AJCFP – Cluster #2: Criminally Great Movies

Adam: Hello again, everyone! I know, I know, I’m a little bit behind on these clusters…but I’m gonna do it, I swear!

This particular cluster focuses on movies about crime, criminals, justice, and things of that nature. We have breaking-and-entering robbers, cowboys, “idea theft,” double-agents, rogue cops, and a whole lot of guns, greed, and good times. Enjoy.

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AJCFP – Cluster #2: Criminally Great Movies

Panic Room (dir. David Fincher, 2002)

Finally, a movie in this project that I’d never seen beforehand! As a huge fan of Fincher’s work, I was eagerly looking forward to watching this, and I have to say that, although I wasn’t disappointed, I certainly was not blown away upon my first viewing. When I saw Fight Club, The Social Network, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Se7en, or even The Curious Case of Benjamin Button for the first time, I was left obsessing over what I had just seen for weeks (and in some cases, years). With Panic Room, this did not feel like it would be the case when the credits rolled, but the reason had nothing to do with Fincher’s directing. The cinematography and directing are still strikingly early Fincher, but in my opinion, the story is far weaker than any of his other films that I’ve seen to date. Or so I thought.

This “micro-thriller” was written by David Koep (one of the most successful screenwriters in Hollywood). It focuses on a recently single mother (Jodie Foster) and her little boy—I mean girl (Kristen Stewart), as they move into a big ol’ new place in New York City. In said new dwelling, there is a safe room (or “panic room” WHOA THAT’S HOW THEY GOT THE TITLE) which, unbeknownst to our protagonists, is concealing a hefty sum of money. The first night they spend in the new house, a break-in occurs and the story takes off. The mother/daughter team hides in the panic room while the three men try to break into it, and the tensions rise. Now, if you watch this as a break-in thriller, it’s a solid movie. And that’s what I did the first time I watched it. However, the more I thought about it (mixed with reading a few reviews and such online), I realized there is much more going on here. It gave me immense relief knowing that beneath the above-average thriller surface, there lies a complex statement about feminism, technology, isolation, greed, and perspectives of different people. I’m really looking forward to rewatching it with these things in mind next time.

Overall, I recommend this specifically for any fans of the thriller genre that missed it back in 2002, and of course for any fans of David Fincher’s work. In terms of his filmography, Panic Room and Zodiac kind of bridge the gap stylistically between his earlier work and his most recent work, in my opinion. Fight Club obviously looks and feels far different than The Social Network or The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, which is partly because of the camera/equipment he used to film it, but also because of the way the cinematography feels. He changed quite a bit, for better or worse, and I think that this growth is a very important part of—anyway, before I turn this into an essay on Fincher, I’m going to go watch The Social Network for the first time since I fell in love with it in theaters.

The Social Network (dir. David Fincher, 2010)

When I first saw The Social Network in 2010, I loved it immediately. I had recently gotten into David Fincher, really dug Jesse Eisenberg’s acting (especially in Zombieland), and was already a raging fan of Trent Reznor’s music (he’s the mastermind behind Nine Inch Nails, if you didn’t know). Not to mention, I was (and am) part of the flock of people under the rule of online social networking sites, especially Facebook. When the Oscars came around that year, The Social Network was nominated for eight awards, including Best Picture. Considering it captured everything about where we were as a society in 2010, naturally I pulled for it to win. It did not. In fact, it lost to The King’s Speech, which is a solid but safe historical drama. It’s in no way a bad film, but it did not deserve Best Picture at all. I will never recover from this injustice. (Pardon my melodrama.)

But this review isn’t about my bitterness toward those particular Academy Awards. This is about the film that, upon rewatching, I realized is one of the most important and overall best films of the past ten years. I will venture to say it is David Fincher’s best film in the latter half of his career. From the cinematography (every shot is gorgeous) to the writing (quick, sharp, brilliant work from Aaron Sorkin) to the acting (Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield gave performances of their careers) to the score (for which Reznor won an Oscar), this entire film is an absolute work of art. When I started it, I was going to make a pizza after the first conversation (which has become something of an iconic scene), but couldn’t look away from the screen for a straight half hour. This movie has a staying power that I did not expect. To be honest, after it came out, I assumed it would lose its potency after a few years since it was such a great snapshot of 2010. This is not the case. In fact, in the past four years, I’ve actually lost interest in the “accuracy” of the film in terms of factual events, which brings out the real truths of the film: friendship, reliance on technology, pliancy of society through trends, greed, popularity resulting in notoriety, the underdog overthrowing the majority…this thing is chock full of brilliant statements that are still relevant, and maybe even more so as time progresses. It’s still where we are, and it’s still where we’re going.

I could make this a novel-length love letter, but I won’t. Suffice it to say, if I had to make a list of the most important films of the past decade, The Social Network would be in the top three, hands down. If you haven’t seen this movie, you are truly missing something vital. Watch it. I cannot recommend it more highly.

Fargo (dir. Joel Coen, 1996)

Sometimes it’s easy to forget the power of a good story. I’m not talking about a grandiose statement about society or the love story of an age. I’m talking about just a good, entertaining, suspenseful, funny, interesting, well rounded…just a good story. And that’s precisely what the Coen brothers’ Fargo is.

Some would categorize Fargo as a thriller (as the DVD case suggests), others as a comedy. Personally, I get a dark comedy vibe from it, because it’s definitely a blend of the two. The story shows how one’s desire for money, as well as some terrible miscommunication between untrustworthy people, can cause one’s life to spiral out of control. It’s that simple. No bells and whistles. And yet, the characters are so fleshed out and believable, the performances are so strong, the dialogue is so memorable and funny (oh, geez), and the setting captures winter so much better than almost any other film I’ve ever seen (I say almost, because…oh just wait until the next cluster…), that it’s impossible to miss why this movie is so dang good. Seriously, watch it.

Fargo is rightly described as an American classic, and if you haven’t seen it yet, you’re missing out…and you clearly don’t laugh darkly whenever you see a wood chipper.

The Big Lebowski (dir. Joel Coen, 1998)

The Coen brothers’ follow-up to Fargo is anything but the simple crime story of its predecessor. If you haven’t seen The Big Lebowski, this is going to be a really strange description and review, and for that, I say…just go watch this movie.

The Big Lebowski is one of the strangest, quirkiest films ever made, with a plot that is far too complex, dream sequences that make almost no sense, a lot of yelling, far too many characters that also don’t make any sense, and bowling. But the best part is: none of that matters, at all, and yet this is a film with a rabid cult following, quotes that never get old, and even a religion (go look up “Dudeism”…it’s a real thing). How is this possible? I don’t know. I just know I can yell, “Mark it zero!” and anyone who has seen the film will join in for a quote-a-thon of hilarity. I’ve often laughed until I cried because of quoting this thing with other people. It’s so strange.

But just like any film that isn’t supposed to make sense, sense can be made if you look hard enough. For instance, this movie has really important and brilliant points to make about politics, religion, belief and non-belief, hypocrisy, greed, sexism, communication, death, and tons of other things that I can’t even remember or care to list. This movie is smart, but disguised as an absurd, pointless, and utterly hilarious story of a man who just wants to take it easy and get compensation for his soiled rug. It really tied the room together, man.

True Grit (dir. Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, 2010)

The Coen brothers return again with something the same as, and entirely different than, everything else they’ve done. True Grit is an adaptation of the novel, and not a direct remake of the classic film, and I think that’s a good part of why this one is so good. Told through the eyes of fourteen year-old Mattie Ross, this revenge tale is probably the most “mainstream” thing the Coen brothers have done. It’s basically a straight Western vengeance movie. A young girl wants revenge on the man who killed her father, and hires two horse-riding justice-men to help her. But what seems simple on the surface is actually an expertly crafted cautionary tale of the ultimately frivolous pursuit of revenge, a study of brute force vs. law-abiding justice, and a parable packed full of religious symbolism.

Here’s a taste of what I’m talking about: the two men that go with her (Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon, both giving excellent performances) each represent a different incarnation of the justice Mattie seeks. For instance, Rooster (Bridges) is very unorthodox in his methods and has no problem pulling a trigger (the anger and brute rage she feels) and Matt Damon is a Texas Ranger who follows all the rules, all the time, no exceptions (her religious conscience). Watching the film through this lens makes her motivations clearer, and it makes the end very satisfying.

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(SPOILERS: she loses her arm because of a snake bite she gets after she falls down a hole…which happens after she exacts her revenge. It’s a religious metaphor if there ever was one.)

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True Grit was one of my favorite films when it came out in 2010, and I’m happy to say it holds up nicely. I recommend it very much if you, well, like movies. The only people I wouldn’t offer this to would be people who explicitly don’t like Westerns. But that’s about it. So unless you hate cowboys and dust, you have no excuses. Watch this movie.

The Departed (dir. Martin Scorsese, 2007)

For the past seven years, I’ve had to put up with the same slack-jawed reaction to my answering of the question: “Have you seen The Departed?” The second I say no, the asker will gasp as if I’ve just admitted to killing an entire orphanage worth of babies. Don’t get me wrong: I love when people are passionate about films. And despite what many people may think, I actually really enjoy hype. I love when people hype up movies or music or books or anything because it means people are actually passionate about a certain type of art, and that’s never a bad thing…well, almost never. This is exactly what happened with The Departed, and I’m sorry to say…it actually impacted my viewing of this movie.

See, when I went in, I expected a film that would change my life, alter my views on crime movies, and otherwise blow me away in every aspect that would leave me reeling and obsessing over the writing, story, cinematography, performances, etc. What I got was one of the best crime films I have ever seen (arguably the best one since Goodfellas, like a lot of critics claimed) and…yeah. That’s it. It met my expectations, and then it was over. Leo was totally great, Marky Mark was a well-played douche, Matt Damon proved his chops once again, Jack Nicholson was terrifying, the soundtrack was awesome, the directing was great, some of the shots were really beautiful, and the story was complex but totally brilliant. It was exactly what I’d come to expect from the hype, and that was a fantastic movie.

So yes, The Departed is a really great film, and one of the best crime movies of the past 10 to 20 years…but you already knew that. And so did I. And I guess that’s why I felt disappointed. If I had watched it when everyone else did for the first time, I’d be right there with you. Mortified when someone hasn’t seen it, as the orphanage burns in the distance.

Sin City: Recut, Extended, Unrated (dir. Robert Rodriguez & Frank Miller, 2005)

When I first saw Sin City, it was in my mother’s living room on a DVD that I obtained for free from a coworker’s dad. He wanted to get rid of it since his young son kept sneaking around to watch it, and I gladly took it off his hands. I sold that copy when I purchased the “recut, extended, unrated” version a few years later. The special edition contains both the theatrical cut and an extended cut (which is what I’ll be reviewing here), as well as the first volume of Frank Miller’s graphic novel, which is shown almost shot-for-shot in the film (along with volumes three and four, I believe).

The way the “recut” version is set up, however, is in those separate parts. Basically, the recut version is four short films you can watch in any order you choose, which initially kind of bothered me…until I started watching it. Now, I watched them in the absolutely incorrect order, because they aren’t numbered (except in the booklet…which I didn’t notice until after I freaking watched three of them), but it didn’t bother me. In fact, it’s easier to see how the four storylines intersect without the “mashed up” editing of the theatrical cut, and next time I watch this movie, it will be in the correct order. Each of the parts is extended too, so we get a total of almost 20 more minutes of footage (I think) and a very smooth and satisfying storytelling experience.

If you don’t know anything about Sin City, by the way, it’s a neo-noir film set in a filthy fictional city with crime, booze, sex, and absolutely no absolutes. There is no right and wrong in Sin City…only broken people with good hearts, or successful people with rotten ones. The style isn’t for everyone, nor is the story, but I absolutely love it. Sure, it can be a tad cheesy from time to time, but that’s what it’s supposed to be.

If you’ve never seen the movie before, I’d recommend starting with the theatrical cut. After that, give the recut version a go for an even more thrilling and expansive ride.