DailyView: Day 64, Movie 109

This was another one of the seminal films that inspired the creation of the DailyView. Spike Lee’s classic Do the Right Thing is considered his masterpiece of race relations and, sadly, it is every bit as relevant in 2021 as it was at the end of the 1980s.

The narrative structure of the movie is uncommon. To be honest, it is more of a character piece than it is a story. The film is about race and the people living in this area of New York. It bounces around to the different characters and we see about their daily lives on this day of a terrible heat wave in Brooklyn.

The plot point that leads to the third act riot was that Sal’s Pizzeria, run by Italian-American Sal (Danny Aiello), was a spot in the neighborhood that everyone went to. One particular patron, Buggin’ Out (Giancarlo Esposito) took offense to the Wall of Fame, a location in the pizzeria where there were pictures of famous people were displayed, bit there were no black people. Buggin’ Out believed that, since black people were the main customers of the store, there should be representation of famous black people on the wall as well.

This confrontation happened early in the movie but does not really carry through the whole film. It happens early and then is revisited at the end in one of the most powerful and painfully realistic scenes in movie history.

Spike Lee plays Mookie, a young man working as a delivery persona at Sal’s. If there was a main protagonist here, Mookie would be it. We get more from his point of view through the film than other characters. He is also important in the end riot scene. However, there are a ton of amazing actors involved. Sal’s son Pino is played by John Turturro, and Pino is filled with anger and racism. You can feel that Pino is on the edge the whole film. Ossie Davis is Da Mayor, an old man who wanders about the street, injecting himself into the drama, and trying to win favor of Ruby Dee’s Mother Sister. Samuel L. Jackson was the radio DJ Mister Senor Love Daddy, the voice of the goings-on. Bill Nunn is Radio Raheem, who plays a major role in the third act. Paul Benjamin, Robin Harris and Frankie Faison are the three men sitting on the street, talking about whatever random ideas that are going through their lives. We also see such notable actors as Rosie Perez, John Savage, Roger Guenveur Smith, Martin Lawrence, Rick Aiello, Joie Lee, Richard Edson, and Steve Park.

The end of the film is truly powerful and can be looked at in a variety of ways. Everyone seems to have a part in what happens, but the perception of fault can be depended on who is watching.

This is a film that is must viewing for everybody. It is an electric film.

DailyView: Day 63, Movie 108

It is going to be a full day today, so I am returning to Charlie Chaplin for today’s DailyView to watch the 1918 silent movie classic, A Dog’s Life.

In A Dog’s Life, Charlie Chaplin is in his Tramp character again and he is hungry. So he is stealing food using his slight of hand and his slapstick style. He then rescues a stray dog, named Scraps, from a pack of other dogs and the two of them become fast friends. Charlie then gets into a story involving a pair of thieves who steal a wallet that they bury to avoid the police. Scraps finds the wallet and digs it up, and Charlie gets the money, the end result being a wild chase with the thieves.

Charlie Chaplin’s physical comedy is fully on display here, a master of the pratfall and slapstick. Being able to create such a fun and engaging story with a limited number of words written on the screen is an amazing talent. Chaplin is a genius in the simplistic storytelling that gets the message across.

Chaplin wrote and directed A Dog’s Life, which was a financial success and a huge hit, being the first film to make $1 million dollars.

Edna Purviance appears here as she does in many of Chaplin’s films, playing a love interest for the Tramp.

I am thankful that HBO Max has this list of Charlie Chaplin films available on its streaming service which has allowed me to see some historically classic films, and to have films that fit into those days where life is busy.

DailyView: Day 62, Movie 107

Gee, I wonder what inspired this movie?

To be fair, a Google search indicated that Netflix’s The Silence, today’s film for the DailyView, was based on a book that came out before A Quiet Place and that there was a script in place prior to the production of John Krasinski’s movie. However, I think it is a safe bet that this was put on the fast track for filming after the success of A Quiet Place, a “go Picture,” if you will.

A mysterious group of monsters, called the Vesps, suddenly show up, attracted to sound, causing panic and chaos in the country. One family tries to survive together. The father Hugh (Stanley Tucci) and his best friend Glenn (John Corbett) hope to lead the rest of Hugh’s family, including his deaf daughter Ally (Kiernan Shipka), to safety.

A poor man’s A Quiet Place.

Sadly, this movie is just a huge step down from A Quiet Place. You cannot release a film like this without expecting the comparisons, considering how many plot points they have in common. A Quiet Place had more of an intelligence behind it and featured a much more frightening tone. This one just does not reach that same level of tension, probably because we saw it before.

There are some plot points that pop up and feel as if they were just jammed into the film to attempt to build more suspense, but none of them worked well. The mother (Miranda Otto) is bitten by the creatures and need medication in order to survive. One trip to a store, setting up the natural conflict with the Vesps, led to Hugh and Ally getting what they needed and from that scene on, the mother seemed perfectly fine. There was a conflict in the third act of the film where a small cult approached the family wanting Ally. That was a problem in the third act that was shoehorned into the story and felt completely foreign. It was that old Walking Dead trope that in the post apocalyptic world, the real dangers are the other humans.

There is a silly scene with a rattlesnake. There is a moment where a family member sacrifices themselves with a scream.

Perhaps this is not a direct rip off of A Quiet Place, but since it came out afterwards, there should have been some adjustments to it because there is no comparisons that will favor The Silence.

There was a great scene with a wood chipper though.

DailyView: Day 61, Movie 106

I have not seen Borat until today with the DailyView. I have seen the sequel: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, which came out on Amazon last year. Borat was another one of those movies that I did not think I would enjoy, so I avoided it. I thought there were some really funny moments in the sequel so I planned on watching Borat at some point. Today turned out to be the day.

Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen) was from the country of Kazakhstan and was a journalist. He was sent to America to learn about the culture there and to bring back what he could. Once in America, Borat saw Baywatch on TV and fell in love with Pamela Anderson. He dedicated himself to travel across the country to take Pamela for his sexy time.

I will tell you that there are some parts of this movie that are absolutely hilarious. Filmed in a mockumentary style, there are a ton of vignettes that feature Borat interacting with real people in America who are unaware of what is going on. The reactions of these people to the insanity of Baron Cohen is some of the funniest parts of the movie although it is difficult to believe sometimes that they are not at least suspicious that something was going on.

There were a ton of crass and offensive jokes used in the film under the guise of Borat being from another country and the Americans not sure if he understands what he is saying. There are moments where the film steps over the line and goes too far. Several moments make the audience cringe as much as they laugh.

Early on, some of the anti-sematic jokes were out of line, but when I discovered that Sasha Baron Cohen himself was Jewish, it showed how he was using these jokes to shine a light on some of the other people’s prejudices.

I am torn about the movie because there were a lot of times where I thought it crossed a line and made fun of things that should not be made fun of. However, I did laugh at most of it. It was a funny, inappropriate film that took some real chances. There are a couple of times when it was amazing that Borat was able to get out of the situation with his life.

If you offend easily, this one is probably not for you.

DailyView: Day 61, Movie 105

Covering another movie that is leaving HBO Max at the end of the month, I watched the Dennis Quaid 1980s film, Dreamscape for the DailyView this morning.

I had not heard of this one before I saw it on the HBO Max site and I thought it would be an interesting film to give a try. I have always been fascinated with dreams and the theories behind dreams and I was looking forward to seeing what this movie was all about.

Alex Gardner (Dennis Quaid) was a young psychic who was using his gift to win at the horse races was approached by Dr. Paul Novotny (Max Van Sydow) about joining in a program dealing with dreams. Specifically, having psychics enter a person’s dreams and helping them through whatever difficulties they may be facing.

Alex was not anxious to be involved, despite his attraction to Jane DeVries (Kate Capshaw), a scientist involved in the program. However, he was slowly convinced when he discovered what he could do.

However, Bob Blair (Christopher Plummer), the head of the project, had another plan for it. He knew that the President of the United States (Eddie Albert) was having powerful nightmares and that, because of those, he planned on making an arms agreement with the Russians. Blair did not want this so he planned on sending in another psychic, the vicious killer Tommy Ray (David Patrick Kelly) into the President’s dreams to make it look as if the President had died in his sleep.

Dreamscape was an interesting film with a intriguing sci-fi story to it. The ‘psychic’ aspect of these people were kept pretty vague. It had been mentioned that Alex was once in a trail where he displayed telekinesis, but he does not show that at any time in the movie. In fact, most of his psychic abilities are ill defined. I guess he can absolutely see into the future for horse races, but after that, his psychic abilities are questionable.

The film sets up the story with Alex and then jumps immediately into the plot. I might have liked a bit more development. There was a decent scene where Alex helps a young boy face (Cory Yothers) his nightmares and kill the monster within, which I liked. However, that was dropped as quickly as it was brought up.

Alex is a likeable rogue and you enjoy spending time with him. He has heroic tendencies too, as we saw with the kid. The relationship with Jane felt a tad forced, but it was understandable. I’m not sure there would be more there after the physical attraction, but some times that is enough.

The dreams are well done and present as dreamlike. The special effects do make this feel as if you are inside someone’s dreams and are very effective at keeping you on your guard.

The cast is a strong point to Dreamscsape. Even when presenting these unlikely to far fetched circumstances, when you can provide a solid performance, it helps elevate the material, and that is certainly happening here. Dennis Quaid is excellent as our lead protagonist and Max Von Sydow does a great job. Christopher Plummer is menacing and makes an effective antagonist. George Wendt stepped outside his Norm persona from Cheers to play a writer investigating the dream concept (although he does buy Quaid a beer…something that Norm would never have done).

One major drawback for me was the score. I hated this score. It was that 1980s synth/techno garbage that made it feel like nails on a chalkboard. Every time that the score would play, not only did I know we were smack dab in the middle of an 80s B-movie, I would cringe and hope for it to end as soon as it could.

Nowhere near a perfect movie, but it is one that had a solid sci-fi premise and engaging actors in the roles. The story worked most of the time and the flaws did not prevent me from enjoying the film.

DailyView: Day 60, Movie 104

I have been waiting to watch the sequel to Creep for awhile. I was considering saving it for Halloween time, but I enjoyed the original so much that I decided to make this another film for the DailyView. Creep 2 was on Netflix and Mark Duplass returned to the role he played in Creep.

I really enjoyed the first Creep and the sequel was even better.

As we know, Aaron (Mark Duplass) draws in victims using an ad looking for a videographer. He then spends a day with these people and ends up killing them. Here, however, it seems as if he has met his match. Sara (Desiree Akhavan) is the host of an online video show that follows lonely men and studies their lives. Sara thinks that she has hit the jackpot with Aaron, who immediately confesses that he is a serial killer and that he was looking for something special for his 40th kill. Sara does not believe him, but she worries about taking advantage of the disturbed man.

They spend the day together. All of Aaron’s tricks, that worked so well in the previous movie, do not work well on Sara and he is slightly frustrated by that. As the day progresses, the conversation between Aaron and Sara change up and this dialogue is the main driving force of the film.

Sara is unshakable in her attitude, most likely from her past experiences with these kinds of sad people, but she does not realize the level to which Aaron will take the action.

Creep 2 is not as scary as the original, but it does a great job of creating an uncomfortableness that plays into the tone of the movie. You know that Aaron is a killer, but you are uncertain exactly what he is going to do about it. Sara feels like a match for him and one wonders if she s going to realize what we already know. It just seems that every wild and out there moment he tosses at her, she is ready for it and gives it right back.

The film is more of a character study than a horror movie, and it takes what could have been the same premise and makes it different and original from the first film.

Creep 2 was filled with tension and anxiety, but in a different way than Creep was. The fact that they could give us two very different types of movie from the same general premise is very impressive and makes Creep 2 an excellent sequel.

DailyView: Day 60, Movie 103

Next up on the DailyView was Cameron Crowe’s semi-autobiographical film, Almost Famous. Crowe worked as a journalist for Rolling Stone magazine while he was a teenager, and he was able to go on the road with many of his rock and roll idols. This inspired the story told in Almost Famous.

Teenage prodigy William Miller (Patrick Fugit),a writer with Creem magazine, had a chance to write an article for Rolling Stone magazine about the up-and-coming band Stillwater. In order to gain access to the band, William travelled on tour with Stillwater, getting close to guitarist Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup). Lead singer Jeff Bebe (Jason Lee) distrusted “The Enemy” -the rock journalists.

During the connection with Stillwater, William met Penny Lane (Kate Hudson), a ‘band aid’, a more positive term for a groupie who followed the band around because she loved their music. Penny was having an affair with Russell, but befriended the young William.

As the band struggled with their interpersonal issues, William was learning about life in rock and roll, the ups and the downs and the world around him.

Almost Famous was a wonderful movie. It was a love letter to rock and roll as well as a coming of age story with a special twist. Patrick Fugit was sweet and innocent as William and he brought every ounce of that to the role. His chemistry with both Russell and Penny was a major strength of the film. William’s consistent attempt for the one-on-one interview with Russell, which kept getting interrupted or pushed off was a great hook for the relationship.

I loved the airplane/electrical storm scene. It was such an amazing sequence of events that brought all of the conflicts out into the open. There has been a history of rock stars dying in small plane crashes that when Russell starts singing Buddy Holly songs, it is both funny and poignant.

Another great band moment was the ‘Tiny Dancer’ moment upon the bus. There was the message that, no matter what troubles might be facing the group, the music is always what they have.

Frances McDormand was William’s over-protective mother Elaine, apparently based on Crowe’s own mother. McDormand was her normal brilliant self, infusing the character with more than just the stereotypical over-protective mother. She brought an intelligence and a humanity the role and created someone who you could tell loved her children more than anything.

Almost Famous was a truly enjoyable film with some of the best characters you will find, brought to life by skilled actors. The music is well designed and fit beautifully in the story.

DailyView: Day 59, Movie 102

Over at Starz, I chose an animated movie to continue the DailyView this afternoon. It is a cult classic film from 1981 called Heavy Metal. The movie is an anthology movie based on short stories published in Heavy Metal magazines. The film is an adult animation directed by Gerald Potterton.

The framing device that crosses through the different stories is a small, glowing green orb that has significant evil power, leading to the deaths of many that come in contact with it. The voice cast is extensive, including John Candy, Don Francks, Richard Romanus, Harvey Atkin, Eugene Levy, Joe Flaherty, Rodger Bumpass, Harold Ramis, and Percy Rodrigues.

The animation was groundbreaking at the time. Now it looks choppy and a bit underwhelming. However, many of the images standout and definitely have a flavor to them that makes you know the movie you are in.

Of course, the soundtrack is one of the film’s most celebrated trait. There are songs from Black Sabbath, Journey, Sammy Hagar, Stevie Nicks, Blue Öyster Cult, Cheap Trick, Devo, Riggs, Grand Funk Railroad, Don Felder, Donald Fagan, Nazareth, and Trust.

As for the film, I have to say that I probably would have liked this more when I was in high school. The graphic violence and nudity among these animated stories are meant to target the young and horny males and their adolescent fantasies much more than someone my age. It does not age well either as there is a ton of misogamy toward every woman character in the movie.

There are some interesting parts of Heavy Metal, but the negative outweigh the rest for me.

DailyView: Day 59, Movie 101

I have been enjoying some Jimmy Stewart movies recently and how could you go wrong with a good Western. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance not only has Jimmy Stewart, but also features the one and only John Wayne.

The film begins with Senator Ransom Stoddard (Jimmy Stewart) returning to a Western town where he spent some of his younger years to attend the funeral of one of his friends, Tom Doniphon (John Wayne). While there, Ransom recounts the story of how he met Tom and got involved with the outlaw/hired gun Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin).

On his first trip to two, Ransom’s stagecoach was hijacked and robbed by Liberty Valance and his crew (which included Western veteran, Lee Van Cleef). Valance gave Ransom a beating to go along with the robbery. Tom and his handyman Pompey (Woody Strode) discovered the badly beaten lawyer and brought him to the doctor. Once recovered, Ransom started washing dishes at the local eatery with Hallie (Vera Miles) and he set up his own law practice.

The area was in conflict over the idea of becoming a state or remaining a territory. Ransom was nominated as a delegate to go and make that decision. Liberty Valance wanted to be a delegate too, and challenged Ransom to meet him in the street that night.

This was a fun movie. Jimmy Stewart was his typical top self here, taking the stand for law and order. John Wayne was at his most John Wayne-ish, using his famous phrase “pilgrim” when speaking to Ransom. The relationship between these two men turned out to be an important one, and was built on mutual respect for one another. They could not have been further apart personality or philosophy wise, but their friendship was the center of the movie.

Although it was not just the friendship that was the key here, but the differences between our two heroes. Tom was more of the ‘solve the problem with the gun’ type where as Ransom was the ‘let the law find the answer’ and these philosophy of the Old West were at conflict throughout the movie. Both men eventually came to see the importance or the necessity of the other’s world view.

There were plenty of other well known Western stars involved here, including Lee Van Cleef from the Dollars trilogy, Denver Pyle from Grizzly Adams, Oscar-winner Edmond O’Brien, John Carradine, the comedic Andy Devine, and Ken Murray.

The legend of the shooting of Liberty Valance lets the movie play with perception and reputation as well. There are a bunch of themes in the movie and it balances them with fun, some oddball humor and two excellent performances from two of the biggest movie stars of the time. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was an exceptional Western.

DailyView: Day 58, Movie 100

This is the one hundredth film in the DailyView and I wanted to pick something special. I decided on Children of Men from director Alfonso Cuarón, and at first, I did not think I had found something worthy of number 100. As the movie went on though….

The year was 2027 and the world had gone into a horrible place. The youngest person on earth had just died and it had been 18 years since the women on the planet had become infertile. This divided the world into factions and terrorist groups looking to rise up and take over. Local government bureaucrat Theo Faron (Clive Owen) was approached by his ex-wife Julian Taylor (Julianne Moore) to get papers to help a young immigrant girl Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey) get to safety. Julian had connections with the terrorist group The Fishies, including Luke (Chiwetel Ejiofor). When Theo gets Kee to the Fishies’ holdout, he realizes the importance of the girl: she is pregnant.

I was bored at the beginning of the movie and I was afraid that I was going to have to do a negative review for #100. However, after the first 20 minutes or so, this film picked up big time, to a point where I was hanging on every word and I had to wipe away tears from my eyes. I understand that the beginning of the movie needed to have some world building going on, but it nearly lost me a couple of times. I am so happy that I stuck with the film.

SPOILERS: The film for me really picked up pace when Julianne Moore gets shot and killed in the first act of the movie. I had no expectation for that happening and it immediately showed the viewers that absolutely anything could happen. END OF SPOILER.

Easily my favorite character in the movie is played by Michael Caine. Caine steals every scene he is in and he is just completely engaging and entertaining. He played a character that was just so kindly and easy to love that you can’t help but be enthralled with him.

There are some scenes, in particular in the third act, that require you to not breathe, because they are so tense. The whole time, I had no idea what was going to happen, because the movie had laid the groundwork for something tragic to perhaps happen. It made it just as likely that the film would end in tragedy as it did to end in happiness. That made the trip all the more suspenseful.

The images of the world were astounding, masterfully envisioned by Alfonso Cuarón, who would take that brilliant eye for imagery into a list of successfully beautifully shot movies, proving that he is one of the top directors working today.

Children of Men nearly lost me in the first 20 minutes, but I stuck with it and the work that first part of the movie does pays off in spades. It is a brilliant movie with real human emotions in a world that is not that unlikely and one that has ties to the present day issues.