off as heavy-handed or pretentious. Not in the slightest. Corporations aren't all corporationy in this movie. All of this leads up to a climax that isn't the (now stereotypical/lazy) EVERYONE GRAB A SWORD fest that you might think it would turn out to be.

Aside from the all of that, let me talk about that camera work for a second there. It's sharp, crisp... just real clean. It gives off that kind of gimmicky "hand held" bullshit that people are feeding us, but it does the most important thing: practices restraint. Yes, there are moments of shakiness, and it can be a bit frustrating, but it's only done at appropriate moments, and manages to still remain somewhat steady so as not to induce unintentional vomit. Well-played, Neil Blomkamp... well-played indeed.

I think what makes this so great is that from both a technical aspect and emotional aspect, this movie is sharp. Sharlto Copley turns in probably the best performance of the movie. He manages to act out the character arc remarkably well. It starts off as a giddy, idiot promoted above his means, and for the longest time, even as the shit is going down, you can't quite sympathize with the guy because of his dickish view of the aliens.

Fucking Prawns!!!!!

Then you slowly see him change. It's remarkable how physical and emotional reflect each other so well in this process, and the character becomes progressively more sympathetic. Especially as the film reaches its last moments.

So, on the whole shot, this is a damn good movie with a big heart. What's keeping it from being perfect? I'd have to say it's the film's inability to capture any secondary characters with any amount of depth, or that much attention. Yes, this is very much the story of Wikus, but a large amount of side characters are not only kind of flat, but some even iredeemable. Of course, these are the antagonists, and they shouldn't be that likable... Still, some background/personality traits would have bee appreciated.

Other than that, though, District 9 is just a good fucking movie.

Overall - 9, and I'll stand by that rating, too. D9 is da shiznet, yo! (I immediately apologize for that statement). You should check it out for yourself sometime.


* - What's with me being all bitchy? Sorry 'bout that.