m is for magic, moving, movie, madman, murray, money, mel gibson
It's a wonderfully executed pleasure - An early evening movie with a KICK to it. That smell of popcorn seems to stretch out from the front of the theater and just grab you and suck you in. It's the same instrument of drug dealers everywhere... Just a little taste to get your interest piqued. It's that strong, powerful smell of freshly made popcorn that lures you in. It's the elixir that will make it possible for you to pay for, sit through and tolerate a bad movie. If you think my theory doesn't have weight then ask yourself this, "Why am I paying five dollars for a bucket of popcorn, if I'm not in a hypnotic trance?" Movies ... Are legal crack. And with each hit comes new lows in our personality. It's in a crack induced haze that we made Keanu Reeves a star, remember that.
I love movies. It's one of two addictions that I have left in my sad life. (smoking is gone, womanizing too, but it's often thought about and recalled with great pleasure) The other glorious addiction I still have left is this blog thing, or just writing in general. My addictions consume me and I am drawn to them in every free moment I have. Of course, film is easier to think about with the recent new trend of dizziness. Probably because the dizziness is so reminiscent of the popcorn buzz. Writing is a lovely crutch, but it's hard to just "lay some down" whenever you just let your mind wander. (when you're driving, for example. It's not easy to do)
My passion for film has brought me to the greatest film of 2006, V for Vendetta. Not many will like this one and I fear it will suffer the same fate as Fight Club, Sin City, and Howard the Duck as films that were magic in the year they were released, but found no audience and were labeled flops until the secondary - underground - refuse markets made them the classics that they are today(the latter is still not considered a classic, but Howard's day is coming, you'll see). V for Vendetta was excellent. Well written, well shot, well casted, well executed. I think we should see a critical nod for Mr. Hurt as "Big Brother" when the nods go out near Christmas time. He was excellent as a dictator. I will admit to being a little frightened of him as I watched the film. I kept waiting for an alien to pop out of his chest and land in my bucket of popcorn and eat all my Reece's pieces.
Of course, like all great films of the present day, V for Vendetta will disappear without fanfare in a week or two, and all the rage will shift to some other cum sock of a movie staring Hillary Duff and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. That's the way it works. Great films suffer like a paper boat in a tempest of celluloid foulness. It takes a thorough cleansing of the mediocre film's fecal flake residue off of the great film to show just how glorious the great film was in the first place. It's a, "See, I told you so" kind of moment. But the way I say it is better (fecal flakes... I know that's on my tombstone now) How many of you remember the movies that came out the same time Fight Club was released? None of you. Because none of them were worth remembering. They were made, it would seem, to make Fight Club's star shine brighter. In the dung heap of all those other films, Fight Club was able to blossom and grow. It's a precious commodity in the film community and an piece of pop culure as a "must see" film. Not so, was the fate of Maid in Manhattan.
Such is life of V for Vendetta. It's surrounded by some bile that will soon be forgotten about until they pop up on TBS some Tuesday afternoon. (I mean this. How many of you really think that Failure to Launch will really be a classic romantic comedy that you rent over and over again?) V is stuck... In third place in the box office, behind Failure to Launch and Ice Age, The meltdown. However, when time tallies the impact of all three. V will be the only film that gets a four disc DVD box set and action figures that will be worth a fortune. V will be worn as a costume for the next twenty years. V will be discussed in drug induced(perhaps popcorn) hazes. It will be debated and listed and copied. Failure to Launch will be sold in a "Three for ten bucks" clearance sale at your local big box store.
V for vendetta has a message. Not one that people will want to hear. Lesser minds won't get it. Greater minds will think it foolish and obvious and for those of us with minds in the middle, the message is cool and what makes a movie not just a flick but a piece of art and a collectible.
Not surprisingly, V for Vendetta was made by the movie with a message people that brought you The Matrix. Unlike The Matrix, which lost it's message by being long-winded about it (had the "I had a dream" speech been four hours, no one would have remembered it) V for Vendetta doesn't have anywhere to go in a sequel, which should save it from sucking ass. Not that a sequel will get made, but had it been a hit they would have tried.
By the way, for all of you that care to know... Sin City TWO is coming soon. That's right, a flop at the box office, but a hit for a solid year on DVD and it's back to shove it's mastery of the art form back in the faces of the Oscar voters. Sadly, one of the worst things you can do in a movie is bring someone back from the dead in the sequel (Star Wars, Highlander, City Slickers) but Sin City is going to do just that with Mickey Rourke. I hope it works.
I am just coming down from my popcorn buzz, so I gotta run. I hope you all get a chance to see a movie real soon. As a form of entertainment, you can't beat the price. As a way to escape your problems and live in another world for a few hours, it's beyond priceless.
I love movies. It's one of two addictions that I have left in my sad life. (smoking is gone, womanizing too, but it's often thought about and recalled with great pleasure) The other glorious addiction I still have left is this blog thing, or just writing in general. My addictions consume me and I am drawn to them in every free moment I have. Of course, film is easier to think about with the recent new trend of dizziness. Probably because the dizziness is so reminiscent of the popcorn buzz. Writing is a lovely crutch, but it's hard to just "lay some down" whenever you just let your mind wander. (when you're driving, for example. It's not easy to do)
My passion for film has brought me to the greatest film of 2006, V for Vendetta. Not many will like this one and I fear it will suffer the same fate as Fight Club, Sin City, and Howard the Duck as films that were magic in the year they were released, but found no audience and were labeled flops until the secondary - underground - refuse markets made them the classics that they are today(the latter is still not considered a classic, but Howard's day is coming, you'll see). V for Vendetta was excellent. Well written, well shot, well casted, well executed. I think we should see a critical nod for Mr. Hurt as "Big Brother" when the nods go out near Christmas time. He was excellent as a dictator. I will admit to being a little frightened of him as I watched the film. I kept waiting for an alien to pop out of his chest and land in my bucket of popcorn and eat all my Reece's pieces.
Of course, like all great films of the present day, V for Vendetta will disappear without fanfare in a week or two, and all the rage will shift to some other cum sock of a movie staring Hillary Duff and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. That's the way it works. Great films suffer like a paper boat in a tempest of celluloid foulness. It takes a thorough cleansing of the mediocre film's fecal flake residue off of the great film to show just how glorious the great film was in the first place. It's a, "See, I told you so" kind of moment. But the way I say it is better (fecal flakes... I know that's on my tombstone now) How many of you remember the movies that came out the same time Fight Club was released? None of you. Because none of them were worth remembering. They were made, it would seem, to make Fight Club's star shine brighter. In the dung heap of all those other films, Fight Club was able to blossom and grow. It's a precious commodity in the film community and an piece of pop culure as a "must see" film. Not so, was the fate of Maid in Manhattan.
Such is life of V for Vendetta. It's surrounded by some bile that will soon be forgotten about until they pop up on TBS some Tuesday afternoon. (I mean this. How many of you really think that Failure to Launch will really be a classic romantic comedy that you rent over and over again?) V is stuck... In third place in the box office, behind Failure to Launch and Ice Age, The meltdown. However, when time tallies the impact of all three. V will be the only film that gets a four disc DVD box set and action figures that will be worth a fortune. V will be worn as a costume for the next twenty years. V will be discussed in drug induced(perhaps popcorn) hazes. It will be debated and listed and copied. Failure to Launch will be sold in a "Three for ten bucks" clearance sale at your local big box store.
V for vendetta has a message. Not one that people will want to hear. Lesser minds won't get it. Greater minds will think it foolish and obvious and for those of us with minds in the middle, the message is cool and what makes a movie not just a flick but a piece of art and a collectible.
Not surprisingly, V for Vendetta was made by the movie with a message people that brought you The Matrix. Unlike The Matrix, which lost it's message by being long-winded about it (had the "I had a dream" speech been four hours, no one would have remembered it) V for Vendetta doesn't have anywhere to go in a sequel, which should save it from sucking ass. Not that a sequel will get made, but had it been a hit they would have tried.
By the way, for all of you that care to know... Sin City TWO is coming soon. That's right, a flop at the box office, but a hit for a solid year on DVD and it's back to shove it's mastery of the art form back in the faces of the Oscar voters. Sadly, one of the worst things you can do in a movie is bring someone back from the dead in the sequel (Star Wars, Highlander, City Slickers) but Sin City is going to do just that with Mickey Rourke. I hope it works.
I am just coming down from my popcorn buzz, so I gotta run. I hope you all get a chance to see a movie real soon. As a form of entertainment, you can't beat the price. As a way to escape your problems and live in another world for a few hours, it's beyond priceless.
posted by Daniel Loomis | 8:23 AM
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